A gelatinous cube is a fictional

monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

from the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

. It is described as a ten-foot cube of transparent gelatinous ooze, which is able to absorb and digest organic matter.

Creative origins

Oozes are relatively common antagonists in

fiction; in addition to the oozes of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', examples include the monster from the film ''

The Blob ''The Blob'' is a 1958 American science fiction horror film directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. from a screenplay by Theodore Simonson and Kate Phillips, based on an idea by Irving H. Millgate. It stars Steve McQueen (in his first leading role ...

'' (1958),

slime Slime or slimy may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Slime coat, the coating of mucus covering the body of all fish * Slime mold, an informal name for several eukaryotic organisms * Biofilm, or slime, a syntrophic community of micr ...

in ''

Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a series of role-playing video games created by Japanese game designer Yuji Horii (Armor Project), character designer Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio), and composer Koi ...

'', and flan in ''

Final Fantasy is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fanta ...

''. These fictional oozes may have been inspired by microscopic organisms such as

amoebae An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; : amoebas (less commonly, amebas) or amoebae (amebae) ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and r ...

, which, like oozes, can consume organic matter by engulfing it (

phagocytosis Phagocytosis () is the process by which a cell (biology), cell uses its plasma membrane to engulf a large particle (≥ 0.5 μm), giving rise to an internal compartment called the phagosome. It is one type of endocytosis. A cell that performs ph ...

). The gelatinous cube is an original invention of

Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax creat ...

, rather than being inspired by outside sources and adapted to the roleplaying setting, as were many

mythological Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

monsters such as the

minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...

and

dryad A dryad (; , sing. ) is an oak tree nymph or oak tree spirit in Greek mythology; ''Drys'' (δρῦς) means "tree", and more specifically " oak" in Greek. Today the term is often used to refer to tree nymphs in general. Types Daphnaie Thes ...

, all of which appeared in the 1974 Monsters & Treasure book of the original boxed set. Being a cube that is a perfect ten feet on each side, it is specifically and perfectly "adapted" to its native environment, the standard, by dungeon corridors which were ubiquitous in the earliest ''Dungeons & Dragons'' modules.

Publication history

The gelatinous cube first appeared in the original ''Dungeons & Dragons'' "white box" set (1974), and its first supplement, ''

Greyhawk Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for ''Dungeons & Dragons''—Dave Arneson' ...

'' (1975). The gelatinous cube appeared in the ''

Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set The ''Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set'' is a set of rulebooks for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. First published in 1977, it saw a handful of revisions and reprintings. The first edition was written by J. Eric Holme ...

'' (1977, 1981, 1983). The gelatinous cube also appeared in the '' Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia'' (1991). The gelatinous cube appeared in first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' in the original ''

Monster Manual The ''Monster Manual'' (''MM'') is the primary bestiary sourcebook for monsters in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game, first published in 1977 by TSR. The ''Monster Manual'' was the first hardcover ''D&D'' book and ...

'' (1977). The creature was further developed in ''

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

'' #124 (August 1987). Published first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' adventures which included gelatinous cubes as adversaries that the

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...

s encounter included "The Ruins of Andril", published in ''

'' #81. The gelatinous cube appeared in second edition in '' Monstrous Compendium Volume One'' (1989), and the '' Monstrous Manual'' (1993) under the "ooze/slime/jelly" heading. The gelatinous cube was featured on an ''AD&D Trading Card'' in 1991. Under the ooze entry, the gelatinous cube appears in the third edition ''

'' (2000), the 3.5 revised ''Monster Manual'' (2003), Cook, Monte,

Jonathan Tweet Jonathan Tweet (born 1965) is an American game designer who has been involved in the development of the role-playing games ''Ars Magica'', '' Everway'', '' Over the Edge'', ''Talislanta'', the third edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and '' 13th A ...

, and

Skip Williams Ralph Williams, almost always referred to as Skip Williams, is an American game designer. He is married to Penny Williams, who is also involved with the games industry. He was the co-creator of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3rd Edition and the longtime au ...

. ''Monster Manual'' (Wizards of the Coast, 2003) the fourth edition ''Monster Manual'' (2008), the ''Monster Vault'' (2010), and the fifth edition ''Monster Manual'' (2014). Witwer ''et al.'' viewed its artistic rendering in 5th edition as "redesigned from prior editions to entice more Dungeon Master use."

Other publishers

The gelatinous cube is fully detailed in

Paizo Publishing Paizo Inc. (; originally Paizo Publishing) is an American role-playing game publishing company based in Redmond, Washington, best known for the tabletop role-playing games '' Pathfinder'' and '' Starfinder''. The company's name is derived from ...

's book ''Dungeon Denizens Revisited'' (2009), on pages 16–21.

Fictional ecology

A gelatinous cube looks like a transparent ooze of mindless, gelatinous matter in the shape of a

cube A cube or regular hexahedron is a three-dimensional space, three-dimensional solid object in geometry, which is bounded by six congruent square (geometry), square faces, a type of polyhedron. It has twelve congruent edges and eight vertices. It i ...

. The cube's transparency coupled with a dimly-lit dungeon gives it the element of surprise to engulf unsuspecting beings, and only an alert adventurer will notice the cube. The cube slides through dungeon corridors, being able to mold its body to flow around objects and fit through narrow passages and then returning to its original shape once enough space is available. A cube will absorb everything in its path, with its acidic digestive juices dissolving everything organic and secreting non-digestible matter in its wake. David M. Ewalt, in his book ''Of Dice and Men'', describes the gelatinous cube as "a dungeon scavenger, a living mound of transparent jelly", ''The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters'' called it a "dungeon clean up crew", well adapted to this unique fictitious ecosystem.

Reception

Rob Bricken from

io9 ''io9'' is a sub-blog of the technology blog ''Gizmodo'' that focuses on science fiction and fantasy pop culture, with former focuses on science, technology and futurism. It was created as a standalone blog in 2008 by editor Annalee Newitz under ...

named the gelatinous cube as one of the 10 most memorable D&D monsters. Chris Sims of the on-line magazine ''

ComicsAlliance ComicsAlliance is an American website dedicated to covering the comic book industry as well as comic-related media, and is owned by Townsquare Media. The site has been nominated for multiple awards including a 2015 Eisner Award win in the categ ...

'' stated of the gelatinous cube that "there can be no question of what is the greatest monster" in ''D&D'', calling the gelatinous cube "amazing". ''The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters'' called the gelatinous cube one of the "iconic monsters" of the ''D&D'' game. Levi R. Bryant calls the gelatinous cube "irksome and dangerous", "populating many a dungeon".

In other media

*Gelatinous cubes have appeared in the television series ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

'' by

Pendleton Ward Pendleton Ward is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and voice actor who has worked for Cartoon Network Studios, Frederator Studios, and Netflix Animation. He created the series ''Adventure Time'', the Internet series ''Brave ...

. They also appear in several video games, including ''

NetHack ''NetHack'' is an open source single-player roguelike video game, first released in 1987 and maintained by the NetHack DevTeam. The game is a fork of the 1984 game ''Hack'', itself inspired by the 1980 game '' Rogue''. The player takes the role ...

'', and '' Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance''. *A gelatinous cube appears in the 2017 episode " The Serfsons", the season premiere of the twenty-ninth season of the animated television series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

''. *A gelatinous cube appears in the 2020

Pixar Animation Studios Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney S ...

film '' Onward''. The film's credits include a thanks to Wizards of the Coast for allowing them to use the Beholder and the gelatinous cube. *A gelatinous cube appears in the 2023 film '' Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves''. The film's release is accompanied by a

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

-produced action figure of such a cube in 1/12 (6-inch) scale. *A gelatinous cube appears in the ''Saturday Morning Adventures'' limited comic series to the ''

'' animated series.David M. Booher (story) and George Kambadais (art): ''Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures'' #2 (IDW Publishing, April 2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gelatinous Cube Dungeons & Dragons monsters Fantasy creatures Fictional cubes Fictional elements introduced in 1974