Origin of the Rakshasa in AD&D

[prespos]

In a forum post, Gary Gygax mentioned that the rakshasa came from an episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

I found the episode, Horror in the Heights, and here it is in it's entirety (in 6 parts).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQeT-ds ... 75869CD003

An interesting bit of AD&D history!

Pres

Ps.
Originally, the rakshasa is a creature from East Indian myth.

[AxeMental]

I always wondered if the idea of the Shambling Mound didn't come from the episode with
the Louisiana swamp monster Peremalfait (Cajun Boogyman). Made of spanish moss and vegetation that killed by squeezing its victims to death.



Yeah, that was one hell of a great series (I think it only ran one season). Is on Netflix for anyone that hasn't seen it. When I was a kid that show scared the crap out of me.

[BlackBat242]

The Rakshasa is listed in the Demons of India section of Supplement IV: Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes (1976).

This shows that, however many of the specifics may have been influenced by the Night Stalker episode, Gary and Jim did base it on the original Indian mythology that inspired the writers of the NS episode.

Since the rakshasa first appeared in The Strategic Review #5, December 1975, one might ask Tim Kask if he remembers much about its origin.

[rogatny]

I always wondered if the idea of the Shambling Mound didn't come from the episode with
the Louisiana swamp monster...

I'm pretty sure the Shambling Mound came from various comic book swamp monsters, the first being "the Heap" which debuted in the '40s. Both Marvel and DC had very successful early-mid '70s runs with "the Man-Thing" by Steve Gerber and "the Swamp Thing" by Alan Moore respectively.