Is Tiamat stronger than a tarrasque?
Yes, in Dungeons & Dragons lore, Tiamat the five-headed Queen of Evil Dragons is considered more powerful than the legendary tarrasque. As a divine goddess capable of granting spells to worshippers, cunning plots spanning millennia, and leading armies of chromatic dragons, Tiamat poses a greater threat than even the nigh-indestructible tarrasque‘s raw destructive might.
What is Tiamat?
In D&D, Tiamat is the evil dragon goddess of greed, envy, and hoarded wealth. As the eternal rival of the good dragon god Bahamut, she commands reverence and obedience from chromatic dragons and dragonkind as a whole.
- Ancient goddess dating back to the dawn of creation
- Embodies concepts of evil, chromatic dragons, and greed
- Has a clerical divine ranking and grants spells to worshippers
- Plots take centuries or millennia to unfold
With her five dragon heads (black, blue, green, red, white), she focuses considerable intellect and wisdom towards malign purposes. Though she is usually imprisoned in the Nine Hells, her power and influence are still formidable.
What is the tarrasque?
The tarrasque is an immense reptilian beast of unknown origins. It possesses an incredibly durable hide and savage strength, making it nigh-invincible in combat.
- 50 feet tall and 70 feet long
- Multiple eyes, horns, claws, teeth, spikes, scales and more
- Capable of leveling buildings and wrecking armies
- Designed to be more force of nature than thinking beast
The tarrasque spends most of its existence slumbering deep underground, awaking only to wreak deadly destruction before returning to its slumber. It cannot be permanently killed except under specific magical circumstances.
How does Tiamat compare to the tarrasque?
While the tarrasque has Tiamat beat in sheer size and physical toughness, Tiamat surpasses it in overall threat level and capabilities:
- Higher challenge rating – Tiamat CR 30, tarrasque CR 25
- Intelligence/wisdom – Tiamat 26/26, tarrasque 3/11
- Manipulation/influence – Tiamat heads dragon cults, the tarrasque just attacks
- Scope of power – Tiamat has divine magical abilities, cosmic importance, etc.
With her higher mental stats and clergy abilities, Tiamat is more cunning and capable of grander, sinister schemes than the tarrasque can accomplish with its teeth and claws. Though their rage would be devastating if combined, Tiamat‘s fearsome intellect makes her deadlier than the legendary beast.
Who could defeat Tiamat/the tarrasque?
Despite being surpassed by the Dragon Queen, the tarrasque remains an incredibly formidable foe in its own right. Some of the only forces believed capable of taking down Tiamat or the tarrasque include:
- Armies of legendary heroes and powerful magic items
- Ancient and mighty metallic dragons led by Bahamut
- Deities from the D&D pantheon banding together against her
- Wish/Miracle spells depriving Tiamat of her divine essence
- Using one to defeat the other (risky!)
- DM fiat – they‘re monsters meant to challenged, not slain by rules!
Of course, facing Tiamat or the tarrasque would pose an immense challenge certain to test the skills of even legendary heroes…
Let me know if you have any other questions about how these epic monsters compare! I‘m happy to dig deeper into D&D lore.
