In a hilarious Dungeons & Dragons meme, one of the most fearsome and giant monsters in D&D, the Tarrasque, is compared in size to a banana. D&D is known for its epic monsters from conniving liches to the grand and powerful dragons that the game gets its name from. The Tarrasque might not be well known outside of D&D, but within the game, it is one of the most terrifying. Described as a bipedal beast with horns and a reflective carapace that can bounce magic spell attacks back at the user, this gargantuan monstrosity has the highest challenge rating in all of 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons, even higher than actual dragons.
Dungeons & Dragons, and tabletop RPGs in general, are unique in that they require the use of imagination to varying degrees. Fifth edition D&D has beautiful artwork for many monsters and descriptions including size categories. These categories range from tiny and small, to medium, which is where most player characters would fall into. Then there is also large, huge, and gargantuan, the category that the Tarrasque falls into. While these are helpful, it can certainly still leave some questions as to exactly how large a Tarrasque from Dungeons & Dragons really is.
Thanks to MemesDnd on Twitter, Dungeons & Dragons players and DMs finally have a better idea of how large the Tarrasque is. The meme, which MemesDnd gives credit to Middle-Ad6940 for creating, shows some epic Tarrasque art with the explanation that a banana was added to the image to show scale. One reply, from WytArtsy claims to have possibly found the banana, pointing out a small yellow pixel near the bottom of the image. Whether the image actually has a banana or not, this just goes to show how large the Tarrasque really is.
The Tarrasque is a legendary monster, the kind of creature that has the potential to destroy entire civilizations. Perhaps the best use for the Tarrasque is to make it a myth, a legend, a sleeping behemoth that everyone talks about in whispers, hoping it never wakes up. Establishing the enormity of this creature could also make its sudden appearance a great way to give players a sense of urgency in a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. This might give some players an air of fear and tension, while others decide they are up for the challenge. There's nothing that will light a fire under a player like finding out a kaiju-sized monster is about to destroy their home city.
As funny as this meme is, it does give D&D DMs a better idea of how to appropriately describe an encounter with this monstrosity. The Tarrasque is an intimidating foe that might be best to save for higher-level parties or a climactic battle near the end of a campaign. But don’t worry, there’s plenty of terrifying creatures, like cows, for low-level Dungeons & Dragons parties to contend with in the meantime.
Source: MemesDnd/Twitter, WyArtsy/Twitter