The use of the owlbear in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has attracted controversy, but one detail regarding the movie fixes the issue. As its name implies, the mystical creature boasts physical characteristics of both animals, including the face of the owl and the physical strength of the bear. Seen wreaking havoc on a group of villains in the trailer, the vicious owlbear will be on the side of the protagonists during their big screen adventure.
The inclusion of this powerful creature from the Dungeons & Dragons world wouldn't be a problem on its own, but it's how it's being used that's considered problematic. In the tabletop game, the signature ability of the druid class is Wild Shape, which allows the character to morph into an animal. The owlbear isn't on the list of available options, yet the trailer has already confirmed that Sophia Lillis' druid in Honor Among Thieves uses it as her Wild Shape form. Due to this change, many are already criticizing the film for taking unnecessary liberties with the lore and the D&D rules.
Sophia Lillis' Dungeons & Dragons Character Is a Tiefling
On the surface, it does appear that Honor Among Thieves is giving one of its main characters an ability they shouldn't have in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. However, the horns on Lillis' head provide an explanation for why she would be a special exception to the D&D rules. The horns clearly identify her as a tiefling. Typically, tieflings are defined in D&D as a "planetouched" human-demon hybrid. Recognized by their devil-like horns, tieflings have the blood of fiends running through their veins. In Dungeons & Dragons, fiends are essentially devils, which are beings that hail from different planes in the Dungeons & Dragons world. Due to their heritage, tieflings stand apart from the other playable D&D races and often enjoy benefits that humans, elves, and dwarves don't share.
There's no specific rule that establishes tieflings can transform into owlbears, but it's important to note that a tiefling druid is an unconventional class and race combination in Dungeons & Dragons. For that reason, it makes sense that someone like Lillis' Honor Among Thieves character would be capable of achieving feats that other druids simply can't pull off. It's not impossible that her fiend blood is what gives her access to the owlbear form, thus justifying the movie's decision to add its own Wild Shape transformation.
How Powerful Is Honor Among Thieves' Owlbear?
As deadly as the owlbear is in the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves trailer, it's not actually that much stronger than traditional Wild Shape forms. As noted by the D&D website, its challenge rating is comparable to many of the natural animals that druids can become in the game [via Wizards of the Coast]. Admittedly, it's stronger than most, but there are some animals, such as the polar bear, which are close to its level. In other words, the movie's owlbear form isn't an extremely overpowered Wild Shape transformation or a grand abuse of the tabletop game's rules. That being said, it'll still serve as a unique addition to the movie as well as one of the most interesting and obscure D&D monsters featured in the story.