Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/03/monstrous-mondays-ad-2nd-ed-monstrous_14.html

What I think was one of the first big battles of the Edition Wars was the one concerning demons and devils. Namely, where the hell were they for AD&D 2nd Edition? They have not appeared in any of the Monstrous Compendiums so far and the official word was they were no longer needed. Which everyone knew was a smokescreen for TSR caving into concerned, busy-body mothers and the religious right. The discussions on Usenet had a LOT of opinions on why they were gone and then what to make of them when they finally came back.

Thankfully this did not last and by the start of 1991, we got demons and devils back, albeit in the names Tanar'ri and Baatezu. Ok, the names were changed but they were back. In truth, I never minded the name change and it opened up the lower planes to have more than one type of demon or fiend. Something we are still benefiting from today.

Monstrous Compendium Planescape Appendix III

PDF, 128 pages. Color art. $9.99

This book was one of the bound softcover Monstrous Compendium Appendices and it took on the trad dress and style of the Planescape line rather than the Monstrous Compendium line. The monsters inside conformed to the standard of the Monstrous Compendium stat blocks, but there was no doubt what line this belonged to.

This volume has 128 pages and 71 monsters from Animental to Xill. Many of these monsters appear on both sides of the page, usually due to the larger art elements, and expanded details including a bit of fluff for each one. This makes this book actually better for use in the three-ring binders. Even though this one was never designed to be added! Again another point for the PDFs. That is if you don't mind printing out all the full-color pages this one has.

Interestingly enough the Xill appears here and the Fiend Folio MC 14. In fact, many monsters from the AD&D 1st Fiend Folio also make it here. Cases in point the Quasi-elementals, the khargra (with much improved art), thoqqua, and trilloch. The Khargra and the Xill appear in all three (1st ed and both 2nd Ed books).

This one does have explanatory notes and it also covers the ecology of the outer planes. By this time the Planescape setting had been in pretty wide use so the "Planescape" view of the Outer Planes has superseded, for good or ill, the AD&D 1st Edition Manual of the Planes version.

AD&D 2nd Ed may not have started out with fiends (of any sort) but they ended with not just a few, but a whole new outlook on them that changed how D&D would use them for the next 30 years.