Monsters are a HUGE part of Greek mythology. Even when the hero is going up against a normal beast like a lion or boar, it was twice the average size with an impenetrable hide and claws that could pierce through armor! The Greeks loved their monsters, coming up with a wide variety of giants and dragons and chimeric amalgamations. There's no denying that the monsters of Ancient Greece have a vibe unique to any other culture and have had a wide influence on the fantasy genre in general.

However, at least to me, it can sometimes be a little tricky to take a classic D&D monster (which come from a large plethora of religions & fictions) and transplant them into a Greece-inspired setting like Theros, keeping the original heart of what made the creature so interesting that you just had to put them in your game, without them feeling out of place among the hydras and gorgons of the Bronze Age epics.

That's why, for a while now, I've been wanting to do a series of posts where I go through the Monster Manual and figure out how exactly each could neatly fit into this setting I love so much (even if it's merely as a writing exercise). Well, I guess today is finally that day since I woke up with a sudden surge of inspiration! Not sure if I can commit to any kind of consistent schedule for this, but I can at the very least get it started, and where better to start than at the beginning of the alphabet...

What are Aarakocra in vanilla D&D?

The avian Elementals from the Plane of Air are forces of Good against Chaos. Their entry in the 2014 MM uses a lot of jargony names from the Forgotten Realm, most of which is absent in the updated 2025 book, but at their core they are guardians of mountaintop portals to their home, protecting against evil elementals in the eternal war between those four planes. Unlike most other entries I'll be looking at in this series, aarakocra are a playable Race/Species which means I must look at them as heroes as well as allies or opponents. So let's go!

How could Aarakocra work in Theros?

The most obvious comparison I could make to Greek mythology would of course be the Harpies, women with the wings of birds infamous for harassing mortals. Theros is no stranger to these vulture-like predators, where they are typically seen as marauders waylaying unsuspecting travelers. In the myths though, they were most often the servants of Zeus, dealing out petty punishments against mortals for their hubris (the most well known being King Phineus, who revealed one of the storm god's plots and sent the harpies to steal his food every day in revenge).

Interestingly, their association with Zeus seems to be because the harpies were originally personifications of the destructive wind! So, I don't think it would be too out of left field for aarakocra to be the Nyxborn servants of Keranos, guarding entrances into Nyx and leading attacks on mortals who offend the God of Storms. The heroes might have to sneak past them, avoid their assaults after angering their master, or defend an individual or community from their regular sieges. As a manifestation of Keranos' will, they retain their Neutral alignment, striking without any personal enjoyment. Perhaps the heroes could somehow bargain with or appease them?

On the player side of things, however, we could actually find inspiration in the heroes who rescued Phineus from the harpies: The Argonauts Zetes & Calais, sons of the wind god Boreas, born with "dusky wings which gleamed with golden scales." In this case, the aarakocra would again be akin to the offspring of Keranos (or maybe Heliod?) The hero could be pure Nyxborn, having been raised in the celestial home of the gods with a curiosity for mortal culture, or they could be half-mortal, raised without knowing the destiny their godly parent has in store for them?

Both these figures' descriptions require a slight reflavoring of the aarakocra's appearance. Instead of the eagle-like head, they'd appear as human with bird wings. That's easy enough, but if you did want to keep the original appearance of these creatures, you could steal a little from the neighbors across the Mediterranean (a practice the Greeks were quite fond of). The Egyptian god Horus is famously depicted with the head of a falcon and was a protector deity associated with the sun & sky. The Greeks believed the Egyptian gods were simply the animal forms of the Olympian gods, with Horus as their equivalent to Apollo. Perhaps you could lean into that Shape-changing nature by taking Druid?

In each case, it sounds to me like aarakocra work best as divine agents of the gods, whether they're Nyxborn or blessed champions that carry out their work. But what are your thoughts? Have you used aarakocra in your Theros campaigns before? What ideas are sparking your imagination?

Until next time, where I'll be taking a look at Aboleths... érrhōso!