A creature's origin describes its place in the Dungeons & Dragons cosmos. Each origin is associated with a plane of existence.
- aberrant: Aberrant creatuers are native to or corrupted by the Far Realm. Examples: beholders and mind flayers.
- elemental: Elemental creatures are native to the Elemental Chaos. Examples: demons, efreets, elementals, and titans.
- fey: Fey creatures are native to the Feywild. Examples: cyclopses, eladrin, elves, gnomes, hags, and treants.
- immortal: Immortal creatures are native ot the Astral Sea. Unless they are killed, they live forever. Examples: angels and devils
- natural: Natural creatures are native to the natural world. Examples: dragons, dwarves, goblins, humans, and trolls.
- shadow: Shadow creatures are native to the Shadowfell. Examples: nightmares and wraiths.
Most adventureres have the natural origin, unless otherwise noted. A monster's origin is noted in its stat block.[RC:60-61]