True Giants are a group of very large humanoid creatures that can trace their ancestry back to Annam All-Father and Othea, the primordial parents of giantkind. They are also known as the Ordning, a term that refers to both their social hierarchy and their collective race. True Giants are divided into many subtypes, each associated with a different element, environment, or trait. The most well-known subtypes are the six elemental giants: hill giants, stone giants, frost giants, fire giants, cloud giants, and storm giants. However, there are also other subtypes that have diverged from the main branches of giantkind, such as the two-headed ettins, the one-eyed cyclopes, the deformed fomorians, the aquatic reef giants, and the friendly firbolgs. Each subtype has its own culture, abilities, and goals, but they all share a common respect for strength and a disdain for weakness. True Giants often create their own societies away from other races, but they may also come into conflict with them over resources, territory, or honor. True Giants are among the oldest and most powerful creatures in the Dungeons & Dragons game, and they can pose a formidable challenge to adventurers who encounter them.
Athac
Desert Giant
Firbolg
Fog Giant
Hephaeston
Hill Giant Mouth of Grolanthor
Jungle Giant
Mountain Giant
Reef Giant
Verbeeg
Wood Giant
The Gigantomachy: An Alternative Origin of Giants
Some ancient sources suggest that the Giants were not the children of Uranus and Gaea, but rather the descendants of another primordial deity, Tartarus. Tartarus was the dark abyss below the earth, where the wicked souls and the enemies of the gods were imprisoned and tormented. According to this version, Tartarus mated with Gaea and produced a race of monstrous beings, such as Typhon, Echidna, and the Giants. These creatures were hostile to the Olympian gods and sought to overthrow them.
The Giants in this account were different from the ones in Hesiod’s Theogony. They were not man-sized hoplites, but huge and fearsome beings with various animal features. Some had wings, horns, claws, tails, or multiple heads. Some had serpents for legs, like Typhon. Some had fire-breathing abilities, like Echidna. They were also more powerful and resistant to the gods’ weapons.
The war between the Olympians and the Giants was called the Gigantomachy or the War of the Giants. It was a fierce and long-lasting conflict that involved many gods and heroes. The Giants attacked the Olympian stronghold of Mount Olympus, hurling rocks and flaming trees at the gods. The gods fought back with thunderbolts, arrows, spears, and swords. However, the Giants could not be killed by the gods alone, as they had a prophecy that only a mortal could slay them. Therefore, the gods enlisted the help of Hercules, the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. Hercules used his strength and courage to kill many Giants with his club and arrows. He also assisted the gods in their battles, such as wounding Porphyrion with an arrow so that Zeus could finish him off with a thunderbolt.
The Gigantomachy ended with the victory of the Olympians over the Giants. The surviving Giants were either killed or imprisoned in Tartarus, along with their father and siblings. The Gigantomachy was seen as a symbol of the triumph of order over chaos, of civilization over barbarism, and of good over evil in Greek mythology.