Monster abilites that reflect "brutality"

[HoboKnight]

Hey guys,
I'm putting together a list of the most brutal monsters, whose stats would reflect brutality and violence, basically CE brutes with perhaps a pinch of spells/abilities. What monsters would fall under this, I have a few examples:

Boar with its Relentless ability - it will just NOT go down
Maw Demons - same, Relentless ability
Berserker with its Reckless ability would be a good example - full on damage with no heed to its own safety/protection
Bearded devil with its Infernal wound ability. Not only that hit target bleeds, but it bleeds more with every turn unless passing a CON save
The Angry Sorrowsworn - gains advantage if hit and deals addition psychic damage upon such attack
Marilith: Reactive ability makes players often say: it does WHAT? OFC after an initial shock of a monster being able to do SEVEN melee attacks per turn



What other monsters would fit in this category?

Thanks!

[Skrum]

Relentless Slasher (Van Richten's) lingering wound ability, extremely high damage per hit

Relentless Juggernaut (Van Richten's) high damage, range of defenses, can turn its surroundings into weapons, reshape the battlefield with how much object damage it deals. It lives up the name

[Segev]

Orc race gets a feature to let them dash as a bonus action if it will let them close to melee.

[JackPhoenix]

Gnolls with their Rampage, which allows them to move and bite as a BA if they drop someone.
Anything that pushes the enemies around or prone would be a good fit too, IMO.
Star Spawn Magler's Flurry of Claws works in a similar vein to your Marilith example.
Star Spawn Hulk's Reaping Arms to attack everything around the monster.
Ogre Chain Brute. Just... everything about it. Including the name.

If you're not afraid to homebrew, something like 3e's Rend (do extra damage if you hit with multiple attacks) or AoE melee attacks similar to the Hulk and Brute mentioned above also have that vibe. Similarly, attack or damage bonuses when the target gets damaged (I remember using something like that before, but I can't remember what it was now, or if it even was an official monster)

[Lalliman]

A gray render knocks prone with its bite and its claws deal extra bludgeoning damage to prone targets. So it tramples you with its weight while mauling you with its claws. It also lashes out indiscriminately as a reaction when it takes damage.

[Segev]

Yeah, Gray Renders are probably one of the best examples of 'brutality' in mechanical form in D&D.

[Sorinth]

Really any "brute" type creature that has a higher CR then the party is really ready for will feel brutal. Something like a Gladiator against a low level party for instance is a pretty brutal fight since they have good AC/HP and are making 3 attacks per turn. Similarly something like a Werewolf because of the damage immunity can feel especially brutal if the party doesn't have much magic damage at hand.

But in terms of abilities I'd add things like a Banshee's Wail or Bodak's Death Gaze can be brutal. But also anything that paralyzes on hit will have a particularly strong brutality factor since turning every hit into a critical is scary as a player when it happens to you.

[Hazard Vanquish]

You know what else is brutal? Dominate Monster on the players.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[kingcheesepants]

While they vary in effectiveness, anything with a swallow ability feels pretty brutal. Your guy just got eaten alive! Very scary and visceral. (Though as I said some swallow attacks are actually kinda meh).

I'd also second anything with insta death effects or ways of bypassing death saves. From shadows and intellect devourers killing through stat reduction to succubi and beholders having attacks that say if you die from this attack you're just dead no saves needed. Especially in cases where the body can't be brought back with revivify or a standard raise dead (if disintegrated or killed by something that has a can't be brought back except via wish ability for example).

[Dalinar]

I don't know that I have specific monsters in mind, but here's what my brain associates with the word "brutality."

A brutal opponent:
-is very threatening to face; "brutal" is in part a difficulty descriptor
-revels in senseless violence; or, for a more lawful or brainy take, believes that a capacity for great violence is a sign of righteousness or superiority
-believes bigger is better; is likely physically imposing themselves, and likely prefers two-handed weapons for melee combat and either thrown weapons or big, noisy firearms for ranged combat
-doesn't believe in subterfuge; leave poison daggers and shadows to the weak who need them

Some amount of this is presentation, some amount can be shown mechanically.

Some monster qualities that fit that description:
-large natural predators, such as bears, dinosaurs, dragons, or other
-fast movement speeds; if it doesn't fly, it can probably at least jump really far
-can take a lot of punishment; likely has a high HP pool, several good saves, and some relevant damage resistances
-some "gory" abilities, such as extra damage on critical hits or damage-over-time bleed effects
-some movement-interfering effects, such as grapples, prones, and forced movement (think Crusher feat). bonus points if it's a ranged pull effect, think "GET OVER HERE." a slowing effect can also work, think hamstringing
-for thinking, language-capable opponents, they likely have underlings who are more afraid of them than they are of the PCs; consider ordering them around with legendary actions, threatening to kill them if they fail, that sort of thing

Most importantly: make sure you are describing in detail how your monster thrashes the PCs around like ragdolls before it pounces on one of them and digs its claws into their stomach, spraying ribbons of blood everywhere. Really, having evocative descriptions for things like that seems like the biggest part of selling it!

An additional narrative technique is to demonstrate them defeating something the PCs struggled with in the past. In a previous campaign, my DM introduced a particular villain, an arrogant bully of a paladin, by having him solo a particular boss monster that our PCs hadn't had time to deal with yet because we were off dealing with some other emergency. We then ran afoul of him later and he kicked our teeth in--it probably would've been a TPK, and at the very least my PC who had egged him on would've died, but we managed to make enough noise to attract some witnesses and played to his reputation to get him to relent. Guy's still out and about, so we'll have to see where that goes.

Hopefully that gives you ideas on things besides the statblock that can sell "brutality." Demonstrate physical strength and toughness and a penchant for using violence as a first resort.

[Unoriginal]

A sapient being who bites their opponent conveys an impression of visceral brutality.

Damaging objects and buildings (or parts of them) also conveys brutality, though for different reasons: instead of empathizing with the pain of the one who gets bitten, the mind is extrapolating "if it can do that to [inanimate object], what can it do to a flesh-and-blood body?".

[JackPhoenix]

A sapient being who bites their opponent conveys an impression of visceral brutality.

I'd say humanoid rather than just sapient; a dragon or an awakened wolf may be sapient, but biting whatever they are fighting is perfectly normal for them.

[Unoriginal]

I'd say humanoid rather than just sapient; a dragon or an awakened wolf may be sapient, but biting whatever they are fighting is perfectly normal for them.

Sure, but the impression is for the witnesses.

It can be even more shocking to see an humanoid do it, true, but a dragon or awakened wolf mauling someone with their fangs is still brutal as heck.

[Vorpalchicken]

Bugbears. Trait: Brute.