The Bonnacon
The bonnacon looks like a bull with inward-curving horns too soft to gore. Its true defense: launching burning dung behind it, enough to scorch forests and foes.
Story beats
- 1) Hunters mock the beast’s curled horns, assuming it harmless.
- 2) Pursued, the bonnacon unleashes a fiery spray that forces them back.
- 3) Chroniclers note the stench and heat; even armor is no shield.
- 4) The beast charges away while its pursuers choke in smoke.
Context & symbolism
Bonnacon entries in bestiaries mix humor and warning: underestimate the ridiculous at your peril. The beast is a medieval meme about unexpected weapons and the folly of pride.
Its inward horns hint that not all defenses are obvious; some are messy and indirect.
Motifs
- Comic monsters
- Nontraditional weapons
- Hunter hubris
- Flaming retreats
Use it in play
- Encounter a bonnacon stampede; avoid the burning spray while herding it.
- Harvest its caustic dung as alchemical fuel—carefully.
- Place a bonnacon in a royal menagerie; hilarity and disaster ensue.
- Use the beast as living artillery in a siege; position wisely.
Comparative threads
- Odd defenses: Skunk spray, bombardier beetles.
- Comic bestiary beasts: Yale with swivel horns, ant-lion hybrids.
Hooks and campaign seeds
- A forest fire starts; footprints suggest a fleeing bonnacon.
- A jester claims bonnacon droppings cure poison; test the recipe.
- Hunters put a bounty on the beast; do you protect or exploit it?