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Mind flayers also appear in some roguelike games, including Angband and Nethack. These games are mostly based on D&D, but use slightly different names and rules to avoid copyright problems. The mind flayers themselves were originally inspired by the Spawn of Cthulhu, creatures from the Cthulhu Mythos.
Illithids are ruled by creatures called Elder Brains- when an Illithid dies its brain is extracted and taken to a special pool in the center of the city, where the fused brain tissue of every Illithid who has ever died floats. Due to their psionic nature, the brains are still "alive" and have in fact amalgamated their intellects together to form a gestalt conciousness. This Elder Brain is the city's leader, and the pool where it floats is also where the Illithids deposit their spawn/tadpoles- despite the fact that the Elder Brain can and often does devour the larvae. An extremely ancient Elder Brain is called a God-Brain, because its psionic powers are now almost limitless.
Illithids rule an Island of Terror in Ravenloft called Bluetspur, where their God-Brain is actually directed by the mind of a human psionicist.
Dungeons & Dragons creatures