Beholders only live for a single century, and most die long before that at the hands of adventurers or others of their power-hungry kind. There have been many Xanathars over the centuries, each with their own motivations and neuroses. The Xanathar that graces the cover of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is not the first beholder to bear that title. For more information, including details about the Xanathar’s identity and its unusual history, read on. His interview provides an excellent big-picture look at the Xanathar and its organization. Todd Kenreck interviewed Chris Perkins and Mike Mearls about the desires of our favorite beholder for the Stream of Many Eyes. Most who know anything about the Xanathar at all simply know that “he” is a mysterious crime lord that has organized one of the mightiest criminal enterprises in Faerûn-other than the Zhentarim, that is. And while we all know the Xanathar to be a beholder, few people in the Forgotten Realms do. The Xanathar has appeared on the cover of three D&D books in the past 4 years: the Monster Manual, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, and now Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.
The Xanathar is one of the four main antagonists of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, and it may well be the best-known of all of them. Monstrous Compendium Volume One: Spelljammer Creatures