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The centaurs of Dungeons & Dragons are based upon the centaurs of Greek mythology, though are much more civilized.[1]

The centaurs first appeared in the original Dungeons & Dragons set (1974).

The centaur appeared in the D&D Expert Set (1981, 1983) and the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991). The centaur appeared as a character class in Tall Tales of the Wee Folk (1989).[2]

The centaur appeared in first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the original Monster Manual (1977).[3] The sea centaur appeared in Dragon #116 (December 1986).

The centaur appeared in second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989) as the "sylvan centaur",[4] reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).[5] The Abanasinian centaur, the Crystalmir centaur, the Endscape centaur, and the Wendle centaur appeared as the centaurs of Krynn for the Dragonlance setting in Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix (1990). The nomadic centaur and the learned ones of the Forgotten Realms setting appeared in The Horde Barbarian Campaign Setting (1990). The desert centaur of the Al-Qadim setting appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Al-Qadim Appendix (1992),[6] and the desert centaur of the Greyhawk setting appeared in the adventure module Rary the Traitor (1992). The centaur is presented as a playable character race in The Complete Book of Humanoids (1993),[7] which allows centaurs to be wizards, but not to advance beyond 12th level.[8] The centaur is later presented as a playable character race again in Player's Option: Skills & Powers (1995).[9]

The centaur appeared in the third edition Monster Manual (2000),[10] and the version 3.5 Monster Manual (2003). The hueleneaer (desert centaur) appeared in Dungeon #103 (October 2003). The centaur appeared as a player character race in Savage Species (2003), the Forgotten Realms book Races of Faerûn (2003), and in Races of the Wild (2005).

The centaur appeared in the fourth edition Monster Manual 2 (2009).