Favorite type of Dragon?

[Vilkath]

This is sort of a story research question, as I plan on using a dragon in one my stories some time in the future but I felt it could stand as it's own question.

So basicaly I wanted to know what you felt was your favorite type of dragon, from any source be it anime, book, video game etc and why?

To start off the thread I think I will have to go with, DnD dragons, specificaly Silver dragons. I like that they are smart, powerful and have alternate breath weapons then the sterotypical 'flame'. I like that they can shape change into humans and other nifty abilities, I like how despite they are smart Dnd dragons are not simply 'human' with scales and have totaly different personalties and values.

To expand on this type of thread, what is your least favorite?

To pin on a specfic source, I'd probably say Harry potter or any other series that has dragons be little more then dumb animals who breath fire. I disliked seeing such magical and magestic creatures reduced to the level of cattle waiting to be slaughtered for armor and potion ingrediants.

[Daniel Jess Gibson]

This is sort of a story research question, as I plan on using a dragon in one my stories some time in the future but I felt it could stand as it's own question.

The Scholarly Dragon.

Honestly, the source of the Scholarly Dragon were the Sean Connery-esque dragon from Dragonheart and Black WarGreymon from Digimon. Both were ruthless, powerful, intellectual and understood the world had passed them by in a significant way they really couldn't understand. That gave them a level of pathos that let the audience have sympathy for what would otherwise be an unstoppable killing machine.

It also lets a normal human have a chance of surviving a confrontation with these creatures. They may take pity for some unknown reason, the person might accidentally provide them with a clue to their soul quest, or it might take the person's side in an otherwise hopeless battle, for reasons that the beneficiaries will never understand.

This gives the dragon the majesty and mystery that draws readers.

[Siden]

I'll second the Scholarly Dragon. Regular fantasy-fare dragons are all well and fine when you are looking for a tough monster to fight or a boss battle, but when looking to add dimension and character to the interaction nothing works better than a dragon is just as smart if not smarter than humans.

Another fave of mine when it comes to dragons are the ones from Fred Perry's Gold Digger. Powerful in their dragon form (the level and type of power depends on the type of dragon and their training/experiances) and still plenty dangerous when in human form, they have as wide a range of personalities as the human characters. You have "Rargh, me evil!", "Conniving bastard" and "I'm better than everyone" dragons that appear commonly in fiction, but you also have "Scholarly", "Ditzy", "Casanova", "Valiant" and "Average" personalitiy types. My fave GD dragon has to be old Bahuma though. He doesn't sit around in a lair hoarding gold, he runs a very good inn and collects stories and tales. Tell him a good enough one that he hasn't hear before, and get free room and board for a week.

As for least favourite, I'll have to agree on the Potter-verse "dumb" dragons. Dragons have always been smart and powerful in mythology, and in many cases this has transfered into fantasy and popular media, but not always. There are plenty of other beasties and ghouls out there in mythology and fantasy if you want a tough monster fight, so dumbing down dragons is really not necessary.

[Nekomata-sensei]

I'd go with the 2nd edition D&D Mercury dragon, as when I first started playing D&D that was the monster all my friends said I was most like. The Mercury dragon is one of the smallest major dragon species, has a basically a 'laser beam' breath weapon, wing based blinding reflection attacks, poisonous skin, talked so fast that even someone who could understand draconic only understood 75% of what they said, were the fastest and most agile of fliers of the major dragon species, and in their 3rd edition web update were the only major dragon species with a good dexterity score. Their alignment is chaotic good, which back then was probably my alignment, now I'm more neutral good, or even lawful good, but I still have affection for my old favorite dragon type in D&D.

As for the more general 'type' of dragon I like, I think I prefer the 'wise old master of nature around them to the point of being gods or like gods' eastern style dragons, over the western scholarly dragon, or the dumb dragons. The eastern dragons appeal to me more because they tend to be portrayed as more in tune with and a part of nature, and have a more divine nature that sets them apart as somewhat untouchable and mysterious. They also have less of an arcane flavor compared to the western dragons who seem to love casting spells with all sorts of strange words and funny movements and tend to be portrayed as more aggressive and dangerous rather than mysterious, even when they are the scholarly type.

[Hazard]

Dragons have always been smart and powerful in mythology, and in many cases this has transfered into fantasy and popular media, but not always. There are plenty of other beasties and ghouls out there in mythology and fantasy if you want a tough monster fight, so dumbing down dragons is really not necessary.

I'm sorry to say Siden, that in European fantasy, the first time that there was an intelligent dragon was when Tolkien published the Hobbit. Every dragon before that was little more than an oversized flying reptile with the ability to spit fire. He went very much against stereotype there, while Smaug still was evil, he could also talk and wasn't stupid.

That said, my favorite type of dragons are the Warcraft Reds. Big, powerfull and utterly devoted to protecting and nurturing Life, most aren't the Scholarly type. They aren't fools though, most are old, experienced and know the value of knowledge, making them something more along the lines of the old Warrior-Poets that old time Knights are supposed to be.

Oh and Daniel? Draco, from Dragonheart, was based on and voiced by Sean Connory, so that they are alike is hardly a surprise.

[Vilkath]

While dragons were not always smart as they are now in western fiction, they were at least dangerous. Dragons in most old games and books were at least seen as the end boss, epic quest or one the hardest monsters of the dungeon. You don't see a level 1 hero killing dragons outsie the first town in the old games, it just wasn't done.

Perhaps why I hated the HP dragons even more, despite the claims they were dangerous school children could handle them. Not to mention the handlers were able to transport them across the world, into a single stadium, with their eggs, all without much trouble. It really doesn't make them any more dangerous then most captured animals, long as your not stupid they are easily handled. Which is something I didn't like.

I do like the wise old dragon routine, it is great for character, giving the dragon real dimension if they have some human like traits. Also adds a whole new layer to a story, more differnt story idea's then you can get with the stero typical slay the dragon routine.

[stratagemini]

I'm personally fond of the Hydra myself. which has alternatively been called a serpent and a dragon (because of translation issues). The savage bestiality and outright lethality of the Hydra give you a sense of hopelessness while fighting it, and the fact that it just grows stronger every time you behead it creates a sense of despair when facing it in the hero that's almost palpable. as an Enemy the Hydra is one of the few that can really bring out the true character of a hero. It's a monster with a specific, logical weakness, that requires the Hero to think outside the box to exploit, and requires, most of the time, close combat with a truly lethal beast to exploit.

Black War Greymon and the Scholarly dragon are interesting because interactions with the hero shed light on their character, but they do next to nothing for the hero's character. That's why, in a story about a hero, the Hydra is far superior.

[Tovath]

I'm sorry to say Siden, that in European fantasy, the first time that there was an intelligent dragon was when Tolkien published the Hobbit. Every dragon before that was little more than an oversized flying reptile with the ability to spit fire. He went very much against stereotype there, while Smaug still was evil, he could also talk and wasn't stupid.

Afraid you are wrong there Hazard The Story of Melusine, The Dragon Prince and Jilocasin all predate Tolkien and the are all about intelligent dragons. In fact the Dragon in Jilacasin is a Bard who liked to take human form to show off the new songs hea had written.

As for my favorite type of dragon I would have to say the BookWyrms from Mercedes Lackey's One good Knight.

[Hazard]

Afraid you are wrong there Hazard The Story of Melusine, The Dragon Prince and Jilocasin all predate Tolkien and the are all about intelligent dragons. In fact the Dragon in Jilacasin is a Bard who liked to take human form to show off the new songs hea had written.

Really? Well, learn something new everyday. Thanks.

Ah well, not as if I ever did much research into the matter. Maybe I now have a reason to.

[Daniel Jess Gibson]

Also, don't limit yourself to the reptilian dragon. In Aliens, Ripley's descent into the atmosphere processor to rescue Newt and her confrontation with the Alien Queen was a perfect example of the confrontation with a dragon. Although the Queen's treasure was very different than the typical dragon's, the sentiment, settling and atmosphere were all very much the same.

This is also an example of an intelligent. although nonverbal dragon.

[stratagemini]

Dragons are always one or more of these three things. Intelligent, Cunning, or Powerful.

the first dragon you'll probably find is one of the Babylonian gods. But the monster that Apollo Slew at Delphi is also Identified as a dragon. The story in greek Mythology where a warrior plants dragon's teeth and savage soldiers emerge from the ground where they were planted is also an example of a dragon. The Intelligent speech capable dragon is a fairly modern invention. But dragons have always as far back as there have been dragons, been regarded as cunning, vicious and lethal. they're monsters that need a hero to fight them.

Daniel's right about The queen in Alien being a Dragon in one sense. The traditional Trope is that the Hero has to slay the dragon to accomplish something, either because the dragon is terrorizing the countryside, or because the dragon guards something of extreme value, but the dragon is generally a threat.

You need to think of what you want out of the Dragon that you use. because certain dragons aren't appropriate for certain plots. A Hydra isn't a very good recurring villain for instance.