History OurDragonsAreDifferent / Anime

[[quoteright:250:[[Anime/DragonBallZ http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ShenronDBZep240_6160.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[-The best part? He GRANTS WISHES!!-] ]]

* In the ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' universe, the "demon race" and the "godly race" are vying for control of the world. The godly race usually take on the form of Western-style dragons, but can assume human form if they so wish. Filia, a character from the third season, is a Golden Dragon that apparently isn't much used to her form as a blonde human female -- her pointed tail frequently pops out from under her dress whenever she's emotionally excited (which usually tends to happen when she's in the presence of the {{Trickster}} demon, Xellos).
** Though technically, Filia isn't a god herself. The Shinzoku do often resemble dragons, but actual flesh-and-blood dragons like Filia are just a mortal race that serves them. Which explains why they're so much weaker than their supposed opposite numbers, the Mazoku. The novels themselves state that dragons are far, ''far'' outclassed by Mazoku. It's actually a minor plot point in the seventh novel.
** The Golden Dragons are special. Lina mentions in ''NEXT'' that Golden Dragons are some of the smallest dragons, but also one of the most magical and most intelligent. Dragons of other species they come across in the series seem to be little more than big lizards with wings and (usually) some sort of BreathWeapon, while even [[PersonOfMassDestruction Lina]] would hesitate to go up against a Golden Dragon.
*** That said, even regular dragons are intelligent enough to communicate with one another. After Lina is referred to as the "Dragon Spooker" a couple of times and browbeats an explanation out of someone (viz. her reputation is such that even dragons will step aside when she passes) we're treated to a scene where a dragon comes along and starts wreaking havoc in the village...until it spots Lina and starts trying to leave as casually as possible.
* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' and its [[TabletopGame/YuGiOh attendant]] CollectibleCardGame feature a number of dragons, most famously Kaiba's iconic Blue Eyes White Dragon.
* In the ''Anime/YuGiOh'' anime, two of the three Egyptian Gods are dragons and three of the most five powerful monsters are dragons (Dragon Master Knight, Five-Headed Dragon and Malefic Truth Dragon).
* In ''Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters'', the fifth Trial is about slaying the five evil dragons Tyrant Dragon, Luster Dragon #2, Serpent Night Dragon, Aqua Dragon and Meteor Dragon, who later fuse to become Five-Headed Dragon (despite that Aqua Dragon is technically a Sea Serpent-type monster, so the fusion is technically illegal). Yugi and his friends get also dragons: Yugi has temporarily the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Jonouchi has Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Anzu has Seiyaryu, Honda has Thunder Dragon (which is technically a Thunder-type monster) and Sugoroku has Curse of the Dragon.
* Many trump cards of the ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' characters are either dragons or have "dragon/dragoon" in their name or actually resemble dragons.
* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' has the Signer Dragons, the main and signature cards of the heroes. They are Stardust Dragon, Red Dragon Archfield, Black Rose Dragon, Ancient Fairy Dragon, [[spoiler:Black Feathered Dragon and Life Stream Dragon]].
* ''Anime/YuGiOhBondsBeyondTime'' has [[BigBad Paradox]] who travels through time and steals the dragon cards of the strongest players and corrupting their monsters into ''Malefic'' monsters. His deck contains [[Anime/YuGiOh5Ds Malefic Stardust Dragon]], [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Malefic Cyber End Dragon, Malefic Rainbow Dragon,]] [[Manga/YuGiOh Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon]]. Also, he has Malefic Paradox Dragon and Malefic Truth Dragon as his own cards. Though, Malefic Cyber End Dragon is technically a Machine-type monster.
* Yuma from ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'' has Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, a monster that can power itself up twice, and ZW Tornado Bringer. Kite has Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and his upgrade Neo Galaxy-Eyes. While not technically a dragon, Shark's Shark Drake is very draconian. Kaito's RobotBuddy Orbital 7 uses a deck with an XYZ called Googly-Eyes Drum Dragon, which is also incredibly powerful, but technically a Machine.
* And then there's ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'', which largely focuses on dragons as well. We have Yuya's Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon, Yuto's Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, Yugo's Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, Yuri's Starve Venom Fusion Dragon, and Jack's Red Wyvern and Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend. You can also count Constellar Ptolemy M7, who is very dragon-like despite being a Machine.
* As do ''Anime/DuelMasters'' and its [[TabletopGame/DuelMasters CCG]]. Shobu's signature card is Bolshack Dragon. Worth noting is that there are four types of dragons, including zombie dragons, not to mention "wyverns" that look like dragons but don't count as them (uh...), "Dragonoid" lizardmen, and giant reptiles called Dune Geckos. This was a CCG that was fond of horrible, destructive, scaly things.
* ''Roleplay/RecordOfLodossWar'' has at least three distinct "flavors" of dragons. Wyverns are small (read: elephant-sized), unintelligent, non-fiery, two-legged dragons that are domesticated and flown by knights. "Common" dragons are bestial, apparently wingless (there's only one shown so it's hard to judge all of them), huge fire-breathers. The Great Dragons, of which only five exist, are monsters the size of mountains with incredibly vast powers of intelligence and magical skill and close ties to the gods, who guard legendary treasures. The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PLUD7gEqTA intro]] has a point that scales Humans to Wyverns then to a Great Dragon[[note]]it starts at about 43 seconds in.[[/note]]
* ''Manga/DragonHalf'' features Mink, a [[HumanoidAnimals half-dragon girl]] with horns, tiny bat wings on her back (which somehow let her fly) and the ability to breathe fire. Her mother is portrayed as a shapeshifting red Western dragon.
* Dragons in ''Manga/NaruTaru'' are about as different as they can get: [[spoiler: ''baby planets'' shapeshifted into vaguely starfish-like flying immortal monsters with the power to duplicate any object they come in contact with who need to fuse with a human ([[DolphinsDolphinsEverywhere or other intelligent lifeform]]) host then join with another dragon/human pairing to grow into an actual planet.]] And the series is still chock-full of traditional dragon lore symbolism.
* In ''Manga/TheFiveStarStories'' the word dragon is best read as "mysterious alien god". Despite looking more or less like typical European dragons with a few more Eastern influences & some vaguely insectoid characteristics & pretty much living like animals most of the time, they are superintelligent & telepathic (even being able to ''hack computers with their minds'') & breathe ''quasars'' instead of fire. It is said they are actually a form of {{Organic Technology}} Superweapon created by a lost civilization. Luckily for the humans, it seems they just want to be left alone.
* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' has Friedrich; a cat-sized silver dragon whelp (Wyvern-type body) that can grow to adult size when [[TheBeastmaster Caro]] unseals him, and Voltaire; a {{Kaiju}}-sized, humanoid, ancient black guardian dragon that can launch searing torrents of flame from its mouth and wing tips.
* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', its Dragons are a mix of both Western and Eastern versions, whereby their physical form resembles the Western versions but like the Eastern dragons are highly intelligent and possesses insane amount of magic that overpowers almost all humans.
** Dragons were once the dominant species of Earthland who mostly regarded humans as a food source but were exterminated to the brink of extinction by a special breed of humans, dubbed Dragon Slayers, who were taught Dragon Slaying magic by Dragons who believed humans and dragons can co-exist harmoniously. There was a war, set 400 years before the manga, that pitted the dragons who subjugated humans against those who were Pro-humans and their Dragons Slayers. Except for Acnologia, those few dragons who survived lead reclusive lives away from and not meddling in the lives of humans. Only recently has the other surviving dragons become more active, by fostering and training orphans to be a new generation of Dragon Slayers in anticipation of a future war with Acnologia.
** All the Dragons tend to vary in personality from what is shown in or described. Grandine was very kind and gentle. Igneel was a strict and harsh but loving parent. Metallicana was a cruel jerk than none the less still took Gajeel and raised him. Zirconis despises humans, eats them, and thinks teaching humans dragon magic should have been forbidden, but is at least willing to converse civilly with humans and will give valuable info. [[spoiler:Irene]] sees humans as less than bugs and has no problems torturing or killing them [[spoiler:due to their treatment of her despite everything she did to help them]], but at least can show some affection for those who prove themselves [[spoiler:like how Zeref did for her by letting her regain her human appearance, even if she couldn't biologically be human anymore]]. [[spoiler:Acnologia]] attacks all humans brutally on sight and comes off as a beast despite his intelligence because he believes humans are such vermin they aren't worth the effort of speaking to [[spoiler:despite the fact he still is human, or at least can return to his human form when he wants]].
** It's also possible for Dragons to be created artificially. [[spoiler: When Dragon Slayers begin to mature and further their Magic, they eventually unlock [[SuperMode Dragon Force]], which begins to change their body's physiology more and more to that of an actual dragon, including scales and, in some cases, wing-like growths. As they mature more and more, a Dragon Slayer's body and mind eventually starts to become more and more permanently like that of a dragon, usually accelerated by the process of killing other Dragons and bathing in their blood, until they finally become actual Dragons in form ''unless'' they have certain antibodies to prevent it.]] This was how [[spoiler:Acnologia and Irene]] became what they are today, and [[spoiler:was why Igneel, Metallicana, Grandine, Weisslogia and Skiadrum sealed themselves inside their children to prevent them from ending up like him by developing those antibodies inside their bodies.]]
*** Following through on that [[spoiler:artificial Dragons can return to their original humanoid forms and switch between forms at will, though they are still biologically dragons. Irene found, despite Zeref's magic restoring her human form, she still [[SenseLossSadness couldn't taste the flavor of food, was incapable of sleeping, and always felt cold like she was cold-blooded instead of warm-blooded]]. Whether Zeref did something similar to Acnologia is unknown, though he doesn't seem bothered by it]].
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' has Hiei and his Black Dragon spirit. It's called the Dragon of the Darkness Flame (in the English dub, at least) and is made of black fire. He usually keeps it sealed in his right arm.
* Dragons are apparently little more than very very dangerous beasts in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima''. So far, three? have appeared. One was inside the library for some reason, guarding something. Another got its face stomped on by Kaede for a bounty, and [[TookALevelInBadass Yue]] took down a Griffon Dragon with barely any supplies except her magical artifact once she bothered to actually study magic. Sooo... the whole 'danger' factor is highly reduced by the fact that they're [[EliteMook not really]] characters.
** Then one showed up, an ancient Guardian Dragon who can match Jack Rakan in combat. Scary.
*** One could argue said dragon wasn't so great after all, when it was one-hit-ko'd by one of the villain's summons, at least until you consider that said summon was using literal hax to write it out of existence. Negima seems to use dragons as a way of showcasing how the characters have grown or how strong they are, as it seems that anyone that isn't at least a fairly important or relevant character very much hesitates to face off against one (Eva actually gets really angry at Negi when he asks early on how much training he'd need to fight one).
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'' has Shenlong, the Earth's dragon and a definite Eastern dragon, with a long, slender body, tiny arms and legs, brown horns, and a green mane. He doesn't seem that great of a fighter, although he has the power to grant wishes if someone assembles the show's titular [[MacGuffin MacGuffins]]. His wishes have certain limitations; for instance, he can't grant the same wish twice, and can't completely regenerate someone who's been dead a very long time. He also speaks in an older dialect, which implies intelligence. A dragon named Polunga is seen on another planet who is more humanoid and is more powerful than Shenlong, having fewer restrictions on his wishes and being able to grant three in one summoning (Shenlong is eventually upgraded to have the same capacity).
** In ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' Shenlong is corrupted and each Dragon Ball turns into a Wicked Dragon, most of which were vaguely reptilian humanoids that could cause planets to self-destruct just by existing.
*** Yi Xing Long is a white, tall dragonic humanoid with lots of SpikesOfVillainy. Rather than possessing ElementalPowers like the other, he represents negative energy overall.
*** Liang Xing Long resembles a large dragonic-toad who poisons people to weaken them since he himself is very weak.
*** San Xing Long and Si Xing Long are a pair of twins who look like slim dragonic humanoids with a slim bodybuild and wings. They control ice and heat and have matching colors to their powers.
*** Wu Xing Long looks like a small humanoid pteranodon, but he can absorb electricity to cover himself by a pink slim armor that looks like a gigantic and fat version of himself. And he's lethally weak to water.
*** Liu Xing Long is an ugly, winged dragonic humanoid being who can disguise herself as a beautiful woman with blue skin. She controls wind.
*** Qi Xing Long initially appears as a gigantic purple mole with no dragon features whatsoever. After absorbing Pan, he becomes much larger, and becomes a weird mix of a dragon and a blue mole, now having fins on his head and two tails. Besides absorbing living beings to become powerful, he creates earthquakes. His true form is that of a little bit oversized mole.
** Finally, ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' introduces the Dragon God Zarama, who created the Super Dragon Balls, which are the size of planets and scattered throughout two mirror universes. If gathered, he will grant any one wish with no restrictions. The other Dragon Balls were made based upon his creations. Super Shenlong is so huge, galaxies look like BishieSparkles in comparison.
* ''Anime/SpiritedAway'': Haku AKA [[spoiler:the spirit of the Kohaku River]] is an Eastern Dragon that's able to take on a humanoid form.
* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' has several species who are considered dragon and are distinguishable by the suffix ''dramon''(Though not always, most predominantly in the "Four Great Dragons" family.) in their name. Dragon-like Digimon tend to be partnered up with the main character.
** Their appearance are also non-consistent with almost anything, Davis's Digimon in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', Veemon, is a humanoid (if rather short) blue dragon-type Digimon, with two legs, two arms and a tail. Or Guilmon, partner of Takato's in ''Anime/{{Digimon Tamers}}'', who's a red dragon-reptile-like Digimon with two arms with three claws, and two legs, also having three claws. Pretty crazy.
*** The "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Four Great Dragons]]" group consists of [[http://wikimon.net/images/2/24/Holydramon.jpg Magnadramon]] (who was formerly a ''cat'' at one point in its lifespan), [[http://wikimon.net/images/f/f4/Megidramon.jpg Megidramon]] (the evil-aligned final form of aforementioned Guilmon), [[http://wikimon.net/images/3/37/Goddramon.jpg Goldramon]], and [[http://wikimon.net/images/2/2b/Qinglongmon.jpg Azulongmon]], the last of whom looks most like a traditional dragon (of the Chinese variety). As Digimon are said to be born of computer data about things from the human world, it makes sense that so many kinds of dragons would be present in the series.
** In ''Anime/DigimonXrosWars'', [[DraconicHumanoid Dorbickmon]]'s army is composed entirely of dragon Digimon, except that he expands the definition of dragon to include [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent anything even remotely reptilian]]. In addition to assorted 'dramons his army includes Brachimon and [=DarkTyrannomon=], which are [[DinosaursAreDragons dinosaur Digimon]] as well as [=FlareLizarmon=] and Salamandemon, which are more or less exactly what their [[FierySalamander names]] suggest. A Devidramon tries to force [[LizardFolk Shoutmon]] to fight in Dorbickmon's army. Dorbickmon even [[FusionDance DigiXroses]] with a Huanglongmon, which is the leader of the Digimon equivalent of TheFourGods in the rest of the franchise, to show off how badass he's supposed to be.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' has Hyorinmaru, a [[EmpathicWeapon zanpakuto]], generated from the soul of its user, and while they provide the majority of abilities for their masters, the Zanpakuto are beings unto themselves, often sharing similar personality traits as their masters, and more than a few seem to represent their respective masters' inner, repressed feelings. Here's an example; being the zanpakuto of Toshiro [[AnIcePerson Hitsugaya]], Hyorinmaru is an ice dragon, apparently one of calm, gruff wisdom, while Hitsugaya himself is a mature, but grumpy dude that is actually more emotional than he'd like to let on. While in his human form, Hyorinmaru is calm, quiet and obedient, whereas Hitsugaya is irritable and more prone to temperamental outbursts than his ice dragon mentor.
* In ''Manga/{{Kurohime}}'', dragons are usually golems made from [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons magic bullets.]] In some cases, they're whales who [[TimeyWimeyBall eat time]] and [[BlowYouAway freaking fly.]]
** However, even the golem type ones are considered as powerful creatures that only strong and skilled mage/witch can summon.
* In ''Manga/RaveMaster'', dragons originate from a dragon clan, which are LizardFolk until a certain age, at which they either pass a test (and become human looking) or fail it (and turn into a feral dragon.) Appearance wise, they are western four legs two wing style.
* ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'''s dragons seem bizarre to modern audiences, sporting only two limbs(webbed to the bodies like a squirrel, in lieu of actual wings), blade-tipped tails, somewhat pudgy bodies and snakelike heads, but these animalistic, fire-spitting beasts are probably closer to the dragons of traditional Western folklore than just about any other anime. Also, their hearts are used to power giant robots. That part's not so traditional.
** The dragons shown in the Anime are known as Chiiryu (Literally Earth Dragons), [[AllThereInTheManual further reading]] has that there are three tiers of dragons, Chiiryu Suiryuu and Tenryuu, for the land, sea and sky respectively and that each one is infinitely more powerful than the last. Also while the Chiiryu borrow from western dragons the Suiryuu are more traditionally eastern type dragons (they can be seen in the architecture of Asturia).
* This is basically the largest plot point of ''LightNovel/DragonCrisis''.
* Ryuujin the Dragon God in ''Manga/{{Yaiba}}'' is supposed to be the classical, huge eastern dragon. He actually has a human avatar as a badass samurai warrior. [[spoiler: His true form is revealed when Yaiba uses the full power of the Orb of Ryuujin.]]
* Several [[{{Robeast}} Mechanical Beasts]] from ''Anime/MazingerZ'' resembled dragons, and the aspect and weapons of each one of them was different: Gelbros J3 looked like a bypedal dragon with three heads could shoot heat waves, soundwaves or acid streams: Drago Omega 1 resembled an Eastern, flying dragon shoot missiles...
* ''Anime/CombattlerV'': Kiiru, the "Slave Beast" showed up in episode 9 was Garuda's dragon pet (Let me stress this: Garuda's pet was A FREAKING DRAGON). She resembled an eastern dragon, with antler horns, long whiskers, rectangular snout and a long, sinuous body. She could breath fire from her mouth, shooting beams from her eyes and regenerate herself. And it was a MamaBear, too.
* ''Manga/SgtFrog'' has two instances of dragons, with the main alien cast transforming into dragons with missiles, dragons with energy blasts, even a ninja dragon with a BFS.
* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', if anyone makes the mistake of [[spoiler: trying to depower Touma Kamijou by cutting off Imagine Breaker, his AntiMagic / PowerNullifier right hand, a massive dragon called "The Invisible Thing" will emerge from the stump. It turns out that Imagine Breaker was actually a seal that kept the dragon sealed within Touma's body. It is one of the most powerful beings in the Toaruverse.]]
** References are also made to "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George_and_the_Dragon St. George's Dragon]]" by the magic side. The being actually called DRAGON later in the story is, however, [[spoiler:Aiwass, mentor of Aleister Crowley and the most powerful being in the series seen so far.]]
* The first filler arc of ''Manga/OnePiece'' revolves around an elderly dragon, which looks more like a gigantic bird. And that's when it's not curled up into a big ball of feathers, which is the position it spends most of the arc in.
** [[spoiler:In chapter 655 the crew has now run into a giant western style dragon which can apparently talk. Except it turns out that it wasn't the dragon talking. It was a set of human legs with no upper body or head that can talk and had been attached to the dragon..., thanks to Trafalgar Law]].
** Later they encounter a small talking Eastern style dragon [[spoiler:who is actually the son of the samurai they met earlier. He ate an artificial Zoan type Devil Fruit that turned him into a dragon.]]
* ''LightNovel/DemonKingDaimao'' has Peterhausen, a ridiculously large western dragon that breathes drills and missiles.
* Drago from ''Anime/{{Bakugan}}'', who can actually curl up into a tiny ball when he is not fighting.
** Well, let's not sugar coat it. This anime is full of this! Dharak, Rubanoid, Plitheon, Avior, Wayvern, Naga, Percival, Hydranoid, and Helios are all dragons or dragonn-like beings.
* There are a lot of dragons in ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'' and are considered to be the most powerful race in-universe. Issei, the protagonist, is considered as one even though he's still a human-devil hybrid (he was killed at the beginning of the story thus reincarnated to a devil) because he has a dragon sealed in his left arm named Ddraig, a Welsh dragon.
* ''Anime/DragonautTheResonance'' has dragons [[RecycledInSpace coming from space]] in many different shapes and sizes. Specifically, they're spawned from a giant space-dragon [[ThatsNoMoon that takes the form of a planet]]. These dragons can also take on a human form [[BondCreatures after resonating with a human being]].
* ''Anime/SwordArtOnline'' has a dragon that eats crystals. We find out in that same episode that crystals are also '''[[ToiletHumor dragon poop]]''' as well.
* Many of the more powerful cards in ''Anime/CardfightVanguard'' are dragons, and many characters have used at least one at some point. Most of the Kagero and Narukami clans are outright dragon-themed, and Tachikaze make heavy use of ''DinosaursAreDragons''.
* In ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', Hatori Sohma is the Dragon of the EasternZodiac. Unfortunately for him, the curse considers [[SeahorsesAreDragons sea-horses to be the closest to real-life dragons]].
** Although it's said that in the past the cursed did change into 'real' dragon, and Hatori changing into sea-horse[[SeahorsesAreDragons (which in japanese is called 'dragon's bastard child']] is one of the signs that [[spoiler:the curse is weakening.]]
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', [[spoiler:Kabuto claims that he has evolved from a snake to a dragon after mastering the Sennen Mode.]]
* The movie villain Baron Salamander from ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' can transform from a human into a dragon.
* Melan from ''Anime/DokiDokiPrecure'' is a fairy who looks like a tiny turtle lady, but can transform into a powerful Western-style dragon. [[spoiler:She also defeats the five Pretty Cures twice to test them.]]
* ''Anime/CrossAnge'' is all about a group of normal girls forced to fight dragons in Cool-But-Unreliable Mecha in a world that HATES them. The dragons as they seem are alien enough, using rifts to cross dimensional barriers and armed with a ranged-biological arsenal that rivals the latest in advanced technology. Then the second half of the anime comes along and it turns out that [[spoiler:the miniature dragons are female were-dragons and are biologically compatible with the mega-giant alpha males. Their ancestors genetically augmented themselves after World War 7 and the BigBad decided to steal their supreme leader for use as a mana reactor, AURA. The kicker is that magic in Ange's world (which hates her because they can use magic and she can't) is powered by none other than the efforts of Ange and company, as killing dragons powers the reactor]].
* In ''Manga/MyMonsterSecret'', [[KidFromTheFuture Rin's]] dragon looks like a pretty standard western dragon… except it can [[YourSizeMayVary grow and shrink at will]], [[MundaneUtility do shopping for you]] and you can live inside it. As in, [[BiggerOnTheInside the inside is literally an apartment]], with rent and all. Oh, and it's also a TimeMachine.
* ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'': Due to the FantasyKitchenSink nature of [[Creator/CoolKyouShinsha Cool-kyou Shinsha's]] [[TheVerse verse]], all of the dragons have vastly different powers and appearances. The only real consistencies seem to be their ability to fly and use magic (generally to turn into human form). It's also important to note that Tohru's fight with the gods and Quetzalcoatl's backstory demonstrates that dragons are the level of power below godhood in the series.
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* Yuma from ''Anime/YuGiOhZexal'' has Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, a monster that can power itself up twice, and ZW Tornado Bringer. Kite has Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and his upgrade Neo Galaxy-Eyes. While not technically a dragon, Shark's Shark Drake is very draconian. Kaito's RobotBuddy Orbital 7 uses a deck with an XYZ called Googly-Eyes Drum Dragon, which is also incredibly powerful, but technically a Machine.

*** Yi Xing Long is a white, tall dragonic humanoid with lots of SpikesOfVillany. Rather than possessing ElementalPowers like the other, he represents negative energy overall.

* There are a lot of dragons in ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD'' and are considered to be the most powerful race in-universe. Issei, the protagonist, is considered as one even though he's still a human-devil hybrid (he was killed at the beginning of the story thus reincarnated to a devil) because he has a dragon sealed in his left arm named Ddraig, a Welsh dragon.

** In ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' Shenlong is corrupted and each dragon ball turns into a Wicked Dragon, most of which were vaguely reptilian humanoids that could cause planets to self-destruct just by existing.
** Finally, ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' introduces the Dragon God Zarama, who created the Super Dragon Balls, which are the size of planets and scattered throughout two mirror universes. If gathered, he will grant any one wish with no restrictions. The other dragon balls were made based upon his creations.

* ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'': Due to the FantasyKitchenSink nature of Cool-kyou Shinsha's [[TheVerse verse]], all of the dragons have vastly different powers and appearances. The only real consistencies seem to be their ability to fly and change into human form (and the women [[AuthorAppeal almost always have large breasts]]).

* In ''Manga/MyMonsterSecret'', [[KidFromTheFuture Rin's]] dragon looks like a pretty standard western dragon… except it can [[YourSizeMayVary grow and shrink at will]], [[MundaneUtility do shopping for you]] and you can live inside it. As in, [[BiggerOnTheInside the inside is literally an appartment]], with rent and all. Oh, and it's also a TimeMachine.

* ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'': Due to the FantasyKitchenSink nature Cool-kyou Shinsha's [[TheVerse verse]], all of the dragons have vastly different powers and appearances. The only real consistencies seem to be their ability to fly and change into human form (and the women [[AuthorAppeal almost always have large breasts]]).

** All the Dragons tend to vary in personality from what is shown in or described. Grandine was very kind and gentle. Igneel was a strict and harsh but loving parent. Metallicana was a cruel jerk than none the less still took Gajeel and raised him. Zirconis despises humans, eats them, and thinks teaching humans dragon magic should have been forbidden, but is at least willing to converse civilly with humans and will give valuable info. [[spoiler:Acnologia]] attacks all humans brutally on sight and comes off as a beast despite his intelligence because he believes humans are such vermin they aren't worth the effort of speaking to [[spoiler:despite the fact he still is human, or at least can return to his human form when he wants]].
** It's also possible for Dragons to be created artificially. [[spoiler: When Dragon Slayers begin to mature and further their Magic, they eventually unlock [[SuperMode Dragon Force]], which begins to change their body's physiology more and more to that of an actual dragon, including scales and, in some cases, wing-like growths. As they mature more and more, a Dragon Slayer's body eventually starts to become more and more permanently like that of a dragon, usually accelerated by the process of killing other Dragons and bathing in their blood, until they finally become actual Dragons in form with the ability to change back and forth ''unless'' they have certain antibodies to prevent it.]] This was how [[spoiler:Acnologia]] became what he is today, and [[spoiler: was why Igneel, Metallicana, Grandine, Weisslogia and Skiadrum sealed themselves inside their children to prevent them from ending up like him by developing those antibodies inside their bodies.]]

* Ryuujin the Dragon God in ''Manga/{{Yaiba}}'' is supposed to be the classical, huge eastern dragon. He actually has a human avatar as a BadAss samurai warrior. [[spoiler: His true form is revealed when Yaiba uses the full power of the Orb of Ryuujin.]]

* ''Manga/KobayashiSanChiNoMaidDragon'': Due to the FantasyKitchenSink nature Cool-kyou Shinsha's [[TheVerse verse]], all of the dragons have vastly different powers and appearances. The only real consistencies seem to be their ability to fly and change into human form (and the women [[AuthorAppeal almost always have large breasts]]).

** Most of ''Franchise/YuGiOh'''s most powerful cards are in fact dragons (if not, they most likely have "Dragon" in their name somewhere). To wit: Stardust Dragon, Dark Armed Dragon, Judgment Dragon, etc. etc...
*** Two of the three Egyptian Gods are dragons (Slifer the Sky Dragon, The Winged Dragon of Ra, both of them are actually "Divine Beast"-monsters) and the three of the most five powerful monsters are dragons (Dragon Master Knight, Five-Headed Dragon and Malefic Truth Dragon).
** In ''Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters'', the fifth Trial is about slaying the five evil dragons Tyrant Dragon, Luster Dragon #2, Serpent Night Dragon, Aqua Dragon and Meteor Dragon, who later fuse to become Five-Headed Dragon (despite that Aqua Dragon is technically a Sea Serpent-type monster, so the fusion is technically illegal). Yugi and his friends get also dragons: Yugi has temporarily the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Jonouchi has Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Anzu has Seiyaryu, Honda has Thunder Dragon (which is technically a Thunder-type monster) and Sugoroku has Curse of the Dragon.
** Many trump cards of the ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' characters are either dragons or have "dragon/dragoon" in their name or actually resemble dragons.
** ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' has the Signer Dragons, the main and signature cards of the heroes. They are Stardust Dragon, Red Dragon Archfield, Black Rose Dragon, Ancient Fairy Dragon, [[spoiler:Black Feathered Dragon and Life Stream Dragon]].
** ''Anime/YuGiOhTenthAnniversaryMovie'' has [[BigBad Paradox]] who travels through time and steals the dragon cards of the strongest players and corrupting their monsters into ''Malefic'' monsters. His deck contains [[Anime/YuGiOh5Ds Malefic Stardust Dragon]], [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Malefic Cyber End Dragon, Malefic Rainbow Dragon,]] [[Manga/YuGiOh Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon]]. Also, he has Malefic Paradox Dragon and Malefic Truth Dragon as his own cards. Though, Malefic Cyper End Dragon is technically a Machine-type monster.
** Yuma from ''Anime/YuGiOhZexal'' has Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, a monster that can power itself up twice, and ZW Tornado Bringer. Kite has Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and his upgrade Neo Galaxy-Eyes. While not technically a dragon, Shark's Shark Drake is very draconian. Kaito's RobotBuddy Orbital 7 uses a deck with an XYZ called Googly-Eyes Drum Dragon, which is also incredibly powerful, but technically a Machine.
** And then there's ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'', which largely focuses on dragons as well. We have Yuya's Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon, Yuto's Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, Yugo's Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, Yuri's Starve Venom Fusion Dragon, and Jack's Red Wyvern and Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend. You can also count Constellar Ptolemy M7, who is very dragon-like despite being a Machine.

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'' has Shenlong, the Earth's dragon and a definite Eastern dragon, with a long, slender body, tiny arms and legs, brown horns, and a green mane. He doesn't seem that great of a fighter, although he has the power to grant wishes if someone assembles the show's titular [[MacGuffin MacGuffins]]. He also speaks in an older dialect, which implies intelligence. A dragon named Polunga is seen on another planet who is more humanoid and is more powerful than Shenlong.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' Shenlong is corrupted and each dragon ball turns into a Wicked Dragon, most of which were vaguely reptilian humanoids that could cause planets to self-destruct just by existing.

* Ryuujin the Dragon God in ''{{Yaiba}}'' is supposed to be the classical, huge eastern dragon. He actually has a human avatar as a BadAss samurai warrior. [[spoiler: His true form is revealed when Yaiba uses the full power of the Orb of Ryuujin.]]

** And then there's ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'', which largely focuses on dragons as well. We have Yuya's Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, [[spoiler:Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon]], Yuto's Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, Yugo's Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, Yuri's Starve Venom Fusion Dragon whose name has not been revealed yet, and [[spoiler:Jack's Red Wyvern and Red Dragon Archfiend Scarright]]. You can also count Constellar Ptolemy M7, who is very dragon-like despite being a Machine.

* ''DragonHalf'' features Mink, a [[HumanoidAnimals half-dragon girl]] with horns, tiny bat wings on her back (which somehow let her fly) and the ability to breathe fire. Her mother is portrayed as a shapeshifting red Western dragon.

* In ''TheFiveStarStories'' the word dragon is best read as "mysterious alien god". Despite looking more or less like typical European dragons with a few more Eastern influences & some vaguely insectoid characteristics & pretty much living like animals most of the time, they are superintelligent & telepathic (even being able to ''hack computers with their minds'') & breathe ''quasars'' instead of fire. It is said they are actually a form of {{Organic Technology}} Superweapon created by a lost civilization. Luckily for the humans, it seems they just want to be left alone.

* ''KeroroGunsou'' has two instances of dragons, with the main alien cast transforming into dragons with missiles, dragons with energy blasts, even a ninja dragon with a BFS.

* In ''{{Kurohime}}'', dragons are usually golems made from [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons magic bullets.]] In some cases, they're whales who [[TimeyWimeyBall eat time]] and [[BlowYouAway freaking fly.]]

* There are a lot of dragons in ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'' and are considered to be the most powerful race in-universe. Issei, the protagonist, is considered as one even though he's still a human-devil hybrid (he was killed at the beginning of the story thus reincarnated to a devil) because he has a dragon sealed in his left arm named Ddraig, a Welsh dragon.

** And then there's ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'', which largely focuses on dragons as well. We have Yuya's Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, [[spoiler:Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon]], Yuto's Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, Yugo's Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, Yuri's Fusion Dragon whose name has not been revealed yet, and [[spoiler:Jack's Red Wyvern and Red Dragon Archfiend Scarright]]. You can also count Constellar Ptolemy M7, who is very dragon-like despite being a Machine.

* In ''Manga/JitsuWaWatashiWa'', [[KidFromTheFuture Rin's]] dragon looks like a pretty standard western dragon… except it can [[YourSizeMayVary grow and shrink at will]], [[MundaneUtility do shopping for you]] and you can live inside it. As in, [[BiggerOnTheInside the inside is literally an appartment]], with rent and all. Oh, and it's also a TimeMachine.

** ''Anime/YuGiOhTenthAnniversaryMovie'' has [[BigBad Paradox]] who travels through time and steals the dragon cards of the strongest players and corrupting their monsters into ''Malefic'' monsters. His deck contains [[YuGiOh5Ds Malefic Stardust Dragon]], [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Malefic Cyber End Dragon, Malefic Rainbow Dragon,]] [[Manga/YuGiOh Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon]]. Also, he has Malefic Paradox Dragon and Malefic Truth Dragon as his own cards. Though, Malefic Cyper End Dragon is technically a Machine-type monster.

* In ''Manga/JitsuWaWatashiWa'', [[KidFromTheFuture Rin's]] dragon looks like a pretty standard western dragon… except it can [[YouSizeMayVary grow and shrink at will]], [[MundaneUtility do shopping for you]] and you can live inside it. As in, its belly is literally an appartment, with rent and all. Oh, and it's also a time machine.

* ''Anime/CrossAnge'' is all about a group of normal girls forced to fight dragons in Cool-But-Unreliable Mecha in a world that HATES them. The dragons as they seem are alien enough, using rifts to cross dimensional barriers and armed with a ranged-biological arsenal that rivals the latest in advanced technology. Then the second half of the anime comes along and it turns out that [[spoiler:the miniature dragons are female were-dragons and are biologically compatible with the mega-giant alpha males. Their ancestors genetically augmented themselves after World War 7 and the BigBad decided to steal their supreme leader as a power plant, AURA, designed to produce mana. The kicker is that magic in Ange's world (which hates her because they can use magic and she can't) is powered by none other than the efforts of Ange and company, as killing dragons powers the reactor]].