History OurDragonsAreDifferent / WesternAnimation

** And in episode "The Magnificent Seven Gummies" the Gummi Bears travel to China to fight an Eastern Dragon.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': Malchior is a very traditional Western kind of dragon, although he plays a less than [[SealedEvilInACan traditional]] [[MailerDaemon role]] for a dragon.

* Dragons in ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' are vaguely-serpentine {{Giant Flyer}}s that breathe fire. Aside from that, [[http://images.wikia.com/adventuretimewithfinnandjake/images/c/c7/Dragon.png "Different" doesn't even begin to cut it.]]

* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'':

** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyG3'': Spike mentions waking up from a 1000-year nap, but he still looks like a baby. That really makes you wonder how dragons age...

* The old Dragon in ''WesternAnimation/NoahsAnimalsAndOtherStories'' has a very typical western dragon design, however he is also the LastOfHisKind and has lost the ability to breathe fire and fly.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SonOfTheWhiteHorse'', the three dragons are part of the ancient evil released out of curiosity by the brides of the progenitors' three sons. They resemble the multi headed humanoid dragons from Hungarian folklore, but strongly deviate from the traditional depictions. The three headed dragon is a massive golem of rock and lava, the seven headed is a MilitaryMashupMachine that looks like several World War 2 German tanks welded together, and the twelve headed dragon looks like a cross between a modern day metropolis and a giant computer mainframe.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Adding to its egregiously long list of MixAndMatchCritters, dragons are a hybrid of Western and Eastern dragon types. They are like eastern ones except they have wings, are associated with fire and are kept by humans as a means of transportation, and appear quite intelligent. [[spoiler:It later turns out that they are thought to be extinct, since people started hunting them to get the title "dragon", and are actually the source of firebending.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' episode "Egon's Dragon", Egon awakes a dragon that served one of his ancestor, a wizard. The dragon seems to be quite peaceful and even a little child-like but causing too much chaos because of his size, so Egon (with clear remorse) has to put him to sleep (as in sleep magically in a wheel, not as in kill it).

* The BigBad in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}'' is the [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot giant magic-using bullskull-headed cyborg ghost dragon]] Stampede. Technically, he appears to be an undead broncosaur, a species of extinct animal like a cross between a bull and a dinosaur. He has been known to [[AnimateDead reanimate fossilized broncosaur skeletons]] to use as {{Kaiju}}, and also once created a robot broncosaur that was so powerful and intelligent it [[AIIsACrapshoot rebelled against him.]]

* The BigBad in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}'' is the [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot giant magic-using bullskull-headed cyborg ghost dragon]] Stampede. Technically, he appears to be an undead broncosaur, a species of extinct animal like a cross between a bull and a dinosaur. He has been known to both [[AnimateDead reanimate fossilized broncosaur skeletons]] to use as {{Kaiju}}, and also once created a robot broncosaur that was so powerful and intelligent it [[AIIsACrapshoot rebelled against him.]]

* The BigBad in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}'' is the [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot giant magic-using bullskull-headed cyborg ghost dragon]] Stampede. Technically, he appears to be an undead Broncosaur, a species of extinct animal like a cross between a bull and a dinosaur. He has been known to both [[AnimateDead reanimate fossilized broncosaur skeletons]] to use as {{Kaiju}}, and also once created a robot Broncosaur that was so powerful and intelligent it [[AIIsACrapshoot rebelled against him.]]

* The BigBad in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}'' is the [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot giant magic-using bullskull-headed cyborg ghost dragon]] Stampede. Technically, he appears to be an undead Broncosaur, a species of extinct animal like a cross between a bull and a dinosaur.

*** In the pilot for the G1 series, Tirek has some dragon-like animals named Stratadons which looked like no other dragons in the series. He also uses dark magic to transform captured ponies into tusked, dragon-like beasts to pull his chariot.
*** In "Through the Door", the monster from the Land of Legends is a cartoony European dragon with minuscule wings, a long neck, a shock of curly hair and the ability to breathe fire. Curiously, he's never actually referred to as a dragon. He's literally just a PunchClockVillain (the series really likes that trope) and is very {{Emo}} about having to be the bad guy all the time.

** In G3 Spike mentions waking up from a 1000-year nap, but he still looks like a baby. That really makes you wonder how dragons age...
** Spike's incarnation in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is an ExtremeOmnivore that especially likes to [[EatDirtCheap eat gems]], and has magic fire breath that he uses to send messages like a living fax machine.
** Spike aside, ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has a standard Western dragon in the episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E7DragonShy Dragonshy]]", and another one in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E24OwlsWellThatEndsWell Owl's Well that Ends Well]]" who has the added features of retractable claws and tail spikes. Both dragons hoard gemstones and riches in their caves, which actually makes sense here given that, as Spike proves, this version of dragons' preferred diet is [[EatDirtCheap gemivorous]].
*** Additionally, dragons seem to age quite slowly but live a very long time. Spike's personality fits a kid of 8-10 years old, and the canon timeline supports him having lived about that long, but he's still tiny enough to ride on Twilight's back, and chubby as a toddler; the ponies all refer to him as a "baby" dragon. Meanwhile, the dragons we meet in "Dragonshy" and "Owl's Well That Ends Well" are gigantic enough to swallow a pony in one bite (in Fluttershy's words), and apparently, sleeping for one hundred years only qualifies as a ''nap''.
*** Dragon maturity is a complicated process. The episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E10SecretOfMyExcess Secret of My Excess]]" shows that it is related to greed and hoarding: the more they hoard the bigger they get [[spoiler: and giving it up makes them shrink]]. "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E11MoltDown Molt Down]]", however, states that this "greed-induced bigness", as one dragon puts it, is not the "natural" way that dragons mature. Normal draconic puberty involves a young, still wingless dragon going through "the molt", a sort of sudden and acutely uncomfortable puberty where they gain painfully itchy red scales all over their bodies, become unable to control the volume of their voices, randomly belch gouts of fire and gain terrible body odor that attracts giant monsters that will try to eat them. At the end, the dragon becomes encased in a shell of rock and breaks out a few moments later with a newly grown pair of wings.
*** The episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E21DragonQuest Dragon Quest]]" features Spike going on a great dragon migration to find out about himself. The episode shows dragons of different colors and shapes and sizes, some with horns and some with spikes and more, showing there's more variety of dragons in Equestria than previously thought.
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E5GauntletOfFire Gauntlet of Fire]]" expands on dragon society, revealing they have a monarchy of sorts led by a Dragon Lord, who rules with absolute authority (disobeying the Dragon Lord doesn't even seem to occur to dragons) but with term limits -- at a certain point, the Lord has to step down and allow a new dragon to take their place in a contest that seems to change with each occasion, going by Torch's comment that he designed the episode's challenge himself. The dragon lord has the magical power to call other dragons to accept his challenge. The current Lord at the start of the episode, Torch, is also ''huge'', much bigger than the dragons in "Dragonshy" and "Owl's Well" or Spike's own {{Kaiju}} form. We also get the confirmed existence of female dragons.

** The second season ''[=FiM=]'' introduces Discord, a "Draconequus" that has the head and body of an Eastern dragon but [[MixAndMatchCritters the horns and limbs of other creatures]]. He's the resident AnthropomorphicPersonification of Disharmony and Chaos capable of bending reality to his very whims for a good laugh [[JerkassGods at the expense of others]].
** Besides the canon dragon species, ''[=FiM=]'' has had a number of creatures that also fit this trope. [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E2ElementsOfHarmony Part 2 of the pilot]] features Steven Magnet, a sea serpent with an overall design reminiscent of both Western draconic sea monsters (overall snakelike body shape, no limbs save his arms) and Eastern dragons (hair and a mustache, an overall benevolent personality and the ability to render an entire river impassable, in his case a side effect of being upset). "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E15FeelingPinkieKeen Feeling Pinkie Keen]]" also has a hydra, a towering, reptilian ArmlessBiped with four heads on top of long necks that lives in a swamp and tries to eat the main characters. "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E12TheLastCrusade The Last Crusade]]" mentions the existence of [[OurWyvernsAreDifferent wyverns]], but they're not described in any depth. The oddest of these is the tatzlwurm, which while based on a type of Alpine dragon more resembles a sandworm. Notably, both hydras and tatzlwurms are noted to be [[AlwaysABiggerFish predators of young dragons]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Hilda}}, Lindworms are Western-style dragons with no legs and sea-weed like fins. The only one seen in the series enjoys gardening.

* The very dragon-like Dragamon from the ''Dragamonz'' mini-series, are divided into five distinct races. Each of the five races, known as the Wildthorn, Stormclaw, Firewing, Slytoxin, and Stonescale respectively. Are attuned to the different source of elemental magic.

* ''WesternAnimation/HellboyAnimated'': ''Hellboy: Sword of Storms'' apparently set out to make its dragons as different as possible, stretching the definition of "dragon" a bit further than it could go in the process. Everything from human-sized, human-shaped ogres with lightning powers to unimaginably huge, squashy undersea demons are identified as dragons. This might not have been so jarring if the audience saw anything onscreen that anyone off the street would call a dragon.
** Note that these creatures were all called "Dragons" as more of a title than an actual description. They were all relatives of the Ogdru Jahad, who were also known as the Seven Dragons (not that they are anything like dragons either, although they do have a few [[DinosaursAreDragons Dinosaur-like characteristics]]).

*** Spike learns this trope as an Aesop in "Spike's Search".
** In G3 Spike mentions waking up from a 1000 year nap, but he still looks like a baby. That really makes you wonder how dragons age...

** In universe, the dragons vary from nation to nation, mainly by facial differences (length of head, horns, etc). Jake, being a mixed-race character, in dragon form shows markings of both traditional Western and Eastern dragons, whose dominance depends on the season. In season 1, he had a more Western body type (big and buff) with a longer Eastern type head; in season 2, he strangely reverted to a more long and skinny Eastern style body, with head and face now little more than his human self, just dragonized.

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': The main antagonist, Shendu, is a dragon, a demon one at that. He has traits from both the Western and Eastern aspects of dragons, which is probably not a surprise given that it is a Western show that has an emphasis on Eastern traditions. Even stranger is how his statue in the early episodes is a traditional Chinese design, long and swirling, but his actual form is the mixed form above. However, he is a shapeshifter. That might explain the difference between his spiritual and physical form.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'': Dragons are powerful, magical creatures and the most powerful inhabitants of the magical land of Xadia. They are divided into distinct races attuned to the different sources of primal magic, and are further split between "regular" dragons and the immense and powerful archdragons, who are the rulers of their kind.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHerculoids''. Zok, the dragon with [[FrickinLaserBeams laser]] [[EyeBeams beam]] eyes and tail.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'', who shares the universe with the MMORPG ''Dofus'', takes a different way. The god Osamodas, creator of all living things, once had three mythical dragons, who shaped themselves into the world of Dofus. Therefore, there were other dragons, about a dozen, who were strong powerful creatures of magic and had the power to create the eponymous Dofus, magical dragon eggs. Nobody knows how many have survived to the cataclysm which leads to Wakfu, but we can see at least one in the series: Grougaloragran, dragon of fire, shapeshifted as an old man, who brings TheHero to his adoptive parent. It gets worse: [[spoiler: those dragons can also lay Eliatrope Dofus, a single egg which contains a baby dragon and a baby human, the latter gaining teleportation-related powers. And yes, Yugo, TheHero, hatched from one of those eggs.]]

*** Spike actually learns this trope as an Aesop in "Spike's Search". Additionally, the dragon (though he is curiously never referred to as such) in "Through The Door" is literally just a PunchClockVillain (the series really likes that trope) and is very {{Emo}} about having to be the bad guy all the time.

* ''WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM'' had a frankly bizarre interpretation of dragons. Basically, take bits of every animal that lives in Australia (including a ''pouch''), stick them together, add giant creepy lips and a nose ring, and there's Dulcy the dragon. She's clumsy, but then again, she's young. We see her as a child briefly in "Blast to the Past Part 2", so she's in her early teens in present day at best. The older female dragon the Freedom Fighters meet and save in "Dulcy" is far more mature. Also, some -- but not all -- dragons can control the elements, and are called "Protectors". The only dragons shown have been female, so whether it's a GenderRestrictedAbility is unknown.

** Additionally, the Sun Warriors claim that fire, particularly that which the sun is made of, is the source of life as it produces the heat necessary to live. That means, at least philosophically, that ''The Last Airbender'''s dragons breathe both fire and sheng chi.
** Not to mention Wan Shi Tong, which is a strange owl-dragon hybrid.

* The ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'' episode "So Life Like" had Lawrence Limburger try to kill the Biker Mice by bringing cartoon and comic strip villains to life. The first villain he brought to life was Snortblast, a villain from the in-universe comic strip ''Biker Knight'' who happened to be a dragon who breathed fire through his nostrils.

* From ''WesternAnimation/DragonFlyz'': Airlandis's dragons are wyverns. The villains' dragons [[VertebrateWithExtraLimbs have the standard pair of wings and four legs instead of two]].

*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E5GauntletOfFire Gauntlet of Fire]]" expands on dragon society, revealing they have a monarchy of sorts led by a Dragon Lord, who rules with absolute authority (disobeying the Dragon Lord doesn't even seem to occur to dragons) but with term limits--at a certain point, the Lord has to step down and allow a new dragon to take their place in a contest that seems to change with each occasion, going by Torch's comment that he designed the episode's challenge himself. The dragon lord has the magical power to call other dragons to accept his challenge. The current Lord at the start of the episode, Torch, is also ''huge'', much bigger than the dragons in "Dragonshy" and "Owl's Well" or Spike's own {{Kaiju}} form. We also get the confirmed existence of female dragons.

* In ''WesternAnimation/PacManandTheGhostlyAdventures'', they have the typical western dragon body but have only [[{{Cyclops}} one-eye]].

* The eponymous dragon in ''WesternAnimation/PotatoesAndDragons'' can't fly, and its body and head are just kind of a green lump with stegosaur-like spikes. It also has an irrational hatred of crowns for some bizarre reason. One episode has King Hugo unleash a blue-colored dragon that breathes ice instead of fire, hoping it will defeat the Dragon.