Our Dragons Are Different - Television Tropes & Idioms

alt title(s): Dragons

And these are just the ones dredged out of the local swamp

St. George: We heard there was a dragon operating in this neighborhood. We just want to know if you've seen him.

Knave: Sure, I've seen him.

St. George: Could you describe him for me?

Knave: What's to describe? You see one dragon, you seen 'em all!

St. George: Would you try to remember, Sir? Just for the record. We just want to get the facts, Sir.

Knave: Well, he was, you know, he had orange polka dots...

St. George: Yes, Sir.

Knave: Purple feet, breathing fire and smoke...

St. George: Mmm-hmm.

Knave: And one big bloodshot eye right in the middle of his forehead and, uh, like that.

St. George: Notice anything unusual about him?

Knave: No, he's just your run-of-the-mill dragon, you know..

-St. George and the Dragonet

Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good in ketchup.

This trope deals with big (maybe) strong (possibly) scaly (sometimes) flying (perhaps) fire-breathing (at times) lizard (usually) monsters (traditionally).

Nearly every culture has myths about something someone is willing to call a 'dragon', despite the fact none of them can agree on what exactly dragons are: How big are they? What do they look like? How many heads do they have? Do they breathe fire? Do some of them breathe ice? Do they fly (and if so, with or without wings)? Are they dumb as planks, or superintelligent? Are they low reptilian pests, or as rare and ancient as the Earth itself? Most importantly, do they think we taste good with ketchup?

The answers to these questions generally fall within two traditions, Western and Eastern.

Western Dragons:

Are scaly and reptilian (outwardly, anyway), and usually serpentine.
Tend to be large.
Are usually antagonistic towards humans.
Breathe fire — a Medieval addition.
Kidnap damsels and/or hoard treasure. Often greedy and/or insatiable, especially in the latter regard.
Have a variable number of heads and legs, though one head and six limbs (four legs, and a pair of wings) is the most common configuration. More divergent types (no legs, multiple heads, etc) seem more likely to be brainless bestial monsters than the "basic" form.
- The most popular variation recently has been the Wyvern, a dragon with a somewhat birdlike configuration: the forelimbs are bat-like wings and the rear limbs are their two legs. In some settings all dragons are Wyverns (some writers evidently prefer realistic flying, fire-breathing Uber-serpents). In other settings, Wyverns are not considered 'true' dragons at all, but a related, usually less powerful and intelligent species. Wyverns, when they are treated separately from dragons, often lack a breath weapon, but they often have a poisonous stinger in their tails and viper-like fangs.
Either fly with bat-like wings, or they lack wings and don't fly.
Have varying levels of intelligence. Prior to Tolkien, they rarely spoke. After Tolkien, they are often portrayed as at least as clever as men, and frequently (much) more so.
Often have some form of innate magic if intelligent.
Live for a very long time, if not actually immortal.
Are incredibly strong and hard to kill but usually have one or two fatal weak spots. This is traditionally under the chin, but post-Tolkien, it's more likely to be on the chest or belly, and the eye is popular too.
Sometimes have poisonous blood, breath, saliva, or some such. Often, this will kill you after you kill it.

Eastern dragons, on the other hand, come from totally different traditions and as such aren't technically dragons; Westerners who encountered stories and images of Chinese lóng and Japanese tatsu (better known as ryuu) just sprung on the superficial similarities to the European dragon and couldn't think of anything better to call them. With that in mind, Eastern "Dragons":

Are Mix And Match Critters:
His horns resemble those of a stag, his head that of a camel, his eyes those of a demon, his neck that of a snake, his belly that of a clam, his scales those of a carp, his claws those of an eagle, his soles those of a tiger, his ears those of a cow. (From The Other Wiki.)
Are benign, but capable of destructive force.
Are associated with water, or believed to have power over weather.
Breathe sheng chi, the essence of life.
Are intelligent.
Most often have one head and four legs.
Can fly via magic even if they lack wings, which they usually do. When they do have wings, they are often birdlike.
Often have the ability to transform into other animals and may even assume human form.
- The latter is the reason why there are half-dragons in Fantasy.
May be an out and out Physical God.

Even within these traditions, however, there is much variability. This has increased in modern times, as Western and Eastern authors have blurred the traditions by mixing and matching attributes from both (benign Western Dragons are quite popular these days, for instance). Some authors invent completely new attributes to set their dragons apart from the crowd.

A more recent trend has been to try and make dragons that could actually exist in the real world. Naturally, these tend to either use Science Fiction concepts or be very different from traditional dragons. Also common in later works is a tendency for dragons to form a life-long bond with any human or humanoid who is present when they hatch. This gives writers a way to give dragons unique psychology without having to come up with unique motivations for them. It also explains why humanoid Dragon Riders can boss them around.

You'd think regular old dragons were boring or something!

Compare Giant Flyer, and other Dragon Tropes.

Not to be confused with The Dragon, a position only sometimes held by a real dragon (while dragons themselves can just as easily be Big Bads).