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  • 3 Days to Kill: The Albino is the right-hand man of the Wolf, an arms trafficker who's selling terrorists a dirty bomb.
  • Braxton from The Accountant (2016). It's later revealed that he and Christian Wolff, The Hero, are brothers, and he eventually makes a Heel–Face Turn in a unique example.
  • In the Errol Flynn film The Adventures of Robin Hood, Sir Guy acts as The Dragon to Prince John as the lead enforcer of Prince John's corrupt regime.
  • In Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010)
    • The Knave of Hearts.
    • The Jabberwocky fits as Dragon-in-Chief, as The Red Queen's power and authority is built around the Jabberwocky's ability to intimidate her efnemies.
  • Alien vs. Predator: The "Grid" Xenomorph (distinguishable by the grid-patterned green scars it gains in its first battle scene) functions as something of a pack leader among the drones, second in authority to the Xenomorph Queen. Grid is by far the most dangerous of the Xenomorph drones in the film, if its two-Predator kill count comparative to Scar's Xenomorph kill count is any indication. It even has the smarts to evade Scar's plasma caster shots, unlike the other Xenomorphs, and the novelization refers to Grid as an "alpha-Alien".
  • Assassin's Creed (2016): Ojeda is a military officer working under Torquemada. He provides the biggest physical challenge to Aguilar and Maria as they undertake their missions.
  • In Austin Powers, Dr. Evil's second-in-command is the appropriately titled Number Two, though he is not that happy with how his boss runs his evil empire.
  • Australia: Neil Fletcher appears to fit the role of Dragon for his boss, Leslie 'King' Carney, through the first act of the movie. around midway through, Fletcher kills Carney, marries his daughter, and takes control of Carney's business empire.
  • In The Avengers, Sir August has two: Mrs. Peel's clone and Bailey. Mrs. Peel kills both of them before Sir August dies during a sword fight with Steed.
  • In the sequel of A Better Tomorrow, one of the mooks is a silent gunslinger with dark glasses who kills the brother of one of the protagonists, refuses to flee with money when he's given chance during the climax, and instead dies in a fair duel against the hero.
  • Batman Film Series:
    • Batman (1989): Bob is Jack Napier's (later The Joker) "number-one guy", an unflinchingly loyal henchman who has Jack's back at any given moment. Jack himself started out as right-hand man to mob boss Carl Grissom... until Grissom tries to set Jack up to be killed early in the film.
    • Batman Returns: The Organ Grinder is The Penguin's lead enforcer in the Red Triangle Gang.
  • In the 1979 film The Black Hole, Dr. Reinhardt has built the imposing robot Maximilian to be his own dragon.
  • Taggart is a dragon to Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles. Taggart initially appears to have his own dragon in Lyle, but Lyle soon reveals himself as Number Two for Brains. Later on, Mongo presents the most imposing physical challenge to the hero — at least until his Heel–Face Turn — but is more The Brute than a true dragon.
  • BloodRayne: Domastir leads Kagan's human thralls, clearly being his chief lieutenant. He bluntly rejects an offer to betray him.
  • Bolo Yeung is perhaps the actor to most persistently portray The Dragon. Mentioned above in the entry for Enter the Dragon, he plays a virtually identical role in nearly every film he's in. A notable exception is Bloodsport, where he plays the Big Bad (though interestingly there's almost no difference in his role in this film and his others, except for the lack of someone above him).
  • The Bourne Series:
    • The Bourne Identity: The Professor is the most eminent and skilled of the assassins that Conklin sends after Bourne.
    • The Bourne Supremacy: Kirill, a Russian secret service agent who moonlights as a hitman for Ward Abbott and Yuri Gretkov.
    • The Bourne Ultimatum: Noah Vosen, the CIA operative that Ezra Kramer entrusts with helming Operation Blackbriar and dealing with Bourne throughout the film.
    • The Bourne Legacy: LARX-3 to Eric Byer, acting as his trump card against Aaron Cross.
    • Jason Bourne: Robert Dewey has two: his right-hand man Craig Jeffers and the Asset, his top assassin.
  • Breakheart Pass: Both O'Brien and Nathan Pearce are this to Gov. Fairchild, but Pearce is definitely the more formidable adversary to Deakin.
  • In Centurion Etain plays this role to Gorlacan the leader of the Picts.
  • In Charlie's Angels (2000), Vivian turns out to be this one to Big Bad Eric Knox, and also quite the Dark Action Girl. Vivian started out as a loyal number two, went on to be (considered) a Big Bad herself, only to be revealed as Knox's Dragon and "Dark Mistress".
  • Patric is is the Dragon in Children of Men and a good deal eviler than his boss Luke.
  • In Clash of the Titans, the Greek gods' Dragon is the Kraken, which they send out to punish cities that displease them.
  • In Clash of the Titans Calibos is Hades' Dragon (along with the Kraken).
  • Bennett in Commando is one of the most memorable Dragons in cinematic history. He dies in the opening moments of the movie in order to do a Face–Heel Turn and then outlives the rather disappointing Big Bad (who is only memorable in that he is played by Dan Hedaya wearing a ton of fake tan). And if that weren't enough he wears a Chainmail Wife-Beater sports a Handlebar Moustache and is made out of Crazy is Cool. If Arnie weren't in this movie, one gets the feeling that it would have been called "Bennett". Darth who?
  • Conan the Barbarian (1982): Rexor to Thulsa Doom as his second-in-command and High Priest. Conan gets a Duel to the Death with him while his final confrontation with Thulsa Doom is a test of his will.
  • Conan the Barbarian (2011): Marique is her father Khalar Zym's right-hand woman in his quest to revive her mother and take over the world.
  • In Coroner Creek, Ernie Combs is the right-hand man of the Big Bad Miles Younger: the head of his crew of hired guns, and the one who does most of his dirty work.
  • This article from Cracked.com celebrates some of the most underrated dragons in movie history.
  • The bespectacled Grange is Top Dollar's Dragon in The Crow.
  • The Dark Knight Trilogy:
    • It is eventually revealed that Scarecrow is this to Ra's Al Ghul in Batman Begins.
    • Henri Ducard is the adjunct to Ra's Al Ghul and the man responsible for recruiting and training for the League of Shadows, extolling his boss's agenda of bringing justice to the world. This turns out to be misdirection: Ra's Al Ghul is really a decoy, because the real Ra's Al Ghul is Ducard.
    • In a surprising twist, Bane to Talia al'Ghul in The Dark Knight Rises.
  • DC Extended Universe features at least one per Big Bad.
    • Faora, Zod's second-in-command in Man of Steel.
    • Lex Luthor had two in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Anatoli Knyazev (although his ties weren't initially clear until the end of the movie) and Doomsday, who is Zod's reanimated corpse.
    • Incubus to the Enchantress in Suicide Squad (2016). The Joker himself had Jonny Frost.
    • Aquaman has Xebel's King Nereus to the Atlantean King Orm. Orm seeks to declare himself Ocean Master (a Roman-type dictator) to declare war on the surface world and Nereus is his top military supporter; Nereus makes clear that Orm won't go anywhere with his plans unless he has Nereus' army.
  • Mr. French is Costello's Dragon in The Departed.
  • The Die Hard films make good use of Dragons:
    • In the original movie, John McClane is hunted by Karl, the hulking German, and must defeat him before he can defeat Hans Gruber, the Big Bad. Technically Karl does not die until the end, but McClane leaves him bloody and beaten before throwing Gruber off the building. Karl then emerges for round two, only to be gunned down by Al.
    • Die Hard 2 has a Face–Heel Turn bad guy that gets thrown into a jet engine.
    • Die Hard with a Vengeance had Targo, whom John manages to beat to almost death before he gets killed by his own boss.
    • Live Free or Die Hard has three Dragons: Mai, the Waif-Fu-wielding Dark Action Girl though she is rather conspicuously killed halfway through; Rand, the acrobatic French mercenary, and Emerson, whose task is take over Woodlawn and download all the financial data to Gabriel.
    • A Good Day to Die Hard has two for separate main antagonists: Irina Komarov to her father Yuri in their plot to extract uranium from Chernobyl and sell it to the highest bidder. Corrupt Politician Viktor Chagarin has Alik, the leader of a group of mercenaries hired to kill Jack McClane and Komarov before they retrieve incriminating information.
  • In Double Impact, Jean-Claude Van Damme plays twins who must separately face the Big Bad's two Dragons, one of which is Bolo Yeung.
  • Dungeons & Dragons (2000). Damodar is this to Profion.
  • Kruger in Elysium. Later the Dragon Ascendant.
  • In Enter the Dragon, Bolo is The Dragon for Mr. Han, the Big Bad. Oddly, killing The Dragon falls to Roper the con man, rather than Lee The Hero (who goes straight for Han as soon as Bolo is defeated, and who is The Dragon but not The Dragon).
  • Subverted in Equilibrium. The Dragon, Brandt, is set up as Preston's equal and nemesis throughout the film, but when they face off for the final duel, it turns out to be a Curb-Stomp Battle. On the other hand, the Big Bad, who seems like a noncombatant politician save for a blink-and-you'll-miss-it clue, turns out to be Preston's toughest opponent in the film.
  • In Escape from New York, The Duke of New York has the unkempt Romero to carry out his orders.
  • The Exception: Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler is described as Hitler's right-hand man.
  • Niño to El Indio in For a Few Dollars More. He's the most loyal of Indio's men, masterminding the plan to free his boss at the beginning of the film. Throughout the film he serves as a caretaker of sorts (he supplies him with marijuana), leads the stakeout at El Paso, and is the only member of the gang Indio considers sparing when he tries to set up his gang to be killed so he can have all the money from their most recent robbery.
  • Ford v Ferrari: Leo Beebe to Henry Ford II and Franco Gozzi to Enzo Ferrari. Surprisingly, Beebe is the more villainous Dragon despite supposedly being on the side of the good guys.
  • Zartan to Destro in GI Joe The Rise Of Cobra.
  • Godzilla:
  • Mad Dog was Johnny Wong's Dragon from the John Woo movie Hard Boiled. Like Paul, he gives Tequila and Alan a fight when the three clash and during the big hospital shootout, before he does a Heel–Face Turn and blows the gun out of Johnny's hands to put an end to Johnny's psychotic massacre of the patients that Mad Dog had agreed to let pass. He gets killed by Johnny soon after.
  • Prince Nuada of Hellboy II: The Golden Army has a few dragons: Mr. Wink, the Elemental, and arguably, the Golden Army, as they are FAR more durable than most Mecha-Mooks.
  • The Hobbit: No pun intended. Azog the Pale Orc's son Bolg serves this role to his father, being tasked by his father with pursuing the Company and leading the second orc army. Sauron's past as Morgoth's Dragon from the books also gets referenced in the final film.
  • The Hunger Games: Clove to the Career Tributes' group.
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade serves as a nice comparison of the roles The Dragon and the Big Bad. The Dragon, Colonel Vogel, fights Indy in a climactic battle atop a speeding tank. The Big Bad, Walter Donovan, goes against our hero in a battle of wits to locate the true Holy Grail.
  • Charlie from Jack Reacher.
  • Jack the Giant Slayer: Wicke for Roderick and Fumm for Fallon.
  • Every Diabolical Mastermind in James Bond almost invariably has an enforcer to help them with their evil scheme:
    • Professor Dent in Dr. No. He's in charge of Dr. No's operations in Jamaica and is ordered to have Bond killed. When his minions fail him, he tries to do the job himself. In later films the villains would usually have mad scientists, professors, politicians etc. who aid them, and would have brutal killers to fill the role of The Dragon. Dr. No has The Three Blind Mice in this role.
    • Red Grant in From Russia with Love is the one tasked with carrying out Rosa Klebb and Kronsteen's Evil Plan. Morzeny could also fit this role if you consider Red Grant to be The Brute.
    • Oddjob in Goldfinger is the titular villain's right-hand man and bodyguard, and one of the most famous in the franchise.
    • Emilio Largo in Thunderball has Vargas as his main henchmen. Although Fiona Volpe is arguably the bigger threat to Bond. Largo himself is the main villain in the film, but within the overall SPECTRE hierarchy he's the Dragon, acting as the "Number Two" to Blofeld's "Number One".
    • Blofeld's Dragon in You Only Live Twice is his hulking bodyguard Hans.
    • Irma Bunt in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, is The Dragon to Blofeld. One of the few henchmen who suffers no retribution for her part in Blofeld's plans despite dealing one of the deadliest blows to Bond on a personal level.
    • Mr. Wint, Mr. Kidd and Bert Saxby in Diamonds Are Forever. Wint and Kidd are Blofeld's assassins tasked with eliminating everyone who was involved in the diamond smuggling ring, Bert Saxby is Willard Whyte's former right hand man who betrayed him to Blofeld and the one who deviates Blofeld's orders to his other men, including Wint and Kidd. Wint and Kidd later attempt to assassinate Bond at the end of the film.
    • Tee Hee in Live and Let Die.
    • Nick Nack in The Man with the Golden Gun, as the titular man's Personal Mook and trainer.
    • Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.
    • Moonraker: Hugo Drax originally had Chang as his main enforcer. When Chang is killed by Bond, Jaws is hired to fill his spot.
    • Eric Kriegler in For Your Eyes Only.
    • Gobinda in Octopussy.
    • May Day in A View to a Kill. although Scarpine fills the role of the traditional male henchman.
    • Koskov in The Living Daylights.
    • Dario and Colonel Heller in Licence to Kill. Dario is Franz Sanchez's most loyal henchman, Colonel Heller commands the military of the republic of Isthmus, the country Sanchez controls.
    • Xenia Onatopp is Janus's main henchmen and assassin in GoldenEye. General Ourumov seems like this at first, and is the one set up as the Big Bad initially, but ends up being little more than a Red Herring used by Janus.
    • Mr. Stamper in Tomorrow Never Dies.
    • Davidov and Renard in The World Is Not Enough.
    • Zao in Die Another Day.
    • In Quantum of Solace, this is subverted beautifully. The Dragon is positioned to cover his boss, as per usual for the trope, and then he's blown up, in a very undignified manner (the explosion that kills him blows his pants off).
    • Skyfall ostensibly has Patrice, but he's just a hired killer. The real dragon is no one. After all, Silva considers everyone who's not of utility expendable.
    • Spectre has the thug Mr Hinx, and the politician, Denbigh, whose role as this only becomes clear much later in the film, after Hinx has been killed.
  • John Wick:
  • In Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, Kaa (a gigantic Indian Python) apparently serves as the dragon to King Louis, an orangutan who rules over an ancient temple populated by hundreds of smaller monkeys. He summons Kaa whenever a human tries to steal treasure.
  • Mr. Greeghan to Balem in Jupiter Ascending, after his predecessor Tskalikin is killed for his failure to capture Jupiter. Amusingly, the Sargon, his race of humanoid winged reptilians, resemble Dragons and are implied to have started the original myth on Earth.
  • In Kick-Ass 2, Mother Russia is The Mother Fucker's strongest and by far most dangerous minion, and is the one to fight Hit Girl in the final fight (while Kick Ass handles The Mother Fucker himself). It's also worth noting that she makes more than the rest of the Toxic Mega Cunts.
    Genghis Carnage: (watching her take out ten police officers by herself) $50,000? She's worth it!
  • O-Ren Ishii of Kill Bill fame seems to collect them, having two chief bodyguards (Johnny Mo, leader of the Crazy 88s, and Psycho for Hire Gogo Yubari) and a right-hand woman (Sofie Fatale) besides.
    • Elle Driver was a Dragon, since she was the last (and most difficult to defeat) former teammate the Bride had to fight before confronting Bill. She also serves as an Evil Counterpart, and a Foil to The Bride.
  • Paul Yau (the assassin with the shades), is Johnny Weng's Dragon from John Woo's The Killer (1989). He gives both heroes of the movie a fight, especially during the church shootout, before being taken hostage in an attempt to break the Put Down Your Gun and Step Away situation with Johnny and the Killer's girlfriend and getting one put through his skull by Johnny himself.
  • Kingsman:
    • Gazelle in Kingsman: The Secret Service. She is the only one of Valentine's henchmen to be trusted completely with the plan (unlike his Mooks he doesn't leave an exploding implant in her head), and is tasked with ensuring it succeeds.
    • Kingsman: The Golden Circle: Charlie Hesketh, Eggsy's Rival Turned Evil. Having survived getting his arm blown off near the end of the first film and losing his cowardice, Charlie receives a cybernetic replacement and becomes one of Eggsy's most dangerous and personal foes.
  • In the horror-comedy film Krampus, Der Klown the Jack-In-The-Box is the first of Krampus' minions to appear, and is by far the deadliest. Especially if one interprets its serpent-like movements to mean that it is the unseen creature that drags people beneath the snow.
  • The Cow from Kung Pow! Enter the Fist is the Dragon. Well... sort of. He's not stronger than the Big Bad, but he is hilariously fast... like when he rapidly kicks the Hero when they freeze in the air.
  • In The Last Witch Hunter, Belial is working to bring the Witch Queen back, though he doesn't stay around for the time she's resurrected due to a small case of lead poisoning.
  • In Layer Cake, the evil Serbian warlord has a Dragon hitman named, appropriately enough, Dragan. He makes constant threats to decapitate Daniel Craig's character. However, he does not follow the usual formula in that he spends the entire film untouchable. Neither he nor his boss are defeated.
  • The first two installments of the Lethal Weapon franchise:
  • Butch Cavendish in The Lone Ranger.
  • In The Long Kiss Goodnight, the film's main villain Timothy is actually the Dragon: the Big Bad is the mostly unseen Daedalus who is killed halfway through the film, after which Timothy replaces him as the Big Bad.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Witch-king of Angmar in particular is this to Sauron, acting as the leader of his armies and of Sauron's deadliest servants the Nazgûl; and funnily enough, the Witch-king's Fell Beast mount actually looks like a literal dragon. The orc commander Gothmog in turn acts as the Witch-king's Dragon during the siege of Gondor.
  • Every Mad Max villain has one, with Bubba Zanetti to Toecutter in the first, Wez to Lord Humungus in The Road Warrior, Ironbar to Aunty Entity in Beyond Thunderdome, and Rictus Erectus to Immortan Joe in Fury Road.
  • While neither of them are particularly villainous, Maleficent's servant Diaval is this to her, serving as her wings and her spy. Eventually he becomes a literal example.
  • Mars Attacks!: The Martian ambassador.
  • Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    • In Iron Man 3, Eric Savin is the dragon to the Mandarin/Aldrich Killian. Savin is really sadistic and carries out most of the physical tasks for his boss.
    • In Thor: The Dark World: Algrim is Malekith's most trusted and capable lieutenant.
    • In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the eponymous Winter Soldier (a.k.a. Bucky Barnes) fills the Dragon role, doing the bidding of high-ranking HYDRA leader Alexander Pierce.
    • Guardians of the Galaxy (2014): Gamora and Nebula, two of Thanos' adopted children, are sent on loan from Thanos to Ronan the Accuser to help acquire the Orb containing the Power Stone as a means to destroy Xandar. Gamora betrays Thanos and Ronan early in the film while Nebula temporarily shifts her loyalties to Ronan when he acquires the Power Stone if he chooses to act against Thanos. Nebula directs troop movements during the Battle of Xandar at the end of the film and duels Gamora, eventually deciding to jump ship and becomes a Wild Card for the MCU from that point onward.
    • Thor: Ragnarok: Hela recruits Skurge to be her Executioner, and explains that it's a title for the king's right-hand, tasked with executing the ruler's will; this was her title when she was at Odin's right hand. Then she admits a little sheepishly that they were mostly used for executing people. Skurge becomes more and more disturbed with his new boss over the course of the film, and in the end turns on her without actually having killed anyone for her.
    • In Black Panther (2018), W'Kabi serves as Killmonger's lead commander when he intends to wage war on the world.
    • Yon-Rogg is the Kree commander hunting the Skrulls on behalf of the Supreme Intelligence in Captain Marvel (2019).
  • The Mask of Zorro: Captain Harrison Love is a Sociopathic Soldier working for Big Bad Don Rafael Montero. Alejandro Murrieta (the new Zorro) has a vendetta against him because Captain Love killed Alejandro's brother and put his head on display.
  • The Men in Black styled Agents in The Matrix are enforcers of The Architect's design to any human except for The One.
  • Maverick. Angel is this to the Commodore.
  • Mercury Rising: Peter Burrell is an NSA assassin and former soldier sent by Lt. Colonel Kudrow to rub out any leaks to the Mercury intelligence project and acts as The Heavy throughout the film. In a more classical showing, Burrell is used as a buffer for Kudrow to hold off FBI agents during the climax and is killed in gruesome fashion when the windows behind him shred him to pieces.
  • MonsterVerse: In this continuity, this trope is notably retconned from Ghidorah, as it's a one-dragon Alien Invasion by himself, and in both his film appearances, the human antagonists attempting to control him ends up being a total Evil Is Not a Toy, truly making him King Ghidorah. In a bit of Adaptational Villainy, Rodan becomes King Ghidorah's Dragon in Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) after Ghidorah defeats him, staying close by Ghidorah as his vanguard whilst the rest of Ghidorah's Titan army is spread out across the globe. Among the human antagonists, Alan Jonah is a big Dragon-in-Chief to Emma Russell in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Ren Serizawa is Walter Simmons' close right-hand man in Godzilla vs. Kong (revealed to be a Dragon with an Agenda in the novelization).
  • In Mystery Men, Tony P winds up playing right-hand-man to Casanova Frankenstein. Tony P, in turn, has a Dragon of his own in Tony C.
  • Leroy in Mystery Team.
  • Pete to Teddy in Neighbors.
  • In Norbit, the Latimore Brothers are this to Rasputia. However, the Latimore Brothers have their own Dragon: Deion Hughes.
  • Rather hard to pin down in Nothing but Trouble. At first, Judge Valkenheiser's Dragon appears to be corrupt cop Dennis. However, after Dennis' Heel–Face Turn the role of the Dragon switches rather wildly between Miss Purdah and the Judge's Granddaughter Eldona.
    • Their respective fates are also quite different. Dennis becomes Fausto's bodyguard and Renalda's lover, Miss Purdah is very clearly killed during the estate collapse, and Eldona's fate is uncertain. She doesn't appear with Alvin in the news report, so she may have died in the estate collapse. Likewise, the fact that Alvin survived also indicates that she may have as well.
  • In Oldboy, Mr. Han is the Dragon for Lee Woo-Jin — his entire purpose in the movie is to absorb Oh Dae-Su's Unstoppable Rage.
  • In Pale Rider, Corrupt Federal Marshal Stockburn is La Hood's Dragon .
  • Pirates of the Caribbean:
  • The Princess: Moira serves this role, being Julius's most competent and prominent follower.
  • Count Rugen in The Princess Bride. The task of killing him, interestingly, doesn't fall to the hero Westley, but to his friend Inigo Montoya, who lost his father to Rugen and has dedicated the better part of his life to seeking revenge.
    • Fezzik and Inigo both play the Dragon earlier in the movie to Vizzini, with Inigo being the evenly-matched same-style dragon (think of the Mortal Kombat Mirror Match or Dark Link, or the sword fight with Meta-Knight in Kirby for the NES) while Fezzik is more of the giant physical challenge sort of dragon.
  • Count Rupert of Hentzau steals the show from his master Duke Michael in The Prisoner of Zenda.
  • Malky to Detective Norman Stansfield in The Professional. In a contrast with typical personality dynamics between Big Bad and Dragon, Malky is the Cloud Cuckoolanders Minder to Stanfield, often having to take charge of Stansfield's unit whenever Stansfield is too high on drugs or engrossed in murder (or both).
  • Tanaka's unnamed adoptive daughter in The Punisher (1989) works as her protector and top enforcer.
  • Victor of Push. Also serves as Evil Counterpart to Nick.
  • Inadvertantly lampshaded in Red Dragon. The dragon, who acts as the enforcer for one of the greatest villains in cinematic history, Dr.Hannibal Lecter, is the red dragon that the title refers to. His delusion is that he actually is a red dragon.
  • In the Richie Rich movie, chief of security Ferguson serves as Van Dough's Dragon.
  • In the immortal classic Roadhouse 1989, the Big Bad, Wesley, has a Dragon by the less-than-impressive name of Jimmy, an ex-con who comes closer than anyone else to actually kicking the hero's ass for good. For his pains, he gets the film's most spectacular death.
  • Road to Perdition: Michael Sullivan Sr. served as John Rooney's right-hand man and top enforcer. Rooney raised Michael as his own son and Michael's loyalty to Rooney (until Rooney's biological son Connor murders Michael's wife and one of his sons) is built around this.
  • It is eventually revealed in RoboCop (1987) that Clarence Boddicker is actually working for the OCP executive Dick Jones. Clarence has Leon Nash as his own dragon.
  • The Rock: Major Baxter to General Hummel as his second-in-command and close friend. Baxter has served alongside Hummel for decades (at least since Vietnam) and is extremely loyal, eventually following along with Hummel's Heel–Face Turn and going down side-by-side with him when Captains Frye and Darrow turn traitor.
  • Lothar fits this description in The Rocketeer.
  • Parodied and subverted in The Running Man. Damien's huge bodyguard Sven seems to serve no meaningful role in the movie except as someone for Arnold Schwarzenegger to have the big climactic fight with. At the climax of the film, it looks like the two are about to fight, but Sven simply walks off (due to Damien's verbal abuse of him), leaving Schwarzenegger to crush the helpless Damien.
  • Peter Drak in Scanners II: The New Order.
  • Scream: Oftentimes there are two people wearing the Ghostface costume; one calls the shots while the other plays accomplice and assists with murders. The exception is the third film where there is only one killer.
  • In Shark Week, the Big Bad Tiburon's girlfriend Elena also serves as his dragon: dealing with the hands-on stuff regarding the captives and going out to confront Final Girl Reagan one-on-one when she escapes the Death Course.
  • Sherlock Holmes (2009):
    • The first film: Lord Coward is this to Lord Blackwood. He is Blackwood's main connection to the British Parliament and as Home Secretary he commands authority over the police, enabling him to turn Holmes into a fugitive in the second half of the film.
    • As in the short stories, Sebastian Moran is this to Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. On the surface he's a Hired Gun, but closer interactions shows the relationship between them to be more of a Villainous Friendship (the two briefly discuss going to the opera together) akin to the one between Holmes and Watson, playing Moran up as the latter's Evil Counterpart.
  • In Sin City, Kevin is The Dragon to Cardinal Roark, Manute is The Dragon to Wallenquist, and arguably Roark Jr. is The Dragon to his dad, Senator Roark.
  • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Dr. Totenkopf's Action Girl agent, who bedevils Sky Captain throughout the movie.
  • In Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Agent Stone is the right-hand assistant of Doctor Robotnik, as well as the Doctor's Only Friend since he's the only one who can put up with his Insufferable Genius attitude. While the first movie didn't have him do much in the plot, the second film has him help Eggman more actively, setting up a base of operations and getting resources ready for the event the Doctor returned from his exile. Robotnik even saves Stone from being surrounded by the cops and G.U.N. agents, and allows him to co-pilot the Death Egg Robot he creates.
  • In Stargate, the alien posing as the god Ra has the head Jaffa guard Anubis as his Dragon. Anubis is very devoted to Ra and goes himself to fight one of the heroes, Jack O'Neil, in the climax.
  • Star Trek Films:
    • Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: Torg is Commander Kruge's second-in-command and the main person trusted with Kruge's plan to seize the Genesis Device.
    • Star Trek: Nemesis: Reman Viceroy Vkruk to Praetor Shinzon as his second-in-command and leads boarding parties on his behalf. He also raised Shinzon after he was abandoned as a failed experiment by the Romulans.
    • Star Trek (2009): Ayel is Captain Nero's second-in-command and for the first half of the film his Mouth of Sauron.
    • Star Trek Beyond: Manas is Krall's lead enforcer, shown cutting through Red Shirts like butter and has a long history with new character Jay'lah as the person responsible for killing her father, culminating in a Duel to the Death 2/3s of the way through the film.
  • In the Star Wars movies V-VI, Darth Vader is The Dragon between the heroes and the Emperor. In IV, he's The Dragon to Grand Moff Tarkin. In I-III, it's Darth Maul and later General Grievous. Darth Tyranus doesn't quite fit the mold.
    • Tyranus does, however, have quite a few of his own Dragons: Jango Fett, Asajj Ventress, and Grievous (again), and in the Expanded Universe, Durge, along with various other "Dark Acolytes."
    • So does Vader: Boba Fett seems to be a particular favorite. Vader also had many apprentices, most notably Galen Marek (the main character of The Force Unleashed).
    • This shows how it is sometimes difficult to identify the Big Bad because within the story, the main characters think Dooku is the Big Bad, with Sidious just a myth or rumor to worry about. But The Dragon is anyone who is sent in front of a leader, whether or not they turn out to be the true Big Bad.
    • In Episodes VII and VIII, Kylo Ren, General Hux, and Captain Phasma serve as Dragons for Supreme Leader Snoke and The First Order until Ren betrays Snoke and assumes command of the First Order in Episode VIII. Phasma is killed in battle shortly after Snoke, leaving Hux to take the Dragon spot under Kylo Ren.
    • In Episode IX, Allegiant General Pryde has taken Hux's spot as Kylo Ren's Dragon, while Kylo Ren is Demoted to Dragon to the clone of Emperor Palpatine, while retaining his spot as Supreme Leader of the First Order. After Pryde kills Hux as a traitor and Kylo Ren does a Heel–Face Turn, he defaults back to The Emperor, leading his forces in the Final Battle.
  • Stonehearst Asylum: Finn is one to Lamb, his chief lieutenant in the inmate-run asylum. Unlike Lamb, he's actually a homicidal maniac who still feels the compulsion to kill and does so remorselessly.
  • In Suicide Kings, Denis Leary plays the Dragon to Christopher Walken.
  • Superman II: Dark Action Girl Ursa is General Zod's right-hand woman.
  • In Taken, the sultan's right-hand man, who buys Kim from the white slave-traders, ultimately gives Bryan his biggest fight.
  • Sergeant Small in Tank Girl.
  • Tatsu is the Shredder's Dragon in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies. In the first movie, Casey Jones is the one to take him on, while in the second movie, the Turtles themselves dispatch him with a "Wishbone Crunch" that consists of sandwiching him between all four of their shells simultaneously. "Tatsu" is one of the Japanese words for a... yeah, you guessed it. Dragon.
  • Eric Sacks is this to the Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014).
  • In Terror in a Texas Town, Johnny Crale is a gunslinger who serves as McNeil's chief enforcer.
  • Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series.
  • The Taking of Pelham One Two Three: Mr Green is Mr. Blue's second-in-command, confidant, and his knowledge of subway trains is crucial to the hijackers' plans.
  • Cal's bodyguard Lovejoy from Titanic (1997).
  • ¡Three Amigos!. Jefe is El Guapo's second in command. He's killed literally less than a minute before El Guapo meets his maker.
  • The Three Musketeers (1993): Count Rochefort is dragon to the Big Bad, Cardinal Richelieu.
  • Total Recall (1990): Richter, to Big Bad Cohaagen.
  • Transformers Film Series:
    • Although Megatron is usually the Big Bad, he is presented as the Dragon in specifically Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen. In this continuity, Megatron serves The Fallen as a master, and is sent on missions to enforce his master's will. The Fallen himself doesn't fight and actively go on missions himself until the climactic final battle in the second movie. However, he is killed during this battle, quite possibly setting Megatron up for the Big Bad role once again, just like all his other incarnations.
    • Megatron appears to be the Big Bad in the third film up until the point when Sentinel Prime's Face–Heel Turn is revealed. After that, Megatron believes that Sentinel will allow him to remain in command of the Decepticons and become his dragon. Megatron's decision to betray Sentinel and help Optimus in the final battle comes when Carly throws it in his face that his Villain Decay has reached the point where he has become nothing more than Sentinel's unwilling dragon.
    • James Savoy is Harold Attinger's main enforcer in the fourth film in the series Transformers Ageof Extinction. Galvatron, the reconstructed Megatron, was intended to serve as the Dragon for KSI before he betrayed them. Lockdown also serves as a Dragon for his "creators."
    • Megatron, back to his true name, also serves as a Dragon in Transformers: The Last Knight serving the sorceress Quintessa alongside the brainwashed Optimus Prime, Nemesis Prime.
    • Galvatron is essentially the Dragon in the animated 1986 movie too, for Unicron.
  • Lola is Gianni's Dragon in Transporter 2. She spends most of the movie fighting the hero while Gianni takes a nap, but she's anticlimactically killed by a spike of wall.
  • Wendell is one of the Number Two for Brains variety to Reginald Charming in Tricky People
  • Sark in TRON.
    • Rinzler in TRON: Legacy who is actually a hacked version of Tron.
  • Although the movie does not actually contain a Dragon, the Dragon / Big Bad relationship is referenced in Unbreakable: "There's always two kinds; there's the soldier villain — who fights the hero with his hands; and then there's the real threat — the brilliant and evil archenemy — who fights the hero with his mind."
  • The Untouchables (1987): Psycho for Hire Frank Nitti is the man who does almost all Al Capone's dirty work, such as assassinations.
  • The Usual Suspects: "Mr. Kobayashi" is an Amoral Attorney working for Keyser Söze. He handles the everyday business such as blackmailing the Suspects and on occasion dirty work as it's implied he murdered Fenster. Söze clearly considers him a valuable asset since he normally has his employees murdered when they're no longer useful.
  • Vamps: Sacrificial Lamb Ivan serves as this to Cisserus, acting as her flunky and taking part in some of her kills, before being tracked down by Van Helsing and his team. Although they didn't like him, Goody and Stacy are slightly irritated by his disappearance, as with him gone, Cisserus wants them to do even more demeaning grunt work for her.
  • In Whispering Smith, the sadistic and psychotic Whitey Du Sang is Barney Rebstock's right hand man and chief enforcer.
  • White House Down: Emil Stenz was an ex-Delta Force operative who is hired by Martin Walker to help take over the White House and hold everyone inside hostage.
  • In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the weasel chief Smart Ass is this to Judge Doom.
  • General Kael in Willow, who leads Queen Bavmorda's armies and is extremely dangerous; he personally beats Willow senseless in combat and during the Final Battle, the task of killing him falls to Madmartigan. Her daughter Sorsha is her other lieutenant.
  • Sheriff Lund from Willy's Wonderland serves as this to Willy Weasel, giving him human sacrifices over the past several years. Unfortunately for her, she gets butchered by Willy after failing to have the Janitor killed for him.
  • The X-Men Film Series features a few:
    • Mystique serves as Magneto's right-hand woman throughout X-Men and X2: X-Men United.
    • It's somewhat unclear who takes over as Magneto's dragon after Mystique's departure in the third film as there isn't a clear-cut second in command. The two top candidates would be Pyro, who is the only remaining member of the Brotherhood who was with Magneto prior to the beginning of the movie, and Callisto, who was the apparent leader of the Morlocks before they became Magneto's new Mook army. A case might also be made for Juggernaut, though he fits better in the role of The Brute.
    • Lady Deathstrike is the dragon of William Stryker in the second film.
    • In X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Agent Zero is Stryker's dragon at first, then Sabretooth and Weapon XI later on.
    • Emma Frost is the dragon to Sebastian Shaw in X-Men: First Class.
    • In The Wolverine, Viper is the dragon to Yashida.
    • William Stryker is this to Bolivar Trask in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
    • Angel Dust is Ajax's Dragon in Deadpool .
    • Magneto is Demoted to Dragon to Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse. He is the biggest name amongst the mutants Apocalypse picks as his Horsemen of the Apocalypse, their spokesman to Professor X, and given the biggest task of wiping the globe clean so Apocalypse can rule over what's left while Apocalypse attempts to transfer his consciousness into Professor X. Among the original team of Horsemen Apocalypse had in Ancient Egypt, Death, a blond woman with telepathy and telekinesis, served this role as she supervises the ritual where Apocalypse Body Surfs and gives orders to the other Horsemen.
    • Donald Pierce serves this role to Dr. Xander Rice in Logan.
    • "Jones" is the most prominent of the D'Bari under Vuk’s command in Dark Phoenix. He accompanies her wherever she goes and is the only one aside from her that has any lines. During the climax of the film, "Jones" leads the D'Bari to attack the prison train and force it towards Vuk, who is lying in wait.

Alternative Title(s): Film

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