Just how powerful dragons are?

I mean, apparently in most mythologies and fantasy works, they are something of near divine beings.

So...are they something that can't be shot down by well targeted Hellfire missiles?

In a modern setting? I seriously doubt dragons would have a realistic chance against humanity unless there were quite a few of them.

It really, really depends on the nature of your dragons.

I know, but it all seems that many versions of dragons apparently follow a certain archetype, like, they are absurdly powerful magical creatures and all that.

Maybe, but if this is for a work of your own (which I presume is the case), then how does it matter what other people's dragons can and cannot do?

For the record, dragons in my comics (we never see any but Evil Alex's One-Winged Angel form, but he apparently based it off the real deal somewhere) would never find themselves up against Hellfire missiles because, as inherently magical beings, they couldn't exist in the "real" universe. But in theory, I could easily see muggles being able to take one down with modern technology.

edited 11th Nov '11 10:47:52 PM by nrjxll

It just perplexes me how dragons are treated as the Elves are treated by the nerds.

Who knows, maybe I can have a horde of dragons get slaughtered just to spite those kind of people. :/

Eh, just kiddin'. Can't have a scene like that for such a frivolous purpose.

Well, elves already need to be taken down a peg; too many people like to present them as a Sue Species. They honestly make more sense as villains than they do as heroes (inb4 Elves as Those Wacky Nazis), since they've been naturally gifted by so many authors into becoming... superior. Dragons, on the other hand, are creatures that I would see modern-day humans either trying to study, or annihilate (well, we'd still study them, but we'd study them the same way we study viruses and bacteria), since they seem to either be dangerous, clever enemies of man, just another animal, or something akin to gods. The first type would probably fall under the latter category (annihilate), the second would fall under the former, and the third could fall under either, depending on how benevolent they were.

You are talking about a creature that can eat gemstones and belch out fire, and not die. Not only are dragons powerful, they are nigh-invulnerable to most physical attacks, because their scales are made of adamantite or orichalcum - metals not of this earth with physical properties beyond our current metallurgy skills. They can also fly faster than our jet fighters can, and their dragon fire is hot enough to melt any armor - or reduce any barracks down to glass. Their claws are stronger than diamond, they can see in the dark, and their sense of smell makes a dog blush. They can survive the vacuum of space, and travel near light-speed by using their wings as solar sails. A dragon can be encased in solid ice for a million years and not shiver, they can swim to the bottom of the ocean on a single breath, and they never get sick, nor old, nor die of age - and, like carp, they never stop growing. The biggest dragons can swallow entire yellow main sequence stars, the smallest ones can swallow you in a single bite, and would still be hungry. In their long lifetimes they have learned every language on earth, including the languages of birds and beasts, and a single dragon has forgotten more knowledge than mankind has ever discovered.

They have but one weakness, and only one weakness - Excalibur, sword of kings.

So, they do have a weakness. If I were part of a military fighting against a draconic invasion, I'd research the shit out of the sword, find out which properties repelled dragons, and then I'd replicate and mass-produce anti-dragon weaponry to the extent that we would be able to permanently remove the threat of dragons.

If not sure if that's a Stealth Insult to popular dragon's perception.

I hope so, but either way, I'll humor him. Actually, if they were that powerful, then a sword would definitely not be able to affect something that could swallow a star.

edited 11th Nov '11 11:17:36 PM by tropetown

Some see dragons as actual divine beings, basically demi-gods, while others see them as animals that they can expand uniquely upon. Compare Japanese mythological dragons to How To Train Your Dragon dragons.

If it means anything, dragons along with elves are up there on my list of "races that are too good for stories."

"The land where the weapon was used became barren and all life in and around that area ceased to exist, as both women and men became infertile. There was also a severe decrease in rainfall with the land developing cracks, like in a drought" ~ description of Excalibur's aftereffects.

Excalibur, sword of kings, King of Swords. Forged from the last glowing ember of a long-dead star. Throughout history it has been known by many names: brahmastra the ultimate destruction and the complete annihilation, mjolnir, kusanagi, caladbolg, cherubin, zulfiqar, cloudbuster, ravemaster, joyuese. In times of darkness it appears before those who are worthy, ever-sharp, ever-true. When wielded it causes severe environmental damage. There is no foe it cannot strike down, no material it cannot cut - yet it does not cut its own scabbard or a friend. It can slice a photon or cleave a mountain. It is the god-killer and the ghoul-devourer, giant-crusher and devil-scorcher. Dragon's quake at its mention, and Where evil lurks, Excalibur will destroy it.

I personally don't see the whole similarity between elves and dragons people are drawing here. The thing about elves is that, yes, their whole Su(e)perior Species shtick does stink of A Nazi by Any Other Name, but they're rarely shown that way or as any other form of antagonist. Dragons, on the other hand, may be treated as overly cool/badass, but they are very frequently antagonists, so I have a hard time seeing them on the same level.

Dragons in my 'verse are based on D&D dragons, with a few of my own tweaks to better suit the universe. The eldest dragons are on par with the High Daylight Walker (the most powerful non-divine being in the setting), while the younger ones are about as dangerous as the average mountain lion or other similarly sized predator.

On another note, I decided to subvert the whole one-track race of smug snake 'holier than thou' elves and just make them basically humans with a slightly... off quality to them.

edited 11th Nov '11 11:51:41 PM by animemetalhead

I'm not really comparing them on that level. Dragons and elves are just two races that I can't take seriously anymore in my written works. If they're not being parodied, they're not there at all.

I tried it two ways in two different stories.

In one, dragons weren't really that tough—they were pretty well-armored, but they had no counter to a rain of arrows. They had a legend that their dead wouldn't rest unless burned to ashes, which turned out to be true, but they had no access to any other form of magic. (The past tense is necessary here—they're long since extinct.)

In another, dragons were the final species created by the gods to be The Paragon for the other races, only to fall prey to their own pride. Their style of magic is known as Flair, and it tends towards the Awesome, but Impractical. Again, their greatest weakness is their inability to use any manner of ranged weapon (though they're also much better armored in this version—coupled with their near-immunity to Power, and the rarity of directly offensive spells in Control or Subtlety, it's quite difficult to bring them down unless you target their eyes.) (BTW, can you tell I made this setting up when I was 10?)

Pretty decent work for a ten year old. Though the eyes thing is basically almost always the one weakness given to otherwise impervious creatures.

My dragons are no different than any other beast living in my story 'verse- they're reptiles who learned how to harness magic millions of years ago, and thus evolved in a different direction. There.

Really, though, dragons can be anything you want them to be. It's believed that most dragon legends were based off of various reptilian creatures. The Chinese based theirs off of crocodiles, which were believed to have power over nature because they could tell when rain was coming; and there's also that thing with them believing that seahorses were baby dragons. European dragons were probably based off of ancient peoples' perceptions of unearthed dinosaur fossils; maybe some farmer found a huge dinosaur tooth, told everyone that it belonged to an awful monster and made it reptilian because humans find them naturally creepy.

Assuming that this is for The Flow and it hasn't been abandoned yet, you could always use the Chinese-based dragons that appear in Korean folklore.

edited 12th Nov '11 10:39:15 AM by CrystalGlacia

Hmm...those dragons are generally far too benevolent for needed to be shot down with missiles.

If you want it to be the case that dragons in your 'verse can and should be shot down with missiles, then make it so. Seriously, there's no reason why your dragons need to be influenced at all by the way anyone else writes them.

For what it's worth, SAM-type weapons are generally designed to shoot down modern fighter/bomber planes, which are typically so optimized for performance that any disruption of their integrity will bring them down. I can easily buy a dragon being more durable than a fighter plane, to the degree that you'd need to really spam expensive SA Ms to bring one down. (The above assumes that you're playing dragons as physical rather than magical beings; if magic gets into the mix all bets are off.)

If we're sharing dragon tales (no, not that one)...

Dragons in my Suenyaverse? Physically, yes, they're very powerful. They have armored scales, wings, and they breathe fire. A certain subspecies of them, the gold dragons, do think of themselves as physical gods who rank above mere mortals, etc. But dragons are actually not that good at magic, and, thanks to the fact that they lack thumbs, they haven't made the same sort of scientific and magical advancements humans have. Culturally, they have as many problems as the other races do, though they have their own unique good sides. And while some people are frightened and thus prejudiced against them, they are generally treated on the same level as the other races. It's sort of a theme in the Suenyaverse that Heart Is an Awesome Power, so each race has its ups and downs going for it. Elves in particular are pretty much the same as men, and indeed, they're noted in the manual as being one of only two races (of nine) that can successfully interbreed with humans, and half-elves even have a relatively high rate of fertility for hybrids.

There's now a thread solely for talking about your particular different dragons.