#2: May 3rd 2015 at 3:42:11 AM
Um, the fact that it's one of the most linked-at pages of the site (almost 24000 outside links) indicates the name has caught on. Even if it's wrong.
Gonna decline this thread.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Total posts: 2
I realize this must be one of the most linked-to pages on the site, but I believe the name is totally wrong.
Right now the page states:
The term "dragon" originates from folklore where the hero will often fight a genuine dragon before fighting the more intelligent but weaker Big Bad and described as such in "The Hero with a Thousand Faces", a non-fiction comparison of various fantasy heroes written by Joseph Campbell. Hence, dragons (or stand-ins for them) are often portrayed as a Big Bad's second-in-command. Note, however, that in folklore the dragon is not necessarily in the service of the true villain, whereas in accordance with this trope, they necessarily are.
1. Does Campbell actually say all this in his hero's journey?
2. I can't think of folklore/myths/legends where the hero ever fought a dragon or other monster that was second in command to the true overall villain. Monsters are obstacles for the hero and often the final antagonists in their own right, not lackeys for the villain who is fought at the end. If folklore doesn't actually follow the trope, why does the trope claim folklore as its name source? The page has examples from different sources except myth/legend.
Besides Beowulf, Sigurd/Siegfried and St. George I don't think there really that many cases of "dragon/monster slaying followed by a final confrontation with the villain", at least in Western stories. The knight and dragon motif derives from St. George and once he kills it it's over. Beowulf's dragon was the final boss and he died killing it. Sigurd died due to treachery long after he killed his dragon.
The only myth/legend I can think of that surely fits is Perseus fighting Medusa (then on the way home, a sea-monster), then using Medusa's head to kill the king who gave him that quest to get rid of him.
Maybe Jason facing a dragon and other monsters to get the Golden Fleece counts, but he doesn't confront the villain figure after. Same with Theseus and the Minotaur. "Often fight" is wrong.
Given that the example is Darth Vader it should be something like Evil Enforcer.
edited 3rd May '15 4:03:39 AM by fusilcontrafusil