History OurDragonsAreDifferent / MythsAndReligion

** Mboi Tatá or Boitatá - a creature that protects the wilderness qualifies, being described as a giant snake-like being with large brilliant eyes who either breathes fire or is made of fire. Other common traits associated with it are flight, power of transformation and intelligence. This creature has folkloric descendants on the region (Paraguay and parts of Argentina and Brazil) even among Christians.

** A common feature of Slavic dragon myths is that they originate as snakes, who transform into dragons after living a certain number of years. For instance, a Bulgarian version of the story holds that a common grass snake may grow into a zmei if it lives for forty years. A version more common further east states that a viper will become a zmey/zmiy after living for a sufficient amount of time -- seven years in Ukrainian folklore or a hundred year in Belorussian. Slovenian folklore has a similar belief concerning olms, a type of long-bodied, eyeless salamanders that live in underground waters in the caves of the Dinaric Alps. Occasionally, olms are swept into open country when heavy rains flood out their caves; when these happens, the creatures' strange appearance produced the belief that they are infant dragons, and the consequently there must be a great number of the monsters living in the caves beneath the mountains.

** A common feature of Slavic dragon myths is that they originate as snakes, who transform into dragons after living a certain number of years. For instance, a Bulgarian version of the story holds that a common grass snake may grow into a zmei if it lives for forty years. A version more common further east states that a viper will become a zmey/zmiy after living for a sufficient amount of time -- seven years in Ukrainian folklore or a hundred year in Belorussian.

* Many of the FearsomeCrittersOfAmericanFolklore could be dragons.

** A recently rediscovered Filipino dragon-type is no other than ''[[NeverSmileAtACrocodile crocodiles]]''. The closest thing to a pan-Filipino mythos is that crocodiles -- especially the gigantic saltwater crocodiles roaming the islands -- were routinely seen as 1) powerful {{Nature Spirit}}s or outright {{Physical God}}s (naturally attuned to water), 2) the {{Reincarnation}} of tribal ancestors, and obviously, 3) [[DinosaursAreDragons dragons,]] to the point where the Tagalog word for crocodile (''buwaya'') was frequently used as a synonym for "dragon" in old texts. A Tagalog myth states that a huge magical crocodile/dragon literally called [[AKindOfOne the Buwaya]] acts as a {{Psychopomp}}, by ferrying recently-deceased souls to the afterlife. In a strange blend of Eastern and Western dragon-types, some tribes believed that crocodiles could LevelUp INTO dragons... by means of HumanSacrifice, since [[SoulEating they needed a human soul].

* The Snallygaster, one of the FearsomeCrittersOfAmericanFolklore, first described by German immigrants to Maryland. As a ferocious half-bird. half-reptile creature, it certainly sounds like a dragon, but what makes it different is the addition of a beak made of steel, a single eye, and tentacles in its mouth. Sightings of the creature created enough of a buzz that UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt even considered personally hunting it.
** Another dragon-like Fearsome Critter is the Gowrow of Arkansas' Ozark Mountains, which doesn't have wings or breathe fire but it does possess huge tusks like those of an overgrown warthog and a tail that ends in a razor-sharp blade. One was allegedly killed by hunters in 1897 and then sent to the Smithsonian for study, only for the carcass to never reach its destination and be lost.

* The rainbow serpent from Myth/AustralianAboriginalMyths is often called a dragon, though they're more of snake deities much like the Nagas or Quetzalcoatl, and details can vary depending on the tribe.

In a general sense, the European/Middle Eastern dragon myths originally evolved from the proto-Indo-European motif of a serpent or water monster representing chaos battling a deity or hero representing order. This led to a proliferation of serpent myths in later mythologies, usually depicting these beasts as monsters that cause destruction or guard something or someplace valuable, and which a story's hero will usually need to outwit or overcome at some point. The two most influential versions where the Greek ''drakon'' and the germanic ''lindwurm'', from which medieval dragon myths mostly descended, and which in turn were the most direct influence on the dragon of modern Western fantasy.

* The Nagas of Myth/HinduMythology (and many other parts of Asia) are sometimes called dragons, although they're more like serpent deities. Nonetheless, a few scholars have drawn parallels to Chinese dragons in how they are depicted (associated with water and weather, supernaturally powerful but fickle, long, snake-like bodies, etc.), which does lead some credence to the claim.
** Worth noting that as Buddhism brought the Naga to China and Japan, the Naga and local dragons began to merge. Garuda, historical enemy to the Naga, became the enemy of dragons as well, the Dragon-Horse in Literature/JourneyToTheWest ascends into a Naga, etc.
* Dragon is a very common motif in Myth/ChineseMythology since ancient times, and as explained in the main page is usually depicted as a [[DragonsAreDivine wise and old spirit]], associated with life, rain, water and good luck. That said, they're no strangers to their share of weirder dragons. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_sons_of_the_dragon The Nine Sons of the dragon]] is an excellent example of this.
** One of the FourGods, Seiryuu, guardian of the Eastern sky, is a dragon.
* Japan has its own parallel to the western dragon in the form of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuchigumo#Y.C5.8Dkai_tsuchigumo tsuchigumo]], a {{youkai}} that, like western dragons, is a giant, man-eating monster that kidnaps maidens, terrorizes villages and can only be slain by brave swordsmen. The twist? The tsuchigumo is a ''GiantSpider''.
** More tradtionally, there is also {{Orochi}}, an eastern dragon with eight heads and a body that spanned the length of a mountain range. It was defeated and slain by the storm god Susano-o after he drugged it into a stupor with milk mixed with sake. The legendary sword ''Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi'', later renamed the ''[[PublicDomainArtifact Kusanagi]]'', was found embedded in the beast's body.

* The French [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Carcolh Lou Carcolh]] is an even weirder deviation from the standard dragon myth, in that it's a monstrous half-serpent half-''snail'' monster, with a maw lined with hairy, stretchy tentacles.

* The apocryphal book of "Bel and the Dragon" about Daniel tells a story in which he killed a dragon (by making it swallow a ball of pitch, tallow, and other flammable substances) who was worshiped as an idol by the Babylonians, who in turn punished him by famously throwing him into a den of lions. Cryptozoologists and creationists have drawn parallels between the dragon with the Mushussu/Sirrush found on Babylonians reliefs, as well as the alleged LivingDinosaurs of the Congo.
* The dragon killed by [[Myth/SaintGeorge St. George]] in the popular medieval legend is an amphibious creature that lives in a lake and exudes a poisonous breath, with a healthy appetite for lifestock and humans.
* The story of Saint Margaret and the dragon is usually dated to the same time as the more popular St. George legend; she's usually differentiated from the other canonized Margarets as "Saint Margaret the Virgin". She was swallowed whole by {{Satan}} in the form of a dragon and walked out alive. She's not quite as well known today, but at one point, there were nearly 300 churches dedicated to her in England alone, and the cult of Saint Margaret was quite widespread at the time the trope was probably first being forged.

** The books of Job, Psalms, and Isaiah describe the Leviathan, a creature covered in air-tight sword/spear/arrow-proof scales, wielding [[BreathWeapon fire breath]], and with the ability to [[SuperStrength snap iron like it was straw]]. These same books also refer to the Rahab (or the Rehab, depending on the translation), which is a fugitive dragon from the sea. Some characteristics of the Behemoth from Job also imply a dragon as well, though it is not always portrayed that way.

!! Europe and Middle East/North Africa

!! East and South Asia

** A recently rediscovered Filipino dragon-type is no other than ''[[NeverSmileAtACrocodile crocodiles.]]'' The closest thing to a pan-Filipino mythos is that crocodiles--especially the gigantic saltwater crocodiles roaming the islands--were routinely seen as 1) powerful {{Nature Spirit}}s or outright {{Physical God}}s (naturally attuned to water), 2) the {{Reincarnation}} of tribal ancestors, and obviously, 3) [[DinosaursAreDragons dragons,]] to the point where the Tagalog word for crocodile (''buwaya'') was frequently used as a synonym for "dragon" in old texts. A Tagalog myth states that a huge magical crocodile/dragon literally called [[AKindOfOne the Buwaya]] acts as a {{Psychopomp}}, by ferrying recently-deceased souls to the afterlife. In a strange blend of Eastern and Western dragon-types, some tribes believed that crocodiles could LevelUp INTO dragons... by means of HumanSacrifice, since [[SoulEating they needed a human soul.]]

!!The Americas

!!Miscillanious

* The Mordiford Wyvern was killed by a convict named Carston in exchange for his freedom. Carston hid inside a barrel coated with spikes, and when the dragon tried to eat him, it ended up impaling itself. However, its blood trickled in and poisoned Carston to death.

** A common feature of Slavic dragon myths is that the originate as snakes, who transform into dragons after living a certain number of years. For instance, a Bulgarian version of the story holds that a common grass snake may grow into a zmei if it lives for forty years. A version more common further east states that a viper will become a zmey/zmiy after living for a sufficient amount of time -- seven years in Ukrainian folklore or a hundred year in Belorussian.

* Similar creatures in Myth/SlavicMythology are the zmey. The word itself actually derives from the word for "snake", though that doesn't necessarily mean that every zmey was depicted as having no limbs like a snake. The zmey varies in appearance, from looking like a typical dragon (big lizard with claws and wings, breathing fire), to having several heads in addition. The most common features about them are that they're big, strong, intelligent, ancient creatures, capable of speech, performing magic and shapeshifting into humans. They're also usually said to be very rich, sometimes rumored to have castles in the sky, filled with [[DragonHoard treasure]] and magical artifacts. Notable is their affinity for beautiful women, who they will abduct, trick or persuade to become their brides.