Basic Trope: Dragons as an evil race.
- Straight: A dragon is (or dragons are) evil.
- Exaggerated: Dragons are literally from Hell itself, and Satan and all his demons take the form of dragons.
- Downplayed: Dragons are generally aggressive, destructive, and pretty much never the good guys - but are never the bad guys either.
- Justified:
- The dragon (or dragons) was created by Satan, an analogue to Satan, an Evil Genius, or some other kind of villain.
- Dragons actually come from Hell.
- Inverted:
- Delightful Dragon: Dragons are a friendly, if not, a benevolent race.
- Dragons Are Divine: Dragons are from Heaven rather than Hell.
- The Dragonslayer is portrayed not as a noble warrior but a demonic being.
- The Dragonslayer is portrayed not as a demonic being but a noble warrior.
- Subverted: Dragons are described throughout the series as a naturally evil, demonic race, but when they meet them, they are actually quite nice.
- Double Subverted: This is just a ruse.
- Parodied: A cute-looking, cartoonish dragon is absurdly violent and deadly.
- Zig Zagged: Some dragons are evil, some aren’t.
- Averted:
- There are no dragons in the story.
- Dragons are equally capable of good and evil as any other race.
- Enforced:
- "If our setting is going to be based on medieval Europe, it should probably borrow tropes from medieval Europe."
- The author thinks Reptiles Are Abhorrent, including dragons.
- Lampshaded: "Of course the violent monster is also a dragon. Why should I be surprised?"
- Exploited: Somebody wants to harvest dragons for their scales, blood, or other properties, so they take advantage of the idea that dragons are evil to justify why they hunt and kill dragons.
- Defied: A dragon is sick of their evil peers and the negative image of their kind, so they opt for a life of good and try to redeem other dragons to prove that they can overcome their evil nature.
- Invoked: Somebody creates a race of demonic dragons.
- Discussed: "I’ve never met a dragon that hasn’t tried to kill me."
- Conversed: "While I can see why someone would make a dragon the bad guy, this is a bit extreme."
- Deconstructed:
- The idea of an Always Chaotic Evil race is taken to its extreme, and dragons drive themselves to near extinction through senseless violence.
- Because evil dragons are prevalent, they overshadow their good peers to the point where dragons become symbols of evil, and people are Hell-bent on slaying all kinds of dragons, resulting in Fantastic Racism where even the good ones aren't spared.
- Reconstructed:
- Evil doesn’t mean stupid.
- The surviving good dragons battle the evil dragons to protect the innocent from harm. After witnessing their heroism, the Dragon Slayers realize their blind hatred is wrong. As atonement, the Dragon Slayers only kill the evil dragons while protecting the good ones from other dragons and dragon slayers.
