If you missed my Nerd Out article on magickal horses, you can find it here.

Dragons of all types have a long history with humans. Since at least Medieval times at least, they have been used to show strength, valor, purity, and other positive attributes. They have also become synonymous with evil while still retaining the benevolence to bestow humans with wisdom and favor. Dragons come in all shapes and sizes and from many cultures around the world. The common theme between all of them is that they are reptile-like of some sort.

We can find them everywhere today, not just in myth and legend. They are in our art, on, our clothes, on our walls, even in our kitchens and bathrooms. They are all over our media: reading, movies, TV, and games of all sorts. There is Dragonheart, both comics and movies, How To Train Your Dragon, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, including The Hobbit. The games Dungeons & Dragons, Dragons Dogma, and Spyro games are centered around dragons. I love me some dragon shifters which are like wolf shifters in romance books. They are found everywhere in anime. Some Pokemon are inspired by them plus there are the mangas like One Piece, Fairy Tail, and more.

Mythology has a few dragon deities. There is Quetzalcoatl, who is an Aztec god. He is said to be a feathered serpent and a god of science, knowledge, and arts. Tiamat is a Babylonian dragon goddess who is the primordial sea as well as the embodiment of chaos. Even Apep from Egyptian mythology can be considered a god and since he is a wyrm, he counts as a dragon god.

Dragons can be associated with elements besides ice and fire depending on where the myth comes from. Chinese dragons are essentially water-elemental dragons. There are lightning dragons, spirit dragons, water, fire, air, earth, and others. It seems there is an elemental dragon for any occasion.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means. As I said, they come in all shapes and sizes and cultures throughout the world. What is defines a dragon has widened since I started this article. Without further ado, let me show you what I found, a couple might surprise you.

Western Dragon aka European Dragon

Definition: Cave-dwelling, reptilian beasts with wings, tails, and scales. They have four legs, clawed feet, and can fly.

Western dragons are the ones I was most familiar with when I started this article. I, of course, knew of the others in this list but as much about them as I know now. The European dragon has a huge wing span to allow their massive bodies to fly, four reptilian legs (think Komodo dragons only more massive), scales, a thick, deadly tail, and sharp, vicious teeth. These dragons are known to have different kinds of breaths, like fire, ice, and poison. They also hoard treasure, think Smaug from LOTR, though he is a drake rather than a true dragon. Most dragons are not friendly and some like to terrorize humans in the lands where they live. A few though, are kind enough to lend aid and wisdom to humans but they are not the majority.

Where to find them: Like the unicorn and pegasus in my last article (linked above), dragons have been used in heraldry since at least the Medieval period. They of course can be found in D&D, but also in games like Magic the Gathering and Yu-gi-oh. The kids’ show that was popular when my middle kid was small, Dragon Tales was all about dragons as is the Pixar hit movies and show How To Train Your Dragon. I own all three main films. That same kid also watched Barbie as Rapunzel which had Penelope and Barbie and the Diamond Castle which had Slyder.

Chinese/Japanese Dragon

Definition: Water-dwelling serpentine beast with clawed legs and masters of water.

The Mandarin word for dragon is long and in Japan, the dragons are called ryu or tatsu. Unlike their Western counterparts, these dragons are associated mostly with all that is good and just. The Asian dragons that are evil are a small number compared to the benevolent ones. These dragons are wingless but possess the ability to fly with two to four legs. The Classic of Dragons describes dragons with features of other animals such as having the horns of a deer, head like a camel, scales like a fish, eyes like a ghost, ears like a cow, and neck of a snake… Chinese dragons are tied to water and their Chinese names mean “water master” or “engineer of rain.”. It is part of their abilities to hide or appear as they wish and to change their size but the different color dragons have abilities tied to their colors. When a white dragon spits on the ground, for example, it turns to gold, or when the purple dragon drools, where that hits the ground, transparent jade appears. I didn’t know there was transparent jade. Japanese dragons closely follow China’s lead and stay within the other dragons of Asian culture.

Where to find them: You can find dragons in the Chinese zodiac and their mythology and movies like 47 Ronin, Mushu from Mulan, and animes like Dragonball Z and Spirited Away.

Wyvern

Definition: Similar to the standard European dragon in appearance minus two legs with a stinger at the end of it’s tale and often they have claws on their wings. The legs are bird-like as opposed to reptilian. They are smaller than European dragons as well as those of Asian myths.

Wyverns are called wyver in Middle English, wyvre in Old English, wouive in French, and vipera by the Romans. While wyverns look similar to the European dragon, they are even more aggressive and prone to violence than their counterpart. They are viewed as purely evil. They have all the same abilities as their cousins but unlike those cousins, they don’t have hoards that are nearly as impressive.

Where to find them: They are in heraldry all over Europe and the US. You will also find them in video games such as Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft, and Dragonlance. They are obviously in Dungeons and Dragons and shows and shows like like Game of Thrones.

Drake

Definition: A smaller, younger offshoot of a Western dragon.

There are differing ideas of what drakes are. Some call them young dragons, others say they are a different species altogether, while still, others say they are the same except they have no wings. They are still able to breath fire and ice and can do everything a European dragon can do, except fly. One thing that is agreed upon is that originally the word drake was used by the Teutonic people meaning dragon.

Where to find them: You can find them in various myths in Europe and games such as D&D and Magic the Gathering and movies such as LOTR and How To Train Your Dragon.

Wyrm/Wurm

Definition: Huge, snake-like creatures with no wings or legs but have an armor of hard scales.

Wyrms are well-known for being aggressive. Their myths are centered in Britain but was a common word for dragon in Scandinavian countries. At one point in Sussex, they were called knuckers, in Wales they are anfanc, and in Scotland, they are called beithir. To be clear, these wurms are different than lindwurms as lindwurms are wingless wyverns.

Where to find them: Jormangandr of Norse mythology is a wyrm though they are more often found in England and the surrounding area such as the Lambton Wurm and the Laidly Worm of Bambrough. There are also plenty of wurms in Magic the Gathering.

Hydra

Definition: Large, wingless reptile that when you cut off one head more grow in its place.

The hydra originated in Greece and is one of Herakles’s twelve labors. It was his second labor. What Herakles thought was going to be easy was in fact a nearly impossible task. He found that as soon as he killed one head another one or more grew in its place (depending on who is telling the myth). If it wasn’t for his nephew Iolaus coming up with the idea to cauterize the defeated head, Herakles would have eventually lost. Depending on the storyteller, the inspiration for using fire is attributed to Athena.

Where to find them: They can be found in Greek mythology. You can find them mentioned in the Bible also. They have been in movies and TV shows such as Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

Komodo Dragon

Definition: The largest living reptile that is strong and deadly.

Komodo dragons are the living relatives of the legendary dragons of old. They can be two hundred pounds and three feet long, easily, and made of muscle. They will continue to grow as long as they live. Much like their Asian cousins, they are strong swimmers. Living on Indonesian islands, they need to be. They are voracious eaters and can hunt their prey from miles away. They have no natural predators.

Where to find them: Southeastern Indonesia

I had no idea that a hydra or a wyrm was considered a dragon. Apparently, so is a basilisk and a naga. You learn something new every day. There is also a dragon called a dragonnet that is everything a European dragon is but fits in the palm of your hand. As I said earlier, this isn’t an exhaustive list, If I included them all, this article would be three times as long.

How much of this did you already know? Did anything surprise you? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, have fun storming the castle!