I don't adore dragons. Why do you?

Status
Not open for further replies.
X

Xyzean

Guest
I don't really see why lots of people love dragons. I just see them as large lizards that could breathe fire. I don't see them as beautiful. I sometimes see them as ugly disgusting snakes with legs. I don't understand why people like them so much.

Can anyone tell me what do you feel about dragons and why do you feel the way you do?
 
Zombies love dragons.
 
  • Nice Execution!
Reactions: rissa
It's much more than just their immediate appearance, although that in itself can be quite nice sometimes. I personally particularly enjoy 'badass' looking dragons, rather than pretty ones. Anyways, dragons, like several other fantasy races, are awesome because they represent limitless possibilities. You have the species, of course, but then you have to take into factor things such as longevity (how old the dragon is), cunning (smart dragons are much cooler than dumb feral ones) and power. It's all in how the dragons are handled, some can shapeshift and live basically forever, affecting the world around them and sometimes even manipulating it. While others... Just kind of sit on a pile of gold in a cave until they get murdered by adventurers.

That's the gist of it, to me, it's all about the possibilities, though dragons are hardly one my favorite fantasy races personally. It's all about them being a race that can pretty damn imposing and impressive. Though I do agree that the garden variety feral fire breathing lizards are rather dull and serve as little more than cannon fodder, albeit dangerous cannon fodder.

Dragons can be an extremely destructive force of evil, or paragons of 'goodness', and can shift the events of the world around them dramatically.

Probably my favorite example of this is the Breath of Fire series, which showcases shapeshifting, intelligent dragons in various forms. 3 and 4 in particular do it really well, especially 4 as it showcases the difference between a dragon on the side of good (The main character, Ryu), and one on the side of evil (The ancient emperor, Fou-Lu) even going into their motivations and background.

Then you have the Warcraft universe, with dragons that are literally are so ancient they represent various aspects of the world they inhabit, such as time, life, and so forth, and where one such dragon nearly destroys the world. Granted, the way WoW handles Deathwing is kind of lame but everything prior to that was really cool, particularly in the novels.

So yeah. In short, it's all about the why, how, and whatnot. Dragons can be super lame, or super cool. But this goes for basically most fantasy species with long lifespans, like elves, demons, and so forth. Dragons are just another example.

Oh and undead dragons of various types are super cool looking. Dragon zombies, skeleton, ghost, etc. Heh!
 
Last edited:
The primary appeal of dragons is their being massively intimidating.
6c14d869e156e561fdd3044e95b75a42--flower-crowns-shooting-stars.jpg
It's a matter of majesty and fear, similar to how we might look at a gigantic cannon that can lob shells the size of your house.

I have some agreement with Halaster that I will almost always find a dragon more interesting when they are intelligent rather than just beasts.
11111Shift.jpg
Overall I think it just boils down to a matter of aesthetics, and that overall, people enjoy the look and idea of Dragons very much. Doesn't mean you're missing something they're all seeing, you just prefer a different aesthetic. What are some fantasy creatures you always like to see in shows/movies/books?
 
The primary appeal of dragons is their being massively intimidating.
View attachment 144494
It's a matter of majesty and fear, similar to how we might look at a gigantic cannon that can lob shells the size of your house.

I have some agreement with Halaster that I will almost always find a dragon more interesting when they are intelligent rather than just beasts.
View attachment 144495
Overall I think it just boils down to a matter of aesthetics, and that overall, people enjoy the look and idea of Dragons very much. Doesn't mean you're missing something they're all seeing, you just prefer a different aesthetic. What are some fantasy creatures you always like to see in shows/movies/books?
I would agree on the intimidation factor, but I personally can either way in regards to intelligence of dragons. For one thing, it kind of feels unbelievable when a dragon talks. You have to either be very careful establishing that talking animals are a regular thing, or make the dragon psychic or something. You could get rid of a dragon's voice entirely and still make it wise.

Was initially thrown off when the title said "adore" dragons and no one's talked about them being adorable. Well I think they are, especially when they're babies.
dae_baby_dragon_sketch_12jan18.jpg

There's an added potential to baby dragons. Not only is "cute death machines" a wonderful trope, but that gives you the potential to train the dragon, and when he grows up to be a proper death machine, he'll be your death machine. Yes he. This one's clearly a boy. He looks like a Verde to me.
 
  • Love
  • Bucket of Rainbows
Reactions: Greenie and Joan
The Temeraire series of books gave me a new appreciation of dragons. In the ways they can be used for more than just fighting. Although in the case of that book dragons also had intelligence and personality. They weren't just mindless beasts and they tended to be fiercely loyal to whoever first harnessed them as their Captain.
 
Wow. Breath of fire. I forgot that I played that game before. I didn't finish it though because my machine broke.

After googling the breath of fire's dragon design, I do find them good looking although some of them doesn't look like dragons at all. While I was writing the first post, I imagined dragons with boring colours and boring simple designs, but after seeing variety of designs, I guess their looks are handsome in a way if you design them well.

After reading Halaster's comment, I realised there are many depictions of dragons. They are just as crazy as sparkling in the sun vampires. They have magic. They are humans with morphing abilities. They could have telekinesis and they may have psychic powers as well. They can be elemental gods. It just the matter of how you want them to be and how you imagine them to be. There is no set design of how people see them in terms of power. This actually adds more confusion to me. But it still doesn't change that their physique are still giant lizards.

I guess imagining them having intelligence and personality is somewhat better than them being feral and mindless. That seem scarier if they are smart predators. They can plan how to destroy you. I do find it more comfortable for me if they can't speak. Talking dragons always seem wrong to me. Just like talking animals. But I am okay with talking anthropomorphic creatures with different body physique compared to humans.

My experience of dragons are mostly from games and movies. Breath of fire was a classic. They are quite nice. Years ago was skyrim. I don't find skyrim dragons special at all. But recently, game of thrones.

Oh and adore could mean look up to or worship.
 
Last edited:
The Temeraire series of books gave me a new appreciation of dragons. In the ways they can be used for more than just fighting. Although in the case of that book dragons also had intelligence and personality. They weren't just mindless beasts and they tended to be fiercely loyal to whoever first harnessed them as their Captain.

This is just like the cartoon How To Train Your Dragon. Haha. Don't get offended.
 
King-Ghidorah-king-ghidorah-28384716-640-457.jpg

How could anyone not like space dragons that destroy planets?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Xyzean
That is one ogle modre fokre space dragon. I feel like squishing it dead.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Shiri
I personally love the boundless limits of dragons. Also, when it comes to human dragons, weaknesses are fun too. Like their humanity becomes a key weakness- incredibly key too. Also, dragons can be very relatable to humans in the long run.
 
I don't go out of my way to profess love for dragons or nuffin' (I save that for anime!!), but there are two types of dragons I really like: the Ancient Deity, and the Great Destroyer.

Ancient Deity types, well. Think Shadow of the Colossus, or mythical Chinese dragons. When they're displayed as ancient beings who bore witness to, like, time immemorial I just get blown away by the majestic beauty of it. But like... these don't have to be dragons, they can generally be any really big being.

Great Destroyer types are.... you know. Godzilla deals. Something so utterly monstrous and powerful. The sheer might of it, its incredible. Again, these types are not exclusively dragons either.

Anyway. Just about anything can be lame if you don't look very hard at it and are willing to create some standardized notion of very blasé attributes, like winged lizard. I personally aren't enthralled with dragons, but they're like anything else really. They can be amazing if you're willing to enjoy them.
breath-of-the-wild-naydra.jpg
 
Points to avatar*
 
Giant flying lizards. The firebreathing is optional, but everything else is a must-have for a cool fantasy beast.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Xyzean
I grew up with dino toys and Godzilla movies. Loving dragons was not an incredible stretch for me. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that. I adore the reptilian silhouette, but I can see how it could be uninteresting to someone else. In the same vein, my mom absolutely loves monkeys, I...don't understand the appeal.

It's taking all I have to not photobomb with examples I find pretty or cool or interesting. I will be a good girl. x3
 
  • Like
Reactions: Xyzean
Status
Not open for further replies.