History Main / DreadfulDragonfly

* Dragonfly badniks have appeared in the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series:

{{Subtrope}} of BigCreepyCrawlies, and subsequently of DireBeast.

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{{Subtrope}} of BigCreepyCrawlies, and subsequently DireBeast.

* In the ''Literature/PastDoctorAdventures'' novel ''Island of Death'', the Doctor mentions the Sclaponian Dragonflies. Not much is known about them, but since he nearly lost an entire leg to the creature, one can imagine how humongous those insects are.

{{Subtrope}} of BigCreepyCrawlies.

* Some species of dragonflies are rather big insects (although nowhere near the fictitious ones). The biggest one is the Giant Petaltail, which has a wingspan of 160 mm (over 6 inches). Thankfully, they are harmless to humans.
* Prehistoric dragonflies, from the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganeura Meganeura]] genus, were ''even bigger'', with some reaching a wingspan of 700mm (2'08). Try to imagine those monsters flying into your room...

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* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Giant dragonflies are a fairly rare type of giant insect that grow to be around the size of a horse. They're fast, agile and voracious hunters, and quite willing to hunt and eat humanoids as regular fare. Their nymphs also appear as statted monsters, but are naturally smaller and flightless, and thus less of a danger.

* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' introduced mutated dragonflies called Stingwings. They're just as bad as the rest of the mutant wildlife.

* Subverted with the Nectarious Dandlefly in ''VideoGame/Pikmin3'': while quite much bigger than the characters, these damselflies are completely harmless to the Pikmin, and carry precious nectar on their body segments.

* Dragonfly badniks have appeared in the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series.

Dragonflies can fill the role to perfection. After all, they combine high-speed flight, toothed mandibles and gigantic, compound eyes, and this places them among the most formidable predators among the insects, being able to prey upon even small fishes. They are also quite big for insects and their younger life stages as just as deadly: Dragonfly larvae are aquatic predators with extensible mandibles that burst out to capture prey. As such, ''giant'' dragonflies would be an incredibly terrifying sight for hapless humans, who would have no hope out outrunning them and surviving their teeth.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has the Yanma line. While Yanma, introduced in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', was already quite big with its 3'11, it was quite cute and not all that scary. Then ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' gave it an evolution: the monstrous Yanmega. Not only does it have a very intimidating appearance, it stands at a whopping '''6'03''' (the biggest Bug-type Pokémon until [[CreepyCentipedes Scolipede]] stole the title). Even worse, the Pokédex states that it has powerful jaws that can bite foes and preys in half (and it is quite fond of it) and that it can create shockwaves with its wings. To top all of that, it is ''very'' fast. One wouldn't want to get of their bad side...

* Prehistoric dragonflies, from the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganeura Meganeura]] genus, were ''even bigger'', with some reaching a wingspan of 700mm (2'08). Try to imagine those monsters flying into your room...

** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'' introduced the Flitters, big blue dragonflies from the Kremlin Krew that patrol definite paths and hurt Diddy and Dixie should them touch the darners. Hopefully, they are quite weak.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has the Yanma line. While Yanma, introduced in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', was already quite big with its 3'11, it was quite cute and not all that scary. Then ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' gave it an evolution: the monstrous Yanmega. Not only does it have a very intimidating appearance, it stands at a whopping '''6'03''' (the biggest Bug-type Pokemon until [[CreepyCentipedes Scolipede]] stole the title). Even worse, the Pokedex states that it has powerful jaws that can bite foes and preys in half (and it is quite fond of it) and that it can create shockwaves with its wings. To top all of that, it is ''very'' fast. One wouldn't want to get of their bad side...

* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' introduced mutated dragonflies called Stingwings. They're just as bad as the rest of the mutant wildlife.

* Some species of dragonflies are rather big insects (although nowhere near the fictitious ones). The biggest one is the Giant Petaltail, which has a wingspan of ''160 mm''. Thankfully, they are harmless to humans.
* Prehistoric dragonflies, from the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganeura Meganeura]] genus, were ''even bigger'', with some reaching a wingspan of 700mm. Try to imagine those monsters flying into your room...

{{Subtrope}} of BigCreepyCrawlies and DireBeast.

Dragonflies can fill the role to perfection. After all, they combine high-speed flight, toothed mandibles and gigantic, compound eyes, and this places them among the most formidable predators among the insects, being able to prey upon even small fishes. They are also quite big for insects and their younger life stages as just as deadly: Dragonfly larvae are aquatic predators have extensible mandibles that burst out to capture prey. As such, ''giant'' dragonflies would be an incredibly terrifying sight for hapless humans, who would have no hope out outrunning them and surviving their teeth.

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "The Green Death" features giant maggots whose adult form resembles giant dragonflies.

Sometimes, authors become bored of the overwhelmingly common [[GiantSpider Giant Spiders]] and CreepyCentipedes and try to get a little more creative with their BigCreepyCrawlies. .

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* In the ''[[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Doctor Who]]'' novel ''Island of Death'', the Doctor mentions the Sclaponian Dragonflies. Not much is known about them, but since he nearly lost an entire leg to the creature, one can imagine how humongous those insects are.

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* Dragonfly badniks named... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Dragonflies]] have appeared in the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series since ''VideoGame/SonicAndKnuckles''. They most notably have spiky abdomens with which they skewer their foes.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dreadfuldragons.png]]

** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'' introduced the Flitters, big blue dragonflies from the Kremlin Krew that patrol definite paths and hurt Diddy and Dixie should them touch the darners. Homefully, they are quite weak.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. Giant dragonflies appeared as a new monster in module [=EX2=] ''The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror'' and later in the ''Monster Manual 2''. They are man-sized, have up to 64 HitPoints, and are very hard to hit in combat. They are known to attack human beings, and can kill a normal human in a single combat round.

** The Monocle Monicas from ''DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' are huge dragonfly-like creatures approximatively the size of Donkey Kong. They quickly move forward and backward from a point A to a point B and contact with them will harm Donkey Kong.