History Main / OurDragonsAreDifferent

Western dragons or European dragons are derived from Greek and Roman mythology and may have been influenced by the cultures of the Ancient Near East. Eastern dragons or more specifically Chinese dragons, derive from ancient Chinese mythology dating back [[OlderThanDirt 7000 years ago]] and these depictions spread throughout Eastern Asia. The reason for [[DragonsAreDivine Chinese dragon worship]] is likely because the region of Northern China where Chinese civilization first began was filled with dinosaur fossils which led to the development of dragon myths. Northern China is still considered a huge "dinosaur hot spot" in palaeontology today. There are many other dragons in the East such as Makara deriving from Indian mythology but the Chinese dragon and its variants spreading from Japan to Bhutan is by far the most well-known.

* Very old (Greek and Roman, and some medieval) dragons are presented as more serpentine than the more recent ones -- if winged, the wings are usually their only limbs; and some were totally limbless, just ''enormous'' serpents. This type of dragon may be referred to as a '''wyrm''' (pronounced "worm"). Sometimes, however, "wyrm" will simply be a synonym for dragons in general.

** Another variant from heraldry is the '''lindworm''', a two-legged dragon with no other limbs. Variants include dragons that are {{Armless Biped}}s or basically snakes with arms.

Given that dragons are by definition fictional, Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease.

Given that monsters are by definition fictional, Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent/RealLife

* The ''Ride/JourneyIntoImagination'' attraction at [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks EPCOT]] features Figment, a cheerful purple dragon who acts as the park's mascot. He doesn't seem to have any fire-breathing powers, and he's (for a dragon) not particularly big. He does have some powers, though - in the third incarnation (and the current one) of the attraction, he manages to literally turn his house upside-down.

* The protagonist of the "Dragonland Chronicles" album trilogy of the Swedish HeavyMetal band Music/{{Dragonland}} is said to descend from dragons. In addition to that to cite an example "Dragondawn", the first song of their first album is accompanied (it's instrumental) by these verses:

||Normally associated with fire, which they often breathe as an attack. In Greco-Roman and Germanic myths they more likely to be heavily associated with water instead, and to live in lakes, swamps or wells.||Normally associated with water (and the sky, [[TheSkyIsAnOcean which was considered an ocean in classical Chinese thought]]), and are often considered bringers of rain. Furthermore, [[TheFourGods the Azure Dragon and the Yellow Dragon]] are associated with Wood and Earth, respectively. In some works, some Chinese dragons are capable of breathing fire. In some legends, they are capable of this after being punished.||

||Are usually [[KillAllHumans antagonistic towards humans]], if not outright {{Satanic Archetype}}s in older works. More intelligent versions are often manipulative, or, at the very least, love to screw with people; less intelligent versions are beasts and act the part. Due to the influence of works like ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'', good dragons have become more popular in western media. ||Are benign, [[BewareTheNiceOnes but capable of destructive force when provoked]]. They may be [[TigerVersusDragon rivals with tigers]], and[=/=]or [[OneGenderRace a male counterpart to]] the female [[ThePhoenix fenghuang]]. In Japanese folklore dragons are sometimes portrayed as evil, such as the infamous eight headed {{Orochi}}.||

* ''Fanfic/{{Adjacency}}'': Inherited from its source work, Spike the dragon is an intelligent and magical, scaly being who consumes jewels.

* ''Fanfic/{{Adjaency}}'': Inherited from its source work, Spike the dragon is an intelligent and magical, scaly being who consumes jewels.

* ''Fanfic/TheLastDraconequus'':
** According to Discord's inner monologue, eastern dragons exist alongside the western kind, and are capable of interbreeding with ponies to create a chimeric species called the long-ma. The draconequi were long-ma who migrated west. The original long-ma followed a different evolutionary path and are still around today, and deny being draconequui at all, but Discord still considers them basically the same species.

It is interesting to note that the conflation of these two types of beings under a single term is in large part a Western trend. Eastern languages tend to refer to them using different names (Japanese, for instance, refers to Western dragons as ''doragon'' and to Eastern ones as ''ryu'' or ''tatsu'') and are generally less interchangeable.

** As an alternative to hydra, the '''Zmey''' of Slavic mythology is catching on. They are similar creatures right down to the poison blood but there are a few salient differences. Zmey always have some limbs, almost always have wings and can fly, and more often than not have a bulky lizard-like body instead of the traditional hydra's snake-like body. The most major difference is that, while some modern hydras have a fixed number of heads, the zmey ''always'' does (and it's usually fixed at three). It can regenerate its fixed number of heads if they are removed without fire and their bodies are said to be either invulnerable or have a potent healing factor. [[SuperPowerLottery On top of all that,]] they traditionally have [[BreathWeapon fire breath and poison breath]] of western dragons. While nearly all named Zmeys are antagonist in the works they appear, many traditions point out they can be good.[[note]]This is because they are often thought to be metaphors for Mongolian/Turkic peoples who have tried/succeeded to invade the region. Obviously you want to portrey them on the whole negatively given the whole invasion thing, but don't want them all bad because some of them colored your gene pool. It's telling that all heroic Zmey sired families who would go on to be nobles and royals.[[/note]] These have obviously always been popular in Slavic cultures, but the Cold War has stunted their spread to west until recently.

* ''Pinball/DungeonsAndDragons'' has a fire-breathing scaly red dragon as the antagonist.

* Music/TearsForFears: There's a small Asian-style dragon flying towards the band on the left side of ''The Seeds of Love'' [[https://www.blackmagazin.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TFF-Seeds-Of-Love-Cover-.jpg cover art,]] possibly referring to the EasternZodiac verse in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzAd8YjLrEE Rhythm of Life (Demo)]]" ("Lucy's sign is the Chinese dragon, oh") even though that song wasn't included in the group's discography until the 2020 super deluxe edition. This dragon has no legs and its wings are fan-like.

-->''"Demon attacked me but then it was slain\\
The dragon appeared and a battle was fight."'' [sic]\\
''"I spoke from the words of a powerful scroll\\
And magical dragon became now allied."''
* The protagonist of the "Dragonland Chronicles" album trilogy of the Swedish HeavyMetal band Music/{{Dragonland}} is said to descend from dragons. In addition to that to cite an example "Dragondawn", the first song of their first album is accompanied (it's instrumental) by these verses:
-->''"As the dragons of the dawn spread their wings\\
And in the first blazing rays of the flowing morninglight\\
Set flight over oceans of radiant azure blissfull tides\\
Over majestic mountains of old, mountains of gold (...)"''

Compare GiantFlyer, {{Kirin}} and other DragonTropes. Supertrope to CatlikeDragons, {{Dracolich}}, DraconicAbomination, DraconicHumanoid, DragonAncestry, DinosaursAreDragons, DragonsAreDemonic, DragonsAreDivine, FairyDragons, FeatheredDragons, LazyDragon, SeahorsesAreDragons, ShoulderSizedDragon and {{Weredragon}}.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Crabgras}}'': [[https://www.gocomics.com/crabgrass/2021/05/04 Discussed]] when Kevin wants Miles to draw a Dragon Tattoo on him, and Miles begins to list the many different kinds of dragons that Kevin could choose from.

* ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/books/slavonic/wratislaw/goldenapples.html The Golden Apples and the Nine Peahens]]'': The dragon holds the heroine captive and rides a horse.
* ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/jackbeanstalk/stories/dragontricked.html How the Dragon Was Tricked]]'': The dragon has a house, a stable, and a dragoness wife, and ''goes to church''. He still commands his wife to murder the protagonist so they can eat him, however (and to prepare the meal while the dragon himself is at church, by the way).

As mentioned above, a recent trend has been to try and make dragons that could actually exist in the real world. Naturally, these tend to either use ScienceFiction concepts or be very different from traditional dragons. Also common in later works is a tendency for dragons to [[BondCreatures form a life-long]] bond with any human or humanoid who is [[ABoyAndHisX present when they hatch]] (probably inspired by the 'imprinting' which occurs with most birds in RealLife, which is why birds raised in captivity with the intent to be released must be cared for by puppets). This gives writers a way to give dragons unique psychology without having to come up with unique motivations for them. It also explains why humanoid {{Dragon Rider}}s can boss them around. Yet another trend appearing here and there is for dragons to be depicted as looking similar to ''dinosaurs'', usually the bigger theropods (like ''{{Tyrannosaurus rex}}''), but occasionally sauropods (such as ''Brachiosaurus'') as well. [[DinosaursAreDragons The two are often outright confused with each other]]. Another common trend in modern fantasy is the [[ShoulderSizedDragon miniature pet dragon]], suitable for [[ParrotPetPosition perching on one's shoulder]].

Even within these traditions, however, there is much variability. This has increased in modern times, as Western and Eastern authors have blurred the traditions by mixing and matching attributes from both (benign Western dragons are quite popular these days, for instance). Some authors invent completely new attributes to [[OurMonstersAreDifferent set their dragons apart]] from the crowd [[MythologyUpgrade or just make them]] [[RuleOfCool cooler]]. And some authors [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons put dragons in their stories just for the sole reason of making a story look cool]].