Delightful Dragon

Who's a good dragon? You are, yes you are!

"Dragons, they are kind and amazing creatures that can bring people together."

— Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, How to Train Your Dragon 2

European Dragons are traditionally shown as forces of nature, or even symbolic of evil in its purest form. They can only be tamed by the select few, and the ones that aren't tamed tend to wreck villages and cities, as well as eat livestock and destroy crops. Almost like predator animals, but bigger and stronger. Expect them to be giant winged beasts that breathe fire. Eastern dragons are usually more benign, but are powerful, almost god-like beings capable of immense destruction if they are angered.

Then you have these dragons. They're not mean or destructive; in fact, they're downright friendly. These dragons tend to be only slightly bigger than an adult human and have much rounder features. Expect them to be a Friend to All Living Things or at least a Friend to All Children. If they are a lot bigger than humans, chances are they'll be a Gentle Giant. Small ones may be a Shoulder-Sized Dragon. Despite their benign nature, disturbing their friends or home can result in a major case of Beware the Nice Ones. If they aren't intelligent enough to talk, they may act like cats.

This is a fairly recent trope as far as depictions of dragons are concerned. The idea of dragons as relatable characters in their own right in European culture can probably be dated back to Kenneth Grahame's short story The Reluctant Dragon, published in 1898. It would not be until the late 20th century, though, that "cute" dragons truly became a fixture of popular culture. Nowadays, such portrayals are extremely common, to the point of almost rivaling the original, more monstrous, portrayals in number.

Compare Lovable Lizard, a much smaller, but equally friendly reptile.

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Examples

Advertising

• Harry the Dragon, mascot of the Harris Teeter supermarket chain, is this kind of dragon.
• Delbert the Dragon (a creation of Jim Henson and his Muppet masters) was the mascot for La Choy chow mein in the 1960s, wherein he would provide the dragon fire to cook the titular chow mein.

Anime and Manga

• Letty, the protagonist of Dragon Goes House-Hunting, is described on the work page as a Gentle Giant who is "timid, passive, and about as dangerous as an overgrown rabbit".
• Ravendia, the main character in A Herbivorous Dragon Of Five Thousand Years Gets Unfairly Villainized is not only a pacifist and somewhat cowardly but kind-hearted dragon, he is also a vegetarian and is shocked/horrified when a young orphan offers herself as a sacrifice to him in exchange for him to protect for her village from the Demon Lord on account of them believing he is actually a powerful evil dragon.
• In stark contrast with his villainous original counterpart, Godzilland's version of King Ghidorah (a three-headed golden wyvern) is one of Godzilla's friends, and he's just as friendly and lovable as the other Kaijus.
• Koryu from Inuyasha is a small red Chinese dragon. He only appears in one episode. All of his attacks on Inuyasha and his friends are basically little more than pranks. In one scene, he attacks Kagome by throwing lightning bolts at her, but his attack is so weak it does almost no damage. Along with Ah-Uhn, he is just one of two dragon yokai in anime that are benign.
• Several dragons in Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid are friendlier towards humans than what's normal for their species:
  • Lucoa, as a former goddess of agriculture and wisdom, tends to treat almost everyone as if she was their laid-back Cool Big Sis. Her complete lack of racism towards humans makes quite a bit of sense given The Reveal in Mononoke Sharing that she helped create humanity in the first place.
  • Ilulu, both before her Start of Darkness and after her Heel–Face Turn, has an established love of humanity, particularly when it comes to young children.
  • Elma is a Token Heroic Orc among the harmony faction who refuses to accept Human Sacrifices. While she does have the rare moment of looking down on humans, she views it as her duty to lead them to peace and prosperity.
• Tweeny Witches: Dragon is not only harmless but also he often helps his owner, Eva, and her friends by carrying Dragon House.

Films — Animation

• In How to Train Your Dragon, it was the general consensus that every dragon species was considered "extremely dangerous; kill on sight" from the smallest Terrible Terror to the most ferocious Monstrous Nightmare (with the exception of Night Furies, the Book of Dragons instructing one to "hide and pray it does not find you" should you encounter it). But as Hiccup was quick to discover, most species of dragons are actually just animals with a capacity of intelligence and compassion and only defend themselves from weapon-wielding humans that hope to either exterminate or exploit them and in the case of Helheim's Gate, a giant chief dragon that would eat them should they not bring it tributes. By the end of the first film, he has taught the rest of his village this and soon enough Berk has made peace with dragon-kind.
• Mushu from Mulan is a relatively rare example of a Chinese or Eastern dragon being depicted this way. Though most Chinese dragons actually are benevolent; they’re just serious and mystical, not wisecracking sidekicks.
• Xiao Shen Long from the Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf film Mission Incredible: Adventures on the Dragon's Trail gets into action only to fight the villainous dragons, but other than that he's quite friendly towards the goats (and wolves) and teaches them some martial arts moves to use on their journey.
• Quest for Camelot: Devon and Cornwall are twin-headed dragon brothers with an adorably Big Fun design. They serve as the film's Plucky Comic Relief, constantly bickering with each other at first, but eventually learning to get along with each other.
• Another Eastern dragon example is Sisu from Raya and the Last Dragon, a kind-hearted water dragon who genuinely believes in the best of everyone and appeals to their better inner qualities.
  • Additionally, the film depicts all dragons as heroes who protect humanity from the Eldritch Abominations known as the Druun. The loss of the dragons triggers The End of the World as We Know It, while their return leads to a World-Healing Wave that eliminates the Druun and begins a new era of peace.
• Dragon becomes this in Shrek due to her crush on Donkey. In the original film, she starts out as a fierce dragon who guards the tower that Princess Fiona is trapped in, but near the end, she flies Shrek and Donkey to Lord Farquaad's castle to stop Farquaad from marrying Fiona and eats Farquaad shortly after. At the end of Shrek 2, she and Donkey become parents of Dronkeys, creatures that are half-dragon and half-donkey.
• Herman from The Tale of Tillie's Dragon is a very friendly and kind young dragon, the only destruction he causes was unintentionally when he got a cold and would sneeze fire.
• The titular character Zog in the animated Adaption of the children’s book of the same name by Julia Donaldson is a playful and clumsy young dragon.

Films — Live-Action

• Dragons in the world of Dragonheart are a noble and mighty race who swore an oath to guide and protect mankind. They can even share half their heart in order to help save the life of a mortal who they deem worthy. This is specifically shown with Draco, a very charming and heroic dragon who tried to change the evil nature of a mortally wounded prince by sharing half his heart and making the boy swear that he would rule justly and uphold the old cold.
  • Drake from Dragonheart: A New Beginning while similar in appearance to his father Draco he is a lot more childlike and wide-eyed.
• Elliot from Pete's Dragon (1977) and its 2016 remake is a Gentle Giant who befriends a Heartwarming Orphan boy.
• In The Neverending Story, Falkor, much like his literary counterpart, is a friendly, optimistic dragon who, in this film, is literally introduced as a Deus ex Machina who not only saves Atreyu in his Darkest Hour but also takes him nearly the entire way of an incredibly long journey just because. This version also has a head that resembles a dog, for extra friendliness points.
• The Great Protector from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. When Ta Lo was being invaded by the Dweller-in-Darkness and the Soul Suckers thousands of years prior the events of the film, she came to the aid of the villagers and later became the village's protector. She even provided Ta Lo with gifts, such as her dragon scales, which the villagers used to make their weapons.

Literature

• The Adventures of Dragon: A series of children’s books from the 80’s/90’s by Lucy Kincaid with the central character being a shy, kindhearted and music-loving Dragon.
• The Bad Unicorn Trilogy: Dragons are a benevolent species here. Some especially delightful dragons include Obsikar, the Dragon King who wants to protect the three worlds from evil, and Puff, an adorable, friendly, and fluffy dragon who joins the heroes.
• The Beginning After the End:
  • Sylvie, Arthur's bond, is a friendly and innocent dragon. She is basically the surrogate daughter of Arthur (and by extension Tessia) they were both present when she first hatched (which gets all the more apparent once she gets the ability to assume human form). However, in spite of her soft exterior she is more than willing to step in and defend her loved ones if the need arises, even going so far as to perform a Heroic Sacrifice to save Arthur at a crucial moment point in the story).
  • Her mother Sylvia also counts as not only did she save and nurture a young Arthur like a doting grandmother after he was separated from his family due to a bandit ambush, but she also ended up sacrificing herself to save him from agents of the Vritra (though not before bequeathing him the egg that contained the unborn Sylvie to him).
  • Both are of the Indrath Clan of dragons, the rulers of the Asuras, with Sylvia being the daughter of the clan's leader and the Top God of the setting Kezess. After The Reveal that Kezess and the dragons were responsible for committing genocide upon the ancient Djinn, an action which led to the Divine Conflict that drives the story, both Sylvia and Sylvie come off as the sole good dragons in the setting, especially since Sylvia not only set Arthur on his journey but also posthumously informed him the truth about why the war started in the first place when the rest of her kind wanted to cover it up. After being revived by Arthur and coming to terms with how the war has turned out, Sylvie reaffirms that she stands with Arthur and his homeland. Even though Kezess and the Indrath are her relatives, if they are willing to cause harm to Arthur and his loved ones then she is willing to stand against them in the end. It is clear that Sylvie not only inherited her mother's selflessness, but thanks to the nurturing influence of Arthur away from the manipulations of the Indrath has turned out to become a better person than the rest of her kind.
• Discworld features Captain Vimes's clumsy pet dragon Errol.
• Raedon the copper dragon in Dragonlance: The New Adventures is friendly even for a metallic dragon (in Dragonlance, metallic dragons are good while chromatic ones are evil), and helps out the heroes on several occasions. Which makes it all the worse when the Big Bad performs a Grand Theft Me on him and uses his body to destroy a village.
• The Dragon's Claw from Louise Searl's short story collection The Dream Eaters and Other Stories features Tal, a friendly dragon who helps guide four teenagers stranded in a land of mythical creatures.
• Dragon Rider: The main Dragon character Firedrake, while he can be fearsome when protecting his friends he and his species overall peaceful and awe-inspiring creatures which is contrasted with the novel’s antagonist Nettlebrand, an evil wingless Golden dragon created by an alchemist, the silver dragons are magical creatures that are generally pacifists and don’t even require eating animals or plants to survive, only moonlight.
• Forest Kingdom: The (nameless) Last of His Kind dragon that Rupert is sent to slay in Blue Moon Rising turns out to be a polite, inoffensive retiree who hasn't set anything on fire in centuries, and collects butterflies rather than gold. He befriends Rupert and Julia, escorting them through the Darkwood at grave risk, and ultimately transports the party that confronts the Demon Prince, standing with the heroes despite knowing that the fall of the demons' ruler will also mean The Magic Goes Away and his own days will be ended.
• In the InCryptid novel Discount Armageddon, the dragon William turns out to be a fairly Nice Guy despite being a giant fire-breathing behemoth. He is a fairly good husband and is friends with The Heroine Verity Price.
• The dragons native to the setting of Heralds of Valdemar are malevolent, unintelligent magical monsters called cold-drakes, but in the short story A Dragon In Distress, Tarma and Kethry are called through a portal into another canon where a friendly, tea-drinking dragon asks for their help in rescuing the princess she adopted from a prince who's stolen her away.
• My Father's Dragon: Dragons in general are friendly, but Elmer forms a special bond with one in particular.
• Falkor from The Neverending Story is a Luckdragon, a white Eastern-style dragon covered in fur known for their intelligence, optimism, and being lucky. A luckdragon's voice is described as being like "the golden note of a large bell", and their singing is the stuff of legends. Swooping in to save the day when things seem at their most dire is kind of his thing in general throughout the book.
• Night Dragon: While the titular dragon is the main villain who's bringing forth a new age of apocalypse over Khul, there's also the Conclave of Dragons, an alliance of six lawful dragons who actively assists the human hero in his quest to slay the Night Dragon. Notably the Earth Dragon, who performs a Heroic Sacrifice for the hero and their leader, the Gold Dragon, who rescues the hero from certain death near the Night Dragon's Collapsing Lair.
• The Reluctant Dragon: The Trope Codifier, being the earliest example of a friendly non-antagonistic dragon character in modern fiction. The Dragon is more interested in books and stories and strikes up a friendship with a local boy who's later able to keep Saint George from killing his friend.
• When Women Were Dragons: While dragons can theoretically have as many personalities as humans, the ones shown in the narrative use their power to help the world. Some dragons start guarding pods of whales and other endangered species, others use their sense of smell and flight to defuse minefields, and still others defend civil rights protesters. Beatrice forms an international pacifist organization which defends civilians from the effects of war and encourages peacemaking.
• Where The Mountain Meets The Moon: While on a quest to change her family's fortune, Minli befriends a dragon who calls himself "Dragon" and is unable to fly. He proves to be very helpful along the way, even scaring off a tiger that tries to kill Minli.
• Wings of Fire: Zigzagged, dragons are portrayed simply as people, with all the varied personalities that implies. That said, most of the protagonists and many of their allies qualify for this trope, being generally friendly and kind-hearted people.
• The titular character in Julia Donaldson’s Zog is a keen yet accident-prone young dragon who dreams of growing up into a real dragon by learning to roar, fly, and breathe fire at dragon school.

Live-Action TV

• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys: In the episode "The Lady and the Dragon" Hercules and Lemnos have to go up against a dragon named Braxus that that has been helping Adamis to raid villages, however it turns out Braxus is a child who just wants friends and was tricked by Adamis, never actually meaning to hurt anyone, even saving Gyger and having only killed the warriors that came to his cave out of self-defense.

Music

• The titular dragon in Puff the Magic Dragon spends his time playing with a kid and never hurts anyone.

Mythology and Religion

• In Chinese Mythology, Chinese Dragons are regarded as wise and benevolent creatures who represent good luck and harmony, although considering the fact that they're both divine beings and Physical Gods, it's wise not to anger them.
• In Hindu Mythology, Ananta Sesha (also known as Aadi Sesha), is a benevolent deity who praises Lord Vishnu by singing songs about him and letting him sleep on his back, despite being a massive thousand-headed, fire-breathing, venomous serpent.
• Egyptian Mythology:
  • Wadjet is a winged serpent that breathes fire... and the guardian of both the pharaoh and the sun god Ra.
  • Nehebkau is a snake with a pair of human legs, and he's a benevolent and protective deity that serves as one of the 42 wise judges of the dead and Ra's advisor, though older texts depicted him in a much less noble light.
• Traditional depictions of seraphim also make them dragon-like, perhaps inspired by Wadjet.

Professional Wrestling

• CHIKARA had Dragon Dragon, a guy in a foam green dragon costume. That was it, and it got over as soon as he walked out to the ring at Running In The Red on November 13, 2005. He was a pure Face, and Oleg The Usurper was notorious for destroying him at WiF! (Wrestling Is Fun!) Ripe For The Picking on July 27, 2013.

Puppet Shows

• Eureeka's Castle: Magellan is a friendly dragon who is taken care of by Eureeka. He doesn't always understand new concepts, his tail seems to have a mind of its own, and whenever he gets upset, he tends to make sneezes powerful enough to shake the whole castle.
• In Magic Mountain, Dragon is a friendly dragon who always shows genuine care for his friends and is never afraid to use his magic to help them when in need.
• Süsü, the protagonist of Süsü, a sárkány is a friendly, kind-hearted, and somewhat dim-witted dragon who befriends the citizens of a medieval-type kingdom.

Tabletop Games

• Downplayed Trope with Arcana, a winged Draconic Humanoid from Crimestrikers. She was created to be a Super-Soldier by an emotionally abusive Mad Scientist; although she's done a Heel–Face Turn, her Dark and Troubled Past has left her with a Rebellious Spirit and an anger management problem. However, she's definitely one of the good guys, and she's ultimately a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and a Friend to All Children.
• Dungeons & Dragons has a longstanding tradition of dragons being Color-Coded for Your Convenience in terms of good vs. evil. The "chromatic" dragons - Red, White, Blue, Black, and Green - are bastards, one and all, but the "metallic" dragons - Gold, Silver, Brass, Bronze, and Copper - are good-aligned.
  • Brass Dragons (Chaotic Good) are relentlessly chatty and potentially kind of annoying, but also extremely knowledgeable and helpful.
  • Bronze Dragons (Lawful Good) are friendly coastal residents, always ready to throw down against evil.
  • Copper Dragons (Chaotic Good) are fun-loving, good-natured pranksters who love stories, jokes, and riddles.
  • Gold Dragons (Lawful Good) are majestic stoics, the reclusive hermit gurus of dragonkind.
  • Silver Dragons (Lawful Good) are friendly, virtuous creatures who see themselves as the protectors of the humanoid races.
  • Then there is Bahamut (Lawful Good) the Platinum Dragon god of Justice who may be stern and unrelenting in his pursuit of the evil and unjust but unequivocally a good guy who was typically very compassionate (preferring to Polymorph enemies rather than kill them) and who fights against his evil sister Tiamat.

Theme Parks

• Invoked by Dreamfinder in the original version of Journey into Imagination when he adds a "dash of childish delight" to finish creating the purple dragon Figment in the opening scene.

Video Games

• In Anna's Quest, an entire religion is built around a good Red Dragon that saved the world. Anna also helps to reunite a mother dragon with its lost child, and the dragon repays Anna by transporting her to distant places.
• Cavern of Dreams: The protagonist is Fynn, an adorable young dragon. There are many other baby dragons to rescue throughout the game, and they're all very cute and lovable.
• Dragon Creek is set in a town where people keep dragons as pets. They ride them like horses and use them for help with menial tasks.
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: While dragons are innately violent and tyrannical, Paarthurnax meditates to overcome his base nature and serves as the Big Good by being a wise mentor for the Grey Beards and helping the Dovahkiin stop his evil brother, Alduin. Paarthurnax is also pleasant for an old dragon.
• Freedom Planet: The game's heroine, Sash Lilac, is an anthropomorphic water dragon who always helps those in need, cares for her friends, and saves the galaxy from Lord Brevon and his forces.
• Monster Hunter: Stories lets you befriend and ride many of the franchise's most ferocious monsters, most of which resemble wyverns. The central conflict of Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is that Navirou wants to prove that the Razewing Rathalos can use its powers for good, and Avinia was saved by a Barioth when she got lost in the snow as a child.
• Pokémon has several Dragon type Pokémon that look more like giant plushies than some of the other Dragon types:
  • Pokémon Red and Blue. The original Dragon type Pokémon: Dratini, Dragonair, and Dragonite from the first generation. All of them are as cute as a button (well, Dragonair is more beautiful), and Dragonite is known for helping humans drowning or lost at sea. That said, it's also the first pseudo-legendary Pokemon and shouldn't be angered.
  • Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
    • Altaria is an odd example. It's a part Dragon-type for some inexplicable reason, but it's a large, gentle fluffy bird with cloud wings and no visibly draconic features, and sings in a beautiful soprano that makes you feel like you're in a dream. Its Pokédex talks about it hugging its trainer with said wings. In the remakes, it gains a Mega Evolution which makes it even fluffier and gains the Fairy type. Also, it looks humorously ridiculous when wet because those clouds "deflate".
    • The eon twins, Latias and Latios, also certainly count. They have a basis that crosses between birds, dragons and jet planes, are capable of understanding humanity due to their telepathy, and both are often considered very docile creatures, preferring to flee rather than fight (in spite of their status as Olympus Mons). Most media portray Latias in particular as a very friendly Pokémon when one manages to gain her trust, whereas Latios leans closer to an Aloof Ally (but he nonetheless has a massive Big Brother Instinct towards Latias in most media). The two are also commonly summoned by humans they trust to serve as mounts, such as in Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs and Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
    • Rayquaza is also friendly, but in an Aloof Ally way — it lives in the stratosphere, away from nearly all other living things^note Minior appears to be the only Pokémon it shares a habitat with and secretly protects Earth from threats from outer space. In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the Player Character helps Rayquaza defend Earth from Deoxys.
  • While Pokémon Black and White's Haxorus is not an example, its pre-evolution Axew is downright adorable. Iris in the anime even lets hers ride in her hair!
  • Pokémon X and Y introduced the Goomy line: Goomy, Sliggoo, and Goodra, Expies of the Dratini line of the first generation. All three of them remain cute through their evolutions, with Goodra being so friendly to its Trainer it loves to give them big hugs. Unfortunately, they're all covered in slime, and a hug from Goodra will get you slimed as well. Pokémon Legends: Arceus gives them an alternate form, Hisuian Sliggoo and Goodra; the latter is said to be incredibly affectionate and gets upset if its trainer ever leaves its side.
  • Pokémon Sun and Moon has the Normal/Dragon Type Pokémon Drampa, a lovable grandfatherly type with great power; this Pokemon is known for growing attached to children, especially, and is known to have a sense of justice as a Bully Hunter, though perhaps a bit misguided, as their idea of retribution is to burn the bullies' homes to the ground.
  • The box legendaries of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Koraidon and Miraidon, are intense-looking but friendly dragon-type Pokémon who bond to the player after they give them a sandwich, which helps them get their strength back after being severely wounded. They're incredibly sweet and loyal to the player — and Penny, much to her displeasure, since they show it by licking her face — and when socializing with them during picnics, they show themselves to be expressive and playful, with mannerisms and body language much akin to cats.
• Mr. Mordaunt in RuneScape is a professor who will sometimes call you into his classroom for a pop quiz. Unlike the other dragons in the game, he’s intelligent and doesn’t try to burn you to a crisp.
• Spyro the Dragon: The titular character is a purple Western dragon. Despite his snarkiness, he's quite friendly towards other people he meets. That doesn't mean he's soft on his enemies, however.
• Sub Terra Draconis stars a cute little dragon who wants to build the biggest hoard ever.
• Taiko No Tatsujin:Chibi Dragon to Fushigi na Orb has Raruko, a cute, friendly little dragon who's Princess Soprano's friend, and teams up with Don-chan on his quest to find the seven orbs to restore Soprano's stolen voice.
• Temtem: Shuine is a Feathered Serpent that subsists on acidic chemicals dissolved in water, purifying it in the process — which is a useful skill, because it lives in the Death World that is Tucma. Its Tempedia entry calls it "a sight to behold", and the guards in Quetzal wear uniforms inspired by it.
• Twisted Wonderland: The dragon fairy Malleus Draconia is a quiet individual who comes off as intimidating, but he sometimes lets slip an affectionate and fun-loving side. For instance, he likes ice cream and still plays an ancient kiddie video game.
• World of Mana has the recurring Flammie, who serves as the Global Airship in some games. While their backstory and even gender are different each game, Flammie is consistently depicted as childlike (except in Heroes of Mana), friendly, and a loyal ally to the heroes.
• World of Warcraft usually has serious godlike or demonic dragons, but a few are more silly. In particular, the Bronze Dragonflight is most likely to be played for laughs due to hanging out in an Eldritch Location between time. Except for in the Bad Future where they become the Infinite Dragonflight.
  • Chronormu is the ambassador of the bronze dragons. Though she's actually quite smart, she always has her head poking into different timelines, giving her a Ditzy Genius personality. She also usually prefers to remain shapeshifted as a gnome named Chromie, making her come off as even more quirky.
  • Faerie dragons (while not actual dragons in lore) are usually depicted this way. They're adorable nature spirits who want to share magic and be your friend. Then again, they're a major case of Beware the Nice Ones, since they don't really understand mortal rules and have been known to eat people they don't like.
  • Alexstrasza the Life-Binder is a massive dragon of fire and her flames give life rather than death by burning poison and evil. It helps that she's an All-Loving Hero and a benevolent counterpart to her villainous brother, Deathwing.

Webcomics

• Dragons in The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob! are a race of Ultra Terrestrials who left Earth for outer space centuries ago, to avoid coming into violent conflict with humans. While certainly powerful enough to be destructive, and rather disdainful of humans, most of the dragons we've seen are nice once you get to know them. They prefer to live as "rustic philosophers" out in the wilderness. Hibachi in particular is a Nice Guy and a good friend to the main characters.
• Ozy and Millie depicts dragons in general as harmless and lovably eccentric. This is especially evident with Llewellyn, who is a loving adoptive father to Ozy and a Cool Old Guy.
• Twin Dragons: The protagonists and titular characters, Kai and Kaya Romero are humanoid dragon hybrids. Kai is friendly to his peers, polite to his elders, and is even willing to reach out to those who haven't been nice to him if he sees a speck of goodness in them. Kaya is a playful sweetheart who is very sorry for every perceived wrongdoing on her part, is very affectionate to those she cares for, and her sincerity and loyalty means she's the one that Cleo trusts the most. Don't think you can mistreat anyone they care about, though.

Western Animation

• In American Dragon: Jake Long, aside from the Dark Dragon and Councilor Chang, every other dragon in the series is a benevolent protector of the Magical World.
• Animaniacs (2020) had a dragon named Benedict in the short "How to Brain Your Dragon", who had an interest in the arts. He destroys the castle at the end of the episode, but it was an accident induced by his over-acting.
• Beau from Dragon Booster is a heroic Gold-star dragon of legend who, along with his rider Artha, participates in high-speed races and is tasked with preventing war from breaking out between dragons and humans. Beau is extremely loyal and enjoys having a good laugh (sometimes at Artha's expense) with the rest of their racing crew.
• Azymondias aka Zym from The Dragon Prince is a baby dragon. Cheerful and playful, he loves to cuddle with his human friends. His mother is also very nice and friendly to people, although of course much more mature mentally and much larger physically.
  • Totally inverted with Sol Regem. He is a vicious and very dangerous dragon who hates humans more than anything. In one scene he even threatened to kill the elf Rayla and the young dragon Azymondias because they are friends with a human (Callum).
• Many of the dragons from Dragon Tales seem to be the size of adults compared to the kids (except for Cassie as well as a few side/background characters) and almost all of them are super friendly to the kids who visit them.
• In the Gummi Bears episode "Someday My Prints will Come", Tummi finds a mechanical decoy that makes dragon footprints, and when he bounces across the kingdom of Dunwyn with it, he lures a dragon out of her cave. She turns out to be the friendliest dragon in the kingdom, in contrast to the stereotype. The Gummi Bears befriend her and defend her from the knights of Dunwyn, who think the footprints that were made by the decoy were made by a real dragon.
• The dragon from Jane and the Dragon is a bigger example than most, but when Jane went to slay him, he turned out to be sweet and the two became friends. He's shown to be very protective of Jane, and hurting her is not a good idea.
• Language Arts Through Imagination: Figment the dragon, more so than in Journey into Imagination, as he's friendly and helpful to the kids he interacts with and they in turn act the same way to him.
• Muppet Babies (2018): In the series' first episode, "Sir Kermit the Brave", when Kermit gets separated from the rest of the babies, he meets a polyester dragon named Belladotta of Sweaterhelm, or Dot for short. Dot helps him overcome his fear of the dark by revealing that she's afraid of the dark as well, and she reunites him with his friends. In a later episode, "Puppy For a Day", Dot helps the babies search for Rizzo, who pretends to be a puppy to teach them about responsibility, when he goes missing.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • Due to being raised by Twilight Sparkle ever since being hatched, Spike ends up being the nicest dragon in the entire show along with having interests in things that other dragons would consider lame.
  • Ember and Smolder, introduced in later seasons, are a bit more on the Tsundere side but are still rather friendly by dragon standards.
• The old dragon from the third TV special The Last of the Red-hot Dragons from Noah's Animals and Other Stories.
• Show Within a Show example: Bonky from the Recess episode "Bonky Fever" is a dragon who serves as the show's equivalent to Barney the Dinosaur; he's a Friend to All Children and beloved by kindergarteners, but disliked by older children. Mikey briefly goes through a phase where he develops an obsession with Bonky out of fear of turning 10.
• Sorrowful the dragon from She-Ra: Princess of Power is huge but has a sweet, timid personality, and although he likes our heroes and wants to help them, it takes enormous force of will for him to help them by acting scary to their enemies.
• The titular character of Tabaluga is a heroic young dragon who protects his animal friends from the evil snow king, Arktos.
• Wander over Yonder has King Draykor from "The Hero," an anthropomorphic dragon king. He is initially set up to be a typical, princess-kidnapping fantasy villain, but it turns out that he's Good All Along, and he and the princess are actually a happy couple. Brad Starlight, the supposed Knight in Shining Armor who wants to "save" the princess from Draykor, is the real villain.
• Dojo of Xiaolin Showdown, who acts as the heroes main form of transport and Shen Gong Wu detection. He mostly plays the role of the wise-cracking sidekick, typically bringing levity to otherwise tense scenes.

Real Life

• There are many species of lizards called dragons with a docile and friendly nature, who make great pets; these include Bearded dragons and Chinese water dragons. Even the feared Komodo dragons tend to behave friendly towards their keepers in zoos or other big lizard establishments (provided they are well-fed at all times, of course). Certain species, including Komodo dragons, are even able to recognize individual humans, although they also may become aggressive towards unfamiliar individuals.
  • Draco volans or Flying Dragon, a species of agamid lizard, has become very popular partly due to this trope—it's a small lizard that flattens out loose flaps of skin to glide between trees, making it look like a very small dragon with colorful "wings". Though unlike their larger kin the bearded and water dragons, the flying dragons do not make good pets and are largely enjoyed in viral photos.

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