Dragons in stories

[fcbkid15]

Haha, I'll write it. But those aren't the only dragons in my story, remember. I mean this part won't be a huge part in my story, but maybe a little side thing. But what were you saying about dragons being cliche?

 

[Map the Dragon]

I was just saying that their rarity is a cliche in most fantasy literature. Meaning...its cliche that in a world, a dragon is a rare species that most don't come across. To play with that stereotype and put them in abundance into your world would be a nice twist.

 

[fcbkid15]

Oh okay. Yeah, dragons in my world are as common as anything else. There not some special ancient thing nobody has seen in hundreds of years, that is pretty cliche.

 

[Leuco]

Not that it matters, but it seems like there were a lot of dragons in "How to Train your Dragon." They were pests there too, but I still agree it's more interesting than having them be ancient seers. What about the Dragon Slayer hero? Do you think that's cliche? I think it's still interesting. What about you? Oh maybe the dragon pests can spread disease, like rats during the middle ages. That could be cool.

Hey do you guys remember that Dragon Heart movie? I think that's what it was called.

 

[Kaellpae]

I know dragons themselves are pretty much dinosaurs with a bit of variation. For my world though I have dinosaur frankensteins as my dragons. I have regular dinosaurs as well. The difference between them being dinosaurs are stuck inside the micro-ecosystems they are able to live in. Outside of those "bubbles" they're exposed to the harsh weather outside. Dragons are mutated dinosaurs, able to go ouside the microsystems. They have different traits of different dinosaurs and are generally smarter. The further down the generations the smarter for the most part.

 

[Telcontar]

I think that dragons have transcended the boundary of trope or cliché. No matter how many times I read about a big, ferocious, treasure-hording, fire-breathing, flying beast, it never gets old. Of course, variation is always wonderful as well. The first book I ever tried to write (when I was eight) was called Dragon World. As you can imagine, dragons weren't exactly rare...

I've always been intrigued by the fact that nearly every human culture had their version of a 'dragon.' I wonder if it came about independently in each, or if somewhere WAY back in our common history this notion formed, and evolved into the many different types we see in stories today.

Anyway, as I was saying, I think dragons have transcended cliché and simply become a symbol for all that is awesome.

 

[myrddin173]

In my world two of the seven races are dragons, based on Western and Eastern dragons respectively. They are shape-shifters, beings that look human but can shift into what we think of as dragons. The southern desert dragons are based on the traditional European dragon, in "beast" form the females are considerably larger than the males so they have established a queendom. The northern ice field dragons are based on Japanese dragons and don't really have a central government.

As to the origin of dragons, there are two main theories. One is dinosaur bones, ancient people would sometimes come across gargantuan bones and wonder what they were, these wonderings evolved into the modern day dragon myths. (On a side note, ground up dino bones are still sold as traditional medicine in China under the name of Dragon bones). The other is that as primates we have an instinctive fear of snakes, large cats, and birds of prey and that dragons have traits from all three.

 

[JBryden88]

My dragons in the world I've made are basically just legend now. Nobody even believes they exist cause proof is long gone -> but it used to be that dragons were a plentiful species, and like anything, there were variations. As of the story I am writing, there are three "living" dragons in the part of the world most of my adventures take part in. We've got the Dragon of the North, a noble beast that has sworn loyalty to the barbarian peoples, and is said to be frozen in the great ice sea. Then there's the Twin Dragons of Anatosh, which are basically, two dragons that were corrupted and twisted into abominations and then basically petrified underground in some vast ruins, never to be heard from again. All three dragons mentioned will appear. At some point just not in the book I'm presently writing.

 

[fcbkid15]

I've come up with a new dragon, a tempest dragon. They are very rare, a little bigger than a northern dragon, and are a grey color with mixes of dark blue. But heres the kick, they can only be born during a storm. They live anywhere they can, but mostly in cliffs and high up in mountains. There are only estimated to be about 15 or 20, because whenever a female lays eggs, when it is time for them to be born, they will not hatch unless its a storm. People hardly ever see them. They have the power to control lightning and some grand dragons can call forth storms.

 

[Leuco]

I've come up with a new dragon, a tempest dragon. They are very rare, a little bigger than a northern dragon, and are a grey color with mixes of dark blue. But heres the kick, they can only be born during a storm. They live anywhere they can, but mostly in cliffs and high up in mountains. There are only estimated to be about 15 or 20, because whenever a female lays eggs, when it is time for them to be born, they will not hatch unless its a storm. People hardly ever see them. They have the power to control lightning and some grand dragons can call forth storms.

Tempest dragons sound cool!

 

[SeverinR]

I know dragons themselves are pretty much dinosaurs with a bit of variation. For my world though I have dinosaur frankensteins as my dragons. I have regular dinosaurs as well. The difference between them being dinosaurs are stuck inside the micro-ecosystems they are able to live in. Outside of those "bubbles" they're exposed to the harsh weather outside. Dragons are mutated dinosaurs, able to go ouside the microsystems. They have different traits of different dinosaurs and are generally smarter. The further down the generations the smarter for the most part.

Inteligent aerial magical pyro-dinosaurs?

 

[Kaellpae]

@SeverinR: That pretty much sums them up. Some of them won't have flying of course, and the newer generations will be smarter than first generation. First generation is literally just a mutant dinosaur(able to go out of the bubbles) with the current generation is self-aware with sub-human intelligence.

 

[fcbkid15]

That'd be cool if you had dragons steal other dragons eggs like some dinosaurs did.

 

[Kaellpae]

It would be a sort of social game for them. The strongest and smartest(also the luckiest) get to pass their awesome genes.

Still working out details. I don't even know how big of a part in my world they'll play. Seeming like a fairly big one.

 

[Matty Lee]

If they are stealing eggs and sneaking them into other's nests and other odd reproduction strategies, it won't necessarily be their genes, but their learned survival strategies that will be passed on. If I steal your child and raise him as my own, my ideas and strategies are passed on while yours die out. Idea hegemony would rule over genetic hegemony.

 

[Kaellpae]

It could be a good idea to get as many eggs as possible or eliminate as many not yours, depending on the game plan.

I hope you aren't planning on stealing my child though.

 

[Matty Lee]

Unless the dragons practice a food communism and share everything having too many dragonlings would cost too much food. Eliminating eggs that aren't yours would be too dangerous to be worth the effort.

Hope all you want, it won't save you.

 

[Kaellpae]

I'm thinking maybe have them lay one egg at a time. Make the way they raise their young a bit more mammalian. At least the newer generations. A few of the oldest dragons are still alive, but not able to have offspring anymore.

I really need to think about the history of the race. They seem to be taking more fleshed out than all my humanoids, besides the humans, that is.

 

[Saigonnus]

I remember coming up with a spectre dragon during a gaming campaign. They are half the size of a full grown green and instead of a traditional "magic", their abilities focused more on psionic talents. They had camoflage like a chameleon (though much better) and were fully telepathic, even able to overcome another telepaths mind. They didn't have a breath weapon, instead had a psychic blast that could create real problems for even the biggest of dragons. That combined with their abilities at concealment made them a very formidable creature indeed.

 

[Eeirail]

The idea of different varients of dragons bassed on the elements is a bit old-school but it is good, make sure you include special features, like if it is a cold place, give the dragon thick fur, it would be different, and maybe do about naming them something other then dragons, for example, I took the concept of dragons, beefed it up in my image and named them Ravens unstead.