Even if western-style dragons have been done to death, would you still use them?

[TheKillerBs]

I would probably use them as it would save me lots of work. If I used say Chinese dragons then I would need to explain what they're all about while I can be fairly sure that my audience will connect the dots without me needing to go into as much info-dumping on them.

I’m not sure Chinese dragons need any more infodumping than European dragons

 

[Gurkhal]

I’m not sure Chinese dragons need any more infodumping than European dragons

Well, I suppose I was a little Eurocentric when I wrote that. I do think however that dragons in their Western guise as monsters needs less introduction to a Western audience than what Chinese dragons would need in their cultural context to a Western audience. As I think that know dragons in China myths and folklore are seen as more favorably than in say Europe's folklore and myths.

 

[Steerpike]

Even if you feel they need some explaining within the context of your story, don't make it an info-dump.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

We are SO using dragons in our urban fantasy series. I think we have, like, 6 types: Western, Eastern, Middle Eastern/African, North American, South American (the Coatl dragon), and deep sea dragons.

Of course, our dragons can also drive.

 

[Queshire]

Well, I suppose I was a little Eurocentric when I wrote that. I do think however that dragons in their Western guise as monsters needs less introduction to a Western audience than what Chinese dragons would need in their cultural context to a Western audience. As I think that know dragons in China myths and folklore are seen as more favorably than in say Europe's folklore and myths.

I have to disagree with this. The idea of the wise, good, talking dragons is pretty well established in the public conscious at this point. Or, at least to the point that communicating that would take about as much effort as communicating dragons as monsters. Hit that and then just give them a Chinese dragon style body.

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

My dragons are intelligent and powerful beings, who have their own personalities and motivations, just like anyone else. They travel between dimensions, can shapeshift, and all have a unique magical 'breath'. For example, fire breath or bubblegum or frogs. Even though dragons are scaly, they can still grow hair. I have a dragon character with bushy eyebrows and a beard with two mustaches (yes, TWO mustaches). Otherwise, they are mostly standard winged, four-limbed snake-like creatures.

 

[Saigonnus]

In my opinion; like with many things depends on how you use them more than the thing itself. I have used them in a couple of different ways in a couple of short stories. One was based on a dream where dragons were perhaps twice the size of humans, and had to transmute into their smaller human form to live in their mountain warrens.

The other is a story where dragons are a part of the natural environment. They are carnivorous, the size of a horse, not magical, can't fly and have only highly corrosive saliva beyond the sharp teeth and claws. They live in small family pods and are often treated as a menace because they tend to cull livestock from nearby farms.

 

[Snowpoint]

Dragons and Fantasy go together like Cats and the Internet. People love it.

Dragons are a blank slate. You can make them anything you want. The one thing the word Dragon implies is 'important'. Dragons can be large or small, domestic pets or world eaters, but they are never unimportant.

I'm working on a new project with Dragons. They stray far from the norm, but that's never been an issue with dragons.

 

[Patrick-Leigh]

I'm actually planning on fusing the different styles of Eastern and Western Dragons to create some interesting hybrids for my flintlock fantasy story setting. This is especially the case when it comes to Wyrms. My thinking is that, in order to fly, they need a more lithe, streamlined body, which is more like what you see in Eastern Dragons. So, instead of being these massive dinosaurs with wings, their bodies are slender, like a greyhound or a cheetah's would be. Their built for speed and flight, are nimble and quick, not hulking masses of fire-breathing death that could not realistically get off the ground.

 

[Eosphorus]

I would totally still use them, personally! It's not really the dragon (or the elf, for that matter) that matters. It's what you do with them. A mythical creature is just a tool, like everything else. What counts, what makes your work original, gripping, spellbinding, is what you do with them!

 

[Aldarion]

Personally, I would like to see more Greek, Roman, Slavic, Celtic and Japanese dragons. Most modern dragons are taken from Tolkien, which means from Germanic and Christian traditions - the only thing which changed nowadays is morality (so instead of demons in dragon form we get actual animals who may be good as well as evil), but the rest of the mold is still there. Look at Temeraire - it has dragons, but even Chinese dragons are basically no different from traditional Western dragon.

 

[DavidTheSatyr]

I think dragons can still be used in new ways, and even if they can't, I'd still say that they're reliable in stories. They've been used countless times, but you can still try to do new things with them.