What is it about Dragons that gives them such a presence in the

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>>51442541
Dragons are power incarnate. There's almost no better way to represent the strongest, most dangerous force in the setting than a dragon.

They're more simply antagonistic, I think.

Appearance, behavior, representation, pretty much everything about them is hostile and monstrous. They have really no redeeming qualities.

Compare with many other fantasy creatures, at least from actual legends and folklore, and fantasy creatures tend to have distinct behaviors or foibles, mannerisms which may not necessarily be entirely bad, and can be tricked or exploited by a clever or pure human, and can change depending on the circumstances from good to bad.

Dragons though, it's like 100% of the time, they're very simply evil in an uncomplicated way, it's quite simply just "Destroy, kill, burn.", none of that "Well if it's a pure maiden then the creature is compelled to show its belly and weep gold tears in servitude." Or "If a weary traveler should hop and spin three times with a silver coin in hand, then the creature must shed it's skin and flee."

I guess when you really get down to it, a dragon is just an animal with animalistic tendencies, though by the powers of fantasy, it is the animal which is the most empowered and so the most dangerous.

>>51442541
they are a creature that has been in mythology since greco-roman times, and have had their legend passed down through the middle ages told and re-told countless times

we have St Georges dragon English mythology in general loves dragons, as well as the incredibly important chinese dragons, and were a commonly used to symbolize evil in christian stories

a large reptillian fire breathing monster is very easy way to show "EVIL" in shorthand, and common use in this manner has cemented it in almost every culture

big, imposing, and guarding treasures, they are the archetypal obstacle for our hero to overcome and recieve a reward

fantasy draws heavily from mythology, so it makes sense to have dragons there, and their depiction as top dogs of evil, as well as their incredible stature in legends, mean that it would be quite off to not have dragons be the top of the food chain

>>51442541

>breathes fire
>6 limbs
>non-humanoid
>lizard-like
>huge
>magical

Because they're just weird enough to not be too familiar but not so weird to be too alien.

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>>51442558

>>51442822
He looks sad, as if having to mercy kill his retarded friend.

>>51442766
>Big dicks
>Kidnap Princesses

Most cultures have in their myths dragons.

If you are asking why they are so frequent in many cultural myths, it probably has to do with dinosaur bones and the salamander lizard.

>>51442967
That's no mercy kill mate
You don't mercy kill a winged fire breathing crocodile that comes up to your shoulders in height, can you imagine how terrifying that would be

>>51443005
>the salamander lizard.

Are those worldwide?

>>51442967
Imagine "Of Mice and Men" but Lennie was a fat orange dragon,
It still works.

Name any alternative.

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http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/where-did-dragons-come-from-23969126/

>The Human Brain. The most fascinating explanation involves an unexpected animal: the human. In his book An Instinct for Dragons, anthropologist David E. Jones argues that belief in dragons is so widespread among ancient cultures because evolution embedded an innate fear of predators in the human mind. Just as monkeys have been shown to exhibit a fear of snakes and large cats, Jones hypothesizes that the trait of fearing large predators—such as pythons, birds of prey and elephants—has been selected for in hominids. In more recent times, he argues, these universal fears have been frequently combined in folklore and created the myth of the dragon.


Reptiles are the natural predators of hominids.

They are our ancestral enemies. Imagine this giant lizard charging at you. The evolutionary trauma of being prey to such creatures caused hominids fear against reptiles.

>>51443052

Pretty much, though its association with the element of fire and magic is still somewhat mysterious.

>>51442541
>Why have Dragons become integral to most fantasy, above all other magical creatures?
I'm going to say three things
A: They were considered to be the highest of Monster to slay in European Medieval times.
B: Coat of arms for the many of the most important houses
and C: How OFTEN they show up.
Dragon are almost Every Oriental river that exsists.
"Large Reptile Creature" is often the end all be all in many mythologies Norse, Persian, Mesopotamia, even some version of Egyptian. In the modern world Large reptile creature often gets summed into Dragon.
>Personal Opinion

>>51442616
But that's wrong.

Medieval dragons are pretty much wretched horrid mutants in constant agony, only kept alive by their sheer sin and evilness.

>>51442822
>>51442967
That's pretty much the medieval view on dragons.

Killing a dragon wasn't some heroic thing. It was like euthanising a fuckup of God's creation.

>>51443069
>predators
>elephants
What?

>>51443169
If i remember correctly, medieval dragons represented the Serpent from the genesis myth, A knight slaying a dragon is basically man overcoming his sinful nature and becoming closer to god through discipline and force of will.

Its also a romanticized version of the sacrificial lamb which is common in early and pre christian mythology. Basically, this animal is your sin made manifest.

>>51443174
They don't need to eat you to be your preditor. Elephants will fuck you up if they migrate through your settlement or if you come between them and water.

>>51443060

"Tell me 'bout da horde we gonna 'ave, Sir Gallant."

>>51442541
They feature in the name of the game.

>>51443244
>So why you talking for him? is he soft in the head or something?
>Dragon: REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
>I like you, you boys is hired.

>>51443107
I heard its because they sleep in log piles sometimes, then when a bonfire is made they scramble out of the flames. Made people think they were connectied to fire somehow.

>>51443060
>>51443244
>>51443276

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' DMs

Gang aft agley,

An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,

For promis'd joy!

>>51443369

That. And they often have black, yellow, orange, and red coloration.

>>51442541
You know DnD is popular, right? I'm sure that dungeon crawls even being a thing is purely coincidental.

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They're giant lizards of a magical nature and often grand intelligence. The elephant in the room that also happens to hold all of the fucking trumpcards as far as physical and mental superiority.

I love dragons in fiction, they, much like man, seem to come in variations of allignments and are each their own, with their own aims and needs.

One of the examples i enjoy is the one from Fantasy Warhammer that lives in the imperial capital unchallenged. Why? Because people feed him, come to see him all the time, think he's great and protect him; Certain folks even get to ride him. Fucking genius.

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>>51442541

>>51442541
Because dragon/giant reptile slaying has been apart of western/middle eastern culture since the beginning.

>Zeus vs Typhon
>Apollo vs Python
>Hercules vs Hydra
>God vs Satan
>Thor vs Jörmungandr

>>51442541
Snakes are fucking scary, and will fuck you up. The ancestral enemy of man, if you will.

The medieval dragon also has wings and four large-clawed legs - probably from eagles and lions, if I'd have to guess. (cf. all the other mythological slap-two-animals-together critters.)

It's just that in this case, well, the dragon is a combination of all the things that eat monkeys.

Oh, and dragons later get a bit of a "greedy, slothful, gluttonous tyrant" spin on them, I guess. I'm not entirely sure when that became a thing in Europe, but it certainly did. Maybe it's as a representation of the seven deadly sins, I dunno.


Also, while dragons are found in cultures all over the globe, note that they aren't necessarily all that similar! Even within just Europe you have flying four-legged firebreathers and giant serpents breathing poison gas.

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>>51442541

They combine variability with familiarity.

Every fantasy as their own version of what a dragon is, but each of them is recognizably a dragon. So it allows creativity on the part of the creator, while still holding onto some familiarity for easy shorthand

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>>51442541

People won't understand right away that your OC creature is a mighty boss worthy of respect.

People will understand right away that a dragon is a mighty boss worthy of respect.

So most writers and game designers take the easy path and just use dragons when they need mighty beasts.

>>51443709

Satan as a serpent is a modern invention, for much of the Church's history, the serpent of Genesis and the Satan of Job are two different creatures

>>51443679
Seems a bit off, only because that human seems tall compared to the mountain top

>>51442541
They make for good macguffin plot devices for both sides. Just look at Skyrim for example. You have Alduin, a ancient who wants to destroy the world and bring ruin to man, and you have Paarthurnax who is a equally ancient dragon but one that turned against Alduin and wishes for humanity to flourish. They're almost all powerful, are often times ancient and can be both good and evil.

>>51443679
This is the stupid version.

>>51444624
I think he didn't mean the serpent of Genesis. Satan is explicitly called a dragon and a serpent in the Revelation.

>>51446129
>implying revelations has ever been relevant to anyone but uneducated Merican evangelists

>>51442541
The significance of dragons lies rooted in our deepest instincts. The Dragon is a Chimera blending aspects of Pythons, Big Cats, and Raptors. These three animals where the primary predators of our evolutionary ancestors. The blending of these aspects instinctively draws and holds our attentions.

>>51446209
What are you talking about? The book is a part of the canon, it's recognized as such by all major Christian denominations.

>>51446209
And it had a great influence on the culture. Think about the four horsmen or even he word apocalypse itself.

>>51443709
>Marduk vs Tiamat
>Ra vs Apophis

>>51446209

Is the Dragon of revelations ever specifically called Satan?

>>51446317

Not sure about the hundred of Protestant denominations, but the Catholic Church doesn't take the book literally; it's symbolic of Roman Empire's downfall and The Church's survival of said downfall

>>51442664
In a lot of human culture serpents are used to represent primordial nature. The symbolism involved is fairly straight forward, the seem to live purely to wander around and eat things and only have the minimum body parts to do so, and as such are the most pure embodiment of the cycle of life and death which occurs in nature.

There is also a duality which appears in a lot of mythologies regarding serpents and birds. Unlike reptiles birds seem to devote a lot of time and effort in 'superfluous' aspects of life, they produce nice songs, look beautiful (mostly), and of course there's the symbolism of flight and being free of earthly concerns. Birds tend to have an association with divinity as a result.

The Dragon is the unity of these two opposing symbols, the symbol of primal nature combined with the symbol of being 'above' (both literally and metaphorically) those sorts of base needs.

>>51442541

They are rooted into almost every historical mythology in the world, and were very heavy in European history which is what all modern fantasy is based on.

>>51442558

Except gods. Or avatars of gods. Or you can just say "buttmonsters are the strongest ever even stronger than giant lizards with wings."

it's because what I said above. They were considered the top monster in western and eastern mythologies. Probably based on dinosaur bones they found randomly, making them relatively universal.

>>51443244
"An' we's gonna have adventurers for da kobolds! An' I get ta tend da kobolds!"

>>51443169
>>51443206
I find it interesting how our depictions of our flaws as humans and sins incarnate have, in general, become more ferocious and horrific over time.

>>51447278
There are some pretty severe exceptions though as our morals have become more and more relative. Succubi are no longer rape-monsters to be feared but walking, talking sexual fantasies if not downright waifus.

>>51446892
I think gramatically is a better term than literally in this context. Saying the Catholic Church (pre-Vatican II) doesn't take it literally makes it sound like they're floaty faggots who think it's all relative man. Biblical inerrancy is part of Catholic doctrine, but the church also acknowledges the existence of different genres that need to be read differently. As early as St. Augustine it was already established that the epic of Genesis (or at least the earliest 12 chapters) are not the same as the biographies of the Evangelies and should not be given the same factual credibility.

Protestants aren't more literal as much as they are more grammatical (ie. the text says what it says and no interpretation past pure grammar is possible).

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>>51443867
>Snakes are fucking scary, and will fuck you up. The ancestral enemy of man, if you will.

>>51447472
>A local dragon has gotten himself stuck in the sewers, the burghers have started complaining about the smell and request adventurers release him
>The ferocious, ancient, poison gas breathing dragon can barely count to potato

>>51447510
>Party discovers dragon was not immune to its own toxins.
>Years of inhaling toxic gas have turned its brain to mush. Only a great healing miracle can restore the dragon's intelligence.

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because they stand with us when we stand up to god.
they were destroyed in our defense in the first interstellar wars over earth.

>>51447588
>Turns out the dragon is older than time itself and filled with wisdom, but was cursed by the gods with toxic breath that slowly deteriorates his cognitive capacities so he cannot share forbidden knowledge with mankind

>>51447642
Why are gods always dicks?

>>51447682
Because the dragon was actually a benevolent overdeity who ruled as sole overlord of existence for aeons until he decided to bless the wisest and most capable humans to become his lieutenants. These lieutenants over time grew arrogant and spiteful and overthrew their deity, fashioning themselves gods and cursing the Overgod with a horribly self-destructive body. Initially intended to be a miniscule, barely visible lizard the Overgod's sheer power forcibly grew it to the size of a massive dragon

>>51447682
In most mythologies gods are responsible for (1) creating humans specially in some way and (2) controlling the natural world

the natural world will fuck you up

the only way to explain this is if the gods like humans, but also enjoy screwing with them

>>51447747
In a lot of polytheistic myths gods don't really like humans. Zeus fucked Prometheus up for trying to advance humanity, Athena fucked up Hector purely because he tried to fight her special guy in a war where all gods had taken sides because why the fuck not and then there's Zeus sticking his dick in everything whether it agrees or not.

Greek gods are scary, exist for the sole purpose of fucking your shit up and you'd better get on their good side.

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>>51443679
i am sorry

>>51442541
Because to early humanity, birds were a symbol of transcendence, becuse they transcended gravity, and snakes were a symbol of transcendence, because many people believed they lived forever by shedding their skin, and therefore snake+bird=primal symbolism

>>51447887
Come on, if you want to be a memelord you should've done it like this
>Human
>Smaug
>[bunch of other dragons]
>Ancalagon the Black
>My disgust

>>51442541
Because dragons are literally a meme, and not even in the 4chan way.

Fantasy authors use dragons so fantasy authors use dragons so fantasy authors use dragons so fantasy authors use dragons so fantasy authors use dragons so...

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>>51447914
hope this is more to your liking

>>51442541
>yuge
>flying
>widely regarded as being actually real at some point in history in virtually all cultures

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>>51442822
i found this in a dragon magazine from like 30 years ago
>tfw

>>51448080
>"Oh sir knight, your mere presence makes me feel safe and secure. Would you grace my bedchambers with your presence for just one night? I would be ever so grateful!"

>It's too cold
>This dragon is too loud
>I'm getting saddle sores
>I wish I was back home oppressing serfs

>"FUCKING NORMAN! GET THE FUCK OFF MY REALM! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

And what stops that humongous dragon in OPs pic from scorching entire nations in one breath?

Just imagine when that thing take off

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>>51448080
Well look at that.

>>51448230

It did

Read the Silmarillion, Dragons FUCKED Middle Earth during the ancient times

>>51448373

And got defeated by a drunk hobo on a rental flying carpet

>>51448451

Yes, but he was a MAGICAL drunk hobo, let's not forget

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>>51443679

>>51443218
>They don't need to eat you to be your preditor
Eating you is the literal definition

>>51443867

Naw.

Snakes will sometimes bite you if you practically step on them and if they're venomous, it'll fucking hurt like hell and possibly kill you.

The only really scary thing about them is the fact that it can happen unexpectedly because snakes are actually fucking scared of almost everything and usually try to stay out of sight.

Just like spiders and scorpions and stingrays and all the other "scary stuff" that only really ever attacks people when they bump into the animal in question and the animal freaks out.

But they won't chase you down to kick your ass/kill you the way a dog/wolf, or bear, or big cat, or even a deer/cow/horse/pig will.

>>51447802

There's some old Greek tale about a guy who complains about how the whims of the gods are so unfair to humans... and then proceeds to go over and start smashing bugs for shits and giggles.

>>51442541
Why are all of them past The Fire Drake of Gondolin so massive? It's fucking ridiculous!

>>51451375
Unless you're somewhere in the world where they do chase you down to kick your ass.

Australia has spiders and snakes that do this, for one.

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>>51447887
Honestly, the bigger people portay Ancalagon, the silly it becomes when you realise a guy on a flying boat and some eagles still managed to kill this thing.

>>51447623
Dragons vs Alien Invaders? Sounds fun.

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>>51452089
>incredulous one tiny ship could ever destroy a world-ending threat

>>51443709
Don't forget Beowulf

>>51452188

The whole moral of War of the Worlds was that the smallest and most seemingly insignificant threat can take down much larger opponents. Same with David and Goliath.

>>51452230
>that's the joke

>>51442822
>>51442967
>Tell me about the rabbits Sir George.

>>51452348
>Well, Lenny...they...
>SHANK
>AAUUHHGGHH!!!!
>SHANK
>WWWWHHHHYYYYYY!!??
>This'd be so much easier-
>SHANK
>REEEEEEEEEE!
>If I had a fucking gonne!

>>51452188
I kinda doubt Earendil had proton torpedoes on his boat, though.

>>51452398
Who says he didn't? Aule had his new boy's back.

>>51442541
European dragons are a pretty good representation of evil, and not in the rebel from god way, or the tempter trying to corrupt you way, but in the monster that ravages the earthly realm and takes what's precious to you in its pride and greed way. They hoard gold, they hoard power, they kidnap beautiful women, either as prizes or to devour. They're great reptiles, but with a cunning to them as well, a representation of how selfish impulses that have been with us since early bestial forms can survive if the bearer is powerful and smart enough. So obviously, they set themselves up as something a true hero must slay, if they're brave and steadfast enough.

>>51442541

What's the size of a human on that image? one pixel?

>>51442616

there are a lot of fantasy stories where dragons are the good guys though

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>>51447440
>Succubi are no longer rape-monsters to be feared but walking, talking sexual fantasies if not downright waifus.

>>51452188

they made a movie 30 years later simply to handwave how ridiculous it is that the world-ending threat had a self destruct exhaust tube though

>>51442541
Dragons are one of those concepts that resonate pretty much universally in the human consciousness. Basically every civilization throughout history, all over the globe, has some kind of dragon in their legends and folklore. It's not so much that they've "become integral" to fantasy, so much as that they were an integral notion in people's minds to begin with and found a natural home in fantasy fiction.

>>51452596
>Lord of the Rings
>Hobbit One
Fucking fund that shit!

>>51452410
I now have this oddest mental image of Earendil and the eagles doing trenchruns on ancagalon's hide.

>>51452691
Odd? Or...arousing?

>>51442541
Come up with something more badass.

Hell, even try to make a dragon more badass.

SPOILER: You can't.

>>51442616
There's also old stories from fantasy where the dragons are wise and benevolent, especially in the east.

>>51446129
And the Satan of Job isn't the Satan of Hell.
Job's Satan is The Satan: an angel whose job is was to test the hearts of men. That's why he was able to walk into heaven and talk to God directly. Satan of Hell just a completely separate entity who's called "Satan" purely because it means "adversary". It's like calling someone Einstein; they themselves aren't Albert Einstein, they're just really smart.

>>51452744
Kaiju slayers

>>51452230
No, the moral of War of the Worlds is that a race of living brains that never wash their hands would be unstoppable.

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>>51452825
Aaand I forgot the pic

>>51443475
a dungeon crawl is also the best thing. Have you ever been in a real life cave system or underground structure? Its amazing. Its the coolest. They're very exciting. Even like, well lit inhabited ones, like under colleges and shit. There's something cool about being underground in buildings.

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>>51452825
I'm made of pure light and goodness; I've never met a Kaiju I couldn't fuck in the ass.

>>51448526
>those fucking Min-maxing mages

>>51452410
>gave that half-elf a magical bow
>half-elves love magic bows
on that note, what sort of freaky material is silma that it can trap light inside it forever. By bet is that it has some freaky internal fractal structure, and light just keeps falling deeper and deeper.

>>51453094
I always thought Feanor trapped the "light of the suns", ie nuclear fusion in his gems.

>>51443174
Finally, proof that we are trapped in an unimaginably complex computer simulation.

Unfortunately, it's Dwarf Fortress.

>>51452596
The point is that the reactor shaft was so hard to hit that most computers would not be able to do it. Luke only did it because he had the force on his side.

>>51446209
what are YOU implying, exactly?

>>51448054
>not knowing that the myth of dragons comes from people digging up dinosaur bones and flipping the fuck out
Though it's confusing why the first real paleontological shit begins only in the late 1800s...

>>51453468
That his fedora is on too tight,
>>51453308
The point is that Lucas is a fucking hack and lacked technological vision so hard that he rivals retards like the chief of the patent office in 1898, Bill Gates, and the CEO of IBM in the late '50s.

>>51452844
>still just a dragon
>no wings

Fly is a level 4 spell, bitch. I ain't scurred.

>>51446903
underrated post

>>51452598
Shit, even Indigenous Australians have the Rainbow Serpent, a rainbow snake dragon thing that's basically their All-Maker who fucks shit the fuck up on occasion, and they were/are cut off from most other cultures for tens of thousands of years.
Dragons are the eternal sickcunt.

Just want to say this is the longest I've seen a dragon thread not go to shit and it's got some of the most creative shit I've seen from teeg in a couple months.

Proud of you, keep it up.

>>51443065
Manticora.

>>51443065
Demons

>>51443065
Dagon

>>51443244
>>51443276
>>51446999
I lel'ed

>>51453094
>>51453157
See, I always interpreted it like it was Fucking Magic.

>>51454611
Does the Australian dragon huff petrol to get a fiery breath?

>>51455020
No, but his clerics do.

>>51454514
I feel like this is overstated. They're just all the bad things an animal can have stacked together on one animal. They're a natural consequence of the world we live in.

>>51443069

>5'6"
This is not a terribly useful scale figure.

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This is the best dragon thread I've seen since the one that inspired me to write the book I'm working on.

To keep it going, here's a question: Do you think a draconic society could ever advance to the point where they have an enlightenment of sorts, and stop being so evil/arrogant? Or are they doomed to their ways forever?

>>51452798
So you're saying Einstein is Satan?

>>51453502
What about those three people?

>>51455747

This is like the thirtieth time we've had that "vicious evil dragon" shit in here, did y'all never read any WotC books? There's good dragons all over the place. Good dragons have peaceful societies.

>>51447887
When will they learn?

>>51456889
>Good dragons have peaceful societies.
>dragons
>societies
Like, I can think of 1 or 2 kinds of metallics that aren't solitary as fuck.

>>51455986
r u dum

>>51442992
Princesses become Drakiana, half-dragon monster makers through the power of dragon dick.

>>51457347
Well of course they're solitary, they're carnivores and huge. You're not going to have them forming flocks or anything, that'd be stupid. But they /know/ each other, they don't fight and they communicate, and might presumably cooperate if something were to show up that hurt them.

>>51456889
Good dragons need to still have the "teeth" of a dragon. Otherwise they're boring and hardly a dragon at all.

>>51452596
The thermal exhaust port was near impossible to hit without what was popularly seen in-universe as bullshit make believe space magic. Even then the main reason they lose is that the Imperial bridge crew make it obvious they have no idea what they're up to, there are several scenes through the trench run where it's cutting back to them

>wtf they're all in single seat fighters, they're difficult to hit
>why do they keep flying down the equatorial trench and popping torps at the end?
>wait a minute, are they trying to hit the thermal exhaust port!? That's like a million to one shot, better let Tarkin know all the same though.

>>51442822
I feel most medieval drawings suck so much because they were done by shitty artists.

>>51453502
The Patent Office Chief was making B's arguments because he was trying to justify why he was closing a bunch of patent offices.

>Bill Gates

Either you're a retard or an Apple fan boy. Which amounts to the same thing really.

>>51461425
>huge nose
>evil nature
>hoards gold
>oppresses civilized lands for leagues around
Sounds about right.

>>51452362
>gonne
My good bro.

>>51461650
OY VEY

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>>51457364

>>51462498
>war is bad
But that's wrong

>>51462516

maybe, JUST

it is you
,who are wrong?

Sex.

On at least a subconscious level, they are intrinsically sexual animals - curved, powerful, and able to take what they want, including wealth, women, and you.

It isn't even subtle - they're always shown bright red, seductively draped over gold, and of course associated with fire. Every single bit of imagery we have for this topic.

Everyone secretly wants to be fucked by a dragon.

>>51458340
No medieval artists made the MOST ornate books with interesting and well done geometric patterns, medieval artists didn't have anatomy training ( or really any kind of "here's x, draw it)

>>51462726
I suddenly see the resemblance and relation with cars.

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>>51462726

>>51452744
An angry dog

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>>51443867
Amazing thing about snakes is that they reproduce spontaneously. They have both male and female sex organs, that's why somebody you don't trust - you call a snake. How can you trust a guy who cal literally go fuck themselves?

>>51442822
>>51442967
Kek

>>51462726
Only on 4chan bruh.

>>51452744
A dragon, but instead of breathing fire, it breathes smaller dragons, who in turn breathe even smaller dragons. These 3rd stage dragons don't breathe anything, but instead fire lasers from their eyes.

>>51464585
so where do these anaerobic dragons come from? Seems that the higher stage dragons would only be localized to those 3rd stage dragon rich environments, or die from lack of stuff to breathe

strange concept

>>51464642
It's magic anon. I don't have to explain shit.

>>51448947
Bigger

>>51453157
It wasn't allegory. Tolkien hated allegory.

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>>51442558
They're Mammon incarnate. Dragons aren't simply "powerful". They're senseless accumulators of wealth with the power to defend it. It's the manifest greed of kings. It's that mythic elegance and original D&D's fundamental goal being the accumulation of wealth that makes them essential - later RPGS drifted from the purity of OD&D's player goals, but the immense influence it holds on all game fantasy is responsible for their continued relevance (nuD&D has few dungeons or dragons, in favor of towns and dragonkin)

>>51462726
This.

>>51442541
Like a lot of nerd things, I'm just going to blame Dungeons and Dragons for it and go about my day.

>>51452230
The moral of War of the Worlds was that people living in Imperialist countries shouldn't be so smug because it could happen to them some day. The whole thing is an allegory of the colonisation of Africa, including the shocking vulnerability of the invader to indigenous diseases.

>>51464209
>They have both male and female sex organs
Ah-hem, I think you are mistaken. You are thinking about molluscs, snakes are not hermaphroditic

>>51464642
The dragons are born pregnant, and breathing dragons out is giving birth. The prenatal dragons too are pregnant but the fetal dragons in them are underdeveloped and so they have lasers come out of their eyes until they develop signs of pregnancy, which don't occur until their parent is birthed.

>>51469717
All I know is that snakes were fucking themselves long before Adam and Eve came along

>>51452744
>Hell, even try to make a dragon more badass.
Cyborg dragon with mouth minigun. That is all.

>>51463054
>be strong
>be strong for mother

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>>51461650
SHUT IT DOWN

>>51470833
Well of course, reptiles evolved long before humankind became a thing.

>>51443060
Why do you think it's Saint Georges?

Too bad I'm not on my computer, I had a cucked king loking sadly at the queen bedding a dragon, and a noblewoman with a miniature dragon on a leash. I love medieval art like that.

>>51443069
Rather, the hominids who were afraid of reptiles had a larger chance of survival and thus to pass their genes down. The same reason we think farts smell bad.

>>51471636
People who think farts smell bad have a higher rate of survival? How?

>>51452604
A movie about Manwe and his Eagles. I'd watch it. Would be cool to see Hollywood version of Valar.

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Mankind has always been at war with the reptiles.

>>51448029
Topkek

>>51472196
Because early on in the history of life on this planet there was a mass extinction caused by sulfuric gasses. The animals that survived were the ones who disliked the smell and therefore ran away when they felt it.

Sulfuric gas also happens to be one of the main components of our farts. Thus, smelly farts.

What's the difference between a dragon and wyvern?

>>51475431
A wyvern has a stinger on its tail.

>>51475431
Dragons have six limbs (four legs, two wings)

Wyvern have four limbs (two hind legs, two arm-wings)

>>51462498
No such thing as an anti-war movie bruv

>>51448947
>S.S. Freudian Nightmare.jpg

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>>51452744
T̶́H̷͠E͘͟͝͏ ͜M̧̢E̴̴̡̨͢T̶̡̡A̸͘̕͢L͘͢ ̢͞͠L̛͝͞I̶͠V͟͏Ę̶̨͏S̨͏̸͠͞ ̛͠
̧̕Ţ͘͠H̡͜͡͝Ȩ̸̨̢ ̧͘M̵̀͜͞E̸͢͏͡Ţ̧̀͘A̸L͞ ̴̶̶͞L̸̵̡̡͡I̧̕͟V̴́͡E̢̕͡S̛̕͡ ̷̢
̷̷̧̢̀T̡̛H̡̕͝͡È̷ ̸̕M͝͞Ȩ͏Ţ̶̧A̷̧͢͢͠L̷̢̕͟ ̵́͟͝L̢̢I̛͘V̸̢̛͢Ȩ̴̀͜S̀ ͏̨͠
̡̀͡T̴͢H͏͝E̷̷͝ ̶͢M͢͡E̴͞T̷̸͢͡A̡͘͘L͜͡͏̶̸ ͟͠͞L̷̛Ì͠V̴̵̵͟͠E͜Ş͝͠͠ ̡͢
́͟Ţ̴̛͟Ḩ̢̢͡͠E̵ ̶̡̧͝M͜E̵̛͠T̕͟͟͞A͜L̵̀ ̵̴̛͜͟L̵̴I͢͠V̴̕É͘͞͠S̶̵͡ ̴̨́͘
͡T̸̷H̸̨͜͞E̴̴͡͞ ̸̨̡͟͢M̷̴̴͜É͘ŢA̛̕L̨̨͡ ̸̷̡͠L̡̢͠I̡̕͜͠V̴͢͠E̵̕͢S̶̛ ̸̀́
̵͜͟Ţ̵̛́H́E͢͢ ̡̀͜͞͡Ḿ̵E̸̡T̴͏͘͢͞A͠͠͠͠L͢͠͝ ̸͘͠L̕͝ÍV̵͘͜͝E͡͠Ś͘͞͞ ̷̵̸͞͡
͘T̸́H̛͏E̵̢̕ ͢͢M̢͡͠E͟͡T̵̵̸͏A̵͟͏͜͢L̴̢ ̨͟͟͡L̶̸̕Í͜͡V̛͞E͘S͠ ̧̛̀͞
̸T͡͞H̶̀͘E̵͠͠ ̴̴̕͜͝M̷̡͜͝Ȩ̶̸́͢T̶̀A̢̛͝͞L̵̵͟͞͠ ͡͝Ĺ͟͜͡͠ÌV̵̸̷͟͟E̶̡͘͡S̢̢̀̕ ̷̨͝͝

>>51443169
>That's pretty much the medieval view on dragons.
I mean, no.
Dragons in medieval literature are everything from small depictions of what is supposed to be the manifest sins of humans, to rather impressive creatures.

Mabinogion's pained screams from fighting another dragon causes the women of an entire kingdom to miscarry.

>>51443600
>One of the examples i enjoy is the one from Fantasy Warhammer that lives in the imperial capital unchallenged

wait what?

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>>51473001

I have a theory that Dragons are to Western Nerds what Mecha are to Jap Nerds

>"Yes, bully may get me now, but he'd be scared of me if I was large, powerful beast/machine capable of widespread destruction!"

>>51453919
>Fly above his reach
>Enter into stratosphere
>Even if you have enough air to not suffocate and fall into his gaping mound, your penis is quickly contracting frost bite
>Come down a little
>Get reamed by the tip of the claw as it jumps at you, trampling over home and country

GG no re

>>51484551
>fall into his gaping mound
Lewd?

Couple key reasons.
Most fantasy in the west is designed with a judeo-christian culture in mind or hearkening back to it. Therefore serpentine and reptilian imagery is easily seen as evil or reprehensible for obvious reasons. Lump that in with the fact that classical dragons can speak and emote like human beings and that's some horrific shit. If a cat confronted you as a man would you'd be terrified. Big ol' wings make a dragon look really fucking large without outright bloating it's proportions, making most dragons, even some poorly designed ones, rather imposing creatures on just a level of physicality. Their relationship with fire, viewed as a primal and oftentimes divine force as well as intrinsically dangerous to organic life, make them even easier to despise.
Dragons are everything that humanity hates about itself: they are destructive, selfish, impulsive, and greedy. What's worse is that they're better at those things than humanity could ever be.

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>>51443206
wow someone went to college

>>51447623
I always liked settings where many different cultures/races/factions/whatever that may or may not be hostile/uncomfortable to each other, are forced to unite their power for a singular cause in order to survive. The resulting bickering, loss of efficiency and possible relationship builsing/understanding episodes that happen while stuff goes boom in the backround just makes it so fun and interesting.

In most fantasy settings dragons usually sit on their asses in a caves on a pile of treasures, vaporizing everyone and everything that attempts to get close.
They are however small in number and operate alone.

They're clearly a threat but, given how a couple of ragtag assholes can handle slaying one, they're not unmanageable so why don't the fantasy governments ever send their armies to exterminate them when a nest is discovered?

Ragtag assholes will do it for significantly less than the cost of mobilizing a whole army, don't weaken your position elsewhere, and are harder for the dragon to see coming and so are probably more likely to actually get all of them rather than dealing with the logistical nightmare of moving several thousand troops into some inhospitable mountain's asshole only to find all the dragons have flown away and taken all the good treasure with them.

>>51483154
I agree with this guy
>>51443600
What

>>51443709
Indra vs Vritra
Jason vs Colchis' Dragon
Herakles vs Ladon

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>>51471351
I got it right here. Just because.

>>51462726
Get out of 4chan, Paglia-sama.

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>>51462726
So you're saying that all dragons are basically Mara?

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>>51442541
They're a metaphor for Satan.