Bagelparadox Posted November 11, 2020 Report Share Posted November 11, 2020 We don't yet know much about dragons in the cosmere, but I believe we have two important facts confirmed: that dragons are immortal, and that they are shapeshifters. In Brandon's most recent livestream, he mentioned liking the book Dracula. Upon reading it, I noticed that Count Dracula is "immortal" (he lives for centuries, and it takes very special methods to kill him). He also is shown transforming into a bat, into a dog, into a bird of prey (I think?), and possibly other forms. These two features are shared with cosmere dragons, so I was wondering whether Brandon took inspiration from Bram Stoker's vision of vampires. Also, bats in general are somewhat physically similar to dragons, with their fangs and webbed wings. The clincher, in my opinion, is that the name "Dracula" actually comes from draco (Latin for dragon) through Romanian, with Vald the Impaler using the patronym Dracula, meaning "son of the dragon" because his father was part of the Order of the Dragon (a holy chivalric order). Is this a coincidence? Is it intentional? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinkoln Posted November 11, 2020 Report Share Posted November 11, 2020 There is a 50 - 50 chance for it being intentional or it being coincidental. Brandon loves adding little Easter Eggs for devoted fans to find. You may have just found one, or it may have been an accident. He has admitted that almost all of his characters and species have been either directly or indirectly influenced by either a book, character in another book, life experiences, or person in his life. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weltall Posted November 11, 2020 Report Share Posted November 11, 2020 I'm guessing it's just a coincidence (but a cool one) since Brandon has said that he wants classic fantasy dragons in his works and cites D&D as an inspiration. Shapeshifting dragons predate Stoker by a considerable margin (we're talking four digits here) so the inspiration Brandon is drawing on may be relatively new but itself draws on much older sources. For that reason mainly, I suspect it's just a coincidence. Brandon does have a pretty deliberate vampire parallel in his writing in the form of the Returned, though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.