Let's talk about dragons [Discuss]

[Ixthos]

I've been thinking a bit more about dragons, and I've decided to make an addition, sort of, in the meta-setting. To explain, I mentioned that there are races slowly evolving into dragons in the setting, though dragons are spirits. This is mainly based on an idea for a character encountering a species that were evolving into dragons but then stopped their directed mutations when they discovered they were also evolving into a race of demons, and they didn't want to become enslaved by this, though they were still cruel and evil. I've been thinking about how to expand on them in the setting, and I'm TENTATIVELY considering making this addition. In the setting I have a small number of human-like aliens - human-like meaning they are a lot like Species 8472 rather than like Klingons, as Klingons would be a type of human in the setting. I have a very small list of species that are human-like, and I'm keeping it small to make sure they are still alien, and alien to one another. I have a few slots left to fill, and I think that species which is evolving into dragons might be able to fill on of them, though I need to make sure they are sufficiently different from a few other species that are similar in some ways. If they do fit that role then that's great - they are a semi-hive minded species of beetle-like dragons, mutated from native life due to the core of a few species of dragon's present on the planet altering them, and some members of the species trying to push this further. I'm still working on the subtypes of those dragons, but if anyone is interested I'll elaborate on some of the parts for them that I'm determining.

[Condensation]

I have a question about dragons. What do you regard their 'natural enemy' as? You know, like how vampires and werewolves are always paired as enemies.

[Guest Somebody from Scadrial]

4 hours ago, Ookla the Grammatical said:

I have a question about dragons. What do you regard their 'natural enemy' as? You know, like how vampires and werewolves are always paired as enemies.

I guess humans, that tends to be the most common one. Where are vampires considered natural enemies of Werewolves except Twilight?

[Ixthos]

6 hours ago, Ookla the Grammatical said:

I have a question about dragons. What do you regard their 'natural enemy' as? You know, like how vampires and werewolves are always paired as enemies.

Either, as @Somebody from Sel said, humans, or, as bizarre as this might sound, fairies. Sometimes the two combined. I can't find the source for this at the moment, but I remember when in Pokemon the fairy type was introduced one of the reasons some said it was effective against dragon types was because in some legends Lancelot was trained by fairies and went on to slay dragons. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I actually like the idea.

 

2 hours ago, Somebody from Sel said:

I guess humans, that tends to be the most common one. Where are vampires considered natural enemies of Werewolves except Twilight?

The Underworld franchise seems to use that as well. Also, see here: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FurAgainstFang

[Guest Somebody from Scadrial]

2 minutes ago, Ixthos said:

Either, as @Somebody from Sel said, humans, or, as bizarre as this might sound, fairies. Sometimes the two combined. I can't find the source for this at the moment, but I remember when in Pokemon the fairy type was introduced one of the reasons some said it was effective against dragon types was because in some legends Lancelot was trained by fairies and went on to slay dragons. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I actually like the idea.

 

The Underworld franchise seems to use that as well. Also, see here: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FurAgainstFang

Oh ya fairies forgot about those.

Hm, interesting.

[Aspiring Writer]

On 11/28/2020 at 4:52 PM, Ookla the Grammatical said:

I have a question about dragons. What do you regard their 'natural enemy' as? You know, like how vampires and werewolves are always paired as enemies.

I don't like how they're regarded as enemies. Always seemed dumb to me. But if we had to pick one for dragons, I'd say humans. 

Edited November 30, 2020 by Aspiring Writer

[Guest Somebody from Scadrial]

3 minutes ago, Aspiring Writer said:

I don't like how they're regarded as enemies. Always seemed dumb to me. But if we had to pick one for dragons, I'd say humans. 

Natural enemies are humans I think we're all in agreement on that, but I feel like dragons are seen as a symbol of ancient times, which is probably why humans, often the symbol of progress, are their enemies, what's your perception on this?

[Aspiring Writer]

1 minute ago, Somebody from Sel said:

Natural enemies are humans I think we're all in agreement on that, but I feel like dragons are seen as a symbol of ancient times, which is probably why humans, often the symbol of progress, are their enemies, what's your perception on this?

Dragons are the apex predator, one of the most powerful mythical beasts, it takes ingenuity, planning, and creativity to take them down, and why humans/ intelligent people, are the ones to evatually take them down. It's like trying to ask what is the natural enemy of a lion. Besides humans, nothing besides other lions really poses a true threat. (Do not call me out on the metaphor, you know what I mean.)

[Ixthos]

Hi guys :-) a while back I made a slight change to my setting, expanding on a point from before, and the setting now - for a while now, but still - has a type of alien dragon in it, based on the idea of alien life being influenced by the "core" of a dragon. I'm still debating if dragons look like dragons because of belief, or if the belief is because dragons look like dragons, or a mixture, but I thought I would mention it. They've added a solution to a problem I've had for a while, and have some interesting interactions with some other species, including their social structure, and their subspecies have given me some new species to add other ideas I wasn't sure where to use a place to bind them. They, along with a race born within a dyson swarm (sort of), are some of the newest species I've added, finally filling out the ranks of my "human-like" aliens (human-like being a very broad term), along with another race I decided should fit that mould after adjusting them into a subtype of another species.

[Ixthos]

I've been watching a lot of How to Train Your Dragon recently, both the movies and the series Race to the Edge and Rescue Riders (which despite being for children I really enjoyed), remembering the Dragonriders of Pern, and so dragons have been more on my mind recently, especially as friends and allies of humans, and in terms of physical diversity. I felt I should give a brief update on my thoughts about dragons in my writing.

• the spirits are still the main dragons, true dragons, and partially the source of the physical insect dragon-like species, though I haven't yet resolved if the spirits appear as dragons because of the physical dragon species, or the physical dragon species appear as dragons because of the spirits
• the physical insect dragon-like species is now officially the most morphologically diverse and widespread of the human related species, displacing the previous holder of that position - a plant-based six-limbed no-mouth species - as the most widespread and morphologically diverse race, partially due to their ability to direct their own development to match any ecosystem they encounter
• Their semi-hive mind nature lends itself towards dragon rider relationships with some other species, though the majority still mainly live in technologically advanced swarms, some of which are major empires in the various universes, often in conflict with one another, though as with most species there are a mixture of advanced cultures and lower-tech cultures, as well as those with magic and without magic
• None of them look like classical dragons from real world cultures, as all combine elements from various arthropods into the mix, along with the classic reptilian, avian, and feline traits, though some go so far as to be almost unrecognisable as dragons due to the assimilated traits of other species