Red dragon Red dragons are covetous , evil creatures , interested only in their own well - being , vanity and the extension of their treasure hoards . They are supremely confident of their own abilities and are prone to making snap decisions without any forethought . The most powerful of the chromatic dragon s , red dragons breathe a cone of fire . Red Dragons are the most fearsome and cruel of the chromatic dragons . They delight in ruin , death , and destruction . Physical description . Red dragons are physically distinguished by their enormous size and wingspan . They have two large horns upon their heads , which point backwards toward their wings . They smell of smoke and sulfur . Breath weapon . Red dragons expel a cone of fire . Lairs . They make their homes in mountainous lairs . Many prefer to dwell in volcanoes , where the intense heat keeps others at bay . Ecology . Habitat . Red dragons love to make their lairs in deep , underground caves in mountainous regions , especially if there is volcanic activity . Almost all red dragons simply must have a high perch . The higher the better as they believe that their domain encompasses all that they can see . Young red dragons , especially wyrmling s are easy prey for predators and hunters due to their bright , glossy scarlet scales so they tend to stay underground in the darkness until they feel that they can defend themselves properly . Children . Mating is initiated by the female every century or so when she feels the urge to have children . She looks for the nearest red dragon with the most wealth and power . So of course the males never deny their advances . It is a sign of prestige among other males to be requested to mate . The male then abandons her while she hatches her eggs . She jealously guards those eggs , occasionally with an infertile female but rarely lays down her own life for her hatchlings . Once her young reach the young adult stage of development ( usually even earlier than this ) the mother ' s natural instincts overrule her maternal ones and she forces all of her young from her territory . Personality . Red Dragons believe that they are the pinnacle of draconic nature and that all other species are impure . They value vengefulness , rapaciousness , avarice and ferocity above other traits and recognize these traits in themselves with pride . They are solitary creatures and care little for news of other types of dragons . They do however , look for news of other red dragons in their area . If they believe their own achievements and possessions to be greater than these other red dragons then they stay in their caves , smugly congratulating themselves but if they learn that the achievements or possessions of the other red dragons are greater than their own they will fly into a vengeful rage , decimating the surrounding area until they believe that they have outdone their rivals . The dragon becomes much less cautious during this time and much more likely to underestimate their foes . Unfortunately , red dragons can go to extreme lengths to ensure that every other red dragon in the area knows that they are inferior to the red dragon spreading the news . They will often burn down only half a village or let a single adventurer flee from a battle so that word of their power spreads throughout the region . Not only will this anger other red dragons but it is also like a shining beacon to adventurers & treasure hunters . If a red dragon ever finds out that another red dragon has " lost it " , either by getting badly wounded or if they are becoming senile in old age then local red dragons will descend on the lair , stripping it clean and usually killing the owner . They despise the thought of weakness in any red dragon and believe that if a red dragon cannot protect what it has , then it doesn ' t deserve to have it . Reds are also highly territorial . Entering an area a red considers its domain is just asking to be attacked , especially if it is another dragon entering the area ( even more so if it is a red dragon ) . Conflict is inevitable if this is the case and it is almost always to the death as neither would dare show weakness to the other . Thankfully , most other species are smart enough to flee if they realize the area belongs to a red dragon . Red dragons can get so territorial that in rare occasions they will adopt a protective yet patronizing attitude towards creatures they consider inferior that live within their self - imposed borders . Red dragons hate silver dragon s with a passion as their familiarity with the element of cold and other natural powers often make red dragons appear weak in battle with them . They also commonly come into conflict with copper dragon s for territory rights , though copper dragons rarely win out against the more powerful red dragons in open conflict . Above all though , red dragons hate gold dragon s . Red dragons may loudly proclaim that they would fight and defeat any gold dragon they come across but often find an excuse not to fight when that time eventually comes . Gold dragons are so similar to red dragons yet their natural moral differences are extreme . Red dragons hate any authority other than their own . They never ask elders for advice , even if doing so would save their lives as to them , admitting they need something their elders have is the same as putting themselves under their authority .