Black Dragon

* Current (S2)
* Low Lava (S2)
* Old (Invasion of the Birds)
* Low Lava (Invasion of the Birds)
* Golden Black Dragon
* Azure Bringer
* Old
* Older (Mopelution Update)
* Winter
* Even Older (2017 Reskin)
* Zombie
* Classic Skin
* Scrapped
* No animal images

* Ink Immunity

"*UPGRADED to Black Dragon!
Black dragons drink lava instead of water! Black dragons only heal on healing stones/lava!*"

The **Black Dragon**, or the **BD** as it is commonly called, is a tier 17 Volcanic animal in Mope.io, and an equivalent animal of the King Dragon. It was introduced on April 9, 2017.

## Technical

* Upgrades from the Land Monster, the Sea Monster, the Ice Monster, the Dino Monster or the Giant Scorpion at 10M XP. At a future upgrade, it will include the Bird Monster and the Forest Monster.
* Downgrades to the Land Monster (if in the Volcano), the Dino Monster (if in Land), the Sea Monster (if in the Ocean), the Ice Monster (if in the Arctic) or the Giant Scorpion (if in the Desert) below 9.6M XP. The only way this happens is by being tail-bitten below 9.6M.
* Reaches its maximum size at 40M XP.
* Its Ability makes it shoot two fireballs at less than 20M XP and three fireballs at more than 20M XP.
* Drinks lava instead of water.
* It will evolve into the King Dragon by killing every animal that is apex tier and higher:
	+ Another Black Dragon (or King Dragon) and every tier 16 and tier 15 animal.
* Can fly over everything, like the Dragon.
* Black Dragons are immune to ink and desert heat.
* Only heals with Healing Stones or by eating other animals.
* The Black Dragon has a passive ability where, if it's close by to another Black Dragon, it will lose health in intervals and be unable to use Healing Stones.
* There can only ever be 3 Black Dragons on a map at a time. If there is a fourth, similarly to the King Dragon, every Black Dragon will be put into an arena battle, as long as there are two or more outside of arena battles.
* Black Dragons that are low on lava will start to lose color in its wings.
* Pressing `S` shows every kill the player currently needs to get to King Dragon. Animals that the player has already killed are opaque; the ones they're missing are translucent. The Yeti's icon is currently bugged to not show its image at all.
* Killing another Black Dragon would transfer all the victim's apex/monster kills to the winner.

## Appearance

### Black Dragon (IotB)

The Black Dragon is just a larger version of the Dragon, except it has a black body and bat-like orange wings. It is more detailed than the Dragon, with highlights near the snout and ridges along its back, along with three double-pointed spines. However, if a Black Dragon is at low lava, its wings will turn from orange to grey, to a dark black. It has a devil's tail, and it is the first animal to be added whose eyes are shaped in ovals to look mad, even though it does not look very mad. The Black Dragon has black nostrils. Its fire is vibrantly orange.

### Golden Black Dragon

The Golden Black Dragon looks similar to the Black Dragon, except it is gold with goldish-yellow fire. The ridges on its back are more noticeable, and defined a little more. The wings are slightly more pointy, branching off to the sides a bit. A main difference is that the Golden Black Dragon's face/snout is pointier than the others'.

### Azure Bringer

The Azure Bringer has many spikes on its back, and the patterns there are mostly different shades of dark blue, even purple for some. The wings branch to the sides even more than the Golden Black Dragon, and the Azure Bringer's "devil's tail" looks like a 'T' with a point coming up. It has indigo fire. Initially, it was named Blue Dragon.

### Classic Skin

The old, second Black Dragon looks pretty similar to the current Black Dragon, but lacks ridges on its back and has a far longer/pointier tail. Its orange bat wings point outwards, and the Black Dragon has no highlights on its snout. The smaller spikes on its back are darker than the current Black Dragon's. Its fire remains the same.

### Oldest

The oldest Black Dragon looks identical to the legacy Dragon, save for being entirely dark gray and having crimson spikes. Its snout is an elongated trapezoid, longer than the Dragon's, and very similar to the Classic Crocodile skin's.

## Strategy

* As the Black Dragon, chances of survival are generally better when staying near the Volcano; the best source for lava. When the lava bar is dangerously low, the large Healing Stone in the Volcano can't only restore this but can heal the player. Players can also hunt this way; by keeping one's tail in the Lava and shooting fire at any animal that attempts to bite it. Then, by using increased speed in lava to advantage yourself, cut through to get to them fast.
	+ Hunting prey for the Black Dragon is not too difficult in terms of terrain; the Black Dragon can fly over all terrain in the Land and Desert biome with ease. When pursuing another animal, using the fire special ability will assist in weakening it, though it slows down the Black Dragon that does it. Land Monsters, Phoenixes and Dragons regularly inhabit the Volcano, so they are potential targets. Be sure to chase any prey away from areas that are abundant in hiding holes. If there is a hiding hole nearby, block it if possible by hovering above it. If an animal is inside a hole, the player can camp them so that when they emerge from there for water/lava, they will be unable to get back in. Refer to this article for more information on strategies of getting to King Dragon.
* Given the next animal to upgrade to is the King Dragon, gaining XP is not a necessity. In order to reach King Dragon, it is required to kill one of each Apex and Monster, as well as another Black Dragon.
	+ Be very wary of tail-biters. As Black Dragons are plentiful in XP, expect regular attacks from lower-tier animals. Each tail-bite can make Black Dragons lose 200K-400K XP, so if possible, relentlessly pursue any animal that bit the player. Since Black Dragons will downgrade to the Monster that belongs to whatever biome they are in when their XP drops below 9.6M, it is crucial to stay above that level.
* Unless the player is extremely skilled in 1v1 battles, keep a safe distance from other Black Dragons. It is more than likely that other Black Dragons will attack them unless they are allied in order to attain the King Dragon. If the Volcano is not erupting, it is possible to hide in its core. If not, using the special ability on the other Black Dragon and distracting them with another player is all that can be done. Alternatively, if being attacked by lots of players, the player could purposely downgrade to avoid fighting another Black Dragon, or to regain health and avoid dying (full health is restored when downgrading).
	+ If the player is purposely downgrading, they should be aware of which biome they are in (e.g. when in the Volcano when being bitten below 9.6M XP, the Black Dragon will become a Land Monster), and plan an escape immediately should they be downgraded mid-combat.
* If the player feels confident that they can kill any surrounding Black Dragons, they should do so. Due to debuffs, multiple Black Dragons in the same area will periodically lose health and lava, and cannot use healing stones in a close radius.
* After a fight, it's *crucial* the player restores their health and lava immediately afterwards. The Black Dragon is very weak in terms of defending itself, and the debuffs inflict heavy amounts of damage on the player overtime. A team of assorted monsters, T-REXes and/or Bigfoots can easily kill the player. It's also recommended to watch the Leaderboard at at all times for anyone near 10 millon xp, since the player will have to deal with them.
* If the Volcano is too crowded, going to another biome is risky but plausible nonetheless. The player should always be mindful of how much lava they have, and where the nearest possible source is, when outside the Volcano.
	+ The Desert biome is a good habitat for Black Dragons to thrive; lava loss is not extremely noticeable, and there will likely be plenty of players to prey on.
	+ Avoid the Ocean since Black Dragons cannot dive in water, and lava is lost faster than in the Desert. Because of diving, a lot of tail-biters will no doubt attempt to dive under you and get a bite. Moreover since the Ocean is far away from the Volcano, it will be harder to maintain lava and heal if players are ganging up on you (especially if there is a Shahbaz/Pakistan Vulture or a Kraken/Sea Monster).
	+ Also, stay away from the Arctic. Though there are not as many threats as in the Ocean, Black Dragons will freeze in intervals, which can be detrimental to health. Furthermore, Ice Monsters in the Arctic pose a much bigger threat, and have the potential of easily killing a Black Dragon.

## Gallery

### Assets

Current (S2)Low Lava (S2)Old (Invasion of the Birds)Low Lava (Invasion of the Birds)Golden Black DragonAzure BringerOldOlder (Mopelution Update)WinterEven Older (2017 Reskin)ZombieClassic SkinNo Animal ImageThe scrapped Black Dragon, seen on Pike's DeviantArt.
### In-game

A Donkey killing Two Black Dragons fighting with only one kick.A pack of winter Black Dragons!Upgrading to the Black Dragon(old)The Black Dragon on the Volcano.The Black Dragon using its triple fire ability!Uh-oh, low lava!A Dragon that's about to kill a Black Dragon.Black Dragon with no textures.A Winter-skinned Black Dragon (Looks like a Reindeer).Black Dragon's tail slap(now available to King DragonA Mouse near a Black Dragon that's discolored from having low lavaThe scrapped flying ability of the Black Dragon.3 trexes and 2 dragons attacking Black Dragon.Flying Black DragonA Golden Black DragonA huge Ice Monster with a pumpkin, about to level up into a Black Dragon.Black Dragon on Healstone, near a Phoenix. Screenshot by TheCuzGuy.A Black Dragon hunting a Sea Monster in the Ocean!A King Crab & Blue Whale attacking a half HP Black Dragon!Low HP Azure Bringer in the ocean!A Black Dragon being rammed by a Dino Monster!Azure Bringer in the desert.A Black Dragon with three apexes left to kill!Black DragonA black dragon in Classic mope.
## History

### Criticism

* Since the "*#GoldenAge*" update on December 23, 2019, through many platforms, the community expressed their extreme dislike that Black Dragons are easily able to be killed since the rarity of rares was extremely buffed.
	+ Even since the rarity of rares was buffed a little more, there have been multiple complaints that Black Dragons have a challenge to survive from the many teaming rares, making it practically impossible to get to the King Dragon. Additionally, the special ability of BDs are a poor match against those from the Dino Monster and T-REX.

## Trivia

* The scrapped skin of the Black Dragon was never released in-game, but was revealed by Pike on his DeviantArt account.
* Before it was "officially" released, when animals did not have even tails, the Black Dragon used to upgrade at 10M (impossible to get, only berries/mushrooms/prey which gives minor XP). Then 100M when animals got tails/lakes were added/animals got minor detail (still very impossible to get, still berries/mushrooms/prey/lilypads). That was changed to 5M on December 1, 2016 (not-so-hard-to-get), and then back to 10M on April 9, 2017 (only somewhat hard if skilled).
	+ It is unknown whether anyone has ever managed to level up to Black Dragon prior to the April 9, 2017 update, as there is no actual footage showing that this creature even existed at any point in time.
* It and the King Dragon are currently the only animals that can go down to a previous tier without dying.
* If its old texture is activated through Settings, its eyes will not be connected to the body.
* In the update's image with the Black Dragon, the Black Dragon's name says "hey man".
* The Black Dragon and the Land Monster are the only animals to have their old skin as a re-color of the Dragon.
* Black Dragon skin files get so big that the developers have to use a 1000x1000 image instead of a normal 500x500 image.
* The Black Dragon and King Dragon are the only animals that can eat breakable foods (foods with health bars) in one hit.
* Other than the Eagle, the Black Dragon has had the most skin-changes.
* The Azure Bringer initially was named Blue Dragon, before being changed.
* When the Black Dragon's lava bar starts to decrease at some point, its wings darken. The same thing happens with King Dragon.

### Glitches

* When the Desert biome was released in beta, if a Blackwidow Spider ate AI bait from its web, it would somehow achieve 22M XP and reach Black Dragon instantly.
* After dying as a Black Dragon, players would spawn with 2.15B XP, which is the maximum amount of XP that can be reached whilst playing.
* The Yeti's image on the apex kills list is currently invisible.

## Footnotes

### References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.deviantart.com/pike-youtube/art/REAL-black-dragon-657020722 (January 13, 2017). Retrieved on August 7, 2022.

### Notes

1. ↑ The player does not have to kill The Bigfoot, The Snowgirl or The Snowman to reach the King Dragon, but it counts as a Yeti kill if they do.

* Land
* Ocean
* Arctic
* Desert
* Forest
* Lava
* Rares
* Poisonous
* AI
* Unreleased
* Re-added

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 **The Bigfoot**

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 ****Black Dragon**** ·
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 **Predator Falcon** ·
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 **White Rhino** ·
 **Black Rhino** ·
 **Big Goat** ·
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 **Shahbaz** ·
 **Golden Shahbaz** ·
 **White Giraffe** ·
 **White Giraffe Family (2)** ·
 **Aqua Yeti** ·
 **The BigFoot** ·
 **The Snowman** ·
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 **King Dragon** ·

 **Cobra** ·
 **Rattlesnake** ·
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 **Giant Scorpion**

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/ **Duck** ·
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 **Bullet Ant (Possibly scrapped)** ·
 **Forest Monster**

 **Chicken** ·
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 ****Black Dragon**** ·
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 **Sea Monster** ·
 **Ice Monster** ·