Instant Awesome Just Add Dragons

> We are going to need to turn Wexter into a dragon so that he can fly us to Zombie World.
>
> Axe Cop

> But he is already a giant lizard that can fly.
>
> Sockarang

> To get to Zombie World we need a dragon with rocket wings. Plus, dragons are awesome.
>
> Axe Cop,

Instant Awesome Just Add Dragons is a Trope where either dragons are included where none were expected or needed for the story or they are mentioned/imagery of them is placed on the cover of a work even though canonically, dragons do not exist in the material itself.

## Examples

 \* In *A Certain Magical Index* Touma's arm is cut off, only for a dragon's head to emerge from the stump and terrify the opponent into submission. This happens again in A Certain Scientific Railgun the spinoff, but this time seven dragons appear.

* *Franchise/Template:Digimon*: Some of the most powerful Digimon belong to the "dramon" class, such as Anime/DigimonAdventure02 Imperialdramon and the Seadramon line. They are [characterized] as having traits associated with dragons, but not all of them look draconic; Anime/DigimonAdventure Birdramon looks like a big ToothyBird, but *does* KillItWithFire.
* *Anime/DokiDokiPrecure* has the old fairy mascot Melan who can transform into a dragon. spoiler:She gives the Pretty Cures a HopelessBossFight.
* *Manga/FairyTail*. Need something to spice up the magic world? Add a dragon sub-plot.
* *Anime/FullmetalAlchemist*: In the 2003 anime, Envy takes the form of a dragon just before crossing the gate.
* *Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure*: TheMovie has as its BigBad Baron Salamander who can transform into a dragon.
* *Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers*: The fourth of the new main characters, Caro Ru Lushe, is a dragon summoner. She's accompanied by her silver baby dragon Friedrich. Now the awesome parts: Caro can summon an adult version of Friedrich, that makes her awesome. But the real awesome part: She has a second dragon, Voltaire, a PhysicalGod, that makes her instantly more awesome.
* In *Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE*, the Gafran, Baqto and Danazine, as used by the UE [[spoiler: later known as HumanAllAlong Vagan]], can transform into dragon-like flight mode for long distance travelling, and the Danazine, unlike the former two, is a bi-pedal literal mecha dragon.
* *Manga/MyHeroAcademia*:
	+ Introduces Ryukyu, the #9 ranked Pro Hero in the country. Her Quirk allows her to transform into a huge and powerful dragon.
	+ In tangential official art that depicts the characters in a HighFantasy world, Kirishima is a dragon. This has no bearing on the main story and is mainly used to flesh out that minor AlternateUniverse.
* In *Manga/Template:Naruto*:
	+ You can mold any element into an elemental dragon or dragon-shaped projectile. Examples include Kakashi and Zabuza using water dragons, Sarutobi's use of an earth/mud dragon, and Raiga using his swords to create a dragon of wind and lightning. An anime only arc add the Crystal Release, complete with a Crystal Dragon.
	+ Sasuke has an attack in the manga that causes a small flame to travel a length of string. Apparently the anime adaptation took inspiration from this trope because the anime version of this attack *sends a giant dragon made of fire along the length of string*. [[spoiler:Kabuto's SuperMode Sage Mode gives him draconic attributes.]]
	+ Night Guy. No, it's not a typo, it's Guy's final move under the Eighth Gate, [[spoiler:a dragon formed of chakra, blood, and ash with Guy at the head that moves so fast it bends space-time and, with Guy's kick, delivers a blow so powerful that it can turn the general body region of anyone he hits, even the nigh-unkillable Madara, into LudicrousGibs. And the shockwave trumps even that of a Tailed Beast Bomb]].
* *Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi* has thrown in some dragons. The first one is a guardian in GreatBigLibraryOfEverything Library Island who apparently works as a watchman for Albireo Imma. The latter of the two dragons existed solely for [[Template:Ninja Kaede]] to defeat while blindfolded. There's also the significantly SuperWeight less-powered (ActionSurvivor only having recently graduated from Template:Muggle status) BadassBookworm Yue taking a MixAndMatchCritters Gryphon-Dragon down with an JokeWeapon ornamental dagger and AwesomenessByAnalysis. At about the same time GratuitousNinja Kaede brought hers down, EverythingsBetterWithSamurai Setsuna and CuteBruiser Asuna took another one down, as well. BigBad Fate also demonstrates an OffhandBackhand to kill one of those dragons that had been left with a NonLethalKO by the heroines. Dragons are pretty much the TheWorfEffect Worf of Negima. Though there is Vrixas Nagasha, which fought Jack Rakan to a standstill... and it, as a representative of its species in Negima, is again Worfed. In a one hit kill no less.
* *Manga/OnePiece*:
	+ The leader of the Revolutionary Army, MysteriousParent Dragon is apparently only called so because it sounds cool.
	+ In chapter 655, spoiler:Luffy's crew encounters a real dragon.
	+ spoiler:Kaido, King of the Beasts, transforms into an Absolutely MASSIVE Eastern Dragon
* In the *Anime/Template:Pokemon* episode 608, "Where No Togepi Has Gone Before," OlympusMons Rayquaza, a Dragon-type Pokemon, appears out of nowhere for a split second and BreathWeapon fires Hyper Beam at the rocket Ash and friends were riding on for passing its territory. The whole episode was about a BitchInSheepsClothing togepi messing with all the characters, and, after blasting them down, BigLippedAlligatorMoment Rayquaza leaves and is never mentioned again.
* *LightNovel/ReZero* utilises dragons in many roles, particularly as the series is mostly set in the "Dragon Kingdom" of Lugunica. The country had, centuries prior, forged a pact with the Divine Dragon, Volcanica, to protect them from any threats of external origin (though wars of expansion and internal strife were not included as a part of the deal). Volcanica also created three breeds of lesser dragons - Ground Dragons, who play the role of steeds and beasts of burden, Water Dragons which are harder to tame but can be extremely useful for water transportation, and Air Dragons, a winged species nearly impossible to tame but extremely useful in battle and for reconaissance should one succesfully domesticate it. [[spoiler:Aside from that, there was also at least one Black Dragon, a demonic three-headed beast which attacked humans on sight. Additionally, Sin Archbishop Capella Emerada Lugunica was shown to be able to transform herself and others into dragons of variosu kinds.]]
* *Anime/SpiritedAway*: There *seems* to be no particular plot reason for Haku to be a dragon, except that *RuleOfCool dragons are just so cool*. However, this is Template:Averted with the realization that Haku spoiler:represents a river spirit, often personified as dragons in Eastern culture, and in fact his reveal is part of the environmental message of the film.
* Honoka Konoe from *Manga/UQHolder* has a spell that creates dragons out of water. Touta stops to point out how awesome that is even though she was trying to capture him at the time.
* *Manga/YuGiOh*:
	+ Dinosaur Ryuzaki uses a EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Dinosaur deck, but his ace monsters are DinosaursAreDragons Dragon-type monsters.
	+ Rebecca switched her old deck for a dragon deck.
	+ Yugi, Jonouchi and Kaiba have some dragons in their deck, such as Curse of Dragon, Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Red-Eyes Black Dragon, just so their deck looks cooler. Later they get the Legendary Dragon cards, when the story shift from the Egyptian God cards to these dragons. The only one who is close to have a Dragon archetype is Kaiba.
	+ In *Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters*, Yugi and his friends get dragon monsters and the fifth trial is about slaying the five evil dragons, so we have dragons versus dragons. Though two of these ten dragons OurDragonsAreDifferent are technically not Dragon-type monsters.
	+ In *Anime/YuGiOhGX*, practically every major character has or had a Dragon card in their deck or a OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragon-like card. Judai for example has Yubel, who has two stronger forms resembling dragons, but Judai also has, like some other random duelists, the *Five-Headed Dragon* for no reason! (It's not in his Extra Deck, though.)
	+ In *Anime/YuGiOh5Ds*, the six main characters have dragons as their Signer monsters, despite none of them having Dragon decks. Even Kiryu, during and after his Dark Signer time, has two Dragon cards as ace monsters. Well, it's not like that Dragon-type cards are exclusive for Dragon archetypes.
	+ *Anime/YuGiOhArcV* has the Four Dimension Dragons, a series of Dragon type monsters that represent the four dimensions.
* *Manga/Template:Claymore* gets a lot more interesting at the reveal that spoiler:all of the warriors are essentially being trained up to become ''fucking dragon slayers''. Chapter 126 takes it even further spoiler:with the reveal that youma (and by extension Claymores) are humans augmented with parasites born from the flesh of dragons. The Claymores are ''half-dragon dragon slayers''.
* In *Manga/Template:Yaiba*, the titular character's first attempt to use the Gold Orb powers turned him into a small dragon. Also, the Ryujin's Sword summons a giant, serpent-like White Dragon.
* *Manga/GingaNagareboshiGin*: According to legend, the wolves gained special powers after eating the flesh of the demon dragon Jaryuki.
* In *Manga/SamuraiDeeperKyo*, Fubuki's water attacks look like dragons.

/folder

folder:Card Games

* *TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering* has regularly featured dragons, and makes a point of including them even in settings where they don't fit thematically or are flatly absent in the source material. [According to] WordOfGod, this trope is *enforced*. Every block in the game has at least one dragon in it, even on planes like Innistrad (where they're completely out of theme), because dragons are incredibly popular.
	+ Innistrad is a GothicHorror setting... with exactly one dragon in each set, just to have them.
	+ Ravnica's dragons are supposed to be *extinct*, because CityPlanet most of the plane is one single city and there's almost no wilderness left... but dragons, such as [this one] or [this one], shown up in Ravnica-centered sets with some regularity anyway.
	+ Tarkir has a case of this working to a setting's detriment. When players were first introduced to the plane, Tarkir had five three-color clans, with the plane's dragons having long gone extinct. Then Sarkhan went back in time to save the BigGood Ugin from being killed by Nicol Bolas, which had the side effect of bringing back the dragons, who took over the clans and reformed them into less philosophically diverse two-color factions. This is somewhat presented as a good thing by the narrative, but it was undermined by the fact that the dragons were tyrannical, violent Template:Jerkasses who oppressed the non-dragon races. WordOfGod is that Wizards of the Coast expected that the dragons' inherent coolness would compensate for the loss of the three-color factions, only to find players negatively reacting to the dragons because they saw them as erasing the uniqueness and culture of the three-color factions they were already invested in.
	+ Amonkhet is based on Myth/EgyptianMythology, something not exactly known for its profusion of dragons... and yet they show up there anyway, albeit [with crocodile heads] as a minor concession to thematics.
* *[Dragon Storm]* is an RPG collectable card game that features dragons as one of the playable character types.
* *TabletopGame/YuGiOh*: Since the game's conception, dragons have been among the most powerful and numerous monsters. Many decks, even ones that don't have dragons as the primary type, feature dragons as the ace card.

/folder

folder:Comic Books

* *ComicBook/Template:Witchblade*: When Ron Marz took over writing, his introductory arc (which was meant as a compelling jumping on point for new readers) pitted the hero against an evil cult within the Catholic Church intent on summoning a "living god" from another dimension. Given Witchblade's typical milieu -- it's far from high fantasy -- one would expect something bipedal and vaguely demonic or LightIsNotGood angelic, or more rarely, a Cthuluesque eldritch abomination. Nope, not this time. Just a straight-up *D&D*-style bat-winged dragon. Possibly an example of ShownTheirWork, since most translations of the Bible refer to Template:Satan as "the Dragon" at certain points.
* In *ComicBook/UncannyXMen* during the early '80s, in the midst of a climactic battle between the ComicBook/XMen and the Brood, ComicBook/KittyPryde's life is saved... by a ShoulderSizedDragon small dragon who flies in out of nowhere, who later becomes Kitty's companion Lockheed and a popular fixture of the X-books.
* *ComicBook/FiftyTwo*: The cover blurb for issue #39 advertises one of the stories as "ComicBook/TheQuestion Montoya fights a dragon." CoversAlwaysLie Montoya does not encounter a dragon in this issue. She does not confront any metaphorical or internal dragons, nor does she even fight with her Sensei, a guy named ComicBook/RichardDragon.
* In *Crystal, Crystal Warrior*, it seems like practically every animal on Crystallium, tiny or huge, can reasonably be described by the word "dragon." Little dragons flit in the air like birds, medium-sized dragons pull wagons like draft horses, and big dragons serve as DragonRider mounts in warfare. Even clothing is typically made of dragon leather. If MineralMacGuffin gems and minerals weren't already the planet's most obvious PlanetOfHats hat, the place could probably just as safely have been called "Dragonium." Of course, they also have some dragons *made* of crystal or magma, so there you go!
* *ComicBook/BeastWarsUprising*:
	+ Lord Imperious Delirious uses Cybertronian tech to reformat himself into a dragon.
	+ Megatron skips past a T-Rex mode and settles for a dragon as his beast mode.
* In *ComicBook/TotallyAwesomeHulk*, Fin Fang Foom, the mightiest alien dragon in all the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, makes a brief appearance in issue #2.
* In *Franchise/Template:Superman* stories:
	+ In *ComicBook/ActionComics* #262, the Daily Planet crew become trapped in a strange world. While making their way back to the portal where they came from, Superman and his friends are assaulted by an assortment of weird creatures, including a winged dragon.
	+ In *ComicBook/AdventureComics* #418, ComicBook/Template:Supergirl is taking down a criminal gang when the leader -an old Batman enemy- sics a green, flame-spewing dragon on her. Similarly, in *ComicBook/SupermanFamily* #174 the baddie-of-the-issue summons a sea dragon to keep Kara busy as he carries his plans out. The purple dragon comes out of nowhere, and after a brief but awesome tussle, it retreats and is never seen again.
	+ In *ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold* story *ComicBook/TheBookOfDestiny*, Superman travels to medieval England and teams up with Golden Age hero Silent Knight to destroy a magical artifact called the Golden Eye of Effron... which is guarded by an ice dragon.

/folder

folder:Fan Works

* In *Legion of Lawndale Heroes*, a *WesternAnimation/Template:Daria* FanFic series, the Legionnaires are fighting The Alliance -- another team of young metahumans. After TheWorfEffect her first volley is literally brushed aside by one of the kids, who says, "I thought you were going to be impressive", Quinn turns to Charles "Upchuck" Ruttheimer and says, "Charles... impress them." They are suitably impressed when Charles moves towards them -- and turns into GODZILLA.
* In *[Ancient Prophecy fullfilled]*, a *Literature/TheLordOfTheRings* dic, the author's [=OCs=] are something akin to Maiar (in-universe angelic beings) who can shapeshift, and prefer to walk around as dragons. Cue an OhCrap moment when the father of those [=OCs=] decides to come back into the picture...
* In *WebOriginal/TotalPokemon*, any character with a Dragon type Pokemon Form qualifies. One character in particular is Mike, the main protagonist, who can turn into a Latios.
* *Fanfic/WithStringsAttached*: George becomes a red dragon twice. The others are *very* impressed. The first time, it's to help fight off square miles of undead. The second time, it's just to fly everyone up to the Twisted Temple.
* In *Fanfic/CrownsOfTheKingdom*, Maleficent's dragon form is her final battle form. Elliot from Pete's Dragon shows up as well.
* *Fanfic/ByBakerStreetStationISatDownAndWept* has lots of dragons. Most of them can talk.
* *Fanfic/IAmNOTGoingThroughPubertyAgain*: During her "CurbStompBattle fight" against Orochimaru, Hinata uses an unnamed technique that molds her chakra in to the form of giant dragons that spit fire and lightning.
* In *Fanfic/AWandForSteven*, Voldemort rides a dragon on his assault to Hogwarts, Alexandrite being the only thing that can match against it.
* In *Fanfic/FireEmblemFatesCalamity*, Corrin unlocks her dragon blood, letting her turn into a dragon and giving her a massive power boost.
* In *Fanfic/BeastWarsFriendshipIsMagic*, Megatron is a dragon right from the get-go.
* In *Fanfic/ADecepticonRaiderInCarRobotsLand*, Sheba one-ups Gigatron's dragon mode via summoning Bahamut.

/folder

folder:Films -- Animation

* Creator/Template:Disney:
	+ *WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty*: Maleficent ScaledUp turns into a dragon at the end.
	+ *WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone*: The wizard's duel culminates in Mad Madam Mim LoopholeAbuse breaking her own rules, one being to not turn into anything make-believe, such as pink dragons, and turning into a *purple* dragon.
	+ *WesternAnimation/Template:Mulan*: Mushu the dragon was added simply to give the main character a NonHumanSidekick. The original story had no dragons or other supernatural elements whatsoever.
	+ In *WesternAnimation/Template:Aladdin*, Genie briefly turns into a dragon for no reason other than to show off his Template:Shapeshifting skills.
* *Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf*: The fourth film, *Mission Incredible: Adventures on the Dragon's Trail*, is about the goats fighting off evil dragons that have taken over the world. The series otherwise does not feature dragons prominently.
* In *Animation/TheFrogPrincess*, the three-headed Zmey Gorynich guards Koshchei's soul.

/folder

folder:Films -- Live-Action

* *Film/Template:Enchanted* has the evil Queen Narissa transform into a dragon when spoiler:her earlier plan to kill Giselle fails. The entire film homages the animated Disney princess films, and this sequence in particular is a massive ShoutOut to *WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty*.
* *Film/GodzillaFinalWars* features a battle between the high-tech submarine, the Gotengo, and the Chinese dragon Kaiju, Manda. Manda is only there as yet another random monster to be featured in the movie and is quickly killed off at the beginning. And then there's Godzilla's final battle against strike:Monster X Keizer Ghidorah, which is also an homage to the classic "Godzilla VS King Ghidorah" battles. In addition, King Ghidorah's appearances in *Destroy All Monsters* and *Godzilla VS Gigan* count since the three-headed dragon is NOT the main focus in either film. Manda also appears in the former.
* *Franchise/StarWars*:
	+ Remember the krayt dragon skeleton from *Film/ANewHope*? Purely there to add a little awesome.
	+ So is Boga, the feathered lizard-mount Obi-Wan rides in *Film/RevengeOfTheSith*.
	+ The Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse, while usually trying to stay clear of obvious references to Earth animals and myths, has various species of dragon, many of them said to be the nonsentient offspring of [Duinuogwuin], which are a strange people like ten-to-a-hundred meter long centipedes with wings, hands, organic cold fusion reactors, and the ability to live in deep space. They're also called Star Dragons, and although they almost never actually *appear*, they get mentioned as Template:Noodle Incidents with some regularity.

%%\* "Film/StarskyAndHutch Alright guys, I'm not gonna lie to you. PerverseSexualLust This is gonna get kinda weird... UpToEleven Two dragons."

* *Film/HarryPotter* takes the awesomeness of its source material's dragons UpToEleven. Specifically, *Film/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire*, and even more so *Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows: Part 2*.
* As the page quote shows, this is subverted and lampshaded in *Film/The13thWarrior*. It turned out the "fire wyrm" is just [[spoiler:a cavalry with torches, and Herger said he would have preferred an actual dragon. Of course, given that the size of the fire wyrm in question meant it was comprised of literally *hundreds* of warriors, all mounted on horseback and moving independently, his preference for a straight-up lizard is understandable]].
* *Film/Template:Mythica*: A dragon shows up in the second film. It is guarding treasure.
* *Film/ThorRagnarok*: In the opening sequence, Thor briefly fights a fire dragon.. just because it looks so cool.
* *Film/ManOfSteel*: In the opening sequence on Krypton, Jor-El rides a dragon-like Kryptonian creature while evading Zod's forces. Because the only thing cooler than a FlyingBrick man who can fly is a man who can fly on a *DragonRider dragon*.
* *Film/Template:Dolittle* very randomly adds a giant, black, fire-breathing dragon to an old story that has otherwise always been set in the normal world, except with a guy who just SpeaksFluentAnimal happens to understand animals. The dragon looks like it belongs more in something like *Literature/TheLordOfTheRings.*

/folder

folder:Literature

* *Literature/AStormOfSwords*: Although they've been integrated to the point that the story would end up very different without them, the dedications page goes like this: "for Phyllis, who made me put the dragons in". So this thinking may have prompted their inclusion. WordOfGod confirms this interpretation.
* *Literature/TheCosmere'*s creator, Brandon Sanderson, is widely known for mostly inventing original, unique species to inhabit the many worlds of his shared universe - the only exception to this general rule of thumb thus far have been dragons. Sanderson says he likes dragons a lot, and has set them up to play a major role in one of his planned series, aptly named "Dragonsteel". In-universe, dragons are native to the ancestral human world of Yolen, are highly intelligent, long-lived if not immortal, capable of VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifting and at least a few became knowledgeable of the wider Cosmere and its various magics and peoples. Thus far, however, only two dragons have been confirmed to still be around and only one has made a physical appearance (in a human form at that).
* In *Literature/TheDresdenFiles'* third book, *Grave Peril*, an elder dragon (think "minor god-level") named Ferrovax makes an appearance. He's only shown for OneSceneWonder one scene, in which he brings Harry to his knees with only half of his True Name (without even using magic, just raw willpower), receives a mysterious gift ChekhovsGun that will almost certainly be important in the future, then leaves. WordOfGod has it that he'll play a part in the final apocalyptic trilogy.
* *Literature/Template:Duumvirate*. One of MadScientistLaboratory Northberg's EvilutionaryBiologist scientists decided to make dragons, just ForScience because he could.
* *Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse*:
	+ In the Literature/StarTrekEnterpriseRelaunch novels, a battle during the Romulan War takes place on Berengaria VII. Dragons show up to eat Romulans. There's no particular reason for it, but, hey, we're on Berengaria, previously established in throwaway lines of *Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries* as home of the dragons, so let’s have them eat people.
	+ Literature/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineRelaunch: Elias Vaughn's childhood history on Berengaria VII; he was apparently mauled by a dragon at one point. Vaughn had previously been said to originate there; eventually, this bit of trivia made an inevitable linkage to the dragons. Since Vaughn is the sort of character with a highly adventurous background, it's no surprise he apparently had dragon bites where other children had bruised knees.
* *TabletopGame/Template:Shadowrun* In *Night's Dawn*, Alamais the dragon is the main antagonist, but just shows up out of nowhere to be killed by laser bombardment, having previously been seen only in the prologue as part of an ambush.
* *Literature/TheEyesOfTheDragon*: The dragon of the title comes from a stuffed and mounted dragon head that has peep-hole eyes. Any peep-hole would have done just as well, but it's more awesome with dragons. There is a real dragon! It dies in the backstory, but it was there.
* *Literature/DeltoraQuest* consists of three series. In Australia, they're numbered. Everywhere else, the third is titled *Dragons of Deltora*... and is filled with both awesome and dragons. And especially awesome *due to* dragons. Previously the series had been somewhat unique in its lack of the things, despite the High Fantasy Meets JRPG setting....
* Dragons are only important to one or two *Literature/Template:Discworld* books, but they're mentioned quite frequently (especially in the Night Watch books, since Sam Vimes happens to be married to a dragon breeder). Of course, on Discworld, OurDragonsAreDifferent...
* *Literature/DragonSlippers*. Yeah, no such thing as dragons. You just keep thinking that, Creel...granted, the dragons have been in hiding for the past 300+ years. Plus, in book two, no one's worried about the war withspoiler: Citatie until they discover the army is mounted on DRAGONS.
* *Literature/HarryPotter*: For most of the series, dragons are added primarily for the awesome (they appear only as plot devices). Creator/JKRowling introduces them as if she knows that her readership expects them and is rewarding them for holding out for three books.
* *Literature/TheCrownColonies*: This is the entire premise of series: colonial New England with Dragons. And zombies. And muskets fired by magic.
* *Literature/Template:Dragaera*: The creature with Vlad Taltos on most of the cover arts is *supposed* to be a jhereg -- a two-legged, two-winged flying reptile -- but is invariably given an extra pair of forearms and dragon-like appearance for the artwork. There *are* dragons in Dragaera, but they do *not* OurDragonsAreDifferent look like your average western dragon. So the cover art depicts an animal that doesn't actually exist in Dragaera, simply ExecutiveMeddling because the publishers wanted to invoke this trope. One supposes that "Instant Awesome, Just Add Jheregs" wouldn't have the same ring to it.
* *Literature/AlexVerus*: The first book in the series makes a passing reference to a prophecy made by a dragon. The dragon itself makes no appearance in that book, but it does help the prophecy stand out against SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate the less certain, probability-based divinations that are the norm for the setting. The dragon shows up several books later in a quasi-dimension/tunnel beneath Arachne's home. It's the size of a skyscraper, and when it casually bats at an annoying minor villain, he doesn't so much spaller as PinkMist vaporize.
* *Literature/ThePiratesCoveredInFur* has a sentient, robotic dragon that the BigBad uses to aid him in his attack on Diamond City.
* *Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus*: Festus. InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha Who also happens to be a giant magic robot. So, Dragons + InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha Mecha = double invocation of awesome. spoiler: And after Festus' death, he - or his head, at least - is integrated into the ''Argo II'', a CoolAirship. Has Creator/RickRiordan been reading this wiki?
* *Literature/TheWheelOfTime*: Dragons don't exist in the world, but the main character becomes known as the Dragon Reborn, and his symbol is a dragon. This is included in the story for apparently no other reason than that dragons are cool and scary.
* *Literature/DarkLordOfDerkholm*: Scales, aka spoiler: Deucalion, king of all dragons, a GeniusBruiser powerful magic user adept at pulling off BigDamnHeroes moments.
* *Literature/RachelGriffin*: In-universe. MeaningfulName Sigfried (who is also famous for having killed a classical-type evil dragon) meets numerous requests for people to pet his ShoulderSizedDragon / CoolPet, Lucky.
* *Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen*: Draconus can turn into a giant black dragon, although his particular VoluntaryShapeshifting Soletaken form is described as 'darkness with wings' instead of a normal draconic form. While dragons do play a role in the setting, Draconus being one is wholly superfluous.
* *Literature/WayOfChoices*: Both the novel and the TV adaptation, *Fighters of the Destiny*, open with a dragon. In the book, a golden dragon tries to eat the infant protagonist and is driven off. In the show, a black dragon attacks the Capitol, which in the book is a legend referenced in an offhand manner.
* *LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle*: Drag-Rides are PoweredArmor with a strong dragon theme. Their users are called Drag-Knights, the three basic types of Drag-Rides are named after types of dragons (Wyrm, Wyvern, Drake), the more powerful and unique Divine Drag-Rides are named for legendary dragons and serpents (Tiamat, Fafnir etc.), and their weapons are named for body parts of dragons (Breath Gun, Scale Blade, Wire Tail etc.). However, no actual dragons exist in the setting.

/folder

folder:Live-Action TV

* *Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer* and *Series/Template:Angel* have been known to throw dragons in for the hell of it. A dragon flew out of the portal created by Glory in the season 5 finale of Buffy, and Angel fights a dragon (OffscreenMomentOfAwesome offscreen) in its series finale (also its season 5 finale, interestingly enough).
* *Series/OnceUponATime*:
	+ Maleficent OneWingedAngel becomes a dragon in the final episode of Season 1, and later on after her grand reappearance in Season 4, just like in *WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty.*
	+ Prince Charming had to defeat one for the hand of King Midas' daughter.
* In *Series/StargateSG1*, they have to deduce a dragon's name as part of a test. Vala suggests they start guessing and names it "Darrell", while Cam throws in "Smokey".
* *Series/TicTacDough*: Literally, as part of the game show's LuckBasedMission BonusRound. The objective was for the winning contestant to find, on a 3-by-3 game board, dollar amounts adding up to at least $1,000, or the words "TIC" and "TAC" before uncovering a space with a computer-animated dragon to win the cash and a prize package; finding the dragon ended the game immediately with nothing won.
* *Franchise/SuperSentai* and *Franchise/PowerRangers* have never been shy about including dragons in whatever they're doing:
	+ In *Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger* and the first season of *Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers*, the main team pilots HumongousMecha based on StockDinosaurs. The Template:Trope Naming Template:Sixth Rangers pilot a dragon-styled mecha. Said Sixth Rangers became BreakoutCharacter Breakout Characters. Deny the correlation as coincidence at your peril!
	+ *Series/GoseiSentaiDairanger* and the second season of *Mighty Morphin'* had two dragon mecha, one belonging to the Red Ranger and one antagonist dragon which was HumongousMecha-sized *when compared to the other HumongousMecha*.
	+ Averted in *Series/SeijuuSentaiGingaman* and *Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy*, where the Green Ranger had a draconic Starbeast/Galactabeast, but both shows insisted on calling it a kind of bird (falcon in *Gingaman*, condor in *Lost Galaxy*).
	+ Late in *Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm* was the Dragonforce Vehicle, which could transform into a mechanical Eastern Dragon mode.
	+ Invoked in *Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder*, where they took a PteroSoarer mecha and named it the "Drago Zord" as a way to score extra coolness points. "Tupuxuara Zord" would have been a little ungainly.
	+ *Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger* and *Series/PowerRangersMysticForce* let four of the Rangers combine their mecha into a dragon, and *Mystic Force* added an actual dragon that the Red Ranger merged with for his SuperMode.
	+ In *Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger* and *Series/PowerRangersSamurai*, the water-themed Blue Ranger was given a dragon as his mecha.
	+ *Series/TensouSentaiGoseiger* and *Series/PowerRangersMegaforce* give a dragon theme to the Red Ranger.
	+ *Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger* and *Super Megaforce* give the Rangers powerups based on previous seasons, and one of the first ones they get is a dragon mecha based on the one from *Magiranger*/*Mystic Force*.
	+ *Series/ShurikenSentaiNinninger* and *Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel* not only gives the Blue Ranger a dragon mecha, it can take the lead position when the mecha combine to give the result a DraconicHumanoid alternate mode.
	+ *Series/UchuSentaiKyuranger* is based on stars and constellations. To no surprise, the (first) SixthRanger is themed after the Draco constellation.
* In *Series/Template:Eureka* season 5, the appearance of a dragon was spoiler: the result of a glitch in the AI program in which the crew of the Astraeus was unwittingly stuck.
* *Series/Merlin2008*: At the start of season 4, the writers throw in a baby dragon for no readily apparent reason. It becomes clear that they're not entirely sure what to do with it, as it spends the rest of the series largely off-screen and ultimately becomes a case of WhatHappenedToTheMouse
* *Series/Template:Grimm*: Of the many OurWerebeastsAreDifferent Wesen, a Template:Weredragon could not be avoided; the Dämonfeuer.
* This trope is no doubt the reason for the existence of documentaries like Creator/NationalGeographicChannel's *[Dragon Wars: Fire and Fury]* and *Film/DragonsAFantasyMadeReal*.

/folder

folder:Music

* The name of the band Music/DragonForce. They have a couple songs about dragons, but their name could have been anything, as the variety of HeavyMithril bands show. And most of their songs are about glorious battles to the end. Dragons are hardly ever mentioned. But again, it's a cool name.
* Music/Template:Summoning put a dragon on the cover of their album *Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame*.
* The music video for "Music/ShineOnMe" by Chris Dane Owens. Along with every other fantasy stereotype or image known to man.
* I Fight Dragons: If they do a CoverVersion cover of a song, they define this trope even more (i.e., ThePowerOfLove + Instant Awesome Just Add Dragons = [this song]).
* Jimmy Page, of Music/LedZeppelin fame, was noted for wearing what was and will always be the coolest onstage costume of all time, the Dragon Suit.
* The cover of Asia's SelfTitledAlbum.
* For no apparent reason, Chris Squire, bassist of Music/Template:Yes, sometimes wears a robe with a dragon on at shows.
* Music/ImagineDragons. RuleofCool Cool name, even though none of their songs have anything to do with dragons.

/folder

folder:Pinballs

* *Pinball/BlackKnight*: The playfield is decorated with dragon designs and dragon heads, even though there aren't any dragons in the game itself.
* *VideoGame/LastGladiators*: The "Dragon Showdown" table gratuitously uses a number of dragon motifs throughout its Template:Samurai theme.

/folder

folder:Tabletop Games

* In *TabletopGame/Template:Exalted*, Elementals gain draconic forms when they breach a certain threshold of power, regardless of what their original form was. There's no real reason for this; WordOfGod says that they are emulating the ideal of the Five Elemental Dragons, who, while not elementals themselves, were the basic template that elementals were designed off of. But we all know the RuleOfCool real reason.
* *TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons* has this in the title, as most games will feature far more dungeons than they will dragons.
* *TabletopGame/Template:Shadowrun* has dragons. They are pretty much *the* iconic magical critter of the setting, the mass awakening of the dragons in 2012 serving as the (at that point) most obvious herald of TheMagicComesBack. Fast-forward to the game's start in the 2050s and the dragons rule a significant piece of the setting behind the scenes, making their constant background in-fighting a good source of conflict and shadowruns (not that your Template:Player Characters will ever openly take a dragon job).

-->*"Never, **ever**, cut a deal with a dragon."*
/folder

folder:Theme Parks

* Ride/DisneyThemeParks:
	+ *Ride/JourneyIntoImagination*: How else do you think Figment, the main character, became the mascot of Epcot? Heck, his origins can actually be traced to an attraction for the shelved Disneyland concept Discovery Bay, a Template:Steampunk land, that had an attraction hosted by a Dreamfinder-like character who, among other cool things, bred dragons as a hobby.
	+ The Lego store at Disney Springs has a number of Lego sculptures in and around it. The largest and most prominent is the one just outside the entrance, depicting Prince Philip (as an oversized minifig) fighting Maleficent's dragon form.
* The former *Ride/DuelingDragons* coaster at Ride/UniversalStudios Universal's Islands of Adventure was about a fire and ice dragon battling one another.
* *Ride/BuschGardens Williamsburg* has an entire dragon-themed area, called "Land of the Dragons", though the dragons there are the cute and friendly type, since it's a play area for young children. A similar area used to exist at the Tampa park, and the Williamsburg park used to have a dragon-themed roller coaster called *Drachenfire*.

/folder

%%folder:Toys
%%\* *Toys/Template:Bionicle*: The Kardas Dragon, Kanohi Dragon, and Makuta Miserix.%%Gratuitous how?
%%\* *WesternAnimation/Template:Mixels* has Flurr, an ice-based dragon, and Slusho, a slime-based dragon with dragonfly elements.%%Gratuitous how?
%%/folder
%%
folder:Video Games

* Played with in *VideoGame/DragonQuestI*; a dragon kidnaps a princess. Turns out that the BigBad is known to not be a dragon right off the bat, but the Dragon*lord*, who can command dragons. Rescuing the princess isn't even required.
* The *VideoGame/BreathOfFire* series is another exception, as the main character is *always* a human-dragon hybrid of some sort.
* *Franchise/FinalFantasy*:
	+ *VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI* has a sidequest based on, yeah, dragons (some of which DinosaursAreDragons look like dinosaurs). There isn't any background lore on them nor are any of them directly related to the story (some of them are found in the last dungeon, but they can easily be skipped).
	+ The paper-thin background lore is that Crusader, the strongest of the Espers, was sealed during the ancient War of the Magi using the power of eight dragons. These "Crusader" dragons are vicious, but defeating them will get you the Crusader magicite, the only Esper that can teach Merton/Meltdown. AwesomeButImpractical Which really isn't much of a reward, but hey.
* The Bahamut summon that appears in almost every FF game.
	+ *VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII* had THREE, one of which was cybernetic. And Template:IN SPACE.
	+ *VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2*:
		- The game *features* Bahamut because of being an Eidolon to Caius. *And* spoiler:you fight off against three Bahamuts in the FinalBoss fight. Also, the faeryl is a dragon that's somewhat a RealityWarper because of it's "Black Hole" power.
		- Then there are the Dragoons, lance-using warriors with a AnimalMotif dragon theme and one of the most popular jobs/classes.
	+ *VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV* has the *Heavensward* expansion pack dedicated to dragons, namely the Dragonsong War where a horde of dragons have been at war against a nation for a thousand years and you eventually learned how the war started. spoiler: Dragons and men used to live together peacefully until the King attacked a dragon by gouging her eyes out and then ''eating the eyes'' (along with his knights) to obtain great power. You find out that not all dragons want any part of the war and some even hope for the days of peace to return.
* *VideoGame/AlteredBeast* allows players to become a dragon in level 2. Also, two of the bosses are dragons.
* *Franchise/TheElderScrolls*:
	+ For a series that otherwise stays pretty well within the classic MedievalEuropeanFantasy ball park (with a few twists), it may come as a surprise that OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons were not actually present in any game in the main series prior to *Skyrim*note"Dragonlings" appear in *VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall*, but they are unrelated to the series' actual dragons. An actual dragon is present in the game's files, but was not implemented./note, with a single dragon appearing in the ActionAdventure GaidenGame spin-off game, *VideoGame/TheElderScrollsAdventuresRedguard Redguard*. They once existed within Tamriel, but it is stated that they were driven to extinction in a concerted effort by the [[Template:Wutai Akaviri]] CreatureHunterOrganization Dragonguard, and later, the AncientOrderOfProtectors Blades (spawned off of the Dragonguard), centuries prior to the timeline of the main series of games. (The dragon of *Redguard*, Nafaalilargus, was spared at the time because he was willing to aid mortals, and later came into the service of FounderOfTheKingdom Tiber Septim.)
	+ *VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim* is where the series' dragons come JustForPun roaring back into the picture. The BigBad of the game is Alduin, the DragonsAreDemonic draconic BeastOfTheApocalypse who was SealedEvilInACan cast out of the stream of time by LongDeadBadass ancient heroes using the power of an TomeOfEldritchLore Elder Scroll. He has now returned and is using the ResurrectiveImmortality of the series' dragons to bring his fallen brethren back to life. Stopping him and his dragon minions is a major part of the game's main quest, and your player character is known as a Dragonborn, a mortal with the soul of a dragon, who is able to kill dragons and take their souls for their power.
	+ The series also has two draconic OurGodsAreDifferent divine beings:
		- Crossing over with DragonsAreDivine, Akatosh is the TopGod chief deity and God of Time in the Imperial SaintlyChurch "Nine Divines" religion. Akatosh takes the form of a dragon. The First Cyrodiilic Empire was founded when he (and the other Aedra who would become the Divines) lent their aid to the races of Men under St. Alessia (the "Slave Queen") against their OurElvesAreDifferent Ayleid (Wild Elf) masters (who were primarily OurGodsAreDifferent Daedra worshipers to boot). Upon their victory, Akatosh BargainWithHeaven made a pact with mankind, sealed by DivineParentage joining his blood with Alessia and placing her soul within the Amulet of Kings, that the Divines would give mankind their patronage in exchange for their worship. Since that day, all legitimate Cyrodiilic Emperors have been "Dragonborn," in the sense that they are (metaphysically) descended from Akatosh and Alessia and help to seal the barrier between Mundus (the mortal plane) and Oblivion (the realm of the Daedra). During the darkest hour of the VideoGame/TheElderScrollSIVOblivion Oblivion Crisis, Mehrunes Dagon (the Daedric Price of OmnicidalManiac Destruction) successfully took form in Mundus, threatening to destroy all creation. [[spoiler:Martin Septim, the HiddenBackupPrince last in the line of these Dragonborn Emperors, shattered the Amulet of Kings and summoned Akatosh to Mundus, where he, in the form of a massive dragon, would banish Dagon.]] Standard dragons (including Alduin, though Alduin may be an *aspect* of Akatosh instead) are said to be the "DivineParentage children" of Akatosh. They are lesser Aedra, making them a form of divinity loosely akin to OurAngelsAreDifferent angelic beings.) They have been worshiped by cultures throughout Nirn, from the ancient Atmorans ([[Template:Precursors ancestors of the modern Nords]]), to the ancient Nords, and to the Ka Po' Tun "CatFolk Tiger Folk" of [[Template:Wutai Akavir]]. The first two groups created the "Dragon Cults," in which the Dragon Priests held as much power as kings, ruling in the stead of the aloof dragons they worshiped. In Atmora, the priests demanded tribute and set down laws and codes of living that kept peace between dragons and men. This carried over to Skyrim, but they became much more aggressive and authoritarian in their leadership. (Eventually, the ancient Nords rebelled and, combined with a later Akaviri invasion, nearly drove the dragons to extinction.) The dragons practice a LanguageOfMagic, the "Thu'um" which allows for some small scale RealityWarper Reality Warping by "MakeMeWannaShout shouting" elements into existence. The dragons themselves are TheAgeless, and while they can be slain by any capable individual, they possess ResurrectiveImmortality and can be brought back to life by another dragon unless their soul is YourSoulIsMine absorbed by another dragon (or Dragonborn). Despite their divine origins, dragons DragonsAreDemonic are creatures of aggression and domination, and it's AlwaysChaoticEvil in their blood to be cruel and contemptuous. However, they can HeelFaceTurn fight against their baser nature, as best exemplified by Paarthurnax.
		- Peryite is the Daedric Prince of [[Template:Plaguemaster Pestilence]] and Tasks, and throughout the series, most commonly takes the form of a four-legged green dragon. He obviously isn't a real dragon and simply likes VoluntaryShapeshifting manifesting as one, which is said to be a "primordial and curious jest" toward Akatosh.
* In *VideoGame/EVOSearchForEden*, if you eat a red crystal you temporarily get a powerful form depending on your current animal type. Naturally, if you're a bird, that temporary form is a Dragon. The red crystal forms are fixed, you just have to be a bird to reach the dragon one (and the gargoyle one). Temporarily turning into one via green crystal works too, since the effect doesn't wear off inside the cloud maze for some reason.
* In *VideoGame/MapleStory*, there's a 3rd job class that is pretty much dedicated to this trope. The Dragon Knight. Said class's skills ALL INVOLVE DRAGONS in some way or another. Dragon Crusher, Dragon Fury, Dragon Roar, Dragon Blood, etc.
* *Franchise/Template:Pokemon*:
	+ The Dragon-type exists purely to be awesome (at least outside of the fourth and fifth generation, which feature legendary Pokemon of the type as a part of the plot). They were an InfinityPlusOneElement consisting of only one family in the first generation, and a lot of people still think they are the handiest Pokemon to own since they resist PlayingWithFire Fire, MakingASplash Water, GreenThumb Grass, and ShockAndAwe Electric attacks, which are common in almost every party. Not only that, but they have some high base stats as well. Also, Dragon type trainers are known for being very badass. LittleMissBadass Iris, JerkAss Clair, TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Lance, OldMaster Drake, Drayden, etc. They are so powerful that in the Generation VI games Nintendo created the ridiculously-overpowered Fairy-type with the main intent of giving Garchomp and his mates something to be afraid of.
	+ Charizard is by far the most popular of the original Starter Three, and one of the most publicised Pokemon in media and advertising, rivalling Pikachu and Mewtwo in this regardnotein an official poll, it was even voted the most popular Gen I Pokémon, beating Pikachu himself/note. The fact it looks like a big badass dragon with a flaming tail may have had something to do with it. It's the only 'mon besides Mewtwo to get *two* Mega Evolutions, one of which finally makes it an actual part-Dragon type. It also got into *VideoGame/SuperSmashBros* as its own character as opposed to part of a three man... JustForPun Uh, 'mon team.
	+ And in *VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon*, OneWingedAngel the true form of spoiler:Necrozma is a dragon.
* The *VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic* series routinely has all sorts of dragons among the most powerful (and expensive) creatures available. The 5th entry even turned all gods (including the evil one) into dragons, with the units being the offspring of the gods. And not to forget the Dragon Utopia, a DragonHoard treasure hoard guarded by, yes, dragons. The spinoff *VideoGame/WarriorsOfMightAndMagic* features a powerful dragon named Thalin Thraxxus as a boss in the [=PS2=] version.
* Ridley in *VideoGame/MetroidFusion*. While he is a major character in the series, Fusion is one of the few games in the series that doesn't involve the SpacePirates in plot-related role, so he seems a little out of place.
* *Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda*:
	+ *VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker* features Valoo, an ancient sky spirit/dragon. One of the game's first dungeons is all about figuring out what's wrong with him, the first boss you fight is torturing him, and farther into the game he repays the favor by roasting Ganon in his own tower, which is a memorable moment for him.
	+ Other examples in the series include Volvagia and Argorok in *VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time* and *VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess*, respectively.
	+ In *VideoGame/HyruleWarriors*, Link's special attack with the Magic Rod, and the finisher for one of its combos, creates a whirling serpentine dragon of living flames to scatter his foes.
	+ The original game *VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI* has multi-headed dragons (Gleeoks) as bosses. Another dragon called Aquamentus is the first dungeon's boss. He's also level 7's boss, but he hasn't gotten any stronger. You, on the other hand...

%%\* One Word: VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness FLONNEZILLA!

* The *Franchise/ShiningSeries* is chock-full of dragons, playable or otherwise, and they're almost always among the strongest characters.
	+ *VideoGame/ShiningSoul* introduced an entire new species, Dragonutes, to the canon.
	+ *VideoGame/ShiningForceIII* features many Dragon enemies but if you avoided killing the baby in Scenario 1 you could recruit one in a later Scenario...not that anybody outside NoExportForYou Japan could, not that people are still bitter about that or anything.
	+ Basso from *VideoGame/ShiningTheHolyArk* is HalfHumanHybrid Half Dragon, Half Human but 100% pure badass.
* *VideoGame/CustomRobo* has the Dragon Gun (and its cousin, the Wyrm Gun), which is dragon-shaped. If that wasn't enough, it shoots dragon-shaped bullets.
* *VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins*, despite the name, has only one true adult dragon, as an *optional* fight. The only other Dragonkin in the game are very young and small, or spoiler:a shapeshifted witch, and an Archdemon.
	+ *VideoGame/DragonAgeII* continued this trend, with only one high dragon to fight. *VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition*, SequelEscalation on the other hand, has *10* enormous dragons for the player to hunt down as Template:Bonus Bosses. They dwarf the dragons in the previous two games and require extensive party management. Don't even think about trying to hunt them down until your level is in the double digits.
	+ This trope is what basically happened to the multiplayer feature of *VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition*. The multiplayer is a very nice extra to the full game as a whole, but when Bioware released an update that finally allowed players to fight dragons similar to those found in single player, the multiplayer became awesome instantly.
* You fight a slow, slothful zombie dragon at the beginning of *VideoGame/DemonsCrest* on the SNES, a dragon figures into the backstory, and Firebrand's Demon Fire has a dragon-shaped appearance.
* *VideoGame/EarthBound*. The extremely rare "Bag of Dragonite" item allows you to actually *turn into a dragon* and deal massive amounts of damage to enemies. TooAwesomeToUse Too bad there's only five in the entire game.
* In *Franchise/TouhouProject*, the God of Gensokyo is simply referred to as The Dragon. Theory goes that Hong Meiling is a Chinese dragon in girl form; she's one of the very few Template:Youkai whose exact species isn't identified by WordOfGod ZUN, and thematically she references Chinese dragons in a number of ways.
* *VideoGame/MegaManX4* had PlayingWithFire Magma Dragoon, a Maverick Hunter-turned-traitor who destroyed an entire city and got an entire army organization blamed...just so that he could fight the heroes. For extra coolness, his moveset was based off Franchise/StreetFighter Akuma, complete with Template:Shoryuken and KamehameHadoken Hadouken attacks.
* *VideoGame/Template:Bug* had the titular character's ride, a dragon-fly. As in, a dragonfly with a dragon's head and fire breath! Unfortunately, you only got to use said dragon-fly in the PassThroughTheRings ring BonusLevel. The sequel, *Bug Too!* has its first boss be a fire-breathing dragon-fly (this one resembled a dragon with dragonfly wings) in an otherwise horror castle-themed world.
* *Franchise/SuperMarioBros*:
	+ Yoshi, contrary to popular belief, is not a dinosaur, but actually a dragon.
	+ The spoiler:Lord of Lightning in *VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere comes out of nowhere, and is never properly explained beyond his boss fight and implications that he's responsible for spoiler:the Ruined Kingdom being ruined. Especially memorable for spoiler:his photorealistic NonstandardCharacterDesign; he and his level look like they came out of ''VideoGame/DarkSouls''.
* The *Xtended* mods for the *VideoGame/Template:X-Universe* series adds the "Shivan Dragon", a large (it's about 100 meters in wingspan) black dragons that flies around in SpaceWhale space, shoots lasers from its mouth, and attacks everything in sight. The dragons have no real impact on the player or the rest of the universe except for chance encounters in border sectors, or if the player owns stations in Unknown Sectors, where the dragons set up nests.
* The ending of *VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable: The Gears of Destiny* has [[spoiler:BloodKnight Levi]] describing Eltria as a planet like something straight out of VideoGame/WildArms an RPG series, with dungeons to crawl and monsters to fight. For the monster part of the description, a classic fire-breathing red dragon is shown, which spoiler:Levi later gets to beat up during the opening narration of the PlayableEpilogue.
* *VideoGame/GuiltyGear* has a grand total of one dragon in the entire series, and you won't even know who it is unless you've paid attention to the series' lore. spoiler:It's the main character himself, Sol Badguy. It's the form he takes when he transforms into a Gear, hence the name of his SuperMode: Dragon Install.
* Dragons are the rarest type of enemy in *VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1*, with only three of them existing in the game and only one of them even being a mandatory fight. The second one appears during the Colony 6 reconstruction sidequest, and the last one is the game's highest-level superboss.
* In *VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo* there are the huge Chinese(?)dragons on the paper screens when you leave the pagoda after the fight with Morpheus.
* *VideoGame/VagrantStory*: There are lizardmen which are classed as dragons by the game's bestiary as mooks, but there are several Dragons and Wyrvens who you fight as bosses, and are by extention one of a kind. You fight a few more in NewGamePlus.
* *VideoGame/MonsterHunter*: while most dragons in the series have plot relevant appearances, the Fatalis is this in 4 Ultimate, as it only appears in the Caravan after an unrelated FetchQuest.
* One of Characters/ClashOfClans the troops you can train in *VideoGame/ClashOfClans* is the Dragon, which is considered to be one of the strongest flying units you can produce thanks to its high hitpoints and damage. If done properly, a Mass Dragon raid composing of 9-11 Dragons will reduce an entire village into rubble.
* Supercell, the developer of *Clash of Clans*, has a Baby Dragon in the *Clash of Clans* SpinOff game *VideoGame/ClashRoyale*. The creature became a CanonImmigrant in May 2016 when Supercell added it to *Clash of Clans*. In *[=CoC=]*, the Baby Dragon has about half the health and damage of its bigger cousin, but when it doesn't have any other air troops around, it increases in speed and its damage approaches that of the full-sized Dragon.
* *VideoGame/BetrayalAtKrondor*: PlayingWithATrope Played with a bit: dragons are very rare in the game, and the one [=NPC=] who looks like a dragon tells you she isn't a dragon at all. However, after five chapters of fighting humanoid enemies and the odd ScaryScorpions Giant Scorpion, there are finally a few fights against baby dragons.
* In *VideoGame/Template:Overwatch*, the Shimada brothers Genji and Hanzo both have dragon-based abilities. Genji's LimitBreak Ultimate ability causes a pair of dragons to surround him while he goes into a SuperMode that gives him powerful sword attacks, while Hanzo's Ultimate summons a pair of massive dragons that charge forward and continuously damage enemies that get in their way, going through walls in the process.

--> **Genji**: *[when activating his Ultimate]* The dragon becomes me!\\
**Hanzo**: *[when activating his]* Let the dragon consume you!

* Sega's *VideoGame/WarPirates* or *Sen No Kaizoku* is about a group of heroic pirates trying to beat back an army of evil pirates from taking over the world's ocean. But since *War Pirates* is a FantasyKitchenSink world haunted by monsters, your pirates will have to fight the occasional dragon. The pirates of this world even get to pilot howdah-mounted dragons as a ship class later on.
* *VideoGame/Template:Stellaris* is a gleefully Template:Troperiffic SpaceOpera Grand Strategy Game, so naturally one of the eponymous Leviathans of the *Leviathans* DLC is a Space Dragon. The Curators say it's the last remnant of a previous universe, and advise you on how to put the thing out of its misery to attain its hoard -- an incredibly mineral and energy rich planet.
* *Franchise/MortalKombat*:
	+ Series protagonist Liu Kang can shoot fire balls shaped like dragons and has a FinishingMove Fatality in which he turns into a dragon and burns the opponent. In *VideoGame/MortalKombat11* he has a LimitBreak Fatal Blow that allows him to summon a dragon made of fire to attack his opponent.
	+ Prince Goro, a sub boss for the first and VideoGame/MortalKombat4 fourth game is a member of the Shokan, a MultiArmedAndDangerous DraconicHumanoid race.
	+ In *VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance*, we are introduced to the Dragon Medallion, an AmplifierArtifact with a dragon image on it that boosted the abilities of whoever held it. Sub-Zero acquired it after defeating Sektor for control over the Lin Kuei clan and it increased his powers over cold and ice.
	+ *VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception* has the debut of the Dragon King Onaga who is also a DraconicHumanoid. Referenced in the lore of the above mentioned game, Onaga commanded a powerful army that was famed as unstable due to their immunity to death and was the original ruler of Outworld before he was betrayed and poisoned by Shao Kahn.
	+ In *VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon*, the brothers CainAndAbel Taven and Daegon each had a dragon as a guardian. Taven's was killed by Daegon.
* *VideoGame/Template:Hades*: The game is set in the age of Greek mythology and as such no actual dragons appear. However, LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe Aegis's Aspect of Literature/Template:Beowulf constantly emphasizes that it will be wielded by a DragonSlayer. Zagreus has no idea what a dragon is, but he can tell fighting one is impressive.
* *VideoGame/LostSoulAside*: Kazer's companion is a crystal-like dragon named Arena.

/folder

folder:Visual Novels

* *VisualNovel/FateStayNight* sure references dragons a lot for an [[Franchise/Template:Nasuverse expansive continuity]] that continues absolutely 0 actual dragons in any story. Dragon-killing swords, dragon slayers, ranks of phantasmal beasts, the difficulty in summoning dragons, inability to ride them, dragon tooth soldiers, Caster's Golden Fleece that she can't use and has absolutely 0 use in the story. And apparently awhile back a bored dragon sat around the temple and taught the monks stuff. There are none in the sequel either and the current projects they're working on are Tsukihime Rebirth (vampires) and a completely new visual novel about demons. Still no dragons. [[spoiler:The dragon is also symbolic of the house of Myth/ArthurianLegend Pendragon -- the background mentions that Arturia would be weak against "anti-dragon" weapons, as Pendragon means "child of the dragon".]] It ultimately took up to *LightNovel/FateApocrypha* to finally see an actual dragon spoiler:in the form of Sieg turning into one.

/folder

folder:Web Animation

* *WebAnimation/HomestarRunner*:
	+ The show didn't have a dragon until someone asked Strong Bad if he could draw one. Thus, Trogdor was born.
	+ And the "S Is for Sucks" Dragon.
	+ In *The King of Town's Very Own Quite Popular Cartoon Show* The Knight tries to use a dragon as one of many methods to deodorize [the Poopsmith]
* Gareth from *WebAnimation/BrawlOfTheObjects*. The best part? He can talk, and with the SurferDude speech!

/folder

folder:Webcomics

* Parodied in [this] *Webcomic/PennyArcade* strip.
* *Webcomic/Template:Homestuck*:
	+ Terezi Pyrope's lusus is a dragon. This has absolutely nothing to do with the story, but is awesome none the less. Apart from when it's used to blind her in a flashback. But other than that, nothing to do with the story.
	+ Terezi occasionally also roleplays as a dragon. This, too, has nothing to do with the story.
* Dan of *Webcomic/ElGoonishShive* likes dragons (especially bunny dragons) so he [has] [posted] [filler] [strips] [involving] [dragons] quite a few times. He was later involved a OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon like creature [in the main story] as well.
* *Webcomic/AxeCop*, [episode 48]:

--> "We are going to need to turn Wexter into a dragon so that he can fly us to Zombie World."\\
"But he is already a giant lizard that can fly."\\
"To get to Zombie World we need a dragon with rocket wings. Plus, dragons are awesome."

* Bot from *Webcomic/FairyDust* has a pet dragon hatchling. Aside from breathing small puffs of flame when frightened, the thing looks exactly like a regular lizard, and albeit tame, behaves much like one. There are mentions of more dragon-like species, with wings, and spikes but none is actually seen.
* A *Webcomic/FreeSpirit2014* comic has a scene in which Winnie blatantly hints that she might give Gene a dragon for his birthday. He becomes excited, but Jessie tries to warn Winnie that it might prove too dangerous. Another comic has a scene in which Winnie sculpts a sand dragon, then brings it to life, but shoots it before it can eat anyone.
* *Webcomic/CorgiQuest* features a dragon that is said to be guarding a MacGuffin magic sword somewhere within the dungeon. Puffington and any other faerie dragons that may appear would fall more under OurDragonsAreDifferent instead.

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folder:Web Original

* There was a story arc in *Roleplay/AvatarAdventures* revolving around dragons. It was awesome.
* *WebVideo/PlayStationAccess*: In "[Games that would be better with magic]", Rob declares that *VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV* would be better with dragons. He isn't too sure what they would *do*, but he wants them anyway.
* There doesn't seem to be any particular reason for Alania to have an invisible dragon in *Literature/CurseWords*. She just does.

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folder:Western Animation

* *WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong*: The selling point is obviously the dragon; the main character, Jake Long, can "dragon up" to a European style dragon and fight evil under the tutelage of his grandfather, who is also a dragon, and is sometimes helped by his sister (dragon) but never his mother (who, despite being his grandfather's daughter, is inexplicably *not* a dragon). Also, the number #1 villain of the magical world is also a dragon and the #3, who are also the most common villains, are the Huntsclan who have dragon birthmarks.
* *WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents*: Timmy had to fight a dragon to save his parents when they TimeTravel to TheMiddleAges.
* *WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender*:
	+ Dragons are the original fire benders, and the ones who taught firebending to humans. Although most of them have been hunted down by the fire nation, two of the ones left end up teaching Aang and Zuko the true nature of fire bending. Also in the Avatar's last previous life, Roku, had a pet dragon.
	+ What makes this feel kinda shoved in is that the dragons are the most "typical" fantasy creature that feels out of place amongst creatures like platypus bears and sky bison. They also do not fit into the Fire nation's history well at all since the one who started hunting them was Sozin, who had also had a pet dragon, and none of the flashbacks give an indication that Sozin was that far off the deep end to kill his own pet for no reason.
	+ And in one of Zuko's dreams, Azula and Iroh both take on the forms of dragons, blue and red respectively.
* *WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom*: Both Dora and TheEvilPrince Aragon transform into dragons.
* There are more than a few Template:Transformers with dragon altmodes. Franchise/TransformersGeneration1 G1 Hun-Grr, WesternAnimation/BeastWars Transmetal 2 Megatron, Anime/TransformersRobotsInDisguise RID Megatron, *Anime/BeastWarsII* Galvatron, *Anime/TransformersCybertron Cybertron* KillItWithFire Scourge, and *ComicBook/TransformersShatteredGlass Shattered Glass* Hun-Grr, to name the most prominent ones.
	+ The *WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime* version of the Predacons is an entire *faction* of dragon-bots. Only one has appeared on the show as of early season 3, but there's still time for that to change.
* invoked *WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM*: Dulcy is a CaptainCrash clumsy, OurDragonsAreDifferent ice breathing dragon who RememberTheNewGuy appears without explanation in the second season. The fans tend to TheScrappy take offense at her mere existence.
* In the *WesternAnimation/TeenTitans* episode "Spellbound", villain MailerDaemon Malchior could have easily been a human EvilSorcerer whose spirit was SealedEvilInACan trapped in one of Raven's spellbooks without substantially altering the plot- but he turns out to have been a dragon, just for that special dose of awesome. (What makes Malchior unique is that, unlike most dragons, he's *very* subtle, using deception and seduction to coerce Raven into trusting him. The *most* awesome part? This was a rare time when the character that would normally be the DamselInDistress was the one who *defeated* him.)
* Spike, a baby dragon, has been in the *MyLittlePony* cartoons, in their various incarnations.
* The *WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes* short "WesternAnimation/TheBashfulBuzzard" featured a dragon near the end. Since there is no other fantasy element to the cartoon - it wasn't set in a StandardFantasySetting - there is no excuse for its appearance other than the director wanted to have a dragon on the picture.
* [Granamyr] from *WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983*. WordOfGod Larry DiTillio, who designed the character, stated that Granamyr was created to present a foe that even He-Man could not defeat physically, and that he considered "The Dragon's Gift", the episode where the character first appeared, the best episode written. And yeah, as any fan of the show will tell you, Granamyr is downright awesome. He was *so* awesome, in fact, that he was planned to appear in one episode of WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002 the updated version of the cartoon, specifically in the episode "Separation". However, ExiledFromContinuity copyrighting reasons prevented use of the character, so it was changed to the mother dragon He-Man had met in the previous episode, "Dragon's Brood".
* In *WesternAnimation/HenrysWorld*, one of Henry's friends is a dragon named Doris, even though this show isn't set in a fantasy setting.
* *WesternAnimation/Template:Jellabies* features a dragon named Duffy as one of its characters. He stands out from the others in that he's the only dragon to appear in a show where all the characters are jelly people (or jelly bears, depending on the localization).
* In *WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers* a character named Dtz is featured both in the opening credits as a dragon as well as in the episode "Dale Beside Himself" in which the character transforms into a dragon. Despite this the character only shows up for this in one episode and as a dragon for less than 20 seconds.
* *WesternAnimation/PJMasks* features An Yu, a powerful dragon who can turn into a human.

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folder:Real Life

* This trope is probably why many species of lizard have a common name with "dragon" in it, especially those that are popular pets. What sounds more awesome, a bearded *lizard* or a bearded *dragon*?
	+ In fact, the lizard family of *Agamidae*, which comprises popular pets like bearded dragon, sailfin dragon, water dragon, frilled dragon etc, ends up being unofficially known as *dragon lizards* due to this prevalence.
	+ Ironically, monitor lizards/*Varanidae*, despite being the lizard family which contains the biggest lizards in the world, only has one member called a dragon: The komodo dragon. The rest of them have to settle with being called mere monitors. (Here's an example: Water dragon is an Agamid lizard about 1-meter (3+ foot) long weighing a bit over 1 kg (2+ pounds), whereas water monitor can be on average twice as long and a lot heavier).
	+ Discover a lizard with NotQuiteFlight? Well, what else would you call it but *Draco volans*, the Flying Dragon? Their name is cool, as is their gliding ability, but they're very small (can fit in the average person's hand). Oh, and fun fact: *Draco volans* is also an agamid lizard, just to further drive home the previous point.
* There are murals and art all over San Francisco, but [Chinatown] [is especially decorated] [with dragons].
* For Christmas, someone put big inflatable dragons on her lawn as part of her house decorations. Her neighbors openly disapproved of them, [so she decided to add more dragons].
* [The Saab J-35] is named Draken, which is Swedish for dragon.
* Many Chinese Fighter Aircraft are named after an adjective, followed by Dragon.
* A thunder dragon appears on the flag of UsefulNotes/Template:Bhutan. This is referenced in *VideoGame/HeartsOfIron Hearts of Iron IV* where becoming fascist renames the country to the Thunder Dragon Empire, and becoming communist renames it to the Union of Red Dragons. The flag of the UsefulNotes/DynastiesFromShangToQing Qing dynasty also had the TheFourGods Azure Dragon on it, and Qing iconography often depicted the Azure Dragon.
* According to a Qualcomm spokesperson, Qualcomm's Snapdragon S1 [=QSD8250=] system-on-chip, the first in a line of chipsets found in many mobile devices today, was so named because "Snap and Dragon sounded fast and fierce."

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1. ↑ AxeCop [episode 48]