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A brave knight facing down an imposing dragon - a motif that has endured the test of time, and been a fixture of fiction for hundreds of years. Because when you're looking for the ultimate evil, or at the very least a truly terrifying and imposing foe, it's hard to find a creature better suited for this role than a dragon. The stereotypical image of a colossal beast flying overhead, laying waste to entire kingdoms with fiery or poisonous breath is a terrifying one because of how ''wrong'' it is. Creatures that big shouldn't be able to fly, and their destructive might is like that of a terrifying demon hailing from the deepest pit of hell.
While malevolent dragons are a universal concept that has existed since the beginning of recorded history, Christianity's influence has played a big part in the '''Draconic Demon''' as the dominant perception of dragons in the West: [[Satan]] himself takes the form of a particularly freaky dragon in [[The Bible|the Biblical]] [[Book of Revelation]], and European folktales and ballads in particular would portray dragons as cruel monsters who serve as an enemy to all things good. This is in stark contrast to the Eastern perception of dragons, where they are wise and benevolent deities worthy of respect.
Expect there to be plenty of overlap with [[Eldritch Abomination]] for the most horrific, otherworldly dragons, though more grounded and animalistic ones are still forces to be reckoned with. [[Dracolich]]es are another popular flavor of evil dragon given the innate creepiness of necromancy; when they're stalking the seas instead of the skies, they can serve as a particularly scary type of [[Sea Monster]]. They're a common enemy to the [[Knight in Shining Armor]], but tend to serve as a [[Foil]] to any kind of righteous hero.
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** Ghidorah from the same trilogy has been given a similar overhaul, and is a [[Eldritch Abomination|Lovecraftian horror in the form of a three-headed dragon]]. He's an interdimensional abomination who outright ''eats'' planets, and can mess with the flow of time and space around him to the point that he can kill you, but you won't ''properly'' die until your time-displaced body catches up with reality.
* Kaido from ''[[One Piece]]'' is one of the Four Pirate Emperors, making him one of the strongest pirates in the series ''period''. He's a cruel tyrant who rules the kingdom of Wano with an iron fist, and his Devil Fruit allows him to transform from an already gargantuan human to a truly titanic Eastern dragon with control over fire, lightning, and wind.
** This technically applies to many of his highest-ranked crewmates by way of [[Dinosaurs Are Dragons]]: Zoan Devil Fruits that give their wielders dinosaur transformations are part of the "Dragon Dragon Fruit" family, and the draconic traits are especially apparent in King (a [[Ptero-Soarer|Pteranodon man]]), Queen (a Brachiosaurus man), and Sasaki (a Triceratops man).
** A heroic example of this trope would be {{spoiler|Monkey D.}} Dragon, leader of the Revolutionaries and father of {{spoiler|protagonist Monkey D. Luffy}}. He's a wild-looking, intimidating man whose very name causes people to shudder in fear and awe, and is the one leading a powerful resistance movement against the corrupt, tyrannical World Government. To them, of course, he's very much a straight example of this trope.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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== [[Literature]] ==
* Perhaps unsurprisingly, the dragons of [[C. S. Lewis]]' ''[[Chronicles of Narnia]]'' are embodiments of sin, specifically the sin of greed. It's hinted that all dragons were once humans before being transformed into monsters thanks to their greed consuming them, which happens to Eustace when he finds and sleeps in a dragon's hoard while his mind is clouded with thoughts of greed.
* Dragons from the world of ''[[Harry Potter]]'' are among the most dangerous magical creatures due to their aggression and strength, which varies from species to species. The most dangerous is the black, spiky Hungarian Horntail, which is hostile and ferocious even by draconian standards. In ''[[
* Smaug of ''[[The Hobbit (novel)|The Hobbit]]'' fame is a huge, greedy, sociopathic red dragon who rests upon a hoard of gold and jewels plundered from Dale and Erebor. He's prideful to a fault, and the smallest insult or instance of theft from his hoard is enough to throw him into a murderous rage. And as shown in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', ''all'' Tolkien-verse dragons are just as foul and nasty as Smaug is. Probably has something to do their progenitor, Glaurung, being the draconic equivalent of a fallen angel.
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* As the name would imply, ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' is home to all manner of frightening, dangerous dragons.
* Chromatic Dragons from ''[[Pathfinder (tabletop game)|Pathfinder]]''. In stark contrast to their typically noble metallic cousins, chromatics are monstrous beasts who live to spread death and destruction. However, even they hate the dragon god Dahak (who provides this page's image), whose cruelty goes far beyond even theirs due to his love of sadistically killing his own kind. He even created the metallic dragons specifically to hunt them for sport, and created Hell itself so the dead could be subjected to eternal suffering.▼
** The Chromatic Dragons are this, contrasting with their benevolent Metallic brethren. Whether they're Red, Blue, White, Black, or Green ([[Remember the New Guy?|or once they were added, Purple, Gray, or Brown]]), they're savage beasts that are rotten to the core and delight in killing, plundering, and amassing hordes of treasure. In other words, they're just like Tiamat: Goddess of dragons and patron of the Chromatics.
** Tiamat herself is even nastier than the cruelest Chromatic. A prideful, five-headed terror of a goddess, Tiamat is one of the setting's biggest villains and a sadistic monster that revels in murder, torture, and burning entire countries to the ground.
** Hellfire Wyrms are literal Draconic Demons since they're dragons from Hell. While they can wield powerful fire magic, that's not what makes them threatening. What ''does'' make them threatening is the way they infiltrate towns, cities, and other societies and corrupt them by tricking the citizenry and leadership to perform depraved and evil acts. At this point, their victims have pretty much damned themselves to an eternity in Hell, much to the Wyrm's delight.
* Being something of an [[Alternate Company Equivalent]] offshoot to ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', ''[[Pathfinder (tabletop game)|Pathfinder]]'' has plenty of ferocious dragons of its own.
** Just like in ''D&D'', Chromatic Dragons. In stark contrast to their typically noble metallic cousins, chromatics are monstrous beasts who live to spread death and destruction. [[Dark Is Evil|Black Dragons]] with their love of torturing and scaring people with acid are the biggest offenders, and Red Dragons are just as sadistic and cruel, while also being prideful and arrogant [[A God Am I|to the point of declaring themselves gods]]. Blue Dragons are [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulative schemers]] who will secretly control entire societies and make them dance to their whims, and White Dragons, while weaker than other Chromatics, are still ferocious and feral beasts. Green Dragons are the least malevolent of the bunch given their diplomatic, intellectual nature, but even they can turn cruel and bloodthirsty when sufficiently angered.
▲**
** Primal Dragons as a whole aren't anywhere near as destructive as their Chromatic brethren, but Umbral and Magma Dragons are truly hellish monstrosities. The unholy Umbral Dragons have ''shadowbreath'', eat ghosts, enslave the souls of people they kill by twisting them into [[Living Shadow|Living Shadows]], and are [[Dirty Coward|cowards that exclusively hunt weak prey and will run for the hills when confronted by enemies that can fight back]]. Meanwhile, Magma Dragons look like they were carved out of brimstone and are so [[Ax Crazy|violent and murderously insane]] that other dragons give them a wide berth.
** While most of the bizarre and alien Outer Dragons are fairly neutral as far as their temperaments go, Void Dragons are (mostly) the exception of the rule. Twisted into shadowy monstrosities by terrifying [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]], Void Dragons live only to kill and [[Mind Rape]] people with their unholy powers. However, there are some who are able to fight off the urge to do these terrible things, but most can't help but succumb.
** Nightmare Dragons. Think [[Friday the 13th|Freddy Krueger]] as a dragon, and you've got the gist of it. They're the most malevolent of the Esoteric Dragons, and will terrorize sleeping mortals with the most frightening dreams they can think of while helping Night Hags steal their souls.
** Planar Dragons will terraform the countryside they settle in to have it better resemble their native Planes. It's not necessarily a bad thing with the more benevolent ones... and then you've got Apocalypse, Rift, and Infernal Dragons who twist their surroundings into a [[Hell on Earth]]. It's the most literal with Infernal Dragons, who are Satanic beasts that revel in damning mortal souls to hell. But Rift Dragons are also cruel, iron-fisted tyrants who force mortals to worship them as gods, and as for [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Apocalypse Dragons]]... well, ''take a wild guess''.
== [[Theatre]] ==
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* Tathamet is a seven-headed dragon described as ''the'' Prime Evil in the background lore of ''[[Diablo]]'', and his death turned out to be the birth of not just the Burning Hells, but of the Seven Great Evils, with each of his heads reincarnating as one of the series' powerful demon lords.
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'':
** Dragons
* {{spoiler|Rhea}} from ''[[Fire Emblem Three Houses]]'' is for the most part a flawed, but otherwise benevolent Nabatean firmly on the side of good in most of the game's routes. But in the Crimson Flower route, {{spoiler|she goes insane when Byleth refuses to kill Edelgard and mentally deteriorates into a bloodthirsty lunatic obsessed with killing them}}. And fittingly, {{spoiler|Rhea}}'s ferocious, intimidating dragon form acts as the route's final boss, and is a scary case of [[Light Is Not Good]] since the fight is in a city that was set on fire {{spoiler|by Rhea herself}}. In the {{spoiler|Silver Snow}} route, {{spoiler|she}}'s even scarier and looks like a ''rotting corpse'', {{spoiler|but that's due to her unwillingly going feral from the stress of tanking several of Thales' javelins of light as opposed to her consciously crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]]}}.▼
** Peryite, the Daedric Prince of Pestilence, Tasks, and the Natural Order, often appears in the form of a sickly, scrawny green dragon. He's every bit as dangerous as every other Daedra, complete with demonic imagery and allusions. But despite his love of disease and plagues, he's arguably one of the more ''benevolent'' Daedra and his tasks often involve either saving followers of his, or killing followers that abuse the powers he's granted them.
▲* {{spoiler|Rhea}} from ''[[Fire Emblem: Three Houses]]'' is for the most part a flawed, but otherwise benevolent Nabatean firmly on the side of good in most of the game's routes. But in the Crimson Flower route, {{spoiler|she goes insane when Byleth refuses to kill Edelgard and mentally deteriorates into a bloodthirsty lunatic obsessed with killing them}}. And fittingly, {{spoiler|Rhea}}'s ferocious, intimidating dragon form acts as the route's final boss, and is a scary case of [[Light Is Not Good]] since the fight is in a city that was set on fire {{spoiler|by order of Rhea herself}}. In the {{spoiler|Silver Snow}} route, {{spoiler|she}}'s even scarier and looks like a ''rotting corpse'', {{spoiler|but that's due to her unwillingly going feral from the stress of tanking several of Thales' javelins of light as opposed to her consciously crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]]}}.
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild]]'':
** While normally a gentle and peaceful creature, you first meet the spirit dragon Naydra when she's been corrupted by Malice, and she looks ''terrifying''. The Malice growths on her body look like some kind of demonic infection, and she has multiple hellish eyeballs growing from her face. She still manages to retain her peaceful nature, but she refuses to freely fly around and bless you with her materials out of fear of hurting people until she's been cured.
** Oddly enough, Calamity Ganon is drawn to look like a monstrous dragon in old artistic depictions. Whether this was a previous form of his or an interpretation of his boarlike wraith form is unknown, but his demonic appearance, corruptive influence, and the way he can be seen slithering and coiling around the ruins of Hyrule Castle definitely invoke this trope in spirit.
* The Crimson Dragon, [[Final Boss]] of ''[[Mega Man Star Force 3]]'' is a humongous red dragon made of Noise, and seeks to crash Meteor G into Earth. Despite its appearance, the dragon no wild beast, but {{spoiler|the incredibly evil Mr. King's new form after fusing himself with Meteor G in one last desperate bid to defy Mega Man, by destroying the Earth out of spite for having his plans of ruling it ruined}}.
* In the ''[[Monster Hunter]]'' series, you can seldom throw a stone without hitting one or ten of these things. While all the draconic monsters in the series are dangerous to some degree, these monsters are outright hellish, scary, and in a few cases, downright ''wrong''.
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** Eternatus from ''[[Pokémon Sword and Shield]]'' looks like some kind of freakish amalgamation of bones crafted from an [[Eldritch Abomination]], and is a ridiculously dangerous Dragon/Poison type sealed away in the past due to the violent rampage it went on when it first visited the Galar region. The Dynamax energy that makes Pokémon grow to ridiculous size is a result of energy siphoned from this thing, and its power causes random wild Pokémon to not only grow to [[Kaiju]] proportions, but also go berserk during the story.
** Hydreigon and Dragalge are mundane in nature as opposed to the legendary Pokémon listed above, but are still aggressive and dangerous by nature. Hydreigon is a three-headed Ghidorah-esque Dark/Dragon type infamous for its violence and for being the signature 'Mon of Ghetsis (one of the most evil characters in the series), and Dragalge is a poisonous seahorse-looking dragon that attacks and sinks any ships unfortunate enough to sail through its territory.
* The very second Lady Dimitrescu from ''[[Resident Evil Village]]'' was revealed, people fell in love with her for her [[Statuesque Stunner|ridiculous height]], [[Gag Boobs|huge boobs]], and [[Baby Got Back|equally enormous ass]]... and they also expected her to transform into something far nastier and less attractive given the series' history. And they were proven right during the game's release: after Ethan Winters kills her daughters, she goes from sexy, sociopathic, torture-loving vampire to ferocious dragon abomination hellbent on killing him.
* ''[[Super Mario (franchise)|Super Mario]]'':
** Ever since his introduction in ''[[Super Mario Bros. (video game)|Super Mario]]'', Bowser invokes a lot of draconic and demonic imagery, despite primarily being a turtle-like monster: he breathes fire, kidnaps Princess Peach on the regular, and rules over a volcanic wasteland. However, he's not that bad of a guy once you get to know him, and [[Go-Karting with Bowser|he's regularly invited to Mario's various parties, sporting events, and kart races.]] He's even saved the world a handful of times! His title in Japanese(Daimao Kuppa) can be translated as "Great Demon King of the Koopas".
** A trio of dragons serve as particularly malicious enemies in ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'', and each is tougher and scarier than the last. Hooktail terrorizes Petalburg and the surrounding lands and is known to eat Koopas for fun, Gloomtail is a poison-breathing menace {{spoiler|and the Shadow Queen's guard dog}}, and Bonetail is a monstrously powerful skeletal dragon who waits at the bottom of the Pit of 100 Trials as the game's toughest challenge. {{spoiler|Grifty's stories further implicate all three as having terrorized the world at large during the Shadow Queen's hellish reign millennia ago, as they were pets that she loved to feed people to.}}
** While Fracktail from ''[[Super Paper Mario]]'' is a benevolent robot dragon turned evil by Dimentio's interference, his prototype [[Psycho Prototype|Wracktail]] is a malevolent monster sealed away during ancient times due to his destructive tendencies.
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