The Dragon/Film: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

* In the animated film ''[[The Invincible Iron Man]]'', the leader of the four elemental mini-bosses and The Dragon to the mystically powered Mandarin is an actual dragon, the physically dominating Fin Fang Foom, who gives Iron-man his toughest battle, where the magically powered Mandarin is defeated by reaching out to the Mandarin's host and convincing her to cut the Mandarin's power at its source, the magic rings.

** In the original movie, John McClane is hunted by Karl, the hulking German, and must defeat him before he can defeat Hans Gruber, the [[Big Bad]]. Technically {{spoiler|1=Karl does not die until the end, but McClane leaves him bloody and beaten before throwing Gruber off the building. Karl then emerges for round two, only to be gunned down by Al.}}

** ''Die Hard 2'' has {{spoiler|a [[Face Heel Turn]] bad guy that gets thrown into a jet engine.}}

** ''Die Hard With a Vengeance'' had Targo, whom John manages to beat to almost death before he gets killed by his own boss.

** ''Live Free or Die Hard'' has two Dragons. Mai, the [[Waif Fu]]-wielding [[Dark Action Girl]] {{spoiler|though she is rather conspicuously killed halfway through.}} Rand, the acrobatic French mercenary, is another Dragon.

*** Although [[Dark Action Girl|Fiona Volpe]] is arguably the bigger threat to Bond.

*** Koskov's actually more of a [[Big Bad Duumvirate]], with Necros as The Dragon.

*** Necros is better for [[The Brute]].

** Davidov {{spoiler|and Renard}} in ''[[The World Is Not Enough (Film)|The World Is Not Enough]]''.

*** Yeah, but he kills nobody so awesomely.

* In ''[[Enter the Dragon]]'', Bolo is [[The Dragon]] for Mr. Han, the [[Big Bad]]. Oddly, killing [[The Dragon]] falls to [[The Lancer|Roper the con man]], rather than Lee [[The Hero]] (who goes straight for Han as soon as Bolo is defeated, and who is ''The Dragon'' but not [[The Dragon]]).

* ''[[Australia]]'': Neil Fletcher appears to fit the role of dragon for his boss, Leslie 'King' Carney, through the first act of the movie. {{spoiler|around midway through, Fletcher kills Carney, marries his daughter, and takes control of Carney's business empire.}}

** So does Vader: [[Bounty Hunter|Boba Fett]] seems to be a particular favorite. Vader also had many apprentices, most notably Galen Marek (the main character of ''[[The Force Unleashed]]'').

** This shows how it is sometimes difficult to identify the [[Big Bad]] because within the story, the main characters think Dooku is the [[Big Bad]], with Sidious just a myth or rumor to worry about. But [[The Dragon]] is anyone who is sent in front of a leader, whether or not they turn out to be the true [[Big Bad]].

* In ''[[Mystery Men]]'', Tony P winds up playing right-hand-man to Casanova Frankenstein. Tony P, in turn, has a Dragon of his own in Tony C.

* In ''[[Double Impact]]'', Jean-Claude Van Damme plays twins who must separately face the [[Big Bad]]'s two Dragons, one of which is Bolo Yeung.

** Elle seems more like a [[Rival Turned Evil|rival]] or [[Evil Counterpart|shadowy mirror]] to the Bride than a dragon to Bill, considering a key few points in the film.

*** Her conversation with the comatose bride.

*** Murdering Bill's brother for [[No One Could Survive That|defeating and burying the bride]] [[Honor Before Reason|without a fair fight]]

*** Both were pupils of Pai Mei, but Elle couldn't handle the abuse and murdered him.

** In the first movie, [[Clockwork Creature|Karl]] [[Ghostapo|Ruprect]] [[Combat Sadomasochist|Kroenen]] is [[The Dragon]] to [[Big Bad]] [[Dark Messiah|Rasputin]]. This is an [[Adaptational Badass|upgrade]] from the comics in which he was just one of several [[Evil Genius|Evil Geniuses]] and [[The Dragon]] role was filled first by frog-monster Sven Olafson (''Seed of Destruction''), then [[Our Vampires Are Different|Vladimir Girescu]] (''Wake the Devil'') and finally [[Dragon-in-Chief|Hermann von Klempt]] (''Conqueror Worm'']]. [[The Dark Chick|Ilsa Haupstein]] could also be seen as something of [[The Dragon]] in both versions, given her status as Rasputin's [[Number Two]].

* Paul Yau (the assassin with the shades), is Johnny Weng's Dragon from [[John Woo]]'s ''[[The Killer]]''. He gives both heroes of the movie a fight, especially during the church shootout, before {{spoiler|being taken hostage in an attempt to break the [[Put Down Your Gun and Step Away]] situation with Johnny and the Killer's girlfriend and getting one put through his skull by Johnny himself}}.

* Mad Dog was Johnny Wong's Dragon from the [[John Woo]] movie ''[[Hard Boiled]]''. Like Paul, he gives Tequila and Alan a fight when the three clash and during the big hospital shootout, before {{spoiler|he does a [[Heel Face Turn]] and blows the gun out of Johnny's hands to put an end to [[Moral Event Horizon|Johnny's psychotic massacre of the patients that Mad Dog had agreed to let pass]]. He gets killed by Johnny soon after}}.

* In ''[[The Long Kiss Goodnight]]'', the film's main villain Timothy is actually the Dragon: the [[Big Bad]] is the mostly unseen Daedalus {{spoiler|who is killed halfway through the film, after which Timothy replaces him as the [[Big Bad]].}}

** Fezzik and Inigo both play the Dragon earlier in the movie, with Inigo being the evenly-matched same-style dragon (think of the [[Mortal Kombat]] [[Mirror Match]] or Dark Link, or the sword fight with Meta-Knight in Kirby for the NES) while Fezzik is more of the giant physical challenge sort of dragon (Like a dragon. As long as I'm making [[Mortal Kombat]] comparisons, think of Goro or Motaro.)

* Lola is Gianni's Dragon in ''[[The Transporter|Transporter 2]]''. She spends most of the movie fighting the hero while Gianni takes a nap. {{spoiler|But she's anticlimactically killed by a <s>gag cactus</s> spike of wall}}

* The Cow from ''[[Kung Pow]]'' is the Dragon. Well... sort of. He's not stronger than the Big Bad, but he is hilariously fast... and slightly [[Genre Savvy]], when he rapidly kicks the Hero when they freeze in the air.

* The Dragon / [[Big Bad]] relationship is referenced in ''[[Unbreakable]]'': "There's always two kinds; there's the soldier villain -- who fights the hero with his hands; and then there's the real threat -- the brilliant and evil archenemy -- who fights the hero with his mind."

* Victor of ''[[Push]]''. Also serves as [[Evil Counterpart]] to Nick.

* In ''[[Austin Powers]]'', Dr. Evil's second-in-command is the appropriately titled Number Two, though he is not that happy with how his boss runs his evil empire.

** It's somewhat unclear who takes over as Magneto's dragon after Mystique's departure in the third film as there isn't a clear-cut second in command. The two top candidates would be Pyro, who is the only remaining member of the Brotherhood who was with Magneto prior to the beginning of the movie, and Callisto, who was the apparent leader of the Morlocks before they became Magneto's new [[Mook]] army. A case might also be made for Juggernaut, though he fits better in the role of [[The Brute]].

** Lady Deathstrike is the dragon of William Stryker in the second film.

* Mr. French is Costello's Dragon in ''[[The Departed]]''.

* Subverted in ''[[Equilibrium]]''. The Dragon, Brandt, is set up as Preston's equal and nemesis throughout the film, but when they face off for the final duel, {{spoiler|it turns out to be a [[Curb Stomp Battle]].}} On the other hand, {{spoiler|the [[Big Bad]], who seems like a noncombatant politician save for a blink-and-you'll-miss-it clue, turns out to be Preston's toughest opponent in the film}}.

* ''[[Total Recall]]'': Richter, to [[Big Bad]] Cohaagen.

* In the animated film ''[[The Flight of Dragons]]'', the evil red wizard Ommadon's Dragon is a literal dragon, Bryaugh, who is defeated by the Hero's literal [[The Lancer|Lancer]], Sir Orin. {{spoiler|Sir Orin is a knight who allows Bryaugh to engulf him in flames, then casts his fiery sword into Bryaugh's chest. They both die, though Orin gets better.}}

* In the ''[[Richie Rich]]'' movie, chief of security Ferguson serves as Van Dough's Dragon.

* Rather hard to pin down in ''[[Nothing but Trouble]]''. At first, [[Big Bad|Judge Valkenheiser's]] Dragon appears to be corrupt cop Dennis. However, after {{spoiler|Dennis' [[Heel Face Turn]]}} the role of the Dragon switches rather wildly between Miss Purdah and the Judge's Granddaughter Eldona.

** Their respective fates are also quite different. {{spoiler|Dennis becomes Fausto's bodyguard and Renalda's lover}}, {{spoiler|Miss Purdah is very clearly killed during the estate collapse}}, and {{spoiler|Eldona's fate is uncertain. She doesn't appear with Alvin in the news report, so she may have died in the estate collapse. Likewise, the fact that Alvin survived also indicates that she may have as well.}}

** Megatron appears to be the [[Big Bad]] in the third film up until the point when Sentinel Prime's [[Face Heel Turn]] is revealed. After that, Megatron believes that Sentinel will allow him to remain in command of the Decepticons and become his dragon. Megatron's decision to betray Sentinel and help Optimus in the final battle comes when Carly [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|throws it in his face]] that his [[Villain Decay]] has reached the point where he has become nothing more than Sentinel's unwilling dragon.

** Megatron is essentially the Dragon in the animated movie too, for Unicron.

* In the obscure animated movie ''[[Twice Upon a Time]]'', The [[Big Bad]] Synonamess Botch has a dragon in the form of Ibor, a giant mechanical gorilla with a television for a face. (Neatly, one of the clips that turns up on said face is of Darth Vader from ''The Empire Strikes Back'' -- [[George Lucas]] executive produced this film.)

* Sergeant Small in ''[[Tank Girl]]''.

* ''[[Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow]]''. Dr. Totenkopf's [[Action Girl]] agent, who bedevils Sky Captain throughout the movie.

* In ''[[Clash of the Titans]]'', the Greek gods' Dragon is the Kraken, which they send out to punish cities that displease them.

* Bolo Yeung is perhaps the actor to most persistently portray [[The Dragon]]. Mentioned above in the entry for ''[[Enter the Dragon]]'', he plays a virtually identical role in nearly every film he's in. A notable exception is Bloodsport, where he plays the [[Big Bad]] (though interestingly there's almost no difference in his role in this film and his others, except for the lack of someone above him).

* General Kael in ''[[Willow]]''.

** The Knave of Hearts.

** The Jabberwocky fits as [[Dragon-in-Chief]].

* Wez is The Great Humungous' dragon in ''[[Mad Max 2]]'' aka ''[[The Road Warrior]]''.

* Peter Drak in ''[[Scanners]] 2''.

* In ''[[Suicide Kings]]'', [[Denis Leary]] plays the Dragon to [[Christopher Walken]].

* In ''[[Pale Rider]]'', Corrupt [[US Marshal|Federal Marshal]] Stockburn is [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|La Hood]]'s Dragon .

* In 'Centurion' Etain plays this role

* ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'':

** Bo'Sun to Barbossa in ''Curse Of The Black Pearl''.

* [http://www.cracked.com/article_15083_the-7-most-underrated-movie-henchmen.html?wa_user1=5&wa_user2=Movies+%26+TV&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=flashback This] article from Cracked.com celebrates some of the most underrated dragons in movie history.

* Leroy in ''[[Mystery Team]]''.

* In the sequel of ''[[A Better Tomorrow]]'', one of the mooks is a silent gunslinger with dark glasses who {{spoiler|kills the brother of one of the protagonists, refuses to flee with money when he's given chance during the climax, and instead dies in a fair duel against the hero}}.

 

{{reflist}}