From medieval monster to bonded companion, the dragon has undergone one of fantasy literature's greatest transformations. Here's how the creature we once feared became the one we'd most like to have choose us.
For centuries, if a dragon appeared in a story, things were probably about to go badly.
Dragons guarded treasure, terrorized villages, demanded sacrifices, and waited in caves for some brave soul to arrive with a sword. They were monsters to defeat, not characters we were supposed to love.
Modern fantasy readers, however, have developed a very different relationship with dragons.
Now we want to ride them, bond with them, protect them, talk to them and, depending on the book, occasionally trust their judgment more than that of the human characters.
So when did dragons become the good guys?
The Dragon as Monster
Dragons and dragon-like creatures appear in stories from cultures around the world, although they have not always represented the same things.
In European tradition, dragons increasingly became associated with danger, greed and evil. Medieval Christian stories strengthened that image, frequently using dragons as symbols of sin or forces that a heroic figure needed to conquer.
The legend of Saint George and the Dragon is perhaps the most famous example. In later versions of the story, a dragon terrorizes a community and a princess is offered as its victim. Saint George ultimately defeats the creature.
It helped establish an image that would remain familiar for centuries:
Hero + sword + dragon = dead dragon.
But that was never the only way humans imagined them.
Not Every Dragon Was a Villain
Across many East Asian traditions, dragons developed very different associations.
Chinese dragons, for example, have historically been connected with water, rainfall, power and imperial authority. Rather than simply representing an evil creature lurking outside civilization, the dragon could be auspicious and worthy of reverence.
Even within European folklore, dragons were more complicated than a single definition suggests. Stories changed from region to region, and serpents, wyverns and other dragon-like creatures gradually became intertwined in art and storytelling.
The dragon has always been remarkably adaptable.
That adaptability eventually became very useful to fantasy writers.
Then Fantasy Gave Dragons Personalities
One of the great changes in modern fantasy was allowing the dragon to become more than an obstacle.
J.R.R. Tolkien's Smaug in The Hobbit is still very much a dangerous dragon. He hoards treasure, destroys communities and is absolutely not interested in becoming anyone's loyal companion.
But Smaug is also intelligent.
He speaks. He manipulates. He has pride, personality and motives.
The dragon was no longer simply something waiting at the end of a quest. It could become a character.
Other fantasy writers would take that idea much further.
What If the Dragon Was Your Friend?
By the second half of the twentieth century, fantasy increasingly explored relationships between humans and dragons.
Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series, beginning with Dragonflight in 1968, imagined dragons who form lifelong telepathic bonds with human riders. Those dragons were not villains at all. They were partners essential to the survival of their world.
That relationship changed the basic question of a dragon story.
Instead of:
How do we kill the dragon?
Fantasy could ask:
What would it be like if a dragon chose you?
For readers, that turned out to be a very compelling question.
Enter the Dragon Rider
Once dragons could think, communicate and form relationships with humans, the dragon-rider story had enormous possibilities.
The bond could represent friendship, loyalty, destiny, power or responsibility. It also gave authors a way to create one of fantasy's most satisfying relationships: two very different beings who must learn to trust one another.
Christopher Paolini explored that bond with Eragon and Saphira in Eragon. Naomi Novik's Temeraire series imagined intelligent dragons as part of an alternate Napoleonic history.
And eventually, dragon riding would become part of one of today's biggest fantasy phenomena.
Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing introduced millions of readers to Basgiath War College, where prospective riders face the small problem that the dragons are perfectly capable of killing them.
These dragons are allies, but they are certainly not pets.
Perhaps that is part of their appeal.
We Didn't Really Make Dragons Nice
Modern fantasy hasn't necessarily turned dragons into "good guys."
It has done something more interesting.
It gave them agency.
Today's dragons can be loyal or dangerous, compassionate or ruthless, funny or terrifying. They may bond with humans, tolerate them or decide that humans are spectacularly foolish.
They are no longer automatically the monster simply because they are the dragon.
In many stories, they have become characters with their own loyalties, histories and choices.
And readers get to know them.
Why Do We Love Them So Much?
Maybe dragons occupy the perfect place in our imaginations.
They can fly.
They breathe fire.
They are enormous enough to be frightening and intelligent enough to be fascinating. They represent something completely beyond ordinary human experience while still allowing us to imagine forming a connection with them.
A horse might carry you into battle.
A dragon might carry you into battle, argue with you about your decisions and then set your enemy on fire.
Fantasy simply realized there was much more storytelling potential in befriending the dragon than killing it.
From Monster to Main Character
The dragon hasn't completely abandoned its cave.
Fantasy still gives us terrifying dragons, treasure-hoarding dragons and creatures that should absolutely be observed from a very safe distance.
But now we also have protectors, companions, bonded partners and dragons who are sometimes wiser than the people riding them.
After centuries of knights receiving all the glory, perhaps the dragons were overdue for their side of the story.
And judging by modern fantasy readers, we are more than happy to hear it.
So here's the real question: Would you rather slay the dragon—or have one choose you?
Until next time,
The Sidra Market®
Where Starlight Meets Story