...and what people think of them.

So it's well documented that I greet new Twitter followers with a question.

The latest iteration of which reads:

"Hiya :) Tell me; if a dragon fighting for the Nazis fought against four pilots flying Spitfires during the Battle of Britain who would win?"

This generates various responses but it does highlight certain commonly held preconceptions:

1. Dragons are NEVER evil.  Dragons are noble creatures who would NEVER fight for the Nazis.

Not true says I. Even though this particular dragon is being coerced to fight dragons can be good or evil in the same way humans can be good or evil. This is probably because my versions of dragons are highly anthropomorphised, they have feelings, argue, are sarcastic, funny etc. And hey lets be honest Smaug is no angle!

2. Dragons are invulnerable, except maybe for their week spot which is often their soft bellies or their hearts.

Not sure I can disagree with this. I actually don't yet know how to kill one of my dragons even if you do manage to engage them in battle in their own reality. They are long lived but not entirely immortal and can die I shall just have to decide how. Now I just have to decide which dragon to kill off first mwa ha ha.

My dragons are invulnerable because they are protected by both magic and their scales and even should this fail they are merely unsummoned back to their own realm. It is there that they can be killed but such an atrocity is rare as it would take a dragon or something akin to a dragon to kill one.

A Wyven could do it if they caught a dragon on the ground.

A Roc could do it if they kept from having their feathers torched for long enough.

An Eerie of Griffins most certain could do it but there would be many casualties among their kind.

3. Dragons have breeds. This stems from Harry Potter, How to train your dragon and, I guess, Dungeons and Dragons.

My dragons don't so much have breeds as they have a caste system. I've posted about this before but it runs:

Common -> Regal

A regal can then turn into a Harbinger dragon, if that particular dragon is wise enough, has studied for long enough and has the mental fortitude to undergo the change.

There is also the Queen, or Queens as is the case currently in the dragon realm.  There should be single female regal dragon who takes to the throne when they come of age and the existing Queen abdicates and takes her last flight,  Not so at the moment.  There are two queens and a third female dragon who should have taken the throne!

4. Dragons don't make mistakes.

This is a lot like the reasoning that dragons are always noble, good creatures.  If you can anger a dragon, humour a dragon, distract a dragon then certainly they are not infallible and can, and will, make mistakes.  Even Harbingers, who can scry the future can make mistakes.

Just some thoughts about how my dragons and their mythology shape up against the average persons idea of what a dragon is.

Phil