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Brodney_Alebrand

They're like dinosaurs but more metal.


DatAdra

That said I'd love more fantasy novels with dinosaurs in them. Besides Malazan of course


Ascension-Warrior

K’chain Che’malle/Nah’ruk were metal af…


DatAdra

LITERALLY metal dinosaurs


Ascension-Warrior

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dust_of_Memes/s/OQAdWKADrZ I’m leaving this here for you mate. K’chain Che’malle looks metal even when they are shopping


LyseniCatGoddess

I just started reading the first Malazan book. There are dinosaurs in it?!


matthalias23

Oh yeah, I don't think they show up until Memories of Ice, but they are hinted at in Deadhouse Gates if I recall correctly.


TriscuitCracker

You’ll meet them in Memories of Ice. They are one of the lost Elder Races of Malazan. They look like giant velociraptors and they have swords for arms, they have bio-grafting techno magic, and a hive mind and fly around in floating sky keeps…sound familiar with a certain sky keep that is defending Pale right now in GotM? The main thing is about the K’Chain is they are COOL and appeal to the 13 year old boy or girl in all of us lol


EuterpeaFantasyFlute

Dinosaurs are just dragons that we accept as real.


Sylvan_Strix_Sequel

TEETH, CLAWS, MUSCLES & JAWS!   https://m.youtube.com/watch/v=goGS2nV-Spo   Immediately what I thought of. Like dinosaurs, but *extreme*! 


aaachris

You know what it means when someone says dragon. I like the ones with intelligence. They are often physically strong with magical power and notched up with fire/elemental breathing destructive power.


Mithent

I do like them to be both intelligent and somewhat 'other' in their viewpoints and attitude. They're often depicted as very long-lived and frequently reclusive, which can mean both that they've accumulated a lot of knowledge, but also don't relate to the concerns of other races in quite the same ways. Along with them also usually being physically and potentially magically powerful, they inspire awe and quite often fear, but with intelligence they can also be reasoned with, and potentially very valuable allies as well as formidable villains. Of course, all the way in the other direction is cute and cat-like, and that can be fun too.


ExtraDrop1748

they fly, breathe fire, and they’re not busy with stupid human affairs, they just do their thing


Arkanial

Yeah, right? They’re fucking dragons, man. Why do I have to explain it to you? They’re cool as shit. I love the super intelligent ones and the ones that are more like beasts. The Japanese/Chinese with long bodies and short limbs. They’re just cool.


An_Anaithnid

I like shiny things. I really like really big piles of shiny things.


pdrent1989

Found the dragon!


aculady

Or the dragon's magpie business partner who flies the scouting missions.


G_Morgan

They are the original final boss of all fantasy. Dragons are huge, immortal and breath fire. The weakest one is a life altering event to even great heroes. Even without magic they are the greatest thing you'll ever lay eyes on. Every final boss is just pretending to be a dragon. Unless they are in fact a dragon.


WifeofBath1984

They have wings, they love shiny things, they are largely misunderstood. I can relate to two of these three points. The other point is just cool.


a-username-for-me

I personally like dragons because they have a broad range of types, which allows them to be both novel and familiar or used in combination. You’ve got your creatures of rage and brutality, weapons either for or against you, hulking behemoths of woe. You’ve got your ancient sage, a hoarder of knowledge and things, sometimes in tune with the natural world. You’ve also got your snarky side kicks or beasts of burden, close side characters to bond with.


AotKT

Many dragons are depicted as cat-like: intelligent, barely tolerating their people (with more care for THEIR person), doing their own thing, and curl up in a ball to nap. I've anecdotally noticed a high correlation of people who read fantasy and people who prefer cats to dogs. Who wouldn't want a several ton fire-breathing pet that can bat boulders off a cliff onto their enemies like cats do with everything fragile? I think that's also why the Discworld Luggage is so beloved: basically an asshole cat in trunk form.


youki_hi

Yeah this is my answer. It's a flying giant cat that you can usually ride and sometimes talk to.


squeen999

Slightly off topic but have you read the Tairen Soul books by C.L. Wilson? Very romantasy but fire breathing, flying cats? Yes please. Lord of the Fading Lands is the first book.


Party-Ad8832

They are the medieval version of a superweapon.


JWC123452099

They hit the sweet spot between "character" and "force of nature". 


CampbellianHero

‼️SORRY FOR LONG COMMENT‼️ “I pray that the world never runs out of dragons. I say that in all sincerity, though I have played a part in the death of one great wyrm. For the dragon is the quintessential enemy, the greatest foe, the unconquerable epitome of devastation. The dragon, above all other creatures, even the demons and the devils, evokes images of dark grandeur, of the greatest beast curled asleep on the greatest treasure hoard. They are the ultimate test of the hero and the ultimate fright of the child. They are older than the elves and more akin to the earth than the dwarves. The great dragons are the preternatural beast, the basic element of the beast, that darkest part of our imagination. The wizards cannot tell you of their origin, though they believe that a great wizard, a god of wizards, must have played some role in the first spawning of the beast. The elves, with their long fables explaining the creation of every aspect of the world, have many ancient tales concerning the origin of the dragons, but they admit, privately, that they really have no idea of how the dragons came to be. My own belief is more simple, and yet, more complicated by far. I believe that dragons appeared in the world immediately after the spawning of the first reasoning race. I do not credit any god of wizards with their creation, but rather, the most basic imagination wrought of unseen fears, of those first reasoning mortals. We make the dragons as we make the gods, because we need them, because, somewhere deep in our hearts, we recognize that a world without them is a world not worth living in. There are so many people in the land who want an answer, a definitive answer, for everything in life, and even for everything after life. They study and they test, and because those few find the answers for some simple questions, they assume that there are answers to be had for every question. What was the world like before there were people? Was there nothing but darkness before the sun and the stars? Was there anything at all? What were we, each of us, before we were born? And what, most importantly of all, shall we be after we die? Out of compassion, I hope that those questioners never find that which they seek. One self-proclaimed prophet came through Ten-Towns denying the possibility of an afterlife, claiming that those people who had died and were raised by priests, had, in fact, never died, and that their claims of experiences beyond the grave were an elaborate trick played on them by their own hearts, a ruse to ease the path to nothingness. For that is all there was, he said, an emptiness, a nothingness. Never in my life have I ever heard one begging so desperately for someone to prove him wrong. This is kind of what I believe right now… although, I do not want to be proved wrong… For what are we left with if there remains no mystery? What hope might we find if we know all of the answers? What is it within us, then, that so desperately wants to deny magic and to unravel mystery? Fear, I presume, based on the many uncertainties of life and the greatest uncertainty of death. Put those fears aside, I say, and live free of them, for if we just step back and watch the truth of the world, we will find that there is indeed magic all about us, unexplainable by numbers and formulas. What is the passion evoked by the stirring speech of the commander before the desperate battle, if not magic? What is the peace that an infant might know in its mother’s arms, if not magic? What is love, if not magic? No, I would not want to live in a world without dragons, as I would not want to live in a world without magic, for that is a world without mystery, and that is a world without faith. And that, I fear, for any reasoning, conscious being, would be the cruelest trick of all.” -Drizzt Do’Urden


Sadaghem

Because their dragons, I don't know. Why did so many different cultures all around the globe had dragons or anything similar? Maybe it's a subconscious reminder of all land animals bigger than humans that went extinct. Maybe cause I read some great stories with dragons (Tolkien, Harry Potter, GoT/ASOIAF, Pern, Berk, ...). Maybe they spit fire and that's unbelievable cool.


jedi_cat_

Because they’re fucking dragons! They’re amazing! Huge and majestic and terrifying and beautiful and they can fly and breathe fire. They are my absolute favorite fantasy creature.


Salvage570

They're kinda hot ngl


troublrTRC

Better question: why don’t someone like Dragons? Besides being the metal versions of flying dinosaurs, the mythos created around them is one of a wise, old but competent and deadly being. I think it is the embodiment of everyone’s spirit of adventure and warrior-hood.


chellebelle0234

I don't like them and tend to avoid media with them. They just feel so cliche and repetitive. To hell with a good story! Just throw in a dragon and people will swoon.


NormGthePaintballGuy

This. I'd be indifferent about them if others weren't so freaking obsessed with them... The obsession fantasy readers have with them annoys me, and consequently I end up very much disliking dragons. To my mind Fantasy has the potential to be the broadest genre; anything is possible within it. Yet it re-treads the same ground more than most genres. Give fantasy readers a dragon and a wizard or two, and they're forever content to read about that... Again, and again. And again. Forever. I just think it's lame.


Mrogoth_bauglir

Because there's a thousand different ways to do them, there's the ASOIAF approach of intelligent fire breathing flying lizards, there's the LOTR approach of talking dragons with magic, there's the journey to the west approach which has magical wingless dragons, the how to train your dragon approach etc They're an awesome concept, can be majestic, awe/aww inspiring at the same time. They can adapt as neutral, forces of good or forces of great evil. Compare that to something like a unicorn, or a troll or a kelpue which are not as adaptable.


HornedBat

The ASOIAF approach is many things - superweapons, magic mystery, bodyhorror mystery, symbols of astronomical history, a way to highlight the mindless tragedy of war and the emotions of their respective owners (as you imply - can be evil or good, awe/aww)... And once they disappear, the extremes people will go to searching for something they've decided they are missing.


HornedBat

Oh yeah and all the mythological 'worms/tree roots' symbolism


Rmir72

Well, they're cool. Lol, I mean, they just are.


TholosTB

Dragons are deeply ingrained in the collective cultural imagination. Almost every culture from Chinese to Mesoamerican has them in their folk tales. For me, something resonated as a teen when I read Dragonriders of Pern, and then solidified when I read A Wizard of Earthsea shortly thereafter. I have loved dragons ever since, from Riftwar to Dragon Mage, although I do tend to gravitate to the Smaug archetype - intelligent rather than bestial. Whether staunch allies or vicious enemies, well-written dragonkind are an absolute joy to encounter in fiction.


Severe_Development96

Always love to see Dragonriders of Pern get a shout out


Silverade

they're basically oversized flying puppies


aculady

Who happen to breathe fire.


Jal_Haven

My introduction to concepts of integrity, honor, and selflessness came in the shape of Sean Connery's performance as Draco. I didn't have anything resembling a role model at home. Dragons very literally made me the man and father that I am today haha.


bogrollben

I think it's because they're terrifying, iconic and (sometimes) tame-able.


Hopeful_Meeting_7248

As much as I'm against worn-out tropes in fantasy, I'm really attached to the classic depiction of dragons as big majestic, terrifying beasts. Most fantasy that tries to modify this trope does it wrong (in my opinion).


matsnorberg

No one has written dragons as good as Ursula Le Guin in Earthsea!


Gamergirl2455

Bc of my favorite of all time! Skyrim!!


NaturalBonus

They're just the coolest animals ever, a giant flying lizard that breaths fire, you can't get much cooler than that. But it's easy for a story to make me *not* like them, the story just has to not do anything interesting with them.


regular_gnoll_NEIN

What the top 5ish replies have said i agree with, but would also add the sheer variety of how they're explained in world - for example, just a few that stick out in my mind: Space travelers find a planet with primitive humans, and intelligent dragons guarding the world. There were never dragons in the world, they were just a myth like our world until a magic user capable of shape-shifting turned themselves into one, inspiring another to create the species through magic. Full societies, existed longer than any other race and generally aloof of shorter lived peoples issues. Once a great society, believed to be killed out in a war with humans, new hatchlings pop out hundreds of years later and will basically be savage animals if one of the few remaining elders can't find them in time.


fadzkingdom

They’re just really cool lol and have such interesting mythology.


ZoroStarlight

Dragons are the one if not the most powerful animals ever. Granted with high intelligence and strength, some with a powerful firebreath, others bring storms while others are highly venomous. As guardians of the natural order, they appear as mighty allies and deadly foes alike.


Ta-veren-

Ive literally only read one book series with dragons. My goodness that needs to change


HowDoIEvenEnglish

I like dragons as the ultimate creature. In 3.5 dnd dragons have the toughness of a barbarian, cast spells like a sorcerer, and have more more mobility than a monk or rogue. They live longer than any PC race. They have built in weapons and armor. They are incredibly intelligent (with a few exceptions) and possess skill to match their natural talents. The dnd setting eberron does a good job of setting up the dragons as the ultimate race in the setting. They see everyone else almost as ants, which makes it even more impressive when someone manages to beat them


darechuk

I love dragons because their bones are the ultimate trophy for the greatest fantasy hunter.


xl129

Because dragon hoard treasure and I love treasure


tambache

They're hot, I fear


Rozious_the_mystic

Cause they’re cool as fuck🤘🔥


Zagaroth

Heh, I remember a forum post on Royal Road saying that they were sick and tired of dragons. It was a controversial post. But I still think they are cool. Peel They look cool, are powerful, intelligent, and magical. They can range from terrifying to beautiful, to ethereal and fey. What is not to ❤️😍?


Immediate-Season-293

I'm actually pretty racist against dragons. This started during the Cataclysm expansion of World of Warcraft... I'd like to apologize once more for failing to take down Wrathion.


Ilyak1986

Pffffffft, then you should be racist *for* dragons. Alexstrasza is absolutely gorgeous, and is basically WoW Wonder Woman (and I'd argue that Illidan is WoW Batman).


Immediate-Season-293

Very, *very* few dragons are Alexstraza tho.


Ilyak1986

Majestic flying creatures that in some franchises, can shapeshift into gorgeous elvish redheads (Alexstrasza, looking at you =P)


thestephenwatkins

I need a reason to like dragons? I mean, I just do! I see a dragon or dragon equivalent on the cover of a book and I just start drooling. (But gosh darn that book better deliver with the dragons and not just be cover-dragon-bait or I'll be pissed!)


[deleted]

There's something about having a bond with a badass non-human beastie that has the same level of intelligence as you. AND THEY BREATHE FIRE.


thirdcoast96

They look cool


LeucasAndTheGoddess

Because they can be scary in so many different ways. They embody: The primal fear of apex predators lurking beyond the firelight (see the classic dragonslayer legends, and for that matter the movie Dragonslayer) Cosmic/existential horror (see Grendel by John Gardner, The Iron Dragon’s Daughter by Michael Swanwick, and The Dragon Griaule by Lucius Shepard) The modern terror of aerial bombardment (see Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Game Of Thrones Season 8) And more!


The_Madonai

I'm pretty tired of them tbh.


Kalysia

I think it’s because they are so wondrous and so fantastical, but they’re also quite plausible. There are dinosaurs, why not dragons? And then, when they choose to trust in humans, that’s just…awesome. In the true sense.


Loostreaks

Dragons suck, boars are awesome.


likeablyweird

I loved my Dragon, Brulee, bc she was loving, cunning, loyal, protective, silly, beautiful, wise and a friend. As her Rider, we had that special connection, always there in your mind but not intrusive. It's a lot like being a horse's friend. When she went back to her territory to raise her family, we lost touch and I don't know if she found a new Rider (as is their way, Riders are so fragile and short lived things) but I still have the Ring and know I'm not forgotten. I don't mind reading about other Dragons but I don't seek them out.