Post by MoonyLuna on Jan 5, 2008 22:17:55 GMT -5
Full-form, non-anthro dragons come in many shapes and sizes representing their origins from around the world.
Western Dragons are usually large, leathery-winged, quasi-reptilian or saurian beings. In modern fiction they are sometimes warm-blooded, and reflect influences from contemporary knowledge of dinosaurs. Most have scales and some lay eggs. Variations include but are not limited to:
Feathered wings
Fur coat or manes
Un-scaled hides
Eastern Dragons are generally long, sinuous, fur-bearing dragons without wings. Often, they have horns or antlers, and are the type depicted in Chinese or Japanese traditional art.
Rare or Atypical Dragons such as Amphipteres or Wyverns - the moniker "Dragon" is applied to a staggeringly large number of creatures, some of which have very little to do with each other.
Non-traditional or less common permutations, such as Fairy Dragons or even artificial and symbolic creatures - postmodern fantasy and science-fiction has portrayed the dragon as everything from a psychological meme to steampunk robots.
Character-oriented genres like Furry tend to portray non-anthro dragons with additional capabilities and tweaks to make them more accessible as a sentient character who might display human-like behavior. The capacity for human speech is common. It is also not uncommon to see dragons with dexterous, tool-using forefeet. One can find crossovers with dragon-like qualities in species concepts like the monoceros.
Western Dragons are usually large, leathery-winged, quasi-reptilian or saurian beings. In modern fiction they are sometimes warm-blooded, and reflect influences from contemporary knowledge of dinosaurs. Most have scales and some lay eggs. Variations include but are not limited to:
Feathered wings
Fur coat or manes
Un-scaled hides
Eastern Dragons are generally long, sinuous, fur-bearing dragons without wings. Often, they have horns or antlers, and are the type depicted in Chinese or Japanese traditional art.
Rare or Atypical Dragons such as Amphipteres or Wyverns - the moniker "Dragon" is applied to a staggeringly large number of creatures, some of which have very little to do with each other.
Non-traditional or less common permutations, such as Fairy Dragons or even artificial and symbolic creatures - postmodern fantasy and science-fiction has portrayed the dragon as everything from a psychological meme to steampunk robots.
Character-oriented genres like Furry tend to portray non-anthro dragons with additional capabilities and tweaks to make them more accessible as a sentient character who might display human-like behavior. The capacity for human speech is common. It is also not uncommon to see dragons with dexterous, tool-using forefeet. One can find crossovers with dragon-like qualities in species concepts like the monoceros.