The Dragon/Literature: Difference between revisions

* Although Morgoth's minions in ''[[The Silmarillion (Literature)|The Silmarillion]]'' include actual dragons such as Glaurung, as well as the Balrogs, Sauron most clearly fulfills this role, particularly in the story of Beren and Lúthien.

* However, in ''[[The Children of Hurin (Literature)|The Children of HurinHúrin]]'', Glaurung is [[The Dragon]] in all senses of the word.

* Sauron's own Dragon in the ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' saga is none other than the Witch-king of Angmar. This is more obvious in the film than the book.

** In ''[[Unfinished TalesofTales Numenorof andNúmenor Middleearthand (Literature)Middle-earth|Unfinished Talesof Numenor and Middleearth]]'' it's also mentioned that Sauron (still the Necromancer of Dol Guldur at that time) intended to co-opt Smaug (the dragon from ''[[The Hobbit]]'') as a Dragon both literal and an example of this trope - but was thwarted when, ultimately thanks to actions by Gandalf, Smaug was killed during the events of that book.

* [[Dark Action Girl|Bellatrix Lestrange]] -- the ruthless and devoted lieutenant to [[Harry Potter|Lord Voldemort]].

** Lucius Malfoy was originally Voldemort's [[The Dragon|Dragon]], but after losing the prophecy in ''[[TheHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (novel)|Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]'' the Dark Lord [[You Have Failed Me...|decided he'd failed one too many times.]] Lucius spends most of ''[[TheHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (novel)|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]'' doing little more than sitting in his chair at Death Eater meetings and quietly whimpering. ([[Pragmatic Villainy|Then he and his family make]] a HeelFaceTurn[[Heel Face Turn]] ... sort of.]]))

* Basta, the knife-wielding henchman to Capricorn in ''[[The Inkworld Trilogy (Literature)|The Inkworld Trilogy]]'', who runs all his errands and does most of his dirty work.

* In ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'', the Forsaken serve as Dragons for the Dark One, who is [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can]]--and compete for the position of ''Nae'blis'', [[Con Lang|which means]] "[[The Dragon]]". Shaidar Haran also fulfills this role for the Dark One, being its physical avatar. Among the [[Knight Templar|Children of the Light]], the tough, skilled blademaster Eamon Valda is blackmailed into serving as a sort-of Dragon to the elderly, frail Rhadam Asunawa. Ironically, Lewis Therin Telamon is called "The Dragon" but is not [[The Dragon]] but [[The Chosen One]], as is his [[Reincarnation]] Rand al'Thor, "The Dragon Reborn".

** You could consider "The Dragon" as the Dragon of the creator.

** High House Chains: Formerly [[The Emperor|Ruhlad]] [[Immortality Hurts|Sengar]], The King in Chains, to the series' [[Big Bad]], the [[Omnicidal Maniac|Crippled God]], who due to his [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can]] status, cannot be King of his own house. With Ruhlad's death, the two most obvious candidates for this position are the [[The Starscream|rebellious]] Knight and [[Heroic Sociopath]], [[Barbarian Hero|Karsa Orlong]] who wants no part in the [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|Crippled God]]'s schemes, and The Reaver, [[Badass Grandpa]] [[Misanthrope Supreme|Kallor]] who actively seeks out the position of King in Chains.

** In the physical world, the Malazan Empress has her Adjunct, who serves as her [[Number Two]]. And then there's the various minor gods and their Mortal Swords.

* Katla is [[Big Bad|Tengil's]] [[The Dragon|dragon]] in ''[[The Brothers Lionheart (Literature)|The Brothers Lionheart]]''. She is as evil as Tengil and his greatest weapon, and the only reason she is under his command is that she obeys whoever in possession the horn that she is afraid of.

* In ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Literature)|Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'', Lu Bu is [[The Dragon]] of the early story, as his allegiance clears the way for Dong Zhuo's rise to hegemony. However, he demonstrates a capacity for being manipulated that leads to Dong Zhuo's downfall and eventually his own.

* For all of the books that feature him, [[X Wing Series|Kirtain Loor]] is [[The Dragon]]. He's allowed quite a bit of autonomy but ultimately cringes before his superiors, both of whom are [[Eviler Than Thou|worse than he is]]. [[Big Bad|Ysanne Isard]] recruited him and put him in charge of the underground Imperial movement on Coruscant after it fell to the New Republic. He had his own plots going, but the head of the People's Militia, nominally there to stop Loor, recruited him to further his own agenda. Interestingly, neither he nor his superiors ever engaged in direct or even starfighter combat with the New Republic; Loor mostly sent stormtroopers and operatives after them, and later started setting bombs and directing speeders filled with explosives into population centers. He didn't even see any New Republic protagonists until he tried to surrender [[His Name Is--|some information]] in exchange for his life.

* In [[David Eddings]]' ''[[The Belgariad]]'', Ctuchik and Zedar play Dragon to [[Physical God|Torak]], while on a lesser scale [[Ninja|Brill]] is the Dragon to [[Starter Villain|Asharak]] (although the full details of that relationship aren't made fully clear). In the sequel, ''[[The Malloreon]]'', Naradas is [[The Big Bad|Zandramas]]' [[Number Two]], while the [[Dragon Withwith an Agenda|Demon Lord Mordja]] is her last line of physical defence; Mordja's rival, [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|Nahaz]] is [[Dragon Withwith an Agenda]] and [[Dragon-in-Chief]] to her rival, [[A God Am I|Urvon]]. Urvon's right hand man [[Smug Snake|Harakan]]/[[Dark Messiah|Mengha]] could be considered another Dragon and is definitely his [[Bastard Understudy]]; like Nahaz Harakan too [[Dragon Withwith an Agenda|has an agenda]].

* [[Terry Brooks]] also makes use of this trope. In ''[[The Elfstones of Shannara]]'', [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|The Dagda Mor]] has [[The Juggernaut|The Reaper]] and [[Shape Shifter|The Changeling]] as his [[Co-Dragons]]. In ''[[The Heritage of Shannara (Literature)|The Heritage of Shannara]]'', several [[The Heartless|Shadowen]] could be seen as [[Manipulative Bastard|Rimmer Dall]]'s Dragon, but the most archetypical is likely the entirely human [[Psycho for Hire]] Pe Ell. In [[The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara]], psychopathic computer system [[Disc One Final Boss|Antrax]] has [[Hollywood Cyborg|Ard Patrinell]], and [[Big Bad|The Morgawr]] has fellow [[Complete Monster]] and [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|Mwellret]] [[Smug Snake|Cree Bega]] as his [[Number Two]]. In ''[[Running With the Demon]]'', the titular demon uses the [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can|maentwrog]] as his Dragon during his confrontation with the heroes, having it incapacitate [[Knight in Sour Armour|John Ross]] while he targets [[The Hero|Nest]].

* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s ''[[Conan]]'' story "A Witch Shall Be Born," Constantius, the Kothic voivode of the Free Companies, is one of these to the title character Salome.

* In ''[[Last Legionary (Literature)|Last Legionary]]'', [[The Juggernaut|The One]], an [[Powered Armour|exoskeleton]]-clad [[Evil Cripple]], is [[The Dragon]] to the Warlord Arachnis, which due to being a [[Hive Mind]] made up of 24 people, is more or less immobile. The One is Arachnis' top field commander, trains its troops, and is its best and last line of defence, providing [[The Hero]] with his toughest challenge ever.

* Many examples in ''[[Septimus Heap (Literature)|Septimus Heap]]'':

* There are many in ''[[Warrior Cats (Literature)|Warrior Cats]]'' due to almost all the villains being connected in some way.

** In ''Starlight'', the fourth book of ''[[Warrior Cats the New Prophecy|The New Prophecy]]'', Mudclaw is Hawkfrost's dragon until he gets a literal [[Dropped a Bridge Onon Him|bridge dropped on him]].

* ''[[Dark Future (Literaturenovel)|Dark Future]]'': Elder Roger Duroc is the series' Dragon for [[Big Bad|Nguyen]] [[Time Abyss|Seth]]. Apparently, his family has served Seth in this capacity for several hundred years.

* By the end of ''[[Lord of the Flies]]'', Roger becomes the dragon to Jack, with shades of [[Dragon-in-Chief]] and [[Dragon Withwith an Agenda]].

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