Dragons are a very rare race of monsters that have not been hunted or even seen for over 700 years. In fact, they are so rare that most veteran hunters (like Bobby Singer) dismiss their existence as purely fictional. Only a select few know otherwise, and even they believe dragons were extinct. They are similar to the traditional dragons in lore, but, whilst in confined spaces, they appear more like humanoid creatures rather than the winged beasts shown in traditional art. There are descriptions of them appearing as giant bat-like creatures when in their true forms.
The dragons' motives were to open Purgatory to free Eve, Mother of All. To do this, they abducted young female virgins so they could sacrifice one of them to become the vessel for Eve.
Characteristics
Dragons are attracted to gold and they traditionally live in caves, but they make homes or hideouts in sewers when there are no caves to hide in. In addition, it seems that dragons are also attracted to female human virgins and it's implied they eat them. Dragons are also sentient and intelligent, to the point where they're capable of practicing magic. They are also social creatures who often work with members of their own kind. Although intelligent, they are often very brutal when facing opponents and like almost all monsters, have no regard for humans; according to Dr. Visyak, dragons are "not funny at all", implying that they are naturally barbaric and destructive by instinct.
Physical Appearance
An injured dragon.
Dragons can disguise themselves by taking human forms. In their true form, they have large wings that they use to fly and even hide them when disguised as humans. When flying, their wings make a great leathery fluttering sound. Dragons also have large talons and snake-like eyes. When Dean Winchester sliced a dragon's arm, it showed a scale-like pattern, implying that they have scales in their true form. Dragons also have dark red blood.
In their true form, dragons are quite large. One witness who saw them described them as "huge". The distance between the claws on one of their feet was shown, by the victim's wound, to be about two to three inches, thus implying it to be gigantic. Its wingspan is enough to cause reasonably strong winds by flapping them. Despite their size, they can move with incredible speed, agility and stealth through the air.
History
Season 6
Dragons using a spell to open a door to Purgatory.
Dragons are abducting young women (all virgins) and keeping them captive in a sewer. When one is first seen, he is shown taking a woman to a cage in the sewer as the other ones try to break out. Annoyed by his captive's struggles, he breaks her arm and threatens to break the other one if she doesn't keep quiet. After throwing her into the cage, he seals it shut with his claw. Dean obtains the Sword of Bruncvik, and he and Sam track down the dragon's lair, finding first a pile of gold and then an ancient manuscript. They then hear cries for help and follow the voices until they find the missing women, who are still being kept together in their cage. Before they can free them, the same dragon appears with his partner. In the ensuing fight, Sam is able to kill one with the sword, but the other escapes. The same surviving dragon meets up with another dragon who has also captured a half dozen virgin women. They take one and use an incantation to open a door to Purgatory. They throw the woman in and she rises from the fire as a clean vessel for Eve.
Powers and Abilities
Dragons are very powerful monsters and have a number of abilities that make them difficult to kill. Dragons are, if not the most, arguably one of the powerful monsters in existence besides the Leviathans, as Eve purposely had the dragon swords capable of killing them created, as she feared they would kill her other children.
A dragon's claw.
- Super Strength - Dragons possess incredible physical strength. They can easily overpower humans through sheer physical force. They are among the strongest of monsters, able to casually break bones, toss a grown man like a doll, and even lift and carry them easily for over seven miles.
- Shapeshifting - Dragons can take a complete human form by shapeshifting, although when using their powers, part of their true forms become visible, specifically their snake-like eyes.
- Pyrokinesis (i.e. "Dragon Claw") - Dragons can generate intense heat from their hands. These temperatures are hot enough to melt metals like iron, or even incinerate humans with their touch. They can also breathe fire.
A glimpse of a dragon's wings.
- Flight - Dragons have bat-like wings which they use to fly and capture prey. They are incredibly capable flyers, able to move with great speed and maneuverability, and still demonstrate great stealth despite their enormous size.
- Invulnerability - Dragons are near completely invulnerable; the only known way to harm or kill one is with a sword forged in Dragon's blood. Significant other forces, such as repeatedly being hit with an iron crowbar, can daze them, but causes no permanent damage.
- Super Speed - Dragons can move with incredible speed, able to suddenly appear, almost like teleporting, especially when flying.
- Super Stamina - Dragons don't tire easily, being able to fly miles at incredible speeds and go through severe trauma without fatigue.
- Super Senses - Able to tell if a person is a virgin or not simply by getting close.
- Immortality - Although it wasn't explicitly stated, it was noted that no one has seen a dragon in 800 years, and as such they are extremely rare. However they didn't go extinct, which suggests they are also immortal, being unable to grow old and die of old age. This is also supported by that all dragons seen in human form seem young.
Weaknesses
A dragon is killed by the Sword of Bruncvick.
- Eve - As their creator and higher being, she is more powerful than them. Hypolyes sacrificed himself to Eve so she could forge special swords out of his blood to slay dragons.
- Dragon-Killing Swords - An implement, such as a sword, forged in dragon's blood can kill dragons. Reputedly, only 5 or 6 such swords remain in existence:
- Excalibur
- Sword of St. George
- Sword of Bruncvik
- Other 2 or 3 Unknown Swords
Known Dragons
- Hypolyes (deceased)
- Cloverfield
- Dragon Enforcer (deceased)
- Dragon Kidnapper
- Ancient Dragons (deceased)
- Alpha Dragon
- Dragon (unknown)
Appearances
- Supernatural
- Season 1
- The Benders (action figure)
- Season 3
- No Rest for the Wicked (mentioned only)
- Season 6
- Like A Virgin
- Mommy Dearest (mentioned only)
- Season 8
- As Time Goes By (mentioned only)
- Pac-Man Fever (mentioned only)
- Season 9
- Rock and a Hard Place (mentioned only)
- Season 10
- Reichenbach (mentioned only)
- Season 12
- The One You've Been Waiting For (mentioned only)
- Season 13
- Let the Good Times Roll (mentioned only)
- Season 14
- Lebanon (mentioned only)
- Season 1
- Bobby Singer's Guide to Hunting (Hypolyes, non-canon, mentioned only)
Lore
A dragon in traditional lore.
Dragons are mythical creatures that usually take the form of a winged reptilian creature, often with the ability to breath fire. They appear in a variety of forms in cultures around the world. The dragon featured in Supernatural relates to European traditions, where the typical dragon protects a cavern or castle filled with gold and treasure. Tales often feature a great hero who tries to slay the dragon and often rescue a princess or maiden the dragon has captured (or who has been offered to the dragon as a sacrifice).
In the New Testament, Lucifer takes the form of a red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, in his battle against the Archangel Michael.
Trivia
- They appeared, in the series, as monsters of the week in the Season 6 episode Like A Virgin. They have not appeared since.
- Dragon tears can be used in spells, such as time travel, something only the Men of Letters knew.
- In Bobby Singer's Guide to Hunting, Dr. Visyak wrote that the dragon-killing swords were forged with the blood of Hypolyes, a dragon who willingly sacrificed his life to help Eve, who realized her dragons were so powerful that they could destroy the other children she created.
- Their human forms were to be explained in a deleted scene in which one of the dragons was to say, "Your army was defeated and your kingdom burned to the ground. Who are you going to tell your king did it? Me a man, or a sixty foot, fire-breathing serpent snake from Hell?"
- The blood of dragons is purple, as seen when Dean and Sam hurt them with the Sword of Bruncvik.