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 also are attracted to female human virgins and its 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.
Physical Appearance
An injured dragon.
Dragons can take human form and can disguise themselves as a human. In their true form, dragons have large wings that they use to fly, they can hide their wings 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 they 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 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, in a clean vessel for Eve.
Powers and Abilities
Dragons are very powerful monsters, and have a number of abilities that make them difficult creatures to kill. Dragons are arguably one of, if not the most, powerful monsters in existence besides the Leviathans, as Eve purposely had the dragon swords capable of killing them created, as she feared her Dragons would kill her other children.
A dragon's claw.
- Super Strength - They possess incredible physical strength. Dragons 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 easily lift and carry a grown man, for over seven miles.
- Shapeshifting - They 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 (also called "Dragon Claw") - They can also 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 Dragons 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, they can 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.
- Dragon's Breath - They can produce an extremely volatile substance that upon contact with the air can create incredible flames.
Weaknesses
A dragon is killed by the Sword of Bruncvick.
- Swords Forged in Dragon's Blood - An implement, such as a sword, forged in dragon's blood can kill dragons. Reputedly only 5 or 6 such swords remain in existence.
- Sword of Bruncvik
- Excalibur
- St. George's Sword
- Other 3 Unknown Swords
Known Dragons
- Hypolyes (deceased)
- Cloverfield
- Dragon Enforcer (deceased)
- Dragon Kidnapper
Appearances
- Supernatural
- 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 13
- Let the Good Times Roll (mentioned only)
- Season 14
- Lebanon (mentioned only)
- Season 6
- 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.