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This article is about the recurring race. For the dungeon from The Legend of Zelda, see Level 6 (First Quest).

Dragons are a recurring race in the Legend of Zelda series. They are massive reptilian creatures, many of which can achieve flight and breathe fire. Most dragons are hostile toward Link, but some, such as Valoo and the Three Dragons, are friendly.

Appearances[]

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

The Legend of Zelda[]

The dragon Aquamentus is a recurring boss in the game. Aquamentus appears in Level 1 and Level 7 of the first quest as well as in Level 1, 4 and 8 of the Second Quest.

The dragon Gleeok is also a recurring boss throughout the game. Three different variations of Gleeok appear with two, three and four heads respectively. Gleeok appears in Levels 4, 6 and 8 in the first quest and Levels 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the Second Quest.

Many Stone Statues throughout Hyrule bear a physical likeness to dragons. Level 6 as seen on the map screen, also takes on the appearance of a dragon's head.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link[]

Barba, the boss of the Hidden Palace, is a dragon. Statue heads depicting dragons can also be found in many palaces as enemies or scenery, sometimes containing Magic Jars.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time[]

Volvagia is a legendary dragon that, prior to the events of the game, plagued the Gorons of Death Mountain. It was eventually destroyed by the Hero of the Gorons, wielder of the Megaton Hammer. During the events of the game, Volvagia is revived by Ganondorf, who plans to have it devour all Gorons as an example to those who would oppose him. Link ventures inside the Fire Temple wherein Volvagia resides, recovers the Megaton Hammer and defeats Volvagia. This allows Darunia, who had earlier attempted to stop Volvagia, to awaken as the Sage of Fire .

The Water Temple is adorned with statues carved in the likeness of a dragon, some of which play a part in several puzzles.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons[]

Aquamentus and Gleeok serve as the bosses of Gnarled Root Dungeon and Explorer's Crypt, respectively. Aquamentus is physically similar to its previous incarnation, but is shown to possess the ability to fly as well. Gleeok appears with two heads and continues to battle Link in a skeletal form after sustaining enough damage.

The primary antagonist General Onox, whose true form is revealed to be that of a Dark Dragon from the Dark Realm (it is unknown if this is the same Dark Realm from The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks), serves as the game's final boss in a regular, non-linked game.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker[]

The dragon Valoo is a sky spirit who watches over Dragon Roost Island and its inhabitants, the Rito. When Link first arrives on the island, he learns from the Rito that Valoo had recently become violent and unreasonable. As a result, they have been left unable to obtain from Valoo his all-important scales, this being a rite of passage among the Rito allowing them to grow wings. Link discovers the source of Valoo's anger to be Gohma, a creature residing within Dragon Roost who had been tormenting him all along. Valoo later repays his debt to Link by aiding him in escaping the Forsaken Fortress after setting it on fire.

Depictions of dragons in the form of carvings and statues are found within Dragon Roost Cavern.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess[]

Stallord is a skeletal dragon that serves as the boss of the Arbiter's Grounds. When Link arrives in the boss chamber, Stallord is initially seen as a pile of bones. However, Zant appears shortly thereafter and revives Stallord using a magical sword. As the battle progresses, Stallord's body suffers gradual destruction up until it is utterly defeated.

Argorok is a dragon, corrupted by a shard of the Mirror of Twilight that it guards, who serves as the boss of the City in the Sky.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass[]

Gleeok is a two-headed dragon that serves as the boss of the Temple of Ice. One of Gleeok's heads breathe ice while the other breathes fire.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword[]

The Three Dragons, Faron, Eldin and Lanayru, watch over The Surface. Link must learn the "Song of the Hero" from them. Each of the dragons reside in their respective province of The Surface.

Faron is found in Lake Floria and Faron Woods. The first time Link meets her is after he completed the Faron Silent Realm trial, where he was given a Dragon Scale to help him swim. Using this to his advantage, he explored areas which he previously was not able to access, and eventually arrived at Lake Floria, where he met Faron at a state of recovery. After going into the Skyview Temple and getting special water for the dragon, Faron then returns the favor and allows Link into the Ancient Cistern.

Faron is next seen briefly when Link returns to ask permission to use the basin that was previously used by the dragon for recovery. Faron accepts and gives Link, as he requires it to enter the Fire Sanctuary.

Faron is finally seen in Faron Woods, which was flooded by her due to the large numbers of monsters roaming around. Receiving another request from Link, this time to learn a part of the Song of the Hero, she accepts, under one condition, which was to collect Tadtones in order for Link to be proven worthy of listening to the song. After successfully collecting all of the Tadtones, Faron sings a piece of the Song of the Hero to Link.

Lanayru is found in Lanayru Desert. When Link first sees him, he is nothing but a pile of bones. When Link activates a Timeshift Stone, the dragon is seen in the distant past, and is very ill. After Link heals him with the Life Tree Fruit, Lanayru grants him another piece to the Song of the Hero.

After learning part of the Song of the Hero, Lanayru offers Link a challenge known as the "Lightning Round," where Link to take on all the boss battles or Silent Realm trials consecutively, for a prize dependent on how many he has accomplished.

Eldin is found at Eldin Volcano. The first time Link goes to see him, the volcano erupts as a result in a test of Eldin's power, and Link is knocked unconcious and captured by Bokoblins. After regaining all of his stolen items, including the Master Sword, he then heads to where Eldin resides, where he is granted a part of the Song of the Hero.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes[]

Aeralfos and Super Aeralfos appear as enemies. There is also an item called a Sky Dragon Tail which is the tail of an Aeralfos, indicating that Aeralfos are considered a species of Dragon.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild[]

"Hey, buddy! Got a map? So on this map of yours, do you see Dueling Peaks to the north of here? Well, apparently that used to be just one mountain a really long time ago. The legends say a dragon god split the mountain in half to forge a way through, and that's how it went from one to two. Recently, some are even saying they've seen the shadow of a large creature on the surface of Lake Floria! I wonder if any of that is true..."
Shay

In Breath of the Wild, there are three dragons; Dinraal named for the Goddess Din, Farosh named for the Goddess Farore, and Naydra named for the Goddess Nayru. Each dragon is involved in their own shrine quests, and Naydra is first battled as they have been corrupted by Calamity Ganon and his Malice. After Naydra is freed, all three remain passive creatures, although they may unintentionally damage Link by the elements naturally produced and ejected by their bodies, and become simple characters. These dragons are somewhat similar in appearance to Volvagia from Ocarina of Time as they have serpentine bodies. However they are depicted as dragon deities similar to the Three Dragons from Skyward Sword. According to an old legend heard on Link's travel, the Dueling Peaks was originally one mountain until it was split by a dragon god to create a path with the most likely candidate being implied to be Farosh.

Their respective Shrine quests uncovers the hidden Shrines located in each of the three Springs, the Springs of Wisdom, Power and Courage. After completing these quests, Link can encounter the dragons in their habitat around sunrise. When they spawn, Link sees them flying at a very high altitude before moving closer to the ground. Link must hit a specific part of their body with any type of arrow in order to drop rare "Dragon parts" materials, consisting of Shard of Dinraal's, Farosh's and Naydra's Horns, Shard of their Fangs, as well as their respective Claws, or their respective Scales. Link can obtain only one of these items per encounter, he can also use the Paraglider in updrafts created by the dragon to move into shooting range. The Master Sword Beam can also be used instead of arrows though Link may need to increase his number of Heart Containers to increase its attack range to hit them. The Master Sword Beam allows him to save his arrows and bow durability. Dragon scales where used to create the Zora Helm and Zora Greaves which is presumably a reference to the Water Dragon's Scale as both armor pieces effect Link's ability to swim. Interestingly Great Fairies use Lizalfos Tails are used to upgrade the Zora armor set implying Lizalfos may be a species of Dragon in the main series as Lizalfos are amphibious and native to Lanayru Great Spring thus their scales would be easily accessible to Zora more so than Farosh or Naydra as their elements would make approaching them dangerous to Zora.

Bokoblins and Moblins sometimes use fossilized dragon bones to strengthen their equipment resulting in Dragonbone Boko Bat, Bow, Club, Shield and Spear, as well as Dragonbone Moblin Club and Spear. The "Dragonbone" weapons are the strongest ones among the "Boko" and "Moblin" series.

According to the Dragon enthusiast Ronn, legend states that one must be blessed by Hylia to be able to see Dragon Spirits indicating Link has been blessed with such an ability as he is essentially Hylia's Champion chosen by the Master Sword and is tasked with saving Naydra to acquire its scale as well as acquiring scales from Dinraal and Farosh. This would also explain why Ronn does not notice Dinraal and why Shay and Totsuna fail to notice Farosh though their statements indicate that Hylians can see their shadows and/or vaguely sense their presence despite not being blessed with the ability to fully seeing them. This explains why most people rarely see dragon spirits despite their large size and habit of flying through the sky.

Dragon Parts[]

Dinraal[]
Farosh[]
Naydra[]

Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.

Other appearances[]

Subseries warning: This article or section contains information on a subseries within the Legend of Zelda series and should be considered part of its own separate canon.

Game & Watch: Zelda[]

Eight Dragons serve as the game's primary antagonists and bosses. Unwilling to live in peace with mankind, they kidnapped Princess Zelda and split the Triforce into eight Shards. Link must travel through eight labyrinths in order to defeat the Dragons, restore the Triforce and rescue Princess Zelda.

Link's Crossbow Training[]

Aeralfos and Lizalfos appear as enemies. Stallord also appears as a boss.

Hyrule Warriors[]

The Dragon Knight Volga possess the power to transform between a humanoid form and a Dragon form. He can breath fire in either form and in his humanoid form he can transform his hand into dragon claws. His dragon form's head, knight form's helmet, and name resemble the dragon boss Volvagia from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Argoroks, Aeralfos, and Fiery Aeralfos also appear in the game. Lizalfos Chieftain and Dinolfos Chieftain also refer to themselves as members of dragonkind, indicating that they and their brethren are a species of flightless dragon, which may explain their ability to breath fire. Volga's Forces are primarily lead by members of the Dragon race.

Subseries warning: Subseries information ends here.

Non-canonical appearances[]

Non-canon warning: This article or section contains non-canonical information that is not considered to be an official part of the Legend of Zelda series and should not be considered part of the overall storyline.

Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland[]

A dragon named Dora Dora is the boss of Desma's Labyrinth.

Non-canon warning: Non-canonical information ends here.

Notes[]

The appearance of dragons in Breath of the Wild stems to how dragons are perceived in Japanse folklore, which accounted for why the dragons are not fought in the game. In an interview, director Hidemaro Fujibayashi said "as for dragons, just as I spoke earlier, we wanted to incorporate something that could be seen afar, kind of like the Divine Beasts. So we thought we definitely accomplished that with the Divine Beasts, but we also thought we could incorporate a little more and that would be great. We wanted to incorporate something that was a little bit romantic. And maybe it's because I'm Japanese, or the team was Japanese, but instead of having that battle theme or something that will have an adrenaline rush, we thought something mystical, maybe something serene and kind of a different experience would make the adventure for the player be more exciting. And that's why we decided not to make it necessarily like a battle. And addressing the idea of how Japanese people portray dragons, we wanted to incorporate that feel of godliness or maybe something more serene." Eiji Aonuma added "in lots of Japanese folklore, there's often stories where dragons are basically incarnations of gods. So, I think that might be part of the reason why we incorporated that in this game."[1]

References[]

  1. ^ 2018-03-07, Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 9 Fascinating Facts About Its Development. GameSpot, accessed on 2018-03-11
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