10 dragons that reign in pop culture

BarcelonaDragons are the stuff of pop culture. Cinema, series, literature, music, and comics have all used dragons, stretching the limits of what this mythological creature can represent: an imposing fantastic beast, a cute little animal, an exotic creature... In fiction, the dragon is a malleable character that can be adapted to family comedy, monster movies, or epic fantasy. We chose 10 that have gone down in history.

Dragui

Catalans who grew up during the 80s will surely remember the pink dragon that provided the necessary touch of humor and madness for a child to swallow an animated series about the history of Catalonia. Dragui was the narrator of the series, but he also starred in little gags and dropped pearls of his own, like making fun of prehistoric men who didn't master fire. There was even merchandise made, from Dragui!

Drogon

Daenerys Targaryen, like all mothers, will never admit it, but it's evident she has a favorite dragon: Drogon was born with his brothers Rhaegal and Viserion and quickly became the largest and most aggressive of the three. He survived the final battle against the army of the night and turned King's Landing to ashes while murdering thousands upon thousands of innocents. His end is sad: he sees his mother die and flees heartbroken to lick his wounds as the last known dragon of the Seven Kingdoms. Fair winds and following seas.

Shenron

To the eternal dragon of Dragon Ball you can be summoned by gathering the seven dragon balls and he will emerge from his fiery lair to darken the sky and grant you one wish. In other words, he would be a genie in a bottle with a Chinese blockbuster staging. Shenron is a solicitous dragon, always willing to grant wishes of all kinds: to resurrect someone, to rejuvenate them... or even a pair of panties. Poor Shenron.

Smaug

He is not the only dragon to appear in Tolkien's work, but he is the most charismatic: Smaug, the dragon from whom Bilbo Baggins steals a cup from his treasure in The Hobbit. More proof of his star status: Benedict Cumberbatch played him – through motion capture – in the cinema, but during the promotion, it was Smaug himself who visited the late show of Stephen Colbert in an unforgettable interview.

Toothless

During the interview with Colbert, Smaug lashed out at Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon: “He’s a captive who lets himself be ridden by scrawny kids!” The dragon from this animated saga –and from the original books– is the last specimen of a Night Fury, a young and wounded dragon who builds an unexpected friendship with an outcast boy from a Viking village constantly threatened by dragons.

Puff, the magic dragon

The famous folk song by Peter, Paul and Mary, covered by, among others, Grup de Folk, Falsterbo 3, and Serrat, is a sweet ballad about a boy and his best friend, the dragon Puff. It is a story of friendship with a dramatic ending: the boy grows up and forgets his friend, who, sad and tearful, returns to the bottom of the sea. A parable about growing up and the end of innocence that many have interpreted as a metaphor for drugs. No joke, there is a section of Wikipedia dedicated to this theory and a great gag in the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (2000).

King Ghidorah

All great ones need a worthy nemesis. If John McEnroe had Björn Borg, Godzilla has King Ghidorah, the giant three-headed, two-tailed dragon that makes his life impossible. Although its origin has changed several times, King Ghidorah is supposed to be a space dragon that travels from planet to planet destroying civilizations. His fights with Godzilla are the Barça-Madrid of the Mourinho era, but with kaijus.

Lockheed

Another space dragon but much nicer: Lockheed was the small, chubby dragon that went everywhere with Kitty Pryde of the X-Men. The mischievous alien pet served as a light counterpoint to the existential drama of the mutant superhero group, and when Kitty left for England and joined Excalibur, Lockheed followed her. If you grew up reading superhero comics, Lockheed will always have a place in your heart.

Fuixur

It is the white luck dragon from The Neverending Story, the magical creature from the kingdom of Fantastica that accompanies Atreyu in the fight against the Nothing and to save the Childlike Empress. Fuixur flies, but has no wings nor breathes fire and its fur is of a luminous white. If Michael Ende assures us it is a dragon, we believe him, but it has always had a dog-like air; it is not difficult to imagine it sniffing the rear of other dragons and stretching out on its back to have its belly scratched.

Mushu

Mushu fits into the long tradition of sidekicks with a comedic function from Disney films. Mulán's incompetent guardian dragon –voiced by Eddie Murphy in the original version– seeks personal glory, but ends up striving to help the young warrior pose as a man and proves decisive in the final battle against the Huns. Ironically, this Chinese dragon is who brings the most Western touch to the story.