Pokemon Which aspects characterise Dragon-type Pokémon?

[MuhFugginMoose]

And that dragonite is as worthy of dragon type as dragonair is, in my opinion.

Haha, I love that. ^ Cause to me it looks like a fatter Ampharos without a Giraffe like neck. . .
Figured I'd edit that pic if you don't mind.

^Not a Dragon.

Haha, forgive me for taking about a minute to arrange this disaster. xD

 

[King Xerneas]

I highly doubt names have much to do with the Pokemon's typing. Like almost everyone here the concept of the Pokemon is what gives its typing. They're not randomly given a type, if they're a dragon type there is good reasoning behind it. For all of those screaming why Charizard or Gyrados aren't dragon types, it's to help balance the game. If Charizard was part dragon, it'd take away any attention from the other starters (especially how powerful they were back then). If Gyrados was part dragon, imagine how OP it would be (yah I know kingdra is water/dragon, but he is not as powerful as Gyrados), plus magikarp could be obtained insanely early in the game (not to mention Gyrados is already extremely powerful) so we could be walking around with a Pokemon capable of mass destruction WITH ONLY ONE WEAKNESS before even hitting the fourth gym, sounds pretty broken to me...

 

[Metalizard]

@Bogleech: Like, that must be really really old legends. I never read anything about it. But the matter is, european dragons have been depicted as flying, mainly reptile creatures for centuries and that's pretty much how people see them nowadays and that's how I've thought of them ever since I can remember...

------------------

btw, the other day I saw an insect outside my house that I've never noticed before. I went to search for its name. Lacewings. I remember thinking how much it reminded me of Flygon. Probably because of the color, the antennae and the eyes. Even the larvae look similar to the antlion larvae.

Spoiler

Adult:

Larva:

 

[professorlight]

And that dragonite is as worthy of dragon type as dragonair is, in my opinion.

Haha, I love that. ^ Cause to me it looks like a fatter Ampharos without a Giraffe like neck. . .
Figured I'd edit that pic if you don't mind.

^Not a Dragon.

Haha, forgive me for taking about a minute to arrange this disaster. xD

Haha, that's the bastard son of ampharos and dragonite? now do skitty and wailord!

Anyway.
When this:

evolves from this:

dragon

when this:

evolves from this:

not dragon

 

[MuhFugginMoose]

Haha, that's the bastard son of ampharos and dragonite? now do skitty and wailord!

Anyway.
When this:

evolves from this:

dragon

when this:

evolves from this:

not dragon

Haha, Ampharos being the father of course.

Anyways, I agree, how a sheep turned into a dragon I will never know. Just as How an antlion (aka a bug) became a Dragon, I will also never know.
It's GF. Haha, they have their reasons for doing what they do. All we can do is sit back with our puzzled faces and try and figure out why.

 

[Mitja]

There are no "real" dragons. Big newsflash I know 8D

"its clearly a european dragon", so what. There is no standard or definition to go by. If the planet was bigger and had even more cultures come up with "their" dragon, the term would be even more diverse with fire-breathing platypuses or who knows what, and the Pokemon world is a fictional world that expand creatures into new realms so they can obviously do more with the dragon idea if they feel it works.

And keep bringing up how all those dragon pokemon are anomalies to the rule what makes a dragon... I'm not buying that. Gamefreak has some logic behind what they give the type to and I'm trying to figure out what it is. Saying its "that" and all the proof against it are exceptions due to stupidity isn't getting us anywhere.


As for the "gyarados and charizard should be dragon but balance and stupidity". I also disagree..at least for Gyarados. They had every reason to make it Dragon if they wanted. Its a powerhouse at the end of the dex, and the typing wouldn't have made it any more broken than other pokemon of its kind.
The backstory about Magikarp is that it fails to become a real dragon, which Gyarados expresses with his constant rage-face. Its actual "element" is more about causing destruction with storms and whatnot, hence Flying (although I'm still waiting for some Tsunami sig move for it).

 

[Bogleech]

Lacewings are indeed in the very same group as antlions!

The small, creepy dragons I refer to were especially common in the 1400's:

The last one is actually a misunderstanding of a scorpion; the artist heard they were venomous creatures with curly tails, several legs, and two snapping sets of "jaws" on a pair of "necks," and just assumed that must be some kind of dragon!

 

[Their Goominess]

Dragon-type is mostly from what its based-on or its looks. There sometimes seem to be some Pokemon that don't look like Dragon but still have Dragon typing (Kingdra and Altaria) because they are inspired in a myth/animal similar to dragon.

To be specific, Gyarados is inspired by the legend of the karp that transforms into a dragon, so not only it looks like a dragon, it also has a myth just like the other pokémon mentioned here, so it is more than qualified to be a Dragon-type.

There's also a part in the myth where the dragon abuses its powers, so its dragon status is taken away. (this could be the fact that Gyara is so angry all the time)

I think that the designers were originally gonna put Gyara in as a Water/Dragon in gen1, but they decided that it would be too overpowered since it would have no actual weakness.

 

[King Xerneas]

To be specific, Gyarados is inspired by the legend of the karp that transforms into a dragon, so not only it looks like a dragon, it also has a myth just like the other pokémon mentioned here, so it is more than qualified to be a Dragon-type.

There's also a part in the myth where the dragon abuses its powers, so its dragon status is taken away. (this could be the fact that Gyara is so angry all the time)

I think that the designers were originally gonna put Gyara in as a Water/Dragon in gen1, but they decided that it would be too overpowered since it would have no actual weakness.

THANK YOU!!! Especially since Gyrados' only weakness would happen near the end of the game. Water/flying keeps that beast in check.

 

[Mitja]

Nothing broken about having no weakness either.

 

[MuhFugginMoose]

Nothing broken about having no weakness either.

Haha in Gen 1? There was a bit of one.
Gyarados would have been hit SE by only dragon moves. The only one being Dragon Rage. . . Could you imagine beating Lance and Blue? Haha, at that young an age. . . No, I can't.

 

[professorlight]

There are no "real" dragons. Big newsflash I know 8D
"its clearly a european dragon", so what. There is no standard or definition to go by. If the planet was bigger and had even more cultures come up with "their" dragon, the term would be even more diverse with fire-breathing platypuses or who knows what, and the Pokemon world is a fictional world that expand creatures into new realms so they can obviously do more with the dragon idea if they feel it works.

There is a "real" idea of a dragon, the same way there is millions of chairs but only one "idea" of a chair. Plato, b****s!

And keep bringing up how all those dragon pokemon are anomalies to the rule what makes a dragon... I'm not buying that. Gamefreak has some logic behind what they give the type to and I'm trying to figure out what it is. Saying its "that" and all the proof against it are exceptions due to stupidity isn't getting us anywhere.

Look at bogleech's standards, it covers all dragon pokemon so far, without even looking at outside references, with the sole exception of megaampharos.

As for the "gyarados and charizard should be dragon but balance and stupidity". I also disagree..at least for Gyarados. They had every reason to make it Dragon if they wanted. Its a powerhouse at the end of the dex, and the typing wouldn't have made it any more broken than other pokemon of its kind.
The backstory about Magikarp is that it fails to become a real dragon, which Gyarados expresses with his constant rage-face. Its actual "element" is more about causing destruction with storms and whatnot, hence Flying (although I'm still waiting for some Tsunami sig move for it).

I thought everybody knew about gyarados now, it's about the carp that became a dragon but then was stripped of the dragon status and it's pissed because of that.
I thought water spout was kind of a tsunami? but yes, a tsunami move would be awesome.

 

[Metalizard]

There are no "real" dragons. Big newsflash I know 8D
"its clearly a european dragon", so what. There is no standard or definition to go by. If the planet was bigger and had even more cultures come up with "their" dragon, the term would be even more diverse with fire-breathing platypuses or who knows what, and the Pokemon world is a fictional world that expand creatures into new realms so they can obviously do more with the dragon idea if they feel it works.

There is a "real" idea of a dragon, the same way there is millions of chairs but only one "idea" of a chair. Plato, b****s!

This.

Seriously, when you get to the point of saying "It's clearly a european dragon. So what?", I feel like is isn't worth to keep talking about the subject...
Like professorlight said (and I also said something similar earlier), it doesn't matter if there's not a set definition. Everybody still has a basic ideia of what a dragon is and the european dragon is one of the most recognized and popular variants.
I honestly can't understand someone saying that a pokémon based on the european dragon doesn't have to be Dragon-type... It just doesn't make sense in my head...
I mean, there's not much to explain... it's a dragon. If it's a dragon, why shoudn't it be dragon type (ignore the being-a-starter detail)? You can't be much more logical than that!
It's like imagining that there was a Dinosaur-type, a pokémon like Rampardos (for example) not be of that type and then have someone saying "yeah, it's a dinosaur but so what?"...

I'd like to give another example that just came to my mind of why you shouldn't think everything GF decides is correct or logical...
Crobat, for example. It's a bat. A bat is a mammal as everyone knows (or at least should know). Crobat can learn Brave Bird and Sky Attack (called God Bird in Japan)... yeah...

 

[zappy800]

There is a "real" idea of a dragon, the same way there is millions of chairs but only one "idea" of a chair. Plato, b****s!

This.

Seriously, when you get to the point of saying "It's clearly a european dragon. So what?", I feel like is isn't worth to keep talking about the subject...
Like professorlight said (and I also said something similar earlier), it doesn't matter if there's not a set definition. Everybody still has a basic ideia of what a dragon is and the european dragon is one of the most recognized and popular variants.
I honestly can't understand someone saying that a pokémon based on the european dragon doesn't have to be Dragon-type... It just doesn't make sense in my head...
I mean, there's not much to explain... it's a dragon. If it's a dragon, why shoudn't it be dragon type (ignore the being-a-starter detail)? You can't be much more logical than that!
It's like imagining that there was a Dinosaur-type, a pokémon like Rampardos (for example) not be of that type and then have someone saying "yeah, it's a dinosaur but so what?"...

I'd like to give another example that just came to my mind of why you shouldn't think everything GF decides is correct or logical...
Crobat, for example. It's a bat. A bat is a mammal as everyone knows (or at least should know). Crobat can learn Brave Bird and Sky Attack (called God Bird in Japan)... yeah...

True but moves given to it are not based on the name just on if they think it should learn it. Besides popular dragons are generally just fire breathing lizards that can fly so both of charizards types make sense. True dragon makes sense but it isn't needed for the pokemon.

 

[Blob55]

So far there only 10 non-legendary fully-evolved Dragon types, including Noivern and I personally think Dragon types will be a bit underpowered in XY, because there seem to be a lot of confirmed Fairy types already and unless there are no new Ice types this gen, I don't think Dragon types will be as big as they were before.
Pretty much like what happened to Psychic types in gen 2.

Anyway, I've done a list of which aspects characterise all types:
Bug - Usually Arthropods.
Dark - Pokémon associated with being evil, sneaky or bossy.
Dragon - Typically mythological lizards and Dinosaurs. Out of all the rare types, it has one of the biggest variety of Classes (like Fish and Mammals).
Electric - Pure and primary Electric types tend to be well known Mammals or machines.
Fighting - Fighting types are usually associated with being manly or well disciplined.
Fire - Usually mammals.
Flying - Half of all Flying types are based on Birds, about a fifth are based on winged Arthropods and third on miscellaneous creatures.
Ghost - Based on creepy and scary myths.
Grass - Most are based on plants, fungi, lizards and Mammals that eat grass.
Ground - Pokémon that live in the ground, are known for digging, live far away from water (deserts) or have a lot to do with land.
Ice - Based on Animals that are known for living in cold regions.
Normal - Usually Mammals or Birds.
Poison - Pure and Primary Poison types tend to be based on either disgusting or poisons/venomous creatures.
Psychic - Pure Psychic types can influence others will by creating illusions or hypnotism. They seem to be similar to Dark types, whereas Dark types will get what they want through sneakiness, Psychic types will get what they want through trickery. This also seems to be what people are confusing Fairy types for.
Rock - Tend to be either Pokémon that come from fossils or based on Rocks.
Steel - Pure and Primary Steel types are based on Man-made objects and Inorganic matter.
Water - Based on the many different creatures that live around or in the sea.

 

[King Xerneas]

Nothing broken about having no weakness either.

There's a reason Spiritomb and Sableye don't have high attack stats....
Anyways most dragon types (if not all dragon types) have some dragon in them, for Ampharos not being a dragon type in gen II, well GF is full of mysteries, Ampharos is probably one of them.

 

[Metalizard]

True but moves given to it are not based on the name just on if they think it should learn it. Besides popular dragons are generally just fire breathing lizards that can fly so both of charizards types make sense. True dragon makes sense but it isn't needed for the pokemon.

Sorry but I absolutely f******' hate when people come up with that because it has to be the most flawed argument ever!

The "fire breathing lizard that can fly" part only applies to European dragons, usually. The Dragon-type doesn't cover only European dragons...
But even if it did, besides Charizard, the other pokémon (not counting legendaries) that are based on European dragons for the most part are Dragonite, Salamence and Druddigon (besides the gargoyles).

Druddigon doesn't even fly. But Dragonite and Salamence do fly and are dragons, they can even use Fire-type attacks (that covers the "spit fire" part).

Going by the "logic" of that argument, all these pokémon should be Fire/Flying and the dragon-type wouldn't need to exist at all!

Add the legendaries to the mix and we have Zekrom and Kyurem as the legendaries that resemble European dragons the most. These are not like Dragonite or Salamence as in even though they can fly, they already have a specific element linked to them which also rules out the "dragons spit fire" stereotype and makes them not Flying-type.

And then there's Reshiram... which despite all those feathers and canid-like head, is pretty much an european dragon too. And guess what? It is Fire-type. It's a Dragon/Fire Pokémon. But like the others of its trio, Reshiram is also capable of flying. Again, according to that argument, why isn't Reshiram Fire/Flying then?

Because there can be Dragon-types that can also be Fire-types as well, even if they fly!

When GF has to choose between 2 out of three possible types for a pokémon and one of those types is Flying, they will almost always leave Flying out. Flygon is Ground/Dragon with Levitate, Hydreigon is Dark/Dragon with Levitate too. Again, the Tao Trio are Dragon/[Correspondent type] and don't even have Levitate even though they can fly. The doesn't happen only with Dragon-types. It also happens with those Bug/Poison pokémon that fly like Beedrill or Dustox or even the Bug/Fire Volcarona...

If Reshiram can be Dragon/Fire and not even have Levitate, so can Charizard. And I know they're not gonna change Charizard, but like I said the other day, with Mega Evolution, they can do that now to the hypothetical Mega Charizard. That's what I'm hoping for, that's all this is about.

 

[TokenDuelist]

Dragons are clumped together with Dinosaurs in Japan. They have for years.

Lots of things would be Dragon-Type when we use that logic - but they aren't.

There are only a few "dragons" in the actual dragon-typing.

 

[98Greener]

I, for one, sees dragons a bit differently from everybody else.

Each dragon type gets a direction.
A place of where they would most commonly be seen in that area.

We have our most recognizable dragon:
The Western dragon. These reptiles have four to six legs and have extremely low tempers. They most often associate with fire and all things destruction. They also have a taste for humans, but not as much as Northern Dragons. (We'll get to that later.) Western Dragons have also been seen causing lightning storms, fire tornados and even whirlpools. They are living disasters, and are not to be reckoned with.

Now we head over to the east, and we take a look at our Eastern Dragon. These dragons have a body of a snake and the head of, well, a dragon. They're are very friendly, but can also be dangerous. These beasts can control the weather and are seemingly the only type of dragon that can fly without wings. People also say they're excellent underwater swimmers, but those could just be sea serpents.

Now for the Northern Dragon. These are a bit different from the Western Dragon, ability wise, but have a huge difference in appearance. Northern Dragons have no arms, and only have a huge set of wings to flap with. It's sort of like a fire breathing Pteradactoyl. These dragons have the biggest appetite, eating cities of humans in one day. Their claws sometimes have deadly poison that could knock out an elephant in one strike. They can breathe out various elements from fire to ice to even electricity.

Finally, we have out Southern Dragon. These are also seen a lot in the media, but are barely brought up as their name...(at least to me) They stand up on two legs and can have long or stubby arms. Its sort of like a dinosaur, except that they sometimes stand straight up, and thy have large wings. Nearly all Southern Dragons have something on the end of their tails: fire, daggers, and even wrecking balls. They have large, intimidating horns that can be used for battle and/or mating. They've made friends with humans quite easily, and are thought to be the first to do so.

Here are the dragons in Pokemon varying by race:

Western: Salamace, Girantina, and Dialga

Eastern: Rayquaza, Kingdra(?)

Northern: Hydreigeon, Altariea, Reshiriam

Southern: Dragonite, Flygon, Zekrom, Kyruem, Garchomp, and Haxorus.

Again, this is what I think of Dragons myself. It's an easier way to remember them easily, and most of these facts come from Pokemon and other games out there.

 

[Their Goominess]

True but moves given to it are not based on the name just on if they think it should learn it. Besides popular dragons are generally just fire breathing lizards that can fly so both of charizards types make sense. True dragon makes sense but it isn't needed for the pokemon.

When GF has to choose between 2 out of three possible types for a pokémon and one of those types is Flying, they will almost always leave Flying out. Flygon is Ground/Dragon with Levitate, Hydreigon is Dark/Dragon with Levitate too. Again, the Tao Trio are Dragon/[Correspondent type] and don't even have Levitate even though they can fly. The doesn't happen only with Dragon-types. It also happens with those Bug/Poison pokémon that fly like Beedrill or Dustox or even the Bug/Fire Volcarona...

If Reshiram can be Dragon/Fire and not even have Levitate, so can Charizard. And I know they're not gonna change Charizard, but like I said the other day, with Mega Evolution, they can do that now to the hypothetical Mega Charizard. That's what I'm hoping for, that's all this is about.

Whilst this is a very good point, I'm pretty sure Reshiram doesn't have Levitate because it's not fully airborne. Most Pokemon that have Levitate we only see flying/levitating, there are a couple of exceptions (Eelektross, Flygon is debatable).
Most legendaries can fly or levitate regardless of type or ability. Saying that since Reshiram has the ability to fly so it should have Levitate, then it also follows that Dialga and Palkia should have Levitate since it has the ability to leave the ground. Heck, you could even say that since Mewtwo's Mega form is permanently levitating, then that should be a Psychic/Flying or have Levitate.
The Tao Trio all learn Fly, so the connection to them with Flying is there. They aren't Flying type because they don't have Flying type powers (apart from Fly), and they don't have Levitate because they aren't fully airborne. (I'm not sure if there's something somewhere that mentions how long they can stay in the air for)