Well, the Udyfrykte Matron was more a shout-out than a quest. According to the Making Of DVD, that sword from Chorrol in a sidequest was going to be unique but wasn't as well. In any event, Dragons are in TES lore, but they are more of a last resort nuclear assault from the Empire than a monster to be slain by adventurers or even your run-of-the-mill living weapon.

Like everyone else has said, they exist, but are super rare and don't really care about the affairs of men and mer.

That whole wiki is so wrought with so much....inaccuracies and blatant ass pulls! IT NEEDS TO BE PURGED!

As for the OP, there are dragons in ES. They are very old, very powerful, and VERY smart creatures. They're not some rampaging monsters that eat people and destroy villages for the lulz. The empire holds them to near god status, as they represent their chief deity and are a symbol of the empire. In fact, dragons, pretty much, are demi-gods. In addition, the empire will protect these creatures, and even took a lot from Morrowind after being driven out by cliffraces (the CRs ate all the food, and they themselves are not very nutritious).

If you want to kill one, it's just not going to happen. First off, they're way too big and powerful. Just to gauge how tough they are, it took 7 days and a score of men to kill a Wamasus, the closest thing to a dragon. Second, even if you manage to kill one, you will be killed on sight all over Tamriel.

Cyrus was praised for killing one.

My hope is just they won't pull a "A evil dragon terrorizes us, kill it" in a "official" TES series title, otherwise they have lost the very last thing that holds TES above other fantasy for me.

The Knights of the Nine were, as well.

"The fame of the knights was established early on when Sir Amiel led them against the Wyrm of Elynglenn to recover the Cuirass of the Crusader, which had not been seen since the First Era." -http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Knights_of_the_Nine

Good find. And considering that battlemages ride dragons, I don't think they're nearly as revered or respected as people would lead you to believe.

Has Bethesda ever retconned the dragonlings shown in Daggerfall? The stereotypical, treasure-hoarding dungeon-dwelling dragon actually seems to be within TES lore. It was a dragon who drove the dwarves out of Fang Lair, dragons who were fought in Daggerfall, a dragon inside a treasure vault that Cyrus defeated, and a dragon that guarded the Cuirass of the Crusader inside an Ayleid ruin. Dragons are defintely rare on in Tamriel, I'm sure they're respected as powerful, sacred beings, considering Akatosh's form and Tosh Raka's achievement, and I'm sure they're respected as sacred, secret weapons by the Imperials, especially since the dragon Cyrus killed was used by the Imperials as a last resort in one of their major battles, but many of the few dragons we know of in TES universe seem to be dungeon-dwelling lizards. Bethesda hasn't really done anything too special or unique with them. An Elder Scrolls game certainly isn't the first place I've heard of powerful, sacred dragons, but even within TES universe, dragons seem to follow their stereotypes as creatures to be killed inside dungeons. :shrug:

Sadly that wouldn't be the first time they trample on their own lore for convenience and cliché sake.

The first time a dragon was ever mentioned in the series was with a dragon who drove dwarves out of a dungeon and made the place its lair. At its very core, the series has always been cliché. The next time dragons were shown/mentioned in any way were as dungeon-dwelling enemies in Daggerfall. The next time a dragon was shown/mentioned, it was the treasure-loving(assuming from its lair), dungeon-dwelling Nafaalilargus that was to be killed. They didn't trample on their own lore. That was the lore, and still is. The Wyrm of Elynglenn is no different from past dragons.

Nafaalilargus was only put there to guard the soulstone by the Imperials there. He was under orders, and Cyrus needed that soulstone.

Except that he was there living in the cave long before the Imperials had the soul stone. The soul stone was a gift from N'Gasta to Richton to leave his island alone, then a gift from Richton to the dragon as a reward for his service.

I am pretty sure nords in skyrim worship dragons, so yes they existed but is there any still alive? Probably since aka tosh deity has daedra of it's own, so they may resemble dragons.

Yet he was still in a treasure-filled dungeon guarding something valuable. I don't think that is a coincidence. The Wyrm of Elynglenn was just guarding the cuirass. It may have been under Ayleid orders. It was still a dungeon-dwelling creature guarding something valuable. Ever see Shrek? That dragon was there under someone else's will to guard the princess in the dungeon(Which story inspired this scene? I can't remember the name, for some reason.) Where are the people claiming that is original? It's all too coincidental that Bethesda just happened to create Nafaalilargus' circumstances to match the stereotypical portrayal of dragons for them to not have just used a stereotypical portrayal of dragons, unless you don't consider the story with the dragon, the dungeon, and the princess that inspired Shrek's version to be cliché. In that case, Bethesda just copied someone else's portrayal of the beasts. Either way, Bethesda's dragons aren't really all original.

Of course there are dragons. You just have to fly up very high to see one. The ones on the ground are invisible.

Regardless, aren't I technically a dragon?

No, you are a daedric prince who looks like a dragon.

Nopper, but I still see them as immature/baby dragon that would hardly get to advlt age by the time the game end in Daggerfall.

Nonetheless, I pretty much view Dragon as "original" in the sense that they pretty much are not the "evil dragons" that horde treasures. Of course, its easier to see them in the position like Nafaalilargus or Wyrm of Elynglenn guarding something very important but to think, its better to secure something that pretty much can shallow a human whole rather than letting a human guard it themselves (dragons don't know what to do with the item they are guarding anyways).

Then there the account of their power. There are accounts that one dragon alone can do so much damage to an army. There is a reason why their power is always view in god tiers. There are defeats, but for a reason. Cyrus got lucky the dragon in a small treasure room and that he is the main hero of the game. I am pretty sure there are more to the story about Wyrm of Elynglenn than just one sentence, like preparations, death counts of the knights, and days of fighting the wyrm, blessing from the 8 divines (though I still see this DLC as a typical Knight and Shining armor, so seeing this account about the dragon isn't all that surprising). Same goes with that dragon-like creature that a bunch of highlander fought in Black Marches for days with getting a tooth as a trophy.

Pretty much all this combination, plus their status within the Empire as the Nuker, pretty much distinguish themselves from other fiction of how they handle dragons.

I had a few thoughts on dragons myself and I actually remembered something that could explain them a bit.
This idea actually comes from a old cartoon series where there was a species that in it's younger years is wild and feral but as it matures builds a human like intelligence.

A system like this would be interesting for Dragons. As young ones (Dragonlings) they are pretty much instinct controlled and wild, when they get older a basic intelligence arises where they reach a intelligence level similar to primates. Maturing further their intelligence reaches human like levels and complex problem solving skills. Their "wisdom" is pretty much tied to the enormous age they can reach, so a young dragon that just matured it's intelligence won't be a all wise all knowing creature, one that is 1000 years old already and may have lived through a lot of things is a different story.

Also how they lived, where treated and interacted with other "intelligent" creatures can heavily influence how their matured character is. One that always had to run away from humans and has been chased and hunted by them will not have a good connection to them when it matures. Mostly how it was in the middle phase when "pattern seeking" emerges. At first they just notice "danger, run away / fight", when they're older they can notice WHAT is the danger, when adventurers constantly come bursting in and pester them they will soon notice that they are a danger. Once reaching the fully matured state they will notice how those creatures can organize and be an active threat to them which will then cause them to take actions depending on their experiences.

This would be a big deciding factor how they build relationships with other civilizations, if they have always been tolerated and not actively hunted down they will remain neutral towards others, if they have been hunted down they will be aggressive. But if they have been "integrated" more or less they can build friendships, bonds and loyalty.


So all in all it would NOT be "this dragon is born evil" and "this one is born good", it's more "people have been bastards to this one, don't expect any better treatment in return" and "he was treated with respect and shown that he can trust these people and he will honor that". Of course they should have their own personalities and will and make decisions on what THEY think is right, though they can possibly be reasoned with.


Also as a small side note, DON'T make them "big scaly elfs", that's a "mistake" many make when they make them "intelligent". You know what I mean, speaking snobbish, using lots of purple prose, their nose so far up in the clouds they'd have trouble breathing, that kind. They would still be animals and just possess the ability for complex problem solving, seeing patterns and interacting with other intelligent creatures, most of all able to SEE what others do, see THOSE patterns and make decisions on those. If they see the villagers putting together bands of warriors with "dragon hunting" equipment they won't just sit there and watch but they won't just start terrorizing people randomly.
Intelligent in the way to know what to do and not just make decisions on instincts AND actually able to think about future consequences of actions.

There's also dragon scale armor, so they must be hunted for their carcass as well.

Those were apparently Akaviri Dragons, which are supposedly different from Tamrielic ones.

I see it as symbolic rather than actual. Could be metal tempered to shape scale or off of a old dead dragon body. Mass production would otherwise be the result of that were the case of hunting them down if its that easy.

I tried doing some research on dragonscale armor, and the only source of information there is in TIL, listed as an Akaviri design and import, with what it is made of dubious.

One of the few truths from M'iaq. Dragons actually ARE invisible. Maybe not in the conventional method, but you'd never spot one walking down the street! ^_^

I guess that means there were spears and crossbows in Oblivion, they were just invisible.

So like any pre-quality control merchandise, it is likely not even close to Dragonscale. But there are a lot of things in Tamriel called "Dragon" or "Drake" that simply are not that. I remember references to river dragons in the Pocket Guide, Sea-Drakes in the novel, but neither were full-out Dragons.