(1). DRAGON / BAKUNAWA
It is the most powerful dragon in Philippine mythology. This friendly and gigantic reptile possessed many powers, all of them destructive. Its abilities include the ability to cause earthquakes, eclipses, rains, winds, among others.
Traditionally, he is depicted with a looping tail (like those videos on youtube that give you hours and hours of the same music) and with a small house at the bottom of the sea. According to legend, the world was made up of 7 moons until Bakunawa thought there were too many to eliminate 6.
Although it may seem immortal, there are ways to confront and defeat it. How do you do it? Very simple. Gather your neighbors, take the pots from their kitchens, go out into the street and do a batukada with them. If you follow these guidelines, Bakunawa will be afraid and not bother them for a while, saving the world thanks to you and your neighbors. This worked for the Filipino elders, otherwise I couldn’t write this article and you couldn’t read it. Another method is to send it to bed with relaxing music, in case the batukada method is too hardcore for your town hall.
(2). DRAGON / TIFON
dragon tifon
Our reptilian protagonist was one of the biggest headaches for the magnanimous Zeus. The last of Gaea faced the leader of the Greek pantheon twice with a balance between a victory and a defeat for each.
He was described as a giant winged monster whose fingers were dragons. There was an abundant presence of snakes in his figure as his legs were composed of these friendly beings. Among its talents, it had the ability to throw fire from its mouth (in case there was any doubt that it was a dragon) and hurricanes with the flapping of their wings.
The power of the typhoon was such that the gods themselves had it, when the typhoon challenged them, they decided to flee to Egypt, becoming various animals to go unnoticed. Zeus, fearing that the typhoon would take away the market of the divine mandate, decided to confront it. However, in the first dispatch, Zeus is defeated by losing his tendons. Hermes manages to turn them around and in the second round, he manages to defeat Typhoon. As punishment, Typhoon is locked up under Mount Edna. Today we can enjoy its activity in the form of volcanic eruptions on the mountain of fire that bears the same name as the mountain.
(3). DRAGON / FAFNIR
dragon fafnir
He was one of the main creatures of the Nordic bestiary. Out of curiosity, he was not born a dragon but, ironically, a dwarf, more precisely a prince.
If there is a prejudice that all dwarves were greedy, it’s because of little ones like Fafnir. According to mythology, he killed his father to get his fortune, which had been acquired by theft. Among these riches was the ring of Andvari, which had a curse perpetrated by the amusing Loki, who transformed Fafnir from a small man into a gigantic dragon. Fafnir’s scales were said to be indestructible. However, one of these bloodthirsty dragon hunters, Sigurd, finds a weak spot and with a broken sword, he exterminates our protagonist.
(4). DRAGON / QUETZALCÓATL
dragon-QUETZALCÓATL
Unlike the rest of his draconic companions, our protagonist had no destructive urge. At least, that’s what the Mayans and Aztecs agreed on. Both civilizations believed that Quetzalcoatl, or the Feathered Serpent, was the creator of the world, the father of the sun and the moon. And if he had time, protector of merchants and artisans. Like a good dragon, he was considered the bearer of fire. His kindness was such that, unlike his divine and bloodthirsty companions in the Mayan/Aztec pantheon, he did not need human sacrifice to be happy. Without a doubt, he is the dragon god that every culture would want.
(5). DRAGON / YAMATA-NO-OROCHI
YAMATA-NO-OROCHI
Yamata is the classic dragon-villain of any action movie or ancient tale. This monstrous being committed his bloody misdeeds in ancient Japan. Witnesses, if they survived, described him as a deformed being with eight tails and eight eyes. He was very hard on the peasantry because he demanded virgins to devour them.
This is where the hero of our story comes into play, the dragon killer hero. His name was Susanowo-no-mikoto and he was the son of the gods. One day, Susanowo came down to earth and discovered the marriage of an old man with his daughter. Everyone was crying, but our hero only noticed his daughter whom he had just fallen in love with. The elders tell him that the reason for his misfortune is that the evil Yamata is looking for his youngest daughter to make his lunch. Susanowo promised to kill the beast if he was allowed to marry the young woman. Her parents agreed (after knowing he was a son of a clear god). Using the young woman as bait, Susanowo managed to finish off the monster after a trick that involved getting Yamata drunk and tearing him apart while he slept.
(6). DRAGON LADÓN
dragon ladon
This is the story of a poor dragon who lost his life at the hands of a wild dragon killer just for trying to do his job without bothering anyone.
Ladon is a dragon from Greek mythology. He looked intimidating because he had no more or less than 100 heads. Ladon was not distinguished by his indestructible scales or his gunshots, but by his polyglot ability since each of his heads spoke a different language.
Just as the goddess Hera needed a guard to watch over her golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides, Ladon hired a doorman to do the job that a nightclub attendant does today.
Ladon’s life went smoothly until the day a certain Heracles tried to sneak into the garden to try to steal the apples. Logically, Ladón couldn’t let it go because it was his job. Far from understanding him, Heracles kills Ladon just for crossing a path. Hera, depressed by the loss of her apples and a little by the loss of her faithful guardian, rewards Ladon’s services by ascending his remains to heaven, turning them into what we call the Constellation of the Dragon.
(7). DRAGON / CHINESE
Chinese dragon
If there is a mythology that particularly venerates dragons, it is the Chinese. For them, dragons symbolize nobility, holiness or good fortune.
They are often linked to the element of water because there is a popular belief that they bring the rains, control the movement of the seas or rivers. As far as this is concerned, there are four dragons that are said to be in charge of the four great seas.
Some of the most famous dragons in Chinese popular culture were Tianlong (the head of all dragons); Shenlong (he was the main one in charge of controlling atmospheric phenomena such as rain, he was said to be very irascible and his fury was responsible for natural disasters related to rain or wind); Fucanglong (he was the most popular god as he was in charge of hidden treasures, being for this reason the most difficult to reach).
(8). DRAGON / KUR
dragon kur
He is considered the first dragon of the Sumerian culture, i.e. a pioneer. The Sumerians believed him to be the lord of the underworld. Among his evil deeds was the kidnapping of the goddess Erishkigal, who was forcibly invited to spend a long stay in the residence of our antagonist.
As always, we relied on the appearance of a brave dragon hunter to rescue the lady in distress and fix the mess. Our hero’s name was Enki. Such a feat served as a prologue to the famous Gilgamesh Epic. We imagine that not being the main story, the protagonists of this Epic had more interesting adventures than the slaughter of a simple dragon of the underworld.
(9). DRAGON / STOOR WORM
stoor worm
This is another draconian villain who would be punished for his evil deeds. He belongs to Scottish mythology. He is described as a giant sea serpent whose main weapon was his halitosis capable of destroying men and plants with the same speed that today ends with passion after an unfortunate kiss under the influence of such a fragrant companion.
One day, the beast threatened a country in Northern Europe. To stop it, a lumbreras proposed to the king that the best way to appease it was to sacrifice 7 virgins. The king wisely declined this suggestion and preferred to hire an expert dragon slayer offering a salary that would be divided as follows: his kingdom; his daughter’s hand; a magic sword. After an arduous selection process, the chosen one is the son of a farmer named Assipattle. The humble young man does his job and slays the dragon.
Despite this, Stoor leaves a good legacy as parts of his body such as teeth rose the Faroe Islands; Shetland and Orkney. The rest of his body would become Iceland.
