Dragons

[Ellerby]

[FONT=Tahoma][color=#555555]Hah, that's right. Dragons.

It occurred to me the other day that at some point in time, it would be very possible for dragons to have existed way back when.

Think about it, stories are passed down of giant lizards and such. I think it's plausible that they once could've roamed the Earth, and just went extinct for one reason or another.

Of course, it's very possible that all the stories are just made up, much like other myths. But that's all in opinion. The opinion I want to hear from you guys. What's your take on this? Do you think dragons (most likely didn't breath fire) existed at any point in time?[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Derald]

[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=1][COLOR=Sienna]Were dragons real at one time or another? Why not? I could believe that, indeed I could. I mean, there really isn't any evidence against their existence, and, qouting a line from [I]The Boondocks[/I], "The abscence of evidence is not the evidence of abscence." In other words, just because you can't find evidence that something exists doesn't mean that something doesn't exist.

I believe that somewhere out there is something waiting to be uncovered.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[Guest tanukioh]

I BELIEVE! I THINK DRAGONS WERE/ARE REAL! o.o O.o Though I side more with the eastern "nice dragon" than the western "mean dragon".

[Retribution]

[size=1]The dragons we see in medieval stories certainly never existed. There were, however, dinosaurs that had a similar skeletal structure to those dragons depicted in literature of the Middle Ages and whatnot.

So, in a nutshell, the answer is sort of.[/size]

[kalon]

Almost every culture in the world has some type of dragon. It seems unlikely for Asia, Europe, and South America to all have their own forms of dragons when the rest of the culture evolved so differently. Animal Planet had a really good show about how it is possible for dragons to have existed. Even the Bible mentions them.

[NekoSama101]

if you believe that the bible is true, then consider this: God only refers beings to other beings. ex: he refers to the devil as a lion several times. So if he refers to the devil as a dragon, than that means that they were around at some point in time. This also makes you to think: what about all the other mystical creatures? well, i believe that they also existed at one time and might still exist on another planet.

[Albert Flasher]

[quote name='silver_blade']Almost every culture in the world has some type of dragon. It seems unlikely for Asia, Europe, and South America to all have their own forms of dragons when the rest of the culture evolved so differently. Animal Planet had a really good show about how it is possible for dragons to have existed. Even the Bible mentions them.[/quote][FONT=Times New Roman]
[COLOR=Sienna]
'Dragon' is a term we gave them as a group, but most of the different dragons in mythos are related because they are 'vaguely reptillian with big teeth.' For example, European dragons are large, winged creatures who breathed fire and captures maidens and gold and faught muscle-bound knights in big metal suits. Asian dragons, conversly, were very serpantine, benevolent creatures who were wise and magical and helped out headless samurai warriors in need.

I'm hardly an expert on dragonic mythos, but I'd imagine the trend is similar whereever you go. The local dominant reptile becomes exagerated and turns into some mythical creature. The rainbow snake in Australia, that's a kind of dragon ('vaguely reptillian with big teeth'), but is it in any way related to the other kinds of dragons? Not really, no.

So in short, while it's not impossible, it's so highly improbable it might as well be considered impossible.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Guest tanukioh]

[quote name='NekoSama101']if you believe that the bible is true, then consider this: God only refers beings to other beings. ex: he refers to the devil as a lion several times. So if he refers to the devil as a dragon, than that means that they were around at some point in time. This also makes you to think: what about all the other mystical creatures? well, i believe that they also existed at one time and might still exist on another planet.[/quote]
O.o they could be on this planet. ^_^ I think some mystic creatures just live on a separate plane of the same planet. A hidden-world, which some people can take peeks into.

[Japan]

[COLOR=Indigo]In the Bible it mentions Noah walking along with big creatures. That may be the dinosaurs, that may be dragons. They may even be both!


I find the Asian dragons more fun to read about then the ones from the Middle Ages. [/COLOR]

[Music_Lover1986]

Sure I think that dragons did or do exist. Everybody loves dragons so sure why wouldn't they be real?

[Shinjitsu]

[color=dodgerblue]Hmmm... well, there is the Komodo Dragon. lol, but anyhow, basically I guess there is a possibility, however slim, that dragons did exist. It's all debatable, but personally I think that yeah, there were lizard-like creatures that could fly at one stage of the earth's life. Wether you call them dragons, flying lizards, dinosaurs or whatever, they're still essentially the same thing... save the fire-breathing, lol.[/color]

[color=aqua][b]Edit:[/b] fixed the spelling mistake. Thank you ever so muchly, Raiyuu![/color]

[Dodeca]

[SIZE=1]I know this is completely off-topic, but...

[quote name='NekoSama101']...he refers to the devil as a lion several times.[/quote]
The devil was never referred to as a lion. The whole 'lion and the lamb' phrase was wholy used to describe Christ - the lion, a symbol of majesty and power; the lamb, a symbol of laying himself down as a sacrifice in spite of this. Bleh.

[quote name='NekoSama101']...So if he refers to the devil as a dragon, than that means that they were around at some point in time.[/quote]
Of course, remember that 'dragon' in the bible is a translation of an Arabic (?) word, and so it may just be a 'nearest equivalent' scenario. The word was probably only used so as to relate to the European concept of the dragon - a fearsome beast that preys on humanity, perfect link for a beast representing the devil, yes?

[COLOR=DimGray][I][theory][/I][/COLOR]
Personally, I don't think that dragons ever really existed. Back in medieval times, and in the relevant time periods in other parts of the world, society was still quite heavily ruled by superstition and mysticism, and assumed meanings of this-and-that. Basically, I go with the theory that dinosaur fossils may've been uncovered earlier in history, long before man took an active interest in science and the ages before mankind. If the medieval equivalent of archeologists happened to dig up a dinosaur skull, I somehow doubt their first reaction would've have been to study and record it. Rumours of a giant lizard skull would spread, and presumably, eventually be transformed into rumours of a living giant lizard. Here enters the dragon.

And, if this is the case, dragon stories exist all over the globe [I]because dinosaurs existed all across the world.
[COLOR=DimGray][/theory][/COLOR][/I][/SIZE]

[Raiyuu]

[font=Trebuchet MS][quote name='Music_Lover1986][/font']Everybody loves dragons so sure why wouldn't they be real?[font=Trebuchet MS][/quote] Everybody loves Hypno-Toad. He isn't real.

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon"][u]Here be dragons[/u][/url] <- click for Komodo Dragon info.
[/font]

[Stark]

[SIZE=1]I remember watching one of those scientific channels--National Geographic, Discovery, or something like that--and they were doing a little synopsis on dragons. According to that documentary, the Dragons that we know of are part of an ancient memory that's been engrained into our colletive consciousness. The reason is because a dragon is the representtative of three ancient enemies that our pre-human ancestors had to face. These are Lions, Snakes, and Falcons.

You can see traits of all three if you look at a dragon; Lion in the rather feline shape of the head, falcon in the wings and claws, and snake in the overall shape of its body. It's actually a very plausible way of looking at things from the stand point of anthropology or sociology.

So there's my two-cents, and proof that I have nothing better to do with my time some days than to sit around and watch the National Geographic Channel. lol.[/SIZE]

[Sayuri-sama]

actually i do believe anything is possible , so therefore i do believe that dragons could have existed. theres a lot of evidence that they did. if you look at it many other countries have the dragon in some some point in their history. how is it that so many different, isolated countries all came up with the same concept of the dragon? i for one do believe in them, although i also think that the human imagination has exaggerated their concept a little too much, such as the whole breathing fire thingy.also if you look at the great wall of china from above it is the spinal cord of a dragon. lol!! i luv dragons!!!:animesmil

[Eva10]

Hey does anyone remember that pickled baby dragon they found in Germany? I never followed that story till the end. Anyone here knows what happened?

[Albert Flasher]

[quote name='Sayuri-sama']actually i do believe anything is possible , so therefore i do believe that dragons could have existed. theres a lot of evidence that they did. if you look at it many other countries have the dragon in some some point in their history. how is it that so many different, isolated countries all came up with the same concept of the dragon? i for one do believe in them, although i also think that the human imagination has exaggerated their concept a little too much, such as the whole breathing fire thingy.also if you look at the great wall of china from above it is the spinal cord of a dragon. lol!! i luv dragons!!!:animesmil[/quote][FONT=Times New Roman]
[COLOR=Sienna]
See, the thing is (like I said in my post), these seperate cultures only have dragons because we lump them together. If you showed an ancient Chinaperson a picture of a European dragon, chances are they wouldn't have any idea what it was, or relate it in any way to the Eastern Dragons.

Also, many cultures didn't have dragons, and many that did simply stole the idea of dragons from another culture (With some changes, of course).

And about the pickled baby dragon in Germany: Last I heard, it was a hoax... I'd have to look in to it. But frankly, it sounds about as likely as finding a Australian Tiger or a Duck-billed Platapus (I refuse to believe that they exist!)[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Raphael]

[FONT=Palatino Linotype]I don't know why, but I seemed to be interested in this topic, although I do know that I had such fragile brain. :D

Well, here's a quote from someone who said had seen a dragon while he's young.

[QUOTE=Volodimir Kapusianyk] Relegated to myth by many cultures, dragons did, in fact, exist - but now, alas, are extinct, the last having died in captivity in 1911 in a small traveling zoo in Nebraska, where, as a teenager, I saw it. It was pitiful creature, scrawny, barely 8 feet long, not a wisp of smoke coming from it, and, greatest indignity of all, mistakenly labeled a "Rare Winged Garter Snake." But I knew better, and on that fateful day chose to devote my life to the study of these magnificent creatures.

Many critics deride draconology, claiming a creature like a dragon, apparently reptilian yet able to fly and breath fire, is scientifically impossible.

The key, however, is that phrase "apparently reptilian." Yes, dragons looked reptilian - but they were not. They were, in fact, a phylum unto themselves, like no other creature that ever walked the Earth.

This textbook contains all I have learned or theorized about dragons. Chapter 2, for example, deals with flight. To fly, a creature must generate enough lift to counteract the force of gravity exerts on its mass. To fly really well, you must maximize lift and minimize mass. Dragons' huge wings generated plenty of lift, and they minimized their mass in two ways.

First, their bones, like birds', were almost hollow. Second, they were made, not of the usual mixture of calcium and other minerals, but from long chain of hydrocarbon: a natural form of very strong, very light plastic which also formed their incredibly tough scales (Chapter 9).

In fact, their whole bodies were awash in hydrocarbons. They had large internal bladders filled with methane, a natural byproduct of digestion in human, and more so in dragons. Methane is lighter than air, so this bladder, like a giant internal balloon, reduced mass (and enhanced flight) even more.

Methane is also flammable, and dragons evolved a way to spew flaming methane for defensive purposes (Chapter 14). Study of dragon fossils (Chapter 5) reveals that dragons had a specialized organ in the roof of their mouth in which a jagged nugget of iron, coalesced from iron in the dragon's bloodstream, hung suspended with pieces of flint, which the dragon ingested as needed. When the dragon exhaled methane, the iron and flint tumbled around, generating sparks, which ignited the gas.

Dragons' peculiar body chemistry also made their blood highly corrosive (Chapter 10). Essentially, they were walking chemical factories, their bloodstream filled with toxic waste.

Finally, in Chapter 21, we will examine in detail how dragons' growing dependence for food on virgins provided by local villagers made them fat, lazy and easy prey for glory-hungry knights, who drove them into a long, slow decline that ended at last with the death of that poor, bedraggled specimen in Nebraska.

Draconology is a difficult but rewarding field of study. I hope you enjoy your journey through it.[/QUOTE]

NOTE: I don't know anything about those chapters he's talking about, but I include them just to let you all know.

I don't have much to said, as I stated before, I don't have much talent on speaking sciences and all. I just thought that this might help. :animesmil[/FONT]

[Dodeca]

[SIZE=1]^

Omgeth, Raph dost quoteth a crazy man!!

He [i]claims[/i] to have seen a dragon, and apparently was the oly perso to realise it was a dragon. Wow...

He makes statements on dragon's organs and bone composition/structure, even though I've never heard anything of his little 'dragon fossils'.

Lol, he even tries to explain things by stating how the dragon's body chemistry functions, despite the fact that, as he said himself, there isn't a living dragon from which he could actually test or prove any of this.

[quote name='Volodimir Kapusianyk][SIZE=1]This textbook contains all I have [strike]learned or theorized[/strike'] made up about dragons.[/size][/quote]

No offence Raph, but please, for the love of Ol' Jimmy, don't quote this guy again...[/SIZE]

[Justin]

I honestly think dragons are dinosaurs. I think society, of course, put their own spin on dinosaurs and slowly they evolved into the mythic dragons we know today, but their origins are far more logical. I do not, however, think it is because people uncovered dinosaur fossils, though.

I think it is because we once walked with dinosaurs.

-Justin

[Raphael]

[QUOTE=Dodeca][SIZE=1]^

Omgeth, Raph dost quoteth a crazy man!!

He [i]claims[/i] to have seen a dragon, and apparently was the oly perso to realise it was a dragon. Wow...

He makes statements on dragon's organs and bone composition/structure, even though I've never heard anything of his little 'dragon fossils'.

Lol, he even tries to explain things by stating how the dragon's body chemistry functions, despite the fact that, as he said himself, there isn't a living dragon from which he could actually test or prove any of this.[/SIZE][/QUOTE][FONT=Palatino Linotype]Kinda surprising even for me too, whether he's lying or not I don't know. But at least most of his words does makes senses for me who got E for his physics and C for his chems.[/FONT]

[QUOTE=Dodeca][SIZE=1][QUOTE=Volodimir Kapusianyk][SIZE=1]
This textbook contains all I have [strike]learned or theorized[/strike] made up about dragons.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

No offence Raph, but please, for the love of Ol' Jimmy, don't quote this guy again...[/SIZE][/QUOTE][FONT=Palatino Linotype]It takes me a while to wake up from the confusion of that made up thing. Silly me :animeblus

I did not takes side on this discussion, as I said before I just interested and felt that I had to put something in this thread. I came across this quote and well I put it in here and wanted to see how ppl would react to it.

And yeah Dodeca, you're reaction's a funny one :D[/FONT]

[Dodeca]

[SIZE=1]Heh, I understand Raph. I just occasionally like to pick away at randomly-obscure-named people who make crazy theories. It makes my day, week, month and year.

Heck, sometimes I'll even call my friends Ooklydocathokalon and force them to make up a nonsensical theory, just so I can have the joy of ripping it apart...

...Well, not really for that second part, but it would be vaguely entertaining, no? [/SIZE]

[Boo]

[size=1]Dragons exist. My brother had a dragon plushie [i]so real dragons exist too![/i]

They've been reffered to in the bible, but that's all. It was a one-of-a-kind thing. If there would've ever been something like the dragon described through myths and whatever else, this was it.

That's a fact, because I'm as old as the earth is old and I know all.[/size]

[Guest Prick Wizard]

[QUOTE=White][FONT=Tahoma][color=#555555]Hah, that's right. Dragons.

It occurred to me the other day that at some point in time, it would be very possible for dragons to have existed way back when.

Think about it, stories are passed down of giant lizards and such. I think it's plausible that they once could've roamed the Earth, and just went extinct for one reason or another.

Of course, it's very possible that all the stories are just made up, much like other myths. But that's all in opinion. The opinion I want to hear from you guys. What's your take on this? Do you think dragons (most likely didn't breath fire) existed at any point in time?[/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE]

This also gives weight to the theory about enchanted elven crop circles!!!

Elves are well known to have magical banquets with jesters and even dwarves and knights from other realms. They perform elven river dances yet their magical feet leave little trace on the ground. However, their elven music spreads far and wide, through trees and valleys and into caves and mountains.

Dragons have always been the sworn enemies of elves ever since the days that ork warbands used to ride their scaley bodies and steel loot from drawves and knights of good who were going on great adventures.

If dragons were to invade these elven feasts they would sweep down with their sharp gnarly claws and breath flames of fire and black magical smoke from their nostrils.

This might scorch the crops and corn leaving giant burning marks which people wrongly presume must be beings from other planets based on little evidence.

Although Elves are known to dance complex crop circles through magical foot tapping and elbow shaking this would certainly explain why their are quite often burn marks left on the ground.

I have a love/hate relationship with dragons. Faaaaaaar too money orientated for my liking.

[DeathKnight]

[quote name='Prick Wizard']This also gives weight to the theory about enchanted elven crop circles!!![/quote]

[color=crimson]Hey, you're right!!! Awesome. I totally second that statement.

I doubt that the mythological dragon as we know it existed as a real creature. I would be more likely to endorse the idea that Stark said in this thread [the ancient memories one].

Still, Dragons are way cool. If I ever met one I'd certainly become giddy prior to being slaughtered mercilessly/immolated.[/color]