This article is about dragons in general. For the class inFates known as "Dragon" in Japanese, seeFeral Dragon. For the final boss ofThe Blazing Blade, seeDragon (The Blazing Blade).

Dragons (Japanese:竜dragon), collectively referred to as thedragonkin (Japanese:竜族dragon tribe), are a species of powerful and legendary giant reptiles which frequently play a significant role in theFire Emblem series. There are numerous subspecies of dragon, each with command over a unique elemental power or other trait. In the eras in which eachFire Emblem game is set, they usually appear in the form ofManaketes, shapeshifted into a human-like form in order to preserve their strength and avoid consequences to their health.

History

In Archanea/Ylisse

In antiquity, Archanea was the epicenter of an advanced and enlightened dragon civilization prior to the rise of humanity, one overseen by the wisdom of thedivine dragons. The dragon civilization reigned supreme and uncontested for at least three thousand years, until the species entered a period of decline: a mysterious wave of deteriorating health struck them, rendering them infertile and slowly driving them mad. In response, the dragonkin learned that the only way to survive the condition was to take the forms of humans, and so sought to convince all dragons to do so. While many (including almost allearth dragons) refused to accept this and eventually devolved into mindless beasts, others accepted the word of the dragon elders and took human forms, thus becoming Manaketes.^[1] By sealing their powers intodragonstones, Manaketes retained the ability to temporarily become dragons, but never for long owing to the risks posed to their health. Meanwhile, those dragons who shunned the Manakete form ultimately turned into wild, volatile beasts with no remaining semblance of self, and eventually came to populate the wilds ofAnri's Way in the continent's untamed north. The earth dragon clans, meanwhile, engaged humanity in theBattle of the Guardian Deity Naga, only to be repelled and defeated byNaga and the divine dragons; at this war's conclusion the defeated earth dragons were sealed away by Naga in theDragon Altar and remained there for millennia under the watch of one of their own kind, the ManaketeMedeus.

In the following millennia as humans became the dominant power over the Archanean continent, Manaketes became the target of racism from humans in an exercise of their new-found power over the land. In their weak humanoid forms, the Manaketes were easily abused and mistreated, and were condemned to living in poverty. This ultimately led to the rise of Medeus and hisDolhr Empire, which sought to exact vengeance upon humanity for their crimes against the Manaketes and to retake Archanea as the land of the dragonkin.^[2] Although he succeeded in ruling the world for two periods of time adding up to several decades, Medeus was thrice thwarted and killed: first byAnri, then twice more by his descendant, the Hero-KingMarth. During his third reign of terror, wild dragons served Medeus and his minions,Gharnef andHardin, in fighting Marth's forces; this included a number of earth dragons, as the seal in the Dragon Altar had been progressively weakening for centuries.

It is uncertain what became of dragons in the post-Marth world. In the era ofChrom ofYlisse, Manaketes continued to exist, but little is known of what social presence they may or may not have held, other than that they are regarded as rare and mythical entities.^[3] The Anri's Way region was ultimately settled by humans to form the kingdom ofFerox,^[4][5] implying the wild dragon populations of the region were wiped out or relocated.

In Elibe

In ancient times,Elibe hosted a dragon population which coexisted peacefully with humanity. This changed with the start ofthe Scouring, a war waged by humans to take Elibe as wholly their own and to purge dragons from it entirely. Despite their immense power, the dragons were hindered by their lower population and far slower birth rate compared to humans, prompting the creation ofa demon dragon intended to artificially bolster the number of dragons fighting in the war. In retaliation, humans forged the eightlegendary weapons, extremely powerful weapons forged solely to fight dragons. As with their Archanean counterparts, the dragons of Elibe were also forced to become Manaketes as a result of theEnding Winter, a distortion of the laws of nature caused by the power of the divine weapons which resulted in dragons no longer being able to exist in their present forms.^[6] In the Scouring's aftermath, the vast majority of surviving dragons fled Elibe through the Dragon's Gate onValor; most of those who remained took up residence inArcadia, while one more—Jahn—hid in the Dragon Temple for the following centuries to heal wounds sustained in the Scouring. Occasionally, dragons crossed back into Elibe through the Dragon's Gate: three fire dragons were summoned through it byNergal in the year 980.

In Magvel

Only two dragons are seen to still be living inMagvel during the course ofThe Sacred Stones, both of whom take the form of Manaketes. These two Manaketes,Morva and his adopted daughterMyrrh, are said by the people of the village ofCaer Pelyn to act as watchful guardians over humans. In the original conflict with the Demon KingFomortiis in Magvel's antiquity, Morva's power was a crucial factor in ensuring the Five Heroes were able to use theSacred Stones to defeat Fomortiis and seal him away.^[7]

For the following eight centuries, Morva remained in Darkling Woods, the last resting place of Fomortiis, to protect the world from his ongoing influence. Although Morva's role in combating Fomortiis is not acknowledged in retellings of the tale by the majority of Magvel's population, the village ofCaer Pelyn holds Morva, and Myrrh by extension, in reverence for their contributions.^[8]

While Myrrh and Morva are the only living dragons seen in Magvel, the presence ofreanimated dragon corpses suggests more lived there at one time. Myrrh also mentions being orphaned during the original war with the Demon King;^[9] this, the reference to Morva leading an entire tribe, along with the presence of the reanimated corpses suggests that dragons and Manaketes were significantly wiped out at some point, or simply rarely interact with humans. Myrrh initially expresses some doubts to protecting humanity like her father,^[10] possibly suggesting other dragons avoid interaction with humans.

In Tellius

The dragons ofTellius are but one of the tribes oflaguz, shapeshifters who can take both human and animalistic forms, and so have a very different origin compared to the dragons of other lands. Like all laguz andbeorc, the dragon laguz evolved from theZunanma, an ancient race of the first non-divine sentients to dwell in Tellius. In the centuries following the Great Flood and the ensuing sealing ofthe dark god, the dragon tribe resided in their own nation,Goldoa, which maintained a strict policy of total isolation and neutrality. The dragon kingDheginsea believed that the dragons were too powerful to co-exist with the other races and that, to preserve the balance of peace, they must not interfere with the outside world, but nonetheless on several occasions dragons left Goldoa anyway to explore the rest of the world. Several dragons are known to have been subjected to the experiments ofIzuka and transformed intoFeral Ones.

Characteristics

Across their numerous subspecies dragons take a wide variety of forms and present great diversity in their appearances.

Dragon subspecies

• Fire dragons: The most frequently seen type of dragon. Fire dragons are red in hue, typically bulky and grounded, and have the ability to wield powerfulflame breath. They have a heated history of war with humanity and a general distaste for them.
• Ice dragons: Typically found dwelling in frigid regions, the ice dragons are thinner, distinctly serpentine in shape, andcan exhale blasts of ice to attack.
• Mage dragons: This breed of dragon is oriented around magical powers, and are completely immune to opposing magical attacks from humans. They have a close relationship with the Earth tribe.
• Wyverns: An entirely airborne dragon species whose agility is unrivalled among the dragonkin and are all degenerated. They are ridden byWyvern Riders.
• Maligs: A race of "evil dragons" sharing characteristics to the wyvern, with darker scales and glowing red eyes that are ridden by Malig knights.
• Divine dragons: Hailed as the greatest of all the dragonkin, the divine dragons typically act as wise leaders among dragons. In Archanea, the divine dragonNaga is worshipped as a god by humanity, and has long fought to protect humans from the dangers of dragons.
• Earth dragons: A prideful breed of dragons whose might rivals that of the divine dragons. Imposing and armored, earth dragons have the ability toexhume a sinister shadow power on their foes. Historically the earth dragons have hated humans and sought to dominate them, exemplified byMedeus andLoptous.
• Shadow dragons: A twisted evolved form of earth dragons, born of dark powers. The only known shadow dragon isMedeus.
• Demon Dragons: A soulless one-of-a-kind breed born by transforming a divine dragon and intended solely to produce war dragons. The only known demon dragon isIdunn.
• Fell Dragons: A malevolent species of dragons that is naturally attuned todark magic. Some are capable of raising the dead as mindless slaves.
• Astral Dragons: A dragon species native to the astral plane with the ability to travel between worlds andDeeprealms. The only known Astral dragon isLilith.
• First Dragons: A group of godlike dragons that held unimaginable power in Nohr, Hoshido, and Valla, before most of them degenerated and died.
  • Silent Dragons: The species ofAnankos, one of the First Dragons, which has control over water and ruled Valla before his degeneration.
  • Feral Dragons: The dragon form taken by two of Anankos's descendants,Corrin andKana that have control over water.

Laguz dragons

Main article:Laguz

The laguz dragon tribes do not share the elemental classifications of the other dragons, and instead are divided into three casteswhich, while all physically similar, differ in strength, power and body color. Their relation to the dragons of other lands is unknown.

• Red dragons: A caste of dragon laguz who tend toward being bulky and physically strong.
• White dragons: An arcane dragon laguz caste which wields power more in line with the magic of humans.
• Black dragons: The rarest of the laguz dragons and their ruling caste. Black dragons are extremely powerful and possess longevity greater than any other laguz clan, and by extension vastly beyond that ofbeorc.

Others

• Sea Dragons: An unused dragon class that has never made an official appearance in theFire Emblem series. A boss of this class was planned forFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light and data of the class can be found in the code ofFire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.
• War dragons: Artificial dragons spawned by a demon dragon such asIdunn. They all possess no emotions, and exist only to fight on the behalf of their master. All known war dragons are fire dragons.
• Blight Dragon, a unique draconic form taken by theEmpty Vessel,Garon, upon drawing the strength of Anankos. Looks identical to, and is referred to in the Japanese help text as, Nohr'sDusk Dragon.
• Necrodragons: The corpse of a dead dragon reanimated through the fell magic of a dark god such asDuma orFomortiis.
• White dragons: A more powerful and rare variant of Necrodragons.
• Fafnirs: A large and powerful species of dragons rarely appearing in Rigelian dungeons.
• Dagons: A rare water dragon lurking in the waters off the coasts of Archanea. Its flesh is said to be delicious and can attack witha wall of water that bypasses defenses. Possibly based on the unused Sea Dragon class.

Trivia

• InShadow Dragon & the Blade of Light,Mystery of the Emblem, and some supplementary material, the dragon races were also given clan names which are derived from mythical reptiles: the fire dragons were called theSalamander (Japanese:サラマンダー),^[11] mage dragons were called theBasilisk (Japanese:バジリスク),^[12] and the divine dragons were called theNaga (Japanese:ナーガ).^[13] The references to all but the Naga tribe were removed inMystery of the Emblem andShadow Dragon, and all the dragon types introduced inMystery of the Emblem and later, as well as the earth dragons, lack clan names in this style. However, unused and supplementary material say the earth tribe is known as the Gaia. Notably,Salamander andNaga are names of the gods of the fire and divine dragons, respectively, although all references to Salamander were removed inShadow Dragon.

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

• 
  Artwork of afire dragon fromThe Blazing Blade.
• 
  Artwork ofBantu, a fire dragonManakete, from theTrading Card Game.
• 
  Artwork ofNinian, anice dragon, fromThe Blazing Blade.
• 
  Concept artwork ofIdunn, ademon dragon, fromThe Binding Blade.
• 
  Artwork of awyvern from theTrading Card Game.
• 
  Artwork ofTiki, adivine dragon, fromWarriors.
• 
  Artwork of Tiki, a divine dragon Manakete, fromAwakening.
• 
  Battle sprite ofMedeus, anearth dragon, inShadow Dragon.
• 
  Battle sprite ofMedeus, aShadow Dragon, inMystery of the Emblem.
• 
  Artwork ofAnankos, aFirst Dragon, fromFates.
• 
  Concept artwork of ared dragon laguz fromPath of Radiance.

References