Dragon (race)

A dragon (Draconis Rex^[1]) is a large, winged, reptilian monster which possesses the ability to exhale dragonfire. Since a dragon's fiery breath attack can hit up to 50 damage, to safely fight them, an anti-dragon shield or anti-fire potion is almost always required. If both the shield and the potion are used, 100% of the damage is prevented in most cases.

Dragons drop dragonhide of their particular colour if chromatic, and metal bars in their metal type if metallic. All dragons drop some variant of valuable dragon bones. Brutal dragons, the King Black Dragon, and Vorkath drop two hides instead of one. Dragons are weak to dragonbane weapons.

The dragons were first created by the Dragonkin. They fused their blood with large, lizard-like creatures, resulting in the creation of the dragon race, with other types of dragons being created by experimenting on different types of reptiles.^[2] Numerous dragons were created, and are capable of reproducing via laying eggs,^[3] but they were all seen as failures by the dragonkin for various reasons. They would often either be abandoned or destroyed by their creators in fits of rage - even the incredibly strong Vorkath was considered a "pathetic failure", due to its lack of aggression.^[4]

Vorki gives out numerous biological and behavioural facts about dragons - for example, the dragonfire produced by dragons is caused by a duct in their mouth which expels internal fluids, which ignites when it makes contact with air.^[5] Baby dragons do not breathe dragonfire due to their duct and organs not being developed enough. Dragons have a very long lifespan, being capable of living for thousands of years, but they generally die in combat rather than of old age.^[6] Dragons are capable of speech, but most lack the brain capacity to do so.^[7] Although dragons can fly, they rarely choose to do so because their prey is all ground dwelling.^[8] They also rarely stray from their own territory, choosing to make homes in places where the prey animals are plentiful.^[9]

During the Dragonkin Conflicts, some of the dragonkin who refused to give in to the Curse worked on developing more aggressive dragon strains to defend themselves from humans who did not distinguish the more peaceful dragonkin from the dragonkin who have given into the Curse and were attacking human settlements.^[10] Metal dragons were created by infusing the draconic eggs with molten metal. Few eggs survived the process.^[11]

During the events of Dragon Slayer II, a large number of chromatic, brutal, and metal dragons, alongside Galvek, are commandeered by the dragonkin Zorgoth for a war on humanity after his escape from Lithkren Vault, which was foiled due to him being incinerated after the defeat of Galvek.

Most dragons and some draconic creatures are capable of breathing dragonfire, which can deal devastating damage to players, potentially even killing them instantly. Damage from it can be reduced with three different methods - specific shields, such as the anti-dragon shield, the Protect from Magic prayer, and potions such as antifire and super antifire. Different types of dragon require different amounts of dragonfire protection to fully negate the effects of their fire, and some are not affected at all by Protect from Magic; some bosses also use special types of dragonfire with additional effects such as poison or de-activating protection prayers. The weakest form of dragonfire belongs to chromatic, brutal, lava, frost, and reanimated dragons, requiring the fewest layers of protection to completely negate or significantly reduce its damage.

The most basic form of dragon, chromatic dragons have four different coloured variations - green, blue, red, black - in order of increasing power. Normal chromatic dragons attack with a melee-ranged dragonfire attack, and slashing melee; their dragonfire is weaker and easier to resist than that of other dragon variants, however its damage is still devastating for a player with no dragonfire protection, dealing up to 50 damage. The babies of chromatic dragons are not capable of breathing dragonfire. Normal chromatic dragons and their babies are weaker to stabbing melee attacks, heavy ranged weapons, and water spells.

There are stronger boss variants of green, blue, and black dragons, that have their own mechanics and weaknesses. For example, Vorkath, like other zombies, is instead weak to fire spells, and uses various types of long-range dragonfire and special attacks.

While blue dragons are usually the second-weakest form of chromatic dragon, Vorkath has the highest combat level of any chromatic dragon.

The blue dragons (both baby and mature) found in the Ruins of Tapoyauik are weak to fire spells, unlike most normal chromatic dragons which are weak to water.

Brutal dragons are higher-leveled, more difficult versions of regular chromatic dragons. While the regular versions can be safespotted or flinched, brutal variants cannot, as they possess a long-ranged Magic attack. Like metal dragons, brutal dragons also utilise long-range dragonfire, but their dragonfire is weaker and can be blocked as with a normal dragon. They do not attempt to move towards the player, so players can avoid their melee attacks by standing out of melee range. They are also immune to both poison and venom.

Outside of the fights at the end of Dragon Slayer II, most brutal dragons can only be found in the Catacombs of Kourend; only brutal green and brutal blue dragons are found elsewhere, in the Ancient Cavern and Ruins of Tapoyauik respectively.

Metal dragons are dragons whose scales are coated in metal. They were created by pouring molten metal on dragon eggs, few of which survived the process.^[11] Metal dragons were conceptualised by the dragonkin Forcae as a possible solution to the dragonkin fertility issue,^[12] and the dragonkin Zorgoth created the adamantite and runite variants, inspired by his work.^[13] Though some metallic dragons have eggs nearby, no baby metallic dragons can currently be found.

Metal dragons have higher Defence and Magic levels than chromatic dragons, making them harder to kill. Additionally, metal dragons have a stronger, long-range dragonfire than chromatic dragons, which Protect from Magic prayer will no longer protect against. Metal dragons are still weak to stab and heavy ranged attacks, and are also susceptible to earth spells; additionally, unlike chromatic dragons, they will not move towards the player, so a player can avoid their melee attacks by standing out of range. Steel and lower dragons are susceptible to poison and venom, while mithril and higher are immune to them.

Metal dragons drop metal bars when killed, which corresponds to the type of metal dragon the player killed. For example, a steel dragon will drop steel bars, and an iron dragon would drop iron bars - the quantity of which depends on the quality of the metal. Bronze, iron, and steel dragons drop five bars, mithril dragons drop three, adamant dragons drop two, and rune dragons drop one bar of their respective material. All metal dragons, excluding bronze ones, can drop the draconic visage.

Adamantite and runite dragons are only found in Lithkren Vault, other than when they are fought near the end of Dragon Slayer II led by Zorgoth; as they were created by him while trapped in Lithkren Vault as a side project alongside Galvek, for a war on humanity.^[14]

These dragons are neither chromatic nor metallic. There are various kinds of miscellaneous dragons which fit into neither category.

Some monsters are not fully considered dragons, but they are still weak to the effects of dragonbane weapons. Many do not breathe fire, but they may have similar attacks, such as wyverns' ice breath. Many or all of these creatures were also created by the Dragonkin.

Wyverns are a different species, but are a close relative of dragons, having two legs instead of four.^[15] A large number of living wyverns, of which there are many variants, reside in the Fossil Island wyvern caves, alongside evidence of dragonkin once residing there. On the mainland, re-animated skeletal wyverns, which are wyverns that escaped from Fossil Island via magic,^[16] reside in the Asgarnian Ice Dungeon. Wyverns do not breathe fire, instead having icy breath.

Fossil Island wyverns and skeletal wyverns have seperate Slayer tasks, with Fossil Island Wyverns having a special unlock to block without counting towards the blocked task limit. Different variants of wyvern require a different Slayer level to attack.

Wyrms were an extinct, ancient race of draconic creatures, heavily involved in the God Wars. The wyrms on Gielinor today are recreations created by a dragonkin named Karuulm, and the first of his numerous creations that can be found inside Mount Karuulm.^[17] They are long and slender in shape, with small appendages, and appear to be able to hover without having wings. They do not breathe dragonfire, and instead their different variants all tend to use two of the three attack styles.

There is a unique variant of wyrms known as strykewyrms, found in a dungeon on an isolated island. They are firey burrowing worm-like creatures that only have the head-side of their body visible, while the rest is underground. Little is known of their origin, only that they are found alongside the skeleton of an unknown dragonkin.

Normal wyrms are only found on Zeah, while their strykewyrm variant are found on the Charred Island.

Drakes are Karuulm's second experiment; based on a denied proposal he had made long ago to Kerapac, before relocating to Mount Karuulm.^[18] They are incredibly aggressive, due to the gaping, painful sores they have developed in place of wings.^[19] Drakes use ranged and ranged melee attacks, as well as a slow-moving dragonfire projectile.

Drakes are only found in the Karuulm Slayer Dungeon.

Hydras are an experiment of Karuulm's, started after the failure of the drake project. They are vicious, three-headed draconic creatures, with each head using a different style of attack (magic, poison, ranged). The project was ended, as Karuulm was only able to create one specimen of an enhanced five-headed variant, the Alchemical Hydra. Not long after this project's abandonment, he abandoned Mount Karuulm, moving his work to Mount Quidamortem.^[20]

Hydras are only found in the Karuulm Slayer Dungeon.

Along with the Alchemical Hydra and the dragon bosses, there is a number of other powerful draconic bosses, each with their own origin. Of them, only Galvek uses dragonfire.

Zulrah is a failed experiment created by an unnamed dragonkin,^[22] but is not weak to any dragonbane weaponry nor does it use dragonfire. It was disposed of in the Poison Waste, where it grew large and came to be worshipped by a village that frequently sends sacrifices to it, of which the player can choose to be one. It has three very different forms visually - serpentine (green), tanzanite (blue), magma (red). It resembles a snake, and lacks any limbs (a quality shared with strykewyrms).

• During the Dragon Slayer I quest, there's a short cutscene where you can see Elvarg fly. This was the only time in Old School RuneScape that a dragon was seen flying until the release of Dragon Slayer II.
• Although no white dragons can be found in-game, 3rd Age ranger kit is made out of white dragonhide.
  • In RuneScape 3, it is revealed that white dragons were hunted to near extinction for their hide, and only one white dragon, Therragorn, is still alive today.
  • A white dragon boss named Merodach was developed as a potential end-game boss back in 2013, though due to the release of the God Wars Dungeon, priorities shifted to the early and mid-game, and Merodach was never added to the game.
    • Merodach would have been an ancient dragon from the First Age, a dragonkin experiment that went wrong and was imprisoned for many years on Trollweiss Mountain.

v t e Dragons and dragon-like races
Chromatic dragons	Green (baby) (brutal) Blue (baby) (brutal) Red (baby) (brutal) Black (baby) (brutal)
Metal dragons	Bronze Iron Steel Mithril Adamant Rune
Slayer monsters	Wyrm (Shadow) (Wyrmling) Lava Strykewyrm (Magma) Long-tailed Wyvern Spitting Wyvern Taloned Wyvern Skeletal Wyvern Brutal black Ancient Wyvern Drake (Guardian) Hydra (Colossal) (Alchemical)
Other	Lava Frost Reanimated Revenant Crystalline Corrupted Fairy Colossal Wyrm Bosses Elvarg Galvek Great Olm King Black Dragon Vorkath The Hueycoatl NPCs Alvarg Hekala K'klik Mr. Mordaut Dragonkin Dragonkin (A Tail of Two Cats) Dragonkin (Dragon Slayer II) Forcae Garak Karuulm Kerapac Orthacas Sakirth Sithaph Skeka Strisath Zorgoth
Related	Merodach