#smaug is a monster

[simon-newman]

TIL I learned that the initial plans for Smaug in the Hobbit movies had him with four legs and a pair of wings like an actual dragon should be:

Supposedly the original design was still used in the first movie original cut and only changed to show winged forelimbs in the enhanced version.

what we ultimately got is the bat-like front limbs that serve as both arms and wings.

NGL. I still love him but there's this tiny voice at the back of my head saying "this is a wyvern".

Now. Why was the change made?

The official answer is:

"Originally, the dragon we envisioned was bigger. The idea was to get the fear through his bulk. In fact, if you go back and look at the first film and the scenes that he was in, he was actually a four-legged dragon because we just had him stomping through Erebor in all of those flashback scenes," Letteri said. "But we realized that once you saw him performing -- we especially got this from watching Benedict perform. He got down on the grown and starting slithering around like the way Tolkien described Smaug in the books, which is as a big worm. Once we saw Benedict doing all of that, we realized you can't have him be this four-legged creature with wings on him back, he needs to be two legs and his wings need to be his arms properly, as you would expect a creature to be like a bat or a bird."

So in order to make him move like Tolkien described they had to make him not fit the Tolkien's description of having four legs.

They made him less accurate to make him more accurate?

Plus. The excuse that he will be slithering around means he can't have four legs?

This is Fatalis - the most powerful monster in the Monster hunter franchise. It's an Elder Dragon with uniquely Draconic design.

Most regular MH monsters are some kind of a wyvern with four limbs. Elder dragons are different and like Fatalis many have six limbs.

Uniquely - Fatalis is the classic European dragon in terms of design - something that set him apart from other monsters in the franchise.

It is a monster and destroyer of kingdoms.

And he slithers around.

He can move in two ways - by lying flat on his belly and pulling himself forward with wings - in this case the forelegs are held close to his body.

The other method is to actually use the front limbs instead of wings. This gives him multiple means of movement depending on the situation and intentions.

He has a few more animations where he just lies flat or jumps forward - both ending with him flat on the ground and able to stand up easily. Those are attacks that intend to crush enemies with his entire body.

Four legs don't interfere in the slightest with all those movements.

The excuse is weak.

It is just my theory but seeing the recent push for "realistic" design for dragons I personally blame the Game of Thrones.

It began airing too late for the first movie to be changed as the production was likely in a very late stages.

Second one tho? Yeah. I could see how they implement the idea based on G.R.R. Martin's design.

For REALISM.

Of a mythical, flying, fire breathing monster.

I'm just waiting for "realistic" dragons appearing alongside creatures like gryphon and pegasus with the same excuse being made.

...

Thank you to listening to my rant.

[garr9988]

Monster harem romance where the "self-insert(?)" human protagonist is actually a hugely manipulative and terrible person. They may get manhandled by the big strong monsters, but they know how to manipulate them and cut them to the quick to keep them under their heel. Maybe the monsters are tricked into seeing them as defenseless and sweet, or they're attracted by their savagery and capacity for cruelty. The monsters get a cute little plaything to own, and the human has a pack of lovestruck loyal pets under their control to use to their own ends.

A human, but yet another monster all the same.

[madcat-world]

Smaug Destroys Esgaroth - Gaius31duke

[thecrowinggriffon]

Watching House of the dragon makes me realise I also have some dragons stowed away in some forgotten places. At least four. I'ld really like to finish Smaug, but I have a white dwarf, black gobbo, a pegasus, a unicorn and some mermaids, I'ld like to finish first. I hope I'll be able to tackle him this year. Smaug kinda looks like Caraxes in this pic. Anyway, the show's awesome! can't wait for the finale. As well as season two of Rings of power! What a time to be a fantasy buff!

[wheneverfeasible]

My coworker called me out the other day.

She was giving me a ride home and I was talking about how as a child I had a crush on Smaug from the 1977 film and it was probably (with Darth Vader) the start of my monster/villainfuckery and she was like “were you one of those people that had a crush on Goliath [from Gargoyles]”

And I was just like

And she was like “your silence is telling”

I then told her I wanted to be in a Goliath/Elisa sandwich with a large helping of Demona (my biggest Gargoyles crush) and she just silently judged me.

To be fair. Not the worst stuff she’s ever heard me say.

[transassdemon]

I watched the hobbit again and I feel the same way I did when I was 14. Also I made this comic mainly bc I couldn't draw pegging during the lesson.

[joshthemaker913]

The Lunar New Year just passed a few days ago, and with it, we officially enter The Year of the Dragon. For the occasion, I made drawings of nine random dragons from various series that I really like. Dragons include Spyro from the Spyro the Dragon series, both versions of Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon, King Ghidorah from the Godzilla series, Smaug from The Hobbit, Shenron from the Dragon Ball series, Fwench Fwy from Chikn Nuggit, Valstrax from the Monster Hunter series, Ridley from the Metroid series, and Drago from the Bakugan series.

Separate drawings below.

The Coolest Little Dragon with a Big Attitude - Spyro

The Night Fury and the Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus, Two Different Iterations of the Same Partner of Hiccup - Toothless

The Planet-Destroying Monster Zero - King Ghidorah

The Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities - Smaug

The Eternal Wish-Granting Dragon but Fierce - Shenron

The Eternal Wish-Granting Dragon but Adorable - Fwench Fwy

The Crimson Star of Despair - Valstrax

The Cunning God of Death - Ridley

The Protector of Vestroia and Partner of Dan Kuso - Drago

[bishyofskye]

"A legendary black dragon said to have prowled these lands from the days of old. Many skilled hunters have sought to challenge it, but none ever return. A monster shrouded in mystery..." Fatalis description from Monster Hunter Freedom 2/Unite --- "My armor is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!" -Smaug from The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

[aur3olin]

Went with the prompt Dragon for our film this week!

I love LOTR and was so excited to draw Smaug 👀

Unc3nsor3d artwork on my Patr3on

[pooksbedamned]

[levithestripper]

was I wrong to find smaug hot or am i not alone in my monsterfucking

[werewolf-witchboy]

In my brain I scoop dragons up in the "monster" category, idk what else they'd be considered ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌ but dragons are my favorite big mythical creature in general.

It just disappoints me big time how hard it is to find good dragon rep in media, cuz most dragons in media act like pets.

I like the wise dragon trope, and I like when they can at least talk. The main example that comes to my mind is Smaug from The Hobbit.

Anyway, to answer the question in the original post: the less personified, more pet-like, types of dragons are an absolute turn off for me.

Being a monsterfucker is already something about myself that 98% of people close to me absolutely do not know about, but even the people that know I'm a monsterfucker don't know that I like dragons. I'm scared that if I tell them they'll think of something like Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon. ಥ⌣ಥ

I don't want a pet dragon, I want a dragon boyfriend plz omg o(╥﹏╥)o

I've never actually seen anyone in the monsterfucker community talk about dragons, am I crazy or something? Like, I can't be the only dragon lover here right? Or are we just a rare breed in an already niche community?

That's not me being like "omg I'm sO quirky for liking something that nobody else likes," NO plz I wanna meet fellow dragon lovers and discuss our mutual appreciation! (┳Д┳)

I know we’re all monsterfuckers here, but what monster would you NOT fuck?

[clefairy00]

For today’s theme, “metal”, I’m posting this homebrew monster I plagued my players with in the dnd campaign I run. I’s a warforged dragon, relic of an ancient war, that got corrupted by some malign magic, that forced this beast to follow the orders of the caster

[aenramsden]

The following is not my idea; it was the original brainchild of a friend of mine named Omicron, with help from various others including EarthScorpion, TenfoldShields, @havocfett and ShintheNinja:

So, you know what I want to do one day? Run (or play in) a D&D campaign in which the Big Bad Super Dragon that is fuckoff ancient and unfathomably powerful and whose actions have shaped history and bent the course of nations and had repercussions on the whole culture and society in the region where it's set; the Bonus Special Boss for some endgame optional quest after you defeat the direct BBEG and win the campaign...

... is a white dragon.

To explain this for people not deep into 5e monster lore; D&D dragons are sapient beings, and known for their instincts and tendencies, and whenever you meet an big evil dragon that's really old it's usually this ancient creature of terrible intellect Smaug-ing it up all over the place.

Except white dragons are fucking stupid. Like, they're still capable of speech and thought! They're just… feral, hungry morons. And you almost never see them portrayed as ancient wyrms for that reason; they lack majesty. Critical Role did it, yes, but even then, Vorugal is explicitly the most bestial member of the Chroma Conclave, and the others are the more intelligent planners and long-term threats. An ancient white as a nation-defining endboss, though; not a thug for a smarter master but as the strongest and biggest threat around is just not the sort of thing you tend to see.

Adventurers: "Oh wise Therunax the Munificent, gold dragon of Law and Good, what can you tell us adventurers of the evil dragons which rule this land?" Therunax the Munificent, 500-year old Gold Dragon: "Good adventurers, know this: this land is torn apart by the evil of Tiamat's spawn. The eastern marches are the dwelling of Furinar the Plague-Bringer, black dragoness whose hoard is a thousand sicknesses contained in the body of her tributes. The southern volcanic mountains are the roosting of Angrar the Wrathful, the fiery red dragon, who brings magmatic fury on all who do not worship him. And the northern peaks are home to Face-Biter Mike, the oldest and most powerful of all, of whom I dread to speak." Adventurers: "F-Face-Biter Mike???" Therunax: "Oh yes, verily indeed; two thousand years has Mike lived, and his eyes have seen the rise and fall of five empires, and a hundred and score champions have sought to slay him; and each and every one he bit their fucking face off."

Like... I want to see a campaign where Face-Biter Mike is genuinely the most powerful dragon in the region, if not the entire world. Where sometimes he descends on a city to grab himself some meatsicles and causes a localised ice age by the beat of his vast wings and the frigid wastes of his mighty breath and by the chill his mere presence brings to everything for miles around him, and everyone just has to deal with that for the next decade. An entire era of civilization comes to an end, an empire falls, tens of thousands starve in the winter, all because Mike wanted a snack. Where his hoard is an unfathomably vast mass of jewels and artefacts and precious stones frozen in an unmelting glacier, except he is a nouveau riche idiot with fuckall appraising skill, so half of his hoard is coloured glass or worthless knicknacks, and he doesn't give a shit.

"Your Draconic Majesty, this crown is… It's pyrite." "Yeah, well, it's brighter than this dusty old thing made out of real gold, it's my new best treasure. Throw the other one away." "…throw the Burnished Tiara of Bahamut, forged in the First Age of Man, your majesty???" "See? I can't even remember its fucking name." "But my lord-" "DO YOU WANT TO BE A MEATSICLE" "…I will fetch a trash bag, your majesty."

But at the same time, he's not stupid, he's just simple, and in some ways that makes him more dangerous than the usual kinds of scheming Big Bad you see in these things, while simultaneously justifying why Orcus remains on his throne (because he's lazy). Face-Biter Mike doesn't make convoluted plans or run labyrinthine schemes; he just has a talent for violence and a pragmatic, straightforward approach to turning any kind of problem he struggles with into a problem that can be resolved with violence. Face-Biter Mike has one talent and it's horrifying physical power, so his approach to any complicated problem is "how do I turn this into a situation where I can fly down and bite this dude's face off?" with absolutely no regard for the collateral damage or consequences of doing so, because those are also things he can turn into face-bitable problems.

"My lord, the dread necromancer Nikodemion is using his undead dragons to attempt a conquest of the eastern kingdom; his agents are everywhere, his plans are centuries in the making, what can we do against such a mastermind?" "I'm gonna fly over the capital and eat the eastern king." "M-my lord???" "The kingdom will collapse without leadership, Nikodemion will win his war, he'll take the capital and crown himself king." "And that helps us… how?" "Once he does I'll fly over to the capital and eat him." "…" "This is why you advisors all suck. You're all about convoluted plans when the only thing I need to win is know where my enemy is so I can fly down there and eat him. Stop overthinking things."

And, like, yeah, it's a simplistic plan, but when you're several hundred tons of nigh invincible magical death, you don't need brilliant strategy; the smartest way to win a war is, in this case, the simplest. He's not even all that clever at figuring out the consequences of face-biting, he's just memorised the common consequences of doing so.

(If you want to go all in on Mike being the major mover and shaker in the region; Nikodemion only even has a pet zombie dragon because Mike killed the last dragon to show up and contest his turf but wasn't going to eat a whole dragon by himself. Nikodemion got to stick around and amass that much power because Mike ate the Hero of the Realm while he was adventuring because he figured the Hero would come and try to slay him at some point. Nikodemion got started because Mike ate half the leadership of the Academy of High Magic who typically keep evil wizards and necromancers in check. And then eventually this product of Mike's casual, careless actions becomes a big enough problem to bother Mike personally, at which point Mike eats him too.)

He doesn't even really fail upwards, either! He is regularly reduced to nothing but the glacier he stores his hoard in, but he's Face-Biter Mike so nobody wants to commit to actually ending him forever lest they get their faces bitten the fuck off. And his hoard's in a huge-ass magical glacier so nobody can get to it without running into the Invading Russia problem; it's hard to wage war when everything is frozen over and you're both starving and freezing to death. Once he's been beaten back to his central lair and has lost all his holdings… I mean, he's still a problem, but he's a far away problem. So he loses his assets and spends a decade in a cave brooding it up while no one dares risk trying to actually kill him, and then a generation or two later he flies down to a kobold colony and gets himself some minions, or a dragon-worshipping mage comes to offer his service against a pittance from his hoard, or a particularly stupid cult starts thinking they can get in good with him and leech off his power, and then he's (hah) snowballing again.

He's also got a very… well, the kind of weird Charisma that Grineer bosses do. Like Sargas Ruk, who's a malformed idiot, but oddly charismatic. As he's a dragon, that makes him a natural sorcerer and thus Charisma is all he needs. He's pretty relaxed when he isn't in a face-biting mood, and he's kind of infectiously optimistic, because his life has taught him that he will succeed as long as he perseveres. So he just believes it.

And sometimes that's really refreshing to work for, as an evil minion of darkness! It's like, you're coming to your Evil Dragon Lord with terrible news; you've worked for evil overlords before, you know how it goes. You fall to your knees weeping and tell him that you've failed to seize the incredibly powerful magical artifact, you think your life is forfeit. And he's just like "Eh, it's okay, these things are all over the place. Better luck next time. You remember the guy who took it, right?" and you go "Y-yes, oh great lord!" and he's like "Sweet tell me his name later and I'll grab it" and then eats a frozen adventurer he kept around as a snack.

His followers tend to quickly realise that if they fail him, bringing some temple's silver or a sack of brightly coloured beads or a couple of dead cows means he's super forgiving because at least he's got something out of the day. "Oh boy, cows? It's been forever since I had those, ever since the Orc Steppe Nomads took over it's all about goats and onions. Today is a good day." He's a master of delegation by dragon standards, in that he just tells you "Just go get it done, I don't care how" rather than micromanaging you and constantly appearing as an image in smoke or taking over your campfire.

The key part of Face-Biter Mike as a threat to players (because he exists in the context of a D&D campaign) works well in that you can rely on several known quantities:

He will not pull sneaky shit that you don't see coming

He will not make convoluted plans that you must work to unravel

He will consistently attempt to come down and wreck you personally if he finds the opportunity and you are a threat to him

You cannot fight him head-on (at least not until the last leg of the campaign, and ideally as an optional boss rather than mandatory)

So as long as you are good at staying under the radar, thwarting his minions (whom he gives broad orders to with almost zero oversight) and not putting yourself in face-biting range, you can deal with him. If you succeed, it won't be the first time Mike has lost his assets and had to go brood in his glacier for a decade or two before rebuilding. It happens; he can deal with it. And that's a win for you within the context of a single campaign, so take the win.

And if you're not going to use him as an enemy, he works pretty well as a quest-giver, too! The costs for failure are obvious and straightforward, and "do whatever, just get me mine" means that players have a lot of freedom in accomplishing their goals. As far as evil overlords go he is actually one of the least dangerous to work for; his pride is relatively subdued by draconic standards, his goals are simple and typically achievable, and he is easily pleased.

(There's also a good chance he is the forefather of any draconic sorcerer in your party, because Face Biter Mike is a deadbeat dad.)

[atomi-cat]

Year of the Dragon

Dragons listed:

Fwench Fwy – Chikn Nuggit Bowser – Super Mario Mushu – Disney Pitaya Dragon Cookie – Cookin Run Matches – Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School Spyro – Spyro Terara – Keroro Gunso Tohru – Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Spike – My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Scorchio – Neopets Dragonite – Pokemon Toothless – How to Train Your Dragon Penelope – Barbie as Rapunzel Bleu – Shining Force Grim Matchstick – Cuphead Blue Eyes White Dragon – Yu-Gi-Oh! Paarthurnax – Skyrim (Elder Scrolls) Haku – Spirited Away YomiGami – Okami Falkor – The Neverending Story Dragon – Shrek Smaug – The Hobbit Shenron – Dragon Ball King Ghidorah – Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster