r/dragons•
Neeksphy

Questions about the Dragon Classification

Question

I want to know why, or when did people start to classify dragon the way they do now days, why does it seem that the only "real dragon" are the europhean depiction of them?

who decided theh are more worthy of the name dragon, that the chinese, mayan or any other depiction of dragons.?

why are they the only ones called dragon's while the others get different names, names that also make no sense since they also mean just dragon, I mean Wyrm is dragon, Lindwyrm is also dragon ,Drake is Dragon on ancient english, Wyvern comes fron a french word for viper but also means dragon, Lung is also just dragon so saying Lung Dragon is the equivalent of Atm machine or Chai tea,

also the word dragon comes from the greek word for Serpent, so by that logic shouldn't Quetzalcóatl, Apofis, The chinese dragons, the Nagas, and Jörmundgander be more worthy of the title than the winged four legged one that the ones people refer as dragon today?

in the bible the leviathan and any other monster like satan is refered as a dragon, so does Satan clasify as a dragon

other descriptions of dragons are just amalgamations of different animals, like claws of eagle, Scales of a carp, body of a snake, antlers of a deer and face of a dog or even face of an old man. how are those classfied

people have called dragons things like serpents with 2 legs, there is also the myth of "saint george and the dragon" where every picture of that dragon is always different, like 2 legs and 2 wings, 4 legs and 2 wings

or the dragon st Martha faced, it had the face of a Lion, six bear legs, the shell of a turtle and a scorpion tail, how would you classify that

why do people complain so much when you refer to any other as just a dragon are have the urge to explain the "correct" name of the creature.

sorry if this seem like such a ramble or if I come across as prepotent or rude, but I had a fight with a friend about dragons and wanted to see if someone could answer the questions that he could not, so I can undertsand these creatures better

Posted Feb 25, 2026, 5:42 AM UTC

610
Loading comments…