Dragon

93-94 — Old-World Wyrm (Draco antiquissimus)

This is what's written in Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You about Dragons.

Dragons (Family: Draconidae)[]

Formidable predators, dragons (also known as wyrms and drakes) are massive in size with fearsome teeth, deadly breath, vicious claws, and hides like stone. Dragons generally make their home in caves and mountains, far from humankind, but they come close to people, their huge appetite is generally a source of conflict.

Dragons are fond of penned livestock; in particular they love to scrape the udders of cows and drink the milk. Milk accelerates the rate of a dragon's growth to an alarming degree. Their diet also includes large mammals and even big fish such as sharks. Occasionally, if driven by hunger, they will eat humans as well and have been known to lay siege to whole villages.

The last recorded dragon slaying was in the eighth century by the knight Sir Garrot. At the time, there were particular indicators people used to determine if dragons were in the vicinity. The following signs are still useful to keep in mind.

They include thick, poisonous vapor in the air and water that stings the throats of those who drink it or burns the skin of those who bathe with it. Dragons exude a poison which seeps into everything they touch.

Like a snake, the dragon reproduces through laying vast quantities of eggs, though few of which will hatch. Even fewer offspring live to adulthood. Dragons are solitary creatures and it is unusual to encounter more than two adults together.

Baby dragons can be small enough to sit in the palm of a human hand. When young, dragons act more like animals, but as they grow, they develop the ability to speak and reason.

Dragons spend a great deal of their lives sleeping. Like great cats, they can appear lazy when not hunting. When moving with a purpose, however, dragons are swift, both on the ground and in the air.

Common the world over but especially throughout Asia and Europe, some dragons are known for their great wisdom, but reports of their guile are far more common.

Known species[]

Old-World Wyrm (Draco antiquissimus)
Long-Tailed Wyvern (Draco alatus)
Chinese Dragon (Draco chinaseous)
Draco aethiopicus
Hydra (Possibly)
Andes Sky Dragon (Scientific name unknown)

Additional facts[]

For centuries, many parts of Dragon anatomy were used in medical potions and cures. These include, but are not limited to:

Bathing in Drake blood makes skin into virtually impervious and indestructible armor that makes the user immune to any harm, damage or pain.
Dragon teeth planted in the ground will grow into vicious soldiers.
An instrument made of Dragon's horn will create sounds able to be heard many miles away.
If one eats a Wyrm heart, one will become a cunning linguist: Able to Instantly speak and understand any language fluently, including the language of animals.
If eaten, a Drake tongue could make you a master debater, able to convince others of virtually anything.

Dragons use their long tongue to smell the air, and the lower jaw is grooved to allow the tongue to easily slide in and out of the mouth.

Dragon juveniles are more brightly colored than adult individuals, and are sometimes confused with Salamanders.

Wyrms have black blood, however in the Field Guide, a picture of a glass tin filled with red Wyrm blood is featured. It is possible that the color of the blood is different among the species.

Wyverns have the ability to fly, an advantage lacking among the serpent-like Wyrms. However, Wyrms are able to jump extremely high.

Known Dragons[]

Arthur Spiderwick himself did never encounter a Dragon in real life, but instead obtained all his information from other scientists. He was afraid Dragons were extinct, but that would many years later be revealed to be wrong. It may also be noted Drakes are smaller than Arthur thought.

When Mulgarath created his army, he started to breed Dragons. The Grace children were affected by this when their water began to burn when one drank it. When the evil Ogre and his Goblins destroyed the Estate and stole the Field Guide, Mulgarath used the information in the book to make his Dragons grow faster by giving them milk from cows. One of the mother dragons attacked Jared and his sister as they fought the pack of Goblins in the Junkyard, but she was killed by Byron. When Mulgarath died, his army fled and so did the remaining Drakes.

Behind the scenes[]

This text would be absolutely correct, if it wasn't for the fact Arthur actually did encounter a Dragon: a Long-Tailed Wyvern, who dived several times into a farmer's cattle. The farmer was the seventh son of a seventh son, and thus he could see the Drake. For some reason, 5 months after seeing the Dragon, Arthur wrote a note he feared for the Dragons' extinction. This makes no sense at all, and is probably only a mistake from the authors' side.
Draco is an existing genus. But in the Agamidae family, which are gliding lizards. The dragons in the franchise however bare little to no resemblance to those.

Appearances[]

The Wrath of Mulgarath (First appearance)
Notebook for Fantastical Observations
Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide