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[Deleted member 74300]

I would have epic battles with them with all powerful swords.

Also wear no pants.

 

[TekkenMaster]

Game of Thrones. Best TV since Spartacus

That was my guess, but I honestly didn't know GOT/Song of Ice and Fire had dragons. For some reason I thought it was a medieval soap opera with very minor fantasy elements.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

That was my guess, but I honestly didn't know GOT/Song of Ice and Fire had dragons. For some reason I thought it was a medieval soap opera with very minor fantasy elements.

Yeah, that's why it's such a spoiler. It sort of comes out of nowhere.

 

[AcciDante]

Game of Thrones. Best TV since Spartacus

It is known.

 

[Qwomo]

What if life wasn't so painfully regular?

:lol This question perfectly defines Meus' existence.

 

[dark_chris]

If they existed we'd be dead.

Where is this from?

 

[fanboi]

Where is this from?

Dark Souls

 

[Blue Ninja]

Life would be goddamn awesome, that's what.

I'd probably get eaten by one the moment I step outside, but it'd be awesome.

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

you're playing dark souls already?

I'm talking bout the one in demon's soul

 

[XMonkey]

Yeah, that's why it's such a spoiler. It sort of comes out of nowhere.

Ya I know, like all those scenes prominently featuring the dragon eggs in previous episodes

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

NAG returns to GAF to copy new assets, it seems.

And except for the stupid feathers.

That's hair.

 

[Chuckie]

It is known.

It is known.

 

[elrechazado]

It is known.

Hodor.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Ya I know, like all those scenes prominently featuring the dragon eggs in previous episodes

That's a bit like saying giving away the twist ending to the sixth sense or fight club isn't a spoiler because there were hints and clues dropped earlier. We were led to believe the dragon eggs were inert, or fossilized, or something. I certainly never expected them to hatch, especially given how little prominence the supernatural has had in the series to that point (witch casting a spell, zombies only coming up once or twice).

 

[Zaptruder]

I think he means the Western 6 limbed version, not the wyvern-like ones.

Why would his statement preclude 6 limbed dragons and not 4 limbed dragon-like creatures?

It's about the articulation of the limbs and the physics that don't support them, rather than the lack of large 6 limbed creatures (or their antecedents) in evolutionary history (which would be one direction to go with regards to arguing implausibility).

 

[Ketchup Boy]

I wish. Then we could domesticate them and breed miniature dragons as pets!

 

[Dirtyshubb]

Ya I know, like all those scenes prominently featuring the dragon eggs in previous episodes

Yeah once they started showing her focusing on the eggs a lot and her sudden realisation that her brother wasnt the Dragon i had a strong suspicion that we would get to see the eggs hatch plus when they showed that she couldnt be hurt by fire it made it clear that there was more to the Dragon name than just their animal of choice.

 

[The Technomancer]

Why would his statement preclude 6 limbed dragons and not 4 limbed dragon-like creatures?

It's about the articulation of the limbs and the physics that don't support them, rather than the lack of large 6 limbed creatures (or their antecedents) in evolutionary history (which would be one direction to go with regards to arguing implausibility).

Even the largest flying dinosaurs didn't have wingspans over 30 or so feet. I guess that's an alright size for a dragon, probably makes it teen feet long from head to rear legs or so, but when I think dragon I think enormous behemoth fifty+ foot long beast with a wingspan over a hundred.

 

[Zaptruder]

Even the largest flying dinosaurs didn't have wingspans over 30 or so feet. I guess that's an alright size for a dragon, probably makes it teen feet long from head to rear legs or so, but when I think dragon I think enormous behemoth fifty+ foot long beast with a wingspan over a hundred.

Still, even if it is the case that physics preclude such a possibility, what I wanted to know was why it precludes such a possibility, because such a statement is not obvious in its veracity to some one that hasn't studied in that field to any great depth.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Even the largest flying dinosaurs didn't have wingspans over 30 or so feet. I guess that's an alright size for a dragon, probably makes it teen feet long from head to rear legs or so, but when I think dragon I think enormous behemoth fifty+ foot long beast with a wingspan over a hundred.

It also depends how narrowly or broadly we're defining "dragon". I mean most flying dinosaurs would have been called dragons had they lived at the same time humans did. As far as I know not all dragons from various mythologies even have wings, nor do they all breathe fire. The fact that we call them all "dragons" is probably just because the translators called them that back in the day because it was the closest fit for an English word.

 

[G-Fex]

What all of you were really thinking about..

Such a butterface

 

[V_Arnold]

I'd wager there were several entities with the form of a dragon in this plane. Quetzalcoatl must have been one, as it has been pictured as a "dragon" before. They will obviously not appear and fly around in this era, for many reasons.

 

[Narag]

Such a butterface

Damn it, G-Fex.

 

[Zaptruder]

It also depends how narrowly or broadly we're defining "dragon". I mean most flying dinosaurs would have been called dragons had they lived at the same time humans did. As far as I know not all dragons from various mythologies even have wings, nor do they all breathe fire. The fact that we call them all "dragons" is probably just because the translators called them that back in the day because it was the closest fit for an English word.

This post has suddenly made me curious about what other similar mythological creatures pop up cross cultures and why they have these similarities.

I mean dragons are essentially large, powerful, flying, reptiles. Those are the points of commonality among all dragons (drop the flying and they become dinosaurs).

Why would multiple cultures come up with similar mythological concepts?

What is the root phenomena that explains them? Coincidence? A particular creature type? Export of culture? A common root history between different cultures and civilizations?

 

[G-Fex]

Damn it, G-Fex.

well she is, deal with it.

 

[Lance Bone Path]

This post has suddenly made me curious about what other similar mythological creatures pop up cross cultures and why they have these similarities.

I mean dragons are essentially large, powerful, flying, reptiles. Those are the points of commonality among all dragons (drop the flying and they become dinosaurs).

Why would multiple cultures come up with similar mythological concepts?

What is the root phenomena that explains them? Coincidence? A particular creature type? Export of culture? A common root history between different cultures and civilizations?

Human beings are instinctively afraid of snakes and plenty of dragons are more like giant serpents.

 

[The Technomancer]

Still, even if it is the case that physics preclude such a possibility, what I wanted to know was why it precludes such a possibility, because such a statement is not obvious in its veracity to some one that hasn't studied in that field to any great depth.

To be fair, its something I read, but now that I'm being called on it I actually started doing some mental physics. Its less about the physics of actual flight and more about the physics of musculature.
If we reduce the flight problem to simply flapping the wings with enough force to elevate the body mass of the dragon then it becomes a problem of generating torque. Now its certainly not unheard of (actually pretty common) to be able to lift your own body mass, but the dragon has the additional problem of it being a perpendicular load to the direction of the limb, which funnels all of that force directly into the dragon's "wing-shoulders" trying to separate them from its body.

Now of course all flying animals face these issues, but at that point it becomes a matter of the infamous "inverse square" law that pokes holes in all the giant insect monster movies. And this is where I could be completely wrong about the actual size of the limit, but a limit does exist where the required wingspan to elevate a creature outpaces the physical possibilities of it sustaining those wings.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

This post has suddenly made me curious about what other similar mythological creatures pop up cross cultures and why they have these similarities.

I mean dragons are essentially large, powerful, flying, reptiles. Those are the points of commonality among all dragons (drop the flying and they become dinosaurs).

Why would multiple cultures come up with similar mythological concepts?

What is the root phenomena that explains them? Coincidence? A particular creature type? Export of culture? A common root history between different cultures and civilizations?

Did native Americans or Aboriginal Australians have dragons? I have never heard of them if they did. Europe and Asia most certainly did have contact, not least because they both came from the same place (Africa) originally. Even so, Chinese Dragons and European Dragons have very little in common. The reason I was mentioning this before is because I think it's very strange that you could use the same word to describe this:

and this:

The only commonality really being "giant lizards", It's vague enough that I'm content with the notion that they could have been invented independently.

 

[Zaptruder]

To be fair, its something I read, but now that I'm being called on it I actually started doing some mental physics. Its less about the physics of actual flight and more about the physics of musculature.
If we reduce the flight problem to simply flapping the wings with enough force to elevate the body mass of the dragon then it becomes a problem of generating torque. Now its certainly not unheard of (actually pretty common) to be able to lift your own body mass, but the dragon has the additional problem of it being a perpendicular load to the direction of the limb, which funnels all of that force directly into the dragon's "wing-shoulders" trying to separate them from its body.

Now of course all flying animals face these issues, but at that point it becomes a matter of the infamous "inverse square" law that pokes holes in all the giant insect monster movies. And this is where I could be completely wrong about the actual size of the limit, but a limit does exist where the required wingspan to elevate a creature outpaces the physical possibilities of it sustaining those wings.

Fair enough. It is an amusing notion to think that the only possibility of flight with these giant creatures is through the use of rigid wing structures that employ the lift effect.

*pictures a dragon with 747 wings in place of normal dragon wings*.

Somehow, it makes them seem less plausible.

 

[Tarazet]

Fair enough. It is an amusing notion to think that the only possibility of flight with these giant creatures is through the use of rigid wing structures that employ the lift effect.

*pictures a dragon with 747 wings in place of normal dragon wings*.

Somehow, it makes them seem less plausible.

I subscribe to the "frilled lizard" theory of why dragons are depicted with wings. It's not too much of a stretch to see one of those guys, and expect his king-size daddy to be nearby.

 

[Shaundakahl]

Watch dragons come to life

For further reading, here is an article that approaches the subject.

I just watched that video and it was awesome.

A bit of a tangent, but I had a friend tell me the other day that if no one today knew what a whale was and someone found some bones, science could not determine if it swam in the water or lived on land. Pretty sure he's an idiot, but it made me think of dragons.

 

[neorej]

Awesome video. But they forgot to mention the part where the goddamn Batman kills the dragons.

 

[scar tissue]

The Dimorphodon was fairly dragon-like (except for the fire breathing):

pterosaurs now had feathers too?
fucking hell...childhood ruined

 

[Kentpaul]

Guns would rip them apart

Humans > all.

 

[Trojita]

They do. They're just hiding. We'll see them in 2012 as the head of shadowy conglomerates.

 

[ROFL]

pterosaurs now had feathers too?
fucking hell...childhood ruined

All is not lost... (if you're ok with hairy flying beasts) So far the concensus seems to be there is no evidence of pterosaur feathers. Those are pycnofibres:

At least some pterosaurs were covered with hair-like filaments known as pycnofibres, similar to but not homologous (sharing a common structure) with mammalian hair. Pycnofibres were not true hair as seen in mammals, but a unique structure that developed a similar appearance through convergent evolution. Although in some cases actinofibrils (internal structural fibres) in the wing membrane have been mistaken for pycnofibres or true hair, some fossils such as those of Sordes pilosus (which translates as "hairy demon") and Jeholopterus ninchengensis do show the unmistakable imprints of pycnofibres on the head and body, not unlike modern-day bats, another example of convergent evolution.[17] The presence of pycnofibres (and the demands of flight) imply that pterosaurs were endothermic (warm-blooded).

The term "pycnofibre", meaning "dense filament", was first coined in a paper on the soft tissue impressions of Jeholopterus by palaeontologist Alexander W.A. Kellner and colleagues in 2009.[10]

 

[scar tissue]

All is not lost... (if you're ok with hairy flying beasts) So far the concensus seems to be there is no evidence of pterosaur feathers. Those are pycnofibres:

so...pterosaurs are sort of like bats, huh?
furry with leathery wings
reptiles with fur...back in my day, that kind of shit didn't exist

not sure i like the recent developments in paleontology, but at least they're hairs, not fucking feathers
velociraptors are dead to me. DEAD.

 

[siddx]

I was reading something the other day that had a fun take on dragons. "If the universe needs them to exist, they exist, if not, then they cease to exist." Something along those lines. Saying that mythical creatures and other such things would have existed at some point in our history, but when the universe no longer had any need of such things, they were simply physically removed from existence and history, leaving only stories and myth but no actual evidence. Some corny hippie shit in many ways but still thought it was kind of a neat take on it.

 

[Qwomo]

so...pterosaurs are sort of like bats, huh?
furry with leathery wings
reptiles with fur...back in my day, that kind of shit didn't exist

not sure i like the recent developments in paleontology, but at least they're hairs, not fucking feathers
velociraptors are dead to me. DEAD.

Velociraptors have always been the size of chickens.

 

[The Technomancer]

I was reading something the other day that had a fun take on dragons. "If the universe needs them to exist, they exist, if not, then they cease to exist." Something along those lines. Saying that mythical creatures and other such things would have existed at some point in our history, but when the universe no longer had any need of such things, they were simply physically removed from existence and history, leaving only stories and myth but no actual evidence. Some corny hippie shit in many ways but still thought it was kind of a neat take on it.

Sounds like Discworld, specifically Guards, Guards!

 

[Zzoram]

Every ancient culture has Dragon Myths, makes you think

Dinosaur bones.



Dragons would've died out if they did exist, since they would've been like the flying dinosaurs, and suffered the same fate.

 

[UrbanRats]

hmmmm...what did you have to type into google to find this image?

Dovahkiin, Dragon Porn!

 

[Baraka in the White House]

Velociraptors have always been the size of chickens.

YOU GO TO HELL.

 

[beril]

so do you guys prefer Chinese Dragons (Serpent-like) or Western Dragons (Wurms)?

The only real dragon. Breathing fire is lame, real dragons shoot laser

 

[Qwomo]

YOU GO TO HELL.

Also your favorite band sucks.

 

[nomis]

Dragons are real

Yeah man, I really wanted to post that too. But I didn't.

 

[The Albatross]

This was such a lame documentary... And it used to get so much late-night play from Animal Planet and its sister sites I couldn't f-ing stand it.

 

[Xeke]

really gaf? no mention yet of

Most prominent example of a realistic take on dragons and their effects on the modern world, even down to a scientific explanation as to how they breath fire.

I got my first bj during that movie, in the theatre.

 

[Meus Renaissance]

Did native Americans or Aboriginal Australians have dragons? I have never heard of them if they did. Europe and Asia most certainly did have contact, not least because they both came from the same place (Africa) originally. Even so, Chinese Dragons and European Dragons have very little in common. The reason I was mentioning this before is because I think it's very strange that you could use the same word to describe this:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Chinese_Dragon_Banner.svg/500px-Chinese_Dragon_Banner.svg.pngmg]


and this:


[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Ljubljana_dragon.JPGg]

The only commonality really being "giant lizards", It's vague enough that I'm content with the notion that they could have been invented independently.[/quote]

I disagree about the similarity (or lack of) point. Whilst Asian dragons did not have wings, they did fly. So you had depictions of large flying reptilian animals. The only real difference is that they were not known to breathe fire

 

[Slappers Only]

Mandatory Viewing for those interested in this topic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efZzGfRdSDQ