“It simply isn’t an adventure worth telling if there aren’t any dragons.”

– J.R.R. Tolkien

When it comes to dragons, size is completely subjective to the whims of their origin; whether that be cultural folklore, standard mythology, or the imaginations of the writers and illustrators who bring them to life.

A mythical creature soaring above all others, in a league of their own; and we, admirers of their fierce beauty, fearsomeness, power, terror and mysterious transcendence, will forever be happy seeking out aspects of our cultures that celebrate such a wonderful creature, be that stories, movies, sculpture, art, costumes, songs …

Welcome once again, fellow dragon-lovers!

It is with much excitement (and many hours of research and line artwork) that I announce the arrival of my next Dragon Size Chart! Something I believe those of you who have enjoyed my previous charts have been hoping would happen; a long-awaited anticipation indeed!

As with the last two charts, I took into consideration all the requests and suggestions for dragon size comparisons sent my way and narrowed down the list to 12 finalists. I hope you enjoy what I’ve compiled; and remember you’re welcome to use and share these charts, so long as you credit the source (yours truly).

DISCLAIMERS:

• The human silhouette I use is a 6’3″ man (the average height of the human-like hemlans in my fantasy series, Dragon Calling). I chose not to use earth averages, as they vary from country to country.
• These dragon size charts are just estimates. I did do research (hours of it for some dragons) to determine as accurately as possible the sizes of the dragons in comparison to a 6′ 3″ man, but I’m no professional ‘size estimator’, and some dragons were more difficult than others to work out size accuracy (some are never given a specific size by their creator at all).
• This is just for fun and to indulge in curiosity! So I hope you enjoy checking out the new dragon size comparisons. 😀

If you haven’t yet checked out my other charts, here are the links:

DRAGON SIZE CHART

DRAGON SIZE CHART 2

DRAGON SIZE CHART 3

Dragon Number One: Azymondias (The Dragon Prince, Books 1-3)

First up we have the cutest of this list’s dragons, the super playful, sweet-natured and inquisitive young storm dragon, (also the titular title character of the series he stars in) Azymondias. And sizing him was relatively easy, too. I took into consideration Ezran’s height (during the first three book arcs) in comparison to Zym (Azmondias’ nickname) and then worked out Zym’s height next to the larger, 6’3″ man.

Dragon Number Two: Mega Charizard Y (First Appearance: Pokemon Y)

Charizard; there are few people who would not regonise one of the most beloved Pokemon in the franchise. And with the introduction of it’s Mega evoltuions in the X & Y games, Charizard can now be officially classified as a dragon! Although, personally, Charizard was already dragon enough for me at its normal final evolution. Either way, I was eager to add this fiery, orange, definitely-gotta-catch-em Fire-Dragon type into the charts; it is, after all, the evolution of one of my favourite Pokemon (Charmander). Sizing Charizard was easy, due to the information provided by official online Pokemon Pokedex data.

Dragon (s) Number Three: Sunny and Clay (Wings of Fire, Novel Series)

The Wings of Fire series is one of the most popular dragon book series out there and currently consists of three arcs–each arc containing five books, from differing main character POVs. I chose dragons from the first arc, since that’s where everything started for the series. But, since there are five main characters, I opted to size chart two of them, instead of just one. I went with the smallest and largest, naturally. Sunny is the smallest of the group; she is a SandWing. The largest is Clay, a MudWing.

It was a little more tricky trying to size chart these guys, primarily because their original source material doesn’t specify human size comparisons (other than being much smaller, compared to an adult dragon). And I also had to take into account that Clay and Sunny are dragonets and not full-grown (during the time period I’ve chosen to size them at). Luckily there are also graphic novels of the books, so I was able to reference the size of a dairy cow to Tsunami, and then configured Sunny’s and Clay’s sizes in reference to Tsunami. And from the dairy cow’s size, I worked out the height of my 6’3″ man silhouette.

Dragon Number Four: Velhonoandrius the Second (Dragon Calling)

Velhonoandrius the Second, king of the Valadilian dragon-kind. A fearsome and revered creature, and considered one of the most beautiful with his white-opalescent scale colouring. He is the largest of the dragons of Valadae (those of the Eight Heirs, as well as Velhonoandrius himself are larger than the average adult dragon; it is an inherent trait in royal blood). Although no size is actually given in the books, I can accurately make a comparison because, well, I wrote the books! 🙂

Dragon Number Five: Hungarian Horntail (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

Known as the most ferocious of the dragon species in the Harry Potter universe, this aggressive, territorial creature is one you definitely want to avoid, if at all possible (poor Harry drew the unfortunate short straw with this Triwizard Tournament challenge). With adding this dragon to the charts, I opted to go with the movie franchise design and sizing. I did some wiki research into the Horntails, but my best reference aids came from watching the chase that happens in the movie. The sequence is really great, although there are only a few instances where the Horntail gets close enough to Harry to provide a half-way decent reference shot. This was surprisingly much more difficult to work out than I originally thought. I took into account Daniel Radcliffe’s shorter size (during the year and filming of the fourth movie) and screen-shot the Horntail taking off from the arena, as well as the moment it snaps at the bristles of Harry’s Firebolt. This was the end result. It was the best I could do, so hopefully it has a reasonable degree of accuracy.

Dragon Number Six: Corrupted Cynder (The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning)

Spyro is one the gaming industry’s iconic characters, able to proudly stand on the podium alongside other greats like Mario and Sonic (even if the purple dragon’s renown is not as far-spread as the others). It is in the Legend of Spyro Trilogy adventure that we are introduced to–what ends up being another beloved character of the franchise–Cynder, the black dragon. Known as the Terror of the Skies, she starts off as one of the main antagonists of the series, controlled by the Dark Master Malefor, who has used corrupted magic to force the young dragon into a transformed adult form. Once she is freed from evil’s hold, she reverts to her normal size and teams up with Spyro to bring an end to Malefor’s terrible schemes. In her normal form, she is roughly the same size as Spyro (see my first dragon chart for Spyro’s size reference) but for this chart, I chose her adult form, using in-game cut scenes with her in close proximity to Spyro as size reference.

Dragon Number Seven: Ryukotsusei (Inuyasha)

Ryukotsusei is an extremely powerful and self-assured dragon daiyokai from the anime and manga series, Inuyasha. The demon was so powerful that Inuyasha’s father, Toga (a great and benevolent inu daiyokai) could not kill him–only seal him into a forced slumber with one of his great fangs, and the injuries Toga received from that battle would ultimately lead to his demise. In the end, it is Inuyasha’s fight with the giant dragon serpent that finally ends the monster’s terrible existence. Sizing Ryukotsusei was moderately tricky; although easy enough to reference against Inuyasha’s size, the creature’s full length is never fully revealed. So, although I was able to size his top half with reasonable accuracy (taking into account Inuyasha’s 5’6″ height comparison to my silhouette), ultimately I had to guess the creatures length. Due to his silhouette being coiled and winding away in a diminishing perspective, Ryukotsusei looks smaller here than what he would likely be (length-wise).

Dragon Number Eight: Sabre Dragon (Divinity: Dragon Commander)

This impressive specimen of a dragon is an elite battle unit from the real-time strategy game, Dragon Commander, as part of the Divinity universe. The sabre is one of the three dragon-types a player can utilise and take control of to assist their armies and defended their bases.

I will admit this was one of the hardest dragons to size. I watched several in-game clips (closely assessing the dragon’s size next to other air units, as well as ground units, whilst taking into consideration the perspective and distance distortions) and did some searching on different forums as well as the D:DC website, but even then, references to improve size accuracy remained frustratingly scarce. The best I could devise was to analyse the sizes of the other dragons in the franchise, the true dragons as well as the dragon knights in their dragon forms, and from there estimate the sabre dragon’s size.

Dragon Number Nine: The Great Protector (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)

Ah! This dragon; this dragon is so magnificent! What’s not to love about something so big, benevolent and elegant, with the beautiful colouration and characteristics of a koi, and the amazing elemental powers of water. The Great Protector is a very welcome addition to the dragons of fiction, and to my dragon size chart. And thanks to both Shang-Chi and Xialing riding on the dragon’s head during the battle sequence in the movie, she was relatively easy to size.

Dragon Number Ten: Ran the Firebending Master (Avatar: The Legend of Aang)

While I am not a fan of TLoK, I absolutely love the Legend of Aang series. So, naturally, I would have to add one of the fantastic surprises revealed in the latter part of the series; the existence of the last two original firebenders: the dragons Ran and Shaw. Both dragons are pretty much the same size (which is to say, they are much larger than any of the other known dragons in the Avatar universe), so it didn’t matter which I picked; I chose Ran, the dragon that, according to the original storyboards, is most likely the red dragon. Sizing Ran was easy, as there are some perfect full-bodied shots of the dragons looming over Aang and Zuko during the episode, The Firebending Masters. I just had to work out Zuko’s size (5’3″) in comparison to my 6’3″ man silhouette and size the dragon accordingly.

Dragon Number Eleven: Kaido (One Piece)

Fans of One Piece will know this savage and merciless character well. Kaido (also spelt Kaidou) of the Beasts is renowned as the world’s “Strongest Creature”. Well, if you’ve seen the man, as well as his dragon form, you can see why! As a man, he’s imposing enough, muscular and severe-looking and standing at a whopping 710cm in height! As a dragon, well, all bets are off as to whether any normal person (or even army) could take him on. Kaido is the owner of the Fish Fish Fruit, a (Mythical Zoan type) Devil Fruit which grants him the power to transform into a mighty azure dragon. In order to size him I had to carefully watch the fight sequence of Luffy versing him, getting screen-shots of Luffy (and his super-sized fist) up close to his face, and then comparing Luffy’s size to that of my man silhouette and going from there. That same episode also shows much of Kaido’s full length and size. Quite helpful indeed!

Dragon Number Twelve: The Ruined Dragon (Super Mario Odyssey)

Soooo, I already knew this dragon was a big boy, because I’ve played the game (a really great Mario game, by the way; definitely one of my favourites). Then, going back over battle game-play, in-game cut-scenes and the concept design of the dragon I was shocked by just how HUGE this thing is. Seriously, you see that tiny little speck left of his hind foot. Yep, that the 6’3″ man, which I then decided I should magnify, just to ensure people could actually work out where it was. Colour me impressed–this Ruined Dragon, also known as the Lord of Lightning, is one gigantic creature! To accurately size him, I gauged his size compared to Bowser’s, and then gauged Mario’s compared to Bowser’s, and Mario’s in-game height to my silhouette. A lot of back and forth checking for this one, but I managed to get there.

Full Dragon Size Chart 4:

And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this latest installment of my dragon size project! But to be sure, there are many more dragons out there! Who are some of your favourites? Which dragons would you like to see in future charts?

NOTE: If you’re having trouble with the quality of the images, it would be due to WordPress compressing them to ensure the blog post isn’t bogged down with images that are too large. Rest assured, though, I uploaded the images at full quality, so you should be able to access them at their best quality via google image searches.