There are many different types of dragons seen in both the fantasy works of today, and the myths of yesterday.
In Mythology almost every culture had it's own version of the dragon. An Asian dragon looks very different from a Welsh dragon which differs from a Scottish, or french dragon. Although the closer the cultures are to each other the more simmilar the dragons will be, there are usualy some very distinguishing characteristics.
In Celtic mythology Dragons were seen as bad news. They, along with their serpentine brethren were considered to be ill omens and were often the "Bad guy" in many a myth or legend. The most famous Celtic story which illustrates this perfectly is Beowulf. The Celtic Dragon is drawn in a style very common to all celtic art.
Like the Celtic myths Dragons were not good news in Norse mythos. Since the two cultures often had enconters some of their views of the dragon were the same. The huge, fire or poision breathing serpent in norse myths was quite close connections to snakes. They are also said to drink or bathe in blood to obtain wisdom and strength. They were supposed to horde treasure, a belief shared by most western cultures. This French Manuscript Illistration shows the many variations of dragons which were believed in by norse tribes and many other european cultures of the time.
Chinese and Japanese dragons, often refered to as eastern dragons are very different from Western dragons. They were often considered good luck and were said to wach over some people. Dragons were honored in parades, where they were portraied by a large number of men walking together under a paper or cloth likeness to a dragon not too much unlike this one True dragons would not have a body which looked like the great wall of china like this Disney world version. Asian Dragons are sometimes associated with the end of the world. There are myths connecting dragons to the destruction of the world. Dragons are a very intregal part of Asian mythose and folk religion. In myths they are often given personalitys and sometimes interact with gods. These Dragons often have a broader face then European dragons and often do not have wings as European dragons do. They are often seen with long whiskers and beards. The number of claws which an Asain dragon has is significant. [Don't ask me how i'm not THAT big a fan of Asian Dragons]
In Fantasy the different views of dragons are great. A comman view is that of dragons associated with different elements, such as Ice Dragons and the classic, ever popular Fire Dragon
Fantasy has also given us a range of draongs in every shape and size. From Little Dragons , to Medium Dragons , to Large ones.
The next type of Dragon variation concerns their interactions with humans. Many stories cast drgaons as the evil. The dragon is seen attacking villages and must be fought by the heros. So we see Dragons fighting Men . But there are authors and dreamers who are of the opinion that dragons can also side with the hero, and fight against other evils. So we see the counter to the previous where Dragons fight with men instead of against them. There are also many storys of men flying on Dragons backs . There is also the popular idea of Dragons capturing Princesses .
Some belive that Dragons can be good OR evil and that sometimes Dragons of these opposing forces do Battle
A toutorial of How dragons breath fire to be added sometime soon.