Shubhabrata Dutta
Dragons are surely the most popular mythical creatures of all time. They have been found throughout history, all over the world. No other mythical creature has had so many representations in various cultures throughout the world as dragons have. So it is very natural that there will be various TV shows and movies about this magical creature. In modern culture, the influence of dragons has been far and wide. No ‘Game of Thrones’ fan can forget Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons. If you’re interested in dragons and want to explore further to understand the various documentation of these creatures in modern culture, then Netflix offers some interesting offerings.
14. Ninjago: Dragons Rising (2023- )
‘Ninjago: Dragons Rising’ is an animated series based on the Lego Ninjago brand of construction toys. The sequel to ‘Ninjago’ (2011-2022), the drama takes place after all the sixteen realms merge into a single planet, bringing in a powerful dark force with its nefarious motives, the Claws of Imperium. It is up to Green Ninja Lloyd Garmadon and his students Arin and Sora to protect the mystical dragons from the Claws of Imperium, who want to misuse the dragons’ powers to conquer the new world. As effective as its predecessor, ‘Ninjago: Dragons Rising’ is a visually stunning children’s drama series that incorporates fantasy elements to convey core human morals. It can be streamed here.
13. Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation (2024)
Directed by Park Sung-Hoo, this web anime is an adaptation of ‘Monsters,’ a one-shot manga by Eiichiro Oda. It was published in the Autumn Special issue of “Weekly Shōnen Jump” in 1994. The anime follows a samurai, Ryuma, who hails from the country of Wano (a place that also exists in the ‘One Piece’ universe). How he navigates the chaos on his quest, including his encounter with swordsman-par-excellence Shimano, to defeat a powerful dragon bent on wreaking havoc is what we see in the movie. You can stream it here.
12. Dragon Quest: Your Story (2019)
Based on a video game, ‘Dragon Quest: Your Story’ deals the journey of a guy named Luca who sets out on a journey to save her mother Mada, who has been kidnapped by Ladja, who plans to use her to open a portal that leads to the Demon World. But to stop Ladja, Luca first has to find the Zenithian sword. If you have played the game, this movie will be much more interesting to you. However, it also serves as an entertaining watch for those who do not know the characters but love animation, especially Japanese. It is directed by Takashi Yamazaki, Ryuichi Yagi, and Makoto Hanafusa. You can watch the movie here.
11. DOTA: Dragon’s Blood (2021 -)
Inspired by Dota 2 by Valve, ‘DOTA: Dragon’s Blood’ is an epic fantasy streaming television series developed and co-written by Ashley Edward Miller. The show focuses on Davion, a dragon hunter who wants to make the world a safer place for people by killing all dragons. But quite ironically, an elder dragon merges with his soul during a violent battle between demons and dragons. When Davion learns that a demon named Terrorblade plans to acquire the souls of all dragons and use them to shape the world as he sees fit, the protagonist joins hands with moon princess Mirana to stop him. You can watch the series here.
10. Dragons Rescue Riders (2020)
Produced by Dreamworks Animation, ‘Dragons Rescue Riders’ has three specials and the first two seasons of its series are available on Netflix. The three specials are namely “Hunt for the Golden Dragon,” “Secrets of the Songwing,” and “Huttsgalor Holiday.” The shows follow human twins Dak and Leyla, who are raised by dragons and can thus communicate with them. Each episode and special brings forth new quests and adventures for the duo and their friend dragons that they have to overcome. Based on ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ (the famous Dreamworks film franchise), ‘Dragons Rescue Riders’ can be watched right here.
9. The Dragon Prince (2018-)
Created by Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond, ‘The Dragon Prince‘ is a Netflix series that debuted in September 2018. The story is set in a mythical land called Xadia. The place is a magical continent with six sources of magic: Earth, sun, moon, stars, sea, and sky. But this primal and natural magic cannot be harnessed or used by the human beings who live there, and instead, the humans stumble upon dark magic. This dark magic is sourced from the life forces of magical creatures, and these creatures do not take to the humans. They choose to push the humans out of Xadia and manage to be successful in doing so.
However, the border of Xadia, known as The Breach, is guarded by a fierce creature called Thunder, the king of the dragons. This creature is killed by the king, and they presumably destroy its egg, which is a vital source of life for magical creatures like dragons and elves. However, they do not lament about the loss of the egg. Instead, they kill the human King called Harrow. Meanwhile, two elves discover that the egg has not been destroyed. A mage called Viren has stolen it. They plan to retrieve the egg and end the war between the humans and the magical creatures, but the situation gets complicated when we come to know that Viren has other plans.
‘The Dragon Prince’ shows something very interesting and noteworthy through its story — that human beings have always been the ones who have destroyed the natural order of things and made their own rules, not caring about any other life form. With so many species of animals getting endangered every year and high levels of pollution around the world, the series serves as a metaphor for the effects of human life on other species and forms of life. Critics have widely praised the series. The dark story of the series and its interesting characters have found their appeal with audiences as well. You can check out the show here.
8. Firedrake The Silver Dragon (2021)
Directed by Tomer Eshed, ‘Firedrake The Silver Dragon’ is an animated movie based on Cornelia Funke’s 1997 novel of the same name. The story follows a dragon named Firedrake (voiced by Thomas Brodie-Sangster) who takes it upon himself to find a safe haven called “Rim of Heaven” for the dragons so that they can leave in peace and away from the humans who are about to take over their homeland. In the search, he is joined by his friend Sorrel (voiced by Felicity Jones), who is a cat-like forest brownie, and later on, a young human orphan named Ben (voiced by Freddie Highmore) whom Sorrel doesn’t really trust or like. However, personal hatred has no scope in their quest as they are being followed by the sinister Nettlebrand (voiced by Patrick Stewart), a dragon-eating monster. Will the trio be able to find “Rim of Heaven” before Nettlebrand can get to them? To find out, you can watch the film here.
7. Dragons: Race to the Edge (2015-2018)
Netflix produced and released this series based on the ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ franchise. The period between Dragons: Defenders of Berk and ‘ How to Train Your Dragon 2’ is covered in this series. In this series, we explore the origin story of Hiccup’s flight suit and dragon blade. The story of how the romance between Hiccup and Astrid flourished is also dealt with here. The series consists of a total of six seasons. Each season has 13 episodes in it. Jay Baruchel and America Ferrera provide voices to Hiccup and Astrid, respectively. You can stream the series here.
6. Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan (2018)
The story of ‘Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan’ follows the character of Hisone Amakasu, who is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force pilot. Hisone is a young and naive pilot, and she has mainly joined the army to get away from talking to people, as she has always been self-aware about certain peculiarities in her behavior, which often bothered her. The “OTF” – Organic Transformed Flyer in the Air Force chooses her to be its pilot. The OTF is actually a dragon. This moment becomes a highly important one in Hisone’s life as she has always felt unwanted until this dragon came along. Hisone’s character becomes very relatable for the audience. At some point in our lives, we have felt unwanted or dejected until one moment comes and changes it all. It is then that we find our true calling. The series has received mainly positive reviews. Feel free to check it out here.
5. My Father’s Dragon (2022)
The story of ‘My Father’s Dragon’ is about Elmer, a kind-hearted brave kid, who is brought to Wild Island to rescue Boris, a friendly dragon yet to reach his full potential and thus juvenile. Together, they are supposed to save Wild Island from drowning. In the endeavor, their experiences become lessons about emotions, and we can deal with them. Directed by ‘Nora Twomey.’ The movie does a commendable job of using an imaginative world to address our inner selves. You may watch it here.
4. Dragon’s Dogma (2020)
Animated by Sublimation, ‘Dragon’s Dogma’ is a dark fantasy anime series written by Kurasumi Sunayama. The show revolves around Ethan, a man who lost his life when a dragon took his heart and left him for dead. However, when he was later resurrected as an Arisen, he set out on a path to take revenge. But as he confronts one dragon after another, his humanity slowly slips away in the process. You can check out the show here.
3. Wish Dragon (2021)
Produced by Aron Warner, Chris Bremble, and Jackie Chan, ‘Wish Dragon’ is a computer-animated fantasy comedy film directed and written by Chris Appelhans. The movie centers upon Din, a young man who is gifted a teapot by a mysterious old guy. While it seems ordinary at first, a wish-granting dragon soon emerges, and Din realizes that he can finally fulfill some of his deepest desires. However, instead of satisfying some of his superficial desires, Din asks the wish-granting dragon’s help to reunite with his childhood friends whom he has not seen for a long time. Feel free to check out the movie here.
2. Damsel (2024)
‘Damsel’ is a dark fantasy flick that pins newly-wed Princess Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown) against a fire-breathing dragon. This is after she is dropped into the dragon’s lair by her husband Prince Henry (Nick Robinson) whose family has been sacrificing women to the dragon as a part of a centuries-old peace pact. How Elodie fights the dragon and whether she can make it out of the lair alive are what we find out in the movie. Besides Millie Bobby Brown and Nick Robinson, the cast includes Angela Bassett, Brooke Carter, Robin Wright, and Ray Winstone. You can watch ‘Damsel’ here.
1. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Based on the groundbreaking role-playing tabletop game ‘Dungeons & Dragons,’ which is considered the pioneer of modern role-playing games, ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ is directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. The action-adventure fantasy flick follows a group of thieves who steal a rare artifact for a client, not knowing it will unleash a dark force to be reckoned with. Having already earned enemies due to their lifestyle, the gang must do all it takes to stay safe and get things back to the way they were. Unfortunately, they have to deal with not just humans but all kinds of magical beings and dragons. The movie garnered much praise for its depiction of fantasy and offers an entertaining bingewatch. It stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Regé-Jean Page, and Sophia Lillis. You can watch ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ here.
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