44 réponses à ce sujet

[Basement Cat]

Given how low the density of bird bones already is, they'd have to be amazingly super light-weight, and then how would they be strong enough at that size? Basically I'm pretty sure that their bones would need to be made of something other than bone.

There's an old cartoon called 'The Flight of Dragons' where the dragons generated hydrogen (or similar gas) in their bellies. This gave them both lift and the ability to breathe fire. They could run out too.

 

Maybe we have a similar deal here? Of course there's the ice and electricity breathing dragons... *shrug*

 

Considering armor and weapons made from dragon bone are golden, I think it's a safe bet that dragon bones are made of something stronger than calcium and collagen.

[YourFunnyUncle]

There's an old cartoon called 'The Flight of Dragons' where the dragons generated hydrogen (or similar gas) in their bellies. This gave them both lift and the ability to breathe fire. They could run out too.

 

Maybe we have a similar deal here? Of course there's the ice and electricity breathing dragons... *shrug*

 

Considering armor and weapons made from dragon bone are golden, I think it's a safe bet that dragon bones are made of something stronger than calcium and collagen.

In that bit of discussion we were specifically talking about how dragons would fly if they existed in the real world, not Thedas. I think in Thedas you just have to wave your hands and say "magic."

 

I did actually think of a natural buoyancy aid like hyrdrogen sacs inside the torso, but I've no clue how that would evolve!

[Frocharocha]

In that bit of discussion we were specifically talking about how dragons would fly if they existed in the real world, not Thedas. I think in Thedas you just have to wave your hands and say "magic."

 

I did actually think of a natural buoyancy aid like hyrdrogen sacs inside the torso, but I've no clue how that would evolve!

i used some crazy methods to determine how big the High Dragons are.

 

 

 

According to my cals High Dragons have a lenght of something around 20.4 meters (69 feet) (21 meters probably.)

 

And they are around 4.25 meters tall (13 feet)  (when not raising their heads.) 

 

They are pretty bigs. I didn't calcutaed the wingspan because they are probably around their own body size.

[Qun00]

The real dilemma is: how do they fly?

Considering the heaviest flying animal in real life is quite small.

That is a dilemma for dragons in every work of fiction, really.

[caradoc2000]

That is a dilemma for dragons in every work of fiction, really.

Ah, but not for real dragons.

[Ieldra]

The real dilemma is: how do they fly?

 

Considering the heaviest flying animal in real life is quite small.

There were considerably bigger ones in the Cretaceous. Not quite dragon-sized, but still rather impressive I'd say.

[caradoc2000]

There were considerably bigger ones in the Cretaceous. Not quite dragon-sized, but still rather impressive I'd say.

Those were pretty much all wing.

[Frocharocha]

There were considerably bigger ones in the Cretaceous. Not quite dragon-sized, but still rather impressive I'd say.

If Earth's gravity was lower, we would have much bigger animals in Creataceous flying, juust like we see in Pandora (avatar)

[Basement Cat]

I did actually think of a natural buoyancy aid like hyrdrogen sacs inside the torso, but I've no clue how that would evolve!

The same way venom and stomach acid does? It would not be the weirdest thing in nature.

[Frocharocha]

The same way venom and stomach acid does? It would not be the weirdest thing in nature.

The problem is that dragons would be very fragile in order to maintain that size... It would be better jus tto stay small.

[Urazz]

The problem is that dragons would be very fragile in order to maintain that size... It would be better jus tto stay small.

True to an extent but since this is fantasy the bones and scales of dragons are probably very light but durable and the muscles and hearts of dragons are probably very efficient and strong.  Since dragons are generally seen in fantasy setting with magic, we could easily infer that exposure to magic allowing that kind of growth due to strengthening of various body parts and organs.

[Heimdall]

Some of these things breath lightning, others exhale ice.

 

I'm just going with them being magical beings to explain their flight.

[DubheFera]

The problem with Azhdarchidae Pterosaurs (Quetzalcoatlus, Hatzegopteryx and their relatives) is that there are scientists that doubt these creatures where able to fly; they may have been terrestrial creatures (Witton, Mark P.; Naish, Darren; McClain, Craig R. (2008). "A Reappraisal of Azhdarchid Pterosaur Functional Morphology and Paleoecology"). And they were much lighter than an High Dragon would be.

 

A lightning breath may be easier to explain, maybe they have electric organs like some fishes ("electric eels")

[Phoenix_Also_Rises]

Beside the anglerfish, I can't remember any other animal with that gender size difference that is not a bug.

Now, I'm not sure of the Old Gods being male High Dragons, both the Architect and Corypheus had tainted Dragons at their command, the Red Lyrium is stronger than the common taint so, Corypheus' Dragon had to be stronger than a real Archdemon and it wasn't. We also know that there is another kind of Dragons, the "Great Dragons", my guess is that the OG are male Great Dragons, the only female among them is Razikale and we have not seen her, until see her, I will take it as that she's bigger than the others.

 

I don't know how relevant this is, but an interesting tidbit of information regarding sexual dimorphism (size/color difference between sexes of the same species) nonetheless - with birds of prey, the female is always larger than the male, generally outweighing him by about 30% which is quite a bit. This, however, is the average ratio; with some species, such as the peregrine falcon or the sparrowhawk (or its North American counterpart, the Cooper's hawk), the female can be about twice the weight (and bulk) of the male. Such distinct sexual dimorphism is due to several reasons: (i) when nesting, everything and anything will try to murder the everloving eff out of the eggs/chicks, including other birds of prey, and seeing as it is the female who spends most of the time at the nest during breeding, she has to be the brawler in the family so as to be able to fight off any potential attacker, no matter how big, and (ii) the size difference between the male and the female means that they also hunt different kinds/species of prey - the male can hunt animals that are too quick and nimble for the bulky female to catch, whereas the female can hunt animals the male is not physically strong enough to bring down, thus ensuring a broader variety of food for the chicks.

 

tl;dr - it's all about the family and birds of prey are awesome.

[MisterJB]

 

It varies wildly depending on how a scene is animated or drawn.

For instance, here is the Archdemon.

 

 

 

As we can see, his head is, more or less, the size of a grown man.

 

Now, here is Yavana's dragon.

 

 

Holy ****, that's huge!

 

 

[Excella Gionne]

I'd say it's very high.

[Andromelek]

It varies wildly depending on how a scene is animated or drawn.
For instance, here is the Archdemon.
 

 
 
As we can see, his head is, more or less, the size of a grown man.
 
Now, here is Yavana's dragon.
 


 
Holy ****, that's huge!

Yup, I would say that Yavana's Dragon is the biggest ever seen on Dragon Age, I'm curious, Alistair identified her as a High Dragon, but given that he is the dumbest character ever I'm not sure, so is she really a High Dragon or she is the Queen of Dragons that Yavana awoke?

[thats1evildude]

Supposedly, there's one tier of dragon above high dragon called a great dragon. Yavana's dragon was one of these.

[Andromelek]

Wish we see her again, hopefully along with Yavana, and hopefully they won't kill her like they did with the poor Guardian, seriously, she was bigger than Morrigan or the Red Lyrium dragon, how the hell did she died that easy?

[Korva]

One thing that frequently amuses me about depictions of dragons is how their wingsails aren't attached to their bodies. It's always the first detail I look for after the initial "Wow, dragon!" glee. Yes, their massive bulk means there's likely magic involved in their ability to fly anyway, but they would look a bit more "realistic" if the membranes ran along their flanks. As it is, their body should basically hang straight down when in the air.