I thought I might as well add my own dragons for comparisons, so here are the dragons in my story.
Name : Since this cover an entire family of animals, Draconis would be used to cover all dragons, with individual names for each dragon.
Creation and Evolution: The original dragon originated from Draylios, a spirit born during the planet's formation. They lack physical form, thus they chose hosts to inhabit when they wish to interact physically with the mortals. Draylios chose a horned lizard, changing its physiology to suit his needs. The horned lizard grew at an abnormal rate, soon reaching hundred of meters in length. To reward the lizard for the temporary use of its body, Draylios granted its descendants to possess similar physiology to ensure their survival and dominance. The descendants of the lizard could adapt to all environments, and their great size and power allowed them to be the apex predators.
Appearance: The only things that are common traits among them is the fact that they are giant lizards and that they possess horns. Other than those, the appearance between each species can be baffling. Each species are evolved to best suit their environment, with water dragons being more streamlined in shape, fire dragons having exclusively red scales, earth dragons having giants claws to dig through earth and etc. Most species of dragons have wings, outside of those who obviously won't need them, and all of them can fly. Sky dragons, who are evolved specifically to dominate the air, can fly at supersonic speed, with high maneuverability comparable to the best of fighter planes. Most dragons are around the size of 10 to 30 meters in length, with the exception of the great dragons, who are the most direct descendants of the original dragon, reaching 60 to 80 meters, and the Draconis Minimis being only 30- 50 cm in length. Most dragons rely on magic to function without collapsing from their weight. Sacs containing chemicals needed for their Breath Weapons are connected to a third tube outside of the digestive and respiratory tract.
Personality: Most act as the typical apex predator, hunting only prey large enough to feed them, so unless its a adolescent dragon, they usually won't attack humans. They are omnivorous, with some species eating poisonous plants and animals to fill their sacs. They possess intelligence comparable to primates, some even smarter than humans. They can learn and understand human languages, but can't speak them due to different mouth structure. Sociopathic traits can be found in some individuals, with more cropping up due to the constant attempts by humans hunting them. They are gentle towards smaller animals, capable of having pets, sometimes even feeding and healing injured animals. The need for sun-basking are non-existent for the smaller dragons, sea dragons(being similar to fish), fire dragons and great dragons. They are extremely protective of their young, attacking without hesitation if they see their children hurt.
Culture and society: For most dragons, they are solitary and territorial, with almost zero interactions with other members of their species outside of mating and taking care of children. The sociability of dragons increases as their size decreases, with the Draconis Toxicus, one of the smallest known dragons, being an eusocial society, serving under a queen. Some dragon live similarly to pack hunters, like lions and wolves, with a heriachy. Horns are used to determined beauty and health, and fight over dominance include the breaking of the horn. If a human managed to break a dragon's horn, the dragon will become subservient to them. A great dragon is capable of giving orders to lesser dragons.
Habitat: Dragons can be found in every habitat capable of sustaining life, from sky dragons in the mountains to water dragons in the sea and rivers. Some dragons are nomadic, having no set home.
Abilities: Each dragon possess abilities that allow them to dominate the environment they live in. All of them possess extremely tough scales, with only the equivalent of an anti-tank rifle being able to pierce through them. Swords enchanted with magic may cut through it, but good luck with that. Dragons can breathe fire, extremely cold air, poisonous gas, spit acid, create giant waves, venomous bites, dig through earth and etc. Though dragons have great talent in magic, only the great dragons are intelligent enough to actually practice them. They are impervious to spells cast by anyone less than a full-fledged wizard. Great dragons can also turn into humans as disguise or convenience.
Friends and Foes: Their enemies include wyverns, hydras, wyrm, who are similar in appearance to dragons but inferior in every way in terms of size, strength or talent in magic, while also lacking the horns that define dragons. Other beasts whose ancestors were once hosts for other spirits like Draylios are comparable in strength are rivals to the dragons, but would ignore each other unless competing for food.
Unique Traits: My dragons are pretty generic, with probably the importance of horns to their culture being their only trait.
Role in the story: While most humans fear dragons, some humans actively hunt dragons to gain fame. Due to their near indestructible skin, some dragons would be skinned to make armor. Due to the difficulty for normal people to hunt dragons, these armors are usually reserved for kings, thus turning dragons into the symbols for kings. Dragon Riders are those who managed to destroy the horns of the dragons and gain their allegiance. Drake(obviously symbolic name), after establishing a contract with Draylios, is able to command dragons, making them his own personal army.
