#protodragons

[katieskarlette]

“My, what large teeth you have.”

I wouldn’t recommend getting that close to an angry protodrake’s mouth..

[katieskarlette]

I see it like this: Deathwing would have the highest base stat total/defense and Chromatus would have the most powerful magic abilities, but Galakrond is so min-maxed for sheer physical power and bulk through his size that in a straight up battle of strength Galakrond would win. In a drawn out battle or with strategy perhaps Deathwing or Chromatus would stand a chance, after all speed and tactics is what led to Galakrond's defeat before. Remember Galakrond isn't a true dragon, he's a dumb beast.

Proto-dragons, Galakrond included, weren’t as smart as modern dragons, but they were smarter than a bear or a deer.  They were on the cusp of sentience when the Titans jump-started the process.  If left alone, they would have developed a civilization eventually.

But at the proto-dragon stage they had the ability to think, remember, reason, strategize, predict, and plan.  Their language was rudimentary but got the job done.  They weren’t just reacting out of instinct; there was actual thought going on.

Otherwise, yeah, what you said is probably pretty accurate.

[katieskarlette]

My protodrake wanted to make sure Kazzak was really dead before we left.  ;)

[katieskarlette]

Oh Blizzard, I see what you did there.

(The Titans were the first, since they used proto-dragons as the basis for the five dragonflights.)

[katieskarlette]

Are we sure Galakrond is dead?  Because this was one enormous protodrake looming over the Love is in the Air festivities in Stormwind...

[katieskarlette]

I logged on to Patch 7.3.5 and found Argus turned into a red light in the sky, and this handsome fellow in my mount journal after the revamp of Ulduar achievements.  Yay!

[katieskarlette]

Have any headcanons as to how the Proto-dragons, Dragon Flights, and Cloud Serpents all relate to each other?

My fic Draco ex Machina details my ideas about how proto-dragons became modern dragons, which differ from the canon information from the official novella Dawn of the Aspects.  That’s partly because I wrote it before DotA was published, but I could have tweaked it if I’d liked the official story more.  

And honestly, DotA is so darn vague that my ideas don’t completely contradict it.  Most of the novella is about the proto-dragons that became the Aspects fighting Galakrond and the undead.  The “hey, the TItans’ servants want to bless us” part is at the very end, and doesn’t really go into any detail about how they did it.

Basically, I think the Titans arrived on Azeroth and looked around for promising native life forms to tinker with.  The proto-drakes were on the verge of sentience, and if left alone for a few more eons would have probably developed their own civilization, of sorts.  The Titans jump-started the process by using their highly advanced magical/genetic tinkering to evolve them quickly, breeding for the desired traits, and adding the diverse abilities they wanted the world’s guardians to have.   

In my fic I describe a Titan lab underground in Uldum where the Titans took a bunch of proto-drakes and did experiments on them.  I imagined that the Aspects were hatched in a Titan incubator there, and when they proved to be strong and healthy, they were blessed with their special abilities (or burdened with responsibilities, to hear Neltharion tell it).

The proto-drakes we see today in Northrend are the descendants of the ones the Titans didn’t gather up and take to Uldum.   They aren’t very intelligent because the Titans took the smartest ones for their purposes, and the more bestial ones were left to breed on their own.

As for Pandaria’s cloud serpents, the canon explanation I’ve seen is that they aren’t related to the dragonflights we know from elsewhere in Azeroth, and I tend to agree.  They share a somewhat similar, reptilian appearance, but are fundamentally different.  Some kind of an offshoot of Yulon’s influence.

You didn’t ask about the elemental-type dragons from Cataclysm, which is probably just as well, because darned if I know.  They look cool, but they don’t seem to be related to any of the other dragons we’re familiar with.  I read somewhere that they’re basically elementals who chose to take the shapes of dragons, or something?  There’s no explanation in-game, anyway.

And now we have storm dragons coming in Legion, which appear to come in many different colors.  I have no idea where they fit in.  Escapees from Uldum who evolved independently?  Maybe?  Most of my headcanons on draconic origins were formed during WotLK and Cataclysm, so they may not always fit newer lore.

Thanks for the question!  :)

[katieskarlette]

“Ma’am, your protodrake doesn’t fit in this tent.”

“I don’t care.  The part I’m riding on is inside, so it counts for rested XP.”

“I’m logging off like this and you can’t stop me.”

“SECURITY!”