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Count Dooku

Count Dooku

The Leader has a Number Two. The Hero has a lancer. And then there's this guy: the Big Bad's top enforcer (making him the equivalent of The Lancer).

Some Dragons are ferocious fighters who leave the heavy thinking to the boss. Others are smart, detail-oriented administrators who oversee the day-to-day running of the evil organization. Either way (and watch out for those that actually have a foot in each camp), defeating the Big Bad almost always requires The Hero to overcome the Dragon first. A common but by no means universal theme is to have the Dragon pose a physical challenge to the hero, while the Big Bad poses a mental or moral challenge.

At times, the Action Girl allied with the male hero will confront The Dragon first, adding to the aforementioned challenge when she is invariably subdued.

The Dragon will occasionally commit a Heel Face Turn when confronted by the heroes. If he does so, chances are very good that he will end up killing the Big Bad when the heroes cannot bring themselves to do so; often by joining the villain in death as a final act of redemption.

The Dragon is an integral part of the Five-Bad Band dynamic. If there's a Quirky Miniboss Squad, the Dragon is often the unofficial leader. He will almost always be physically, to say nothing of mentally, stronger than The Brute.

Please note that effectively being the Big Bad's secretary, or just constantly hanging around them is not enough to be a Dragon. The Dragon is somebody the Big Bad can rely on (or thinks they can rely on) in a time of trouble to step up and beat the living heck out of the Hero, or maybe just take charge for a while, should the Big Bad not be around to do the job.

Tropes related to Dragons:

The term "dragon" actually originates from folklore where the hero will often end up fighting an actual dragon before even fighting the more intelligent but weaker Big Bad and described as such in "The Hero Of A Thousand Faces", a non-fiction comparison of various fantasy heroes written by Joseph Campbell. Hence, dragons (or stand-ins for them) are often portrayed as a Big Bad's second-in-command.

For literal dragons and their permutations, see Our Dragons Are Different. Not to be confused with Dragon Lady, who is more likely to be a Big Bad than the Dragon, or Dragon, which was a magazine. Definitely not to be confused with The Savage Dragon or a Dragon Companion. Another heroic version of this trope is Number Two, or The Hero in a Big Good vs Big Bad scenario. See also: The Man Behind the Man, Hypercompetent Sidekick, Psycho for Hire, The Consigliere.

Considering that calling someone a bad person in Real Life isn't a good idea, not to mention subjective, No Real Life Examples, Please.

Examples of The Dragon include:


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