Season 2 of HBO’s House of the Dragon begins this weekend, and after two years away from Westeros, we’re itching to see more battles, more [ ahem ] interesting relationship dynamics, and, yes, per the title of the show, more dragons. Last season left off with a dragon battle that pitted the ancient and gigantic Vhagar against the youthful and scrawny Arrax— and it wasn’t much of a fight at all . This season should provide an even closer glimpse into the Dance of the Dragons—and perhaps some evenly matched dogfights between creatures of the same size.
So, to celebrate the occasion, my colleague Miles Surrey and I decided to rank the best dragons in pop culture history. Before we get into it, a couple of ground rules: First, we included only one dragon per book or TV or film series (or in some cases, we grouped the dragons together). And, with apologies to the many Matt Damon–esque dragons we didn’t have time for , we capped the list at 30 entries.
This ranking is for the Hall of Famers only. Now, without further ado, please make way for the biggest, baddest, and, in some cases, nicest (?) monsters in pop culture. I hope you’ve got fire insurance.
— Megan Schuster Schuster: It is my profound displeasure to admit this, but for the sake of transparency, I must say it: “Thunder” slaps. It does! I’m sorry! The beat, the one-word pre-chorus, the random electro-pop influences: It just works. But while we acknowledge that, we must also acknowledge that Imagine .
