Dragon Age: 5 Things They Never Told You About Dragons

Dragons are perhaps the most iconic type of creature in Dragon Age. Winged beasts that rule the skies and were one of Dragon Age: Inquisition's main selling points.

Nonetheless, dragons are shrouded in mystery, so with each game, more information about the Dragon Age dragons is revealed. Dragons, of course, play an important role in the Dragon Age series. Thought to be extinct for the past few thousand years, they have recently re-emerged, seemingly out of nowhere. As a result, a literal age has been named after the return of dragons to Thedas.

In fact, dragons have increased in every title. More dragons have appeared for players to fight from Origins to Dragon Age: II to Inquisition.

However, even die-hard fans may be unaware of specific facts about the dragons in this series. So here are 5 Things BioWare Never Told You About Dragons.

All Dragons Are Female (well, kinda)

Apparently, according to the DA lore, the male and female distinctions are quite different.

Male Dragons mature fast, but they are never superior to the other counterpart gender, females.

"Male dragons never develop into the winged monsters of myth. At most, their forelegs grow the vestigial spurs where the wing membrane might have been."

— World of Thedas Vol. 1

Whereas a female Dragon will mature to what we know of as a Mature, or High Dragon. These High Dragons live in a lair only to be seen within a century between flights. High dragons are extremely territorial and will typically attack almost anything that trespasses near their lair. Even creatures as large and powerful as giants (and even other high dragons), you must be cautious when a high dragon's lair is nearby.

It stands to reason that the only people we know who can shapeshift into Dragons are Flemeth and Morrigan, and possibly Yavana from the Silent Grove.

And, of course, we know that the elvhen goddess Mythal is one of the Evanuris who represents all of Thedas' draconology...

Calenhad Theirin Drank Dragon Blood

Calenhad is only known as the Great because of the Qunari legend told to Alistair by Arishok; the Qunari version of King Calenhad's myth, in which he gained the power to unite Ferelden by making a bargain with a mysterious witch to drink dragon blood—

He was led by the witch to a cave where a Great dragon was dying. Calenhad slashed the ancient creature with his dagger and drank some of its blood, gaining new strength that rendered him unbeatable in battle.

A measure of this strength was passed on within the Theirin family from that time onward, and it proved to be quite a threat of strength in the bloodline, but also, to those who took it as a source of power for their own.

The power of a Reaver specialization is the closest to Calenhad's legend of power.

Reavers are warriors who gain power through the blood of dragons. It is believed that similar to blood magic, humanity learned how to harness this power from Demons. To become a Reaver, one must traditionally drink dragon blood in a ritual similar to joining. In the Reaver ritual, wyvern blood can be used instead of dragon blood to achieve the same effect.

The word "reaver" refers to someone who despoils, plunders, bereaves, or takes with violence. This could refer to both the taking of another person's life or flesh and the sacrifice of one's own, as described in the game.

Aside from a temper, those known Reavers would be physically changed (some say Calenhad's chest was bigger than the Frostback Mountains), even to the point of growing scales on the skin.

Calenhad was known for his sudden disappearance, he's also known to kill his trusted advisor Myrddin, and to what end? Was drinking Dragon blood causing his rage? Did Calenhad recognize his mistakes and anger, feel ashamed, and flee?

Or is it possible that drinking Dragon Blood is more dangerous than we can imagine...

Qunari Likely Originated Through Dragon Blood

According to the Iron Bull in Inquisition, he has a particular fondness for dragons. He believes the Qunari and dragons are related in some way. It is not difficult to think about it because both have horns on their heads.

Fans believe that Qunari were once elves who were forced to drink dragon blood by Tevinter magisters and thus became Qunari. Then there's also Kieran (Old God Baby), who tells the Qunari Inquisitor that their blood "isn't their own".

Corypheus also says a statement "your kind is a mistake." And because Corypheus is an ancient Tevinter magister, it is possible that the Kossith/Qunari existed there and were forcibly created as a result of Dragon and Old God worship.

According to Cassandra's legend, the Reavers developed dragon-like characteristics and terrible tempers, often killing their entire families. The stories may be exaggerated, but she believes they are true, and I believe I can put my trust in the ultimate dragon slayer here.

The Qunari appear to be related to the Reaver class as well: according to Aurelian Titus from the Until We Sleep comic, the power of Great Dragon blood is "their birthright," and the last magisters wanted to shape the Fade just like "the ancient Dreamers could."

Given how things are shaping up in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. I am confident that we will learn more about all of this. But, unless you happen to be a Qunari, maybe chugging a mega pint of Dragon's Blood as a Reaver is probably not the best idea...

Dragon Age Originally Had No Dragons

As it transpires, the original concept for the games didn't even have dragons.

"Dragon Age didn't have a name at first," Ian Stubbington, the game's lead environmental artist, tells them. "There were some ideas but nothing concrete, so one of the coders decided to make a quick random name generator." They improvised something and added a slew of fantasy words to the list. It was fired up and produced some names, with 'Dragon Age' receiving the final vote by the team at the time.

"David Gaider (lead writer) at that time responded, 'Hmm, we should add some dragons to the story then...'"

Gaider explains that before becoming officially known as Dragon Age, Origins was called "Chronicles," which nobody on the team liked. Meanwhile, Origins writer Jay Turner tells us that while Dragon Age initially "felt pretty generic," people gradually grew accustomed to it to the point where the game couldn't possibly be known as anything else. The main problem, once again, was that the game had no dragons.

So, while that concept did make it into the final version of the story, Gaider clarified that it took him a while to warm up to Dragon Age. "Suddenly, dragons returned to the world, the Archdemon transformed into a dragon, and - best of all - I created a calendar system with named 'ages' so that the current age could be, you guessed it, the Dragon Age,"

Great Dragons Are the Blood of The World

Yavana, an Antivan Witch of the Wilds, awoke them from their slumber in modern times. They resemble High dragons in appearance. Their existence was revealed in Dragon Age: Inquisition. The Silent Grove and its distinction from High dragons

A "Great" dragon is a powerful, rare, and ancient type of dragon that differs from high dragons in size and intelligence.

Yavana, claims that "The blood of dragons is the blood of the world"

Because of this quote, many fans theorize that the Great Dragons have to do with either the Archdemons/Old Gods or even related to the Evanuris from ancient Thedas.

We know incredible power can be bestowed by great dragon blood. According to Magister Aurelian Titus, the Dreamers of ancient times commanded The Fade. "All they needed was the blood of the Great dragons... [w]ith it, I have tapped the power of gods!"

There also appears to be ongoing dragon worship throughout the franchise, beginning with the Tevinter. The Tevinter are known for their dragon worship, but it almost appears cult-like. And, of course, Haven was known to be involved in cult-like activities that were, to put it mildly, strange. So, whether dragons are the blood of the world or not, they appear to be worshiped by the world more than we thought too...

Whatever the case, the Dragons in Thedas are an extremely unique beast in the series, and I hope we get to learn more about them in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf!

But with that, we are going to wrap up, 5 Things BioWare Never Told You About Dragons. Which on this list was your personal favorite, and what dragon is your favorite in Dragon Age: Inquisition I wanna see that comment down below, and if you don't I'll just assume you never fought a dragon...

Thank you for watching, and I will see you in the next video!