‘House of the Dragon’ Creative Minds Explain the Personalities of 3 Major Dragons
House of the Dragon introduces viewers to more dragons than Game of Thrones. Set 200 years before GOT, dragons are not so rare to come by, and many Targaryens and Velaryians are Dragonriders with their own personal dragons. Each dragon looks different and has its own personality, which the creative minds behind House of the Dragon have explored.
[Warning: Major House of the Dragon spoilers ahead!]
Rhaenyra hatched her dragon Syrax from an egg
Syrax is Rhaenyra’s personal dragon. She was hatched from an egg given to Rhaenyra when she was born, making Syrax a young adult dragon. Rhaenyra named Syrax herself after a Valyrian goddess.
“I think the dragons that are born to their riders have a shared deeper bond than any of the other dragons,” House of the Dragon co-showrunner Ryan Condal said in a behind-the-scenes video.
Syrax has a sleek appearance and yellow scales. “We kind of approached her like a bird of prey. So she’s an eagle. She’s built for speed. She’s very proud and honorable,” he continued.
The dragon Caraxes belongs to Daemon in ‘House of the Dragon’
Unlike Rhaenyra and Syrax, Daemon did not hatch his dragon Caraxes from an egg. Before the events of House of the Dragon, Caraxes was ridden by Aemon Targaryen. After his death, Aemon’s nephew Daemon claimed Caraxes. He is a large red dragon, lean and formidable.
George R.R. Martin, who wrote the book Fire & Blood that the series is based on, described Caraxes as “vicious, some would say, short-tempered” in a behind-the-scenes video.
“Maybe the dragon and the rider have a little in common there,” Martin said, referring to Daemon. “Caraxes has burned a lot of people and seen a lot of battles and has earned that name of the Blood Wyrm.”
Vhagar is the largest dragon in the world
In House of the Dragon, Vhagar is the oldest and largest dragon in the world. Before House of the Dragon, she had several known riders, including Queen Visenya Targaryen and Prince Baelon Targaryen.
Laena Velaryon claimed Vhagar when she was 15 years old and was her rider until her death from childbirth which was shown in episode 6. Afterward, Aemond Targaryen became Vhagar’s new rider.
“Vhagar is kind of old and falling apart a bit,” Condal stated. “The way we’ve approached dragons in this story is to say that dragons never stop growing. They just essentially grow until they die, and part of their death cycle is getting too large, too big for the world.”
“Vhagar is so large that she doesn’t really fit anywhere anymore,” Condal continued. “In our story, she doesn’t even fit in the dragon pit anymore because she’s grown so large. And that’s created a bit of a longer personality to her, and she’s very grumpy. She sleeps a lot. You know, she’s like an old cat.”
House of the Dragon airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
