The Sky Belongs to Them
Dragons that ruled Westeros
Dragons in the world of Westeros trace their origins back to the ancient Valyrian Freehold, where they were first tamed and bred into living weapons. Giants like Balerion the Black Dread, Meraxes and Vhagar helped carve out the Valyrian empire and later enabled Aegon the Conqueror to forge the Seven Kingdoms through fire and blood. These early dragons were immense, terrifying creatures — symbols of dominion whose legacy set the foundation for centuries of Targaryen power.
During the Dance of the Dragons, the last great age of dragonkind, more than twenty dragons still lived, each with unique temperaments, skills and bonds to their riders. The skies of Westeros teemed with iconic beasts like the crimson Caraxes, the enormous and ancient Vhagar, the golden Sunfyre and the bronze Vermithor. Carefully raised in Dragonstone and the Dragonpit, these dragons served not only as engines of war but also as political instruments — each one shaping succession, loyalty and legitimacy during the brutal Targaryen civil war.
By the era of A Song of Ice and Fire, dragons have all but vanished from the world. Only three survive — Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion — hatched by Daenerys Targaryen centuries after the last known dragon died. Unlike their ancestors, these dragons grow without the guidance of dragonkeepers or the vast Valyrian knowledge once used to control their kind. Their return marks a resurgence of magic and a reminder of the Targaryens' lost greatness.
21 dragons shown
Dragons of the Ancestor Era
The great beasts of Old Valyria and the Conquest — dragons so vast that whole kingdoms knelt to their shadow.
Dragons of the Dance
Twenty dragons still flew at the start of the Targaryen civil war, and nearly every one of them died in it.
Dragons of Ice and Fire
Centuries after the last dragon died, three eggs hatched in the east and fire returned to the world.
