The List
6 Dragon Girls to Set Your Heart Aflame
by Lynzee Loveridge,
The characters of Kyoto Animation's Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid have warmed viewers' hearts this winter. At first glance, Tohru and Kanna appear to just be an extension of the "monster girlfriend" trend, but dragon girls have actually been around far longer in anime. While they never amassed the same following as catgirls, it wasn't too long ago that dragon girls reigned alongside them, from '90s anime on into the present day!
Princess Luna (Luna Varga) Princess Luna is the somewhat hapless heroine of a weird 1990 OVA that holds a strange place in my heart. It might be the opening theme, which plays like a kids' giant robot show featuring a child chorus yelling the anime's title, the shoehorned nudity that was a staple of OVAs during that period, or the fact that Luna "transforms" into a giant demonic dinosaur. Transforms is kind of a misnomer; there's a transformation sequence, but it'd be more accurate to say she summons the giant reptile and gets ensnared by its head to serve as its brain. There's a half-baked fantasy world plot, but it's not the reason you'd watch this show. Luna Varga's draw is ridiculous destruction, which it fulfills with gusto.
Mink (Dragon Half) Dragon Half has a reputation that far proceeds it. It's a cute, quirky comedy released in the early 90s that a subset of U.S. anime fans latched onto with a fervor not unlike the fandoms surrounding Excel Saga and Lucky Star. Anime club members at the time wouldn't shut up about it, successfully keeping the show relevant even after it went out of print for nearly a decade. It's predominantly a gag show featuring the red-haired half-dragon girl Mink going on a quest in her 90s-era chain-mail bikini to see the most ridiculous-sounding idol, Dick Saucer.
Tear Lightning (Unlimited Fafnir) Unlimited Fafnir fell under the radar when it aired, getting relegated to the overflowing light-novel magic school trenches. I'm not suggesting it doesn't belong there; it's about a guy with Dragon powers going to a school with a bunch of girls with Dragon powers. He accidentally sees one of the girls naked and reunites with his long-lost sister, which covers pretty much all the plot beats for this type of light novel story. One of the girls with dragon powers is Tear Lightning, a cute twin-tailed girl with horn nubs. She uses mostly lightning-based attacks and can turn into a large red dragon.
Rose (Dragon Crisis!) Dragons, magic, and the mob entangle in this light novel anime. The dragon girl is named Rose, and she's discovered by Ryūji and Eriko when they abscond with a box from a black market broker. Rose is an aggressive blonde with undying affection for the show's protagonist. Initially, Rose is unable to communicate with others, but her speech gradually develops through interacting with Ryūji and Eriko.
Eco (Dragonar Academy) Ash attends a magic school for dragon-riding and, similar to The Familiar of Zero's Louise, he's mocked by his peers since he hasn't acquired a dragon to ride. Also like Louise, when his dragon shows up, it isn't a dragon, it's a girl. Eco is a dragon girl whose main interests are oversleeping, overeating, and getting her way. As a dragon, she's very adept for her age. There's also the guarantee that she'll eventually mature to resemble Navi, a more sophisticated pink-haired dragon woman.
Zefiris (Scrapped Princess) Zefiris is an AI, a dragon, and a super-powered weapon made to fight aliens. She's not the only one in the series either, but Zefiris possesses a cool demeanor despite the tremendous weight on her shoulders. She's instrumental to fulfilling a central prophecy of the show, and the fate of humanity is dependent upon whether she goes along with it or not.
The new poll: What anime mascot is the cutest?
The old poll: What anime villain would you like to befriend?
- Koro-sensei (Assassination Classroom)
- Team Rocket (Pokémon)
- Greed (FMA/FMA:B)
- Illyasviel von Einzbern (Fate/stay night)
- Kaworu (Evangelion)
- Scar (FMA/FMA:B)
- Accelerator (A Certain Magical Index)
- Fate Testarossa (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha)
- Gilgamesh (Fate/stay night)
- Char Aznable (Mobile Suit Gundam)
- Xellos (The Slayers)
- Ainz Ooal Gown/Momonga (Overlord)
- Benten (Eccentric Family)
- Hisoka (Hunter x Hunter)
- Light Yagami (Death Note)
- Deishū Kaiki (Monogatari Series)
- Majin Buu (DBZ)
- eruem (Hunter x Hunter)
- Makishima (Psycho Pass)
- Esdeath (Akame ga KILL!)
When she isn't compiling lists of tropes, topics, and characters, Lynzee works as the Managing Interest Editor for Anime News Network and posts pictures of her sons on Twitter @ANN_Lynzee.
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