Dragon

Dragons are the original practitioners of Firebending and are capable of breathing fire. They taught this ability to the Sun Warriors civilization, a precursor to the modern day Fire Nation. They were also thought to be extinct before Aang and Zuko discovered that two were still alive.

Anatomy
A dragon is a large, horned reptile with a long, scaly body that ends in a thin tail. It has four short legs and two very large wings that enable it to fly quickly over great distances. The dragon's head is large compared to the rest of its body. Its bearded face is dominated by a wide, flat nose and golden, cat-like eyes. There also seem to be several subspecies of dragon, as Ran and Shaw were much larger and had several physical features not present in the dragons owned by Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin.

Known dragons
The first dragon introduced in the series was one named Fang, a red dragon and Avatar Roku's animal guide that appeared to Aang as a spirit after Aang had crossed over into the Spirit World. This dragon was able to communicate with Aang telepathically, although it is not clear whether this was an ability it possessed while still alive or whether other dragons possessed similar abilities.



Fire Lord Sozin had a blue dragon that he used as a personal steed. It was Sozin's decision to begin a tradition of hunting dragons for glory that eventually led to the near-extinction of the dragon species. According to him, a Firebender who was capable of conquering the ultimate Firebender, a dragon, was considered to have legendary Firebending, and would earn the honorary title of "Dragon". This tradition was ended by General Iroh, who claimed to have killed the very last dragon. He did this in order to preserve the last two members of the species.

These final two dragons, Ran and Shaw, were kept secret by the remaining Sun Warriors, a civilization also believed to be extinct. General Iroh was believed to have conquered these dragons, but instead lied and learned the true way of Firebending from them. When Aang and Zuko journeyed to the ruins of the civilization, they were taught the true meaning of Firebending by Ran and Shaw as well.

Red and blue dragons
The symbolism of the red and blue dragons has appeared several times throughout Team Avatar's adventures. Commonly, the red dragon represents honor and goodness, while the blue dragon represents seduction and evil.



While living in Ba Sing Se, Zuko dreamed that he was the Fire Lord and did not have a scar. Two dragons, one red and one blue, gave him advice. The blue dragon spoke with the voice of Azula, Zuko's sociopathic sister who wields blue flames when Firebending; the red dragon spoke in the voice of Iroh, Zuko's caring uncle. The blue dragon sought to harm Zuko, encouraging him to sleep forever, whereas the red dragon told him to run away and escape. This dream eventually came true, when Azula and Iroh gave Zuko different advice in the Crystal Catacombs of Ba Sing Se. Zuko decided to fight by Azula's side, though he later regretted it.

The red and blue dragons also represented the conflict between Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin with Roku's dragon being red and Sozin's being blue. Roku and Sozin were initially friends, but they became distanced over time. Both dragons were present on Roku's island when Sozin betrayed Roku and left his old friend to die in the volcanic eruption - Sozin escaped on his blue dragon, while Fang swooped in so that it could die with Roku.

Of the original Firebending masters, Ran and Shaw, one is a red dragon and one is a blue dragon. Though no distinction of personality or name was made between them, the red one was seen to be paired with Zuko and the blue one with Aang as they do the "Dancing Dragon" form; however, when Aang and Zuko finish displaying the "Dancing Dragon" form and prepare to face the dragons judgment, Aang is seen facing the red dragon, and Zuko the blue one. The dragons deemed them worthy and proceeded to show Aang and Zuko the original meaning of Firebending.

Connection
Dragons of the Avatar world are heavily influenced by the depiction of dragons in traditional Chinese culture. The long serpentine body, whiskers, fin-like ears, wild looking eyes, canine snout, and the position and proportions of the horns and legs suggest this particular oriental influence. However, other Asian cultural influences are present, as for example, the dragons in the series have four toes which is a typically Korean trait. In Chinese, and a significant proportion of Asian mythology, dragons are traditionally portrayed as a chimerical mix of lizards, camels, goats and bats, among other animals; however their image seems to have been refined in adaptation for animation and for the Western audience. The ability to breathe fire and the presence of wings are characteristics more common in European dragons, but they are included in the dragons of the Avatar universe as it is such an integral aspect of the western idea of dragons, and also for the fact that they are the primal benders for the art of Firebending, whereas oriental dragons were more closely associated with water.

Trivia

 * Ran and Shaw move in a similar way to Tui and La, circling each other. This symbolizes the Yin Yang Symbol, Taijitu, which is usually black and white. The Korean Flag shows a very similar symbol known as Um Yang. This emblem is the same in shape and design, only with solid red and blue colors (red being on top), and no corresponding inverted spots in them. This symbol represents essentially the same thing as the popular Yin and Yang symbol, the idea of opposing, and yet, complementary forces. The Chinese Dragon was also the animal associated with Yang, masculinity, the sun, the sky and daytime, as opposed to the Chinese phoenix or fenghuang which represented Yin, femininity, the moon, the earth and nighttime.