Hey guys! Been a long week for me, as my schooling has finally started for the year and has taken over my life. Thankfully, I got Labor day off. Hope you all have been having a great week, and I hope you’re not getting overworked!
Although my articles can seem short a lotta times, I try to keep everything nice and to the point. I could go on about biology, species, reasons, and all that jazz for years. The problem though is readability. It’s not very appealing to come on a blog and have to spend an hour reading a long and overly technical post. I just want to throw my best thoughts of what a Pokémon is and what it does out there quickly to spark people’s interest or explain the larger picture to them. I like articles to be readable and to the point; that has always been what can decide if I take effort to truly read every detail in an article, rather than skim to save valuable time.
Ironically, that paragraph made this one feel less readable, and much larger than it is!
So here’s a Pokémon that I doubt many of you even remember the name of! Druddigon, the only dragon Pokémon not related to another by evolution other than Legendaries. That puts it as one of the weakest, which is a shame as Druddigon is a rather beautiful Pokémon. I find it kinda interesting that it’s the same shade as Salamence– I think they’re going for the fact Dragons are considered both fire and water.
But anyway!
Basis
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So naturally, this is pretty straightforward. Druddigon is pretty obviously based on reptilian/dragon-like gargoyles seen throughout Europe. This is apparent by the basic wings, hunched back, spiny bodies, rock-like appearance, and other such features that are shared between the two. Druddigon is typically known to be rock solid, which is another example of this connection.
Druddigon isn’t shown to close its mouth much either, and it happens Gargoyles are normally water spouts, which have water run out their mouths and to the ground below them.
But hey, a gargoyle doesn’t just get a dragon typing; that’d be silly.
Another statue?
Yeah. This one is in London; naturally it’s a European dragon. However, it stands out quite a bit as being a reason for the dragon typing. Druddigon has the right features; from the frills that go back from the cheeks, to wings, to the spikes covering the body. Dragons have hardy scales as well, blending well with Druddigon’s explanations.
Something else to heavily back this up is the Pokédex data. It’s pretty obvious that when something has claws and lives in a cave, it’s a European dragon.
Although European dragons are known for flight, Druddigon can’t fly. I feel like there was some method to this madness, and I’d like to introduce you to another possible basis.
This may seem a little bit of a stretch, though if you google “dinosaur dragon” this fella comes up, which is relevant in a moment.
Dracorex hogwartsia is the name of it. And yes, that name means “the dragon king of Hogwarts.”
Now, here’s the thing. Druddigon’s Pokédex talks about its hard skull. Dracorex is a member of the Pachycephalosauridae family(I somehow managed to properly spell that.), you probably know it for Rampardos and Carnidos. They have a habit of having harder-than-rock skulls that rarely shatter. This really explains why they would have come up with harder-than-rock skull, whilst they didn’t make it a rock type.
Also, take a look at that picture. That screams Druddigon; the crazy skull, claws on the hands, legs, heck, the posture even looks right. Did I mention they clearly can’t fly? Even more reason.
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Biology
[spoiler]
Roar.
This guy is tough as rocks. It’s vibrantly colored, and doesn’t need to care at all in the caves it lives in. Even while the caves are dark, Druddigon should have no problem running through the dark to catch even prey which is well aware of it. Sure, the color is probably to show off to other Druddigons, and make each-other apparent to the other. Much like a red fox; they don’t need to care about much when it comes to predators; they also have great speed to catch prey, so why bother?
Druddigon is covered in spines; this could easily protect one from another of its species. Sure, you have no predators, but males of any animal species are likely to fight, and these fellas sure seem to show off.
Speaking of which, the rock-like skin could be used much like Pachycephalosaurus; to fight other males and bash each-others heads in. Pretty wild to imagine. The belly appears to be rock-solid as well, but this would be to prevent claws from scratching at vital arteries in the chest.
Although it has wings, they’re very rudimentary and don’t appear to do much, if anything at all. I believe these are Vestigial; they used to be used in flight, but evolution over time took its course when Druddigon entered caves and towers. There’s no need in dark, tight spaces, and it would just waste space to have working wings in there. But they could be used to show off, it’s crazy to look at nature and realize how much animals show off to mates.
It seems to have teeth built into its skull; this is something unique, and would be due to the rock-like nature of the skin. This is seen in Dunkleosteus, a massive fish with a bony, helmet-like skull that had built in bone teeth. It gives advantages in holding your prey and cutting straight through armor; I highly doubt any of its prey would be strong enough to snap its skull in half in the struggle.
It has strong legs, which appear buff. That would explain how it can apparently run at high speeds. It weighs 306 pounds; that’s some feat to get moving so fast.
The claws are made for grasp, not for digging. Digging with the claws would only damage them, and would ultimately result in a Druddigon who can’t fight anymore, once its claws are dulled.
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What do you think of this week? The ruddy-colored dragon is much more interesting than it looks. I feel like the Dracorex idea is a bit outta the box, but it works for me. I felt like going to a Pokémon that not many people bring up or use; it’s not exactly the most popular Pokémon. But maybe your opinion has changed by the end of the article; I’d love to hear.
Forums have had some great replies, and I thank you all for all of your comments! I sometimes take forever to reply, but I sure do love talking to you guys. I also started to notice people who have great ideas of what a specific Pokémon is,especially ones I never thought of. Please feel free to comment any other takes on it!