The Elder Scrolls: Do dragons exist in this game?

[Algonkin]

I don't know much about the world in Elder Scrolls. Is there a reason there are no large enemies such as dragons? I would love to see someone do that really well. Make it a rare occurrence, but do some creative game play mechanics to make it interesting. Not unlike the mutant behemoth in Fallout 3. There was only a handful of those guys, but running into one was always an epic encounter. There may be a good reason dragons aren't around in ES was just curious though.

[Edbert]

Yea but it won't be "dragon sees you, dragon attacks you", you'd really have to give it a reason for that. To them you'd most likely be just a whatever most of the time, why should such a creature even take note of you if you're note a immediate threat or a sufficient bite to eat in any way? And really I hope they won't go the good and evil way in any case. Personality based at max and if then have reasons for it.

[Rompage]

It's not uncommon in modern fantasy to paint dragons as intelligent, nor is it particularly uncommon for them to be misunderstood good-aligned beings, or have good and evil factions such as with the Dragon lance series of books, though some modern fantasy does paint them as evil-aligned intelligent beings, such as the Landover series of books. Shape shifting is common too, and aside from the Elder Scrolls series it's a trait of dragons from the War craft series as well, though I don't know if it's in the games, but it's in several of the books.

[Deenanath]

Hence why I mentioned them having interesting game play mechanics to support it. If there were a particular few that were being manipulated for whatever prominent evil threat was being faced at the time. If they were in their Lair and you went in to stop them. Having them just around the world randomly would be difficult. Something that large would need to be a carefully designed set piece. You people particularly the ones who sound like the PETA of Tamriel wouldn't think it would be cool if ES included a large set piece battle like that in the game.

[Emilian]

As for the OP, there are dragons in ES. They are very old, very powerful, and VERY smart creatures. They're not some rampaging monsters that eat people and destroy villages for the eules. The empire holds them to near god status, as they represent their chief deity and are a symbol of the empire. In fact, dragons, pretty much, are semi-gods. In addition, the empire will protect these creatures, and even took a lot from Morrowind after being driven out by cliff races the CRs ate all the food, and they themselves are not very nutritious. If you want to kill one, it's just not going to happen. First off, they're way too big and powerful. Just to gauge how tough they are, it took 7 days and a score of men to kill a Wamasus, the closest thing to a dragon. Second, even if you manage to kill one, you will be killed on sight all over Tamriel.