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lol. I think it depends upon the definitions one uses for dragon and the world building – which means… personal preference. I have a creature in my fantasy books that breaths fire (sort of… it has a special compartment in it’s throat that stores lava and/or boiling water – as in from hydrothermal vents – and uses that store to blast its enemies… but it is unique, and I do not call it a dragon, but a Tannink’esh. which translates loosely to fire leviathan… it is born in the water, in hydrothermal vents, lives most of its adolescence in the water, then flies out to mate in high altitude volcanos. Females then tend to go back to the sea, but the males tend to stay in the air. They have a pair of fins and a pair of bat-like wings, as well as reptilian scales but the scales cover every part of its body, like a fish. As well as a dolphin-like tail. Then it also has gills like an axolotl – which looks a lot like the mane of a lion.) but I don’t call it a dragon for two reasons – one, my world and its mythology is greatly different from our own, and two, it’s distinct.

So, the distinction of it being a fire-breathing TURTLE may be enough for some to classify it as a different creature. Lol. Randomly, in Harry Potter anthology, there is a creature that is practically a fire breathing turtle…well, at least it’s farts are… lol. It’s not classified as a dragon.

However, there are plenty of other examples where an armored (shelled) lizard-like creature is called a ground dragon or shelled dragon. So, it all depends upon your fancy, really.

so, long answer short… yes and no. lol.

ON the second question…do I understand villains better if I know their backstory.

That is a GREAT question. The answer is totally YES. Whether that is NECESSARY in a story, that is more debatable. Of course knowing the backstory of the villain will bring greater understanding for why the villain is villainous. Such understanding may (or may not) bring sympathy toward that character. It can also help in explaining his actions and the rationale for what he/she does.

That being said, is it always necessary to have the background to the villain. Absolutely not. For example, in my current WIP, which I hope to turn into a book series. My main antagonist is an evil emperor who killed my protagonists father, killed the king, and took over the kingdom, then used hitler like propaganda and practically committed genocide on one race and ostracized another (for standing up against him in his conquest of the kingdom). And then he proceeds to conquer surrounding kingdoms.

In the first three-five books, I do not plan to go into the evil emperor’s background. And he is seen as pretty much a down-right evil guy. He periodically kills for sport – to satiate a deep craving. He allows his army to ravage the countrysides, rewrites history and strongly controls the flow of information and freedoms. etc.

However… here is his background… He is the very last of his race. In a war, a war that my protagonist’s father was a top general in – this antagonist’s race, the vaelintriens, had tried to conquer the world. They lost, but at the last battle, a powerful vaelintrien mage cast a blood curse on all living vaelintriens. This blood curse sent every living vaelintrien into a blood rage (think berserker) until the target of the blood curse had been killed. The target of the blood curse was the war generals leading the final attack – one of which was the protagonists father.

Due to having his father’s blood in his veins, when his father died, the protagonist inherited being the target of the blood curse, and thus the blood curse did not stop. The antagonist, the last living vaelintrien, was only a child when the blood curse occurred, so he lived his whole life figuring out ways to live with it. If he even thinks about 1) not killing the target of the blood curse or (2) killing himself, the blood curse basically tortures him until he relents.

So, the reason the antagonist invaded the kingdom in the first place was to kill the protagonists father and end the curse. But, it didn’t end the curse, so the antagonist committed genocide on that race in an attempt to finish the curse. Still didn’t work. So then he hears about this ancient, lost relic (armor) that has great power, even over curses, so he seeks it out but is met with hostility from surrounding nations (quite understandably) and thus his conquest militarily continues.

He must kill occasionally, for no reason, for he finds that assuages his curse, at least for a time. Without it, it would easily drive him crazy.

Thus, he is not evil by choice, though that is also all he has ever known, so there is a bit where his personality is decidedly twisted.

So, yes. The background definitely brings more understanding; however, how much and where to reveal that in a book…. that is very subjective and relative.

@lady-grace