Tor Books’ blog is currently wrapping up a stirring and fiery Dragon Week and, after publishing a Top 5 Deadliest Dragons article, Tor took to Twitter to ask the essential question: Which is the deadlier dragon, Smaug or Godzilla?
What furious kaiju hell did they release?
A VERY IMPORTANT DRAGONWEEK POLL.Which is the deadlier dragon?*
*retweeted for typo
— Tor Books (@torbooks) July 9, 2019
The choices were between Smaug and Godzilla, two seemingly obvious dragons. But…is Godzilla a dragon? This, it would seem, is not settled discourse!
Is Godzilla a dragon, or a lizard-monster-dinosaur hybrid? What constitutes a dragon? Do atomic “fire” breathing land walkers qualify at all?
He's usually a mutated dinosaur, altho in the newer films he's a prehistoric super species.
— Jojira (@Goji_Saurus) July 9, 2019
So still not a dragon 🐉😂
— Krista Fields (@Krista_Fields) July 9, 2019
HERE WE GO.
Big boi lizard who spits
— Caleb is a McFreakin Doodle 🍉 (@AirheadedAviatR) July 9, 2019
Multiple dragons and dragon-type creatures spit or breathe various deadly substances like fire, acid, ice, venom. Godzilla definitely spits. Hmmm.
https://twitter.com/alienghic/status/1148668270016204800
Smaug isn’t without his detractors, either.
F
— Caleb is a McFreakin Doodle 🍉 (@AirheadedAviatR) July 9, 2019
NEVERMIND. No one gets to be a dragon!
https://twitter.com/wolfmanwalter13/status/1148640069588279296
https://twitter.com/wolfmanwalter13/status/1148663774129377280
Oh.
Oh wait.
A new challenger approaches!
From medievalist Sarah Durn, via an excellent feature on io9:
The dragon deity Ryūjin is considered the god of sea in Ryūjin shinkō, an offshoot of Japanese Shinto. There’s even the Dragon Palace at the bottom of the sea further connecting Japanese dragons to the oceans that surround the island nation. […] Though based in part on Japanese dragons like Ryūjin, Godzilla takes on a new composite form—just as Godzilla is an entirely new form of destruction.
Godzilla is not only a dragon, they’re based on one of the original dragons.
In the end, this is what Twitter decided:
A VERY IMPORTANT #DRAGONWEEK POLL.
Which is the deadlier dragon?*
*retweeted for typo
— Tor Books (Check Mark) (@torbooks) July 9, 2019
Nearly 70 years and you still can’t keep Godzilla down. The King of Monsters reigns supreme!
