Dragon is a fictional character from the Shrek franchise, who is initially believed to be a fearsome villain guarding Princess Fiona.

While she is abandoned during Shrek's escape, she later becomes his ally and the wife of his sidekick, Donkey, helping defeat the evil Lord Farquaad by eating him whole.

[2] The animators of Shrek initially had Dragon breathe realistic fire for the film's rescue scene, similar to that used in torches and candles, but realized it looked unnaturally forced.

Shrek soon comes back to "save his ass" (a pun referring to Donkey), and the trio escape from Dragon's castle, leaving a chained and miserable dragoness in their wake.

Donkey claims at the film's beginning that she had been "all moody and stuff" recently, explaining his unannounced arrival at Shrek's swamp.

Nevertheless, Dragon makes a full appearance in a post-credits scene, in which she arrives with six young "dronkeys" - dragon-donkey hybrids that meet their clueless father for the first time.

When Prince Charming attacks Far Far Away, Dragon is captured and disarmed by a large iron chain cast net; her dronkey offspring are caught and imprisoned, as well.

The parallel Dragon ends up muzzled and bound in chains after being stopped by Shrek and Fiona, fading out of existence as the real world is restored.

[5] Petrana Radulovic of Polygon called Dragon "sexy" and a pop-culture icon, saying that the plot twist was "revolutionary" and that she "definitely should've been featured in more movies".

[6] The relationship was called a visual realization of the film's moral message that appearances are not important, but at the same time, seemingly impossible due to the difference in size.

As patriarchal social structures were established, the goddesses, once thought as symbols of wisdom and life, were called monsters and emblems of evil, giving rise to the trope of a knight slaying a dragon.