Your guide to the dragons of House of the Dragon

By Helen Daly

Published: Sunday, 21 August 2022 at 12:00 am

For fans of Game of Thrones, one of the coolest features no doubt was the inclusion of dragons.

Unsurprisingly, they’re going to be back in a very, very big way in House of the Dragon.

In fact, it’s emerged there are going to be not one, not two, but 17 dragons in the first Thrones spin-off, which will no doubt push the ambitious budget to the very limit.

As we know from the franchise, each dragon has a very different personality and, in this case, owner.

To help, we’ve got a handy round-up of the dragons that we’ll become very familiar with throughout House of the Dragon, so bookmark this page because we’ll be adding to it as new dragons emerge.

All the dragons in House of the Dragon – full guide

Syrax

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Milly Alcock as Rhaenrya Targaryen and her dragon.
Netflix

Owner: Rhaenyra Targaryen

Status: Alive

Syrax’s only owner is Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy). She is said to have had yellow scales and while big, wasn’t as big as some of the other dragons we’ll meet in the series. Rhaenyra first rides her when she’s as young as seven.

Caraxes

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Caraxes in House of the Dragon.
Courtesy of HBO

Owner: Daemon Targaryen

Status: Alive

Caraxes has had two owners by the time we meet him in House of the Dragon: Prince Aemon Targaryen (the heir to Jaehaerys Targaryen) and Prince Daemon Targaryen (played by Matt Smith). The beast is said to be predominantly red, meaning he has the nickname ‘Blood Wyrm’.

Balerion

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Paddy Considine and Milly Alcock in House of the Dragon in front of Balerion’s skull.
Ollie Upton / HBO

Owner: Viserys Targaryen

Status: Dead

Balerion was owned by House Targaryen and was passed down through the family. Owners included Aegon I Targaryen, Maegor I Targaryen, Aerea Targaryen and in House of the Dragon, he is owned by (the soon-to-be King) Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine). In the books, he was said to have black scales and wings, and his fire was also black with bits of red. A powerful dragon, Balerion could melt steel and stone. It was said his wingspan was so large it would create massive shadows on towns when he was in flight. According to lore, Balerion helped Aegon to craft the Iron Throne his most recent owner will soon sit on.

When we meet Balerion in House of the Dragon, he has sadly passed away, and his skull is on display.

Vhagar

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Vhagar in House of the Dragon trailer.

Owner: Aemond Targaryen

Status: Alive

Those familiar with the book series House of the Dragon is based on will have been very excited at one point in the trailer when a young Aemond Targaryen (Leo Ashton) comes face-to-face with an obscenely big dragon known as Vhagar. She was first ridden by Visenya Targaryen, but would go on to be owned by Baelon, Laena Targaryen and finally, Aemond. Though her description was never fully written down, George R R Martin confirmed to an artist who wanted to depict her that she was “bronze with greenish blue highlights and bright green eyes”. She would grow to be the largest dragon in Westeros.