Dragons

Dragons are creatures that once existed on the continents of Westeros and Essos, but were considered to have been extinct for over a century and a half.

The only remaining trace of the dragons were the stones which were reported to have once been dragon eggs, though these claims were questionable, and the skulls of the great Targaryen dragons which are stored in the vaults below the Red Keep of King's Landing.

However, Daenerys Targaryen succeeded in hatching three of those dragon eggs using fire and blood, meaning that there are now three dragons at loose in the world once more.

In the series
In the ﻿series the Dragon race is established as having been extinct for many years. The only thing left of the race are petrified dragon eggs, which are used as decoration, and the bones which are used for weapon crafting. According to one legend, dragons originated from a second moon that hatched when it drifted too close to the sun. This is mostly dismissed as a simple myth.

They remain the sigil of House Targaryen, who were known to have a special affinity with the creatures. Even a Targaryen like Daenerys who knows nothing of her true heritage feels a connection with the relics of the ancient animals. She appears to feel a connection with the eggs; causing her to develop a curiosity about the race and the possibility that there may still be living dragons.

Winter is Coming
In the first episode Daenerys Targaryen is given three petrified dragon eggs as a gift for her wedding to Kal Drogo. The three eggs are black, green and red and are initially in poor condition; covered in grime and looking more like stones than egg-like.

The Kingsroad
By the second episode, Daenerys has started caring for the eggs and they have become more rich in color. She also keeps them in a chest surrounded with lit candles, day and night and is drawn to them.

The Wolf and the Lion
In episode 5, Arya stumbles upon the massive skull of one of the Targaryen dragons while chasing a cat in the vaults. She hides in the mouth of the skull and overhears the plots of her father's enemies.

A Golden Crown
In episode 6, Daenerys continues to experiment with her eggs. She places one of the eggs into a fire pit in an attempt to hatch it, but the egg remains frozen.

Fire and Blood
Daenerys Targaryen places the eggs on the funeral pyre of her husband after smothering him with a pillow. She also straps the witch Mirri Maz Duur to the pyre. She then lights the pyre, and walks into it, with all her followers believing her to be dead. In the morning however, she is found with three dragons, a white-peach colored dragon by her feet, a green one in her arms, and a black dragon clinging on her shoulder.

Known dragons

 * Balerion, the Black Dread, the largest dragon known, was more than 200 years old when he died. Aegon the Conqueror's steed during the War of Conquest. Allegedly the Iron Throne was forged in his breath. His skull is stored in the Red Keep.
 * Meraxes, the dragon of Aegon I's sister-wife Rhaenys. His skull is stored in the Red Keep.
 * Vhagar, the dragon of Aegon I's sister-wife Visenya. His skull is stored in the Red Keep.
 * Silverwing, the dragon of Queen Alysanne Targaryen, the sister-wife of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen. Alysanne rode Silverwing to Winterfell on a royal visit and, on a whim, then flew him all the way to the Wall to visit the Night's Watch.

In the books
In the Song of Ice and Firenovels, dragons are described as four-limbed creatures (two legs and two wings with foreclaws). They are native to the continent of Essos, and were found in significant numbers some five thousand years ago on the ValyrianPeninsula. The people of Valyria tamed the dragons and used them as steeds and weapons of war. Using dragons they forged a vast empire spanning most of the continent until the event known as the Doom destroyed the empire and eliminated most of the dragons. The only dragons known to have survived were the three dragons belonging to House Targaryen, which used them to conquer the Seven Kingdoms.

The Targaryens kept their dragons for approximately one hundred and fifty years and at one time had a significant number of the creatures, at least nineteen (this is the number of dragon skulls stored by the Targaryens in the Red Keep). Most of them were killed in the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of Dragons. The surviving dragons were weak and sickly, with the last dragon dying during the reign of King Aegon III Targaryen, the Dragonbane. The last dragons left behind several eggs, which never hatched. These eggs were later destroyed or lost to the vagaries of history. As a result, dragons are now considered to be extinct.

According to Valyrian records, dragons hatch small, about the size of an average dog, but grow larger and larger as their appetites expand. A dragon never stops growing as long as it remains fed. Dragons could live to be over 200 years old, and it is said that Balerion the Black Dread, one of Aegon I's dragons, was so huge when he died he could swallow an aurochs whole. Dragons could breathe fire and were ferociously strong. However, they were also vulnerable to sustained arrow fire from the ground, to poison and to attacks from other dragons. The art of taming and commanding dragons enough to ride is almost unknown aside from a few exceedingly rare books. Dragons, like certain species of lizards, can shift gender and have no fixed sex, but are usually referred to as male.

In the books Daenerys eggs are one of the few remaing testaments to the dragon race and are gifted to her has a wedding present from Illyrio. Despite being told the eggs are petrified Daenerys claims to be able to feel heat coming from the eggs. She also has dreams of a large black dragon (Its coloring matching one of her eggs) attempting to communicate with her, and when her dragons are born, she is closest to Black Dragon hatchling. Daenerys has three Dragon babies, a green dragon, a white one, and a black one. She names the green one Rhaegal, after her brother Rhaegar. she names the white one Viserion, after her other brother Viserys, and she names the most aggresive and largest of her dragons, the black one, Drogon, in memory of her dead Husband.