Levistus's_Leviathan
5e Freelancer
Okay, as some of you may be aware, in D&D, there's been quite a long history of Dragons and Giants hating each other. Depending on the setting, it can range from deep rivalries to outright war between the two, with the most notable Dragon-Giant War probably being the Thousand Year War from the Forgotten Realms. Basically, all you need to know for the basis of this post is that Dragons versus Giants is a thing, and this post is to explain why Dragons and Giants hate each other so much in the worlds/multiverse of D&D. This will be using some of the new/updated lore from Fizban's Treasury of Dragons and also some speculative information and homebrew lore to tie it all together. (Also, if you want to know why people have Dragons and Giants fight in their fiction in the real world, it's almost definitely because it's just plain awesome. It's really hard to get cooler than a Giant wrestling with a Dragon, or a Dragon's wing being cut by a Giant's Sword while it breaths down fire on the Giant.)
Let's start out by analyzing the natures of these types of monsters to see if there's any innate reason why they would hate each other. First, let's do Dragons.
According to the updated draconic lore about the First World from Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, Dragons helped create the Material Plane, and are inherent creatures to the world. Dragons are to the Material Plane as Celestials are to the Upper Planes, Modrons are to Mechanus, Fiends are to the Lower Planes, and so on. Basically, the Material Plane is the Plane of Dragons (evidenced by the name of the hobby, Dungeons and Dragons, as well as several settings, like Eberron's Creation Myth being about 3 God-Like Progenitor Dragons, the Io's Blood Isles of Council of Wyrms, and the main two gods of Dragonlance, Takhisis and Paladine, being draconic gods). Basically, dragons are a big deal in D&D, being more than just flying magic lizards that breath fire (and other elements), they're literally so tied to the Material Plane and its existence that they can warp it and creatures that live on it by their mere presence. This is why they have Lair Regional Effects, Lair Actions, can create Half-Dragons by just being near the birth of a creature, and have blood so magical that it can grant powerful arcane magic to those that carry it (Draconic Bloodline Sorcerers).
Furthermore, Dragons in D&D are Multiversal. They exist on all of the worlds of the Material Plane, having Echoes across the multiverse that they can discover and draw power from if they get old and powerful enough. They have power beyond what almost all Gods in D&D are capable of; calling the aspects of their selves on other worlds to aid them in their times of need. They were present when the First World was shattered, and are deeply rooted in the nature of the Prime Material Realm. They're fairly weak when they're younger, but if they grow old enough, they eventually just inherit godlike powers from their connection with the Material Plane. Many of them grow so powerful that they could actually be considered gods. They live a long time, have access to unfathomable amounts of power, and can break the normal laws of the D&D multiverse because they are so magical in nature.
Giants, however, are different. While Dragons are more like "Gods-in-Waiting", Giants are more akin to Demigods. Giants, in the base lore of D&D, are the children/descendants of Gods. The different subtypes of Giants are literally descended from the 6 main children of Annam the All-Father. Annam is called the "All-Father" for a reason, he is literally the father of Giantkind. And Annam is an ancient deity, he has tremendous power and has a strong grasp over Giantkind with the Ordning, the Divine-mandated caste system of the Giants. Think of Annam as a mixture of Odin and the Judeo-Christian God, because that's basically his identity. Giants desperately want to please the All-Father, by following the Ordning and doing as much Maat as possible. They believe that if they please Annam enough, they will eventually refound Ostoria (the now-fallen ancient giant empire), and . . . the lore isn't actually clear here, but the logical assumption is that if you please your god enough, you'll go to "Heaven" (Ysgard for Giants) or become a God/Demigod. Since both are cool and fit the theme of Giants (which are heavily Norse-inspired, and Norse Giants were typically as powerful as the Aesir and Vanir Gods, if not even more powerful than them in some cases), we'll assume that they're both what Giants are striving for. They want to go to Giant Heaven and become Demigods, similar to Empyreans.
So, based off of this, the Giants want to conquer the world to restore a fallen empire, please their God-Daddy so they get to return home to him after they die, and become Demigods if they please God-Daddy enough, like their ancient ancestors were.
When you combine the lore of these two species, it's not hard to see why they'd butt heads so often. They both like to conquer large regions of different worlds, which will bring them into conflict. They're both long-lived and can hold grudges much longer than us puny mortals can. They're both extremely powerful and have some magical powers. And, most importantly, they're both connected to Godhood in some form. They're both vying for it, and the way that they do that will often bring them into direct conflict with one another. To Giants, nothing is a bigger threat to their hope of restoring Ostoria and achieving demigodhood than the Dragons, and to the Dragons, no other monstrous race is powerful and organized enough to be direct rivals with them. Giants also can take advantage of the extremely magical nature of the Dragons in order to create weapons and armor out of Dragonbones, can destroy Dragon Eggs whenever they find a nest (making the Dragons vulnerable in a way that Giants aren't), and can also use captured dragons as mounts with enough applied torture and cruelty. Giants will do anything to restore Ostoria, and Dragons are a threat to that. Dragons will do anything to keep themselves safe in order to allow them to grow old enough to become Great Wyrms, even if that means killing any and all Giants that they come across. Both see the other species as a threat, and both of them know what can happen when you underestimate the other.
tl;dr - Dragons and Giants both hate each other because they're long-lived, powerful, and have strong ties to Godhood that incentivize them to hate each other.
What are your thoughts? Have you used the conflict between Dragons and Giants in your campaigns/worlds before? Do you have any ideas on how to make implement it in your worlds/games? (Giants in my world use Dragon Scales as currency. Wyrmling Scales are copper pieces, Young Dragon Scales are Silver Pieces, Adult Dragon Scales are Gold Pieces, and Ancient Dragon Scales are Platinum Pieces.)
Let's start out by analyzing the natures of these types of monsters to see if there's any innate reason why they would hate each other. First, let's do Dragons.
According to the updated draconic lore about the First World from Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, Dragons helped create the Material Plane, and are inherent creatures to the world. Dragons are to the Material Plane as Celestials are to the Upper Planes, Modrons are to Mechanus, Fiends are to the Lower Planes, and so on. Basically, the Material Plane is the Plane of Dragons (evidenced by the name of the hobby, Dungeons and Dragons, as well as several settings, like Eberron's Creation Myth being about 3 God-Like Progenitor Dragons, the Io's Blood Isles of Council of Wyrms, and the main two gods of Dragonlance, Takhisis and Paladine, being draconic gods). Basically, dragons are a big deal in D&D, being more than just flying magic lizards that breath fire (and other elements), they're literally so tied to the Material Plane and its existence that they can warp it and creatures that live on it by their mere presence. This is why they have Lair Regional Effects, Lair Actions, can create Half-Dragons by just being near the birth of a creature, and have blood so magical that it can grant powerful arcane magic to those that carry it (Draconic Bloodline Sorcerers).
Furthermore, Dragons in D&D are Multiversal. They exist on all of the worlds of the Material Plane, having Echoes across the multiverse that they can discover and draw power from if they get old and powerful enough. They have power beyond what almost all Gods in D&D are capable of; calling the aspects of their selves on other worlds to aid them in their times of need. They were present when the First World was shattered, and are deeply rooted in the nature of the Prime Material Realm. They're fairly weak when they're younger, but if they grow old enough, they eventually just inherit godlike powers from their connection with the Material Plane. Many of them grow so powerful that they could actually be considered gods. They live a long time, have access to unfathomable amounts of power, and can break the normal laws of the D&D multiverse because they are so magical in nature.
Giants, however, are different. While Dragons are more like "Gods-in-Waiting", Giants are more akin to Demigods. Giants, in the base lore of D&D, are the children/descendants of Gods. The different subtypes of Giants are literally descended from the 6 main children of Annam the All-Father. Annam is called the "All-Father" for a reason, he is literally the father of Giantkind. And Annam is an ancient deity, he has tremendous power and has a strong grasp over Giantkind with the Ordning, the Divine-mandated caste system of the Giants. Think of Annam as a mixture of Odin and the Judeo-Christian God, because that's basically his identity. Giants desperately want to please the All-Father, by following the Ordning and doing as much Maat as possible. They believe that if they please Annam enough, they will eventually refound Ostoria (the now-fallen ancient giant empire), and . . . the lore isn't actually clear here, but the logical assumption is that if you please your god enough, you'll go to "Heaven" (Ysgard for Giants) or become a God/Demigod. Since both are cool and fit the theme of Giants (which are heavily Norse-inspired, and Norse Giants were typically as powerful as the Aesir and Vanir Gods, if not even more powerful than them in some cases), we'll assume that they're both what Giants are striving for. They want to go to Giant Heaven and become Demigods, similar to Empyreans.
So, based off of this, the Giants want to conquer the world to restore a fallen empire, please their God-Daddy so they get to return home to him after they die, and become Demigods if they please God-Daddy enough, like their ancient ancestors were.
When you combine the lore of these two species, it's not hard to see why they'd butt heads so often. They both like to conquer large regions of different worlds, which will bring them into conflict. They're both long-lived and can hold grudges much longer than us puny mortals can. They're both extremely powerful and have some magical powers. And, most importantly, they're both connected to Godhood in some form. They're both vying for it, and the way that they do that will often bring them into direct conflict with one another. To Giants, nothing is a bigger threat to their hope of restoring Ostoria and achieving demigodhood than the Dragons, and to the Dragons, no other monstrous race is powerful and organized enough to be direct rivals with them. Giants also can take advantage of the extremely magical nature of the Dragons in order to create weapons and armor out of Dragonbones, can destroy Dragon Eggs whenever they find a nest (making the Dragons vulnerable in a way that Giants aren't), and can also use captured dragons as mounts with enough applied torture and cruelty. Giants will do anything to restore Ostoria, and Dragons are a threat to that. Dragons will do anything to keep themselves safe in order to allow them to grow old enough to become Great Wyrms, even if that means killing any and all Giants that they come across. Both see the other species as a threat, and both of them know what can happen when you underestimate the other.
tl;dr - Dragons and Giants both hate each other because they're long-lived, powerful, and have strong ties to Godhood that incentivize them to hate each other.
What are your thoughts? Have you used the conflict between Dragons and Giants in your campaigns/worlds before? Do you have any ideas on how to make implement it in your worlds/games? (Giants in my world use Dragon Scales as currency. Wyrmling Scales are copper pieces, Young Dragon Scales are Silver Pieces, Adult Dragon Scales are Gold Pieces, and Ancient Dragon Scales are Platinum Pieces.)
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