EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
One reason to have lots of dragons: Humanity has lots of dragons.
Western/Euro dragons and wyverns and "serpents." Norse myth having Jormungandr, Nidhogg, and Fafnir. Greek myth having a whole host of drakontes and drakainai of varying types and significance, as well as the Spartoi (no relation to Sparta), the "Sown Ones," who arose from sown dragon's teeth and the Ophiogeneikos (literally "Serpent-born") who claimed descent from dragons, and even mythological founder-heroes like Erichthonios who was often depicted with scaled legs and even a tail. Zirnitra, the Wendish god of sorcery, was apparently a dragon. Aždaja and other Middle Eastern dragons. The Mesopotamian myths about dragons and dragon-like creatures. Eastern/Asiatic dragons and lung and such. A whole host of additional myths, both heroic and villainous: the dragons of wind and water who tend to the seasons and the rivers; the dragons of the oceans; the Yellow Emperor who is also a dragon himself. Yamata-no-Orochi, the eight-headed dragon. Dragons and dragon-like creatures (feathered serpents, serpents who breathe fire, the Rainbow Serpent, etc.) found in the tales of the Americas, in Polynesia, in Australia.
Humanity LOVES dragons. We, collectively, think they're the coolest mythological thing since humans with animal characteristics (or vice-versa.) It is in our nature to think of dragons as powerful, important, and usually at least a little mysterious/misunderstood/inscrutable. Dragons have been gods and monsters, divine messengers and transformed thieving dwarves, literal bringers of salvation and literal world-ending apocalyptic threats, weapons of war and personifications of natural forces far greater than any human. They have been enemies, allies, overlords, intermediaries, lovers, rivals, and everything in-between.
Frankly, the fact that we've stuck relatively cleanly to only a small handful of types (five chromatic, between five and ten metallic depending on which canon you read, five prismatic, a handful of Asiatic-style dragons, some relatives like dragon-turtles and couatls, etc.) is demonstration of some relatively meaningful restraint on the part of TTRPG creators.
Western/Euro dragons and wyverns and "serpents." Norse myth having Jormungandr, Nidhogg, and Fafnir. Greek myth having a whole host of drakontes and drakainai of varying types and significance, as well as the Spartoi (no relation to Sparta), the "Sown Ones," who arose from sown dragon's teeth and the Ophiogeneikos (literally "Serpent-born") who claimed descent from dragons, and even mythological founder-heroes like Erichthonios who was often depicted with scaled legs and even a tail. Zirnitra, the Wendish god of sorcery, was apparently a dragon. Aždaja and other Middle Eastern dragons. The Mesopotamian myths about dragons and dragon-like creatures. Eastern/Asiatic dragons and lung and such. A whole host of additional myths, both heroic and villainous: the dragons of wind and water who tend to the seasons and the rivers; the dragons of the oceans; the Yellow Emperor who is also a dragon himself. Yamata-no-Orochi, the eight-headed dragon. Dragons and dragon-like creatures (feathered serpents, serpents who breathe fire, the Rainbow Serpent, etc.) found in the tales of the Americas, in Polynesia, in Australia.
Humanity LOVES dragons. We, collectively, think they're the coolest mythological thing since humans with animal characteristics (or vice-versa.) It is in our nature to think of dragons as powerful, important, and usually at least a little mysterious/misunderstood/inscrutable. Dragons have been gods and monsters, divine messengers and transformed thieving dwarves, literal bringers of salvation and literal world-ending apocalyptic threats, weapons of war and personifications of natural forces far greater than any human. They have been enemies, allies, overlords, intermediaries, lovers, rivals, and everything in-between.
Frankly, the fact that we've stuck relatively cleanly to only a small handful of types (five chromatic, between five and ten metallic depending on which canon you read, five prismatic, a handful of Asiatic-style dragons, some relatives like dragon-turtles and couatls, etc.) is demonstration of some relatively meaningful restraint on the part of TTRPG creators.