Draggadon

A Draggadon is a type of dragon that first appears in the game Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, where one serves as a recurring boss. A second Draggadon, Gold Draggadon, is also fought as a boss later in the game. Draggadons also appear in Paper Mario: Color Splash, where dialogue implies there is an entire species.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Two Draggadons appear as bosses in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and its Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS ports. The first Draggadon is fought in Episode 1-10: The King of Pyropuff Peak, Episode 2-9: Draggadon's Revenge, and Bonus Episode-11: Mummy-Me at Pyropuff Peak.

As Captain Toad chases Wingo and the kidnapped Toadette, he accidentally comes across the isolated volcano known as Pyropuff Peak, where he encounters Draggadon. Unlike Wingo, Draggadon is not battled directly, and Captain Toad must make to the end of the level while avoiding his attacks by hiding behind walls. At the end, Captain Toad must knock over a pillar, which lands on Draggadon's head and knocks him out, allowing him to collect the Power Star. Toadette encounters Draggadon while searching for Wingo as well, and must fight him the same way.

After the fight in Episode 2, Draggadon allows Toadette to ride on his head in an intermediate stage. The player can use the left Control Stick to control Draggadon's height, and pressing will have him breathe fire that can break blocks and destroy enemies; pressing  produces a roar that can shatter Empty Blocks which are normally unaffected by flames.

Another Draggadon, named Gold Draggadon, also appears in a later episode as the king of the Golden Realm. Like Draggadon, Captain Toad must also fight Gold Draggadon as boss, although his fireballs will move faster and the lava will rise quicker; he will also allow Captain Toad to ride him after his defeat.

Paper Mario: Color Splash
A Draggadon is featured in Paper Mario: Color Splash. It appears as a fossil on a mountain in Marmalade Valley; however, after Mario retrieves the orange Big Paint Star from Larry, the fossil is covered with a coat of orange paint, causing it to come to life. It is found later in Redpepper Volcano, where the Basin Thing needs to be used in order to stop it being hostile. The Basin hits its head leaving a bump, just like in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker after a rock falls on it. Before Mario can stun it, Draggadon tries to chase and eat him, then attack him with a massive fire breath. If Mario cannot dodge it hiding behind a column or leaving the level, the attack knocks him out in a single hit.

Like Captain Toad in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Mario is also able to ride and control the Draggadon over lava, this time by suspending a Magma Burger attached to a Fishing Pole in front of him as bait. While controlling it, it can destroy small platforms, and if Mario swings the rod upwards, it will leap up from the lava, allowing Mario to collect any items that are out of reach. After reaching a platform containing a Mini Paint Star, Mario will feed the Draggadon the Magma Burger, requiring him to buy another one from Fort Cobalt to control Draggadon again.

Just like Iggy and unlike most paper characters, the paper version of the Draggadon retains colored circle-like irises.

Physical appearance
Draggadons are huge dragons with small wings and a mostly bipedal stance. Most of their body is covered by scales grouped in stripes of two scales having the same color, alternating magenta and purple. The head presents a muzzle having four yellow-colored molar-like protruding teeth that stay on its sides as well as two whiskers.

In Paper Mario: Color Splash small differences can be seen, such as the fingers no longer having claws, the wings only having two fingers and two patagia instead of three of both, and the iris being formed by one circle instead of the two seen in artwork and the three seen in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

Gold Draggadon has a similar appearance, the main difference being that the scales alternate gold and orange, while the rest of the body is gold-colored, with the exception of the lower part of the muzzle and the belly, which are still beige, as well as the triangular plates, which are mostly purple just like those of the other Draggadons. Furthermore, the eyes are blue instead of being orange, and the tips of the whiskers are darker, although still gold colored.

Powers and abilities
Draggadons are commonly known to breathe fire. They also are resistant to lava and often nest or reside within volcanoes. Even though their wings are very small, Paper Mario: Color Splash shows that they are perfectly capable of flying. Even their roar can be a very powerful weapon, able to defeat enemies and shatter blocks. Direct attacks against their body of enemies like Hammer Bros. and Bullet Bills are completely ineffective and their only known weak point is the top of their head. In both Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and Paper Mario: Color Splash they only surrender after being hit in the head, respectively with a pillar and the basin. Paper Mario: Color Splash further elaborates on this weak point, indicating it as stemming from the shape of their skull.

Profiles

 * Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker website bio: "A fire-breathing dragon inside a volcano can be a powerful friend or a potent foe."

Trivia

 * In the Paper Mario: Color Splash Personality Test, Draggadon's name is misspelled as Draggodon.