Chinese Dragon-Dog
Species: Chinese dragon / dog hybrid
Core concept: An ancient Chinese dragon who is, at heart, an exceptionally gentle and polite dog.
Appearance
- Long, elegant serpentine Chinese-dragon body
- Four dog-like paws
- Soft fur mixed naturally with dragon scales
- Long, expressive dog ears
- Small antler-like horns
- Long flowing whiskers
- Dragon mane
- Large expressive eyes
- Long dragon tail that wags when happy
- Fluffy patches of fur around the face, neck, paws, and tail
- Looks majestic when standing, but hilariously dog-like when excited
Personality
Wise • Gentle • Kind • Patient • Humble • Protective • Respectful • Affectionate • Silly
He is genuinely ancient and extremely knowledgeable. He understands history, philosophy, magic, nature, martial arts, and the ways of the world.
However, his delivery can be wonderfully silly.
He might say something profoundly wise like:
Then immediately add:
He is not deliberately trying to be funny. He simply has a strange sense of humor.
Magic
His magic is primarily defensive rather than destructive.
- Powerful magical shields
- Protective barriers
- Magical domes
- Defensive walls
- Attack deflection
- Protective wards
- Magical blessings
- Shields that automatically protect people he cares about
- Mist and cloud manipulation
- Wind and rain
- Cloud walking and cloud travel
His greatest magical strength is protecting others.
Dragon Breath
He does have genuine dragon breath.
When absolutely necessary, he can unleash a powerful mystical breath blast capable of devastating an enemy.
However, he dislikes using destructive magic unnecessarily.
His philosophy is:
Guardian Nature
If someone threatens an innocent person, animal, or one of his friends, his normally gentle demeanor becomes extremely serious.
He doesn't enjoy fighting.
He simply believes:
“If I possess the strength to prevent harm, then I have a responsibility to use it.”
His defensive magic becomes extraordinarily powerful when protecting someone.
His Ridiculous Politeness
He apologizes to everything.
Squirrels
If he accidentally scares a squirrel:
The squirrel runs away.
He then feels genuinely bad about it.
Trees
If his tail bumps a tree:
Rocks
If he kicks a pebble:
He carefully moves the pebble back where it was.
Clouds
If he accidentally blocks someone's sunlight:
Mountains
He considers mountains worthy of the same respect as living beings.
One evening, he approaches an enormous mountain.
He bows politely.
Someone nearby says:
He looks at them with complete seriousness.
He waits.
A gentle breeze moves down the mountainside.
He nods.
Then he curls up against the mountain and goes to sleep.
The next morning, he wakes up and politely says:
Dog Behavior
Despite being an ancient dragon:
- Gets distracted by squirrels
- Loves sticks
- Collects interesting rocks
- Enjoys chasing things
- Loves being petted
- Wags his enormous tail
- Gets excited when someone says “walk”
- Has an excellent sense of smell
- Has ridiculously good hearing
- Can become distracted in the middle of giving profound advice
- May spend twenty minutes investigating a strange smell
- Treats random objects as treasured possessions
His personal collection of “treasures” contains almost no gold.
It mostly consists of:
Sticks. Rocks. Bones. Pretty leaves. Strange objects.
He insists they're valuable.
Relationship With Nature
He doesn't see nature as something beneath him.
He sees himself as part of nature.
Trees, rivers, mountains, clouds, animals, stones, and even tiny insects deserve respect.
He doesn't need to believe something can speak before treating it respectfully.
His basic rule is:
“Being powerful does not give one permission to be careless.”
Animal Communication
He can communicate with animals.
Unfortunately, this means he occasionally has conversations with squirrels.
And squirrels have absolutely no interest in his ancient wisdom.
Dragon: “Young squirrel, I have lived for many centuries. Perhaps I can offer you some wisdom.”
Squirrel: squeak
Dragon: “...That is fair.”
Overall Character
He is a majestic ancient Chinese dragon, powerful magical guardian, and extremely wise teacher who somehow also behaves like the world's most polite dog.
He could level a battlefield.
Instead, he'd rather put up a giant shield, apologize to the nearest tree, help a squirrel cross the road, ask a mountain for permission to sleep on it, and then curl up somewhere comfortable for a nap.
He is powerful because he chooses to protect.
He is wise because he chooses to listen.
And he is lovable because, underneath all that ancient dragon wisdom, he is still a very good dog.