From TES issue 36 (November 2005)

Series 2/3/5/6/7/8. Level 1/2/3.
DRAGONS

Where would any decent fantasy world be without a few dragons thrown in for good measure? Knightmare certainly had plenty of dragons, featuring both as members of the cast, and as Dungeon-dwelling monsters. Dragons can be found in all kinds of myths and legends from all over the world. The basic idea for a dragon is a giant, flying, fire-breathing reptile, which you definitely don't want to get on the wrong side of, although there are many different mythical creatures and monsters that are classed as dragons, and each one may have its own unique abilities and characteristics.

The Knightmare dragons - or great wyrms, as they were sometimes called - seemed to fit in with the basic dragon traits I have already described. In series 5, Treguard describes Knightmare's most famous dragon - Smirkenorff - as follows: "One of the last of the great aerial beasts which in legend were called dragons." - Treguard. In series 6, Hordriss explains how dragons are classified: "Dragons are catagorised by colour." - Hordriss. Further explanation of this information revealed that blue or green dragons - like Smirkenorff - were amiable and not overly vicious by nature, whereas red dragons were the opposite: "I want a dragon that's mean, moody and malicious, like me, and that means a red dragon!" - Lord Fear. Let's now take a look at each of Knightmare's dragons in turn.

The first Knightmare dragon appeared in series 2, to menace winning dungeoneers Mark and Julian in the third level. This giant brown earth dragon appeared to be under Mogdred's control, and a hasty escape - together with Merlin's SLEEP spell, in Mark's case - was required in order for the quest to continue: "Awaken, dragon; awake and slay!" - Mogdred.

The earth dragon returned for a brief appearance in the penultimate episode of series 3, very different now in both his manner and his voice, which was now remarkably similar to the voice of Hordriss the Confuser. He had been given the noble name of Owen, and was just itching to provide Martin [Team 11 of Series 3] with some magic to defeat Morgahnna. However, the team did not answer Owen's riddle correctly, and suffered fatally as a result: "If you're ignorant then you've got to remain so, that's what I always say." - Owen.
There were no dragons in series 4, but the very first Dungeon room of series 5 introduced us to Smirkenorff, the Great Crested Green Dragon, and one of Knightmare's most famous characters. Smirkenorff flew dungeoneers between levels one and two in series 5, 6 and 7, and also started off four quests in series 5. In series 8, he offered spells and information from his level one pit, but did not make a flight until the end of the series, when he went to rescue Oliver from Marblehead. Smirkenorff liked gold, silver, firestones and dragon mints. He was cared for by Elita in series 5 and 6, and Romahna in series 7. Despite the fact that he was mute throughout series 5, Clifford 'Hordriss' Norgate proved that he was the master of voicing dragons by giving speech to Smirkenorff throughout series 6, 7 and 8.

Red Death was a red dragon procured by Skarkill for Lord Fear in the second half of series 6. Fear attempted to use him to attack Knightmare Castle at the end of the series - a plan he tried again with a troll one year later - but Treguard used Captain Nemanor's lightning rod to kill Red Death, bringing his colossal reptilian body down onto Mount Fear, and also on top of Lord Fear and Skarkill. Ooh, nasty!

In series 8, there were several new dragons in the Dungeon, in addition to Smirkenorff. Small but deadly snapdragons haunted the dwarf tunnels of level one, whilst one of their number - Snapper - spent his time hanging around with Snapper-Jack. As well as the snapdragons, there was another new Opposition recruit in the shape of Bhal-Shebah, a red dragon with two personalities. After killing the first dungeoneer of the season - the hapless Richard III [Team 1 of Series 8] - Bhal-Shebah was placed on guard duty in Marblehead, before Lord Fear decided to brainwash him in order to give him a single personality - Firestorm of Marblehead. Fear's plan was to use Firestorm of Marblehead to destroy Linghorm, and Maldame with it, but I think it's fair to assume that this never actually happened, thanks to the intervention of winning dungeoneer Dunston [Team 6 of Series 8].
And there're all the Knightmare dragons in a nutshell for you. Of course, if you've read the Knightmare books as often as I have, you'll also be familiar with several other Knightmare dragons, including Bealwit, the self-proclaimed Lord of the Marsh; Talionis, a Great Crested Green, presumably, considering the identity of her offspring; and even a pesky earth dragon who lives in a volcano and is somewhat apt to fry you alive if you try to steal one of her eggs. But all that, of course, is another story...

Fear Factor: 10 If one of them doesn't scare you, you have no fear!
Killer Instinct: 6 So many opportunities, and one victim.
Gore Factor: 3 Depends on your perspective, I suppose.
Humanity: 2 Any dragon would be insulted by a higher score than that.

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Being the iconic and compelling creatures that they are, both within Knightmare and in fantasy as a whole, dragons have inspired many Knightmare Discussion Forum members' usernames.

dragonfollower: Joined in January 2003. 18 posts to date. dungeondistroyer and dungeneer (accounts now deleted), non-posters who joined during February 2003, were apparently duplicate accounts from the same person. Perhaps, dragonfollower_99, who registered in April 2004 and has made two posts, is the same individual as well.

Dragon_Soul: Has posted four times to date, all within a few days of registering in March 2003, and all concerning Knightmare on Challenge.

dragon204: Made all of her 29 posts to date within a fortnight of registering in January 2004. Posted on the KMBS forum as Desirée. A real-life friend of snowwiewolf.

Dragon Rider: Joined the forum in April 2004, and explained that 'I'm called Dragon Rider due to my love of dragon's (You should see the state of my bedroom!)' Dragon Rider revealed herself to be a keen and talented artist, posting hand-drawn cast pictures for each series of Knightmare. They can be found here. Her final post to date, also her 34th, was made in June 2005.

DragonsBreath: Please see existing Lexicon entry for information.

dragon_of_the_cave: Real name James. Joined in June 2004 and posted twice only. His rather sweet verdict on Team 7 of Series 7 was as follows: 'i think barry's tema did really well and they were so brave when the reverse potion happend so quickly. Well done for getting the shield.'

DragonsBeHere: Joined the forum in April 2020. 'I am a teenager, and neither of my parents watched Knightmare ... I watched the reruns on Challenge as a young kid.'

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