Proto-dragon



Proto-dragons (also spelled proto dragons or protodragons) or proto-drakes are the feral, long-forgotten forebears of the dragon species. The vrykul frequently use them as mounts. Under the reign of Warchief Garrosh Hellscream, the Dragonmaw orcs began subjugating them as well.

History
The proto-dragons descend from elementals who avoided being imprisoned in the Elemental Plane and instead remained on Azeroth, where some of them gradually transformed into creatures of flesh and blood. More specifically, Brann Bronzebeard recently uncovered evidence, corroborated by reports from adventurers in Deepholm, that proto-dragons may have origins in elemental drakes such as stone and storm drakes. The inhabitants of Deepholm, the Skywall, the Firelands, and the Abyssal Maw are less than talkative on these matters, however, and most of them were not around when the elemental prisons were created.

The proto-dragons are thus early version of dragons before they evolved into the sapient, beautiful majestic creatures they are known as today.

Galakrond, a massive proto-dragon, is known as the "progenitor of dragonkind" and long ago resorted to cannibalism. This act of consuming other proto-dragons gave Galakrond unbelievable strength and increased his size, but horribly mutated his body as well. His breath reanimated the dead proto-dragons around him into a form of undeath. It is said that from Galakrond the titans created the Aspects, but this is a rumor the Aspects actively encouraged so as to keep the truth about Galakrond a secret from the dragonflights.

Cataclysm
Garrosh brought some proto-drakes from Northrend to invade Ashenvale.

Mists of Pandaria
With the end of the black dragonflight, the Dragonmaw clan later began subverting proto-drakes for the needs of the True Horde.

Warlords of Draenor
Zaela and her Dragonmaw continued to use proto-drakes and they brought Ragewing the Untamed to Blackrock Spire from the Twilight Highlands.

Druids feared that the proto-drake populations were plummeting. Thus, troops were sent to recover proto-drake eggs from Warlord Zaela's army in Upper Blackrock Spire.

Description
Proto-drakes are generally bestial and display none of the great intelligence and wisdom of true dragons, though several ancient proto-dragons including those that would later become the Dragon Aspects proved otherwise when they fought alongside Tyr against Galakrond. Kalecgos noted in his visions of the past that this was extremely odd.

Proto-dragon whelps grow at an incredible rate and can devour nearly twice their weight in raw meat per day. Some proto-dragons have a wide array of strengths and abilities, with examples including incredible fortitude, massive size or the ability to unknowingly tap into latent elemental energies in order to breathe fire or frost at their enemies.

The vrykul frequently use proto-dragons as flying mounts in the Howling Fjord and other parts of Northrend, and could be seen doing so in their constant siege of Valgarde. Wild proto-drakes can be seen in areas such as Storm Peaks and Sholazar Basin. Bronze proto-drakes were used as mounts by the Argent Crusade in Icecrown after they were discovered in the Bronze Dragonshrine by the bronze dragonflight. The Time-Lost Proto Drake is famous for being extremely hard to catch.

Black proto-drakes were bred specifically to honor those heroes who showed exceptional resilience and fortitude facing the dangers in Northrend, and the plagued proto-drakes to honor those who showed significant courage and persistence.

Types and flights

 * Red proto-dragons: Appear most abundant throughout Northrend.
 * Blue proto-dragons: Mostly only found in the Storm Peaks.
 * Green proto-dragons: One can be acquired through the Oracles. Their whelps can be found in Sholazar.
 * Bronze proto-dragons: Native to the Bronze Dragonshrine. Have been seen in Icecrown working alongside their dragon brethren, some serve the Jotunheim vrykul. Two Time-Lost proto drakes were found, one in Northrend and the other in the Time-Lost Glade in northeastern.
 * Black proto-dragons: Broodmother Slivina is found in Sholazar Basin. Dragonmaw Proto-Drakes are used during the Siege of Orgrimmar. Ragewing Whelps and Ragewing the Untamed can be found in Upper Blackrock Spire, ridden by the Dragonmaw clan.
 * Plagued proto-dragons: Can be found in the Storm Peaks and Icecrown.
 * Violet proto-dragons: Can only be acquired through achievements. A small terrified one was found by Alexstrasza and Ysera in the past.
 * Ironbound proto-dragons: Covered in metal plates crafted and fused onto their skin originally by Ignis the Furnace Master. Due to the metal covering nearly every part of the proto-dragon, it is hard to distinguish from which flight they could be from by simply looking at them.

Ancient types

 * Blue-green proto-dragons: Coros and three others, rivals of the prehistoric Malygos.
 * Blue-white proto-dragons: Malygos and those related to him, such as Tarys.
 * Orange proto-dragons: Alexstrasza and her brother Dralad.
 * Yellow proto-dragons: Ysera, Alexstrasza's younger sister, is a "yellowish" color despite being related to an orange.
 * Charcoal grey proto-dragons: Neltharion and an animal-like one that attacked Malygos and Alexstrasza.
 * Dust-brown proto-dragons: One is seen hunting, catching two animals at once. Malygos admires his cunning and timing. Nozdormu is this color as well, possibly the same one seen hunting.
 * Silver proto-dragons: Seen devoured by Galakrond and one joins in Talonixa's attack on Galakrond, breathing what appeared to be liquid metal.
 * Gold proto-dragons: Talonixa and her mate Zorix. Their breath is a powerful blast of lightning.
 * Copper proto-dragons: One is scarred by Talonixa's followers.
 * Silver-green proto-dragons: One was seen attacking Neltharion and Nozdormu after being bitten by an Undead.
 * Not-living: Shriveled undead husks, nothing but skin and bone, appear mysteriously in the northern reaches of Ancient Kalimdor. They are the regurgitated victims of Galakrond.

As a flying mount
In World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, several proto-drake mounts are available as rewards for various achievements, as well as a few that drop from mobs and bosses:

Notes and trivia

 * While not immediately obvious, proto-dragons do have tiny front arms beside their wings.
 * Before it gives Root Causes, the Ember Clutch Ancient reveals that Ember Clutch was the ancient breeding ground of the proto-dragon "broodmother" before the vrykul perverted it. Whether it referred to Broodmother Slivina, Veranus, or another is unknown.
 * The Battlelord's Bloodthirsty War Wyrm resembles a proto-dragon.
 * In an early beta of Wrath of the Lich King, proto-dragons used placeholder models that looked like pale white drakes, a model that was later used for the Reins of the Albino Drake mount.

Speculation

 * Dinosaurs resemble proto-dragons, meaning that they may be related.
 * Proto-nether drakes are basilisk-like creatures that resemble proto-drakes but seem to be presented as a stage in the nether dragon life cycle.