Dragons are mythological creatures known to swoop down from the skies to burn their enemies with flames of power, inspiring numerous tales from myth…
Dragons are mythological creatures known to swoop down from the skies to burn their enemies with flames of power, inspiring numerous tales from myth and legend across time and space – including modern literature such as Game of Thrones! Unfortunately, no physical evidence for these legendary beasts exists beyond fossilized remains; nonetheless there have been various scientific theories proposed regarding their supposed fire-breathing capabilities.
One theory suggests that dragons expel flammable poison, similar to what other poisonous snakes exude. Through storytelling and oral tradition, this has given rise to the belief that they breathe fire; an intriguing idea which actually is not as silly as it may first seem.
Methane, an explosive chemical compound that ignites at extremely high temperatures, can be converted to methanol by specific bacteria and used to brew beer; yeast used for beer brewing also converts sugars to methanol; so you might often find this substance in your pint of suds! A dragon with enough yeast in its belly to convert methane to methanol could use that gas as “dragon fire.”
But for any creature to truly breathe fire, several other factors would need to come together. Fire must be hotter than wood (which burns at approximately 550 degrees Fahrenheit/260 degrees Celsius), which requires dragons ingesting rocks into their gizzard or expulsion of mineral coatings from their teeth in order to achieve this temperature. In order to do this, their mouth would need to ingest rocks with mineral coatings or expel minerals coating their teeth as part of this complicated process – likely leading to an explosion like nothing seen before in history – likely leaving nothing standing!
An additional factor preventing dragons from breathing fire is their excessive energy budgets; industrial technologies often operate with much larger energy budgets than biological creatures can afford; only in rare circumstances can dragons exist in environments rich with energy to match industrial tech budgets.
Dragons’ fiery breath attacks can deal considerable damage, yet can be significantly diminished or entirely prevented through various protective methods like shields, (super) antifire potions and Protect from Magic (see table below for full breakdown of available protection methods and their respective maximum damage reduction capabilities).