All the dragons in House of the Dragon, HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel

Caraxes the Blood Wyrm

Caraxes the Blood Wyrm is possibly the scariest dragon Westeros has seen since Balerion the Black Dread conquered the Seven Kingdoms. No other dragon mentioned thus far is as battle-tested as Daemon Targaryen’s fearsome mount.

Like his rider, Caraxes is a violent creature that you do not want to meet in a fight. Matt Smith (Doctor Who, The Crown) has been cast as Prince Daemon, the Targaryen warrior with a penchant for bloodshed and incest. Daemon is one of the more fascinating characters in the Dance and Smith couldn’t be more perfectly cast, especially standing next to the blood-red CGI monster Caraxes is bound to be. One can speculate that, since Paddy Considine has been cast as King Viserys, the show won’t start with the civil war right away, but will probably lead up to King Viserys’ death, when it officially begins.

Viserys and his brother do not get along, in large part due to Daemon’s marriage to Viserys’ daughter Rhaenyra (Daemon’s niece, gross), although they reconcile before Viserys’ death. Before that, Caraxes and Daemon wage a war on a cluster of islands known as the Stepstones, fighting armadas of pirates and Pentoshi fleets alongside Corlys Velaryon.

Daemon has allies all over the world, from the lowliest hives of scum and villainy in King’s Landings to the palaces in Pentos. Caraxes has fought in the Dornish hills and against ships on the sea. They make a formidable team.

During the Dance, Daemon conquers Harrenhal with Caraxes and hunts his nephew, Aemond One-Eye, in the Riverlands. His battle with Aemond above the Gods Eye lake is the greatest one-on-one dragon fight the story has to offer us.