Smaug vs. Drogon: Who Is Bigger (And Stronger)?

We all know that the world of fantasy is full of dragons because these creatures have always been some of the most notable beasts that were created by imagination. As such, the worlds that JRR Tolkien and George RR Martin created both have dragons. Two of the most notable dragons in those two worlds are Smaug of Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Drogon of Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones). But who is bigger and stronger between Smaug and Drogon?

Although there are no exact sizes for the two, the film depictions of Smaug and Drogon seem to show that Smaug is bigger and stronger than Drogon. On top of that, Smaug is highly intelligent and capable of speech. This makes him an even more dangerous monster compared to Drogon.

While it might be true that Drogon is one of the strongest dragons in the world of Game of Thrones, it is unlikely that he would be a match for the bigger, smarter, and more experienced Smaug. But for you to better understand why the dragon of the Lonely Mountain is stronger, let’s look at this hypothetical fight in greater detail.

Smaug vs. Drogon Size Comparison

It is incredibly difficult to give an exact size for both Smaug and Drogon because of the fact that the source materials of these dragons aren’t quite as specific when it comes to their descriptions. The only thing we know is the fact that they are incredibly large and powerful dragons that may not be the largest of their kind but are still pretty much big enough to destroy entire armies on their own.

Smaug’s size description in JRR Tolkien’s books seems to suggest that Smaug is bigger than what the film depiction shows him to be, as he destroyed the entire town when he died. On top of that, the black arrow that Bard shot at him completely disappeared from his body because of how big he is. There is also the fact that Bilbo was supposed to be too small to the point that he was already seemingly invisible when compared to Smaug.

Whatever the case may be, in the movies, Smaug was depicted to be so large that his head is several times bigger than Bilbo, who is somewhere close to 4 feet in terms of his height. Meanwhile, Smaug’s head is at least three times longer than Bilbo’s entire body.

There is also the fact that Smaug has a serpentine body that is supposed to be quite long. As such, in the film, he is said to be around 427 feet long, and that makes him longer than two jumbo jets put together. Smaug’s wings are also right around 197 to 230 feet each because his description in the movies suggests that he is twice as big as a Boeing 747.

Taken in total, Smaug is quite big. His size was a factor when it came to his attack on Lake-town, as he was able to decimate the town rather quickly. And when he fell into the water, he was able to destroy a huge part of the town in the movies.

On the other hand, Drogon was never the biggest dragon in Game of Thrones, even though his size depiction does change when you compare his size in the series to his size in George RR Martin’s books.

In the latest book, which is A Dance With Dragons, Drogon has a wingspan of 20 feet, which isn’t even that impressive. However, it is worth noting that Drogon is yet to reach his Game of Thrones size by the fifth book, considering that the series was far too advanced in terms of its storyline compared to the novels.

Meanwhile, in the series, Drogon was the biggest of the three dragons that Daenerys brought to Westeros. His head is longer than Daenerys’s entire body. It also seems like he is Drogon is big enough to swallow an entire person whole.

Whatever the case may be, it is clear that both versions of Smaug (book and film) are bigger than Drogon in any of his incarnations. This means that the dragon of the Lonely Mountain is far bigger than Drogon but may not be bigger than Balerion, who is the biggest dragon in the history of Westeros.

Smaug vs. Drogon Strength Comparison

Like all dragons, Smaug is capable of breathing fire that could melt metal. In the books, it is said that his flame was hot enough that it melted the halls of Erebor. He was also so fearsome that even King Thranduil didn’t want to risk the lives of his elves to try to kill Smaug because he didn’t think that the treasures in the Lonely Mountain were worth the risk.

Smaug’s body is almost impervious to any kind of damage because of his thick scales. The only weakness he has is his underbelly, which he encrusted with the stones and gems found in Erebor. However, in the books, a small patch on his underbelly was left untouched by the gems of Erebor. In the movies, he has a small piece of scale that was wounded because of a black arrow shot by Bard’s ancestor long ago.

Drogon, like all of the dragons in Game of Thrones, is capable of breathing fire that’s hot enough to instantly turn people into ash. In fact, the dragons of Game of Thrones breathed fire that could melt stone, and that was how Aegon and his dragons were able to conquer Harrenhal, which was supposed to be an impervious stone fortress. It is quite possible that Drogon’s flames are just as hot as we did see him instantly cremating people with his dragon fire.

Drogon’s scales are also quite tough as ordinary arrows can’t penetrate them. A younger Drogon was once wounded by a spear, but he has since become strong enough to handle such weapons. The only time we ever saw an adult Drogon getting wounded was when a large arrow from a scorpion ballista-like weapon pierced him. Other than that, he is basically impervious to damage.

In that regard, both Smaug and Drogon are powerful enough to melt metal and stone and are quite impervious to damage. But the difference here is that Smaug seems to be a lot more mobile than Drogon because he was able to easily slither his way through the halls of Erebor while he was chasing the dwarves. On top of that, Smaug is as intelligent or even smarter than a human being because he is capable of speech and was even smart enough that he nearly tricked Bilbo.