Vhagar Vs. Caraxes: Who Is Bigger (And Stronger)?

What is House Targaryen most famous for? Breeding dragons and conquering all of Westeros with them of course, and since the new show House of the Dragon recently started airing, people have a renewed interest in their main tools of destruction – dragons. We’ve learned much about dragons during Game of Thrones, following Daenerys Targaryen and her three dragons Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion. But what if I told you that those three dragons are nowhere near the monstrosities that house Targaryen managed to breed over the years? Everyone is familiar with Balerion the largest dragon in Valyria ever, but what about some other powerful and big dragons like Vhagar and Caraxes? Today we’re going to put both Vhagar and Caraxes side by side and compare their strengths and size. So, Vhagar Vs. Caraxes, who is bigger and stronger between the two of them? 

Vhagar was a larger dragon than Caraxes. Vhagar was the second largest dragon that Targaryens bred, after Balerion. Even though Caraxes was significantly smaller than Vhagar he managed to defeat her in Battle Above the Gods Eye at Harrenhall and that makes him the clear winner when it comes to strength in my book. Both Vhagar and Caraxes died during the battle, but Caraxes managed to take down a dragon twice as large as him and survive long enough to pull himself out of the water, which clearly makes him the superior dragon of the two. 

Now that you know the tragic end that Caraxes and Vhagar met it’s time to analyze them in more depth. If you’re interested in the two most formidable dragons that Taragaryens ever had, stay with me! 

Vhagar Vs. Caraxes Size Comparison

Vhagar was a dragon ridden by Queen Visenya Targaryen during Aegon’s Conquest. Vhagar was also the largest female dragon that ever lived. We don’t know about Vhagar’s looks from the books, but what we do know is that Vhagar’s jaw was large enough to swallow a whole horse and she was easily almost as big as Balerion by the time she died. That was quite the feat since Balerion the Black Dread was the largest dragon that ever lived.

Caraxes, when it comes to size, was nothing special really. He was a huge dragon, but nowhere near Vhagar. She was described as twice his size. And while he might have been leaner and larger than other dragons in his brood, the winner of this comparison is clear. When it comes to size Vhagar was clearly a bigger dragon than Caraxes. 

Vhagar Vs. Caraxes Strength Comparison

A dragon’s size and the might of its Dragonfire are determining factors in deciding its strength…usually. When it comes to size we have already seen that Vhagar was clearly superior to Caraxes. When it comes to her Dragonfire, it was quite potent as well. Vhagar was described as being able to boil knights in their armors. Vhagar along with Balerion and Meraxes burned 4 thousand men alive. Vhagar’s roar was described as being thundering enough that it could shake the foundations of Storm’s End. 

Caraxes on the other hand was known as Blood Wyrm due to being particularly nasty and fierce. He was described as being “huge, red, and lean”. Caraxes was the mightiest young dragon but, his abilities weren’t described in the epic manner as were the abilities of Vhagar who could feet an entire horse down her jaw. We couldn’t say that he had a dominant roar, potent Dragonfire, or was the largest. His history wasn’t as meticulously written and followed as Vhagar’s still, he managed to defeat Vhagar.  

In the Battle Above the Gods Eye at Harrenhall, Vhagar and Caraxes fought. Near the end of the fight, both dragons fell into the God’s Eye river. Vhagar used her mighty claws to burry herself in Caraxes’ belly and tear his wing apart. But, Caraxes ultimately managed to close its jaws around the Vhagars massive throat and he managed to tear it out completely. Vhagar instantly died, had fallen into the river and her body was recovered many years later. 

Caraxes found the strength to pull himself out of the water he lived long enough to see that both riders Daemon and Aemond Targaryen, and Vhagar were dead. He died in front of the gates of Harrenhall having managed to do something that no other perhaps did not dare to even try. He managed to defeat Vhagar and so it’s clear, Caraxes was stronger than Vhagar. 

You see, not everything is about raw strength even though Vhagar had an obvious advantage in terms of size and Dragonfire, even though she managed to rip Caraxes apart she couldn’t have done that without being killed in the process. Caraxes’ legacy lives on, as the dragon that managed to defeat Vhagar, a dragon second only to Balerion in terms of power and Size.