Talk: Cloud serpent

I'm unable to find any screenshots of these creatures from MoP... but since they said these creatures are dragons and grow (like the raptor did for the Horde mount chain in Un'Goro) I doubt these wind serpent types are the same creature. Sssssssssssssssssssssssss For Pony! (^Sssss/_Slithered) 21:48, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

They appear in the distance in the new jade forest video shortly after 0:20--Ashbear160 (talk) 22:05, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

No these are just a variation of Wind Serpent and I think this article should just be subbed into the Wind Serpent article. Cloud Serpents of Pandaria are an entirely different creature who look like eastern dragons. Meganerd18 (talk) 03:42, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

Moved the RPG info to the Mob Article--Ashbear160 (talk) 03:55, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

Dragon vs beast

Yes, the individual mobs should be labeled as "beast" in their infoboxes to reflect the game labels. However, this page is just a general description. They are dragons. You can dismiss it as foreign ignorance, but that's still more conclusive than basing it on game mob labels.

1. Game mob labels are not necessarily indicative of what the creatures actually are. They were originally labeled as dragonkin, but were changed later for unknown reasons.
2. The babies are still labeled as "dragonkin". Which negates the argument for basing this on mob labels as it is not consistent.

--Aquamonkeyeg (talk) 03:26, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

A subzone for Yu'on's temple is called "Terrace of the Twin Dragons", containing two statues of cloud serpents. Them being classified as dragons cannot be dismissed as foreigners making errors.

As a side note (since this is just as inconclusive as using game mob labels), the sound files call them dragons. The baby ones use: "ChineseDragonAttack", "ChineseDragonWound", "ChineseDragonDeath", "ChineseDragonAggro", etc. --Aquamonkeyeg (talk) 10:31, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

Also, astral cloud serpents are identical to Elegon, who is described as a dragon in the DJ.

The Strength of Steel also indicates that cloud serpents are considered dragons. --Aquamonkeyeg (talk) 11:12, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

It's obvious that Blizzard changed whether or not these are dragons partway through development, but new lore almost always trumps old lore. Blizzard had a reason for attempting to change them from being dragons to mere beasts, it's just they weren't particularly thorough. The authorial intent is clear, though. Not to mention the fact that there's no lore supporting the fact that they are at all related to dragons, which are a very specific grouping of animals that are descended from proto-dragons. Another thing to consider is the fact that Yu'lon is of the same class of beings as Loa and Ancient Guardians, the overwhelming amount of which are animals and creatures labeled as beasts in-game. I think it's clear that lore-wise they are beasts and have little to nothing to do with dragons as we know them. User 250916 (talk) 06:54, 4 October 2014 (UTC)

The marking of mobs as beast or dragonkin is a game mechanic. It's not something they changed partway through development, they were marked as dragonkin for a significant amount of time on live servers. Guessing at Blizzard's "thoroughness" as to why some are still labeled as dragonkin isn't a compelling argument. The game mechanic of beast vs dragonkin is inconsistent and we can't draw any conclusions from it. Voidwalkers are labeled as demons in game, but are explicitly not demons.[1] Beast and critter labels also contradict for the same type of animals, this system is purely game mechanics.

The lore (quest text, location names, short stories) indicates that cloud serpents are dragons even though they are unrelated to the Aspects and their dragonflights. In lore, these classifications are not mutually exclusive; some demons are beasts and dragons are technically a kind of beast. --Aquamonkeyeg (talk) 09:16, 4 October 2014 (UTC)