That creature doesn't really look like a dragon. Sea or otherwise. Unless they chose to call it a dragon for lack of a better word. It would've sounded weird to call it Rise of the Sea Kaiju, or Rise of the Sea Creature.
But enough of that. My question is: is that a dragon or not?
Logan: I don't know!
Rogue: You don't know, or you don't care?
Logan: Pick one. X-Men
They didn't know what it was--the common people called it a dragon. Also, the courtesan's lover looked reptilian, so that would add to the "dragon" motif. As it turned out, there was no real dragon involved. I would liken this to Scooby-Doo, where the monster of the week turned out to be someone in a mask. Of course, the difference in this case is that there was an actual giant sea creature, just not a dragon!
shareIt looked more like a giant stingray, but to people of the 7th century, dragon sounds about right. :) Does anyone know where the wonderful pictures are from that they show during end credits? Is it from the book series? Thanks in advance!
shareIt does resemble Chinese dragon more than Western dragons.
The end credits creatures are Chinese Demons/Deities/Gods. Google image search "ancient chinese demons: for more info. Check out "Journey To the West" which features a lot of them, although it is not the source but it made them "popular".
I agree with many on here, the term dragon normally refers to a four legged lizard like being with wings in the West, and a more snake like entity in the east, often times it is just used vaguely to refer to a monster.
Question on origins. Does anyone think that maybe the creature was originally a giant manta that maybe was infected with parasites to turn it into the beast? That seems a possibility given the more "supernatural" feel of the parasites.
In chinese culture that being referred to as a dragon would be standard. In chinese legends there are dragon gods in the sea and they can be lobster like or serpent like. It's basically a catch all term for something monstrous and big. :p
shareWell no one knows it was a "poisoned" scaly stingray until the end of the film, everyone assumed it was a dragon, though the wiser characters refer it as a sea monster.
The Chinese Title is translated as "Dragon King of Shen Du", Dragon King is a reference to the Chinese deity dragon who controls the sea, there are four of them, if you read or watch Journey to the West, they are in the story.
That is also why the people in the temple are chanting in awe when they saw the lizard man, thinking it was the deity Dragon King.