Welcome to Split Decision! Each week, Ryan will pose a question to our staff of knowledgable and passionate film lovers and share the responses. Chime in on Twitter, Facebook, our Instagram, or in the comments below.

This week’s question:

In honor of Raya and the Last Dragon, who/what is your favorite on screen dragon?

The first time I saw Spirited Away, I had trouble finding a path into the story, until Haku showed up. His fate, and the way it intertwined with Chihiro’s own story gave me something to hold onto in the strange and scary world in the film.
–Ryan Silberstein, The Red Herring

I know this is completely (and deliberately) not on point, but Tsai Ming-liang’s Goodbye, Dragon Inn is the “Dragon” film to see. It is more of an arthouse “inaction” film than some would-be blockbuster full of CGI special effects. There are long, static shots--such as one of an empty cinema--that for some may drag on (this is slow cinema, to be sure) but to me, they are full of emotion. This film is a personal favorite, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.–Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

It has to be Toothless! Who can look past the lovable cat-like Night Fury, who is basically two big eyes in a giant silhouette? His relationship with Hiccup is so heart-warming, they play together but Toothless is fiercely loyal and clearly loves his human *sniff* And when Toothless met a lady Night Fury (in The Hidden World, 2019) and started showing off for her, it was adorably hilarious. Love my bumbling ball of black floof*

*may not actually be fluffy, but in my head he is
–Fiona Underhill, Contributor

Dragonslayer’s main dragon. I cried like a baby seeing that movie in the theater, as it nuzzled the lifeless body of its child. It was a classic case of the villain not being the villain, and the hero being a schmuck.. –Anthony Glassman, Contributor

I mean we have to talk about the iconic look of Maleficent when she becomes a dragon. Black purple and neon green? That girl had an amazing look. Plus green flames a like a very good look. –Victoria Potenza, Staff Writer

Despite my disdain for the bloated Hobbit franchise (tell me again who thought it was a good idea to stretch a 300 page book into a film franchise that is almost as long as the damn Lord of the Rings), I love Benedict Cumberbatch’s turn as Smaug. Cumberbatch brings both true menace and...sassiness? It’s rare a dragon gets to have such a wide range of emotions. Sure, Smaug is a one-percenter hellbent on keeping his trove of gold, but by the time he showed up at the end of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, I was Team Smaug all the way.– Ian Hrabe, Staff Writer

I haven’t seen any of the Hobbit movies, but I’m Team making-of footage of Benedict Cumberbatch, which I’ve watched a hundred times. My answer to the question has to be Falkor from The Neverending Story. If I take a step back, I’m forced to reckon with how weird Falkor looks. His eyes are too big and human-like and he kind of reminds me of Seymour Cassel. But I love him, and I love the idea that he’s just a big ol’ dog. Something about dragons’ sizes can scare me, and I like that Falkor dispels that by being this huge, powerful snake dragon thing that just wants to get scratched behind the ears.–Alex Rudolph, Staff Writer

When I was a kid, everyone I knew wanted their own Falkor the Luck Dragon from The Neverending Story.. I recall having dreams about flying on his back over my hometown. The magic of that puppetry, and that movie as a whole, really resonated with me as a youngster. Enough so that he’s immediately who I thought of when reading this question, even before Smaug or other perhaps more recognizable dragons.–Garrett Smith, Contributor

Though I’m tempted to pick Shrek’s lovestruck Dragon, every cinematic dragon pales in comparison to the dragon in Fritz Lang’s Die Nibelungen. Undeniably silly-looking when compared to today’s CGI effects, Lang’s 1924 dragon hasn’t lost its ability to impress a century later. It’s huge, it moves (with the help of a 17-person crew), and it breathes fire. What more do you want???–Ryan Smillie, Staff Writer

Tom Noonan as Francis Dollarhyde. “Do you see? Transformed.” Need I say more? –Benjamin Leonard, Best Boy

Definitely going with the dragon from Shrek. Everything about her is iconic. She’s been serving you body and face since 2001 and the world is truly better for it. I just googled it and apparently her name is just Dragon. Much like Madonna or Cher, all Dragon needs is a simple mononymous name to be remembered. Is it wrong to put a hypersexualized fire-breathing lady beast in every installment of a children’s film franchise with the undeniable implication that she fucked a donkey? Maybe. But their dronkeys (this is what they are canonically called do NOT come for me) are extremely cute so it’s okay. –Matt Crump, Staff Writer

The B-Movie lover in me has to go with Larry Cohen's Q: The Winged Serpent. Because, first of all, it has no reason to be as good as it is. Larry Cohen is the king of movies that sound like shit, but are endlessly entertaining, sometimes even brilliant. Also, because it's a crazy idea, brought to life through a variety of technical effects, of varying degrees of success--a South American God, Quetzalcoatl, is hanging out in the Big City, munching on rooftop dwellers.

The VHS tape cover artwork of my town's local video store used to scare the hell out of me. –Billy Russell, Staff Writer

Draco from the original Dragonheart, voiced by Sean Connery still holds a place in my heart. I was 12 years old, Jurassic Park had yet to be bested, or even matched, and along came this unlikely medieval buddy "dramedy" between a man and a dragon, with special effects that still look relatively sharp 25ish years later. –Éireann Mannino, Contributor