View source for Minecraft:Mentioned features/Red Dragon

{{distinguish|RenderDragon}}
{{for|other uses|Dragon (disambiguation)}}
{{Mentioned}}
[[File:Red Dragon (Real).jpg|thumb|Screenshot by [[kingbdogz]] of an [[Minecraft:ender dragon]] taking damage, making it appear like a red dragon.]]
The '''red dragon''' was a planned [[Minecraft:mob]] that was mentioned a few times during development, but has no current plans of being added to the game.

== History ==
[[Minecraft:Markus Persson]] first mentioned adding dragons in August 2010 after the addition of [[Minecraft:Spider Jockey]]s in the [[Minecraft:Seecret Friday 8]] update.<ref name=first-tweet>{{tweet|notch|21693262563|So skeleton archers riding giant jumping spiders is overpowered? Just wait until I add dragons!|August 20, 2010}}</ref>
{{quote|So skeleton archers riding giant jumping spiders is overpowered? Just wait until I add dragons!|image=Notchface.png|[[Minecraft:Notch]] at [[Minecraft:MinecraftCon 2010]]<ref name=minecraftcon-transcript />}}

One month later, during [[Minecraft:MinecraftCon 2010]], he mentioned dragons once again.<ref name=minecraftcon-transcript>[https://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/minecraft-java-edition/discussion/115233-minecraftcon-2010-gamestick-stream-transcription MinecraftCon 2010: gamestick stream transcription] – Stickman on the [[Minecraft:Minecraft Forum]], September 2, 2010</ref>
{{quote|Dragons. [[Minecraft:Polar Bear|Polar bears]] in winter. Sea update will include [[Minecraft:coral]], [[Minecraft:fish]]. Goblin [[Minecraft:Village|villages]] may not just be [[Minecraft:goblins]], and will hate, not care, or like you. You can influence how much they like you. Unique items in village chests.|image=Notchface.png|[[Minecraft:Notch]] at [[Minecraft:MinecraftCon 2010]]<ref name=minecraftcon-transcript />}}

On October 12, 2011, he announced on Twitter that after the addition of the [[Minecraft:ender dragon]], he was planning to add "slightly less dangerous" red dragons, which would be able to land and wouldn't destroy terrain.<ref name=red-dragon>{{tweet|notch|124154763351818240|After release, I will totally work on slightly less dangerous dragons that don't destroy terrain and can land and whatnot. They will be red.|October 12, 2011}}</ref>
{{quote|After release, I will totally work on slightly less dangerous dragons that don't destroy terrain and can land and whatnot. They will be red.|image=Notchface.png|[[Minecraft:Notch]]<ref name=red-dragon />}}

In a {{w|Reddit}} thread on the same day, when questioned about how ender dragons destroy blocks in the overworld, he noted that implementing the dragon's AI for avoiding walls was challenging to implement, and therefore the team decided to make it break blocks.<ref>{{reddit2|sub=minecraft|id=l9m8m|cid=c2qx6qk|text=Partly, yes.<br><br>I've added the code for multiple segments for larger mobs so each part has its own collisions and physics. It knows if you hit it in the head or the left wing, and each part has individual player collisions, and so on. On a technical level, it works by letting each entity define a bunch of sub entities if it wishes to. The entity is fully responsible for all physics and saving and loading of the sub entities. It's working surprisingly well, and it appears to be working in multiplayer as well, although I haven't started testing the dragon in MP yet.<br><br>Originally, it hit walls and couldn't move through them. It awkwardly turned around and changed direction. The player can easily create walls on their own, and trying to make an AI to properly navigate arbitrary terrain before the code freeze next tuesday isn't feasible when there's so much more we need to do.<br><br>And since the dragon is going to start out as an overpowered boss enemy (I'm definitely adding less overpowered dragons for the main world after release), we don't want too many easy ways to deal with it, so we had a short design meeting and decided to make it cheat.
|author=xNotch|date=October 12, 2011}}</ref> He said that "less overpowered" red dragons in the Overworld that wouldn't go through terrain would eventually be added.<ref name=different-dragons>{{reddit2|sub=minecraft|id=l9m8m|cid=c2qxhwh|text=They will be different dragons. The Enderdragon will probably become larger, and the ones in the main world will be this size, won't go through terrain, and will be red because dragons are red.|author=xNotch|date=October 12, 2011}}</ref>

{{quote|They will be different dragons. The Enderdragon will probably become larger, and the ones in the main world will be this size, won't go through terrain, and will be red because dragons are red.|image=Notchface.png|[[Minecraft:Notch]]<ref name=different-dragons />}}

In an AMA on Reddit on April 9, 2012, [[Minecraft:Jens Bergensten]] was asked about the red dragon, where he said that he would need to follow up on Notch's promise, but was unsure exactly how.<ref name=jeb>{{reddit|rsrqt/i_am_jens_bergensten_lead_designer_of_minecraft|c4a4evh|Well since Notch more or less promised red dragons, I think I need to add them. I'm just not sure how yet...|jeb_|April 9, 2012}}</ref> 

{{quote|Well since Notch more or less promised red dragons, I think I need to add them. I'm just not sure how yet...|[[Minecraft:Jens Bergensten]]<ref name=jeb />|image=Jeb twitter 2010 to 2016.jpg}}

On October 22, 2013, [[Minecraft:Nathan Adams]] tweeted that the red dragon is shelved and not in development.<ref name=dinnerbone>{{tweet|dinnerbone|392765209217347584|It was never promised, we have no plans to add a red dragon at this time.|October 22, 2013}}</ref> After being asked about it again on December 15, 2013, he replied on Reddit that the red dragon would be added at some point, but not "right now".<ref name=dinnerbone2>{{reddit|1t6qn7/i_am_dinnerbone_a_minecraft_developer_ask_me|ce4zfci|I'm sure one day there will be. Not right now though.|Dinnerbone|December 18, 2013}}</ref>

{{quote|It was never promised, we have no plans to add a red dragon at this time.|[[Minecraft:Dinnerbone]]<ref name=dinnerbone />|image=Dinnerbone-twitter.png}}
{{quote|I'm sure one day there will be. Not right now though.|[[Minecraft:Dinnerbone]]<ref name=dinnerbone2 />|image=Dinnerbone-twitter.png}}

In November 2022, [[Minecraft:Brandon Pearce]] joked about the red dragon by pointing out that the ender dragon looks red when being damaged.<ref name=kingbdogz>{{tweet|kingbdogz|1587514944614023169|DID YOU KNOW?? red dragon already exists you just gotta hit the ender dragon and it appears for a split second|November 1, 2022}}</ref>
{{quote|DID YOU KNOW?? red dragon already exists you just gotta hit the ender dragon and it appears for a split second|[[Minecraft:kingbdogz]]<ref name=kingbdogz />|image=Kingbdogz twitter.jpg}}

On February 24, 2026, [[Minecraft:Jens Bergensten]] was asked when the last time anyone at [[Minecraft:Mojang Studios]] seriously discussed the red dragon, where he said that they still do occasionally, but not from a development perspective.<ref name=jeb2>{{bluesky|jebox.bsky.social|3mfmgdmni7c2h|Yes, we talk about it from time to time, but usually in the context of the 'old days when we tweeted a lot'.|February 24, 2026}}</ref> 

{{quote|Yes, we talk about it from time to time, but usually in the context of the "old days when we tweeted a lot".|[[Minecraft:Jens Bergensten]]<ref name=jeb2 />|image=Jeb twitter 2010 to 2016.jpg}}

== Trivia ==
* One of the winners of the [[Minecraft:MINECON 2013]] costume contest was a Red Dragon.<ref>{{ytl|6-bPRwxJkaQ|MINECON 2013 Costume Contest|Minecraft|January 1, 2014}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Navigation ==
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[[Minecraft:fr: Dragon rouge]]
[[Minecraft:pt:Dragão Vermelho]]