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Dragonfire

Updated: Feb 11, 2022


In blue are things that I am unsure of and may change later.



Smaug (Hobbit book)

Smaug was capable of burning a large section of a mountainside in one pass. He also incinerated much of Lake-town in a few passes, and killed an entire army of mail-clad Dwarves.

His fire is described as "green and scarlet", so it is probably either magical or copper-based, neither of which help us much in a temperature guess. However, since it is capable of blackening rock (p. 205) it is probably at least 1600K. Smaug can also "smooth and slime" (i.e. melt) rock with his breath (p. 205). Granite, a common rock, requires at least 1488—1533K to melt when dry.

Temperature: 1500K+

Impact: Medium

Volume: Huge


Smaug (Hobbit animated film)

Smaug breathes yellow-orange fire which that can melt iron or steel in about a second,which requires around 1.28 MJ/kg, and since about 10kg are melted, his fire has a yield of at least 12.8 megajoules. However, we never see him cover more than a few square meters in one shot.

Temperature: ~1400K

Yield: 12.8MJ

Impact: Low

Area: Medium (25 square feet)


Smaug (Hobbit films)

Smaug's fire is bright yellow-orange, so it's at least 1450K, and possibly over 1500K. In the first film his fire is shown to smash heavy stone structures. He torched an entire city, and later a whole town. He can also engulf several buildings in one pass.

SpaceBattles user "Goji" calculated the total energy output of Smaug's breath at 0.48 kilotons per second, which matches up with a statement by WETA Digital's Eric Saindon.

Temperature: 1450K+

Yield: 0.48 kT/second

Impact: High

Range: At least 150 feet

Area: Huge (approximately 2500 square feet)


Glaurung (Silmarillion)

Glaurung's fire was powerful enough to incinerate hundreds of Elves and Men at the Battle of Sudden Flame. However, the Dwarves of Belegost wore armor and masks that could withstand the heat, at least from a short distance away. Cremation typically requires about 860K for several hours, so let's use 900K for our minimum temperature. It could easily be way hotter.

Temperature: 900K+

Impact: Medium

Volume: Huge


Toothless (How To Train Your Dragon films)

Toothless's fire is ionized Oxyacetylene, so it has a maximum temperature of 3160 degrees Celcius (3433K). Toothless can blast a small building with one shot, and knock the Red Death down with a charged blast. He also knocked a Bewilderbeast's tusk off with a good hit, which probably required at least 8 lb of TNT (3.6kgTNT, or 33472 kilojoules).

Temperature: Up to 3433K

Yield: 33.47MJ+

Impact: High+

Area: Small+ (6 square feet)


Red Death (How To Train Your Dragon film)

Temperature: 2220K+

Impact: Medium

Range: At least 150 feet

Volume: Huge (approximately 2500 square feet)


Drogon (Game of Thrones)

Drogon's fire is yellow, and so it burns at about 1300K (though color is not always a perfect way to determine temperature). It can also knock men and horses flying. He can burn a path several meters across and melt iron within several seconds, which requires Wall level attacks.

Temperature: 1808K+

Impact: Medium+

Range: At least 100 feet

Area: Large (100 square feet)


Hungarian Horntail (Harry Potter films)

The Horntail's fire is yellow, so it's about 1400-1500K.

Temperature: 1400-1500K

Impact: Low

Range: At least 30 feet

Area: Medium (25 square feet)

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