Scaly Monsters and Nice Sprites Quiz

Answer: Spyro

Spyro first appeared in the game of the same name, released for the PlayStation in 1998, in which he had to free other dragons who had been crystallised by Gnasty Gnorc's spell. His little friend Sparx acts as a guide and helps him gather gems.

Answer: Kabuto

Reshiram is not only a dragon-type Pokemon; it is also a fire-type Pokemon. It is white, with a long mane and huge wings, can speak through telepathy, and does not evolve into anything else.

Flygon is another dual-type Pokemon and is the final form of Trapinch; it is a ground-type as well as a dragon-type. It is green, with red and green wings and large antennae.

Dratini is blue and snakelike, with gills on its head. It evolves into Dragonair and then into Dragonite, which looks like an orange dinosaur and has the ability to fly.

As for Kabuto? It resembles a trilobite with glowing eyes, evolves into Kabutops, and is a dual-type (water and rock) Pokemon.

Answer: Bahamut

Bahamut appears several times throughout the 'Final Fantasy' series, and generally takes the form of a large dark dragon. For instance, in 'Final Fantasy IV', he lives on the Red Moon, and the summoner Rydia has to defeat him in battle in order to take him on as a summon, while in 'Final Fantasy IX', the villain Kuja enslaves him, and tries to use him to destroy the kingdom of Alexandria. Like many other 'Final Fantasy' summons, his name comes from myth and legend; he is named after an enormous fish who helps to hold up the Earth in Arabic mythology.

Answer: Metroid

Ridley is a Space Pirate, and one of the main antagonists in 'Metroid' along with Mother Brain. Despite being defeated by Samus Aran many times, he survives by feeding on humans in order to heal himself (according to the 'Metroid' manga), or by receiving cybernetic implants.

Mother Brain, incidentally, is the lead villain in '90s cartoon and Nintendo product placement vehicle, 'Captain N: The Games Master'. Other characters appearing include Simon Belmont from 'Castlevania', Pit from 'Kid Icarus', and Link and Zelda, hence the other answers.

Answer: Mortal Kombat: Deception

A little backstory on Onaga: he was the ruler of Outworld until Shao Kahn, who was one of his advisors, murdered him and took his place. He communicates with gullible 'Deception' protagonist Shujinko from the afterlife by disguising himself as a ball of light called Damashi, and tricks Shujinko into reviving him by collecting a set of artefacts known as the Kamidogu.

Onaga and Reptile don't belong to the same race, incidentally; Reptile is a Saurian, a lizard-like humanoid from the lost realm of Zaterra, while Onaga belongs to an ancient race of dragons from Outworld.

Answer: Panzer Dragoon

The 'Panzer Dragoon' series takes place in an apocalyptic world, where the player characters and their dragons do battle with an evil empire. In the original game, Keil Fluge, the protagonist, witnesses a battle between two dragons. The rider of the blue dragon is killed by the black dragon, and Keil forms a psychic link with him and discovers he has to stop the black dragon from reaching a tower which contains ancient weapons. Keil takes control of the blue dragon, and has to escape the Imperial forces whilst hunting the black dragon.

Answer: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

'Puzzle Quest', as the name suggests, is a puzzle game with added RPG and strategy elements thrown in. It involves making combinations of coloured tiles, which give you elemental energy (or 'mana'). There are also several sidequests throughout the game; for instance, in the Dragonrealm, you have to fight swamp dragons, ice dragons and the conventional firebreather types in order to get treasure.

Answer: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

In 'Skyrim', the Dragonborn, or Dovahkiin (from 'dovah', dragon, and 'kiin', child), is the player character, who has the body of a human, but the blood and soul of a dragon. He also has the ability to absorb a dragon's knowledge by consuming its soul. According to an ancient prophecy, the Last Dragonborn would be the one to stop the evil dragon god Alduin, who would return to the world after suffering defeat at the hands of the Tongues, a group of heroes who could speak the dragon language. Very rarely is there more than one Dragonborn per generation.

Answer: Jade Empire

The action RPG 'Jade Empire' was originally released for the Xbox in 2005. The Water Dragon acts as the player's guide, oversees the supply of water to the human world, and guides the souls of the dead along the wheel of death and rebirth. Though her real form is a massive blue dragon, she often appears as a woman dressed in blue, with claws and scaly skin. Depending on the player's alignment, they can either destroy her body and free her spirit, or take her power for themselves.

Answer: Mario and Luigi

"Thank you, Mario! But your princess is in another castle!" So says Toad the mushroom man in 'Super Mario Bros.', whenever Mario defeats one of Bowser's decoys. Bowser himself is king of the Koopas, a race of turtle-like creatures, and has several children, known as the Koopalings.

He first appeared in 'Super Mario Bros.', and has been antagonising Mario and Luigi (and Princess Peach, since he wants to take over her homeland, the Mushroom Kingdom, and marry her) ever since.