The 5 best pop culture dragons

There's something about dragons.

With Pete's Dragon flying into theaters this weekend, we're reminded just how much we love them, from the ones that terrify us to the ones that are as cuddly as Pete's Elliott.

And while there are many, many dragons in film, TV and literature to choose from (don't even get us started on Dragon Tales) we narrowed down our favorites to the top five.

Drogon from Game of Thrones

The hit HBO show has three dragons on its roster. No offense to Viserion and Rhaegal, but there is clearly a HDIC, or head dragon in charge, in Daenerys Targaryen's (Emilia Clarke) brood, and that is the one named for her late husband. Drogon gets all the good scenes in Game of Thrones, including a famous one in season 3 in which fans learned that the word “dracarys,” aka dragonfire, really means something.

Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon

Sorry Elliott, but there is officially no cuter dragon than Toothless, the titular trainee from the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. He's got everything: Huge smile, cuddliness and eyes that will melt your heart. How could anyone (even in the fictional cartoon village) have been afraid of him?

Smaug from The Hobbit 

Even if Smaug weren't a giant dragon with untold riches and his own mountain, he would still be one of our favorites because he was brought to life by the one and only Benedict Cumberbatch. Between his voice and physicality, and that murderous tendency, you know he's a dragon you don't want to mess with.

Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty

Angelina Jolie brought the classic fairy tale villain to new life in the live-action Maleficent, but we'll always be slightly (read: very) terrified of the original baddie from the cartoon, and especially the dragon she turns into.

Mushu from Mulan

He may be small, but he did help save everyone. The Eddie Murphy-voiced tiny dragon is one of the stand-out parts of the movie, minus all the flying and fire-breathing that makes other dragons stand out.