--- description: A graphic design team used the musculature of poultry for inspiration title: The "Game of Thrones" Dragons Are Based on Chickens image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8868cc6ed7ea0e97/6987847c428a9e2b11cc7b96/gameofthrones-dragon.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The _Game of Thrones_ Dragons Are Based on Chickens by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2015 11:47 AM CUT  A dragon from HBO's Game of Thrones A dragon from HBO's Game of ThronesHBO by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2015 11:47 AM CUT Suddenly, those dragons on _Game of Thrones_ seem a lot less terrifying: the fire-breathing beasts are in fact [based on supermarket chickens](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/Game-of-thrones-dragons "undefined"). Visual effects team Pixomondo tells the Washington _Post_ that they played with a chicken to understand its physiology while designing the dragons for HBO. “You could feel how the muscles underneath are moving and what are the restrictions, where the bone can’t go,” says visual effects supervisor Sven Martin. “We built our dragon basically the same way.” As Daenerys Targaryen’s hatchlings grow over the course of the series (Pixomondo signed on beginning in season 2), the team had to make alterations to the design so that the dragons would be able to take flight. Tune in for the season 5 premiere on April 12 to find out what has become of these chicken-dragons since Daenerys locked them in their cave. \[[_Washington Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/Game-of-thrones-dragons "undefined")\] ### See The Real-Life People Who Inspired Game of Thrones Characters  From left: Cersei and Margaret of Anjou HBO; Getty Images  From Left: Khaleesi and Queen Elizabeth I. HBO; Getty Images  From Left: Melisandre and Bloody Mary Helen Sloan—HBO; Getty Images  From left: Talisa Stark and Anne Boleyn. Helen Sloan—HBO; Getty Images  From left: Brienne of Tarth and Joan of Arc. HBO; DeAgostini—Getty Images  From left: Henry VIII and Robert Baratheon. HBO; Getty Images  From left: Joffrey and Caligula. HBO; De Agostini—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3752228/game-thrones-dragons-chickens/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3752228/game-thrones-dragons-chickens/"},"headline":"The Game of Thrones Dragons Are Based on Chickens","datePublished":"2015-03-20T11:47:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:57.990Z","description":"A visual effects team used the musculature of poultry for inspiration","url":"https://time.com/3752228/game-thrones-dragons-chickens/","keywords":["Television","animals","game of thrones"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8868cc6ed7ea0e97/6987847c428a9e2b11cc7b96/gameofthrones-dragon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8868cc6ed7ea0e97/6987847c428a9e2b11cc7b96/gameofthrones-dragon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"gameofthrones-dragon","caption":"A dragon from HBO's Game of Thrones","creditText":"HBO","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3752228/game-thrones-dragons-chickens/","name":"The Game of Thrones Dragons Are Based on Chickens"}}]}] ```