Balerion

Balerion, called the Black Dread, was the greatest dragon in the history of House Targaryen and the mount of Aegon the Conqueror during his conquest of Westeros. The last living creature to have seen Valyria before the Doom, Balerion was a beast of legend whose fire forged a kingdom.

The Black Dread

Balerion was a dragon of monstrous size, his scales and flame both black, his shadow large enough to swallow whole towns as he passed overhead. He was already old at the time of the Conquest, having been brought from Valyria to Dragonstone by the Targaryens before the Doom destroyed their homeland. His fire was said to burn black, and it was hot enough to melt stone.

Aegon's Conquest

Riding Balerion, Aegon I Targaryen overthrew the kings of Westeros. At the Field of Fire Balerion, with his fellow dragons Vhagar and Meraxes, incinerated the combined armies of the Reach and the Westerlands. It was Balerion's fire that melted the swords of Aegon's fallen enemies into the Iron Throne, and Balerion's flames that destroyed the great castle of Harrenhal, roasting Harren the Black and his sons within its towers.

Death and Legacy

Balerion lived on for more than a century after the Conquest, finally dying of old age during the reign of King Viserys I, before the Dance of the Dragons. He was the last dragon to have known Valyria. His skull, vast and blackened, was kept in the throne room of the Red Keep in King's Landing as a monument to Targaryen power. The black dragon Drogon is often likened to him.