Dragons are creatures with nearly unlimited life spans. They can survive for long periods of time, and no one has found a dragon that has died of old age. Adolescence is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling's wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. Once they hit adolescence, hatchlings change quickly, maturing to their full forms in only 2 years.

Dragons don't communicate with each other verbally, but they will growl to scare off predators and frighten prey. Young dragons will emit an extremely high-pitched squeal when they are frightened. To communicate, they use telepathy with each other and to speak to other creatures.

Red dragons are similar to typical story book dragons. They shoot flames, can fly, etc. However, they aren't evil creatures as depicted in myths and won't go around raiding castles, killing knights, or kidnapping princesses. They live in a variety of habitats, from forests to coastlines to abandoned castles, usually in warm climates, and eat whatever living creatures they can find.

Due to a brutal encounter with a dragon slayer, which he only survived thanks to his friend the white dragon Amrose, Degeros harbors an intense hatred of humanity. Like most red dragons he is not truly evil and as such he does not actively seek conflict with humans, but he is convinced they do not deserve to live and believes they will one day destroy themselves. He merely tolerates his dragon tamer, calling him "one of the good ones," and is kind to him but tries to avoid him when possible.