Balloon Dragons are so named because they are filled with a gas that makes them almost lighter than air, similar to balloons. However, they are not prone to bursting, as they are covered in tough skin and can deflate themselves if necessary. In addition, they generally are slow moving. They use their gas bladders to float to the tops of trees, where food is more abundant. They can shift their weight from their backs to their fronts, allowing them to reach leaves and fruit.

Dragons are highly-intelligent reptilian creatures that—from a human perspective, at least—appear to live forever. Many different varieties of dragon exist, each with their own unique qualities, habitats, and behavior. Adolescence in dragons 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. In Galsreim, dragons and humans coexist peacefully.

Mister Gift is a kind, friendly dragon who enjoys taking children for low rides through the village. He is well known by the villagers and is well respected by his own cave, Kaoru's Cave. Though he doesn't spend much time around the cave, everyone knows him and his mother, and everyone either ignores or respects them.

Mister Gift usually does very little fruit hunting, for the villagers provide it for him. He also does very little grooming, as the children love to rub and 'brush' his scales after they do their school work.

Mister Gift will probably never find a mate, and he never wants to: "A mate," he says, "is too much responsibility." Is he unsocial, perhaps, with his own kind, but he would never spend a day away from humans unless he had to. Mister Gift has a good relationship with the Deep Sea Dragons of Kaoru's Cave.