Dragon Lady

Basic Information

She's sexy, she's seductive, and you'd be amazed at how many sharp bladed weapons she can hide in that slinky silk dress. She's the Yellow Peril in one sexy package. You're not sure whether she wants to kill you or kiss you. Probably both.

Yes, the Dragon Lady is a racial stereotype; but she's also a stock character in stories set in the Mysterious East, particularly in the Pulp Era. She's beautiful but dangerous, and more than a little bit intimidating. Are you man enough to handle her?

Sources

Bibliography

1. TV Tropes Wiki entry

2. comics: Terry and the Pirates by Milton Caniff — This classic pulp era comic strip set in 1930s China has a recurring villainess named Lai Choi San, alias "Dragon Lady", for whom the trope was named.

3. books: Rax Rohmer's Fu Manchu series features Fah Lo Suee, daughter of the evil Fu Manchu, who is either in love with the narrator, or just likes playing with him.

Game and Story Use

• The Dragon Lady is a must for a Pulp Era adventure set in the Mysterious East.
  • She could also turn up in any Western city with a sizable Asian population, such as San Francisco's Chinatown.
• She usually commands a certain amount of power. If she is not the Big Bad herself, she is one of his most trusted lieutenants and has minions of her own at her disposal.
• If she takes an interest in one of the PCs, she could be an intriguing, if dangerous, romantic foil.
• She doesn't have to be an enemy. A Dragon Lady could be a party patron, or a useful contact
  • She could even be a PC, although because of her ambiguous motives, she probably works better as an NPC.
• A more mature Dragon Lady can become an Evil Matriarch
• In a setting with fantasy elements, she might be a real dragon posing as a human!