Was Gyarados ever a Dragon type?

As a lifelong Pokémon fan and avid battler, this is a question I‘ve heard debated time and time again amongst players throughout the years. With its fierce appearance and dragon-inspired lore, many find it surprising that Gyarados has always officially been a Water/Flying type and never a Water/Dragon.

After analyzing its origins, stats, moves and historical precedents, I‘m confident in saying Gyarados was never actually intended to be a Dragon type in the games. But that hasn‘t stopped fans from speculating on what could have been for this iconic pseudo-legendary serpent!

The Dragon Mythos Behind Gyarados‘ Design

Gyarados evolving from the ridiculously weak Magikarp is based on an ancient Chinese legend of carp transforming into dragons after persevering upstream and leaping the treacherous ‘Dragon‘s Gate’ waterfall. It‘s clear this myth was the inspiration behind Gyarados’ design as an ultimate sea monster.

But while Gyarados epitomizes the lore and ferociousness of such mighty dragons, Game Freak consciously chose to make it Water/Flying versus Water/Dragon for strategic gameplay reasons. Still, the dragon parallels remain strong in Gyarados‘ serpentine shape, raging temperament and resemblance to Chinese dragon iconography.

Signature Movesets Lack Dragon Coverages

If Gyarados was intended as part Dragon type, you‘d expect its level up learnset and TM movepool to offer strong Dragon type attacks. But that has never been the case historically:

While it can learn supportive Dragon moves, Gyarados lacks the hard-hitting offenses like Outrage or Draco Meteor that true Dragon pseudos wield.

Competitively Viable as a Water/Flying Type

As a Water/Flying type, Gyarados‘ only key weakness is Electric attacks, while boasting key resistances to Fire, Fighting, Ground moves. Had Gyarados gained a Dragon secondary typing, it would have added an extra vulnerability to Dragon, Ice and Fairy moves that could have compromised its viability.

Some fast facts around Gyarados‘ competitive prowess over the generations as a Water/Flying type:

• Consistently ranked as a top UU or OU threat since Gen 1
• Water/Dark Mega Evolution in Gen 6 powered up its offenses further
• Dominant Dynamax option last generation in VGC 2020
• 2022 usage stats below showcase its continued viability:

So while the Dragon type would fit thematically, Gyarados power and versatility would likely have suffered from a gameplay perspective.

Contrasting Gyarados to Actual Dragon Pseudos

Gyarados has strong similarities to Dragon type heavyweight hitters:

• Salamence: Both evolve from humble beginnings to mighty beasts
• Dragonite: Regarded as friendly protectors by their trainers
• Garchomp: High speed land sharks and Forces of Nature

But looking deeper into stats and movepools:

• All 3 have much wider Dragon type movepool options
• Boast secondary typings that cover more weaknesses

So while Gyarados shares thematically dragon parallels as a powerful ace Pokémon, shifting its typing as such may have disrupted its strategic niche across competitive tiers.

Why Not Make Gyarados part Dragon Type?

This is speculation, but Game Freak likely avoided making Gyarados Dragon type to:

• Maintain its viability by minimizing weakness spread
• Avoid saturation since Gen 1 already had premier Dragon option in Dragonite
• Keep the coveted typing rare and special early on
• Enable flexibility to make other Water Pokémon Dragon dual types later on (e.g. Kingdra)

Regardless, Gyarados‘ design will forever evoke draconic themes even if not officially classified as such type-wise.

Potential for a Dragon Variant Form?

As we‘ve seen with regional forms shaking up Pokémon typings, perhaps we could get a Dragon take on Gyarados someday? I know fans would go crazy to finally see this in a future game! The hype levels would rival Charizard getting its Dragon X Mega Evolution.

The Takeaway on Gyarados‘ Typing

While many see Gyarados‘ omission from being Water/Dragon as a missed opportunity, its consequences may have shaken up the competitive viability it has maintained for over 20 years now as a Water/Flying threat.

I‘m beyond confident Gyarados was consciously excluded from ever being a Dragon type Pokémon by Game Freak – but that dragon spirit lives on strongly as ever through this beloved beast of the sea!

Do you think Gyarados should have been a Dragon type or has it worked better strategically as a Water/Flyer? I welcome all insights from my fellow trainers – leave your thoughts below!