Dragons! Is there any historical reason why western dragons seem to be denoted with wings for flight and are mostly seen as evil that need to be slayed, while eastern dragons or at least, chinese/japanese dragons, are wingless and can fly and are seen as benevolent and wise?
Not to discourage further discussion, but I answered a similar question here which may be of interest. The TL;DRol of which is that they have drastically different origins.