If you have been as useless and free as I, you might have at some point wondered, why is it that the dragon-themed Beyblades often spin left?
- Is it just a homage to Dragoon from Bakuten Shoot?
- Maybe, making the first release (or one of the first releases) a left-spinning Beyblades allows them to sell left launchers (or everyone will just find 1 right launcher enough = fewer sales).
- Or are dragons supposed to be more rebellious lore-wise? Go against the flow and all that.
- Is left-spin meant to be a super-aggressive thing (more explosive clashes vs. opposite spin), making it more fitting for the main character/antagonist who represents a dragon, the mightiest creature in fantasy?
Well, we can keep guessing.
The only thing that’s for sure is that dragon-themed Beyblades are often left-spinning, and at this point, it’s kind of a Beyblade tradition that they have kept alive over the years.
It all began with Takao/Tyson’s Dragoon, of course. The first Beyblade to ever spin left in the anime, Dragoon S, required a different launcher. Since then, it’s been repeated in every generation.
- Plastic Gen & HMS: Dragoon (Tyson)
- Metal Saga: L-Drago (Ryuga)
- Beyblade Burst: Longinus, Fafnir, Devolos, Luinor, etc. lines (Lui, Free De La Hoya, Delta) are all based on different types of Dragons, e.g., Fafnir is a dwarf in Norse mythology that turned into a dragon
- Beyblade X: Cobalt Dragoon (Khrome)
Apart from their left spin, these Beyblades share some other common qualities as well. For example:
- They often have a three-headed design (heads being representative of dragons, of course).
- Designed for an upper attack and/or smash attack from a lower height.
- Naturally, as they spin opposite 99% of other Beyblades, some of them have some spin equalisation capabilities (spin steal) in specific combinations/matchups.
Left Spin is Just Dual Spin
There is always a little bit of material in the place where a launcher locks with the Beyblade. Which side it’s on determines which side it will spin (or, more precisely, which launcher prong will fit it).
It’s easier to make Beyblades that spin both ways. Just don’t have that stopping mechanism, and any launcher prong will fit it. Then, it can spin either left or right. But that “stopper” is deliberately added to force rotation in a particular direction (clockwise for left-spinners, counterclockwise for right-spinners).
This is more than just a tradition—it’s also a way to have a meta in the real world.
For example, Gravity Destroyer from the Metal Saga does not have these stoppers. As a result, both types of prongs, left and right, fit it. It can spin either way. This is also the reason why a lot of midfake Beyblades will not have these stoppers. It’s easier to have a die without that part, so any launcher fits the Bey.
If you force the majority of Beyblades to spin in one direction and one Beyblade to spin in another, you are making it unique. This was likely the #1 reason why Tyson’s Dragoon spun left and not right. And since then, it has become a tradition—such an important tradition that even though it’s easier to make dual-spinning Beyblades, they want to preserve that uniqueness.
In the HMS generation, they wanted to do something different. All HMS Beyblades are dual-spin. You can change strategy between matches with the same Beyblade. Learning about how different attack rings and other parts function in both spins and which matchups they are good against was a mini-meta of its own during the HMS craze. So, you could have a right-spinning Dragoon MS battle against a left-spinning Dranzer MS, and it was 100% normal.
More Than Dragons
It is very likely that Takara Tomy will complement any left-spinning design with a dragon, even apart from the main characters. For example, there was a limited-edition Beyblade, 10 copies of which were given to contest winners—the Gryph Dragoon SA165WSF (part of the Sky Synchrome generation within Megal Saga).
Characters like Devolos and L-Drago are clearly supposed to represent mythical dragons. Some are taken right from classic mythology (Dragoon is a Japanese dragon—serpentine body and no wings), while others are transformations based on specific folklore (Bahamut is a monster in Arabic myth that Beyblade represented as a dragon).
It’s safe to say that anything that’s a dragon is likely to spin left. But dragon-like creatures can also spin left. The best examples are:
- There are Beyblades in the Burst series with the spirits/names of Bazilisk, Leviathan, Cobra, and Salamander. Not exactly dragons, but they all spin left.
- In fact, there is a Beyblade named Viper Hydrax H5 Python Coil-H. Not only is it imbued with the spirits of a viper, a python, and a freaking Hydra (dragon-like, sea-based mythical creature), but it also has a coil. We all know dragons can coil really well, what with their long, slender build.
- There were some parts based on the Dragoon design that were called “Lizard” by Youngtoys. For example, the Fire Lizard 2Expand Eternal or the Magma Lizard Wheel Xceed’. These also spin left.
- Ronin Dragoon LW160BSF in Shogun Steel (Metal Saga) spins left. The Synchrome of this Beyblade and another one (right-spin) Archer Griffin C145S is called Griffin Dragoon LW160BSF in the anime, owned and used by Sakyo Kurayami. It also spins left.
But others spin left too.
Astral Spryzen is based on tree-like creatures from Cornish folklore called spriggans. They have nothing to do with dragons, yet they spin left. And for some reason, when Hasbro fitted engine gears inside Venus and Trygle 2 to make what we now call Venusian G and Trygle 2 G, it made them left-spinning.
And interestingly, dragons don’t always spin left.
- Though I did say that the first-ever left-spinning dragon-themed Beyblade was Dragoon (Dragoon Storm), that was in the anime. In the toyline, game, and the early “Beigoma” days, the first Dragoon was actually Spin Dragoon. This is the first Beyblade ever released by Takara. It spins right.
- Omega Dragonis 85XF is right-spin. It is similar to L-Dragos. Low height, protrusions facing left, the spirit of a dragon. But unlike Beyblades like Lightning L-Drago, Meteo, Assault, Rush, etc., it spins right. Even the user, Ryuto, has a striking resemblance to Ryuga, the owner of the L-Dragos.
- Burst Beyblades literally called “Dragon” don’t spin left—for example, Ace Dragon Sting Charge Zen or Chain Dragon D8 Fyquor-Q Bite-Q+Billow-6’. There are more with different prefixes, like Cosmo, Command, Gambit, Flare, Imperial, Gatling, Sword, Infinite, Tempest, Vex, etc.
- In Beyblade X, Cobalt Drake and even variants of Cobalt Dragoon spin right. Notably, BX-00 Cobalt Drake 4-60F and the CX-08 Cobalt Dragoon 4-55WB.
- Remember when Kenny upgraded Tyson’s Dragoon V2 with two weight discs? When this abomination was released (Dragoon V2 High Power Custom) as an RC Beyblade, it was a right-spinning one.
- In the Beyblade CCG, there is a Beyblade called Dragoon DF. It’s supposed to be a defence variant of Dragoon, and its attack ring is called “Reverse Dragoon”. With a right spin gear, it spins right. This is CCG-exclusive, so there’s no story. Other CCG-exclusives that also spin right include Smash Dragoon and Red Dragoon.
- When they released an updated version of Dragoon during the Burst time (Dragoon Victory 2Expand Eternal), they made it right-spin.
- Daichi’s Gaia Dragoon is supposed to be the counterweight to Tyson’s Dragoon in the anime. So, even though it’s technically a dragon, it spins right. This goes for all Gaia/Strata Dragoons.
- In 2010, Takara Tomy released a Beyblade called Storm L-Drago WD145B Crystal Wolf Ver. with a DVD set. This is a right-spin Beyblade.
- In European myth, a wyvern is a two-legged dragon. Wyvern Gale in BBX is not left-spin. Orojya Wyvang 145EDS from Shogun Steel is also not left-spin (the Wyvang name is based on the wyvern concept).
Attack & Spin Steal
Dragon-themed, left-spin Beyblades often feature an aggressive design. In many cases, they can catch onto the protrusions, spikes, or fangs of other Beyblades—making them better spin stealers. In terms of attack, they generally focus on delivering quick knockouts. As they are almost exclusively attack types, they have little stamina.
A lot goes into the success of an upper attack or smash attack.
If the height is too low, the rubber becomes useless. If it’s too much, it has no contact points. If the weight is too low, any random attack type will bully it. If it’s too much, it might get stuck in a tornado stall 9/10 times. If the weight distribution is not ideal, it will not have enough LAD (life-after-death) to outspin opponents in case the knockouts don’t happen.
Beyblades are not something that can be changed or balanced after release—at least, not in the majority of cases (some “newer” moulds exist). As such, if it’s not as functional as it’s supposed to be at release, it’s likely going to be a trash Beyblade. That’s why so many left-spin Beyblades are not useful competitively, they almost always get it wrong and cannot balance all variables.
The main thing keeping them popular is their association with a powerful Blader in the anime, such as an MC like Tyson or an antagonist like Ryuga, Lui, and Khrome.
Fun fact: We’re working on an all-metal Beyblade Omega Dragonis 85XF. This is a dragon Beyblade that I don’t like to see spinning right. So, we are making it dual-spin. Once it’s released, Bladers will be able to test its protrusions in the opposite direction. Maybe it can create some explosive knockouts, who knows? It will be a full-metal Beyblade, like the rest of our lineup, such as the custom-designed full-metal Lightning L-Drago 100HF.
