So. Origins of cloud serpents are still unknown, right?
Honestly i was hoping dragon isles would shed some light on those snake-dragons. But it seems like there’s no mention of them, unless it’s really hidden.
The only thing we definitively know about them is that they’re native to pandaria. Looks like they evolved separately from actual dragonkind
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evolved from what tho
Nobody really knows. If I had to guess, they’re probably related to Yu’lon somehow
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Totally unrelated creatures.
I’m pretty sure they’re just normal animals. They have nothing to do with dragons.
I mean they gotta gatekeep a bit here, otherwise what qualifies as a dragon is going to get really trivial really fast.
I actually thought the Eastern styled dragons were called cloud serpents.
They are yeah. I don’t think any character in the game has ever called them dragons.
Obviously their real world inspiration is Asian dragons but in-universe they don’t seem to be connected in any way.
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I could walk outside and name the first bug I see a dragon, and ask the same question. Sometimes words are overused, and it implies nothing. The term dragon is sometimes used in a general way, and to compare cloud serpents to true dragons in any way is probably some hardcore equivocation.
The team has said they will not say how the dragonkin relate to dragons directly, because they want to preserve the mystery of it and leave it to imagination.
More practically, they do not want to get nailed for retconning it in five years. They learned their lesson from Chronicle.
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This statement
Cloud serpents are dragons[1][2][3][4]native to Pandaria.
And
The origin of the cloud serpents is unknown. They are, however, not part of the “whole Aspects scene”[5] and are not really related to the classic Azerothian dragonflights.[6]
It seems that whatever Cloud Serpents were originally, they significantly diverged from other Dragonkin and became their own unique species overtime. I’m guessing it’s related to either Yu’lon or the waters of Pandaria changing them over time. Much like how the Jinyu were once murlocs
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My headcanon is that they were originally Proto-drakes who flew as far away from Dragonblight as possible. Probably due to a big cannibal with an endless sense of hunger. They were then changed by the Pools of Power in the vale to become Cloud Serpents.
We do have examples of Wild Gods that came after their respective animal race had already existed. Rezan, Ashamane, Ursoc & Ursol for example. Plus I think Tsulong is also a wild god, just not on the same power tier as Yu’lon though.
I also reckon that the Aspects, back when they were proto-drakes might’ve been Wild Gods as well. They all had a higher level of intelligence, were capable of some level of speech beyond typical roars and other proto-drake noises. Signs that are commonly seen with Wild Gods.
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That’s what I was thinking too. Only thing that makes sense. I’m sticking to it until blizz ever fleshes it out someday. If they do at all. 
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will that bug have a dragon head and magic powers tho
My headcanon is that they’re Life-corrupted protodrakes which caused them to evolve into what they are now.
I dunno, they weren’t the only ones capable of speech, there were a whole bunch. Talonixa and Coros for example, but a bunch of more minor ones too. It’s possible but if so it feels odd there’d be so many proto-drake wild gods.
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I like the idea that the aspects are wild gods, but I don’t think it actually stands up. The signifiers you used for wild gods can also be applied to razageth and a lot of the primalist proto-dragons we see speaking, so unless they are wild gods too, the aspects probably aren’t.
They aren’t dragons. They are cloud serpents. And considering yulon is a cloud serpent loa it’s safe to assume she had some part to play in their existence
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So then why does Blizzard sometimes label them as Dragonkin? Hell, Cloud serpent battle pets are listed under the Dragon type and not the beast type.
Considering they are based on Eastern Dragons, it is safe to say that they are meant to be a type of Dragons.
Humans are apes. It doesn’t mean apes are humans. Apes are mammals, not all mammals are apes.
Cloud Serpents and Pandaria Dragons share a lot with traditional dragons- scales, fire (based on the smoke out of their nose), flying, etc.
So they are either a case of convergent evolution, possibly due to the titan energy, or they split early in history, likely post Proto Drake.
Either way if we view Dragonkin as being similar to the classification of Mammal or even Ape it would make sense- they are just two distinct branches with a lot of similarities.
I mean Gnolls and Humans are both classified as humanoids.
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