I always liked that icon. He saves the princess; there'd be no
   Super Mario Bros' without St George and the Dragon.

   They knew it was symbolic (below is from one of many
   historical/theological texts) - but the mixture of real and
   symbolism is an interesting one:

   "Clearly the story and image of St George killing the dragon has
   been understood symbolically from the beginning, reaching its
   iconographic climax in the 15th and 16th centuries. Therefore it
   is not, either *modern and enlightened* on the one hand, nor
   *hyper-rational and critical* on the other to give this symbolic
   meaning to icons of St George killing the dragon: the medieval
   Christians before us understood it too."

   Was there a literal beast? Today's jaded minds like to imagine
   everything ancients talked about as if they believed everything
   just as the words say, but the ancient world was just as full of
   symbolism and metaphor as today.

   So, there's no way to set up percentages. Theological texts
   always spoke of the dragon symbolically, as a meme-worthy
   substitute for the darkness within the hearts of mankind, and
   every attribute of the dragon linked to all-too-human frailties.

   Yet, at the time, hard-distinctions were less important, so long
   as the message came across: "This is some powerful shit here and
   you might want to consider getting your village to join us."
   Marketing campaign. it's like what Neil DeGrasse Tyson does for
   Science. Same idea.