In Slavic folklore, Zmey Gorynych is a recurring three-headed dragon antagonist of Russian fairy tales.
Zmey Gorynych is generally portrayed as a flying dragon with three heads, although some versions give him more heads. He is commonly associated with fire, violence, and the kidnapping of people. The name is connected with the Russian word zmey, meaning serpent or dragon, while Gorynych is traditionally interpreted as a patronymic-style name linked to mountains or fire.
The dragon appears in Russian byliny and fairy tales, where heroes such as Dobrynya Nikitich confront him. These stories vary in plot and detail, so Zmey Gorynych is better understood as a recurring folkloric figure than as one character with a single canonical biography.
He is different from Zilant, a dragon associated with Kazan, and from Azhdaha, a broader dragon figure found in several Eurasian traditions. The three heads are the clearest identifying feature in standard descriptions, although illustrations and individual tales are not completely uniform.