In the past, RainWings were ruled by the RainWing royal family, but since all of Grandeur's heirs were deemed unworthy and too lazy to take the throne, Grandeur placed her eggs with those of the rest of the tribe in hopes of finding a queen in spirit rather than blood. Grandeur's solution proved to be rather ineffective, as although Grandeur did eventually find volunteers, but they were indolent, unsuccessful, lazy, forgetful, incompetent, and often selfish in their reigns. Grandeur decided that it would be the best for the tribe if each new ruler, including herself, was only to reign for one month at a time before switching to the next. Queen Glory is the current ruler of the RainWing Kingdom after Grandeur found out that she was not only worthy, but had royal RainWing blood in her. Queen Glory got justified as RainWing queen, by having a contest and her appointed dragons won each of the activities.
RainWings tend to be pacifists who typically don't rush into fights, as shown when the NightWings captured them and experimented on their venom, although they likely have not always been this way. They don't have much connection with the world beyond the rainforest, as shown when Jambu didn't know about the dragonets of destiny and when Magnificent didn't know about challenging for a throne, things typical dragons do know about. Instead of having a palace, like most tribes, the RainWing queen resides in an ordinary-sized hut usually decorated with flowers that other dragons can visit her in. They will line up and wait when they want to talk to the queen about something. Although RainWings are peaceful dragons, there could have been a time where RainWings were at war with another tribe, due to Grandeur hinting to Glory that she remembers when they used their camouflage to hide from enemies. In Darkstalker, Lagoon said, "If we find another animus in the tribe, that would make us twice as powerful, which would be quite useful given how the MudWings and RainWings have been behaving lately.", implying that they once weren't the lazy, happy, peaceful tribe they are considered to be now, although Glory and some other RainWings, such as Kinkajou, have proven that not all current RainWings are as lazy as they are told to be.
Description
RainWing's scales will generally change color according to their mood unless they are actively resisting the change. Most natural colors that RainWings may change into are bright and vivid shades, like the rainforest. They can change their scales to an uncanny resemblance to any tribe. Although they can control their scales, they can have a hard time stopping emotions, particularly powerful ones, from coming through. RainWings can distinguish which color corresponds to which emotion and what combination means what. They can also change color when they want to camouflage themselves or show off. They are rarely left remaining monochromatic, except in the case of Chameleon, who hatched unable to change the color of his scales due to a snout deformity. This made him unable to sleep for more than about an hour further hindering his chances to retain vivid scales and also made him stay a "boring, unattractive" lime green, which could mean that green is the RainWings' default color, but it is not proven in the books, as Chameleon is the only RainWing so far that cannot change the color of his scales. More evidence for this is that when the dragonets of destiny receive the severed MudWing head enchanted to look like Queen Glory in Escaping Peril, the scales are described as "emerald green'. A RainWing can also "stamp out" all emotion before it "splatters out all over their scales", as described by Queen Glory. Oftentimes, RainWings will change their scale colors to be as bright and pretty as possible in front of other dragons to show off. In Winter Turning, Winter thinks that it's "amazing" how RainWing dragonets can change their scale color and match his and Qibli's scales when they are less than one year old. They can also change the color of their eyes, as seen in the graphic novels when Glory's eyes turned from yellow to green, to blue, to red, to purple, multiple times. When a RainWing's fear is very strong, they will turn pale green, gray, and white and are unable to camouflage or change their scales, as shown in The Dark Secret (book) and The Hidden Kingdom (graphic novel). White is also a color of pain.
The sun is needed to make a RainWings' scales beautiful and vivid (and to keep them in an agreeable, peaceful mood according to Mangrove), so sometime around noon when the sun is at its highest each day, every RainWing takes a nap they call "sun time". If they do not get said sun time, then their scales will not be as vibrant or bright. In The Hidden Kingdom, Liana thought Glory's scales were dull because she was living underground and didn't get enough sunlight. In addition to making them better at camouflage and color-changing, sun time also makes a RainWing less grumpy and gives them more energy, like a lizard basking in the sun. As we learn from Clay in The Dragonet Prophecy, sun time without sun has few benefits on a dragon's mood.
RainWings are long and graceful, with a ruff behind their ears, curved horns, and prehensile tails that are used primarily for climbing trees and hanging in the rainforest they inhabit, like birds of paradise. When afraid, insulted, or angry, RainWings flare their ruffs, possibly as a defense tactic, to seem bigger or to scare away others, similar to that of the frilled lizard.
RainWing dragonets develop their color-shifting scales while they are still in their eggs, which are a smooth white, not rainbow as depicted in The Dragonet Prophecy and The Hidden Kingdom (graphic novel).
Diets
RainWings are as close to vegetarians as dragons get, except SilkWings, but they will eat monkeys and other rainforest animals/fauna if they feel like catching them. Fruit and various rainforest plants are the main part of their diets. Sloths are common in the area, though they are almost never consumed, as they are thought of as pets by the whole tribe, and are too hairy, and they also cause indigestion, according to Liana. Moonwatcher, growing up in the rainforest, has been exposed to rainforest fruits and offers Qibli and Winter fruits that are described exactly how dragonfruit looks like, so RainWings likely eat them. Sunlight may act as a food source for RainWings.
Abilities
Scales
RainWings can alter, or "change" the color of their scales to mimic objects (such as tree frogs or pearls), their surroundings, other dragons, or simply to suit their preference.
Glory changing color to match her surroundings
Prehensile Tails
RainWings also have prehensile tails much like chameleons or crested geckos to grip onto trees. They swing from tree to tree, called "tree gliding" to move about over long distances, as vines and branches would make normal flying difficult. RainWing dragonets take tree gliding lessons alongside other things, such as venom training and fruit gathering.
Venom
RainWings posses
Glory using her venom on Queen Scarlet
Grandeur shooting her venom
Society
RainWings are seen as lazy and unintelligent due to their tendency to lay around in the sun along with their very idyllic lifestyle of having easy access to food and resources removing all potential conflict to arise. Despite this the sun's rays have a positive effect on their bodies, making their scales less 'dull', smarter, more positive, better at camouflage, and even less hungry. They appear to have a carefree society because of their behavior and environment to the point adults don't even bother to watch or count the eggs, as demonstrated when Webs stole one to become the fifth dragonet of the prophecy as a replacement for the SkyWing egg destroyed by Burn. The RainWings all care for the dragonets together and drop by the hatcheries once every few days to pick up any new dragonets.
Map of the Rainforest Kingdom
RainWings rarely leave the rainforest. They had no scrolls, could not read, could barely count, and knew very little about the rest of Pyrrhia until Queen Glory started a school there. However, it can be assumed that it was not always that way, since a quote from Queen Lagoon suggests that they were once a military tribe and weren't always clueless about what happened outside their kingdom or the other dragon tribes since they posed a threat to the SeaWings along with the MudWings at the time. The RainWings and MudWings may have been allies at that time since they had a common goal. Darkstalker (the novel) also states that in the Night kingdom there were RainWing merchants that came to the kingdom to sell goods. In Darkness of Dragons, it was revealed that while Winter was away in the Ice Kingdom, Moon and Qibli found a very old scroll written by a RainWing, proving that they could read and write a long time ago. It is unknown why and how they lost this knowledge and that of the other tribes.
RainWings have crude blowguns, loaded with darts coated in tree-frog poison, which they call "sleeping-darts". They are used for playing games or when strange dragons wander into the forest. The darts they used seem to immediately render the target dragon unconscious, although sometimes the effect takes a minute or two to set in, as shown with Icicle. During the attack on the Night Kingdom, Queen Glory had the RainWings use them as weapons for knocking out opponents, as most of the RainWings would have been opposed to using their venom to kill another dragon. They later agreed with the NightWings and allowed them to live in the forest, though (at first) they would not permit Mastermind, a NightWing scientist, to live alongside them.
A RainWing blowgun, from Scholastic HomeBase
RainWings also keep and take great care of pet sloths. Since the pets from other tribes are usually eaten or lost by mistake, this shows RainWings can be both caring and soft, and further highlighting their peaceful nature. When sloths climb on the back of a sleeping RainWing, that means they have been "chosen" and can then keep that sloth as a loving, loyal pet forever. Even Queen Glory was "chosen" by a sloth which she at first refused to love, but then gave up and named the sloth Silver.
In Winter Turning, it was revealed that NightWing dragonets play with RainWing dragonets in the hatchery. Also in that book, it is shown that older NightWings hate the RainWings; this contrast is probably the result of not being raised among RainWings.
It is hinted that they were once militaristic in Darkstalker (Legends).
After Darkstalker leaves, the RainWings begin to sort out families, for many purposes, including venom, as well as more obvious reasons such as plain curiosity.
RainWing Royal Challenge
The RainWings have developed a custom of challenging their queen for the throne that does not end in death, unlike the other dragon tribes. This method requires the current queen to pick a contest or multiple contests, usually something that they have skills in such as hide-and-seek, venom targeting, or racing. She and the challenger compete for the throne. The winner becomes the queen. However since Glory became queen, it's possible that the RainWings won't do the challenge anymore.
Names
RainWings tend to name their dragonets after rainforest animals, such as Kinkajou or Tamarin; plants, such as Jambu, Mangrove, or Orchid; fruits such as Banana or Coconut; and adjectives that seem to describe their beauty, such as Exquisite, Dazzling, or Magnificent.
In The Hidden Kingdom, Kinkajou states that they cycle through a list that they have to name dragonets, and when they finished the list they start over again, meaning that some dragons may have the same names as each other.
Click here for a list of known RainWings.
Students at Jade Mountain
Colors to Moods
| RainWing Colors to Moods |
|---|
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Trivia
- Even though RainWing venom only works on living things, it melted Queen Scarlet's gold chain mail armor on page 238 of The Dragonet Prophecy. This may be an error on Tui's part, or it might be caused by Scarlet's scales melting over the chain mail.
- Although it was once thought that RainWings could not change their eye color, Tui confirmed that it would be practical for RainWings to change their eye color to blend in, with their scales. Evidence of this can be seen here.
- Tui compares the RainWing's camouflage scales to an invisibility cloak, bending light around them to disappear. However she jokingly "runs away" when the concept of science is brought up[1].
- Tui has confirmed that RainWings also have accents different from any other tribe since they have been isolated from most tribes. She said it was close to an Australian accent. Queen Glory does not have this accent, due to being raised outside of the tribe.
- The oldest known dragon (that hasn't been enchanted to live longer) in the series is Tapir, who lived to be about one hundred and ten years old before starving himself to death in the custody of the NightWings.
- When Albatross and Queen Lagoon were alive, RainWings were taken seriously, seen when Lagoon says "If we find another animus in the tribe, that would make us twice as powerful, which would be quite useful given how the MudWings and RainWings have been behaving lately," implying that the RainWings were a threat to SeaWings around that time. As Grandeur stated, "I remember a time when we had to use our camouflage for survival."
- This implies that RainWings were once aware of the other dragon tribes and had contact with them before the reign of Queen Glory.
- RainWings used to have a royal family, but when Grandeur did not have any useful heirs, she mixed her eggs with the tribes', saying that she hoped to find RainWings who were "queens in spirit, if not in blood."
- Chameleon was the first known RainWing that had possessed animus magic, this is because of him temporarily owning Darkstalker's scroll.
- It is shown in The Hidden Kingdom that some RainWings can perfectly imitate bird calls, such as toucans.
- Tui has said that the base RainWing scale color is a lime green like Chameleon's scales.
- RainWings are knowledgeable with medicine, as shown in The Hidden Kingdom.
- RainWings are the first dragon tribe with knowledge of how to make blow darts and blowguns, which was first shown in The Hidden Kingdom.
- RainWings used to sell fruit for "high prices" during the time of Darkstalker (Legends).
- In Runaway, RainWings are implied to have once made potions as well. Snowflake bought a sleeping potion from a RainWing to use on Diamond.
- Most, if not all RainWings have green eyes. The only known exception is Tamarin, who has pale blue eyes, due to being blind. In the first arc, Kinkajou was described with dark eyes, but in the second arc, she has green eyes.
- Blind RainWings can still camouflage, as Tamarin states she can do so when relaxed, and cannot do it on command.
- RainWing fangs stay in place instead of moving in and out of their gums, making them stick out.
- Tui has stated she may do a winglet or other book on the history of RainWings.
- During the War of SandWing Succession, Queen Scarlet owned Glory as a decorative pet. This displays how RainWings were considered to be by other tribes at the time.
- Scavengers call them "rainforest dragons" and refer to them in The Wingwatcher's guide to the Dragons of Pyrrhia as probably the deadliest, stealthiest and the ones to watch out for, which is ironic, due to their current position in Pyrrhia as seen by dragons.
- There are only two known NightWing-RainWing hybrids: Firefly, as seen in Moon Rising when Darkstalker shows Moon of a possible future, and in Darkness of Dragons, when Darkstalker is turned to Peacemaker, a NightWing-RainWing hybrid.
- It is likely their scales consist of chromophores, which can change color.
- RainWings are stereotyped as ignorant, pacifist, and lazy.
Gallery
References
| RainWings | |
|---|---|
| Queens |
Present: Glory • Dazzling • Exquisite • Fruit Bat • Grandeur • Magnificent • Splendor |
| Royalty | |
| Jade Mountain | |
| Other Dragons |
Banana • Bright • Bromeliad • Bullfrog • Chameleon • Gibbon • Handsome • Heliconia • Liana • Loris • Mango • Mangrove • Orangutan • Orchid • Tapir • Tualang |
| Hybrids | |
| Kingdom | |
| Society | |
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Orphanage |RP|Open| Thread 1
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Can I take the SandWing and HiveWing(if that's how it works?)
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Can I take the SeaWing?
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I Am Drawing WoF OCs For Free (POST THE FORM ON MY MESSAGE WALL IF YOU WANT ONE)
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