Adult Dragon Iterations - Hopper (Patreon)

Kicking off the first monthly lore post! As I had to wrap up my move, this ended up being a day late, so November will have 2 of these :) Anyway!

I explored the idea of dragons not having a fixed physical adult form. Instead their elder appearance will be morphed by the experiences they accumulate through life. This means that a dragon keeps many, some or a few of their hatchling features, but they grow into the life they have chosen (or, forced or influenced into following a way of living that is not right for them. Such torment can lead to malformations where the body doesn’t agree on what it should become.)

First experiment was obviously my darling Hopper! Were she to grow up an orphan like Swordfish, the two would have grown much closer than otherwise. With no interest in conquest, Hopper is rewarded with a lustrous plating of colors. Her connection to her friend draws her to water, through which she gains the appearance of a crocodilian bear, wading through swamps and riverbanks to catch her meals. She is too heavy to take to the skies comfortably, but with her thick plating and mellow nature, she has little to fear.

Hypothetically, without Swordfish in her life at all, Hopper would have grown into an ugly and threathening serpent. Her parents would have imprinted on her the ways of a true dragon. Her father graces her with a desire to hoard that what is not hers, to be cunning and cruel. Her mother’s legacy, too, is passed onto her. Her whiskers grow twitchy from tension, her mouth always a scowl of unease. The whole world is her enemy.

There is also a third version on the last image of sketches! It features Grym as the largest influence in Hopper’s life, and although I like the idea, I felt like featuring the other two would be the best contrast to show how different dragons can grow to be. But sharing scrapped content is fun too, and I oughta remind myself to do it more often.

Onto Swordfish!