History Characters / CodexEquusDragonflights

* ForWantOfANail: She is actually in the same generation as Pyro II and Cinder I. What allowed her to escape the massacre was that her egg was still on the way to the temple when Valefor attacked.

** She develops this with Cinder II, seeing her as herself if [[ForWantOfANail she'd never suffered as much or been the Terror of the Skies]]. As such, she wants to make sure what happened to her doesn't happen to the second Cinder.

* YouAreNotReady: Pyro II had warned her that she wasn't ready to obtain the [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Dark Form]], due to how hard it is to control. Ember didn't listen and obtained it anyway, and unfortunately, Pyro II was correct.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: As Pyro II himself [[https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/930826834/5072021057 warned]], to master the Dark Form requires one to have the strength, will and character to accept ones' own inner darkness, oneself at its worst, and embrace it, and cautioned Ember that failure to do so effectively would lead to complications. Dark Ember is what happened when Ember unfortunately overestimated herself.

* EnemyWithout: Whenever Dark Ember manages to take over and possess Ember's body for herself.

* ImmortalProcreationClause: Due to their lifespans reaching in the ''millennia'', they have a very low reproductive rate. For example, the Avalar Dragonflights, where Pyro II, Cinder I and Eimuria originate from, only has their mating season once every ''12'' years. Deconstructed in that the setting's high probability of conflict means that a few prolonged conflicts can wipe out ''entire generations'', as shown with Valefor's attack on the temple and the Dark Dragon War leaving some groups critically endangered.

** The 'Desolation Cycle' theory holds Dragonkind responsible as one of the biggest causes of this trope in Equus, as every time certain civilizations reach a level of advancement and sophistication - and with it, wealth and prosperity - the Dragons become attracted to them out of greed, eventually gathering in such numbers they would ravage them and everyone else in rapine and slaughter and force everyone to start from scratch. And it is heavily implied to be at least partially true; the Second Age Atomic/Information Era technological civilizations reached those heights and beyond in a time when Dragons and other magical/fantastical races and powers retreated into isolation from Equus proper. When Dragonkind's numbers are decimated by the Summer Court Changelings during the '[[FinalSolution Time of Broken Scales]]' 5,000 years before present-day Equestria, the world managed to advance to an industrial era. Needless to say, a LOT of non-Draconic races and [[DefectorFromDecadence even some of their own kind]] felt there is enough evidence for this to be true and [[YouMonster resented Dragonkind for it]].
** Dragonkind's [[AntiIntellectualism preference for Brawn over Brains]] and [[WeHaveBecomeComplacent general complacence]] in their power had led them to remain stuck in one themselves. It's worse, in fact, since all things considered they're effectively at a ''Stone Age''-level of advancement, Bronze Age at best. Needless to say, many people, even some of their own kind like Dr Toxikon, despises this fact, and the fact that [[YouMonster they keep screwing every other races over]] by [[{{Greed}} plundering them]] [[ItsAllAboutMe for their hoards]] and make sure [[ViciousCycle they also stay stuck in stasis forever]]. Unless they change, the Summer Court Changelings' [[FinalSolution idea for them]] might just be the best thing to happen for everybody else.
** This actually blows up in the faces of many of the more malevolent dragons, as it's shown dragons who avert this trope tend to completely outclass the ones that stick to it. Even the malevolent dragons who avert this tend to be much more dangerous as a result.

** On the other hoof, Lasius notes a 'new breed of dragon' has began to grow in prominence that has learned from the past, and thus ''is'' willing to grow, learn, advance, and even work with other species in mutual friendships. As other species have grown complacent in their time tested dragonslaying tactics, such dragons can completely flip the script and exploit ''their'' predictability to either take advantage of the tactics failing or [[HoistByHisOwnPetard turn them against them entirely]]. As such, he notes the era of tried and true dragonslaying tactics being possible to ''exist'' is [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore coming to an end.]]

* FlawedPrototype: As her first go of making them, the Protodragons aren't as refined as Tiamat's later creations. They lack a proper 'cooling system' for their fire breath and thus have to manually cool down.

* FlawedPrototype: As Tiamat's first go of it, Glaurung lacks a 'cooling system' for his fire breath, and thus overheats if he overuses it and has to cool down by dousing himself in large bodies of water.

* {{Pride}}: Ancalagon is personification of dragonic arrogance, superiority and self-obsession. He gains literal strength from his sense of pride, can invoke this emotion in others to render them incautious and prone to mistakes, and flies into terrible rages when he feels that his superiority is called into question.

* {{Expy}}: Of Glaurung, the 'Father of Dragons' from J.R.R. Tolkein's ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', who was a creation of Morgoth. They even share the same names.

Dragonkind's {{Psycho Prototype}}s created in ancient times from Tiamat as her first attempt to create her own species, lead by Glaurung, the Ashen Devastation and his brother Ancalagon, the Primal Inferno. They would prove completely uncontrollable and threaten to destroy all life on Equus, forcing Tiamat to team up with Bahamut and other gods defeat them, destroying most of them and sealing their divine progenitors away. Unfortunately, at the end of the Draconic Reformations, they were finally unleashed.

* DugTooDeep: A desperate Dragon Lord and his flight dug deep into Draconia's surface looking for an edge, as the old guard of dragons were losing ground to the new ones. In doin so, they accidentally set the Heralds of Extinction and their spawn free.