#dragon claws

[acquired-stardust]

Ninja Gaiden Black 2 Xbox Series X 2025

[mistress-saerlaith]

[fuforthought]

Hwang Jang Lee in Five Pattern Dragon Claws aka Dragon Claws (1983)

[pearlovkas]

a quick bloom doodle because I wanted to draw something but didn't really know what

[easyorigamichannel]

Origami Claws

[leftsharkhoagiezipper]

Lol I painted my hand like a dragon

[draconesmundi]

If you’re keeping your dragons accurate to real archosaur claw count, what are you doing for Chinese dragons, where toe/claw count is culturally significant?

Firstly, although the Ming and Yuan dynasties had rules about what different dragon claws meant in art*, these rules are not 100% always enforced throughout China. There were strict rules, but there are plenty of statues and pottery items where dragons sneak in extra or fewer toes.

As it stands; most longdraconid dragons have 4 toes, with the first 3 toes bearing claws. A dragon with a polydactyl mutation would have 5 toes, and is therefore luckier and more special than the other dragons. The polydactyl mutation is not too uncommon; it is neither beneficial or detrimental for a little extra toe on the foot. Small, clawless, not weight bearing etc.

The ‘5 toes are for emperors ONLY’ came from 5 toed dragons being slightly rare and therefore special.

There is a genus of three toed dragons, named by my brilliant mind Tridactyldraco where the clawless toes are highly reduced, being utterly absent in the Japanese dragon ryu.

*The rules, for those who are curious:

Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368)

Emperors may use 5 clawed dragons

Princes may use 4 clawed dragons

Commoners are FORBIDDEN from using qilin, fenghuang, white rabbits, lingzhi (the mushroom???), 5-toed-2-horned dragons, collections of 8 dragons, collections of 9 dragons, symbols of 10,000 years of good luck, and a specific shade of Emperor Golden Yellow

A symbol involving a fenghuang and a 5-toed-2-horned dragon cannot be put on an official’s robe, or on a plate or vessel

  After the Yuan Dynasty came the Ming Dynasty, kick-started by the Hongwu Emperor - I know he made some dragon rules, idk if they were carried out throughout the rest of the Ming Dynasty but here goes -

Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Emperor (1368 to 1398)

5 clawed dragons are the emblem of the Emperor - specifically a gold coloured 5 toed long

4 clawed dragons for imperial nobility and high ranking officials

3 clawed dragons for other officials and by the public

I don’t think these rules lasted the whole of the Ming Dynasty because here’s a nice vase with a 5 toed dragon on it

from this blog post here: https://www.christies.com/features/My-highlight-of-2016-A-Ming-Dynasty-Dragon-jar-7984-3.aspx

The ‘5 claws is most important’ was also not the opinion of the Manchus of Manchuria, who thought 3 toes were best until the 18th century, then they switched to team 5 toes (hmmmm should I make dragons local to Manchuria 3 toed? might be an interesting idea - in my rewrite I’m doing a lot of regional variety, so maybe Manchurian dragons have greatly reduced 4th and 5th digits?)

[the-fae-folk]

Wings

What are wings? Each feather crafted from shining gold tempered in white fire. Nine stretching limbs, laden with golden feathers that sound like chimes in the wind, reach for the heavens. Two to hide the face, that face with a hundred eyes and no mouth or nose. Two to hide the feet, feet with dragon’s claws and shining metallic scales that blend with skin on the legs. Two to hide a body, a body with no sex at all, eternal, immortal, perfect. Everything and nothing. And two wings to fly. To soar into the limitless skies of infinity. No abyss of stars can contain them, no destination too far for them to reach.