Dragon royalty

The ten dragon tribes are ruled by queens, in a hereditary monarchy. Only a female member of the royal family may be queen. Other royals include kings, princes and princesses.
Click here for a list of all known dragon royalty.

Royal Challenges

Pyrrhia

On Pyrrhia, most of the tribes have royal challenges consisting of a battle to the death. Only daughters, sisters and nieces of the queen may challenge for her throne (cousins may not.) The queen selects the location for the challenge, and must die in it for the challenger to become queen.
A queen may die without one of these challenges taking place. This can result in her eldest daughter becoming the new queen, or, more rarely, the daughters or heirs may fight for the throne. In one known case, this conflict lead to a war.
A SkyWing queen is permitted to change any challenge rules.^{[citation needed]}
The SandWings also have the Eye of Onyx, an animus-touched necklace enchanted to select the most worthy candidate for queen (regardless of bloodline.) This does not seem to be the method of choice for selecting a new queen.

RainWing Royal Challenge

The RainWings have a unique royal challenge amongst the Pyrrhian tribes, as their royal challenge does not involve violence or death. They partake in an activity or a series of activies, chosen by the current queen(s). These are typically RainWing-unique activities, such as flower hunts, fruit gathering, tree gliding, scale camouflage, and venom targeting. The dragon to win the activity, or the majority of the activities, will become queen.

Pantala

The customs of Pantalan royal challenges are unknown.

Royal Positions

Queen

Queens are the monarchs of their tribes. They have full control over the economic, military, and social aspects of their kingdoms. Because queens are generally limited by bloodlines, they are not always the most fit dragons for the position. Many queens control how many eggs they lay to ensure that they have heirs, but not too many. Some have been known to kill their dragonets, nieces, and sisters to keep the number of potential challengers down.

In rare cases, a queen may temporarily or permanently rule more than one tribe.

King

Kings are the husbands of the queens. They have less power compared to the queens, and are often placed as generals or advisors. They have as much power as their queen grants them, and may be looked upon to lead in times when the queen is incapacitated for any reason. A queen may kill, banish, or temporarily banish her king, as they are not vital to the functioning of a kingdom.

Darkstalker is the only known exception, as he briefly ruled the NightWings without a queen.

Princess

Princesses are female dragonets or dragons who are daughters, granddaughters or nieces of the queen. They are capable of becoming the next queen of their tribe. They may spend their time being prepared for this job through lessons and training. Many are ambitious, or pressured to ambition by their families.

Prince

Princes are male dragonets or dragons who are sons or nephews of the queen. They are regarded as royalty and will often be given jobs within the palace, such as being advisors or treasurers. They are regarded as less important that female dragonets, and may be ignored. Princes may be forbidden from having dragonets, to prevent unplanned or too many heirs.

Trivia

• MudWing queens are not at risk of being challenged by their sisters, due to their sibling bond.
• Royal bloodlines will often contain powerful dragons, such as animus, because they have been selectively bred into the royal family.