Cliff

"Mommy says I'm special. Everyone say it. I be number one most beautiful singer in Pyrrhia one day! Friends with every dragon in the whole world! Mommy thinks I can do anything and great things and all things!"

— Cliff to Peril, Escaping Peril

Cliff is a male SkyWing dragonet prince who was introduced in Escaping Peril. He currently lives in the SkyWing palace and is well-known throughout the Sky Kingdom for singing and songwriting.

Appearance

Cliff is small, with dark red scales and a long neck. He is small and has tiny talons. He has giant, golden-orange eyes that are almost the color of a goldfish.

Personality

When Scarlet suggested that Cliff was ordinary, he puffed out his chest and denied it; he later stated that Scarlet was mean for saying so, and seemed baffled when Peril said that being ordinary seemed great to her. He sang softly to himself while under the care of Peril, and asked her if she wanted to hear a song that he had made up just then. He also later sang himself to sleep. He is indignant, unafraid, clever, proud, hopeful, cheeky, theatrical, and skilled at rhyming. According to Cliff, everyone says that he is special, and he believes that he is going to be the best singer in Pyrrhia one day, as well as friends with every dragon. Despite being threatened by Scarlet, Cliff tried his best to sit up and look brave. He later complained about there being nothing to play with during his imprisonment, but was eager to see the lethal battle between Scarlet and Ruby.

He also lied to Scarlet about his ability to fly in order to escape his imprisonment and return to Ruby. Despite Scarlet's power and threatening demeanor, he was defiant and outraged when she suggested that he would forget about his mother.

Biography

The Jade Mountain Prophecy

Escaping Peril

While Peril was under Chameleon's spell, Scarlet requested to see Cliff, Ruby's son. She used him as a bargaining chip against Ruby. When they captured him, they put him on a stone pillar because he claimed he could not fly very well. However, Scarlet was unaware that SkyWings can fly at a very young age, because she "avoids dragonets like the plague," and after he sang a song about his mother, Ruby, he managed to fly off the pillar and get to where his mother was being held while Peril was not watching. Later, Peril promised to protect him if anything happened to Ruby during the challenge against Scarlet, in which he shouted, "I want! to SEE! MOMMY KILL GRANDMA!" clearly expressing his childish and enthusiastic personality. Peril laughed and called him a "bloodthirsty little barbarian." Afterward, Ruby was very thankful to Peril for protecting Cliff, wondering what would have happened if he had firescales, and therefore forgave Peril for killing many dragons in Scarlet's arena, allowing her back in the Sky Kingdom.

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Legends

Dragonslayer

When Leaf goes back to the kitchen in the SkyWing palace after the dragonets of destiny escape, he encounters Cliff playing underneath a table. Cliff attempts to play with Leaf and starts singing when Leaf asks him for a key to open the kitchen grate. When Ruby hears the singing and comes over to investigate, Cliff excitedly points to Leaf and apparently asks her for the key. Ruby sighs, retrieves the key from the wall, and gives it to her son, who then happily places it in Leaf's hands before following his mother out of the kitchen, leaving Leaf bewildered. However, Cliff is not directly named in the novel.

Relationships

Peril

Upon first being under Scarlet's control, Cliff was ordered to stand close to Peril. Because of Cliff's small size and young age, Peril thought that she never would have dared put him in that sort of danger if she still had her firescales. She wanted to hug him and tell him not to be scared, but could not due to her firescales facade. When she spoke to him, she hoped her voice sounded kind, and her sang a song for her before falling asleep. Even while being enchanted with loyalty to Scarlet, Peril had second thoughts about following her potential orders to burn Cliff. She then felt a wild, brief impulse to give Cliff back to Ruby safely. Peril later referred to him as "little friend" and apologized for him not being allowed to hug Ruby. She later defended Cliff against Scarlet and took care to make she he was not injured against her burning scales. She watched over him during the battle between Scarlet and Ruby, and comforted him when Ruby's physical form returned to Tourmaline's. He giggled at one of Peril's jokes.

Ruby

Ruby is Cliff's mother. Scarlet said that Ruby lit up for the first time when Cliff was hatched, leading us to think that she cares very much about her young son and that the day he was hatched was one of, if not the happiest, days of her life. Ruby is clearly devoted to her dragonet, as she was willing to give up her throne if it meant he would live despite his protests. Ruby would likely not be able to live with herself if something happened to him. When Ruby returned to being Tourmaline, she seemed distressed and upset when Cliff did not recognize or accept her as his mother. This played a role in why Tourmaline chose to return to being Ruby. Ruby and Cliff clearly care very deeply about each other; while the queen was being taken off by her soldiers, she told Cliff to be brave and that he would change the world. Cliff has an immense amount of faith in his mother, and she tells him that he will do extraordinary things so often that Cliff did not believe Scarlet when she said he would not. She praises her son for his singing, loving him, and reminding him that he is special. The two have a close bond in which Ruby would do anything for him, while Cliff is immensely proud of his mother's accomplishments and defends her. Cliff looks up to Ruby as the best queen in the world and would probably do anything to appease her.

Scarlet

Though they are related through blood, Cliff did not appear to be on the best of terms with his grandmother. He knows Scarlet is mean. This can be seen by the fact that Cliff loudly encourages his mother to kill his grandmother when Ruby and Scarlet faced off against each other. Scarlet describes Cliff as "There were no sparks. But then she saw you, and suddenly, there were sparks." Which, for the first time in a long time, it was a reaction she did not understand at all, and she compared Ruby's delight to the feeling of a dragon who has just received a treasure. Scarlet did not see this expression, or "spark," as love. Cliff was delighted when Ruby killed her.

Family Tree

Carmine

Sunset

Several Generations

More

Firestorm

Unknown

Canyon

Scarlet

3 Dragons

Vermilion

Hawk

11 Dragons

2 Dragons

Ruby

Unknown

Cliff

Quotes

"WHAT? […] Mommy says I'm special. Everyone say it. I be number one most beautiful singer in Pyrrhia one day! Friends with every dragon in the whole world! Mommy thinks I can do anything and great things and all things!"

― to Peril, about Ruby

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"Yup, […] I gotta practice my 'no, no, leave me alone' face, or else everyone want to be with me ALLLLLLS the time."

― to Peril, in Escaping Peril

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"Mommy, […] Mommy, I have to tell you something. Mommy! Grandma is kind of mean."

― to Ruby, about Scarlet

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"I'm not a moonbeam! […] Today I'm a super-secret stealth agent flier hero of the world."

― to Ruby

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"I WON'T get upset! […] I want! to SEE! MOMMY KILL GRANDMA!"

― to Peril, about watching the royal challenge

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"Where's Mommy? […] You said you not a bad guy. You said that! Where did you put her? I want Mommy back!"

― to Peril when Ruby turned back into Tourmaline

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"Yormorbleflorp!"

― to Leaf, about the key

Trivia

• Though Qibli is roughly based off Tui's son, Elliot, Cliff is the one she said resembled him more.
• Tui said Cliff is her favorite minor character.
• Cliff is based on Tui's second son, who was three years old at the time.

Gallery

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  Reference by Your smol local fren

References

de:Cliff fr:Falaise ru:Утёс