In the western world, dragons are divided into three major weight classes; Lightweight (which is in turn divided into Courier and Light-Combat), Middleweight & Heavyweight. It should be noted, however, that weight is not always a clear indication of size. For example, the Celestial dragon Temeraire is said to weigh around 20 Tons, but drawings of the breed depict him much larger than other breeds of similar weight. However, he is said to be leaner than Maximus, a Regal Copper, so presumably the Celestial breed is lean by nature. Another thing to note is that some breeds of dragon can only reach certain heights, hence different courier breeds being used for different distances.
Currently, the specifications for the groups are based off confirmed sizes of specific dragon breeds.
Lightweight: <10 Tons
Courier: <6 Tons
- Chasseur-Vocifere: 4 Tons (France)
- Greyling: Average weight (???)
- Winchester: 2-3 Tons (Britain)
- Sharpspitter
Light Combat: 6-10 Tons
- Alaman: (Turkey)
- Flecha-del-Fuego: (Spain)
- Garde-de-Lyon: (France)
- Grey Copper: (Britain)
- Grey Widowmaker: 8 Tons (Britain)
- Li-Lung: (China)
- Pascal's_Blue: (France)
- Pou-de-Ciel: Barely combat weight, around 6-7 Tons. (France)
- Roi-de-Vitesse: (France)
- Russian Grey (Russia)
Middleweight: 10-18 Tons
- Akhal-Teke: (Turkey)
- Anglewing: Slightly larger than Yellow Reaper. (Britain)
- Berghexe: (Prussia)
- Flamme-de-Gloire: Presumably of a similar size to Papillon Noir (France)
- Honneur-d'Or: (France)
- Longwing: Smaller than Celestial but larger than Yellow Reaper. (Britain)
- Malachite Reaper: Presumably of a similar size to Yellow Reaper. (Britain)
- Parnassian: A large mid-weight: heavier than a Reaper[1] (Britain)
- In Tongues of Serpents in reference to Kulingile, the Parnassian cross-breed is referred to as a Heavy weight.
- Pecheur-Couronne: (France)
- Pecheur-Raye: (France)
- Papillon Noir: Presumably of a similar size to Flamme-de-Gloire (France)
- Yellow Reaper: Generally 12-15 Tons, though 10-17 is full range (Britain)
Heavyweight: 18> Tons
- Cauchador Real: 25 Tons (Spain)
- Celestial: 18-20 Tons (China)
- Chanson-de-Guerre: Similar in size to Celestial (France)
- Chequered Nettle: (Britain)
- Defendeur-Brave: (France)
- Fleur-de-Nuit: (France)
- Grand Chevalier: Similar in size to Regal Copper (France)
- Imperial: Presumably of a similar size to Celestial (China)
- Kazilik: (Turkey)
- Petit Chevalier: 18 Tons (France)
- Regal Copper: Generally 30-50Tons; the largest dragon breed (Britain)
- Scarlet Flower: Similar size to Celestial, but more bulky (China)
- Uturuncu: A bit smaller than Celestial (South America)
Unknown/Unspecified Weight
- Dakota: (North America} Presumed Heavyweight.
- Copacati: (South America) Presumably Heavyweight/Middleweight.
- Emerald Glass: Presumably heavyweight, similar size or smaller than Scarlet Flower (China)
- Shen-Lung: Size varies about middleweight (China)
- Sui Riu: Size varies from middleweight to giant heavyweight (Japan)
- Xenica: Probably Middleweight (Britain)
- Kirin: Lightweight or Courier (Japan)
Breeds Not Yet Seen
- Bright Copper: (Britain) Presumed Middleweight.
- Ironwing: (Russia) Presumed Light/Middleweight.
- Ka-Riu: (Japan) Possibly Lightweight; see page for details.
- Lindorm: (Scandanavia) Presumably Light/Middleweight.
Notes from Author
Jacob writes: How did you come up with all of the dragon breeds for the novels?
Naomi Novik responds: I like to use other animal species as inspiration — many of the dragon breeds are inspired by butterflies or birds, for instance the black swallowtail inspired the look of the Imperial and Celestial dragons.[2]
References