Character Design | dutchangeldragons

Guidelines for Creating Characters

Unwanted Dutch Angel Dragons are recommended to be put up for adoption

You can personally own as many dragons as you wish

Last Updated March 07, 2019

For complete guide to adoptables, please review the guidelines here.

Physical Traits

Dutch Angel Dragons are an open, but regulated species. Every creature, real or fictional, has criteria that must be met in order to classify a group of them as the same species, known as 'phenotypes'.

Therefore in order to be considered a Dutch Angel Dragon, they are required to have all the following physical traits:

Unique horse-inspired draconic anatomy; particularly face/nose/layout of teeth, overall body build, & "digiuligrade" stance
Long pointed ears, about the same length as their overall head
Feather-covered avian style wings
Majority or all of their body has a fur coat
Unique internal anatomy for generating and storing supernatural energy with no digestive tract or reproductive systems

Review each section with visual examples under the anatomy guide for more thorough info.

Many dragons will also include feather accents, horns, claws, scales, hooves or paws, and tails but these attributes are not required and are often included for functional reasons as dictated by their environment. The first character, Telephone, made the pupil-less/blind eye feature iconic but they are not a required nor even a common trait of the species. Please review the species information for a full list of traits, abilities, and behavior to further help you develop a Dutch Angel Dragon.

You are allowed to have duplicate limbs, up to two sets of each, of the following: tails, wings, mouths, eyes, and ears

Hybrids, taurs, and shapeshifters of Dutch Angel Dragons are not allowed

It is common to see the species represented in very cute, chibi, cartoony, or otherwise stylized variations that do not necessarily reflect the horse-like elements of their design. This is acceptable for the sake of artistic liberty and creative freedom. Just keep in mind that when drawn realistically, the horse-like elements to their anatomy should be able to be clearly communicated in order to properly represent the species. It is also appropriate to draw them in an anthropomorphic form (bipedal with more human-like bodies) but as sexual dimorphism does not exist in this species, the ideal dragon is preferred to not include those kinds of human features (such as female breasts) as they would not have any reproductive organs in anthro form either.

The species is entirely sexless & genderless

All dragons are officially referred to as "they/them", but gender pronouns are acceptable for ease of communication and are chosen based on the creator’s preference

Markings

Dutch Angel Dragons have the ability to change their markings throughout their lives. They are often based on colors and patterns that appeal most to them. They are permitted to have coats that change during different seasons or other environmental effects, such as day and night. Sections of the markings are allowed to glow or change colors with mood, but they cannot change their coat design on command or overall without reincarnation. The only exception to this is Morph, the official mascot of the Dutch Angel Dragons, who has a chameleon ability they can use at will, for demonstration purposes of the species' marking guidelines.

Markings

As of Mar 07, 2019 the "Muzzle Ring Rule" is no longer in effect for the species. Full information

Avoid copying existing characters and their markings as much as possible out of courtesy to others. Our rule of thumb for similar characters is as long as the two cannot easily be confused for one another, then they are acceptable.

Designs that are inspired by or based on popular media and concepts (such as food or animals) are acceptable, however, it is highly likely that there may be duplicates in terms of character themes and design elements. This needs to be expected and tolerated. No one is granted exclusivity for any concept ideas or color schemes.

Since true hybrids are disallowed, an alternative is creating dragons inspired by other animals in their colors and markings.

Names

Using names shared by other dragons of the community is acceptable, though encouraged to be avoided. Especially if your character has the same name as an admin team's dragon. We would appreciate you to reconsider your name choice in this case but it is not enforced and respected that duplicate names may occur and are permitted.

The only names that are not acceptable are ones similar to "Telephone" and "Radio", who belong to the species' creator, Ino, and her husband, Cerros. (i.e. Names like Headphones, Wi-Fi, Microwave, Television, Microchip, Camera, etc. are not permitted)