How different do you think the Au Ra and their lore would be, if they were draconic?

[Recon1o6]

I've been pondering this since looking at the old au ra concept art. The males certainly had some more obvious traits (such as faces ranging from current ones to more snout like ones) and the females were more subdued.

The lore would be interesting too given they live in othard yet the dragons primarily live in dravania or meracydia with some towards ilsabard

[Oichi]

I always saw them as "draconic". Just not the dravanian kind. Ryūjin, the dragon god, was the deity of the sea in Japanese mythology. He symbolized the might of the ocean and could also take a human shape. He lived in Ryūgū-jō, an undersea palace made either of solid glass (think of the bubbles in Tamamizu and Sui-no-Sato) or of red and white coral, and from there he controlled the tides, which made him also patron of fishermen. Sea turtles (like the Kojin), fish and jellyfish used to be his servants /messengers. The stories related to him are fascinating. In any case, I always considered Au Ra (at least Raen ones) as descended from that ancient lineage... correct or not, I like to imagine it that way

[hynaku]

I always see them as draconic. To me they are dragons in form of a person. I think they should been named dragoners instead of au ra. There was one in final fantasy tactics Reis. It says in the Final Fantasy Wiki they are progeny of dragons. Wouldn't that make them draconic then?

[Gula]

I always see them as draconic. To me they are dragons in form of a person. I think they should been named dragoners instead of au ra. There was one in final fantasy tactics Reis.

Well they are Drahn on The First. To which apparently doesn't have dragons at all.

Dragoners would have firmly kept them out of Ishgard entirely, even moreso than the Orl tribe.

[purgatori]

I always see them as draconic. To me they are dragons in form of a person. I think they should been named dragoners instead of au ra. There was one in final fantasy tactics Reis.

They're not, though. Every bit of in game lore strongly points to there being know shared ancestry between Au Ra and dragons, any more than there being shared ancestry between Miqo'te and cats or Viera and rabbits.

If anything, it is the Ishgardians who are closest to being 'dragons in the form of a person,' since they all have the potential to transform into such if they ingest dragon blood.

[Eloah]

That Begs the question what their physiology would be like then if they really were draconic. I'm sure nothing would change too much, but would it make understanding how their bodies function easier or harder. I mean the concepts are semi difficult to understand now, and their bodies function identically to our own.

[Araxes]

Well, at least in the Dark Knight questline one Au Ra STRONGLY points out that they are not Dragons and not related to them. Would be cool tho. I knew a lot of people hating the fact that they are Lizzard-people but i personally dont care what origin they have.

[Nestama]

Well their concept did start off having them looking rather dragon-y, but then it was changed over time for a more demonic motif.

[Enla]

Honestly I feel like they were designed to be born from Nidhogg and Hraesvelgr's broods respectively but later changed to be from the East to better fit with Yugiri's storyline and not throw an added narrative complication into the Heavensward storyline. Though that's just baseless speculation on my part with nothing to back it up beyond my impression of their final appearance and their concept art.

As they currently stand in lore however they aren't dragons. The character creation screen also goes out of it's way to dispute it as well.

[Iscah]

Honestly I feel like they were designed to be born from Nidhogg and Hraesvelgr's broods respectively but later changed to be from the East to better fit with Yugiri's storyline and not throw an added narrative complication into the Heavensward storyline. Though that's just baseless speculation on my part with nothing to back it up beyond my impression of their final appearance and their concept art.

I think their lore primarily got altered (whether it was before or after the physical designs) because the writers realised how awkward it would be to have a genuinely draconic race in Heavensward's plot, especially without a fair bit of altered dialogue.