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Ah, the hype around Imperials goes far beyond their lore origin, or even the fact they can turn into Emperors upon death. Lend me your ear for the extended version!


Both of these answers boil down to rarity & collectors' interest. G1s aren't inherently better or worse than G2+ dragons, but they're generally harder to get, and G1s are generally given gene/breedchange scrolls from scratch to achieve a desired look. Even if you could buy an otherwise-identical G2+ dragon (which isn't always possible), that's not the point.

For G1s, think of it this way: there are many thousands of G2+ dragons you could search for on the Auction House, and plenty of them have matching colors, matching eyes, and appealing genes. You can probably scry a dragon you like, and find a very close match for a breeding pair - or, if you're lucky, the perfect dragon who might just need a different gene scroll. Expensive, but doable.

When a specific color/gene combination gets popular, it's also pretty easy for players to create breeding pairs, which can make even more breeding pairs for that combo, leaving the Auction House full of identical dragons.

You might notice some really appealing dragons end up very cheap due to oversaturation; too much supply, not enough demand for other players to buy every single one. There are plenty of gorgeous dragons sold for fodder price, as lair space is limited and people generally want to save their money for things they really want.


However, whether or not you can acquire a G1 with those same colors is entirely up to chance. Unhatched eggs on their own can only be acquired by events, rare drops from Scavenging or the Coliseum, or by brewing a Bogsneak egg with some valuable materials. While G1s have become more populous as more eggs are hatched, the fact remains that you're able to get G2+ dragons far more reliably and cheaply than an Unhatched Egg.

This fact alone is responsible for the general G1 market; in essence, G1s present a challenge to players who are interested in random chance and total customization outside of the breeding system. Opening unhatched eggs scratches the same itch as gacha mechanics, but they're still limited by what the game allows. It's exciting to hatch an egg and see something with great potential pop out!

While they aren't for everyone, you can see the love and effort that goes into any G1 dragon that's been showered with expensive items. It's a matter of dedication and personal appeal, and matching color combinations can sell for quite a lot if people are interested. Doubles and triples of the same color are technically no rarer than any other combination, but in a game of chance, getting that 3-way match feels like a triple-7 jackpot.

Many players also prefer "unbred G1s," whose lineage is listed as "none/none" in their profile. This is primarily for simple aesthetics, but it can also be a little personal; having no parents or past offspring means there's no visible connection to other dragons or past owners, making it feel a little more like "your" dragon - especially when you spend the money to give them genes, apparel, and accents to your liking.

Ultimately, it really does come down to personal opinion. If you aren't interested, that's fine! But for many players, the appeal of aesthetics and rarity and what's essentially a gamble are a big draw to this aspect of FR. Mechanically, G1s are mostly supposed to introduce fresh lineage to the breeding system, but I think it's fun to see players take that mechanic in their own direction.

Me, personally? I really like the element of chaos! The fact that G1s hatch with completely random colors - which you'd otherwise need to buy a Tri-Color Scatterscroll to do - can produce amazing color combinations nobody's bred on purpose, even if they work well together! This often means I'll have dragons that are the only non-exalted dragons with those exact colors. It feels special, finding something nobody's seen before...or, nobody who's seen their potential until now.

While new dragons are bred all the time, and a truly one-of-a-kind dragon isn't going to last forever, I cherish my collection of dragons (not just G1s) with rare color combinations. Here are just a few!
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Ok, now for the important part. Imperial

On top of every challenge to customize a G1, Imperials in particular present a major complication. Breed Change: Imperial scrolls were exclusively given out to Kickstarter backers who donated $30 or more to the Flight Rising Kickstarter back in 2013, meaning there is a finite supply of actual Imperial scrolls n existence - 582 in total, if I'm doing my math right. Lightweaver only had so much blood, I suppose!

That might seem like a lot, but hundreds of those scrolls were used in the early days, on progenitor dragons that can't be traded, or regular G2+ dragons that were otherwise unremarkable in every way. The G1 market was technically present, but everyone was still getting their early-game bearings, and may not have realized how valuable these limited, consumable scrolls might become...or, they simply didn't care.

Additionally, some backers may have never logged in, or stopped playing for any number of reasons, or even had their account locked at some point, effectively removing their scrolls from the market indefinitely. And because there are no unhatched eggs that can hatch Imperial dragons, every G1 Imperial in existence had to be given one of these scrolls. G1 Imperials are an exception, not a rule.

The most recent known sale was a forum auction that ultimately sold for 2,550,000 gems. Yes, you read that number correctly; over 2 million and 500,000 Gems for an Imperial Scroll. If one were to buy those Gems with real-life U.S. dollars, it would take over $22,000. I'd say it was worth it. (To top it all off, the seller had a second Imperial scroll that sold for about the same price.)

While past sales have been considerably cheaper, these are consumable items that are constantly dwindling in numbers. Thing is, we genuinely don't know how many scrolls are still in existence. Of the 582 scrolls, we have 537 G1 Imperials (discounting Firage, as he's owned by one of the developers and was turned into an Imperial as a joke). It is unknown just how many were used on G2+ dragons, since they can't be easily identified through Dragon Search.

We're talking fewer than 10 remaining, possibly more if some older players were to return with their unused scrolls. Until then, Imperial scrolls are downright mythical, and it'll only get crazier. Fun fact: the person selling those 2 Imperial scrolls was saving up for a Boolean, an even rarer item that was only given to beta testers, making it officially the rarest item in the game. Thanks to those scrolls, they've accomplished that goal, too.

On that note, you may have heard about G2 Imperials - Imperials born from at least one G1 Imperial parent. They're a niche collector's market for the same reasons as all of the above. They're still limited in supply due to the rarity of G1 Imperials, but since a breeding pair is only limited by cooldowns, acquiring their offspring is far more achievable for the average player than buying an Imperial scroll.

Well, there's my essay on Imperial scrolls and G1 dragons! I hope it was informative; it was fun to dig into the history and refresh my memory on some of FR's wild happenings!

There's always more to the story than you think. Imperial Winking