This is going to sound absolutely bonkers, but I'm dead serious with this suggestion.
Recently, I watched a video about evolution that jokingly stated that everything turned into a crab at some point. Of course, not everything has been a crab, like people, cats, dogs, and so on, but many such examples exist in the Earth's history that show crustacean-like qualities. The term "Carcinisation" was made for this phenomenon of convergent evolution. There's the fun key word in this; "convergent evolution", which is the concept of two different species evolving the same or similar traits in a similar environment to fill a similar niche.
Now, let's take a step back from reality and look at fantasy, specifically science fiction. There's a manga and anime series that goes by the name of Zoids which revolves around biomechanical constructs that either A) appear on the planet like natural life, or B) are manufactured with insane technology. These mechanical beasts resemble living and deceased species, such as wolves and raptors. Some even reach into the fantastical side of things, such as one of the primary antagonists having a frighteningly powerful tyrannosaurid model; the Geno Breaker. This fierce beast of a machine was primarily modeled after the famous T.Rex, but it had two VERY prominent claw-like appendages that were placed on its back. This led to the silhouette of this terrifying titan being imposing and feared, as those folding claws were not just for show.
Moving on to another example of this phenomenon, we have the MMO titled "Phantasy Star Online 2", a Japanese game produced by Sega. In a later story chapter, we return to a world with magnetic floating islands that is home to numerous dragon species. Up there, in the Dragon Altar zone, resides a terrifying golden dragon covered in crystals (that also had a cute anime girl voice for some reason) called Dragon EX. Rather than claws, this dragon's "wings" took the form of giant shields with enormous crystal spikes that it used as either a sword, lance, or even scissors. It had incredibly thick legs and tiny arms, but its body was balanced with those massive shield/spear wings as the focal balance point. In one of the last updates of the game, they introduced a significantly harder variant called Dragon Ignisimo. I stopped playing well before this point, and I can't find any video regarding it, but think of it as a spikier and more menacing version of Dragon EX.
With the examples above, one can easily see how a grounded dragon with a second set of arms in place of wings could be an interesting concept. The idea convergently "evolved" under different creative minds in entirely different settings. One was a biomechanical war machine, one was a protector of the weak in the sky, and the other was some sort of hellspawn that made its life goal to ruin the days of the players. A theropod body plan with gigantic claw appendages in place of wings would provide an incredible silhouette, be it compact or spread out. Even with the limited space of a dragon's image being confined to what it is for all other dragons, this beast of a dragon could stand out by being bulky with its appendages close to itself. As long as it has those identifying snapping claws for wings, nobody would mistake it for anything other than the dragon itself.
Suggested parameters:
Name - Carcine (pronounced /k??r/ /sa?n/, or "car sign")
Length - ~10 to 12 meters
Wingspan - ~ 10+ meters (folding them outward would obviously be wide)
Weight - ~1200 kg (it's gotta be heavy with armor and claws like that)
Now, you may be asking "why a crab dragon though?", to which I will simply respond; it's a clawsome idea with proven success. I don't know what the policy is on linking to outside sources, but everything I've mentioned is easily searchable on Google and Youtube. Search terms for ease;
"Carcinisation Wikpedia"
-- Wikipedia article on the subject.
"Zoids Geno Breaker"
-- Google images, many models and iterations.
"PSO2 ???????? ??BGM"
-- Youtube, Intro shows Dragon EX in motion.
"???????????2020??????????????????Part3"
-- Youtube, skip to 2:16 to see Dragon Ignisimo in motion.
Recently, I watched a video about evolution that jokingly stated that everything turned into a crab at some point. Of course, not everything has been a crab, like people, cats, dogs, and so on, but many such examples exist in the Earth's history that show crustacean-like qualities. The term "Carcinisation" was made for this phenomenon of convergent evolution. There's the fun key word in this; "convergent evolution", which is the concept of two different species evolving the same or similar traits in a similar environment to fill a similar niche.
Now, let's take a step back from reality and look at fantasy, specifically science fiction. There's a manga and anime series that goes by the name of Zoids which revolves around biomechanical constructs that either A) appear on the planet like natural life, or B) are manufactured with insane technology. These mechanical beasts resemble living and deceased species, such as wolves and raptors. Some even reach into the fantastical side of things, such as one of the primary antagonists having a frighteningly powerful tyrannosaurid model; the Geno Breaker. This fierce beast of a machine was primarily modeled after the famous T.Rex, but it had two VERY prominent claw-like appendages that were placed on its back. This led to the silhouette of this terrifying titan being imposing and feared, as those folding claws were not just for show.
Moving on to another example of this phenomenon, we have the MMO titled "Phantasy Star Online 2", a Japanese game produced by Sega. In a later story chapter, we return to a world with magnetic floating islands that is home to numerous dragon species. Up there, in the Dragon Altar zone, resides a terrifying golden dragon covered in crystals (that also had a cute anime girl voice for some reason) called Dragon EX. Rather than claws, this dragon's "wings" took the form of giant shields with enormous crystal spikes that it used as either a sword, lance, or even scissors. It had incredibly thick legs and tiny arms, but its body was balanced with those massive shield/spear wings as the focal balance point. In one of the last updates of the game, they introduced a significantly harder variant called Dragon Ignisimo. I stopped playing well before this point, and I can't find any video regarding it, but think of it as a spikier and more menacing version of Dragon EX.
With the examples above, one can easily see how a grounded dragon with a second set of arms in place of wings could be an interesting concept. The idea convergently "evolved" under different creative minds in entirely different settings. One was a biomechanical war machine, one was a protector of the weak in the sky, and the other was some sort of hellspawn that made its life goal to ruin the days of the players. A theropod body plan with gigantic claw appendages in place of wings would provide an incredible silhouette, be it compact or spread out. Even with the limited space of a dragon's image being confined to what it is for all other dragons, this beast of a dragon could stand out by being bulky with its appendages close to itself. As long as it has those identifying snapping claws for wings, nobody would mistake it for anything other than the dragon itself.
Suggested parameters:
Name - Carcine (pronounced /k??r/ /sa?n/, or "car sign")
Length - ~10 to 12 meters
Wingspan - ~ 10+ meters (folding them outward would obviously be wide)
Weight - ~1200 kg (it's gotta be heavy with armor and claws like that)
Now, you may be asking "why a crab dragon though?", to which I will simply respond; it's a clawsome idea with proven success. I don't know what the policy is on linking to outside sources, but everything I've mentioned is easily searchable on Google and Youtube. Search terms for ease;
"Carcinisation Wikpedia"
-- Wikipedia article on the subject.
"Zoids Geno Breaker"
-- Google images, many models and iterations.
"PSO2 ???????? ??BGM"
-- Youtube, Intro shows Dragon EX in motion.
"???????????2020??????????????????Part3"
-- Youtube, skip to 2:16 to see Dragon Ignisimo in motion.
