Polynesian Fruit Dragons

A project I started in 2019, Polynesian Fruit Dragons are a fictional species located in the Polynesian Islands and the Hawai’ian Archipelago. They are as sentient and intelligent as humans, but more distinctly connected to nature and are more peaceful, war is rare for them. They are a matriarchal social society, living in various village groups scattered across multiple islands. Deeply spiritual, they are incredibly connected to the arts and dragons who can learn a wide variety of creative skills are considered coveted, respected, and attractive.

Women are larger than men, but possess smaller horns. Kits are raised by monogamous parents. They have seagull-shaped wings to fly through the ocean winds, and sticky chameleon-like tongues used to grab sea creatures they will feast upon and use to create tools and jewelry.

The main conflict of the story I made for this project is the arrival of Europeans to the Big Island of Hawai’i, and their effect on the Hawai’ian people and dragons. The Hawai’ian people and dragons orginally lived in harmony, helping each other hunt, fish, and build, and deeply entrenching their cultures into one another. But when the foreigners arrive, the dragons are hunted and seen as nothing but beasts by the Europeans. Eventually able to learn their language and communicate with them, the dragons start to fight to be seen as an intelligent people, not just mindless animals.

Aka’aka is the first character I made for this project. He is the main character of my story so far, a stern, untrusting man with a dislike towards humans. In the story, he becomes an advocate for the humanization of his people, working to remove the stigma of their animal-like appearances and gain respect in a human-run world.

This story and world are still an active WIP that I’m building up over time, and I’m excited to keep building it into the future!