Basgiath War College · Riders Quadrant
Fourth Wing Dragon Colors
Six colours are publicly known, each with a stated character: black the rarest and most discerning, blue the most ruthless, green the most rational, red the quickest to temper, orange the most unpredictable, brown the least documented.
Colour Ledger
Six colours, and the later iridescent category. Open a colour to read the record.
The short answers
- Publicly known colours
- Black, blue, green, red, orange, brown
- Rarest
- Black. No black born for a century before the story opens
- Least documented
- Brown. The guidance quoted is simply not to show trepidation
- Hatchling colour
- Golden, held in a category of its own
- Later-series category
- Iridescent, gated below and marked unconfirmedOnyx Storm
- Does colour set tail type
- No. Tails are a matter of choice and need
- Rarity scale on this site
- Game system only, never a canon ranking
The six colours as stated
| Colour | What the books establish | Named dragons recorded | Game weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | Black dragons are the rarest of the six colours. None was born for a century before the events of Fourth Wing, and two living adults are named: Tairn and Codagh. They are described as the smartest, most cunning and most deadly of dragonkind, and the most discerning when choosing a rider. A black bonding is treated as an event that concerns the whole college. The Dubhmadinn line, whose original hatching ground lies in the valley above Riorson House, counts Codagh and Tairn among its descendants. | Tairn, Codagh | 5 of 5 |
| Blue | Blue dragons are rare and formidably large, and they descend from the Gormfaileas line. The in-world field guide calls them the most ruthless of the colours, and singles out the rare blue daggertail, whose knifelike tail spikes can disembowel an enemy with a single flick. Sgaeyl is the best known blue in active service. | Sgaeyl, Molvic | 4 of 5 |
| Green | Green dragons are common. They descend from the Uaineloidsig line, are described as the keenest intellects and the most rational of the breeds, and are prized as siege weapons, especially when paired with a clubtail. The standing instruction in the field guide is never to back down from a green. Named greens include Teine, Feirge and Cuir. | Teine, Feirge, Cuir, Cruth | 1 of 5 |
| Red | Red dragons are common and are the quickest of the colours to temper, with red scorpiontails singled out as the worst of them. The field guide advises a rider never to look a red in the eye and to approach from the left or the front. Named reds include Cath, Deigh and Sliseag. | Cath, Deigh, Sliseag, Thoirt, Ghrian | 2 of 5 |
| Orange | Orange dragons are common and are described as the most unpredictable of the six, running a hue spectrum from apricot to carrot. The field guide treats them as a constant risk. Named oranges include Marbh, Glane, Solas, Baide and Claidh. | Marbh, Glane, Baide, Solas, Claidh | 2 of 5 |
| Brown | Brown dragons are common and are the least documented of the six colours. The only guidance the field guide offers is not to show trepidation to a brown. Named browns include Aimsir, Aotrom, Chradh and Fuil. | Aotrom, Chradh, Aimsir, Fuil | 2 of 5 |
| Iridescent | A separate late-series category. These dragons have shimmering scales that shift colour and can blend into their surroundings, and at least one belongs to a separate den that keeps its distance from Navarre. Andarna, bonded to Violet Sorrengail, is one of them. The word used for the category in fan material is "irid", and the fan sources contradict each other on the exact in-text term, so this site records the category and flags the label as unconfirmed. | Andarna | 5 of 5 |
What colour does not decide
Colour is a trait of the animal, not a contract with a rider. It does not set the tail type, it does not predict whether a given cadet is chosen, and it does not determine a signet. The dragons choose, and what each dragon values is described as subjective.
Tail type is the clearest case. The quadrant field guide treats tails as a matter of choice and need, and the record bears it out: daggertails appear on blue, red and orange dragons, swordtails appear on black, red and brown, and the only morningstartail on record is Tairn, a black.
A widely copied fan table maps each colour to a tail generically. Its own individual dragon records contradict it. We treat that table as a community artefact and do not reproduce it as a rule.
What colour does decide
The books attach a temperament to each colour and then let individual dragons exceed it. Black is smart, cunning and deadly, and the most discerning when choosing. Blue is ruthless and large. Green is rational, an ideal siege weapon, and will not back down. Red is the quickest to anger, especially red scorpiontails. Orange is unpredictable, and runs a spectrum from apricot to carrot. Brown is the one the field guide barely covers.
Two colours carry extra weight in the plot. Black matters because it is rare, and because bonding one changes the politics of the whole college. Blue matters because of one sub-category: the blue daggertail is the rarest and most lethal combination on record.
None of that is a ranking of individuals. A green clubtail with a century behind it is not a lesser animal than a black. It is simply a different one.
Golden hatchlings and the juvenile tail
Spoilers: Fourth Wing
This section contains material from later in the series.
All dragons are golden as hatchlings. Golden is the juvenile phase rather than a seventh colour, and hatchlings enter the Dreamless Sleep to complete their growth. That reframes what a reader sees in the Vale in the first book.
The feathertail is the juvenile tail type: feathers instead of a weapon, no claws, no fire, and no ability to carry a rider or form a traditional signet bond. A feathertail can gift its full power directly to a human, unpredictably, and the effort can burn it out.
Andarna is the example the first book gives. She is described as a golden feathertail and is one of the youngest dragons ever to bond.
Andarna after maturation
Spoilers: Iron Flame
This section contains material from later in the series.
Andarna matures into a scorpiontail and uses a poisoned barb to kill Solas, the one-eyed orange daggertail ridden by Major Varrish. The feathertail category, and the assumption that a small golden dragon is harmless, both die with him.
The iridescent category
Spoilers: Onyx Storm
This section contains material from later in the series.
Andarna is later described as iridescent, a category separate from the six colours a first-year is taught, and the irids themselves reframe much of what the earlier books say about colour and rarity. Fan sources date the reveal to Iron Flame and Onyx Storm and disagree on the exact term, so the registry keeps the field chipped as unconfirmed.
Read every colour page with that in mind. The six-colour frame is the quadrant curriculum, not the whole of dragonkind.
Sources
Questions people actually ask
Six colours are in wide service: black, blue, green, red, orange and brown. Golden is recorded as a hatchling colouring rather than a seventh mature colour.
Black. No black dragon had hatched for a century before Fourth Wing, and only two living adult black dragons are named anywhere in the series: Tairn and Codagh.
Blue dragons are rare, formidably large and described as the most ruthless of the six, and the rare blue daggertail is called the most lethal sub-category in the field guide. Black dragons are deadlier still by reputation, and far rarer.
It is treated as an event that concerns the whole college rather than one cadet, because black dragons are the most discerning of the six and had not hatched for a century. Both living black dragons are bonded to riders whose careers shape the war.
No. The in-world field guide says tails are a matter of choice and need, decided after the juvenile stage. Some fan tables pair colours with tails generically, but the per-dragon records contradict those tables and this site follows the records.
2 further answers are held back because they give away a plot point. Raise your spoiler setting in the header to read them.
Ready to be chosen?
Seven choices. The engine reads them and names your dragon.