Guardian of Nature

Guardians of Nature, not to be confused with Guardian Dragons, were released on the March 26, 2010, as part of the Dimorphism Update. GoNs, as they are often abbreviated to, are obtained purely through the Summon BSA.

Although the summon success rate is unknown, it increases with every available set of Trio dragons available on the user's lair. Summoning can only be performed once every 2 weeks. On release, only two GoNs were available per scroll. This limit was raised to three later on. As of this time, killed Guardians of Nature cannot be replaced, permanently adding to the user's Guardian limit. Eggs and hatchlings however will be removed from the limit when the tombstone disappears.

They're able to breed with other dragons (except other Guardians of Nature, which always refuse) to potentially produce Avatars of Destruction, Change or Creation. The kind of Avatar depends on the elemental affinity of the mate's breed. See Avatar Breeding for a list of mates.

Guardian of Nature eggs and hatchlings cannot be abandoned, and TJ explained why on the IRC:   : TJ, why can't we abandon summons/Guardians of Nature anymore?   : PrincessKiara, because they're meant for you.   : They aren't meant for your friend, when you summon an egg, it's yours.

Egg
"This egg glows mysteriously."

Hatchling
"Aww... It's a cute baby dragon. It seems very protective."

Mature Hatchling
"Aww... It's a cute baby dragon. It seems very protective. And look! It's grown its wings! It must be close to maturing."

Adult
"This breed of dragon was thought to exist only in legend. Although their name varies between cultures, they are often referred to as "Guardians of Nature." They are able to channel the forces of fire, ice and lightning, which allows them to wield tremendous power. Seen very rarely, it is thought that they only become active when something is threatening the territory they have chosen to guard. In order to protect their chosen home, these dragons are incredibly adaptable; they have been seen everywhere from remote mountain ranges, to ancient forests, to the darkest depths of the ocean."

Sprite Artist(s)

 * Komodo Gallant (Adult)
 * Marrionetta (Hatchlings, New Adult)
 * Odeen (New Adult)
 * Fiona BlueFire (Egg)

Sprites No Longer In-Use
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Trivia

 * TJ himself has a Guardian of Nature with the code TJ09.
 * The inspiration for this breed comes from the Pokémon Lugia: a legend tells that it appears only when the Legendary Pokémon Articuno (an Ice-type), Zapdos (an Electric-type) and Moltres (a Fire-type) combine their powers to summon it.
 * Since Dragon Cave's 8th birthday (May 21, 2014), the limit of Guardians of Nature was raised to 3 per scroll. The adult sprite also received a small line and shading update.
 * Under the old Breed sort, these dragons sorted as "Lugia" on a user's scroll. As of August 14, 2016, they now sort using their Encyclopedia name.
 * Guardians of Nature go by many unofficial names and for the following reasons:
 * Rugia (used by many workers, spriters and TJ09)
 * Humboldt (used by the adult spriter of this breed)
 * Lugia (used by many due to the Pokémon reference)
 * If a third summoned Guardian of Nature egg is turned into a Vampire Dragon, the Summon BSA becomes available again after the usual cooldown, since they no longer take up a GoN slot.