Ex-Queen Scarlet

Ex-Queen Scarlet was an adult female SkyWing who was first introduced in The Dragonet Prophecy and returned later in Escaping Peril as the main antagonist. Despite being challenged fourteen times for the throne, she reigned as queen for about twenty-nine years until her death, in which Tourmaline killed her in a royal challenge. Scarlet was considered one of the most dangerous, cruel, and vicious queens of her time, and was renowned for hosting arena battles and ordering Peril to kill seven SkyWing eggs on the brightest night.

Appearance
Scarlet had dark orange scales and enormous red-orange wings, as well as fierce, unfriendly, yellow eyes. She was described as being smaller than Kestrel, but slightly bigger than Clay, and deceptively strong in combat. Her voice was described as deeper and more slithery than Icicle's. A row of tiny rubies were embedded between the scales over both of her eyes, and more embedded rubies edged the top of her wings. She was said to be very beautiful, majestic and grand before her face was melted by Queen Glory's venom in The Dragonet Prophecy. In Tui's annotation of the first book online, she said Scarlet's size wasn't because she was younger, but because she was naturally small in height.

During the first book, part of the right side of her face was melted by Glory's venom. Her face was described in The Brightest Night as “melted into a hideous dark mess,” with part of her jawbone exposed. She was also noted to have lost the chain mail and other jewelry, the rubies embedded above her one good eye the only decorations remaining. In Escaping Peril, the dragonets in the wingery described her face as melty-ish and terrifying, suggest that she should become queen of the NightWings, and even go as far as saying that she probably couldn't stand to look in mirrors anymore. Scarlet has a scar on her tail after Tsunami stabbed her with a scavenger sword. Peril also described Scarlet's eyes as being uglier than Prince Cliff's eyes.

Personality
Scarlet was a violent, maniacal dragon. She was never afraid of conflict, which she demonstrated through her brutal arena, where she would make use of Peril (her champion)'s deadly ability (firescales). She was a harsh and cold, yet very cunning ruler, someone who was not easily defeated or outsmarted (like Blister). She also believed that using fear would make her subjects carry out her orders unquestioned and unconcerned. She loves violence and bloodshed, and constantly uses the word "thrilling" in her sentences, annoying some dragons. She is also noted to be sarcastic, melodramatic and sadistic.

Scarlet also showed psychopathic traits, as shown when she ruthlessly killed and lived for blood, showing no compassion whatsoever.

She also used other dragons' ignorance to her advantage, such as when she lied to Peril about the black rocks, poisoned her food, and didn't tell her that Soar was her father. She also liked showing off her wealth, like most dragons would, and wore chain mail studded with rubies and amber drops and encrusted her eyebrows, scales, and wings with gems. Her riches were also displayed in her palace, including veins running along the floor made of out solid gold. She finds gore and death to be very "thrilling". This tendency also proved to be her worst weakness, when Clay was in the arena reluctantly fighting Peril, the "excitement" distracted her long enough for Glory to attack her with her RainWing venom. She became more bitter and vicious after being attacked by Glory and imprisoned by Burn, seeing those two as the source of her problems, making her a very vengeful character. She even believes she is the good guy, and that her plots of revenge are justified.

Scarlet fiercely believed she was the rightful queen of the SkyWings, and swore vengeance when her daughter Ruby took the throne. She hated anyone competing with her and seems to have no problem about the many dragons she has killed. She also mentions that the War of SandWing Succession gives her more prisoners and less challengers, which means that she is clever on how to hold her position of authority.

Trivia

 * The deceased SkyWing Dragonet of Destiny may have been Scarlet's own dragonet, as the egg was stolen from the palace. This has yet to be confirmed, however, it also has yet to be disproved.
 * She had been mistakenly described with amber eyes when they are actually yellow.
 * Tui admitted before one of her favorite words was "thrilling", just like Scarlet.
 * She had killed her mother, sisters, and eleven daughters before Tourmaline challenged her to obtain the throne.
 * The name "Scarlet" implies a red color, yet Scarlet is ironically orange. Tui has admitted that this was an oversight on her part, and regrets her choice to make Scarlet orange.
 * She is one of the seven characters whose name is ironic, the others being Quickdeath, Quickstrike, Slaughter, Coconut, Secretkeeper, Chameleon and Mindreader.
 * Queen Scarlet states in Escaping Peril that no dragon ever questions who a queen takes as her dragonet, although the only reason why was probably because the SkyWings feared her.
 * She is one of the identifiable four dragons that are in the cover art of book they aren't the PoV of, the other three being Princess Anemone, Prince Turtle, and Cricket.
 * It is revealed in Darkness of Dragons that Queen Scarlet was once married, although it is unknown to who she was married to.
 * Scarlet may have been responsible for her husband's death as Tui stated that his death was related to his marriage to Scarlet.
 * Tui also says that her husband may have been forced into marriage.
 * Before Queen Wasp's introduction, and second only to Queen Oasis, Scarlet was the longest-ruling queen at exactly thirty years.
 * "In Scarlet's character profile, the word written in big letters at the top is 'VAIN'." Tui determined that vanity would be Scarlet's defining characteristic while searching for traits that are unusual to find in a villain.
 * Ex-Queen Scarlet is one of the few dragons depicted to have jewels embedded in her body, the others being Ex-Princess Onyx, Queen Moorhen, Princess Snowfox, and Queen Vigilance.
 * She is the first dragon on a cover to be seen wearing jewelry or another item. The second is Turtle, the third is Anemone, the fourth is Qibli.