What limitations can I put on wings for more tense/risky action scenes?

This is my first post on Stack Exchange, so I'm not sure if this follows the right format. Let me know what I can change to make this more helpful on the site. Anyways, let's get to the backstory of the question:

I've been working on a near-future, technothriller novel for some time now: to remove a lot of the nuance, the plot is about a young engineer who is kidnapped, experimented on, and turned into a half-dragon (yeah, it's crazy) by a "rogue" research group, and has to prevent the research group from enabling biological terrorist attacks with the nanites used to change him. The setting is on Earth in the 2030s, and it has a spy novel tone to it: something like Jason Bourne or Jack Ryan. There will be lots of advanced technology, some politics, secret agencies, and plenty of gunfights.

The plot is still in development, but I've written out some test scenes, and the main thing I've noticed is that my action sequences always seem a bit contrived and illogical. Why worry about the drop off of a skyscraper if you can just fly off? Why figure out how you're going to climb up to the top of this balcony is you can just fly up to it? (and etc.) I've always asked myself questions like these whenever I write action scenes. It definitely doesn't help that the main character is an engineer, and a very observant and resourceful person to boot, so it seems extremely contrived for him not to exploit his wings in a way that reduces risk. I've figured out some solutions to fix this, but they all have their drawbacks. Here they are in order from most drawbacks to least.

1. Remove the wings. This is probably the most obvious fix, but it has a big drawback. In short, Arronians (the name for the half-dragons) are actually a whole race living in secrecy in their own country (called Arromark) in (spoilers). They are essentially Draconic Humanoids with feathers. I don't want this race to fit to the "lizard people conspiracy" trope, so giving them wings, feathers, and a modern culture was an attempt at differentiating from this. Removing the wings might blur the line between a new race and lizard people too much, but I could be wrong.
2. Put most of the action scenes in tight spaces. Currently, Arronians have a wingspan of 10 feet or more. These large feathered wings would obviously be difficult to use in tight hallways and indoor spaces. This does sort of match the Mission Impossible-esque tone I'm looking for, but the drawback here is that wings would almost seem useless. Sure, they're an extra way to communicate emotion and they look cool, but they won't help the plot if they aren't used in some way.

These next two solutions are more about withholding the wings until he is "ready" to use him.

3. Wings are artificial, so they have to be earned. I could make it part of the Arronians' culture that earning a pair of wings is a pursuit of character and great deeds or something. Arronians could have vestigial wings leftover and they might see it as if they were "meant to fly", so they go about building working wings to fulfill this. Since the novel is set in the 2030s, the tech for useable wings on an already light body is plausible, especially for a race that's more focused on developing them. The only problem is that it would take a lot of time for artificial wings to ingrain into their culture, and depending on when they were developed, it seems unrealistic.
4. Wings are non-intuitive, so they have to be learned and earned. It's possible that I could write in a character-based requirement for flying: you have to get over your flaws for flying to be intuitive. Honestly, if having two extra limbs mounted to your back wasn't hard enough for your human brain to accept, try using them to maneuver in 3D space. Flying has to be somewhat automatic and instinctual, and this could only be unlocked by a character getting over their own fears and flaws. This does also add a great symbol for character growth. However, I want to be at least somewhat plausible in terms of scientific accuracy, and this might be too hand-wavy for my setting.

This is where Stack Exchange comes in: What limitations can I put on wings for more tense/risky action scenes? How can I limit flight so it isn't overpowered for physical obstacles?

posted almost 5 years ago

sinteredmetals‭

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