10 Things Every Dragon Trainer Should Know

Are you planning to catch DreamWorks Animation’s latest movie, “How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”?

If you are, perhaps this would be the perfect time for a refresher course on all things related to dragons, particularly those featured in the DreamWorks Animation franchise.

For those of you who have seen the latest movie, read on to see how much you really know about these lovable (but deadly) dragons.

Neue has compiled a list of top 10 dragons from “How To Train Your Dragon” that you should know.

#1. Toothless (Hiccup’s Night Fury)

Once thought of as the “unholy offspring of lightning and death itself”, Toothless has proven to be much more of a giant, winged pussycat than the stuff of nightmares.

Playful, inquisitive, and intelligent, Toothless is more Hiccup’s best friend than his pet. He is extremely protective of his Viking soul mate, and will stop at nothing to guard him from all harm. As the last known specimen of the Night Fury species, Toothless is indisputably special. He commands respect from dragons and humans alike.

Toothless also possesses an echolocation sense not unlike radar or sonar. When flying through dark or cramped environments, Toothless issues a plasma blast in all directions. When the plasma bounces off the nearby terrain and returns to Toothless, it gives him an incredibly accurate reading of his surroundings.

Toothless became an “Alpha” to all dragons at the end of “How to Train Your Dragon 2”.

#2. Light Fury (Toothless’ Love Interest)

The Light Fury moves as fast as Toothless and shares his ability to blend into the sky – even during daylight hours.

With her white colouration, the Light Fury hides seamlessly in clouds, sea fog, and distant horizons. Although skittish and skeptical, the Light Fury also shares Toothless’ deep sense of empathy and will always wield her plasma blast to defend any in need.

Temporarily transforms each scale into a reflective surface that mirrors the Light Fury’s surroundings, essentially rendering her invisible.

The Light Fury was introduced in the 2019 animation “How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”.

#3. Stormfly (Astrid’s Deadly Nadder)

Stormfly is Astrid Hofferson’s Deadly Nadder who first appeared in the 2010 movie,”How To Train Your Dragon”.

Stormfly loves to have fun, but equally enjoys a deadly battle. She can suddenly raise the thousands of sharp spines that stud her hide and tail, and fling them with incredible accuracy. She is the perfect partener in combat.

Stormfly is considered a very beautiful and bird-like dragon, bipedal, possessing winged forelimbs, and about the same size as a medium-sized tetrapod dinosaur. She has small, yellow yet keen eyes with black pupils.

Stormfly’s body is a combination of blue, gold, red, purple, and tan with a light beige underbelly; her main body colour is blue, a bright and light turquoise. Her wings are mottled with darker shades of blue spots circled by gold and red spots closer to her reddish shoulders. Under her wings is a mixture of gold and tan. Her tail is blue and gold. She has small hooks at the end of her wing joints.

In front of her eyes is a curved nasal horn. Her lower jaw is shorter and wider than the upper, giving her an overbite (setting her apart from all the other dragons in the film, since — with the exception of the Night Fury — they all have underbites).

Ringing Stormfly’s skull is a set of spikes, and coating the tail is a series of spines that can be used as projectiles. When relaxed, her head spikes and venomous tail spines lay flat, and when alarmed, they shoot upwards to intimidate her foe. She has small black feathering on the back of her legs and four black claws on her feet.

#4. Barf and Belch (Ruffnut and Tuffnut’s Hideous Zippleback)

They say two heads are better than one! Apparently, this also applies to dragons.

The Hideous Zippleback dragon can breathe fire, but only when the heads work together.

One side spits flammable gas, while the other can create sparks that ignite the gas into fire. Both heads have their own distinct personalities.

Twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut ride a Zippleback called Barf and Belch.

#5. Cloudjumper (Valka’s Stormcutter)

Valka is a strong, uncompromising vigilante who also turned out to be Hiccup’s long lost mother and the wife of Stoick the Vast. After being taken by a dragon, the whole village of Berk presumed her to be dead. Valka, however, chose to stay away out of her own accord, believing her family would be better off without her. Nearly two decades later, she accidentally crosses paths with her son Hiccup during his journey to stop Drago Bludvist and finally reunites with her husband Stoick.

Valka’s main dragon is a Stormcutter named Cloudjumper. It’s the same dragon that abducted her 20 years ago.

Cloudjumper’s pride, confidence, and large size lead him to think of himself as the top dragon in Valka’s mountain fortress, second only to the Bewilderbeast (see #6), who is the king of all dragons in the nest.

Due to their two decades of experiences together, Cloudjumper and Valka share a wordless shorthand when flying. Whereas other dragon riders need to call out commands to turn or shoot, Cloudjumper instinctively knows when Valka wants him to move or attack, adding to their combined mystic and prowess in battle.

Like all Stormcutters, Cloudjumper features a second set of hidden wings. When all four wings are deployed in an X-formation, there is no dragon in the sky more maneuverable and precise than Cloudjumper.

While fearsome looking at first glance, Cloudjumper’s fore-talons can actually be quite nimble and delicate when the occasion calls for skill over savagery. These sharp, hooked pincers at the tips of Cloudjumper’s wings are dexterous enough to gingerly pick the lock of a dragon trap – or strong enough to tear apart one of Drago’s War machines!

#6. Bewilderbeast

This Bewilderbeast is the master of the Dragon Den where Valka has lived for 20 years. In fact, Valka bows to him as a sign of respect, and even Cloudjumper plays second fiddle to him.

Unlike the rule of the Red Death (see #7), Toothless indeed lowers his head, not out of fear, but by seeing the mightiness of the kind king. Because Toothless is the only dragon who opposed the rule of the Red Death, this Bewilderbeast’s solemnity is enough to make the mighty and fearless Night Fury to bow to a noble, rightful, and respectable king.

Most notable features above all is that this individual is so warm in heart and is compassionate to smaller races (dragons and humans), thus is an ideal king to all.

Under his monarchy, every dragon seemingly spends peaceful life, and baby dragons are not even afraid of playing on the face of the giant dragon and are very attached to him. This Bewilderbeast also welcomes new faces (dragon refugees saved by Valka) to his nest without hesitation.

It is confirmed that the ice caves and glaciers/icebergs functioning as camouflages and strongholds to protect the dragons’ sanctuary, was created with the help of this Bewilderbeast (or simply by himself). The king wisely chose a spot and utilised his knowledge and capabilities through careful considerations to create an ideal oasis for giant reptiles.

#7. Red Death

The Red Death was a vicious dragon that enslaved hundreds if not thousands of dragons, acting as both their queen and a brood parasite. Gronckles, Hideous Zipplebacks, Monstrous Nightmares, Terrible Terrors, and even Toothless, one of the few remaining Night Furies, fell under its spell.

This dragon was responsible for the many attacks on Berk, commanding its underlings to raid the area to procure their overlord food. Any dragons who failed to offer enough meals were themselves eaten as punishment. Its presence was unknown to Berk’s Vikings until it and its nest were discovered by Hiccup, Astrid and Toothless, whereupon they saw its brutality and it attempted to eat them.

Toothless, later captured by Hiccup’s father, Stoick the Vast, was later forced to lead the Viking armada to the nest, where it emerged to attack the Vikings. Though Stoick’s forces attempted to stop it, the dragon queen easily routed the Vikings, and was intercepted by Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, all astride dragons.

Though the twins, Astrid, Fishlegs and Snoutlout all were able to keep it at bay for a time, it was only the combined efforts of Hiccup and Toothless that turned the tide of the attack. Engaging the dragon head on, they lured the great beast into the air, where they tricked it into chasing them into the clouds.

There, Toothless began peppering the Red Death’s wings with fire until it retaliated, searing the entire area with flame. Toothless and Hiccup, now out of time due to Toothless’ prosthetic tail fin being burned, tricked the dragon into diving after them. As they raced toward the ground, Hiccup had Toothless fire a shot down the Red Death’s throat, causing the fuel for its flame to ignite in its throat.

When the Red Death realised the ground was approaching and tried to pull up, it could not; Toothless’ fire had burned holes in its wings. Thus, the Red Death crashed and exploded, catching Toothless and Hiccup in the blast.

Though Hiccup and Toothless survived the fight, Hiccup lost his left foot to the dragon’s flame. However, the Red Death’s demise had a positive side effect: the Vikings of Berk and the dragons it had previously enslaved became united forever, beginning a new age of peace.

#8. Hookfang (Snotlout’s Monstrous Nightmare)

Hookfang is Snotlout Jorgenson’s Monstrous Nightmare.

Like his rider, Hookfang is somewhat of a bully and highly aggressive. When angered or irritated, Hookfang often flames up his body to express his emotions.

In the movie he is 61 feet long with a 68 foot wingspan.

According to Snotlout, Hookfang weighs around 5,000 pounds but this might be a lie used in order to impress Heather.

Hookfang is a perfect example of a typical Monstrous Nightmare. He has large shiny grayish-black horns that curve slightly outwards on the edge. He has bright reddish-orange scales with darker spots scattered around. His underside is a light tan, and he has yellowish orange eyes like most other dragons.

His colour scheme is fairly common in the movie, and Snotlout has even mistaken other Nightmares for him.

Hookfang’s horns lack extra antlers coming off of them, which does help to distinguish him from other Monstrous Nightmares seen in the film. He seems to be fully grown, and no Nightmares have yet been seen that are notably larger than him, except the Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare and possible extremely large Monstrous Nightmare that was seen at Helheim’s Gate as its size was bigger than Stoick’s ships. Also in the TV series and second movie he seems to be the only Monstrous Nightmare who has crests on his neck.

#9. Meatlug (Fishleg’s Gronkle)

Meatlug is Fishlegs Ingerman’s Gronckle who first appeared in the 2010 movie, “How To Train Your Dragon”. Gronckles are big, tough, and slow dragons that have a rough and rocky texture. Their wings are tiny, and they are not as agile when flying as some of their fellow dragons. Generally, they are lazy creatures but can shoot fireballs rapidly from their mouths.

#10. Skullcrusher (Stoick’s Rumblehorn)

Skullcrusher is a Rumblehorn who is Stoick’s new Dragon and later Eret’s, in “How To Train Your Dragon 2”.

In comparison to Grump, Skullcrusher is stern and serious looking, and sometimes a little stubborn, (corresponding with the personality of Stoick). He looks like a cross between a dragon, a Triceratops and a beetle (due to his neck plates).

It is currently unknown when Stoick acquired Skullcrusher, save that it must have been since Stoick released Thornado. Despite this, the two are shown to be close, with Stoick being comfortable riding Skullcrusher alongside Grump and Gobber.

Following Stoick’s death, Hiccup suggests that Skullcrusher pass into the care of their new ally and former dragon-trapper Eret. (Sources: Dragonpedia, HowToTrainYourDragon.com, Fandom / Photos: DreamWorks)