Every Dragon In How To Train Your Dragon Explained

This article contains spoilers for 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon.

The remake of How to Train Your Dragon brought the franchise’s iconic beasts to live-action. As Hiccup grows to understand the mighty Toothless and its capabilities, the former and his peers learn more about several other dragons as they train to become Vikings. However, no species of dragon is the same in the 2025 live-action remake, as each one has its own strengths and weaknesses.

From the Night Furies to the Red Deaths, the new How to Train Your Dragon movie illustrates a multitude of winged wonders in live-action. Since this is only the first live-action film in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, there are so many other dragons waiting to be adapted from the animated movies. Nevertheless, the franchise’s first live-action movie introduced a plethora of unique and powerful dragons that are worth exploring.

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Night Fury

The Franchise’s Mascot Is One Of Its Most Powerful Dragons

Given that Hiccup’s buddy, Toothless, is a Night Fury, the breed of dragon is the most recognizable beast in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. It is also one of the most powerful. This dragon is distinctive for its retractable fangs, explosive plasma breath, and black scales, the latter of which allow it to hide in the dark of night.

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This has allowed it to evade capture to the point that hardly anything was known about the Night Furies before Hiccup met Toothless in the film. In terms of strength and speed, the Night Fury was able to elude the Red Death and overpower a warrior as strong as Stoick in combat. However, it is susceptible to the Red Death’s hypnotic abilities and is unable to fly for long without both its tail fins.

7

Deadly Nadder

This Dragon Is Armed With Fire And Spikes

This spiked, bird-like dragon is notable for becoming Astrid’s companion in How to Train Your Dragon. Beforehand, the Deadly Nadder was one of the most challenging beasts Hiccup and his friends fought while training in the Trial of Flame.

However, like most dragons, the Deadly Nadder has a blind spot in the center of its face, so standing directly in front of its nose makes it easier to hide from it.

While it can breathe fire and has a strong sense of smell, the Deadly Nadder can also hurl spikes from its tail at its opponent, making it especially fearsome. However, like most dragons, the Deadly Nadder has a blind spot in the center of its face, so standing directly in front of its nose makes it easier to hide from it.

6

Hideous Zippleback

This Two-Headed Beast Is One Of The Film’s Biggest Oddities

A Hideous Zippleback dragon threatening Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon.

The Hideous Zippleback is one of the franchise’s largest and most unusual dragons. This Mystery Class creature’s most distinctive trait is its two heads, each with its own thoughts and personalities, which can cause the beast to clash with itself.

However, one of its heads also breathes gas to shroud itself when facing opponents, as shown during the Trial of Flame. Additionally, the other head can breathe sparks that can ignite the gas and set its enemies on fire. Both Ruffnut and Tuffnut rode a Hideous Zippleback in their battle against the Red Death in How to Train Your Dragon.

5

Terrible Terror

This Tiny Dragon Is A Surprisingly Formidable Foe

The Terrible Terror in How to Train Your Dragon (2025)

Despite its minuscule size, the Terrible Terror lives up to its name in the film. It’s easy not to be fazed by this tiny, Stoker Class dragon. But as Tuffnut has shown, this beast can catch its opponent by surprise if they’re not careful and sink its teeth into their nose. But like with other dragons, the Terrible Terror can get distracted by something shiny, similar to a cat, so Hiccup was able to beam a light in front of it and lure it back to its cell.

4

Gronckle

This Dragon Is A Slow But Tough Beast

The Gronckle looking at something in How to Train Your Dragon.

Also known as the Monstrous Gronckle, this dragon is a stout, Boulder Class creature characterized by its thick, armored skin and small wings. It is essentially the dragonic equivalent of a bumblebee. Though it isn’t a fast flyer, the Gronckle makes up for its lack of speed with its endurance.

This beast eventually became the steed of Fishlegs in How to Train Your Dragon‘s third act.

It can also consume boulders and regurgitate them as molten fireballs to shoot at its enemies. Nevertheless, the Fronckle can easily be overpowered by scratching it in the soft spot that other dragons have. This beast eventually became the steed of Fishlegs in How to Train Your Dragon‘s third act.

3

Monstrous Nightmare

This Fiery Dragon Is Indeed The Stuff Of Nightmares

The Monstrous Nightmare is one of the first dragons featured in 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon. This large Stoker Class dragon is one of the most formidable beasts in the franchise, boasting incredible strength and agility. It can even coat its entire body in burning flames.

Despite this, Stoick the Vast fought a Monstrous Nightmare single-handedly in the film’s opening scene. Likewise, the Night Fury Toothless was able to take it down himself during the Trial of Flame later in the story. However, Hiccup was able to help Snotlout tame a Monstrous Nightmare in How to Train Your Dragon.

2

Red Death

The Movie’s Villain Is Arguably The Most Powerful Dragon So Far

The Red Death breathing fire in How to Train Your Dragon (2025)

This fearsome breed of dragon appears as the main antagonist of 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon. The colossal Red Death is described as the “alpha” or “queen bee” of the nest on Dragon Island. It has the power to command dragons to do its bidding, which typically means forcing them to gather food for it or become food themselves.

Astrid raises her ax in How to Train Your Dragon

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Unlike other dragons, the Red Death lacks a blind spot due to its extra set of eyes on its head, making it even more difficult to evade. Such a massive, powerful beast was able to overpower Stoick’s army in the movie, with Hiccup having to lead a team of dragon riders just to stand a chance against it.

1

Others

Many Other Dragons Don’t Get Enough Time In The Film

Mason Thames as Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon

Since there are so many dragons in the world of How to Train Your Dragon, not all of them could get a lot of screen time in just one movie. Nevertheless, several other breeds of dragons are mentioned in the film, particularly as Hiccup reads through the Book of Dragons while researching the Night Furies.

Hiccup (Mason Thames) looking thoughtful in How To Train Your Dragon (2025)

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These other dragons include the Rumblehorn, the Skrill, the Scauldron, the Shovelhelm, the Snaptrapper, the Thunderdrum, the Timberjack, and the Whispering Death. While not much is revealed about these creatures in the movie, Vikings are told to kill many of them on sight, conveying their hostile nature towards the winged creatures in How to Train Your Dragon.