This article contains spoilers for 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon.
The remake ofHow to Train Your Dragonbrought 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, aseach one has its own strengths and weaknesses.
From the Night Furies to the Red Deaths,thenewHow to Train Your Dragonmovieillustrates a multitude of winged wonders in live-action. Since this is only the first live-action film in theHow to Train Your Dragonfranchise, 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.
8Night Fury
The Franchise’s Mascot Is One Of Its Most Powerful Dragons
Given that Hiccup’s buddy, Toothless, is aNight Fury, the breed of dragon is the most recognizable beastin theHow to Train Your Dragonfranchise. 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.
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 Deathand 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.
7Deadly Nadder
This Dragon Is Armed With Fire And Spikes
This spiked, bird-like dragon isnotable for becoming Astrid’s companioninHow 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.
6Hideous Zippleback
This Two-Headed Beast Is One Of The Film’s Biggest Oddities
The Hideous Zippleback isone 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 Zipplebackin their battle against the Red Death inHow to Train Your Dragon.
5Terrible Terror
This Tiny Dragon Is A Surprisingly Formidable Foe
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 surpriseif 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.
4Gronckle
This Dragon Is A Slow But Tough Beast
Also known as the Monstrous Gronckle,this dragon is a stout, Boulder Class creature characterized by its thick, armored skinand 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 inHow 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 inHow to Train Your Dragon’s third act.
3Monstrous Nightmare
This Fiery Dragon Is Indeed The Stuff Of Nightmares
The Monstrous Nightmare is one of the first dragons featured in 2025’sHow to Train Your Dragon. This large Stoker Class dragonis 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 NightmareinHow to Train Your Dragon.
2Red Death
The Movie’s Villain Is Arguably The Most Powerful Dragon So Far
This fearsome breed of dragon appears as the main antagonist of 2025’sHow to Train Your Dragon. The colossalRed 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.
Unlike other dragons,the Red Death lacks a blind spotdue 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.
1Others
Many Other Dragons Don’t Get Enough Time In The Film
Since there are so many dragons in the world ofHow 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 asHiccup reads through the Book of Dragons while researching the Night Furies.
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 inHow to Train Your Dragon.
