Chicken (character)

"The chicken is not amused."

- Tuffnut

Chicken is a chicken that appears in  Dragons: Race to the Edge, and is currently a pet to Tuffnut.

Appearance
Unlike other chickens from Berk, her feathers are white and brown, while most Berk chickens are just in one color.

In Race to the Edge
Chicken first appears in the fourth episode of the series, When Darkness Falls. Tuffnut is out looking for some strange noises, (the Night Terrors), when the chicken appears and startles him. From that point on, Chicken's relationship with Tuffnut acts as a running gag, as Tuffnut is very affectionate towards her and talks to her like a human, often more so than with his fellow riders. Chicken seems to understand all that Tuffnut says. Tuffnut sometimes lifts her up and says "the chicken is not amused". Tuffnut appears to understand what the chicken is saying.

Chicken appeared to be jealous of all the time Tuffnut was spending with the Night Terrors in Team Astrid, but when Dagur the Deranged attacked Dragon's Edge, Tuffnut saved his pet, saying, "No chicken left behind".

In Bad Moon Rising, when it appeared Tuffnut had been bitten by the legendary Lycanwing dragon, he locked himself and Chicken in one of the pens. However, after overhearing that Hiccup and Fishlegs were heading to Lycanwing Island, Tuff admits to the fowl he didn't actually believe in legend. The two soon break out and head into the forest to fly away. On their way, Tuffnut imagined Chicken talking to him. Before they could jump off a cliff, the other riders catch up to them and prove that the Lycanwing actually was a myth and that Tuffnut was bitten by a wolf, not a dragon. The cliff begins to collapse, with Toothless grabbing Tuffnut and Tuff grabbing the chicken. Ruffnut then thanks the bird for looking out for her brother.

In Edge of Disaster, Part 1, Chicken told Tuffnut that Ruffnut was in danger. When Tuffnut went to check, Ruffnut was kidnapped by the Dragon Hunters. In the next episode, Chicken participated in the battle against Ryker Grimborn and the Dragon Hunters. She was seen attacking two hunters while Tuffnut went after Ryker. The Dragon Hunters retreated, and Chicken was later seen alongside Tuffnut.

Tuffnut entrusted Gobber to look after Chicken while the Dragon Riders were away in A Grim Retreat. However, Gobber lost sight of her and soon feared that Skullcrusher had eaten her. The blacksmith tries to keep it from Stoick, who in turn thought it was Gobber who ate her. They both come up with a plan to replace Chicken with another one, but Tuffnut could tell it was not his. Chicken was revealed not to have been eaten when the Riders returned and Tuffnut decided to tell her a story about what had happened while they were gone.

Chicken glared at Tuffnut in To Heather or Not to Heather, when she watched him eat Heather's meat chops. Tuffnut assured her he didn't eat chicken and Heather confirmed they were yak chops. Even so, Chicken didn't let up on Tuff.

In Tone Death, after the Riders rescued a dragon egg from the Hunters, Chicken took on a motherly side by sitting on the egg. It soon hatched into a dragon the others didn't immediately recognize. The hatchling soon began to cry profusely, only to stop when Chicken "sang" to him. However, the dragon blasted Chicken with amber, and the gang realized it was a baby Death Song. Hiccup managed to free Chicken by putting a bit of Monstrous Nightmare gel on his knife and ignited it wth Belch's spark. Using it to weaken the amber, Toothless cut Chicken out, but she fainted after being freed. She spent the rest of the episode trying to avoid being eaten by the baby dragon.

In Gruff Around the Edges, she was the only one who knew that Gruffnut was disguised in Tuffnut and alerted the other dragons.

In Searching for Oswald... and Chicken, Chicken begins acting strangely and vanishes, much to the dismay of Tuffnut, leading him and the other riders-minus Hiccup and Fishlegs-to look for her. They eventually discover her apparently covering her tracks-as she had been taught to do by Tuffnut himself-and then pursue her to the edge of a cliff, which she purposely drops off. However, they then discover that this is due to her having taken a mate with whom she has had several chicks, including one whom Tuffnut dubs Chicklet.

Chicken has a small appearance in "Sins of the Past". However, Snotlout goes to great lengths to get feed for her. Ultimately, the corn her gets is roasted by dragon fire, forming 'popcorn'. Chicken eats it up.

Tuffnut
Upon being taken in as a pet by Tuffnut, she quickly warmed to the teenage prankster and he to her. Tuffnut speaks to her as if she were a human and acts as if she gives perfectly intelligible replies for comedic effect. She was seemingly hurt when seeing Tuffnut eating yak chops, possibly believing that he was eating chicken. Generally their relationship is a very good one. She can even tell that Gruffnut is Tuffnut in disguise.

Chicken follows Tuffnut everywhere and is jealous of his other friends. She treats him like one of her chicks and tolerates his foolishness. Often Chicken is the brains in their team, looking out for Tuff's best interest even when he's being ridiculous.

Ruffnut
Even though they had a rocky start, Ruff and Chicken have developed a rough friendship. Chicken and Ruffnut aren't frequently shown interacting, but she knows that Ruffnut is Tuffnut's sister and she will do her best to help if Ruff is put in danger, from alerting Ruffnut that Tuffnut has been kidnapped, to exhausting herself searching for Tuff in order to deliver said warning. Chicken was also saved from being eaten by Garf when Ruffnut distracted the baby Death Song by singing. Ruffnut even thanked Chicken for her help in convincing Tuffnut that he was not becoming a Lycanwing.

Barf and Belch
Barf and Belch aren't actually shown interacting with Chicken, but they likely get along due to both being owned by Tuffnut. Chicken doesn't mind riding dragons, and they don't mind her.

Hiccup
Chicken was shown to be thankful of Hiccup when he freed her from Garffiljorg's amber, and when Hiccup caught her after bring tossed into the air by Tuffnut being upset about Gruff trying to eat the Chicken.

Toothless
Toothless helped set Chicken free from Garf's amber, but she was none the less afraid of the Night Fury.

Gobber
She was given to Gobber to babysit when Tuffnut went on little vacation but was assumed dead when Gobber saw bones near Skullcrusher and assumed the Rumblehorn had eaten her. Fearing that finding out would break Tuffnut's heart, he found another chicken and unsuccessfully attempted to disguise her, only to be foiled when the real Chicken walked in.

Stoick
In A Grim Retreat, Stoick is embarrassed by Tuffnut's affection for the chicken and doesn't take his "chicken-sitting" task seriously. Later, he panics when he thinks Tuff's pet was eaten by his dragon, Skullcrusher. Stoick tries to replace Chicken with a decoy, but fails to fool the young Rider. Chicken returns to her owner, and Stoick is relieved to be free of her.

Meatlug
Chicken and Meatlug got along very well, and were able to see through Gruffnut's attempt to pose as Tuffnut.

Heather
Chicken is originally distrustful of Heather, jealous of Tuff's affection. She also fears Heather for her cooking ability. Chicken wants the best for the dragon riders and realizes that Heather isn't what she seems. After Heather returns to Dragon's Edge, now an ally, Chicken accepts her. She still views Heather with suspicion.

Dagur the Deranged
Chicken dislikes Dagur at first, along with all the other attackers, and actively attacks him and his men. In Family on the Edge, however, Chicken accepts Dagur with the twins and plays with him. Later, in Gold Rush Chicken is highly offended when Dagur suggests that his sister would make a wonderful "Berserk Chicken". Her acceptance of the ex-outcast is lukewarm at best.

School of Dragons
The Chicken appeared in a quest for School of Dragons called "The Mysterious Chicken Caper", where all Berk's chickens have escaped from their pens. After wrangling them all back to their proper nests, it is revealed that Tuffnut's Chicken was the one who released them by chasing them around. This made Tuffnut very proud.

Chicken also appears in the Quests "Paint a Storm" and "Gobber's Wheels of Misfortune".

Rise of Berk
Chicken was added to Rise of Berk, fully functional like the dragons. She is capable of searching for Wood and Iron, but incapable of finding Fish or Defending Berk.

In the 1.18.12 update, a couple chickens were added walking around Berk. When tapped, they jump up and down a few times, then lands on their faces.

Abilities
Chicken has been shown to have more ability than the average chicken.

Intelligence and Communication: Chicken is shown to have some intelligence, as she was able to somewhat communicate with Tuffnut a few times; for example, she alerted him to the fact that his sister had been kidnapped, and she appears to tease Tuffnut on several occasions. She even told Tuffnut that Dagur had escaped his cell and convinced the other dragons that Gruffnut was not Tuffnut. She knows what's going on at all times, understands human speech, and has no difficulty making herself known.

Combat: Chicken was able to use her beak and talons to fight off two Dragon Hunters, due to being thrown off a cliff by Tuff, and managed to survive the battle. She has great durability for a chicken.

Singing: She sang to Garff to try to calm him down as a sign she cares for him, since she thought of herself as a mother to him after incubating his egg. She failed, however, realizing the Death Song intended to eat her for dinner.

Stamina:  Chicken has shown that she can and will run very fast but only for a short time, such as when she searched the island for Tuffnut to let him know that his sister was kidnapped by the Dragon Hunters; she was very exhausted when she finally found him.

Avoiding Danger: She has shown some awareness of danger, such as dodging arrows and running to Tuffnut for protection. She also warned Tuffnut when the volcano was about to blow up in Living on the Edge.

Leap: Despite being flightless, she is able to leap over Tuffnut's head.

Teaching Skills: Chicken was trying to teach her owner how to fly since he thought he was turning into dragon. She was able to help teach the teens that Garff will respond to singing, which helps him stay calm.

Tricks: Chicken was able to learn tricks from Tuffnut such as covering her footprints when she disappeared.

Trivia

 * In the first release of Race to the Edge, Chicken's eyes were fixed in one spot. By the time of "Team Astrid", her pupils were slightly larger and had more motion to them.
 * Chicken was confirmed to be female in "A Grim Retreat", though in "Bad Moon Rising" Tuffnut called her his "animal brother," though Tuff was using the term in a gender neutral way.
 * Chicken's clucks are surprisingly realistic for an animated hen. Instead of simply clucking, she has several different calls, including purrs, brooding noises, and cackles. She also seems to have more personality than any other non-dragon animal in the series, such as Fungus.