Gronckle (Franchise)

The Gronckle is one of the toughest (and slowest) dragon in the dragon world, and more than lives up to its looks in the battlefield.

Appearance
The Gronckle can be a slow, lazy, and cranky bulldog-like dragon; it has been known to fall asleep mid-flight, waking only when it plunges into the sea or crashes into a mountain. They spend the majority of the day sleeping.

Because of its tremendous weight and small wings, it would seem impossible for them to fly. However, because the wings of a Gronckle beat at a speed similar to that of hummingbirds' dragonflies', or bees' wings,  it is possible for one to sustain flight. In fact, a Gronckle can fly backward, sideways and even hover in place.

Its tail can be mistaken for the head if little attention is paid.

It is also prone to dragon acne. Because of its large stout body and clubbed tail, the Gronckle somewhat resembles an Ankylosaurus. It has huge jaws which it uses to hold food when carrying it to the dragon mound. It has a rather blunt nose horn and fairly stubby toe claws. Its legs are practically useless in battle, and due to its short tail it has a fairly small attack range.

Abilities and Weaponry
As eggs, they have shown to be rock like shape that shows of their boulder class dragon. As they hatch will explode like grenades can cause destruction.

As baby's they are able to make up of their tiny wing size with tremendous flapping velocity, like hummingbirds. Just like the adults hatchlings are able to fly forward, backwards, and side ways. Haven't been confirmed although they tried to fly but they handle the strong winds. Baby Gronckle needs a lot of naps just like children. As they were observed to fall asleep in mid-flight.

Baby Gronckles, are said that their bark is far worst then their bite. Although they bellow and open their mouths to display their growing tusk as their teething, as they use to seldom attack one another but this haven't yet been confirmed.

The Gronckle can launch a devastating fire attack but is limited to six shots at a time. Both its fire attack and hovering flight pattern makes it a very dangerous dragon. It can simply hover slightly out of reach of the Vikings and then blast them with its powerful fire. Unlike the other dragons, the Gronckle can refill its so called shot limit fairly quickly. Most dragons use a flammable gas, but the Gronckle eats rocks and then melts them in its stomach. So as long as there are edible rocks in the area, the Gronckles will be one of the few dragons to be able to refill their shot limit.

Like all Boulder Class dragons, Gronckles have extremely strong jaws, being able to crush boulders with ease. They are able to hold large boulders in their mouth to shoot back to their enemies as shown by Meatlug in the episode of Heather Report ll. They are also able to hold 3 fully grown sheep in their mouth.

They have shown to have some strength able to lift heavy Vikings and some extra weight of objects but as expected, the Gronckle uses its heavy weight showing its brute strength instead as their advantage when fighting with its opponents, whether they are are Vikings or Dragons. This was demonstrated by Meatlug several times like a herd of Gronckle's have shown this against the Screaming Death and proven by Meatlug to make a powerful warrior like Stoick The Vast stun on the ground for short period of time. Wild Gronckle even try to fight off Nightfury, but they were proven to be very easily get defeated.

The Gronckle has many hidden abilities. One interesting fact about a Gronckle's stomach is that it is able to melt down any type of rock and metal like a forge. By mixing certain minerals and ores, it is able to create an alloy called Gronckle Iron, which can be shaped into weapons and instruments that are lighter and stronger than those made of pure iron. Meatlug was able to create a large amount of Gronckle Iron, though she is unable to do so again since no one knows exactly what she ate at the time. Other mixtures allow them be magnetized and create glass (sandstone alone).

Gronckles second hidden ability is that they are possible few of known dragons that are immune of Dragon Root, possibly because of their mineral-based diet. Therefore, it might be possible that the Hotburple might be immune too.

Also, their third hidden ability is that when they are provoked or surrounded, the Gronckle will inhale deeply, the bumps on their bodies will blast off and scatter in every direction for self defense. This hidden ability however, haven't been shown yet.

Interesting enough, Gronckles are much faster on the ground than in the air. They are very maneuverable in the air, being able to go backwards, sideways, and even hold still to hover. As Meatlug have show to be able to stand on their hind legs to walk.

Gronckles have extremely tough scales, that can withstand many attacks from enemy dragons and Vikings. This makes them one of the most toughest dragons, in terms of defense of their armor body. According to a webisode, they can survive a crash into a mountain or fall at high altitudes.

They have physically weaponry body of armor, sword like teeth, club tail, noise horn, claws, and they can use their head.

While short, their club-like tail is actully quite a strong weapon, against both Vikings and dragons. Meatlug demonstrated this in battles with a Whispering Death and Typhoomerang.

Gronckles have a stronger sense of smell then Nightfury, which was demonstrated several times when Meatlug found hostile Outcast Vikings from a far distance, or when she found a Changewing egg under the sand of a beach.

Despite their small wings and laziness, their stamina doesn't seem to be as bad as their speed, as Gronckles (mainly Meatlug) have been shown to fly the same amounts of time as other dragons.

Description
The official Website describes the Gronckle as follows: "One of the toughest dragons in our world is the GRONCKLE. Gronckles have gigantic heads, short bodies, and round tails. Gronckles are lazy, and spend most of their time sleeping in communal heaps. They have been known to fall asleep while flying, waking only when they crash into the ocean or the side of a mountain. Gronckles have relatively small wings that beat as fast as a hummingbird's. They are slow in the air, but make up for this with their maneuverability. A Gronckle can fly backwards, sideways, and even hover. Gronckles attack from the air, where their primary weapon is most effective. Gronckles chew rocks, melting them in their bellies and firing them as balls of molten lava."

"With its bulbous shape, tiny wings and laid-back demeanor, the wart hoggish Gronckle is proving to be a fan favorite." says Sanders, ''“He is a series of round balls, including warts. He’s just lazy, cantankerous and grumpy, and that makes you like him even better. The critter is known to doze off even in mid-flight as he floats about like the Goodyear blimp. But there is no denying that his fire packs a lethal punch."''

Also mentioned in Book of Dragons, "A Gronckle has five phases of growth, just like all other dragons." Only three phases have been confirmed: first being Egg, second being Hatchling, and fifth is Titan Wing.

In the Film
The Gronckle is the first dragon that the Viking Trainees have to fight in the arena. It is used to teach them how to use the shield to block attacks and shown to have a six shot limit. One almost blasts Hiccup, but he is saved by Gobber the Belch. Hiccup learns from Toothless that dragons love garlic grass and uses this to calm down the same Gronckle in a later training session. The Gronckle is used to determine who will kill the Monstrous Nightmare and is seen subdued by Hiccup (presumably through scratching a particularly sensitive spot dragons have), earning him that right. Hiccup later gives the Gronckle to Fishlegs during the attack on the Red Death and during the battle, she hovers beside the dragon's head, allowing Fishlegs to distract the Red Death by banging on his shield. This also confuses the Gronckle and causes her to crash and flip upside-down, pinning Fishlegs who ends up being okay. The Gronckle and Fishlegs are nearly crushed by the Red Death's foot, but thanks to Snotlout's antics, it barely misses them and the Gronckle is later seen flying around the village as Fishlegs' pet dragon, Meatlug.

Gronckle Eggs
Gronckle eggs are the smallest of all the species. They are very rough and have dark brown color. They also bounce around like jumping beans. In Gift of the Night Fury, they are shown to explode when they hatch. Although the eggs are supposed to be barely larger than a marble, Gift of the Night Fury showed Meatlug's eggs to be just a bit smaller than the average Viking head and snuggly fitting inside Viking helmets.

Behavior
As mentioned before, Gronckles are lazy and sometimes cranky dragons. They fly slowly due to their small wings and bulky bodies, but their fire attacks are devastating. They can be sweet natured at times, especially towards their hatchlings or their riders. They are faster on the ground and if they need to move quickly, they prefer to run. But this is in the film and TV series. In the books, they are said to be quite stupid. But in the series Gronckles shown by Meatlug to be proven to be bit smarter then they appear as Fishlegs was able to teach her many skills and able to show to stop dragon island to others of her species to use the lava blast. They apparently love to play catch.

Trivia

 * The Gronckle's wing-to-body ratio would mean it would have to beat its wings significantly faster than any hummingbird would need to flap its own wings. It would have to beat approximately 4.1 times faster than any hummingbird.
 * Gronckles eat stones and boulders.
 * To train a Gronckle, one must feed it Dragon Nip or rocks.
 * They are the slowest flying dragons so far in the franchise, but are relatively fast on the ground.
 * Concept art shown a Gronckle to have horn like Monstrous Nightmare and tail stinger like a bee. Possible early drawing.