Smothering Smokebreath

The Smothering Smokebreath is a new species of dragon. They first appeared in Dragons: Riders of Berk episode 17 "Breakneck Bog".

Dragon Appearance
The Smothering Smokebreath is approximately the same size as a Terrible Terror (maybe a little larger), and it is entirely gray. The head and mouth are almost as big as its body, and it has no discernible neck. It has short, stubby legs and a wingspan equivalent to over twice its body length (though in its debut its body was longer than its wingspan). Its tail is long, thin, and very spiky. It is the first species of dragon known where all members share colors and markings that are identical or nearly identical (The Night Fury, Skrill and Flightmare are technically strangers on this subject, since in each case only one has been seen).

Abilities
This dragon can create a veil of smoke to hide from enemies or victims. Because of this ability, it was thought to be a kind of "Fog Monster" and became legendary, to the point that, although the Book of Dragons had information about it, Fishlegs believed it was just a myth. It is classified as a Mystery Class dragon. Although they usually breathe smoke, they can breathe a very hot fire, since it is capable of melting metal in a matter of moments. A large swarm may appear as a strange smoke cloud. The Book of Dragons in Wild Skies says the smoke is pumped out of their skin.

Smokebreath packs have the habit of collecting treasures and "shiny things" to merge them together to create their nests, in order to defend themselves from other dragons. They often go to extremes to collect treasure, as shown when they all formed a cloud of smoke and chased the riders for their metal. Another of their characteristics described in the Book of Dragons is that they are very territorial. A group of them live in caves on an island called "Breakneck Bog" (which is the thumb of five islands that look like a hand).

These creatures hunt in complete stealth. Hidden by the smoke, they surround their prey and close until it cannot see anything, so they attack.

A single Smokebreath by itself is relatively of little consequence, but an entire swarm is powerful enough to tear apart a fleet of Berserker ships or bring the Isle of Berk to the brink of defeat by stripping it of nearly all the metal available.

They much stronger then Terrible Terrors, as one was able to pull Hiccup in to the air and carry him at great speed to catch up to its swarm. Entire swarms can lift whole ships filled with cargo out of the ocean and relocate them to great heights, provided the target is close enough to their home.

One of this dragon's greatest abilities is its legendary reputation. At the first sign of its smoke, many vikings will clear out of a village, leaving all the metal free for the Smokebreath's to plunder.

Dragons: Riders/Defenders of Berk
Everybody believed that Breakneck Bog to be haunted by some kind of "Fog Monster". The riders found an unconscious Trader Johann on a wooden plank. He says he was attacked by the "Fog Monster". When they investigate, they discover that Johann's merchant ship is on top of a tree. After the ship drops, the "Fog Monster" chases the dragons and their riders. They are revealed to be Smothering Smokebreaths after the dragons used their wings to clear the smoke.

A little later they see the dragons welding metal objects along with their fire to build their nest and Hiccup is also present in the cave. Fishlegs says they do it to protect themselves from larger dragons. Using a bright gold necklace Snotlout had found at the ship to distract the Smokebreaths, Hiccup escapes and recovers the box that was on Johann's ship. The dragons and riders chased them and threw all their metal objects that the Smokebreaths have taken and returned. A Smokebreath attacked Hiccup's prosthetic leg but Fishlegs attacked and turned back, but is still afraid of him. The riders and dragons returned safely to Berk.

Johann then bought a scrap metal pile from a Berserker, which he then sells to Gobber. Unknown to anyone, there was a Smokebreath nest in it, and soon the dragons took all the metal in Berk. Shortly after the village was almost completely stripped of its metal, including weapons, Dagur and his fleet were making their way to Berk. Fortunately, Hiccup and the other riders were able to attract Smokebreaths to the vessels, where they took the metal, causing them to sink. After the metal was recovered, the Smokebreaths were later taken to Breakneck Bog, courtesy of Johann's ship.

Book of Dragons
A group of Smothering Smokebreaths can be seen in Book of Dragons short, once Gobber opens the book. (They are in the upper right corner just behind the big, gray, unknown dragon, which could be another Red Death).

Trivia

 * The Smokebreath is one of the Mystery Class dragons in Wild Skies, along with the Changewing. They are also the only Wild Skies dragon to be displayed in groups.
 * It was speculated in to be in a Halloween episode.
 * The Smothering Smokebreath is similar to both a bat and a magpie, because a bat likes to live in caves and in large groups, and magpies like to collect shiny objects to build their nest.
 * The original image of the Old Wild Skies Smokebreath looks much like a Monstrous Nightmare, but when the dragon was released in the game's image in the book was changed to coincide with the dragon. It is possible that this was concept art, but the designers decided to change it because it was too similar to the Monstrous Nightmare.
 * They are similar to the Terrible Terror, as they travel in groups, are smaller than most dragons, as well as bringing objects together. This is seen when two Smokebreaths try to snatch Tuffnut.
 * While a whole group of them appeared in both of their episodes, t he Smothering Smokebreath is one of the few known species not to have any differences in color.
 * It would be logical that the Smothering Smokebreath is extremely rare. This is evidenced by even Fishlegs thinking they were a myth.
 * It is the second dragon which Vikings doubted its existence. The first was the Boneknapper.
 * These dragons may have been the reason for the fog around Dragon Island, but this was not confirmed.
 * Both appearances of Smothering Smokebreaths were in the 17th episode of the season and also both had Trader Johann in them.
 * Even though the Smothering Smokebreath is seen breathing smoke, the Dragon Tracker Part 2 claims that the smoke comes from its skin.
 * In Dragons: Rise of Berk, the Smokebreath baby is larger than the adult version.
 * It is possible that Smothering Smokebreaths used to gather raw ore to make their nests. With the arrival of Vikings to the archipelago 300 years earlier, they may have then adapted their behavior to also scavenge Viking metal as it would be easier to collect.
 * According to Dragonpedia, the Smothering Smokebreath's smoke contains extremely hot air. Making the smoke itself extremely hot. This is the second dragon that shoots extremely hot air, the other being the Windstriker.