Boneknapper

"The Boneknapper. This odd creature collects the bones of dead dragons and makes itself an unusual coat of armor."

- Gobber talking about the Boneknapper

The Boneknapper is a large Mystery Class dragon that was first mentioned in How to Train Your Dragon and first appeared in Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon.

Official Description
"This Mystery Class scavenger covers itself in bones to shield its delicate body. Its choice of armor makes it unpopular with other Dragons! The Boneknapper is well-protected in its armor while it gets close and delivers a potent stream of fire to its fleeing opponents."

- Dragons: Rise of Berk

"Even the toughest of dragons need protecting every now and then. This was the case with a weaken Boneknapper that crossed paths with Eret. After taking care of the armored dragon, the two formed a friendship that has allowed Vikings to bond with the Boneknapper's eggs! Eret had been following a trail of bones all day, and was quite concerned not knowing who or what was leaving them behind. It was a few hours before dusk when he encountered a weakened Boneknapper! While this Mystery Class dragon did not seem to have a lot of energy, it was still standing quite defensively in front of a nest of eggs! The fame dragon wrangler was quite surprised! It was the Boneknapper who was leaving the trail of bones, most likely due to injury. Not wanting to scare the dragon away, Eret began the trek back to collect the bones. He returned the next day, with a bounty of bones for the Boneknapper, as well as smaller bones he had asked the other dragon trainers for the Boneknapper's eggs. Eret finally arrived to the Boneknapper's nest and laid the bones halfway between them. After a good long stare the thundering dragon realized Eret simply wanted to help. This spontaneous friendship has led to the Vikings on campus to train and bond with the Boneknapper's eggs! Will you be bonding with one of these shielded dragons?"

- School of Dragons

"Categorized as a member of the Mystery Class, the Boneknapper is one of the most uncommon and abnormal species of dragons living around the Isle of Berk. As its name suggests, it creates its own armor from the bones of other dragons. Without this shell, a Boneknapper resembles a “big boneless chicken.” Because of this vulnerability, the bones a Boneknapper collects act as a protective covering and are essential for performing fundamental actions, such as roaring. The Boneknapper will search far and wide to complete its protective armor, sometimes spending years looking for a single perfect bone."

- School of Dragons Website

Development
Early concept art from Nico Marlet resemble a Sword Stealer more, as the dragon appears to have arrows, chains and an axe attached to its very body.

Eventually, the Boneknapper's head evolved into one more similar to that of a Monstrous Nightmare. One by Nico depicted a triple-split tail and two pairs of wings. Most of the design development centered around the bone placement, as well as the type of bones used for the dragon. Most, for example, depicted a smaller skull at the tip of its tail, or larger bones along its vertebrae.

Egg
The Boneknapper's egg appears to be fragments and parts of bone, plated and fused together to form an egg. However, it is unlikely that the eggs are made of real bone, which is similar in composition to an eggshell.

Hatchling to Adult
A member of the Mystery Class, Boneknappers are built in a similar birdlike manner as the Deadly Nadder, albeit much larger. Their natural coloration seems to be a dull olive-green and gray, though it can be hard to see under their armor of bones.

Unlike most dragons, which have hard scales to protect themselves from enemies, Boneknapper scales are thin and soft. To counter this weakness, Boneknappers cover themselves in the bones and horns of dead dragons and other animals. As a form of defense, they can use a huge concentration of bones, forming a club at the end of their tail to disarm or injure opponents.



Titan Wing
According to Dragons: Rise of Berk, the Titan Wing Boneknapper has orange, pinkish skin with many brown dots on its wings. They still retain their bone armor and most bones remain the same. However, the clubbed end of its tail becomes a smaller, sharp dragon skull. As with most Titan Wings, the Boneknapper increases a lot in size when it reaches this stage of growth.

Firepower
Boneknappers can breathe bursts of red and orange fire that are similar to that of the Red Death's. It does not appear to be very hot as the gang was shown to be able to stay very close to it and the dragon ribcage that got burned was not charred.

Bone Armor
"It searches for the perfect bone for its bone armor."

- Hiccup, realizing the Boneknapper found the perfect bone on Gobber's belt The Boneknapper's main objective is to collect bones to protect itself. Gobber's Nemesis is special, since he will do whatever it takes to get the Terrible Terror pelvic bone, even if it means that he has to risk his own life to get it. The Boneknapper is known to create skeleton armor from the bones of other dragons. As their armored body can protect them from attacks for great defense. They are also able to create a club tail out of bones for smashing their opponents.

Sometimes, this bone armor can be essential for the dragon to perform basic actions, such as roaring. The Boneknapper will often go to extreme lengths to find the bones it seeks, hunting down the fragments for years.



Strength and Combat
Due to their large size, Boneknappers display an amazing level of strength. They are able to wear bones of dragons as armor, as well as carry the weight of seven Vikings and a sheep on their body with no sign of struggle.



Speed and Agility
Despite their heavy armor, Boneknappers are able to outpace humans on land and in the air with no signs of fatigue. They can easily make tight turns both on land and in the air. They can turn their heads in almost any direction, meaning their necks are very articulated.

Endurance and Stamina
As shown in Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon, Boneknappers possess a high amount of stamina that enables them to fly and run well for long distances, even while carrying several humans on its back, without any signs of struggle.

Thundering Roar
Boneknappers have the ability to make a powerful roar that needs a special piece of bone, acting as a throat bone on its body in order to be released. This roar can also be used as a mating call that can attract others of their kind.

Stealth
Despite their large size and their armor of bones, Boneknappers are very stealthy dragons, for they are able to sneak up on their prey without making any noise.

Weaknesses
Without their bone armor, the Boneknapper is as weak as a boneless chicken and is vulnerable to their enemies attacks.

If one bone that is required for its armor is missing, the Boneknapper also loses its ability to roar.

Behavior and Personality
Boneknappers, due to their dependency on bones, spend a lot of time looting piles of dragon bones for the perfect pieces of armor. While they can spend years pursuing a single piece of bone, it is evident that these dragons are extremely determined and are perfectionists when it comes to maintaining their armor.

It is also confirmed that as long as their objectives to collect perfect bone pieces is fulfilled, Boneknappers can be very calm and friendly towards human beings. This can be seen when Gobber gave up his lucky bone, and instead of killing him, the Boneknapper affectionately nuzzled him and requested for him to stroke him. And when Gobber relented, the dragon took on a more stereotypical family dog portrayal, lying on its back and thumping its tail.

According to the Boneshedder page, once a year, Boneknappers will discard any old or broken bones in favor of new, stronger ones.

Training
According to Gobber, to train a Boneknapper, one must give it whatever it desires. It will then become like "an overgrown puppy dog".

How to Train Your Dragon
The Boneknapper makes a brief appearance in the first How to Train Your Dragon film. After Dragon Training, Hiccup reads through the Dragon Manual in order to find information on the Night Fury and ends up finding a page about the Boneknapper as he flips through the book.

Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon
The Boneknapper appeared as the main antagonist in Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon, a 15 minute short created for the release of How to Train Your Dragon on DVD. Originally having hunted down Gobber since his teen days numerous times, the Dragon made its first physical appearance on a distant island after Gobber, along with Hiccup and his friends, set out to capture it. Hiccup realizes that Gobber's belt buckle is the piece of bone that the Boneknapper wants, which is missing from its neck. Reluctantly, Gobber gives the piece of bone back to the dragon, where it suddenly becomes quite docile and playful. As a thank you, the Boneknapper lets Gobber, Hiccup and the others ride on its back to get home. With its armor complete, the Boneknapper let out a triumphant roar, drawing other female Boneknappers to follow its mating call back to Berk.



Book of Dragons
The Boneknapper and its abilities were mentioned in Book of Dragons, in which Gobber explains how he trained it. He also tells a story about how Bork the Bold met a Boneknapper while he was collecting bones. The wild dragon took all of Bork's bones and roared at him, which caused the latter to lose his clothes.

The Ice Castle
The Boneknapper made a short appearance in this Dragons: Riders of Berk comic as a captive dragon that got freed after the gang saved them.

Dragons: Rise of Berk
This dragon then appeared as a Rare dragon in Dragons: Rise of Berk, unlocked by Toothless at level 40 at Dragon Graveyard. Other individuals like Gobber's Nemesis, Boneshedder, Brute Boneknapper, and Defender Boneknapper.

School of Dragons
This dragon also became available in School of Dragons, where players can also get matching outfits in packs. There is also a quest during which the player finds a female Boneknapper and her baby in the Whispering Death Tunnels.

Dragons: Titan Uprising
Several Boneknapper individuals, like Bog-Blight, Skullcrown, Cryptic Collector, Grave Knapper, and Bludgeon Knapper, and hybrids, like the Bonestormer, appear in this game.

Trivia

 * The Boneknapper is one of four dragons that have been doubted of existence. Many Vikings believed there was no such thing as the Boneknapper. The others are the Smothering Smokebreath, the Foreverwing, and the Lycanwing, although the Lycanwing is likely not real to begin with.
 * According to Fishlegs in Dragons: Titan Uprising, no one has ever seen a Boneknapper without its armor.
 * Despite this, concept art does exist of the Boneknapper without its armor, with the resulting dragon somewhat resembling a cross between a Deadly Nadder, Monstrous Nightmare, and a Scauldron.
 * In armor, the Boneknapper resembles a Dracolich despite not being undead.
 * According to Richard Hamilton, the Boneknapper was dropped from the franchise's canon.
 * He revealed that the Boneknapper was developed outside of the core production of How to Train Your Dragon, and was added to the movie very late into production.
 * He also said that the creative team behind Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon made choices that didn't fit the direction the franchise was taking in How to Train Your Dragon 2 and beyond.
 * A Boneknapper made an appearance in The Mr. Peabody and Sherman Show as a monster from Sherman's horror movie.

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