Drago Bludvist

"I alone control the dragons!"

- (How To Train Your Dragon 2) Drago Bludvist talking to Astrid.

Drago Bludvist, age 50, is the main antagonist in the movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and is the self-proclaimed "Dragon God", as well as the tyrannical leader of his army. He tries to conquer the world with his enormous army of both humans and dragons. He is feared by all and will destroy those who get in his way.

Description
Drago is described as a crazed maniac with a human and dragon army that he plans to use to take over Berk, and then the world.

Stoick and Valka are supposed to know about Drago. Drago's vast financial power and authority came from keeping the fear of dragons in people and forcing them to join his army. He is steadily gaining control over the world by reinforcing the belief that he alone can control the dragons, so he alone can control people as well. He wants to collect the world's dragons to keep the threat alive and close. He can control those who follow him and get rid of those who won't. The dragon riders make dragons not feared and therefore not a threat. Drago wants to make dragons feared and thinks of dragon riders as a threat. At first he thought Valka was the only one but he learns that there is an entire island full of dragon riders on Berk. Valka and Stoick sees him as a threat to both humans and dragons.He is also willing to betray his allies and humiliate them, as he did to Eret.

Going Insane
"Let's just see how well you do without me!"

- Drago Bludvist Before confronting Hiccup and Valka, Drago Bludvist reveals that he was a simple man, but quickly changed when his family was attacked and presumably killed by dragons, even losing his arm in the process and replaced it with a metal arm. He briefly lived in fear after witnessing his family being killed by dragons. Later on, Drago Bludvist eventually became evil, dark, violent and without conscience or mercy, a tyrannical warlord, and he eventually learned how to control dragons and make them bow down to him. He controlled them harshly, proclaiming himself as 'The Dragon God'. With this new power he wished to conquer the world, crushing anyone who was foolish enough to stand in his way. During his early conquests he found a Bewilderbeast hatchling and decided to take it with him as a slave and abused it until it grew to full size and used it to gather a huge dragon army. Drago came before a great gathering of chieftains that had met to discuss the dragon problem, which Stoick was attending. He quietly told them that he could bring peace and promised them that the Viking people could finally end its war against the dragons, but only if they chose to bow down and follow him. The chiefs took this for a joke and laughed at him, angering Drago. After Drago warned them and walked off, two of his armored dragons quickly descended into the hall through the roof and burned everything in sight. Stoick was the only one who managed to escape, of which Drago was unaware. At some point of his life, he met Valka after she was abducted by Cloudjumper the Stormcutter. As she began rescuing dragons from his abuse, he met Eret and made him one of his dragon trappers.

Organizing Conquest
"Years ago, there was a great gathering of chieftains to discuss the dragon scourge we faced. Into our mist came a stranger from a strange land, covered in scars and draped a cloak of dragon skin. He carried no weapon and spoke softly, saying that he, Drago Bludvist, was a man of the people, devoted to freeing mankind from the tyranny of dragons. He claimed that he alone could control the dragons and that he alone could keep us safe, if, we chose to bow down and follow him..."

- Stoick

Years later, Drago is almost finished assembling and preparing his huge army to further his conquest of capturing more dragons, to where, after his men captured Astrid and her group shortly after arrival on the belief that he had Hiccup, and learns of him and Berk being home to dragon riders, invade the Dragon Den of Valka and the Bewilderbeast. Drago orders his human and dragon army, to keep moving towards the mountain. But proves difficult, when the Riders foil their weapons and traps by surprise, and also encountering the Bewilderbeast, which emerges from the Sanctuary. But Drago seems to be expecting it, and shows off his own enslaved Bewilderbeast that emerges from the sea crushing anything in its path, which Drago doesn't seem to care. Valka tries to stop him, but she gets pinned down and nearly killed by Drago, luckily Stoick rescues her in time and Drago is surprised to see Stoick alive. The two fight each other, but their fight ends in stalemate. Drago orders his Bewilderbeast to fend them both off. Finally, Drago meets the so called 'Dragon Master' which is Hiccup. Although Hiccup attempts to reason with Drago, he ignores his statements and, after his Bewilderbeast defeats and kills Valka's Bewilderbeast, orders his Alpha Dragon to kill Hiccup. With the Bewilderbeast now in control of all dragons in the area, it takes control of Toothless and uses him to attack Hiccup, Toothless initially unable to resist its control. As Drago watches, Toothless ignites his plasma blast to fire at Hiccup, only for the blast to be intercepted by Stoick, killing him instantly as he pushes Hiccup to safety.

Final Invasion of Berk
Drago leaves them to their fate, Hiccup unintentionally making Drago's goal easier when he orders Toothless away in a moment of grief and rage at his father's death. Taking Toothless as his mount - most likely for both the practical reason of wanting the power of the last Night Fury and the symbolic reason of his control of Toothless representing his 'victory' over Berk and also possibly because Toothless can't fly on his own- Drago leads his victorious army towards the invasion of Berk. From there he announces to the villagers that their leader has been killed, and the Bewilderbeast freezes the village with its icy blast after taking control of its dragons.

However, Hiccup and the other riders manage to return to Berk by riding the baby Scuttleclaws outside of the Bewilderbeast's control, with a mocking Drago allowing Hiccup the chance to talk to Toothless after he gets up close, clearly certain that Toothless will not miss when ordered to fire again. With Hiccup's compassion and bond with Toothless overriding the Alpha's control, Toothless soon returns to himself, throwing Drago off his back and diving down so that Hiccup can resume his usual role as Toothless's rider. Although Drago tries to regain control by ordering the Alpha to kill them, Toothless is able to tap into his true power and charge his plasma blasts to protect himself and Hiccup from the Bewilderbeast's ice blast, subsequently challenging the Alpha for control of the other dragons. Drago strongly refuses to stand down and surrender and orders the Alpha to fight back. Toothless, with his repeated plasma blasts weakening the Bewilderbeast's control over the other dragons, is soon joined by Drago's former dragon army as they join Toothless's assault, forcing the Bewilderbeast back and knocking Drago's artificial arm off. The battle concludes when Toothless's final plasma blast breaks the Bewilderbeast's left tusk, forcing it and Drago to retreat into the ocean, leaving Drago's fate unknown. He is pesumed to have drowned.

Physical Appearance
Drago is a very intimidating person and has the appearance to match. He is very tall, reaching 6ft 10inches, is well built, has long waist length hair styled in dreadlocks, a full beard styled with bands and sunken green eyes. He is slightly tanned and has quite a substantial amount of scars on his body. According to Stoick, he was 'covered in scars'. From what is shown in the movie, he has a scar across his left eye, left cheek, forehead, nose, across the right side of his mouth that travels up to his eight cheek and all over his right arm and hand,

According to The Art of How to Train Your Dragon 2, Drago was designed to look as racially ambiguous as possible and from a land far from the Vikings of Berk. His appearance had several influences from different countries and cultures, his clothing was based of Slavic origin, while his actual physical appearance was based of people from the Mediterranean and northern Africa. His attire consists of a sleeveless shirt made from dragon skin, a thick waist belt with what looks like a symbol of the sun, and a huge black cape made from dragon skin. It can be assumed that since the scales are black on his cloak that it is made of Nightfury skin, the cloak covers his prosthetic arm. Attached to his belt he wears what looks like a dragon scaled loin cloth, blue trousers and boots covered in fur.

Personality
"Drago Bludvist is a madman, without conscience or mercy; and if he’s built a dragon army, Gods help us all."

- Stoick, telling Hiccup about Drago

He is referred to by Stoick as a madman without conscience or mercy, who is a tyrannical leader of his dragon/human army. He is a ruthless, sadistic, callous, arrogant, and power-hungry tyrant who seeks to enslave both dragons and humans and take over the world.

He is also quite abusive, as he has beaten and berated his Bewilderbeast and given his pawn, Eret, a symbolic scar for showing up with no dragons. Thus proves he is pure undiluted evil.

Whereas Hiccup and the others relationship with their dragons is one of deep trust and friendship, Drago's relationship with his dragons is one of control, abuse and domination. Having raised his Bewilderbeast from a hatchling he discovered in one of his earliest conquests, Drago subjected it to loveless, miserable life, frequently abusing and possibly torturing it to punish any perceived weakness. Presumably he mentally and physically broke the creature early on, turning what should have been a peaceful beast into a murderous, savage war machine, made to kill. He also never gives it any positive acknowledgement, only verbally berating it for doing something wrong or giving it commands. Interestingly, he has never been shown directly murdering others with his bare hands, but relies on his control of the dragons to do it for him, such as when he had his Bewilderbeast take control of Toothless to make him kill Hiccup and using armored dragons to burn down a hall filled with Viking chiefs after he had left the building in question.

He intimidates the dragons into obedience and controls them by swinging his bull hook above his head and roaring like an animal in a frightening display of power. This is first demonstrated when he uses it to scare Hookfang into submission, then places his foot on his snout, rather than his hand like Hiccup originally did, emphasising that Drago's relationship with dragons is one of master and slave, rathen than trust and equality.

Paradoxically, his greatest strength was also his greatest weakness; while his ruthless insanity made it impossible for Hiccup to reason with him as he had originally set out to do, allowing Drago to outmaneuver and take control of Berk's dragons once Hiccup and the dragon riders unwittingly told Drago of their existence, it also rendered him incapable of understanding Hiccup's bond with Toothless, which allowed Hiccup to regain "control" of his dragon.

Abilities and Skills
Drago was the first human to raise one of the most powerful dragons, the Alpha, as his secret weapon against many vikings to try to take over many islands, people and dragons.

Strength and Fighting Skills: Drago is a formidable fighter and opponent to both humans and dragons, with scars as proof. A prime example of his fighting skills is that he was able to hold his own against Stoick the Vast, who was a veteran warrior who had presumably never been bested in combat by a human. Drago also defeated Valka in combat relatively easily, and would have killed her had Stoick not intervened. His weapon of choice seems to be a large Bullhook, which he used mostly to control his Bewilderbeast and other dragons. The scars on his face also suggest he has fought in many battles.

Controlling Dragons and Riders: Unlike Hiccup, Valka and the rest of the dragon riders, Drago doesn't train or forms bonds with the dragons under his command. Instead, he enslaves them with brute force and intimidation, as he demonstrated on Hookfang. He only 'trained one dragon, his Bewilderbeast, ever since it was a hatchling, and tortured it into becoming a mindless, savage and merciless machine of war. He also manage to ride on Toothless until Toothless broke free from the mind control.

Intelligence: He does have great intelligence. Proof for this is that he found a clever way to command his Bewilderbeast by making different screams. He knew about the other Alpha that Valka had on her side. He also knew that to control the dragons, he would use his Bewilderbeast special ability against other dragons, and so use it against vikings to make them recognize him as their king.

Endurance and Stamina: His stamina is well for his age. You can conclude this out by seeing that he won the short battle against Valka, and that he endured the attacks from Stoick the Vast while trying to fight back.

The Haddock Family
The Haddock family poses the gravest threat to Drago's conquest, and he consequently singles them out for destruction before presumably moving on to conquer the known world, though his plans are often interfered by the masked vigilante of the Haddock family - Valka. Ironically, the only Haddock he ended up killing is the one whom he had not specifically labelled as one of his targets for he didn't knew he had survived - Stoick the Vast, while being defeated by the youngest Haddock who served as his perfect foil in practically every way, especially when came to dragons - Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
After hearing about him from Astrid, Drago seems to acknowledge Hiccup as a rival of sorts, realizing that another dragon-tamer could endanger his monopoly over the dragons. A parallel of sorts to Hiccup, given his own mastery over legions of dragons, Drago is a good contrast to him as well, using abuse and force to dominate the will of his dragons as opposed to befriending them.

When the two finally face off at the Dragon Den, Drago, identifying Hiccup upon seeing him ride his Night Fury, Toothless, seems amused that his reputed nemesis was little more than a boy, seemingly dismissing the threat that Hiccup posed. While Hiccup still believed that Drago could be reasoned with, he proves otherwise, stating that strength of will was true power and the only way to control dragons -- an ideal he demonstrates by commanding his Bewilderbeast to take control of Toothless, and using him to kill Hiccup. Though this fails due to Stoick's intervention, it succeeds in shaking Hiccup's resolve. Drago then takes Toothless as his mount to further demoralize Hiccup.

During Drago's invasion of Berk, Hiccup continues to surprise him when he and his companions show up on the backs of baby dragons, which the Bewilderbeast could not control, then again when Hiccup's bond with Toothless frees him from the Bewilderbeast's command. The tables are turned on the infuriated Drago when Hiccup's ingenuity and Toothless' own willpower rise up against the great and terrible Bewilderbeast, shaming both tyrants and releasing the dragons from their control for good.

Valka
Just as Valka despises Drago for his cruel and abusive treatment of dragons, Drago views Valka as his greatest threat prior to finding out about her son, Hiccup, as she was one of the few to stand in his way of complete domination over both man and dragon kind with her safe haven of dragons. While he sees her as an obstacle, he also seems extremely confident that his dragon army and Bewilderbeast tyrant would be able to overpower Valka's own dragon legion -- many of which were refugees and rescuers, not fighters. His confidence proves to be well-founded when his Bewilderbeast defeats Valka's white king, and he quickly overpowers Valka in battle, her death only being prevented by the intervention of her husband.

Stoick the Vast
Stoick and the other Viking clan leaders turned down Drago when he came to them with his offer of leadership, laughing him away when he demanded that they bow down to him in exchange for safety from the then-threat of dragons. Seemingly having anticipated this, Drago had a pair of armored dragons under his control waiting outside, who then proceeded to burn the longhouse to the ground as Drago escaped. Only Stoick survived the encounter, and he sees Drago as a grave threat.

During their eventual showdown at Dragon Mountain, Stoick appears to have the upper hand due to his superior fighting prowess and Drago's disadvantage of his missing arm, and had Stoick not left the fight to come to Valka's rescue, it is possible that he would have defeated the madman then and there. Stoick then intervened when Drago attempts to kill Hiccup by controlling Toothless, taking the death blow intended for his son. Drago barely even acknowledges Stoick's death when he realizes Hiccup was not the one killed, merely smiling and not even turning to look, suggesting both his sense of superiority over the other man as well as a possible realization that the death of Hiccup's father is equally damaging.

Eret, Son of Eret
"Ha-ha, always great to see you my friend, keeping warm up here? Well as you can see, I’m here right on time with a new batch of dragons. Just like I’ve promised."

- Eret, attempting to impress Drago

Eret served Drago out of fear, before joining the dragon riders. He gave Eret a symbolic scar for not bringing him enough dragons. Even when he did, he tried to have Eret executed.

Drago's Bewilderbeast
Drago found the Bewilderbeast as a hatchling during one of his earliest conquests. Drago recognized this as his way to control ALL dragons, whether they like it or not. Drago abused it and even starved it, until it was nothing but a huge war machine. Despite Drago obvious mistreatment of his Bewilderbeast, the Bewilderbeast seems to seek Drago's approval. Drago used the Bewilderbeast to kill Valka's Bewilderbeast and then used it to force Toothless to kill Stoick the Vast. In the final invasion, when Toothless challenges the Alpha, Drago loses control and screams "FIGHT!!!" continuously until Toothless blows off its left tusk, and Drago's metal arm. Then, it bowed respectively to Toothless, and went back into the ocean with Drago on his back, where, without his other arm, possibly drowned.

Appearances

 * How to Train Your Dragon 2

Quotes

 * (To the chiefs in the Great Hall) "Let's just see how well you do without me!"
 * "You belong to me now."
 * "CUT THEM DOWN!"
 * "AAAAAAAHHHHH! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"
 * "Finish her!"
 * "Dragon master?, I alone control the dragons!"
 * "I will bring the entire world down upon you!"
 * "All dragons bow to me!"
 * "Now, we have a fight!"
 * "The alpha controls them all.
 * "This, is the great Dragon Master? Son of Stoick the Vast? What shame he must feel."
 * "We must attack the dragon rider's nest at once!"
 * "You surely are hard to get rid of, I'll say that."
 * (To Valka)"Well then, it's a good thing I've brought a challenger."
 * "The dragons are mine now..."
 * (About his Bewilderbeast and Toothless)"No dragon can resist the Alpha's command. So he who controls the alpha, controls them all."
 * "FIGHT BACK! FIGHT BACK! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?!"
 * "Witness true strength; strength of will over others. In the face of it, you are nothing."
 * (To Hiccup after he demanded Drago to end his evil reign of terror) "NEVER!!! COME ON!!"
 * (final words before Hiccup and Toothless defeat his Bewilderbeast and retreats to the ocean) "FIGHT!!!!!"
 * "Whatever comes, keep hitting the mountain"

Trivia

 * He is referred as a madman by Stoick.
 * His severed arm isn't the only injury that Drago has. He has many scars on his arm, face and presumably his entire body. It would also appear that he has lost some control over the muscles on the right side of his mouth, as when he smiles, only the left side manages to raise.
 * Drago's screams could be an homage to the original books, for in the story, to train your dragon you must yell at it.
 * Drago seems succeeded to enslave a Bewilderbeast quite effectively, as the beast doesn't mind letting the man on its head.
 * He also has a prosthetic left arm: this is because he lost his arm to some dragons who attacked his village when he was young. However, because he wants to seem invincible, he usually hides it with his dragonhide cape.
 * The characteristics and polar opposites of him and Valka and her son are being counterparts to each other (though of being negative and positive); both are 'crazed' about dragons (Drago has many followers and back ups, Valka struggling alone), knowing ways to control dragons (in violent and peaceful ways of course), both are able to summon own Bewilderbeasts for a battle and Hiccup lost a leg to a dragon and his taming method involves building trust and gently touching the dragons' nose with his hand to show friendship, while Drago lost an arm to a dragon and his training method involves inspiring fear and harshly stepping on the dragon's head with his foot to show dominance.
 * He has various similar facial characteristics with his enslaved Bewilderbeast as having dreadlocks, wrinkles, a searching look, broad chin, darker skins than usual Vikings, well-built physique, and so on. With this point, it is contrasting with Valka's mask.
 * According to Gerald Butler in an interview: Drago and Stoick have encountered each other from the past back when Berk was still at war with dragons. But the two men did not see eye to eye in terms of how they should have fought the dragons, preventing any form of alliance due to Drago's ruthlessness clashing with Stoick's morality.
 * Drago's screams sound similar to when James Kirk yells Khan's name in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
 * According to an interview, Drago is Slavic, not a Viking. The Artbook also mentioned that Drago isn't a Viking, and has soldiers from all over the world. This may mean Drago's goal of domination isn't just limited too the Barbaric Archipalego.
 * Though it is clearly stated that his cape is made of dragon skin, it is unknown exactly what kind of dragon skin it is made of.
 * It was rumored by a few people that since Drago's dragon skin caped is black (or just very dark blue), the cape may have been made out of a Night Fury's skin. Perhaps that is why Toothless is (one of) the last Night Fury(s)?
 * Dean DeBlois told Collider that he's currently on page 60 in the screenplay writing process, and that villain Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou) will return in How to Train Your Dragon 3 and become "a lot more complex" as a character, also hinting that he may still be alive.