Flightmare

"Legend has it that the Flightmare is so terrifying, it actually freezes its prey in their tracks."

- Fishlegs reading the Book of Dragons about the Flightmare

The Flightmare is a medium-sized Mystery Class (formerly Fear Class) dragon that first appeared in Dragons: Defenders of Berk.

Official Description
"Like something out of a campfire ghost story, the Flightmare doesn't even seem like a real dragon. Emitting a banshee wail and glowing like a phantasm, the Flightmare has haunted Berkians for generations. The Flightmare's glow comes from its primary food supply, a unique type of algae that flows through the woods around Isle of Berk. This algae glows with bioluminescence in the light of Aurvandil's Fire, a Northern Lights display that occurs every few years over Berk. When the Flightmare eats the algae, it also glows, giving it an unnatural appearance. The Flightmare's abilities are almost entirely defensive, so it can be overpowered when cornered or outnumbered by tougher dragons. Because of this, it has become a very territorial and short-tempered dragon, and incredibly protective over its algae food supply. Flightmares emit a toxic mist that can temporarily paralyze a human. This has led to the legend of Flightmares 'scaring Vikings stiff'. While it wears off after a few minutes, the potent mist immobilizes the Flightmare's target long enough for it to strike."

- Dragonpedia

"Instead of shooting fire, this Dragon from the Mystery Class emits a toxic mist that paralyzes its foes. Talk about being scared stiff! The very sight of a Flightmare at a distance can make Vikings freeze in their tracks... which is the perfect time for the Dragon to strike!"

- Dragons: Rise of Berk

Egg
Flightmare eggs are typically oval-shaped, and colored with bright neon colors, usually depicting the unborn individual's main scale color. The eggs grow brightly and are surrounded by a lingering glowing mist, possibly the same toxic substance used by Flightmares, emitted for additional protection.

Hatchling to Adult
The Flightmare is a medium-sized dragon that has a very unique ghost-like appearance. Its body is covered in tiny spots make it resemble the stars in the night sky.

A Flightmare slightly resembles a mix between a Skrill, a Night Fury, and a Fireworm, with brightly glowing scales. Its natural faint glow is greatly enhanced and weaponized by the consumption of a specific type of glowing blue algae that forms a staple part of a Flightmare's diet. Flightmares are covered in tendrils, replacing spines in the locations the latter would be, mostly back, wing tips, tail, and head.

Titan Wing
Titan Wing Flightmares are nearly identical to their younger counterparts, but are now colored purple with a faint, translucent blue outline. They have white and light purple dots all over their wings. Their tails now contain more tendrils.

In School of Dragons, the Titan Flightmare has larger wings, three horns on the head, neon spines on the legs, and a mermaid-like tail with spines.

Glowing Body
The Flightmare's body produces a weak and dim glow, but bright enough for it to be spotted easily. But when the Flightmare consumes glowing algae, a type of unique algae that makes the internal structures of dragons glow with a similar color to that of their fire type, its body's glow is greatly enhanced. Flightmares are capable of controlling how bright they can glow for a limited amount of time after consuming the algae, and can use this ability to nearly blind and confuse their prey or foes.

Firepower
The Flightmare can strike with a toxic mist that temporarily paralyzes the victim from head to toe and can leave its victims frozen in fear, giving itself enough time to return and finish it off. The mist can be fired in blasts or streams, and vary in quantity, depending on the Flightmare's tactics and size of the target. The mist leaves surfaces and victims glossy and slightly wet while the paralysis lasts. Large concentrations of Flightmare mist appear to kill their victims, as shown when Hofferson's Bane killed Fearless Finn Hofferson by exposing Astrid's relative to streams of its paralyzing toxins.

In "Maces and Talons, Part 2", it is revealed that the Flightmare's mist can also break the emergency release of the Dragon Eye, rendering the Snow Wraith's tooth unnecessary.

The Flightmare is also capable of spewing large quantities of paralyzing mist as it flies by for long periods of time, leaving a trail of its mist. Unlike blasts and streams, the toxic mist, when emitted this way, has a lingering effect in the immediate area, not unlike that of a Hideous Zippleback. It remains unknown how using this ability affects the Flightmare's shot limit.

Due to high concentrations of water Flightmare mist can freeze, and even in its solid state maintains its paralyzing properties. It can be collected by Vikings and melted to be used as a sedative.

Speed and Agility
Flightmares have shown to be fast and agile dragons, as the Flightmare in "Fright of Passage" was able to catch up with Toothless with ease. Even so, when Toothless was trying to get away from the Flightmare, it quickly boosted in front of him to prevent his escape.

Strength and Combat
The Flightmare prefers strategic takedowns and the use of its many abilities over brute strength, utilizing hit-and-run tactics and the element of surprise to overpower its opponents, much like a Strike Class dragon. Flightmares are known to set up mist traps as Zipplebacks use to affect multiple targets in the vicinity. They frequently use their glowing abilities to stun enemies when they lose the upper hand, as well as a distraction to escape when they feel outnumbered.

Endurance and Stamina
Flightmares have shown to be extremely durable, able to suffer the punishment of several dragons, even when hurt or fatigued, since being solitary dragons they are the first and last defense of their food sources.

Flightmares also sport a great deal of stamina, stopping to rest little while preferring to remain airborne. They also constantly and relentlessly pursue and defend the ever-flowing streams of glowing algae from anyone that might pose even the tiniest threat.

Banshee-like Scream
The Flightmare emits a loud, high-pitched banshee-like shriek that affects the concentration and stability other dragons in the near vicinity, much like a weak version of the Screaming Death's roar. They often combine their roar with their other abilities such as their glow to overpower their opponents, especially during their entrance and departure. Their roar sounds similar to that of the Snow Wraith, only that the Snow Wraith has a much deeper and softer roar.

Hunting
Even though a Flightmare's diet is largely composed of fish and glowing algae, their abilities, combined with their dietary enhancements make Flightmares the ideal hunters, being able to effortlessly hunt any Viking, animal, and most other dragons.

Weaknesses
The Flightmare owes one of its most powerful attributes to the glowing algae, and thus must be constantly near a source of it as the glow-enhancing effects last but a limited amount of time. Due to the scarcity of the algae the Flightmare must protect its main food source at all times from anyone who might try to consume even small quantities of algae in order to maintain its exclusive diet. Diverting the stream of algae will prompt the Flightmare to hastily purse it in fear of losing its food.

Oddly enough, Flightmares suffer the same effects as others when exposed to algae-enhanced glow, meaning they can be defeated by other Flightmares and dragons consuming glowing algae.

Behavior and Personality
From what has been seen, the Flightmare is a very aggressive and territorial dragon, being very protective of its territory and food sources. Seeing how Flightmares are built for speed and defense, they usually avoid fights with bigger and stronger dragons. Flightmares have been shown incredible determination and relentlessness, as the Flightmare in "Fright of Passage" kept chasing his opponents, and was willing to search food over long distances. They seem to be quite reclusive and avoid contact with humans and other dragons, unless they see anyone pose a threat to them or their food, in which case they will relentlessly punish the suspect.

As seen in School of Dragons, Flightmares nest in caves in cold arctic islands such as Scuttleclaw Island, with both parents caring for their offspring. Flightmares build a nest out of ice and appear to lay one egg at the time, waiting for it to hatching before laying another.

Training
It remains unclear as to whether or not Flightmares can be trained, as their extreme aggression and hostility towards anyone in order protect their food source makes it virtually impossible to even approach one, much less train it. However, if one is willing to make an attempt at bonding with a Flightmare, approach alone and with caution, as multiple present individuals will quickly make the solitary dragon feel outnumbered, and show the Flightmare you are not a threat to either it nor its glowing food source.

Dragons: Defenders of Berk
A Flightmare known as Hofferson's Bane first appeared in "Fright of Passage", terrorizing Berk every ten years during Aurvandil's Fire. Last time, Astrid's uncle, Fearless Finn Hofferson, faced the dragon and seemed to be frozen by fear, shaming her family's name. Astrid and Hiccup set out to find the Flightmare, where Astrid tried to fight it, but was frozen by the dragon's mist. They learned that victims of the dragon were not frozen by fear, but paralyzed by the mist. They soon discovered a stream of glowing algae that gives the Flightmare its glow, as well as other dragons (as discovered by Toothless). Realizing that the Flightmare only attacked Berk because it thought the Vikings were threatening its food supply, Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs created a new channel for the algae to flow into the sea, and the Flightmare left Berk. Hiccup explained to the village what they learned about the dragon and that Finn Hofferson truly was fearless, restoring honor to Astrid's family.

Season 2
A Flightmare Heather had previously tracked down was the main desire of Viggo Grimborn in "Maces and Talons, Parts 1 and 2". The Dragon Hunters tracked it down to an island, possibly Algae Island which was found on Hiccup's map, and tried to capture it. With the help of the Dragon Riders the Flightmare managed to paralyze half of Viggo's men but was eventually captured. Later in the episode, the Flightmare was muzzled and put in a dragon-proof cage. In the finale of the two-part episode, it was revealed that Viggo wanted the Flightmare to access the emergency release for the Dragon Eye because they were at a lack of a Snow Wraith tooth for a key. When Viggo no longer needed the Flightmare he released it and it attacked Hiccup and Toothless. As soon as the Flightmare was released, it paralyzed Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Barf and Belch, Snotlout and Hookfang. Heather and Windshear came to the aid of the Dragon Riders and together they scared the Flightmare off but by then, Viggo was gone with the Dragon Eye.

Dragons: Rise of Berk
The Flightmare made its appearance in this game too, along with its battle and exotic variant, Hofferson's Bane, Trancemare, and Skystreaker.

School of Dragons
This dragon also appears in the game, School of Dragons. Players can obtain Flightmare eggs to raise through various means, or free one from captivity at the beginning of an account. Flightmare eggs cost 750 gems in the in-game store. So far, the Flightmare is one of the few dragons that has a Titan Wing stage available in the game.

In the Stable Quest activity, one quest called "Bloomin' Buffet" requires a Flightmare for success, indicating "This dragon used to give Vikings nightmares and it eats more than glowing algae." The quest is to clean up algae bloom in the streams to prevent fish and other animal die-off. It implies that Flightmares can eat any algae, not just special glowing algae.

A Flightmare nest appears on Scuttleclaw Island. In two different expansions, the player needs to harvest frozen Flightmare mist from the cave the nest is in.

Trivia

 * It could be possible that the Hofferson's Bane is the same Flightmare that appeared in Dragons: Race to the Edge, since Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Astrid redirected the river and the glowing algae into the sea, and the Flightmare followed it. Also, Heather said that she tracked the Flightmare for months, so maybe she saw the same dragon that came from Berk.
 * Strangely, while the Flightmare is shown attacking (and presumably eating) people, it feeds mostly on algae, making it one of the few dragons that predominantly eat plant matter.
 * The Flightmare has been associated with many different classes. According to Cartoon Network, it was in the Fear Class. The Dragon Tracker Part 3 special feature said that the Flightmare was a Strike Class dragon. A promotional image for Defenders of Berk even said its class was unknown. However, Dragonpedia and the games have since stated that the Flightmare is a Mystery Class dragon.
 * Many fans thought that the Flightmare made an appearance in the Dragon Manual in the first film. But it was later found to be, most likely, a Boneknapper.
 * The Flightmare is the only known dragon species that appears once every 10 years, at least on Berk.
 * The Flightmare's design is similar to that of the Skrill, although it also resembles Fireworms.
 * The Flightmare appears to be based on a pelican eel, a viper fish, a moon jellyfish, and a banshee.
 * The Flightmare is the only dragon that glows other than the Fireworm, and both glow via eating something.
 * The Flightmare is one of the eight dragon species that doesn't have forked tongues.
 * The others are the Dramillion, the Woolly Howl, the Snow Wraith, the Snaptrapper, the Razorwhip, the Death Song, and the Triple Stryke.
 * For reasons unknown, Dragonpedia states that the Flightmare has a "ghostly blue flame", while in the TV shows it clearly has a toxic, paralyzing mist-like substance.
 * It would appear that Flightmare eggs need extremely low temperatures in order to hatch, since the single Flightmare egg seen in Scuttleclaw Island lay in a nest made of ice.

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