Deadly Nadder (Franchise)

The Deadly Nadder is a medium-sized Tracker Class (formerly Sharp Class) dragon that first appeared in How to Train Your Dragon.

Official Description
"Deadly Nadders can suddenly raise the hundreds of sharp spines that stud their hides and tails and fling them with incredible accuracy. But when the shooting starts, there is no safer place to be than face-to-face with a Nadder — If you stand right in front of its nose, a Nadder won't be able to see you. Don't sneeze!"

- Dragonpedia

"A vain and aggressive spine-shooting Tracker Class Dragon. A keen sense of smell makes up for a blind spot right in front of its nose. The Deadly Nadder attacks from a distance, always staying just out of reach while launching fireballs at opponents."

- Dragons: Rise of Berk

Development
"Character Designer Nicolas Marlet imagined that this dragon was an ancestor of a bird. This idea inspired the animation of the Deadly Nadder, which "moves like a parrot", with bit of an emu's walk and the posture of a Tyrannosaurus rex tossed into our blend of behaviors," says Head of Character Animation Simon Otto."

- The Art of How to Train Your Dragon True to its inspirations, most of the Nadder's concepts revolve around a bipedal dragon armored with spikes and a mouth resembling that of a parrot, as seen by various sketches by Nico and Tony Siruno.

Earlier concepts, such as Nadder by Nico Marlet and Kathy Altieri, as well as Nadder by Nico Marlet, depicted this species with two pairs of legs. The former had a stance somewhat like a crocodile, as its posture was similar to the crocodile's signature 'high walk'. The latter has relatively tiny forearms, similar to that of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

Whereas concept art such as Nadder by Tony depicted the dragon with more of a Velociraptor-like stance — its back pushed forward, almost parallel to the ground, and is depicted running. Tony's concept also involved feathers, hinting once again at the Nadder's dinosaur origins.

The details of the Nadder, particularly the colors, are also inspired by the parrot and the ostrich.

Director Dean DeBlois felt that an animation could break away from the limitations seen in live-action films, where propane flames are usually due to being easier to extinguish, thus decided to give the dragons a range of fires. The Deadly Nadder was then given what Visual Effects Supervisor Craig Ring described as "a sparkler type of fire like Asian fireworks, fueled by a magnesium powder that flashes in a white-hot blur with explosive sparks and blowtorch-like flames."

When animating the Deadly Nadder, the team mainly emotes through body languages and head angles but keeps facial expressions limited. Simon Otto mentions that head angle changes, eye darts, and posture adjustments are mainly used to convey emotions for the Deadly Nadder, much unlike the Night Fury, which relies heavily on facial expressions. The Nadder's quick and lithe changes help emphasize its bird-like qualities.

Egg
In the promotional material for the first movie, Nadder eggs were described as having sharp spikes that deter predators. A picture of them, though, shows smooth blue eggs with no spikes whatsoever. The egg provided in the promotional material is similar to that in School of Dragons.

In Dragons: Rise of Berk, the Nadder egg has a somewhat irregular form with an obvious scales pattern and visible spikes. They come in a variety of colors as the color of the Nadder after it has hatched is similar to the color of its egg.

Hatchling to Adult
In appearance, the Deadly Nadder is very beautiful and bird-like: it is bipedal, possesses winged forelimbs, and is about the same size as medium-sized theropod dinosaurs such as Allosaurus. Its small yet keen eyes, equipped with poor binocular vision, are one of the tools it uses to stalk its targets.

Its body is vividly colored, with a light beige underbelly, while its wings are mottled, darker shades. In front of its eyes is its curved nasal horn, which is often used to batter opponents; its lower jaw is shorter and wider than its upper, giving it an overbite (this sets it apart from all the other dragons in the film, since—with the exception of the Night Fury—they all have underbites).

Ringing its skull is a crown of spikes. Coating the tail is a series of spines that can inject venom into a target. When relaxed, its head spikes and venomous tail spines lay flat, and when alarmed, they shoot upward to intimidate its foe. The tail spikes can also be used to make a rattling noise which it makes right before it attacks, similar to a rattlesnake's.

The live models and puppets used in How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular are also brightly colored and detailed. There are less spikes on the tail, and — presumably due to difficulty with technical aspects — the spikes do not raise or lower or shoot out. The live models definitely resemble the body type of bipedal dinosaurs. A body suit of a 'fledgling' Nadder was also created. This 'fledgling' is not about to fly and has a reduced wing size.

Titan Wing
Titan Wing Deadly Nadders have more spikes on their head, back and feet. Their snouts are broader as well. Their body is greenish with pink lines and they possess some blue spots on the wings.

Abilities
They are one of the most beautiful of the dragons, but also one of the deadliest. According to Astrid, they are very intelligent. In Race to the Edge, Season 5, Stormfly demonstrated a special type of fire that looks like a welding torch.

Firepower


Before Fireworms were added to the franchise, Nadders had the hottest fire of all dragon species and still have one of the hottest. It's been said that the Nadder's fire is hot enough to melt metal and turn Vikings into ash. Stormfly also has been seen melting solid rocks within seconds and is able to use a type of fire similar to a Razorwhip.

Spine Shot and Single Spine shot
The Deadly Nadder also has, at its disposal, a tail that is covered in bristling poisonous spikes, which are used as projectiles to stun or immobilize its prey. Its tail spikes are its preferred weapon (probably due to the aforementioned blind spot). It can launch its tail spikes with devastating speed and accuracy.

This has been shown by Snotlout Jorgenson when he exchanged dragons with Astrid. Snotlout placed a hand on Stormfly's front neck, just behind the crown of spikes. The reaction caused her to fire a single spine shot that had so great accuracy to even slice another spine through the middle. This could be the result of hidden secret ability for Nadders as Stormfly seem to be surprised herself to have this ability as it one of the secrets that Valka had mentioned in HTTYD 2. Their spines are so sharp they are made into spears by the Dragon Hunters.

As seen in "Dragon Flower", when under the effect of the Blue Oleander flower, a Deadly Nadder will even shoot its tail spines when it sneezes.

See more information: Gallery: Deadly Nadder (Franchise) in summary Renders and in Gallery: Stormfly (Franchise) / Dragons: Riders of Berk. Gallery: Stormfly (Franchise).

Venom
A Deadly Nadder's spikes have never been confirmed how venomous they are, and what the exact effects are. In "The Night and the Fury", Dagur says he got hit in the leg by one, but his leg appears to be just fine. The Dragon Eye also indicates that their sharp teeth are venomous as well.

"This species of dragons possesses a natural armor and is covered in poisonous spines. A Deadly Nadder’s key strength is its ability to shoot hundreds of poisonous needles from its tail at once (also known as “spine shooting”)."

- School of Dragons Website

Speed and Agility
Deadly Nadders are fast of both on land and in the air. Astrid's dragon, Stormfly, rivaled Toothless in speed. Astrid discovered that, when put on a diet of chicken, the Nadder's speed increases greatly. They are also quite agile and well-balanced, as Stormfly demonstrated in Trick Contests, and in the first movie in the Arena. They are shown by Flystorm to run faster than most dragons on land such as the Scauldron, Changewing, and the Whispering Death.

Prehensile Tail
Stormfly had proven for their kind to be able to use their tail to grip on vikings as it strong enough to hold the weight of Dragon Hunter.

Senses
In terms of behavior, the Deadly Nadder is very fast and dangerous, though its potency as a hunter is hindered by the blind spot directly above its nose (possibly due to its large horn). As a result, the dragon relies on its keen sense of smell and hearing, often instead of its binocular vision, in order to find its prey.

Their great sense of smell was the reason they were reclassified as Tracker Class dragons. Baby Nadders can smell a human from one-hundred feet away, although it is currently unknown if the distance increases as they mature. Stormfly has been shown to be able to smell a wild Triple Stryke before anyone else had even seen the dragon in question.

Strength and Combat
Nadders have shown to have great strength can hold Vikings' weight on their back with no sign of struggle. Flystorm was strong enough to carry Gobber the Belch and Mildew at the same time to keep up the speed with other dragons. Also, they can carry heavy loads such as a heavy metal, even dragon-proof cages with dragons like the Snow Wraith inside as Stormfly did with the extra weight of Astrid. Also, Deadly Nadder like Stormfly can carry the weight of 5,000lbs of Monstrous Nightmare of Hookfang with the extra weight of Astrid.

Nadders are proven to be great combat dragon as seen with Deadly Nadder like Stormfly able to fight against Monstrous Nightmare like Hookfang.

Endurance and Stamina
Their endurance and stamina are high. These dragons can run and fly for long distances. In the first film, a Nadder was able to be to take on an attack from Stoick the Vast when he threw a heavy object at its body. It was still able to fly well afterward.

Behavior and Personality
The Deadly Nadder is one of the most beautiful dragons, and unfortunately, it knows it. It is well-known for its vanity; it constantly grooms itself to stay clean and maintain the luster of its scales.

Like the Night Fury, the Deadly Nadder is a picky eater whose diet comprises mostly of poultry and is allergic to domesticated hoofed animals. Nadders also eat a significant amount of fish and even graze on plants, as seen in the episode, "Crushing It". However, when it is trained, it becomes very affectionate. These dragons also love to play fetch.

Blind Spot
"Blind-spot? Yes. Deaf-spot? Not so much."

- Gobber explaining how a Nadder relies on other senses to make up for its blind-spot This dragon happens to have a blind spot right in front of their nose as it does not possess a binocular vision. By staying in its blind-spot, most trainers, or hunters, can carefully evade this dragon's gaze.

Vulnerable Areas
Also, as discovered by the Dragon Hunters, when Nadders shoot their spines, their belly is always exposed, making it an easy target for Dragon Hunters, or other hostile Dragons. Ryker Grimborn used this against Nadders to shoot them down. In addition, Nadders have a special spot under their chin, which when scratched, is extremely comfortable. Like a stereotypical comic-relief reaction of dogs being scratched, Nadder's eyeballs roll up, they gape their mouths open in comfort and their spikes preen downwards. When stroked correctly, some Nadders may collapse momentarily.

Nadders also have a pressure point on the neck, which disables the dragon.

Food Motivation
Also, if you have an already trained Nadder, they are easily bribed with chicken. When these weaknesses are used, this dragon could potentially fall under the influence of other, be it good or bad.

Training
To train a Deadly Nadder, one must very carefully approach the dragon from its tail. Then, you must gently smooth its spikes down. In addition, one can also train a Nadder by sneaking up on its blind spot, then scratching its chin affectionately.

Like all dragons, relationships are built on trust. By showing an aggressive dragon that you mean no harm, and are not much different from them, Nadders will grow to accept you.

Nadders that have bonded with their riders can be questioned. As Stormfly proven this for her kind that person other then their owner such as Heather can be bond easily with Stormfly if they feed them food, mostly their favorite like chicken. Stormfly had shown over a year with Astrid their bond wasn't that strong as Nadders are independent dragons as might be the result for hard bond for one of another though over the few years their bond grown even stronger proven in How to Train Your Dragon 2 have shown their relationship a whole new level.

How to Train Your Dragon
At the start of the movie, several Deadly Nadders attack Berk along with many other dragon species. At one point in the attack Stoick the Vast throws a cart at a Nadder and hits it successfully. During Hiccup's narration, he says killing a Nadder will get him at least noticed. Later on, Stoick along with a couple more other Vikings subdue three Nadders using a net. These Nadders escape towards the end of the battle due to Hiccup's bad luck and clumsiness and they make off with a good amount of kill. The Deadly Nadder is one of the dragons the students fight during Dragon Training. The teenagers learn how to stay in the dragon's blind spot when she first appeared in training in a wooden maze. The dragon is seen laughing at Snotlout's pathetic attempt to hit her with a mace and is driven off when Astrid hits her with an axe stuck inside a shield. Hiccup later learns from experience with Toothless that dragons can be subdued by scratching them gently on the side of the neck and the chin. He uses this to subdue the same Deadly Nadder in a subsequent encounter in a training exercise. Hiccup later walks Astrid through training a Deadly Nadder (the same one that Astrid had hit with a shield and Hiccup used the chin scratch trick on); she fights with her during the battle with the Red Death, but falls off her during the battle due to the Red Death almost eating them both by inhaling deeply and sucking them in plus the force from the Night Fury's blast used to save both the Nadder and Astrid. Astrid is seen riding her as her pet, and afterward named her Stormfly, who appeared in the rest of the series and other media.

Gift of the Night Fury
At the Rookery, many Nadders, including those from Berk, were over there mating, breeding and caring for their young. They later then helped, along with the rest of the dragon parents, bring their children back to Berk.

Book of Dragons
The Nadder is mentioned in this short, along with training techniques and its abilities.

Dragons: Riders of Berk
A Nadder is seen trying to grab a lady's bread. Hiccup attempts to train it, but a Gronckle startles it and the Nadders goes out of control again in "How to Start a Dragon Academy".

In "We Are Family, Part 1", Astrid trained a special group of Nadders to parade the island during Bork Week.

Dragons: Defenders of Berk
Astrid met a wild Nadder on Dragon Island during the events of "The Night and the Fury", while it attempted to attack her, she skilfully stayed in its blind spot and evaded its attack.

The gang is doing a dragon migration survey in "Appetite for Destruction", where they tag native dragons like Nadders with colors. Many wild dragons, including Nadders, from different islands, are fleeing from their homes. They later realized that the Screaming Death attacks islands by tunneling through them and sinking them. To defeat it, Astrid along with the other riders, round up as many wild dragons as they can. The Nadders help chase the Screaming Death away by firing and shooting it with their spines.

Season 1
A Nadder is seen coated in Death Song amber on Melody Island in "Imperfect Harmony". It had been lured there and captured by the Death Song as its next meal.

Season 2
Spitelout Jorgenson trained a Nadder called Kingstail in "Team Astrid" and he has become his faithful dragon ever since.

During the events of "Edge of Disaster, Parts One and Two", several Nadders and other dragons were first seen raiding Trader Johann's ship, where they kidnapped Fishlegs. On a mission to save him, Hiccup and Snotlout sneak onto their island, only to find an entire team of wild dragons, marred with scars from a hunter, residing there. Fishlegs was treated as an outcast there, the leader, Scardian, was very wary of him but trusted him after seeing him save a dragon from choking. When the others rescued him, Scardian led his pack to attack. Hiccup then led him to a single sea stack, where he showed him his Dragon Fly and shown Scardian that they weren't that different after all. They then headed back to the Edge to aid in the battle.

Season 3
The Riders relocated several groups of Nadders from their migration in "To Heather or Not to Heather".

A fighter Nadder, Steeltrap, is seen fighting in the dragon fights during the events of "Stryke Out". Hiccup attempted to train him by staying in his blind spot and scratching his chin. When he gained Steeltrap's trust, he requested his help to break a Razorwhip's manacle free. When they busted out of the arena together, Steeltrap helped chase the Hunters and their spectators away and flew away with his newly gained freedom.

How to Train Your Dragon Game
In the game adaption of the movie, How to Train Your Dragon, Deadly Nadders are experts in strength, which allows them to dish out some of the most devastating attacks. They have the longest melee range, making them hard to reach, and also possess high agility and speed to sustain speedy flight. However, their low stamina, power, and fire leave much to be desired and the Nadder is therefore not recommended for beginners or for obstacle courses. Players will start out with a Deadly Nadder if they choose Astrid as their main character.

DreamWorks Dragons: Wild Skies
In Dragons: Wild Skies, the Deadly Nadder can be tamed. It lives in Unlandable Cove, and one must feed it mutton in order to tame it. To get mutton, you will need 3 Gold to buy a knife, then go to Berk Village, where you then chop pieces of mutton. The Deadly Nadder is a Sharp Class dragon. When the player rides it, the dragon's mouth is closed. When you press the space bar, it will open its mouth and blow fire at the target.

Dragons: Rise of Berk
In Dragons: Rise of Berk, this dragon, along with its titan form is available. Individuals like Stormfly, Flystorm, Stormfly's Mate and Offspring, Bork Week Nadder, Ambered Nadder, Kingstail, Scardian and Edge Nadder became available.

School of Dragons
In the game School of Dragons, a Deadly Nadder is trainable. The Deadly Nadder is trained by many players in the game. Like all the dragons in the game, they have four stages of growth. A titan form became available later in the game.

A fossilized skeleton appears on Auction Island, for sale by the local merchants.

How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular
A large animatronic blue Deadly Nadder features prominently in this Live Show adaptation of the first movie. There is also a Nadder body suit seen prior to shows to drum up enthusiasm that walks around outside venues.

Trivia

 * The Deadly Nadder used to be a Sharp Class dragon but was moved to the Tracker Class in the second film.
 * A Deadly Nadder made a brief appearance in the DreamWorks short Almost Home, though it was just its foot. It is shown swooping down and carrying away one of Captain Smek's assistants while they scout for a suitable home planet.
 * Deadly Nadders, particularly Stormfly, were purposely made to fly much faster than their average speed in Dragons: Riders of Berk and Dragons: Defenders of Berk. This was shown multiple times such as when Stormfly easily catches up with the Screaming Death while it was chasing Hiccup, and when Stormfly flew faster than Toothless to catch up with the Skrill.
 * Deadly Nadders are shown to be omnivorous in the episodes "How to Start a Dragon Academy" and "Crushing It" and in the Book of Dragons short, where it was seen eating fern-like plants.
 * Stormfly is also shown to like eating chicken, though she prefers only cooked chicken and does not bother live ones (like Tuffnut's pet).
 * The Dragon Eye showed that the Deadly Nadder is still a member of the Sharp Class.
 * The nasal horn of female Deadly Nadders are more curved while males’ are more straight. The males are also larger in body size.