Book of Dragons (Short)

Book of Dragons is a  DVD/Blu-Ray feature, packaged alongside Gift of the Night Fury in the Dragons set. It was released on November 15th, 2011.

It features Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, and Gobber, sharing insider secrets and adding to the Dragon mythology.

The Dragons featured are the Terrible Terror, Monstrous Nightmare, Gronckle, Whispering Death, Hideous Zippleback, Snaptrapper, Deadly Nadder, Timberjack, Scauldron, Thunderdrum, Changewing, Boneknapper, Skrill, and the Night Fury.

Plot
This film opens when Hiccup did a voice-over about how life was before he trained a dragon in contrast with how they live their lives now. The narrative explains how their friends are now dragon trainers and how they learned more interesting knowledge about the world of dragons.

Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs sit down (Gobber present) and take notes in the Dragon Manual when Toothless arrives at the table bringing to attention an incoming visitor. The story acts as though you are part of it. Gobber explains to you about the Dragon Manual and introduces different dragons and their classes. Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs also narrate.

Introduction to Bork the Bold
Bork the Bold was a viking with the first idea to classify dragon and he's Gobber's great-great-great grandfather. Bork the Bold was formerly known as Bork the Very Very Unfortunate hence the fact everything he touched sprouted very very very bad luck. He couldn't find a suitable occupation on Berk, for he tried being a shepherd, a blacksmith, a farmer, and a fisherman, yet to be unsuccessful because of his deficient interactions with dragons.

Stoker Class
These dragons are known to be dangerous fire-breathers which include Terrible Terrors and Monstrous Nightmares. The symbol for Stoker class is a Monstrous Nightmare.

Terrible Terror

 * "If you get these little Terrors in a group, it's no picnic." - Bork the Bold

Bork had a picnic and a Terrible Terror met up with him begging for chicken when a group of Terrors demanded for more. The dragons attacked and stole all the food from him. As Hiccup said you can distract a Terror by shining a light on the ground.

Monstrous Nightmare

 * "You fall down, you get right back on the dragon." - Bork the Bold

Bork and Miabella Viking sat by a campfire and fried corn on it when the scent attracted a Monstrous Nightmare. The dragon appeared before them, and Miabella Viking warned Bork. He attacked the ferocious Nightmare with the frying pan spilling the food in the process. The Monstrous Nightmare disarmed Bork, ate the food and retreated. Bork took two pieces of corn and tried to use it as a weapon against the dragon, but failed when the dragon burned Bork by lighting himself on fire (creating popcorn in the process). Hiccup said to befriend a Monstrous Nightmare by giving it respect and a gentle hand its snout.

Boulder Class
Boulder Class dragons are known to be tough, rock-eating dragons such as Gronkles and Whispering Deaths. The symbol for Boulder class is a Gronkle.

Gronckle
Gronckles, as mentioned by Fishlegs, is known to have 5 stages of maturity. First is the Egg, then the Tiny Tooth, the Short Wing, the Broad Wing, and finally the Titan Wing. Hiccup first said he won't do anything if you feed him Dragon nip.

Whispering Death

 * "The Whispering Death knows only one thing: Killing!" - Bork the Bold

These dragons strike from underground as showed when Bork was on a date with the same unnamed, female viking when Whispering Deaths teared through the ground, launching the female viking in the air. As she landed safely, Bork took a large mallet and pounded the two dragons back into their hole, yet to fail again when one dragon came back up and burned him to ashes. The female viking watered him to revive him once again. Fishlegs says if you brush its teeth it'll be your friend forever.

Fear Class
These dragons are sneaky and deadly at the same time. The symbol for Fear class is a Hideous Zippleback.

Hideous Zippleback
Bork chased his trusted sheep, Willie, into a cave that was unexpectedly a Zippleback's lair. The dragon caught Bork's attention and Bork pulled out a sword trying battling both heads. The Zippleback caused an explosion and defeated Bork. You may be able to befriend a Hideous Zippleback if you feed and play with both heads at once, keeping them occupied.

Snaptrapper
Bork was in a field raking leaves when a Snaptrapper attracted him through the smell of chocolate. The third head ate him and the entire dragon shed their scales, shed their claws, and grew them back, before spitting out Bork. He met again with a Snaptrapper when a storm came. Bork made a discovery that Snaptrappers love rain as the dragon played in the mud, spraying the mud all over Bork.

Sharp Class
Dragons that are known to possess razor sharp qualities and possess a generous dose of vanity. The image for Sharp class is a Deadly Nadder, but if you look at it closely it also looks like a Skrill.

Deadly Nadder
A Deadly Nadder approached Bork as he held up a shield trying to protect himself from the fierce dragon. The Nadder looked at his/her reflection in the shield and favored it proving that these dragons have vanity. Astrid says if you walk near a Deadly Nadder's sharp poison thorn tail and show you're not a threat it will lower its thorns and let you touch its tail.

Timberjack
This dragon has massive razor sharp wings that could cut through a forest of trees like a guillotine. Bork ran from one of them and when he tried to hide behind a tree, it was sliced into pieces and he narrowly got away. However, its massive wing span makes it impossible for the Timberjack to scratch its back and if you scratch his itch, he'll be your friend forever.

Tidal Class
A class of dragons that live under underwater. The symbol for Tidal class is a Scauldron.

Scauldron
Bork fished in his boat and he had a big pile of fish, but Scauldrons kept eating his fish and accidentally took bites out of his boat and he sank. Scauldrons swallow water and boil it in their cauldron like stomachs and can shoot it out at high velocity. A good way to befriend a Scauldron is to douse yourself with water and they'll lick it off because it reminds them of home.

Thunderdrum
When Bork was ice fishing, he came across a Thunderdrum nest with an egg and tried to open it, but it hatched and created a powerful explosion that sent him flying. Thunderdrums can glide through the water like a tornado and fire a powerful sonic blast.

Mystery Class
No one really knows what these dragons can do, and have very mysterious personalities. The symbol for Mystery class is a Changewing.

Changewing
This dragon has the ability to change skin color and blend with its environment, it takes a very keen eye to spot one, they also display mimicking behavior and whatever they see, they love to copy. Bork met one when he built a fire and the Changewing was right there and when he saw him blow into the fire, he blew fire and torched him. They also have the ability to spit acid and hypnotize people.

Boneknapper
While Bork collected dragon bones, the dragon quietly grabbed them and came out with a full armor of bone and it roared at him. They have ear-splitting roars but can only do so with complete armor. Gobber says the best way to defeat them is to use force. As the teens tease him, Gobber admits a good way to train them is to "give him whatever he's looking for and he becomes like an over-sized puppy dog", which they learned firsthand in Legend of the BoneKnapper Dragon.

Strike Class
These dragons are best known for their light type of body, pin-point accuracy, lightning speed, unstoppable attack, unbelievable endurance, vice-like jaw strength and extreme intelligence. The symbol for Strike class is a Night Fury. (Should be Toothless as its got a tail fin missing. Though, if it was before Hiccup befriended Toothless, then it is an error, as Berk knew not of how a Night Fury looks like.)

Skrill
They appear only in electrical storms and are able to shoot blasts of white fire, and if you get close to a Skrill, your hair with stand on ends. Bork met one while he played with Willie, and the Skrill walked up next to them, and he caused their hair to stand up.

Night Fury
The so called 'unholy offspring of lightning and death', although Gobber comments the book definitely needs some updating. Night Furies shoot plasma bolts of purple fire, can fly faster than any other known dragon, and are invisible in the night. Hiccup explains the way he trained Toothless was first to get his attention then he had to earn his trust.

Ending
Hiccup explains thanks to Toothless, now vikings know what it's like to fly, and he became his friend that gave him his purpose, but he has never seen another Night Fury. Gobber tells them everything they know about dragons was because of Bork being very unfortunate, and he came up with the idea to write about them in a book, and soon 'Bork of Dragons' became Book of Dragons, and it's a very big part of their culture. He also explains other generations will learn about dragons from what they write in the book, Hiccup comments he should finish the Night Fury pages, and there are still a lot to learn about them. Fishlegs gets excited and wants to know how fast Toothless can go, and Hiccup says he doesn't know his top speed, but Toothless bounces around excitedly and Hiccup asks him if he wants to find out and they both run off. Astrid follows them saying the last one to the peak has to clean the stables, and Fishlegs follows because he wants to see. Gobber comments on how he wished he was young, wild, and had most of his limbs, and he turns to the viewer and tells them they are ready to train their first batch of dragons, and the viewer turns to see a bunch of dragons and the story ends.

Transcript
The full transcript can be found here