Whispering Death

"The Whispering Death knows only one thing- killing!"

- Gobber

The Whispering Death is a very large Boulder Class dragon that appears in the film continuity and exclusive short, the Book of Dragons. This dragon is seen when Hiccup reads the Dragon Manual, and they are classified as Boulder Class. It makes a further appearance in the series and is mentioned in How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Official Description
"Constantly hungry and always burrowing for unwitting food, the Whispering Death is one Dragon that actually prefers being on the ground (or, more accurately, under it) to flying freely across the sky. Although plagued with poor eyesight and a terrible sense of direction that often gets them lost, Whispering Death more than make up for these weak points with their multiple rows of buzz-saw teeth that can bore through any solid materials, including rock. It is this signature drilling power that creates the hushes rumbling sound which always announce a Whispering Death before it bursts out of the earth to attack."

"Using its grinding teeth, this deadly Boulder Class Dragon burrows underground to attack from below. Very intelligent, with a long memory. If the Whispering Death's rings of teeth and rock-hard exterior don't scare its opponents, breathing rings of fire will definitely do the trick!"

Egg
In the series and in School of Dragons, these eggs are smooth and oval, and of a dark colour with even darker spots. In Dragons: Rise of Berk, they looked as if encrusted in a translucent crystal. They have jagged edges and a dark swirl in its middle. This dark swirl could possibly be the curled up embryo of the baby Whispering Death.

Hatchling to Adult
The Whispering Death looks similar to a Screaming Death, with bulging eyes, spiny face and six rows of rotating teeth in its mouth. It has a snake body and neck, similar to a Zippleback, but Whispering Deaths have no legs, only the lower spikes.

Many consider them extremely vicious and often have nightmares after confronting these horrors. Their gaping mouths are full of deadly rotating teeth. Their wings can also be rotated, presumably to aid in the drilling process. They look very similar to the Gulper Eel.

Titan Wing
Titan Whispering Deaths are bigger and armed with many more rows of larger, sharper teeth, making them even more dangerous. They have bigger eyes that do not show their pupils, their eyes are encircled by a small white ring. Titan Whispering Deaths are covered with more dark blue spikes. These spikes can be found on their chin, behind their eyes, their neck and on their tail. They have pairs of purple wings with glossy blue edges. Their body is sand brown and the bottom of their chin is faint purple in color.

In School of Dragons, titan Whispering Deaths also appear to have a crown of large, twisting horns around their heard. Their eyes remain white while the area around them turns red and they grow larger. Their spines grow thicker and appear more across their body while getting shorter near the tail. Their wings also gain a blue stripe while becoming more spiky along the edges.

Jaw Strength
A Whispering Death has the ability to use its jaw to travel quickly through solid rock via drilling. But despite their powerful jaws, they can't drill through metal, specifically cast iron.

Rotating Teeth
They have special ability to tunnel underground with great speeds because of their rotating sharp teeth. As these rows of teeth move backwards, it literally sucks everything in a good range in its path. This is called the Vacuum effect.

Fire Power
Whispering Death can breathe powerful rings of fire. An immature Whispering Death's fire is considerably weaker than an adult's.

Strength and Combat
These dragons are very strong physically according to Fishlegs, as shown by Toothless' Nemesis being able to throw Toothless a great distance by using its tail. They are also able to carry the weight of Alvin and Mildew by the tail.

As proven from Toothless' Nemesis, has proven to be one of few dragons to able to fight against Night Fury.

Speed and Agility
Their body, being long, is extremely flexible, and to fly faster, it simply spins its body in a circular motion at a higher rate. With its long, thin body, the tail often makes a whip-crack noise.

Spine Shot
Whispering Deaths are able to shoot their spines just like a Deadly Nadder, which grow on the head and along the length of his body. According to Fishlegs they can shoot spines from any part of their body.

Tunneling
They have six inner rings of sharp teeth that can be rotated in opposite directions which helps the dragon to make tunnels. When these teeth move, they make a terrible and eerie noise that sounds like whispering. Hearing "The Whisper", together with the ground rumbling, are often the only two warning signs that a Whispering Death is coming from underground tunnels if it is not near the surface, throwing earth and rock. Toothless could detect the presence of one from Hiccup's bedroom, which is above ground level.

Endurance and Stamina
Whispering Deaths have high defense, being a Boulder Class dragon. They can take many attacks from their enemies as demonstrated quite profoundly by Toothless' Nemesis, who was able to fight against, well, Toothless, and even survive getting slammed by two very large boulders- in the face.

Senses and Immunity
It's possible the Whispering Death's sense of smell is strong enough to track down its enemies as Toothless' Nemesis was able to find Toothless in Berk.

Apparently, it has an immunity to the effects of conventional dragon nip. When Hiccup tried to use the Dragon Nip to stop an attacking Whispering Death, sniffing it just made the dragon sneeze.

Intelligence
The Whispering Deaths shown have great intelligence as the babies were able to work together as a team to be able to pick up the Screaming Death and Toothless' Nemesis was able understand that Toothless is unable to fly.

Hunting and Fishing
Whispering Deaths are shown to hunt from underground. It is quite possible they use tunnels to trap their prey so they can hunt much easier. It is also implied that the Whispering Death can swim, as the hatchling Whispering Deaths were shown to bring fish to their wounded Screaming Death sibling.

Behavior and Personality
Whispering Deaths are extremely dangerous, like most other dragons, and are able to chew their victims after their ingestion, using their six rows of rotating teeth. They usually live in underground tunnels they burrow themselves, using a burrowing attack against oncoming enemy/prey.

The Dragon Manual once said that they were extremely dangerous and must be killed on the spot. Nevertheless, despite their fearsome reputation, they want their teeth to be brushed. In What Flies Beneath, Fishlegs noticed that a Whispering Death's eyes were sensitive against direct sunlight, which is why it spends most of its time underground.

When Whispering Deaths find intruders in their tunnels, they will forcibly eject them from the nearest pit. This was done to Bucket, but later, when he did the same to Hiccup, he also tried to kill him, pursuing him even above the ground; this may be because although Bucket had simply fallen in, Hiccup was caught running along its tunnel system. Perhaps the dragon believed he was deeply invading his territory or he smelled Toothless scent on Hiccup thinking they are allies.

Whispering Deaths are known to be more dangerous in their infant stages, in contrast to their adult forms. They say that they have less control over their rotating teeth and spines, and are described to be "out of control saw blades." Young Whispering Deaths are known to be extremely territorial of their homeland, "claiming it as their own."

Weaknesses
Whispering Death hate sunlight so they spend their time underground. Although their teeth can break through rock, they are unable to break through metal plating, specifically cast iron.

Training
Whispering Deaths are (almost) untrainable. They are very destructive and aggressive in nature, attacking anything in their way and are generally feared by other dragons and humans in general. The only way to train a Whispering Death would be to capture it and take your time until you eventually gain its trust or by raising one as a hatchling- the only used option if one were to consider School of Dragons.

How to Train Your Dragon
The Whispering Death is mentioned when Hiccup reads through Dragon Manual for information about Night Furies. Apparently, this dragon is one of the most feared dragons, as Hiccup says it's name with great fear. Extremely dangerous and must be killed on sight.

Book of Dragons
The Whispering Death has a longer appearance in the short film Book of Dragons. Its characteristics and features are spoken about, as well as its' love of having its teeth brushed. It is also shown when he attacks Bork and his girlfriend, it burned Bork.

Dragons: Riders of Berk
The Whispering Death made ​​its first appearance in the episode What Flies Beneath. This dragon had a grudge with Toothless because of some past confrontation that led to the Night Fury leaving a characteristic scar on the skin of it. Although Toothless tried to fight him on his own, his inability to fly to put him at a disadvantage. The Whispering Death almost killed Toothless, trying to knock him into a canyon. It was only after Toothless accepted Hiccup's help that the Whispering Death is defeated and, at Hiccup's insistence, spared him. Once it fled, the holes that it caused were blocked with boulders.

In We Are Family, Part 2, a Whispering Death makes another appearance. The dragon was seen in the cells on Outcast Island throughout the episode. Alvin tried to get Hiccup to train it along with two other dragons, but Hiccup fled on a Deadly Nadder leaving Alvin disappointed. At the end of the episode, Alvin finally learns to train a dragon, and bonded with a Whispering Death. Thus, Alvin reached his goal at the end of Live and Let Fly. The Outcasts put a large number of Whispering Death eggs under the tunnels of Berk, and soon, one of the eggs hatched.

Dragons: Defenders of Berk
In The Iron Gronckle, Savage and some Outcasts revisited the tunnels, where many young Whispering Death had hatched and tunneled. Later, they found the Screaming Death egg, and its very large tunnel. They escaped when they heard the Screaming Death roaring in the distance.

In Tunnel Vision, at least three Whispering Death juveniles emerged and attacked the village. After the Whispering Deaths were driven off, the Screaming Death appeared and summoned them back. The Whispering Deaths re-engaged the riders but were eventually defeated. When the Screaming Death was wounded by Hiccup and Toothless, the Whispering Death juveniles came to its aid, carrying it to an unknown location and feeding it to aid in its recovery.

One is shown on Outcast Island where Mildew is feeding it fish in Cast Out, Part 2. It also tried to steal his staff. After that, the mother of all the juvenile Whispering Deaths (including the Screaming Death) seen so far is also shown, sleeping above her nest. As part of the plan to rescue Stoick, Hiccup, and Toothless from Dagur, Alvin and Mildew released the dragons. They begin attacking the Berserkers, not to mention destroying the Outcast killing arena. After Fishlegs brought the Screaming Death to Outcast Island, it finally noticed its mother (the one it was looking for in the first place, and it goes berserk), yet Dagur captured and threatened to kill the mother, making the giant dragon go mad once again. Thanks to Snotlout and Hookfang's acts, the mother is freed, and the Screaming Death reunites with it's family, not forgetting to thanks Hiccup and Toothless by roaring at him before flying off with its siblings.

Season 1
When the gang was searching for a new base of operations in Imperfect Harmony, they came across an island, only to notice familiar holes in the ground. They later realise that they are Whispering Death tunnels, and several young ones emerge and the gang flees.

DreamWorks Dragons: Wild Skies
Whispering Deaths also appears in the companion game Dragons: Wild Skies.

Dragons: Rise of Berk
Whispering Deaths also appear in the game, Dragons: Rise of Berk. Toothless can find their eggs in Banshem, and can be trained to collect wood and fight for Berk. Toothless' Nemesis, Groundsplitter, Trailtwister and Tuffnut's Death Ride also appeared in it.

School of Dragons
The Whispering Death also appeared in School of Dragon, with its titan form also available.

A skeleton of a juvenile Whispering Death appears on Auction Island on display by the seedy vendors there.

Trivia

 * According to Astrid, the Whispering Death weights about 2,500 pounds.
 * In flight, the Whispering Death rotates around in a corkscrew motion, probably to add more propulsion due to its small wings.
 * According to Gobber, a Whispering Death knows only one thing: killing. In fact it is kind of true. The Whispering Death that appeared in "What Flies Beneath" was untrainable, and one that appeared in the finale was extremely aggressive towards Hiccup and Mildew. If this saying is true, then it helps to explain why Alvin could train his Whispering Death. Like most dragons and riders, they share personality traits.
 * A Whispering Death's diet includes cattle, sheep, and yaks, though it also seems to eat humans, or at least those who invade his territory. It is implied they are able to fish.
 * Tuffnut wants a Whispering Death and thinks it's name is "... much better than Zippleback!". He and Ruffnut later state that the destruction they cause is 'beautiful'.
 * Being subterranean worm-like predators that attack from underneath, the Whispering Death is similar to the Graboids from the film Tremors.
 * The Whispering Death is the second dragon species to have the word "death" in its name, the first being the Red Death, the third being the Screaming Death, the fourth being the Sweet Death, the fifth being the Death Song, and the sixth being the Deathgripper.
 * According to its statistics, the shot limit of the Whispering Death is 2. But in "What Flies Beneath", Whispering Death fires more than twice, continuously. According to School of Dragons they have a shot limit of 10 which would appear to be the case.
 * Young Whispering Deaths are more violent than adults, as they have less control of their jaws or their spines.
 * Baby Whispering Deaths are able to fly as soon as they hatch.
 * Whispering Deaths seem to be loyal to the Screaming Death.
 * The Whispering Death resembles the Mongolian Death Worm, a mythical creature from Asia.
 * According to School of Dragons, Whispering Deaths can grow 95 feet long.
 * In the Riders of Berk comic book series, it is shown that Whispering Deaths can be trained if they are babies. It is also shown that a dragon's fire can incubate and hatch a Whispering Death egg.
 * A Whispering Death will back down against more than one dragon.
 * Whispering Death hatchlings are known to come back to their place of birth and claim it as their own.
 * Whispering Death, alongside Thunderdrum, is one of the only dragons that doesn't have a tongue.
 * Even though Whispering Deaths were officially stated to be 95 ft long, most specimens seem to be much larger. Actually, the juvenile Whispering Deaths from Tunnel Vision are about 95 ft long, with adults like Toothless' Nemesis being longer than 140 ft.