Thornado

"I spent my whole life trying to kill them. Now look at me."

- Stoick the Vast

Thornado (a combination of Thor and Tornado) is Stoick the Vast's Thunderdrum who first appeared in How to Pick Your Dragon. He was named for having the "power of Thor" and the "ferocity of a Tornado" and "it's the only thing he answers to." Thornado was later released in the episode Bing! Bam! Boom!

First Months as Stoick's Dragon
Thornado is first mentioned in "How to Pick Your Dragon" as a rogue dragon wreaking havoc on the Hairy Hooligan's fishing ships. Hiccup and Stoick the Vast, on Toothless' back, find it while it's battling Mulch and Bucket, blowing their ship to pieces with sonic blasts. Stoick challenges the dragon, and drives it into the water. However, Thornado's tail grabs Stoick, pulling it down with him. Stoick is able to grab the dragon, and Hiccup, Toothless, Mulch, and Bucket watch them wrestle.

Admiring the Thunderdrum's powerful fighting spirit and spunk, Stoick traps Thornado in a net and declares he wants him trained as his own dragon. The next day, Thornado's mouth is muzzled, and Hiccup instructs Stoick to make sure the dragon can trust him. However, Thornado won't let Stoick touch him, and Stoick gets frustrated and wrestles the dragon once again. Stoick tries to ride him, and they tumble away from Berk. Thornado manages to throw Stoick off his back and escapes to an island. Hiccup and Stoick gather the gang, and they try to find Thornado.



Hiccup and Stoick finds Thornado, and they finally find out why he was stealing the fish. He had been protecting and feeding his friend, a violet Thunderdrum with an injured wing hidden in a small cave. Though referred to as male by Stoick and Hiccup, it is a popular theory among fans that this Thunderdrum is a female and Thornado's mate. Stoick tells Hiccup to get the gang to help him, while he confronts the dragon. After Hiccup and Toothless leave, Stoick tries to reassure Thornado, but a group of hungry wild boars arrive to prey on the injured dragon. Stoick, later with help from Thornado, fights the boars. After they take out the first wave of boars together, Stoick and Thornado come together to protect the injured Thunderdrum and bond at last. The second wave of boars charge, but Stoick removes the muzzle, allowing Thornado to blast the boars with sonic power. Hiccup and help arrive, and they rescue the injured dragon, bring it home, while Gobber treats its injuries. Thornado then goes on to assist Stoick in his chiefly duties.

As shown in "Portrait of Hiccup as a Buff Young Man", Stoick rides Thornado while searching for Hiccup. Thornado's only appearances are waiting for Stoick and Gobber on the beach, and standing by the other dragons while the teens try to save Hiccup.

Thornado appears more in "Dragon Flower" as Stoick rides him to the Shivering Shores while revealing his name. It is also shown that while Stoick has earned his trust, Thornado is very stubborn as he tries to buck Stoick off him, much like Snotlout and Hookfang, but Stoick has the strength and tenacity to stay on and command Thornado. When Stoick and Thornado return, the Thunderdrum goes ill by the Blue Oleanders that Mildew planted. Stoick immediately rushes to Thornado's aid by comforting him, putting a pillow under his head, and gets an anti-venom from the Scauldron. Thornado is cured after the ordeal blows over.

Thornado has made brief appearances in "What Flies Beneath", "Defiant One", "Breakneck Bog", "Gem of a Different Color", and "We Are Family, Part 1". During the events of "We Are Family, Part 2", he and the Academy Dragons work together to save Hiccup and Toothless from the Outcasts.

Conflict with the Berserkers
In "Live and Let Fly", Thornado's saddle was modified by Gobber the Belch—at Stoick's request—to improve maneuverability, just in time for Stoick to patrol the island after he created a ban on flight. Both Stoick and Thornado should have adhered to the ban as well but Stoick did not wish to stop riding Thornado so used patrolling as an excuse. Thornado chased after the Dragon Riders when Ruffnut and Tuffnut blew their cover in the clouds but only succeeded in tracking Fishlegs and Meatlug. Later, he and Toothless combined forces and their attacks to drive off Alvin and his fellow Outcasts with the help of their riders, Stoick and Hiccup, respectively.

As shown in "Tunnel Vision", Thornado and Stoick helped the other riders defend Berk from an attack, conducted by Whispering Death hatchlings. After initially succeeding in driving off the Whispering Death, the Screaming Death soon revealed itself and managed to knock Hiccup and Toothless out of the sky, prompting Thornado to save the two of them with his Sonic Blast. He and Stoick continued to handle the Whispering Death's while the other riders gave chase to the Screaming Death.

During the events of "Frozen", Thornado stood guard over Stoick in the cove when he had been paralyzed by six Speed Stingers, after they crossed the frozen sea and raided Berk. Later, when Stoick recovered, the two of them flew towards the Speed Stinger nest, just in time to save the other dragon riders from getting stung by the Horde after they had captured the Alpha.

In "The Eel Effect", Thornado is seen alongside Barf and Belch, Hookfang, and the trained Terrible Terrors listening to Snotlout's nonsensical speech about a dragon rebellion.

During the events of "Bing! Bam! Boom!", Thornado calms the baby Thunderdrums down multiple times as they caused havoc on Berk. Thornado and Stoick also fought wild dragons on Dragon Island that were attacking the baby Thunderdrums. At the end of the episode, Stoick was shown setting Thornado free so he could take care of the baby Thunderdrums.

After Being Released
Thornado was mentioned a few times in a few of the episodes of Race to the Edge, as Stoick had kept Thornado's saddle well-cared for three years, before he obtained his new dragon, Skullcrusher, a Rumblehorn. Thornado, Bing Bing, Bam Bam and Boom Boom were among the dragons who attacked the dragon hunters when the Bewilderbeast Bewilderbeast under Berserker Island Berserker Island sent a distress call.

Illness
In the School of Dragons Quest "A Sickly Dragon", Thornado has become listless and quiet. Valka (formerly Stoick) charges the player with talking to Phlegma the Botanist to find out what might be wrong. By listening to his symptoms, Phlegma indicates Thornado has an upset stomach and some mint tea would soothe it. Heather as the School Alchemist brews up some tea and brings it back to Valka to give to Thornado.

Encounter with The Reaper
Thornado appears in the Ship Graveyard working with the rogue dragon rider to fight off the giant eels. It is revealed that Bing, Bam, and Boom were mysteriously locked up in the Reaper's hull. After rescuing them, the player uses Thornado to fend off the Death Song and stop it from attacking Heather and Windshear.

Afterwards, Thornado returns to Berk to see Stoick again.

Personality
Like his rider, Stoick, Thornado is described as being stubborn, loyal and fiercely protective. Indeed, Thornado and Stoick seem to have a lot in common, as Stoick also has these characteristics. Both have shown to be good leaders too, as he succeeded in making Bing, Bang, and Boom listen to him, and Stoick is the Chieftain of Berk.

Thornado has shown to be very protective of his fellow Thunderdrums. In fact, in How to Pick Your Dragon, it was revealed the reason he attacked the fishing fleet, was because his friend was wounded. He also protected his friend from the boars, with Stoick's help. In Bing! Bam! Boom!, he felt responsible for three young Thunderdrums of the same names. He eventually was released by Stoick in order to take care of them.

Thornado is shown to be very loyal to Stoick. This was demonstrated when Thornado stayed with his rider when he was paralyzed by the Speed Stingers.

He is also shown to be quite intelligent, as he made Bing, Bang, and Boom combine their sonic roars in order to defeat a pack of wild dragons.

A School of Dragons Farm job indicates: "Thornado has a large appetite" and asks for Dragon Nip, Chicken Eggs, and Corn to feed him.

Abilities and Skills
Thornado is a perfect match for Stoick, both being described as strong, loyal, stubborn and fiercely protective.


 * Strength: Thornado is an extremely powerful dragon, which was demonstrated several times. He has been shown fighting dragons bigger than him (though not always winning) and can carry Stoick and Gobber at the same time. He is also able to pull two ships while carrying Stoick. He has been seen fighting a whole herd of wild boars.


 * Acrobatics and Speed: Thornado has a very flexible tail that can wrap around Stoick's body. Thornado's speed is shown to be fast enough to catch up to Toothless with his rider, though Toothless probably slowed down.


 * Intelligence and Communication skills: Hiccup and Stoick taught him quite quickly, with the help of a hand signal, to make Thornado let the three juvenile Thunderdrums follow him. He also had the idea on his own to defeat the wild dragons in Dragon Island to combine their sonic roar.

Size
He is a medium or smaller sized Thunderdrum and is 20.7m/68 feet in body length, has a wingspan of 14.6m/48 feet, and weighs at 900 pounds. Because of his size, it is unclear if he is a grown individual but he seems to be personally matured.

Stoick the Vast
Stoick and Thornado have formed a strong connection together, in both fighting together and in stubbornness.

Stoick was immediately impressed by Thornado's strength and spunk. Enough so that he decided to make the Thunderdrum his dragon. At first, Thornado resented the idea and constantly got into fighting the chieftain and escaped. When Stoick tried to protect his friend, Whirlwing, Thornado fought along side him against the boars, thus forming a bond.

Stoick became very concerned when Thornado fell ill along with the other dragons from the blue oleander that was planted on Berk. When he recovered, he and Stoick rubbed heads together.

After meeting, and becoming a father figure to three baby Thunderdrums, Stoick released Thornado so he could take care of them. While both were saddened for parting ways, they both knew it was best.

In School of Dragons, Thornado briefly reunites with Stoick after completing the final quest in Call of the Death Song. Stoick referred to the two of them as brothers.

Bing, Bam, and Boom
Thornado became the adopted father of the three baby dragons. Like Stoick with Hiccup, he can be harsh, yet caring towards them. When they misbehave, he roars at them to calm down, which they immediately do. Even so, Thornado care for them, fighting off wild dragons, and would also neglect being with Stoick, focusing on the Thunderdrum triplets. He was soon released back into the wild so he could take care of them.

​Trivia

 * Like Toothless, Thornado has been seen (constantly) with a bridle and saddle, or completely without.
 * Despite belonging to Stoick, Thornado is not a part of the Dragon Academy, and thus does not make as many appearances as the other dragons.
 * Despite the fact that Stoick appears frequently in "Thawfest" and "When Lightning Strikes", Thornado does not.
 * He is the first Thunderdrum to make an actual physical appearance, as the ones in Book of Dragons don't actually appear physically and interact with the riders.
 * The tamable Thunderdrum in Wild Skies resembles Thornado in a way.
 * He is the first Thunderdrum to be tamed in the series.
 * Thornado is much stronger than Toothless. He can carry Stoick and Gobber at once as well as another occasion where he carried Stoick while pulling two ships out of the harbor without any struggling, whereas Toothless could barely fly with Stoick riding him, despite being almost twice as light as Toothless, however this is possibility due to the fact that Toothless is younger than Thornado, as stated by Valka in the second movie, Toothless is Hiccup's age.
 * Despite being a Tidal Class dragon, Thornado is shown to stay on land for long periods of time while Scauldy could not. It can also be assumed that Thornado is in the water during the episodes where Stoick is present while Thornado isn't. This means that he is amphibious.
 * He is much smaller than the Thunderdrums seen in the How to Train Your Dragon 2 teaser.
 * Thornado is the first dragon who was released by his rider.
 * Thornado and Skullcrusher are the first of dragons seen in the franchise to lose their former/current rider. Coincidentally, Stoick is the rider.
 * Thornado is the first dragon in the series to become an adoptive father, the second being the Death Song.