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Yeah, I'm thinking Death Song might be more appropriate. You know, 'cause you hear the song, you're dead. [src]
  Tuffnut naming the Death Song  

The Death Song is a large Mystery Class dragon that first appeared in Dragons: Race to the Edge.

Official Description[]

Although deceptively beautiful in appearance and melody, the Death Song has a lethal quality that is reminiscent of the Black Widow. Inhabiting a lush island beyond the archipelago, this dragon vocalizes its beautiful and hypnotic siren call in order to lure other dragons, which it then targets as prey. Rather than using fire to attack, the Death Song shoots out a liquid substance which traps and preserves victims as it hardens into a stiff amber cocoon that is penetrable only by flame. Typically, the Death Song chooses to entrap dragons only, but it also preys upon humans unfortunate enough to make their way to its island. Its key weaknesses are Thunderdrums, which find themselves mostly immune due to the Death Song's lethal lullaby due to poor hearing, and small enclosed spaces which can render it vulnerable to its own song.
  Dragonpedia  
This Dragon uses his melodic call to lure his targets into the dense jungles of Melody Island. There, he can watch as they search for the source of the song.
  Dragons: Rise of Berk  
Beautiful as a sunrise and as brutal as a Berserker, the Death Song is a notoriously hypnotic species of dragons. It does not breathe fire, but spits a sticky amber-like substance to trap its victims. We encourage any student confronting this Mystery Class dragon to tread lightly, for the Death Song is as wild as a typhoon!
With their vibrant scales, frills, and enchanting call, it’s easy to become entranced by Death Songs, but beware! Beneath this resplendent exterior lies an invasive and cannibalistic species. They use their song to lure dragons to them, only to trap them in an amber cocoon. There are only a few creatures with the ability to face a Death Song unscathed. Thunderdrums are immune to the Death Song's call because they have poor hearing!
  School of Dragons Website[1]  


Development[]

According to Art Brown and Douglas Sloan, the Death Song was created from another dragon in the franchise, the Songwing. According to them, the Songwing had the same deadly personality as the Death Song, but had a terrible name, so they brought it into Race to The Edge, and gave it more fitting name.

The Death Song was first depicted in a sketch, where it released a straight and concentrated stream of an unidentified orange substance. The substance appeared to harden into a ball, and the stream was encircled by three rings with particles suspended in them. This firepower was presumably a concept stage for the current amber blasts.

Physical Appearance[]

Egg[]

Deathsong Egg

Egg in Dragons: Rise of Berk

DeathSongStoreEgg

Egg in School of Dragons

Death Song egg

Egg in "Tone Death"

The eggs of Death Songs in Rise of Berk are flamboyant oval-shaped eggs. They have a colorful, tropical colored purple core and a translucent, white, jelly like coating. The eggs appear to have wavy, curved markings adorning them and some spots, similar to some butterfly wings on the outer covering.

Those in School of Dragons, however, are big and oval and grey in color with wavy yellow stripes and spots.

In "Tone Death", the Death Song egg that the Dragon Riders find is a bare gray colored egg, with numerous dark spots all over its surface.

Hatchling to Adult[]

The Death Song has a long, slender body. Its wings are large and graceful, with trailing edges. They are bright orange with intricate violet and yellow swirls, and two violet eyespots. They somewhat resemble those of a Thunderdrum. It has a long, slender tail, with a sail on the end similar to that of a Monstrous Nightmare, but with curved edges. Its body is mainly orange with darker stripes on its back and tail and resembles that of a Timberjack, as it is exceptionally thin. The Death Song has striking, bright colors of blue, yellow, and orange on both its wings and its tail. It has patterned violet frills that expand from the sides of its head, and it has a curved nasal horn and two twisting ones on the back of its head. It has a small row of blunt spikes on the top of its head and forming a ridge on the tip of its tail. Its jaw bears barbels on the underside.

Titan Wing[]

The Titan Wing Death Song in School of Dragons has two pairs of long, twisted horns on its head and a much larger nasal horn. The spikes on its back and tail are longer and sharper and its tail fins develop more curved shapes. Its head frills are also considerably larger, being almost as long as its horns.

Abilities[]

Singing and Mimicking[]

Similar to its distant Jurassic ancestor, the Death Song possesses extra cervical vertebrae which, when expanded into frills, allow it to project its call to specific targets up to 1 mile away.
  Dragonpedia  

The Death Song uses a siren-like song to lure its prey to Melody Island. When dragons hear their call, their pupils retract and their expression becomes listless and unresponsive to their surroundings. The secret behind this amazing feature is the Death Song's extra cervical vertebrate. When the Death Song calls, this extra vertebrae expands into its frills, enabling to project its song up to a mile away. Babies also have the ability to mimic sounds and songs, even those of humans.

However, it appears that if another dragon or animal closely bonds with a Death Song, in the case with Garffiljorg and Stormfly, their song won't affect them anymore or won't be affected by their song as long as they have their ears covered. As shown by Garf and his adoptive father, Death Songs are immune to their own siren-like calls.

As shown in the challenge mode of DreamWorks Dragons: Legends of The Nine Realms, the Death Song's cry can also influence dragons into aiding it in combat.

Hunting[]

Rather than shooting fire, the Death Song spits thick amber-like substance at its prey to form an impenetrable cocoon.
  Dragonpedia  

The Death Song is one of the most adept hunters among dragons, using its siren-like song to lure its prey close and spitting amber to trap its prey permanently. The tactic most used by the Death Song in hunting is the ambush, preferring to surprise their prey rather than confront it. Some individuals, such as Dazzlesing (a Slithersong) use their splashy bright coloration to confuse prey as well.

Firepower[]

Rather than spit fire, Death Songs spew an amber-like substance which hardens into a cocoon and traps dragons and humans alike.
  Dragonpedia  

After striking its prey, the Death Song covers it in an amber-like substance which traps and preserves victims as it hardens into a stiff amber cocoon. This cocoon is remarkably strong, and it is only penetrable by flames. Afterwards, the Death Song breaks the prey out of the amber and presumably devours them alive. The Death Song is shown to have extremely good accuracy, although occasionally misses its target. The Death Song also uses its amber to construct its nest, forming a large spherical structure for the dragon to live in.

Due to its unique properties, Death Song amber has been utilized for a variety of other uses, such as adding durability to glue, mentioned in a School of Dragons Summarhildr quest, "Hope for the Nest, Prepare for the Worst".

Slitherwing venom also prevents the amber from solidifying upon contact and causes the amber to slide right off before it dries up.

Strength and Combat[]

Given their size, Death Songs have strong jaw muscles, as they have been shown to lift up exceptionally heavy dragons, such as the Gronckle, which weighs over 2.5 tons along with the extra weight of the hardened amber cocoon.

They are also very powerful, as one was able to swipe away a smaller but adult Thunderdrum with just a swing of its tail and was able to hold it down with no difficulties. However, upon being distracted, the Thunderdrum escaped rather easily. The same one was also able to swipe a baby Death Song into a rock wall with just a swing of its tail.

Endurance and Stamina[]

Death Songs are able to endure crashing into a cavern wall or being thrown at a mountain side without injury, as demonstrated by Garff's Adoptive Father and Garffiljorg respectively. Even as a baby, Garf was able to survive being swiped into a rock by his adoptive father. They are also shown to have incredible stamina, as they are shown to be able to keep up with Toothless and many other dragons over a period of time, chasing them down with considerable speed without sign of strain.

Speed and Agility[]

The Death Song was shown to be a very fast dragon, although the same Death Song failed to catch a smaller sized Thunderdrum.

One was able to consume smaller dragons very quickly and when it supposedly devoured an entire Gronckle in a few minutes. After finishing their meal, Death Songs have a tendency to stock up the remaining bones in a pile. However, Death Songs are shown to have some difficulty making very tight turns when chasing smaller dragons at full speed due to their large size. Despite this, they are capable of agile maneuvers using their slender bodies. In combat, a Death Song, like Garff's Adoptive Father, was able to quickly pin down a Thunderdrum, like Earsplitter, after swinging his tail against him.

Stealth[]

Despite their large size, Death Songs are capable of being stealthy, although they also rely on their siren call to hypnotize their prey. Death Songs are able to sneak up on their prey, as Garff's Adoptive Father was able to sneak up on the Dragon Riders in "Tone Death" and catch all of them in his amber. Garff was also able to stay hidden until he revealed himself as shown in "Living on the Edge", "No Dragon Left Behind", and "Family Matters", where both times he got close to the riders before revealing himself, and one time he was able to catch Smidvarg by surprise and almost ate him.

Immunity to Eels[]

In School of Dragons, it is revealed that Death Songs can eat eels without getting sick, similar to the Typhoomerang, the Skrill (Shadow Skrill to be specific), and their cousin the Slithersong. It is unknown, however, if it has any positive effects on the dragon, as Typhoomerangs can recharge their flames by eating eels. It may have no effect, as Death Songs are not fire-breathers.

Intelligence[]

The Death Song is also highly intelligent, especially when it comes to hunting. The Death Song can learn the songs of others and mimic calls of other dragons. Their intelligence also helps the Death Song learn how to communicate with its own kind. Garf was able to understand and respond appropriately to the Riders' songs, such as when Snotlout insulted him in his song prompting him to blast his face with amber. He also realized that, in order to protect himself and Stormfly from being poisoned by the Slitherwings, he had to cover in his own amber.

Weaknesses[]

Thunderdrum fights against Death Song

Resistance to Luring Songs[]

The Death Song's greatest weakness is the Thunderdrum, which is immune to the former's luring song. This is because the Thunderdrums' hearing is so poor that they are unable to hear the Death Songs' lullabies. In addition, other dragons can resist the luring vocalizations by plugging up their ears to sound, such as with earplugs constructed of moss.

Small Spaces[]

Hiccup and Toothless followes by Death Song

Due to their large size, Death Songs also have a hard time flying through small spaces like caves and tunnels when chasing smaller dragons at full speed. Because they rely on their song to hypnotize the prey, Death Songs have little stealth and armor, which is also a huge disadvantage for the Death Song. However, Thunderdrums or humans aren’t affected by the song.

Sound Sensitivity[]

The music can calm Garff

Death Songs are very sensitive to rhythms; different songs can easily relax, distract, disorient, annoy, or even enrage them.

Slitherwing[]

Slitherwing's body prevents the amber to stay

Because the Slitherwings coat their skin with their venom, the Death Song's amber slides right off their skin, thus being unable to expand and solidify, rendering it useless. This makes them the only known natural predator of the Death Song, because the Slitherwings' prey are other dragons too.

Behavior and Personality[]

Death Songs are extremely solitary. This is most likely because they will eat any dragon who gets too close to them, including their own kind. Their preferred prey are other dragons, but they aren't averse of eating any unwary human who strays too close to their nest. They also aren't averse to gobbling up a chicken or an eel. Unlike most dragons, the Death Song will abandon its young not long after hatching. They are often hostile towards hatchlings of their own kind. However, in some cases, Death Songs are willing to adopt and care for younger Death Songs, provided they can sing a song they like.

Baby Death Songs are noisy, putting up a screaming fit unless someone or something sings to it or feeds it.

As is demonstrated by Garff, Death Songs can be friendly towards humans and other dragons they trust, such as Astrid and Stormfly.

The dragons they are known to eat are the Razorwhip, Night Fury, Singetail, Terrible Terror, Night Terror, Monstrous Nightmare, Deadly Nadder, Hideous Zippleback, Thunderdrum, and Gronckle.

Training[]

It is unknown if adult Death Songs can be trained, but it proved to be possible with a baby Death Song, Garff, who was tamed after the dragon riders sang to it. Fishlegs also discovered from Garff that Death Songs can be calmed using Dragon Nip, though they do not take it as willingly as other dragons. Possible other ways you can train an adult Death Song is by saving its life or giving it its favorite food.

Comparative Statistics[]


Appearances[]

Dragons: Race to the Edge[]

Season 1[]

Hiccup-toothless-how-to-train-your-dragon-1
Main article: Garff's Adoptive Father
DD S3 RttE E3 0310

In "Imperfect Harmony", the gang stumbles upon an island and stay the night, only to wake up and find all their dragons missing. Only Toothless, due to his inability to fly, remains. He quickly leads the gang to a cove, where they find a lot of dragons, including their own, trapped in amber. Soon they hear the Death Song's call and the Death Song emerges. It carefully picks up a dragon, devours it in seconds and returns, spitting amber at all of them. Only Hiccup escapes, Astrid having saved him. He quickly finds help and trains a Thunderdrum, which is immune to the Death Song's call. Together, set fire to the amber using Monstrous Nightmare gel, then lure the Death Song away from the cove, giving the others time to escape. While the rest of the team help free the other dragons, Hiccup lures the Death Song into a cramped cavern and traps it inside. It later escapes off-screen.

Season 3[]

Hiccup-toothless-how-to-train-your-dragon-1
Main article: Garffiljorg
Garf 13

In "Tone Death", the Dragon Riders rescue an egg from the Dragon Hunters. The egg hatches, and reveals a baby Death Song, Garffiljorg. Though adorable, this dragon can't stop crying and spits amber on Chicken. Heather decides to sing to him, finally putting him at ease. Throughout the next day, the Riders take turns to sing to the hatchling. However, their effort proved to be futile and they decide to bring it to Melody Island to be taken care of by other Death Songs. However, the moment they reach the cove, the adult Death Song ambushes and traps the Riders. Garff and the adult start bonding, but when they begin singing, the adult quickly hits the baby away. The Riders realize that Garff has been singing all their songs, instead of the Death Song call. The Death Song attacks the riders, who all start singing, and Garff imitates them. The adult finally bonds with Garff and takes off with him.

Games[]

Dragons: Rise of Berk[]

ROB-DeathSong-Stats

The Death Song appears in Dragons: Rise of Berk, but was dubbed as an individual character within the Slithersong species. Garff, Sirenade, Jestbelter, and Dropplesounder also appeared in the game as Unique dragons.

Later, as other Death Song individuals were released, Rise of Berk finally considered the Death Song its own species.

School of Dragons[]

Death Songs were released as an exclusive dragon with the "Call of the Deathsong" expansion pack in August 2015. Later, the Slithersong was released as a related species.


DreamWorks Dragons: Legends of The Nine Realms[]

Deathsong on the ground in nine realms

A Death Song appears as a boss in the "Deathly Melody" stage of the Dark Valley realm. It's protected against electric type attacks, but weak towards sound attacks. It is recommended to use Feathers in this battle.

The Death Song has 2 air and 1 ground attack. The only ground attack is spitting amber, Hitting the player deals damage and slows them down for a few seconds. Hitting the ground makes an amber puddle which also slows the player down when they step on it. The air attacks are the amber attack which behaves the same as the ground amber attack, and the dash attack which also deals damage to the player when hit.

Each time the the Death Song looses 1/3rd of its health it becomes immune to any attacks. It sings and activates one of the 4 purple crystals while also summoning a group of 3 enemy dragons. The player must use Feathers to deactivate the crystal before defeating the group, defeating the group with an active crystal is pointless because it will keep summoning the dragons back onto the battlefield. The Death Song activates a different crystal when the previous crystal doesn't get hit after a while.

The challenge mode adds two stage modifiers:

  • "Your dragons absorb life when damaging enemies."
  • "Your dragons lose health as time goes by."

In challenge mode, the Death Song spits three amber puddles and summons alpha or stronger enemies while keeping one of the purple crystals active.

Trivia[]

  • Asterisk-TransparentThe official measurements given by DreamWorks Animation do not appear to be realistic when considering the relative sizes the viewer sees within the Franchise. Based on the model sheet for the Death Song, alongside other known dragons and characters in the series, such as Toothless and Hiccup, this dragon should be "95 feet (28.95 meters) long" with a wingspan of "67 feet 9 inches (20.65 meters)".
  • The Death Song was named by Tuffnut. However, Fishlegs wanted to call it the Songwing.
    • As it was later revealed, the Death Song was based on another dragon in the franchise, the Songwing.[2]
    • The Death Song is the second dragon named by Tuffnut. The first was the Screaming Death. Coincidentally enough, both species have the word "Death" somewhere in their names.
  • The Death Song is considered an invasive species on Berk, as seen in School of Dragons.
  • A legend of the Death Song's origins called The Dragon Valkyrie is told by the Vikings of Berk.
  • The Thunderdrum was called the Death Song's natural enemy in School of Dragons.
  • In the Death Song's description on Dragonpedia, the dragon is described as having a "distant Jurassic ancestor", which – though unspecified – most likely implies Jurassic Park's Dilophosaurus, which could imply that dragons are related to dinosaurs. However, the presence of frills on Dilophosaurus has been disproven.
    • Another possibility that dragons are related to dinosaurs is that dragons belong to one of the reptile groups, Archosauria, which also includes dinosaurs and crocodiles. The skull that the Boneknapper wears as a helmet appears to have archosaur fenestrae (skull holes). It also has antorbital fenestrae, but closed and mandibular fenestrae.
    • Another Jurassic Park reference the Death Song makes is that it shoots amber, where in the Jurassic Park franchise, mosquitos trapped inside fossilized ambers are among the main sources of procuring dinosaur DNA.
  • Death Songs apparently grow very fast, as Garffiljorg went from a hatchling to an almost fully-grown adult in less than a year. However, this could likely be an illogic used for plot continuity.
  • Garff's Adoptive Father taking him in is a rather surprising behavior, as in real life, adult male animals will usually kill or even eat babies of their kind, which aren't their own, but there have been rare exceptions as well.

References[]

Death Song uses Creative Commons Licensed content from the Dreamworks School of Dragons Wiki page Death Song. The list of authors can be found on the page revision history (view authors). SODWikiLogo
Death Song uses Creative Commons Licensed content from the Rise of Berk Wiki page Death Song. The list of authors can be found on the page revision history (view authors). ROBWiki Logo

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