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Dragon Nip is a plant first introduced in the first film, How to Train Your Dragon and has made many other appearances in the franchise.
Description[]
Dragon Nip is a green grassy plant, which grows to approximately half the height of a full-grown Viking (or the height of Hiccup in the first film). It is described as having a garlicky smell. In the game, School of Dragons, it grows in short grass-like bunches in the player's garden. In the Franchise, it is portrayed both as growing wild and cultivated. It appears to prefer sunlight.
In the game, School of Dragons, Dragon Nip is described as growing into "garlic grass". The term "Garlic Grass" is rather generic, but may refer to any number of species in the Allium genus. One in particular, Allium ursinum, is native to Europe and has broader - but still relatively thin - leaves than other species, which mimics how Dragon Nip is portrayed in School of Dragons.
It also looks similar to "Cat grass", which is another plant fed to cats and is often the young shoots of oat plants.
Function[]
Dragon Nip alters Dragon behavior, paralleling Cat Nip in real life. It affects different dragons differently, ranging from no reaction, to relaxation, to playfulness, to aggression (very much like the variable influence in cats). Depending on the Dragon species' reaction, Dragon Nip has been employed in Dragon training quite successfully. In School of Dragons, Dragon Nip is used for medicinal purposes in a few Farm jobs the player can complete.
When Night Furies and Gronckles have dragon nip rubbed around their faces, their pupils dilate, they stop flying or attacking and they begin to rub the dragon nip over their bodies, rolling in it if possible, and playing around in it or with it. This can also result in sleepiness and apparent dizziness, bringing the dragons pleasure and comfort. One of the most effective known ways of taming a Gronckle is to rub a bit of Dragon Nip on its nose, then scratch and tickle it until it bonds with the tamer. Whispering Deaths, however, appear to be immune to the effects of Dragon Nip and sneeze when they are near it.
Dragon Nip can also simply be eaten by dragons, as evidenced in a Farm Job mentioning Arctic Poppy, along with Dragon Nip and Yak milk combined into a delicious stew for dragons.
| “ | Fishlegs has cooked up a popular stew for dragons. Time to restock! | ” |
| — School of Dragons |
It has been implied that there is a mind or mood-altering effect when dragon nip is eaten by humans.
Appearances[]
How to Train Your Dragon[]
Dragon Nip first appears during the time Toothless and Hiccup spend together. During a flight practice, the two are blown away and land into a spot full of grass, which has a calming effect on Toothless. Hiccup takes some of the grass, and uses it several times during Dragon Training on Meatlug the Gronckle, which is also how he won the Training.
Book of Dragons[]
Dragon Nip is briefly mentioned in the part about Gronckles, where Hiccup claims that a Gronckle won't stay mad at you if you feed it a little Dragon Nip. Some of the images from the How to Train Your Dragon film are recapped in this Movie Short.
Dragons: Riders of Berk[]
In the episode "The Terrible Twos", Hiccup used dragon nip to calm down a young dragon he later named Torch.
In the episode "What Flies Beneath", Hiccup attempted to use dragon nip to tame an attacking Whispering Death, but sniffing it only made the dragon sneeze. Astrid is implied to have eaten dragon nip once, and it is also implied to have had some effect on humans as well.
Dragons: Defenders of Berk[]
In the episode “Bing! Bam! Boom!”, Fishlegs fed three adolescent Thunderdrums Dragon Nip to calm them down.
Dragons: Race to the Edge[]
In the episode “Tone Death”, Fishlegs used dragon nip to put Garff to sleep. Fishlegs stated that he wasn't entirely sure it would work on Death Songs and it took a couple tries to get close enough to knock Garf out.
Comics[]
In "The Legend of Ragnarok", Hiccup was able to train the Changewing, Phantom with dragon nip.
Games[]
School of Dragons[]
Players are given a farm to raise livestock and also crops, to harvest and complete Farm Jobs (quests). One crop is Dragon Nip, and is the cheapest crop a player can buy. It takes 2 minutes to grow in the game.
Arctic Gentian, Dragon Nip, and Toothache Plant is required to complete a Farm Job concoction to ease pain after Gobber pulls a tooth from Barf and Belch.
| “ | Gobber had to pull one of Barf and Belch's teeth. This will ease the pain. | ” |
| — School of Dragons |
Another Farm Job asks for Arctic Willow, Dragon Nip, and Squash to mix as a calming agent for dragons.
| “ | Valka needs to pour this mixture on her clothes so some upset dragons don't feel threatened. | ” |
| — School of Dragons |
A possible medicinal use is mentioned in another Farm Job as well, when the player is asked for corn, truffles, and Dragon Nip to make a "specially formulated treat to keep a dragon's wings healthy."
Objects to decorate the player Hideout also includes a broom whose bristles are made of Dragon Nip.
Dragon Pets[]
Dragon Nip appears as one of the different foods that can be fed to the player's dragons to increase its energy.
Trivia[]
- Many fans believe that Dragon Nip is in fact Garlic Grass, backed up in the episode "What Flies Beneath" where it is said that these grass-like plants smell like garlic. "Garlic Grass" could refer to any number of species in the genus Allium, such as Allium tuberosum or Allium Canadense.
- In Dragons: The Nine Realms in the episode "Uniconned", D'Angelo Baker mentions dragon nip when he saw that a Bubblehorn named Nibbles loved a processed product called Cheezie Loops. It is possible that this is a nod from the show writers to the plant seen in the Franchise, or simply an example of play on the term "Cat nip", as applied to dragons.
References[]
| Dragon Nip (Franchise) uses Creative Commons Licensed content from the DreamWorks School of Dragons Wiki page Farming. The list of authors can be found on the page revision history (view authors). | 
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