The Hideous Zippleback Part 2
The Hideous Zippleback Part 2
The Hideous Zippleback is apart of the Mystery Class, as said in the Journal of Dragons. The rare and unique ability these dragons have is the, ‘Gas and Spark’. Which allows one head to produce a thick green gas in the air while the other head can create sparks in his mouth to light the gas on fire, to create a huge explosion. The Zippleback is known for its stealth and a decent firepower. The Zipplebacks' head, neck and tail movements were inspired by cobras, as they were 'fluid' and 'mesmerizing', says Simon Otto. Their posture and walking structure, however, resembles that of a Komodo dragon or a horned lizard.[2]
Original concept art, such as Two Headed by Nico Marlet, depicted the Zippleback with three heads, and a flatter, more collapsible skull. Special attention was paid to the coloring palette, in which the combinations of yellow and red, purple and orange, and teal and orange, were tested. “The modelling and rigging teams had more than twice the fun working on the build of this dragon: imagine what they thought when they were told this design "would have two heads and two long necks that should be able to zip together," recalls Head of Rigging Jeff Light.” The Zippleback is described to have 4,769 keyable animation controls, whereas humans only had 1,100.
Physical Appearance
Egg
In promotional material for the first movie, these eggs are described as containing buoyant natural gasses that are often mistaken for air bubbles. These bubbles give the surface of the egg a bumpy look full of craters. The eggs in School of Dragons look similar to those in the promotional material too. In Dragons: Rise of Berk, the egg doesn't have any bubbles or mark of their presence whatsoever. Instead the egg has a pattern of scales similar to the markings on the neck and back of a Zippleback. They come in a variety of colors.
Hatchling to Adult
The Hideous Zippleback is often described as one of the most unusual dragons in the world. This dragon has two long, serpentine necks with spikes on it. These spikes can 'zip' together, in order to create the illusion of one neck. At the end of the necks, are two short heads. The Zippleback has a large horn on its nose, and two thinner horns on top of its head. Like most dragons, they have yellow reptile-like eyes. The teeth in their lower jaw seem to be longer then the one's in the upper jaw, sticking out. They also have two tails, which can also 'zip' together. The end of the tail posses a fin-like structure on its tails. The official website stated that, thanks to its relatively short legs and wings, the Zippleback is a slow walker and flier. Despite this, Barf and Belch has been seen flying quite fast. Their legs possess short, but strong legs with four sharp claws. The Zippleback is probably one of the longest of the medium-sized dragons, if not the biggest.
Titan Wing
Titan winged Hideous Zipplebacks are rather colorful and has many different patterns on its body. Its body is greyish green and their wings have three main colors:
Blue with white spots
Purple
Dark Green
There are a large amount of spikes added and their tail tip increased in size and are more of a diamond shape.
Abilities
Babies' Abilities
As eggs, they have the ability to contain their special ability of defense is their buoyant gas.
While sometimes these babies can be fussy, they can benefit from having a close relationship with their siblings from having increased hunting and defense, with one head watching for prey while the other head makes sure the coast is clear. However, it is likely the heads take some time to learn to get along with each other.
Gas and Spark
" The Hideous Zippleback's gas-and-spark combo makes this Dragon a powerful force in battle.” The head on the right side breathes a green, flammable gas, while the left head produces an electrical spark from its mouth to ignite the gas, creating lethal explosions, small fire bolts, or large fire 'walls' to contain their enemies. By itself, the gas can make a human disorientated if inhaled, as shown by Fishlegs. Zippleback gas can also be used to make anything that is covered by molted Changewing skin visible again.
Stealth
They can also use this gas in order to hide themselves, which makes them very stealthy. They use it to unexpectedly strike their victims.
Flaming Ouroboros Formation
The Zippleback's special ability is to release a large amount of gas, and then set themselves on fire. They bite their own tails and become a flaming ouroboros, which they can use to knock out enemies. It is likely they have to be taught how to use this ability, however.
Venom
In the movie, Fishlegs stated the Zippleback's venom is injected for pre-digestion, which may mean that they have a weak digestive system. However, the stats say that the Zippleback has no venom at all.
Speed and Agility
Despite the official website claiming Zipplebacks are poor fliers and walkers, Hideous Zipplebacks have shown to be quite agile and fast. This was demonstrated in the battle with the Red Death and later also multiple times in the series. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the Zippleback is actually a quite agile and flexible dragon, although nowhere being near the fastest.
Endurance and Stamina
Zippleback is able to endure the attack of a Typhoomerang and still able to get back to try to continue the battle, as they have a large amount of stamina on their side to continue long flights to catch up with other dragons.
Climber
Hideous Zipplebacks have shown to be great climbers as Barf and Belch have shown in the episode "We Are Family, Part 1" as they are able to climb terrains very well.
Hunting
These dragons are solitary hunters that prefer to hunt as ambush. Since these dragons have great stealth as they will use their gas to trap their prey in and able to do sneak attack. They even able to hunt well in the bushes in the forest as for ambush hunt.
Strength and Combat
Zippleback have proven to be very strong as they are able to tangle their necks together to carry weight of Gronckle. Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut without too munch difficulties. But single neck of Zippleback was shown by Barf that wasn't able to carry very heavy rider. They even showed some of their strength to hold their ground against Toothless.
Intelligence
While growing, hatchlings are stated in Dragonpedia to have high intellect and problem-solving abilities, such as having one head watch for danger while the other watches for food, or managing to solve complex problems such as one head scaring the prey into the mouth of the other head.
Barf and Belch have proven to be very intelligent at times. They knew to use the statue of the Eruptodon on Caldera Cay to stop the flow of the lava threatening to destroy the village. They also knew to use their distress call when Hiccup was in trouble as well.
Transmitting Information
They have a special ability to simultaneously transmit information to both of their brains. For example, if one head is covered up with a blindfold and food is stuck in front of the other head, both heads will start salivating at the same time, even though only one can actually see the food. With this special ability it makes it nearly impossible to sneak up on a Zippleback. The two heads, however, still possess their individual thoughts and different personalities.
Behavior and Personality
The dragon has two personalities and two minds, one in each head, and often different ideas, thoughts, and personalities causes the Hideous Zippleback's heads to argue with each other over what to do. This dragon reminds some Vikings of bickering siblings when they aren't running away from it. Occasionally the dragon forgets that it is a two headed dragon, and one head tries to go one way, and the other head tries to go the other way, this can be problematic. Even baby
Zipplebacks fight over which direction to go or what to do.
It has been stated by Gobber that once this dragon is saved by a Viking, they must pay their long time debt. They are willing to do everything to show how grateful they are of their savior by giving them fish or affection. This could be another way for training a Zippleback or any other dragon species. As Barf and Belch have proven, they will even leave their old riders behind to stay with another for his entire life until they return the favor.
Weaknesses
The dual heads can be a vulnerability, as Drago Bludvist's forces were able to incapacitate a Zippleback by shooting darts into the neck of one head, knocking both heads out. The two heads have different personalities, and if they don't work together, it can be hard for them to do anything. They even slam into objects if both heads are not paying attention when chasing prey, as shown when a wild Zippleback chased Tuffnut into a tree. However, when Barf was stung by an immature Speed Stinger, Belch was unaffected and proceeded to drag around a paralyzed Barf who constantly emitted flammable gas.
Training
To train a Zippleback, you must feed both heads at once, then play with the dragon to keep them occupied. Another way to train one is to save a Zippleback's life. If this is done, they will be completely loyal to the person no matter what until they can repay the favor. This can likely be used to be train one as well.
In the Game, How to Train Your Dragon, feeding ham to a Zippleback will train it. No further instructions are given. According to the game, ham is a Hideous Zippleback's favorite food.
Appearances
Ruffnut and Tuffnut on the Hideous Zippleback, when fighting the Red Death
How to Train Your Dragon
The first Zippleback is seen during Hiccup's opening narration, where he describes the Zippleback and one blasts a hut. During the gang's third test, they were pitted against a Hideous Zippleback. The dragon starts the drill with a bang, releasing gas into arena the moment the doors are lose. Amidst the fog, it slowly picks out the students. When they face the last pair, Hiccup and Fishlegs, Fishlegs pours a bucket of water on the head that gases, and the Zippleback attacks Fishlegs, who makes a prompt escape. The other head emerges from the fog, and Hiccup prepares to splash the head that sparks with water, only to miss hopelessly. Hiccup learns from Toothless that most dragons hate eels enough to actually fear them and uses this against a Zippleback to scare it back into its den during dragon training. At the end of the movie, a Hideous Zippleback (eventually named Barf and Belch) is flown by Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Each head seems to agree with one twin and they have appeared in almost every other episode since then.
Gift of the Night Fury
The Zippleback was one of the species that headed to the Rookery from Berk. A baby Zippleback was seen playing with two children when the dragons returned to Berk.
Book of Dragons
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The Zippleback was introduced into further detail during this short. 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.
Dragons: Race to the Edge
Season 2
Bucket and Mulch received a blue and green Zippleback, named Whip and Lash, during their recruitment in Team Astrid. They later then helped defend the Edge against Dagur's attack, and recieved the compliment from the twins, that they were like a better looking mirror.
Season 6
In the episode "A Gruff Separation", Ruffnut and Tuffnut take the Thorston Induction Trials. In the final task, the twins complete in getting a chest from a Titan Wing Zippleback's nest.
How to Train Your Dragon 2
A blue Zippleback was first seen getting its teeth cleaned at Gobber's. Later on, some were seen in Valka's Sanctuary. During the Battle of the Bewilderbeasts, captive Zipplebacks used the Flaming Wheel technique to knock out the traps and trappers.
Nice presentation
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