Description of Toothless

I was asked (in my senior year of high-school) to write a paper describing an animal (fictional or real), and so I naturally picked Toothless. I was forced to keep to a strict word count, and I also had to follow an odd format, but I still tried my best to describe Toothless. The goal was to get someone to be able to envision what he looks like even if they had never seen him before. That was hard! I was shocked to see how tricky it is to describe Toothless's anatomy to someone (especially when you have to follow a word count)!

Description of Toothless the Night Fury

     Dragons claim the status of the best known and most fascinating creatures of fiction, and no dragon is as unique and fascinating as Toothless the Night Fury. His anatomy reflects a classic dragon look while incorporating many new and creative elements. Toothless is like an old classical book that has been reprinted and revised so that a new generation can appreciate the idea of dragons.

     Toothless’s head defines him more than any other feature. Its shape differs greatly from a classic dragon. His head is wide and flat. It looks circular from the top only coming to a slight point at his nose. His bottom jaw is relatively thin and locks into his top jaw. When his mouth is shut, it is relatively hard to see. He actually received his name because of his mouth. Normally he appears to be tooth free, only having pink gums and a wide forked tongue in his mouth. However, his teeth are actually retracted in these gums and can shoot out in a flash. His eyes face forward and are very large and pale, yellowish green. His pupils change according to his mood. When he is happy, they become very large, cute and almost square. When he feels tense or threatened, these cute pupils narrow into a thin, black slit running down his green eyes. His nose is very flat, and his nostrils are nothing more than two slight slits at the front of his face. This enhances his overall streamline looking head. Running up the middle of his head is a row of seven very small spikes. At the back of his head is a frill of eight odd ear like appendages. They are shaped slightly like a flipper on a sea turtle. Two pairs are on the side of his head, and two are on the top.  One pair of these ears is particularly larger than the others, and they sit where the ears of a cat or dog would sit. These are by far the most noticeable. When he is angry, he pulls these straight back, but when he is happy, they perk up and display a wide range of emotions.

     Moving back from the head we encounter Toothless’s body. This is less unique in anatomy compared with his head. The color of his scales dominates his overall appearance. He is pitch black. Often he looks like a silhouette with only two big green eyes staring out of a dragon shaped shadow. A broad, short neck supports his head and flows into his powerful shoulders. His body slightly resembles that of a large predatory cat. His chest hangs low and is supported by two slightly inward pointing arms. He has four grey claws on each hand and foot. Several short spikes jut out of the back of his forearms. His wings are supported by his two sleek shoulders. The wings themselves are marvelously streamlined and powerful. His wingspan is nearly twice as long as his body length. Behind his two main wings rests yet another set of wings used for stabilizing. These much smaller wings attach at the base of his tale and can hardly flap. Around the middle of his back, a row of blunt spikes begins to meander its way down to his tail. He allows his tail to drag along the ground, much like a lizard, for the majority of the time. At the end of his tail rests yet another set of wings. These work primarily as rudders. The left one of them is missing leaving his tail lopsided. He cannot fly on his own due to this handicap. Upon looking at him as a whole one can see an odd mixture of classical reptilian and more innovative mammalian characteristics. He is a black, streamlined creature who has been called the ultimate dragon of his own universe. Toothless is an amazing animal who captured the imaginations of thousands.

     Describing this fictional creature is very difficult, especially since Toothless is very unorthodox in his appearance. I have tried hard to describe him, but you would have to watch him to truly appreciate both his impressiveness and his charm.