Strike Class Comparisons

The Strike Class has always been my favorite, but for a long time it was limited to two (incredibly cool) dragons. Now, thanks to the new Netflix series Race To The Edge, the Strike Class has doubled in number. The two new dragons are the Snow Wraith and the Triple Stryke. However, as much as I love the new dragons, I do confess that I don’t always agree with dragonpedia on how it distributes stats. For instance, Toothless shoots far past his set shot limit in the first movie when battling the Red Death (and don’t even get me started on his battle with the Bewilderbeast). Also, the new Triple Stryke is shown as having no venom… while at the same time the site claims it has three different kinds of poison in its tail. I appreciate the dragonpedia a ton… I just don’t always agree with it. So, I’ve had a fun little idea. I love comparative vertebrate anatomy, and I love dragons, so I am going to do my best to compare these four deadly dragons to one another. I must confess I will probably be biased, and I don’t expect you all to agree with me, but I am going to do my best to be objective. Ha, my younger brother has already claimed that in my system of stats, Toothless would come out on top of everything. He’s not too far off… but click the read more if you want to see my full thoughts on how these Strike Class dragons match up.

Hey! RoB references in HTTYD2!

Ok, honestly compared to other sequel news, this is kinda small. But that doesn't mean it isn't interesting! Apparently, Gobber is still doing dragon-dentistry! The creators of RoB did say that you would not need to watch it to understand the second movie, but they also said that people who watched the series would enjoy catching small references to it when they watched HTTYD2. I suppose this must be one of them! It is nice to see some tie ins... because RoB and DoB certainly had some good moments. Man, that's quite a large Zippleback now that I'm looking at it. Anyway, it is nice to see that the creators of RoB were not pulling our leg, there will indeed be some small references back to the series!

Yeah, so this is a short post. Sometime I plan to get to a longer one, but at the moment I'm just a little busy and have more important things to try and focus on. Haha, dragons can be so distracting!

These faces!!

what did I just eat?

About to sneeze

Veggie broth?

Oh that's bad.

Seriously, that's bad.

That veggie stuff made me feel bad enough too...

I can't get over these two expressions! Seriously, how great is this dragon even when he's uncomfortable?! The episode Eel Effect gave us a good long look at poor Toothless being extremely sick, but not just sick, panic stricken and very dangerous. Although it made me sad to see him hurting, it did give us some gloriously expressive faces that we don't get to see very often. This kind of nervousness, discomfort, and grossed-out-ness are not things we get to see all the time. I loved this episode, and I can think of a ton of ways to use the images in messages (as a dragon equivalent of an emoticon!). Wow, that "about-to-sneeze" look is great, but he was moving too fast to get an image without motion blur. Anyway, love these.

It's been a little while!

Sorry I've not been able to post as much. There are a variety of reasons, but tons of school would be one of them. Another would be that I am trying to be careful to make sure that I live on God first and foremost, so I have been taking some time off of other nice things so as to spend time with Him. I'll still run this blog, no question about that, but I may post a little less frequently.

Ok, but I will say one thing. Eel Effect, not a bad episode! Although I do like DoB and RoB, sometimes they just aren't worth posting about. Sometimes they actually miff me (Hiccup's attitude in Tale of Two Dragons, the whole goofy mocking of the touch scene in Free Scauldy... yeah, sometimes the show annoys me.). But then other episodes are good. I liked Frozen, and I felt it had a good balance of action and plot. Plus the Speed Stinger is a gorgeous dragon who we actually can even see in the Dragon Manual in the first film! But, back to Eel Effect... yay! A Toothless/Hiccup centered episode! Granted... Toothless did start suffering the effects of the eel really, really fast, but it was still interesting! He was conscious enough to realize he hurt Hiccup at first, and I appreciated that, but then I also like that his condition got worse and worse. In the end, I just really liked to see Hiccup concerned, and I also enjoy it when Toothless reveals that he isn't some tame puppy dog. He's dangerous. He could have easily killed Hiccup near the end there... and with how disoriented he was, I suppose it could have been possible (I just LOVE that kind of drama! Imagine how AWFUL it would be if Toothless killed Hiccup in a state of madness! I'm not saying I want it to happen, but the potential of that kind of tragedy adds a lot of good angst and emotion to the episode.). Anyway, it was good to see Toothless back as his old self in the end. The way the eel affected him was also interesting. His senses were disoriented AND super heightened. That's neat! It makes perfect sense. He can't see straight, he keeps coughing up fire, every noise hurts his head, and I imagine that every gentle touch feels like a stunning blow. No wonder he lost control, and no wonder the dragons steer clear of eels! Aw' and he was cute when he didn't like the medicine! Loved that, we got to see both sides of him! I'm glad it turned out ok, and it was a neat episode overall!

Ten Thoughts About the Skrill Episodes.

Well... I know these are a little late, but I kind of want to post ten things that I really liked about the Skrill and the Skrill episodes. These are points that I mailed to another HTTYD fan when we were having a very fun discussion of the episode, and now I have decided to just make a concise post of them. Anyway, I still love those episodes! Funny, we got them and then the HTTYD2 trailer in very quick succession, so that was an exciting December for me! Oh, and you will probably see that I get a bit crazier when actually mailing people directly. I'm a little spastic, but the Skrill episodes were worth it!

Ok, SKRILL FREAKOUT:

Man, so much to say! I have probably forgotten some of it, but let me just hit the fun stuff that I do remember!

First: The ice! That was neat! A very unique way to introduce the dragon! It also allowed for seven whole minutes of buildup! In that short amount of time I think they did a splendid job at giving the Skrill his deserved amount of presence! The fact that the only referred to the Skrill as "it" at first was glorious! Then of course when Hiccup announces what kind of dragon it is in the ice and the whole crowd hushes… sinister! I felt that him starting out being frozen was a really nice plot point, and then the way he unfroze and came looming out of the fog… I literally think I had a panic attack at that moment! So beautiful… yet because of my preconceptions, SO TERRIFYING!

Second: His internal body temperature allows him to survive in ice for years!? Does that mean the Skrill is sort of a cool dragon as opposed to others!? If so, can I just scream, GLORY'S WEB NOVEL! I loved that! Kind of hinting at what we (haha you) had imagined. It also plays in really well with Skari in my Dsplash plot because I had even focused on him being a cool dragon.

Third: When he first breaks out and slams into the academy roof, lightning buzzes through the chains, and if you remember, my first ever written fan fiction had the Skrill trapped in the academy roof sending lighting blasting through it! I sort of liked that! If any of you want to read that little story it is right here.

Forth: Starving!!!??? The Skrill is starving? Oh, that was just too much. I freaked out again! I just kept thinking, "NOOO! Hiccup, don't get anywhere near it DX" Anyway, nice to see that it likes sheep. Makes him feel a good deal more cruel and kind of matches up with your that one harrowing story Glory wrote based off my mental image. This dragon isn't a fish eater.

Fifth: And what a fight he puts up! I am glad he wasn't just flat-out evil, he was confused and hungry, but when he got aggressive, he got AGGRESSIVE! The way he pulled the lightning to himself in the air looked great, and I loved that he was able to pretty much single-handedly take out all the kids except for Hiccup and Toothless. Very impressive.

Sixth: When Toothless chased him down through the cloud and they were spiraling around each other, my brain was just cheering! XD

Seventh: I also liked the whole "plasma vs lightning" thing because it looked good, and it is actually remotely realistic! Nice to see that the deflecting can work both ways, but I think the Skrill had the advantage! Wow, he was very lethal for a dragon in there series, so I am just imagining how epic he would be in the films! He and Toothless would both be the ultimate killing machines of their world, and you can just imagine the havoc of the Skrill's blasts!

Eighth: Small thing, but the animation on the Skrill's tongue was good, and what with the whole Skrill Story, I felt that that was really freaky, but also a really nice detail! It was quite long and he kind of let it flail around his mouth, or BETTER, he flexed it when angry! Very reptilian. Nice touch… and yet one more thing to give me the shivers!

Ninth: YES! I liked the Dagur sassing Alvin! So funny! The idea of "let's have all the bad guys team up" felt lame when first described. Kind of the cliche finale, BUT they surprised me by keeping the villains in character, and that meant they wound up duking it out! That was cool. I like Dagur better than Alvin as far as characters go, so I was pleased that he won. Pretty shocking end to the battle though! I doubt Alvin is dead, but it was still a gloriously edgy moment! Then, the end with Dagur stabbing a picture of Toothless… just, TOOTHLESS HUNTED ANGST XD XD 

Tenth: Then of course, he had to go and do it, Toothless HAD TO GO AND BE ADORABLE! I kept yelling "STAHP!" at him when he was rolling in the snow or looking cutely at Dagur when he got discombobulated! I liked that he could sort of stand up against the Skrill, but you can see that the dragon clearly kept Toothless on the ropes during their battles! Nice that Toothless outsmarted him in the end, and it was a pretty clever trick, so I don't think it made the Skrill look unintelligent. Then, good ol' Toothy went and was snarky to his fallen foe! What a stinker XD Ah, I love that dragon! 

Huge post of Skrill screen caps!

This is from A View to a Skrill part 1, and it is just a really long compilation of tons of the gorgeous visuals we got of the Skrill. I've got it under a "read more" so it doesn't clog up the page, but if you would like to get some HD reference images of that glorious Strike Class dragon, here they are!

Alright, now I've seen both parts!

Wow, just... wow! I will be doing some more in depth analyses later, but let's just say that was good.

First off, IS ALVIN DEAD?!?! Come on, did Dagur just kill Alvin with a Skrill? Really?! If that actually happened and Alvin doesn't make a bookish comeback, I am so impressed! MAN! Dagur is a way, way better antagonist than Alvin anyway, and their sword fight was pretty cool! Ok, wow.

Secondly, aw'. I hope that is not the last time we ever see a Skrill in the franchise! Maybe HTTYD2 or a later episode will have him return. He was just SO GOOD. A beautiful and terrifying creature, and I really hope he (or another Skrill) will return because they are such great dragons. Anyway, here's hoping that isn't the only time we get to see him! I would never have imagined Torch returning, so maybe we'll get the Skrill back too! What an episode! What a dragon! He's terrifying and has such presence and power to him that I will be sad if they never use him again. The one they froze isn't dead, so it is possible that Dagur might find and use him again. Even if we don't see him again, the Skrill was pretty incredible!

And finally, THAT LAST SCENE! Wow... how intense! Pictures of Toothless with "kill" written all over then and then he stabs a knife into the pictures stomach. Made my heart twist a little! These were really fine episodes and I think they lived up to my hopes and didn't do anything with the Skrill that ruins my preconceptions of him. I just hope he comes back. Imagine how he'd look in the second movie if we get to see any of them!

And again, Dagur is just the absolute best villain of the series. After this episode, the Screaming Death is gonna feel so lame compared to the Skrill. That was just amazing! Two Strike class dragons duking it out, and the Skrill pulled some moves that clearly showed his intelligence! That was good too! I loved when he and Toothless would circle around each other or both do vertical take offs, just really fantastically done stuff there! Overall these two episodes were great and I am DYING to get screenshots!

As far as first parts go...

A View to a Skrill part 1 was just excellent! We got soooooo many good elements! I haven't gotten to see the second bit yet, but MAN. I am still trying to recover from the first half! The flight scenes and fight scenes were well handled (violent enough), and then the Skrill was a really cool antagonist! He's not quite as evil as he's been portrayed, but being hungry, confused, and angry makes him one incredibly dangerous creature! I actually really want to see him on the ground some more. For some reason that makes the peril feel a bit more physical, like if was trying to bite or claw rather than blast. Anyway, excellent episode! Toothless was even super ADORBS at parts, so I am totally happy! They gave the Skrill a TON of presence, respect, and even nuance, so they did exactly what I was hoping! I just wonder what the second episode will hold. I hope it lives up to the first one! Man, great stuff! Definitely up there with DoB3, and considering it has a second part, it could surpass it (wow that would be hard! I love Toothless-hunted angst just about more than anything, but I find the Skrill so fascinating and terrifying that it just might do it!).

Watching the episode.

This is amazing!

First off they just called the Skrill "it"

Then when it came out of the ice I went into some sort of trembling spasm.

And now they are saying that the Skrill is starving.

This is too good!

Ok, yep, this was well done! The Skrill is suitably sinister, that is for sure! Wow, he totally freaked me out at points, and considering Toothless's blast is plasma, the whole exploding lightning blast thing is actually remotely possible. Vey interesting. I got chills through that whole thing! Darn, I so want the next episode now!

Typical and cruel!

iTunes has ONLY released the first part of the Skrill episodes, so I am dying here! No! Agh! This is terrible! It is totally pay back for Worst In Show being released early! This is just cruel! I have this horrible feeling that I will be waiting WEEKS before they realize what's up and decide to release another volume. I am so upset. This episode wasn't meant to be a cliffhanger, but it is totally going to be! (I haven't watched it yet, so please no spoilers!)

The Skrill is coming

I am soooooo freaking out over this! December 5th, the Skrill will finally appear. Sadly, I will not get to see the episode until the sixth, but this is just so terrifyingly incredible! Finally! Wow, I do hate to think that Toothless and Hiccup might get taken down by this harrowing creature, but at least Toothless will finally get a decent rival! Whispering Deaths just don't compare! Open the image in a new window or tab if you want to see it bigger. Wow, I'm gonna have a hard time sleeping tonight! I'm having trouble breathing now!

Another tongue moment!

Ok, you've gotta admit this bit was super cute with Toothless! Actually, several of the dragons in DoB Zippleback Down showed off some charm! Ok, I'll just do this Toothless moment for now and then post more on Torch and BarfBelch later. This Night Fury is just so adorable!

Zippleback Down

Ok, so this episode was actually pretty good. The visuals were STUNNING! Just, AGH! I can't wait until I get a version of it that will allow me to take screenshots!

Now when I learned about the episodes coming out December 5th, I worried that they would totally ruin this episode by making it feel like it was just something in the way, a barrier between me and the Skrill. However, it turns out that I liked this episode a good deal! I would highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

Now, my one complaint, and a complaint I could seriously mount against tons of the recent DoB episodes, is that this plot and many other just don't focus on Hiccup and Toothless. This one is ok about it, but others are just getting annoying. I like the teens, but they don't deserve as much spotlight as they keep getting... especially Fishlegs. What is it now? Three episodes where he has been the "hero" of the story or at least the main character? I like him in little portions, but he seems to be dominating way too many plots. I would very much like to see the View to a Skrill episode focus a LOT on Hiccup and Toothless. Just... we fell in love with HTTYD for those two, not so much the entire group. I like the group, but I don't like it when the other teens get more screen time than they deserve. This one focuses a lot on Tuffnut, and honestly I think it does a pretty good job with him! Lots of funny lines and some decent character moments, so overall I liked it! I just hope this is our one Tuffnut focused episode, not the beginning of another series of twin centered things. Episode 2 of DoB started us off on a looooooong Fishlegs/Meatlug marathon, and I am kind of hoping that has ended. No hard feelings against them or any of the other teens, but I would like to see more of Hiccup and Toothless. Give us another The Night and the Fury or What Flies Beneath. Those were episodes worth their weight in gold!

Now, I have lots of stuff to pull out and enjoy from this episode, but I'm going to wait until I get HD images. As soon as I can get some screenshots, I'll be posting and discussing the many very cool elements of Zippleback Down.

Lots and LOTS of news today!

Ok, so the HTTYD poster is out, but it is not yet out in high resolution (at least in the English version). When that is released, I will write out a post on it, BUT there are some other things coming to light that are equally exciting!

The Skrill! The notoriously beloved and feared dragon of the HTTYD fandom who has never really made much of an appearance will finally step into the HTTYD world as a full fledged character! December 5 we will be getting a TWO part episode called View to A Skrill !! Both episodes will be released on the same day! Very, very, very exciting!

I have said, though I don't know if I have posted this or just mentioned it in discussions with others in the fandom, that I really want the Skrill to be given a huge amount of respect when it finally does appear. I love that dragon's design, and more than that, I love his POTENTIAL. The Skrill's design comes almost directly from some of the earlier, more sinister, night fury concept art. He pretty much is a frightening anti-Toothless. He could make the perfect antagonist! Forget Mildew and the Screaming Death, the Skrill would give Toothless a foe who is actually his equal! So, hearing that he would be starring in a two part episode is really a good sign! Perhaps they will have enough time to really show him off. I can't wait!

And possibly even more interesting is this image that has been posted on ebay (which I found on the grapevine comments. Thanks StatictheSkrill!).

Alright, so that is Dagur on a Skrill.... AGH! That is perfect! I had discussed this possibility a LOT with Toothlesslove and some other fans, and it just feels so perfect! Dagur was such a good antagonist in episode 3 of DoB, and now he looks like he is coming back with a vengeance! He works well as the anti-Hiccup. He is brutal and kills for fun while still being close to Hiccup's age and with the blood of chiefs flowing through his veins. They have just enough in common to be amazing opposites. So, if Dagur does train a Skrill, he will become the best antagonist of RoB and DoB BY FAR. The anti-Hiccup riding the anti-Toothless! The amount of angst that could be generated by that plot is stupendous! I cannot wait! What a brilliant way to handle HTTYD's most anticipated dragon! Wow, I am going to be so freaked out when the Skrill finally does show up!

Ugh, I have three tests and I should be studying, but all this news is making it very, very hard!

Accidental Early Release!

Ok, super important announcement to make! Episode seven of DoB will not air until Thursday of next week, BUT somehow it has gotten released early on iTunes! If you want to catch the episode a week early, I would suggest it. It was fairly good, and Mildew got a nice amount of comeuppance! It does focus on Fishlegs and Meatlug again... and I occasionally find those two to be a bit tedious. Still, it was over all pretty good, and Toothless pulls off a maneuver that is brilliantly Night Furyish! Finally we get to see his fire doing what it is supposed to do! Anyway, I'll not spoil it for anyone who doesn't plan to get it on iTunes.

Flightmare Image Compilation

This dragon was very interesting, and he is also very unique in a lot of different ways. He is one of the few with a noticeable overbite, he has Strike Class-like anatomy, and he is at least partially herbivorous! Kind of sad to see him go, but considering he killed Astrid's uncle (which he clearly did, I honestly don't see any question about that), I guess it is for the best. Anyway, here are some of the images I have gotten from the episode.

Very interesting episode overall. Not my favorite, but it certainly had its high points! Actually, it had a lot of good Hiccup and Astrid moments! We don't usually get to see them alone and on a mission together, and it felt a lot like the movie. They were not all lovey-dovey, and they were not all awkward, but you could tell they really did care about each other and work well together, so it felt much more in character than some other episodes. Very nice.

Wow...

I actually almost cried, I got REALLY close to crying, when I watched Race To Fireworm Island this morning! It is surprisingly emotional. I say that mostly because the characters in turmoil really are not even my favorites. It isn't Hiccup and Toothless, it is Snotlout of all people! So that shocked me! The human moments of the episode were really beautiful, I was so pleased to see that the show could move me so much! Also, the Fireworm queen is an excellent new addition to the dragon types... She's just splendid! I'm totally in love with her design, and I'm gonna write a post on her for sure! I just don't have a HD version of the episode to take screenshots from, but I should soon. Once I get it, I'll write a couple of hopefully decent posts on it. It is probably my second favorite DoB so far... maybe. The Night and the Fury comes first on my list without a question!

I am BOUNCING off the walls XD

Wow! I knew he was Strike Class, but now I know we are going to see him eventually, and even better the images on him state that he is the only dragon who can go toe to toe with Toothless, so if we don't get an awesome Skrill-Nightfury rivalry, I am going to be a little surprised! Woohoo!

How can he be so beautiful, amazing, cool, and harrowinly horrifying all at once? I really hope DoB gives this guy his due because the thematic possibilities of another Strike Class dragon (and a frightening one too) are just so powerful!

So much for my speculations! Cartoon Network updated their site as soon as I had made my guesses!

Class Speculations!

Cartoon Network's Dragons page has some brand new questions marks to give us hints on what dragons will fall into what classes in the future of DoB! I am pretty excited because I think I can speculate accurately on all of them!

Another Strike Class! Hooray! Finally Toothless has a cousin. Still, it won't match up to him, but at least we'll get to see a dragon with some Night Furyish traits. I am guessing that this will be the Flightmare; however, it could be the Skrill. I've not heard anything about the Skrill coming out in near future episodes, so I think it is a safe guess to assume the Flightmare is Strike class. I could be wrong, but he looks like he would fit. If it is the Skrill then I'm going to be bouncing off the wall!

I think the upcoming Boulder Class entry is an easy guess. I would be really surprised if this slot isn't taken up by the Screaming Death in a week or two.

Sharp Class! Now this is the joy of buying the RoB DVDs because they had bonus features and one of those bonus features gave us a mega hint that the Timberjack would show up. I've always seen that dragon as really beautiful but with a sinister side (maybe it is the long slender head), but we'll see what DoB does with him!

The Screaming Death gives us some reminders!

This last episode, though pretty good, really didn't have enough stuff in it to make me want to handle it the same way I handled the posts for The Night and The Fury. Believe it or not, I didn't really feel like there was all that much in this episode that was notable. It was enjoyable, it had some good action scenes, but the themes felt a little repeated, and we didn't get any great character moments. Pretty much this last episode was a nonstop Whispering Death battle. Fun enough to watch, but not exactly thought (or post) provoking. I think I'll cover most of what the stuck out to me in this episode in this post. 

First off, FINALLY! We get to see a titan wing dragon! I was pretty excited to hear Fishlegs actually categorize it as such. We've known that titan wings exist ever since the Book of Dragons short, but we've never seen one, and I honestly wondered whether we ever would. Thankfully, now we have. Apparently the Screaming Death is an albino, titan-wing Whispering Death. It is clearly mutated (being albino and much, much larger), but it is still a Whispering Death, and I think that was pretty cool.

I think what I may have appreciated more than finally seeing a titan-wing was the throw back to the film in that dragons are disoriented by noise. That played a role in the main movie. An entire Dragon Training class was used to show that dragons can be confused by noise, so I am happy to see that factor play back into plots. I did like how Toothless was able to focus enough to aim and shoot even when the Screaming Death was roaring. That felt nice to see Toothless overcoming a weakness that crippled most of the other dragons. Typical Toothless!

We also had the Screaming Death down Hiccup and Toothless... twice! I think once would have been plenty, but it did show us that Hiccup and Toothless, though by far the best rider and dragon, are not invincible. I like that about them... they are heroes, but they are not super heroes. They still have weaknesses, and, quite frankly, a single well place arrow could kill either of them. It gives them a much stronger feeling of realism, unlike, say, Kung Fu Panda where by the end Po pretty much feels invincible. Hiccup and Toothless live in a harsh, violent world, and they must constantly be looking out for each other because both of them know that they are vulnerable.

And a good strategy is a good strategy! Hiccup and Toothless don't have to go and mess around with new fangled tactics. Using a dragon's size against it worked with the Red Death, it worked with the Typhoomerang, and now it worked with a titan-wing, albino Whispering Death. These big dragons have a bad, bad habit of getting angry, cocky, and single-minded. They chase after Toothless, a Night Fury of all dragons, and they expect to outfly him!? Good luck with that. I do like to see patterns and throw backs in the series, and the Screaming Death was definitely a throw back to the Red Death in more than one way. Interesting episode, but again... it was pretty much just a non stop dragon battle, and I would have liked a bit more character and a bit less senseless villainy. Nuanced bad guys (like Dagur or even Toothless's rival Whispering Death) are far more interesting, realistic, and intimidating than even the Screaming Death. Well, at least in my opinion!