Summary

• Dragons in How to Train Your Dragon have unique abilities, strengths, and roles in the franchise's diverse world.
• From the tiny Terrible Terror to the powerful Night Fury, each dragon has its own special skills and characteristics.
• The Bewilderbeast stands out as the most dominant and controlling dragon, making it the strongest creature in the franchise.

The How To Train Your Dragon franchise boasts a world packed with powerful dragons, but when it comes to the strongest dragon in How to Train Your Dragon, it has changed as the movies and TV shows wore on. The franchise is about the heart and the unlikely connection between humans and their dragon companions. The dragons vary in strength and abilities, allowing them to assist their riders in various ways. As their appearances in the series pile up, the powers and abilities of each dragon are revealed.

This franchise follows Hiccup — the son of Berk’s chief in the beginning — as he makes unlikely friends with one of the most dangerous species of dragon. This is the Night Fury, and Hiccup names the dragon Toothless. Throughout the series, the two friends, along with their fellow dragon riders, take on rival dragons and Vikings alike to keep the Island of Berk and everyone on it safe. However, the dragons' powers and abilities over time create unexpected problems and solutions for the community.

10 Terrible Terror

The Dragon Messenger

The Terrible Terror does not possess much power at all. In fact, they are essentially the reptilian version of a cat mixed with a carrier pigeon. This species in the How To Train Your Dragon franchise is the adorable small dragon that is more of a nuisance for the bigger dragons.

The most interesting thing about these dragons is that they were trained to deliver messages between locations, like carrier pigeons. They are also known to sing on the rooftops of Berk, making them more pets than warriors. They are useful, as they can fly back and forth without much struggle and deliver messages faster than the dragon riders could, flying back on their own. Their size also makes them less detectable during these missions than their bigger counterparts.

However, this does not mean that they can't protect themselves or fight back in battle. They often fly in packs of up to 10 at a time and will attack as a group when threatened. As shown in the TV series Dragons: Rise of Berk, they also can blow a lethal amount of fire when something threatens them or their pack.

9 The Gronckle

The Lava-Spitting Dragon

The Gronckle is a species ridden by one of the primary dragon riders. Fishlegs and his dragon Meatlug bonded because of their sweetness and their gentle nature. While Gronckles can be violent, it is not to the same extent as it is as other dragons.

The Gronckle is a medium-sized Boulder Class dragon that is one of the toughest dragons in the world, although they are also lazy and prefer not to get involved in anything strenuous unless there is no other choice. They do have skills, though.

Firstly, they have the ability to shoot lava from their mouths. With their lava, they can make different metals depending on the rocks that they eat. For this reason, making weapons is perhaps their best use — not battling in warfare. However, if forced into war battles, they are more durable than most other dragons. As shown in Dragons: Rise of Berk, they have some of the toughest hides and can take more hits and damage than two regular dragons combined.

8 Rumblehorn

The Rhino Of The Dragon World

The Rumblehorn isn’t featured that often in the How To Train Your Dragon movie franchise, but in the second film, one is ridden by Hiccup’s dad and the Chief of Berk, Stoic the Vast. With that said, they played a big part in the Dragons: Race to the Edge series where they captured a rogue Rumblehorn, trained it, and named it Skullcrusher.

The Rumblehorn is a giant brute. It looks almost like a rhino and has the same instinct to ram into things. It is known for its violent tendencies and immense strength, but the Rumblehorn is also a master strategist. It recognizes patterns and is able to hunt its victims without giving away its location.

Skullcrusher was almost impossible to catch, but once they brought him in, he was an invaluable dragon. The Rumblehorn is a tracker and can find anything. It also loves to seek out adventures, and while its power is all brute force, it can run over just about anything in its way.

7 The Zippleback

The Two-Headed Dragon

Two heads are better than one, and with the Zippleback, two heads are necessary. One head releases gas, and the other releases a spark that ignites it. The two-headed dragon is known for its explosive tendencies but little else. Though lacking in intelligence, they are extremely loyal dragons who will do anything to protect those who look out for them. The dragon is one of the biggest out there, and while it doesn't fly much, it is a deadly hunter thanks to its explosions.

An important monster in the franchise, the Zippleback is one of the most commonly seen dragons in the How To Train Your Dragon universe, showing up in the first movie and sticking around ever since. Ruffnut and Tuffnut rode the main one in the franchise and eventually named the two heads Barf and Belch. The dragon has been in most of the movies and TV shows since then, and they developed a perfect relationship with Ruffnut and Tuffnut individually.

6 The Deadly Nadder

The Speedster Dragon

The Deadly Nadder dragon is one of the main species in the franchise, as Astrid rides one named Stormfly. She is not the only one in the series, but Stormfly is easily the most recognizable Deadly Nadder. There are pros to these dragons, including their extreme accuracy and the spines that they shoot off of their tails.

The sharp spines that are on their hides and tails are flung with deadly accuracy. However, thanks to a blind spot, if a person stands in front of one, the Deadly Nadder can't see them. On the plus side though, they’re fast and easily trainable.

Despite all of these perks, the Deadly Nadder is a far cry from the strongest dragon in How to Train Your Dragon. It is not the biggest or the fastest, but they are still capable fighters, as shown in the franchise when they battled the Monstrous Nightmares and didn't back down. They also have been seen fighting other dragons across the franchise and are not pushovers.

5 Stormcutter

The Masters Of The Sky

The Stormcutter species was introduced in the second film. In How To Train Your Dragon 2, Hiccup's mom bonds with a Stormcutter dragon like Hiccup had with Toothless. This particular dragon is the second in command at the dragon sanctuary, and its power level justifies that role.

The Stormcutter species has several abilities that make it strong. They’re fast and agile and can fly with their bodies oriented in all directions. They can even turn their heads backward to see behind them. They are also massively large dragons, but also very fast.

With its speed and power, this is a dragon that no one wants to fight in a battle. They can also fly horizontally to attack an enemy, while their blast of fire is tornado-shaped and incredibly powerful. Cloudjumper was able to light the entire Haddock House on fire in seconds. On top of all that, they possess flammable saliva. This is very deadly, but the only problem is that it is tough for the dragon to control.

4 Monstrous Nightmare

The Behemoths Of Destruction

The main Monstrous Nightmare in the show is ridden by Snotlout, a character in Dragons: Riders of Berk. His dragon, Hookfang, is an excellent representation of what the species is capable of as the Monstrous Nightmare dragon is destructive and violent. They can set themselves on fire with no harm coming to their own body while also setting fire to everything around them. They also produce a gel on their skin that can act as fuel for attacks the riders want to perform.

A Monstrous Nightmare attacked the village to start the How to Train Your Dragon franchise in the first movie, and it engulfed the entire village before Stoick defeated it. However, his true power is shown here when the Vikings capture one and ask Hiccup to kill it to prove his worth. When Hiccup tried to tame it, Stoick startled the dragon, and it attacked. However, Toothless swoops in and saves Hiccup and subdues the larger dragon, showing that Toothless is more powerful than the bigger beast.

3 Red Death

The Powerhouse Of The Dragon World

The Red Death was the "big bad" the dragon riders faced in the first How To Train Your Dragon movies. It was supposedly the king dragon that hid in the nest. All the dragons reported to him and gave him food to stay alive. His sheer size and the fact that he could shoot large amounts of fire at once are a big part of what made him so formidable.

However, he has his weaknesses which is that his size makes him slow and unable to change directions quickly when flying. His fire is strong but also uncontrollable, methane-based flame jets that can take down an entire fleet of ships in just one breath.

However, this fire is also something that Red Death struggles to control, which ultimately causes his death in How To Train Your Dragon's ending. Unlike most other dragons, the dragon is susceptible to fire on its inside. This means that if it explodes inside its body, it can tear it apart and kill it. It is very powerful, but this is one fateful weakness.

2 Night Fury

Hiccup's Faithful Companion

Toothless is the only Night Fury left in the world. Hiccup and Toothless have a deep and loving bond, but his abilities as a dragon are one of the most important things about him. His stealth and speed top the charts for most of the dragons in the series. Moreover, he's challenging to bring down, as evidenced by all the beatings he's taken without giving out.

He is a strong offensive fighter, shooting explosive plasma blasts that can create blinding light flashes and also deliver an electrical discharge. A Night Fury also has cloaking powers, which allow them to almost turn invisible in the face of an attack, and is stealthy when flying in and out of danger.

They are also strong and can go toe-to-toe with bigger, heavier dragons in battle. Thanks to its natural toughness and versatility, Toothless, a Night Fury, remains a valuable ally to the main characters, which is how Hiccup persevered through so many challenges.

1 Bewilderbeast

The Alpha Dragon

The Bewilderbeast dragon was featured in How To Train Your Dragon 2. One is controlled by the movie’s villain — Drago Bludvist — and the other acts of its own volition. This dragon can shoot ice out of its mouth, trapping anything in its path.

While that ability is a key asset, its main power is controlling all other dragons. This is what causes some of the series’ first big fatalities. The Bewilderbeast is the greatest alpha male and controls dragons easier than even Red Death could. Bewilderbeast was powerful enough to control Toothless and take him away from Hiccup, leading to the Night Fury killing HIccup's father.

Other than the mind control it has over other dragons, the Bewilderbeast was also nearly unmatched in both strength and power and could crush just about any other dragon or Viking war ship under its feet like they were nothing. Its power to control all other dragons and its unparalleled brute strength make it the strongest dragon in How To Train Your Dragon.