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Mystery Class box Hideous Zippleback
Hideous-Zippleback-zippleback-the-dragon-28083748-708-798
Information
Class
Appearance
Abilities
Flaming ouroboros
Transmitting brains
Colors
Different colors, mainly green, blue, or gold with spots and cream underbelly
Size
28'
Habitat
Caverns;
Forests
Trainable
yes
Statistics
Stats icon attack Attack
12
Stats icon speed Speed
10
Stats icon armor Armor
10
Stats icon fire Firepower
14
Stats icon shot Shot Limit
6
Stats icon stealth Stealth
22 (11x2)
Known Dragons
Individuals
Barf and Belch


The Zippleback is a special dragon as it has two heads with two distinct functions: One head breathes the gas and the other lights it!

Official Description

Of all the dragons that inhabit our world, one of the most unusual and dangerous is the Hideous Zippleback. The Zippleback is one of the largest dragons you may ever encounter. It's unmistakable with its twin heads. The heads are distinct, with separate thoughts and different personalities. Like most dragons, Zipplebacks can fly, but their wings are small and they spend most of their time on the ground. Zipplebacks are solitary, preferring to hunt alone. They come out after sundown, prowling dark forests for victims. The attack of a Zippleback is like no other. Instead of breathing fire, a Zippleback makes explosions. One head BREATHES gas, and the other head lights it.
  Dragonpedia  


Description

These dragons are part of the fear class and have two heads. They also have twin tails, one for each head.

Abilities

Gas and Spark

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 determine the location of anything that is covered by molted Changewing skin, because it will go around the solid object. This will give the appearance of an 'empty space'.

Stealth and Hunting

Hideous Zipplebacks can use their gas to hide in, which makes them very stealthy. They use it to unexpectedly strike their victims. The gas acts a smokescreen, obscuring their movements.

These dragons are solitary hunters that prefer to hunt as an ambush. Since these dragons have great stealth, they will use their gas to trap their prey in and sneak attack. They are even able to hunt well in forest bushes for ambush hunt.

Venom

In the first 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 in the Dragonpedia 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. As shown by Barf and Belch, Hideous Zipplebacks are one of the few dragons that can fly upside down. Barf and Belch were also able to temporarily outrun two rolling Quakens. Barf and Belch are also able to catch up with the Skrill, although the Skrill had been slowed down slightly by Stormfly and Toothless.

Endurance and Stamina

Zipplebacks are able to endure the attack of a Typhoomerang and still able 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. As shown repeatedly from Barf and Belch, Zipplebacks can recover easily from an giant attack, like a electric-plasma explosion, and remain unscratched. Also when Barf was stung by an immature Speed Stinger, Belch was unaffected and was able to still control the body while dragging around a paralyzed Barf who constantly emitted flammable gas. Barf and Belch was able to recover fast after being hit with a dragon root arrow and crashing into the ocean.

Climbing

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 steep terrain very well.

Senses

Hideous Zipplebacks have great senses. Both Barf and Belch were able to smell that Hiccup had an eel in him, in the first film. As stated in “Twinsanity”, they can see through fog. Their sense of smell is increased when they are in their Titan Wing stage, but it unknown how acute their smell is in their Broad Wing stage. Due to their two heads, Zipplebacks don't often rely on their senses as their two heads make them incredible hard to sneak up on.

Weaknesses

Hideous Zipplebacks are susceptible to common dragon weaknesses such as Dragon Root, Eels, Blue Oleander, Dragonvine, and Grimora parasites. Similar to Gronckles and Monstrous Nightmares, Hideous Zipplebacks can get confused with too much racket and loud noises and loud screeches from other dragons like the Screaming Death or the Sentinels, but this could be said for most dragons.

Conflict between Personalities

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. This is especially a problem when they reach their Titan Wing stage, as shown by Sparks and Spew.

Lack of Speed

Perhaps due to their larger size and relatively short but broad wings, Zipplebacks are slower in flight than many other species. Although this doesn't mean they are slower then some dragons like Gronckles.

Dousing Spark Ability

File:Dousing the sparking head with water can short out the fire.gif

According to the first film How to Train Your Dragon, dousing the sparking head with water can short out the fire starting ability, leaving the Zippleback unable to light up the flammable gas from the other head.

Behavior and Personality

The dragon has two personalities and two minds, one in each head, and often these 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's 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. As seen in Dragons: Rise of Berk, one head of some Hideous Zippleback individuals, such as Sparkle & Sparks, can even end up falling in love with the other head. Even baby Zipplebacks fight over which direction to go or what to do.

Despite squabbling between heads, Hideous Zipplebacks tend to be very social amongst their own kind and even other species. Many tend to form packs, such as the Valley Zippleback.

It has been stated by Gobber that once this dragon is saved by a Viking, they must pay their longtime 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 of 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.

It's shown in a training addition to How to Train Your Dragon that Hideous Zipplebacks (and other dragons) have a sense of humor; when a Hideous Zippleback attacks Ruff and Tuff while the two twins fight, the heads grin at each other as the Twins continue to fight dangling from the Zippleback's mouths

Training

To train a Zippleback, you must feed both heads at once, then play with the dragon to keep it 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.

Despite being relatively easy to train, Zipplebacks tend to learn mischevious lessons quicker than mundane ones, especially those that involve destruction, as indicated by Dragons: Titan Uprising.

Trivia

  • They seem to function like a lighter. This is interesting as the Zipplebacks name could be based off of zippo.
  • It was believed that the Zippleback was unable to breathe gas and spark while in flight.
    • However, in DreamWorks Dragons: The Series, Barf and Belch are seen to be more than capable to ignite and breathe gas without too much trouble.
  • The Hideous Zippleback resembles Zmey Gorynych, the Slavic Dragon.
  • The Hideous Zippleback's two heads working together is based on the proverb, "Two heads are better than one".

Gallery

Dragons
StrikeClean Night FurySkrillSnow WraithTriple Stryke
StokerClean FirewormHobblegruntMonstrous NightmareNight TerrorSingetailTerrible TerrorTyphoomerang
TidalClean BewilderbeastScauldronSeashockerShellfireSubmaripperThunderdrum
BoulderClean Catastrophic QuakenEruptodonGronckleHotburpleScreaming DeathSentinelWhispering Death
SharpClean Grim GnasherRazorwhipSpeed Stinger
MysteryClean ArmorwingBoneknapperBuffalordCavern CrasherChangewingDeath SongDramillionFlightmareHideous ZipplebackHobgobblerSandbusterSlitherwingSmothering Smokebreath
TrackerClean Deadly NadderMudrakerRumblehornSnifflehunchThunderclawWindgnasher
Unknown Class Symbol LycanwingUnknown Dragons
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