The Screaming Death, subspecies of the Whispering Death, is a Boulder Class dragon. According to Fishlegs, it is not documented in the Book of Dragons, but is named by Tuffnut. Bork the Bold said in his notes that the Screaming Death only hatches once every 100 years. This is odd since if Bork had heard or seen a Screaming Death, it would have been documented in the Book of Dragons. This may be an error in the episode or he simply didn't name the Screaming Death and only gave a description for them to work with. The Screaming Death is the fourth largest and longest known dragon, after the Red Death, Foreverwing and Bewilderbeast. The adolescent individual who crossed with the Dragon Riders of Berk is regarded as one of the strongest dragons they have faced since the Red Death.
Quick Answers
What is the Screaming Death's relation to the Whispering Death?
How does the Screaming Death's egg differ from a Whispering Death's egg?
What is the significance of the Screaming Death's white color and red eyes?
What is the Screaming Death's weakness?
How does the Screaming Death's size compare to other dragons in the series?
Official Description
| “ | Born every one hundred or so years, the Screaming Death has all the strengths of its subordinate cousin, the Whispering Death, with none of its weaknesses.
It is the most powerful dragon Berk has faced since the Red Death. Unlike the Whispering Death, this dragon has no aversion to sunlight.In fact, young Screaming Deaths are drawn to bright light. Attraction to light wears off as the dragon gets older. It shoots large spines from its tail and can breathe massive amounts of fire in a single blast, but the Screaming Death's real strength is its insatiable appetite. Like the Whispering Death, the Screaming Death likes to tunnel, consuming sea stacks and decimating entire islands. An adolescent Screaming Death nearly destroyed the town of Berk, and when it to adulthood, it nearly ate all of Dragon Island (along with five other islands before that). You can't really defeat the Screaming Death. It's too fast, too angry, too powerful. The best you can hope to do is find a way to lure it somewhere else. Screaming Deaths ALWAYS eventually return to their place of birth to nest. Despite distances that may separate them, Screaming Deaths remain acutely aware of the well-being of their Whispering Death mothers. So if you want to stay on a Screaming Death's good side, don't insult its mother! |
” |
| — Dragonpedia |
Physical Appearance
The Screaming Death appears to be a heavily mutated, albino Whispering Death. It is white in color, has large red eyes, a longer and a more massive body, and larger tail than a normal Whispering Death. It also has three rows of teeth, but they are aligned differently than those of the Whispering Death, set in a chin reminiscent of a Red Death. They have rows of frilly spines that line the edges of its unsegmented underbelly.
Despite the Screaming Death's size, it's wings are only the size of Toothless's. This is because it uses its excessively long tail as a sort of rotor.
Titan Screaming Deaths are bigger, with more spines on their bodies. They have red stripes on their wings and backs. Their backs are gray. They have more teeth and a`gray face.
Abilities
As a mutant version of a Whispering Death, the Screaming Death is much larger and more powerful.
Strength
The Screaming Death's strength is much greater than the Whispering Death, allowing it to go head-to-head with the Dragon Riders and tunnel at a ferocious rate. The Screaming Death is also able to plow right through massive sea stacks with ease, just like the Red Death.
Tunneling
Like the Whispering Death, the Screaming Death can tunnel underground, using its strong jaws and spike-ridden skin. However, its tunnels are much bigger, allowing it to sink islands with little difficulty. Its size are wide enough for Monstrous Nightmare able to fly in.
Fire Type
Gatling shots
The Screaming Death shoots large, explosive balls of fire. These fireballs are unlike that of the Night Fury and similar to a mortar, but with a much higher rate of fire. When the Screaming Death is breathing fire, it releases excess fire from gaps in its frill (when any flammable gas is emitted at inside of his mouth, a similar phenomenon can be observed as a small explosion occurs). At least a dozen fireballs can be launched in rapid succession.
Screaming Deaths can breath concentric rings of fire that match the round shape of their own mouths These are identical to the fire rings used by the Whispering Death.
Sonic Shriek/Deafening Scream
\The Screaming Death gets its name from its incredibly disorienting sonic roar that can affect the flight of other dragons.
Senses
The Screaming Death's sense of vision is much stronger than the Whispering Deaths; the Whispering Death avoids direct light, but the Screaming Death can fly in daylight with no ill effects.
Spine Shot
The Screaming Death is able to shoot large spines from its tail.
Speed
The Screaming Death is much faster than the average Whispering Death, to the point they can even catch up with an average flying Night Fury.
Endurance and Stamina
The Screaming Death is extremely durable. It was able to take attacks from Toothless, Meatlug, Stormfly, Barf & Belch, several wild Gronckles and several wild Nadders with little visible damage - at best, it was mildly fatigued (as the wild Nadders were able to keep up with it and continue their attack). It also has the toughest and strongest skin of all dragons, as an average-powered Night Fury Plasma Blast barely affected it, as well as Nadder spines and many other types of firepower. Though they have the toughest skin of nearly any dragon, the Scauldron's hot water blast can create enough heat to rip the scales off the Screaming Death.
Intelligence
The Screaming Death is intelligent enough to learn from its mistakes and adapt to enemy strategies.The Screaming Death is relatively intelligent, as it did not fall for the reflection of Hiccup's shield the second time. Seemingly, the dragon succeeded to overcome some of weaknesses unique to the main species through mutation. The Screaming Death is attracted to bright and intense light, unlike the Whispering Death. It was also able to understand that Hiccup and Toothless saved its mother from harm, and promptly ceased hostility towards them. Over the few years he was shown to forget his mother saviors, Hiccup and Toothless, it is possible he didn't recognize them from their age, very protective of his home or has a bad memory.
Armor
The Screaming Death appears to have incredibly tough and strong scales. The scales appear to give it some resistance against attacks from dragons, for example, a Nadder's spine shot. Furthermore, Hiccup used Screaming Death scales as an armor for the dragons against Dragon Root arrows.
Alpha Control
Screaming Death seems to have some control over its siblings for short time. As it was able to command them to help him to be lifted away safely. Though it seems to lost this ability since his siblings seemed to be gone. In the Rise of Berk game, it controls a group of dragons known as Exiles, that fell under his command after he destroyed their islands.
Behavior and Personality
Judging by the massive size of what is apparently a hatchling, this albino giant is probably one of the biggest dragons of them all. The Screaming Death is attracted to light as opposed to having an aversion (only for young dragons), as the Whispering Deaths do.
The Screaming Death also seems to have a mutated maturity cycle and seems to become a full grown adult faster. There is only one in the show so its maturity level is not fully known either.
Initially the Screaming Death was violent and destructive, even to the point of destroying entire islands. It was later shown to be merely seeking its mother. After the reunion with her and his siblings, the Screaming Death became calmer than in previous times, and thanked Hiccup by roaring at him before leaving for parts unknown.
The Screaming Death seen on Berk appears to be the Alpha of the group of Whispering Deaths that attacked Berk. Though this might be because the dragons are siblings, looking after one another, including helping the Screaming Death when its wing was injured and gathering food. It can also mean the Screaming Death has certain control over its Whispering Deaths.
'The real strength' of the breed is said to be their insatiable appetites. Like the Whispering Death, they favor tunneling, and to feed on sea stacks, and resulting in decimating entire islands.
Screaming Deaths have extremely strong homing instincts, holding strong bonds to certain locations.
Weaknesseses
When they are young, they are attracted to sunlight - however, they grow out of this weakness as they age. Additionally, their large size can be used against them in the proper terrain.
Differences to the Whispering Death
- The Whispering Death is dullish blue and grey, while the Screaming Death is pure white.
- The Screaming Death seems to be able to withstand sunlight as it chases Hiccup and Toothless in broad daylight, while Whispering Deaths are normally agitated by the sunlight.
- The Whispering Death's eyes are white and a little bit red, while the Screaming Death's eyes are fully red.
- The Whispering Death's teeth are yellow and are different sizes. The canines are twice as big as the other teeth. The Screaming Death's teeth are white and equal in sizes.
- The Whispering Death's inner teeth are from left to right. The Screaming Death's inner teeth are from front to back.
- The Whispering Death's mouth is bigger and has barely any chin. The Screaming Death's mouth is like many other dragons (unlike the Whispering Death's, which is shaped like an oval if you look from the front) and it has a large chin.
- The Whispering Death shoots rings of fire. The Screaming Death shoots combustive fireballs.
- The Whispering Death create hissing sounds that agitate dragons. The Screaming Death creates screams that disorientate dragons.
- Higher durability: the Thunderdrum can stun the Whispering Death with its powerful sonic blast, but the Screaming Death isn't too vulnerable to Thunderdrum attacks.
- Whispering Deaths are regarded to having excellent memory, while the Screaming Death had forgotten about Hiccup in just a few years.
Appearances
DreamWorks Dragons: The Series
Dragons: Defenders of Berk: One of these dragons served as the former secondary antagonist in Dragons:Defenders of Berk, due to it being an obstacle for Hiccup and the Dragon Riders. Savage and his fellow Outcasts return to Berk to check on the infant Whispering Deaths that have hatched in the caves beneath the village since they were planted there during their last attack on Berk. Many egg shells are scattered along the cave floor, but much to Savage's surprise, one certain egg shell, a red one, is truly massive. The hole left in the ceiling from the infant as it burrowed out is nearly the size of an adult Whispering Death tunnel, but this creature has just hatched. It can be assumed that this was the egg of a Screaming Death, and as Savage and his men retreat from the cave, the Screaming Death's roar can be distinctly heard echoing through the cave.
The Screaming Death first appeared as the leader of the Whispering Deaths in What Flies Beneath. The creature, which had been sleeping at the start, was awakened by three of its Whispering Death siblings, who were at the moment being driven away by the Dragon Riders. The massive dragon rose from its cave and headed towards Berk. Upon being attacked, Screaming Death demonstrated his Deafening Scream attack (which summoned its three Whispering Death back). This gave Tuffnut the idea of naming the new dragon "Screaming Death." Hiccup discovered that Screaming Death was attracted to the light off of his shield and used it to lure the dragon into ramming into one of the rock pillars. Its wing was injured from rocks falling on it. The Whispering Deaths took Screaming Death away from Berk and nurse it back to health. However, Hiccup was concerned that Screaming Death would return, noting that Whispering Death hatchlings are very territorial of their birthplace.
The Screaming Death, which did indeed get bigger and matured in intelligence, returned where it was sinking the other islands that dragons lived on in the episode Appetite for Destruction. It made it to Dragon Island, and would soon reach Berk afterwards. Hiccup tried to distract it with his shield again, but it ignored the light this time probably because it learned its lesson on shiny objects. Fishlegs rounded up the dragons that lived on the islands that Screaming Death destroyed to fight it off. After being defeated, Screaming Death left Dragon Island, but Hiccup was sure it would return to exact its revenge.
While the Screaming Death did not reappear, the riders were still on the lookout for it.
The riders were having attack drills for it and Hiccup said that he made the Thunder Ear to try and locate it through its scream.
In Cast Out, Part 1, he Screaming Death was found when it attacked Snotlout and Hookfang and would have killed Snotlout if Alvin the Treacherous had not saved him. It was later seen smashing out of a sea stack. The Screaming Death was found by Fishlegs while he and Meatlug were out on patrol. Hiccup later finds out the reason that the Screaming Death is destroying the islands, searching for his mother, and sent air mail back to the Academy. Later, Fishlegs uses the Dragon Root to lure Screaming Death to Outcast Island. As the Outcast Island training arena was collapsing, Screaming Death saw its mother, however it returned to attacking after Dagur had captured her. Eventually, Screaming Death's mother was freed by Snotlout and Hookfang, and she and its siblings flew out to meet with it. Screaming Death, realizing that it had been the Dragon Riders who had saved its mother, gave one last roar of thanks to Hiccup, then left with its family. It was later added to the Book of Dragons by Fishlegs.
Dragons: Race to the Edge: Three years later, the Screaming Death is living with its mother on an island. When Stormfly, Astrid and the other Riders were captured by Ryker Grimborn and his Dragon Hunters, Hiccup, Toothless, Snotlout, and Hookfang then went to its island. There they found it and were chased by it; however, its mother stopped him, giving the riders permission to take the Screaming Death's scales to use them as Dragon Armor.
Games
Dragons: Rise of Berk: The Screaming Death appeared in this game as a Legendary Dragon. It boosts the battle stats for the dragons and unlocks the Exiled Dragons via collection packs. This dragon serves a purpose closer to that of a game mechanic than a dragon.
School of Dragons: The Screaming Death became a rideable dragon in school of Dragons, and its Titan Wing form was released too.
Trivia
- The name for the Screaming Death originated from Tuffnut after he heard the first giant scream from the dragon, prompting him to say: "Screaming Death. I love it!"
- The Screaming Death is confirmed to be in the species of the Whispering Death.
- The Screaming Death's fire breath is very similar to a 3-round/5-round burst gun, as it fires 3-5 small shots in quick succession (or more) and its frills flash with each shot which would be comparable to muzzle brake on a firearm.
- Even though Fishlegs states the Screaming Death isn't in the Book of Dragons, Hiccup still discovered information about it. This means that Bork had information about the Screaming Death in his notes, or it could be a simple error.
- In Tunnel Vision, Fishlegs describes the Screaming Death as a Titan Wing, this could mean that the Screaming Death has completed its 5 stages of growth. This would be possible if the mutation affected the Screaming Death's growth . If its true there could be another stage or stages other than egg, tiny tooth, short wing, broad wing, and titan wing. However, when it later appeared in Appetite for Destruction it was said to be bigger. It is most likely that Fishlegs was simply likening the Screaming Death to a Titan Wing Boulder class dragon, and was unaware it would get larger still.
- According to Bork's Archive notes, the Screaming Death only hatches once every hundred years but its unknown if its true.
- The Screaming Death chasing Hiccup and Toothless in Tunnel Vision, had similar moves that Hiccup and Toothless used when the Red Death chased them; like going up and down.
- The Screaming Death strangely shares traits and features with The Great Devourer from the Lego Ninjago TV series. Similarities include the fact they are both reptiles, obviously, the fact that they both have caused mass destruction, they are both massive and worm-like, they both burrow, the Screaming Death "devoured" islands and The Great Devourer threatened to devourer Ninjago, Both have very big teeth, and both could theoretically live for extremely long lifespans.
- It is revealed that the reason why the Screaming Death has constantly been going on a rampage is because he was looking for his mother, the Whispering Death on Outcast Island that hatched all the eggs and were planted underneath Berk in Live and Let Fly.
- In Cast Out, Part 2, Hiccup asks Mildew about the eggs planted under Berk, asking if one was a "large, red egg," hinting that the shell of its egg is red in color.
- Even though the Screaming Death breaths balls of fire, the Dragonpedia states they breath rings of fire.
- Even if the Screaming Death is way bigger than a Typhoomerang, it seems that it can pull itself up and stop falling, unlike Typhoomerangs like Torch's Mother.
- Upon first seeing the monstrous dragon, Fishlegs described the Screaming Death as an "All white, Boulder Class, Titan Wing Whispering Death with bright red eyes that bore a hole, right through your very soul."
- The Screaming Death possibly eats other smaller dragons because it is capable of doing so. As shown when the Screaming Death attempted to eat Meatlug and Fishlegs. However, this attempt might just well be the Dragon Root's affection. Or maybe to get revenge from their last encounter.
- In some of the episodes, the Screaming Death has the same roar as the Red Death.