| “ | This elusive creature is highly secretive, it is known to ride lightning bolts. Found only during electrical storms that can shoot bursts of white fire. | ” |
| — (Book of Dragons) Hiccup talking about the Skrill. |
The Skrill is an elusive, Strike Class dragon appearing in the film adaption of How to Train Your Dragon. According to the Book of Dragons, it is one of the most mysterious and formidable dragons. It is also one of the most powerful of dragons, being among the smartest, rarest and fastest dragons. It appears only during lightning storms where it has the main advantage. The Skrill is seen in the Dragon Manual while Hiccup looks for more information on Night Furies. A frozen specimen appeared in A View to a Skrill Part I and II.
Quick Answers
What class does the Skrill dragon belong to in 'How to Train Your Dragon'?
What are the distinctive physical features of the Skrill dragon according to the concept art?
What unique ability might the Skrill dragon have according to early concept art?
What changes were made to the Skrill dragon's design from its concept art?
Appearance and Characteristics
This incredible creature has large wings, a spiked back and tail. The spikes on the Skrill's back and tail are sharp enough to cut with the slightest abrasion, and its an excellent flyer. It also appears to have shark-like gills on its neck. Its head slightly resembles a Thunderdrum, and its tail also resembles that of a Deadly Nadder. The proportion of its head, body, and wings are quite close to that of a Flightmare. It apparently resembles a Night Fury in flight and rivals its speed, being only slightly slower. It's the size of a Deadly Nadder, but incredibly fast, comparing speed to size.
When a Skrill is riding lightning, it seems to wrap itself in its wings and dive down. Like the Monstrous Nightmare, its locomotion on land resembles that of a Pterosaur, using the large claws on its wings to walk and run on land. It is also seen walking with its wings held above its body slightly resembling a Deadly Nadder. Find more information at Dragon Anatomy.
The Skrill's page in the Dragon Manual
As with most of the dragons in the dragon manual, it's listed as being "extremely dangerous" and the manual instructs readers to "kill on sight". Although it's name was only mentioned.
Behavior
One of the most mysterious and feared species in the Book of Dragons, the Skrill is aggressive, powerful, and nearly untrainable. It appears to be almost as feared as the Night Fury, if not more feared. This reclusive dragon is belligerent and as unpredictable as lightning strikes. It is very territorial, despite following stormy weather; Skrills do not breathe fire, instead they channel lightning down their metallic spines, firing it from their mouths in a show of destructive blasts. If you find yourself flying through a thunderstorm, watch out! Despite it's average size, Skrills can give as good as they take, and they can take a lot.
Abilities
See Fire Types.
The Skrill blending in with the dark clouds
Like all Strike Class dragons, Skrills have blazing speed, extreme intelligence, unique firepower, and are masters of stealth.
Absorbing Electricity
The Skrill is an electrical dragon. It can absorb and store lightning. Using its metallic spines, it can channel lightning through it's body and fire out destructive blasts through it's mouth. Skrills also have the ability to direct multiple bolts of lightning, making the dragons greatly feared by Vikings. They have been known to wrap themselves in their wings (though this was only shown in the concept art) and ride lightning bolts like an air torpedo to reach supersonic speeds. These dragons recharge their lightning from the clouds to be able to gain and increase their shot limits. It's ability to harness and store electricity gives it a static field, making your hair stand on end if you get too close. A side effect of getting hit by the electric blast causes people to talk in gibberish.
Firepower
Unlike other dragons' fire attacks, where it is a single blast of some sort, Skrills have the ability to shoot lightning in a long line over great distance of their unique ability of their electrokinetics, adding more power to it and more damage to whatever is unlucky enough to get hit. A strange effect was discovered, that when the Lightning Blasts of a Skrill's and the Plasma Blasts of a Night Fury's meet head on, a massive explosion of a plasmatic electrical surge will form and can knock dragons from the sky.
Ice Hibernation
It was revealed that their hidden ability that their inner body heat, Skrills could survive being frozen for decades. Dragonpedia states that once Skrills emerge from being frozen, they will show to be as fierce as the day they were frozen, as shown when Hiccup and Fishlegs revealed to Stoick that the Frozen Skrill could still be alive and dangerous, and indeed it was.
Speed and Stealth
After the Night Fury, the Skrill is the fastest and most agile flier among dragons. They use lightning in order to go faster. It is most likely that their electrokinetics ability gives them an extra energy boost to enhance their speed even further. Skrills have been known to appear out of electrical storms, the only warning of them being there is their electric outline when it absorbs lightning prior to attack.
Strength
Skrills are very strong for a dragon their size. The frozen specimen managed to defeat Stormfly with just one slap of its' wings.
Their senses of vision are shown to be strong enough to see in dark clouds.
Their stamina could be close to a Night Fury's, as the Frozen Skrill was able to emerge from hibernation, attack the Rider's dragons, go in search of food (unsuccessfully) and then engage the Riders in combat with no pause in between. The Frozen Skrill has shown for his kind to be able to endure many attacks and still look fine to continue in flight.
The Skrill fighting back with its lightning blasts against the Night Fury's plasma blast
The original concept of the Skrill's lightning blasts
Weakness
Their unique weakness is water, if you force a Skrill to fall in the water they will lose their upper hand.
Titan Wing
Source: Dragons: Rise of Berk
Titan Skrills still resemble their younger counterparts. However, they are now larger and blue, instead of purple, and their mouth is light blue. Also, the spines on their back is longer and sharper and the talons on their wings have grown significantly thicker.
How to Train Your Dragon
The Skrill is mentioned briefly as Hiccup reads the Dragon Manual for information on Night Furies.
In the Book of Dragons
The Skrill is featured in Book of Dragons (short). It is said to be highly secretive and is known to ride lightning bolts like air torpedoes to reach supersonic speeds, and usually only comes out during electrical storms. It can shoot blasts of lightning as its entire body crackles with static electricity. Just being close to a Skrill is enough to make one's hair stand on end. Skrills belong to the Strike Class dragons. Bork and his sheep Willy found one that caused their hair to stand on edge.
Dragons: Defenders of Berk
The Skrill was the symbol of the Berserker Tribe in which it appeared on their ships' sail, shields and their chief's belt.[1] According to Stoick's grandfather, the Berserkers were said to use harnessed Skrills in their attacks, they would attack behind them after they rained lightning blasts upon their enemies.
A Skrill was found frozen in a solid block of ice, found by Berserkers who attack Bucket and Mulch to keep it hidden. Hiccup, Astrid and Snotlout flew it back to the Academy, where it was eventually blown open by the Twins, unleashing the Skrill. It is pursued by the gang and Dagur for until it was captured by Alvin when it fell into the ocean. The Skrill was then locked up and put in a cage on Outcast Island. Wanting the dragon, Dagur secures a fake deal with Alvin and ultimately steals the Skrill, using it to battle Alvin, Hiccup and Toothless until he gets electrocuted and the Skrill is set free. In the end, the Skrill is refrozen in a glacier once again.[2]
A Skrill sparks, about to shoot lightning
Appearances
- How to Train Your Dragon (film) (Mentioned)
- Book of Dragons
- Riders of Berk Commercials
- Twinsanity (Berserker Crest)
- The Night and the Fury (Berserker ship sail)
- A View to a Skrill Part I
- A View to a Skrill Part II
- School of Dragons
- Dragons: Rise of Berk
Trivia
- The Skrill is the Berserker Crest.
- At full speed, the Skrill is the fastest flier after the Night Fury.
- There was a rumor surfacing that the Skrill was faster than the Night Fury while riding lightning, but the stats say otherwise.
- On the official website it shows Typhoomerangs are faster than Skrills. However this is incorrect as Typhhomerangs are the third fastest dragons. It is also possible the stats for the Skrill are wrong, which means the former "Skrill speed > Night Fury speed" rumor would be correct.
- The Skrill has an error on it's official page (in the gallery). Instead of saying it is in the Strike Class, it is labeled as being in the Sharp Class. In School of Dragons, it is mistakenly put in Fear Class, however the latter was proven to be a glitch.
- According to the Cartoon Network site, Skrills are completely untrainable. Dragonpedia, however, says Skrill are nearly untrainable, which is the case.
- Skrills have been released inSchool of Dragons. Skrills are acquired from purchasing a Skrill egg for 750 gems as a nonmember, and 600 gems/free starter dragon for members.
- A Skrill's favorite food is sheep (mutton).
- The Skrill made it's first appearance on the series in the episodes View to a Skrill Parts I and II.
- Berserkers can actually control a Skrill to shoot out lightning during electrical storms.
- A most likely theory is that the Skrill has sensitive organs along the side of its wings. These organs are able to absorb lightning better than any other part of its body. Once pulled down, the Skrill is easily able to absorb lightning. This is a similar movement to a Skrill absorbing lightning naturally.
- The Skrill is said to draw lightning from the sky and strike it in several directions at once.
- Due to the Skrill's internal body temperature, the dragon can remain safely frozen for decades.
- In a concept art, Skrills were shown to walk using their wings, similar to the Monstrous Nightmare, however in Defenders of Berk, Rise of Berk and School of Dragons, they hold their wings above the ground similar to a Deadly Nadder.
- Also in a concept art, they were shown being fed baskets of eels, but according to the TV show, only Typhoomerangs eat eels. In School of Dragons they lose happiness by being fed eels. Which makes that concept art false.
- Their appearance on the How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular greatly differs from that of other sources.
- Skrills can cause a side affects to humans by talking in gibberish but for Tuffnut was able to comprehend what Snotlout said after being hit by a Skrill.
- As Skrills temporally loose their ability of firing lightning once they enter the water, they try to avoid water as much as they can. However, in Rise of Berk, the Skrill's specialty is fishing, and it has to dive into the sea to catch fish.
- The Skrill emits a Night Fury's diving roar as it fires it's lightning blast in Dragon Tracker Part 4.
Gallery
.png "Skrill(stats).png (3.64 MB)")
References