The Speed Stinger is a Sharp Class Dragon that appeared in Defenders of Berk. They hunt in packs and have a leader, Lead Stinger.
Dragon Appearance
The Speed Stinger is a swift, flightless dragon which resembles a theropod dinosaur, but with sail-like appendages on its head, back and legs. Though the Speed Stinger is wingless, a pair of fins on its back appears somewhat like tiny wings. Its name is derived from the barbed stinger at the tip of its tail (rather like a stingray's). The leader has red stripes and fins while the other members of the pack are green. All of them have red stingers and red eyes. Their small pupils resemble those of Terrible Terrors.
Speed Stinger's tail
Behavior
The Speed Stinger is described as the Velociraptor of the Dragon World, being extremely intelligent and cunning. These dragons are ravenous scavengers, that will often steal from other dragons and vikings. They live in packs, led by a Lead Stinger, and have a hive-like mindset. The Lead Stinger decides everything, and the pack follows wherever he goes; without him, the pack becomes useless. Speed Stingers are nocturnal, spending the days in caverns in order to avoid predators. They are too aggressive to train.
Abilities
The Speed Stinger lives up to its name. It is the fastest dragon on land, hunts in packs, and can't fly like all the other dragons. However, with its super speed and tiny "wings" on its back, it can jump higher than any other dragon. The sharp stinger on the end of its barbed tail contains venom that can temporarily paralyze its victim. It is also shown to be good at stealth and is a highly intelligent dragon. It is the first dragon in the movie universe that apparently lacks any sort of ranged attacks. This is because all the internal energy goes to its powerful legs, which give it its speed, agility, and capacity to jump high. Because of their thick hides and large amount of internal energy, Speed Stingers have great stamina.
History
How To Train Your Dragon
The Speed Stinger is found in the Dragon Manual when Hiccup was searching for information on Night Furies.
In Dragons: Defenders of Berk
In the episode Frozen, the Speed Stinger made its first and so far only appearance. While Hiccup and Toothless were searching for Trader Johann, they could see a pack of these dragons running beneath them, on the frozen sea. It later turned out the Pack had taken over Berk, and paralyzed its citizens. Ultimately, the two managed to lure the Stingers away from Berk, by capturing their leader, the Lead Stinger.
Trivia
- The Speed Stinger strongly resembles the Stinger Dragons from the How To Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular. The resemblance and name similarities are notable enough to hint that the dragons may be the same species just in different forms of telling the story of the How To Train Your Dragon Universe.
- The Speed Stinger's tail resembles a scorpion's stinger.
- The Speed Stinger is in the Dragon Manual.
- Although it did appear in the dragon manual in the movie, it did not appear in the short Book of Dragons. The image may have been put in the book to fill in space, but was later embraced in Defenders of Berk.
- The Speed Stinger is the only other dragon, besides the Night Fury, not to have a horn on its nose or a horn-shaped nose.
- The Speed Stinger is the first Dragon in the series to be flightless.
- The Speed Stinger makes its first appearance in Frozen.
- Despite Fishlegs saying one drop of their venom can freeze a human or dragon in an instant, it took six Stingers to paralyze Stoick. This could mean their poison can be counteracted by either sheer adrenaline, body size or both, although this might just mean it took six dragons before one of them could sting him. The latter is most likely the right one. This dragon's venom may act a bit more slowly the bigger the animal or person its acted upon. Such as when Stormfly received a single sting, it took a few seconds to paralyze her completely. Also when the first Stinger attack happened, it took four Speed Stingers to instantly paralyze a Deadly Nadder that they had cornered.
- Speed Stingers travel in packs with a group leader who leads them.
- Speed Stingers follow their leader wherever they go and without one the pack doesn't know what to do.
- They are nocturnal because they sleep during the day and hunt at night.
- They are the fastest dragon in terms of both speed with 30 and are also the best at stealth.
- The Speed Stinger's roar uses the same sound effects as the Velociraptors in the Jurassic Park movies. This is most likely due to their resemblances.
- The Speed Stinger is the 6th Dragon not to be featured in the short Book of Dragons, but to be featured in the show. The others were: Typhoomerang , Fireworm , Smothering Smokebreath , Screaming Death, and the Flightmare.
- Although this dragon is not the first dragon unable to breath fire, it is the first to have no ranged attack.
- It looks like a combination between a Velociraptor and scorpion.
- Like the Stormcutter and Night Fury, Speed Stingers sleep upside down like a bat.
- It is unknown why only the leader has red, but it might be to show that only he can mate. The leader may release hormones making them unable to mate similar to queen bees or it could just be a rare variation.
- Their teeth reach further back when compared to other dragons.
- Speed Stingers are the fastest dragons on land.
Gallery
