Gronckle

The Gronckle appeared in 2010 movie called How to Train Your Dragon. The Gronckle is a medium-sized Boulder Class dragon that first appeared in How to Train Your Dragon.

One of the toughest dragons in our world is the Gronckle. Gronckles have gigantic heads, short bodies, and round tails. Gronckles are lazy, and spend most of their time sleeping in communal heaps. They have been known to fall asleep while flying, waking only when they crash into the ocean or the side of a mountain. Gronckles have relatively small wings that beat as fast as a hummingbird's. They are slow in the air, but make up for this with their maneuverability. A Gronckle can fly backwards, sideways, and even hover. Gronckles attack from the air, where their primary weapon is most effective. Gronckles chew rocks, melting them in their bellies and firing them as balls of molten lava.

The Gronckle can be a slow, lazy, and cranky bulldog-like dragon, It has been known to fall asleep mid-flight, waking only when it plunges into the sea or crashes into a mountain. They spend the majority of the day sleeping.

Because of its tremendous weight and small wings, it would seem impossible for them to fly. However, because the wings of a Gronckle beat at a speed similar to that of hummingbirds', dragonflies', or bees' wings,  it is possible for one to sustain flight. In fact, a Gronckle can fly backward, sideways, and even hover in place. However because of their massive weight and small wings they are the slowest dragons in the dragon world. Its tail can be mistaken for the head if little attention is paid to it.

Because of its large stout body and clubbed tail, the Gronckle somewhat resembles an Ankylosaurus. It has huge jaws which can be used to hold food. It has a rather blunt nose horn and fairly stubby toe claws. Its legs are practically useless in battle, and due to its short tail it has a fairly small attack range.

They are usually pretty friendly unless something angers them, and are said to be sociable to most dragons and animals.

As mentioned before, Gronckles are lazy and sometimes cranky dragons. They fly slowly due to their small wings and bulky bodies, but their fire attacks are devastating. They can be sweet-natured and motherly at times, especially towards their hatchlings or their riders. Gronckles can be extremely deadly, considering that they can shoot molten lava. But if you befriend a Gronckle (which is pretty easy), they will love you forever and are very protective over their owners. They like to spend time with their owners, and are very playful.

Gronckles have a bit of a dog-like personality as they apparently love to play catch. They love to get their belly rubbed, but according to Fishlegs they don't like to get their chins rubbed. Also, they can wine like dogs when upset.

Gronckles are said to be territorial like some other dragons, as proven by a wild Gronckle that was fighting Toothless. As Fishlegs stated, Gronckles can be tenacious dragons if needed.

Powers and Abilities

 * Babies' Abilities: As eggs, they have a rock-like shape that shows off their Boulder Class classification. Once they hatch, the egg will explode like a grenade, which can cause destruction as seen in Gift of the Night Fury. As babies, they are able to make up for their tiny wing size with tremendous flapping velocity, like hummingbirds. Just like the adults, hatchlings are able to fly forward, backward, and sideways. Haven't been confirmed, although they tried to fly, they handle the strong winds. Baby Gronckles need a lot of naps just like children. As they were observed to fall asleep in mid-flight. A baby Gronckle's bark is far worse than their bite. Although they bellow and open their mouths to display their growing teeth, they seldom seen attacking one another.
 * Rechargeable Firepower: The Gronckle can launch a devastating fire attack but is limited to six shots at a time. Both its fire attack and hovering flight pattern make it a very dangerous dragon. It can simply hover slightly out of reach of the Vikingsand then blast them with its powerful fire. Unlike the other dragons, the Gronckle can refill its so-called shot limit fairly quickly. Most dragons use a flammable gas, but the Gronckle eats rocks and then melts them in its stomach. So as long as there are edible rocks in the area, the Gronckles will be one of the few dragons to be able to refill their shot limit. The Gronckle's lava depends on the type of rocks they eat. They are able to produce regular flaming hot lava, lava coated rocks, Gronckle Iron, a transparent material, and lava of different colors.
 * Jaw Strength & Jaw Expansion: Like all Boulder Class dragons, Gronckles have extremely strong jaws, being able to crush boulders with ease. They are able to hold large boulders in their mouth, eat them, and shoot back at their enemies as shown by Meatlug. She was also able to hold 3 fully grown sheep in her mouth.
 * Strength & Combat: Gronkles have much strength, able to lift heavy Vikings and heavy objects. As expected, the Gronckle uses its brute strength as an advantage when fighting its opponents, whether they are Vikings or Dragons. This was demonstrated by Meatlug several times and a group of Gronckles were able to take on a much larger Screaming Death dragon. Meatlug has left a mighty warrior like Stoick the Vast stunned on the ground for a short period of time, and did the same to a Razorwhip as they can use their tail-club on their belly. Despite their might, wild Gronckles have been shown to be no match for a Night Fury.
 * Gronckle Iron Creation in a Forge-like Stomach: This one interesting fact about a Gronckles stomach is that it is able to melt down any type of rock and metal like a forge. By mixing certain minerals and ores, it is able to create an alloy called Gronckle Iron, which can be shaped into weapons and instruments that are lighter and stronger than those made of pure iron. Meatlug was able to create a large amount of Gronckle Iron in the episode, "The Iron Gronckle". Other mixtures allow them to be magnetized and create glass (sandstone alone).
 * Dragon Root Immunity: Gronckles are one of the few known dragons that are immune to Dragon Root, possibly because of their mineral-based diet. Therefore, it might be possible that the Hotburple, Grapple Grounder, and the Snafflefang are immune too.
 * Bump Blast: As seen in one of the many Gronckle merchandise toys, these dragons are able to blast off the large bumps on their bodies, which scatter in every direction. This is presumably for self-defense purposes. However, this ability was never seen on screen. Bump Blasting was mentioned in the Guide to the Dragons, Volume 1 as well.
 * Speed & Agility: Interestingly enough, Gronckles are much faster on the ground than in the air, as shown when Meatlug was able to run faster than the objects that were attracted to her magnetic body. They are very maneuverable in the air, being able to go backward, sideways and even hold still to hover. As Meatlug has shown, they are able to stand on their hind legs to walk.
 * Durability & Stamina: Gronckles have extremely tough scales, able to withstand many attacks from enemy dragons and Vikings. A wild Gronckle was shown to be able to withstand attacks from a Viking's mace without suffering major injuries. This makes them one of the toughest dragons in terms of defense. According to a Webisode, they can survive a crash into a mountain or fall at high altitudes. Despite their small wings and laziness, their stamina seems comparable to that of other dragons as Meatlug is often seen flying for the same length of time as the other dragons.
 * Weaponry: Gronckles have a number of weapon-like physical features - the body of armor with bumps, sword-like teeth, sharp tusks, club-like tail, nose horn, claws, and they can use their head as a bludgeon. Meatlug has shown that their flatulence is rather pungent and can be used to stun dragons as large as the Screaming Death. Their club tail is quite a strong weapon, against both Vikings and dragons. Meatlug demonstrated this in battles with a Whispering Death and a Typhoomerang.
 * Intelligence: Gronckles are shown to be much smarter than they appear, as Fishlegs is able to teach Meatlug many tricks and skills. He was also able to show wild Gronckles how to stop the Screaming Death using their lava blasts.
 * Senses: Gronckles have a strong sense of smell, which was demonstrated several times when Meatlug found hostile Outcast Vikings from a far distance, or when she found a Changewing egg buried in the sand of a beach. Gronckles are also described as having extremely weak vision, but it is unknown exactly how weak it is.

Weaknesses

 * Overeating: Eating too many rocks can make them overheat and also cause stomach upset, either of which can cause discomfort, flatulence, and unable to produce lava blasts. Their fire is also dependent on the type of rocks consumed, ranging from those that give them uncontrollable magnetic forces to causing them to barf out glass.
 * Slow Speed: Gronckles are one of the slowest and laziest dragons, making it easy for them to get left behind by other dragons. They may also fall from the sky from falling asleep in mid flight.
 * Weak Spots: Like Deadly Nadders, the Gronckle has a specific spot that, when scratched, will cause the dragon to instantly calm down, as it is a sensitive spot for the species. Gobber found out from being a dragon doctor that these dragons' hard skin has a weak spot under their belly that, when tickled by a single feather, can induce vomiting of lava.