[Beginner] How to Train Your Dragon - Toothless

[saudade_apps]

PLAYER
NAME: ten.

CHARACTER
NAME(S): Toothless
AGE: Approximately 20 human years old; same as Hiccup
CANON: How to Train Your Dragon (movie universe): both movies, Gift of the Night Fury, and both Dragons series (Riders of Berk and Defenders of Berk)

BACKGROUND HISTORY:
The story begins on the night of a dragon raid on the isle of Berk, when a boy downs a dragon, a Night Fury, from the sky. Caught in bolas, the dragon falls into the forest some ways from the village. Later, the boy discovers the dragon and attempts to kill it, but instead sets the Night Fury free. It unfortunately falls into and is trapped in a nearby cove because it's missing a tail fin that it needs to fly. After that, the boy Hiccup starts befriending the dragon, who is eventually called Toothless.

When Hiccup makes him a replacement fin, Toothless learns he can't fly without Hiccup. As the boy tries refining Toothless' flight, the dragon starts trusting and becomes protective of Hiccup. After Hiccup's friend Astrid finds out about Toothless, the dragon falls into step with a flight of dragons and shows them the dragon nest. The next day, Toothless hears Hiccup's screaming in the distance, and claws himself out of the cove to protect the boy. Hiccup's father Stoick then captures Toothless and uses him to find the dragon nest.

The Vikings strike the dragon nest and draw out the "queen", a dragon called the Red Death. Hiccup and friends arrive in time to save the other Vikings, and Stoick saves Toothless from drowning and apologizes to Hiccup. The boy and his dragon then take on the Red Death, but Toothless' replacement fin burns up before their final maneuver. The two plunge from the sky as the Red Death literally goes down in flames. Toothless manages to retrieve Hiccup and shields him from almost all damage—Hiccup winds up losing his left foot.

Toothless watches over Hiccup until the boy wakes up, and the two face a new struggle. A 300-year history of fighting doesn't simply disappear overnight, and now the people and dragons of Berk must adapt to each other and learn to coexist. Stoick puts Hiccup in charge of their newly-established dragon training academy, where he and Toothless lead the other kids and their dragons in becoming skilled dragon riders. Other tribes like the Outcasts and Berserkers hear various rumors about the changes in Berk, and the dragon riders step up to defend their village.

Five years after solving the dragon problem in Berk, Toothless and Hiccup fly out to explore and map out many different lands. Astrid meets with them on one such outing, and they encounter a crew of dragon trappers working for Drago Bludvist. Stoick grounds all dragons in Berk, but Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, and Stormfly slip away and demand the dragon trappers take them to Drago. Stoick and the other riders go to retrieve Hiccup, who storms off to find Drago. A mysterious dragon rider
takes Hiccup, leaving Toothless to die in the icy waters below…

Or not. Another dragon retrieves Toothless and takes him to Hiccup, who is with the mysterious dragon rider in another dragon nest. It turns out this unknown rider is Hiccup's mother Valka, who has been living with the dragons for twenty years. After a tour of the nest and feeding time, Stoick crashes the party to take Hiccup home before meeting Valka and attempting to win her affections and take her back home. But Drago interrupts their touching reunion, using his Alpha dragon to take down the nest's Alpha "king", and to pit Toothless against Hiccup.

Stoick rushes to the rescue and takes the full power of Toothless' deadly plasma blast. Just as Toothless regains his senses, he nudges Stoick in remorse, but Hiccup drives him away, and Drago takes Toothless as his own. Hiccup and friends perform rites for Stoick before heading to Berk to stop Drago's attack. He then reaches out to Toothless and talks the dragon back to his senses. When Drago uses his Alpha to take control again, Toothless levels up and challenges the Alpha, the other dragons snap out of it and side with Toothless, and Drago and his Alpha retreat. Peace is restored, and Hiccup is named chief of the village.

PERSONALITY:
Toothless is a Night Fury, one of the rarest, fastest, and most fearsome dragons, also known as "the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself". He is observant and strategic, capable of working out attack patterns and effectively cutting his foes down. A proud and aggressive fighter, he is unafraid of challenging bigger, badder, more powerful opponents, human and dragon alike. But he didn't always live up to that reputation, namely because a boy shot bolas into the night sky, taking the Night Fury clean out of it.

After being found downed in the forest, Toothless fears Hiccup will kill him. Unsurprisingly, he is afraid and wary of humans because they hurt and kill dragons. He falls into and can't escape from a cove after Hiccup lets him go, and he is so helpless that he can't even hunt himself a meal. But when Hiccup comes to feed him, Toothless slowly begins opening up on his own terms. He shows annoyance when Hiccup comes too close while studying him, and gives a warning growl whenever Hiccup steps on the lines of his dragon dance drawing. However, he quickly learns to trust the boy when he realizes that no Hiccup means no flight.

Once Hiccup gains his trust, Toothless shows that behind his fearsome Night Fury reputation is a dragon who's almost as harmless as his name. He is quite curious, and quickly learns by watching others or observing the goings-on in his surroundings. He's naturally playful, rather docile, and even somewhat friendly with most humans and other dragons. Though he can't speak, he consistently demonstrates an understanding of verbal instructions, commands, and expressions. He similarly communicates with a variety of humanlike expressions and gestures. He is also fiercely protective of his own, which starts out as just Hiccup before gradually extending to Astrid, Hiccup's other friends and their dragons, Stoick and the other Vikings, and all the rest of Berk, including the livestock.

But he is especially protective of Hiccup because it takes a very distinct, very unique bond to rely on each other with complete assurance that they won't give up on one another. Together, they survive nearly plummeting thousands of feet to their doom multiple times, and intuit their way through sea stacks, Red Death hackles, and other similar obstacles. Toothless stays by Hiccup's side when no one else can keep up, such as on Hiccup's quest to find the treasure of Hamish I, or the time Hiccup searches for his lost gift in Breakneck Bog. And whenever they are separated, Toothless will stop at nothing to reach Hiccup, clawing and scrabbling his way out of the cove, abandoning a personal vendetta to save his best friend, feigning illness to trick and beat up his captors, and so on. Even when Hiccup has to abandon him, like the time Stoick demands the dragons be sent away from Berk, Toothless knows that his best friend will come back for him. Their friendship is so powerful that Hiccup is still able to reach Toothless after driving the dragon away in his grief after Stoick's death.

In general, Toothless listens to and cooperates with Hiccup. After 300 years of dragon raids and dragon-slaying, there's no easy way for Vikings and dragons to simply be friends, so Mildew and the villagers are quick to blame Toothless and the dragons for anything that disrupts their daily lives and storing up for the freeze. They blame the dragons for continually destroying their homes, preventing their work from getting done, and scaring the livestock; Mildew persuades the village to blame Toothless for bringing the lightning storms of Thor's wrath. But Toothless and Hiccup work together to show that humans, dragons, and livestock can all live harmoniously in Berk; they teach the villagers how to harness the dragons' traits and mannerisms to aid in daily tasks, and Toothless leads in showing the livestock they don't have to fear dragons. He puts great effort into being a leading role model at the dragon training academy.

So usually he's as well-mannered as a dragon can get. Usually. Toothless can be snide and mischievous, like the time he flies like a roller coaster to get back at Astrid for intruding the cove and threatening Hiccup, or when he holds Hiccup over a cliff after another rocky landing during gliding practice. Sometimes when his instincts and protective nature kick in, he doesn't listen to Hiccup, such as when he doesn't play nice with Torch the baby Typhoomerang. And on rare occasion, he won't let Hiccup get involved in his business, like when he takes off with the auto-tail that Hiccup made him to retrieve the boy's lost Viking helmet, or when carrying a grudge against a certain Whispering Death.

All that said, Toothless is a dragon with a reputation that leaves people ducking for their lives and/or crapping in their undies. But if you don't threaten him, if he can trust you and call you one of his own, there's no reason he shouldn't enjoy your company and protect you from harm.

CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS:
Hiccup is Toothless' best friend because blasting through the stratosphere to test-fly new saddle riggings, tail-fin designs, glide-suits, and other flight gear would instill a remarkable lifelong bond of trust in anyone aware that falling means an ugly death awaits on the solid earth or in the frigid ocean below. It takes extraordinary commitment and a leap of faith to set fear and skepticism aside the way that Toothless does, and his trust in Hiccup bore a friendship beyond compare. More than anything, Toothless loves spending time with Hiccup, from doing simple and mundane things to exploring surrounding islands and filling out Hiccup's map. He never gets tired of Hiccup, and as long as his best friend feels the same way, Toothless can get through anything and doesn't mind what others think. Even when Hiccup gives him an automatic tail, Toothless destroys it to show he'd rather fly rely on his friend than simply carry him along. Although Hiccup is determined to find him some Night Fury friends, Toothless is quite content with Hiccup's company.

While their relationship took off with a bad start, Toothless deeply respected Stoick. The Chief of Berk was an honorable figure of authority who prioritized his village's needs, a powerful fighter and brilliant tactician, and an extremely protective and loving father. He apologized to both Toothless and Hiccup after rescuing them and realizing that he was wrong. When choosing a dragon to help with his chiefly duties, Stoick insisted on Toothless, who complied even when he was uncomfortable, exhausted, and began to miss Hiccup. Toothless truly came to love and revere Stoick, and felt sorrowful and guilty after having killed him.

Toothless is dismissive when Hiccup first introduces him to Astrid; during her first flight, he gets back at the girl by giving his riders a rough ride and ignoring Hiccup's instructions. Nevertheless he winds up rescuing Astrid during their battle with the Red Death, and saves and protects her in many other instances as well. He quickly comes to care about her and better understand her relationship with Hiccup, especially her very Viking way of good-spirited tease-threaten-hurting Hiccup. Toothless appreciates Astrid's loyalty, friendship, and love; he also gets along fairly well with her dragon Stormfly, a Deadly Natter. While friendly and playful toward each other, the two dragons can be competitive on occasion. Stormfly is the first dragon to side with Toothless against the Bewilderbeast, and one of the first to acknowledge Toothless as the new Alpha by bowing to him.

In fact, Toothless learns to care about everyone who's important to Hiccup—Snotlout and his dragon Hookfang, Fishlegs and his dragon Meatlug, Ruffnut and Tuffnut with their dragon Barf and Belch, Gobber, the whole village of Berk, and their livestock. Toothless can work with and to some extent gets along with most of the other dragons in the training academy, and is willing to listen and cooperate with Hiccup to rescue or protect them and their riders. Even when he and Hiccup get overly competitive or want to put Snotlout in his place, Toothless still cares about the other rider and will never truly hurt him. Besides, there's no harm in watching Hookfang get back at Snotlout on his own terms. And the isle of Berk is their home, the dragons and people and livestock are friends (until they have chicken, lamb, or yak meat for dinner), and Toothless has a sense of pride and responsibility to keeping the peace and protecting them from invaders.

When Valka and Cloudjumper first take Hiccup from Toothless, he helplessly falls from the sky into the icy waters before being rescued and taken to the dragon nest by another dragon. He quickly befriends Valka for her deep compassion toward dragons. She helps him discover two rows of movable flaps from back to tail, which greatly increase Toothless' maneuverability. Cloudjumper is her dragon, a stately older dragon who proudly dotes on Toothless as he explores the dragon nest and plays with the other dragons. Cloudjumper is another one of the first to accept Toothless' Alpha status after driving Drago and his Bewilderbeast away.

No one other than Toothless knows his history with the Whispering Death scarred with Toothless' bite mark. Whatever caused their conflict is enough for Toothless to refuse and push Hiccup away, to settle the score on his own. When Toothless is cornered, Hiccup steps off a cliff with the knowledge that the Night Fury will rescue him and accept his help. Together, they take down the Whispering Death, and Toothless spares his rival at Hiccup's urging. The case may be closed between the two, but there's no follow-up other than Toothless' wariness and slight aggression toward Whispering Deaths on a whole.

Toothless dislikes Dagur the Deranged, first for his obsession with killing dragons, then for trying to capture and use them to conquer and dominate others. Similarly, Toothless comes to hate Drago Bludvist for his unreasonable desire to control others, going so far as using the Bewilderbeast's Alpha status to build a dragon army, destroy a dragon nest, and later attack Berk.

While Toothless dislikes Alvin the Treacherous and Mildew at first, he comes eventually comes to trust them. Alvin changes his ways after Dagur the Deranged betrays him, working with Hiccup and Toothless to save Stoick and make up for the rift in their friendship, which Toothless acknowledges and respects. Even though Mildew hated the dragons, blamed them for everything whether or not it had anything to do with them, framed them for stealing the villagers' boots and the Great Hall, personally blamed Toothless for destroying the armory and bringing Thor's wrath to the village, turned Toothless and Hiccup over to Alvin and the Outcasts, and betrayed them by becoming the Outcasts' hostage after learning how to train dragons, it's Mildew who frees Toothless from Dagur's cage trap so they can stop Dagur and reunite the Screaming Death with its mother.

STRENGTH OF HEART MOMENT SUMMARY:
I've chosen the moment when Toothless is declared the new Alpha after the other dragons side with him and have driven Drago and his Bewilderbeast away. This is shortly after Hiccup's friendship, loyalty, and love overpower Toothless' natural tendency to obey the Alpha, and Toothless challenges Drago's Bewilderbeast to protect not only Hiccup but all the other dragons as well. It's important because the dragons overcome their compulsion to obey the Alpha and instead choose to pledge their loyalty to Toothless, who shows that true loyalty is earned through trust, not violence, in humans and dragons alike.

POWERS
SAMPLE - THE AWAKENING:
The joy, light, and warmth of freeing his mind and saving everyone from the Drago and his Bewilderbeast fades to black. To Darkness. Toothless recognizes the horrifyingly familiar sensation of uncontrollable falling; he has no rider to direct the fall, no way of knowing if he's going to crash or even stop falling at all. In the face of this gripping terror, the dragon slips into unconsciousness.

He wakes with a start, hunching his head low, wings drawn close to his body, tail protectively curling around and ready to whip any enemies he encounters. Slowly and cautiously, Toothless turns full circle and sees three pedestals equidistant from each other. His ears perk up for any sound, but there's none; there's a musty smell like ancient ruins or the insides of dry caverns, and Toothless doesn't pick up anything else.

Curious but wary, Toothless lets out a warning screech as he steps out of his guarded stance, feeling somewhat anxious when an echo doesn't greet him back. Carefully he makes his way to one of the stands, eyes darting in search of enemies along the way, until he finally reaches it and discovers a flaming sword floating over it. He studies it, noting how it hovers over the stand. He pictures Hiccup wielding the sword of his own invention, turning it to light the darkness and ward enemies away.

Then he turns to another of the stands and approaches it with less caution and more curiosity. There, he finds a shield with a Skrill crest. His memories of Dagur the Deranged are far from pleasant, but Toothless knows that isn't truly what the shield represents. Time and again, humans use shields to defend from attacks, whether from human weaponry or dragon claws and fire. It's useful for a human but not very practical for a dragon. Toothless snorts and groans before moving onward.

On the last pedestal floats a staff glowing in dim-bright pulses as if in time with a slow-beating heart. He hears Drago's dragon calls, remembers his mysterious power used to summon the Bewilderbeast to his bidding. Toothless recalls Drago's attack on the dragon nest, turning against Hiccup and finally snapping out of it to find that he had downed Stoick the Vast. The dragon cries out to mourn Stoick because he didn't really have the chance to do so before this. Then he growls at the staff, disliking the strange and unknown power radiating from it. He doesn't trust that dangerous power and thinks it should be destroyed.

Returning to the center of the brightly-lit platform, Toothless regards the pedestals and ponders. He doesn't know whatever brought him here, but he knows he cannot stay. If he wants to get out, if he wants to leave, he's going to have to make a choice. The flaming sword, the impenetrable shield, or the mysterious staff—which does he think will give him the power to leave here? With a proud and mighty roar, he rushes to the sword and chooses it. He feels power swelling in his heart, the same power and ferocity that drove him to challenge Drago's Bewilderbeast. Having made the right choice, he sits on his haunches in anticipation.

But he looks around and realizes his work here isn't done just yet. His gaze falls on the staff, and the dragon growls as he recalls its cryptic power. Sounding an angry cry, he rushes at the staff and tail-whips it to the floor. It hits the floor in the distance with a thick 'clunk' before the platform gives way beneath Toothless. Again he falls, screaming for help and hoping that somehow he'll see his best friend again. Because if he's with Hiccup, and if Hiccup believes in him, Toothless can overcome anything and anyone.

SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Toothless has a number of natural abilities. He's strong enough to take on Monstrous Nightmares and scar a Whispering Death with his bite, and fast enough to generate a whistling ballistic sound when he dives or blasts through the sky. He has great agility, is innately capable of acrobatics, and can streak through twisting tunnels and mazes of sea stacks. He can swim and does sea skimming, which is like the flying version of whales and dolphins swimming at the water's surface. He can handle a great deal of wear and tear, from periodic crash landings to battles with other dragons, and can go for some time without being exhausted. Toothless has an excellent sense of hearing, capable of hearing Hiccup shouting or dragon-calling from a distance. His sense of smell helps him identify others and whiff out potential threats.

He looks deceptively adorable for an unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. He has both retractable teeth and spine flaps, the latter capable of improving his maneuverability in flight. His saliva has very adhesive qualities that Hiccup claims doesn't wash out and uses in gluing his map together. In one instance, Hiccup also says Toothless' saliva has healing properties but never brings it up ever again, so I don't know if it counts. Toothless also has plasma blasts that are a combination of lightning and fire, manageable to different degrees—lighting their surroundings, heating his bed, warning and distraction blasts, high-powered battle blasts, and the deadly plasma blast that killed Stoick in one shot. (While Hiccup is inconsistent about referring to Toothless' six-shot limit, I will apply it to his daily total battle and deadly blasts; six high-powered blasts per day, or one deadly blast plus five high-powered ones. However, he rarely, if ever, uses death-dealing plasma blasts.) Anyway, Toothless also has some kind of echolocation blast that works like sonar.

Additionally, Toothless can power up to something like Sora's Master Form in KH2—his appearance changes with his back, nose, and mouth glowing like his fire, as he becomes more powerful and can use stronger, seemingly unlimited high-powered plasma blasts. He slowly charges into this mode when challenging the Bewilderbeast, standing up to its inherent control and summoning the other dragons to his side as well. This form is different and powerful enough to be worth mention, but the chances of using this mode are extremely unlikely.

Toothless will be a Warrior and have basic magic skills that he probably will never use because magic is a strange and mysterious force that cannot be trusted.

INVENTORY:
Toothless won't have anything with him, not even his saddle, riggings, new tail-fin, etc. Nope, nada, nothing.

NOTES/ASPIRATIONS
I've known about Saudade for a while but was always too busy to really check it out. So I haven't RPed for a pretty long time when asking a friend about some games she's in, and Saudade came up. Turns out she's playing Hiccup, and I turned some characters about in my head before thinking I might want to try out Toothless, and Saudade seems like a cool place to do it.

Anyway, I'm mostly interested in playing Toothless out with minimal to no dialogue because I want to focus on using his sounds, actions, and expressions to convey his thoughts and feelings. Also, I'd like to see what kinds of CR I can get with him outside the obvious circle of Hiccup's CR. It'd be nice to see what opinion he formulates of this world, what he eventually might come to think of magic, and more.