Deathgrippers

Hostile Species
Full Name	Deathgrippers
Alias	Dragon Killers Grimmel's Deathgrippers
Origin	How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
Homeworld	Earth
Abilities	Sedative inducement Combustive Acid Breath Acidic spray Flight Speed Tackling Great strength Ferocious in combat Retractable Stingers Immunity to the Alpha’s Control
Members	Six unnamed Deathgrippers
Hobby	Serving Grimmel. Hunting down whatever dragon Grimmel commands them to. Intimidating people.
Goals	Assist Grimmel with his goals. Kill Toothless, Hiccup and the rest of their friends (both failed).
Crimes	Accessory to poaching Cannibalism Destruction of property Aiding and abetting Kidnapping Mass murder Genocide Terrorism Arson
Type of Hostile Species	Brainwashed Dragons

“	Save your breath. The only alpha they respond to is me!	„
	~ Grimmel telling Toothless about the Deathgrippers' loyalty.

The Deathgrippers, also known as Grimmel's Deathgrippers, are the secondary antagonists of DreamWorks' 36th full-length animated feature film How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. They serve as Grimmel the Grisly's personal dragon killers who obey their master on every given command as a result of being drugged by Grimmel with their own venom.

Biography

Early life

The Deathgrippers were initially free, and were specialized dragon killers who roamed in packs and fed upon other species of dragons. Due to having a knack for killing dragons, Grimmel employed several to aid him in his genocide, using none other than their own venom to drug them into subservience.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

The Deathgrippers first appear on Grimmel's airship to Warlord's island. After they reunited, one of the six attacks Ragnar the Rock but it was called off by Grimmel. When Hiccup refused to give Toothless, the last Night Fury, Grimmel ordered his Deathgrippers to burn down his house by their fiery acid.

While Valka was flying, two Deathgrippers attacked her and Cloudjumper, unsuccessfully attempted to knock down Stormcutter as they end up being thrown and the Deathgrippers were called again by Grimmel. When the Dragon Riders came to stop Grimmel, he ordered the Deathgrippers to stop them which nearly killed Hiccup. The Deathgrippers were then attacked by the Rescued Crimson Goregutter who demolished the base and trapped the dragons under debris. With Ruffnut left behind, she was placed in a cage with a Scuttleclaw, of which is predisposed to be fed to the Deathgrippers (to Ruffnut's disgust). Upon supposedly annoying Grimmel into submission, she was set free and given the Scuttleclaw as a means of transportation back to New Berk.

They carried the airship and followed Ruffnut and they were revealed with Toothless and the Light Fury captured. They carried the Warship back to the Warlords' armada. During the battle, Toothless blasts at two Deathgrippers from their shackles, making them unable to hold the ship. The ship then crashed, which causes the two Deathgrippers to drown. While Hiccup and Toothless chased Grimmel who is riding the drugged Light Fury, the four remaining Deathgrippers came to Grimmel's aid to stop the duo. As they formed a tight ring around Toothless, he summons lightning in his Alpha state, and they were all electrocuted to their demise with their corpses sent plummeting.

School of Dragons

In the School of Dragons video game, it is revealed that one of Grimmel’s Deathgrippers managed to survive the fall after being electrocuted by Toothless’s lightning. Ironically, the lighting attack destroyed the surviving Deathgripper’s venom inducing collar, thus freeing it from the now dead Grimmel’s influence. Despite this, it’s battle with Toothless has left it weakened and it’s extremely anxious due to its prologued exposure to its own venom. Luckily, the Deathgripper is found and nourished back to health by Fishlegs and is eventually calmed down by the game’s main character who proceeds to tame it. It is presumed that the surviving Deathgripper traveled off to the Hidden World with the rest of the Archipelago’s dragons, and presumably accepted his former enemy Toothless as his new alpha due to no longer being constantly injected with his own venom. Because of this, it can be implied that the surviving Deathgripper is able to live in peace in the Hidden World, now that it has been freed of Grimmel’s influence once and for all.

Appearance

Deathgrippers have black scales with red underbellies, yellow eyes, and wing webs, and large armored plates along the back. They hold protruding but retractable large tusks, distorted jagged pincers, and a venomous stinger at the end of their telescopic tails that could sometimes be sheathed by four scales when not in use.

According to animator Simon Otto, Deathgrippers were inspired by scorpions, black widow spiders, and hunting dogs.

The six Deathgrippers that appeared in the third movie all wear collars equipped with vials of their own venom that Grimmel uses to control them. One of them has a scarred left eye.

Personality

After being brainwashed by Grimmel, his Deathgrippers were hostile and vicious beasts who would assassinate any quarry Grimmel assigned them to with the utmost obedience. Thanks to their own venom being injected into them via special collars, they were thoroughly subordinate to him and no Alpha dragon species could override that obedience, not even the Bewilderbeast.

Even without the effect of venom, Deathgrippers are hardly saints, as they live outside dragon society, roaming in packs to prey upon other dragon species. They are not exactly evil, but certainly rather dark and morbid creatures, as they enjoy drugging their prey into a sedated state with their venom and toying with it before putting it out of its misery, suggesting they have a rather dark but playful personality. Despite this, it is said that one can train a Deathgripper, without drugging it, by saving its life and it will become a loyal friend, suggesting they possess some nobility. However, while wild Deathgrippers killed out of necessity for survival in order to eat and just follow their instincts, Grimmel's were modified into killing machines with much more heightened aggression.

Powers and Abilities

• Deathgripper Physiology: Deathgrippers are unique and fearsome Strike Class dragons. They are shown to have superior strength and stamina, as 4 of them were capable of carrying Grimmel and his airship, even over long distances without any signs of struggle. They are also strong enough to temporarily stun a larger Stormcutter and can survive a wreckage of rocks that fell upon them. In addition they are very fast and agile on both land and while flying in the air, however they are not fast enough to catch up to Toothless until Grimmel lured the duo into a narrow gorge, which the Deathgrippers went around or above it while the duo went into it. They have good sense of smell, smelling the Dragon Riders, even at night. The feat was very impressive because their senses were diminished, due to being drugged to their own venom, to ignore any Alpha dragon.
  • Combustive Acid Breath: Unlike other dragons who normally breathe fire in some capacity, Deathgrippers spit an incredibly corrosive acid that burns and sears anything it comes across. Said solvent also seems to ignite when exposed to the open air, setting most anything it touches ablaze in seconds.
  • Venomous Stinger: The tails of the Deathgripper possesses a hidden, razor pointed stinger which it hides in a flower-like bulb at the tip of its prehensile appendage. Through their stingers, the Deathgrippers release psycho-active venom, in a form of neurotoxin from the point of their tail stingers which plays havoc both on the mind and the nervous system. The toxin can have numerous properties depending on how it's prepared, features which Grimmel uses to expert effect in his dragon-hunting profession. In addition their venom concocted with the formula also makes them able to resist the Alpha's control.
    • The first is a neuro-cognitive deficiency where those affected are left in a state of muscle relaxation, drowsiness and disabled motor function.
    • The secondary effect is a form of mind control which Grimmel found has a powerful numbing effect he makes practice of through a direct cranial injection harness fitted both around his prey and his own Dragons. This was even enhanced with a drug formula Grimmel had stolen. The strength of which is so potent that his control cannot be undone even by an Alpha Dragon.

Gallery

One of Grimmel's Deathgrippers attempting to attack Hiccup.

The Deathgrippers gets killed in the explosion.

The Deathgrippers' corpses.

Trivia

• While the Deathgrippers are regarded as the secondary antagonists of the film, whether they were truly evil or not is debatable, considering that Grimmel the Grisly drugged them with their own venom and they were technically oblivious from their actions in that state. However, as Dragonpedia describes them to enjoy hunting like a wild pack of dogs and that they should be avoided at all costs, it can be implied that the Deathgrippers were already dangerous before Grimmel brainwashed them, which may be a reason for which Toothless killed them rather than biting off their collars to free them from Grimmel's brainwashing.
  • It's possible that Grimmel may have intended to dispose of the brainwashed Deathgrippers once he killed all dragons in the world. This actually makes sense, as Grimmel's only use for them was that of enforcers and given their brainwashed status, they would have been unable to defend themselves.
  • It's possible that Deathgrippers may be natural predators of Night Furies, which would be a another reason to explain why Grimmel chose to use them in his poaching expeditions.
• When any number of dragons are drugged by the Deathgripper venom solution used by Grimmel, their behaviors resemble those of the dragons under the Bewilderbeast's control in every way: their pupils retract and their expression becomes listless and unresponsive to their surroundings until they are put into combat, whereupon they become fierce killing machines.
• Despite Deathgrippers being carnivores, one of Grimmel’s Deathgrippers could be seen attempting eat on of his apples at Berk, indicating that their diet is not strictly meat-based.
• Excluding Viggo Grimborn, who redeemed during the episode Triple Cross, the Deathgrippers are the only secondary villains of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise to die and the second ones to be dragons. The first was the Red Death, the main antagonist of the first film.
• In the original trailer for the third film, Grimmel was seen leaning on and petting one of his Deathgrippers with some manner of affection. This may indicate that Grimmel was originally supposed to have a more positive relationship with his Deathgrippers, however, this was cut from the film itself, where Grimmel possesses no affection towards his dragons and sees them only as living tools.

External Links

• Deathgripper on How to Train Your Dragon Wiki
• Grimmel's Deathgrippers on How to Train Your Dragon Wiki

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