King Sombra pet dragon facts

Deadly Nadder

Official Description 

Deadly Nadders can suddenly raise the hundreds of sharp spines that stud their hides and tails and fling them with incredible accuracy. But when the shooting starts, there is no safer place to be than face-to-face with a Nadder — If you stand right in front of its nose, a Nadder won't be able to see you. Don't sneeze! A vain and aggressive spine-shooting Tracker Class Dragon. A keen sense of smell makes up for a blind spot right in front of its nose. The Deadly Nadder attacks from a distance, always staying just out of reach while launching fireballs at opponents. The Nadder is as beautiful as it is deadly. It may not be the biggest or the fastest, but the Deadly Nadder has the hottest fire of any dragon. 

Development 

Character Designer Nicolas Marlet imagined that this dragon was an ancestor of a bird. This idea inspired the animation of the Deadly Nadder, which "moves like a parrot", with bit of an emu's walk and the posture of a Tyrannosaurus rex tossed into our blend of behaviors," says Head of Character Animation Simon Otto. True to its inspirations, most of the Nadder's concepts revolve around a bipedal dragon armored with spikes and a mouth resembling that of a parrot, as seen by various sketches by Nico and Tony Siruno. Earlier concepts, such as Nadder by Nico Marlet and Kathy Altieri, as well as Nadder by Nico Marlet, depicted this species with two pairs of legs. The former had a stance somewhat like a crocodile, as its posture was similar to the crocodile's signature 'high walk'. The latter has relatively tiny forearms, similar to that of a Tyrannosaurus rex. Whereas concept art such as Nadder by Tony depicted the dragon with more of a Velociraptor-like stance — its back pushed forward, almost parallel to the ground, and is depicted running. Tony's concept also involved feathers, hinting once again at the Nadder's dinosaur origins. The details of the Nadder, particularly the colors, are also inspired by the parrot and the ostrich. Director Dean DeBlois felt that an animation could break away from the limitations seen in live-action films, where propane flames are usually due to being easier to extinguish, thus decided to give the dragons a range of fires.[1] The Deadly Nadder was then given what Visual Effects Supervisor Craig Ring described as "a sparkler type of fire like Asian fireworks, fueled by a magnesium powder that flashes in a white-hot blur with explosive sparks and blowtorch-like flames." When animating the Deadly Nadder, the team mainly emotes through body languages and head angles but keeps facial expressions limited. Simon Otto mentions that head angle changes eye darts, and posture adjustments are mainly used to convey emotions for the Deadly Nadder, much unlike the Night Fury, which relies heavily on facial expressions. The Nadder's quick and lithe changes help emphasize its bird-like qualities.[2]  

Physical Appearance 

In the promotional material for the first movie, Nadder eggs were described as having sharp spikes that deter predators. 

 Hatchling to Adult 

In appearance, the Deadly Nadder is very beautiful and bird-like: it is bipedal, possesses winged forelimbs, and is about the same size as medium-sized theropod dinosaurs such as Allosaurus. Its small yet keen eyes, equipped with poor binocular vision, are one of the tools it uses to stalk its targets. Its body is vividly colored, with a light beige underbelly, while its wings are mottled, darker shades. In front of its eyes is its curved nasal horn, which is often used to batter opponents; its lower jaw is shorter and wider than its upper, giving it an overbite. Ringing its skull is a crown of spikes. Coating the tail is a series of poisonous spines which can be fired at an opponent with deadly accuracy. When relaxed, its head spikes and venomous tail spines lay flat, but when alarmed, they shoot upward to intimidate its foe. The tail spikes can also be used to make a rattling noise which it makes right before it attacks, similar to a rattlesnake's. The live models and puppets used in How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular are also brightly colored and detailed. There are fewer spikes on the tail, and — presumably due to difficulty with technical aspects — the spikes do not raise or lower or shoot out. The live models definitely resemble the body type of bipedal dinosaurs. Titan Wing Deadly Nadder.jpeg A body suit of a 'fledgling' Nadder was also created. This 'fledgling' is not about to fly and has a reduced wing size. Female and Male Nadders.png The nasal horn of female Deadly Nadders are longer and more curved than those of males', whose horns are short and straight. The males are also larger in body size. Female Nadders also have a slight overbite that resembles a beak, while male Nadders have complete underbites and more robust jaws.