Appearance
According to Fishlegs in Heather Report Part I, Meatlug is 14 feet long, has an 18 foot wingspan, and weighs 5,724 pounds. She's dark brown in the film, but a lighter brown inRiders of Berk. She's also covered in small purple spots. Meatlug's height is about the same as Gobber's.
How To Train Your Dragon
Meatlug is the first dragon the teens are forced to battle during the Dragon training lessons. She downs all of them except for Astrid and nearly kills Hiccup. She notably does not even contemplate sparing him, but Gobber yanks her away just in time to save Hiccup. The teens continue to train against her throughout the film, and Hiccup's tactics he has learned from watching Toothless work very well with her. At the film's climax, Hiccup taught his classmates how to ride the dragons before they flew off to rescue their tribe from theRed Death. The Gronckle was ridden by Fishlegs. She fights in the battle, but gets discombobulated by the noise of the Viking shields. She spins out of control and lands on Fishlegs. That ends her part in the battle. She is seen again at the end of the film being ridden by Fishlegs. She and her rider race off after Hiccup as the new era of Berk begins.
In Gift of the Night Fury
In Gift of the Night Fury, it is revealed Fishlegs named his Gronckle Meatlug, and Berk is preparing to celebrate Snoggletog for the first time with their dragons when suddenly the dragons all leave.
Fishlegs is revealed to have chained up Meatlug, preventing her from leaving until Hiccup accidentally releases the Gronckle and she flies off with him. After the takeoff, Hiccup yells, "Meatlug?!", in surprise that Meatlug had not left. Meatlug did not acknowledge Hiccup until he yelled by taking her eyes off the sky in front of her to look at Hiccup in equal shock for a second before returning to flying. Inside the barn where Fishlegs kept Meatlug, he, Astrid, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut discover that Meatlug is a she when they found her eggs in the hay. Until that point, the Vikings had thought that Meatlug was male, although apparently having noticed some behaviors more in line with female dragons, Fishlegs comments that "actually explains a few things".
Meanwhile Meatlug, with Hiccup on her back, flies to an island filled with dragons and their newly-hatched babies. There, Hiccup realizes this is where all the dragons come to lay their eggs. Hiccup manages to return all the dragons and their babies to Berk, where Meatlug immediately goes to feed her hatchlings which she left at the barn and is tackled by a happy Fishlegs. Meatlug presumably partakes in Snoggletog with her rider as Fishlegs is holding two of her babies.
Relationships
"'Fishlegs Ingerman"': Being her rider, Fishlegs and Meatlug are shown to be estremely close, the point its slightly odd. Meatlug is extremely affectionate and loving towards Fishlegs, and had saved him several times. They have similair personalities, and have shown to hate to be apart from one another.
"'Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III"': Hiccup first met in the Arena, where she tried to kill him, but was fortunately stopped by Gobber the Belch. She was later outsmarted by Hiccup, because he used Dragon nip on her. Later, he helped Fishlegs train her. In Gift of the Night Fury, Hiccup briefly rode Meatlug by accident, resulting in him landing on the Dragon Rookery.
"'Toothless"': Though their relationship has never been truly showed, it can be assumed they are on friendly terms. Toothless was shown to comfort Meatlug in Worst in Show, and she helped capturing Toothless when he had Eel Pox.
'"Astrid Hofferson"': Though they are not very close to one another, Meatlug did gave Astrid a ride in How to Train Your Dragon 2, when she had saved her from Drago's Traps.
In Dragons: Riders/Defenders of Berk
In the TV series, Fishlegs and Meatlug establish a very endearing relationship, very similar in strength to Hiccup and Toothless' relationship. Side-by-side, they express that they really care for each other and both appear to be extremely heartbroken when they had to leave each other in the episode In Dragons We Trust.
