- “Hiccup: All of this loss and for what? To become unstoppable? To rule the world? Dragons they are kind, amazing creatures that can bring people together.
Drago: Or tear them apart. You see, I know what it is to live in fear! To see my village burnt, my family taken. But even as a boy left with nothing. I vowed to rise above the fear of dragons and liberate the people of this world.
Hiccup: Then why a dragon army?
Drago: Well, you need dragons to conquer other dragons.” - ―Drago and Hiccup at Valka's Dragon Sanctuary [src]
Drago Bludvist is the main antagonist of DreamWorks Animation's 2014 feature film How to Train Your Dragon 2. He is a power-hungry tyrant who sought to amass a dragon army by enslaving dragons with his Bewilderbeast before proceeding to dominate over humankind in a reign of terror. He served as the late leader of the Northern Alliance, and the archenemy of Hiccup Haddock, Stoick the Vast (also his killer) and Valka.
Background[]
- “Years ago, there was a great gathering of chieftains to discuss the dragon scourge we all faced. Into our midst came a stranger from a strange land, covered in scars and draped in a cloak of dragon skin. He carried no weapon, and spoke softly, saying that he, Drago Bludvist, was a man of the people, devoted to freeing mankind from the tyranny of dragons. He claimed that he alone could control the dragons and that he alone could keep us safe, if… we chose to bow down, and follow him. …Aye, we laughed, too, until he wrapped himself in his cloak and cried out, "Then see how well you do without me!" The rooftop suddenly burst into flames, and from it, armored dragons descended, burning the hall to the ground. I… was the only one to escape.”
- ―Stoick explaining his experience with Drago.
Drago's early life is shrouded in mystery, but Drago himself revealed that he once lived in fear of dragons, and had lost his family and an arm to them. Vowing to end the "tyrannical rule" of dragons once and for all, Drago learnt how to control dragons with brute force and gathered an army of loyal humans under the guise of a "Dragon God", one who had absolute control of dragons. He eventually found a hatchling Bewilderbeast in one of his earliest conquests, and tortured it until it became completely subservient to him.
Years before the events of the first movie, Drago visited a then dragon-terrorised Berk in an attempt to sway more people to his cause. He entered the Great Hall where an assembly of chiefs were present, promising them peace and freedom from the threat of dragons, but only they chose to bow down and follow him. The chiefs took for a joke and laughed at Drago. Angered by this, Drago left the hall calling back to the chiefs 'then see how well you do without me!' Moments later, two armoured dragons descended into the hall through the roof and burned everything in sight, killing all the chiefs except Stoick.
Personality[]
As he is portrayed in the film Drago is a sadistic, psychopathic, megalomaniacal, and ruthless madman. Merciless and tyrannical, Drago craved nothing more than power and over the years has assembled an army of dragons to conquer the world.
He is cruel to his allies and did not take failure well; this was evidenced as he violently abused Eret for failing him and symbolically scarred him as a reminder if he disappointed him. As said by Stoick, Drago lacks compassion, conscience or any mercy in his heart, he tortured a Bewilderbeast when it was just a baby and eventually drove it into a mindless, submissive state.
As a child and adult, Drago, like everyone else had a fear of dragons however unlike Hiccup, Valka and Berk he could not see them as elegant, peaceful creatures who can be trusted, just monsters only good for conquest and death, whereas they were friends and pets on Berk they were only warmongering soldiers to Drago.
Physical appearances[]
Drago is a well-built man matching his intimidating personality. He wears a prosthetic arm from when his original was cut off by a dragon attack and wears his hair and beard in thick dreadlocks. Multiple scars run over Drago's face and body, evidence of his past encounters with dragons. His attire consists of a sleeveless shirt, a thick waist belt and a huge black cape made from dragon skin. Attached to his belt, he wears a loincloth, blue trousers, and boots covered in fur.
According to The Art of How to Train Your Dragon 2, Drago was designed to look as racially ambiguous as possible and from a land far from the Vikings of Berk. His appearance had several influences from different countries and cultures. His clothing was based of Slavic origin, while his actual physical appearance was based of people from the Mediterranean and northern Africa.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Strength and Fighting Skills: Despite the disadvantage of his missing arm, Drago is a formidable fighter and opponent to both humans and dragons, being able to defeat Valka with relative ease and hold his own very well against Stoick the Vast. However, despite his combat skills, he rarely uses them himself unless necessary, preferring to rely on his dragons and henchmen to do his dirty work.
- Control of Dragons: Unlike Hiccup, Valka, and the rest of the dragon riders, Drago enslaves his dragons with brute force and intimidation, and is able to use his Bewilderbeast to brainwash any who refused to follow him.
- Strategy: Drago is an outstanding strategist and tactician, as he is able to easily conquer enemy positions. However, Drago prefers brute force, believing it to be more effective than strategy, cunning and tactic.
- Leadership: Drago is more than capable of leading his vast and enormous army of dragon hunters and dragons in armor.
- Intimidation: Drago has an extremely short fuse, and a very large amount of anger. This anger alone is capable of striking fear into the hearts of practically anyone, such as Krogan, dragons, and even the fearless Stoick Haddock.
Appearances[]
How to Train Your Dragon 2[]
Drago Bludvist in How to Train Your Dragon 2
In the film, Drago appears after Eret captures some dragons and most of the Dragon Riders. during the confrontation, Snotlout's dragon, Hookfang was awake and Drago tells his men who try to hold him to let go and shields himself from Hookfang's flames and yells to control as he heavily places his foot on Hookfang's snout. After hearing about that there are more dragons, Drago chokes Eret as he asks how many are there, while Astrid tells that Berk has a lot of dragon, as she says that he will be tracked down and that there is another person, who is Hiccup, who can control the dragons. As he throws Eret due to leading him to them, he announces that he will take over Berk, as well as ordering Eret to be dead,but is protected by Stormfly, who ends up being shot by a dart.
After hearing about this, Drago immediately orders his army to invade the nearest dragon nest and take down its alpha. Here, the dragon riders of Berk interfere, destroying many of the army's traps and weapons all while the alpha Bewilderbeast of the dragon nest emerges. In smug retaliation, Drago unleashes his own Bewilderbeast and allows the two to fight for supremacy while he dueled with Stoick.
Then, Drago meets Hiccup in the heat of battle, with the latter imploring Drago to stop his evil, saying that dragons are not just monsters as well as pointing out the senselessness of the warlord's actions. Drago rejects Hiccup's pleas and instead has the Bewilderbeast (who managed to kill the alpha Bewilderbeast) possess Toothless before giving the order to kill Hiccup.
As a result, Stoick gets killed in an attempt to save Hiccup from being blasted by the possessed Toothless, something which delights Drago. Hiccup, in a fit of despair, briefly disowns Toothless. Toothless and all of the adult dragons present at the time of the attack under the influence of Drago's Bewilderbeast, are captured by Drago. He then rides Toothless and his massive army to Berk.
Upon arrival at Berk, Drago announces to the villagers that their chief had perished and proceeds to annihilate the village with his Bewilderbeast by attempting to freeze it. Hiccup intervenes not long after and Drago gives him a "chance" to try and win back Toothless' loyalty with the expectation that Hiccup would fail. To his surprise, Hiccup succeeds and Toothless breaks free of the Bewilderbeast's psychic grip. He then whacks Toothless with his melee weapon in an attempt to get him back under the Bewilderbeast's influence, but he fails and is dismounted by Toothless. He lands on his Bewilderbeast, where he orders it to kill Hiccup and Toothless, encasing the pair in a large tomb of ice, seemingly killing them.
Drago soaks in his victory, before an explosion shatters the ice, revealing both Hiccup and Toothless to be unharmed. Toothless, now with enhanced powers and immunity to the Bewilderbeast's control, challenges the latter for the position of alpha dragon, repeatedly pummeling the Bewilderbeast with shots. This distracts the Bewilderbeast enough to free the other dragons from its control and they unleash a massive volley of fireballs, forcing Drago to take cover, but not before several blasts knock off his mechanical arm, exposing a stump where his real arm used to be. Toothless fires one last huge shot, taking off one of the Bewilderbeast's tusks.
Drago and his Bewilderbeast are defeated, and the latter retreats into the ocean with Drago still on it. It's heavily implied that he drowned, as the Bewilderbeast could swim underwater whereas Drago couldn't, and without his prosthetic arm, he was likely rendered unable to swim, thus confirming his death. His Bewilderbeast, on the other hand, albeit offscreen, goes to live in peace to the Hidden World under Toothless and the Light Fury's rule, now free from Drago's control.
Dragons Race to the Edge[]
Drago Bludvist in Dragons: Race to the Edge
Before the events of How to Train Your Dragon 2 and after the events of Riders of Berk and Defenders of Berk, Drago serves as the mole who hired Krogan to ally himself with Viggo and Ryker Grimborn, and later Johann to find the King of Dragons for him. According to "The Wings of War, Part 1", he left the scene on the back of a Rumblehorn. However, this is an inconsistency with the films and should not have happened as portrayed. Soon after making his way into the Archipelago, Drago also encountered Valka several times. While trying to get rid of this extra nuisance, he came across Eret and his father before hiring them as his Dragon Trappers. Shortly before How to Train Your Dragon 2, Drago sent out a group from his army, led by his Krogan, to track down and capture any living Bewilderbeasts. They remain unsuccessful, and Krogan was brought before Drago by two soldiers, leaving him furiously berated by the warlord. While Krogan is begging for a second chance, Drago orders his men to behead him, which they do without hesitation. He then orders another soldier, resembling Mildew, to deliver him his maps, stating he will find another King of Dragons himself.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World[]
A year after his death, Drago's army ends up being hired by his other followers (after Krogan's execution) the Warlords who try to succeed his plan, but get foiled by the Dragon Riders, so they hire Grimmel the Grisly, a dragon hunter worse than Drago and the person who hunted almost all Night Furies to extinction. However, Grimmel ends up betraying the lot by taking Toothless and the Light Fury, something Drago would do after his goal succeeded, leaving the dragons they captured to be leaderless. However, Hiccup saves both the dragons and Grimmel falls to his death, leaving his surviving men useless and purposeless once all dragons retreat into the Hidden World. With Drago and Grimmel gone for good, dragons are safe until humankind can coexist peacefully with them.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- He is referred as a mad man by Stoick.
- It is unknown if he had a different name before he went insane.
- He wears a cape made of dragon hide that is immune to dragon fire attacks.
- Drago seems to have succeeded in enslaving a Bewilderbeast quite effectively, as the beast doesn't mind letting Drago stand on its head.
- He also has a prosthetic left arm. This is because he lost his arm to the dragons, presumably while trying to control them. However, because he wants to seem invincible, he hides it from his men and his enemies with a cape.
- The characters of him and Valka are being counterparts to each other (though of being negative and positive); both are 'crazed' about dragons (Drago has many followers and back ups, Valka struggling alone), knowing ways to control dragons (in violent and peaceful ways of course), both are able to summon own Bewilderbeasts for a battle.
- He has various similar facial characteristics with his enslaved Bewilderbeast as having dreadlocks, wrinkles, searching look, broad chin, darker skins than usual Vikings, well-built physique, and so on. With this point, it is contrasting with Valka's mask.
- Methods used by Drago to enslave dragons are unknown; at least not in friendly way and not taming demonstrated by the people of Berk.
- Hiccup and Drago seem to share some characteristics such as both own objects most likely made from the parts of monstrous nightmares and they both own prosthetic limbs, along with being a counterpart to him like his mother, maybe even more.
- Drago is the self-proclaimed "Dragon God."
- According to Gerald Butler in an interview: Drago and Stoick have encountered each other from the past back when Berk was still at war with Dragons. But the two men did not see eye to eye in terms of how they should have fought the dragons, preventing any form of alliance due to Drago's ruthlessness clashing with Stoick's morality.
- Drago got drowned to death because Bewilderbeast retreated into the ocean and he would not have been able to swim with his metal arm destroyed during the battle.
- Drago is considered one of the thirteen most evil DreamWorks Animation villains, along with General Mandible, Ke-Pa, Queen Usurna, Commander Sendak, D-Stroy, White Bone Demon, Dr. Emilia, General Morando, Bloodwolf, Grimmel the Grisly, and Horde Prime.
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