#lightfury redesign

[bird--egg]

An experimental little sketch of Toothless and his adopted daughter Crescent. This would be sometime in the future from my concept of httyd3, as Crescent is a preteen. 

She loves exploring and is a lot sillier than Toothless, often coming across as a little...well, stupid. She tends to affectionately chew on creatures she likes, unfortunately for Toothless here.

[dishywishy]

BEHOLD, MY HTTYD OPINIONS. if you scroll even further you get to also read my random thoughts about The Hidden World movie.

My fun little thoughts about the Hidden World movie:

Generally speaking, courtship behaviors are largely instinctual in most animals. So maybe part of the reason Toothless was so confused about how to court the Lightfury because she wasn’t another Nightfury.

The first time I watched HTTYD 3 I was very much under the impression that the Lightfury had been in captive for a pretty decent amount of time. When the Lightfury is brought to Grimmel the general dudes even say “We brought your favorite bait” which implies that Grimmel has used Lightfuries to lure Nightfuries before. Which then led me to the assumption that Grimmel had been using this specific Lightfury for a least a few years.

This also explained to me why the Lightfury kept coming back to find Toothless instead of going back to the Hidden World. She’s been with Grimmel so long she didn’t know what else to do, or alternatively she didn’t want to lead Grimmel to the Hidden World. It also explained why she was almost luring Toothless into Grimmel’s initial trap.

The one thing I never really got was how they ever got a Lightfury. I’ve been under the assumption they’re entirely endemic to the Hidden World, and there wouldn’t be any real reason for them to leave.

Would Toothless be miserable in the Hidden World? He’s built for lots of flying and his main form of attack and presumably hunting is diving from up high. You really can’t do that in a cave, even if the Hidden World is big.

WHAT ABOUT THE FUCKING TIMBERJACKS MAN? WHAT ABOUT FLIGHTLESS DRAGONS LIKE SPEEDSTINGERS??? THE CANNIBAL DRAGONS?!?

Also I know Toothless has the Berk dragons go to the Hidden World but what about literally all the other dragons?

I NEED ANSWERS

After this I’m gonna redesign the Nightlights with my head canon stuff in mind. And maybe Thunder. I haven’t watched the Nine Realms but I’ve seen pictures of Thunder and HOLY SHIT HE’S UGLY IM SORRY THUNDER BUT YOU GOT DONE DIRTY

Also I definitely want feedback and opinions on this if you feel like sharing :)

[solvaneon]

I made a nightfury subspecies thing heavily based on wildtype axolotls (and also gechos (I love them so much you have no idea))

My headcanon that lightfuries are bred by humans to be cute pets but then a shit ton got released / escaped and ran off to live in the wild (kinda like pigeons) is fueled by axolotls (and pigeons)

[kingbyx]

The Snowfury

Im writing a bsd Httyd au, because I have an inescapable obsession with both series.

To summarize without many spoilers (incase I ever do finish any fic in the series instead of just planning to write them), ADA are dragon riders, they love dragons, dragons love them, basically the main riders from Httyd in RTTE. Their island is just covered in rescued dragons. PM are dragon hunters who, under Moris guidance, have learned to ‘tame’ dragons through fear and abuse. Chuuya is not in the PM, he’s off being awesome and thinking everybody he loved is dead you know how it is. Atsushi (since Chuuya is not the main charcter even if I love him in this au) is a guy, who, through a series of unfortunate events, ends up with the ADA. His dragon, his bestest friend (Named Byakko, after his ability), is a lightfury (and Akutagawa had a Nightfury names Rashomon of course)

The problem with this is that I have a bit of a problem with the Lightfury. Her concept was cool, and some fanart of her is so nice! But her canon animation was just, eh, and overall I feel like her design could have been better. Some parts just don’t make sense, and really I think they could have done the ´sleek, feminine Fury species that is similar but very different than the nightfury’ idea without having her look,,,, squished. And oddly fem for a DRAGON. I always thought she felt out of place in the world of HTTYD.

So, in my efforts to slightly change her design so I could have a lightfury in my au without using the full canon design, I got carried away and now here we are, I made an entire species, for some reason.

Allow me to explain.

Lore/General Info

The ‘Lightfury’, actually known as the ‘SnowFury’ by the groups that live around them. Though even they don’t see them much. ´Lightfury’ is a term used by cultures who do not naturally have these dragons, as they mistook them for ´daytime NightFurys’ instead of arctic dragons. The dragon eye lists them as SnowFurys, but as artwork of them was limited due to their stealth, few have made the connection between the ‘two species’.

Snowfury’s share a common ancestor with the Nightfury, but evolved in an entirely different environment. While NightFurys are known to prefer forested habitats, preferable near lakes, beaches, rivers, etc, Snowfurys are found only in the snowy wastelands far to the north and far to the south. Though they are now nearly extinct in the south, that is where they were originally named aswell, and no humans are known to inhabit the north.

Just like NightFurys, they are few and far between. In the south, hunted to near extinction (perhaps they truly are gone?) and no one knows if they live in the north. Perhaps they fled there, perhaps they all died in the journey across the ocean, perhaps they have existed there forever and we will never know. Perhaps we are wrong entirely, and they have simply become even better at hiding? Some have heard they can turn invisible, not just blend in, but truly invisible

This will be explained further in the design details, but Snowfurys are larger and bulkier than NightFurys, and though still one of the fastest dragons, they fall just slightly short of the Nightfury. They have a layer of not-quite-blubber, it keeps them warmer but isn’t quite as squishy or heavy, as they still need to be sleek to fly at such high speeds. They can swim in freezing water and walk through blizzards barely noticing the cold.

Their shiny white scales make them nearly impossible to make out within the snow and ice, during a blizzard they are even more deadly. They are known to dig burrows in snow, both as nests/dens and for hunting/stealth purposes.

Changes I made and why/ cool design element of the species

No blue/pink undertones, their stark white but slightly sparkly coulouring is an amazing camoflauge, they are deadly in the snow. Though I couldn’t portray it well (can you tell ive never edited something before and am not at all an artist?), similar to the NightFurys faint stripes, they have a faint rosette pattern, almost like a snow leopard.

Not sure how visible it is, but head is less squished. Proper muzzle for fishing! And carrying babies! All those good things!

Their tail fins do not split at the end, they are known to use it almost like a shovel at times

Their claws are longer thicker and sharper than a NightFurys, they use them to grip onto ice and climb mountains with minimal effort.

Their eyes range from various blues, light teals and pale purples, nothing too vibrant though, they have very pale eyes (while nightfurys have more vibrant eyes, in bright greens and yellows and organes, even red perhaps)

Again, they are bulkier and stronger. Sacrificing a tiny bit of speed for higher strength. Still the second fastest dragon though, just slightly behind NughtFury. This extra bulk not only keeps them warmer but allows them to power through blizzards and scale icy mountains without blinking, they can swim in freezing water without getting cold and walk through deep snow. I made the Snowfurys legs a bit propertionally thicker, aswell as their neck.

Still less ear nubs, but i added a third set. They are shorter but wider than Nightfurys, it’s cold!

Back fin is rufflier and there is a smaller one on head, I mostly just liked the look. The fins on legs and back/head/tail help with aerodynamics, and swimming. They are surprisingly durable, as they need to hold up against freezing temperatures and crazy wind.

More scale definition, though not as muh as a NightFury. They have thick protective scales, but retain a smoother look, not only are they better swimmers than NightFurys but it makes them even harder to spot against the smooth shiny snow.

I made the other two tail fins larger to match the main one

Other little bits

Female Snowfurys are larger than males, and male Snowfurys are about the same as Female Nightfurys if a bit larger and male night fury’s are smaller than female nightfury’s

They have all the same ability’s as Lightfurys, retractable teeth, plasma blast, invisibility, you get it.

You could just say the Lightfruys don’t exist in this au, and Snowfurys are an unique species, but they are still called Lightfurys in most places (Americas, Yokohama seas, United Kingdom’s, etc. Only the southern frozen islands (where Fyodor and Nikolai are from in this au btw) call them Snowfurys, but they found them first so it’s the ‘true name’. It is also what’s in the dragon eye.

Do canon Lightfurys exist? Maybe, how am I supposed to know?

They swim very well as I think I mentioned, better than Nightfurys but not quite like a true tidal class dragon. They eat a lot of fish like Nightfurys, though they will eat basically anything, this would have one day perhaps included humans, but any living ones are sure to avoid humans now

They’re basically cold proof, on land and in water. They can do it but aren’t usually fans of extreme heat, since they have a natural layer of fat (not quite blubber but close) meant to keep them warm. They get hot quick and retain that heat well, they have never been seen in a warm place, though who knows if they go there or not. You rarely see them anyways,

They basically have the same reputation as Nightfurys, but since they don’t live most places even more mysterious. Nobody really knows anything about either species, even the Dragon Eye has rather vague drawings, though it’s still more info than anywhere else. It’s believed that more detailed records exists, but either nobody has found those lenses or the information wasn’t put on a lense

I’ll probably make a more detailed ref sheet with wings (same as canon LF,smoother than Nightfurys and a bit shorter and broader) and eye colours and stuff someday

Pack orientated species, just like Nightfurys. Though adults almost always hunt alone for stealthyness, they always live in groups, it’s important. They are social!

No I will not tell you what is in the north, that is a SECRET! Yes it is awesome and plot relevant and angsty but fluffy at the same time and I will make my readers cry when I write it!

I Hope this was at least somewhat coherent, I’m tired but brain won’t sleep until it gets to share its thoughts.

Will i ever actually write this? Yes probably but like, I’m currently on my avian au, Ranpo bad things happen bingo (I’m on prompt 15/25 now, whoo!) and that unfinished SKK au I’m writing (it’s like, 10k and I’m not even at the main plot what am I doing?? It’s based on a one of my favorite movies ever and includes wolves and feral woods child Chuuya btw). Someday, I will write Httyd au, eventually.

Any ideas for rider dragons are lovely,,,, you know incase you want to. I have most but there’s a few that I’m just, aaaaaah

Goodnight

[reallapiscake12]

Doing a lightfury redesign but as an more aquatic version

Primarily basing them on the giant river otter

Headshape compared to a nightfury/toothless

[marzzapan]

[tin-ypaws]

[notcaffeineaddicted-manticore]

I love the original concept art for the light fury, so I decided to play around with it a bit

Pls ignore my messy color splotches

[supernovaofthoughts]

Nighlight redesign

Ok, I know I am late to the party, but I thought I would just add my grain of salt to the discussion.

The Nighlight design of HTTYD3 (no, we do not talk about the Nine Realms, it does not exist) has, at least from what I've seen, sparked some complaints amongst fans. To me, they aren't terrible by any means, I actually kind of like them, they are charming anc cute, although a bit childish, but I'd like to propose some tweaks that could maybe (subjectively obviously, this is my opinion) make the design more appealing through realism and believeability (even though they still are appealing with their cutsy, patchwork cat like appearence).

I think just picking random features of Toothless and the Nightlight, mixing them together without a really smooth transition and especially just making their scale colour random patches of black and white just doesn't feel right. HTTYD is known for it's realistic and grounded, more animalistic dragon designs, so I find it a bit weird that the Nightlights would go for such a oversimplified hybrid pattern.

Sure you could argue their pattern was inspired by spotted cats, but I think this would only work for a unique species, but Nightlights are hybrid, so it would be more realistic if the features of both of their parents would be more mixed up.

In the animal kingdom, when hybrids happen, most of the time, their fur pattern doesn't just have one area of one animal and one of the other, but mixes up in a natural way that doesn't scream patchwork.

Here you can see a mix between a lion and a tiger. See how the skull presents a balanced mix of both the broader shaped tiger skull and the lion skull ? How the stripes are subtle and fade out into the brown fur ?

Here you see a zonkey. The pattern might be a bit more obvious here, but still, you don't have delimited areas of pure white/black zebra stripes and then plain grey donkey fur. Here, the black white stripes are covered in greyish/brownish donkey fur and fade in with it.

This is the Grolar bear, a polar bear and grizzly hybrid. You've probably heard of these guys, since Polar bears start to venture more on continents. Anyways, here, you can clearly see how both the Grizzly Bear's anatomy and the Polar bear anatomy mixed. The skull shape looks more similar to that of a Polar bear, while still having it's unique look because it has been balanced out with the Grizzly bear's skull shape. It is not just a Frankenstein hybrid where we see a Polar Baer head and a Grizzly bear body, no, both mix up in a harmonious way.

The magic of genetics.

So for the Nightlights, even though the tail fin seems to be a mixture between Toothless' and the Lightfurys, I think pushing this aspect of hybrid animals would really help making them more believable.

Furthermore, scrapping away the patchwork colouring would also look nicer in my opinion. Since darker colours are often the dominant version of genes in nature (as you can see with the Grolar Bear btw), it would make sense if they where overall black, or of a dark grey. A fade out to lighter grey on the belly would also be an option. Since Nightfuries and Lightfuries seem to have a similar, leopardian pattern, there also could bee lighter markings that fade out from dark to more lighter shades in a subtle way.

The wing pattern could also be lighter on the under side than on the upper side, again, in a subtle way, not in a contrasting BLACK/WHITE way.

I don't know, these are just my opinions. I'd like to do fanart at some point, when I am not so busy and own an actual graphic tablet XD

[kinblogging]

its meeee~

[bitchin-tubs]

As I have previously stated im a hating ass bitch and yknow what I hate even more than most things about helluva?? HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD !!!!!!!

I HATE this babybutt smooth scaleless eyeshadow wearing ass dragon

I HATE how stupid he looks and acts just to make a point about the domestication of wild animals that mind you that's a process that takes GENERATIONS to accomplish

I HATE how the original message of friendship and understanding was thrown out just to have dragon romance

And yknow what? Ive BEEN a redesigner this are my old redesigns of the lightfury that I hold very dearly to my 15 year old heart

I call her Toothpaste🩵

[kazenorth]

Lightfury redesign from 2022

[solvaneon]

I’m working on redesigning that lightfury oc

I want to simplify it a bit so I removed his stripes

[kingbyx]

Oh no, I did another.

Snowfurys are larger than Nightfurys on average, higher levels of body fat to help insulate against the cold, while still keeping a lean shape to go FAST

[reallapiscake12]

i forgor to post this earlier

i’ll def draw more for the lightfury remake i’ll probably try to make a digital version for this ref

[localratman]

i redesigned the lightfury

did this movie come out *checks notes* 4 years ago? (also, 4 years???? wtf???)

yes

did i still make an (admittedly shitty) doodle of a lightfury redesign anyway?

also yes.

i heard somewhere that the lightfury was intended to be an underwater dragon, and regardless of if its true or not i decided to fuckin run with it. specifically the idea of the lightfury being a deep sea dragon.

extra things about my lightfury redesign:

super sharp teeth, like those wicked teeth that a lot of underwater fish have

<- like this bad boy, but even more

most of the more sharp/long teeth are retractable, but it always has at least one row of shark-like teeth

✨glowy dragon✨

glows to attract prey, as a mating behavior, and as a way to ward off threats

can create glowy patterns with their scales, which is how they differentiate between hunting glowing, mating glowing, and danger glowing

lots of frills and fins, some retractable, some not

not naturally wary of humans due to the lack of natural predators and almost no contact with humans

not great at flying above water due to fairly weak body, but incredible at swimming and one of the most dangerous water dragons

<- a handful of references i found on pinterest.