Featherhide

The **Featherhide** appeared in 2021 TV series called *Dragons: The Nine Realms*. The Featherhide is a medium-sized Mystery Class dragon that first appeared in *Dragons: The Nine Realms*.

Featherhides are characterized by their lengthy legs adorned with fins, a long neck, a large rounded head, and prominent eyes. They possess a crown-like structure made of scales resembling feathers, with brighter hues at the tips. Unlike other dragons, Featherhides do not have horns or spikes, except for a single spike found on each wing. Their wings are proportionally longer compared to their body size, and their tail terminates with a sizable fin, reminiscent of a peacock's tail. While their teeth are small, they are sharp. Featherhides exhibit a wide range of colors, typically showcasing two or more hues on each individual.

When they go through their molting stage, they appear very greyish, with sharp, stiff, thick, grey head appendages that look very similar to horns. Featherhides' wing membranes appear torn from the shedding skin. Their eyes turn greyish making them appear blind, even through they can see perfectly fine. In “Dragons of the Undead”, they can be mistaken for zombies, although they are nothing of the sort.

Titan Wing Featherhides resemble their regular counterparts, but are yellow in color with dark green scales running along their backs. Instead of feathers on its head, it has horns, has darker-colored wings with red membranes, and retains the feathers on its tail tip that are colored red tipped with orange.

Featherhides are shy and cautious dragons that tend to use their camouflage ability to quietly observe those that catch their attention; and sometimes, even mimicking their sounds. If confronted by unfamiliar dragons, they camouflage themselves and stay near to those who they trust until they grow comfortable with the presence of others. Despite their shyness, they are very curious and drawn to creatures and objects that are new and interesting to them, appearing to be rather intelligent.

By using their cloaking and large numbers, they can easily overwhelm their foes. As seen in "Dragons of the Undead", Featherhides typically thrive in large colonies, which are governed by either a dominant individual or a powerful Titan Wing. However, it is also possible to come across solitary Featherhides, such as Feathers, who may be separated from their kind or prefer to live alone. These dragons are highly territorial and will actively confront and combat any intruders who enter their territory, be it a permanent habitat or a temporary area. With their exceptional cloaking abilities and the advantage of their numbers, Featherhides can easily overpower their adversaries.

During the molting process, Featherhides exhibit a remarkable behavior where they collaborate as a team to capture other Featherhides that have yet to undergo molting. These captured individuals are then transported back to their realm in the Hidden World, where they appear to show reverence towards them, akin to the observed behavior of a Hive Mind in bees. It is possible that this act serves as a means of protection for those who have not molted.

Interestingly, the molting process triggers a significant change in the behavior of Featherhides. Normally characterized as shy and cautious creatures, molting Featherhides become highly aggressive towards other dragons. This change in behavior can be attributed to the physiological transformations that occur during molting. Shedding the old skin can cause discomfort and heightened sensitivity in the dragon, which in turn triggers a defensive response. As a result, molting Featherhides exhibit increased aggression towards other dragons, as a means of safeguarding themselves during this vulnerable phase.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Sonic Scream:** Featherhides can release piercing sonic screams that can disorient humans and dragons alike. When more Featherhides join together, the sonic screams increase in power, being able to stun bigger dragons like the Fault Ripper. Their sonic screams are powerful enough to knock out medium-sized dragons, people, huge walls of ice and big crystal formations. As revealed in "Dragons of the Undead", their sonic screams are strong enough to completely remove the old skin of a molting Featherhide. And while it only takes one sonic scream from one Featherhide to completely remove a normal-sized molting Featherhide's old skin, it takes multiple sonic screams from multiple Featherhides to completely remove the old skin of a molting Titan Wing Featherhide.
* **Camouflage:** Featherhides can completely cloak and blend in with their surroundings to avoid detection. As long as those who stay under the cover of them will remain hidden as well.
* **Stealth:** Thanks to their camouflage ability, Featherhides are very stealthy dragons. As Feathers made her way out of the Hidden World, without the riders or dragons hearing or seeing her. This was also shown in "Magma Breather", where Feathers was able to catch Tom by surprise.
* **Climbing:** Featherhides are shown to be great climbers, being able to climb on trees, rock surfaces and houses.
* **Swimming:** As shown in “In Too Deep”, Featherhides are known to be good swimmers, as Feathers was able to swim at high speed and hold her breath for quite a while, Featherhides do have a limited lung capacity, and will drown unless they have access to air.
* **Sound Mimicry:** Featherhides can mimic sounds like a microwave's ping, the voices of humans, animals, and other dragons.
* **Strength and Combat:** These dragons can carry the weight of at least two teenagers or adult humans, whether on their backs or grasped in their fore paws. In particular, their jaws have a powerful grip, which can lock on to other dragons of similar size and drag them rather effortlessly. As seen with the molting Featherhides, their vice-like jaws can stop a medium sized dragon, like Thunder, from flying away. As shown by Feathers, Featherhides are strong enough to push and pull heavy dragons and hold helicopters with some help from another dragon, like a Mist Twister or a Deadly Spinner.
* **Intelligence:** As shown by Feathers, Featherhides are an intelligent species. After the dragon was tamed, its trainer can teach them new skills like reproducing new sounds and commands via hand signals and whistles.
* **Endurance and Stamina:** Featherhides have incredible endurance and stamina. Feathers was able to stay invisible, despite having her tail being stepped on. And the colony of molting Featherhides, from "Dragons of the Undead", took many attacks from the Dragon Riders' dragons, until Alex and Feathers showed up to help fight back.
* **Speed and Agility:** As shown by Feathers, Featherhides are agile flyers able to keep up even with a Night Light.
* **Scuttleclaw Immunity:** As shown with Feathers, similar to a Thunderdrum when it comes across a Death Song, they to are immune to piercing screams of the Scuttleclaw.
* **Titan Wing Abilities:** As any other Titan Wing, all of their abilities are amplified. They are faster, as seen by the one that chased Feathers relentlessly. They have a stronger sonic blast that can easily break an ice formation, and they have higher stamina that allows them to endure multiple sonic blasts.

### Weaknesses

* **Camouflage Limitations:** In confined spaces, a Featherhide that is cloaked runs the risk of being detected if it inadvertently makes contact with objects and causes them to fall or make noise. Startling a camouflaged Featherhide in such situations can result in the dragon emitting a sonic scream blast, which in turn reveals its location. It is important to note that the cloaking ability of Featherhides only applies to their bodies and does not extend to riders or other objects that are not physically attached to them. Additionally, it is worth mentioning that their cloaking ability is ineffective against dragons that rely on infrared vision to detect body heat, such as Snow Wraiths.
* **Muzzled Mouth:** If a Featherhide's mouth is clamped shut with a rope or muzzle, they can't produce their sonic blasts leaving them vulnerable.
* **Sonic Blast Limitations:** The Sonic blasts of a Featherhide can be very dangerous to use, especially in areas that are sensitive to sound such as snow in the Ice Realm, as Feathers only intended to hit Buzzsaw with her blast, but she also unintentionally knocked down a nearby glacier on the Dragon Club, leaving them trapped.
* **Cold Temperatures:** Based on Alex's observations during her exploration of the Ice Realm, it was evident that Feathers, as a Featherhide dragon, did not exhibit strong adaptability to colder temperatures. This observation provides evidence to support the notion that Featherhides are dragons more suited for warm weather conditions.
* **Shedding Process:** When molting, Featherhide scales will become dull grey and tattered. During this stage, these timid dragons will become extremely aggressive due to feeling vulnerable. They also seem to become possessive over non-molting Featherhides, going as far as to kidnap other dragons of their own kind. As well as this, Featherhides are rarely observed flying while molting. This can be attributed either to their tattered wing membrane disabling their flying capabilities, or the Featherhides, in their vulnerable states, feeling safer on the ground. This limits them greatly when facing flying opponents, who can simply avoid the Featherhides altogether by flying above them. Titan Wing Featherhides seem to be exempt from this rule, perhaps due to their large wings being able to support their weight either way.