#httyd1 analysis

[arxhafleu]

# hiccup's worth by toothless

when everyone saw hiccup as useless — a walking disaster who only caused damage wherever he went — toothless was the first to think otherwise. the first one to see what his core was like. the first to recognize hiccup's worth.

i also like to add that toothless was also the first to receive hiccup's help — without even asking for it. this boy, who had been rejected and ridiculed by his own people, came back to help the very dragon he had shot down. he chose to spare what he caught, to fix what he broke. hiccup was so eager, so determined to make things right — to give toothless the ability to fly again, and toothless realized those behaviors and intentions too.

SO how could anyone ever say hiccup only brought Danger when he brought a delicious bucket of fish to feed toothless every day and accompany him throughout the afternoon?? how could anyone ever say hiccup only brought Danger when he chose to help toothless every time he went to the cove? how could anyone ever say hiccup only brought Danger, when the first time he held real power over someone — a dragon, no less, viking's mortal enemy — he used that power to help?

toothless didn't see the "useless hiccup" everyone else talked abt (in everyone's defense, he wasn't even aware that hiccup was deemed useless BUT ANYWAY — back to my ramblings) . he didn't see a human disaster — he saw a little gentle, curious, kind boy. a very same boy who cared enough to help him. someone who kept trying to make him fly again. and thru their bond and friendship, became someone who mattered VERY MUCH to toothless. he was the first one to believe in hiccup, the first one to trust him.

thus, toothless just wanted hiccup to see what he saw, that his human was capable of so much more than what others reduced him to. toothless wanted him to feel that he wasn't just a disappointment or a burden to be cast aside. toothless wanted him to know he was worthy and he wanted him to feel seen.

because if the truth were to be told — if the rest of the world decided to cast him out. toothless would always be the one who wanted hiccup to stay — to stay with him, by his side. if everyone else wanted to get rid of hiccup, toothless would be the one choosing him, every single time. he would rather stay with and by him, than ever be a part of a world that couldn't see hiccup's worth. if everyone else wanted to throw hiccup away, to cast him aside for being who he is — toothless would never let him go. that if the world turned its back on hiccup, toothless would turn toward him.

toothless was the first one to believe in hiccup. he was the first one to accept, acknowledge, and love hiccup for what and who he is. he loved hiccup when he was still "useless" or when he was "nothing" — because to him, hiccup was never those things. he never once looked at him and saw failure. he only saw a kind-hearted boy who has an instinct (a soul, rather) of a dragon. and that belief was what gave hiccup the confidence to grow into who he was always meant to be! not in spite of what everyone thought of him — but bec someone finally saw what was there all along.

[arcassiuslux]

Gobber is the perfect madman:

“A downed dragon is a dead dragon.”

—Gobber, httyd 1

We see, in the fight with the Red Death, that the riders use multiple tactics Gobber taught them to fight her.

Like seeing her shot limit:

Or testing her blind spots and disorienting her with noise:

But I think we forget just how important Gobber was when teaching these kids. His lessons killed the Red Death.

And it all comes from that line at the start. The fight with Hiccup & Toothless and the Red Death is great, we all love it, and I’m sure I’m not the first person to say this, but he went for the wings.

Hiccup used Gobber’s lessons not only to test the Red Death, but to finish her off.

Gobber, the madman you are, hats off to you for reaching these dumbass kids.

[rotbtd-edits]

The similiar struggles of Merida & Hiccup

Just my two cents because I love talking these movies. I find it interesting how both Merida and Hiccup share similiar conflicts/themes in their movies. They both feel pressured to become leader figures by their parents, while also stubbornly sticking to their own ideals. Merida is trained by her strict mom to become the perfect princess, and is also expected to carry out her duties through marriage. Hiccup in HTTYD2 is expected to become the next chief by his dad while Hiccup himself feels it's not for him and he can't meet the expectations. They both have other dreams and yearn to keep their freedoms. Merida wants to live her life like she wants to, and Hiccup wants to keep exploring and spreading his findings about dragons. They also have parents that at some point have refused to listen to them.

They also act in defiance to their families in order to maintain their own ideals and freedoms, wanting to do things their way instead of traditions. Merida argues against her mom, breaks the clan traditions by shooting for her own hand, and asks the witch for help to "change her mom" to agree to Merida's views. This ends up endangering her mother and the peace between the clans. Hiccup in turn refuses to listen to his parents about Drago, both who know him much better than Hiccup. Because Hiccup keeps believing anyone can change, that if he's just given the chance he can make it happen and everyone else is just hindering him in their warmongering blindness. Hiccup believes so strongly in his position as the pacifist peacemaker that he doesn't budge until it's too late. Neither Merida nor Hiccup really stops to think of the possible consiquences of their actions, they only see the positive outcomes. They feel like they're not being listened to, but they also don't listen to others either.

So they both try to escape the expectations and restrictions put on them by actively defying and being stubborn about it, that it ends up endangering everyone. The main difference is, that while Merida gets a second change and has everything fixed in the end, Hiccup ends up paying the heavy price for his mistakes.

Merida's actions get her mom turned into a bear and almost loses her completely. In the end when all seems lost Merida finally admits her fault aloud and to herself, owning up to her mistakes. Before that she also admits her careless actions against the clans and is ready to accept her duties as the princess. Merida finally sees the bigger picture outside her own point of view, that she's in a position where she simply can't think only about herself. She manages to reverse the spell and fix her relationship with her mom, who has also come to see the error in her own ways, thus ending things perfect.

Hiccup's mistakes sadly don't get as happy resolve as his stubborness ultimately ends up getting his dad killed. It's the cruel wake up call to Hiccup, how some people are simply beyond help and fighting them is the only way. It's what his dad had tried to tell him throughout the movie. Had he listened to his parents, things might have ended better, and he has to carry this guilt with him probably his whole life. Drago is the real villain and culprit, but Hiccup did play a part in how everything turned out. His part is more nuanced than Merida's, who is more clearly at fault in Brave along with her mom. After Stoick's death, Hiccup has no choice but to face the reality, own to his mistakes by stopping Drago and accept his duty as the chief. It was a harsh lesson for him, that sometimes you just can't force things to go your way, but maybe it was one he needed before becoming the leader for his tribe. Just like Merida needed to face hers to fix everything around her and correct her ways.

So yeah, like said I find it interesting how Merida and Hiccup's stories and their character growths follow similiar themes. I'm glad Merida got her happy ending, but damn now I really want to give Hiccup a hug! ;u;

[juniemunie]

SO, MY HIGH QUALITY HTTYD MOVIE ANALYSIS IS HERE

so as ive said before in old posts, i have been watching httyd over and over religiously for so long to the point ive memorized all the lines right

u see the quality of that movie on my old childhood laptop was not perfect. suitable for a simple viewing yes, but not analysis

i never thought about it until a couple of days ago, where i had the opportunity to... acquire... a really high quality version of the movie

took me nearly a whole day to get it to download but i got it and watched it last night

....and wow. it really felt like i got my glasses again and i noticed so many more things. and there were a lot of cool characterizations and animations i missed

if ur interested in listening to me ramble, feel free kdfsgjsl

Literally just a few seconds in and im surprised by how beautiful the night sky is (THERE WERE NEBULAE???) i knew toothless was there but it caught me off guard how pretty and numerous the stars were

SO FIRST SCENE THE RAID

being able to visibly see with such detail that i could see the hair strands of the vikings was wowie, and STOICK'S WRINKLESSS

BUT THE ONE I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT WAS WHEN HICCUP WAS SHOOTING DOWN TOOTHLESS

I DIDNT KNOW YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SEE HIS SILHOUETTE BLOCKING OUT THE STARS HERE THATS SO DAMN COOL

the thing i noticed the most in this viewing is Stoick's microexpressions, he has A LOT that i missed simply because the quality wasn't high enough for me to spot them because typically hes not the focus of the camera

for example, here when Gobber and Stoick talk

he makes gestures (when he says his father told him to bang his head he lightly hits the pillar to emphasize it) as well as moves his hands almost very similarly to Hiccup and thats so endearing (Gobber seeing all the similarities but still has to mediate between the two of em HAHAAHAH)

HIS EYES....

His spots are super visible in this version too its such a treat to see everytime Toothless is there

also this composition! I just noticed how nicely placed the stairs are, it gives a natural divide between the two of them

this one here, he has a split second microexpression where he's thinking about what to say next, i think he realized he has to at least encourage him, not scold him

he's less confident as he walks out too, its blurry but he keeps shifting his eyes back to hiccup. if he isn't asserting authority on hiccup they're just both awkward around each other kjfdbglskk

my favorite thing about the dragons are their eyes, toothless' eyes does a wonderful job conveying his emotions even if its just to dilate when he's happy or narrow when he's assessing or feels in danger, its one of the traits i rlly loved watching in the first

look how he mimics the way humans are sitting ksdjfbglsdk

the series of exchanges these to have rlly is just them expressing civility that they think the other would approve of, (Hiccup spares him, Toothless spares him in return. Hiccup merely observes, he observes back. Hiccup drops his weapons, Toothless drops his guard. Hiccup gives him fish, Toothless having not much to offer, decides to share it with him.) It shows how Toothless is quite considerate and honorable.

and i like how in the first movie when he's aggressive he shows off his teeth and especially his gums more. i dont think i see his gums as prominently in the,,, sequels which is a shame because the light colors of his mouth contrasts super well with his dark scales

I CAN SEE HIS FACIAL MUSCLES MOVE HERE WOW. (its like he's really taking in the touch of hiccup's hand here, anticipating smth bad but nothing happening)

oh the way hiccup's face falls when stoick says "all those years of the worst viking berk has ever seen!

stoick isnt good with emotional talking, but this is the most open and we've seen him with hiccup so far

he's a hard ass, but the moment he finds that hiccup has done something great, he goes to him because he thinks he finally has a thread, something in common that they COULD BOND WITH

he literally goes "we finally have something to talk about" HE JUST WANTS A FATHER-SON BOND IM GONNA CRY

and you can see how toothless processes in a millisecond that astrid hurt hiccup

typically the "steed" falls head over heels for the male's love interest, which is why i rlly do like how toothless doesnt like astrid at all when he firsts meet him

HE RLLY DOESNT LIKE HER AT ALL HAHAHA

also take note how the first thing Hookfang does is to attempt to climb or get out, and when he cant, addresses the only one in the ring. im pretty sure he's intelligent enough to know the situation (ive been planning a fic of his perspective of the movie honestly)

OH THE WAY HES DRAGGED BACK TO HIS CAGE OH IM SO SORRY

this scene. i have no other words. it is vital to me that this split second expression existed. he rlly processed what he just said here to his own son

THIS MICROEXPRESSION I COMPLETELY MISSED

I never knew how uncertain his expression looked as he looked away from Hiccup, like he was hesitating, but then the anger comes back and his fists clench

AND OH MAN TOOTHLESS' EXPRESSION!!! I DID NOT MEAN TO CATCH THAT BUT IM SO GLAD I DID

and no thats not him noticing stoick, after the expression in the previous pic, he blinks, and THEN he notices stoick nearing and glaring at him, which he returns back

ITS LIKE TOOTHLESS IS HAVING HIS OWN INTERNAL THOUGHTS AT THAT MOMENT AND THATS SO?????

THEY TREAT TOOTHLESS LIKE A THINKING FEELING CHARACTER, AND ITS PERFECTION

final one, i love his expression here, he usually lifts his lips when he's angry, scared or ticked off but in this context its obvious he still doesn't like stoick, but he saved him and hiccup. so its only right to toothless that he returns the favor.

AND THATS ALL IVE GOT FOR NOW THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO ME RAMBLE HAHAHA

[sallykie]

Tags by @grifxmain

#anytime I see any shots from this new live action movie it's just baffling to me how terrible it is #why would put muddy colored cliffs behind your protagonists that have muddy colors themselves???? #it all blurs together I can barely make out the shapes in the small preview

Yeah, 2010 has Toothless and Hiccup clearly contrasted against the sky and framed by the cliffs and trees, their shapes are clear and body language easy to read. The luminosity contrast becomes even more obvious when you look at the screenshots in greyscale.

Or if you blur them.

2010 automatically guides your eye to what's important in this shot. 2025 LA on the other hand... the thing that stands out the most at first glance is, uh, the waterfall in the background probably?

There are other shots in the LA trailer that are also obviously lifted directly from the cartoon, but sometimes they just...

Congratulations, you have the centerpiece of your scene, this big, spiky, BRIGHT RED DRAGON taking up like half the screen, and you've managed to make it FADE INTO THE BACKGROUND!

In HTTYD 2010, the hue&saturation contrast of bright red against cool grey is making Hookfang really pop, and there's more luminosity contrast too. 2025 meanwhile is... flat.

Also the camera angle and (simulated) focal length in HTTYD 2010 helps communicate that Hookfang isn't as threatening as he could be, and Hiccup at this point is (temporarily) in control of the situation. But the low angle that makes Hiccup look comparatively taller, also makes the shot more dynamic, like the balance could shift at any moment, and it makes Hiccup feel more like a potential, immediate target, too.

The camera angle in the 2025 LA remake trailer is just... there. It's better than some other remade 2025 shots we've seen (at least the important parts aren't weirdly almost out of frame, and the lines of sight of Hiccup and Hookfang guide the viewer's eye between each other instead of somewhere entirely random), but it's a lot... less... than the original.

also can i just talk more about how awful the cinematography/shot composition is in a lot of the live action httyd stuff we've seen so far. idk maybe i'm just missing something - i don't have any sort of formal education in filmmaking or anything like that - but a lot of the shots so far seem to be a straight downgrade from the original film. like it honestly seems like they don't know what they're doing. it's truly baffling

^ e.g., one of my favorite shots from forbidden friendship. in the original, both toothless and hiccup are positioned close to the center of the frame. there's a gap between them, which may seem like a small detail but it's one that means a lot i think. the gorgeous pink sky is behind them, while the surrounding cliffs and trees frame them. toothless' perked ear plates are fully visible, allowing the audience to get a better idea of the curiosity he's feeling. his wings are also cleverly hidden/tucked away behind his back, giving him an incredibly strong silhouette.

compare that to the live action version. hiccup is centered, with toothless close beside him - parts of his left wing and leg are literally behind hiccup. instead of them being against the sky with the cliffs and trees framing them, the cliffs/trees are directly behind them. the entire thing is more zoomed in, leading to things like toothless' ear plates being mostly out of the frame. toothless' silhouette also isn't as strong with his wings visible like that.

idk. it just looks bad. and don't even get me started on what they've done to the downed dragon lmao

[drakyns]

what did hiccup have for lunch today?

hiya, friendly anon! i have no idea if you meant this as a bit, ic or ooc, so i’m going to take this opportunity to yap because i’ve been in coding bootcamp hell, and i love history and i am a teacher by default lmao. so here’s something no one asked for: a quick analysis of berkian diets, especially hiccup’s, taking inspiration from old norse/scandinavian records! with a bit of my headcanons, of course, because we’re all human. (please bear with me man, i’m going through it, and this kind of ask makes me so happy lmfao).

so first of all, rather than distinct lunches, medieval norse people typically consumed two main meals per day: dagverðr (dagmall, day meal) and náttverðr (nattmall, night meal)! these two meals were meant to be eaten with other people, in a familial manner, with wooden bowls and spoons. clans would gather in their houses, or around taverns and camps, and higher-class nobles would meet in halls to eat those two meals together. hunters and cooks would be in charge of preparing meals for the more prestigious warriors and their kin, sorcerers, and healers. or, if you preferred, you could prepare your own grub at home. eating by yourself during dagmall or nattmall hours was seen poorly and/or reserved for people not fully considered part of the tribe.

hiccup, during his pre-teen years, probably ate a lot of those alone since he was a social outcast. he would either be isolated on a table or not even attend the gatherings. because stoick was constantly away on his voyages or tending to his chieftain duties, and gobber is... well, gobber (not very hygienic and not very motherly), i feel that håkan would constantly prepare his own dishes, too. which meant hunting, foraging and painstakingly preparing them. given how scrawny he was, he depended heavily on his inventions and archery techniques to do so (he is shown to be an excellent shot in rtte, httyd2 and in the comics). i would like to believe that he eventually became a great cook, but he was used to solitude in these communal moments. it’s why these contrasting scenes in httyd1 hit really hard:

he was so used to eating by himself that when he gets swarmed by people at his table, it really is surprising! the more people you have around you, the more status you hold. it inherently has a social capital to it, so to speak. in httyd3, we also see him surrounded by people on his table, or on tables around him, and with a lot of food. this is not only meant to represent the people in his life, but also how far he has come as an individual and as chief of berk. he is not only accepted: he is sitting on the edge of the table and on the centre of the hall, which means that he is the most trusted.

coming back to food: just like shown in the pictures, hearty stews were the main focus of old norse diets. they were made with any available meats or fish, vegetables and grains: the stew was often kept simmering over the hearth, with ingredients added over several days. think of a communal cauldron: it was purposefully made to serve as many people as possible. children would commonly have porridge sweetened with fruits. it was crucial to eat meat and grains every day, since there was a focus on maintaining an energetic body.

dairies such as goat and sheep milk, cheese and butter are also shown in detail if we zoom in on certain scenes. they also had skyr, a yogurt-like product. bread was also a must-have.

in the first and third movie, hiccup is shown to particularly consume stew and meat! considering that berk has a lot of sheep, chickens, pigs and yaks, i would wager that he really loves those. given how deep berk’s forests are and, again connecting to historical records, wild game such as deer, boars and rabbits were also chased, probably following tribal laws to respect the gods, clan properties and nature’s balance. hunting seasons were only allowed in the winter, as far as i know, though, so the stereotypical thing we see in movies of vikings always consuming boars is more likely an overexaggeration. animal horns were not used on helmets, but as tools for everyday life, another common misconception.

since berk is way up north, fish would be the most common and convenient type of meat: cod and herring. medieval scandinavians were first and foremost skilled voyagers and fishermen, after all. but because of the dragons, i would argue that maybe berk in specific does not consume fish as often as they once did. some historians debate whether vikings hunted whales or not, but it is known that they consumed their meat when they were found on the shore. the eddas (written chronicles of the time) warn against the dangers of the sea, and it seems that most vikings were afraid of encountering whales and sharks, believing them to be embodiments of wrath from rán (god of the sea). some anthropological findings tell us that shellfish were probably considered taboo. my understanding is that it is connected to religious beliefs and the sea giants’ skins.

berk’s summer were probably too short to grow considerable amount of cereal crops (taking hiccup’s own descriptions of the weather), so they probably needed to trade those with other tribes and villages. but due to the cold, the long-term storage of root vegetables and grains was more than possible, i believe. historically, the main grains consumed were rye, barley, oats and wheat. for vegetables, cabbages, turnips, beets and beans would be grown in domestic vegetable gardens (behind houses or close to cattle) and traded in local markets. when it came to berries, tree fruits and nuts, they were probably kept frozen in water. strawberries, raspberries, cloudberries, cherries, apples, walnuts and acorns were the most used in dishes. seasonings such as garlic, caraway, dill and other herbs were sometimes used to flavour dishes, but not everyone had access to those.

when it came to drinking, mjǫðr (mead, a honey-based drink) was not as common as people would love to think. it was reserved for festivities or for nobility and warriors, since it was fairly expensive to make. it is why it was considered the drink of the gods! regular farmers, boatbuilders, huntsmen, servants, wood cutters, builders, anyways, the common folk as a whole, could spend most of their life (if not all of it) without ever having mead. wine from grapes was also luxurious and out of reach for most people, and it was imported from the southern lands. the most common drink (for everyone, from peasants to nobles) was a sour alcoholic dairy-based beverage called syra: it was made from skimmed milk. it was cheap and popular, but it was not typically offered to guests, since it was seen as a social offence. offering wine from apples and strawberries or straight-up ale was more cordial, though they were not as cheap, but way more easily accessible than mead.

some extra trivia: 1) everyone used to have a personal knife, which acted as a tool for everything. the more decorated a knife, the better your social standing was. 2) if you wanted to flirt with someone, you would offer your horn for them to drink from. 3) toothless probably got way too pampered by håkan, so now the almighty night fury only enjoys having his fish seasoned and cooked to perfection. 4) håkan is an absolute mom, and his food tastes incredible. he, however, does not enjoy cooking for himself, only for others.

TLDR: what did hiccup have for lunch? he probably snacked on some berries or bread.

[uselessreptile]

Hiccup gave Toothless more than just his wings back

I feel like the fandom talks a lot about how much Toothless gave Hiccup, but a lot of people seem to reduce what Hiccup did for Toothless to "letting him fly again," when it's really so much more than that, so I wanted to put this out there.

We learn that the reason the dragons raid Berk is to feed the Red Death, who will eat them if they don't satisfy her hunger. But one of the first things we learn about Toothless is that the Night Fury never steals food, which means that he does not feed the Red Death, yet he still attacks Berk. Why? Notice how he specifically targets Berk's major dragon-fighting weaponry, the catapults. Toothless is protecting his fellow dragons, because he cares about them.

This is why Toothless brings Hiccup and Astrid to the dragons' nest. He needs them to understand the truth about why the dragons attack Berk. If they see the tyrannical behemoth that the dragons live in fear of, maybe they will be able to do something about it.

Neither dragons nor humans alone could defeat the Red Death. Dragons, despite their immense strength, high intelligence, and power of flight, lack the power of spoken language, so they cannot organize a revolt against the Red Death. And when all of Berk's most seasoned Viking warriors reach Dragon Island, they find themselves utterly powerless against the titanic dragon.

It is only when Hiccup and his former dragon-fighting classmates show up on the backs of dragons that the tides of battle turn against the Red Death. Teamwork between these two former enemy groups is what brings the queen down and ends three centuries of war, something that never could've happened had Hiccup and Toothless never defied what was expected of themselves and formed their forbidden friendship.

So yes, just as Toothless gave Hiccup the courage to stand up for what was right and bring peace to the Vikings of Berk, Hiccup gave Toothless the freedom for his kind to live in peace, without fear of being devoured by an insatiable tyrant or being felled by the blades of Viking warriors.

[thethiefandtheairbender]

to this day astrid’s arcs in httyd1 are still my absolute faves for her

#1)

“Nobody just gets as good as you do, especially you. Start talking! Are you training with someone?”

“You have to give me a chance to explain!” “I am not listening to anything you have to say!”

“Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?!” “Because I want to remember what you say, right now.”

#2)

“Hiccup, we just discovered the Dragons’ Nest. The thing we’ve been after since Vikings first sailed here. You want to keep it a secret? Wha—to protect your pet dragon, are you serious?”

“You must feel horrible. You’ve lost everything. Your father, your tribe, your best friend.”

[kingofthewilderwest]

Hi! I don't really know if you're still doing httyd analyses, but I can't stop thinking about how httyd1 seemed to walk this thin, perfect line between logic and emotion that appealed to such a large audience, but when the sequels came out, we split into like/dislike fractions. Imo, Httyd2 + 3 have the same problems. But 2 was great for thinkers, while horrible for feelers, and 3 was that same thing turned upside down. And it's just so incredibly interesting to me. Care to comment, awesome dude?

Hey there! Good to hear from you! Interesting thoughts!

I’ve been sitting on this because, to me, those haven’t been the observations I’ve made about the latter two movies myself. And I’ve found that fascinating. You mmmmmay have something to it, you definitely may, but I’m not sure I’m ready to make that generalization of fandom reaction myself.

I’ve seen several of my closest friends, who are feelers, draw deeply into HTTYD 2, whether it was relating to Toothless like their pet dog, loving the angst of Stoick’s death, or something else. And several other of my closest friends, logical to the max, dug in deeply to THW. I’ve seen logical criticisms against HTTYD 2 (plot structure, amount of time spent with villain, etc.) and against THW (how THW might not effectively write a call-to-the-wild due to the embedded romance suggestions in there, whether or not the ending of the movie justified the size of the danger). I’ve seen emotional comments balking against HTTYD 2 (too dark for children, felt too different from original) and THW (didn’t like the dragons leaving, didn’t feel emotional connection between Hiccup and Toothless). I think I’ve seen more emotional rejections of THW than I have HTTYD 2.

Ultimately, from my angle, I don’t get the same delineation that you do. For me, any correlation I’d try to draw with your observation would be anecdotal and subject to my self-confirmation biases. I don’t think 2 was objectively great for thinkers and 3 great for feelers. Now, it’s true I am a “thinker” and HTTYD 2 was my jam when it came out, but that’s because it struck a deep emotional chord with me, something that gnawed at me for days because of how character death got handled in the film and how close it mirrored the pains I was going through in my own life at the time. But yeah, I mean, I analyzed the music themes “objectively” too. And it’s true that when THW came out, my lukewarm response to it was because of logical criticisms. But it was also because I didn’t feel much emotion out of it and I’d gone into the movie specifically to feel something. Anyway... my personal response hasn’t been anywhere close to universal with how I’ve seen fandom members react to the trilogy, either. I think that lots of what draw people to/away the latter films are things like whether you can relate to the themes, what sorts of tropes you like, what sorts of plot holes or contrivances you don’t mind versus get bothered by, what sorts of emotional messages resonate with you most, what’s going on in your life when the movie comes out, and the like. While emotion and logic play into it, I definitely agree with you there, I think those factors are more prevalent than the emotional/logical-driven sides of us.

Still, I really like what you’ve say about the first movie being the perfect line between logic and emotion. I think the first movie got everything right. From the theoretical side, HTTYD got all its structural properties concrete. It hits the nail on the head from the analytical “thinker” side. The music has endless analysis potential with its interweaving, information-nuanced leitmotifs. The narrative structure is perfectly paced. There’s balance between moments of silence versus dialogue. Dialogue is clever; themes are well-accounted for; what’s introduced in the beginning comes back later. Animation, art stylistic choices, how the dragons got animated, there’s tons to talk about. It’s a masterpiece from the angle thinkers like to go by. To this day, I think this is still one of the most solidly paced films like, freaking ever, and I marvel at it.

But HTTYD is also, at its heart, a story about a boy, his father, and his best friend. Its major plot points are the emotional beats of the story. What we’re invested in is how a boy’s relationship with his father will or won’t strengthen. What we’re invested in is whether the boy’s growing love for a dragon will destroy his sense of belonging in the world he once strove to be recognized in. What we’re invested in is if the boy can both receive the love of his dad and the love of this dragon. It’s a story of acceptance, belonging, being different, being loved, finding love, hiding who you are, being accepted for who you are, etc. It’s not an “action” movie. HTTYD is a story of relationships and heart.

I believe that the best stories marry the structural properties with the emotional beats. They interplay with each other. One informs the other. One elevates the other. One makes the other exist properly. Without animation technique, we couldn’t have good chilling scenes or heartwarming scenes because the visuals wouldn’t evoke it. Without characters struggling with love, no one in the audience would care about the plot. Without knowing how to write plot, we wouldn’t be able to demonstrate the characters loving each other. Without creators caring about the story, everything would feel emotionally dead. And so forth.

[dragondingus]

359 of 365: Dedicated to the viking Queen, America Ferrera.

Thank you for giving this loyal, fearless, strong and forever kick-butt woman her voice. Astrid embodies power & purpose, a true role model for many in and out of this fandom. 

It’s funny.. My first impression of Astrid was rather negative when I first saw HTTYD. I just, didn’t like her and that was mostly due to the fact she roughed up Hiccup as much as she did in the first film. A character I so closely related to.

It wasn’t until I joined the fandom and began reading and seeing posts and analysis did I start to see her character more clearly. I rewatched the movie with an eye on her arc and began to understand her as an individual and not just the “reward role” she had at the end of the first film (Something she broke far away from by the 2nd and 3rd film). She is a viking warrior. Focused and determined, not always patient nor perfect but deeply passionate. It took a minute to realize that outside her tough facade, hardend by the rough elements of the circumstances around her in HTTYD1, there existed a caring interior. She is a force to be reckoned with and when I came to realize this my love for her only grew- 10 fold by the day. Her pep-talks with Hiccup always seem to sLAP, and I’ll fight anyone who tries to make her a damsel in distress as this Astrid is anything bUT and I love her all the more for it.

Astrid Hofferson. Beautiful, supportive, who always keeps it real, and she would not have been the same without you. Thank you America. 💛

[tenebrius-excellium]

Hmmmmm.

Very well said.

You really did your research, I couldn't quote half of these RttE refs off the top of my mind

I still struggle to accept this analysis and I'm trying to think of why.

I guess it's because to vikings, violence is an ordinary language of communication when somebody oversteps their boundaries. Heck, not just when somebody oversteps, it's just a day-to-day language. Sometimes even a love language! People will be violent for no reason at all, because they're so used to it that they do not know how else to convey their intentions sometimes, plus they occasionally think it is very funny. When something - anything - happens, some of the vikings' first reactive instincts is to respond to it with random violence. We see this with Astrid, with Ruff & Tuff, and more. So.

The distinction I would try to make is, to whom is Hiccup a pacifist?

Because in the viking world, Hiccup is giving people like wayyyy too many chances. He often seems to let his enemies trample all over him before he too decides that enough is enough. In this viking world, this httydverse, Hiccup is too trusting, too naive, too sensitive in comparison to his peers who would often JUMP at the opportunity to blast something to bits as soon as he allowed them to.

The distinction might be between a perception of Hiccup in his own tough, unforgiving viking universe vs. a perception of Hiccup by us, the modern audience, through the screen who know that the rating is kids-friendly. I remember how appalled I first was when Hiccup was using weapons like normal tools post-Httyd1. That he even designed more weapons! (Super silly me, of course.)

But there might be two different perceptions here, and they are simply about in-universe and ex-universe logic.

Perhaps compared to the other vikings, Hiccup is THE pacifist. He is frustratingly, sheepishly kind in a very rough world that wouldn't give two shits about him dying.

Perhaps to us, Hiccup is still a very violent person. Because as a modern audience in Western countries, his decisiveness when it comes to killing still counts as cold-blooded to some.

Does that distinction make any sense? Idk

Again, very well said on your part!!! Gave me some stuff to chew on!

Hey! Do you really think that pacifist Hiccup is fanon? No judgment, just...again, surprised by this interpretation. I'd imagine that if canon really thought Hiccup was balanced, they would have shown more of a moral struggle over the deaths related to him, no? But it's often left ambiguous (see Drago or random dragon hunter #3 who gets blasted out of the way Idk), which (to me) means people happily lived. Because they disappeared left and right without regard or mourning. We see no dead dragons or people on the ground after the Battle of the Bewilderbeast, for example, which makes the assumption that a lot of humans and animals must have died there, "objectively" wrong. Of course they needed to keep it kids-friendly, but I'd think if Hiccup was truly ruthless towards any threat to his family, they would have made the cost of peace a little more of an apparent theme. Thoughts?

I genuinely believe that Hiccup being a pacifist is a fanon thing because there's nothing in the actual canon to prove that he is.

Does Hiccup oppose war? Yes, he does. Httyd 2 is all about him wanting to prevent it from happening. In R(D)oB the thing with hiding the dragons away from Dagur was also to prevent a potential war with the Berserkers. (A war that did end up happening, although because Hiccup and Berk lied to Dagur and Hiccup fake protected him.)

Does Hiccup entirely oppose violence? Even as a means of settling disputes? No, he doesn't and every battle ever proves that. (More on that in the RttE section)

And if Httyd had a higher rating, we probably would've seen those bodies and we'd probably also see Stoick lying in pieces or at least disembowled from taking a plasma blast to the chest for his son and said son covered in his blood. The fact that we don't is simply because Httyd needs to appeal to all audiences and for the majority kids, like you said.

But this doesn't mean that people aren't actively dying in the tv-shows.

Barely passable screenshots, but these are from 'Heather Report Part 2' when Alvin holds Astrid above a cliff and that's not the face of someone who wants to be careful as he tells his Night Fury to blast him away.

Alvin gave Hiccup a choice in that scene; "surrender or I'll... well, you know the rest." Which in this context means that Hiccup should surrender or Alvin will drop Astrid to her death. Hiccup chooses to instead tell Toothless to "do it." And I doubt this means he holds no value for Astrid's life, but letting Alvin get away with the Book of Dragons just isn't an option either.

And let's not forget 'We Are Family Part 2', in which Hiccup and Toothless are so angry at Alvin for taunting him after hurting them (it's stated for days) that they don't think clearly and turn back around just to hurt him. A calculated move on Alvin's part, who hoped Hiccup would be too angry to think clearly. Angry people don't make for merciful people either.

Moving on from Alvin, shipwrecks are already hard to survive. You would need to wait for help to come to you and that is if you:

Don't drown first

Don't get picked off by predators

Die from lack of food or drinkable water

Die from exposure

Die from sickness

The USS Indianapolis is famous for having most of it's crew survive (like, 800 to 900 men?) the initial sinking of the ship only to lose most except for a little over 300 to exposure, lack of food/water and sharks. This crew started with over 1,100 men and only a little over 300 survived for four days until others learned of the sinking and send help. And that's a ship that sank in WWII, let alone a Viking ship that's mostly wood and doesn't have fancy ways to send for help.

Remember that comedic moment of Dagur vowing he's going to make Hiccup kiss his boots in the 'Smoke Gets in Your Eye' episode? When he's sitting on a piece of driftwood after the Smothering Smokebreaths tore his ships apart by taking all the metal out of them?

A funny moment, but Dagur genuinely could've died from either of the causes listed above and it's not like Hiccup looked back and had second thoughts, he went home and was glad Dagur wasn't terrorizing his village for another day.

There are plenty of times in RoB and DoB in which Hiccup and Toothless hurt people and dragons alike. Is it his intention to kill? Absolutely not, but he doesn't shy away from violence either.

For a character the fandom largely appears to consider a pacifist, he sure does spend a lot of his time committing violent acts.

Even his future wife has a tendency to show love and excitement by punching him in the dorsal fin button before giggling. Would a real pacifist put up with that? He literally spars with her for fun and she gets to throw him around, they both like doing that!

Would a pacifist even survive in a place like Berk? Where everyone is so rough and disputes sometimes easily escalate to violent action with sharp objects involved? If that is the case, we might as well call Stoick a pacifist, because he's the one going around stopping these disputes from escalating that far.

But anyway, moving on to RttE!

In Snow Way Out, this is what Hiccup says:

"If there's one chance to settle this without bloodshed, I have to try."

And seconds after, Hiccup has this interaction with Ryker:

Ryker - "In that case, surrender and you won't meet the same fate as your dragons."

Hiccup - "Okay, here's my offer. Leave now and your men won't have to find out what burning flesh smells like.

Fanon and canon agree that Hiccup is a bad liar. If he wasn't, he probably would've been able to come up with a better excuse then "I'm making... outfits!" when Astrid is on the cusp of finding out about Toothless.

Which means that Hiccup is not lying in this scene. Which means Hiccup intends on following through. Could be just a bluff, he and the rest of the Dragon Riders are kind of cornered in this scene, but that doesn't mean he isn't willing to fight his way out if his only other options are either surrender or die.

And he says it quite easily for a character so many consider a pacifist. A threat to burn Ryker's men alive.

The thing is, Hiccup probably does know what burning flesh smells like, he grew up in a village torn by war in which the other side are fire-breathing dragons. He's also literally one of the oldest children of three (he, Astrid and Snotlout are canonically 20 in Httyd 2 while Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs 19) and the kids that aren't his peers are years younger than him. If you pay close attention to who walks around on Berk in Httyd 1, there are huge gaps in ages that continue into the tv-shows and the other movies.

So Hiccup probably is desensitized to seeing all of that, which could explain his lack of a reaction to taking lives, (a tsunami gets more of a reaction out of him) but that doesn't mean he can't mourn the failure in preventing more loss.

And let's not forget that this is also the episode in which Hiccup gave Toothless the order to shoot down Windshear, Heather and Ryker. Windshear and Heather who he considered friends until recently.

In the Guardians of Vanaheim episode, he has that moment in which he almost kills that Flyer with the Dragonblade in retaliation for the "deaths" of the Sentinels. The Riders genuinely think Hiccup is going to kill that Flyer, you can see it on their faces, which means even they think he's capable of that. Now ultimately, Hiccup decides not to and he tells the twins that they won't be torturing the prisoner. (And it's probably because of moments like that that fans decide Hiccup is a pacifist, despite all the violence he regularly partakes in)

But that doesn't change the fact that Hicctooth, Stormstrid and Snotfang chase after the Flyers with the intention of making sure that they never tell Johann about Vanaheim.

Flyer - "All I know is Johann will be very interested to learn of its existence. The others left to inform him,"

Tuffnut - "We should probably tell Hiccup."

Hiccup - "I heard, Tuff. Let's go everyone. We have to catch those Flyers."

And that is what they do. They catch up to the Flyers and make sure that they don't tell Johann about Vanaheim's existence and Vanaheim isn't mentioned again, implying that Johann never did learn about it.

Now, the show does decide to show us the Flyers surviving (one of the few they actually show us surviving, too) but that has more to do with RttE's rating than whether Hiccup is a pacifist or not. Because Hiccup really did use lightning to down them and being struck by lightning can be very, very lethal. For both the Flyers as well as the Singetails.

(And honestly, are we meant to think that they never left that little island? Considering Johann never found out about Vanaheim? Still leaves their survival kind of up for interpretation.)

In the King of Dragons two-parter, Hiccup tells his Dragon Riders to make sure Johann's ships don't make it out. That is a thing that he says.

Hiccup - "All right. Ruff, Tuff, Snotlout, you take out the ships. Make sure this is their last voyage."

All three of these moments show us Hiccup's willingness to do what it takes and it does include taking lives.

Although Hiccup does draw a hard line at when innocents are involved. Like how he didn't want to hurt the Singetails that were being forced to carry the Flyers. But it's also worth mentioning, that he did not plan on holding back when it came to the Rumblehorn that he believed threatened Gobber's life. (In RoB/DoB he didn't hold back with the Whispering and Screaming Deaths either. Even amongst dragons, Hiccup makes a clear distinction between "good" and "bad".)

That we either don't see the bodies if they're dropped by Hiccup and friends or see the enemy survive somehow (unless someone neutral or the enemy themselves take them out) has everything to do with the rating and Httyd's audience. Even the Red Death's death was bloodless and she exploded. Bits of her should've been everywhere! Instead we had the ash gently falling down to the earth.

This franchise isn't Game of Thrones, it's Httyd and Httyd has a rating that makes it appropriate for all ages. GoT level rating for Httyd probably would've given Hiccup+dragons Targaryen+dragons levels of carnage. And that isn't the case simply because of Httyd's intended audience.

And as for Hiccup's lack of a reaction to deaths supposedly caused by him, if we go back to the desensitization thing, if you used to watch people and/or dragons die in battle every other night for 15 of the most influential years of your life, you're not going to look up when you head into battle as a (young) adult on the back of a fire-breathing dragon and weep for every life snuffed out by you and your best Bud. Because one is a casualty of war and the other murder and something Hiccup hasn't done is murder.

^^^^ That is Hiccup's face as he looks into the water to see if he can spot a single sign that Drago has survived. He doesn't look like he's remorseful for Drago dying, instead he just looks worried. And knowing Hiccup's history with Drago and the reason why he set out to change his mind in the first place, it's not worry for Drago himself. It's worry that he might've survived. That he could come back to hurt his loved ones and (most importantly) his village again.

^^^^ Followed be the face of someone who wishes things had gone differently.

This is probably the biggest proof that Hiccup was meant to be chief. He set out to protect his village and he'll remain worried for his village. Maybe a hottake, but thematically/from a writer's standpoint, that points towards Hiccup destiny to be chief.

Of course, we know Drago canonically didn't survive due to the re-writes of Httyd 3 and the cancelation of The Fire Tides.

Now, I could talk about the Serpent's Heir.

I could talk about the absolute decisiveness in Hiccup's expression and everybody's lack of a reaction to Hiccup setting a guy on fire (the most we get is Astrid stating how she couldn't keep him out of trouble) and how this is the clearest evidence of Hiccup taking lives with his own two hands to protect himself, but most importantly, Toothless. (And just like many villains before him, Hiccup did try to talk sense into Calder)

I could talk about Dragonvine (I don't have an online version of that comic) and how Toothless was poisoned and Hiccup almost hurt young Silkspanners because he believed they were about to make Toothless' last few hours in life Hell. (Meaning each comic gave an example of Hiccup protecting Toothless against a human and dragons respectively)

But the movies and shows are teeming with examples of Hiccup getting his hands dirty (either with his own two hands or through Toothless) to protect either himself or someone he loves. And that makes him the exact opposite of a pacifist. Because Hiccup will use violence to protect who he loves and what he believes in.

But like I said, Hiccup isn't a one-dimensional character and it's true that he doesn't want violence to be his first option. Rather he'll often give his foes the chance to resolve things peacefully if it prevents bloodshed on both sides. I've mentioned it once before in another post, but with how many casualties there are on the opposite side at all times and none on the side of the Dragon Riders (minus the occasional arrow wound or Stoick's death) it's only fair for Hiccup to give his foes the chance the back out. It's just that they never do, always underestimating him and the Dragon Riders.

And with the Red Death that kind of was never an option to begin with and Hiccup knew that.

But we do see him try to forgive his foes even though they've either stabbed him in the back before or are obviously planning to and that is likely where the "naive" part comes from. But Hiccup is also 15 to 20 years old, he doesn't even have half as much life experience as his foes do, who are every single one of them grown-ass adults well over a decade older than him.

And we do see him have moments of remorse, like in RttE when he tells Viggo that things didn't have to end so fatally in Shell-shocked Part 2 or when we see him make a big deal about not hurting the innocent Singetails in season 5 or even when deciding to give the fishing boat with the Scourge of Odin a proper send off. I think that's where the "pacifist" part of the fancanon probably comes from.

Even though we not only see Hiccup actively partake in violence without lying awake about it, but also be smug about both big and small wins and simply enjoy the thrill. (And to repeat once more, he actively enjoys sparring with his wife who likes punching his dorsal fin button to show him just how excited she is about something)

But anyway, a veeeeeeeerrryy long way of ranting about how the proof that Hiccup isn't a pacifist is from Httyd 1 all the way to httyd 2 (And the two comics) and that actual on-screen deaths are only not there purely because the franchise's audience is still largely children. :)

[despiteherself]

slides into ur inbox bc you have the fun takes: what are your thoughts on Stormfly and Astrid's relationship and how the films just ignore them? :(

did u see the post in the tag where someone’s like “au where Astrid has a light fury” or whatever too cause oh man i was already mad about this

the httyd universe literally builds up that the dragons are mirrors of their riders and ! also says fuck you toothless and hiccup are the most scared bond ever!!! (i guess bc toothless is literally dependant on hiccup for like everything.) which is a shitty take and just like. they’re all “we planned this!!” but then backtrack on everything like yike. other people having bonds with their dragons doesn’t take away from hiccup and toothless? ????? anywya

the major piece of info about Stormfly we get is that she’s pretty (read: vain.) but also capable, and it’s said by Astrid about herself which she then corrects. Love that for them tho! I love that snippet of Astrid loving Stormfly and seeing herself in her!!!!!!!!!! I actually REALLY wanna do a big analysis post on Stormfly now cause I wanna dig into all these details of her characterisation? :(((

the movies tho? httyd1 just met. httyd2 is about her playing fetch with Eret? I guess they are mirrors, sidelining Astrid for a man, yet again. They have a really strong bond but it’s kinda dismissed in narrative as jsut existing and isn’t explored. and then httyd3 whom is Stormfly? oh? surely ..... the light fury is what you mean. h

Remember when dreamworks was pushing stormfly/toothless because they mirrored their riders and dontcha know h*ccstrid are perfect and now people are falling all over themselves to act like there’s Astrid and ligh fury parallels :/ dreamworks says fuck any relationship Astrid has outside of hiccup. all this bullshit about hiccup making her the person who is she when they couldn’t even be bothered to show something deep between her and stormfly? I’m just so mad they barely touch on their relationship AHHHHHJJ

[revive-the-fandom]

trying to figure out Jack’s height

technically I’m trying to figure out everyones height.  But in my old folder I found this:

https://ohmy.disney.com/movies/2014/09/13/15-things-you-didnt-know-about-brave/

Which is Merida’s height (5′4″)

http://usertoothlessthenightfury.tumblr.com/post/59200950830/so-regarding-hiccups-height-an-analysis-by-a

Which is Hiccup’s height (5′4″ in HTTYD1 and 5′11″ in HTTYD2 - pretty sure I read that he was 6′0″ in HTTYD2 somewhere else tho)

My notes say that Punz is 5′3″ but the link is broken.  I have read that she could be anywhere from 5′1″ to 5′7″.  People discussed it here too:

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Thread:250558

In Rotg there doesn’t seem to be any official heights except for Bunny’s comment that he is 6′1″.  Assuming that is without the ears then there are a few screencaps that could help.  

This would be super helpful if Bunny and Jack were standing upright (they’re leaning in so their heights are different to what they would normally be.

We could use Bunny’s height to find North’s height and work out Jack’s from there. 

This is a pretty good lineup for someone smarter than me!  Also shows how much taller Bunny is compared to Jack.

Found this on the Wiki

https://riseoftheguardians.fandom.com/wiki/Thread:BlackSteel/@comment-4806276-20130306014234/@comment-4806276-20130429051344

Though Bunny definately says he’s 6′1″ so not sure how accurate this is.  Possibly just needs to bump eveyone up by an inch but what do I know?

For now I’m going with:

Merida - 5′4″

Rapunzel - 5′1″

Hiccup(HTTYD2) - 6′0″

Jack - 5′10″

[inhonoredglory]

hahahaahaaaa of course I’m not crying because this is the line that sunk hiccup into the deepest, most passionate and mythical place in my fREAKING SOUL when I first saw it. “just take this out on me, be mad at me, but please just don’t hurt toothless.” Which goes to show how FAR hiccup’s selflessness goes, how much he’s used to be being done in by his dad, how much he’s willing to take the wrath (EVEN THE DISOWNMENT) of his own father to protect the only person who’s EVER believed in him and loved him FOR WHO HE IS. FOR TOOTHLESS. hiccup knew what he was getting into when he stepped into that kill ring and looked up at his dad, he knew the risk he was taking––not just being killed by a dragon, but losing ALL chance of love from his father. and he went there and risked that because toothless was WORTH IT. that’s love, my friends. right there. and it STILL hits me.

Just take this out on me, be mad at me.

[theanimeview]

The Rise of a King, Hiccup - Part 2

Summarizing part 1, Stoick is overprotective (in HTTYD 1) and that overprotectiveness has limited Hiccup from:

Being able to connect well with other people in the village, which is important to any leader (future or current)

Prevented the development of his already incredible aptitude for leadership and invention.

(Potentially, this protectiveness could be the reason Hiccup has less muscle than many of his peers since Stoick doesn’t want Hiccup to be around heavy objects)

Interestingly, these three things that Stoick has limited Hiccup from becoming early in the series are the three things that Stoick seems to want most for Hiccup--connection/respect from people, leadership aptitude, and physical strength. However, because Stoick cannot see how Hiccup might be able to achieve those things in his own way, Stoick tries to force Hiccup to achieve them on his terms--example, their deal (”you walk like us, talk like us, you think like us” (Stoick, HTTYD1).

When Stoick leaves, and Hiccup is just beginning to experience his freedom, Hiccup experience his first confrontation with an expectation of responsibility. Where does it come from? Who? You might ask... is it Gobber? No. Is it Toothless? Not really. Toothless doesn’t expect Hiccup to come back for him or anything else after he’s freed. So who?

It’s Astrid. Let me explain.

As Hiccup and crew begin their training, and maybe even before that, Snotlout and the twins tease Hiccup endlessly; Astrid looking on at him with frustration; and Fishlegs looks between crew and Hiccup with fear. Fishlegs is definitely Hiccup’s friend in HTTYD1, but is afraid of being bullied and maybe afraid of Stoick finding out how Snotlout and the twins treat Hiccup since we know that despite how rough Stoick treats Hiccup he is ultimately very protective and his roughness is out of love (and hope that it will toughen Hiccup up). Snotlout and twins seem to be aggressive because they think they can do so without repercussions, after all, Hiccup is not one to retaliate with his position as Stoic’s son, he is physically smaller, and is not well liked by their parents/adults in town. Astrid is different though.

Sure, she’s out for some glory in the training ring, but she also protects him, telling him to get down, and even putting herself in front of Hiccup when Stormfly comes racing towards them. She could have hidden with the others, and she had been up until that point. But with Hiccup laying down, she jumps in front of him and even draws Stormfly way from him and the others as a means of protection. Then she says to Hiccup, “Is this some kind of a joke to you? Our parents' war is about to become ours! Figure out which side you're on.” It’s the first time he’s been spoken to like that in the movie thus far (close to 30 minutes in), and the words show that she expects something of him. Even his father doesn’t seem to expect something from him. Stoick wants something, but doesn’t expect it--Astrid does though.

I think it’s because she recognizes that Hiccup will be the chief one day, probably soon since it doesn’t look like people live very long fighting dragon’s in their society (I mean, we only see one elderly person in the movie, Gothi). There is some merit to this idea as Astrid is the first to question Hiccup in the scene I just described, she’s the only one in the recruited group to notices his absence, and be really focused on why/how he changed while others are just willing to happily accept it as him finally coming into his own as what they think a chief’s son is like. Astrid is only truly aggressive towards him when she catches him alone in the forest, something she is sure to know that Stoick wouldn’t like.

Next time, she follows him into the forest when he is set to run away and we can see that her guard is up as she integrates him. She walks in front of him and around him, examining the surroundings for danger. The two times she gets him down on the ground is when he gets in front of her. She says it's for the lies and everything else, but it also seems to be protective--she’s bigger than him and knows she’s the better fighter. She’s keeping him from hurting himself even if it means pushing him back and down. Emphasizing this, at least in my mind, is when she notices Toothless, she immediately knocks them down to hide him from view. As we hear Toothless leaping rocks toward them, she gets up screaming at Hiccup to run while she gets in front of him and makes to swing.

When Hiccup stops her and clearly shows a kinship with the dragon, she looks at him as if he’s lost his mind, and to her--maybe he has. She races toward the village, probably on the way to tell Stoick about the dragon. Hiccup+Toothless stop her, and he asks her to listen to him. Instead of ignoring him, which she could have done, she does (and their magical date begins).

At the end of the magical date, when they learn about the dragons’ nest and the Red Death, Astrid says that they need to race back and tell the others about immediately. Hiccup tells her not to, and Astrid asks him if he’s choosing the dragon over his people. Hiccup, with the face of a stern leader (which we can recognize as similar to his father’s determined look) says yes, he is choosing Toothless over the village.

For a moment, Astrid’s face falls. It is one of shock, fear, and disbelief. When he turns from her, it’s not completely away. She can see half of him, and we can see the look on his face. He’s determined and thoughtful in this moment. She continues looking at him, and he eyes scan his body language before returning to his face. Then she asks what are we going to do? Emphasis on we. It is a very brief moment but tells us a lot about Astrid and Hiccup’s relationship--not as lovers, but as leaders. Astrid, from the moment we see her first, is shown to be an unofficial leader of their peers, but even so, she’s followed Hiccup into the woods and is now going to follow him down this unknown path where a dragons life is placed above sharing information the village has longed for over generations.

For Astrid, this not a moment of friendship or love, it is a moment of choice. Do I follow tradition or follow the new path presented? Tradition says we kill all dragons--tradition says the current chief decides. But Hiccup presents a new path. He’s not like his father, he’s making a different choice and thinking about how to build a new path, one which lets the dragons--their enemies--live...

She chooses Hiccup to follow Hiccup. Why? Because he’s not black and white. He says he wants to find a path that lets both the enemy and the people he leads live. 

This choice is reaffirmed when they are standing alone at the cliff tops looking down at those that are going back to find the nest. She alone is at his side, and she asks what he’ll do now that he’s lost everything and everyone he’s ever known. Will he cower? Or will he rise--he asks her why it’s important to her to know why he didn’t kill the dragon when he could have (when anyone else would have). She answers, “Because I want to remember what you say right now.” 

Hiccup answers that he looked at the dragon and saw himself--listing fear as what he saw but recalling that scene, fear was not the only thing we saw. Toothless’ expression was one of someone trapped, resigned to his fate, and hopeless. Hiccup, in freeing Toothless, inspired something else in Toothless and himself. Astrid sees this in Hiccup. Sees him change before he eyes and race off to save Toothless. And what does she do? She follows him. 

Astrid chose Hiccup as her leader and, by extension, those that follow her will have to follow him too. It’s this choice that allows her to becomes his second in command. Not because she’s pretty or aggressive or his girlfriend/crush. It’s because she’s smart, loyal, and trusts him. 

Summarizing what I’ve formulated in this part of the analysis when given freedom, Hiccup is shown to excel. As he excels, he grows into someone fit to lead and gains the first of his loyal (human) companions--Astrid. In gaining Astrid’s faith as a leader, the others begin to follow him too. 

Part 1 | Part 3 (not up yet)

[world-of-httyd]

Hiccup's character

So I have read many analysis that Hiccup isn't a character who is seen as shy, timid or stutters every time he speaks. Instead he is witty, isn't afraid to speak his mind or embrace change.

I agree with them, but I also feel like Hiccup is socially awkward and introverted. For instance, when he was a teenager, he is used to like being by himself, inventing things and going flying with Toothless (even when he is an adult he does this too). When people crowd around him, there is some kind of discomfort he gets. Like he isn't so used to human interactions that much (of course, when you are suddenly noticed after years of neglect, you'd feel that way).

In httyd1 when he suddenly becomes better in Dragon training, the teen's and villagers gathers around him, but does he accept the sudden attention? Does he let fame go through his head?

Nope. The kid just goes off with Toothless and learns about dragons that helps him get through Dragon training.

So I guess Hiccup is not shy. He does get slightly nervous around his father. I mean, I don't blame him, though. His father is the chief anyway.

He is not timid. He proves he is capable of doing things (training dragons, working with hot metal at the forge and uses his sarcasm against villains like Alvin or whoever it is. He isn't afraid to speak out).

But he is an introvert. That is something we may relate to.