Stoick The Vast - Blog Posts

Background Information for HTYD Next Gen Story

Night Fury Redesign - Peregrine Falcons, Panthers, Cats, Bats

- Long, pointed wings (Similar in shape to a Peregrine Falcons)

- Secondary 'wings' for stability and lift (The fins beneath his wings)

- Phalange on wing for manueverability

- Long bodies, with relatively short legs; Can be between 25 and 30 feet long

- Large keel for more powerful wing muscles

- Large chest to hold larger lungs that let them fly higher, and large airsacs

- Wings connected to forelimbs; Powerful shoulder and leg muscles to allow for taking off from the ground

- Three foreward facing toes, and two backwards facing toes on hind legs for grabbing fish

- Retractable teeth

- Powerful neck muscles to hold head steady when diving, and to hold the head still when flying in place

- Tails fins for stability, balance, lift generation, steering and air braking

- Extended spine plates that split to relax the spine and allow for tighter turns

- Nocturnal

Scale color is dependent on the color of the sky when they are in their eggs, such as if the sky is cloudy for a majority of incubation the hatchling will be grey rather than black or blue.

Eats fish, whales, sharks, deer, yaks, and sheep

Light Fury Redesign - Albatross, Thresher Shark, Fishing Cats, Axolotls

- Long, narrow wings for active soaring (Shaped like an Albatross' wings, but a little bit longer to hold them up)

- Short, rounded 'secondary' wings for stability in long flights; Capable of folding flat against the body

- Longer ears for better echolocation

- Small wing muscles because they 'lock' their wings in place to fly

- Large chest for large lungs and airsacs so they can fly high

- Sealable nostrils for when they swim

- Stocky, muscular build with short, muscular legs; Can be between 20 to 24 feet long

- Partial webbing between toes for better swimming

- A long, sickle shaped tail fin with the upper part being longer; Whips prey to stun them, both in and out of water (Like a Threshers tail)

- Shark-like fins on the tail, in front of the fin to help them swim quicker

- Slightly hooks claws, and inwardly curved teeth for catching fish; Retractable teeth and slightlt retractable claws

- Wavy, short sail fin down the spine, starting behind the wings and ending just path the secondary 'wings' and on the forehead

- Opaque scales; Thinner, but when heated mirror surroundings for short periods

Scale color is dependant on the warmth of the egg during incubation, such as being warmer leads to having darker colored scales while being cooler leads to lighter colored scales

Mainly pescetarian, sometimes feed on sharks or whales

Light Furies and Night Furies are close enough relatives that they will gather in small Prides when they feel threatened or their is not enough territory. Surprisingly Stormcutters can often be seen in these 'Prides' as they are gentle giants, and fiercly defensive.

Grimmel is actively hunting down Night Furies, so they stay hidden, not joining any nests and continuing on the move.

Chief Hiccup and Astrid had three children together, before disappearing on a rescue mission with the other Dragon Riders.

Hakkon, Frigga, and Skathi Haddock were then raised by Valka, Stoick and Gobber. (Stoick having survived Toothless' plasma blast by sheer luck but lost all feeling and motion in his left arm.)

Calumn, Dagur and Mala's son was raised by Mala with the help of the Beserkers and the Defenders of the Wing.

Asgeir and Sindri, Snotlouts son and daughter respectively, were raised seperately. Sindri was raised by her mother, Mindin with the Wingmaidens while Asgeir was raised by his grandfather, Spitelout.

Bragi, Fishlegs and Heathers son, was raised by Mala as well, having been taken in when she realized that Stoick and Valka were raising the three Haddock children.

Alva and Anja, identical twin daughters of Ruffnut, were raised by their father, Eret Eretson on Berk.

Bard, Tuffnuts son was raised by his Uncle, since his mother was unknown.

Hakkon - Female Thunderdrum (Kólga)

Frigga - Male Deadly Nadder (Spear)

Skathi - Several

Calumn - Triple Stryke (Viper)

Asgeir - Monstrous Nightmare (Wildfire)

Sindri - Razorwhip (Belladonna)

Bragi - Thunderclaw (Stormlight)

Alva - Boneknapper (Graveyard)

Anja - Armorwing (Armory)

Bard - Hobblegrunt (Borealis)

TBC . . .

I wrote an essay about this

Valka takes a lot of flack for abandoning Hiccup and Stoick, but not nearly enough people hate on Stoick (imho).

Stoick was also an awful father?

He isolated Hiccup, set unrealistic expectations, publically humiliated his son for years, he absolutely refused to be understanding or reasonable until he was faced with defeat and failure.

Hiccup had to adapt to become more aggressive (as seen in RTTE) or have his father absolutely bulldoze over his ideas and his personhood.

Stoick became a better father when Hiccup was nearly an adult already, but he utterly failed Hiccup when he was a child and thats 100% worth mentioning and addressing.

*Texting*

Hiccup : Dad, there’s a moth on the outside of the bathroom door can you get rid of it?

Hiccup: Pls hurry because I’m going to cry

Hiccup: Dad

Hiccup: Dad

Stoick: Your dad is dead. You’re next. Love, Moth

I have no goddamn clue what's going on, but I don't want to. I like it how it already is

And here, here we see my favourite screen grab of anything ever

Inspired by this post

Life stopped, life restarted in another world..?

; ; for Gothi trying to communicate!

Valka’s POV

‘I need to go see Gothi, I wonder why I haven’t been feeling well lately..?’ I thought while heading to Gothi’s.

“Gothi, I have come to ask you to check me over” I said.

;Yes, what can I help you with dearie; she wrote.

“I haven’t been feeling well lately for some reason, and I was worried” I said as she started checking on me.

;Dearie, I’ll do some tests to see what I can find; she replied.

“Thank you Gothi” I said with a smile.

Readers POV

‘Is it that close to snoggletog already..? I swear the dragons haven’t been here for over 3 weeks…! But the Berkiens aren’t getting ready for it..? And it’s summer, I’m so confused’ I thought while trying to bake cookies.

“Y/n! I need to tell you something!” Valka says charging into the kitchen suddenly.

“Woah! Take a chill pill Valka, what did you want to tell me..?” I replied.

“You still need to explain what that means, but anyways, Y/n I’m so happy!” She says smiling ear to ear.

“Oh! What’s making you so happy!?” I asked curiously.

“I’m with child! I just got back from Gothi’s” she replied while hugging me tightly.

“Oh my gods!!! I’m so happy! We need to tell Stoick!!!” I said hugging her back.

“We can tell Stoick at dinner tonight!” She replied happily.

“Ah! Okay! I’ll make a nice dinner tonight then!” I said agreeing with her.

“What are you making? It looks so good” Valka said suddenly with starry eyes.

“I’m making cookies, you can have some from this first batch! The type I’m making is oatmeal raisin!” I replied happily.

“What is a raisin?” She asked confused.

“It’s a dried grape, they’re good by themself and in different foods!” I explained simply.

“Ah! Yes, can I have some please?” She asked curiously.

“Here, have a small handful to try!” I replied handing her some.

“These are good! Can I please have some of the cookies when they’re ready?” She asked after trying the raisins.

“Of course! The first batch will be ready in a minute, so don’t worry it won’t be long!” I replied.

Time skip

“Stoick, I need to tell you something” Valka stated while we were eating dinner.

“What is it dear?” He asked before shooting me a confused look.

“I’m with child!” She said happily.

Instead of him saying anything in response, he picked up Valka and spun her around before hugging her and pulling me into the hug as well.

“Thank you…” he said finally with tears in his eyes.

‘I swear I will do anything for these two…’ I thought.

Life stopped, life restarted in another world..?

Chapter two

Readers POV

“Stoick? You wanted me for something..?” I asked confused.

“Follow, we’ll talk at the hut with Valka…” he said before walking off.

“Ah, oki doki” I replied while following him.

“Y/n sit down, I wanted to ask about your past” Valka says after Stoick and I got inside the hut.

“What parts of it..?” I asked starting to panic.

“Where did you come from..? You aren’t from anywhere near Berk and you don’t seem to be interested in hunting dragons…” Valka stated.

“Oh! Well I’m from outside the archipelago, I used to live in a village where the few dragons there were wouldn’t bother us…” I replied not wanting to say the truth.

“So you lived without dragons raiding your village?” Valka asked as Stoick was listening in the background.

“That is correct, I haven’t dealt with dragons attacking before living here…” I replied.

“If only that was the case for Berk…” Stoick added thoughtfully.

“It might be in the future if we’re lucky..?” I stated.

“I would like to ask you also about who taught you to cook?” Valka asked changing the subject.

“Oh, I learnt from the books my old village had of recipes from other parts of the world, sometimes I would even buy some from traders that would sell to the village” I replied.

“What made you leave..?” Stoick asked confused.

“There was a war about to break out so I set out and left…” I replied not wanting to say the truth again.

“I’m glad you got out of there Y/n, otherwise we wouldn’t have met you” Valka says with a smile.

“I’m glad I met you guys” I replied with a smile of my own.

“I’m also wondering if you ever had a husband Y/n” Valka said.

“That do I as well” Stoick says.

“Nope, why?” I responded confused.

“I and Stoick would like to have you as our third” Valka says while Stoick nods.

“EHHHH?!??!!?! What do you mean?!?!!?” I asked.

“Become our wife” Valka reiterated.

‘What in the- I’m so happy but also so confused- wait why is canon changing?!? I’m fine with it but still!’ I thought.

“Well, what do you think?” Stoick asked staring at me with… hope?

“Sure!” I squeaked out.

“Come! We must tell the village!” Valka says while dragging me.

Life stopped, life restarted in another world..?

Chapter one

Readers POV

‘I can’t believe Ive been here for two weeks! Life here is so nice besides the Queen making the dragons raid the village, I know that the dragons have to but it’s still not good for anything involved… I’m just lucky I haven’t been in a fight with a dragon myself…’ I thought while kneading bread dough.

“Y/n! I’ve told you that you already do so much! Go take a break!” Valka says to me with a stern face.

“But Valka! I feel like you and Stoick have done so much for me! The least I can do is help with the cooking and cleaning!” I replied feeling bad.

“Fine..! But at least take a break once in a while.” Valka said with a sigh.

“Plus, this is barely anything, so don’t worry Valka! Plus don’t you like my cooking?” I stated.

“I do, and it’s helping a lot” Valka replies.

“You’re a great cook lassie, she just feels like you’re doing more than a guest should, and not to mention her cooking skills don’t really-“ Gobber says while walking in with Stoick before he gets cut off by Stoick giving him a stern look him.

“What he means to say is we appreciate you cooking and cleaning” Stoick says to me, still slightly annoyed at Gobber.

“T-thank you!” I said, my voice stuttering.

“Okay time to change the topic, anyways are you here for dinner Gobber? It’ll be done in an hour if you are” I asked trying to lighten the mood.

“Yes I am lassie, I’m looking forward to try the food these two keep raving about, I heard you know recipes that contain something called a toma- something?” Gobber asked interested.

“I’ll gladly tell you different things that are good to make with Tomatoes!” I replied happily before explaining things I could make…

*time skip*

Third POV

“Stoick, when are you going to have people start building Y/n’s hut, the lass has been living with you and Valka for months” Gobber states confused at his friend.

“Me and Valka… like having her around, she brings more light to our lives” Stoick replied.

“Ohhh, the lass has herself a place in both you and Valka’s hearts, would it even work for the three of you, together I mean” Gobber asks slightly concerned.

“Well we haven’t told her yet, but we plan to ask her soon” Stoick replies happily.

“I wish ye three luck then” Gobber says with a small smile.

*time skip, again, only like a day though*

Readers POV

‘Why did I have to be grabbed by a dragon in the woods- god I wish I could understand dragons-‘ I thought before hearing… a voice..?

*“Geez this female is so calm, isn’t she that Viking that kiln said was crazy and trying to kill him with part of a tree..? Shoot did I grab the wrong female!”* the dragon said making me startled.

“Holy shit- did you just talk..? That’s so cool! Oh my gods!!” I say out loud which shocks the dragon carrying me.

*“you can understand me..???!”* the dragon says astonished.

“Oh my gods! You actually did talk! And I can understand you!!” I said giddily.

*“Were you the one that joined in to attack Kiln when the male Vikings were fighting him..?”* the dragon asked.

“Ah, yes, yes I was, I would like to apologise to- Kiln was it?- about that, I heard screaming and I thought he was a bird when I attempted to attack…” I replied slightly embarrassed.

*“im sure he’ll forgive you, he’s a nice dragon when not following the Queen’s orders, so don’t worry!”* the dragon replied with a slight purr.

“Thank you, and what’s your name..?” I asked since I don’t want to continue calling him ‘the dragon’ in my head.

*“my name is Terra, I’m a spike tail”* Terra replies happily.

*“you aren’t a normal human besides being able to understand me, huh?”* Terra asks confused.

“I’m not, truthfully I’m not a real Viking and haven’t ever been… but that’s not the point, how did you know..?” I asked.

*“You remind me of a tribe of people I was told about, fierce warriors who disliked hurting dragons”* he replied.

“Ah, there’s a few of those outside the archipelago, I’ve never met them sadly, I wish to one day if I can though” I explained happily.

*“What do you know of dragons miss?”* he asks after we land safely on a sea stack.

“That there’s a lot of species of you guys as well as a Queen as well as kings of dragons you might follow, I know you follow the Queen, I don’t blame you guys for attacking all the villages but I wish it could stop!” I replied confused at his question.

*“Most dragons don’t know a lot about the world, that Queen who some follow is a tyrant, if I had a choice I would abandon her… she even expects us to execute the dragons that are… ones that aren’t worth keeping around, or ones that are deemed dangerous because they can become like you…”* he states looking sad.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that, it’s not fun I’m guessing…” I replied sadly.

*“it isn’t… most of them are dead, they might even be fully gone…”* he says.

“Is it okay if I ask how they could become like me..?” I asked softly.

*“Well to do so they have to have died and survived… I don’t know how else to describe it…”* he replied.

“Wait, what..? Does that mean I can?-” I tried to ask.

*“Wait what, you did that already..? Well the way to transform from what I was told once is to concentrate on becoming something other than your normal form… but that might be wrong, it’s been years after all, but it should be worth a shot..?”* he replies.

“Should I try now..? Worst that happens is I can’t change” I say.

*“You should try, but I don’t know if it will work…”* he replied with a slight nod.

“Okay let me try..!” I replied before starting to focus…

*“!!! Female- what did you become-!”* he says startled.

*“It worked! Wait why does it feel like I’m covered in a full body blanket..?”* I said before looking Terra picks me up suddenly.

*“don’t worry I’m just taking you to a pond to look at you new form…”* he says to my panic.

*“oh! Thank you Terra!”* I replied relaxing slightly.

*“here we are! Just look”* he says after we land.

*“EHHHH?!?! I’m not a dragon! This is a dinosaur..?!?!? How in the world?!?!?”* I say confused as hell.

*”I don’t know, maybe it’s because you weren’t a dragon first..? But that form looks pretty and fluffy!”* he says happily.

*“Aww! Thank you Terra! Also it’s getting late, could you drop me back near where you found me..?”* I asked kindly before switching back to normal.

*“Sure, also if you ever want to do this again meet me where I originally snatched you..?”* Terra asks hopeful.

“Sure Terra! I’ll happily hang out with you again! How about in seven days?” I replied after we took off.

*“that works with me!”* Terra says happily.

‘I’m glad I made another friend..! And I’m so happy I found out about being able to change into an Utah-raptor!! Best day so far!!’ I thought happily before he quickly dropped me off in the forest…

“Y/n!!!!!!! Where are you!!” I heard coming from the village.

‘Shit’ I thought before running as quickly as I could to the village.

“There you are Lassie, the Chief’s been looking for ya! Go before he comes to get ye” Gobber states.

“Ah! Okay! Thanks Gobber!” I quickly said before running off.

Life stopped, life restarted in another world..?

Prologue

Third POV

Dying was less painful than she had expected…

Readers POV

‘I know I’m dead… but why am I in a forest..? I hope my mother survived, and I hope she’s okay..’ I thought while looking around.

‘Why do I have a tunic like dress on..? I swear I was wearing something else before I died… is this what happens when you get to heaven..?’ I concluded after looking at my clothes.

‘Why do I suddenly hear yelling..?’ I thought before getting up to follow the yells.

It took what felt like five minutes to get closer… ‘wait, they’re yelling about a beast..?’ I thought before grabbing a decent sized branch and booking it to the one yelling.

???’s POV

I was yelling at the dragon that was trying to take my best friends arm, while trying to kill the beast, before I heard a yell and saw something… amazing.

‘She’s charging at the beast without hesitation…! But, who is this woman…?’ I thought confused before seeing the dragon let go of my friends arm.

“Are you boys okay..? I didn’t really see the thing attacking you, was it a giant bird..? I can help bandage you up if you want.?” The woman asked kindly towards me and my friend…

“Thank you deary, that would be helpful” my friend replied with pain in his voice.

“Ah! Here let me see that, yep! Here this should work for now until we can get you more help!” She said while wrapping a torn piece of her sleeve around his arm.

“Ah! Where are my manners! My name is Gobber, and this is Stoick the Vast, the Chief of Berk!” Gobber told the woman while she helped him up.

“That I am, pleasure to meet you miss..?” I replied getting out of my stupor.

“Oh! I’m Y/n, it’s a pleasure to meet you both as well!” She said with a lilt in her voice.

‘She must be new around here..? I’ve never seen her before in the village, maybe she was shipwrecked..?’ I thought while staring at her for a moment.

Readers POV

‘Holy fuck, what the fuck???!?! Am I in how to train your dragon??!? I thought I was actually dead..!! But I was taken here instead!! Okay I can’t panic…’ I thought while introducing myself to Stoick and Gobber.

“Come on lassie, you’re coming back to the village with us” Gobber says while he starts walking off.

“Well, let’s go, best not to keep Gobber waiting” Stoick says before leading me in the same direction as Gobber’s going.

“Alright, sure..?” I replied following after them both.

*skip to when the 3 arrived*

“Welcome to Berk Lassie” Gobber says as we all enter the village.

“As the chief I welcome you to the village, now, follow” Stoick says before leading me somewhere.

‘Wait, is he leading me to his hut..? I’m so confused. Wait, shit, am I in trouble..??!?!! I don’t want to be!!!’ I thought starting to panic.

“Come, I want you to meet my wife Valka” Stoick says keeping the door open for me to enter the hut.

“Valka! Can you come here please?” He nearly shouts out.

“Coming! I’ll be down in a moment!” Valka replied from upstairs.

“Yes Stoick..?” Valka says before spotting me.

“This is Y/n, she saved Gobber from a dragon that was attacking him… she’s also new to Berk.” Stoick says while gesturing towards me.

“Hello Mrs Valka, it’s a pleasure to meet you!” I say with a slight bow.

“You saved Gobber from a dragon..? How?” Valka asks confused.

“I heard yelling and grabbed a branch and charged the dragon, Gobber got away with a wound that will at worst scar.” I replied softly.

“Thank you Y/n, Gobber is a dear friend to me and Stoick, so thank you.” Valka replied with a smile.

“Chief, may I have permission to live on Berk please..? Before I helped you and Gobber I was shipwrecked for days… I would like to stay if that’s okay..?” I asked nearly jumbling everything up.

“Welcome to Berk, we’ll have a hut built for you soon if possible” Stoick replies without a fight.

“You can stay here with us until it’s built if you want Y/n? We can get to know each other better while you are!” Valka questions with some happiness on her face.

I smiled at this, “if that’s also okay with Stoick..? I’m more than okay with it either way!” I replied with hope.

“That works…” Stoick says.

“Come! I must show you around the village!” Valka says before dragging me out the door…

“Okay!” I replied happily.

‘I hope this life is good’ I thought happily.

So like I wrote another httyd story, it’s a new one in which the reader isekai’s into it to a time before Hiccup is born

I already made like two dragon oc’s because of this lol, I love this series already… I just started it today and there’s already a prologue and the first chapter!!

Should I bring it here??

family walk

ref:

Part 2 of the fishing trip! Things (unsurprisingly) did in fact go wrong

Without text :)

The fishing trip is going great 👍

This definitely won’t lead to shenanigans. Definitely not.

Without the text

Flight practice is going great, what are you talking about?

This. This moment is so incredibly important to me you don’t understand

HTTYD 3 Criticism

I watched all 3 httyd movies last weekend and since it’s still on my mind I figured I’d post a few little reasons on why I and some others didn’t enjoy the 3rd movie as much as the other 2. I read a few reviews on the School of Dragons website and watched FatalGlory128′s YouTube criticism. While I do agree with some points, I didn’t agree with others, so if anyone references these, they’ll notice there’s a few differences. Plus, I wanted to explain what I could in further depth. In a brief summary, forcing plot progression, forcing a cohesive ending, and forcing bland humor sacrificed a lot of what made httyd special, and here are ways that it butchered the 3rd movie. Word count: 3595

5 ways How to Train Your Dragon 3: Hidden World failed its predecessors

1) first impressions matter

Right off the bat the first scene sets up disappointment by firmly establishing the next 2 points; plot and character inconsistency. Both of the first 2 movies would set the scene with a reminiscent and captivating exposition, explaining what Berk is and what makes it special. Not only did the 3rd movie’s introduction lack this tradition, but it showed the worst of the dragon riders, messy incompetence, solely for the sake of comedic value that, according to other reviews, didn’t fully reach its audience. Essentially, its weak execution sets up lowered expectations for an even weaker remainder of the entire movie.

2) plot inconsistency, plot dullness, thematic inconsistency, storytelling flaws

To summarize, the general plot of the movie entailed:

A- hiccup had to grow as a leader, he couldn't be both dragon liberator and chief of the village without neglecting one

A2- Berk is overrun by dragons due to the constant dragon liberation and they need a new home if they want to keep dragons

A3- they go west bc there are enemies south n east + night furies can’t survive in the cold

B- Toothless and Hiccup were growing up, therefore explaining changes and leading to their departures for their respective worlds

B2- Toothless wants to leave for the sake of the sighting of a light fury, supposedly the last other of his kind, that he met within 3 days

B3- Toothless becomes king of all wild dragons in the Hidden world

B4- all dragons leave Berk

C- a new baddie poses threat to Hiccup, Toothless, and the other dragons, and he's set up to seem like he's a smarter manipulative villain

A is a character inconsistency issue that will be expanded in 3) and C will be explained in 4).

A2 retracts what was established in HTTYD 2 - that there were countless uninhabited islands, mapped out by Hiccup himself, and studied in more depth by Valka. Logically, there are other nearby islands that they could have settled on for the sake of their dragons. Even with potential Berkian stubbornness (a notable HTTYD 1 characteristic not exemplified in this movie) they would have moved for the sake of their dragons, the ones they hold dear. After all, protecting their families and those they love was an honorable attribute of the Berkians. If not that, there is also the larger expanse of the forest region on Berk that was not shown to be inhabited.

A3 is a lore inconsistency. Toothless has lived with Hiccup for 6 years (being 15 in the first movie, 20 by the second, and another year said to have passed by the time of the 3rd movie). In the first movie’s introductory description of Berk, their island was described as "12 days North of hopeless and a few days south of freezing to death.” 1 of the strongest character and thematic points of the movie series is the strength of a bond, overcoming the worst odds, exemplified by the inseparable duo of Toothless and Hiccup. In the first movie, they were set up as an impossible duo, a dragon and a boy from a community where killing dragons was not only a highly honored tradition, but a day to day occurrence. A boy born to the war between Dragons and Vikings that dated back centuries before him. A boy whose peers and family recognized this, pushed this. A boy who himself recognized this, seeking the opportunity to kill a dragon. A boy who, even when every step of their rivalry was set up for him, opposed his idea of the natural order, and did something far more courageous than any other viking before him- befriend a dragon. This was the essence of the movie series. In the second movie, the Alpha, who could control all other dragons at his whim without struggle, failed to keep Toothless in his rule, solely because of the unstoppable bond between Toothless and Hiccup. In the Christmas special, How To Train Your Dragon: Gift of the Night Fury, Toothless was gifted a self-sufficient tail by Hiccup, allowing him his freedom, which allowed him to fly solo on his own accord long enough to find Hiccup’s viking helmet. After his act of service, he went as far as to break the tail in front of Hiccup to prove that he preferred their bond over anything else. This was a major driving moment in their relationship, emphasizing and strengthening their bond. Ironically, this major scene was referenced in the 3rd movie, but was passively dismissed, the very point of this scene to be disregarded.

All of this was dismantled within seconds by a dragon Toothless met in a day. B and B2 are issues, not only because it was unrealistic and inconsistent to their established characters, but because this repealed one of the strongest themes of the movie series. The relationship between Toothless and the Lightfury should not have carried that level of importance so early; it was rushed and forced, therefore lacking the same depth as the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless. A bond made in days would not so easily override the bond that Hiccup and Toothless had shared and built for 6 years. It would have formed some conflict, after all this was Toothless’s first encounter with romance, but not enough for Toothless to forget and completely abandon Hiccup. For Toothless’s relationship with the Lightfury to be stronger there should have been established bonding moments, resolved conflicts, and time. Not to mention, there were sightings of other Lightfuries in the Hidden World, therefore nullifying the potential theory that they had a special connection due to being the last of the Light and Nightfuries.

B3 is an issue because Toothless knows little to nothing about the customs of wild dragons, much less the customs of the dragons who live in the Hidden World. This was firmly established in the courting attempt scene of the movie and encounters with wild dragons in the show. His coronation scene, as amazing as it could have been, had no emotional meaning. Toothless is a leader, as established by the end of the second movie, but that's with a community of dragons that he was already a part of (he knew the customs and dealt with those dragons everyday interpersonally). In addition to knowing nothing about the customs of Hidden World dragons, the trust of the Hidden World dragons had to be earned for him to be crowned. This implies that either their trusts were earned off screen or not earned at all, simply guaranteed to Toothless. Which, in turn, could have been done because he was the last Nightfury or simply because it was forced to happen for the sake of plot progression. Moreover, the fact that none of these things were shown to the audience and just expected to be inferred by the audience is, by itself, a storytelling flaw.

B4 has 2 major faults. To begin with, Hiccup pushed the dragons away and said they may return eventually, because he thought dragons would be safer away from humanity. However, Hiccup is the highest example of human-dragon relations, his bond with Toothless revolutionized the war between dragons and Berk, the land of the most stubborn vikings, as they know it. He changed the mind of his father, one of the major chiefs of the archipelago they live on, and made a mini human-dragon utopia. By pushing the dragons away to the Hidden World, he's giving up the best chance that dragons have of living with humans in peace on the mere whim that maybe things will get better naturally with time. Hiccup failed to see that he had to be the change he wanted to see in the world, and in order for it to spread farther he could not stop. Change does not occur by hiding, avoiding, and self-preservation, but takes commitment, effort, and at times, sacrifice. Unions form for workers rights. Strikes, marches, and protests were done for suffrage and desegregation. Not only is the ending a terrible life lesson, teaching the audience to give up on what they love, but goes against the endearing character of Hiccup established in the first 2 movies- the same stubborn character who refused to kill a dragon when everyone else would, willing to do the most ludicrous things like teach his friends to ride dragons in a few hours and fly on babies just to protect that which he loved. He and the Berkians fought for their human-dragon life and bonds in the previous 2 movies only for the leader of it to give up. This is a failure, not only as a friend and as an inspirational figure, but as chief.

Secondly, another motivation for the dragons leaving was simply because Toothless said so. The other dragons and other Berkians didn’t even want to leave each other- they were shown with teary faces of sorrow. There would have, at least, been a few protests instead of a rushed but solemn acceptance, changing their 6 year way of life because of 1 person’s, Hiccup’s, pessimism. Just because Toothless and Hiccup wanted to depart, didn’t mean that all the others had to leave as well. They themselves were denied their own feelings and opinions, and were treated less as characters but as objects or tools to be controlled or held hostage.

3) character complexities were turned to watered down caricatures

Hiccup was a strategizer, planner, and creative thinker. He was self taught in flying techniques with Toothless, built his saddle and tailfin, and taught the other dragon riders not only to ride but to battle with their dragons all as a teenager. By 20 he had already been the leader of his dragon riding teams for around 5 years, as proven in the shows. Being 21 years old and the acting chief for 1 year in the time of the 3rd movie, one would think Hiccup would be able to have solved his balancing issue to some degree. Instead, he was portrayed as an irresponsible and careless leader. The complaints of overcrowding in Berk was brushed off with a simple remark, “Oh, we’ll make some room.” The Hiccup from the previous 2 movies would not have reacted with that level of thoughtlessness, nor would he have allowed Berk’s overcrowding to have accumulated to that extent. In this movie, he set the entire village on a journey for the Hidden World, unsure if it even existed. After giving Toothless the new solo flight tail, Hiccup’s screen time is spent worrying and overthinking Toothless rather than taking care of New Berk.

Toothless was an emotionally sophisticated creature. His trust had to be earned by Hiccup for a reason, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do when Hiccup was in Hookfang’s danger, and to recall, he used his solo flight tail only to find Hiccup’s helmet. In the 2nd scene of the next movie, he had playful yet intelligent communication and banter with Hiccup; Hiccup, asking Toothless for names for the new islands, and Toothless expressing when he was feeling unheard through facial expressions and by taunting Hiccup lightly. Toothless and Hiccup were a team, but this partnership was lost by the 3rd movie. He felt less like a friend and more like a pet, no longer included in decisions and his character reduced to an oversized horny dog.

In Valka’s first scene, during the raid in which she was supposed to help out the team, she simply watched and waited for the others to get organized. Rather than help them get back on track and do something to help out, she just watched. Throughout the movie, she repeatedly enables Snotlaut’s obnoxious narcissism by encouraging the boy for bad behavior instead of calling him out for unnecessarily rude and flirtatious comments. This is most likely done for comedic purposes, but by this point it is weak and, according to some reviews, did not reach the audience well. Any growth of her relationship with her son, Hiccup, is also missing. There are no signs that she taught Hiccup more about dragon anatomy like promised in the 2nd movie, and she is no more a role model or parental figure than any of the other Berkians are. There are no signs of bonding, no deeply heartfelt advice, or otherwise, leaving a weak relationship with her son. She’s also pushed away from the rest of the group for a large portion of the movie for the sake of plot progression.

Gobber, despite being another fatherly figure for Hiccup, lacks interactions with Hiccup. Hiccup was his apprentice for Instead, he was also benched for most of the movie, either busy because of his work or because of his paranoia of the newfound Hobgobbler for the sake of comedic effect. However, even while Gobber had been a source of occasional comedy in both of the previous movies, this was still balanced out with him having more substance as a character, in the 3rd movie he loses that balance.

Snotlout’s narcissism was overdone to the point where it was not only his main attribute, but his worst attribute. In the first 2 movies and the shows, Snotlout’s narcissism had a karmic comedic effect as his pride would often be his source of embarrassment. In the deadly nadder training scene of the first movie, he was overconfident in aiming a good hit on the dragon. Instead, he misses, and proceeds to spend his time defending himself desperately. His pride would then shed slightly later when he showed his fear of the dragons and had to learn to overcome it by befriending Hookfang. In the shows, there are numerous examples of this, one example being when he taunted Hiccup to punch him repeatedly, only for Hiccup to relent with his non-dominant arm, leaving Snotlout screeching in agony. In the 3rd movie, his pride and narcissism is overdone until it is unnecessary. He even makes a joke about Hiccup on New Berk saying, “Who died and made you chief?” in reference to Stoick’s death. His excessive obnoxiousness only gets worse as he tries to impress Valka by tearing down Eret’s image, restating Hiccup’s ideas as his own, and overall simply tearing down the 2 men. Valka’s failure to call him out on his behavior also takes away the main source of comedy in his character in the first 2 movies, the karmic effect of his pride being his own downfall. He was never funny because he was mean, but because people enjoy seeing antagonists suffer.

Fishlegs was an endearing, sensitive boy with studious habits. He memorized the classifications of every type of dragon in the Dragon Book before it was assigned for reading for the students of the 1st movie. When nervous he would fumble and speedily give out information on their reptilian foes. Nonetheless, by the 3rd movie he was simplified to nothing but a run-on gag about being a dragon babysitter. From his first scene to his last, he is nothing but comedic value.

The Lightfury shows very little personality, having close to no interest with Toothless and mostly restricted to faces of confusion and boredom up until toothless was crowned. This implies that either their love was formed sometime offscreen which is another storytelling flaw, or she only liked Toothless once he became king. With this, the basis of her personality was simply an object to Toothless’s character progression as she had no real defining traits besides being a female of Toothless’s species. To repeat, her bond with Toothless lacked depth due to her very limited rushed screen time and she was not even the last of her kind like she was implied to be. Her one redeeming trait in giving her a personality was being a dragon that distrusted Hiccup on first encounter, which by itself is an old and natural reaction as seen time and time again in the shows.

Tuffnut and Ruffnut are both depicted as complete idiots. While they were crazy in the other movies and shows, they were still able to function well. Part of what made their comedic effect work wasn’t the fact that they would be idiots, but specifically that they would do idiotic things and it would somehow work. Not only that, but they were mischievous, snarky pranksters that would not hold back heckling the enemy in any way they could. Instead, Tuffnut is obsessed with his fake beard and tries to wingman Hiccup unnecessarily. For context, the issue of Hiccup and Astrid’s relationship was implied to be a significant plot factor but never actually became a relevant problem as both of the pair were in a happy agreement of where they wanted to be in the moment. Ruffnut, meanwhile, wasn't careful enough to check if she was followed, which is what led Grimmel to New Berk in the first place. Basically, what little intelligence the twins still had was thrown away, making their characters bland.

Typically, when authors write off specific attributes from their characters, it’s for them to learn valuable lessons that would be of use in the future, but in this case that was not the goal. Character after character were turned to caricatures of their former selves for the same 2 reasons, forced plot progression and stale comedy that, according to more reviews, didn’t hit home for as many audiences.

4) the villain was even less threatening and interesting than the others

Grimmel is introduced as someone with the reputation of being nothing the dragon riders had ever experienced before. However, his motivations are mostly the same as Drago Bludvist, the villain of the 2nd movie, aiming to help in the making of the dragon army and turning other dragons to nothing but weapons to be used. Not only that but one of his notable tactics was similar to that of Drago’s, controlling the dragons’s minds. Although, this time, in place of the Alpha, it was through drug use. With such significant similarities, Hiccup’s statement that Grimmel is unlike anyone they had faced before is, frankly, a lie. Additionally, his character was explained to be that of a cold strategist, remarkable tactician, and hunter- less flashy but more intimidating by character, someone who will always find their mark. Nonetheless, his assumed intelligence was displayed poorly. He was only threatening by comparison to his colleagues who were shown to have IQs lower than room temperature, most likely for comedic effect but sacrificing his own portrayal. Moreover, his other 2 tactics shown didn’t require that of a brilliant mind, but could be issued by a simple one. First, his goal was to lure out Toothless with the Lightfury, a typical bait and snatch. Then, he figured out where new Berk was by letting Ruffnut go and following suit, trailing. One of his few redemption features could have been the fact that he was meant to act as a foil for Hiccup. His backstory entailed a history of hunting and murdering every last Nightfury and he was a representation of what Hiccup could have been had he simply taken the opportunity to kill Toothless in the first movie. Unfortunately, with so little focus on this aspect, the execution was left too weak to appear as a defining trait of the character. The failure to display the character of an intelligent tactician and stark similarity to Drago Bludvist makes Grimmel appear less like a terrifying foil for Hiccup but rather a paler version of Drago.

5) action, and lack thereof

While the action of the movies isn't the main focus, it still plays a huge part in the storytelling and the captivation of the audience. The first movie had the small but highly significant test drive scene, where Toothless and Hiccup learned to completely trust each other in the skies, and the dramatically tense scene where Hiccup and Toothless faced off Hookfang, thusly separating Toothless from Hiccup and leaving Hiccup’s father, Stoick, in disappointment. Then the high stakes of the fight against Red Death kept the audience thrilled, having slowly built anticipation throughout the movie. In the 2nd movie, there were 2 major Alpha battle scenes emotionally meaningful in their own ways- The 1st scene killing the good alpha and Stoick the Vast, and the 2nd scene snapping Toothless from the bad alpha’s control, proving his bond with Hiccup. The few smaller action scenes in the 3rd movie, however, lack the same emotional significance each time and feel rushed, making them forgettable. What little action that was saved for the end was not only motivated weakly with a pep talk that was immediately ignored, but was consistently and excessively interrupted with weak humor. Even despite the giant armada of ships, the fight still lacked the grandiose of the last 2 movies, disappointing the natural expectations as it was meant to uphold its legacy.

Conclusion

Overall, the strongest points of the last 2 movies weren’t just the action, but world building, emotionally complex characters, thrilling antagonists, amazing storytelling with great pacing, and their inspirational themes. All of these attributes were lost in the 3rd movie for the sake of bland comedic value, forcing plot progression, and rushing a conclusion to the movie series. Of course, this isn’t to say there is nothing good about it. Seeing HiccStrid’s wedding and children were more than sweet. However, these plotholes and lack of cohesive explanation embedded in the storytelling fumble the execution of the movie even more, leaving an unsatisfying, uninspirational, pale ghost of ruined potential. After Notes-

another extremely great point, I didn’t even think about the water dragons or leftover eggs, curious about more additional points

I love these so much!

some rumors i like to believe the twins spread around berk, starting from most normal and getting progressively more and more weird:

snotlout wears heels to make himself taller

fishlegs didn’t write his dragon cards. they just appeared one day

hiccup is a lycanwing

stoicks hair is red from the blood of his enemies

ruffnut doesn’t cut her hair, she just eats it when it gets too long (spread by tuff)

tuffnut has sexual relations with sheep (spread by ruff)

bucket’s bucket that he wears on his head was the very bucket he was born in

mala pegs dagur (no one knows if this is true or not, including the twins)

stoick is actually two very skinny haddocks in a trenchcoat

gobber’s dragon is actually just a really big toad

hiccup meows like a cat when he gets excited

snotlout’s middle name is *cue every single name that starts with a g except for gary*

astrid made up heather to make it seem like she has more friends and everyone else just went along with it (this was the first and only rumor the twins ever spread about astrid)

ruffnut single handedly took down a whole camp of hunters (spread by ruff)

snotlout has to sleep in someone else’s room when there’s a storm (this one’s actually true)

tuffnut beat the scourge of odin three times with no antidote (spread by tuff)

gobber didn’t actually lose his hand and foot, they’re just really small and inside of the hook/peg leg

ruffnut is actually tuffnut, and tuffnut is actually ruffnut, they were switched at birth (the twins didn’t spread this one, they have no clue who did) (it was fishlegs)

fanghook is actually a girl and gustav just uses masculine terminology for her to be more like snotlout

hiccup got eaten by a dragon as a child and that’s why he’s like this

tuffnuts shoved the entire dragon eye up his ass

dagur IS oswald the agreeable, he just needed a way to cover up the fact that he doesn’t age

feel free to add more if you think of any!!

I would rather choose To love and lose - Than to never have loved you.

me

I wrote this a long time ago, but I went to see How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World today, and this suddenly seemed very appropriate.

Love - real love, the kind that lights your chest up and rushes in your throat and is selfless - is always worth it. We lose everything in the end. Some things we lose sooner than others, and some losses are more painful than others. But the choice to love is always worth it, even when it hurts.