History WesternAnimation / HowToTrainYourDragon

* EverythingsLouderWithBagpipes: The song "The Downed Dragon" has a section at the end with bagpipes. It makes it pretty scary.
** Extremely different tone for this song, but "Flying With Mother" also heavily features pipes.

* AdultFear: [[spoiler:Stoick believing his son is dead after the fight with the Green Death]]. To make it worse, this was due to Stoick's own misguided actions that led to the above event.

* AllThereInTheScript: The Green Death's name, Hiccup's full name.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Most of the dragons don't have the proper wing-to-body ratio to allow them to fly, particularly the [[spoiler:Green Death, which is breaking the SquareCubeLaw just by existing, much less ''flying'']].
* AttackItsWeakPoint: [[spoiler:Hiccup and the other riders target the Green Death's open mouth with their dragons' fire. "Not so fire-proof on the inside, are you?"]] Also, wings and tails because 'a downed dragon is a dead dragon'.

** Fishlegs during the fight against [[spoiler:Green Death]]. The kid instantly deduces all of its physical/behavioral characteristics from a single quick look!

* BashBrothers: Stoick and Gobber, buying some time while fighting the Green Death.

* BigBad: [[spoiler:The Green Death is forcing the other dragons to hunt for it so it doesn't eat them, causing them to attack the Vikings and thus the plot.]]

** Hiccup and his friends [[spoiler:save Stoick and the other Vikings from the Green Death.]]

* BringIt: Hiccup taunts [[spoiler:the Green Death]] into chasing him and Toothless during the climax this way.

* BringMyBrownPants: Gobber briefly mentions the "extra pairs of underwear" during the quiet before [[spoiler:the Green Death]] battle.

* CallingTheOldManOut: When Hiccup tries to stop his father [[spoiler:from attempting to destroy the dragon's nest, which would result in the Green Death dragon wiping them out.]]

* TheCavalry: [[spoiler:Hiccup and his newly minted dragon rider corps show up to help the Vikings (and indirectly, the other dragons) defeat the Green Death.]]

** Hiccup's near death experience on Toothless: [[spoiler:He finds out that pulling up sharply in a fall just whipstalls Toothless, almost causing them both to crash into the rocks. Guess what he forces the Green Death to do at the end, with its damaged wings?]]

** Fishlegs' ability to recite stats on dragons is [[spoiler:the ability to analyze a dragon by anatomical observation. This becomes important when the teens encounter Green Death for the first time, and Fishlegs points out its strengths and weaknesses right away.]]

* ColossusClimb: [[spoiler:Variant: Snoutlout, after falling off his dragon onto the Green Death, climb over its head to attack its eyes.]]

* CountingBullets: When they take on the Green Death, Hiccup tells Ruffnut and Tuffnut, "Find out if that thing has a shot limit! Make it mad!"

* CrazyEnoughToWork: Hiccup's plan to teach Astrid and the others to train their own dragons to join the fight against the Green Death. Summed up in Hiccup and Astrid's ActionFilmQuietDramaScene just before his plan:

* CurbStompBattle: The Vikings vs. [[spoiler:the Green Death. It has wiped out their rides home, their heavy weapons and is well on the way to wiping out them out as well -- cue Stoick's and Gobber's plan for a HeroicSacrifice -- when the newly minted [[DragonRider Dragonriders of Berk]] arrive to take the fight to the monster.]]

** Both inverted and played straight with the Hiccup and Toothless friendship theme, heard most prominently in "Forbidden Friendship". The first time we hear it is in an ominous manner in D minor during the first encounter between the pair, and it then becomes lighter for the majority of the film, including a big chunk of "Romantic Flight." However, it is heard in a similar tone to the beginning when [[spoiler:Hiccup inadvertently betrays Toothless by revealing that he knows how to access Dragon Island. There is also a slower, sadder version that plays at certain moments, including when Toothless is captured in the Kill Ring, and when he is about to drown in the battle with the Green Death.]]

* DavidVersusGoliath: Hiccup and Toothless against [[spoiler:the Green Death]].

* DidntThinkThisThrough: During the final fight, the teens make a lot of noise to throw off the Green Death's senses. As for the dragons they're riding...
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Hiccup appears to have been killed by the Green Death's inferno, though it turns out he's fine and Toothless was just waiting for Stoick's apology before showing such. Though he doesn't come out completely unscathed.]]

* DragonsAreDinosaurs: The [[spoiler:Green Death]] looks like an unholy cross between a turtle, an ankylosaurus and a ''T. rex''. It's as big as Godzilla ''and it can fly.'' That particular winged beastie really gives the feel of a [[spoiler:leftover ancient primordial dragon or maybe even a leftover dragon deity.]]

* EverythingMakesAMushroom: The impact of [[spoiler:the Green Death]] into the ground results in a large mushroom cloud, which [[spoiler:Hiccup and Toothless]] have to [[OutrunTheFireball outrun]]. While dodging [[spoiler:the Green Death's spikes.]]

* EyeScream: Snotlout hits [[spoiler:the Green Death]] in the eye with [[spoiler:a [[DropTheHammer Viking warhammer]]]]. ''Repeatedly''. This is downplayed, since [[spoiler:all it does is piss it off.]]

** Toothless has another moment like this in the fight against the [[spoiler:Green Death]], trying to break free of his chains at first, but seemingly allowing himself to drown afterwards. Though this could just be him losing consciousness from lack of oxygen.

* GameChanger: The Game Changer is Hiccup discovering that dragons and humans are ''not'' mutual adversaries. The "kill on sight" directive in the Viking Handbook is fanaticism,[[spoiler: and the dragons are raiding the Viking village under orders from a BadBoss. The dragon revolution against the Green Death cements this change into NothingIsTheSameAnymore.]]

%%* GiantFlyer: [[spoiler: The Green Death.]]

* GunshipRescue: If you consider dragons as the technological equivalent of gunships, then the BigDamnHeroes rescue of the Viking expedition from [[spoiler:the Green Death]] counts.

* HeldGaze: The [[HeterosexualLifePartners platonic]] version occurs between Stoick and Gobber in this movie when they grasp hands, looking each other in eye, before going off to distract [[spoiler: Green Death]] together to buy their people some time.

** [[spoiler:Hiccup]] comes dangerously close to pulling one in the fight against the Green Death, and is only saved due to [[spoiler:Toothless catching him after he is knocked unconscious in mid-air.]]

* IHaveNoSon: [[spoiler:Stoick to Hiccup when he misinterprets his son's refusal to kill dragons and warnings against taking on the virtually invincible Green Death as siding with the dragons against the Vikings.]]

* IndyPloy: Snotlout does this when [[spoiler:he jumps from the Green Death so the twins can catch him.]]

** Stoick and Gobber all but say this when they clasps hands together and [[spoiler:agree to perform a HeroicSacrifice in order to buy time for the other adult Vikings to escape from Green Death.]]
** Later, before [[spoiler: Hiccup and Toothless face the Green Death]], Stoick tells Hiccup, "I'm proud to call you my son." Mainly to make up for his IHaveNoSon moment earlier.

* {{Leitmotif}}: Several. John Powell did the soundtrack, and seems to have taken the approach of writing several melody leitmotifs (a "flying/Hiccup and Toothless" theme, a "holy shit, dragons!" theme, a "romance/Hiccup and Astrid" theme, and a theme for the Green Death, though the soundtrack calls it Green), as well as assigning each major character a signature instrument which tends to pop up in their scenes (warpipes for the Vikings, violins for Astrid, brass instruments for the dragons, etc). Hilariously, one of Hiccup's most recurring instruments is a tinwhistle. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.

* MassHypnosis: Strongly suggested that [[spoiler:the Green Death dominates the dragons with this -- its presence always contains an odd crooning sound. Even Toothless is not entirely immune. As the Green Death in the book is all about singing, this is a subtle ShoutOut to the original.]]

** "I'm sorry." First uttered by Astrid as Toothless terrifies her during his tumultuous temper tantrum, these words demonstrate the repentance of the speaker and show the Night Fury that he can trust them. After Astrid says "I'm sorry," Toothless mellows. After Stoick apologizes when he thinks Hiccup was [[spoiler: obliterated in the colossal incineration of the Green Death, the cunning Night Fury unfurls his wings to reveal a relatively intact Hiccup.]]

* MisfitMobilizationMoment: [[spoiler:Hiccup and his classmates [[DragonRider mount their dragons]] and swoop in to save Stoick and Gobber from the Green Death.]] The moment itself is [[spoiler: Hiccup bonding Snoutlot to a Monsterous Nightmare.]]

* MoralDissonance: Despite Hiccup firmly believing in not killing dragons and instead trying to understand them, he makes no such effort when it comes to the [[spoiler:Green Death]], and not he nor anyone else even comments on it.
* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: The Hideous Zippleback, Deadly Nadder, Monstrous Nightmare, Gronckle, and [[spoiler:Green Death]] have rows upon rows of sharp teeth. Inverted with the Terrible Terrors, who appear to be toothless.

** The Green Death's introduction where it rises up and eats a dragon is scarier than its later appearance because the first time around it's dark, you aren't expecting that, and you don't know anything about it except that it ''eats dragons''. The second time, while it's still a deadly foe to the characters, the scene is well lit and the thing looks like a scaly bus. It's still something like a kilometer long and at least four stories tall, so even out in the open it's scary enough that Stoick, the in-universe MemeticBadass who punches with his bare fist a Monstrous Nightmare almost without a care, regrets pissing it off.

* NumberTwo: Astrid's role in the climatic battle, directing the rest of Hiccup's flying corps in the fight against the Green Death while Hiccup tries to free Toothless.

** And again, [[spoiler:when she sees the Green Death.]]

** Stoick's face upon seeing the absolutely ''huge'' [[spoiler: Green Death.]]

** [[spoiler:The Green Death itself gets one a few minutes later.]]

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: It's implied that there are dozens of dragon species, each with a different method of killing you that runs the gamut from sonic screeches (Thunderdrum) to spitting boiling water (Scauldron). They have limited ammunition, and how much they have varies from species to species [[spoiler:(except the Green Death, being the Ultimate Master Dragon[[TradeSnark ™]], who appears to have infinite ammo)]]. We only see seven species in the course of the movie: the Terrible Terror, Hideous Zippleback, Gronckle, Deadly Nadder, Monstrous Nightmare, and the Night Fury. [[spoiler:Then there's the (unnamed in the film) Green Death, the grandaddy of all dragons.]]

* RentAZilla: [[spoiler: The Green Death is a dragon the size of a mountain.]]

* ScareChord: One in "The Downed Dragon" [[spoiler:when Hiccup first sees the Night Fury]], and one in The Dragon Book. A few other points accentuate something with music, but not to the full-blown ScareChord effect. Notably, [[spoiler:in the end when Hiccup and Toothless disappears into smoke, leaving the Green Death spinning around confused.]]

* SherlockScan: Fishlegs' devotion to analyzing dragon stats allows him to [[spoiler:identify threats to avoid and weaknesses to exploit on Green Death with just a glance.]]

** A double-ShoutOut to both the original book and ''WesternAnimation/{{Beowulf|2007}}'' occurs when Tuffnut calls [[spoiler:The Green Death]] "Bride of Grendel". The young Vikings had to read ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'' in the original book series.

** Ruffnut insults the Green Death by calling it a [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft "butt elf"]].

* SoProudOfYou: Stoick to Hiccup, eventually. Though at first enraged that Hiccup is defending dragons over the Vikings, Hiccup and the others' assault on the assault on the Green Death proves that Hiccup is more than capable of being a leader, and that Stoick was wrong.

** [[spoiler:The Green Death is lit on fire from its mouth and falls to the ground as its wings are burnt up; it crashes into the ground head first and explodes like a vengeful 747.]]

** Some of the trailers also spoiled the appearance of [[spoiler:the Green Death]].

%%* WronskiFeint: Used against [[spoiler:the Green Death, after shooting its wings full of holes so it can't pull up.]]

* YouHaveFailedMe: A Gronkle fails to bring anything more than a single tiny fish back to Dragon Island. [[spoiler:The Green Death turns the offering into a sacrifice.]]

* FreezeFrameBonus: Right at the start of the movie just before the Creator/DreamWorks logo fades away, keep an eye on the stars in the background...

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/how_to_train_your_dragon_9118.jpg]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Tuffnut's snide remark before the Terrible Terror attacks him doesn't leave much to the imagination.
-->'''Tuffnut:''' Ha! It's like the size of my-- ''[[[CurseCutShort the Terror pounces]]]''

** "It's[[note]] a tiny dragon[[/note]] like the size of my-" [''gets cut off by the Terrible Terror attacking his face'']

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Tuffnut’s snide remark before the Terrible Terror attacks him doesn’t leave much to the imagination.
-->'''Tuffnut:''' Ha! It’s like the size of my -- ''[[CurseCutShort (the Terror pounces)]]''

** "Look at that thing! It's[[note]] a tiny dragon[[/note]] like the size of my-" [''gets cut off by the Terrible Terror attacking his face'']

* TheSouthpaw: As in the book, Hiccup is left-handed, although it is shown very subtly in the film and most viewers will only pick up on it after a close watching. His left-handedness is a plausible reason for the other character's wariness around him, as being lefthanded in the past carried a stigma of potential evil with it. To be specific, he draws, cuts Toothless free, and uses blacksmith tools with his left hand but wields his knife (against dragons) with his right hand. He uses his left hand to reach towards the Monstrous Nightmare, although he uses his right hand to touch Toothless's nose both times. The last point aside, this seems to be rather symbolic.

* LiarRevealed: Hiccup voluntarily ends the charade that he's an on-the-cusp dragon slayer, instead using his anointment battle to show his command of the creatures, much to the village's shock and his father's disappointment. Hiccup's deception, however, was out of an unselfish, kind motive, rather than a selfish one covered up for personal gain like the trope is routinely used for.

The movie was followed by sequel movie and other media, starting [[Franchise/HowToTrainYourDragon its own franchise]].

The movie was followed by sequel movie and other media starting [[Franchise/HowToTrainYourDragon it's own franchise]].

It was later followed up with a short special episode, called ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTheBoneknapperDragon''. Gobber, Hiccup and the other Viking teens head out to hunt down a supposed renegade dragon called the Boneknapper, a dragon that [[SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset wears bones as armor]]. An additional pair of shorts, ''WesternAnimation/GiftOfTheNightFury'' and ''Book of Dragons'' were later bundled together as a ChristmasSpecial. A second ChristmasSpecial titled ''[[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragonHomecoming Homecoming]]'' was released in late 2019 as an epilogue to the trilogy's DistantFinale.

Further additions to the franchise include a TV series, ''WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk'' (also called just ''[=DreamWorks=] Dragons''), and two theatrical sequel films directed solely by [=DeBlois=], ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'' (2014) and ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragonTheHiddenWorld'' (2019).

Titan Comics published a series of comics set during the TV series. Creator/DarkHorseComics published {{graphic novel}}s set after the second movie.

A live touring show, ''How to Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular'' is currently on tour and an online computer simulation in development for an as-of-yet unknown time.

%%* CloseOnTitle

Based [[InNameOnly very loosely]] on [[Literature/HowToTrainYourDragon the book series of the same name]], ''How to Train Your Dragon'' is a 3D Creator/DreamWorksAnimation picture released in 2010, directed by Creator/ChrisSanders and Creator/DeanDeBlois. The protagonist, Hiccup, is a young Viking boy who lives on the island of Berk, where men are tough, women are tougher, and [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] are evil, destructive, livestock-pillaging pests that must be destroyed on sight. Hiccup wants to prove his worth -- particularly to his father Stoick, the Viking chief -- but he's gawky and brainy in a society that values brawn.

* NotSoDifferent: Hiccup and Stoick, shown subtly throughout the entire movie, and highlighted in their {{Meaningful Echo}}es (each quoting the other without having heard the line from them). Gobber is aware of this from listening to them complain about one another, and eventually [[LampshadeHanging points it out to Stoick]] near the end of the film. On the more amusing side, take note of how tongue-tied and awkward Stoick becomes during his "first talk" due to "finally having something in common", and his very clumsy exit afterward from the smithy, complete with nearly knocking his helmet off on the doorway; definitely channeling Hiccup there.

* NotSoDifferent: Hiccup and Stoick, shown subtly throughout the entire movie, and highlighted in their {{Meaningful Echo}}es (each quoting the other without having heard the line from them). Gobber is aware of this from listening to them complain about one another, and eventually [[LampshadeHanging points it out to Stoick]] near the end of the film.

Based [[InNameOnly very loosely]] on [[Literature/HowToTrainYourDragon the book series of the same name]], ''How to Train Your Dragon'' is a 3D Creator/DreamWorksAnimation picture released in 2010, directed by Creator/ChrisSanders and Creator/DeanDeBlois. The protagonist, Hiccup, is a young Viking boy who lives on the island of Berk, where men are tough, women are tougher, and dragons are evil, destructive, livestock-pillaging pests that must be destroyed on sight. Hiccup wants to prove his worth -- particularly to his father Stoick, the Viking chief -- but he's gawky and brainy in a society that values brawn.

Based [[InNameOnly very loosely]] on [[Literature/HowToTrainYourDragon the book series of the same name]], ''How to Train Your Dragon'' is a 3D Creator/DreamWorksAnimation picture released in 2010, directed by Creator/ChrisSanders [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch and]] Creator/DeanDeBlois. The protagonist, Hiccup, is a young Viking boy who lives on the island of Berk, where men are tough, women are tougher, and dragons are evil, destructive, livestock-pillaging pests that must be destroyed on sight. Hiccup wants to prove his worth -- particularly to his father Stoick, the Viking chief -- but he's gawky and brainy in a society that values brawn.

Based [[InNameOnly very loosely]] on [[Literature/HowToTrainYourDragon the book series of the same name]], ''How to Train Your Dragon'' is a 3D Creator/DreamWorksAnimation picture released in 2010, directed by Creator/ChrisSanders [[Disney/LiloAndStitch and]] Creator/DeanDeBlois. The protagonist, Hiccup, is a young Viking boy who lives on the island of Berk, where men are tough, women are tougher, and dragons are evil, destructive, livestock-pillaging pests that must be destroyed on sight. Hiccup wants to prove his worth -- particularly to his father Stoick, the Viking chief -- but he's gawky and brainy in a society that values brawn.

** Toothless behaves much like a mix of cat and dog, with the purring, the nuzzling, loyalty, playfulness and his reaction when [[spoiler: Hiccup wakes up after their battle with the queen dragon]] is very happy puppy. He also has some horse characteristics too. The directors wanted people to see their own pets in Toothless, and drew inspiration from real-life animals. (And many of the other dragons exhibit very feline behaviors, especially with the way they enjoy being petted and scritched.) Physically, he looks like a salamander crossed with a cat crossed with [[Disney/LiloAndStitch Stitch]], with bat wings. He also sleeps like a bat occasionally. The animators studied a number of animals to get his movements, including cats, dogs and birds. One of the animators confirmed that the choice to make Toothless's behavior and appearance catlike came after watching a screensaver of a black panther. He was originally modeled off wolves as seen in the art book.

** Toothless looks a lot like [[Disney/LiloAndStitch Stitch]]. And that's no coincidence, Chris Sanders and Dean [=DeBlois=] designed both Toothless and Stitch.
** Gobber talks about how trolls [[Disney/LiloAndStitch will steal everyone's left sock]].

** Hiccup and Astrid's ride doesn't remind anyone of [[Film/{{Avatar}} anything]]? Pretty sure it is a [[Disney/{{Aladdin}} whole new world]] for those two. Or maybe she is wondering [[Film/{{Superman}} Can You Read My Mind?]].

* HornyVikings: All of them have horns on their helmets. Might be justified as a case of AlternateUniverse by the Vikings wanting to emulate the scary looks of the horned dragons[[note]]The actual explanation is that while all their other clothing is correct, the creators realized that audiences, particularly kids, wouldn't accept Vikings ''without'' these helmets[[/note]].

It was later followed up with a short special episode, called ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTheBoneknapperDragon''. Gobber, Hiccup and the other Viking teens head out to hunt down a supposed renegade dragon called the Boneknapper, a dragon that [[SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset wears bones as armor]]. An additional pair of shorts, ''WesternAnimation/GiftOfTheNightFury'' and ''Book of Dragons'' were later bundled together as a ChristmasSpecial. A second ChristmasSpecial titled ''Homecoming'', is to be released in late 2019 as an epilogue to the trilogy's DistantFinale.

* InNameOnly: This movie to ''Literature/HowToTrainYourDragon''. While some character names are the same, the plot and setting is otherwise completely different. (An article linked to on [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] said the new directors found the original story too "sweet and whimsical".) [[TropesAreTools The original author approved of the changes, it got stellar reviews and did very well commercially, though, so who's counting?]]