History YMMV / HowToTrainYourDragon2

* AwardSnub: Was not nominated for the Best Animated Feature BAFTA, and lost the Best Animated Feature Oscar to ''WesterAnimation/BigHero6''.

!!YMMV for the film version of ''How to Train Your Dragon 2'':

* AlternativeJokeInterpretation: Gobber's comment "This is why I never married. This and one other reason", can be taken as Gobber admitting he's gay, or that he's impotent. Voice actor Creator/CraigFerguson meant it as the former, but the way it's presented makes it open to interpretation.
* AngstAversion:
** For fans of Hiccup and Toothless' friendship in particular, this is a ''heartbreaking'' film to watch, [[spoiler:thanks to the scene where Toothless is mind controlled into killing Hiccup, and would have ''succeeded'' if not for his father TakingTheBullet.]]

* AwardSnub: Was not nominated for the Best Animated Feature BAFTA, and lost the Best Animated Feature Oscar to ''Disney/BigHero6.''

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Drago Bludvist]] is an unfeeling [[AxCrazy madman]] who seeks to take over Berk. Having lost his village and family to dragons when he was younger, Drago subverts a FreudianExcuse by becoming exactly like the ones who he sought revenge against and using fear to dominate anyone in his path. Prior to the plot, Drago came to a chieftain's meeting and offered to drive away the dragons if they would kneel to him. When they declined, [[DisproportionateRetribution Drago responds by burning them alive]] and leaving no survivors but Stoick, Hiccup's father. In the current, Drago raises a dragon army, led by a Bewilderbeast he abused into loyalty, and attempts to execute his right-hand man for [[YouHaveFailedMe failing him]], as well as the other dragon riders he brought with him. [[spoiler: Drago enslaves the dragons living under Valka's care and kills their Alpha to assert his power. Drago even hypnotizes the loyal Toothless to fire on his own master, Hiccup, and simply scoffs when Stoick takes the blast. He then proceeds to raze Berk with his new-found army, taking no prisoners]].

--> [[spoiler:'''Stoick:''']] I thought I'd have to die before we'd have that dance again.
--> [[spoiler:'''Valka:''']] No need for drastic measures.
** From a meta-standpoint, there is also some harshness to [[spoiler: the short time between their reunion and Stoick's death. The film establishes that Hiccup was less than a year old when Valka disappeared, meaning that Stoick found Valka about twenty years after losing her. In the film's runtime, Stoick's death scene occurs about twenty ''minutes'' after this scene, and Valka loses Stoick forever.]]

** Remember in the first film when Toothless [[spoiler: tackled and was about to blast Stoick, only to be stopped by Hiccup? Yeah...]]
** A subtle one, [[spoiler:but when a mind controlled Toothless is menacingly walking towards a confused and scared Hiccup, the music in the background is a remake of the one played during their first meeting. This time however, Toothless ''doesn't'' back out from his blast...]]

-->'''Viggo:''' You are too good, too pure, too innocent, which will get you or someone you love killed.

* HilariousInHindsight: Creator/KitHarington's role in this movie is rather amusing considering a rather well known [[spoiler: and ultimately confirmed]] fan theory that his character in Series/GameOfThrones is actually related by blood to THAT setting's dragon riders.

*** Which then dives straight into nightmare fuel since his style of 'taming' is based on elephant taming in the real world.

* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: Okay developers, you want to make a game about [[ABoyAndHisX a young man and his flying dragon]] in a Viking village where dragons and viking are living together. So, are you going to make a cool flight simulator with dragons, or an action game, or even a ''VideoGame/PanzerDragoon''-esque rail shooter? No? So, what are you guys making? Why, [[VideoGame/{{Superman64}} a game about flying through rings]] of course.

** While the secondary {{Aesop}} described above is fairly dark, the main {{Aesop}}-- that wise, compassionate rule by earned loyalty is stronger than forceful, abusive domination-- is unsubtle but no less necessary.

** Many fans of the franchise were disappointed that Astrid got almost DemotedToExtra, especially considering her expanded role in the TV show.
*** Though pretty much everyone who wasn't part of Hiccup's family got this treatment as well; those who follow the series know how those characters are rich in story possibilities and comedic potential weren't all that happy at their treatment as well.
** Drago could have been more fleshed out. His backstory of [[spoiler:having his town, family, and arm destroyed in a dragon attack when he was a boy and then growing obsessed with both a need for revenge and eventually a hunger for power]] is a fairly interesting one, but it only gets a brief scene so that we can know why he can't be reasoned with. The creators themselves seem to be aware of this and have stated that Drago’s character is actually a lot more complex than he is portrayed [[spoiler: [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xrCiPu644AI and that he will be fleshed out more in the following film.]] ]]

* WhatAnIdiot: Hiccup here is in stark contrast to his intelligence demonstrated in the first film. He ''repeatedly'' ignores warnings from his father and mother, that Drago is a war-mongering madman who cannot be reasoned with. This doesn't dissuade the dragon rider, and his recklessness ends up [[spoiler:costing Stoick his life.]]
** The television show attempts to explain this by showing that Hiccup managed to redeem and/or talk down [[spoiler:''nearly every single villain of the show'' (Alvin, Dagur, Mala, and Viggo respectively), despite many of them seeming ''well'' past the point of any redemption.]] With that level of success, of course he'd think trying his hand with Drago would be a viable option.
*** Plus, ya know, the fact that his father came to listen to him in the first film, despite Stoick's bull-headedness.

** Hiccup and Toothless themselves after [[spoiler: Drago mind-controls Toothless into killing Stoick and rips the formerly inseparable pair apart. Although they reunite, Hiccup still ends up fatherless and Toothless has to live with the guilt of what he did. And this is [[{{AllOfTheOtherReindeer}} on top]] [[{{ArtificialLimbs}} of their]] [[{{BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu}} traumas]] [[{{LastOfHisKind}} from the]] [[{{BlackSheep}} first film.]]]]

* EarWorm: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzxW85KCGQ8&t=2m3s For the Dancing and the Dreaming]]", which [[spoiler: Stoick and Valka]] sing together.

*** Becomes doubly silly if you've read the original books, because, until Hiccup came along, the viking's dragon training guide consisted of one rule: Scream at them.

* AlternativeJokeInterpretation: Gobber's comment "This is why I never married. This and one other reason", can be taken as Gobber admitting he's gay, or that he's impotent. Voice actor Creator/CraigFerguson, who is openly gay, meant it as the former, but the way it's presented makes it open to interpretation.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Drago's Bewilderbeast. Enslaved and dominated by Drago as a baby, he raised his Bewilderbeast to become a living war machine, forcing it to kill one of its own kind and taking control of Berk's dragons. You seriously got to feel a bit bad for him when Toothless blasts him in the face and blows off one of his tusks: at the end of the day, he wasn't an evil monster like the Red Death was, but an abused, terrified animal forced to serve a cruel master.
** [[spoiler: He gets better in ''The Hidden World'' though, where it's revealed that after Drago's defeat, he is now living peacefully with the other dragons in the Hidden World.]]

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Drago Bludvist]] is an unfeeling [[AxCrazy madman]] who seeks to take over Berk. Having lost his village and family to dragons when he was younger, Drago subverts a FreudianExcuse by becoming exactly like the ones who he sought revenge against and using fear to dominate anyone in his path. Prior to the plot, Drago came to a chieftain's meeting and offered to drive away the dragons if they would kneel to him. When they declined, [[DisproportionateRetribution Drago responds by burning them alive]] and leaving no survivors but Stoick, Hiccup's father. In the current, Drago raises a dragon army, led by a Bewilderbeast he abused into loyalty, and attempts to execute his right-hand man for failing him, as well as the other dragon riders he brought with him. [[spoiler: Drago enslaves the dragons living under Valka's care and kills their Alpha to assert his power. Drago even hypnotizes the loyal Toothless to fire on his own master, Hiccup, and simply scoffs when Stoick takes the blast. He then proceeds to raze Berk with his new-found army, taking no prisoners]].

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Drago Bludvist]], an unfeeling madman who seeks to take over Berk. Having lost his village and family to dragons when he was younger, Drago subverts a FreudianExcuse by becoming exactly like the ones who he sought revenge against and using fear to dominate anyone in his path. Prior to the plot, Drago came to a chieftain's meeting and offered to drive away the dragons if they would kneel to him. When they declined, [[DisproportionateRetribution Drago responded by burning them alive]] and leaving no survivors but Stoick, Hiccup's father. In the present, Drago raises a dragon army, led by a Bewilderbeast he abused into loyalty, and attempts to execute his right hand man for failing him, as well as the other dragon riders he brought with him. [[spoiler: Drago enslaves the dragons living under Valka's care and kills their Alpha to assert his power. Drago even hypnotizes the loyal Toothless to fire on his own master, Hiccup, and simply scoffs when Stoick takes the blast. He then proceeds to raze Berk with his new-found army, taking no prisoners.]] Power hungry beyond salvation, Drago ended up putting even the [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon first movie's]] BigBad to shame.

** As explained under FamilyUnfriendlyAesop some people, unfortunately, just can't be reasoned with. This, unfortunately, means that peace isn't always possible.

* NightmareRetardant: Some viewers finds a lot about Drago to be narmy either thanks to his voice (which sounds like Animal from ''Series/TheMuppetShow'') and/or his screaming and flailing when commanding the dragons. Also, the sight of [[spoiler:him riding Toothless is considered either a heartbreaking sight, seeing the little dragon being dominated and ridden by such a huge man, or hilarious looking because the two nearly equal each other in size.]]

** Stoick's boast to Drago of, "It'll take more than a little fire to kill me!" [[spoiler:[[TemptingFate Um, about that...]]]]

* JerkassWoobie: Eret may be a dragon trapper, but he didn't deserved to be so casually sentenced to death by his master for something out of his control. [[spoiler:He eventually [[TookALevelInKindness gets better]] and ends up with a case of EarnYourHappyEnding]].

* WhatAnIdiot: Hiccup here is in stark contrast to his intelligence demonstrated in the first film. He ''repeatedly'' ignores warnings from his father and mother, that Drago is a war-mongering madman who cannot be reasoned with. This doesn't dissuade the dragon rider, and his recklessness ends up [[spoiler: costing Stoic his life.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: KitHarington's role in this movie is rather amusing considering a rather well known [[spoiler: and ultimately confirmed]] fan theory that his character in Series/GameOfThrones is actually related by blood to THAT setting's dragon riders.

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Drago Bludvist]], an unfeeling madman who seeks to take over Berk. Having lost his village and family to dragons when he was younger, Drago subverts a FreudianExcuse by becoming exactly like the ones who he sought revenge against and using fear to dominate anyone in his path. Prior to the plot, Drago came to a chieftain's meeting and offered to drive away the dragons if they would kneel to him. When they declined, [[DisproportionateRetribution Drago responded by burning them alive]] and leaving no survivors but Stoick, Hiccup's father. In the present, Drago raises a dragon army, led by a Bewilderbeast he abused into loyalty, and attempts to execute his right hand man for failing him, as well as the other dragon riders he brought with him. [[spoiler: Drago enslaves the dragons living under Valka's care and kills their Alpha to assert his power. Drago even hypnotizes the loyal Toothless to fire on his own master, Hiccup, and simply scoffs when Stoick takes the blast. He then proceeds to raze Berk with his new-found army, taking no prisoners.]] Power hungry beyond salvation, Drago ended up putting even the [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon first movie's]] BigBad to shame.

** The continuation where [[spoiler:Toothless wakes up and tries to approach the dead Stoick, only to have Hiccup ''angrily shout for him to stay away'' does not help in the least. The scene altogether made some critics and movie reviewers compare the film to ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'' level of dark.]]

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Dreamworks [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iepGUcvsWB0 created its own software]] to be able to animate large crowds and microexpressions.

** The television show attempts to explain this by showing that Hiccup managed to redeem and/or talk down[[spoiler:''nearly every single villain of the show'' (Alvin, Dagur, Mala, and Viggo respectively), despite many of them seeming ''well'' past the point of any redemption.]] With that level of success, of course he'd think trying his hand with Drago would be a viable option.

** ''[[WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk Race to the Edge]]'' later revealed that Hiccup has been warned before about his WideEyedIdealist beliefs. The events that transpire because he refused to accept talking with Drago just wouldn't work prove his former Archenemy was 100% correct.

** HeartwarmingInHindsight: That compartment of Zippleback gas in his flaming sword? Turns out Hiccup got the idea from [[Recap/DragonsRidersOfBerkS8E8TripleCross an enemy turned ally who gave his life for him.]]