This is the character sheet for the How to Train Your Dragon book series. Please keep in mind that characters and character tropes in the How to Train Your Dragon films by and large do not apply here, given that the two series are significantly different, and should be kept to that character sheet. Beware of unmarked spoilers.
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Main Vikings
Hairy Hooligans
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was an awesome swordfighter, a dragon whisperer, and the greatest Viking hero that ever lived. But Hiccup's memoirs look back to an earlier time when he was just an ordinary boy, and finding it hard to be a hero.
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is the main character of How To Train Your Dragon. He is the son of Stoick the Vast, chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe. Unlike his fellow Vikings, however, Hiccup is a small, skinny boy, and isn't exactly what most would consider a great hero. He is one of the few Vikings capable of speaking Dragonese, the language of the dragons.
- Cowardly Lion: In the books; understandable since he's only about ten. (Though he gets older as the books go on.)
- Dork Knight: Hiccup is a Socially Awkward Hero who became the top contender for badass in Berk.
- Dragon Tamer: The series centers around his attempts to train Toothless, helped by the fact that he can speak the dragon language.
- Geek Physiques: Skinny and short in most of the books. Doesn't quite get as lucky during puberty as his movie counterpart, as book!Hiccup may be tall now, but he's still considered very much one of the Noodle People.
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Iron Woobie: The horrible things that happen to him later on in the series don't phase him at all in the long run. After freaking out a bit, he gets his shit together and pushes on. - Kick the Dog: Hiccup's been on the receiving end of some pretty nasty things. Especially in the last three or four books. You just wanna give the poor kid a hug.
- Made of Iron: Has survived very lengthy falls, nearly on the receiving end of fire blasts, smashing into several hard things, and even took a direct lightning strike and is still fine.
- Major Injury Underreaction: In book 'How to Betray a Dragon's Hero' he tricks a dragon into swallowing him so he can stab it in the face with his sword. Of course, he's being swallowed whole... so when he is eventually spat out, he realizes that half his foot has been melted by digestive acids! It's barely even mentioned again after that paragraph!
- Justified. His foot is completely numb, so it's logical that in such a stressful situation he'd forget about it quickly.
- Nerd Action Hero: Combines his intelligence with his developing fighting skills.
- Nice Guy: Hiccup is kindhearted, easy going and always willing to help.
- Only Sane Man: Hiccup is much more levelheaded than the majority of Vikings. Among other things, he's apparently the only Hooligan to consider that dragon training might be more effective if people did more than yell at the creatures all the time.
- Red Is Heroic: His hair is bright red and unruly."He was entirely unmemorable. He DID have Heroic Hair, which was a very bright red and stood up vertically however much you tried to wet it down with sea water. But nobody ever saw that because it was hidden under his helmet most of the time."
- Speaks Fluent Animal: He's able to understand and talk to dragons based on long periods of observation.
- Situational Hand Switch: After his right arm is dislocated in How to Be a Pirate, Hiccup has to swap hands during a swordfight. Turns out he was a leftie all along.
- The Strategist: "Everyone, follow The Plan....no matter how strange it may seem."
- Surprise Checkmate: Comes with Check and Mate.
- Teen Genius: He's the most level-headed viking in his whole tribe and he likes learning about dragons.
- Took a Level in Badass: He started off as a scrawny shy boy that no one noticed except when he messed up, and grew into a talented sword fighter and dragon whisperer who's saved the Archipelago several times and is prophesied to one day become the King who will unite the tribes again.
- Book Hiccup is as much of a badass as movie Hiccup, given that he got first place in the free-for-all swordfighting tournament, even beating his own father.
- Warrior Prince: A given in that he's the son of the chief.
- Wise Prince: Also a given, considering he's an All-Loving Hero aside from being The Strategist and a Guile Hero.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: In the ninth book.
Stoick the Vast
Stoick the Vast, Chief of the Hairy Hooligans, Oh Hear His Name And Tremble, Ugh Ugh, is Hiccup's father. He is everything you'd expect out of a Viking chief: big, hairy, violent, loud, and not the sharpest sword in the armory. He doesn't really approve of his son's more peaceful, logical ways, but he does love him nonetheless.
- Action Dad: He never shies away from a fight against dragons.
- Aesop Amnesia: It takes quite a few books for the lesson that he should listen to his son to stick.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: The Chief of Berk knows no equal in battle.
- Beard of Barbarism: Set the trend among the Hairy Hooligans to wear their beards in a tangled mess.
- Berserk Button:
- Hurt anyone he cares about, be it his son, village, or his dragon, and you're in big trouble. This is ESPECIALLY true in the books as seen when Skullion's (a species of vicious eyeless dragons) soon discover when they were about to harm Hiccup.
- Dad the Veteran: He's been leading his tribe in battle for most of his life.
- The Good King: He genuinely cares about his village and seeks to keep them safe and well. If he has to make a choice between personal and his duty as chief, the latter comes first.
- Honor Before Reason: He often refuses to listen to his son's ideas because they go against the barbarian way, even if those ideas could easily help the whole tribe.
- Jock Dad, Nerd Son: He's always wished that his son had more beef on his arms but he comes to respect the "nerd" aspect of it as it helps him become a better chief.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Takes his role as chief of Berk very seriously and is often one to lead the charge.
- So Proud of You: To Hiccup, when he's not being disappointed.
- Stout Strength: He's very broad and very strong.
- Why Couldn't You Be Different?: Hiccup fully knows that this is what his father thinks.
Gobber the Belch
Gobber the Belch is a seven-and-a-half foot giant with a bad temper. He is the Viking in charge of training the young boys in the arts of dragon training, swordfighting, burglary, and uncouth behaviour.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: He's in charge of training the new recruits; his approach is yelling suggestions while they duck and weave.
- Jerkass: His portrayal in the books is nastier than the movie or series.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Means well, however. This is seen especially in the beginning of 'How to Twist a Dragon's Tail', where he refuses to flee until all of his students are safe.
- No Indoor Voice: Gobber the Belch doesn't do noises quieter than screaming.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: Shown in the first book, where he tells the young Vikings to sneak into a cave full of wild dragons, steal one, and then train it, or else they are banished from the island.
Fishlegs
Hiccup's best friend, and the only Viking more weak and scrawny. He has a limp, a squint, and multiple allergies, including one to reptiles.
- The Berserker: In How to Be a Pirate, Fishlegs discovers that he's a berserker. When he catches a cold in How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse, he sometimes involuntarily went berserk and started yelling insults at people bigger and stronger than he is.
- Beware the Nice Ones: When he gets mad, he goes berserk.
- Deadpan SnarkerFishlegs: Oh, how I wish I had a nice smart Bardiguard all of my very own, to chuck rocks at me, and send me unarmed into one-to-one combat with teenage psychopaths.
- Geek Physiques: Described as being even weedier than Hiccup. He also has a squint, a limp and several allergies.
- The Kid with the Remote Control: One of the most dangerous dragons in the series, the Deadly Shadow, has devoted its life to him.
- Only Sane Man: Often acts as this, pointing out just how ridiculous and suicidal some of the situations the heroes find themselves in really are.
- Warrior Poet: More a poet than a warrior, but he is also a Hidden Badass.
Snotface Snotlout
Son of Baggybum the Beerbelly and cousin of Hiccup. He constantly bullies Hiccup and repeatedly tried to kill him in the hopes of becoming the new heir to the Hairy Hooligans.
- The Ace: The Ideal Young Viking.
- The Bully: Constantly picks on and belittles Hiccup and Fishlegs. It's partly because he knows that Hiccup is a better hero than he'll ever be.
- The Big Guy: Established as the best athlete among the kids, and despite his age is more than a match for many adult Vikings in combat.
- Gag Nose: You can fit cucumbers up his nostrils. That's not hyperbole, Hiccup has actually done it (off-page).
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: At the very end.
- Leader Wannabe: Wants to become the next chief of the Hooligan Tribe, even though Hiccup is next in line. Making it worse is that he tends ignore or argue with Hiccup, which gets them in trouble.
- Pet the Dog: He's shown to honestly care about his riding-dragon.
Dogsbreath the Duhbrain
Dogsbreath is the best friend and fellow bully of Snotlout. He is the biggest and strongest of all the Viking boys, but as his name indicates, not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer.
- Number Two for Brains: Does everything Snotlout tells him to, but is dumb as a brick himself.
Old Wrinkly
Old Wrinkly is Hiccup's grandfather on his mother's side. He has taken up soothsaying in his old age, but most of the tribe knows that he isn't very good at it.
- Impossible Task: He gave one of these to Humongously Hotshot the Hero in order for him to win the hand of Valhallarama. He came to regret it later.
- Mentor Archetype: Serves as one of these to Hiccup. Among other things, he taught his grandson Latin, saying that "it might come in useful some time in the future".
- My Tribe Doth Protest Too Much: He seems to be the only Viking other than Hiccup and Fishlegs to realize just how ridiculous the "barbarian traditions" are.
- Seers: He decided to take up soothsaying, though he isn't very good at it. Despite that, most of what he predicts for Hiccup comes true in one way or another.
- We Do the Impossible: In How To Cheat A Dragon's Curse, he always assures Hiccup that his Quest is "not impossible, just improbable". This makes it hit especially hard when Old Wrinkly tells Stoick that saving his son is not just improbable, but impossible.
Bog-Burglars
Camicazi
Daughter of Big Boobied Bertha, chieftain of the Bog-Burglar tribe and a good friend of Hiccup and Fishlegs. She is an excellent swordfighter, pickpocket, and escape artist.
- Badass Adorable: Camicazi is a very small preadolescent girl. Her first act in the series is to cut down Fishlegs's pants and engage Hiccup in a sword fight, assuming they are Roman spies.
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Cross-Dressing Voices: The audiobooks have David Tennant doing a slightly falsetto Welsh accent for her. - Escape Artist: "You can't keep a Bog-Burglar under lock and key!"
- Impossible Thief: Stole the underpants off Stoick the Vast while he was still wearing them.
- Messy Hair: She has long, blond, unkempt hair, that is 'as untouched by human hands as parts of the Amazonian rainforest'.
- Sticky Fingers: Camicazi and her entire tribe. They are called Bog-Burglars.
- Tomboy: She can do everything that a Viking boy is expected to do.
- You Fight Like a Cow: Hiccup notes that one of the reasons she's so good at swordfighting is that she constantly mocks her opponent.
Big Boobied Bertha
Leader of the Bog-Burglar tribe and friedly rival of Stoick the Vast.
- Boob-Based Gag: It's in the name, really. Her comically big breasts are Played for Laughs as is the absurdity that she uses them as weapons.She had once stunned a stag with one blow of her mighty bosoms, and many a smaller animal had suffocated in their stern depths.
- Brawn Hilda: She's as big and strong as Stoick the Vast.
- Girls with Moustaches: It is mentioned several times that she has a beard.
- Vitriolic Best Friends: With Stoick. Bertha is always teasing him about his tribe's poor burglary skills, but they aren't arch-nemesis.
Meatheads
Thuggory the Meathead
Thuggory is the son of Modagon the Meathead, the chief of the Meathead Tribe. He is the first of the Viking boys to follow Hiccup in his plan to defeat the Green Death.
- The Ace: Much like Snotlout, Thuggory is just as big and strong as a Viking boy should be.
- Only Sane Man: He is quick to realize that the adults don't have a clue what to do and that Hiccup is their best chance of defeating the Green Death.
Hairy Scary Librarian
The old, terrifying, Ax-Crazy guard of the Meathead Public Library. He kills anyone who would dare steal his books with his "Heartslicers".
- Bow and Sword in Accord: He carries a small arsenal of weapons, including his "Heartslicers" and a Northbow.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Trying to sneak into his library or borrow one of his books is punishable by death.
- Scary Librarian: The clue is in the name really.
Villains
Alvin the Treacherous
The Leader of a tribe of Outcasts and serves as the Big Bad of the book series. He wants to become King of the Wilderwest.
- An Arm and a Leg: And a nose and an eye and all of his hair...
- Artificial Limbs: As a result of losing various body parts over the course of the series.
- Bald of Evil: Lost all of his hair after being eaten by the Monstrous Strangulator.
- Beard of Evil: Had a neatly trimmed moustache before losing it.
- Big Bad: Of How to Be a Pirate and most of the books following it.note
- The Chessmaster: This guy has shown his intellectual prowess and is one of the few who rivals Hiccup, although generally doesn't surpass him.
- Evil Counterpart: To both Stoick and Hiccup:
- He is an intelligent and evil chief who leads through fear and a firm hold on power, where Stoick isn't the brightest light bulb on the chandelier but generally doesn't abuse his power in such a fashion.
- Hiccup wants to make peace with dragons and possibly a world where all can be friends; Alvin wants dragons to conquer and destroy his enemies. It also helps that both he and Hiccup each rack up a ridiculous amount of Disney Deaths throughout the series, far more than we see of any other character.
- Evil Plan: To become King of the Wilderwest.
- Genius Bruiser: Equally clever as he is strong; look at his gambit entries for proof.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Oh boy. Where do I begin? Because he did not love Termagant, he gave her a dirty lobster claw necklace instead of something fancy. This lobster claw necklace contained the greatest treasure of the Wilderswest. He also prevented Valhallarama and Humongously Hotshot the Hero from getting together, which resulted in Valhallarama marrying Stoick the Vast instead and the birth of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Fate is artistic indeed.
- Hook Hand: He lost his hand to the booby-trapped coffin of Grimbeard the Ghastly.
- Joker Immunity: The amount of times the man has almost died but survived, usually due to wacky or convenient happenstance, would require both hands and feet to count (meaning that he himself would be incapable of counting). It doesn't last forever, though.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Not the Alvin part, but certainly the "Treacherous" as he clearly has little intention of honoring a promise unless he can still get something out of it.
- Names to Trust Immediately: Introduces himself in his first book as "Alvin the Poor-But-Honest Farmer." Of course, he's anything but.
- Revenge Before Reason: Even when he's trapped in a cave on the bottom of the ocean, and working together with Hiccup might be the only way out, he still tries to kill him because he lost his hand to the coffin of Hiccup's ancestor.
- Would Hurt a Child: Has no qualms about attacking the main characters, even if they're just kids, and shows glee at the thought of seeing one of them eaten by a dragon.
Fat Consul
The Fat Consul is a Roman consul appearing in How To Speak Dragonese. He works together with the Thin Prefect AKA Alvin the Treacherous to incite a war among the Viking tribes and capture all the dragons in the Archipelago.
- Fat Bastard: He is so fat, he needs a slave to hold up his belly, and is a thoroughly vile person.
- The Hedonist: He is almost always seen either eating or watching Gladiator Games.
- Villainous Glutton: He constantly eats dragon-based food.
Norbert the Nutjob
Norbert the Nutjob is the chief of the Hysteric tribe. He is a mentally unstable man, but a genius inventor. He holds a grudge against Hiccup after the boy burned his Great Hall to the ground, fed his father's corpse to Squealer dragons and made off with his frozen potato.
- Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: He has a huge double-headed axe, with one head black and one head gold, and sharpens it lovingly all the time.
- Dead Guy on Display: He keeps the dead body of his father frozen in a block of ice. He refuses to give him a proper Viking Funeral until the Doomfang has left the waters around Hysteria.
- Flat World: He and his tribe are the only Vikings who don't believe the earth is flat. They are also the only ones who believe in the legendary land to the West called "America".
- Gadgeteer Genius: Despite his madness, Norbert managed to build a steamboat, a Leonardo Da Vinci-style flying machine, and a device that emits high-frequency sounds to keep Sea Serpents at bay.
- Heads or Tails?: Makes most of his decisions (such as whether or not his captives should live) by throwing the Axe of Doom - a double-headed axe with one golden and one black blade - into the air and seeing how it lands.
- Insane Troll Logic: He certainly has his moments. Such as when he refuses to believe that anyone but the chosen one will be able to pull the American arrow out of the potato, not realizing that anyone could pull it out if the potato weren't frozen.
Madguts the Murderous
The large and frightening chief of the Murderous tribe, a group of Vikings feared throughout the Barbaric Archipelago, partly for their practice of Human Sacrifice, partly for their body odor.
- The Dreaded: Even Stoick and Big-Boobied Bertha fear his wrath.
- Human Sacrifice: What he and his tribe do to people that anger him. Almost does it to Stoick and Big-Boobied Bertha.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: For reasons unknown, Madguts only ever speaks in grunts. His second-in-command Gumboil has no trouble understanding him, though.
- Serious Business: Manages to turn a friendly inter-tribal swim into a plot to kill the other chiefs and take over their tribes.
- The Unfettered: Manages to trick Stoick and Bertha into unknowingly forfeiting the swimming competition in How To Ride a Dragon's Storm. Also climbs aboard Norbert the Nutjob's ship in order to rest, ensuring his victory in the endurance swim.
Excellinor the Witch
Alvin the Treacherous's evil mother.
- Battle of Wits: Witches love a battle of wits.
- The Chessmaster: She is the cleverest villain of the series.
- Day Hurts Darkadjusted Eyes: Years in a dark tree prison may have taught her how to see in the dark, but a ray of light can blind her.
- The Dreaded: Everyone fears the witch.
- Man Behind the Man Woman behind the man: From book 8 onwards she is the true brain behind Alvin and the Alvinsmen.
- Poisoned Weapons: She has nails that are coated in the most lethal poison known and poisons a sword in book 12.
- Smart People Play Chess: She certainly thinks so. In book 9 she locked one of her enemies in a cupboard and only let him out to beat him in a game of chess.
- The Storyteller: She might be evil, but she does know how to tell a story. Her story also explains the overarching plot of the series.
- Surprise Checkmate: When Hiccup pulls this on her she flips the table, throws the pawn used to checkmate her into the fireplace and burns thhe chessboard with Hollywood Acid.
Characters from history
Grimbeard the Ghastly
Hiccup the Third's ancestor. The overarching plot of the whole series resolves around his legacy.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He has a big moment of this after killing the innocent Hiccup the Second.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending:Excellinor: "And then he set sail into the West in his ship, The Endless Journey, and was never seen again."
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock II
- The Charmer: Described as such by Excellinor in book 8.Excellinor: He was a born leader, charismatic, strong, handsome, the best at everything, sword fighting, wrestling, insults, chess-playing, the lot.
- Rags to Royalty: After Grimbeard takes him back as his son.
- Raised by Wolves: Or rather, Grimler dragons.
- Rebel Prince: He continued to speak Dragonese after his father had banned the language, broke into the library often, released his father's slaves more than once and yet he became Grimbeard the Ghasly's favourite son.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: He was better at Dragonese than he was at Norse.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: He believed that dragons and humans could live together and died for it.
Dragons
Toothless
- Abnormal Dental Growth: How did he got his name? From his retractable teeth, or course.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: To say he's hostile to Hiccup at first is an understatement. He is selfish and mean to Hiccup, eating his food and not listening to him, however in the climax he flies up a big dragonus giganticus maximus's nose, almost killing himself, to save his trainer
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: In the books he literally has no teeth. Eventually he grows a tooth near the end of the first book (though he loses it in a fight)
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: An interspecies example. With Hiccup, a Viking human.
- Porky Pig Pronunciation: In the books. He has a stammer, yet can pronounce words perfectly, which is odd for a dragon with no teeth.Toothless: F-f-f-fish! w-w-want fish! Now!
Hiccup: We don't have any fish.
Toothless: Ok then. Eat c-c-cat! - Snark Knight: He'll snark and let people know it, but he is also extremely loyal and protective of the ones he love.
- Tsundere: Toothless likes to switch among affectionate, aloof, and hostile at the drop of a hat.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He actually cares about Hiccup, as shown of the climax of the first book when he risked his life to save Hiccup from the Green Death.
Stormfly
A mood dragon belonging to Camacazi.
- Bad Liar: On account of the fact that she turns purple when she lies.
- Easy Amnesia: Loses her memory after getting hit with a book in the Meathead Public Library.
- Talking Animal: Much like how Hiccup learned to speak Dragonese, Stormfly learned how to speak Norse.
- The Tell: Turns violet when she lies. Which is often.
- The Tease: Seems to enjoy flirting with Toothless.
The Windwalker
Hiccup's nervous and slightly shaggy riding dragon.
- Lovable Coward: Traumatized by his time as a slave, but very loyal to Hiccup.
- No Name Given: Windwalker is the name of his species.
The Deadly Shadow
A triple-headed, sometimes Invisibile, firebreathing, lightning-shooting, and very poisonous dragon that once belonged to Fishlegs' mother.
- Heel–Face Turn: Initially sent to kill Hiccup by Furious, it ends up aiding him once it realises he's a friend of Fishlegs.
- Invisibility: As expected from a breed of Stealth Dragon.
- Multiple Head Case: Innocence, Arrogance, and Patience. Fortunately, Patience has the most control over their body.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: So called because it can turn invisible and is ludicrously over-armed (three heads, each of which is poisonous and breathes fire and lighting).
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Innocence is blue, Arrogance is red.
- Shock and Awe: The only dragon in the series to breathe lightning.
The Green Death
- Breath Weapon: Like all dragons he's got one, but his breath weapon is one based on making pyroclastic clouds. Nothing near it stands much of a chance, until our heroes get into the fight.
- Giant Flyer: It's as big as a mountain.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Perfectly willing to eat other dragons if given the opportunity. Even - or maybe especially - members of its own species.
- Kaiju: A dragon the size of a truck would generally be considered large in this setting. The Green Death can (and does) swallow those whole. In the books he eats a younger version of his own kind. Easy to believe, considering he considers normal dragons tasty snacks.
- Large and in Charge: The other dragons are like flies compared to him.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Assuming the thing doesn't reach your boats first.
Horror Cow
Fishleg's dragon. A common-or-garden dragon, like Toothless, that is supposedly vegetarian. She is unwilling to kill animals and is a bit sluggish to follow orders.
The Dragon Furious
A Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus, first encountered by Hiccup on the island of the Berserks. He frees it in exchange for his life and a promise that it will stay in the north of the world, away form humans, for one year.
Furious is defined by his all-consuming hatred of the human race, and is the Big Bad of the later books.
- Ambiguously Evil: He leads a dragon rebellion, yes, but can you blame him?
- Big Bad: Leader of the Dragon Rebellion.
- Big Brother Worship: Furious worshipped the boy, as younger brothers will.
- Dying as Yourself:Furious: You see, I have been dead for many years. But here, right when I am about to die, Hiccup- You have given me back my life.
- Giant Flyer: Absolutely enormous and as good at flying as any other dragon.
- Humans Are Bastards: According to Furious, they are incapable of change.
- Poisoned Weapons: What kills him in the end.
- Redemption Equals Death: Part of the bittersweet ending from book 12.
- Taking the Bullet: For Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third in book 12, beacause he failed to save his human blood brother the previous time.
- Unstoppable Rage: Exists in a constant state of screaming fury and hate. When he gets particularly worked up, his eyes burst into flames.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: While leading the second Red Rage. After the death of his brother Hiccup the Second, he wants to wipe out humankind.
