YMMV / Hilda

For tropes related to Hilda and the Mountain King, go here.

For tropes related to the Hilda Tie-In Series, go here

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The Graphic Novels:

• Cult Classic: The graphic novels are highly regarded by many comic readers (and even big names like Guillermo del Toro) and have been nominated for numerous awards, but despite its critical success, the series is not terribly well known. Even after Hilda became more popular thanks to the show's success, the graphic novels remain firmly in this status thanks to Adaptation Displacement, with many unaware that the show was based on graphic novels at all.
• Growing the Beard: While Hildafolk is charming in its own right, the second book — Hilda and the Midnight Giant — is regarded to be a massive improvement over it, as it has greater and more dynamic artwork, a more cohesive narrative, and would establish the tone, atmosphere, and structure that later books in the series would build on. Series creator Luke Pearson regards it to be the moment the series truly establishes its own identity.

The Netflix Series:

• Accidental Aesop:
  • "The Witch": know when your fears are rational and when they aren't. Kaisa ought to have been more scared of the Void than about facing her teacher.
  • "The Fifty-Year Night": don't touch your neighbors' mail.
  • "The Ghost":
    • Don't worry about being perfect, because nobody is perfect at the end of the day. Obsessing over trying to be a perfectionist at everything will only hurt yourself and those around you.
    • When someone is angry, it's best to shut up and not poke the bear. Even if David was right about Frida not being perfect, his teasing remarks only make her angrier than she already is and would ultimately cause the two to fight several times, straining their friendship in the process (until they reconcile in "The Black Hound").
    • Learn to do your own chores instead of relying on others to do them for you. As David says to Frida, everything could've been avoided if Frida had just learned to tidy up her room instead of relying on a ghost to do it for her.
  • "The Draugen": Don't jump to conclusions and publicly accuse someone of a misdeed without solid evidence to back your accusations up. You're just gonna embarrass yourself and look like a fool otherwise. Even if Erik Ahlberg is a Jerkass, Hilda's attempt to accuse him of being a shady figure at the graveyard ultimately backfires on her due to lacking sufficient evidence that she could use against him.
  • "The Eternal Warriors": Fighting smart and strategically will get you much further in a battle than relying solely on strength and brute force.
• Accidental Innuendo: The Wood Man says the phrase "magic coral sextant" a bit too quickly.
• Adorkable: Hilda is a bit socially awkward, yet she's a sweet, lovable nerd. It's seen best when Trevor teaches her how to ring-and-run. Hilda can't do it and instead tells the old lady who answered the door that her flowers look pretty. Tildy laughs and calls her a sweet child.
• Adaptation Displacement: The show has far surpassed the original graphic novels in the public consensus, often to the point that some assume the graphic novels are based on the show, when it's the other way around.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: Believe it or not, the tiny houses the elves live in do actually exist in Iceland. They're known as álfhól and are built by Icelanders for a mythological tiny elf race known as the huldufòlk^note the huldufòlk is what inspired the elves in the series, as well as the original title of the first graphic novel, Hildafolk and are all over the country. Granted, it's highly unlikely the huldufòlk themselves actually exist,^note though, we didn't sign the paperwork, so who knows. but at least their houses do.
• Alternate Aesop Interpretation: The main Aesop of "The Fifty-Year Night" is that you can't hold onto your mistakes forever, as seen when Mr. Ostenfeld and Tildy both reveal they used magic to relive the night they danced together, regretting that neither of them stayed to exchange names or phone numbers. Given, however, that Tildy and Mr. Ostenfeld were living in the same city and relatively nearby, however, it's shown that if they had wanted to find each other, they could have. Tildy lets him go when the timeline fixes, telling Hilda she's meddled enough and should have thought of finding Mr. Ostenfeld in her middle-aged years. The alternate Aesop seems to be, "Rather than ruminate over your biggest mistake, do what's in your control to fix them."
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Erik Ahlberg is subject to this in season 2. Despite revealing to Hilda that he's not trying to make Trolberg safer but to boost his own image, by endangering the citizens, she can't find any dirt on him. The Rat King says that as thanks for the rotten cod sandwich, he saw Erik had a clean record. Was Erik once a genuinely good guy who lost his way, or is he that good at covering his tracks? The Mountain King heavily suggests the former. given his Heel Realization and subsequent resignation in the ending.
  • Is Wood Man simply a blunt Jerk with a Heart of Gold? Or is he just acting according to the nature of his species, like most of the creatures in the series? Given that no other Wood Folk are shown in the series (though "The House in the Woods" features a portrait of a Wood Woman, confirming their existence), it's not clear. The Book of Beasts and Spirits implies it is the latter, saying that Wood Folk are naturally solitary people and lacking in social skills.
  • Why exactly did the fairies abduct Anders at the end of "The Job"? Was it to rescue him from being attacked by a troll? Or was it to lure Hilda back into Fairy Country, knowing that she would go back to search for her father?
• Angst? What Angst?:
  • David is beheaded twice during The Eternal Warriors and you wouldn't know it from the episodes after the incident. You wouldn't even know he died the first time either, since his disembodied head just says "Ow..." in a dejected way, and there is no last breath, no eyes closing, nothing that implies he died. Subverted in that Sigurd's healing potion seems to have erased the memories of his adventures with the Vikings.
  • Hilda has this for most of her adventures, with a few exceptions. The first episode has a troll chasing her for dangling a bell around its nose, and she describes it as "traumatic" but moves on. Alfur even lampshades it in season two after a time-traveling adventure goes wrong, pointing out they saw themselves die, twice after Hilda considers it to be a "productive" day. This makes sense given that Hilda is a thrill-seeking adventurer, often seeing these dangerous and traumatic experiences as being "such is the life of an adventurer".
• Awesome Art: The comic already had a very lovely art style with plenty of Scenery Porn, but the Netflix adaptation adds a new layer to it with fluid and beautiful animation, courtesy of Canadian animation studio and series co-producers Mercury Filmworks.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Frida. Some see her arc towards the end of Season 1 as a welcome change of pace, giving attention to make her more than just "Hilda's friend", but many found it to be unnecessary and flimsily-written while also making her out to be nothing more than a petty, selfish brat with an inability to get over herself, up to the point where she pushes away her own friends. Others could see what they were trying to do, but felt her callous treatment of Hilda and David, coupled with her brief Face–Heel Turn, warranted a more layered apology than "I was acting like an idiot". A fourth party argues that her parents are the cause of her attitude due to their constant demands of perfection from their daughter.
  • Anders, Hilda's Disappeared Dad, immediately became even more controversial character than Frida. Some like him for being a a decent Nice Guy and a pretty funny Bumbling Dad. Other fans hate him for not being present for Hilda for nearly her entire life, seemingly choosing adventures over her, as well as his tendency to get into trouble like Hilda. There's also a third party that doesn't hate Anders, but feel that he has not fleshed out enough as character because of the final season's short length.
• Broken Base: Fans are divided over Hilda becoming Frida's familiar in "The Witch". Some don't mind the idea and view it as an interesting and refreshing idea that strengthens and adds a new twist to their already-existing bond and dynamic. Others, however, find the idea to be out of character for Hilda and hate that the main protagonist of the show is relegated to a sidekick of a supporting character (and a divisive one at that). This is likely the reason why season 3 dropped the idea altogether.
• Cant Unhear It: Read the graphic novels and/or the tie-in books, and try not to imagine the characters with their voices from the Netflix series.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • Frida is a Base-Breaking Character who some find selfish and bratty. Because of that, it's really relieving when Frida realizes her Jerkass attitude and apologizes to her friends for her mistakes.
  • After the Marra had tormented David and Hilda in "The Nightmare Spirit", it is really satisfying to see David finally stand up for himself and call out the Marra for their nasty behavior in "The Nisse". It is also satisfying for those who dislike Frida, since he includes her in the call out alongside the Marra.
• Common Knowledge:
  • Frida and David are often assumed to be canon foreigners made for the show. While the show does feature plenty of characters who don't appear in the graphic novels, Frida and David are not amongst those characters, as both did originate from the graphic novels (first appearing in Hilda and the Black Hound). This misconception is understandable, as both characters are only minor supporting characters at most in the graphic novels, while the show upgrades them to main characters.
  • The twin-tailed girl who torments David in "The Nightmare Spirit" is not named "Marra". "Marra" is the name of her species, not her actual name. Like with most of the Marra in the show, her name is unconfirmed.
• Creepy Cute:
  • Despite their creepy Glowing Eyes and association with soul-stealing magic, the Tide Mice still manage to be quite cute with their small, round body shape and facial features. It helps that they like Jorts chips.
  • Troll Hilda in her first appearance is meant to be Body Horror given she's changed species and woken up in an unfamiliar place. She is also kind of cute despite the dire circumstances.
• Designated Villain: The Trollberg Safety Patrol during Season 1. Their efforts to capture The Black Hound are depicted (at least by Hilda) as being wrong, despite the fact the Hound was responsible for eating (Albeit, not killing) 3 people, and had already caused massive amounts of destruction. It lessens in Season 2, wherein the Safety Patrol comes under leadership that's pointedly cruel to the magical communities within and out of Trolberg and not putting people's safety first.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Judging by the fanfics, more than a few fans like for Trevor to redeem himself for the events in episode 3, mostly so he can become Hilda's friend, or more.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • The Bellkeeper has some fans that like him, mostly due his design and the fact he's one of the few competent adults and the fact, he aided Hilda to turn-off the mechanical bellkeeper. Also, unlike other members of the safety patrol, he's actually nice to Hilda and listens to her. The fans even theorize him to be Hilda's dad. Season 3 confirms that he is not her dad, but also reveals that Hilda's blue hair comes from her being part fairy. Whether this has relevance to the faint grayish-blue streaks in the Bellkeeper's hair is left ambiguous, raising further intrigue.
  • Kaisa the librarian gathered many fans due to the mystery surrounding her and the fact that she had been very helpful to Hilda, as well as her interesting, witch-y design.
  • Tildy of season 2 has been similarly well-received, not only for being the former mentor of Kaisa, but for being a sweet, understanding Cool Old Lady who offers to teach Frida magic.
  • While they only appear in roughly three episodes of the first season (Chapter's 6, 12, and 13) and a cameo in the series finale, the Marra has easily become the most popular creatures amongst the fandom due to their cool nightmare powers and being the most villainous of the creatures thus far, and the fact they resemble teenage girls.
  • Hilda's great-aunt Astrid. Many fans enjoyed her for basically being the Expy of Grunkle Stan.
  • While he only appears in "The Laughing Merman", Eugene has quickly become the fan-favorite of the third season due to his Ugly Cute design and his fun and entertaining showman personality.
  • Despite Louise only appearing in full in "The Laughing Merman" (with her other appearances being brief cameos in "The Forgotten Lake" and "The Fairy Isle"), many fans ended up loving her due to her quiet and observant personality and her fun dynamic with Hilda and her friends. Many fans ended up wishing she got more time in the spotlight.
• Epileptic Trees:
  • Many fans theorized that the Bellkeeper is Hilda's dad due to his hair having faded streaks of blue, him loving cucumber sandwiches like Hilda, and his seemingly friendly attitude towards trolls. That said, there are no indications that he is Hilda's father, and as of Season 3 this theory is officially jossed as it introduces Hilda's actual father, Anders.
  • At one point in "The Fifty Year Night", while being chased by the Time Worm, Hilda briefly winds up in a future Trolberg. In the scene in question, one of the denizens is shown to be an adult who resembles a blend between Hilda and Frida, having the same skin color as Frida, but having blue hair like Hilda. Naturally, Hilda/Frida shippers went wild with this, theorizing that the person in question is Hilda and Frida's child from the far future, even though there is no indication that this is the case.
• Fanfic Fuel: What kind of adventures did Hilda and friends have during the 1-2 year Time Skip between the end of the movie and the start of Season 3? Especially since in "Chapter 4: The Laughing Merman" it is revealed they have never had a normal Sparrow Scout trip with nothing weird happening, meaning they must have had plenty of adventures during those intervening years.
• Fan Nickname:
  • The Fandom wiki (and this wiki as well) distinguish the Nisse who lives in Hilda's home and the Nisse who is Jellybean's owner by referring to them as "Tontu Alpha" and "Tontu Beta", respectively.
  • During season 1, the Librarian — who had no name during season 1 — was popularly known in fan-fiction circles as "Maven". Season 2 would render the name obsolete, however, as its third episode — "The Witch" — would reveal her name to be "Kaisa". Despite this, some fans continue to refer to her as "Maven" anyway.
  • Although the Marra with twintails lacks a name (as do most of the Marra), that hasn't stopped fans from assigning her one anyway. While there is no clear consensus, the most popular fan name seems to be Jaeden, which has been used in some fanfics (Hilda The Witch being one such fic). Some fans have also opted to call her "David's Marra", since she was the one terrorizing him in "The Nightmare Spirit".
• Fanon:
  • Many fans of the show depict Johanna as being bisexual, with the most popular pairing being between Johanna and Kaisa despite the lack of interaction.
  • Since the Bellkeeper is one of the few characters who also possesses streaks of blue hair, and given his friendly relationship with Hilda, some fans believe he could be her father.^note Luke Pearson himself said in an interview that her father is "somewhere, just not a part of Hilda’s life at this time" and mentioned having an idea of where he and other family members reside. This theory has been Jossed by the release of season 3, which features Hilda's father — Anders — who looks nothing like the Bellkeeper. Though this does get a nod in the final episode, as Anders ends up bumping into the Bellkeeper at one point.
  • Due to their similar looks, some fans like to theorize the troll Hilda encounters in "The Hidden People" to be Trylla, as a way to tie "The Stone Forest" and The Mountain King back to the first Hilda episode and give Trylla an additional connection to Hilda and reason to be nice to her. The fact that Hilda refers to the troll in question as Mr. Troll tends to be ignored or forgotten about.^note Though, given that there doesn't seem to be a physical difference between male and female trolls, it's possible Hilda simply didn't know the troll's sex/gender.
• Fanon Discontinuity: Not that Season 3 is unpopular, but some diehard fans of the original graphic novels have opted to ignore it, mainly because of a more serialized narrative, the Time Skip, and a huge focus on Hilda's family. The fact that season 3 is all original material doesn't help (even if series creator Luke Pearson was still involved).
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • With Gravity Falls. Both are series about a magical woodland filled with Magical Realism and Urban Fantasy. Hilda's quirky but fantastical storytelling method has attracted many fans of the former series that thought nothing like that would ever be made again. To add to this, Season 2 for each show also incorporates Cerebus Syndrome, with a few Gut Punch moments.
  • Various fans of this show and Gravity Falls also migrate well with those from Over the Garden Wall due to the same magical woodland and fantasy found in the show.
  • Fans from Game of Thrones have become interested in the series due to Hilda's voice actor being Bella "Lyanna Mormont" Ramsey.
  • Many fans of Thomas & Friends love Hilda because they share voice talent, such as Rasmus Hardiker, Rob Rackstraw, and Lucy Montgomery. In fact, Chapter 1 of Season 2 features a shout-out to the show, with a locomotive similar to Edward the Blue Engine making an appearance.
  • Fans can get along with the Amphibia fandom really well because Anne has a heart for adventure and is always looking for excitement just like how Hilda does. Also, both shows are sleeper hits and are easily overshadowed by popular shows such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, for Hilda, and The Owl House, for Amphibia. In addition both protagonists have a thing for befriending magical creatures. Also, Matt Braly appears to be a big fan of the show as he tweeted his congrats to Hilda for winning the Emmy award for Outstanding Children's Production and also follows their official Twitter page.
    • It is also Hilarious in Hindsight because both Season 2's of Amphibia and Hilda ended on a massive cliffhanger.
  • With the Peabody Award winning series, The Owl House, with the premise of both shows about a protagonist dealing with the supernatural as well as lore for witches. In addition, many of the characters have many traits in common: Frida and Luz are witches-in-training, Luz and Hilda have a thing for befriending magical creatures and looking for adventure, as well as Eda and Johanna being motherly figures to the respective protagonists. There has also been crossover fanart of the main characters such as Amity and Kaisa relaxing or Hilda and Luz hanging out with elves. The bond only grew stronger when it was revealed by Luke Pearson that, much like what Disney did to The Owl House's third season being made into specials, the third season ended up getting cut down to eight episodes by Netflix, leading to the two fandoms bonding over the shared experience of having their shows get cut shorter than planned thanks to network interference.
  • With the 2020 reboot of Animaniacs, thanks to the show tying with Hilda for the Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Editing in a Children's TV Series". Why? Both shows featuring a Power Trio? Check! Going on zany and wild adventures and never letting anything get in their way? Double check! Looks like Yakko, Wakko, and Dot have found some new friends to bring with on their adventures. Fans of Hilda also flocked over to the 2020 reboot for a breather show after witnessing Hilda's sudden season 2 cliffhanger. In addition, a second season of Animaniacs has dropped in 2021 while the 85-minute Hilda movie special premiered on December 30th, 2021. By then, Animaniacs Season 2 is already streaming so that fans can have one heck of a breather after watching one heck of a wham-movie.
    • It is also Hilarious in Hindsight when the second season of both shows ended on a surprise cliffhanger.
  • With Steven Universe when the show shared fellow company when it got nominated for a Peabody Award. Even though Steven Universe took the Peabody home, this didn't stop the fandoms coming together and creating fanart of the show's main characters, showing Hilda and Steven bonding, as this fanart by TellyToon shows.
  • With the A Hat in Time fandom, since both star adorable but brattish little girl explorers who go on adventures. Unsurprisingly, a ton of crossover fan art has been made featuring Hilda and Hat Kid, and Hilda was even made unofficially playable in A Hat in Time thanks to fan mods.
  • Fans of Hayao Miyazaki's work were quick to latch onto the show thanks to its European-inspired Mundane Fantastic setting, the beautiful artwork, the Little Miss Badass protagonist, the emphasis on nature, and the lack of clear-cut villains, all of which are aspects commonly featured in Miyazaki's films. It helps that Pearson has stated that he is a big fan of his movies. Unsurprisingly, there has been a ton of fan art that depicts Hilda in the Miyazaki style.
  • For the Hilda threads on 4chan, a few anime are highlighted to also share passionate fans with Hilda from time to time; these include Neon Genesis Evangelion, Haruhi Suzumiya, Made in Abyss, and Girls' Last Tour.
• Genius Bonus:
  • The portrayal of the Thunderbird as a raven. Ravens are a prominent bird in Native American mythology, which the Thunderbird originated from.
  • In "The Draugen", a construction worker tells Hilda she has to take "Kittelsen Road" to get to the docks. Norwegian artist Theodor Kittelsen is famed for his portrayal of trolls and ghouls from Scandinavian folklore, including The Draugen.
• Growing the Beard: Season 1 is already considered to be great by fans, but season 2 is widely regarded as being superior due to the improved pacing and writing, greater world-building, a slightly darker tone, and the bouts of Character Development for almost all of the main characters (and even supporting characters like Kaisa).
• Harsher in Hindsight: Johanna's status as a single mom and the situation with Hilda's Disappeared Dad Anders in season 3 has become a lot more uncomfortable when, a month after the release of season 3, it was revealed by Philippa Rice on Instagram that Hilda creator Luke Pearson had cheated on her, causing the two to break up and Rice to become a single mother to their children.
• Idiosyncratic Ship Naming: Johanna/Kaisa is often referred to as "Sketchbook" by fans, which is a subtle reference to their jobs ("sketch" referring to Johanna, who is a graphic designer, and "book" referring to Kaisa, who is a librarian). On Tumblr, the ship is usually tagged under "Sketchbook Hilda" or "Sketchbook ship" to avoid confusion with, well... actual sketches and sketchbooks.
• Iron Woobie: Hilda goes through one hell of a Trauma Conga Line and then some during the last five episodes of Season 1. From her falling out with Frida, discovering her idol to be a morally bankrupt fraud and almost dying afterwards, getting trapped in a sentient cabin, finding out that Frida has ditched her and David for an older girl who is affiliated with the Marta, her efforts to help Tontu landing her in hot water with her mother, and fearing what Johanna will think when she finds out that Hilda didn’t actually earn any badges...
• It's Short, So It Sucks!: Season 3 only consists of 8 episodes instead of the 13 episodes seasons 1 and 2 had. While this is understandable as the third season aimed to be more serialized compared to the previous two seasons, some fans felt the season's short length was a detriment, and prevented many of the new concepts and characters from being fully explored and realised. Though for some other fans, the length is preferable, as it means the show is focused on the plot more than anything else. It was later revealed by Luke Pearson that Netflix were the reason for this decision, though it should be noted that the final episode is feature-length at 77 minutes, meaning that three episodes were essentially combined into one Grand Finale.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Frida becomes this in the last five episodes of season 1. Between lashing out at Hilda and David when she lost her perfection all thanks to her Nisse stealing her favorite book and befriending the Marra out of desperation for friends only to get betrayed by them just to save themselves from the Black Hound, you couldn't help but feel bad for her.
  • Hilda becomes this in season 2. Constantly keeping Johanna in the dark of her adventures and lying to her about them, she ended up being grounded for the first time in her life when her recent adventure with the Kraken has been exposed. Between getting into arguments with her in the time travel episode and the season 2 finale, she ended up getting better in the latter upon seeing Johanna breaking down and being trapped in the troll cave with no way out.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Several Game of Thrones fans have flocked to this show purely for the fact that Bella Ramsey is in it.Ramsey is best known for their debut role as Lyanna Mormont and also voices Hilda, befitting both being Badass Adorable young girls.
• I Knew It!:
  • The city's library is associated with magic more than once in Season 1, and fans were quick to guess that the woman in charge was a Magic Librarian of some variety. This wasn't actually confirmed until Season 2 and "The Witch", which gave her a prominent role.
  • Once it was announced that a feature-length special would be released after Season 2, fans were quick to guess that the season would end with the cliffhanger ending of Hilda and the Stone Forest and the movie would follow up with an adaptation of Hilda and the Mountain King.
  • Once a third season was announced, most fans predicted that the season will finally address Hilda's Missing Dad, since he was alluded to in The Mountain King (Hilda asks Trylla if she had a troll dad) and his status is one of the few unresolved plot threads in the franchise. This would be confirmed in the season 3 trailer.
  • On the season 3 poster, many fans have noticed that one of the locations featured on it bears a striking resemblance to the place Victoria Van Gale ended up in at the end of "The Windmill", leading many to theorize that she'll play a role in some form. They were correct, as the radio frequencies in "Strange Frequencies" are revealed to be from her and she reappears in person in "The Fairy Isle", eventually playing a critical role in the climax where she saves Astrid.
• Like You Would Really Do It:
  • Hilda's Disney Death in "The Storm". Yes, we have absolute reason to believe you'd kill off the main protagonist of your show... with only three episodes of your season to go. Your first season, no less.
  • Did you really think that David would stay dead in Season 2?
  • Raise your hand if you thought Twig was gone for good at the climax of The Deerfox.
  • Did you really think Johanna was gonna die of her illness at the end of "The Fairy Isle", especially with Astrid looking to sacrifice herself to ensure she lives? Granted, even if it was obvious that Johanna was gonna live, that doesn't stop the scene from being an emotional punch to the stomach.
• Memetic Badass: Hilda herself is hyped up on 4chan's /co/ board to be a powerful individual, defeating the female protagonists of several animated shows such as Kipo Oak, Luz Noceda, Anne Boonchuy, Molly McGee etc.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • The fade-in transition to the credits◊ from "The Hidden People" in season 1, the very first episode of the show. It caught a lot of viewers off-guard, and used it to slap it at the ends of popular movies and TV shows.
  • Hilda opens the wrong door. ^ExplanationWhile Hilda is chasing a Vittra in "The Sparrow Scouts", she stumbles upon a house she thinks belongs to the Vittra in question, only to encounter a Vittra artist drawing a cow upon opening the door, causing her to say "whoops" in response. The scene would become a minor meme, often replacing the Vittra artist with something else.
  • Graggle Simpson confirmed for Hilda.^ExplanationWhen the season 3 poster was revealed, many fans noticed that one of the new characters on the poster — Pooka — bears a heavy resemblance to Graggle Simpson, a infamous meme fan character related to The Simpsons. This quickly led to jokes about how Pooka is Graggle.
• Moe: Hilda is an adorable, friendly, and noble little girl. Her pet, Twig, comes in as a close second.
• Never Live It Down: While Frida has since apologized and restored her friendship with Hilda and David, many fans haven't truly forgiven her for her actions near the end of S1, where she torpedoes her friendship with both of them, tells Hilda she should've never moved to Trolberg, and temporarily joins the Merra, despite them having tormented David in the past (something that he calls her out on). It remains one of the main reasons why she continues to be a Base-Breaking Character to this day.
• Retroactive Recognition: Hilda as Ellie Williams.
• Sacred Cow: The show is widely regarded as one of the best western cartoons of the late 2010s and early 2020s (and to many, of all time) thanks to its strong writing, gorgeous art style, constant quality, and well-developed characters and themes. While the show is not entirely above criticism, any major hate towards the show will be met with backlash from defensive fans.
• The Scrappy: Erik Ahlberg is very unpopular with fans due to his Glory Hound tendencies, lack of competency, and being a massive Jerkass to everyone, including his partners. While he's intended to be a Hate Sink, what pushes him into this territory for many is that he almost never faces any consequences for his actions or behavior (outside of "The Old Bells of Trolberg", in which a bell falls on him), with the end of The Mountain King having him be rewarded with a medal of honor for his actions, much to the irritation of fans, who felt he should've been punished instead. Needless to say, fans are glad he resigned at the end of the movie, expressing hope that he never appears again.
• Self-Fanservice: There are some fans of the show that tend to draw Hilda’s mother looking more... developed than she actually is in the show. Some of these fan artists give her a bigger bust and sizable hips. Kaisa also gets this too.
• Ships That Pass in the Night:
  • Johanna/Kaisa is a very popular ship amongst fans, despite a complete lack of interaction. This likely comes down to them being amongst the most prominent adults in the show (particularly in season 1), with Kaisa being one of the more helpful adults to Hilda.
  • Many fans have quickly begun to ship Anders/Bellkeeper not long after Season 3 thanks to a single interaction between them in the final episode, where they briefly bump into each other during the Bird Parade. It probably helps that Bellkeeper was theorized to be Hilda's father — until it was de-confirmed in season 3 — and that Anders is Hilda's actual father.
• Shocking Moments: The season 2 finale ends with a Sudden Downer Ending where Hilda is transported back to the Stone Forest and turned into a troll.
• Testosterone Brigade: Hilda’s mom Johanna has quite a few male fans who find her attractive and watch the show for her. Kaisa the witch librarian also has just as many fans for this reason.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: While the Great Raven's absence in S2 received criticism overall, fans were particularly annoyed by his total absence in the show's adaptation of "The Stone Forest", even though he was a key player in the original story (his role is instead fulfilled by other characters).
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Trevor has only appeared in about three episodes, tops, as someone who Hilda tried to befriend but she came to sever ties with because he was cruel to animals and mean to other kids. He also knows that she's involved in some "magic" if not witchcraft. Yet in season 2 he only appears once with his mother to toss snowballs at the Sparrow Scouts and for the Yule Lads to pinpoint as good meat for Gryla's soup.
  • The Great Raven (save for a cameo in "The Replacement") and the Marra sit out the entirety of Season 2, though they all return in the closing minutes of the series finale, with Raven having a prominent role in the final scene of the entire series. For Raven, it's disappointing enough considering that he doesn't even show up in "The Stone Forest" (which in the comics he had a major role in), but imagine how the Marra could have played into Frida's arc as a witch-in-training, especially as they trying to enlist her into their own group of the supernatural? It could be explained in that the Great Raven explained in his first appearance that he only migrates in Trolberg but he doesn't live there.
  • The Bellkeeper is one of the few adult characters to avert Adults Are Useless, is (initially) the Token Good Teammate of Safety Patrol, and is shown to have a good relationship with Hilda, while also sharing a lot in common with her (such as showing a compassionate side towards trolls and other creatures). However, despite having a ton of potential in the eyes of fans, he only has a major role in two episodes in the second season (Chapter 1 and 6) and a non-speaking cameo in the last episode. He also doesn't appear in Hilda and the Mountain King, despite Safety Patrol playing a huge role in the film's story.^note He was planned to appear in the film at one point, but he was scrapped due to the team not wanting to go through the trouble of getting his voice actor for what would've been small scenes.
  • Despite Louise becoming the fourth member of Hilda's friend group at the end of "The Laughing Merman" and being a potentially interesting character in her own right, acting as a quiet but observant kid who actively wants to participate in the trio's adventures, Louise is dropped and never acknowledged again for the rest of the season, save for a couple of brief cameos in "The Forgotten Lake" and "The Fairy Isle". Unfortunately, given that she had the poor luck of appearing in the final season, she is unlikely to see much use anytime soon.
  • Hilda's father Anders was one of the biggest mysteries in the series, and when he finally makes an appearance, many fans were disappointed that he appeared in only two episodes and lacked sufficient impact on the story, especially because he was absent for most of Hilda's life. Given the short length of the season, fans wished he could’ve been elaborated more and taken on a more active role in the story. The season also never touches on his relationship with Johanna and how they got together and subsequently fell apart (outside of them being on sour terms today), which could've fitted in well with the season touching more on Johanna's backstory.
  • The mysterious cloaked shadows stalking Hilda in Season 3 turn out to be her maternal grandparents, a fairy and a human who were forced to live in Fairy Country to save Johanna's life and were largely erased from Johanna's memories by Hilda's grandaunt to save her the pain of losing them. Unfortunately, due to Johanna's missing memories, their impact as characters is almost entirely limited to the final episode, which despite being triple the length of a normal episode, spends the first third on the rescue of Hilda's father, and the last third on Hilda and Joanna escaping Fairy Country, giving the pair little time to interact with their daughter, and even less time with their granddaughter, who's never met them before and never will again.
  • While Johanna (Hilda's mother), Anders (Hilda's father), and David's parents had some involvement in the Black Hound, Marra, Stone Forest, and Mountain King adventures, Frida's parents are the only ones who haven't had a helping hand nor had any involvement in Hilda's adventures. We don't even learn if they know of Frida being a witch.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • While it does lead to bouts of significant character development, the aftermath of Frida's falling out with Hilda and David is mostly pushed to the sidelines, and the entire conflict itself is resolved pretty underwhelmingly. Apart from Hilda's attempt to find a replacement copy of Frida's book, it isn't even brought up in "The House of the Woods", which would have made its message about finding the good in a new home, even if it seems minimal, even stronger.
  • In "The Fifty-Year Night," thanks to Timey-Wimey Ball, Mr. Ostenfeld in the prime timeline ends up never obsessively returning to the night where he met a younger Tildy. As a result, he's happier. Tildy also refuses to reveal to Mr. Ostenfeld who she is, telling Hilda the time for rekindling their relationship has long past and Tildy made a mess of things already by meddling. It would be sweet to see their romance start anew especially when the alternate timeline showed them Happily Married and growing old together. At the very least, both Mr. Ostenfeld and Tilly are shown in the Season 3 finale walking together at the Bird Parade, implying they are starting a relationship.
    • Also in "The Fifty-Year Night", Hilda ends up encountering her future self at the nightclub when the Time Worm appears, which could've been potentially interesting, especially since Future Hilda is shown to be Older and Wiser than her present day counterpart. However, they only briefly interact a couple of times in the nightclub before Future Hilda gets swallowed up by the Time Worm, wasting the opportunity altogether. The circumstances that led Future Hilda to the past to begin with are also never revealed.
  • Hilda attempting to find anything that could potentially discredit Erik Ahlberg is set up to be a recurring plot thread throughout Season 2... and then following a very brief mention in "The Witch" (the third episode of the season), it's never brought up again.
  • With how the ending of Season 1 implied Jellybean and his owner settled down in the wilderness, it would have been nice to see Hilda and Johanna come across them in "The Deerfox", especially when one thinks about its theme regarding pets and separation from them.
  • Despite Hilda having a positive relationship with her father Anders, she is shown to have abandonment issues due to him being absent for most of her life. Many fans believed their reunion could serve as a source of drama, but it only happens for brief moments. Even when Anders tries to speak up about his regret, Hilda tells him that they need to save it for later, which many fans saw as a wasted heart-to-heart moment.
  • The mysterious Fairy Isle is built up throughout season 3, with Johanna and Astrid having unexplained connections to it. The finale reveals it to be a magical realm where fairies live and from whence all magical creatures came. Two of the fairies happen to be Johanna's parents, one of whom was born human. The implications of this place's existence, its inhabitants, and the fact that Johanna and Hilda are part-fairy have little consequence, as this is all revealed at the end of the series.
  • Hilda, David, and Frida’s reputation as “The Freaky Friends” due to their innate adventures seemed like an interesting subplot for Season 3. Given how the other Sparrow Scouts, minus Louise, treat them with hostility, it would be interesting to see how other kids like Trevor or even the Marra would treat them for their habit of getting into dangerous situations. It would also be interesting to see how adults would treat them for their reputation too. Instead, not only is their “Freaky Friends” status never brought up again but also we never see the trio interact with other kids as well after “Chapter 4: The Laughing Merman”.
  • Although Frida giving her Nisse a new timer and Hilda, Frida, and David creating a lending library for Nisse to share seems to imply that Frida is now on good terms with her Nisse, it would've paid to see a scene that confirms Frida and her Nisse are actually on good terms now, either with Frida teaching her Nisse how to share or that Nisse apologizing for stealing her book twice. And did Frida ever reclaim her book that second time or did she just leave it?
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Frida has been accused by some of falling into this in "Strange Frequencies" due to prioritizing the Nisse and their issues over the wellbeing of Hilda, who is undergoing an emotional breakdown over the loss of her father and her attempts to seek him out. While she was not entirely wrong to be upset and to call her out when she and Tontu inadvertently cause Frida's ill-fated attempt to soothe tensions between the Nisse to fall apart (which even so, is thanks to one of the Nisse having stolen Hilda's radio), some argue she probably could've been more sympathetic to Hilda than to leave her.
• Unnecessary Makeover: Some fans are a bit peeved that Hilda loses the blue skirt in The Mountain King's epilogue and in season 3 (as indicated by the released screenshots and promo art), arguing that the blue skirt helps balance out and break up the red sweater and black pants, and without them, the whole thing looks off. It doesn't help that her outfit otherwise looks the same as it does in S1 and S2, making its absence all the more jarring.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: There has been quite some debate about the gender of the Nisse originally living in Hilda's home, who eventually turns out to be The Black Hound's owner. The graphic novels and animated series make no mention of whether this nisse is male or female, but female seems the most likely due to its lack of body hair; the only other hairless Nisse seen in the graphic novels and animated series is this nisse's mother. Luke Pearson also stated that the nisse is female. In the novelization "Hilda and the Nowhere Space" however, the nisse is explicitly referred to as male.
• Viewer Name Confusion: The city that the protagonists live in is named "Trolberg", with a single l and an e; the correct spelling is shown in chapter 2 on the cover of a book. But even among fans of the show, you will frequently catch people misspelling it as "Trolburg" or "Trollberg". A fact not lost on Luke Pearson himself:
  Luke Pearson: There’s only one 'L' in Trolberg, which most people seem to get wrong, including my publisher and people involved with the show.
• The Woobie: Johanna is this. The series has a lot of moments, where something bad happens to her: she nearly died as a baby, lost her parents at age of ten when they traded their own freedom for her survival, and at same time most of her childhood memories were erased, apparently had a fallout with her husband, had her house and car destroyed, her daughter constantly lied to her about getting into life-threatening adventures, struggled with getting gigs on her graphic designs, had her soul nearly stolen and had her daughter kidnapped and turned into a troll. Everyone should agree that her overprotectiveness of Hilda is not misguided at all.

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