History Literature / HowToTrainYourDragon

* LavaSurfing: Done in ''How to Twist a Dragon's Tale,''. using a dragon as a surfing board

** Toothless.
** Also Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. He's an accident who wouldn't exist were it not or Alvin the Treacherous interfering with fate. This is Lampshaded in ''How To Ride a Dragon's Storm'' and ''How To Break a Dragon's Heart''.

* MeaningfulName: [[DumbMuscle Dogsbreath the Duhbrain]], [[spoiler:[[ManipulativeBastard Alvin the Treacherous]]]], [[GagBoobs Big-Boobied Bertha]], [[AxCrazy Norbert the Nutjob]], [[TheAce Humungously Hotshot the Hero]], [[TheBigGuy Stoick the Vast]], and, of course, Toothless.
** Also Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. He's an accident who wouldn't exist were it not or Alvin the Treacherous interfering with fate. This is Lampshaded in How To Ride a Dragon's Storm and How To Break a Dragon's Heart.
----> '''Excellinor:''' "Because that's what they call the runts in the Hooligan Tribe. Hiccup means 'accident', you see."

* NoSympathy: In a flashback in Book Twelve, it's revealed that when Hiccup was ten, he was captured and imprisoned by Visithugs. When he sent a letter to his mother Valhallarama for help, she told him he needed to figure out how to escape on his own. [[spoiler: He eventually does.]]

It was notably given an incredibly successful film adaption by Creator/DreamWorksAnimation, with ex-Creator/{{Disney}} animators Creator/ChrisSanders and Creator/DeanDeBlois (both of ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'' fame) at the director's helm, which spawned multiple sequels and a TV series. It is largely an InNameOnly adaptation, but most characters retain their book names. Trope page for the film is '''[[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon here]]'''.

!!Tropes for the Books include:

* LostRomanLegion: In the first book, a gigantic sea-dragon, called the Green Death, washes up on the Isle of Berk and soon reveals his intention to eat the locals. As a piece of backstory, it is mentioned that the dragon's last meal was a whole Roman legion which he had caught camping on a clifftop, and which he has spent centuries to digest. As author Cressida Cowell has said that the "Barbaric Archipelago" which is the setting of the series is somewhat inspired by the Hebrides, the legion which got devoured by the Green Death might as well be the "vanished" Ninth Spanish Legion.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Alvin mockingly giving [[spoiler: a lobster necklace that he found in Grimbeard's Coffin years ago to a woman he married unknowingly gave away the real Dragon Jewel, which was hidden inside.]] He and [[spoiler: his mother realize at least twenty years [[OhCrap too late]] his mistake, when Hiccup is wearing the necklace and he reveals the jewel inside. Hiccup received the necklace because his friend Fishlegs gave it to him out of kindness]]
* {{Homage}}: [[spoiler:The end of ''How to Cheat a Dragon's curse'' resembles the ending of ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh''.]]

* ComplexityAddiction: Grimbeard had this while setting up his booby traps; it gets to the point that Hiccup only finds the Lost Things BecauseDestinySaidSo, and it takes about five years.

** The most notable one: Hiccup II refusing to let [[spoiler: Furious fire on his father after Grimbeard stabs Hiccup II in the heart during a peaceful dragon demonstration]] and asking his father to look into [[spoiler: his dying eyes to know that he meant no treachery]]. Of course, this doesn't help ''at all'' because [[spoiler: Furious in his grief gets captured and weighed down by chains for thousands of years]] and Grimbeard [[spoiler: crosses the DespairEventHorizon and sails off into the sunset.]]

Better than it sounds, it's got witty humor, LampshadeHanging, clever dialogue and GettingCrapPastTheRadar. Thus, [[PeripheryDemographic teens and adults have found]] [[GuiltyPleasure a good read in them]].

It was notably given an incredibly successful film adaption by Creator/DreamWorksAnimation, with ex-Creator/{{Disney}} animators Creator/ChrisSanders and Creator/DeanDeBlois (both of ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'' fame) at the director's helm. It is largely an InNameOnly adaptation, but most characters retain their book names. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHUhygdAZIw Here's the trailer.]] Trope page for the film is '''[[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon here]]'''.

* Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third - The son of the Viking Chieftain of the Hairy Hooligans. Although weedy and ordinary-looking, he's extremely intelligent and the OnlySaneMan.
** Toothless - Hiccup's dragon, named for his lack of teeth. He is very fussy and disobedient.
* Fishlegs - Hiccup's DeadpanSnarker best friend and an even more pathetic Viking than Hiccup. He's got a limp, poor vision, numerous allergies, and is easily scared.
** Horrorcow - Fishlegs' dragon. Docile and a vegetarian, she sleeps a lot.
* Snotface Snotlout - Second-in-line for the chief's throne and Hiccup's cousin, Snotlout is everything a Viking SHOULD be. He frequently tries to get rid of Hiccup so he may one day become the chief. [[spoiler: He succeeds in Book 9, courtesy of Alvin. Then gets KilledOffForReal in book 11.]]
** Fireworm - Snotlout's dragon. A brutal killer and easily provoked. She's every bit as smug and mean-spirited as Snotface.
* Stoick the Vast - The current Viking chief. Is a caring father but is dense and quick-tempered.
* Gobber the Belch - The head teacher of the Viking Initiation Program and the Pirate Initiation Program.
* Camicazi - Heiress to the throne of the Bog Burglars, Camicazi is a violent Viking girl who fights first and asks questions later. Friends with Hiccup and Fishlegs.
** Stormfly - Camicazi's dragon. A rare breed, she's a constant fibber and turns purple when she lies. One of the only dragons to speak Norse.

* AlliterativeName: Too many to count. There's everything from names ("Hiccup Horrendous Haddock" the Third) to a good portion of the Viking Tribes ("Bog Burglars") to even the names of celebrations ("[[PunnyName Thor'sday Thursday]]"). Also, the text itself is FILLED with alliterations - strings of five or six words starting with the same sound are not uncommon. It's especially obvious in the audiobook version of the series.
* AndroclesLion: The dragons that Hiccup helped before-- One Eye and Ziggerastica-- refuse to [[spoiler: attack Hiccup or join the rebellion. The nanodragons even send a sign that Hiccup is chosen to be king.]]

* ColdBloodedTorture: Literally. In Book Eleven, in an attempt to BreakTheBadass, [[spoiler: Excellinor chains up Hiccup and lowers him into the freezing winter ocean, which is crawling with Winterfleshers - small, pirhana-like dragons that would "certainly attack a chained child". By the end he is blue all over and almost dead from hypothermia, but he still refuses to give in.]]

** The Rashem Oiks and Ugli-Thugs are feuding because... who are you looking at, sunshine?
*** Yes, some of these are very sensitive - particularly Bog Burglars vs Rashem Oiks and Bog Burglars vs Visithugs (in that order).

* CharacterDevelopment: All the characters, heroes and villains alike, change over the course of the series. Hiccup grows from a brilliant if cautious ten-year old to potential King of the Wilderwest and expert Dragon Whisperer. Alvin the Treacherous becomes more dangerous and cunning, thanks to his mother Excellinor. Fishlegs grows a pair and gets rid of his horrendous self-esteem. [[spoiler: Snoutlout becomes more and more horrible as the series goes on, then redeems himself in a CrowningMomentOfAwesome .]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Hiccup in the prologue and epilogue of each book explains that his memoirs explain how he became a hero "the Hard Way" and several epilogues have shown how things got better in terms of curing Vorpentitis and repairing his relationship with his mother. We readers do know that he survives [[spoiler: the Island of Tomorrow and its guardians, Alvin the Treacherous and Excellinor's scheming, the Sea Dragon Furious who believes Hiccup will end the world of dragons]]. [[spoiler: Also that while the dragons disappear, to hide from humans, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Toothless stays with him.]] ]]

It was notably given an incredibly successful film adaption by Creator/DreamWorksAnimation, with ex-Disney animator Chris Sanders (''Disney/LiloAndStitch'') at the director's helm. It is largely an InNameOnly adaptation, but most characters retain their book names. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHUhygdAZIw Here's the trailer.]] Trope page for the film is '''[[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon here]]'''.

** Snotlout dueling Hiccup [[spoiler: in Book Eleven]] and blaming him for [[spoiler: all that has happened in the last books]], as well as for being born and upstaging Snotlout's position as heir. Hiccup during the duel is apologizing for what he has and hasn't done, which is [[VictimBlaming unsettling to victims of abuse]].

* ActionGirl: Camicazi.
** If we can infer anything from her and Bertha's description, what she says, and the [[spoiler:letter to Stoick from her]], the entire Bog Burglar tribe somehow seems to be made up completely of women. Cressida Cowell has confirmed on Twitter that the male Bogs are part of a tribe called the Silents.

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Arguably, ''How to Betray a Dragon's Hero'' because of the choices that Hiccup makes. As the Wodensfang puts it, "Your mother said not to leave the Hideout" and Valhallarama laments that Hiccup accidentally messed with her plan.

** It apparently is InTheBlood for Haddocks: Grimbeard the Ghastly [[spoiler: enslaved dragons and humans, turned the Dragonmark into the Slavemark and thus corrupted a symbol of his ancestor's pride]]. As the Wodensfang tells it, "the gods" then punished Grimbeard by [[spoiler: giving him a runt son, Hiccup II, that ended up raised by dragons and became his favorite child]].

** Human examples: Snotlout and his cronies.

Better than it sounds, it's got witty humor, [[GenreSavvy Genre savviness]], LampshadeHanging, clever dialogue and GettingCrapPastTheRadar. Thus, [[PeripheryDemographic teens and adults have found]] [[GuiltyPleasure a good read in them]].

* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Hiccup, Camicaze, and Fishlegs.

** Also Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. He is an accident that isn't supposed to exist. This is Lampshaded in How To Ride a Dragon's Storm.

** Also Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third as [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded] in How To Ride a Dragon's Storm.

** A more subtle example happens in ''A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons.'' In that book, Hiccup [[spoiler: sells the Hairy Scary Librarian into slavery to save Big-Boobied Bertha from Madguts the Murderous. In the very next book, Hiccup received the Slavemark through a series of random events, and it dogs him for the rest of the series. Hairy also gets his revenge in ''How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel.'']]

** Not so. Hiccup II may have been this trope but Hiccups I & III in many ways were not. Hiccup I was not afraid to use fear against his enemies when he [[spoiler: threatened to break the Dragon Jewel and destroy the dragons forever]], and two of Hiccup III's plans involved first-degree, cold-blooded murder ([[spoiler: Norbert the Nutjob and the Monster of the Amber Slavelands]]).

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Hiccup, in ''How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse''. He disobeys his father, the Chief, to save Fishlegs.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Snotlout does this at the start of ''How to Train Your Dragon''.