History Literature / HowToTrainYourDragon

* InstructionalTitle

* SneezeOfDoom: Happened twice in the first book; Fishlegs does one in the beginning [[spoiler:...actually four, waking all the dragons in the dragon nursery and necessitating a hasty escape]] and the Green Death does one at the end. [[spoiler:Because he swallowed Hiccup, Toothless flies up his nostril and causes him to sneeze him out]].

* {{Gainaxing}}: Book 7 gives us a scene of this with Big-Boobied Bertha.

* WeaponOfChoice: Hiccup and Camicazi both wield swords.
** Also Norbert and his axe.
** The Hairy ScaryLibrarian's twin swords.

** In the first book, Hiccup calls out Stoick for [[spoiler:banishing all of the Initiates and placing the Law over the life of his own son. Does the same to his mother for seemingly betraying him to Alvin the Treacherous and the witch, though YMMV on if it's a subversion]]

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Some of the names fall into this, such as "Humungously Hotshot the Hero". Abbreviated: "Humungous".
* AnAxeToGrind: Norbert the Nutjob's ''fricking huge axe.''

* AmbiguousSituation: in book 11, it's unclear at which point [[spoiler:Snotlout]] truly has his change of heart and HeelFaceTurn. Is it after the witch [[ColdbloodedTorture tortures Hiccup]] and makes it clear [[spoiler:Snotlout]] is too untrustworthy to be [[DudeWheresMyRespect rewarded]]? Or is it earlier, when he first tells Hiccup he's joining his side? He did lead Hiccup into ambush, but it gave Hiccup the opportunity [[spoiler:to rescue Camicazi and steal the Things back]] and by that point it's well known Hiccup's a GuileHero and [[GenreSavvy can be expected]] to have an escape plan - which he does. And then [[spoiler:Snotlout]] frees all Hiccup's allies. He didn't have to tell Hiccup where [[HiddenVillage Alvintown]] was; if he hadn't, Alvin would have retained more advantage.

* AssholeVictim: After he locked up his daughter and attempted to have Hiccup, Fishlegs and eleven other heroes killed by the [[HumanSacrifice Berserk]] tribe, it's unlikely anyone weeps when royalty-obsessed [[FatBastard Chief]] [[UG GoodSmokingEvilSmoking]] the Uglithug gets [[spoiler:dragged into space to die]] as he tries to [[TheUsurper grab the throne of the Wilderwest]].

* BloodIsThickerThanWater: Averted hard. Hiccup's descended from kings but most were nothing like him (and one was [[TheDreaded Grimbeard the Ghastly]]). The Vikings in general expose their "runt" babies. And when [[DoorstepBaby Fishlegs]] discovers his heritage, the Berserk Tribe reject him, and his DisappearedDad is [[spoiler: Alvin, the BigBad]].

** The treasure hunt in ''How to Be a Pirate''. After nearly dying thanks to the Skullions waking up and [[spoiler: a battle with Outcasts]], the [[spoiler: decoy]] treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly sinks with the Hooligan ship ''The Lucky Thirteen''. None of the Hooligans care, however, given that the ship sunk [[spoiler: with Hiccup on it]].
** [[spoiler: Valhallarama]] believes her quest was this when she is forced to accept the Priest's judgment that [[spoiler: Alvin is to be crowned King of the Wilderwest, since he has presented all the Lost Things]]. Hiccup found all the Lost Things staying at home, and the price of her journeying meant that they never had a proper relationship.

** ZigZagged with Humongous the Hotshot in ''How to Twist a Dragon's Tale''; he [[spoiler: keeps trying to kill Hiccup while posing as his bodyguard]] but cannot overcome his hero instincts.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Mostly averted. None of the characters are actually that pretty, with the exception of Humungously Hotshot the Hero, and [[spoiler:Alvin, who seems to be getting uglier each book.]]

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: How [[spoiler: Alvin]] responds to Fishleg's CallingTheOldManOut. He implies that when he was good-looking he ReallyGetsAround and [[spoiler: shows no remorse for condemning her to life as a poor single mother.]]
* ButtMonkey: Hiccup and Fish legs frequently get beat around by [[JerkAss Snotlout]] and his dumbass sidekick, Dogsbreath.

** When the Hooligan tribe encounters Grimbeard the Ghastly's booby traps while searching for his treasure in ''How to Be a Pirate,'' the reader assumes that Grimbeard merely had a nasty sense of humor. Then in ''How to Break a Dragon's Heart'' and ''How to Betray a Dragon's Hero'' Hiccup and the reader learns that Grimbeard [[spoiler: created slavery for dragons and humans alike, turned the Dragonmark into the Slavemark, murdered his son Hiccup II believing him to be a traitor, and left the Archipelago in the state that it was]].

* 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.]]
* ChekhovsArmory: Some of the King's Lost Things: [[spoiler: Grimbeard's second-best sword Endeavor, the Roman shield, the Hysteric key that opens everything, Toothless, Grimbeard's "ticking thing," the heart's stone that contains a ruby]]. Others to note: [[spoiler: Hiccup's Slavemark and Norbert's flying machine]], in ''How To Ride A Dragon's Storm'' and [[spoiler: Fishlegs's lobster pot]] in ''How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel''. Grimbeard's letter to Hiccup ends up [[spoiler: nominating him as king.]]

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: ''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.
* CrapsaccharineWorld: The Viking Archipelago. Sure it has dragons, but it also has established slavery, murderous Vikings, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking limpets!]] No wonder Hiccup decided to change things when he could, by becoming King of the Wilderwest

** Inverted here. [[spoiler: By breaking up Humongous Hotshot and Valhallarama so she would marry Stoick the Vast instead, Alvin inadvertently helped bring Hiccup into existence. Karma's a bitch, isn't it?]]

** Alvin [[spoiler: the Treacherous]] has a DisneyDeath four times throughout the series, leaving him [[spoiler: one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged, no-nosed, and folically challenged]].

** '''Toothless''' -- Hiccup's dragon, named for his lack of teeth. He is very fussy and disobedient.

* '''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.]]

It was notably given an incredibly successful film adaption by Creator/DreamWorksAnimation, with ex-Creator/{{Disney}} animators Creator/ChrisSanders and Creator/DeanDeBlois (both of ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' fame) at the director's helm, which spawned multiple sequels (also written and directed by [=DeBlois=]) 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]]'''.

Book twelve ended the series, and it was released on 8 September 2015. There is also a SpinOff called ''How to Train Your Viking'', which takes place between the second and third books told in Toothless's point of view. Hiccup and his father Stoick the Vast actually made their first appearance in a picture book called ''Hiccup: The Viking Who Was Seasick'', essentially making it a prequel to the main series, so that it was later reprinted as ''How to Be a Viking''. No dragons in that one, though.

* MissingMom: Valhallarama, Hiccup's mother. She briefly appears in ''How To Train your Dragon''...only to promptly disappear for a couple of books, until it's revealed she's off questing. Reappears in Books Ten and Eleven.
** Even in ''How to Be a Viking'', where Hiccup is about five years old, Valhallarama is never mentioned, implying that she had already set off questing by this point. Hiccup is mainly being brought up by his father and by Valhallarama's father.

Book twelve ended the series, and it was released on 8 September 2015. There is also a SpinOff called ''How to Train Your Viking'', which takes place between the second and third books told in Toothless's point of view. Hiccup and his father Stoick the Vast actually made their first appearance in a picture book called ''Hiccup: The Viking Who Was Seasick'', essentially making it a prequel to the main series. No dragons in that one, though.

* MissingMom: Valhallarama, Hiccup's mother. She briefly appears in ''How To Train your Dragon''...only to promptly disappear for a couple of books, until it's revealed she's off questing. Reappears in Books Ten and Eleven

* AdultFear:
** Stoick's had to raise Hiccup on his own due to Valhallarama being a Missing Mom with her questing. Thus he freaks out each time Hiccup suffers a DisneyDeath, which occurs once a book. The very last DisneyDeath in Book 11 [[spoiler: leaves him and Valhallarama heartbroken]]. Part of his CharacterDevelopment is [[spoiler: letting Hiccup go out to face Furious in a confrontation that could be a DuelToTheDeath]].
** When forbidden love happens, one of the parties might only [[spoiler: seduce his lover to learn the location of Grimbeard's coffin, leaving a pregnant wife to die. Fishlegs is horrified when he's learned what his father did.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: Valhallarama and Hiccup in Books Ten and Eleven. Justified in one instance, where [[spoiler:Valhallarama has been ordered to kill the the enemy of the Wilderwest without knowing that it's Hiccup, and Hiccup can't tell her to stop fighting because his helmet gets jammed during their fencing duel.]] In Book Eleven, [[spoiler: she just tells Hiccup to seek refuge in a Hideout until the Doomsday of the Yule, and doesn't explain her plan to obtain the Lost Things. As a result, when Hiccup decides to trust Snotlout and steal the Lost Things on his own, he accidentally interrupts Valhallarama's plan. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that there's no reliable source of communication during the war.]]

* BigBad: Usually [[spoiler:[[MagnificentBastard Alvin the Treacherous]]]]. Also: The Green Death, Norbert the Nutjob and Furious.

* UnfortunateNames: Quite a few characters, although Fishlegs, Baggybum the Beerbelly, Clueless, Lardtummy Low-Watt, and Loudmouth the Gouty are some of the worst.

** 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]]. To add to the karma further, [[spoiler:Grimbeard dooms his kingdom and his legacy by believing his other son Thugheart that Hiccup II will raise a dragon rebellion. This leads to him stabbing Hiccup II, who dies in his arms an innocent man. When Thugheart does his ''real'' rebellion, Grimbeard manages to suppress it but realizes his kingdom is torn apart and he has tainted the Haddock legacy.]]

* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons: Obviously.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Not even a legitimate attempt to get it past the radar. Apparently, the Dragonese word for "poo" is "crappa". The word for "toilet" is "crapspot".
** ''Everything'' about "''[[GagBoobs Big-Boobied Bertha]]''". Yeah.
** They used the word "hell" once, in ''How To Cheat A Dragon's Curse''. Not normally a big deal in most {{literature}}, but it's notable when it's in a book written for 8-12 year olds.
** Berk is a British slang word meaning idiot/{{Jerkass}}, derived from Berkshire Hunt, which is cockney rhyming slang for CountryMatters.
** The Bog-Burglar War Cry sounds like a "very rude word shouted at the top of one's lungs".
** In How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel, Toothless calls Valhallarama (believing she was a man) a "terrifying tin of testosterone".

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

* 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 off the Scottish coast, the legion which got devoured by the Green Death might as well be the "vanished" Ninth Spanish Legion.

** [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Toothless.]]