Line #56 Fridge/HowToTrainYourDragon


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3	[[folder: Book Series]]
4	!!FridgeBrilliance
5	* Most of the FridgeBrilliance is acknowledged in the series itself. One of the more notable examples is Valhallarama's ShutUpHannibal speech to [[spoiler: the witch and Alvin]] in Book 10, where she points out that Hiccup came across the Lost Things when he was in the middle of noble acts, displaying kingly behavior.
6	** He obtained Toothless, "the dragon with no teeth," by giving his first dragon to Fishlegs and running back to seize one. Hiccup could have let his best friend fend for himself but chose not to.
7	** Grimbeard's "second-best sword" came into play when Hiccup refused to let [[spoiler: Alvin cut him down]] in the cave under the ocean, and showed off his ability as a [[SouthpawAdvantage Southpaw]].
8	** He demands the Roman shield as a promise of peace from the Roman consul after employing [[BadassAdorable Ziggerastica]] to assist in a strong deception, preventing an invasion of the Viking lands as well as a LetsYouAndHimFight scenario between the Hooligans and Bog Burglars. Hiccup also makes the Roman consul swear to stop eating dragons. Hiccup not only prevents a fight, but also sees worth in every creature, big and small.
9	** The Quest for the Potato brings THREE Lost things: the key that opens all locks, the ticking thing and the arrow from a foreign land. Hiccup engages on the quest to save his friend Fishlegs's life, demonstrates LoopholeAbuse during the Trial of the Axe, and afterward [[spoiler: uses the arrow to plant more potatoes, curing Vorpentitis everywhere.]]
10	** On the Lava Lout Islands, Hiccup obtains the heart stone after using it to signal Humongous for help, rather than cede the Fire Stone to Alvin during their duel. He demonstrates courage, determination and resourcefulness under great duress.
11	** The Hooligans end up taking the throne after they survive a sneak ambush from Ug the Uglithug and Hiccup manages to rescue the unfortunate fiances, including himself, Humongous and Fishlegs, from the Beast on Berserk; taking the throne from Ug assesses that his methods of disposing of fiances for his daughter are wrong, and Hiccup shows his respect for human life. He also rescues Camicazi while he's at it, and becomes determined to accept his potential destiny as King of the Wilderwest, even though he doesn't want to be king.
12	** Hiccup receives the crown from the Wodensfang because he stops to listen to the tale, and to reason with the Wodensfang's ([[KnightInSourArmor reasonable]]) bitterness about how the dragon's attempts to aid Hiccup I led to all dragons eventually getting enslaved.
13	** The Dragon's Jewel is probably the hardest Lost Thing to obtain, considering it was buried in the middle of the Amber Slavelands and [[spoiler: guarded by a murderous dragon that drags its prey into the sand]]. Hiccup not only makes the hard choice of taking the Jewel, but also saves Fishlegs's life while he's at it. The whole reason he came to the Slavelands was to rescue his father and Fishlegs from slavery.
14	* One moral of the series is "The best is not always the most obvious," and Toothless and Fireworm, Snotlout's dragon, show this. When they just need to show off or impress the tribe publicly Fireworm always appears to be the best, and she is the obvious choice for being the best, but when their masters are in danger it is Toothless who is the best dragon. When real danger comes Fireworm often screams "desert" and uselessly flees.
15	* The first book has some that is not revealed until the end of the series.
16	** [[spoiler: In the first book Toothless becomes way more capable of hunting when he goes in seawater, foreshadowing that he is a Sea Dragonus Giganticus Maximus.]]
17	** [[spoiler: Stoick mentions banishing himself after merely debating the rules with himself. It seems odd until it is revealed in Book 9 that he previously broke a major rule to keep Hiccup alive a decade before the series even began, and Hiccup is a constant reminder that he should be banished by Hooligan Law.]]
18	** Hiccup is first taught a common moral of the series, "The best is not always the most obvious" from the least obvious source, the villain of the first book.
19	* TheReveal that [[spoiler:Fishlegs is Alvin's son, and thus Hiccup's distant cousin]], explains how Hiccup was able to obtain the Lost Things; Fishlegs provided the impetus or the motivation in most of the situations. if Fishlegs hadn't forgotten to get a dragon, Hiccup wouldn't have given him Horrowcow and gone back for Toothless. If Fishlegs hadn't gone berserk at the wrong time on two separate occasions, Hiccup wouldn't have discovered Endeavor in the underwater cave or obtained the Roman shield. Hiccup fetched the potato to save his best friend's life, and the Running Away Suitcase ends up buying enough time for Hiccup to get help from Humongous. The list goes on and on. As Hiccup puts it, "YOU are important to me!"
20	* Why don't we hear any more about Hiccup's other ancestors, like Hiccup II's brother Chucklehead, or his grandparents on his dad's side? Vikings strongly discourage reading and writing, and we only hear oral tales from antagonists when they want to persuade Hiccup. There are no books on Haddock history, despite the fact that Chucklehead managed to keep the survivors of his father's kingdom together. We hear Hiccup's tale because he did take the time to write his memoirs down before he forgot.
21	* The Wodensfang and the witch tell Hiccup that as a king he'll have to make hard decisions, though Hiccup opts for AlwaysSaveTheGirl even when it borders on LethallyStupid. Who ended up not making hard decisions? Grimbeard the Ghastly. [[spoiler:It was easy for him to enslave the dragons, leave his infant son to die, and drive away his wife. Likewise, it was easy for him to take back the grown Hiccup II because tradition mandated it, to emotionally abuse the boy and ban him from speaking Dragonese, and to kill his son on thinking him a traitor. Likewise, it was easier to banish Thugheart for his actual treachery rather than to kill him, because the better decision would have been to kill Thugheart as well so that his heirs couldn't fulfill the prophecy. All of these "easy" decisions lead to the hard ones that Hiccup makes in the present, as well as leave Hiccup with the problems of dragon slavery and Furious.]]
22	* Why did Valhallarama a long time ago refuse to rescue Hiccup when he was kidnapped? Because the last time she waited for a distress signal, [[spoiler:she thought she was too late to save her love, Humongous. [[SarcasmMode Thanks, Alvin]].]] Not wanting to go through that trauma again, and wanting Hiccup to be a better hero than [[spoiler: Humongous was]], she sternly orders him to rescue himself. Hiccup didn't understand, only believing his mother didn't care as much as his father did.
23	* Stoick's jealousy of Humongous makes more sense when Humongous reveals that [[spoiler:they both courted Valhallarama, and Stoick won her by stealing the Fire Stone, especially as Valhallarama seemed to prefer Humongous.]]
24	* So Hiccup is a master swordsman, and he is left handed. As everyone who fenced or did any kind of swordplay in his life against a leftie knows, it's harder to win against them because their sword comes at you in unusual angles. So it could be that his talent with a sword doesn't come from sheer skill with it, but more from the fact that his opponents aren't used to his fighting style.
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26	!!FridgeHorror
27	* The amount of trauma that Hiccup endures in each book would send a modern person into permanent PTSD, for a [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids kid's series]]. Hiccup shrugs it off and keeps moving, but one wonders how he dealt with his angst in the fifty-something year gap between Becoming a Hero the Hard Way and writing about his teen years.
28	** One [[http://askbookhttyd.tumblr.com/post/108688427249 fancomic]] had an answer
29	** Book One features the Green Death swallowing Hiccup alive; if not for Toothless's SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, Hiccup would've been a dead hero. It goes FromBadToWorse from here on out.
30	** More so that Hiccup at the end of ''How to Betray A Dragon's Hero'' assesses that he needed all the suffering and losses to become the hero that he needed to become.
31	* InUniverse FridgeHorror from ''How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse'', Hiccup [[spoiler: was revealed as the Viking with Vorpentitis. If Hiccup hadn't gone on the quest, he would have died.]]
32	* The whole quest to find the Lost Things and crown a new King of the Wilderwest happened because Grimbeard the Ghastly crossed the DespairEventHorizon and dismantled his kingdom, creating a prophecy for a new, worthier King to take his place. [[spoiler:According to the Wodensfang, Grimbeard was the first Hooligan to turn the Dragonmark into the Slavemark, and to enslave humans and dragons while building his empire, [[TheCaligula while a]] [[TyrantTakesTheHelm teenager]]. The Dragon Jewel gave Grimbeard power over all the dragons, and thus he could have used it and the power from his empire to end the slavery that he had created, and he could have killed his son Thugheart, Alvin the Treacherous's ancestor, instead of exiling him.]]
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36	[[folder: Film]]
37	!!FridgeBrilliance
38	* Most dragon species seem to be at least partially piscivorous (fish eater). Thus, it makes sense that a certain species of eel would develop a toxin that's only dangerous to dragons. Bright, eye-catching colors (like, say, yellow and black stripes) are [[TruthInTelevision how most real life toxic animals advertise their toxicity to would-be predators]].
39	** In the episode "The Eel Effect", Toothless accidentally consumes an Eel, which causes him to hallucinate, become violent, and fire red plasma blasts that he can't control, with no regard to his shot limit. So yeah. Eels = Very Bad For Dragons.
40	** In "Gift of the Night Fury", all the dragons hatch eggs on an island with lots of pools, and Gronkles actually put their eggs in water to avoid getting hit by shrapnel of the hatching explosions. Since none of the babies can fly more than a few feet and their parents won't leave them, of course dragons would default to eating fish. They might also teach their young to swim before flying, to strengthen their wings without the danger of cliffs.[[note]] Which just evokes in mind an image of a baby Night Fury trying to doggy-paddle. ''That'' is an adorable image.[[/note]]
41	** Likewise, it also makes sense that at least one race will come up with a counter/tolerance. Because if nobody but you want to eat your favorite meal there will be no competition. Hence the Typhoomerang.
42	* Notice that both Hiccup and Astrid met their future dragon partner (Toothless for Hiccup, Stormfly for Astrid), after they injured them (Hiccup's catapult device trapped Toothless and also ripped his tailfin and Astrid hit Stormfly with her axe (that was attached to Hiccup's shield)across the dragon's face. A subtle hint that the two Vikings would become a couple.
43	** There's also the fact that both of them are the only teen Vikings that rarely wear Viking helmets.
44	* During the training sequence with the Nadder in the maze, Hiccup loses all his weapons. His axe is blasted and his shield is smashed. These were his ties to his village. "When you carry this axe you carry all of us with you" Well, when it's gone, that leads into the very next scene where he tries to make contact with Toothless. [[FridgeBrilliance Brilliant!]]
45	** Astrid also loses her axe when meeting Toothless, and so forth through the movie.
46	** Done with knife and shield more often, but Hiccup ''throws'' away his weapons a lot; aside from the universal meaning of "I come in peace", it is particularly significant when he does it during the fight with the Monstrous Nightmare ''in front of the entire village''.
47	* The scene after Hiccup touches Toothless for the first time, is Hiccup, Gobber, and the other teens all around the campfire. Notice that everyone is roasting some part of a chicken, except Hiccup. He's roasting a fish. A subtle reference to that he's different from the rest of them, or he's a "fish out of water."
48	** Also a very subtle one at the same time, just before the campfire we have the a quiet, non-vocal, and very beautiful scene with just Hiccup and Toothless bonding, just the two of them, a boy and a dragon. Cut to the humans talking about loss of limbs and dragon killing. Once it's noticed it really does hammer down just which side is the real bad guys in the Dragon War.
49	* The scene where Hiccup and Toothless are taking Astrid for a ride, and the Aurora comes out. This troper could not stop thinking of the Rainbow Bridge, and how much the Lights must have looked like that to them. In traditional Norse mythology, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifrost Rainbow Bridge]] was considered a path between Midgard, the earth, and Asgard - the realm of the gods. Once one realizes the religious significance this must have to the teenagers, Astrid's reaction makes much more sense.
50	* The point of Hiccup's oversized vest as a piece of character design; it makes him look smaller. When he doesn't wear it, such as when he has on the flight harness, he looks more natural.
51	* Courtesy of the tumblr site, midnightdragonriders, we learn that every dragon is a perfect representation of their rider:
52	** Hiccup and Toothless- A rare find, intelligent, snarky, considered to be a danger, determined, loyal, protective, green eyes and kind.
53	** Astrid and Stormfly- very beautiful, light on their feet, and tougher than people may think.
54	** Snotlout and Hookfang: the most aggressive, easily angered, acknowledged by their brawn and prestige in appearance.
55	** Fishlegs and Meatlug: The biggest, love to eat, loyal, and loving.
56	** Ruffnut and Tuffnut and Barf and Belch: twins that work closely together, always arguing, mischievous, and can't work well without each other.
57	** [[spoiler: Stoick and Thornado: the power of Thor, ferocity of a tornado, and can be quite stubborn.]]
58	** [[spoiler: Alvin and the Whispering Death: Filthy, seeks revenge, and likes to live in dark places.]]
59	* If you think about it, the dragons [[spoiler: were indirectly protecting the Vikings from the Red Death. If the dragons had not stolen the food from the Vikings to feed the Red Death, the beast most likely would've attacked the village.....killing all of them.]]
60	** Actually, the only reason dragons were raiding Berk was because of the Red Death. Once ''that'' threat was eliminated, they reverted to their actual, more docile personality.
61	* No one ever saw a Night Fury before Hiccup. When Toothless brings Astrid and Hiccup to [[spoiler:the Red Death's lair]], he flies over the pit, but unlike [[spoiler:the Gronkle and its little fish]], he is not attacked. Why ? Because it never was his job to bring back food, Night Furies merely act as snipers covering other dragons, which is fitting considering their huge firepower and speed. Thus, ''they never have to land, which explains why no one ever saw one before''.
62	** This is even lampshaded by Hiccup, who says in the opening that Night Furies never show themselves, never miss, and ''never steal food.''
63	* Gobber (and one of the other tropers) mentioned that a downed dragon is a dead dragon. When Hiccup tells Astrid about why he didn't kill Toothless, he says it's because he looked as frightened as Hiccup was. Before that, he also points out to his father that the dragons have killed hundreds of Vikings and the Vikings have killed thousands of dragons. Most Vikings, excluding Stoick, need a weapon when fighting a dragon or they'll be killed. This means when Hiccup dropped his knife and released Toothless or during the fish offering: he was totally defenseless. The brilliance is: Hiccup released Toothless because he was scared shitless and ''Toothless spared Hiccup because he was also scared shitless.''
64	* The boneknapper. It's been chasing Gobber for years. Years during which it hasn't had a full set of armour. Years without a roar. It wasn't mean, it was just [[YouNeedToGetLaid frustrated.]]
65	* Why does the [[spoiler: Red Death explode]]? Well, before it, they had shown how the Zippleback ignited the fire: one head put sparks to the other's gas. Gas that looked exactly the same as [[spoiler: Red Death's mouth's content before Toothless attacked it. Assuming the dragons can "direct" their fire out, Toothless ruined the attack and turned it against Red Death by creating a gas explosion inside it!]].
66	** Furthermore, the crash probably smashed its face in, compressing the gas, leading to an explosion, and not just a fireball.
67	* At first I was all: Wait, why do the Vikings have Scottish accents instead of Scandinavian ones? And then I was all: Ah! Because this is a Viking settlement-- ''in Scotland''!
68	* About Aurora; the film takes place on an island, and the Shetland and Orkney Islands are all Scottish territory, significantly north of mainland Scotland, so the Aurora could be seen from there. The Northern Lights have been seen as far south as Calgary, which is further south than the Shetlands. In rare cases (every 11 years, most notably after the [[http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/quirks-quarks-blog/2012/01/weathering-a-solar-storm.html recent solar storm]]) the Aurora can be seen [[note]] although not nearly as well as farther north[[/note]] as far south as ''Ottawa'' which is farther south than most of Scotland.
69	* At the end of the scene where Hiccup and Stoick talk in the smithy (aka "the breast hat" scene), Stoick leaves and accidentally bumps into a bunch of weapons and such and scrambles to catch them all. When I first saw the movie, I thought that was just supposed to be a display of Stoick being awkward and didn't think much of it. Then, after buying the movie and watching that scene again, I realized something. Before Stoick knocks over all that stuff, he and Hiccup strike the exact same pleased pose. It's showing that, for all Stoick's posturing about being a "true Viking", he can be just as clumsy, awkward, and unsure of himself as Hiccup can be. I wouldn't be surprised if Stoick were a lot more like Hiccup when he was a kid, but had it squashed out of him by his own father. Just after Stoick knocks over the weapons, he puts his hands on his hips and does a "Thank Thor that's over" sort of sigh. Cut to Hiccup inside the smithy, who does the exact same sigh (in the same pose)!
70	* Hiccup does indeed prove himself to be a Viking by killing a dragon [[spoiler: the Red Death]] ultimately saving his people, but only with the ''aid of a '''dragon''' itself'' can he do so.
71	* Astrid is the only Viking that doesn't have a horrible name to scare off trolls and gnomes. Judging from how good she is at the fighting business even before her training, she was probably scary enough as a baby on her own that her parents trusted she didn't need a nasty name on top of it. Alternatively she was forced to learn how to defend herself from a VERY young age, because she didn't have a nasty name to scare off gnomes and trolls. She's the best because she's been practicing since she was a baby! Given that (most of) the adults don't have such terrible names, they presumably choose/are given a new one when they get old enough/tough enough not to worry about trolls. Astrid must have reached that point sooner.
72	* I always wondered why, when Hiccup's harness clip got bent, he didn't just cut the strap off and save himself the trouble--I was sure that at that point, Toothless would trust him enough with one. Then I realized, considering the event that made him make the harness in the first place... he'd have made the strap strong enough to not break during breakneck turns... and thus strong enough where a knife wouldn't be able to cut it.
73	* It just struck me that Toothless' name is actually pretty fitting not only for his character but also a subtle reference to dragons being capable of peace. For dragons their teeth would be a sign of their power and ferocity as a bite from those jaws would be devastating so for Hiccup to call the Night Fury Toothless then he is saying that the dragon is lacking a bite (harmful intent) and thus Hiccup can safely be friends with him. Also if you pay attention Toothless never bites anyone in the entire movie!
74	** Not entirely true, Toothless bites the Monsters Nightmare in the neck at the very beginning of their fight.
75	** Also retractable teeth aside, all the other dragons have their teeth easily seen even with their mouths closed, Toothless doesn't.
76	* When Hiccup's axe is destroyed, he is carrying it in his right hand. However, Hiccup is ''left handed,'' meaning that, at that point, his ability to fight is his weakest attribute. His shield, being on his left arm, means that he is more suited to non-offensive methods, such as his training/taming of Toothless.
77	** Related - whenever Hiccup is on his own he draws or uses his knife with his left hand. However in dragon training school he wields his weapons using his right hand. Due to the superstitions of being left handed, Hiccup was probably forced from a young age to hide his leftiness which hinders his fighting abilities since he's using his non-dominant hand.
78	** Being forced to use your non-dominant hand is rather taxing on your concentration and coordination. Stoick remarks how Hiccup has the attention span of a sparrow and his clumsiness is established early on. When he spends time with Toothless and starts making their equipment, Hiccup can use his dominant side as he wishes - and this immediately takes effect in him being more focused, a good deal more sure on his feet and subsequently more confident. He was getting comfortable in his own skin at last. Lefties who were forced to use the "good" hand growing up can relate.
79	** Moreover, it's symbolic of his inability to fit in with the other Vikings. When he tries to fight right-handed like all the other students, it only makes him seem less competent because he's clumsier with his off hand: the same outcome as when he tries to do anything ''else'' the "Viking way" rather than his own.
80	* I went to see ''WesternAnimation/{{How to Train Your Dragon\|2010}}'', having been a fan of the original books, and thoroughly enjoyed it, despite both being rather different. The first time around, I didn't really think about the [[ChekhovsGun Checkhov's Gun]] used during [[spoiler:the battle with the Red Death]] (of [[spoiler:dragons being internally combustible]]) that much. It was only upon seeing the film for a second time, and reading the original book again that I realised - [[spoiler:both movie-version and book-version of the Red Death die in a very similar way! They both attempt to breathe fire, but it backfires (not literally) on them, causing them to explode]]! - @/{{KingSonnDeeDoo}}
81	* The BadassPacifist entry allowed me to realize this. So Astrid at first dismissed Hiccup as a scrawny weakling because he '''is''' kinda a scrawny weakling, but immediately after her dragon flight seems to have fallen for him. I figured that it wasn't only the romantic flight, but the fact that it was a romantic flight on the ''back of the most terrifying dragon ever'' that the dude she's dismissed actually ''tamed and rode.'' She realized how much more of a badass he is compared to the vikings she looked up to/aspired to be and admired it.
82	* This is just a small one, but Gobber says that Trolls only steal your left SOCKS. and Gobber only has a left leg!
83	* Someone asked why the training dragons, after being locked up in the arena and abused for so long, would take so amiably to the teens right before the climax of the movie. The answer could be they became less aggressive after all the time Hiccup spent treating them kindly during the training sessions (scratching them under their chins, the dragon nip, etc.), learned from his time spent with Toothless.
84	** Another thing to consider is that, like Toothless, these dragons have spent a significant amount of time away from the Red Death and its thrall. The dragons are shown at the end to be mostly peaceful and willing to coexist with the humans, so it's possible that Gobber had to incite the dragons he is keeping to attack the teens during training. This would also partially explain why he is so nonchalant about the danger they are in: if the dragons are naturally peaceful, there probably aren't too many training injuries/fatalities, so he has grown complacent about it.
85	** There's also the possibility that the dragons thought that the training was a game, and therefore saw the viking kids as their playmates.
86	* People are quick to point out the inaccuracies of the horned helmets, but then it occurred to this Troper that the Berk Vikings have been living alongside dragons so long they're still a big part of their culture. The helmets are made from dragon horns!
87	** Perhaps the horns serve the same purpose as the strange names given to the Viking's children; to frighten off Gnomes and Trolls.
88	** Making it painful for any dragon that tries to bite their heads off probably also has something to do with it.
89	* From what we know, the dragons never took a human [[spoiler:to the Red Death]]. Why? [[spoiler:They were under some form of mind control, one where they had some ''control'' over themselves at times, such as Toothless coming back to himself in the nest. The dragons were never evil ugly monsters, so they wouldn't take sentient beings!]]
90	** ...and how do we know that?
91	** The closest the movie comes to showing us that is the fact that during the opening battle, the dragons are actively seeking out sheep and other non-human meat sources, such as the Gronkles flying off with a rack of fish that was drying out. For the majority of the battle, the Monstrous Nightmare was the only dragon that actually sought out and engaged the humans in any kind of fighting, and even then it didn't use it's flame for any purpose other than intimidation. Most of the others were simply gathering food or shooting fire everywhere to keep the humans away while they gathered up as much non-sentient food as possible.
92	** It could be that most human have weapons and are fighting the dragons and the other thing is people will fight much harder to protect a person rather than an animal, so the dragon could have learned it is not a good idea to take humans.
93	*** Plus I saw a viking in one of the dragons' claws.
94	** Or perhaps humans just don't taste good to dragons?
95	* The first part of Astrid's ride on Toothless was hilarious due to Astrid getting a year scared off her life, because their dislike was mutual. Then one realizes that Toothless saw Astrid yelling at Hiccup, or at least tossing Hiccup to the ground to defend him. Humans vs dragons is nothing new. But the fact that Astrid was clearly roughing up a member of her ''own'' species, who she later defended because she was more capable, gave off leader-of-the-pack vibes. So rather than be cautious like he was with the easily frightened Hiccup to make friends, Toothless scared Astrid into acknowledging that they were equals.
96	** More like Toothless saw Astrid roughing up "his" human and reacted accordingly. That would have been seen as her asserting dominance over the pair, which he sought to correct by freaking her out at high altitude, where she was helpless. Once she apologized, he became his docile self.
97	** It also seemed kind of interesting how she was clinging to Hiccup for safety during the scene. Kind of obvious, since he was the one with the safety line and it as just natural instinct to grab onto him, but it also signals that she had to trust Hiccup with her life in that moment and initiates a level of respect and admiration that wasn't there before.
98	* Night Furies are the fastest, most maneuverable, and most likely highest flying dragons. Their dark scales act as camouflage against the sky at night. The next fastest dragon is clearly a Deadly Nadder, which is colored blue and white--to act as camouflage against the sky in ''daytime''. Astrid and Hiccup's dragons are ''also'' foils of each other.
99	* Hiccup didn't get on Toothless in the kill ring because he wasn't wearing his vest. At the speed required to escape both a panicking crowd and an angry Monstrous Nightmare, he would have fallen off anyway.
100	** Or he would've been thrown around like a rag doll, unable to reach a safe distance. The safety line isn't very safe in a fight, especially against an opponent that sets itself on fire.
101	* Throughout most of the movie, Astrid's fringe covers one of her eyes- however, after the romantic flight with Hiccup and just before she kisses him on the cheek, she sweeps it behind her ear. I thought it was a one-off at first, but she does it again when she's talking with Hiccup outside the arena, and again when she talks to him after the Vikings sail to find the nest, and ''again'' during the climax and the ending. It's subtle, but it symbolises how she becomes warmer, gentler and more open as she gets to know Hiccup- and how her ''eyes have been opened'' by him.
102	* Astrid might not like Snotlout because she always lost to him in the Thawfest games. Moreover, Snotlout never even acknowledges Astrid as his rival because his father put such an emphasis on beating Hiccup.
103	* When Hiccup decides to help the kids tame the arena dragons to ride to the dragons' nest, he first pairs the Monstrous Nightmare with Snoutlout who later becomes its permanent rider. Hiccup probably knew which dragon suited each of his friends best, showing that he'd grown much closer to them over the past few months!
104	* There were quite a few complaints about the Red Death and how ridiculous it looked: it had a huge body and tail compared with hilariously small wings and an oversized head. In other words, ''it looks exactly like the '''stereotypical''' image of a dragon''!
105	* The CreativeClosingCredits are just new dragon artworks on parchment - that must be what the Dragon Bible looks like ''now that the Vikings can peacefully study real dragons!''
106	** There's multiple levels of Fridge Brilliance here, all boiling down to essentially this point. Compare the Credits with the Manual shown earlier, and you can see that instead of very simple, quickly drawn sketches, the drawings are very detailed, carefully coloured and precise. Not only that but whereas just about every picture in the Manual is of a dragon either performing their 'signature attack' so to speak, or of the claws, teeth and other dangerous bits of anatomy, the new drawings show a lot of dragons in relaxed positions- sleeping dragons, resting dragons, playful dragons- which would never have been able to be captured in the old 'kill on sight' days. Finally there's several small details such as collars, leads, reins and chains that indicate that the new manual not only includes information about what the dragon can do, but also the best ways to harness particular dragons or how to prevent an untrained one from running amock.
107	* ''Fright Of Passage'' shows what may have been why Astrid so desperate to be number one in dragon training. Doubles as Fridge Horror.
108	* Toothless' distinct howl when coming down on the attack at first seems odd for what is essentially a draconic stealth fighter, but then in Riders of Berk you learn that Toothless can echolocate. So, the howl is actually Toothless basically spotting his own targets on the way down, hence the lethal accuracy. He doesn't do it in the series as often because most combat is during the day and he doesn't use it as often.
109	** Which becomes a problem when he uses it during daylight twice in the film. However, the first time, at the dragon ring, he's locating what's around the corner so he's able to attack quickly, while the second time, during the final battle, having just had the Viking leader Stoick save his life, he uses it to announce his presence and allow the Vikings on the ground to protect themselves as is their normal reaction when they hear the noise.
110	* In "Gift of the Night Fury", Toothless is the only dragon [[spoiler: to not come back with a small batch of hatchlings]]. This has been assumed to be because he is the only Night Fury in Berk's region and that he has been with Hiccup, thus unable to [[spoiler: mate and have eggs]]. But come ''Dragons 2'' his appearance is changed. His scales have become tougher and coarser compared to his normally smooth texture. His ridges have become far more pronounced and his size seems to have filled out. Never mind not having one of his own species to [[spoiler: mate]] with, Toothless around the time of the holiday special wouldn't have had a need to go off and [[spoiler: mate as the other dragons have had to do. He was still maturing.]]
111	** More than likely, in the sequel [[spoiler: Valka]] specifically says Toothless is Hiccup's age. It really depends on how fast dragons reach physical maturity.
112	** From the same short. When discussing new tail that Hiccup is building for Toothless, Astrid says: "But what if he never comes back? What am I saying. Of course he will.". She is not just saying that about Toothless; she's also voicing her concerns about Stormfly, and trying to convince herself that Stormfly will come back. Fridge TearJerker?
113	* Stoick's line about how he should have "seen the signs" about Hiccup seems odd at first considering Hiccup is essentially the first Viking to ride a dragon. Then come the reveal for Dragons 2, where [[spoiler: Hiccup's mother is revealed to be able to train dragons as well. Suddenly, you wonder if she was exiled (either by a very reluctant Stoick trying to do what was right for Berk or his father) because of her sympathy for the dragons... perhaps even having a bond with one.]] As to why Hiccup now shows him that it wasn't wrong; well, almost getting most of the island killed by a giant dragon that Hiccup specifically warned about probably slapped some sense into him.
114	** It's doubtful [[spoiler: she was exiled due to a sympathy for dragons, since Stoick wears her armour plate as a helmet (which wouldn't do if he knew she was against fighting dragons) and talks about keeping her close]]. It sounds more like they thought she was dead.
115	** Most likely, she was [[spoiler: friendly with dragons]], and while that happened something happened that made her appear dead. So when Stoick says that, what he's saying is, "My wife died because [[spoiler: she tried to be friendly with dragons]], and I'm not going to let the same thing happen to my son."
116	** Exiling does not necessarily mean [[spoiler: Stoick did not miss her either way.]] After all, when he disowned Hiccup he was tearing up as he walked out, so he probably did his small things to remind him the burden of being chief. Still, you're right, something probably happened that [[spoiler: made her look dead]] instead of exile.
117	** According to the second movie: [[spoiler: The signs were that Hiccup turned out almost exactly like his mother: scrawnier than usual, (Valka wasn't the typical ApronMatron unlike the other Viking ladies, much like Hiccup, very reluctant to fight head-on when confronted, and most importantly, saw something different in dragons that other Vikings didn't see.) His first utterance of 'should've seen the signs' were that Dragons took a loved one away from him, Valka in the literal sense, Hiccup in the sense that dragons took his son's allegiance to Berk from him.)]]
118	* In the TV show, there was an episode where Stoick went to great lengths to find a dragon toy that Hiccup's mother gave him as a baby. Now, at first I was like: uh-huh. Viking mom is going to give her son a toy of the beasts they fight every day. And is surprised he's terrified of it. Really? This is your plot? But then [[spoiler: it's revealed that Hiccup's mom is alive and loves dragons.]] I'm so sorry I ever doubted you, Dragons writers.
119	** Under that logic, teddy bears would be unsuitable for children. Just because someone gives their child a soft, plushy wild animal doesn't mean they would let their children near a REAL wild animal. It's more likely that Hiccup was too young to tell the difference between a toy dragon and a Terrible Terror.
120	*** Or perhaps the parents on Berk gave their child a stuffed dragon for them to practice ripping their heads and limbs off before they can lift an axe?
121	* [[http://inhonoredglory.tumblr.com/post/69013898141/russetleaves-graphrofberk Hiccup and Fire.]]
122	* Toothless's inability to fly with a bust tail doesn't make a lot of sense when you think of him as a bird, but if you look at his more ''catlike'' side, it makes complete sense. Cats use their tails to balance. If Toothless does the same, then he can't balance in mid-air with one tail fin missing, causing him to crash every time he tries to fly. It probably also helps him to steer once he's up by tilting him.
123	** Birds do use their tails in flight as well, though; as rudders. So Toothless could probably fly, but the missing tailfin would make it so he's not only unable to balance, but unable to even alter his own course; he'd be as stable in the air as a gyrocopter in a storm and unable to alter course for anything. Trying to fly with ''that'' sort of injury would be an ''awful'' idea.
124	* On my latest rewatch, I noticed something about Toothless: he keeps mimicking Hiccup. Hiccup spares his life, Toothless returns the favour. Hiccup gives Toothless fish, Toothless gives Hiccup fish. Hiccup smiles, Toothless tries to mimic the gesture. Hiccups draws Toothless in the dirt, Toothless draws Hiccup in the dirt. Hiccup averts his gaze and reaches for Toothless, Toothless closes his eyes and reaches for Hiccup. Why is this important? Well, they're very much alike - two beings of about the same age, both pretty smart by their society's standards, both unusual for their kind. One could say that they mirror each other... and by copying Hiccup, Toothless is making that mirror ''physical''!
125	** There might be another layer of brilliance about the smile they share when they start bonding. For most animals able to even recognise that expression (apes, felines, dogs are the ones I'm almost sure of), baring your teeth is an act of aggression and can make them attack. Here, Toothless not only does not become aggressive, he ''replicates the clearly unfamiliar expression'' - he has understood what it means! Another way to show just how smart he truly is.
126	* As Hiccup notes, while the humans of Berk are celebrating Snoggletog, the dragons fly off to have "their own holiday" [[spoiler: i.e. laying their eggs on their traditional nesting island.]] The timing of this is no coincidence. No doubt the Snoggletog festival arose from the fact that the early vikings realized that at this time of year there were never any dragons around to wreak havoc upon their island, so they began to celebrate this season of peace every year. Snoggletog is essentially a celebration of the fact that the dragons are absent!
127	** Messes with your head when you remember that the whole plot of the movie was the townspeople moping about the fact that the dragons (who they now like) had abandoned them at Snoggletog.
128	* When Toothless is giving Hiccup and Astrid a ride, and Astrid mentions that Hiccup has to kill a dragon, Toothless immediately perks up his ears, then takes control and flies them to the nest; at first glance it looks like he feels betrayed when he finds out their plans, and is trying to scare them or worse. But in retrospect, this is where they find out about the bigger dragon that the others are all forced to feed, so it's almost like he was trying to say, "Oh, you're going to kill a dragon? Great! Kill this one, please."
129	* When Stoick dives into the sea to rescue Toothless at the climax battle, Toothless isn't panicking at all when Stoick reaches him, instead he's simply hanging with his head like "Great, I'm stuck here". Toothless' design is partly based off an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl Axolotl]], the water amphibian. Being based off that creature, Toothless might be adaptable to being underwater, explaining his lack of panic.
130	* Movie shows many parallels between various characters (some of these are already mentioned at other places, but it would be good to have all together). Major spoilers ahead, too many to mark.
131	** First, Hiccup and Stoick:
132	*** When Astrid asks Hiccup what he is going to do, he says "something crazy". Little bit later, while the Red Death is attacking the Viking army, Gobber says to Stoick that he's going to stay just in case Stoick is thinking of doing "something crazy".
133	*** After the rather awkward conversation when Stoick decides to get Hiccup into the dragon training, Stoick collapses a few things due to being clumsy, much like Hiccup is prone to do. Moment later, he does a "finally over" gesture - and Hiccup does the exact same gesture inside.
134	*** During the meeting, when other Vikings are complaining about the losses, Stoick's response is "We are vikings. It's an occupational hazard.". Hiccup says that exact same thing, word for word, just before he takes off to fight the Red Death.
135	*** When Hiccup fully comes to terms with having shot down Toothless, he says "I did this.". Stoick says the exact same line when he thinks Hiccup is dead due to Stoick's refusal to listen.
136	*** Hiccup tames Toothless after having shot him down, trapped him and then released him from the trap and helping him survive. In the series, Stoick tames Thornado after having captured him, trapped him and then releasing him from restraints while defending Thornado's wounded mate.
137	*** Related to the above, when Hiccup shoots down Toothless, he spares the dragon and Toothless returns the favor by sparing Hiccup. At the climax, when Toothless is trapped underwater, Stoick frees him from restraints and Toothless returns the favor by carrying him to the shore.
138	*** First peaceful physical contact between Hiccup and Toothless is when Hiccup places his hand on Toothless's head. Likewise, Stoick makes a first peaceful contact with Toothless by placing a hand on latter's head, and repeats the same with Thornado in the series.
139	** There are also parallels between Astrid and both Hiccup and Stoick:
140	*** Like them, Astrid bonds with her dragon after having previously attempted to kill it. In her case, however, dragon was a captive when she first met it.
141	*** Astrid, much like Hiccup - and as we find out towards the end of the first movie, Stoick - is much smarter than an average Viking.
142	*** Much like Stoick, she changes her opinion of dragons after witnessing Toothless and his bond with Hiccup. Unlike Stoick, and like Hiccup, she ends up changing her opinion rather quickly, and doesn't need to be saved by a dragon to come to accept them.
143	*** Hiccup, Astrid and Stoick were all saved by Toothless during the finale. Hiccup was saved by Toothless when he got knocked out of the saddle; Astrid was also saved from death by falling when she got knocked out of the saddle, and Stoick would have been killed by the Red Death had not the Red Death been killed.
144	** Astrid and Hiccup:
145	*** When Toothless does not kill Hiccup, Hiccup later rhetorically asks "So why didn't you?". Later, when he talks about it with Astrid, and says that he didn't kill Toothless despite that being what most Vikings would have done it, Astrid asks him: "So why didn't you?".
146	*** Hiccup and Astrid are the only Vikings (well, until Valka shows up) who give their dragons names that do not invoke power. It also happens that they are the only Viking teens who do not have horrendous names. In fact, both Hiccup and Toothless are rather ridiculous names, while Astrid and Stormfly are rather nice.
147	*** Astrid discovers Toothless when she becomes suspicious of Hiccup's behavior and follows him to Toothless' location. Hiccup later, in The Gift of the Night Fury, discovers that Fishlegs has kidnapped Meatlug when he becomes suspicious of Fishlegs' behavior and follows him to Meatlug's location.
148	** And of course, Hiccup and Toothless:
149	*** Hiccup and Toothless are both unique, extremely intelligent and, at first, keep distance from other members of their respective species.
150	*** Hiccup spares Toothless when he notices that the dragon is scared, and Toothless returns the favor after scaring Hiccup. And when Hiccup realizes that he unintentionally crippled Toothless, he makes Toothless an artificial tail fin and helps him fly. Later, when Hiccup gets crippled during the battle with the Red Death, Toothless helps him walk on his new artificial leg.
151	*** Hiccup and Toothless are both [[GuileHero GuileHeroes]], and like to troll people (just see Toothless dealing with a Terrible Terror in the first movie, and Hiccup dealing with dragon wranglers in the second).
152	** Further, Hiccup, Astrid and Toothless, all show a propensity to snark at people. Especially Hiccup and Toothless.
153	** Both Astrid and Toothless are extremely good at giving death glares and extremely protective of Hiccup, plus being more capable than him at physical combat. They are also more intelligent than other examples of their respective species' and very loyal to their friends.
154	* An explanation of why the dragons [[spoiler: were so willing to work with the Berkians]] at the end: as mentioned on the [[Awesome/HowToTrainYourDragon2 Awesome page for the sequel]], the Vikings collectively posed enough of a threat to the Red Death that they were considered challengers. Hiccup and Toothless defeated the Red Death, so the other dragons would automatically consider the Vikings their new "Alphas".
155	* Astrid's defrosting isn't just a realization that Hiccup has HiddenDepths. She's been taught all her life that fighting dragons is absolutely necessary for Berk's survival. Even at fifteen, she's committed herself to a lifelong war and, if necessary, the same grisly death that hundreds of Berk Vikings have already endured. She changes into the more adventurous, caring person we see in the sequel because she no longer feels like doom is hanging over everyone she knows.
156
157	!!FridgeHorror
158	* How did Hiccup [[spoiler:lose his foot? He looks like he has both while falling into the fire... which means ''[[FridgeHorror Toothless must've torn it off in rescuing him]]?!'']]
159	** Or crushed under Toothless' weight. Thank God for the GoryDiscretionShot.
160	** Half your leg or your life. I'd go with the former.
161	** Maybe Hiccup's leg was amputated rather than actually lost in the fall? It wouldn't have had to have been so bad to be beyond the Viking's capabilities of saving it. A really nasty burn that got infected on the boat-ride back, for example?
162	*** The How To Train Your Dragon Wiki claims that Hiccup's left foot was extremely burned by the fiery explosion and that the Vikings could do nothing to save his leg. This however makes you wonder how Toothless' body and wing cover was able to spare all of the rest of Hiccup's body but somehow not save his foot. Also wouldn't even the slightest bit of flame reaching Hiccup have sucked away all the oxygen out from under Toothless' protection and the heat have severely hurt him from being so close to his flesh? I guess in short Hiccup is lucky to be alive.
163	*** it would make sense that his left foot was burned, Toothless couldn’t cover it since he doesn’t have his left tail wing.
164	** Toothless's protective wing-cover was not a tight seal. It's more similar to wrapping someone up in a blanket. Considering Toothless would have been holding Hiccup by the torso and focusing on protecting his head, it's not unreasonable to think that Hiccup's leg either fell out of the protective covering a bit, or was already burnt by the time Toothless grabbed him. Also, once burns hit flesh, there's enough oxygen in the body for the burn to continue to do a lot of damage without actually being on fire.
165	** Look at how Toothless hits the tail of the Red Death. He hits it with his left side, where Hiccup's leg is. Hiccup didn't lose his leg to burns (although they probably wouldn't have helped), but instead to it being irrepairably crushed in the collision.
166	* Hiccup's willing to give up his ''entire life'' - his dad, his apprenticeship, his few friends (Gobber and . . . Gobber) - for Toothless. Kinda makes you wonder if he had any depression issues before he met Toothless.
167	** More like he was the village scapegoat for who knows how many years. The scene where Astrid finds out about Toothless is very telling I think. She just beats up on him and he doesn't fight back at all. Makes you wonder how much of that was habit...
168	*** Nah, Hiccup clearly tells Toothless that the two of them are going to take a break from the village for a while, he doesn't say that they are going to be gone forever. Hiccup was probably going to wait it out until his village forgot about him being the village hero and no longer cared if he killed a dragon or not, sure his dad Stoick may get mad at him but at least Toothless gets to live and he doesn't have dragon blood on his hands. Unfortunately for Hiccup things didn't go according to his plan when Astrid came along.
169	*** Watch the movie again. "You and I are taking a little vacation...'''forever."'''
170	*** I agree. The fact is, Hiccup doesn't fit at all in this village. His father, the chief, sees him as a disappointment for being too weak and small (and he is a Viking, imagine the pressure Hiccup must have felt). The other students pick up on him for the same reason. He is so clumsy the village sees him as a troublemaker. The closest thing he had as a friend before Toothless was Gobber, and even he makes fun of Hiccup. Training dragons is the only thing Hiccup can do right, and his people live to kill dragons! No wonder he wants to run away: nobody but the dragons show him respect. Honestly, I know few animated film protagonists whose life suck that much...
171	** Actually, from what I saw, Gobber has a DeadpanSnarker relationship with Hiccup. And while Stoick was disappointed, he never really hated his son. Hell he may have hidden it, but he was extremely worried that dragon training would kill Hiccup rather than toughen him up.
172	*** I agree with previous tropers that Hiccup was more than prepared to abandon his whole life for Toothless. He was always an outsider in Berk: Although Stoick and Gobber clearly cared about Hiccup, they were more concerned about him not being able to fulfill his role as a proper viking/chiefs son, and Hiccup knew he failed them on every count. I don't think he had depression, just been worn down by years of failure and alienation and didn't see life for himself within the village. With Toothless he had a friend who respected rather than pitied him, and a chance to use the talents that the villagers mocked. He would have come back to visit at some point (months? years?) but he probably saw leaving permanently as the best option for everyone. His dad could find a proper viking successor and he could make his own life with Toothless.
173	* With dragon-riding Vikings, neither HaroldGodwinson nor [[WilliamTheConqueror William the Would-Have-Been-A-Conqueror]] will stand a chance.
174	** All hail the House of Haddock, the monarchical line of the United Kingdom of Denmark, Norway, Scotland, Britain and Ireland.
175	*** '''Horrendous''' Haddock.
176	*** Somebody please turn the above idea into a FanFic.
177	*** Hey, whose to say they don't have their own dragons?
178	*** Both Harold and William were both partially descended from Vikings themselves. With dragons, the Vikings would probably have taken over all of NW Europe (and beyond) long before 1066.
179	*** The fanfic you're asking for now exists, it's called ''Fanfic/AThingOfVikings''.
180	* Hiccup's mother's breast helmets. The fact that Stoick's helmet is so small and Hiccup's is so big makes me wonder if his mother may have had some seriously deformed or disproportionately sized boobs. Beyond that just the idea that Hiccup is wearing something that use to touch his mom's breasts is all kinds of Squick.
181	** Of course, Stoick's best friend works in a smithy. It's entirely possible he just had Gobber shape the breast plates so they fit both Stoick and Hiccup's heads.
182	** For most women, one breast is at least slightly bigger than the other, and that's perfectly normal.
183	*** True, it's normal for one to be ''slightly'' bigger, as in ones a D cup and ones a C. One being a B cup and ones a DD cup...not so much. That said it's likely that the helmets where just made of the ''metal'' from her breastplate, and not the actual, to proportion, well, cups. Still weird, but not the weirdest.
184	*** The above is the most likely explanation. ''Real'' women's armor isn't made like a bra, as it would be counterproductive. The shape would direct all of the force of chest blow to the sternum which, this troper assures you, is the last place you want them.
185	* ''WesternAnimation/{{How to Train Your Dragon\|2010}}'': Sure, Night Furies are incredibly rare. Toothless is the only Night Fury seen in the movie... yet he doesn't look like he's a very old dragon, so his parents would hypothetically still be alive... except we never see them. Taking that into consideration, along with the facts that he seems to have been around the area for a long time--if not his entire life, and that the [[BigBad Red Death]] actually ''ate'' two dragons on-screen...
186	** Speaking of Night Furies being so rare... what if they can't find another Night Fury when it's mating season? Pretty soon, their entire species will be extinct.
187	** Maybe Night Furies just don't live in that particular area, Toothless just went a little too far north or something.
188	** Also, it's revealed the dragons attacked Berk because they were trying to feed a giant dragon so they themselves don't get eaten instead. But what if they took more than just food and livestock? Who said the Red Death would object to eating HUMANS?!! If so, that may explain why Stoic is so determined to end the lives of all dragonkind and destroy their nest, disregarding Gobber's doubts of him and his men surviving such an assault.
189	* All right, so [[spoiler: Hiccup lost his leg]]. But how? We saw him and Toothless smash into the Red Death's tail, so that might have [[spoiler: shattered the bones of his leg]] pretty badly. And it ''was'' the correct side. But they were both still in one piece when we last saw them, falling into the fireball, and giant fireballs don't have that kind of precision... speaking of which, it's a good thing Toothless can snatch people out of the air by their l... wait. ''[[EurekaMoment Wait...]]'' [[NauseaFuel Oh, geez.]]
190	** If it's any consolation, it does actually seem more likely that the giant fireball ''was'' responsible; [[spoiler: it is strongly implied that it was caught in the leading edge of the fireball, before Toothless was able to wrap himself around Hiccup.]] Aside from [[ShapedLikeItself Toothless being toothless]], [[spoiler: anything else would have resulted in Hiccup almost certainly dying from loss of blood.]] Fire, however, cauterizes.
191	** With the level of medical care available in the North Atlantic during the Viking era, [[spoiler: shattering the bones of his leg, getting third-degree burns on the foot, getting snatched out of the air by a dragon; any of those could've cost him his foot, and his best chance of survival might include an amputation; given his long convalescence, he probably suffered a raging infection as well]].
192	** When the Vikings find Hiccup, they actually say that Toothless managed to save Hiccup, but not completely. Furthermore, Toothless' saddle is connected with leather straps and wires to his artificial tailfin, [[spoiler: and it was burning. Thus, it's a safe bet assuming that Hiccup's leg got burned, smashed and scraped: enough to warrant a life or limb decision]].
193	* A big one occurred to me earlier about the Red Death. Throughout the movie it was mentioned how long the war with the dragons was, extending to near Berk's founding. Near the end it was heavily implied the war was mainly because of Dragons catering to a titanic Dragon named "The Red Death" that had control over vast swathes of its smaller relative species. Now here is the horror: If it was the key figure in the war, then that must have meant it has lived for ''centuries'', with a reign of terror to match.
194	** The Red Death's size is a big indication as well. It would take many years for an animal to fully mature into a beast the size of a ''mountain.''
195	* The safety lines on Toothless' saddle kept Hiccup on during numerous falls and jerks in the training montage and also kept him on when most of his peers fell off during the fight with the Red Death... [[spoiler:until Hiccup hits the tail and falls off. Judging by the metal clang on impact and how he's almost unable to walk at the end, Hiccup must have broken his ribs as well as losing his leg]].
196	* With the [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2 sequel]], we can see why Stoick reacted that way he did when he found out Hiccup was a dragon rider. [[spoiler: The last time someone claimed to do that, he nearly died at the hand of Drago Bludvist's dragons... and he was the only survivor.]]
197	** It gets worse. Rewatch the scene in the first movie where Stoick returns from his failed mission to find the nest. Gobber tells him Hiccup has a way with the beasts, and Stoick's eyes widen in shock. He was reminded of the last man who had a way with dragons. Then during the final exam, he is intently watching Hiccup to see what he will do, and when he sees him toss away his gear, his immediate thought is to stop Hiccup. His logic for disowning Hiccup is completely justified, if incorrect based on what he has seen.
198
199	!!FridgeLogic
200	* Gobber mentions that a dragon cannot fly with an injured tail. This leads to Hiccup realizing he needs to make a new tail for toothless. No one has ever seen a Night Fury before and none of the other dragons have fins on their tails.
201	** Maybe he's seen/heard of a dragon with a similar injury and saw it unable to fly properly?
202	** I don't get it, is this supposed to be FridgeLogic or FridgeBrilliance? I'd pick the latter. Hiccup figuring out how he should help an animal he, or anybody else, has never seen before to ''fly'' is absolutely ''brilliant''.
203	** It's rather obvious. I don't think this counts as fridge anything.
204	*** the fridge logic is not that Hiccup figures out he needs to make a tail fin. It's why did Gobber say a dragon cannot fly without its tail when tail fins are unique to a dragon he had never seen before.
205	*** Tails don't need fins to be necessary for balance. Think cats and monkeys. A regular dragon without the whole tail could be just as crippled as Toothless is without the fin.
206	** On the other hand, the tail fin was pretty small relative to Toothless's wings, and birds who have lost their ''entire'' tail can still fly, albeit with crappy breaking skills and less maneuverability. Toothless smashing into the Red Death's tail and needing help with the high-speed maneuvering makes sense, but he should've been able to fly out of the valley and get around on his own (like how he was able to fly the last little bit and [[spoiler: save Hiccup from both the Nightmare and the Red Death's inferno]]).
207	*** He couldn't fly out of the valley because of lack of energy. It seems like he'd been downed by the trap for some time, and even once Hiccup released him, without his tail fin he probably couldn't have hunted. It was only once Hiccup fed him that he tried to really fly again. Also, since he's a reptile, his anatomy's different from a bird's - maybe dragons rely more on their tail fins than birds do. So the [[spoiler: saving Hiccup]] part involved Heroic Determination.
208	** There were quite a number of dragons in the book, some of them featured fins on their tails as well. In addition, Gobber never said they had to lose their tail ''fins'' to be grounded, only their tails. A Dragon's tail is made of flesh and bone, not feathers, so it would destroy any semblance of stability (most modern interpretation of bipedal dinosaurs was that their massive tails were counter-balances for their gigantic frontal bodies. It would not be a stretch for this to apply to flying lizards as well).
209	** This Troper would like to point out that Gobber doesn't say "tails" but "wings and tail". But, still, taking out a dragon's tail would still cripple it, provided you cut enough off. Getting airborne is not as simple as "get lift>weight", it's a delicate balance of the Center of Lift and the Center of Mass. If either of the two stray to far from the other, then you are going to have serious problems. So, if you manage to take off a dragon's tail, even if there are no fins attached to it, you could seriously screw with their ability to fly. Because, if you take off a dragons' tail, you permanently shift the dragon's Center of Mass and seriously hinder its ability to compensate (supposing that the tail can be used as a means of adjusting the Center of Mass)
210	*** Also, I think that the issue with Toothless wasn't that of lift. I think that the tailfins don't generate lift, but instead act as control surfaces. So, when Toothless lost half of his tailfin, he lost a very, very important means of actually controlling where he was going.
211	* If no one has ever seen a Night Fury before, why do they yell, "The Night Fury!" when [[spoiler: Toothless shows up to rescue Hiccup in the training arena]]?
212	** They recognized the [[BombWhistle familiar sound]] of a horse/cat/bat/jet-engine.
213	** Or the fact that it is a species of dragon that no one has seen before? The dragon manual seemed to have entries on every species of dragon, besides the night fury. (Not counting the giant one in the end, which they didn't even know existed till then)
214	*** ...by that logic, the Red Death is a Night Fury, because it's also "a species of dragon that no one has seen before". A new species of dragon doesn't automatically mean "Night Fury", it just means a new species of dragon. That said, the Night Fury makes a very distinctive sound when it attacks, one that is immediately recognizable to the Vikings; they recognized the presence of a Night Fury in the battle at the start of the film despite no one being able to actually see it based on the sound it makes as well.
215	*** This is subverted by ''WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk'' when it's revealed that Bork, the person who created the Book the Dragons, actually had supposedly done extensive research on the Night Furies, but he never put them into the Book of Dragons. The reason as to why he kept these notes hidden is not yet known. The subversion then turns out to be false, as Bork's hidden notes were in fact forgeries created by Mildew to trick Hiccup.
216	*** Night Furies have very a specific Dragon Breath, the color, the speed of the blast and the impact were all give aways that Toothless was a Night Fury.
217	** It's mostly just logic and putting the pieces together really, Toothless makes the sound they look out for during dragon raids so they know when to cry, his fire-blast is exactly the same one that blows everything up, and it's an all black dragon that they don't recognize. They may have never seen a Night Fury before, but even they have to be smart enough to assume it's black considering Toothless doesn't spend the entire dragon raid in the clouds and they still can't see him.
218	* How do trolls tell the difference between a left sock and a right one? Unless they steal them while you're wearing them...
219	** Gobber only has one leg, and that's his left one. He ''can't'' wear a sock on his right one. Hence why he thinks the trolls only steal the left.
220	* In relation to the video game: Toothless is seen only eating fish in the movie, while in the game Night Furies refuse to eat fish at all.
221	* Just how did all the vikings get back after [[spoiler:killing Red Death?]] It burned all their ships in battle. Seems the only transportation available at that point were the teens' dragons.
222	** The time frame is left unclear, so a variety of options are available. They could have scavenged what remained from the destroyed ships to build a few new ones. They could have found a stand of trees on the other side of the island to build new ships. The kids on the dragons could have flown back to the village to assemble a rescue party with more ships. Or perhaps by the end scenes not everyone was back yet. Hiccup, being injured, would have been taken home first, perhaps flown. The village could still be in the midst of sending ships to ferry the remaining people back. (The most outlandish option - lots of the smaller dragons returned to the island after the destruction of the Red Death, were successfully tamed, and everyone flew back).
223	*** Stoick tells Gobber to get everyone to the far side of the island while the two of them distract the Red Death so that everyone can escape. So there might have been a second fleet behind the mountain we couldn't see.
224	*** Given that after Hiccup woke up we see that everyone in the village has their own dragons (and then some) it's probably more plausible that they just flew back on the dragons. The timeskip also explains why they couldn't save Hiccup's foot: they didn't have medical supplies with them and the fly back took too long.
225	** There were several derelict Viking ships near the Red Death's island. Presumably the Viking expedition included people who'd know how to repair them.
226	** If you look closely, the Red Death's fire doesn't seem to reach some other ships that are behind the others in the bay. Some ships in the fleet might have escaped the destruction.
227	* It's never made clear in the film, but if Astrid's observation of the Red Death being the "queen bee" for the dragons, wouldn't that mean that the dragons would not last beyond this generation? Of course, if it were the case, it also means that the different "species" of dragons doesn't make much sense either. I'm just hoping Astrid's metaphor was a bit off.
228	** Astrid was just drawing an analogy. They can't literally be its offspring.
229	** The Christmas movie shows that the dragons still lay eggs and reproduce without the Death around. Her "queen bee" comment was meant more to parallel how the Death was staying in the next while the other dragons would go out and bring it food, seemingly against their will as they were obviously fearful of the giant beast.
230	* How does the Red Death fly at all? This problem exists for most of the other dragons as well. In order to fly, an animal has to be [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_skeleton#Skeletal_system really freaking light]]. That's why birds have hollow bones - if they had solid bones, there's no way they could get off the ground. And before you say that dragons might be lighter than they look, keep in mind that the Red Death shrugs off catapults and FREAKING CRUSHES STONE PILLARS INTO PIECES. Something with hollow bones can do that? Yeah right. Especially with those skinny, flimsy wings, that thing should have never been able to get off the ground.
231	** Uh, you realize [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatlus this could fly, right?]] Quetzalcoatlus is estimated to have weighed between 400 and 600 pounds. Also, bird bones? Not all of them are hollow. Only some are, and those basically have struts to reinforce them.
232	** Every movie that has ever features something that flies that should not be able to fly has this problem. Pegasi, angels, etc. MST3KMantra.
233	*** It does stand out in this movie, however, because they went to such lengths to make Toothless' flying seem realistic. His movements and the mechanisms behind it rang true, so to see this behemoth of a dragon made from solid muscle fly with such relatively tiny wings... It does break the illusion a bit.
234	*** Hydrogen. 14x less dense than air. Buoyancy causes them to be lighter than they are. Also simultaneously explains how dragons breathe fire, as well as why there's a shot limit. For more, see [[http://animal.discovery.com/videos/dragons-how-dragons-fly.html this Animal Planet]] video.
235	*** Not to mention the fact that the hollow bones of a bird are no more brittle or stronger than mammal bones(themselves actually rather hollow).
236	*** Secretary Birds can shatter the bones in a human being's body just by kicking them. Compare a real life, 3-4 foot bird with actual hollow bones to a dragon hundreds upon hundreds of feet tall AND wide. Hollow bones don't make something weak.
237	*** Due to the Cube Law it should be more distressing that a freaking giant lizard like the Red Death exists without collapsing in on itself. By all means it should not be able to move, let alone fly.
238	*** Fishlegs' scan points out that Red Death's skull and tail are the main dangerous points of its body, due to their purpose being heavy armor and crushing respectively, so while it could shrug off headshots and its fair share of dragon-based attacks, there's nothing else to say its bones were all too heavy for it to fly. Otherwise it couldn't have reigned over the other dragons as long as it did.
239	** [[SarcasmMode Hey, there are dragons in this film, too.]]
240	** There aren't. Imagine the bio-electricity powering this beast up like an ornithopter, it's receiving energy from the lava. The Red Death is very possibly even maintaining inside itself a small fission reaction.
241	* Okay, seriously, the Scottish accents. They bother the hell out of me. I get that Scotland was occupied by Vikings for a time, but the movie is clearly NOT set in Scotland. For one, Hiccup's comment on the weather ("a few degrees south of freezing to death", "it snows nine months out of the year, and hails the other three") is a pretty clear indication that it's a Scandinavian country (which, as we all know, are infamous for being very VERY cold). For two, when Hiccup and Astrid were riding Toothless above the clouds, the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) were clearly visible. As I mentioned above, the Northern Lights are not visible in Scotland - you can only see them if you're VERY near the Arctic Circle (which Scotland isn't), and only in EXTREMELY cold weather. So ignoring the fact that the three of them should have frozen solid during that scene, the presence of the Northern Lights points strongly to this movie being set in Scandinavia. And trying to say "they flew from Scotland to Scandinavia" doesn't work either, since for one that would probably take more than one night (given that dragons seem to fly at about the same speed as birds), and for two, when they dip below the clouds, the coastline and cliffs look exactly the same as they did every other time Toothless is flying over the ocean.
242	** And the kids have American accents. It's just storytelling. J.R.R. Tolkien had no cultures that spoke English. And yet, in the films, ''they spoke english''. Besides, being Vikings typically means being descended of those who are culturally and genetically used to such weather.
243	** Maybe Berk trades/traded with Scotland and it was a cultural osmosis thing. Or maybe they originally were from Scotland and moved to Berk for some reason.
244	** Or more likely it was a big nod to [[Creator/DavidTennant David Tennant]], who is very much Scottish, who read the stories for the audiobooks with unique voices for all the different characters.
245	** According to the author of the books, Berk is a part of/near the [[http://www.visithebrides.com/ Hebrides.]]
246	** Considering Vikings were around before the English language was developed, this is closer to the case of the Hobbits in LOTR having Irish accents. It's not because they're from that part of the world, but because in 'translating' the story to English, the accent was put in to elicit a certain audience response. (ie, these are tough and stubborn people who raise sheep)
247	** As for being above the clouds, it's shown fairly consistently that the clouds are pretty low in the vicinity of Berk. It could very well be that they are not as high as it seems at first glance. Another indicator of this would be that the air is rather thin above your typical high altitude clouds and Astrid and Hiccup clearly had no trouble breathing.
248	** And it's extremely uncommon, but you ''can'', on occasion, see the Northern Lights from the very, very north of Scotland, which is on much the same latitude as the south of Norway - and in winter, you ''can'' freeze to death if you're out in the hills unprepared. As for the weather, it's pretty clear from watching the film that Hiccup's exaggerating the "snows nine months of the year and hails the other three" thing. The weather's lovely and clear in most of the scenes.
249	** I live very below the Arctic Circle, and I have all my life. I have seen the Northern Lights several times over the course of my life. Your argument is illogical, misinformed, and invalid. Oh, and very below the Arctic Circle means "At least a day's travel, and along the same latitude as Scotland. Case closed.
250	** Lots of problems with the initial comment:
251	*** The Vikings not only settled in parts of Scotland (and Ireland) but in lots of the islands further out to sea as well (Orkney, Shetland, the Hebrides, etc). Iceland was settled by Vikings, and by Scots/Irish that they brought with them as wives/slaves.
252	*** People from countries with bad weather tend to exaggerate how bad it is for comic effect. (And "it snows nine months out of the year, and hails the other three" isn't accurate even for Scandinavia).
253	*** As noted, the Aurora can occasionally be seen in Scotland.
254	*** The only valid point is that they should have frozen (or at least suffered severe frost-bite/hypothermia). But if you try to apply real physics to a film about dragons, the whole thing fails.
255	** You can see the Northern Lights in ''Vermont.'' Also, the "Vikings = Scottish" things has been [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_Scotland around for a]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse-Gaels very long time]]. Because of the enormous influence of Norse culture on Scotland and the fact that huge numbers of Vikings settled there, they've been conflated with each other for centuries. It's not a new thing, more a standardized AccentAdaptation than anything else.
256	* On the note of the kids having American accents and the adults having Scottish ones: how weird must puberty sound for these Vikings?
257	* The two lead actors for the adult roles are Scottish. The lead actor for the children's roles is Canadian. It makes more sense to make the people in supporting roles match the leads' accents rather than make lead actors who can't do accents very well do crappy fake accents.
258	* From a [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Watsonian]] perspective: Why do the dragons keep returning to the Red Death? Why don't they all just fly away?
259	** In the movie they outright say that the Red Death is giving off some kind of call that draws them in.
260	** And they've learned over the years that they'd better be bringing back something to feed to the Red Death, or else.
261	** The [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2 sequel]] shows us exactly how it works via the Bewilderbeasts. It seems that they and Red Deaths possess similar abilities. With Valka unintentionally implying that the Red Death was a queen like dragon. Not a true Alpha but a strong enough to be consider one.
262	* Wait, during the scene where Toothless was trying to scare Astrid into apologising, how was he doing all those acrobatics? That kind of intense flying, ''particularly'' "the spinning" requires Hiccup's cooperation to operate his tailfin and Hiccup sure as hell wasn't feeling very cooperative.
263	** Well, Toothless' flying wasn't exactly what you'd call graceful during that scene: dipping into the ocean madly and sort of "stumbling" every time he emerged, when climbing into the sky he had sort of a tilt to him, etc. The fin is mainly a necessity for balance, grace, and steering, not for flight itself. As shown in HTTYD2, he is capable of flight if the tail fin is locked in place, he just can't steer all that well. His own momentum would likely be more than enough to enable him to spin.
264	** If Hiccup doesn't want to get himself, Astrid and Toothless all dumped into the ocean, he helps the dragon steer. Simple as that. Hiccup can't physically control Toothless if he doesn't want to be controlled, and he's good enough at the riding (from what we've seen) that he can just make the necessary foot movements by instinct and muscle memory alone. Also, he knew that Toothless wouldn't put them into any actual danger on purpose (because while Toothless isn't keen on the mean girl human, he won't want to hurt his friend), so he just goes with it and hopes Toothless stops acting up soon.
265	[[/folder]]

Context Fridge / HowToTrainYourDragon