- “... He's only the son of Stoick the Vast, his heir to the throne of Berk, and the greatest Dragon Master this world has ever seen”
- ―Astrid Hofferson to Drago Bludvist.[src]
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is the protagonist in the DreamWorks How to Train Your Dragon franchise. He is 15 years old in the first film, the first three specials, and the first TV series. He's 18-19 in Dawn of the Dragon Racers and Race to the Edge, 20 in the second film, and 21 in the third film.
Background[]
- “"One night a dragon broke into our house, finding you in the cradle. I rushed to protect you, but what I saw was proof of everything I believed. This wasn’t a vicious beast, but an intelligent, gentle creature who's soul reflected my own. You and your father nearly died that night, all because I couldn’t kill a dragon."”
- ―Valka, explaining the events of her dissappearance.
About fifteen years before the first movie, Hiccup was born prematurely to Stoick the Vast and his wife Valka. Although the new mother was worried that Hiccup would not survive his early birth, Stoick was confident that he would grow strong and Hiccup did indeed prosper. Valka would sew Hiccup a dragon toy with his name stitched into the sides. However, Hiccup would later become terrified of the doll and eventually threw it into the ocean while the family was out fishing.
One night, a Stormcutter dragon broke into their house, finding baby Hiccup in the cradle. Valka rushed to his rescue only to see the dragon curiously playing with him, proving everything Valka believed about dragons to be true. The Stormcutter was startled when he noticed Valka's presence, accidentally nicking Hiccup on the chin with a wing claw when he turned to look her way. As they stared at each other in bewilderment, Stoick rushed into the scene. He and the dragon started fighting with each other, the results leading to Valka being abducted by the dragon, and her husband heartbroken. This led Stoick to become overly protective of his son, though as Hiccup grew, the two became distant.
Personality[]
Hiccup is a very witty, sarcastic boy. He appears very well-spoken but a bit shy at times. Despite the fact that his father is the chief, he is not accepted into his village and is seen as a nuisance, which makes him reserved. He is picked on by his peers for his weak nature, but what he lacks in strength he makes up for in intelligence and kindness. Hiccup has a crush on one of the other teenagers, Astrid Hofferson. He attempts to impress her many times but, much to his disappointment, fails. He also seems to be very good at crafting objects and weapons, which is seen as he works as an apprentice to Gobber, the blacksmith, in his workshop.
Hiccup's strongest trait is his compassion and empathy. He was able to put himself in Toothless' place when he had the knife raised to kill him, and in his own words "I looked at him, and I saw myself". This empathy allowed him to understand and befriend Toothless, and through him other dragons and seeing the creatures beyond their exterior. It is this empathy that changed the world of dragons and Vikings. It ended the war and began the Dragon Training Academy.
Physical Appearance[]
Hiccup as a baby; along with his first encounter with a dragon
In the film, Hiccup's appearance is slightly different from the books. He's rather scrawny for his age, compared to the other Vikings, especially since he has little physical strength as he's barely able to lift a large axe, and isn't very tall at only 5’1”. He has auburn hair parting to his right with minor freckles on his cheeks. He has a small, white scar just below his bottom lip (which he got from when he was a baby, the night Cloudjumper took his mother away). He's usually seen wearing a long-sleeve, light-green tunic and a dark brown fur vest that matches his boots. When he rides Toothless, he replaces the vest and with a flying harness to help him stay on Toothless. After Dragon Training, he starts to wear a Viking helmet given to him by his father as shown in Gift of the Night Fury, made from half of his mother's breast plate (Stoick owning and wearing the other half). Following the battle with the Red Death, Hiccup's left leg up to his shin is replaced with a prosthetic made by Gobber the Belch with a metal foot and spring, which is accessible for flying with Toothless.
If you look closely, you'll notice that his hair has slightly grown between Riders of Berk and Defenders of Berk. He is now wearing a light brown suede vest and boot. In Dawn of the Dragon Racers, Hiccup wears a similar type of his armor which is dark brown along a long-sleeve dark green tunic with brown arm brackets.
In How to Train Your Dragon 2, Hiccup has grown considerably. He's now the tallest of the teens at 6'1" and his hair is somewhat scraggy and unkempt with two small braids behind his right ear. He seems to have gained a stronger build as compared to the first movie and is no longer considered a runt. His prosthetic is also different, as it's more mechanical and designed than before, making it like "a Swiss army knife for prosthesis", as Hiccup seems to have improved its ability (as he stated he would in the first movie). His outfit now is partly leather around his upper body with what appears to be a type of armor along with arm brackets that seem to all be designed by himself, making him look more like Toothless. When flying with Toothless now, he's also seen wearing a spiked mask when he glides in the air, as his outfit doubles as a squirrel jacket capable of gliding. His pants are dark brown and has straps around them with a leather boot for his right foot. He also seems to carry a weapon, a fire blade called Inferno.
Abilities and Talents[]
Being the main character of the franchise, Hiccup has many varied and useful talents.
- Dragon Training and Riding: Though he only discovers this ability during the first film, Hiccup has grown to become the best Dragon Trainer on the island. His dragon, Toothless, is the rarest and best dragon in the Academy. Hiccup openly claims to be the best Dragon Rider in the episode Thawfest. He and Toothless clearly have the strongest bond in the series. Because of his talents, he has been made head of the Berk Dragon Academy. In the franchise, Hiccup is always the one looked to when dragon related problems or needs come up. He trained a wild Monstrous Nightmare in seconds in Defiant One. This is noticeably faster than even Astrid who had to train the same type of dragon and does manage to do so but takes longer. He's also able to keep an enraged Whispering Death from running over him by simply putting his hand forward in What Flies Beneath. Still, some dragon challenges (including said Whispering Death) are greater than his ability, but he can always rely on Toothless and the other teens to have his back. Hiccup has managed to devise a more effective method of calming wild dragons with Inferno as it produces the dragon fire of both a Monstrous Nightmare and a Hideous Zippleback. This makes the dragons consider Hiccup as one of their own as only a 'dragon' should be able to wield dragon fire.
- Drawing: Even before Hiccup began to train dragons, he practiced drawing. He is practically never without his journal and a large charcoal pencil. His sketches are usually quick and slightly messy, but compared to most other Vikings he is quite good. He sketches Toothless upon his second encounter with him and uses his notebook to copy the map to the Isle of Night (unfortunately). He uses his artist talent to aid him in making plans and inventions and his room is littered with drawings of Toothless.
- Inventing: Hiccup learned a great deal about crafting from Gobber. His many years of apprenticeship have certainly paid off. He has created many ingenious devices throughout the franchise. He uses the forge well (despite his small size), and he's excellent at working leather. His devices were originally weapon like, and the Mangler cannon he designed allowed him to take down a Night Fury. After training Toothless he shifted in his desires and started working on a new tail for Toothless. This tail has been modified many times and is a work of sheer genius. He even created an auto tail using complex gear systems. Besides that Hiccup has managed to design a plethora of other objects, from winches to telescopes. He invented his own flight suit and his Dragon Blade, Inferno.
- Intelligence: This talent is really at the heart of all Hiccup's other abilities. His intelligence is proven many times throughout the film and the series. He's almost always the one to come up with the solutions to the problems that the Riders face. He's shown to be very cunning, resourceful and perceptive and possesses a great aptitude for strategy and tactics. He's also fairly knowledgeable. Unlike Fishlegs who only spews out facts, Hiccup is able to use them for practical use and he does it very well. He was able to solve all the riddles on Hamish's treasure map even when under pressure and the feat is especially notable because it was said that only a most brilliant mind could solve those clues.
- Fighting: Due to Hiccup's initial size, he's not much of a fighter. In fact, most weapons are too heavy for him and struggles to lift them. He is left-handed, which is different as opposed to the normal right-handed Viking. Hiccup usually fights along side Toothless and their style is more about defense rather than offense. The only time Hiccup and Toothless attacked first was against Alvin in We Are Family Part II. Other than that, it is easy for others to overtake Hiccup. But in the fifth season of "Dragons: Race to the Edge," we see that his fighting skills have improved as shown in "Something Rotten on Berserker Island." In The Night and the Fury, Hiccup faces Dagur with his new shield. In Cast Out Part II, Hiccup fought Outcasts and Berserkers without a problem using his shield. While Hiccup does not do any direct fighting in How to Train Your Dragon 2, he does wield his Dragon Blade, Inferno, with great precision and skill, such as when freeing Stormfly or preventing Drago from reaching his bull hook.
- Roar Call: He can make a roar noise that sounds similar to Toothless's roar, as a way for Toothless to find Hiccup.
- Precision: Like Toothless, Hiccup has amazing aim, like when he was able to shoot Toothless down in the first film and hit a Deadly Nadder in the chest using his shield while flying in mid-air during Appetite for Destruction. He also managed to throw Inferno with enough accuracy that it landed right in front of Drago's hand just as he was reaching for his bull hook to control his Bewilderbeast.
- Endurance: While it may seem hard to believe at first due to his small stature, Hiccup always manages to bounce back from a severe injury. For example, in When Lightning Strikes, he was struck by a massive and direct bolt of lightning to the head, and still managed to wake up just a day after. Also, in the end of How to Train Your Dragon, he was knocked off of Toothless by the Red Death's massive club-tail, and (with the help of Toothless, of course) managed to wake up about a week, (or longer), later.
Trivia[]
- Aside from the other languages of the films and DreamWorks Super Star Kartz there is no instance where Hiccup is not voiced by Jay Baruchel.
- He seems to have gotten his name from the fact that he was born early, so he was smaller and weaker than the other babies.
- He could be ambidextrous, as seen on the posters for How to Train Your Dragon 2, Hiccup is seen with his flaming sword, Inferno, in both his right and left hands showing that he can wield it in either hands. Also, his shield alternates between his hands throughout Defenders of Berk.
- He is a rather bad liar and seems to be pressured by guilt into admitting things easily.
- He is the smartest member of the Berk Dragon Training Academy.
- Hiccup is fifteen years old in the first movie, comics, the first three specials, and in Riders of Berk.
- Gift of the Night Fury is around Christmas time, so when Riders of Berk starts it is a new year.
- While all official sources since the release of the second film state that Hiccup is “15” in the first film, both Chris Sanders in the film maker’s commentary and Hiccup’s voice actor Jay Baruchel in interviews have said he’s 14 in the film, suggesting his original age is 14.
- He is the Academy's Strike Class Dragons expert.
- He is the shortest among the teens in the first movie but is the tallest in the sequel.
- He and Fishlegs are the only Dragon Riders who don't have blue eyes.
- Hiccup almost died in the first two films:
- In the first film, Hiccup almost died when he fell into the inferno of the Red Death's exploding body, which Toothless protected him from. In the second film, he almost died in a completely opposite way, when Drago's Bewilderbeast shot him with an icy blast, which Toothless also protected him from.
