How to Train Your Dragon

Toothless is Hiccup’s green Common or Garden Dragon. Fishlegs rumors that Toothless is a rare Toothless Daydream, an ancestor of the infamous Monstrous Nightmares. (In actuality, Toothless is Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus, or Sea Dragon.) Although Toothless possesses many similarities with Hiccup, he defines himself by their differences. He angers easily and likes to take revenge, such as relieving himself on Hiccup after being reprimanded for doing so indoors. He serves himself, complains about physical exertion, and resists his training, choosing only to follow commands if he feels there is an advantage in doing so. When not acting impulsively, Toothless comes off as lazy or cowardly, often finding childish excuses not to perform certain tasks.

Toothless’s character flaws mark him with a lack of maturity more than outright malice. Despite his tempestuous nature, he does seem to have a hidden affection for Hiccup. One of their early interactions sees Toothless press his forehead up against Hiccup’s, a gesture often performed to display affection. The fact that he bites Hiccup and demands food immediately afterward further cements his self-serving nature. Although he never outright harms or betrays Hiccup, he avoids the action during the story’s climax. However, he does feel enough emotion when the Green Death swallows Hiccup to summon himself to an act of bravery.

Toothless shares enough in common with Hiccup to lend credence to the belief that dragons and their masters find each other out of destiny. Both Toothless and Hiccup’s size makes them targets of ridicule. They both lack qualities prized by others of their kind. Hiccup lacks physical strength and the forceful charisma expected of a dragon trainer, and Toothless is missing his teeth. Of all Hiccup’s potential dragon motivators, only silly jokes work to inspire Toothless. This indicates that, like his master, Toothless may be fond of intellectual pursuits and is good-natured.

While the tiny household dragons kept by the Vikings may be unique to Cowell’s novel, the giant Sea Dragon appears to take strong influence from the dragons in J. R. R. Tolkien’s mythology, such as Smaug from The Hobbit. Tolkien’s Middle Earth dragons, like the Green Death, are godlike giants who intimidate any humans who behold them. Tolkien writes of ancient things as possessing a level of power lost to younger generations. Cowell describes her Sea Dragon as waking from a sleep of six or seven centuries. Although the dragon’s true age is unknown, the description implies the beast is quite old. The most notable similarity is that both Tolkien’s dragons and the Green Death possess a vast intellect, enjoying riddles and philosophy, and they use this to toy with those brave enough to confront them.

Like other dragons in the book, the Green Death is amoral; however, he is not strictly evil, either. When asked whether he came in war or peace, he responds peace with the caveat that he intends to eat everyone on the island. When considered with his explanation of how everything is supper for something else, he views the wholesale slaughter of the Viking culture as part of nature, something fixed and necessary. Fitting with this, the Green Death speaks civilly with Hiccup, genuinely grateful for an intelligent conversation partner. His offer to help Hiccup become a hero shows that he is capable of a self-serving brand of kindness, though he doesn’t understand why Hiccup doesn’t find the offer to eat him later a tempting option.

The Green Death bears a striking similarity to Toothless in several respects. Both are motivated by food, enjoy Hiccup for his intellect, claim to be amoral, and seem to fall prey to their own anger and impulses. The key difference between the two dragons is their size. The Green Dragon’s stature gives him a confidence that allows him to control humans, rather than be trained by them.

The chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe represents the status quo. Like his name suggests, Stoick practices Stoicism, hiding his emotions and urging Hiccup to do the same. He is big, strong, and charismatic, and he can easily bend dragons to his will. When he does bring Toothless under control, he does so by yelling. This shows that he abides by traditions in part because they work for him. However, this tradition fails him when he yells at the Green Dragon despite the logic against screaming at a giant beast.

As both father and chief, Stoick is the yardstick against which Hiccup inevitably measures himself, but Stoick represents an ideal that Hiccup can never be able to reach. However, Stoick is not immovable, and he quickly defends his son against Chief Mogadon’s ridicule: “Size isn’t everything!” (53). After the decree of exile for the Novices, Stoick considers Hiccup’s words at the celebration and decides to change his edict at the expense of appearing “weak.” This character change indicates that Stoick respects his son and reflects an inkling of the critical thinking that flourishes in Hiccup. Stoick’s character growth suggests that even Vikings are capable of change, an important point if the tribe must accept Hiccup as their leader. In the novel’s end, Stoick drafts his own letter for Professor Yobbish. Although his writing is choppy, Stoick’s adoption of Hiccup’s literary practices cements his will to evolve.