How To Train Your Dragon Analysis (Guest Post)

Hello everyone! I’m Lili P. from Good Story (https://goodstorylili.wordpress.com), and Hannah has been kind enough to let me post for you today! Thanks, Hannah! On my blog I post analyses of fiction, so I’ll be doing one today on the How to Train Your Dragon movies. For those of you who are extreme fans and who have read the books as well as seen the movies, I apologize. I have not read the books, so I’ll just be talking about the movies and the show, Race to the Edge. Let’s do this!

Summary:

When Hiccup, the son of Stoick the Vast, ruler of Berk shot down his first ever dragon, he had no idea what friendship would be in store for him. It was a Night Fury, the dragon none of his ancestors or any other Vikings for that matter had been able to shoot down, or even see. Hiccup finds the sleek, black dragon trapped, and no matter how much he was expected to, he does not kill him. He sets him free. Thus, blooms the relationship between man and dragon. Hiccup soon is able to train Toothless (the Night Fury) and other dragons, and he and his friends even learn to ride on them. They soon were on many missions, stopping dragon hunters and any other threats to their new way of life. 

Characters:

It was Race to the Edge that really made me like these characters (and actually learn their names, haha). Let’s take a look at a few. 

Hiccup: Hiccup was the skinny, untalented kid nobody liked. He couldn’t kill a dragon. But once he actually became friends with one, he became one of the strongest Viking on Berk. Hiccup is loyal, smart, can think of a plan in any situation, and is a great leader of his friends, and eventually people. We can’t forget Toothless either, the loyal dragon with incredible powers. He and Hiccup are practically one. 

Astrid: At first, Hiccup’s enemy, Astrid is the complete opposite of Hiccup. She’s a strong talented girl with one ambition: to kill a dragon. After Hiccup and Toothless force her to take a ride with them, she falls in love with what Hiccup’s been doing, and even Hiccup himself. Her personality alters slightly to a sweet, caring girl, but her fiery passion still remains. She eventually takes Stormfly as her dragon. 

The Twins: I don’t think it’s possible to separate Tuffnut and Ruffnut. They are the same person, just different halves. Weird as they are, they’re some of my favorite characters. They’re funny, quirky, and also great friends. Something that connects them even further is that they ride the same dragon, it just has two different heads. Barf and Belch. Somehow, that dragon is incredibly like the twins.

Snotlout: Snotlout, Snotlout, Oi! Oi! Oi! Snotlout’s call in Race to the Edge always comes out when I hear (or I guess technically, write) his name. Snotlout is kind of a coward but seems outwardly to be the strongest. He’s also flirty and can be mean, but in the end he’s a loyal friend like everyone else. His dragon is Hookfang and is also like him in the way he sets himself on fire and is super powerful but is also cowardly. 

Fishlegs: Fishlegs will be our final character. He’s sweet and ends up becoming Hiccup’s best friend. He obsesses over dragons and learning all about them so that he and Hiccup will geek out in random moments. His dragon is Meatlug, who is also like him in her sweetness. 

Plot:

The plot in each movie is different, so let’s look at the first movie plot. It’s set up well, showing the Vikings’ habits and lifestyle, but Hiccup’s obvious difference. Then when he has the perfect chance but doesn’t kill the dragon, we know for sure he’s different. Then we begin to fear for Hiccup, wondering if he’ll be discovered especially as his dad begins to have more faith in him. We also begin to love Toothless and the cute creature he is. Then, everyone’s lives are at stake and we clutch the edge of our seat just wanting Stoick to love Hiccup and Toothless to be okay and everything to be resolved. And it is. Perfectly. 

Why These Movies Are Good:

Okay, come on. A boy training a dragon is super cool. How much better can you get?

Actually, a lot. 

Not only is this story about a boy training his dragon, but it’s about friendship, family, and love. The Vikings had a vision of what would be the perfect life. Being big with long impressive beards, killing dragons every other day and training in between. Scars and pain lead to success, so it’s all they want. They didn’t expect Hiccup, the skinny little boy who has no skill at all to shoot a Night Fury. If they got over that fact, they certainly would not expect him to save Toothless, build him a new tail, train him, and ride him. That was unheard of. The Vikings were of war, not of peace and love. 

But Hiccup is the hero. He saved the people of Berk and the dragons, even though he was the skinny little kid who wouldn’t kill a dragon. 

Heroes come in the unlikeliest of forms. Remember how Jesus came to Earth, but instead of being born in a handsome palace as the people would expect, He was born in a manger? And not only that, but He was born the son of a carpenter. He wasn’t rich or fancy. He didn’t bring huge chariots of fire to chase away the Romans. But He is the hero. He saved us. The Israelites just didn’t expect it. 

So yeah, training dragons are cool. But the reminder Hiccup gives us is even cooler. 

Writing Tip:

Introducing… the plot twist. Most stories have plot twists. Readers love them. How do you write a plot twist that is satisfying? Let’s look at the first How to Train Your Dragon movie again to get an idea. 

Most everything is happening through Hiccup’s eyes. You sympathize and connect with him because he’s not as good as everyone else. You want Hiccup to kill a dragon or something so that he can be admired. 

Then you meet Toothless. You notice he’s scared and all of a sudden you are hoping Hiccup will not kill him, but don’t really know why. Then as the story moves on and Hiccup begins to use the tricks he discovered to train Toothless on the other dragons, you begin to wonder. Is everything how it seems? You’re desperate for answers but have no idea what to expect. You don’t know how Hiccup’s going to solve this problem. Then, behold, the plot twist. A giant dragon that is forcing all the other little dragons to feed it, or they will die. The dragons were never trying to kill Vikings. They were slaves. It isn’t what you were expecting, but it’s what you needed because you were desperate for answers. 

Just looking at How to Train Your Dragon, the ingredients for a plot twist can be pulled out. Make the reader have questions. They’re unsatisfied about something. They want the answers, but you don’t give them. Then, you give them something that is totally unexpected but makes sense. Try it out!

Again, thank you Hannah for letting me post! And thank you all for reading! You can find more of my analyses here: https://goodstorylili.wordpress.com/category/analyses/ 

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