On the surface, theHow to Train Your Dragontrilogy is a sweet story about a boy named Hiccup and his dragon, Toothless, as theylearn about friendship, being true to yourself, and standing up for what you believe in. However, a closer look at the movies reveals some shockingly dark and twisted scenes.
How to Train Your Dragon
From characters who are maimed or killed to instances of Speciesism and loss of autonomy, these"family-friendly" filmsdon’t hold back. While there are too many moments in the franchise to fully cover, the ones on this list are especially noteworthy for going against viewer expectations, having far-reaching and horrifying implications, and exploring important, albeit disturbing, themes.
10The Book of Dragons
During the firstHow to Train Your Dragonmovie, Hiccup reads a book calledThe Book of Dragons,which serves as an explainer for Vikings about the different kinds of dragons. On the surface, the book is disturbing because of its depiction of dragons, with the constant refrain of “Extremely dangerous, kill on sight.” However, what’s far, far worse is the later realization that the book was wrong.
Killed on Sight
A world with creatures as deadly as those implied in the book would be horrifying, but what’s even more horrifying is that the dragons weren’t nearly as bad as they were depicted. In other words, all of these dragon types were likely hunted and killed simply because of what the book said about them. While the scene involving the book isn’t especially terrifying on its own, the implication of what the book has caused is harrowing to consider.
9Three Boats Leave, One Returns
Early on inHow to Train Your Dragon,Hiccup’s father, Stoick, sets sail with three ships to find and defeat the dragons' nest. Another Viking remarks that the ships never come back, and he seems to have a point: later, only one of the three ships returns, severely damaged, implying that the other two were destroyed, and that the Vikings on them were killed.
The Carnage Continues
As Stoick tells Hiccup before leaving, “I’ll be back. Probably.” It seems that even he was aware that the mission might prove too great. As we mentioned before, it’s disturbing that so many dragons were needlessly killed, but as seen here, the full truth is even worse: many Vikings were needlessly killed as well.
8The Cannibalistic Red Death
The Red Death is a giant dragon who serves as queen of her nest. During the first movie, Hiccup and Toothless visit her lair and watch as she kills andeats a Gronkle in a single bite. After being alerted to Hiccup’s presence, the Red Death tries to reach him and accidentally kills a Zippleback, leaving the viewer to wonder just how many more dragons have met a similar fate.
Frightening Both Audiences and Dragons
The dragons in this scene are just as scared as the audience. They cower in fear as the Red Death attacks, then try to flee (and in the Zippleback’s case, don’t succeed). The Red Death is far larger and more bloodthirsty than the others in the nest, making it one of the only examples in the film of a dragon not too dissimilar from its Viking depiction.
7Drago Killing the Island Chiefs
Drago Bludvist serves asthe main antagonistofHow to Train Your Dragon 2. Ruthless and power-hungry, Hiccup’s dad, Stoick, met him many years earlier during a gathering of chieftains who were trying to figure out what to do about the dragons. A then-unknown Drago arrived and said he would keep the chieftains safe if they bowed down to him. After they refused, he ordered his dragons to attack, and only Stoick survived.
Power, Not Protection
Simply put, there was no reason why Drago needed to kill the other Vikings. He could have shown off his mastery of the dragons and gotten their allegiance that way. Or, he could have simply left the chieftains alone. The fact that he went out of his way to make them bow down to him shows that what he cared about was power, not protecting others.
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6The Death of Valka’s Alpha
The Alpha is the king of the dragons, and inHow to Train Your Dragon 2,this dragon initially worked alongside Valka to protect and care for other dragons. Sadly, it was later challenged by Drago’s own Bewilderbeast and lost its life—and status as Alpha—after being impaled by its tusks.
A Heroic Demise
The previous Alpha was a gentle giant who looked out for the others, and it was sad to see it defeated. However, this scene was dark not only because of the Bewilderbeast’s death, but also because of what itimplied for the other dragons' future.
5The Aftermath of Drago’s Traps
Drago appears again on this list, not for killing a dragon, but for maiming several. When Hiccup meets his mom, Valka, he learns that many dragons have been injured in Drago’s traps. She points to one who’s lost his leg, another who has an injured wing, and a third who was blinded and left to die. Sadly, these dragons are all within a few feet of her, and the implication is that there are many, many more who have also been hurt.
Needless Suffering
As previously mentioned, most dragons don’t present a threat to humans. It’s very likely that the ones in this scene were simply leading normal lives when they were caught. Additionally, along with hurting many more dragons, it’s likely that some were killed by Drago’s traps.
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4Hiccup’s Sacrifice
The main villain ofHow to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World(akaHow to Train Your Dragon 3) was a dragon hunter named Grimmel the Grisly. Responsible for killing an untold number of Night Furies, he aimed to capture Toothless and take control of his Alpha powers by using a Light Fury as bait. Toward the end of the movie, Grimmel and Hiccup took to the skies to battle, with Hiccup launching himself toward the villain as he rode atop the Light Fury. It was then that Grimmel tranquilized Toothless, causing the dragon to plummet to the ground.
Thinking fast, Hiccup told the Light Fury to save Toothless before letting go of her and freefalling hundreds of feet. As she went to rescue Toothless, Grimmel began tearing at Hiccup’s wing suit as they both continued to fall. Fortunately, the Light Fury came to save Hiccup before it was too late, but as shown by Grimmel’s fate, a matter of seconds could have made a horrible difference.
Heroic and Horrifying
Although it would be unlikely forthe main character to diein a movie like this, nothing was off the table. After all, Hiccup had already lost a leg and witnessed his best friend kill his father. For this reason, his fall had actual stakes, which were made all the more apparent when Grimmel destroyed his suit. For some added darkness, the scene was preceded by several Deathgrippers being killed, and it ended with Grimmel’s own death after Hiccup detached his prosthetic, causing the villain to slam into the water.
3Hiccup Loses a Leg
During the end ofHow to Train Your Dragon,Hiccup and Toothless are working together to take down the Red Death. As it chased them, they flew higher and higher, attempting to get away. At the last moment, Toothless ignited the gas inside the other dragon’s mouth, causing it to plummet to the ground and explode. However, as it fell, its tail smacked into Toothless, and he and Hiccup fell into the fires below. Later, Hiccup awoke back in the Viking village of Berk, but with a piece of his leg replaced by a prosthetic.
Hinting at Losses to Come
Throughout the movie, several Vikings appear with missing limbs, and Toothless himself had a tail injury. On one level, it was somewhat foreshadowed that the same might happen to Hiccup. On another, this is a severe injury for a character in a children’s movie, and the events leading up to the injury were just as dark, with the Red Death expressing fear as it fell and Stoick horrified that his son might be dead. Plus, it opened the door for other character losses later on.
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2Stoick’s Death
As mentioned previously, Stoick the Vast was Hiccup’swell-intentioned but stubborn father. During the events of the second movie, Hiccup was trying to persuade Drago that Vikings and dragons could live together in harmony. In response, Drago made his Alpha dragon take over Toothless and told the Night Fury to attack Hiccup. At the last second, Stoick ran between Hiccup and Toothless and took the deadly blast for his son.
A Vast Emptiness
Of course, this isn’t the first children’s movie franchise to feature a dead parent. However, the circumstances surrounding Stoick’s death are unique in that Hiccup’s best friend was forced to kill him. To make matters more upsetting, Hiccup understandably reacted to Stoick’s death with despair, pushing Toothless away when the dragon tried to understand what was happening and comfort him.
1The Dragons' Farewell
As the third movie neared its conclusion, Hiccup announced that the dragons needed to stay in the Hidden World for their own safety. All the characters then parted with their dragons before watching them take off to their new home. No one was happy to see them leave, and given everything they’d gone through together,the parting was especially bitter.
Dark and Depressing
Some might say that this scene is more sad than dark, but since the entire franchise has revolved around the Vikings and dragons attempting to establish connections, it’s pretty unnerving to think it was all for nothing. Of course, the movie ends on an optimistic note, suggesting that dragons and Vikings will be able to coexist in the future. But for now, they’re fated to remain apart, showing that the real concern wasn’t about training dragons, but about creating a world that was safe for both them and humans.
