An Analysis Most Opinionated of One Hiccup Haddock
I was supposed to write an essay about bioluminescence this weekend, but I ended up writing one about Hiccup instead, because I’m trash.
Be careful handling this thing, it’s literally dripping with feels.
One of the things that makes HTTYD a great movie is that the characters were written to be imperfect, so we can cheer on their successes and relate to their struggles. They’re so multi-dimensional and realistic that everyone can see pieces of themselves.
For my part, I empathize with Stoick more than I do Hiccup, despite Hiccup being higher on my fave character list. I feel like he has a sort of frustrated affection for his son that’s a reflection of how I sometimes feel about my younger siblings. I see him as being both overprotective and lenient, in that he tries to keep Hiccup away from the fighting because he’s terrified that he’ll be killed (hence not letting him be on the fire squad and almost keeping him out of dragon training), but also doesn’t seem to impose consequences very much. He’s so used to Hiccup ignoring him that when he tells him to go home, he immediately adds for Gobber to “make sure he gets there.” And then Hiccup doesn’t even wait for Gobber to be out of earshot before he leaves again. He goes in through the front door and then straight out the back. Most problematic (and hilarious).
And I love this attitude. I’ll call him out on it in a heartbeat, but it never fails to make me laugh. I can respect that he kind of does what he wants most the time (or at least what he thinks he wants), instead of what he’s supposed to be doing. It’s not that he’s deliberately lazy, but he’s easily distracted and often prioritizes his own projects over other duties (like going out into raids/making a map instead of doing his job at the forge). That same quality also means that he’s going to do what he thinks is right despite any and all opposition. When he finds a cause, he’ll put everything else aside and see it through. The writers worked very hard to give him personality traits that had good and bad sides to them, just like a real person.
I love that he fits his name. In the books, there’s a lot of discussion about what it means to be a “Hiccup.” Initially, it’s just explained that it’s a name that means “mistake,” but as time goes on, it shows that it’s better understood as “unexpected.” Hiccups cannot be planned for. They cannot be stopped. They cannot be predicted. Being a Hiccup means being a force of change, an upset in the status quo. It ends up being something to be proud of, because even the Hiccups whose stories ended in tragedies helped to bring about great things.
One of the biggest things I appreciate about Hiccup is his growth throughout the first film, which Toothless is the catalyst for. Before Toothless, he was not happy. Between Snotlout’s and the twins’ mocking and his own weaponized sarcasm, he didn’t get along with his peer group. He didn’t really fit in anywhere, and nobody was in a hurry to help him. The major communication issues between him and his dad left him feeling like he could only gain his dad’s acceptance by killing a dragon. So he tries to do the Viking thing, but he chooses not to do it the Viking way. Instead of physically training like Astrid, he uses his intelligence, curiosity, and optimism to invent weapon after weapon to do the killing for him.
At this point, he’s kinda selfish. Because he’s thinking more of his own status than the village’s overall wellbeing, he keeps doing things his way even with failure after disastrous failure. This is a bad thing, because his failures are quite destructive and make everybody even more frustrated with him. (Not malicious, but certainly not friendly.) It’s also a good thing, because it’s what led to him meeting Toothless and being determined to build something that would let him fly.
(Something interesting here is that, while Hiccup and Stoick find it extremely difficult to relate, they’re actually very similar in some areas. The drive Hiccup has to keep trying over and over is the same bullheadedness that made Stoick keep sending ships to find the dragons’ nest, which also never worked. They both have the capacity for confident leadership (Hiccup just discovers his later.) They care deeply about and would do anything to protect their loved ones. They’re too stubborn to see the other’s perspective. They make lots of mistakes when dealing with each other. The dual “I did this” line came when they each finally realized the extent of the harm their actions caused. The reconciliation scene is a mutual apology well-deserved on both sides.)
The first time we see Hiccup take responsibility for his actions is when he says, “I did this,” and chooses not to kill a dragon he’d made defenseless. It’s from this point that he begins to do his best to right a wrong and restore what he’d stripped away. He starts thinking about someone else and turns his efforts from destruction to creation. And he has a lot more success, because that’s what he’s suited for. His self-esteem grows, as does his capacity to empathize with others. He becomes a better person, because he was incomplete before. He needed Toothless to balance him out and focus all of that energy, brilliance, and creativity on things that would help others, not just him.
The thing I find most endearing about Hiccup is his relationship with his soulmate. He loves that dragon SO MUCH. SO MUCH. Toothless is more important to him than anyone or anything in the world. He would leave everything behind for him in a heartbeat. And he does so much to show it: physical and verbal affection, treating him like an equal, trusting him blindly, being trustworthy himself, spending so much time and energy to give him back his freedom, being willing to sacrifice himself in his place, having a constant awareness of his needs and moods, playfully fighting and arguing, teaching him, learning from him, spending all his time with him… I could go on and on. They become more like each other as time goes on. Hiccup admires Toothless so much that he actively tries to become as dragon-like as possible by making himself wings and flame, and crafting his outfits to match Toothless’s appearance. It’s his best friend that dominates his thoughts and desires, and they are so much a part of each other that they can’t imagine being apart. There is no end to their love and loyalty to each other. Hiccup would fight the world to keep Toothless. His world IS Toothless. I will never, ever tire of these movies, and they are the number one reason.
Hiccup is a great character. He may not have the build or aggression of a Viking, but he’s just as headstrong as the best of them. A Viking can “crush mountains, level forests, and tame seas,” and when this boy sets his mind to something, he achieves the impossible. Like taking down a Night Fury. Like befriending a dragon. Like bringing peace to a 300-year war. He has an enormous capacity for compassion and forgiveness. He could insult someone five ways to Friday and be gone before they have a chance to respond. Where someone like Astrid might see a marked path, he sees unexplored possibilities. Sometimes he’s a diplomat, sometimes he’s a brat. He can be arrogant. He can be goofy. He’s a hero. He’s a dork. He’s independent. He’s impossible. He questions everything. He wants to experience it all for himself. He’s clever, creative, and intuitive. He’s a visionary. He’s a leader. He’s a hiccup.
The world tried to change him to fit in. Instead, he changed the world to fit him.
