Why do I say that HTTYD has lower gravity and higher air density than Earth As We Know It?
disclaimer: normally I'm against this sort of realistic physics analysis of fiction because people tend to make them only to disprove something in the fiction is remotely possible, which just feels like a bummer. But this post is about how the stuff that would normally fall under Suspension of Disbelief actually do work with physics- or at least are closer to realistic than you'd think.
▪️ People and items and dragons fall slower over great heights
▪️ dragons don't fly like anything flies on Earth. Instead of creating lift it looks like they're more pushing air down to go up, like swimming. (It might be both?)
▪️ This is especially true when hovering. On Earth a winged animal would need to flap extremely fast to hover, not to mention be very light. In DreamWorks Dragons, dragons will flap slowly to hover, looking like they're treading air
In this example Stormfly hovers and bobs in a very swimming way
▪️ This is a bit "that's suspension of disbelief!" but the fact that dragons can fly at all, especially gronkles. (I'm imaging a gronkle is like if a diver had a backpack that mimics a motorboat motor) (wait do jetpacks work underwater?).
▪️ Humans with "flight suits". They are similar to real life wingsuits, but I feel like they don't fall as fast as them. This is a bit more opinion, I don't have any references right now.
▪️ There's a decent amount of human characters with giantism. On Earth, giantism is considered a genetic disorder, because it's detrimental. Human bodies can't handle the extra weight and it ends up causing all kinds of health issues.
On a planet with less gravity, giantism might be a prosperous mutation, resulting in longer survival and being considered an attractive trait, and would then be much more common. (Stoick is 7 foot tall!!)
(I'm not even remotely an expert on giantism so I might be totally wrong about all of it)
Wouldn't denser air mean that dragons that aren't very aerodynamic would be worse off?
I'm gonna level with you, I'd need to run an experiment, probably a simulation, to be sure. But I think the lesser gravity and denser air actually balance out so that it's a net win for flight. Like yes technically but the added help is more than the hindrance of poor aerodynamics and wind resistance.
If gravity is lower why isn't everyone moonjumping all the time - or ever?
First of all the gravity isn't that low. Second the humans don't--but the dragons do. Just watch Toothless and his bouncy steps.
You know this post? Well night furies pretty much can leap 30 feet vertically. Even without flapping their wings.
So dragons are optimized for the lower gravity, while I think humans just adapted to it. Walking around it's unnoticeable watching them, but if they fall from a great height or have to leap off their dragons, you can see the difference.
Wait are you saying HTTYD isn't set on Earth?
Maybe! I headcanon that HTTYD isn't set in the past but in the far future. While air density could change over that time There's no way the gravity could be changed. Now I'm not 100% sure both the gravity is lower and the air is denser. The air is definitely denser. But the reasons I have for hypothesizing lower gravity could be explained by the denser air.
So I don't know. DreamWorks Dragons could be set on Earth or it could be set on a planet that was terraformed before whatever apocalypse lead to Berk and the Barbaric Archipelago.
