I was just looking at your reverse Httyd AU, and I LOVE IT!!! I have a few questions:
Would Toothless still be named toothless, despite by the whole “biting off hiccup’s leg” thing?
How would Stoic find out he was alive?
Will Stoic ever find hiccup?
Does hiccup stay on Berk forever or eventually take off with Toothless?
What happens to the red death? Do the raids continue?
What’s the general conflict?
I seriously adore this take on Httyd, and I’d love to hear more about it!
Dude you assume I have thought this out??? T_T hahahaaha
No anyway hiiiii and thank you so much for these questions!!! They are fantastic! So the general idea was just that Hiccup and Toothless would switch injuries during the first movie (Hiccup loses his leg at the start, Toothless his tail at the end) and I haven't had the time to really dive into how that would change the entire dynamic of the film. Your questions are a great way to explore that, I believe, so let's get into it!?
1. Yeah Toothless would still be named Toothless. I'd like it to remain sort of ambiguous how Hiccup lost the leg - we don't know whether Toothless ripped it off or if it happened through some other traumatic force, like a fall, or if it was crushed by a rock. All I know is that Hiccup and Toothless VIOLENTLY collide in the woods. And you know the number that Toothless' killing blasts can do on a landscape. I assume the same indirect fault level that Hiccup had with Toothless' tail - Toothless wanted to eliminate the threat and thought he killed his enemy, or at least he scared Hiccup off enough to never come back, if he survived... only to discover that yes, the boy did in fact survive, with a heavy injury that will still end him if left untreated, and Toothless must come to terms with his role in the pain and suffering he caused. Hiccup must move from the role of a direct combat enemy to a wounded kid who needs support. Hiccup will need a fire to cauterize his leg, and to keep warm since I imagine there is a lot of rain on Berk. That will be Toothless' first chance to offer some help. But to approach Hiccup, he must drop his weapons first (like Hiccup had to drop his knife) and one of the things the Night Fury can do to show that he is not trying to be a threat anymore is to retract his teeth.
2. + 3. + 4. + 5. Yeah Stoick would find out that his son is alive. I'm not yet sure if Hiccup stays in the cove the entire time. I don't believe he would. Let's say he stays there for the duration that there are edible fish in the cove's little pond. But he can't climb out of the hole by himself, and he'll run out of food down there. So it's up to Toothless to help him move. Toothless might bring him fish from the sea at first, but it'll become too dangerous to openly fly around the island of Berk without being spotted by human sentries. So it will be Toothless who, seeing Hiccup's desire to leave, will grab him one day and move him to a remote cliff or something that's closer to the ocean, so he can catch fish and feed Hiccup there. This is where their friendship will blossom - Hiccup will learn to train Terrible Terrors, and Toothless and him will develop a closer physical bond while Hiccup heals. Toothless can't return Hiccup to the village himself, else he will be killed. Hiccup understands that, but he still thinks about how he can regain mobility and go back. He'll build a prosthetic leg for himself, tying it with straps of his clothing, and one day, while he is chilling on Toothless' back, Toothless will just walk off the cliff and show Hiccup the joys of flight.
Without Berk's resources, it will take Hiccup longer to master staying on Toothless' back. But eventually, he'll learn about the patterns of the dragon raids. Returning to the cove to perhaps grab something that he left behind there, Astrid will find him. The romantic flight and the discovery of the dragons' nest follow. Astrid promises not to give Toothcup's location away. Given that it's HER who won at dragon training in Hiccup's absence though, she is now expected to kill the Monstrous Nightmare in the kill ring finale. And knowing what she knows, she can't go through with it, prompting the discovery of Hiccup and Toothless. Toothless gives himself up willingly so that Hiccup can return home.
After that, the movie is basically "back to normal": Stoick uses Toothless to lead him to the dragon nest, Hiccup follows with the gang and they take down the Red Death. Toothless assumes the main part, since he is not limited by his tail. He can protect Hiccup better and outsmart the Red Death. After the fall, it's Hiccup who first gains consciousness before Toothless, and insists on taking him back to Berk so he can build him a prosthetic tail. Dragons come to live on Berk, and it's the same happy ending overall.
6. The general conflict would be slightly different having Hiccup's and Toothless' roles reversed. Some of the main differences are:
Toothless isn't part of a community in the way Hiccup is. Remember how no other dragon came to look for tailless Toothless. Toothless was abandoned because he was a lone cat, whereas Stoick would launch multiple search parties for Hiccup. So that would definitely create a different dynamic for the story.
It would be difficult to write this as a story where Toothless doesn't create the impression of keeping Hiccup "captive". There needs to be an immediate attempt to return Hiccup to the village but either Hiccup is still too sick to travel or it'll be too dangerous for Toothless, so it has to be impossible for a time. A quick Google search reveals that a below-the-knee amputation takes at least a month or two to heal. Prior to that, Hiccup cannot possibly think to put weight on a home-made prosthetic. So it'll take him an entire summer to learn how to walk again, just like it took several weeks for Toothcup to perfect their flying. Toothless isn't as physically integral to Hiccup's recovery as Hiccup was to the dragon's... Hiccup will build his own walking aid, and Toothless will "only" be there to provide food, shelter, and comfort. But on the other hand, this will give a better opportunity to gain some fascinating insight into the social order of dragons, as Hiccup will only be interacting with animals for a time.
It would be Toothless taking responsibility for the raids originating from his own nest. In the og movie, it's Hiccup who calls his father out for "killing thousands of them", and it's Stoick who sails out to end the conflict once and for all. In the reversed version, Toothless would have to decide to confront his own for "killing hundreds of them" and defeat the unrepentant and greedy dragon queen.
It would be harder to facilitate Hiccup's "discovery" without laying the blame on Astrid specifically. Perhaps Toothless finally brings Hiccup home after all, knowing fully well that he is walking into a death trap for himself.
The other themes, like of interspecies prejudices and unrelenting friendship betwee unlikely characters, could stay the same.
So, this isn't a hard outline, and there are lots of other ways that this idea can be played. If anyone feels inspired or has a better idea, PLEASE SHARE IT WITH ME; I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT IT.
I wanna make sure that this stays a movie that feels as much like og Httyd without losing any of the beautiful message. This is not an AU where Hiccup leaves indefinitely or becomes a dragon hermit like Valka... it's not supposed to be about becoming a hero or about revenge or about proving someone wrong, but about dragons and humans overcoming their differences. It's not the vigilante AU and not Damsel (2024) with Millie Bobbie Brown. The attempt is to tell the exact same Httyd story with the same morals, but reversed roles. Since Hiccup and Toothless have different traits and personalities though, it's interesting to think about what could replace what.
Feel free to hit me up with more ideas or headcanons, seriously.
Thank you for the ask!
Cheers
Reddie
