Mod: Lead Hunter
The island of Berk is a remote Viking village, from which dragons periodically steal livestock. Hiccup, the awkward son of village chieftain, Stoick the Vast, is too small to fight the dragons and instead fashions mechanical devices under his apprenticeship with Gobber the blacksmith. During one attack, Hiccup believes he has shot down a Night Fury, an extremely rare and dangerous dragon. Hiccup later finds it trapped in his bolas but finds that he can’t bring himself to kill the dragon and instead sets it free. Stoick assembles a fleet to find the dragons’ nest, leaving Hiccup in a dragon-fighting class taught by Gobber. Hiccup realizes that the Night Fury cannot fly properly because of its crippled caudal fin. Hiccup gradually domesticates the dragon and gives it the name “Toothless”, for its retractable teeth. Hiccup makes a harness and prosthetic fin that allows him to guide the dragon in free flight. By studying Toothless’ behavior, Hiccup becomes proficient in subduing the captive dragons kept for training. Stoick’s fleet arrives home unsuccessful, but he is cheered by Hiccup’s success.
Astrid, a tough Viking girl who Hiccup has a crush on, discovers Hiccup is training Toothless but before she can tell the village, Hiccup takes her for a ride to demonstrate his relationship with the dragon. Toothless unexpectedly takes the pair to the dragons’ nest where they discover a gigantic dragon named the Red Death that eats the smaller dragons unless they bring it stolen livestock.
Back at the village, Hiccup trains a captive dragon instead of subduing it in front of his father but Stoick mistakenly angers the dragon. Toothless attempts to protect Hiccup in the ensuing panic but is instead captured by the Vikings. Hiccup accidentally reveals to Stoick that Toothless is capable of locating the dragons’ nest. Stoick disowns his son and sets off for the nest with Toothless as a guide. The Vikings expel most of the dragons but are overwhelmed by the Red Death until Hiccup, Astrid and their fellow pupils fly in riding the training dragons from the academy and provide cover fire. Hiccup almost drowns trying to break Toothless free from a sinking ship but Stoick saves them both and then reconciles with his son. Toothless and Hiccup destroy the Red Death but Hiccup’s left foot is torn off in the fight. Hiccup regains consciousness on Berk where his foot has been replaced by a prosthesis.
Five years after the Viking village of Berk made peace with the dragons, they now live among the villagers as helpful companions. Hiccup goes on adventures with his dragon, Toothless, as they discover and map unexplored lands. Now 20 years old, he is being pressed by his father, Stoick the Vast, to succeed him as chieftain, although Hiccup remains unsure if he is ready for this responsibility.
While investigating a burnt forest, Hiccup and Astrid discover the remains of a fort encased in ice and encounter a group of dragon trappers led by Eret, who blames them for his fort’s destruction and attempts to capture their dragons for an insane conqueror named Drago Bludvist. The two dragon riders escape and return to Berk to warn Stoick about the dragon army that Drago is amassing. Stoick orders the villagers to fortify the island and prepare for battle. Hiccup, however, refuses to believe that war is inevitable. After Stoick interrupts Hiccup’s plan to get Eret to take him to Drago, Stoick explains that he once met Drago at a gathering of chiefs, where Drago, mocked after offering the chiefs his service in return for their servitude, murdered them all, with Stoick as the only survivor. Undeterred, Hiccup flies off with Toothless in search of Drago to try to reason with him.
They are captured by a dragon rider named Valka, who is revealed to be Hiccup’s long-lost mother. She explains that she, like her son, was unable to kill dragons. After being carried off during a dragon raid, she spent twenty years rescuing dragons from Drago’s traps and bringing them to an island nest created out of ice by a gigantic Alpha dragon called a “Bewilderbeast”, which controls smaller dragons. Stoick tracks Hiccup to the nest, where he discovers that his wife is still alive. Simultaneously, Astrid and the other riders kidnap Eret to find Drago, but Drago captures them and learns of Berk’s dragons.
Drago and his army lay siege to the nest, where he reveals that he has his own Bewilderbeast to challenge the Alpha. A battle ensues between the two colossal dragons, which ends with Drago’s Bewilderbeast killing the nest’s Bewilderbeast and becoming the new Alpha. Drago’s Bewilderbeast then seizes control of all the adult dragons, who hypnotically obey. Hiccup tries to persuade Drago to end the violence, but Drago orders him killed. Toothless, under the Bewilderbeast’s influence, approaches Hiccup and launches a blast, but Stoick pushes Hiccup out of the way and is hit instead, killing him. The Bewilderbeast momentarily relinquishes control of Toothless, but Hiccup drives him away in a fit of despair. Drago maroons Hiccup and the others on the island and rides Toothless, again under the control of the Bewilderbeast, to lead his army to conquer Berk. Stoick is given a Viking funeral and Hiccup, now having lost both his father and dragon, is unsure what to do. Valka encourages him by telling him that he alone can unite humans and dragons, and inspired by her words and his father’s, Hiccup decides to return to Berk to stop Drago.
The dragon riders fly baby dragons back to Berk, as they are immune to the Bewilderbeast’s control. They find that Drago has already attacked the village and taken control of its dragons. Hiccup confronts Drago and a brainwashed Toothless while the other riders work to distract the Bewilderbeast. Hiccup succeeds in freeing Toothless from the Bewilderbeast’s control, much to Drago’s surprise. Hiccup and Toothless briefly separate Drago from the Bewilderbeast and confront Drago on the ground, but the Bewilderbeast attacks them, encasing them in ice. However,
Toothless blasts away the ice, revealing that both he and Hiccup are unharmed. He then challenges the Bewilderbeast, firing at it repeatedly, which breaks its control over the other dragons, who now side with Toothless as the new Alpha dragon. All the dragons repeatedly fire at the Bewilderbeast until Toothless fires a final massive blast, breaking its left tusk. Defeated, the Bewilderbeast retreats under the sea with Drago on its back. The Vikings and dragons celebrate their victory and Hiccup is made chieftain of Berk.
(Dilios Note: He sat down one day to tell me the story – it’s not well known – if it is it’s a children’s story)
The fight with Drago did not end. A few years later Drago returned, attacking the village. Astrid, who Hiccup had married, was giving birth to their first born. Toothless had stayed, protecting mother and child.
Tragically they had lost Astrid.
Hiccup, in his rage, destroyed Drago and his army, giving the island its freedom. Through the battle they had lost most of the dragons they had protected. The only survivors had been Hookfang, Stormfly and Toothless.
Stormfly was found later curled up next to Astrid’s grave, giving up her own life to follow her human to Valhalla.
Hiccup raised his son Stoick Hiccup the IV to be a proud dragon warrior.
The death of Drago had brought Berk to Builwyf’s attention. He sought out the Great Chief, surprised to see such a young man, with a baby strapped to his chest. The two had a long sit down conversation and when the time came he offered to Turn him.
