Archetypes in How to Train Your Dragon
Hero’s Journey:
Separation:
Hiccup (the male protagonist) begins his journey to heroism right from the first scene. In this scene he is seen as a useless child and he is sent away from all the action of hunting dragon to repair the weapons of the other Vikings. Hiccup disobeys his father’s orders and he set out to kill a Nightfury, the most dangerous of all of the dragons. He unexpectedly hits one, yet no one believes him, he in fact get in trouble. Later the next day he sets out to find the Nightfury he hit, when he finds it he realizes that it is a scared as he is and that he cannot kill it. He hides he knowledge of the whereabouts of the Nightfury from the village. This is where his heroism begins, it is at this moment when he realizes that he does not want to be a dragon hunter and that he simply wants to protect the dragons from the other Vikings. Initiation:
After seeing how scared the dragon he shot down is he befriends it and begins to study it. He eventually names it Toothless. When Hiccup realizes that Toothless cannot fly he decides to try and make him a makeshift tail. Once Toothless becomes comfortable with Hiccup he begins to let Hiccup ride him. As they spend more and more time together Hiccup begins to learn many things about dragons and is able to fake his way through the dragon training his dad is putting him through. Eventually Astrid (the female protagonist) becomes suspicious of Hiccup and finds out about Toothless. At first she is scared but once she rides him with Hiccup she too realizes that everything they know about dragons. She too comes on board with Hiccups plan to protect the dragons. Return:
Once Astrid knows about Toothless Hiccup is prepared to return to their village and tell everybody about the dragons even if they don’t believe him. Unfortunately the village does not believe them and they set out to find the dragons’ nest to kill them all. Hiccup is determined to save the dragons, but most importantly Toothless who has been
Separation:
Hiccup (the male protagonist) begins his journey to heroism right from the first scene. In this scene he is seen as a useless child and he is sent away from all the action of hunting dragon to repair the weapons of the other Vikings. Hiccup disobeys his father’s orders and he set out to kill a Nightfury, the most dangerous of all of the dragons. He unexpectedly hits one, yet no one believes him, he in fact get in trouble. Later the next day he sets out to find the Nightfury he hit, when he finds it he realizes that it is a scared as he is and that he cannot kill it. He hides he knowledge of the whereabouts of the Nightfury from the village. This is where his heroism begins, it is at this moment when he realizes that he does not want to be a dragon hunter and that he simply wants to protect the dragons from the other Vikings. Initiation:
After seeing how scared the dragon he shot down is he befriends it and begins to study it. He eventually names it Toothless. When Hiccup realizes that Toothless cannot fly he decides to try and make him a makeshift tail. Once Toothless becomes comfortable with Hiccup he begins to let Hiccup ride him. As they spend more and more time together Hiccup begins to learn many things about dragons and is able to fake his way through the dragon training his dad is putting him through. Eventually Astrid (the female protagonist) becomes suspicious of Hiccup and finds out about Toothless. At first she is scared but once she rides him with Hiccup she too realizes that everything they know about dragons. She too comes on board with Hiccups plan to protect the dragons. Return:
Once Astrid knows about Toothless Hiccup is prepared to return to their village and tell everybody about the dragons even if they don’t believe him. Unfortunately the village does not believe them and they set out to find the dragons’ nest to kill them all. Hiccup is determined to save the dragons, but most importantly Toothless who has been