Astrid Hofferson

Astrid Hofferson is a teen Viking girl of the Hairy Hooligans tribe who attends Dragon Training with Hiccup and the other Viking teens. She is striking, tough, beautiful and her determined and strong persona makes her hard to impress. Astrid is Hiccup's main love interest in the film. In spite of initially not liking Hiccup or his new found friendship with Toothless, she soon has her opinion changed and helps to try and keep Toothless a secret.Noteworthly, she is the only viking without a helmet seen in the Film as well as in the 3 short sequels (Although Hiccup received a helmet from his father as a gift during the film, he does not wear it often).

Astrid does not appear in any of the books in the original series and is an original character designed for the film. It is possible she is based on the character Camicazi from the books.

Physical Appearance
Astrid is thin for a Viking but is given the advantage of agility because of this in Dragon Training. She has blonde hair with long bangs that cover the left side of her forehead, with a braided ponytail in back, and usually wears a leather band across her forehead. Astrid wears a skirt with spikes surrounding it with a pouch on her hip and also wears skull emblazened shoulder pads. She is rarely seen without her trusty battle axe.

Personality

 * "I'm more of an old-fashioned take it down with an axe and then lop its head off kind of girl." - Astrid

Astrid is shown to be determined and extremely dedicated to becoming a Viking Warrior. She is generally uninterested in the other teenagers, preferring to study and train on her own to become a better fighter. In the beginning, she has the most success in Dragon Training. In the film, she is shown to be serious and highly dedicated to one day fighting dragons. She is shown to have a lighter side in Gift of the Night Fury, going out of her way to bring Snoggletog joy to Berk.



She quickly becomes jealous of Hiccup as his skills improve and is frustrated by his success over her. She also reveals her suspicious side, following and spying on Hiccup to discover his secret. Astrid also has a caring side, although this is hidden by an initial attempt at violence to cover it up. Astrid's name is North Germanic for "Divine Beauty", which seems suits her for her appearance and character role. She is also the only viking with a name that doesn't appear to be an insult.

Alongside Hiccup and Fishlegs, Astrid is the most knowledgeable in dragons, knowing of various breeds' shot-limits, behaviors, and of course she specializes in Deadly Nadders, like her dragon Stormfly. When it comes to her dragon, Hiccup,and Toothless, Astrid is somewhat kinder and gentler. She cares deeply for them, and has come to love Stormfly, who in turn is loyal to her, being there to greet her in the morning when Astrd wakes up.

She often provides her form of advice called the Honey & the Hatchet (you tell someone what they want to hear, the honey part, before you hit `em in the head with something they don't, the hatchet part).

How to Train Your Dragon
Astrid is first seen at the beginning of the film during a dragon raid, helping in putting out fires with Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, while Hiccup (doing an introductory narration) introduces her to the audience. After Hiccup is sent home by his father after the raid, Astrid is among the group but does not join in their mockery of Hiccup. She is later seen with the other students in Dragon Training, along with Hiccup. During their first encounter with a Gronckleas their first lesson, Astrid is shown to be the star pupil as the other students are knocked out of the lesson one by one. Later, with n the Vikings' dining hall, the other students mock Hiccup's performance and Astrid doesn't hesitate to criticize him either.

Gobber hands the students a manual on dragons for the group to study and Astrid is one of the only ones to read it besides Fishlegs and Hicup. One night later, Astrid is listening to Gobber's stories about dragons with the others when she notices Hiccup suddenly leave without saying anything. Although curious, she thinks nothing of it. During the student's next lesson, this time against a Deadly Nadder in a labyrinth, Astrid again comes out on top. Angered with Hiccup getting in her way, she is quick to berate him by saying that they about to inherit their parents' war and angrily commands him to figure out what side he fights for.

At the next lesson, the students are facing a Hideous Zippleback in paired teams: Astrid with Ruffnut, Hiccup with Fishlegs and Snotlout with Tuffnut. Due to Snotlout and Tuffnut's jeers, Astrid and Ruffnut lose their buckets of water, which they needed to douse the Zippleback's spark-breathing head. While Hiccup loses the last bucket of water, Astrid is shocked to see Hiccup somehow frighten the Zippleback back into it's cage by merely motioning to it. As the lessons progress, it soon becomes apparent that Hiccup is becoming better and better, always seeming to have a way with the dragons and exerting control over them. He soon overtakes Astrid as the star pupil, which stirs her jealousy even further. After one particular lesson, Astrid vents her anger in the forest by throwing her axe into trees when she sees Hiccup sneaking around. She attempts to follow him but loses sight of him through the foliage.

On the following night, Astrid hears clash from Hiccup's stall at the blacksmith shop and found Hiccup's "Acting weird" "Weirder" and his sudden disappearing, which deepen her doubt.

Not long after, Astrid and Hiccup are the only students left in the race to see who gets the right to slay their first dragon. They're faced with a Gronckle, where she threatens Hiccup to stay out of her way. Despite Astrid's best efforts, she still ends up losing when Hiccup immobilizes the Gronckle in little to no time at all. The Viking Elder denies Astrid the right to kill a dragon and instead gives it to Hiccup.

This time, Astrid manages to follow Hiccup to the grotto he'd been visiting after training, with an axe. Astrid then begins questioning Hiccup on the real reason for his sudden improvements in dragon training as well as his riding jacket which he has never shown in public. Astrid then notices the figure of Toothless but before she can recognize Toothless, Hiccup distracts her by admitting that he is "through with the lies" as well as "making outfits" ,which causes Astrid to twist Hiccup's arm painfully "for the lies" and hit him hard with the handle of her axe "for everything else", which finally stimulates Toothless. Thinking that Astrid is a threat to Hiccup, Toothless reveals himself and is about to attack when Hiccup grabs and casts Astrid's axe and stops Toothless in mid-pounce by telling him that Astrid is a friend. After an introduction to one another, Astrid realizes this is how Hiccup had beaten her in Dragon Training and runs off with anger to tell the villagers. But in the middle of the forest, she is swooped up and placed in the pinnacle of a tree by Toothless and Hiccup, where he asks for a chance to explain. She refuses to hear any explanation, yet Hiccup manages to talk her into letting him show her instead and she climbs onto Toothless behind Hiccup. However, Toothless is not so trustworthy and deliberately scares Astrid with daring flying maneuvers until she finally apologizes. Toothless finally stops and takes her and Hiccup on an extraordinarily brililant flight above the clouds and Berk. Astrid is amazed by the flight and what she sees, realizing just how wrong she was about Toothless and Hiccup. During the flight however, when reminding Hiccup of the oncoming event on which Hiccup "Will have to kill a dragon", Toothless suddenly flies towards parts unknown and the group soon find themselves in a flock of dragons carrying kill and food towards none other than the Dragons' Nest. Astrid is shocked to discover the dragons steal and raid from the village to feed a monstrous dragon called the Red Deathinorderto avoid being eaten themselves. When they get back, Astrid wants to tell the village about what they saw but Hiccup manages to talk her out of it for the time being, fearing the other Vikings will kill Toothless. Impressed by Hiccup's persistance on keeping Toothless a secret and his loyalty to Toothless, she agrees and suddenly punches him on the arm "for kidnapping her" before kissing him on the cheek "for everything else."

The next day, Hiccup has to take his final exam and is expected to kill his first dragon, a Monstrous Nightmare (later named Hookfang). Astrid wishes Hiccup good luck ("But just promise me it won't go wrong.") and agrees to make sure the Vikings don't find Toothless if something does go wrong. She watches as Hiccup faces the Nightmare and tosses aside his weapon, shield and helmet, intending to show the Vikings the truth about dragons. But Stoick, furied by his son's traitorous behaviors, screams for the match to stop and strikes the handrail of thering.The noise frightens the Nightmare, driving it to attack Hiccup, which is exactly what Hiccup tells Astrid he is worried about. Astrid gets into the arena and tries to help Hiccup escape but ends up in danger as well until Stoick gets into the ring to help them. Astrid manages to clamber out but Hiccup ends up in the Nightmare's claws before he is saved by Toothless. Toothless fights off the Nightmare but won't leave Hiccup, thinking the Vikings are threats and almost kills Stoick in the process. The Vikings swarm Toothless and Astrid has to stop Hiccup from interfering so he doesn't get hurt. Later she hears that the Stoick disowns Hiccup.

Astrid attempts to comfort Hiccup for his losses after the Vikings set sail for the Nest and the deadly Red Death which Vikings are barely aware of. She asks why Hiccup didn't kill Toothless that first chance, saying she wants to remember why. Hiccup responds he didn't because at that critical moment, Toothless was just as scared as Hiccup was; for him it was like looking in a mirror. Astrid's words then motivate Hiccup to try to save the tribe and do "something crazy".

Astrid rounds up the other students and Hiccup teaches them enough about riding and controlling the various dragons. Astrid stops Snotlout's attempt to grab a weapon when training a Monstrous Nightmare (later named Hookfang). Finally they fly off to rescue their tribe from the Red Death which has broken out of the Nest to attack. Astrid sits astride a Deadly Nadder (later named Stormfly) and drops off Hiccup so he can free Toothless from his chains while she goes to help the others fight the Red Death. Astrid and her Nadder nearly end up getting eaten and she is knocked off her dragon. Thankfully, she is saved as Toothless catches her, and she enjoys a heartquaking flight upside-down. Hiccup drops her off as he and Toothless lead the Death into the sky where they fight it and send it plummeting to its doom in a massive, fiery explosion.

When it seems that Hiccup has died in the fight, Astrid is brought to tears at seeing the sight before her. When Stoick announces that Hiccup survived, she in overjoyed at the news. hen Hiccup finally wakes up back on Berk to a new village of dragon and Vikings living together (along with his prosthetic leg), Astrid punches him on the arm again for scaring her and then kisses him on the lips tenderly. Aside her Deadly Nadder, later revealed to be named "Stormfly", Astrid joins Hiccup, Toothless, and the other Vikings with their dragons as they soar together into the sky.

Gift of the Night Fury
Astrid and Berk are preparing to celebrate their holiday Snoggletog for the first time with their dragons, as Astrid is seen helping decorate, assisted by her Deadly Nadder, whom she has named Stormfly. After Stoick makes a speech, a strange sound causes all of Berk's dragons to fly off, including Stormfly, during which Astrid questions "Where's Hiccup?".

When Hiccup arrives, everyone swarms him with questions about their dragons' sudden departure but alas Hiccup has no answers. Despite Stoick's trying to cheer the tribe up in the Great Hall, everyone is sad and disappointed. Astrid admits to her friends she'd been looking forward to spending the holiday with Stormfly but she tries to pep up by suggesting they should come up with some new holiday traditions though Hiccup is the only one who supports her.

The next morning, Astrid tries to spread cheer with her new beverage, Yak-Nog (an obvious allusion to egg-nog) and Snotlout is the first to try it though he silently regrets it, especially since he has to swallow it instead of spitting it out in front of Astrid. Fishlegs is at first eager to try some, but awkwardly declines after Snotlout shakes his head behind Astrid's back, warning him that the concoction is not fit for human consumption. The twins refuse based on the smell alone, so she decides to go see Hiccup.

She finds him in the forge, where he is working on a new prosthetic that will allow Toothless to fly without Hiccup's assistance, as he was bothered by Tuffnut saying that Toothless can't go anywhere without Hiccup's help. Astrid thinks it's a great idea and doesn't notice Hiccup spit out her yak-nog after she leaves to "spread more holiday cheer".

A few days later, Astrid barely dodges as Hiccup, riding Meatlug flies over her. She shouts, "Hiccup! Where are you going?!"

And he replies, while holding onto the Gronckle for dear life, "I have no idea!"

Astrid confronts Fishlegs for chaining up his own dragon in a barn when Ruffnut and Tuffnut find in the hay several dragon eggs, causing them to realize Meatlug is a girl, and that everyone's dragons must have left to lay their eggs.

At this point, Astrid has another idea for a Snoggletog tradition: They wrap Meatlug's eggs with ribbons and secretly place them in several homes in the village for everyone to find once the eggs hatch. When they finish, they get excited when all of a sudden, one of the houses blows up and a baby Gronckle lands on Fishlegs, causing Astrid to realize the eggs explode when they hatch, and thus chaos ensues as the rest of the eggs begin to blow up, damaging and setting fire to several buildings.

The Gronckle hatchlings are rounded up and the villagers begin repairs when they see a cloud of dragons being led by Hiccup on Hookfang descend from the sky, bringing with them the dragons' babies. Everyone is reunited with their dragons, as is Astrid with Stormfly, and she is overjoyed to meet Stormfly's babies. Stoick then calls everyone and their dragons to the Great Hall to celebrate. During the festivities, Astrid notices Hiccup and consoles him, knowing it's hard for him to see everyone else with their dragons, but says he did a wonderful thing and thanks him with a kiss and hug. Feeling sad, Hiccup asks Astrid where Toothless went, and she replies she doesn't know when she notices Toothless sneak into the Great Hall. She then teases Hiccup a bit before pushing him around so he can see Toothless who reveals he left to find and return Hiccup's viking helmet. Astrid hugs Toothless and wishes everyone a Happy Snoggletog.

Relationship with Hiccup
Astrid, at first, has no interest in Hiccup - due to her thinking he is not like a viking. Her dislike for him grows into jealously when he becomes more skilled at 'fighting' dragons than she is. Despite the initial problems in their relationship, Astrid later grows to become Hiccup's main love interest and kisses him twice (albeit after punching him on the arm both times).

Astrid remains a close friend of Hiccup in Gift of the Night Fury, as Astrid and Hiccup both advocate the idea to make up new holiday traditions to cheer the tribe up, and they discuss the prosthetic Hiccup makes for Toothless so the Night Fury can fly on his own. It's never officially confirmed if they've become a couple. Even so, near the end of the special, Astrid comforts Hiccup when he's missing Toothless, and even kisses him on the lips and hugs him. She still likes to tease Hiccup however, as she did with him when she noticed Toothless had entered the Great Hall, before she giddily turned him around so he could see Toothless was back.