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 and loves Hiccup as her boyfriend. 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 rarely wears it).

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 emblazoned 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. She also has quite a short fuse when it comes to controlling her temper. 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 Astrid wakes up. The bond between Astrid and Stormfly appears to be very strong, especially when Stormfly allows Astrid to touch her hatchlings, though Stormfly did allow Hiccup to touch them as well.

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, 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 Gronckle as 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, in 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 Hiccup. 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 commands him to figure out what side he fights for. That night, 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.

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- well, weirder" and his sudden disappearing, which deepens 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 her trusty axe. Astrid then begins interrogating 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 which appeared to alarm her, as she pushed Hiccup down with her as she dove to the ground, 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 provokes Toothless.

Thinking that Astrid is a threat to Hiccup, Toothless charges out with a loud and aggressive roar 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, during which Toothless snarls at her, Astrid realizes that the reason Hiccup had beaten her in Dragon Training was that he had befriended a dragon, which was the hated enemy of the Vikings, and runs off with anger to tell the villagers. But in the middle of the forest, she is snatched up and placed screaming, 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 (Toothless snarls at her as she gets on). Hiccup tells the Night Fury to gently land. 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 brilliant 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 and Hiccup are shocked to discover the dragons steal and raid from the village to feed a monstrous dragon called the Red Death in order to 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 persistence 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, infuriated by his son's traitorous behaviors, screams for the match to stop and strikes the handrail of the ring.

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 what he said. Hiccup finally tells her that he didn't because at that critical moment, he saw that 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 Red 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. When 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 then 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 female dragon, 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.

Riders of Berk
Astrid and Hiccup's relationship remain for the series, though differently than in the film. In the first few episodes, they were shown as great friends, often visiting and confiding in each other, though sometimes awkward with each other around the other teens.

Soon their relationship becomes more apparent, such as in Heather Report Part I and 2, where Hiccup and Astrid had planned to meet. When he forgot and instead hung out with Heather, Astrid was jealous despite her denying the fact.

Hiccup and Astrid have also been shown to be far more willing to 'share' dragons, with Hiccup riding on Stormfly with Astrid when Toothless leaves to search for an old foe in What Flies Beneath and Astrid accompanying Hiccup on Toothless after Heather tried to steal Stormfly in Heather Report Part I.

Later, in the episode Thawfest, Astrid mentions that she had liked the fact that Hiccup was a gracious loser, and when he makes it up to her she kisses him again. She was also very vocal in her defence of Hiccup in What Flies Beneath when Snotlout made various insensitive comments about Hiccup's role in depriving Toothless of the ability to fly solo.

Hiccup
Astrid is Hiccup's girlfriend and loves him. 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). In the Rider's of Berk series they appear to have a budding relationship but they are quite shy and awkward about it.

It is possible that Astrid had feelings for Hiccup before the events in the movie, due to her immidiate change in behavior during the first flight. She might have just ignored this since Hiccup did not meet the usual Viking standards. She did say in Thawfest that one thing she "always liked about Hiccup" is that he was a gracious loser, further supporting this theory.



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.

Snotlout
Snotlout seems to get close to Astrid however ,in each time he tries, Astrid punishes him with something, such as when she was in the dragon academy with Snotlout and was burned by Hookfang jumping in the water when Snotlout said that there is a place for two. Second time was in Animal House when Snotlout told Astrid to come to him if he feels cold, but she punched the pole causing snow to fall on him. In Race to Fireworm Island, Astrid shows a gentler side in the face of Snotlout's obvious worry about Hookfang, telling him that there is nothing wrong with caring and almost crying when Hookfang is supposedly mortally wounded by the Fireworm Queen. Also, in Appetite for Destruction, she appeared to find the thought of kissing Snotlout repulsive, as when she stated that she would 'kiss Snotlout on the lips' if Hiccup's and Fishlegs' Airmail worked, which it did. She quickly broke her word upon discovering this and threatened Hiccup when he teased her.

Stormfly
Much like the relation with Hiccup, Stormfly seem to be Astrid's best dragon friend. Astrid first met her in the arena as a training dragon. She hit the Deadly Nadder with Hiccup's shield, but Stormfly still let Astrid ride her in the battle against the Red Death. Afterwards, Stormfly became Astrid's dragon. The two are very close and have similar personalities. Both are competitive and can be somewhat violent occasionally. Stormfly is not adverse to having other people ride her besides her rider. Still, she is very loyal to Astrid, and is protective as well.

Heather
Astrid at first believed Heather's story about being attacked by pirates like everyone else, but later sees her running off in the middle of the night. She casually asks Heather the next day if she slept well, but when Heather only replies that she did without mentioning her excursion, Astrid becomes suspicious of her. She was also a little jealous that Hiccup had been spending time with her, and not their appointment to meet up. When Heather asked to see the Book of Dragons from Fishlegs, Astrid took the book, as well as pulling Hiccup. She tries to tell him that there was something about the new girl that she didn't trust, but he doesn't listen. Astrid then caught Heather reading the Book of Dragons that Hiccup had hidden under his bed. Hiccup isn't bothered by this, or when Astrid tells him about the other night. Heather says she couldn't sleep so she went for a walk. Later Heather tries to gain Stormfly's trust by feeding her chicken. Astrid catches her again and warns her not to give her the "innocent routine." Heather simply replies that Astrid is too smart for that. She also pushes her buttons when it appears that Stormfly likes Heather. When Astrid is venting in the forest, by throwing her ax, she discovers that Heather is working with the Outcasts. She tries to warn Hiccup, but Heather beat her to Hiccup's room, where she pretends she was sleeping the whole time. The next day, while Hiccup is looking for the Book of Dragons, Astrid bursts opens the door telling him "little miss innocent" stole Stormfly. Finally putting two and two together, the teens go after Heather. When they catch up to her, Astrid jumps onto Stormfly's back from Toothless, and starts wrestling with Heather over the book. By the time they reach Outcast Island, Astrid accidentally knocks Heather off Stormfly, with the book. Snotlout catches her, but the Book of Dragons is now on Outcast Island. Heather is then locked up in the Berk prison while the teens try to figure out a plan to get the book back.

In the next episode, Heather manages to break out of jail and finds a small boat, but it's destroyed by Stormfly. Astrid locks her back in the cell when Heather tries to tell her Alvin has her parents. When Astrid asks about the pirates, Heather admits she made it up, but she had to so the riders would trust her, Astrid replies that they don't, not anymore. The teens then come up with a plan to disguise Astrid as Heather to get the Book of Dragons



back. While this is going on, Heather breaks out of jail again and gets to Stormfly to help Astrid and the others.

When Astrid gets the book and is about to leave, Alvin reveals that he really did have Heather's parents. Astrid then tries to save them but is found out by Alvin and is forced to show him where Hiccup and the others are. The teens and Outcasts begin to fight and the riders are soon overpowerd. Then to their surprise, Heather and Stormfly show up. Astrid apologizes for not believeing her, but Heather says she wouldn't have believed herself either. The two girls the ride Stormfly and grab Heather's parents. Once they all return to Berk, with the book, Heather thanks them for their help, especially Astrid. The two hug, as they have finally become friends. Astrid and Hiccup then wave goobye to Heather as she and her family sail home.

Relatives
Astrid's parents have not been seen in the movie or the TV series, but she does mention them in the games.

In When Lightning Strikes, Astrid says she had an aunt who was cursed by Odin. She had to pay tribute to him by sailing to the end of the Earth, but kept showing up from the opposite direction.

Astrid's grandfather was mentioned in Breakneck Bog. He told her the reasons behind the mysterious disappearances were pirates.

Astrid also has an uncle named Finn, known as Fearless Finn Hofferson. In Fright of Passage, he was frozen by the Flightmare, bringing shame to the Hofferson family. He possibly passed away sometime between the facing the dragon and its return ten years later. Astrid had a lot of respect for her uncle and trained very hard to avenge him in order to restore her family's honor.

How To Train Your Dragon

 * "Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it."
 * "This time. This time, for sure!"
 * "Son of a half troll, rat eating munge bucket!"
 * "No one just gets as good as you do. Especially you. Start talking! Are you training with someone?"
 * That's for the lies! And that's... [Drops the butt of her axe on Hiccup's gut]... for everything else!
 * "I scared HIM!? Who, is him?
 * "All right, I admit it. This is pretty cool. It's... amazing. He's amazing."
 * [Punches Hiccup] "That's for kidnapping me.... [Kisses him on the cheek] And that's for, everything else."

Gift Of The Night Fury

 * "The eggs explode?! THE EGGS EXPLODE!"

Dragons: Riders Of Berk

 * "You might wanna take notes."
 * "I got used to Stormfly's face being the first thing I see every morning."
 * "It's not supposed to be fun, It's a Hiccup idea."
 * "My grandfather is frail, he needs his nap."
 * "It's okay, Stormfly. I'm a soldier. I've been shot at before."
 * "That's the sound of our dragons getting better."
 * "You know what I always liked about you, Hiccup? You were always a gracious loser. Who knew you'd be such a lousy winner?"
 * (To Hiccup about Toothless) "He has you. And he looks pretty happy if you ask me."
 * "What were you thinking?! If that was Toothless, you could have killed him!"
 * (About the Dragons) "Looks like they've taken their training to a whole new level."

Dragons: Defenders Of Berk

 * "So, I guess this is the part where I ask if your father changed his mind, and you tell me he didn't, and you're going behind his back...again?"
 * "(To a Wild Nadder ) What do you want to do now?"
 * "We talked about you thinking, Snotlout. It's not good. For anyone."
 * "Whoops! Hate it when it happens."
 * "I'm defending Berk! And my family honor! We'll see who's a coward!"
 * "Come and get me if you're dare!"
 * "'Chomp, chomp, there goes your island' big!"
 * "(To Fishlegs) No one is kissing me on the lips, ever!"