Fishlegs Ingerman

"Now, you listen. You can do whatever you want to me. You can threaten me, make fun of me, mock my incredible dragon knowledge, but what you will not do, is stand between a baby dragon and its mother!"

- Fishlegs to Snotlout

Fishlegs Ingerman is one of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III's closest friends in the franchise. He is a very sensitive, caring person, and has an incredible knowledge about dragons. He is 14 years old in the first film, three shorts, Riders, and in Defenders of Berk, 17 or 18 in Dawn of the Dragon Racers and Race to the Edge, 19 years old in How to Train Your Dragon 2, and 20 years old in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.

Fishlegs is quite the opposite to his book counterpart. He is very big and chubby and often spouts off information about dragons whenever he can, usually as if he were describing the stats of a creature in an RPG.

Official Description
"Resident dragon nerd and statistics guru, Fishlegs, 19, is a skittish and lovable oaf who seems to only get bigger with age. He's a timid sort, reluctant to break or even bend rules, preferring instead to play it safe. His enthusiasm for dragons knows no bounds and he delights in keeping detailed records of their individual traits and characteristics. Despite being easily intimidated, Fishlegs is clever and tenacious, making him a formidable rival for Snotlout in the battle for Ruffnut's affections."

- Viking Guide

Physical Appearance
Generally, unlike his literary counterpart, Fishlegs in the franchise has a very large and husky appearance and is the biggest out of all the Dragon Riders.

In How to Train Your Dragon, Fishlegs wears a brown furry outfit, with a tiny Viking helmet with tiny, metal wings on them. Fishlegs wears this same outfit in the three specials: Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon, Gift of the Night Fury, and Book of Dragons.

In the Cartoon Network series, DreamWorks Dragons: The Series, Fishlegs wears the same outfit, just that rather than having fur, it is made out of leather. In the Netflix series, Dragons: Race to the Edge, Fishlegs wears the same outfit he wears in How to Train Your Dragon 2, only this time, once again it's leather rather than fur.

In How to Train Your Dragon 2, Fishlegs is wearing the same brown furry outfit, however, this time it's a little lighter and is equipped with furry armbands, a belt with pockets and a helmet with something that resembles little Gronckle ears or wings. Fishlegs now has a thin beard as well. Fishlegs has also grown heavier in the five years in between How to Train Your Dragon and How to Train Your Dragon 2.

In How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Fishlegs sports a moustache and a tattoo on his upper arm. During rescue missions he is seen wearing dragon scale armor made from Meatlug's scales.

In the How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular, Fishlegs is played by a young African-American man, illustrating the show's cast diversity. This iteration of Fishlegs is also rotund, but is also athletic and likes hip-hop dancing, even for the dragons during training.

Personality
"While Fishlegs appears to be clumsy and oafish, there is more to him than meets the eye when it comes to this Viking! Beneath his mediocre exterior lies someone who prefers knowledge to the battleground. He possesses extensive knowledge when it comes to dragons, and is known to recite dragon statistics at a moment's notice."

- School of Dragons website

Fishlegs is probably one of the strongest and smartest, but also one of the most cowardly and quietest members of the Berk Dragon Training Academy. Despite his flaws, he is still a valued member of the gang. He may be the most cowardly of the group but will face his fears when he is needed the most but mostly will face it for the love of his dragon, Meatlug. Fishlegs is also a vivid dreamer, as shown in "Follow the Leader".

It appears that Fishlegs has also developed a stronger sense of self-confidence in the second season as he began to see his own self-worth and contribution to the Academy and was willing to stand up to and insult Snotlout, something he had never been able to do in the first season. Fishlegs is not very good at hiding his feelings, as he is almost always blushing with Heather around, and when being complimented.

Fishlegs is also shown to always seek more and more knowledge, especially about dragons. He enjoys reading scrolls, examining maps, deciphering old scripts and the lot. This is also one of the main reasons why he is a valued member of the gang. Aside from Hiccup, Fishlegs is shown to be their advisor and could be the most knowledgeable about dragons.

In the How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular, Fishlegs has a sense of humor and serves as some comic relief in this live-action play. He even cooks pancakes with the fire of a Monstrous Nightmare. He also likes dancing and hip-hop (something his actor likes that translated into the theatrical show).

Abilities, Skills, and Talents
Despite being the heaviest member of the group, Fishlegs comes with big advantages that make others surprised.

Intelligence and Building: Fishlegs has proven several times, especially in the first film and in the series whenever a new species of a dragon appeared, that he has a great knowledge of dragons. However, where Hiccup learns from experiences, Fishlegs rather learns from books. He even thought of hand signals as seen in "Twinsanity", knows why Changewings were looking at the boat because of Snotlout having the fourth egg as seen in "Gem of a Different Color", using different colors on dragons for different islands to study their territory for specific reasons as seen in "Appetite for Destruction", figuring out why the Flightmare comes every ten years as seen in "Fright of Passage" but mostly his dragon was the one to figure it out, and taught some ideas for his Meatlug to improve her combat ability to learn new fighting skills that were shown all great success. He even built his own Viking ship for the Regatta event but failed due to Meatlug getting seasick and releasing lava out of her mouth on the deck of the ship, thus forming a hole and causing it to sink in the process in Dawn of the Dragon Racers. He also seems to have an interest in flora and fauna other than dragons.

Strength: It was revealed that when Fishlegs gets angry, he will go berserk, successfully defeating enemies and intimidating people. ("Gem of a Different Color", "Big Man on Berk") This is probably based on the books, where Fishlegs was half Berserker, half Murderous. He was also able to tackle-hug Meatlug in Gift of the Night Fury. As Bonecrusher, in "Big Man on Berk", he shows off his true strength and is able to hold a cart with no sign of struggle.

Dragon Training and Riding: So far, Fishlegs has trained three dragons. His Gronckle, Meatlug, a Catastrophic Quaken, Spikeback, and a Terrible Terror named Iggy. However, he isn't the best Dragon Rider. He flew on Toothless once, though he was very afraid of doing so, being so fast that he wasn't used to it. However, he was able to overcome his fear in order to save Meatlug in "The Iron Gronckle". He has multiple useful ideas for Dragon Training methods, as he was the one who invented the hand signals during the events of "Twinsanity". He is also quite skilled in dragon calls. ("We Are Family, Part 1") He is the only one who thought of great training ideas for Meatlug to improve her combat ability to gain amazing skills, which all have become a success. And in "Worst in Show", using pictures for Iggy to know which object to get for him. As Bonecrusher, he was able to wrangle a wild Scauldron with little success.

Navigation Skills: Fishlegs is shown to be the best in navigating islands and locations, as he was able to recognize different dragons locations on certain colors. ("Appetite for Destruction") He is also able to recognize their surroundings around Berk.

Combat: Despite his rather distaste for violence, Fishlegs has proven himself as an adept combatant, as evidenced when he battle and defeat Outcasts, Berserkers, and Dragon Hunters that oppose him throughout the series.

Speed: Though shown for his heavyweight, he is able to run fast to catch up to the teens when he's afraid. As Bonecrusher, he was able to run faster than a baby yak.

Endurance and Stamina: In the first film, he has shown to be able to take Meatlug's weight on him when she falls over him. His stamina, despite being a heavyweight teen, he is able to run a long distance without showing any type of difficulties at all.

Drawing: He was able to draw a picture of the Razorwhip from Bucket's description, despite never having seen one before. ("Have Dragon Will Travel, Part 1") He also made a set of dragon cards in "Crash Course", that he would keep with at all times until being captured by Drago's men in How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Teaching Skills: Fishlegs was able to show off his knowledge of dragons and their attacks when he became a tour guide for the children of Berk. ("Dragon Eye of the Beholder, Part 1") He was able to teach everything he knows about Gronckles to Dagur, as he pointed out that the latter is a fast learner to be quite successful to learn to be a great Gronckle rider as they both learned a new skill for combat: the Inverted Gronckle Drop.

Music: Fishlegs seems to enjoy singing to his beloved Meatlug as he will sing to her mostly in a private area. He sang with his beloved Meatlug for the Thunder Ear test, though Stoick believes he is not a very good singer. Fishlegs indicates in To Berk and Beyond! that he plays woodwind instruments, especially the pan flute, which also soothes Meatlug.

Meatlug
"Who's my little princess? Oh, you are. I missed you!"

- Fishlegs, as he reunites with Meatlug

Fishlegs and Meatlug first met each other in the Arena, where they were pitted against one another. Later, before they went to fight the Red Death, Hiccup taught him how to train her. Like most dragons and Riders, Meatlug and Fishlegs have shown to be very close. They have shown one of the strongest bonds between a dragon and a Rider so far, resulting in a strong, but slightly weird relationship. Meatlug likes to lick Fishlegs's feet before they sleep, as mentioned in "How to Start a Dragon Academy", and he sings about her and tells her stories about 'Princess Meatlug' in "Dragon Flower". Because they have such a strong bond, they find it hard to be away from one another, which was demonstrated several times.

Fishlegs also tried to make sure Meatlug wouldn't go back to her feral side ever since seeing Hookfang acting strangely over female dragons in "Total Nightmare". He was trying to do everything he can to make her stay with him.

Heather
"Okay, I wasn't going to say this, but here it goes... I don't want to go back to being long distance terror pals. I want you here!"

- Fishlegs to Heather

Fishlegs finds Heather very attractive and can get a bit embarrassed around her. He's very flattered when she asks him about his work on the Dragon Manual when they first meet, and he's all too happy to tell her about it. He was thrilled when she reappeared three years later. He was very upset when Heather appeared to have joined Dagur and the Dragon Hunters. But when Astrid told the others Heather was actually spying on them, this relieved Fishlegs, replying that he always knew she was good at heart. Fishlegs was also impressed by Heather's mapping and tracking skills, glad to have someone else to geek out with.

Heather told Astrid that she was more attracted to Fishlegs than Snotlout since she liked the smart and sweet Viking rather than the tough, macho one. She even said she thought he was kind of cute.

In "To Heather or Not to Heather", it's apparent that they both know they like each other. Fishlegs stays behind while the other Riders herd Nadders out of harm's way and gives her a grand tour of the Edge, even showing her a spot he picked out for her hut, should she decide to stay. She was greatly appreciative of the gesture. Fishlegs later figures out what's wrong with Windshear, and the two trade dragons just in time to help the other Riders fight off a Hunter ship threatening the Nadders.

Their relationship continues to grow stronger, and by "Gold Rush" they appear to be an official couple. Fishlegs feels defensive towards Dagur even though he's an ally of the Riders by that point because he's threatening to take Heather away with him. During a moment alone while Dagur is searching for gold in a cave, Fishlegs confesses his feelings, asking her to stay, and she is touched by his heartfelt words. They lean in to kiss each other, only to be interrupted by Dagur bursting back out of the cave being chased by Night Terrors. Despite the heartbreak, Fishlegs understands and supports Heather when she announces her decision to return with Dagur to search for their long-lost father. She hugs him and kisses his cheek good-bye. Dagur then assures Fishlegs that Heather will be in good hands, and not to worry about her.

Fishlegs is overjoyed to see her again when she and Dagur return to help in the retrieval of the Dragon Eye. He and Heather are confirmed to still be dating in Season 5.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
"That's a language I'm afraid we'll never understand."

- Astrid about Fishlegs and Hiccup's geeking out

Hiccup is Fishlegs' best friend. They often work together when it comes to dragon related subjects, both being very interested in said creatures. But while Hiccup learns from experience, Fishlegs rather learns from books. Nevertheless, these two had developed a strong friendship. It is possible that aside from Astrid, Fishlegs is Hiccup's closest human friend in the group. The two enjoy learning about new dragons, and even "geek out" over discovering something new. In "Follow the Leader", Fishlegs said he can handle Hiccup getting mad at him, but hates it when he disappoints him. Fishlegs appears to believe Hiccup has what it takes to become chief, describing that he leads by example and not fear or bossing others around. When Hiccup brought back the maces and talons board from Viggo Grimborn's ships, he thought it meant that Hiccup was taking over as Berk's chief, until Hiccup explains the situation. Part of Fishlegs' dream of becoming the new leader of the Riders was Hiccup moving on towards his chiefly duties. When he finally did become chief at the end of the second movie, Fishlegs was very happy for his friend.

Ruffnut Thorston
"Here you go, darling. Mine's worth ten!"

- Fishlegs to Ruffnut after tossing her the black sheep

Though Fishlegs was often a target for pranks and teasing of the twins, he has been seen fighting with Snotlout for Ruffnut's affection. In Season 2 of Race to the Edge, Fishlegs and Ruffnut came under the impression that they accidentally got married with Tuffnut as the officiator. During the fake ceremony, Fishlegs and Ruffnut were seen genuinely enjoying themselves and each other. When they suddenly believed they'd been married, however, this changed. Fishlegs was horrified and took the situation very seriously, while Ruffnut didn't take it seriously at all and merely used it as a reason to cause mayhem with her brother. Fishlegs felt like he had no choice but to play along. Later on, Astrid and Snotlout reminded Tuffnut that he had never completed his officiator training, and the marriage was annulled. Fishlegs was instantly relieved to be divorced from Tuffnut, but that changed when he exclaimed, "I haven't been this happy since my wedding day!" He seems to have been honest. Fishlegs turned to Ruffnut and both appeared to genuinely grieve for their union. Ruff affectionately rubs her nose against his and then slaps him. Fishlegs responds that his doors would always be open to Ruffnut.

By How to Train Your Dragon 2, Fishlegs attempts to win Ruffnut's affection.

Snotlout Jorgenson
Snotlout and Fishlegs have had long-standing issues with each other. This is mainly because Snotlout has been teasing and pranking Fishlegs quite often. However, Fishlegs finally stood up for himself, successfully convincing Snotlout to give back the Changewing egg, in "Gem of a Different Color". In the second season, not much of their relationship has been seen. By How to Train Your Dragon 2, they are now rivals for a different reason, which is for Ruffnut's affection.

Astrid Hofferson


Astrid and Fishlegs generally get along well and are good friends. They are often teamed up for missions since they are considered the more rational members of the group apart from Hiccup. However, Astrid has made it clear that Fishlegs is not her type as shown when she was repulsed by Fishlegs, while hypnotized, flirting with her as shown in "Big Man on Berk".

Stoick the Vast
Like most Vikings, Fishlegs is seen respecting and sometimes fearing Stoick. As Bonecrusher, Fishlegs called Stoick the Vastly overrated, though he did not realize it. Fishlegs was greatly saddened when Stoick died and fired a flaming arrow to his late chieftain's funeral ship out of honor and respect.

Gobber the Belch


Though not much of their relationship has been seen, it can be concluded Gobber and Fishlegs are friends. He and Gobber have been working together, and Gobber "comforted" him in his own way. At the end of the episode "The Iron Gronckle", he even gave Fishlegs the first sword he had made out of Gronckle Iron. Gobber resumed making this iron three years later after Fishlegs got the formula from the Dragon Hunters.

Iggy
Iggy was a Terrible Terror that Fishlegs trained. He originally wanted to name him 'Deathwing', but eventually went for Iggy instead. Fishlegs taught Iggy how to recognize several objects, which helped them save Meatlug from the Outcasts.

Toothless
"Please, just give me the Night and not too much Fury!"

- Fishlegs rides Toothless for the first time

Fishlegs rides on Toothless to save Meatlug and Hiccup. Initially, he was very afraid of his speed, but he was able to overcome his fear of his love of his dragon. Fishlegs stated that Toothless is the best dragon for competitions since his abilities are greatest and can learn amazing skills.

Hookfang
"All right, Hookfang, let's get something straight. I may not be Snotlout, but I am a Dragon Rider. And, as such, I deserve the respect of a Dragon Rider. Are we clear?"

- Fishlegs rides Hookfang for the first time

Though he believes like everyone that this dragon is a lot like his owner, he possibly used to be afraid of Hookfang, although he has seen how he listens to his commands that was meant for Meatlug. He is shown to care about him enough by helping him to find a cure and thought of Fireworms that can try to reignite his fire. ("Race to Fireworm Island") He even tried to comfort him on Fireworm Island. He was also shown to be grateful that Hookfang has help to train Meatlug to get stronger and more fierce. He thought that Hookfang was going back to his feral side once again thinking this could happen to other trained dragons as he thought to make sure Meatlug wouldn't become like Hookfang.

Trivia

 * In the books, Fishlegs is even skinnier than Hiccup, but in the movie, he's clearly a heavy-set teen. The books also depict him as the son of Alvin the Treacherous, whereas the series indicates no relation between the two.
 * Fishlegs is the only one in the movie that doesn't seem to actually make fun of Hiccup besides Astrid (who still criticized, scolded, threatened, and harmed Hiccup on separate occasions throughout the film).
 * Even though he receives the Gronckle Iron sword from Gobber in "The Iron Gronckle", he doesn't use it after that episode.
 * Fishlegs has a Binge Eating Disorder as seen in "The Iron Gronckle" which explains his weight.
 * He is the Berk Dragon Academy's Boulder Class dragons expert, as seen in "How to Pick Your Dragon".
 * Of all the main characters during Dragons: Defenders of Berk, Fishlegs had the most episodes that focused on his character development.
 * In Dawn of the Dragon Racers, he also seems to creep out Hiccup when he appears from behind him.
 * Speed Stingers are one of Fishlegs' favorite dragons, but even though he is very afraid of them he manages to bond with the young Stinger, Speedy.
 * It is revealed in "Big Man on Berk" that Fishlegs is allergic to Gobber's earwax.
 * Fishlegs can play the panpipes, as seen in "Tone Death".
 * In School of Dragons, Fishlegs states that he loves to explore the stars with the telescope since he can't go there himself.