Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Books)

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was an awesome swordfighter, a dragon whisperer, and the greatest Viking hero that ever lived. But Hiccup's memoirs look back to an earlier time when he was just an ordinary boy, and finding it hard to be a hero."

- Introduction to How to Speak Dragonese

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is the main protagonist of the book series. He was the last of the great Viking heroes, and lived during the period when the dragons vanished from Earth. The series takes the form of Hiccup's memoirs, written by Hiccup as an old man (76 for Book 11) in the third person because, as he puts it, the boy he was seems so far away that he might as well be a different person entirely.

Hiccup is 10 1/2 when the series begins, although due to being born on leap day only had his third birthday in the sixth book, and grows up slowly over the course of the books. He is small and scrawny, but is extraordinarily clever, strong in his convictions, and extremely talented at sword-fighting. He is the only son of Stoick the Vast and thus heir of the Hairy Hooligan tribe. His destiny has led him on many wild and fantastic adventures with his best friends Fishlegs and Camicazi, along with his loyal dragon Toothless. He is also the blood brother of the dragon Furious.

Hiccup, The Seasick Viking
Poor little Hiccup is spooked by the sea, and he's to make his first voyage soon—next Tuesday. His dad, Stoick the Vast, says there's no such thing as a frightened Viking. But Hiccup's about to find out otherwise. Hiccup's hilarious tale shows the true meaning of bravery, and the delights that await when one faces one's fear.

How to Train Your Dragon
In order to be initiated into the Hairy Hooligan tribe, Hiccup and the rest of Gobber the Belch's class of young boys have to travel to Wild Dragon Cliff, climb into a cave of sleeping dragons, and catch one. Unfortunately, Fishlegs wakes all of the dragons up when he reaches for a Deadly Nadder, so Hiccup gives Fishlegs his dragon as the others flee and rushes back into the cave to get a dragon of his own. He grabs Toothless, a tiny, toothless Common or Garden Dragon.

Over the next months, Hiccup tries to train Toothless by talking to him in Dragonese, rather than the traditional method of Yelling. He manages to train him enough to pass the initiation test by telling him jokes. However, during the test, Toothless' jealousy gets the better of him, and he mocks Snotlout's dragon, Fireworm, leading to a massive dragon-fight between all the dragons of the young Hooligans and Meatheads (the two tribes initiate their young warriors together). Hiccup and the rest of the young boys are banished from the tribe for their lack  of control over their dragons.

Two Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus (the Green Death and the Purple Death) wash up on Berk in a great storm the night before the boys are scheduled to leave in exile. Hiccup, as the only person on the island capable of speaking Dragonese, is sent to inquire as to the dragons' purpose. Learning that the Green Death, though coming in peace, still intends to eat everyone on the island, Hiccup leads the exiled boys in a fiendishly clever plan to get the two Seadragons to fight each other. The dying Green Death eats Hiccup, who only survives due to Toothless' selfless actions. For their heroism, the boys are un-banished and Hiccup's standing in the tribe improves.

How to Be a Pirate
Hiccup and Snotlout's enmity manifests itself as Snotlout subtly attempts to use Hiccup's terrible swordplay to get him killed by Dogsbreath the Duhbrain during a Swordfighting-at-Sea lesson. Hiccup is saved when the ship sinks, holed by the coffin of Grimbeard the Ghastly. Back on Berk, when the tribe opens the coffin, they find that it contains a man claiming to be Alvin the Poor-but-Honest Farmer, a map, and a prophetic riddle. Alvin has a hook for a hand because when he opened the coffin, labeled "Do Not Open," which he had found while "farming potatoes," a trap in the box cut it off. (Note that at the time potatoes were considered an imaginary vegetable. This is likely due to Hiccup misremembering his exact words.)

Like the rest of the tribe, Hiccup is quite taken in by Alvin's charm, and so they agree to his plan to use the documents found within the coffin to attempt to find the lost treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly. The quest is of particular importance to Hiccup, as the riddle says that Grimbeard's heir will be the one to find the treasure. However, because the treasure is thought to be on the extremely dangerous Island of the Skullions, the quest does not begin for quite some time. During the interim, Toothless, though failing even the most basic treasure finding exercises, manages to identify Alvin as a Very Bad Man. Hiccup, however, is reluctant to believe that Alvin is an Outcast.

Once the Hooligans have come up with a way to avoid detection by the smell-sensitive Skullions, namely bathing, they embark on the quest. Hiccup and Fishlegs find an extraordinarily large limpet shell, possibly representing a whole new genus. Snotlout finds a large chest full of gold and jewels, as well as Grimbeard's sword, the Stormblade, which the Hooligans manage to get back aboard their ship despite a booby trap which awakens the Skullions, and they sail back to Berk. treachery, Alvin sets the Hooligans up as easy targets for the Outcast Tribe to capture (along with the treasure), and reveals his true identity as His Most Mighty Murderousness, Chief Alvin the Treacherous of the Outcast Tribe. With a knife at every throat, the Hooligans have no choice but to submit. Although it will result in him getting eaten, Hiccup declares himself the Heir of the Hooligan tribe, the first time he accepts the role. Toohless then causes a commotion, giving the Hooligans a chance to escape. This leads to the ferocious Battle on Board the Lucky Thirteen and the sinking of the ship, which sucks Hiccup, Fishlegs, Alvin, and Toothless down to the bottom of the ocean.

They survive because Toothless finds a vast cavern filled with the true treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly and, importantly, air. Alvin, who had promised revenge upon Grimbeard's heir for the loss of his hand, attempts to kill Hiccup. They have sword fight on the mounds of treasure; Hiccup realizes that he is left handed, and actually extremely talented at sword play. The fight is interrupted by a Monstrous Strangulator in the cave that eats Alvin and traps Hiccup. Hiccup kills the Strangulator through trickery, and reads a letter left by Grimbeard explaining why he hid the treasure. Deciding that the world is still not ready for the marvelous treasure, Hiccup and Fishlegs swim to the surface assisted by Toothless' ability to use his gills to create gaseous oxygen, taking nothing but a slightly rusty sword. Within the sword's handle is a secret compartment containing Grimbeard the Ghastly's Last Will and Testament, leaving his favorite, though second-best, sword to Hiccup.

How to Speak Dragonese
Fishlegs and Hiccup lose control of their boat, the Hopeful Puffin, and find themselves drifting out to sea. In the fog, Fishlegs mistakes a Roman galley for a Peaceable fishing boat (the intended target of their pirate training exercise) and attempts to board the ship, forcing Hiccup to come to his rescue. On board the galley, they discover Roman dragon hunters, along with Hiccup's old nemesis Alvin the Treacherous, now working with the Romans. While there, they rescue a nanodragon from being eaten, who calls himself Ziggerastica, claims to be a god, and says he owes Hiccup a favor. While Hiccup and Fishlegs desperately escape, Alvin manages to acquire half of the book Hiccup is working on, How to Speak Dragonese, and captures Toothless. On their return to Berk, Fishlegs and Toothless attempt to report the Roman expedition, but are not believed.

As part of an Alvin-designed plot to foment war in the Archipelago, Romans disguised as Bog-Burglars invade Berk and steal both Fishlegs and Hiccup, unsure which scrawny kid is the heir; they also invade the Bog-Burglar island and kidnap the Bog-Burglar heir, and use notes to encourage Stoick and Big Bertha to blame each other for their heir's kidnapping. Hiccup and Fishlegs are tossed into a dungeon with the Bog-Burglar heir, which is how they meet Camicazi.

Despite many spectacular but ineffective escape attempts on Camicazi's part, the kids are to thrown into the flooded gladiatorial arena for a showy fight to the death. Hiccup finally asks the help of Ziggerastica, and pulls off a truly spectacularly clever plan right before the Sharkworms eat them: with the aid of a vast swam of nanodragons, Hiccup flies apparently all on his own. Believing themselves in the presence of the god Thor, the Romans agree to do whatever Hiccup says, freeing the trapped dragons, leaving the Archipelago, and throwing Alvin himself to the Sharkworms.

How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse
the midst of the worst winter in many years, during a hunting on skis lesson on a nearby island, Hiccup and Fishlegs encounter a hunting party of terrifying Hysterics. To Hiccup's shock, Fishlegs goes into a berserk fugue and attacks the Hysteric party single-handedly (and entirely ineffectively). To save Fishlegs from the angry warriors, Hiccup distracts them by shooting their leader, Norbert the Nutjob, in the bottom, and then fleeing off a cliff with the assistance of One-Eye, a saber-tooth driver dragon whose hatred of Snotlout (and disapproval of Snotlout's becoming chief) outweighs his hatred of humans in general.

It becomes obvious that Fishlegs is very sick. Old Wrinkly's soothsaying reveals that Fishlegs has been stung by a Venomous Vorpent, whose poison is certain death without an antidote. The only antidote is the Vegetable that No One Dares Name, also known as the potato; a legendary vegetable from the equally legendary land of America. Old Wrinkly reveals that Bigjob, father of Norbert the Nutjob, supposedly traveled to America and brought back a potato, although on the journey home Bigjob's ship was followed by a terrible sea monster known as the Doomfang, which killed him and now keeps any ships from going in or out of Hysteria harbor. Hiccup is determined to set out on the quest despite Stoick's flatly forbidding any such deed on behalf of a little weirdo like Fishlegs, and Camicazi insists on coming along. Hiccup and Camicazi travel to Hysteria in a sleigh pulled by One-Eye, Hiccup having convinced the human-hating dragon that a cure for Vorpentitis will benefit dragons as well as humans, with the Hopeful Puffin travelling along behind in case the ice cracks.

On Hysteria, Camicazi sneaks down the chimney into the Great Hall of the Hysterics during a feast, with the rest of the party remaining on the roof to pull her out if need be; but the potato is nowhere to be seen, and Hiccup falls down the chimney into the Great Hall. Norbert the Nutjob accuses him of being an assassin; Hiccup insists that he is only seeking the potato, and goads Norbert into showing him where the vegetable is. The potato is frozen in a casket, with Bigjob's last arrow from America stuck through it, held by the frozen corpse of Bigjob himself and guarded by vicious noise-making dragons called Squealers. Norbert also reveals his father's prophecy: whoever pulls the arrow from the potato will free Hysteria from the curse of the Doomfang, and rule over all of the Viking lands. Hiccup points out that thawing the potato would make pulling the arrow out quite easy, which enrages Norbert. Norbert is still extremely mad about being shot in the bottom, and sentences Hiccup to trial by axe: Norbert's great two-headed axe will be thrown into the air. If the axe lands with the bright gold side down, Hiccup will be spared. If the axe lands dark side down, Hiccup will be killed. Either way, it is the will of the gods. Hiccup catches the axe, and places it gold side down; Norbert is furious, and spares his life but locks Hiccup in a cage.

Later that night, when the Hysterics are asleep, Toothless comes down the chimney to help Hiccup, but has a tantrum because he believes that Hiccup has eaten without feeding Toothless. Although he finally agrees to fetch the key to the cage from Norbert and unlock Hiccup, Toothless' antics actually result in his swallowing the key, and for an added bonus knocking a candle over and setting the hall on fire. Toothless fetches Camicazi to release Hiccup from his cage. Toothless melts the frozen casket, allowing Camicazi to use her burglary skills to steal the potato, still with its arrow in it. Camicazi can't resist a good burglary, however, and also steals the other item in the casket, causing Bigjob's corpse to become unbalanced and fall into the Squealers, waking the hall. After a furious battle with Norbert, Hiccup and Camicazi escape by sledding away on a dinner tray, with Toothless and One-Eye accompanying them. Camicazi gives Hiccup the potato and the other thing she stole, which turns out to be a strange ticking device.

When Hiccup and Camicazi are most of the way back to Berk, Norbert catches up with them. To stave off Norbert's revenge while he thinks of another plan, Hiccup pulls the now-thawed potato out and reveals to Norbert that he can, in fact, pull the arrow out of the potato. At this point spring finally arrives and the ice break. Although the three humans manage to make it into the Hopeful Puffin, the Doomfang has followed them, and wrestles the potato from Hiccup to eat for itself; Hiccup concludes the Doomfang must have Vorpentitis itself.

Hiccup and Camicazi return to Berk in despair, only to discover that Fishlegs has, in fact, recovered. However, it turns out that Old Wrinkly's soothsaying is only somewhat inaccurate, and it is Hiccup who was bitten by the Venomous Vorpent. Fishlegs shoots Hiccup with the potato-juice-covered arrow, saving Hiccup and proving the quest worthwhile after all. Hiccup keeps his word to One-Eye, planting potatoes for the use of humans and dragons.

How to Twist a Dragon's Tale
A routine reindeer-herding-on-dragonback lesson turns deadly dangerous when a new and vicious species of dragons start setting fire to the landscape all around the pirate training class. Gobber sends most of the kids out of the circling fires on his riding dragon, but when it's down to just Gobber and Hiccup, the vicious Exterminator dragons move in for the kill, slaying Gobber's loyal riding dragon. Hiccup and Gobber are saved by the intervention of a new hero in a conveniently fire-proof suit, who turns out to be Humongously Hotshot the Hero, a hugely popular and highly skilled adventurer long believed to be dead. Humongously Hotshot had been held by the Lava Louts for years, after being captured on a quest for the Firestone, the impossible challenge given to him by Old Wrinkly when Humongously Hotshot sought Valhallarama's hand. (The same quest was later completed successfully by Stoick.) Humongously Hotshot takes the position of Hiccup's bodyguard, a combination bodyguard, personal trainer, and bard. After series of mysterious accidents, in which Hiccup is almost killed only to be saved at the very last minute by Humongously Hotshot, Fishlegs's suspicious are confirmed when Humongously Hotshot admits that although he likes Hiccup quite a bit, he's given his word to kill Hiccup, because he was told by his good friend Terrific Al that Hiccup is a terrible villain responsible for Al's terrible misfortunes. Humongously Hotshot owes Terrific Al a great favor for taking word to his beloved Valhallarama during their courtship, when Humongously Hotshot was captured by Lava Louts, even if, as Humongously Hotshot believes, Valhallarama then spurned his love and abandoned him.

Humongously Hotshot reports that the volcano on Lava Lout island will be erupting soon, and hordes of exterminator dragons will be blanketing the archipelago and killing everything in their path. At the Thing, a great meeting of the tribes, there is a huge debate over whether to stay or go. Hiccup, in his attempt to convey the seriousness of the threat, convinces most of the tribes to flee, but the Hooligans stay, and Stoick writes Hiccup off as a coward. Meanwhile, Hiccup, Camicazi, Fishlegs, and Humongously Hotshot set off on the Quest to Stop the Volcano From Exploding, bringing the Fire-Egg that Stoick had stolen back to the volcano. On the island, they discover that the Lava Louts had fled, but that Alvin the Treacherous-- Humongously Hotshot's "Terrific Al"-- had built statues of himself all over the island where they would be seen by Exterminator dragons as they hatched in an attempt to win their loyalty. Alvin's attempt to take the Firestone is thwarted by the friends with the assistance of Humongously Hotshot who, having discovered just how badly "Terrific Al" had betrayed him so long ago in lying to him about Valhallarama's love, joins the fight. The firestone is thrown into the volcano, where it hatches into a great Fire Dragon. The Fire Dragon eats the hordes of hatching exterminator dragons (with a side dish of Alvin) and dives back into the volcano, preventing it from exploding. The archipelago is saved, and Humongously Hotshot rides off to be a hero once again.

A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons
It's one of Hiccup's rare birthdays, and the Hooligan and Bog-Burglar tribes are having a celebration. Toothless, already having a trouble-making day, eats the Hooligans' precious copy of How to Train Your Dragon just before Stoick uses it as evidence in a friendly bet he's got going with Big-Boobied Bertha. Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Camicazi borrow Bertha's recently-stolen stealth dragon to go on a quick burglary of the Meathead Public Library to steal a replacement copy before Stoick finds out and throws Toothless out. The Meathead Public Library is full of many dangers, most notably the Hairy Scary Librarian, a terrifying Meathead thug who believes that books should be kept out of the hands of readers. In the course of their library adventures, Hiccup discovers that there was another Hiccup, once: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock II, who also wrote a book (just like Hiccup III!) called A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons. After much danger, Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Camicazi find a copy of the second edition of How to Train Your Dragon and escape back to Berk. When they arrive, they discover that not only has the Hairy Scary Librarian followed them to get his revenge and take back his book, but the Murderous tribe have come to take back their stealth dragon and punish the thief. Hiccup tricks Madguts the Murderous into believing that the Hairy Scary Librarian was the one who stole the stealth dragon, and the Hairy Scary Librarian is carried off to a terrible fate. In the process, Stoick wins the bet, because Hiccup's successful theft of the book beats Bertha's less-than-successful theft of the stealth dragon.

How to Ride a Dragon's Storm
Hiccup is lost in the Library Labyrinth and the Driller Dragons and Madguts the Murderous are on the prowl, all because of a book! Hiccup's birthday is not going to be the quiet affair he might have hoped for. This book contains an open-up map of the Barbaric Archipelago, a Dragonese Dictionary in the back, Dragon Profiles and "Conversations with Toothless".

Hiccup wakes up that morning, wishing for a peaceful birthday. He then tries to persuade Toothless to eat his breakfast, which is spinach and drift wood. Toothless refuses, so Hiccup goes to the Finals of a Burglary Competition between the Bog-Burglars and the Hooligans alone. When Hiccup returns home, he realizes Toothless has eaten three quarters of Stoick's throne. Stoick comes in the room, and is in a bad temper because he had made a bet to Big-Boobied Bertha that he could prove that the Hooligans were just as good at Burglary as the Bog-Burglars by the end of the day, and also because Hiccup has been researching about dragons and writing in notebooks about them. He throws a tantrum, but remembers that Gobber has stolen the "How to Train Your Dragon" manual from the Meathead Library under the nose of the Hairy Scary Librarian. Stoick tells Hiccup that if Toothless does one more thing like this, he will banish him, and goes off to find the book.

Toothless guiltily reveals that he also burned the copy of "How To Train Your Dragon". Camicazi suggests that they can go to the Meathead Library, and supposedly there might be another copy of the book, and get back home "in time for tea". Hiccup, Camicazi and Fishlegs go to the Island of Forget Me on a Stealth Dragon Big-Boobied Bertha had stolen from Madguts the Murderous, the Chief of the Murderous Tribe, for the bet with Stoick, to visit the Meathead Public Library. With the help of Stormfly, Camicazi's dragon, they find the copy of "How to Train Your Dragon", though it is a second edition. The Hairy Scary Librarian catches them stealing the book and fights with Camicazi and Hiccup. Fishlegs throws a book at the Hairy Scary Librarian. However, Stormfly is knocked out in the process, and awakens with no memory of who she is, and how did she get in. The Librarian, who falls onto the floor, which is full of Red Hot Itchyworms (the worms went into his pants, tickling him) runs toward the exit, laughing and screaming. The noise attracts Driller Dragons who are dwelling in the Library.

Hiccup finds a book that was written by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the II called A Hero's Guide To Deadly Dragons which was exactly the same book that Hiccup the third wrote, which had been taken from him earlier that morning. He pulls the book out and the shelf opens, revealing a hole filled with Poisonous Piffleworms. There only exit would be to go through the hole.

Hiccup takes back the second edition of How to Train Your Dragon to the Isle of Berk. Meanwhile, Madguts tracks down the Stealth Dragon and it leads him to the Isle of Forget Me. They find that it has gone to the Isle of Berk and go there. On the Isle of Berk, both Stoick and Bertha find the stolen things they have got for the bet are missing. The Hairy Scary Librarian arrives and shoots Stoick with a Northbow but Hiccup's handwritten book saves Stoick's life and Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Camicazi come from the sky and squash the Librarian flat with the Stealth Dragon. Madguts and Gumboil arrive for the Stealth Dragon and are about to kill Bertha. Hiccup saves her by lying to Madguts, telling him that the Scary Hairy Librarian had stolen the Stealth Dragon instead, so she squashed the Librarian. Madguts believes him, and takes the Librarian away. Hiccup persuades Stoick that books are useful and books are unbanned by order of the Thing. At the end of the book, there is Hiccup's finished A Hero's Guide To Deadly Dragons, as well as a Dragonese dictionary and conversation starters with Toothless.

How to Break a Dragon's Heart
When Camicazi is lost in a terrible storm, the Hairy Hooligans help the Bog-Burglars search for her. On the haunted Beach of the Broken Heart in Uglithug territory, the Hooligans find a washed-up marble throne with the Hooligan crest on it; the old lost throne of Grimbeard the Ghastly, last King of the Wilderwest. The Hooligans are ambushed by the Uglithugs, who inform the Hooligans that one of their number has been writing forbidden love letters to Princess Tantrum O Ugli. Fishlegs is the culprit, but for a commoner to write love letters to the daughter of a chief is a death sentence, so Hiccup takes responsibility, and becomes Princess Tantrum's latest fiancée. He is given a quest to complete to win her hand: mead for the honeymoon made from five barrels of honey from the bees of Berserk. The Hooligans (sans throne) are sent back to Berk to plan Hiccup's quest.

Fishlegs gets into an argument with Hiccup, and runs off to Berserk in a berserk fit to finish the quest himself. Hiccup, knowing Fishlegs is likely to get himself killed, follows. On Berserk, the boys are taken prisoner; despite Fishlegs' attempt to claim family ties, they are locked up as the latest finances (in a long string) to be fed to the Great Beast during the Dark of Night ceremony. Among the Berserks is one Alphonse, a supposed French chef with a terrible accent and bad cooking skills, who turns out to be Alvin the Treacherous once again. Hiccup attempts to persuade Alvin that since he, too, is a prisoner of the Berserks, he should help Hiccup escape and find Camicazi, in return for which Hiccup will help Alvin escape. Alvin takes Hiccup to a hidden forest prison, and then locks him in. The prison turns out to contain not Camicazi, but a bloodthirsty witch.

While all this has been going on, Toothless has been getting more and more sick, due to having eaten a magic stone (very strong magnet) and a number of metallic items. Hiccup uses Toothless' illness as a justification for his presence, and tricks the witch into operating on Toothless to save his life by claiming that Toothless is a valuable dragon to the chief of the Berserks. The witch surgically removes the blockage from Toothless, and sews him up; she takes a spoon in payment, and Hiccup finds an old key Toothless swallowed long ago. The witch, suspecting that the story has been a lie, proposes a guessing game; whoever can guess the other's name wins the right to kill the other. The witch, having noticed a scar on Toothless' chest that looks just like the scar on anther dragon, tells Hiccup the tragic story of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock II; his abandonment as a runt, his adoption by dragons, his return to his father Grimbeard the Ghastly, his loving relationship with his adopted dragon brother Furious, his rallying of the dragons for freedom and rights in the Kingdom of the Wilderwest, and his betrayal by his brother Thugheart and death at his father's hands, resulting in the end of that kingdom. The witch also tells Hiccup of a prophecy; of how Grimbeard's true heir will become the new King of the Wilderwest, and how she believes this prophecy to mean that Alvin the Treacherous is destined to become king. At the end of the story the witch guesses Hiccup's name, but Hiccup successfully identifies her as Alvin's mother. After a brief fight, Hiccup escapes by blinding the witch and using the key he found in Toothless' belly to open the prison door and escape. The key turns out to be a special key, perhaps manufactured by the Hysterics, capable of opening any lock.

Hiccup finds Camicazi in another forest prison, and the two of them return to the Berzerk tree-village. Their escape attempt runs late, and Hiccup is forced to hide back among the other fiances for the Dark of Night Ceremony. Unfortunately, Hiccup is the first fiance to be fed to the Beast, and is lowered on a cage into the depths of the forest. There he finds that the beast is a truly stupendous and old dragon, with a forest grown up around him; and by the scar on the dragon's chest, in the same place as Toothless', identifies the great dragon as Furious, foster-brother to Hiccup II. Furious no longer feels any affection for Hiccup or any human, and is filled with rage; but Hiccup frees him in exchange for a promise to leave in peace and never harm any humans again. Furious, on release, offers half a promise for his half a heart; one year of peace, before Furious comes to raise a dragon army and destroy humanity forever. In his escape, Furious destroys the Berserk village and sets the forest aflame; Camicazi, Hiccup, and Fishlegs along with the other finances escape on dragonback, while a vengeful Alvin and his mother fall into the inferno. Fishlegs gives the honey (which he successfully collected before being captured by Berserks, on his quest to win Princess Tantrum's hand) to the hero she truly loves, Humongously Hotshot, and the kids return to Berk. Humongously Hotshot and Tantrum, on their way out of the story to great adventures, return the throne of Grimbeard the Ghastly to Berk in thanks for Hiccup's help.

How to Steal a Dragon's Sword
Bad times come to the Archipelago, and ever since the woods of Berserk burned down it is as if the world is cursed. Hiccup and other young warriors are brought to the island where "Flashburn's School of Swordfighting" waits for them. The children have three weeks at the school to train their sword fighting, for New Year's Day; there will be a sword fighting competition, in which the winner is declared a new warrior of his tribe. The youngsters have to go up the cliff, "The Hard Way", and are attacked by a pack of dragons of different species, which is unusual behavior for dragons. Hiccup's clever plan saves the lot of them. But once at the school, no one is to be found. Worse still, the only person there, the wicked witch Excellinor (Alvin the Treacherous's Mother) has returned as the castle's witch. She tells everyone that the dragons are revolting in a "Red Rage" and are led by the dragon Furious, who was one year before released by... Hiccup. She tells the tribes that the sword fighting competition must be used to find the next king of the Wilderwest. She tells them a prophecy which is about the next king: he has a dragon with no teeth, an arrow from a land that does not exist, Grimbeard's second-best sword, a ticking-thing, a rectangular shield, a throne, a crown, and the Dragon Jewel. Hiccup has got all of these things, except the throne, though he knows where it is, the crown, and the dragon jewel. Meanwhile, the witch makes sure that her son Alvin has no challengers during the competition. Hiccup finds the crown under Flashburn's school, along with a dragon called the Wodensfang, a very old, ancient dragon that was told to guard the crown by Grimbeard the Ghastly. The Wodensfang tells him he was the one who gave the first Hiccup the Dragon Jewel. He gets back into the hut and the witch attacks him but he was immune to the Vorpent venom on her claws gets himself covered in the poison in the struggle, wins the competition, beating his own father. Alvin is third. Hiccup is declared winner and tells the tribes that he wanted to free all dragons so that there would be no revolt in the first place. He wants to abolish slavery for both humans and dragons. Most tribes agree on this, but then, when all looks so well, Snotlout throws a stone at his head, knocking Hiccup's helmet off, revealing he has the Slavemark. Everyone's shocked. The Slavemark is the ultimate mark of shame. Since he has the Slavemark, Hiccup is automatically a slave, disqualified from the competition, exiled from his tribe, and could never become chief, let alone a king. Stoick, Hiccup's father, is also banished, because he knew Hiccup was a 'runt', and thus should not have been part of their tribe in the first place, but instead abandoned as a baby. Everyone has to turn their backs, excluding Fishlegs, who gives Hiccup his lobster-claw necklace, the only thing Fishlegs has from his parents. Alvin's the new king, and declares war on the dragons. Furious arrives and the war begins. Only Windwalker and Toothless stay faithful, and bring Hiccup to safety. He is followed by the dragons, who think he has the Dragon Jewel, the only thing that could stop the dragons now. In mid-chase he falls unconscious on dragonback and wakes up safe in a cave, Hiccup now all alone, an outcast, an exile, no sword, no helmet, only the Windwalker, Toothless and the Wodensfang by his side, Hiccup's in despair, until he finds he actually has the map to find the Dragon Jewel (Which is revealed by the venom on his hands uncovering the secret map on Grimbeard the Ghastly's will), and triumphantly cries: This is not the end I will be back!

How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel
The Dragon Rebellion has begun. Snotlout is the new Chief of the Hooligan Tribe. Stoick has been banished and given the Slavemark. And Alvin the Treacherous has EIGHT of the King's Lost Things, and has been proclaimed the new King of the Wilderwest. But what can Hiccup do, now all alone and in exile, hunted by both humans and dragons? Can he find the Dragon Jewel, mankind's last and only hope? And if he does, what will he do with it?

It starts with Hiccup in exile. He is nearly killed by his mother, Valhallarama while he deactivates dragon traps, and loses the map to her. He travels to a slave jail under Alvin the Treacherous’s control to spy on Alvin. There, he finds and befriends many slaves, including his father that comb the beaches during low tide, looking for the Dragon Jewel. Alvin discovers Hiccup and makes him look for the Dragon Jewel by himself, with a deadly armed guard. A Deadly Shadow swoops down and snatches Hiccup before he has a chance to look for the Jewel. The dragon brings him to a hill to kill him, but notices that he has the lobster claw necklace. They (the dragon has three heads, Arrogance, Patience and Innocence) tell him that they had promised to care for a Berserker woman’s baby who was supposed to be killed by drifting through the ocean. They lost sight of the baby however, and it drifted to Berk and grew up to be Fishlegs. Hiccup admits he is not this child, and tells them of Fishlegs's fate (which was to be sucked into a hole in the ground). He goes to this hole and gets pulled in to it by its inhabitant, a large dragon with an eye on each finger. His dragon instincts tell him that this dragon can't be reasoned with, so Hiccup plays dead long enough for the dragon to eat him up to the waist, which is when Hiccup stabs the dragon in a major vulnerable spot. He ventures off into the creature’s maze of glass walls because of a mysterious voice and finds Fishlegs. He also finds the Dragon Jewel. Then they swim to shore through and exit, and the Deadly Shadow picks them up, all flying triumphantly into the distance. Cressida Cowell tells readers to stop reading there if they want a happy story. However Valhallarama finds Hiccup and takes him to the slave jail. There she convinces the slaves and others to join Hiccup against Alvin. By making the Slavemark the dragon mark. The Dragons finally break into the jail and the humans flee. However, when Hiccup frees Toothless and the Wodensfang he loses the Dragon Jewel to Alvin. The story ends with Hiccup happily being reunited with his human companions.

How to Betray a Dragon's Hero
While waiting for Valhallarama (she was going to retrieve the rest of the things from the Alvinsmen—Alvin's team—so Hiccup would become king), the ten companions of the Dragonmark (Hiccup, Fishlegs, Camicazi, Toothless, Wodensfang, Stormfly, Windwalker, Innocence, Arrogance and Patience) hear a human calling for help then abruptly stopping. Soon they find Wolf-fangs in the river, showing them why he was screaming. Then they see why he stopped. Thousands of Dragon Rebellion dragons were sleeping on the riverbank. Then they see who the human is… Snotlout. Everyone except Hiccup decides to leave him, but Hiccup persuades them to save him, accidentally waking up Snotlout's Hogfly. The Hogfly, in turn, accidentally wakes up the nearby Rebellion dragons. They all flee from the Rebellion dragons (joined by the dragon Furious) to their secret hideout, hiding as Furious and the dragons search for them. However, Alvin's Spydragons kidnap Camicazi so Snotlout brings them on a rescue mission to save her. When escaping from the Alvinsmen, Snotlout changes clothes with Hiccup to provide a diversion. Snotlout is shot down, and killed. Therefore Camicazi and Fishlegs think Hiccup is Dead.

How to Fight a Dragon's Fury
Hiccup wakes up on the beach at Hero's End with the Wodensfang, Hogfly... and amnesia sustained when he hit his head on the mast of the boat at the end of the previous book. The Wodensfang tries to explain who Hiccup is, but before they can they are attacked by Sharkworms and the Vampire Spydragon from the previous book. After defeating the dragons, Hiccup takes a boat which has washed up on the beach and sails towards Tomorrow. Fishlegs, Camicazi, and the Triple-Headed Deadly Shadow Dragon try and rescue Hiccup, but he attacks them because he doesn't know who they are and the Wodensfang is asleep from a poison dart. Once Hiccup reaches Tomorrow, he is captured by the Dragon Guardians of Tomorrow who attempt to kill by performing Death by Airy Oblivion, but halfway up realize that they have made a mistake and Hiccup should not be killed, and so drop him in the swamp. Hiccup crawls out of the swamp and enters Grimbeard the Ghastly's castle just as Alvin is about to be crowned king by the Druid Guardian. At this point, Hiccup regains his memory and gives a speech convincing the Druid Guardian to crown him king instead. Hiccup is crowned and prepares to engage the Dragon Furious in single combat. The Druid Guardian tells Hiccup the secret of the Dragon Jewel: that it contains two tiny dragons which are carrying a deadly virus that can wipe out dragonkind if the jewel is cracked. However, Hiccup's jewel doesn't have the dragons, meaning that it is a fake. This means that Hiccup will have to defeat the Dragon Furious with might alone. Hiccup rides the Windwalker, accompanied by Toothless and the Wodensfang, into battle and is knocked off the Windwalker's back by Furious. As Furious prepares to kill Hiccup, Hiccup remembers a speech Furious gave at the beginning of battle, where he talks about how Hiccup was the new Grimbeard and would be a cruel king. Furious cites how Hiccup has the king's things and the lobster necklace, which Fishlegs gave him for luck. Hiccup deduces that the necklace was also Grimbeard's, and so gets Toothless to crack open the necklace with his jaws, revealing the real Dragon Jewel. Hiccup threatens Furious with the jewel and talks to him, reaching a peace agreement. Once the agreement has been reached, Hiccup throws the jewel into the sea. However, before the agreement can be made, Alvin and the Witch attack Furious, thus violating the laws of single combat. Furious gets the dragon army to attack and so soon there is an all-out Vikings vs. Dragons battle.

Meanwhile, Camicazi and Fishlegs capture and detain Alvin, who reveals that he found the necklace in Grimbeard's tomb and gave it to a princess as a present while masquerading as a fisherman, which means that Alvin is Fishlegs' father. After telling this, Alvin prepares to kill Fishlegs before the Dragon Guardians intervene and kill him. Hiccup convinces Furious to call off the attack once more and are once again about to reach a peace agreement when the Witch attacks Hiccup with the Stormblade. Furious intervenes and kills the Witch, then completes the treaty and makes himself and Hiccup blood brothers. However, the Stormblade was poisoned and so Furious leaves his command of the dragons to Luna, his second-in-command, and goes out to sea to die. The epilogue shows how Hiccup built a new kingdom of harmony on Tomorrow where humans and dragons could live in peace, but also had humans domesticate horses and hawks so that he can fulfill his promise which stated that if humans didn't change by the time he died, dragons would have to go into hibernation. Hiccup also instructed Fishlegs to perpetuate that the whole story was just a myth.

Personality and Appearance
Hiccup is shown as small with freckles and unruly red hair (described in as his only heroic feature, but normally hidden beneath his helmet). As the chief's son, he is expected to be heroic, strong, and violent; however, Hiccup's own inclinations, especially early on, are far more scholarly, and he is no good at the vast majority of young Viking pastimes. He is completely incompetent at violent sports like bashy-ball and one of the worst students ever in the pirate training program due to his inability to perform even the most basic tasks in classes like Advanced Rudery and Frightening Foreigners. (Hiccup has a terrible tendency to speak perfect French instead of just yelling.)Instead, Hiccup is a dragon-watcher and scholar, who is fluent in several languages and likes to read despite the unpopularity of these civilized pursuits. Hiccup has no interest in being a great hero, and comments often on his desire to be ordinary and unnoticed; he does, however, have a strong desire to not be a disappointment to his father, and although he has no particular interest in being the chief of the Hairy Hooligans, he is at the same time often depressed by his belief that his father might not find him a suitable heir. What Hiccup does have is an extremely strong sense of responsibility, and many of his most exciting and dangerous adventures result from his doing whatever needs doing to save a friend (or sometimes an enemy!), his tribe, dragons, slaves, or anyone else that needs rescuing. Roundly unpopular with his peers throughout the early books despite no few publicly heroic adventures, Hiccup is very much a social outcast among the young Vikings, which may be one reason for his close relationship with his dragons and his fluency in Dragonese. His only human friends are Fishlegs, a fellow scrawny Hooligan who is also not much good at pirate skills, and Camicazi, the young Bog-Burglar heir.

In How to Ride a Dragon's Storm, Hiccup is given the slave mark, a purple S-shaped brand on his forehead.

Unlike the movie Hiccup, who is more of an inventor and engineer, the Hiccup of the books is a scientist by nature, spending long hours cataloging dragon species and recording their speech. He has written several books, both as a youth and an adult, documenting his observations. He also now seems to be partially paralyzed on the left side after being bitten twice by a Vampire Spydragon.

Abilities and Talents
The only traditional Viking skill which Hiccup is any good at is sword fighting. He is, in fact, a tremendously skilled swordfighter for his age once he discovers that he is left-handed (see How to Be a Pirate), and is the youngest person to ever achieve the rank of Gold Flashmaster (How to Steal a Dragon's Sword).

Hiccup is a fluent speaker of Dragonese, despite its use being forbidden on Berk by order of Stoick the Vast.

He is also very skilled at coming up with highly clever plans, and surviving near-impossible situations.

Hiccup is the true heir of Grimbeard the Ghastly, and has a knack for finding Grimbeard's lost things.

After the events of How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse, Hiccup is immune to the poison of the Venomous Vorpent, otherwise the most deadly poison known to man.

Stoick the Vast
Hiccup's father, Stoick the Vast, has a deeply conflicted relationship with his son. Although both love the other greatly, they often have trouble understanding each other. Stoick is extremely proud of his son's heroic successes, but is often confused or disappointed by his son's affection for inferior Vikings such as Fishlegs or his tendency to treat dragons like Toothless as spoiled pets. Stoick has raised his son nearly alone, due to Valhallarama's frequent absences.

Valhallarama
Hiccup's mother is named Valhallarama in the books. She is not present in most of them, as she is off questing. She was in the first book, giving Hiccup a punch in the arm (the equivalent of a bear hug) after he defeated the Green Death. Hiccup learned in How to Twist a Dragon's Tale and How to Break a Dragon's Heart that Valhallarama was destined to marry Humongously Hotshot the Hero, but thanks to Alvin she married Stoick instead. Hiccup reunited with his mother in How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel, however the moment was not enjoyable as Hiccup believed she had sided with Alvin and his mother Excellinor. Valhallarama revealed to her son, and a whole courtyard of Vikings, the reason she was questing was to find the Kings Lost Things. Despite searching all over the world, she never found any (unknown to her ONE of them was her ruby heart stone) and joined Alvin when she heard he already had eight of them. She later learned it was actually her son Hiccup who found them, and convinced many Vikings to accept him as the true King of the Wilderwest. In How to Betray a Dragon's Hero, Valhallarama tells Hiccup to stay in hiding while she retrieves the Lost Things from Alvin. After a month of searching, she found Alvin's lair and was about to take them. Unknown to her, Hiccup was there as well and mistook her for one of Alvin's men (she was wearing a disguise) and knocked her overboard. She was later captured and Excellinor told her, and Stoick who was also present, that Hiccup was killed, though he is actually alive.

Snotface Snotlout
Hiccup's cousin Snotlout is the son of Hiccup's uncle Baggybum the Beerbelly, and Hiccup's main rival within the Hooligan tribe. Snotlout resents Hiccup's status as heir, and firmly believes that he would be a better chief of the Hooligans. His ambitions are made clear early in the first book, when Snotlout deliberately chooses a Monstrous Nightmare as his hunting dragon even though such dragons are by Viking tradition only allowed to a chief or the son of a chief.

Snotlout tries repeatedly if indirectly to have Hiccup killed, abandoned, or otherwise eliminated throughout the books while also making his life miserable through bullying.

It is Snotlout who is responsible for knocking Hiccup's helmet off and revealing the slave mark in How to Steal a Dragon's Sword, preventing Hiccup from being crowned as the new King of the Wilderwest; for this, Snotlout is rewarded with the chiefship he'd always wanted.

In How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel Snotlout struggles when choosing whether to side with Hiccup and the Dragonmarkers or Alvin and the Alvinsmen.

In How to Betray a Dragon's Hero, this rivalry is ended shortly before Snotlout gives Hiccup his Black Star and sacrifices his life to allow Hiccup the chance to become King of the Wilderwest. Before his death, Hiccup had given Snotlout the Dragonmark himself. In the epilogue Hiccup states he forgives Snotlout for the years of rivalry between them and says that Snotlout and his Black Star are a part of his kingship.

In How to Fight a Dragon's Fury, Hiccup tells the Druid Guardian that he has to be King to honor Snotlout. After Hiccup is crowned, he tells the collective tribes of the Archipelago of Snotlout's sacrifice. Following the end of the war and Alvin and the witch's death, Hiccup creates a new celebration called "The Celebration of the Black Star" in honor of everyone who died in the war including Snotlout.

Toothless
Initially believed to be the smallest Common or Garden dragon anyone has ever seen, Toothless is a bright emerald green and has absolutely no teeth as the name suggests. In the first book, Hiccup's choice of such a tiny and uncooperative stubborn hunting dragon is widely mocked, but Toothless' heroism later sets him apart for other reasons. In an attempt to redeem his extremely tiny and common dragon from total humiliation, Toothless is declared to be a "Toothless Daydream" by Fishlegs, a fake species identifier which Toothless latches onto with enthusiasm and keeps for several books. Although always selfish, overbearingly proud, and constantly hungry, Toothless' friendship and loyalty becomes critically important to Hiccup long before a "fang-free dragon" becomes significant as one of the King's Things. Toothless also serves as Hiccup's much-appreciated bed-warmer in the cold humidity of Berk. Toothless has a scar over his heart from the battle with the Green Death in How to Train Your Dragon; it is in the same place as the scar over the heart of the dragon Furious and the dragon Wodensfang.

Windwalker
Hiccup's riding dragon is a Windwalker, who has no other name. Originally chosen by Hiccup out of pity for an injured dragon who was likely to be put down if no one chose it, the Windwalker is fiercely loyal to Hiccup and grows into an extremely fast and impressive dragon who remains with him even during the Dragon Rebellion.

Wodensfang
Originally the dragon of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock I, the Wodensfang is discovered by Hiccup guarding Grimbeard the Ghastly's crown in How to Steal a Dragon's Sword. The Wodensfang decides after talking to Hiccup that he will once again try trusting a human, and joins Hiccup.

One Eye
A rebellious driver dragon none too fond of humans, Hiccup convinces One-Eye to assist him on the Quest for the Vegetable that No One Dares Name (see How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse) and wins his respect by following through on Hiccup's promise to plant potatoes so that no dragon, as well as no human, will ever again die of Vorpentitis. One-Eye continues to be friendly towards Hiccup, but when Alvin the Treacherous steals Hiccup's crown, is the first of the domestic dragons to join the Dragon Rebellion, and the first to fall.

Fishlegs No-Name
The only kid in the pirate training program even worse than Hiccup, Fishlegs is a scrawny boy who can't even swim and is allergic to everything. Fishlegs wants to become a bard, and Hiccup encourages him. Fishlegs is fiercely loyal to Hiccup for being his friend and saving his life so many times, and thinks of himself as Hiccup's sidekick. When Hiccup is cast out by the Vikings in How to Steal a Dragon's Sword for having the slave mark, Fishlegs is the only person who refuses to turn away, and is the first person to pledge himself to Hiccup as King of the Wilderwest.

Camicazi
A tiny but ferocious blonde-haired girl, Camicazi is the heir to the Bog-Burglars, and a born troublemaker. She's always up for Hiccup's mad schemes. Camicazi is a highly talented burglar and an extraordinarily skilled swordfighter, and is the youngest person to earn the rank of Bronze Flashmaster.

Alvin the Treacherous
Alvin is Hiccup's arch nemesis. First introduced in book 2, Alvin tries to trick the Hooligans into finding a treasure for him, before revealing himself as His Most High Murderous Alvin the Treacherous, Chief of the Outcasts. He then attempts to enslave the Hooligans and eat Stoick and Hiccup (Yes you read that right). It goes wrong, and Alvin, Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Toothless go down with the ship. At the bottom of the ocean, they find Grimbeard the Ghastly's treasure, which Alvin and Hiccup fight over. Alvin reveals that he had sworn to kill Grimbeard the Ghastly's heir. Alvin gets swallowed by a sea monster before they can finish their fight, and Hiccup must find a way to get to the surface. Alvin returns in How to Speak Dragonese, working with the Romans and seeking to learn Dragonese in order to control dragons, during which he is thwarted by Hiccup and fed to Sharkworms; in How to Twist a Dragon's Tale, when he seeks to set off the great volcano in Lava Lout island and control the terrible Exterminator dragons, was again thwarted by Hiccup and thrown into a volcano; and in How to Break a Dragon's Heart, when he is discovered to be working with the Berserks as a cook, attempts to kill Hiccup, and is cast into an inferno. When he returns in How to Steal a Dragon's Sword and How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel, seeking to become King of the Wilderwest, Alvin is quite focused on his revenge against Hiccup. Given that his previous encounters with Hiccup have lost him his nose, his leg, his hair, and an eye, this is not entirely surprising.

The Hairy Scary Librarian
First Hiccup stole a book from his library, then Hiccup tricked Madguts the Murderous into taking the Librarian prisoner for a crime Big-Boobied Bertha committed. The Librarian ended up a slave in the Amber Slavelands, with a (fairly well justified, for once) huge grudge against Hiccup.

Norbert the Nutjob
Chief of the Hysteric tribe. First Hiccup shot him in the bottom; then Hiccup stole his Ticking Thing, his precious potato from America, and caused Norbert's father's body to be eaten by Squealers.

The Dragon Furious
Hiccup released the dragon Furious from his long imprisonment, but Furious carries a great grudge against all humans due to the tragedies of his long life. Hiccup threatens the coherence of the Dragon Rebellion that Furious leads, with his tendency to make friends of dragons; and worse yet, Hiccup is the heir of Grimbeard the Ghastly, finder of the Dragon Jewel, and the person most likely to be able to use it to destroy all dragonkind.

How to Train Your Dragon
"There were dragons when I was a boy."