“ | I am Harald Forkbeard: trader, navigator and master of adventure at your service. [src] | ” |
— Harald introducing himself |
Harald Forkbeard is a character introduced in third expansion pack for School of Dragons, "Battle for the Edge". He is a pirate from a distant land and has a pet Terrible Terror, Leopold.
Official Description[]
“ | The first thing you should know about Harald Forkbeard is that he is never to be trusted under any circumstance. He is a cunning and manipulative pirate who will always put himself and his Terrible Terror, Leopold, first. Because of this, he has a tendency to switch alliances to avoid being on the losing side. Harald is notoriously charming. Vikings who cross him path should try not to be deceived by him. When Harald first came to Berk, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock initially trusted him, but the quick-witted Astrid Hofferson could see right through him and was immediately skeptical. Astrid’s suspicions were proven to be right when Harald’s true nature was revealed. However, while the Dragon Riders were unable to apprehend Harald after he had betrayed them and stolen the Book of Dragons, they were still able to prevent him from stealing anything of value. Nevertheless, Harald is still at large and stirring up trouble whenever he can. More recently, Harald has teamed up with the merciless pirate captain, Nikora Stormheart, to help her conquer the archipelago. As her ally, he acts as a liaison between her and the Dragon Riders of Berk. Even though he works for Stormheart, he does help the Dragon Riders destroy her stash of Grimora venom because of his concern for Leopold’s safety. It is imperative that you do not mistake this deed for kindness, for Harald Forkbeard is always looking to turn a profit and is constantly seeking to evade justice. |
” |
— School of Dragons |
Biography[]
Tricking the Dragon Riders[]
Harald show's up on Dragon's Edge with his pet, Leopold, after the Dragon Riders deal with the first attack by Dragon Hunters. While Hiccup welcomes the newcomer, Astrid is suspicious of him.
He accompanies the Dragon Riders to the neighboring islands around Dragon's Edge. He even frees a Prickleboggle from a dragon trap.
However, after the Dragon Riders head to Hobblegrunt Island to save some captured dragons, they return to find that Harald had stolen the hunter's weaponry, as well as the Book of Dragons. He soon traps the Archaeologist, whom the Riders began to speculate was working with him, in a cage to prevent him from interfering with his plans.
The Dragon Riders use the Flightmare's frozen mist to paralyze and capture Harald. While he is not remorseful about his actions, he offers to take the player to the Dragon Hunters' hideout to save the dragons they captured. Afterward, he sails towards Dragon's Edge with a mysterious object from Hobblegrunt Island the Hunters stole, with them following behind.
Encounter with the Green Death[]
Harold had made several dealings at Auction Island, including providing for a scam of a rock turning Dragons to stone. He finds these rocks at Dragon Island. The next time the Dragon Riders see him is when they had gone to Dragon Island. He states that he is stuck on the island and asks for help. The riders accept but they first want to solve the problem with the Green Death. When the riders are distracted by the huge dragon, Harald steals Astrid's compass and uses a secret tunnel to escape. He then tries to sail off, but the Green Death attacks him. The player then distracts the dragon who calms down in front of Toothless, the Alpha. Harald then fires a wood piece which gets in the Green Death's neck. While the player helps the Green Death, Harald makes his escape, leaving the blue orb to the Dragon Riders.
Watching from the Shadows[]
When Hiccup and the player visit the Leviathan after he grew up, Harald and a mysterious person are seen in the background, watching the scene.
Torn between Loyalties[]
Later during the Expansion, "Rise of Stormheart", Harald is working for another person, Nikora Stormheart. He acts as a liaison between her and the Dragon Riders on Dragon's Edge. Despite his professed loyalty to his new boss, he helps the player and Riders destroy Stormheart's stash of Grimora venom, claiming to be worried about Leopold's safety.
Fight against the Dragon Riders[]
During the Expansion "Wrath of Stormheart", Harald reappears as a loyal right-hand man of Nikora Stormheart. He is in charge of attacking Berk while captaining The Tempest. The player, along with Valka fight off Nikora's forces commanded by Harald. He also fights the player directly during a 'Dragon Tactics' ability. Leopold even helps by breathing fire at the player. Ultimately, the player defeats Harald in combat and he retreats. Conquering Berk, however, was never the goal. The attack was only serving as a diversion while Nikora took over Auction Island.
Later, Harald speaks with the player on Auction Island and indicates he fully supports Nikora's plans.
Infiltrating the Warlords' Camp[]
“ | I learned a thing or two when I was pretending to join Berk's merry crew. Your primary concern is to protect dragons, right? Stormheart and I aren't out there to enslave dragons. We don't want to hurt dragons at all. Shouldn't you be interested in doing anything you can to save dragons from the warlords? Let's say this is all just a trap. What do you have to lose? You will have to fight the Warlords at some point if you want to save dragons. If you have to fight the warlords anyway, why not turn your focus directly to them and know that Stormheart isn't planning anything against you for a time? A sign of relief, as it were. [src] | ” |
— Harald |
Physical Appearance[]
Harald has blonde hair, pulled back into a banded ponytail and a thin, pointed beard.
He wears a brown tunic with a red sash and brown belt over it, and a yellow long sleeve shirt. His gloves have fur lacing on them, as well as on his boots and tunic. Harald also wears a decorated, metal guard on his left shoulder and forearm. He also carries a sword over his shoulder.
Personality[]
Harald is certainly untrustworthy as he goes behind the backs of the Dragon Riders in Battle for the Edge.
This section requires expansion. |
“ | Harald only looks out for number one: Harald! And, well, Leopold, I guess. But that's it. It's the two of us against the world! [src] | ” |
— Harald |
Abilities, Skills, and Talents[]
Harald is skilled in deception and manipulation. He is quite charming which gives him an upper hand in conversations that require charisma. He has also managed to befriend a Terrible Terror possibly indicating that he learned how to train certain dragons.
This section requires expansion. |
Relationships[]
Nikora Stormheart[]
Harald seems to have built a minor relationship with Nikora, after he disappeared, as he worked for her in the expansion, Rise of Stormheart.
This section requires expansion. |
Appearances[]
Games | ||||||||||||
"Dragons: Rise of Berk": | Absent | "School of Dragons": | Appears | |||||||||
"How to Train Your Dragon": | Absent | "How to Train Your Dragon 2": | Absent | |||||||||
"DreamWorks Dragons: Wild Skies": | Absent | "DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders": | Absent | |||||||||
"Dragons: Titan Uprising": | Absent | "Dragons Hero Portal": | Absent | |||||||||
"DreamWorks Dragons: Legends of The Nine Realms": | Absent |
Trivia[]
- His name appears to be based on Harald II of Denmark, sometimes referred to as Harald Forkbeard.
- Hiccup's trust and Astrid's mistrust towards Harald mirrors their first impression of Heather. They both also have lied and stolen the Book of Dragons.
- However, Heather was trying to save her parents, while Harald was trying to make a profit.
- Harald is the third person to lie and betray the Dragon Riders. The other two are Heather and Hroar.
- Coincidentally, all their names begin with "H."
- Harald is the only villain that has a dragon who is truly loyal to their master. Alvin's relationship with Groundsplitter is unclear, Dagur's Skrill and Krogan's Singetail willingly escaped from the control of their respective masters, Drago Bludvist tortured his Bewilderbeast into following his orders, and Grimmel the Grisly forced his Deathgrippers to obey him by controlling them via their own venom.
- Dagur did end up training two loyal dragons (Shattermaster and Sleuther), but he was not a villain when he trained them.
- His name is nearly identical to Hiccup's French name, "Harold."
References[]
Harald Forkbeard uses Creative Commons Licensed content from the DreamWorks School of Dragons Wiki page Harald Forkbeard. The list of authors can be found on the page revision history (view authors). |