| “ | You know, it was always so special that you wanted to go exploring with me, Tom. And I... I always hoped, really hoped, that we would discover something amazing together. [src] | ” |
| — Olivia |
Dr. Olivia Kullersen is a major character in the series Dragons: The Nine Realms. She is the mother of Tom Kullersen and a geologist working for Rakke Corp. Like her son, she is a descendant of Hiccup Haddock and Astrid Hofferson.
Quick Answers
What is Dr. Olivia Kullersen's profession in Dragons: The Nine Realms?
How is Olivia Kullersen related to Hiccup Haddock and Astrid Hofferson?
What is the significance of Olivia's role at Rakke Corp?
Who is Olivia Kullersen's son in the series?
Biography
Physical Appearance[]
Olivia is a woman of European decent with long blond hair in a braid draped over her right shoulder and blue eyes. She wears a yellow jacket over a green long-sleeved shirt with a brown hiking belt around her waist, blue jeans that are rolled up mid-calf, and brown boots.
Personality[]
Olivia is a brilliant geological scientist known throughout the world for her expertise and experience. She has been shown to be exceptionally brave and daring, (traits Tom inherited from her) and is unafraid to take personal risks to her safety in the pursuit of her research. Despite this, she maintains a level-headed attitude even in the direst of situations, rarely losing her cool. Like her son, she is proud of her Viking heritage though not to the same extent as him. She has shown herself to be more respectful of authority than Tom as well. She has also been shown to have playful attitude in her spare time, as she enjoys playing Vikings with Tom, while also possessing a spunky sense of humor with her co-workers, namely Philip Baker.
Unlike her colleague, Dr. Sledkin, who is more concerned about company profits than people's wellbeing, Olivia is a compassionate and empathetic person who sees the safety of the people working at ICARIS as her primary concern. Though loyal to the Rakke Corporation, she holds an idealistic view of what it means to be a scientist, believing that the discoveries she makes belong to the world at large rather than simply to the company she works for. In addition, Olivia also seems to possess a general lack of ambition, being unconcerned with the prospects of prestige, wealth, and rank her findings may offer her, instead carrying out her research in the pursuit of knowledge and the betterment of the world. An example of this would be that despite being proud that the Kullersen Fissure bears her family name, she does not allow this to impact her judgement or bolster her ego.
She is also compassionate and understanding towards those who work under her even when they make mistakes. She can also be unsettled when her colleagues are condescending or overly strict towards employees of lower rank, and will stand up for them at times, as was the case with Linda when May criticized her for the loss of another drone in "Dragon Club".
In regard to her parenting, Olivia is caring yet often stern mother who tries to keep her son in line. She is shown to be quite close to Tom and loves him dearly, bringing him with her on her expeditions and playing Vikings with him in her spare time. Despite this, she is often frustrated with Tom's impulsiveness and him constantly getting into trouble while adventuring. This has often led her to scold and punish him, showing that she can be stern when she feels she needs to be. Overall, Olivia's greatest fear is losing Tom, causing her to be extremely protective of him when she feels she has too.
By the time of Season 4, she becomes suspicious of Tom after he skips curfew a few times and keeps missing her calls. Knowing he's up to something, she initially claims that she will trust him until he is ready to tell her. Though Olivia goes back on her word and decides to take matters into her own hands.
Due to this Olivia can be quite hypocritical as she expects others to trust her, when she herself fails to put her trust in others. She even knows to keep secrets from those who try to get in her business, like when Sledkin attempted to see where she was going, and she hid the fact she went looking for her son. When she finds Tom and finally meets Thunder face-to-face, she was shocked and speechless.
In the fifth season, she initially grounds Thomas for keeping such a dangerous secret from her all these months, but ends up going with him to the various realms to further explore the Hidden World of the Dragons. Originally wary of dragons, Olivia has become more familiar with the ones she has encountered, like her son. She eventually understands the special bonds and respect the kids and dragons have for each other, and allows them to continue exploring the Hidden World without further objections as long as she's let in on everything new they learn. However Olivia frowns on the dragons being kept a secret from the world, believing that the world has a right to know, for the benefit of science. She also came to show the same kind of love and respect for Thunder that Tom had for the dragon, seeing him like a son figure. Knowing that this secret is a lot to hold in, she had difficulties keeping it from others, but most of the time she was stopped from saying anything when something else came up, like when Carla and Hazel were discussing how Linda and the night watchman Murray were dating. But when Wilma started coming uncomfortably close to discover the dragons herself, she felt it was best to tell all the adults immediately otherwise things could get worse. She later felt relieved and proud to not to have to hold the secret in any longer after her son and the Dragon Club allowed the dragons to be seen saving her, Phillip, and the helicopter from falling into the Fissure. She even stood by her son's side when he introduced the dragons in support that the dragons and ICARIS workers could learn how to be good friends just like she had learned.
After the other adults had learned about the Hidden World and the dragons, what Tom had also warned her about came into fruition too. Especially with Wilma Sledkin when she saw how much her rival's greed had awoken and eventually lead to her downfall. Because of her, Olivia felt great remorse about reporting her findings, yet she felt sorry for Wilma's death despite her son and his friends trying to confront her and stop her.
Abilities, Talents, and Skills[]
- Geology: Olivia is a brilliant geologist. She predicted the opening of the fissure, due to the stresses caused by a close pass of a comet (seen during the opening of "First Flight, Part 1"). The fissure is named the Kullersen Fissure in recognition of this.
- Helicopter Pilot: Olivia knows how to accurately fly a helicopter over long distances.
- Driving: Olivia is shown to be an extremely capable driver, able to effectively navigate through intense and unsafe environments. This was clearly demonstrated in "Downpour", when she was able to evade many of the obstacles that were blocking the road while driving through the burning forest and was later able to effectively dodge a collision with Buzzsaw's vehicle when he came close to ramming them straight on.
- Technology: Olivia has been good in using computers. She can fast forward or rewind videos to see what causes certain activity to occur. She also managed to hack into Tom's drone in "The Night Lights, Part 2" to see if any footage in there had something to do with Tom being late recently. She used that information to locate the cave to the dragons' lair.
Relationships[]
Tom Kullersen[]
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Main article: Tom and Olivia's Relationship |
Olivia has a very loving relationship with her son, who means more to her than anything else in the world. Tom has traveled with his mother around the world ever since he was little, and always enjoys accompanying her on her expeditions.
May Wong[]
Olivia with May at ICARIS
May Wong is Olivia's superior at ICARIS and has been both a colleague and family friend for many years. Besides working closely together, it is implied that they are social friends as well. She was with Olivia the day Tom climbed into the polar bear habitat at a city zoo. May is shown to have complete trust in Olivia's judgement, being the only other person besides Tom to believe in her solution to blow up the fault line in the fissure in order to stop the constant Earthquakes around ICARIS station. Olivia is also the only one of her workers she never scolds and criticizes while at work. Despite this, May often pushes Olivia to do a better job at keeping Tom under control, due to his recklessness and knack for getting into trouble.
Jun Wong and Wu and Wei[]
Jun is the daughter of Olivia's boss and friend May. Jun was a close friend of Tom's when they were little. Olivia seems to have a good relationship with Jun, as she was happy that Tom had her as a friend during their childhood and was happy to see them become friends again after being reunited at ICARIS. With Wu and Wei, while they rarely interact, she is also impressed at their two heads, and they in return care for her well-being knowing that she is their Human Club Leader's mother.
Philip Baker[]
Olivia and Philip joking as they worked together
Olivia is shown to have a decent working relationship with the chief of security at ICARIS station. It becomes clear very early on that they respect each other, acknowledging each other's skills in their respective duties at Rakke Town. Philip does have a problem with her son early on, however, due to his constantly getting into trouble. This causes him to subtlety encourage Olivia to get Tom fixed down the "right path". His opinion of her son has drastically improved, however, due to Tom following the rules better and because of his befriending of D'Angelo, Philip's son.
While Philip initially doubted Olivia's decision to blow up the fault line in the fissure to stop the earthquakes, he immediately volunteered to join her on her mission. This demonstrates the large respect Philip has for Olivia and his trust in her. During their time together in the probe, it is shown that they even joked together as they completed their assignment, showing that they consider each other friends rather than simple work associates.
D'Angelo Baker and Plowhorn[]
While they rarely interact, D'Angelo has shown great respect for Olivia, knowing that she is Tom's mother. After she found out about the dragons and learned about the Hidden World and its dangers, she respected that he and his dragon Plowhorn had a special bond between each other. In "Hobs and Saw", it is revealed that Olivia and D'Angelo worked together to develop a Speed Stinger Antivenom after the events of "Sting It On!" by using a sample of her blood after being stung herself, showing that she took some time to learn about important medical skills that can help both dragons and humans alike. Plowhorn may also care about her well-being as seen when she attempted to carry a paralyzed Olivia to safety, even though she got stung by a Speed Stinger too.
Carla and Hazel Gonzalez[]
Alex Gonzalez and Feathers[]
While they rarely interact, Alex and Feathers know that Olivia is the mother of the club's human leader, Tom, and will do what they can to protect her. As Alex introduced her dragon to the geologist, Olivia was impressed by Feathers' feather-like scales and her ability to cloak, and in turn, she was even willing to let Tom's mother pet her.
Eugene Wong and Webmaster[]
Olivia has known Eugene as Jun's brother since he was young. When she had her first visit to the Hidden World, Eugene introduced her to his dragon and best friend. Although, she did feel a little uncomfortable around Webmaster during their first meeting, even when he nuzzled his head on her to show he liked her. But while they rarely interact, they knew Olivia was the mother of the club's human leader, Tom. They also cared about her well-being and would do everything they could to protect her.
Wilma Sledkin[]
Olivia has had a bitter rivalry with her colleague Dr. Sledkin ever since they attended college together. After Olivia won the Vetlesen Prize that Sledkin sought, the latter developed a bitter jealousy of her, which she still maintains years later. Despite working for the same corporation, Olivia and Sledkin share a hostile relationship with one another. Sledkin has often tried to discredit Olivia during her expeditions, only to be proven wrong every time, increasing her animosity for her, which she does little to hide from others. Olivia views Sledkin as someone who is more interested in personal gain and attention rather than scientific discovery or advancement. Sledkin, in turn, is disgusted by Olivia placing the safety of ICARIS' employees as her main priority, instead of the entirety of the situation's factors, namely the lawsuits and loss of money that will follow.
While undertaking her mission to blow up the fault line in the fissure, Olivia and Philip Baker were attacked by the Fault Ripper dragon, leading to both being knocked unconscious. During this time Sledkin showed no concern for their safety and seemed visibly disappointed when Olivia was safe, and her theory (seemingly) proven correct. This implies that Sledkin's grudge may even be murderous or at the very least she would simply prefer her rival to perish. Despite this, she did congratulate Olivia on the success of her mission, but only half-heartingly and visibly irritated while doing it.
Olivia has shown a lot of dislike for her arch-rival for being more concerned about money over the lives of others. One of these cases includes when she caused an explosion in the nature realm that sealed Tom and the other riders and their dragons in a caves, which they almost suffered in. When she learned about Sledkin's death, she sympathized with the kids and claimed how she knew her greed and thirst for power consumed her and led to her downfall, indicating she still cared about Wilma deep down.
Thunder[]
Thunder showing his love for Olivia.
Thunder is the dragon-best friend of Olivia's son, Tom. For a long time, Olivia was largely unaware of Thunder's existence, let alone that her son is riding on him. She did, however, see faint images of him or his shadow from the camera footage of ICARIS' surveillance drones, which Thunder has often destroyed. Because of this, Olivia was aware that something strange has been flying in the fissure but had yet to discover the truth.
When Olivia was attacked by the Fault Ripper dragon, Tom came to her rescue riding atop Thunder. During the battle, Olivia briefly saw Tom on Thunder flying through the air, but a head injury she suffered made her unable to see the dragon clearly, only as a flying blur. This kept Thunder's existence from her, though it seemed to have increased her curiosity in discovering his existence.
Eventually, after becoming suspicious of Tom, and finding the Dragons' lair from his drone's footage, she finally and officially meets Thunder face to face.
Initially, she was afraid of him and refused to let her son continue his rides with him. But after hearing Tom tell his reasons for lying to her was to protect him from the Rakke Corp, she finally pets him and sees that he is friendly. Eventually, she came to see the friendship he and Tom share is very strong and shared that same kind of love with the young night light like her son. She was also a little nervous about her first flight on him to the Hidden World, but she became so amazed at the sights of the fire falls and geysers, that she came to getting used to riding on him once in a while. She was especially grateful to Thunder for saving her from plummeting into the Fissure, even if it meant the rest of ICARIS seeing the existence of dragons. Even so, she stood beside him and Tom to support them in convincing everyone to be good friends with dragons as long as they are respected and protected. She seems to love him like another son figure and even hugs Thunder after the battle with the Speed Stingers, which indicates he has also grown to love her like a human mother figure. After Jörmungandr's attack, when ICARIS shut down and the dragons returned to the Hidden World to remain hidden, she was sad, but she still loved him enough to keep his existence a secret.
Fissure Fault Ripper[]
Like all the other residents of Rakke Town, Olivia was forced to endure the tremors caused by the Fault Ripper's burrowing under the station, though she and the other adults were unaware of the dragon's existence. Fearing that if the tremors continued it could cause the station to collapse into the fissure, Olivia planned to detonate explosives in one of the Fault Ripper's holes. This enraged the dragon causing it to attack the probe she was in. Though she didn't see it, the dragon's assault left her party unconscious before she was rescued from the dragon by her son Tom, his Dragon Thunder, and the rest of the Dragon Club and their Dragons. When Thunder summoned the Fault Ripper to help him stop Jörmungandr, it's likely that they are on better terms now.
Leonard Burne (Buzzsaw)[]
Olivia uncomfortably listening to Buzzsaw's ramblings about the "lightning bird"
Olivia, like everyone else who meets him, has a very negative opinion of the lumberjack Leonard Burne, also known as Buzzsaw, regarding him as a delusional "oddball" and someone others should stay away from. Olivia first encountered Buzzsaw in "Downpour", when she and Philip were helping to evacuate his employees when the Burne Lumber Company logging town caught fire. After rescuing the loggers, Olivia and Buzzsaw's respective vehicles nearly collided with each other when Buzzsaw drove back into the blaze in a desperate attempt to save his family's company. After dodging each other, Olivia was left dumbstruck by Buzzsaw's foolish attempt to put out the blaze by himself, despite the obvious impossibility of the task, regarding it as simply "crazy".
Olivia would later have another, more direct, confrontation with Buzzsaw in "The Sky Torcher", when she and her rival Sledkin had unknowingly stumbled upon his land while investigating a sinkhole outside of ICARIS. When Sledkin agreed to allow Buzzsaw to oversee their activities at the sinkhole in exchange for not reporting their trespass, Olivia's negative opinion of Buzzsaw only worsened. Recognizing his obvious insanity, Olivia was deeply uncomfortable being near him, and was left perplexed by his delusional ramblings about catching a supposed "lightning bird" and his baseless accusations of ICARIS being responsible for the creature. Due to her dislike of Buzzsaw and her discomfort of being around him, Olivia was quick to leave with Sledkin when they finished their work at sinkhole, only showing brief interest when he briefly mentioned that a kid was hiding it, though she ultimately disregarded it in favor of getting away from him.
From "In Too Deep", Olivia and everybody in Rakke Town meets the mad logger as he along with his dragon claimed Rakke Town as his own also adding on that Tom and his friends knew about him but unknown to her was that the club was on their way to tell her about Buzzsaw. While it remains unknown, it's likely Tom informed her about Buzzsaw's redemption and they became on better terms now.
Appearances[]
| The Nine Realms, Season 1 | |||||||||
| 1. "First Flight, Part 1": | Appears | 4. "Dragon Club": | Appears | ||||||
| 2. "First Flight, Part 2": | Appears | 5. "Featherhide": | Absent | ||||||
| 3. "A Hole New World": | Appears | 6. "Fault Ripper": | Appears | ||||||
| The Nine Realms, Season 2 | |||||||||
| 1. "Uniconned": | Absent | 5. "The Tangled Web": | Mentioned | ||||||
| 2. "Magma Breather": | Appears | 6. "Follow the Lightning, Part 1": | Mentioned | ||||||
| 3. "Dragons of the Undead": | Absent | 7. "Follow the Lightning, Part 2": | Absent | ||||||
| 4. "Downpour": | Appears | ||||||||
| The Nine Realms, Season 3 | |||||||||
| 1. "Fire Escape": | Absent | 5. "It Flies in the Family": | Absent | ||||||
| 2. "Ride or Die": | Appears | 6. "Magma Comes to the Surface": | Absent | ||||||
| 3. "Empty Fireworm Nest": | Absent | 7. "The Sky Torcher": | Appears | ||||||
| 4. "Dr. Catastrophe": | Absent | ||||||||
| The Nine Realms, Season 4 | |||||||||
| 1. "Cold Open": | Appears | 4. "The Decoy": | Appears | ||||||
| 2. "Uncharted Territory": | Absent | 5. "The Night Lights, Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
| 3. "Journey to the Snowcano": | Absent | 6. "The Night Lights, Part 2": | Appears | ||||||
| The Nine Realms, Season 5 | |||||||||
| 1. "Punishment and Torcher": | Appears | 4. "Scent of a Dragon": | Appears | ||||||
| 2. "Welcome to the Wonderful World of Dragons": | Appears | 5. "Sting It On!": | Appears | ||||||
| 3. "Barrel of Vine Tails": | Appears | 6. "Deep Freeze": | Appears | ||||||
| The Nine Realms, Season 6 | |||||||||
| 1. "Dragons Everywhere!": | Appears | 5. "Sledkin Stakeout": | Appears | ||||||
| 2. "Break in Case of Emergency": | Appears | 6. "Poison Control": | Mentioned | ||||||
| 3. "Undercover": | Absent | 7. "In Too Deep": | Appears | ||||||
| 4. "Webs' Masters": | Absent | ||||||||
| The Nine Realms, Season 7 | |||||||||
| 1. "Hobs and Saw": | Mentioned | 5. "Eugene's Lean Mean Extreme Dream Team": | Absent | ||||||
| 2. "Hearts of Heroes": | Absent | 6. "404 Alex Not Found": | Absent | ||||||
| 3. "Heart of Glass": | Mentioned | 7. "Rise of Jörmungandr": | Absent | ||||||
| 4. "In the Cards": | Absent | ||||||||
| The Nine Realms, Season 8 | |||||||||
| 1. "How to Train Jörmungandr": | Absent | 4. "Of Gods and Monsters": | Appears | ||||||
| 2. "The Great Foster Fake-Out": | Appears | 5. "Ragnarok: Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
| 3. "Science vs. Nature": | Absent | 6. "Ragnarok: Part 2": | Appears | ||||||
Trivia[]
- Olivia's surname — Kullersen — is formed of the Danish Kuller, which means Haddock, and the -søn/sen patronym meaning son of, so her name translates to son of Haddock.
- Olivia's employee number is 3625.
- In some promotional material, Olivia's surname is misspelled "Kullerson".
- Olivia believes that the world should be made aware of the existence of dragons, putting her at odds with her son who wants to keep them from being exposed to the world. And while it shows a naïve perspective of the potential dangers that could emerge should the Rakke Corp become aware of the Hidden World, her view seems to be similar to her ancestor Hiccup who in his early years dedicated his life to finding a way to have humans coexist with dragons, until his later experiences with more brutal humans led him to conclude that humanity needed time to change and make peace with each other before accepting the dragons. Ultimately Olivia came to the same conclusion after witnessing how far human greed was after seeing a former colleague near single-handedly destroy the Hidden World.
- According to Tom, Olivia has a hobby of creating cardboard cut outs of Tom.
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