How To Train Your Dragon vs. Disability Tropes

Listen. I just love How To Train Your Dragon, okay?

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[mintycrazy]

We can't forget about bucket tho! He got brain damaged (lost half of it) when he was attacked by a dragon (at least from what we hear), and yet this doesn't hinder him. He is an amazing artist, a terrific fisherman, and a decent farmer. He was also able to train a hideous zippleback with mulch and is able to ride it perfectly. He is a little forgetful and absent minded, but it only makes him more lovable. On a smaller note, he also has a hook for a hand. In short, bucket lost half of his brain and his hand, yet he's still a respected and proper viking despite these disabilities.

[miratarnish]

I remember watching the first film as a kid and feeling really surprised and caught off guard that the hero became disabled, like it felt like this weird forbidden thing too dark for kids movies. The fact that I reacted like that is kind of a testament to how little representation disability gets in media, and how sorely it is needed in order to normalise and show respect for the community.

[Thunderous]

I know I'm late to the party.
But addressing the part where Hiccup wakes up with his new leg.
Most or a significant portion of Berk's population are amputees. And they, for a long time, had to be ready to fight at just about any time.
Honestly, I'd say these folks wearing their prosthetics while sleeping to be realistic. They couldn't afford the time to put on a prosthetic during an emergency.
And sure, some of the prosthetics were shown to be put on or replaced fairly quickly. But even seconds count in an emergency.

[ariameyer]

Also, gothi is mute and nobody cares. She writes with a stick and the only jokes made are not at her but gobber for not reading very well. Also, she's one of the most powerful people in all of berk and it is never seen as a problem.

[psykopath]

One big thing helping in the focus of this movie is the line when they say "We're viking, this is just enviromental hazard" (or something like that). Disability in berk is not only not shamed upon but highly respected. It's a war scar, in a viking village.

Also it's a really great movie, gotta say it.

[rebekahl]

I feel like most of the "leg jokes" as they have been come to known as, come from the twins, which makes sense because they are the jokers. No-one is pointing unnecessary fun at Hiccup because of it.

[kaioker]

hiccup DOES mention pain, but only once. Race to the Edge S2E06 when the zippleback fills his house with fish, he makes a comment about his leg needing to be filed down as it was pinching him, but was interrupted by the aforementioned fish

[agendrairbendr]

Gothi was mute, Viggo ended up blind in one eye, post-redemption arc Dagur is (in my opinion, correct me if I’m wrong) portrayed as neurodivergent, there are a few blind species of dragon. Combine this with the way the characters seem perfectly comfortable with queer relationships (eg the gang joking about Fishlegs/Hiccup) Httyd is probably one of the most supportive things in mainstream media.

[dangreen]

I slightly disagree, in that I think the first movie is *about* disability. it's disability that brings hiccup and toothless together, with the whole bonding between toothless and hiccup happening because hiccup helps build toothless his fin, a mobility aid. the vulnerability that's created by toothless' disability is what ultimately brings dragons and humans together, and it's a great message about how accommodation of disabled ppl is good for everyone.

[Kaithestressedowl]

Actually, there was at least one instance where we were shown Hiccup experiencing residual limb pain and even phantom pain in the Cartoon Network show, heck I think it was the first episode even. Hiccup spent the entire day running around the village and doing hard work, and by the end of it, he mentioned that “everything hurts, even this” while motioning to both his residual limb and prosthetic leg. This is insinuating that he is experiencing pain in the foot that is no longer attached to him, therefore, he gets phantom pain and occasional pain in his residual limb

[florian]

The good thing about Berk: They don't know what ableism is.
The bad thing about Berk: They look down on Hiccup because he's "different". (Well, at least in the beginning.)

[ThatOnes]

another thing i really liked in the 2nd movie is that toothless seems like he knows the leg is important to hiccup. cause like at 7:45 toothless is chewing on his leg without his teeth, and only shows his teeth to get stormfly to leave the leg alone. then its right back to no teeth to chew on it so he wont cause any damage

[FalconWingedGirl]

Tuffnut made a joke about Hiccup limping and they showed it to Veterans to get criticism regarding the joke, and they laughed. It shows how dedicated they were to the disabilities. I particularly like how it can be used to inspire the community to do things normal people can, no offense intended. All it requires is imagination and prosthetics.

[bonnafide]

My dad was a double amputee missing both of his legs from the knees down. He got prosthetic legs so that he could walk fairly well with a cane. To complete the effect, he could fit his old shoes on the feet of the prosthetics, and with long trousers, no one could tell he was disabled. However, he would often, if sitting in a chair, turn one of his legs completely around to confuse people. Don't tell me amputees don't have a sick sense of humor 🤣🤣🤣

[friendly-ntrovert]

One thing I absolutely loved about Hiccup being an amputee was that it wasn't remotely the majority of his personality or character. Sure they have some reminders where it's the butt of a joke or Hiccup uses the prosthetic to his advantage. But aside from that, it's just an subtle detail in the background. I can't decide whether it's either good or bad or somewhere in between because I myself am not an amputee, but I can see that the writers made an effort to avoid infantilizing Hiccup or painting him as a helpless being simply for having a metal leg.

[deadmanomegagaming]

In regards to the waking up with the leg thing I always assumed that the prosthetic was made and fitted whilst he was still unconscious after the battle although now that I'm older I realise that that time scale is probably not very possible

[craytherlaygaming]

honestly, the fact that I had to stumble across this vid to even realize these facts is testament to how normal HTTYD treated Hiccup's disability. Good on them

[onlyoneme]

I love how they did Hiccup. I'm disabled myself. The jokes in HTTYD are tasteful, which I appreciate.

The best amputee joking banter I've ever heard (in real life) was between two amputees at a renaissance festival I went to. I was talking to a guy about the fest, and was struggling with getting something out of my bag to show him. He asked, "Need a hand?" and when I looked up, he was holding out his prosthetic hand to me. I was surprised because--lol--I hadn't realized he was missing a hand to begin with, so it took my brain a moment to process what I was looking at as he grinned like a maniac. I cracked up.
His girlfriend remarked it would make a good weapon, to which he agreed, and then someone else shouted out, "No, THIS would make a good weapon." And (gently) slammed a prosthetic leg down in front of him on his vendor table, also grinning. I think he was lying in wait to make a joke as he watched our conversation unfold. I hadn't laughed that hard in a while, and I also hadn't noticed he was missing a leg.
I'm autistic, so I try to focus on a point between people's eyes (because eye contact hurts) to fake eye contact to be respectful so people know I'm listening, and I put so much effort into that I just don't notice most of anything else on a person. You missing a leg or arm? Probably not gonna notice unless I see you from a distance.
Anyway, dude missing the arm was like, "Wanna touch my stump? It's squishy!" And while I normally don't like human contact (again, because autistic, it feels like being zapped) I made the rare exception. Lol. Didn't feel weird. It's not ever something I'd ask someone to do, of course, because I feel that'd be inappropriate to ask of someone, but he willingly offered and was very comfortable sharing without me ever asking once what happened.

[froggy]

I do feel like it makes sense for Hiccup to sleep with his prosthetic in terms of the setting, i.e. there is a very high chance of fire and keeping the prosthetic on would save some time during an evacuation (I would add more examples but I am tired lmao apologies)

[alicetheneko]

I wouldn’t say he was sleeping. He was probably unconscious for several hours if not a couple days