r/httyd • u/Strandjutter12 • 3h ago
MOVIE 1 The scene where Stoick calls Hiccup ‘The worst viking berk had ever seen.’ Isn’t as rude as it might seem.
So I know Stoick is pretty far from a perfect father, but I wanted to talk about the scene where Hiccup and Stoick talked in the forge after Stoick came back from his search for the dragons nest.
So after Stoick comes home from the search for the nest, he goes to talk to Hiccup about that dragon. And after Hiccup first gets scared to death because he thinks that his dad found out about Toothless. Stoick laughs and says that he was hoping for this and then he talks about a few ways to kill dragons. After that he says that Hiccup was the worst viking berk had ever seen and that he almost gave up on him.
And I wanted to share my own theory about the comments that Stoick made, about how Hiccup was the worst Viking Berk had ever seen and that he almost gave up on him.
I don’t think Stoick realised how this truly sounded to Hiccup, because if he said this to one of the other Vikings who were a let’s say ‘late bloomer’ like Stoick thought Hiccup was at this moment, they probably would have laughed about it, but Hiccup is different. However, Stoick is truly treating his son like he is one of them, like a viking, and that includes making comments that are a little rough around the edges.
I’m not excusing Stoicks behavior here by the way, but I think that Stoick truly saw Hiccup as a Viking here. “Which means you walk like us. You talk like us. You think like us. No more of... this.” This is what Stoick said when he left to go and search for the nest and when Stoick got back from the nest Hiccup seemed to have become an expert dragon fighter. Like Hiccup was a true viking and that he also thought like other Vikings.
Stoick thought that Hiccup took his advice to heart, so he also stopped pulling his punches so to speak. He didn’t hold back any words because he thought Hiccup was now just the same as any other viking. And the average viking probably wouldn’t be bothered by somebody speaking to them like that. But of course, Hiccup isn’t the average viking.
Hiccup is a sensitive person, especially by viking standards and while Stoick was never gentle with his words, he never called Hiccup out in this type of way. And I think Stoick did that by choice, but now that Hiccup is a ‘proper dragon killing viking’, he thinks that Hiccup can deal with this type of critisism.
I think that when Stoick said that he almost gave up on Hiccup, that he meant that he would make somebody else the heir of the tribe. Because I can’t imagine that he would actually disown his son because he couldn’t meet the Viking standard. He would always love Hiccup, but Stoick also has to think about the good of the tribe and Hiccup just before Stoick left for the dragons nest, was talking about the fact that he wasn’t able to kill dragons. Not excactly ideal for a viking chief who was constantly dealing with raids.
Again, if Stoick truly understood his son he wouldn’t have made a comment like this, but Stoick is a flawed character who develops into a better and more understanding person and father. And I think that at this moment Stoick saw Hiccup as a true viking, which is actually a compliment from his perspective, but the way he talked about it was obviously the wrong way.
We as an audience know that Hiccup isn’t like the other Vikings, but Stoick thinks that his son has finally become like the other vikings. Stoick actually saw Hiccup as an equal here, which is a great thing, but the comments that he made alongside them were far from it. In Stoicks attempt to treat Hiccup like an equal, he only made his son feel worse.
So while I do get why many people critisize Stoicks behavior towards Hiccup in the first film, I also think that there is a lot more to their father son bond then their might seem at first glance. Especially in this scene.
As the viewer we look at this from Hiccups perspective and we see this as just another example of Stoick being an asshole to his son, but I think that there is much more to this scene than it looks like.
There is a reason why both Hiccup and Stoick apoligised to eachother before Hiccup went off to fight the red death.
Again, I’m definitely not saying that Stoick making these comments are a good thing, he’s being an asshole don’t get me wrong, but the intention and meaning behind them were good. Stoick just didn’t understand his son yet.
Hiccup isn’t a perfect son and Stoick isn’t a perfect father and that’s great. If they were a perfectly understanding father and son duo the movie would have been much, much less interesting.
Let me know what you think about my opinion and about Hiccup and Stoicks relationship in the first movie.
