Now that Hiccup is approved, it's time to move to the other side of the iconic duo.
What's the Work?
How To Train Your Dragon is a live-action remake released in 2025, of the original 2010 Animated Franchise regarding a young viking befriending a dragon and leading to the end of the 300 year dragon war by proving Dragons can be friends and allies instead if just mindless beasts. The events of the second film are planned to be adapted as well for release in 2027.
Who Is He?
Toothless is the draconic main protagonist of the film, alongside his rider Hiccup. Much like his DreamWorks counterpart, he is a powerful dragon called a Night Fury that was among those forced into the raids of Berk by the Red Death before being shot down by Hiccup and losing his tail fin in the process. Over the next months, the dragon and rider would grow an inseperable bond and together bring an end to the Viking-Dragon War.
What Has He Done?
The remake is essentially the same as the original movie with just a couple differences. Much like his animated counterpart, Toothless participated in the raids against his own will due to being controlled by the Red Death, that was up until during one fateful night, he was shot down by Hiccup Haddock and crashed into the woods. The next day, being found by the young viking, he prepared for death but was ultimately spared by the viking, and while he pounced on him and roared at him, he chose to spare him as well and try to fly away. However due to losing his tail fin, he remained unable to fly and stuck in a cove. As Hiccup returned to see him and make a sketch, upon spotting him, Toothless remained passive and didn't attack.
Hiccup later returned with a fish to feed him, which Toothless accepted after requesting Hiccup throw away his dagger. He then returned the gesture by regurgitating the fish so Hiccup could have half of it, and attempted to replicate his smile before leaving again. Toothless then spotted Hiccup doodling in the dirt at sunset and groqing curious decided to replicate it by drawing with a tree, Hiccup then walked around the drawing trying not to stomp on it and he and Toothless began a friendship by showing they could trust each other with Toothless resting his snout on Hiccup's palm.
Hiccup would return after having built a new prosthethic for Toothless, and upon realizing this, the dragon inmediately took flight but realized he couldn't properly fly without Hiccup. Over the next months, Hiccup would continue to bond with Toothless while helping him fly again, with Toothless benefitting Hiccup by giving him new ways to take out the dragons in the Trial of Flame without actually harming them. On the day of their first test drive, working together, they finally managed to succesfully fly together by discarding Hiccup's notes and working together in symphony. Later, Astrid would follow Hiccup into the cove and discover Toothless, with the dragon inmediately jumping to protect his rider. His dislike of Astrid at first is understandable due to her intense hatred of dragons and the way she mistreated Hiccup, and his misbehavior during her flight was only so that she would apologize to him and Hiccup, and once she did, he took them both on a romantic flight across the skies which helped changed Astrid's mind about both dragons and Hiccup. However, just then upon hearing the Red Death's call, Toothless took them all into a horde of dragons and revealed the Nest's location as well as the cause of the raids, quickly getting them all safely out of there once the queen realized their presence.
The next day during Hiccup's final trial, once Hookfang became volatile due to Stoick provoking him, Toothless inmediately hearing Hiccup in danger all the way in the cove began to use all his might and will power to climb out of his ravine, something he was previously unable to do for his own sake. He then dashe throughout the island all the way to the kill ring and bust in with a plasma blast to fight Hookfang off and protect Hiccup. Toothless would then be attacked by Stoick and the rest of the vikings, subduing them all quickly and pinning down Stoick, preparing to blast him but stopping once Hiccup told him not to.
After Hiccup incidentally revealed how to find the nest to Stoick, he used Toothless as a compass to get there, and upon reaching the nest left the Night Fury in the ship. Toothless would try to fly away as the Red Death emerged and began slaughtering the Berkians. Hiccup and the other riders arrived then and joined the battle, with Hiccup trying to free Toothless from the sinking ship. Eventually Hiccup was pulled away by Stoick who returned and freed Toothless himself, prompting the dragon to bring them both back to the surface. Once there ans reuinted with Hiccup, the duo took fligtht, rescuing Astrid from falling to her death and going to fight the Red Death head on.
Spotting that the titan dragon has wings, Hiccup and Toothless rile her up by dive bombing her with plasma blasts, provoking her enough to fly after them. Taking the battle to the skies, the two would use the cloud canopy to stealthily attack the massive dragon until she blasted fire around the clouds and set Toothless' tail on fire. Toothless then flew straight down as fast as possible with the Red Death following and charging gas, allowing them to shoot it in it's maw and burn it from the inside, causing the dragon to fall down imminently with no chance to slow down due to the holes in it's wings, killing it and freeing all the dragons from it's command, ending the war. As they try to fly away though, the Red Death's tail would knock Hiccup out, forcing the now flightless Toothless to dive into the inferno, managing to save Hiccup's life at the expense of his leg by shielding the boy with his wings.
Toothless would then be found by Stoick and after seeing the viking's remorse, revealed Hiccup's unconscious body to him. With vikings and dragons going back to Berk now as allies, Toothless would stay by Hiccup's side until he woke up, happily greeting his rider and helping him accept and manage his new mechanical limb. Leaving the house and seeing the now dragon inhabited Berk, Hiccup and Toothless would then take one more flight overseeing the village.
Corrupting Qualities?
While Toothless is a dragon and not a human being, it's been made abundantly clear that dragons in this universe have clear moral agency, moving on.
Yes, Toothless does have several mischievous moments, but all of them are in good fun with Hiccup, and his dislike of Astrid at first is understandable since she tried to kill him, hurt his rider and tried to rat them out to the village, with Toothless simply wanting to teach Astrid a lesson and once she apologized, he gave in and took her and Hiccup in a peaceful serene flight across the skies. Then his attempt at Stoick's life is also justified as it was done in both self-defense and protection of his rider Hiccup, not to mention he inmediately stopped once Hiccup told him to.
Admirable Standard
Given that the continuity is fairly new, there really isn't that high of an admirable standard yet, and since it looks like only the films will be adapted and not RTTE, it means the admirable standard is going to remain relatively low compared to the DreamWorks and Books continuities, having said that, Toothless easily passes the admirable standard by saving Hiccup in the ring from being killed by Hookfang and later saving his life as the duo fell into the raging inferno caused by the Red Death imploding, helping finally end the war between vikings and dragons.
Final Verdict
Solid Yes