#d:rob

Knight

Of

Light

One who Actively Weaponizes Light

and Weaponizes Through Light

Ok, I can understand that people tend to see Astrid as going from totally tough badass female to silly background character, but I don't think that's exactly what happened.

See, In HTTYD Astrid took Dragon Training to be the most important thing in her life. And she was right, she understood that she had to protect the Village and the people she loved and the only way to do that was to become a ruthless killer, someone who could keep fighting no matter what and was strong and possibly even emotionless. She kept her feelings and her personality locked up because she believed that killing dragons was more important than anything, even her own personal wants. And actually if you look, in the movie she wasn't even really friends with any of the other teens. Aside from the occasional sarcastic comment or assessment of her own training performance she really didn't say anything to them(Almost like she saw them as immature or not taking training seriously enough) 

But once Hiccup stopped the War, she didn't have to focus on killing Dragons anymore. Without the Village having a direct threat Astrid no longer had to focus on being ruthless or fighting. She was free to be herself. And it just turned out that Astrid has a caring side. Shes a bit silly, and softer, but she is still tough, scary and puts the village first (In Gift Of the Night Fury she really just wanted everyone to feel better, she wasnt the best at coming up with 'fun' things, but this could possibly be because she spent most of her life not making real friends or hanging out with people and just trained. But she was just putting the village first and, exemplifying her toughness, she was tying to 'bury the sadness' I think in this way she is a bit like Hiccup, maybe she doesn't really get people as much as you would think, and during the war she was mostly popular because she was a good fighter, not for her personality. And she did seem like she was trying to make friends, just not exactly going about it the right way.)

From what I can tell, Astrid has had some good character development, she stopped being shut off and all about fighting. She is still tough but she is friendlier and kinder. She is still smart and good at figuring things out, but she is warmer and maybe a bit sillier, but who are we to say that that's not who she always was on the inside?

TL;DR: We didnt really know too much about Astrid in the movie other than that she was smart, had a temper and took dragon training more seriously than any other teen to the point of shutting off her true personality. After she no longer needs to kill dragons she can let her feelings out and start to be herself. Shes still tough and scary and smart, and still puts Berk's safety and well being first, but she is more relaxed and happy. 

Yeah, just throwing my 2 cents out there

I know a lot of people are worried about Hiccup not being himself in the sequel. I don't really feel like there is a ton to be worried about, but I can agree that Hiccup is probably going to be different. 

In the first movie Hiccup was an awkward, un-confident, shy and socially inept adolescent that turned to humor to deal with the general crappiness of his life. This and his obvious hidden genius is what made us love him. At lot of us could relate to him and his situation, and his humor gave him an adorable optimism that we could all get behind. He was an amazing character. And I can understand that people would be worried that this is going away. That they are going to make him into a 'jock' or more the classic hero type. 

One thing we must keep in mind is that Dreamworks is an amazing studio that puts almost unparalleled detail and work into their movies. They aren't going to destroy their lead. But they aren't going to keep him exactly the same either. 

Now we all know that at the end of the first movie Hiccup found his place in Berk. And a lot of his awkwardness came from not only him trying hard to be something hes not, as Gobber said, but him not hanging out with people too much so he didn't know how to act around them. Now part of this was also just him being himself, but now that Hiccup has not only grown 5 years older, he has found his place and obviously thrived in it. He has a potential girlfriend, friends, is closer to his family, and from what I can tell learning to be a leader(just look at D:RoB for and the end of the first movie for this) All of this would also lead to an increased confidence, something that he lacked in the first movie. 

All of this is going to lead to a different Hiccup from the one that we all know, but even in D:RoB he was changing, and we dealt with that just fine. 

Hiccup is most likely going to be tougher(dealing with dragons on a daily basis) More confident and sure of himself, more 'heroic' and more comfortable in a leading position, and all around more of an adult. And these are very good traits for him to have. We all tend to forget that one day Hiccup is going to be the Chief of Berk, and though I hate to say it, the Hiccup of the first movie just wasn't up for the task. These changes are good and they are natural. Something that was going to have to happen to Hiccup. Its part of growing up. He was given a position(dragon trainer) and had to grow into it. And it looks like that's exactly what happened. 

Now Im not saying that everything about Hiccup is going to be different. The more things change the more they stay the same. Hes still going to be a little awkward and unsure of himself sometimes, these are the flaws that made him who he is. And He will never stop being a dead-pan snarker, because that is who he is. He obviously still stays up late in his workshop building strange inventions, something that will always alienate him from the people of Berk, who never understood that. He still goes on long rides with Toothless by himself and tries out crazy stunts. He still wont get on too well with his dad or Snotlout, will be misunderstood sometimes and get upset. These things will never change. 

And the only reason he looks so much more 'heroic' or 'hot' is probably because a) hes grown up and b) in the pro-promotional pictures they have to make him look like that. Its marketing. Also, Dreamworks obviously picked up on everyone falling all over themselves for Jack Frost last year, and are trying it out here. Its something Im surprised I didn't see coming. 

Also, to the people who are saying Hiccup isn't a Viking and now he looks like one and that's bad. Hiccup is a viking, he just had to learn how to be his own viking and grown into that. He found his place. 

TL;DR - Hiccup is still Hiccup, he will always be Hiccup and nothing will ever change that. There is really no need to worry about this, and if there is, than I have seriously misjudged Dreamworks, and I doubt I have. 

WHY YA'LL EMBARRASSED

We see the return of the the gesture from the movie.

Snotlout: Oh! You are so smug!

Hiccup: Me?!

Snotlout: Hiccup's so smart! Hiccup's so brave! He killed the Red Death! He trained the dragons! He's got the metal leg!

Hiccup: Metal leg? That's what's bothering- That's where you're going? Metal leg!