A headcanon I came up with surrounding Grimmel’s backstory.
Grimmel was born on small island off the north coast of Norway. His village was becoming dilapidated as their resources began to run out due the need to re-build their homes and structures as a result of the constant dragon attacks. Most of his people were sullen and morose as they continued about their lives until the next ferocious attack from the dragons.
When Grimmel was an infant, his village was attacked by a pack of Nightfuries and both his parents were killed. This is one of the only memories Grimmel had of his parents. As he grew into a boy, he was left with almost nothing. All he had was some torn clothes, a small knife he found in the wreckage of a house after a dragon attack.
He was taken in by the chief and was sent to school where he learned that he had the power of excellent manipulation. His ability to skillfully manipulate his peers was frightening to the teachers. He was often shunned by them because of this which caused him to spend most of his time away from the village and in the woods. Often he explored the island more and discovered how to track animals and where they would be resting along with their usual habitats. This is where he picked up his passion for hunting.
By the time he was 16 years old, he had been berated an endless number of times by the chief for not contributing anything to the tribe. The chief saw him as a devious, yet useless runt who didn’t belong amongst them. He hadn’t even killed a dragon yet. However, after he had been admonished by the chief one day, Grimmel made his way to the woods to vent his anger. But by chance, he stumbled upon a small outcrop in the side of a mound. Vines hung over the front of it, but inside a large Night Fury lay sleeping. Grimmel not only saw this as an opportunity to prove himself as useful to his tribe, but to also fulfill his sick and twisted ideals. But most importantly, he saw this as revenge. He would avenge his parent’s death by killing the same beast that killed them.
When he returned to the village that afternoon, the chief began questioning him angrily until Grimmel told him of what he did in the woods. Not believing him, the chief sent men to go check and when they returned, they confirmed Grimmel's account of killing the Nightfury. Astounded by this turn of events, the chief brought it to the attention of the entire village by getting them to gather in the main square. People applauded Grimmel for his efforts and from then on, Grimmel was hailed as a hero. At this point he decided to kill every last one, bringing real peace to the people of the world. In the following months, Grimmel improved the life in his village drastically by killing almost every Night Fury that attacked until they eventually stopped all together. His village’s resources began to grow more as they were able spend more time farming and conducting other essential tasks to maintain the upkeep of the village instead of fighting and re-building.
As the years carried on, Grimmel taught himself the skill of a blacksmith and craftsman so he could create different weapons/contraptions that would help him in his hunt for the Nightfuries. By the age of 21, he had become famous in Norway for his slick and efficient slaying of hundreds of Nightfuries. His skill was unmatched by any other mere hunter at that point. He was hired by many chiefs in the surrounding countries to hunt down other dragons including Nightfuries. During his travels around the world, he refined his skills in manipulation and treachery to gain what he wanted. He also fancied lending his hand to the people of Eastern Europe as he found their customs to be inviting and suited his needs of killing dragons well.
During his time in Asia, he came upon a group of 6 Deathgrippers and used the formula and substance he had stolen from an old friend named Eir Stormheart to drug the Deathgrippers into submission. After this, he laid low for a while and constructed a small airship that the Deathgrippers would carry across the skies, allowing him to get to places quicker.
By age 50, he had explored a great deal of the world by that point and had encountered countless strange and terrifying dragons as well as the same kind of people. By age 55, he hadn’t killed a single Nightfury in 2 years. At last, his mission had been complete. He had rid the world of the vicious beasts and brought true peace to everyone. For the next 6 years, he spent most of his time in the barbaric archipelago between Greenland and Norway. By this time, he was known to most leaders around the world as the pale poacher. A diabolical, efficient, effective, dangerous, and intelligent dragon hunter. Even the great Stoick the Vast of Berk knew of his deeds.
He had only been to Berk once, which resided in the center of the archipelago, when he was 41 and from what Grimmel remembered, it was a land of kill or be killed. The dragon attacks were relentless but the Vikings who lived there were even more so. Grimmel admired Stoick and even considered him one of the greatest dragon hunters to ever live, besides himself of course. He knew of Stoick’s wife and how she died, which caused a tiny slither of empathy to crawl out from the depths of Grimmel’s blackened heart before it sunk back down, never to be seen again. When he was at Berk, he also saw Stoick’s boy who was only 1 year old at the time.
When he was 60, he received news that Stoick had been killed, and his son was taking up the rains of chief. By this point he had known about Berk and their shift in lifestyle. But he paid it no mind because while he didn’t agree with their new way of life, he had no personal qualms with the people of Berk.
However, one fateful morning he received a message from the heads of the Northern Alliance about them needing help with a dragon rescuing problem. Stoick’s son and his dragon loving friends had been raiding their ships and stealing their dragons for the past several months and they didn’t know who else to turn to but Grimmel. After hearing this, he decided to take them up on their offer.....
