A story outside a story – out of character, out of universe and its time. Whatever the following art shows, it wouldn’t quite fit into the official HTTYD story. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t pretty amazing though!
Sometimes one will come across fanart featuring the official HTTYD characters along with the artist’s own created characters, or variations of the official story.
Personally, I feel it’s not only interesting to see re-tellings and beautiful snapshots of the original story, but also artists’ imaginative variations and fantasy.
This is a subject that I’d like to post about again in the future.
Here are some of my favourite HTTYD fanarts, that are a fantasy of the official story:
Click on a picture to see it pop up in a “lightbox”. Pictures posted in no particular order. (Featured art: Toothless Night Fury – by Fuytski)
An impressive digital painting of Toothless inside some kind of cavern, standing above a glowing symbol representing… the sun and its power?
Whatever it is that Toothless is standing above, it’s certainly giving off some kind of energy.
Because Toothless has the V-shaped spines along his back, this painting shows a scene after the events of the second movie. Who is Toothless looking at, and what does he want to achieve by standing on that symbol – did he clear the rocks to uncover it?
Where did She Find a Fish? – by Neboveria
D’aww, Toothless sure loves fish. 
This painting shows the artist’s own female human and dragon characters. The dragon clearly managed to slink off quickly, and grab herself a fish from a place they don’t know of.
This is one of my favourite fanarts, not only because it’s got nice colours and movement and shows a friendly “everyday” scene, but also because it reminds me of the way my own doggies interact with each other, the world around them, and also with other people.
Both dogs have unique and sometimes opposing traits:
My younger (7 years) German Shepherd cross male “Axel” and my older (11 years) Rottweiler cross female “Jessie” are both very playful and adventurous characters in their own unique ways.
My doggie Axel has never really grown out of the boisterous, adventurous and outwardly playful “puppy” stage where everything is a potential toy. Jessie however, has always expressed her playfulness only with dignified tail wagging and quiet private time, as though she were going on a tea and biscuit break by herself, to read and experience a good romance novel.
In contrast to Axel’s constant puppy-like playfulness, Jessie has always kept her sense of adventure and playfulness sensibly muted – a bit like a quiet but repressed-attractive and sensible female librarian with glasses (who hits the dancefloor hard, after work).
When Jessie does let her hair fur down, her adventurousness is only expressed through her obsession for reptiles – every excursion and adventure must in some away involve the discovery of any reptile within a 1000 square meter radius.
Living in Australia, on a big farm, there is certainly no shortage of reptiles here – so it’s quite a big task to find and check up on every one of them each day.
The most common ones that are in my area, are skinks, Blue Tongue (Shingleback) lizards and Eastern Brown snakes – the second-most venomous snakes in the world (the most venomous ones are elsewhere in Australia).
Jessie loves all reptiles, no matter how big, small or venomous – no doubt she would love dragons as well!
A very sweet and clever doggie.
Every walk around the farm with Jessie, involved her obediently walking beside me but her nose sniffing the ground and air. When she did get a whiff of any kind of reptile, she’d follow the scent in a completely oblivious and hurried trance.
For safety reasons, I had to walk her on a leash – so therefore she cleverly adapted her technique, after realising that she can no longer run off:
Jessie began to pretend that she in fact hadn’t caught a whiff of a reptile, and casually kept on walking (perhaps leading me to a bush so she can pee), then when she knew she was close, she’d lunge towards the place where she believed the reptile to be hidden.
(Jessie put on a “poker face”, but her twitching nose gave her away.)
She was correct every time, and yanked the reptile out from its hiding place – thankfully it was only ever a Blue Tongue lizard, but in the milliseconds in which she took me by surprise, I didn’t know what kind of reptile it was, and therefore screeched in a panic at her to drop whatever she had pulled out.
She dropped the lizards at my feet, they stuck their tongue out at me and then skittered off – with Jessie watching them leave, whimpering with emotion and drooping tail, mournfully looking towards the leaving reptile the way a loving wife would farewell her soldier husband leaving for battle.
Sometimes the snakes (and lizards) would race past in front of us towards their hiding place, and Jessie would then whimper for many weeks every time we passed the place where she had last seen them.
This brings me to the difference between my outwardly playful dog Axel and my emotional but sensibly-repressed Jessie, when playing together:
Axel loves to play fetch, and he always returns his chewtoy so that I can throw it, and he can then catch it before it hits the ground – this is extremely important to him, like checking up on all reptiles is extremely important to Jessie.
One day, I was busy and didn’t pay enough attention to Axel, so he walked over to Jessie with his own chewtoy in his mouth and threw it towards her feet so that she can pick it up and throw it back to him – instead she wagged her tail, picked it up and walked away to lie down in her bed to chew on it in private.
The look of complete bewilderment and disbelief on Axel’s face was something I had never seen before or afterwards – he was completely beside himself and kept looking at me and going back to staring at her, waiting for her to finally throw his precious chewtoy back to him.
I had to walk over to Jessie, pick up her own chewtoy and give it to her and then take Axel’s toy back to throw to him, so that he’d calm down again.
Had I allowed Jessie to keep her reptile friends, she would probably have happily taken them back to her bed, tail wagging, so that she could start playfully chewing on them in private.
(Any snakes or “dragons” would have likely complained to her though.)
Toothless sharing his fish with Hiccup, using it as a means of communication and bonding, and the female dragon in this fanart holding on to her fish that she had snapped up from somewhere, reminds me of my dogs and their different personalities and interaction with each other, and also with people.
There are different ways and situations, for animals to communicate the same things. The female dragon and Toothless in this fanart may very well be the best of friends (like my own dogs are), but that doesn’t mean she needs to share her food, or use food as a means for bonding.
(Toothless certainly didn’t want to share his own fish or be friends with the pesky little Terrible Terror dragons, in the first movie.)
When I throw Jessie her chewtoy (she ignores anything else) to try and play fetch, she does the same thing with me as well – she just gently wags her tail, takes it to her bed and chews on it in private.
This behaviour doesn’t mean that she isn’t playful or not trying to share and communicate with people. She feels the same things as Axel, but simply expresses herself differently.
Axel sharing his chewtoy with me to play fetch, is his most obvious way of being playful and adventurous, but also reaching out, communicating and bonding with me and other people.
Jessie prefers to communicate and bond not with play, but with cuddles and openly expressed emotions.
When it comes to cuddles, Jessie and Axel once again have quite different personalities:
My doggie Jessie overflows with emotion whenever she gets a cuddle – whimpering and grunting and smashing her tail against anything in the way.
She presses her head against my hand and soaks up every scratch, and then throws herself on the ground, grabs my arm with both paws and starts licking my hand and arm wildly (while still whimpering) in between sessions of rolling around on her back while grunting and groaning loudly.
Axel on the other paw hand, quietly and in a dignified and disciplined fashion presses himself up to me, so that I can put my arm around him and scratch his chest with my other hand.
He’ll get a distant look of bliss on his face, and every few moments it will turn to purposeful concentration where things finally reach the point when he can’t contain himself and then sticks his nose in my beard and gives my face a quick lick, before quickly averting his gaze into an undefined far-off distance, and his expression returning to relaxed bliss. Sometimes however, when I cuddle him long enough then he’ll also lie on his back and grab my hand to lick, but quickly jump back up again and settle by my side.
I can never get a picture of him being such an “obvious softy”; he is always too quick in getting back up.
When Jessie reaches out to Axel, she does it with openly expressed emotion – lavishing him with affection and adoration. When Axel reaches out to Jessie, he does it with play and adventurousness.
I have never witnessed them actually play the usual doggie-games together, but Axel clearly loves the adoration and attention (his athleticism and stride is stronger when Jessie watches), and Jessie loves it when Axel notices her.
By the way, Axel – once again opposite to Jessie – doesn’t like reptiles at all! His only weaknesses that I know of are ear cleaner solution, and reptiles!
When he notices a snake or lizard, he will bark at it fiercely, and when he does get close, he will crouch down and jump back at the slightest movement from the reptile. They unnerve him terribly.
A couple of years ago, I was cleaning up the yard and noticed him quietly rush towards something. There was a deadly brown snake backed up against the fence and coiling itself up, with Axel staring at it.
I immediately ran towards them both, shouting at Axel to get back and quickly grabbed him by the collar to pull him back. The snake was about to strike, but when it saw me approach, it decided to escape through a small hole in the soil, underneath the fence.
Axel is a highly intelligent dog, but he will face his fears head-on – in this case, he couldn’t have known how dangerous the situation was.
A few weeks later, a man was bitten on the finger and had lost his life within 20 minutes: This happened, because he tried to save his own dog from a brown snake.
Forget the now “civilised” and “peaceful” Berk and its cuddly-wuddly druggy puppydog tripping hippie pacifist entovegan dragons with their dilated shroom-pupils!
Welcome to Australia… we have reptiles, and lots of other things that will kill you:
Hukkis Picture ^^ – by Desaturateful
Young Hiccup flying on the back of Toothless, both full of excitement and adventure, above the clouds and towards the stars – quite possibly to touch and play with them. 
It could be nice to imagine that this would have been one of young Hiccup’s dreams, soon after he had met and grown fond of Toothless.
I guess we’ll never know for certain. 
Another One?! – by Uchuubranko
Hah! Look at all the stars they found! 
They even brought a net to bring the stars down with them. What an exciting night!
It looks like Toothless has spotted another especially nice and big one to put in their net.
Everything Will be all Right – by Luce-in-the-sky
On the subject of dreams, here we see Toothless comforting toddler Hiccup, after having a bad one. Not every dream can turn out beautiful, but things are certainly easier when you have a caring Night Fury dragon looking after you.
Hiccup was older when he first met Toothless, but I imagine they could have been great friends growing up from very young, as well.
In the TV series, we see that Hiccup’s mum Valka had made for him a stuffed “Teddy” dragon to cuddle up to, when he was a baby.
That dragon toy was very dear to Hiccup.
Maybe this helped influence Hiccup in a way, that would have him seek friendship with Toothless in the future.
Just Reading a Newspaper – by Mikka
Did the Vikings have tabloid newspapers back in the day?
Modern-day Hiccup and Shiba-Inu-sized Toothless, just chilling and reading a newspaper.
If we had dragons like in the HTTYD story, would you prefer them to be smaller as shown here, or bigger like shown in the books and movies?
Source link
Hiccup and Toothless – by Indui
I’m not sure what Hiccup is surprised about, but it appears that his leg has grown back, and him and Toothless have been transported to (ancient) Japan! Are those Japanese lanterns hanging in a Cherry Blossom tree?
Never mind! Toothless, being a piscatorial expert, right away took this unusual opportunity to sample fish from another part of the world, rather than concern himself with less pressing details.
Encounter – by MonoFlax
Adult Hiccup and Toothless, meeting in The Cove – besides being adults instead of young teenagers, Hiccup doesn’t appear to have brought a fish with him – that’s serious! 
Toothless is hungry and loves fish.
When one gets older, it can get easier to be less open and in tune with the feelings and lives of other creatures, and to start taking things for granted (or just be preoccupied with adult life). That is true for humans, and other intelligent animals as well.
I wonder how Hiccup not bringing fish, would have changed the story.
Real Battle of Toothless and Vikings – by (source unknown)
Painted in a more realistic style, Toothless and the Vikings in imminent battle with each other – although it still looks like the situation could be defused. There is no fire, and the swords are still sheathed.
I must say though… those Vikings are a bit unrealistic, if they believe they have a chance against a massive and mighty dragon, with their “toothpicks” and “letter openers”.
Did Toothless enter their territory, or did the Vikings enter his?
If you have a source to the artist’s name or gallery, please get in touch and let me know, it would help a lot.
Source link?
How to Measure The Berk Island? – by DanGref
The Dragon-Rider twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut arguing and wrecking things, as usual. Barf and Belch are helping too!
That’s some pretty expensive-looking surveying equipment. It’s nice to see them wearing certified and approved Viking safety helmets and high-visibility vests while on their construction demolition job.
Safety first!
How to Train Your Dragon – by Kasau-VN
Chibi-style Hiccup and Toothless, flying happily alongside an Eastern dragon. Did the dragon try to spray them with water, and they dodged the stream?
Maybe Hiccup and Toothless are in Asia, discovering even more new dragons for Hiccup to add to his map and notebook! That’s a Vietnamese flag that Toothless has, as his tailfin. Wearing a different flag and tailfin, for every country they visit – such tourists!
(Or is this the Berkian Vietnamese version of HTTYD? )
Hiccup and Mini Toothless – by OxalicAcid
Movie-style Toothless, made to be about the same size as the original-book-style Toothless.
I wouldn’t have thought it, but movie-style Toothless also looks good as a small dragon, in my opinion. Young Hiccup certainly seems to be happy, as well.
HTTYD-Fishlegs – by 4leafcolour
How cute! Toothless watching Fishlegs happily sit and play a game on his Nintendo DS.
If we can play a HTTYD game on the Nintendo, then what is Fishlegs playing? No doubt the game has some kind of educational value to it!
Also, it does seem to interest Toothless as well. Nintendo games are known for being “absorbing” and easy to play, so I’m not too surprised that Toothless is curious.
Reading to Dragons – by Sharkie19
Wow, look at how popular Hiccup is with all the dragons – I’m almost jealous! I wonder what great story he’s reading to them.
How to Train Your Dragon Halloween – by (source unknown)
Young Hiccup and Toothless all dressed up for Halloween! The “massive bolt through the skull look” never ages.
It looks like they had a productive night – Hiccup got treated with candy and Toothless got… raw fish? The people must have known that dragons would come knocking on their door that night.
I wonder how Toothless feels about that lollipop – is it fish-flavoured? Yummy!
If you have a source to the artist’s name or gallery, please get in touch and let me know, it would help a lot.
Source link?
Art Trade with Graystripe24 – by Sharkie19
Young and hip modern-day Hiccup and Toothless, sharing earbuds and listening to the latest tunes on the iPod together. Hiccup even has Berk’s crest on the soles of his shoes!
It all matches – they’re the coolest kids in town.
In my next favourite-fanart post, I’ll be featuring beautiful and expansive HTTYD fanart, whose scenery and “feel” seems to go naturally with the presence of dragons, but also shows timeless environments that can still be seen in our world today.
If you want beautiful wallpaper art inspirations for your smartphone or computer screen, then this post will have loads of them.
And, just because… I’ll be adding more pictures of Jessie and Axel before signing off:
Okay, that’s all for today. See-ya!
Do you have suggestions, would like to recommend some art or submit your own? Then feel free to get in touch or just leave comments, below:
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