Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) has a natural attraction to the unknown or misunderstood. In the beginning, he seeks new worlds with Toothless, his dragon. He wants to learn about dragons and their nature. He does not follow the learned nature of his village who used to attack dragons. His natural curiosity took over and he made dragons important and welcome in Berk.
We find out quickly that Valka (Cate Blanchett), Hiccup’s mom, is also naturally attracted to dragons. She knows a lot about them and tried to teach others, too. It was natural for her to leave her family and home to join dragons. She even says to Hiccup, “You took after me.” It runs in the family.
On the other side, dragons seem to have a natural curiosity towards humans. Cloud-jumper does not want to hurt baby Hiccup. He is interested.
The Alpha dragon “protects” other dragons. He naturally wants keep dragons safe and does what he can to help them. He builds the nest, provides food, and protects against major threats.
Another part of nature in regards to dragons is their instinct to listen to the Alpha. Essentially they have learned to listen to humans. However, the Alpha always has the power to control the dragons.
In the end, Toothless over comes his natural obedience of the Alpha and gives in to his learned love and trust for Hiccup. Because Hiccup has proven his loyalty to Toothless many times, the dragon has no problem with Hiccup blindfolding him. He even dives into ice to save his friend.
When Hiccup takes over Berk, he has both nature and the nurture of his father to help him lead the village to the best of his abilities. He has “the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon”.
I know I did not talk about nurture as much as nature, but I still think it’s interesting to look at this movie through this lens. Based on the evidence I just gave, I would say nature is dominant his film.
Interested in the different types of dragons?
Enjoy the many tropes of this film!
Thanks for reading! See you next week!