History Fanfic / TheBlacksmithsApprentice

* ForWantOfANail: It occurs some time before the main storyline begins, but the main change from canon is that, during the raid where Hiccup shot down Toothless in canon, he was kept too busy to make the attempt, which led to Hiccup's poorer performance in dragon training and being officially disinherited by Stoick.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: To a degree; Toothless demonstrates that he has a degree of authority over other dragons, [[spoiler:with the first sign of this being when he orders Stormfly not to leave with Astrid; notable as he had previously "defeated" Stormfly to save Astrid when she was still controlled by the Red Death, which prompted Stormfly to come to the cove for safety]].

* RightBehindMe: Tiril says this when she, Yaklegs, Gustav, and Mrs. Larson have a conversation about what dragons eat that turns into a conversation about Astrid's cooking.

* PutOnTheBus: The twins are banished to Eel Island after Snotlout puts all the blame for a recent attack on Hiccup on them. [[spoiler:They come back later and this makes them finally abandon Snotlot]].

* BiTheWay: When Dagur comes to Berk to renew their treaty, Astrid casually mentions she overheard Dagur bragging about his "conquests" with both men and women to Hiccup.

* BiTheWay: When Dagur comes to Berk to renew their treaty, Astrid casually mentions how Dagur bragged about his "conquests" with both men and women to Hiccup.

''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12431393/1/The-Blacksmith-s-Apprentice The Blacksmith's Apprentice]]'' by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7560950/harrypanther harrypanther]] is a ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' AU fic set in a world where Hiccup didn’t shoot Toothless down as depicted in the film. As a result, three years later, Hiccup has been disinherited and disowned by Stoick while Snotlout has taken his place as Heir to Berk, leaving Hiccup as essentially the village thrall with only Astrid, Fishlegs and Gobber being remotely kind to him (and Gobber is prone to being harsh when he’s particularly drunk while Fishlegs mostly ignores Hiccup). However, when a chain of events give Hiccup another chance to prove himself, he is able to reaffirm his status in the eyes of the Tribe and find another chance to form his greatest friendship…

* PapaWolf: Stoick might have disowned Hiccup, and he spent the last few years basically ignoring his son to the point of getting angry if Hiccup just calls him "Dad", but he swiftly begins looking for an opportunity to undo his past mistakes once Hiccup begins to show evidence that he can improve from his past performance.

* ShamingTheMob: [[spoiler:Mildew managed to rally a crowd of people to protest against Hiccup being reinstated as heir, but that mob distinctly lost their enthusiasm about supporting Mildew when he stated that they wanted Snotlout back]].

* EvenEvilHasStandards: A lesser example, and more a case of "Even the Angry Mob Has Standards"; [[spoiler:Mildew managed to rally a crowd of people to protest against Hiccup being reinstated as heir, but the mob distinctly lost their enthusiasm about supporting Mildew when he stated that they wanted Snotlout back]].

* JuniorCounterpart: As well as Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs [[spoiler:and the twins]], the Dragon Riders in this version of events include [[spoiler:Fishleg's younger brother Yaklegs, Gustav- explicitly referred to as 'Mini-Snot' by Astrid more than once-, the twins' cousin Tiril, and another set of Thorston cousins in the form of the 'Tiny Twins'; even Hookfang is trained by a close friend of Snotlout's sister]].

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Snotlout finally ruins his chances to become Chief when he [[spoiler:tries to rape Astrid]], finally committing an act that Stoick can’t try to overlook with the argument that Snotlout just needs time to develop.

* WeWantOurJerkBack: DefiedTrope. Mildew [[spoiler:says this almost exactly when he starts a riot against Hiccup being reappointed as heir, but saying the mob wants Snotlout back actually stops the riot as Berk realizes that they don't want him to be heir even if he’s the better candidate in terms of appearance]].

''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12431393/1/The-Blacksmith-s-Apprentice The Blacksmith’s Apprentice]]'' by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7560950/harrypanther harrypanther]] is a ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' AU fic set in a world where Hiccup didn’t shoot Toothless down as depicted in the film. As a result, three years later, Hiccup has been disinherited and disowned by Stoick while Snotlout has taken his place as Heir to Berk, leaving Hiccup as essentially the village thrall with only Astrid, Fishlegs and Gobber being remotely kind to him (and Gobber is prone to being harsh when he’s particularly drunk while Fishlegs mostly ignores Hiccup).. However, when a chain of events give Hiccup another chance to prove himself, he is able to reaffirm his status in the eyes of the Tribe and find another chance to form his greatest friendship…

* EyeScream: A minor example; Snotlout sustains a scar over his eye [[spoiler:in a duel with Hiccup]], but all observing parties can see that his eye hasn’t been damaged and it’s only temporarily blinded due to the blood from the scar

* AbusiveParent: Considering that Stoick disowned Hiccup and left him basically a servant in his own village, it’s initially hard to see him as anything but, [[spoiler:although he swiftly recognises his mistake when Hiccup begins to prove himself]].

* AdaptationalVillainy: Snotlout and Spitelout, to the point that [[spoiler:they actively assist Alvin the Treacherous in an invasion of Berk (although Spitelout realises his mistake before his death)]].
* AscendedExtra: Gustav goes from trying to imitate Snotlout as a Dragon Rider in canon to becoming one of Hiccup’s first group of Dragon Riders, training Fanghook before one of the new Riders train Hookfang.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: To a degree; Toothless demonstrates that he has a degree of authority over other dragons, [[spoiler:with the first sign of this being when he orders Stormfly not to leave with Astrid; notable as he had previously ‘defeated’ Stormfly to save Astrid when she was still controlled by the Red Death, which prompted Stormfly to come to the cove for safety]].
* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:By the very end, Astrid tells Hiccup that she is having a baby.]]
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Astrid is the only person who reaches out and acts friendly to Hiccup while everyone else either ignores or abuses him, because he was the only one there to be a shoulder to cry on when her parents died and her family home destroyed during a dragon-raid. This eventually increases from platonic love to romantic after Hiccup manages to defend her from being politically kidnapped by Thuggory, using his then heir status to claim her as his fiancé (while assuring her that he has no plans to force that on her in the aftermath).
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler:Snotlout chooses to jump off a cliff rather than accept that Hiccup defeated him and claimed back the title of Heir]].
* BigBadWannabe: Snotlout thinks he’s a great heir, but even before accepting Hiccup back in the role, Stoick recognised that Snotlout was a poor choice due to his lack of diplomatic skill or even any real tactical ability beyond ‘beat the other guy up’, to the point of having Hiccup ‘pretend’ to be the Heir when other tribes are visiting (albeit saying that Snotlout just isn’t ready yet rather than acknowledging that he never will be). [[spoiler:After being Outcast, Snotlout tries to reclaim his title by making a deal with Alvin, but this ‘deal’ proves to be hopelessly in favour of Alvin, even if Snotlout accepts a position of apparent power among the Outcasts when Alvin takes the position of Berk chief that he had ‘promised’ to Snotlout]].

* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:Spitelout, Mildew, Alvin, Dagur and Snotlout all die in the battle between the Outcasts and the Hooligans to reclaim Berk]].

* TheDreaded: Scenes from Toothless’ POV refer to the Red Death as "Her", giving the impression that Toothless fears falling under her influence again

* ForWantOfANail: It occurs some time before the main storyline begins, but the main change from canon is that, during the raid where Hiccup shot down Toothless in canon, he was kept too busy to make the attempt, which led to Hiccup’s poorer performance in dragon training and being officially disinherited by Stoick.
* HandicappedBadass: [[spoiler:While still not fitted for his prosthetic and barely recovered from his victory over the Red Death, Hiccup manages to lead the dragon riders against Alvin, Dagur and Snotlout’s invading forces]]

* ItCanThink: Made clear for Toothless, as various scenes show him thinking about how being shot down freed him from Her (the Red Death), recognising Hiccup and Astrid as mates before they’ve even kissed, and choosing to stay in the cove out of affection for Hiccup even when he doesn’t need Hiccup to fly
* ItsAllAboutMe: Snotlout takes everything Hiccup does as acting Heir as an insult to himself.
** Granted, Hiccup acted as Heir because Stoick recognised that Snotlout wasn’t ready to be publically introduced to other tribes, but Snotlout was simply incapable of recognising that Hiccup’s priority was helping Berk rather than showing him up.

* LoopholeAbuse: Thuggory attempts to invoke Heir’s Privilege to claim Astrid as his wife, but Hiccup uses that same rule to claim Astrid for himself as local heir takes precedent in the event of such a claim, despite the fact that Berk doesn’t recognise Heir’s Privilege under normal circumstances (which stops Snotlout trying to invoke it after Thuggory’s left).
* ManipulativeBastard: Snotlout tries to act like this, but continually underestimates Hiccup’s abilities as a combatant and a leader.

* PapaWolf: Stoick might have disowned Hiccup, and he spent the last few years basically ignoring his son to the point of getting angry if Hiccup just calls him 'Dad', but he swiftly begins looking for an opportunity to undo his past mistakes once Hiccup begins to show evidence that he can improve from his past performance.

* ShipperOnDeck: Stoick and Gobber are quietly supportive of Hiccup and Astrid’s relationship once they see evidence that Astrid genuinely cares for Hiccup, and Toothless recognises them as mates before they’ve even kissed

* TookALevelInJerkass:
** Snotlout and the Twins in particular, but seen for most of the village, as their dismissive attitude towards Hiccup in the first film has now escalated to the point of varying levels of physical abuse (even if Hiccup notes that he’s at least allowed to stay in the village in contrast to Mildew being essentially exiled to the outskirts)
** Dagur is even more deranged than he was in the show, making plans to mutilate and torture Hiccup to make him a slave, [[spoiler:until his actions push Hiccup to realise that the only way to stop Dagur’s plans is to order Toothless to kill the Berserker chief]].

* WeWantOurJerkBack: DefiedTrope. Mildew [[spoiler:says this almost exactly when he starts a riot against Hiccup being reappointed as heir, but saying the mob wants Snotlout back actually stops the riot as Berk realises that they don’t want him to be heir even if he’s the better candidate in terms of appearance]].

* PutOnTheBus: The twins are banished to Eel Island after Snotlout puts all the blame for a recent attack on Hiccup on them. [[spoiler:They come back later]].

* WeWantOurJerkBack: Explicitly disregarded; Mildew [[spoiler:says this almost exactly when he starts a riot against Hiccup being reappointed as heir, but saying the mob wants Snotlout back actually stops the riot as Berk realises that they don’t want him to be heir even if he’s the better candidate in terms of appearance]].

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Astrid is the only person who reaches out and acts friendly to Hiccup while everyone else either ignores or abuses him is because he was the only one there to be a shoulder to cry on when her parents died and family home destroyed during a dragon-raid. This eventually increases from platonic love to romantic after Hiccup manages to defend her from being politically kidnapped by Thuggory, claiming his then heir status to claim her as his fiancé.

* CultureJustifiesAnything: Subverted. In-contrast to Hiccup's innovations, Berk runs on a series of traditions that have been in place for generations, causing a stagnation on their way of life that causes Berk to slowly die. For instance, tradition states that the families of the village look after each other, otherwise they are left to fend for themselves with no help from the village. When Astrid's parents died and her home burned down, her more distant relatives would not give her stay in their homes and thus she was forced to live in the Great Hall, with no one able to help her to rebuild her home. It is not until Hiccup (who was temporarily reinstated as heir when the Meatheads came to visit) [[TheNeedsOfTheMany forced the village to collaborate in building homes]] were they all able to make progress, rebuilding Astrid's home along with many others in quicker succession than if they worked only for themselves.

* ForWantOfANail: It occurs some time before the main storyline begins, but the main change from canon is that Hiccup’s initial attempt to shoot down a Night Fury at the beginning of the film failed, which led to Hiccup’s poorer performance in dragon training and being officially disinherited by Stoick.

* ManipulativeBastard: Snotlout tries to act like this, but continually underestimates Hiccup’s abilities as a combatant and a leader

* NiceToTheWaiter: In a sense; with Hiccup basically relegated to the role of a thrall, the fact that Snotlout thinks he can get away with treating Hiccup that way says a great deal about him, [[spoiler:even if it’s Snotlout’s attempt to rape Astrid that pushes Stoick to realise that he can’t accept Snotlout’s shortcomings any more]].
* NoodleIncident: Astrid never had to kill the would-be Hookfang in the final lesson of dragon training as she killed a random wild Monstrous Nightmare during a raid instead
* PapaWolf: Stoick might have disowned Hiccup, but while society demanded him to then ignore his son, he swiftly begins looking for an opportunity to undo his past mistakes once Hiccup begins to show evidence that he can move on from his past.
* PutOnTheBus: The twins are banished to Eel Island after Snotlout puts all the blame for a recent attack on Hiccup on them. [[spoiler:They come back later]]

* ForWantOfANail: Everything changes because Hiccup’s initial attempt to shoot down a Night Fury at the beginning of the film fails, which led to Hiccup’s poorer performance in dragon training and being officially disinherited by Stoick

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Snotlout finally ruins his chances to become Chief when he [[spoiler:tries to rape Astrid]], finally committing an act that Stoick can’t try to overlook with the argument that Snotlout just needs time to develop

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Hiccup takes the entire village by surprise when he proves to be a skilled enough combatant to defeat Thuggory in a duel even after three years as essentially the village thrall

* TheDreaded: Scenes from Toothless’ POV refer to the Red Death as ‘Her’, giving the impression that Toothless fears falling under her influence again
* EvenEvilHasStandards: A lesser example, and more a case of ‘Even the Angry Mob Has Standards’; [[spoiler:Mildew managed to rally a crowd of people to protest against Hiccup being reinstated as heir, but the mob distinctly lost their enthusiasm about supporting Mildew when he stated that they wanted Snotlout back]].

* MoralEventHorizon: Any chance of Snotlout being forgiven or offered a chance at redemption is lost when he [[spoiler:shows no reaction to his father dying while Spitelout was trying to save his daughter from the Outcasts Snotlout brought to Berk]].

* TearJerker: A particularly touching example regarding Hiccup and Toothless’s relationship; the damage to Toothless’ tail is less serious than in the film (to the point that Hiccup essentially just needs to add splints to it rather than making a completely artificial substitute), and yet Toothless still chooses to remain in the cove after Hiccup repairs the damage when he could just fly somewhere far away from Berk and the Red Death

** Dagur is even more deranged than he was in the show, making plans to mutilate and torture Hiccup to make him a slave, [[spoiler:until his actions push Hiccup to realise that the only way to stop Dagur’s plans is to order Toothless to kill the Berserker chief].