Western Animation / Hilda and the Mountain King

The page contains unmarked spoilers for Hilda Season 2. You Have Been Warned!

Is she ready for her most traumatic adventure yet?

Trundle: What are you hiding from?
Hilda: A troll.
Trundle: Are you not a troll?

Hilda and the Mountain King (also called Hilda: The Mountain King in marketing) is an animated film set in the world of Hilda. Distrbuted by Netflix, and produced by Silvergate Media and Mercury Filmworks, the film is based on the sixth and final entry of the graphic novel series by Luke Pearson.

Picking up where season 2 left off, Hilda wakes up in the body of a troll and back in the Stone Forest, having swapped places and species' with Baba thanks to a changing spell by Trylla, much to her utter shock and terror. As she understandably panics over her newfound state, she soon comes across a mysterious cave, where she encounters a giant troll known as Trundle, who offers to help her change back to a human if she does several tasks for him.

After agreeing to the troll's deal, Hilda must use her wits and courage to live amongst Trylla and the trolls, complete Trundle's tasks, become human again, get back home – and save the city of Trolberg from an impending troll attack that could destroy the city.

Meanwhile, back on the human side, a terrified Johanna, Alfur, and Tontu go out on the search for her, all while trying to deal with a rambunctious human Baba, in addition to Erik Alhburg and Safety Patrol, who are preparing for war against the trolls, and Frida and David attempt to figure out how to undo the very spell that caused this whole mess in the first place.

The movie was released on Netflix on December 30, 2021. It was originally intended to be the finale of the show like it is to the graphic novels, but shortly before the film's premiere, Luke Pearson would go on to announce a third and final season of Hilda, set for release on December 7, 2023.

Watch the trailer here.

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Hilda and the Mountain King provides the following examples:

• Accidentally Broke The Macguffin: While having fun, Baba runs and hits a drawer, accidentally knocking over the ornament that Hilda bought for her mother at the winter festival and breaking it. This horrifies Johanna, and causes her to snap at Baba, which makes her burst into tears.
• Achievements in Ignorance: None of the protagonists knew that reuniting Hilda and Baba with their real mothers would break the changeling spell. This was a lucky coincidence.
• Actually, I Am Him: At the climax of the story, Hilda finds out that Trundle was the Mountain King himself.
• Adaptation Expansion: The movie adds in a lot of scenes that weren't in the original graphic novel and expands upon many that were. These includes scenes of David and Frida trying to find a way to help Hilda, a scene where Tontu has to chase Baba down the streets after she escapes from the house, and Trundle's brother trying to fight off Trundle before he reaches Trolberg.
• Adapted Out:
  • Just like how he was absent from the adaptation of "The Stone Forest", the creature that looks like a patch of Earth with legs is absent from the movie. Instead, it is Alfur who accompanies Johanna in her search for Hilda.
  • Trundle's brother has a key role in the graphic novel explaining the truth about Amma, Trundle, and the red eye to Hilda, but this scene is cut from the movie; Frida uses her magic to help Hilda reveal the truth about Amma instead.
• Adults Are Useless:
  • Frida laments about this trope to David, noting that no adult will listen to them, give them help, or let them help with saving and restoring Hilda. Gerda is occupied with managing the Safety Patrol while Erik's away, none of the rest of the Safety Patrol are trustworthy, Kaisa refuses to get involved in the situation, stating that witches do not like to take part in matters with trolls involved, and Johanna refuses to let the two endanger themselves by helping her.
  • Averted with Johanna herself for the most part, who is taking every effort to find Hilda. She succeeds near the climax, but her turning to Erik Ahlberg for help after being attacked by aggressive trolls almost gets Hilda killed when he tries to shoot her on-sight.
• Advertised Extra: Trundle's brother features on a poster and in the opening title drop, but he's not the real titular Mountain King. He does have a key role in the graphic novel explaining the truth about Amma to Hilda, but this scene is cut from the movie.
• All for Nothing: A good majority of everyone's efforts to help Hilda, including Hilda's attempt herself, prove more or less pointless as the requisite Curse Escape Clause is discovered more or less accidentally. The only thing really important was Johanna finding her again (and Baba finding Trylla).
• All There in the Script: Unlike Baba and Trundle, Trylla the Troll Mother is never named in dialogue; her name is only revealed in the subtitles and end credits.
• And I Must Scream:
  • As Hilda exits the stone forest during the day, she was immediately turned to stone. When Hilda awoke at nighttime, she was in a state of panic.
  • Averted with Amma, the mother and grandmother of all Trolls. While she did feel mildly inconvenienced when she discovered a human settlement over where she slept, she didn't mind since her children still got to see her. However, over time, the settlement grew into Trolberg.
• And Then What?: Discussed in their first meeting, Trundle asks Hilda what she'll do if she gets into Trolberg, reminding her of the wall.
• Arc Words: "Mum/Mother"
• Art Shift: The opening credits, designed by Giant Ant, features a blend of 2D and 3D animation, a slight departure from the traditional animation on the original series.
• Ascended Extra: Alfur, David and Frida all appear in the movie. None of them were in the graphic novel the movie is based on. Kaisa also shows up in one scene.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: The Troll in the Mountain King's castle is a subversion. He has various rock formations on his back that resemble mountain peaks, some of which even resemble a crown, but he's not the Mountain King. Trundle is.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Trundle and the Troll Hilda encounters in the Mountain King's old castle a.k.a. Trundle's brother are the two largest Trolls seen so far, with Trundle towering even over the walls of Trolberg. Trundle’s plan involves awakening an even larger Troll, Amma, who is sleeping underneath Trolberg and can destroy the whole city should she decide to rise up from her slumber.
• Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Trundle's ultimate goal is to gather all of the Trolls to invade Trolberg. From there, the citizens will try to attack the Trolls to defend the city. This would cause the ancient Troll, Amma, to awaken and protect the Trolls. But if Amma wakes up from her slumber, all of Trolberg will be destroyed, as the city is built upon her sleeping form.
• Badly Battered Babysitter: Downplayed, but Baba does give Tontu quite a run for his money when he has to watch her. She escapes the house and wanders off into the street, with Tontu barely able to keep up despite him being able to use Nowhere Space.
• Batman Gambit: The crux of the Mountain King's Evil Plan. He gathers an army to invade Trolburg, throws boulders to destroy the bell towers, breaks through the wall to the city, and then does nothing but stand there letting his fellow trolls do everything else, and wait for the humans to react to his presence so that Amma will rise to defend her children, destroying Trolberg in the process. It almost fails, but unfortunately, the one person who behaves as he needs to is Erik, the one person with the most power who cracks under the pressure and paranoia, ordering Trundle killed by the Light Cannon. Fortunately, Hilda manages to convince Erik to stand down afterwards, when she shows him the vision of Amma's rise.
• Benevolent Monsters: Most of the Trolls are revealed to be this, with Trylla explaining that trolls are just as morally complex as humans, and that most just want to mind their own business only to be antagonized by the humans of Trolberg. Amma, the mother of all Trolls, is revealed to be one, as despite being a Troll the size of a mountain, she elected to remain sleeping so as to not destroy the human settlement built over her resting place.
• Big Damn Heroes: Just as a boulder is headed towards a tower — with David in it — a giant hand blocks the way, buying time for him to escape. It's Trundle's brother, who makes a stand to protect Trolberg and keep Amma from waking.
• Big "WHAT?!": Yelled by Johanna when Hilda asks Trylla to throw her, so she can throw the eye to Erik.
• BFG: The Safety Patrol's latest weapon in the war against Trolls is a gigantic cannon that can fire a ray of imitation sunlight.
• Big Damn Reunion: After defeating the giant Troll that was thought to be the Mountain King, Hilda is finally reunited with her mother. They both give each other a great big hug. After that, Hilda gathers her Mother, Twig, Tontu, Baba and the giant red orb, and takes them to Trundle's cave in order to undo the changeling spell.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: While trolls and humans have a surprising amount in common, there are a few differences. Trolls believe anything not kept in a hoard means it's unwanted, including crops and penned animals — as far as they're concerned, if you wanted it, it would be hidden away and guarded. Trylla also assumed that anything humans do is because they want to, and saw nothing wrong with using the changeling spell until Hilda called her out for doing so.
• Bowdlerise: The original poster for Hilda and the Mountain King had the giant Troll bending over so that — with his face obscured by the title — his beard and nose were positioned between his legs and looked very suggestive. When this was pointed out, the poster was quickly taken down and edited to remove the nose and beard, with any comments showing the original poster being hidden.
• Brick Joke: At one point, Johanna leaves Hilda's beret on a Troll when she tries to find Hilda. Later, after Hilda becomes human again, the Troll shows up again and Hilda reclaims it.
• But Now I Must Go: Despite seeing the error of his ways, Erik takes credit for the peace with the Trolls, but retires from his post immediately afterwards and puts Gerda in charge of Trolberg's Safety Patrol.
• Call-Back: Hilda taking a jump and leaping into Johanna's arms upon reuniting with her is a reference to "The Bird Parade" from season 1 of the show, with Hilda jumping from Raven to Johanna's arms.
• Cassandra Truth: Erik refuses to believe Hilda when she claims his crusade against the Trolls will awaken the Mother of all Trolls, even with the ground shaking beneath them. It's only when she throws Trundle's eye at him, so he can see the same vision as she and Frida did, that he finally orders the Patrol to stand down.
• Central Theme: A mother's love plays a pivotal role in this story. Johanna and Hilda spend the movie trying to get back to one another. Baba's mother cast the spell for a better life for Baba and treats Hilda as though the girl were her own daughter. It also ends up being the key to break the spell. Lastly, Amma's love for her children and their love for her is the reason why trolls are so driven to go to Trolberg, with any harm coming to them threatening to awaken her and destroy Trolberg. Hilda, Frida, and even Erik see a vision of their own mothers doing just that, a sign of what would happen if the Safety Patrol continues to fight the Trolls.
• Cerebus Retcon: Remember at the beginning of the series, where they showed that Trolls don't like bells being hung on their noses? Hilda experiences it firsthand in this story, and it's shown to be extremely painful for her.
• Changeling Tale: Tontu deduces Hilda and Baba are the victim of a changeling spell, which means that Hilda has been turned into a Troll while Baba (the Troll child that took her place) is now human. Breaking the spell drives the plot for most of the story.
• Character Development: Baba starts the movie running around and causing a mess, without regard for anything in the apartment. The movie ends with her hanging out with Hilda's friends, pouring tea for her, and walking more calmly.
• Chekhov's Gun: Part of Troll behavior is to throw each other as part of a game, as Trylla demonstrates to Hilda. At the climax, Trylla does this again as part of Hilda's plan to save Trolberg.
• Civil War: When the Mountain King attempted to rally all of Trollkind into waging war against Trolberg, the trolls went through this. The civil war ended with the Mountain King's defeat and imprisonment.
• Covers Always Lie: The poster, trailer, and opening prominently features the silhouette of the giant, hunchbacked Troll that Hilda encounters when she goes to retrieve the giant red orb, suggesting that he is the Mountain King. He isn't; Trundle is the Mountain King, and this Troll is actually Trundle's brother who is trying to prevent Trundle's return.
• Curse Escape Clause: Although it is discovered by accident, the changeling spell can be reversed by returning both children to their real mothers. Tontu and Alfur speculate that the switch being fixed negates the original point of the curse, rendering it void.
• Cute Monster Girl: Hilda, despite being turned into a Troll, still resembles the adorable young adventurer we all know.
• Cyclops: Trundle — the red orb he has Hilda steal from the Mountain King's hoard is actually his missing eye.
• Dangerous Key Fumble: When Johanna has to flee from a group of Trolls, she gets behind the wheel of her car but then drops the keys to the floor, forcing her to pick them up.
• Darker and Edgier: Not as dark as some moments throughout the series, but it's still quite serious throughout. With Hilda so desperate to be turned back into a human, she makes a deal with a mysterious Troll named Trundle.
  • The opening to the movie makes this clear, with the typically upbeat opening depicting Hilda's adventurous life with her friends and the creatures of Trolberg being replaced with ominous, foreboding music, dark silhouetted visuals, and emphasis on Hilda's unwanted transformation, her terror, her desire to flee from the Trolls, especially Trylla, and her and Johanna's desperate attempts to get back to each other.
  • Also, Hilda's mother is in a situation where she needs to find her daughter before the Trolberg Safety Patrol (all of whom are armed with guns) plan a full scale war with the Trolls.
  • While thankfully no humans die (unless there were a few Safety Patrol members killed by the boulders hurled by Trundle at the bell towers), many of them come very close to biting the dust, especially with Trolls and falling rocks and debris being involved. Not to mention Alfur's bird mount is eaten by a Troll (though he gets better), and the Big Bad of the movie is killed in a violent manner, even intending to die to cause something far worse to happen.
• Deal with the Devil:
  • Upon meeting Trundle, Hilda makes a pact with him that if she completes three tasks, Trundle will turn her back into a human. Unfortunately for Hilda, this was just a ruse so that he will be free from his prison.
  • Desperate to find Hilda, and with it being too difficult to find her in the daytime and too dangerous to find her at night, Johanna goes to Erik for help, who only agrees after she offers to show him a way into the mountain. He keeps his word to protect her, but tries firing on a Troll-Hilda.
• Decomposite Character: In the comic, Johanna encounters Erik for the first time when she goes to look for Hilda at the beginning, and he stops her from eating poisonous berries (which Johanna pretended she was looking for). Since Johanna and Erik are already acquainted in the show's continuity, Johanna encounters an unnamed Safety Patrol officer for this scene.
• Deus Exit Machina: Kaisa tells Frida and David that witches do not get involved in Troll affairs as a rule, preventing them from getting help from her or any of the other witches they know. She also explains that witch magic and troll magic do not mix anyway, and indeed Frida's attempt at a body swap spell ends up failing rather spectacularly for that reason.
• Disney Death: Alfur's pigeon, Cedric, is eaten by a Troll and presumed dead, but is revealed at the end of the movie to have survived.
• Doomed Hometown: Narrowly averted when Hilda realizes that if the Trolberg Safety Patrol attacks a single Troll, Amma will awaken and the entire city will be destroyed. Hilda manages to convince Erik Ahlberg to stop the attack when she shows him the prophecy of what will happen if a single Troll is harmed.
• Downer Beginning: The movie starts exactly where the Season 2 finale left off—that is, a scared Hilda recently turned into a troll trying to escape from Trylla, who cast the spell on her in the first place, and as she manages to get out of the Stone Forest, she’s turned into a Troll-rock because of the sunlight.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: When going inside the giant red orb for the first time, Hilda receives a vision of what will happen if the Trolls attack Trolberg and are harmed by the safety patrol. Hilda later uses the orb to give Erik Ahlberg the same vision so he realizes why he must order his troops to stand down.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After dealing with so many perils, Hilda is happily reunited with her mother and restored to her human form. However, she retains her troll strength and ability to talk to them, which makes nighttime much more fun. Even better, she manages to start humans and Trolls on a road towards rapprochement.
• Easily Forgiven: Considering that Trylla did realize that using the changeling spell was wrong and apologized for her actions, neither Hilda nor her mother hold any grudge against her.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: After Tontu explains the concept of a changeling to Johanna, she realizes that the baby in front of her is Baba and that Hilda must have been turned into a troll and taken back to the stone forest. Her face says it all.
• Extreme Omnivore: It's shown that Trolls are willing to eat almost anything. One scene has one Troll try to eat a single Woff alive. Luckily, the Woff managed to escape.
• False Friend: Trundle pretends to be Hilda's friend in need by telling her that if she helps him, Trundle will turn Hilda back into a human. But Trundle only did this so that he could be released from his prison.
• Fastball Special: Trolls play this as a game, as their natural strength and toughness make them both easy to throw and more than capable of surviving the landing unharmed. This proves pivotal in the final showdown, with Hilda having Trylla throw her along with Trundle's eye at Erik Ahlberg to make him see reason.
• Foreshadowing: To Trundle being Evil All Along.
  • After Hilda gave him some Troll-mead, he states he can pull off the antlers of a forest giant.
  • Once Hilda deals with the bells, Trundle laughs before congratulating her on her "human trickery".
• Gentle Giant: Amma could have awoken at any time and destroyed Trolberg to be with her children. The only reason she didn't was she was being kind to the people of Trolberg.
• Getting Eaten Is Harmless: Cedric the pigeon is Swallowed Whole by a troll, but after the Trolls are allowed into the city and begin to sprout flowers, he emerges from one of these flowers no worse for the wear.
• Giant Eye of Doom: The giant red orb that Hilda was tasked to find was actually Trundle's eye. Those who enter the eye witness the Mountain King's vision of the Trolls invading Trolberg and waking up Amma.
• Going Native: Downplayed. After spending a few day in Troll society, Hilda starts to enjoy some of perks of being a Troll. Such as the enhanced strength and the ability to roar. However, Hilda still longs to to be human again, and to return home to her mother and friends.
• Godzilla Threshold: It's a sad day when Erik Ahlberg is the best option for troll protection at night. Johanna goes to him for help because she can't rescue Hilda on her own, but she needs enough firepower at night to find her daughter and tells him exactly what happened with the spell. She's not happy about it and is quick to react when, despite knowing that Hilda is harmless and under a spell, he tries shooting her. Johanna quickly disarms him, showing that she knows how to fight.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Hilda, upon first seeing herself as a Troll, has a freak out and starts shedding tears until Trundle tells her that there is a way to change her back.
  • When Trylla tells Hilda that she doesn't know how to reverse the changeling spell, Hilda does not take it well.
  • After her second attempt to find Hilda fails, Johanna is left breaking down once the cave seals itself between her and Trylla, and she is forced to go home in tears after Trolls chase her off. She spends her night in bed unable to sleep, crying over her separation from Hilda and she is left with Exhausted Eye Bags.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: A posthumous instance. Trundle planned to incite the humans of Trolberg to attack the trolls, waking up Amma. He is willing to die to make this happen and allows himself to be killed by the Safety Patrol's Light Cannon. However, his death prevents him from causing any more mischief directly, and he also leaves his red eye behind, which is just what Hilda needs to make Erik Ahlberg see what the Trolls want and stand down.
• I Did What I Had to Do: When confronted over performing the Changeling spell, Trylla insists that she did so in order to provide a loving, safe home among the humans for her daughter Baba, and that she thought Hilda would be the best candidate for the swap given she enjoys the freedom of the outdoors.
• Impossible Task: The second task that Trundle gives to Hilda was to remove the giant bells from the entrance to his cave. The problem is that if Hilda tries to remove them, the vibrations from the bells will cause great harm to both Hilda and Trundle. However, Hilda later discovers a treasure room full of pillows, which she uses to stuff the giant bells with so that they won't cause any noise.
• Irony: Trylla told Hilda that she has no idea how to reverse the changeling spell. In actuality, Trylla is one of two components needed to help break the spell.
• It's All My Fault: Hilda blames herself for freeing Trundle from his prison.
• Knight Templar: Upon seeing Troll Hilda, Erik insists on trying to kill her in spite of Johanna's protests, suggesting that she is no longer the girl she once was, and even suggests that the trolls have somehow bewitched Johanna.
• Let's Meet the Meat: Hilda requests a vegetarian meal from the meat-eating Trolls. They give her a sentient talking carrot creature, who gives Hilda permission to nibble on its leaf.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Hilda — and by extension the audience — learns from Trylla that most Trolls are more-or-less benevolent and just want to live their lives peacefully, but that there are some Trolls who hate humans — either out of malice or frustration and anger at the Fantastic Racism they're subjected to — and react with violence. Johanna has a run-in with some malicious Trolls while searching for her daughter, and turns to Erik Ahlberg — one of the chief proponents of said Fantastic Racism — for help, which only makes the situation worse when he tries to kill Hilda on-sight.
• Militaries Are Useless: Played straight when Erik Ahlberg tries to fight off Trundle’s brother with his torch, but the weapon malfunctions and the Troll simply swats him aside. Averted, however, during the battle for Trolberg, where the Trolberg Safety Patrol is well capable of fighting off the Trolls and their new weapon actually kills Trundle. This is not a good thing however, since them hurting the Trolls what threatens to wake up Amma and destroy the town.
• Missed Him by That Much: Hilda and Johanna almost meet at Trylla's campfire on the second night. Hilda steps away to help Trundle shortly before Johanna arrives, and by the time she returns Johanna's already been chased away by an aggressive Troll pack, with Hilda unaware that she'd been there at all.
• Missing Child: As Hilda has disappeared, Johanna, Frida, David, Tontu, and Alfur involve in searching for her.
• Mistaken Identity: The opening credits and first half of the movie imply that the bearded giant Troll with the staff is the Mountain King, and Hilda assumes this to be the case when retrieving the red orb. It turns out that the seemingly benevolent Trundle is the Mountain King, and that the bearded Troll is his brother.
• Morphic Resonance: Even in their transformed states, Hilda and Baba still strongly resemble their old selves; Troll Hilda is essentially human Hilda with a grey, stone-like skin, a longer nose, bigger feet, and Troll-teeth, while Baba as a human is still bald.
• The Movie: To the animated series, concluding the cliffhanger at the end of Season 2 and set before Season 3.
• Mutually Exclusive Magic: Troll magic and witch magic are two different kinds of magic that according to Kaisa do not mix well, so she denies it as an option for Hilda's friends to restore her. Frida tries a body swap spell anyway, but it fails before going haywire for a bit. Frida's mind connection does work, but there's a recoil from the two magics mixing. The only time it doesn't backfire is when she connects with Amma, either because she had Hilda's help for that one or because Amma's magic is sufficiently different from that of regular trolls to not cause such a reaction.
• Mythology Gag: In the film's epilogue, Hilda is shown to be wearing an outfit that resembles the one she wore in Hilda and the Stone Forest.
• My Car Hates Me: Johanna's has trouble starting when being chased off by the trolls, only starting up just seconds before one of them nearly crushes her in rage.
• My God, What Have I Done?: This is Trylla's reaction when she finally realizes that using the changeling spell was wrong.
• Named by the Adaptation: The movie reveals Baba's mother to be named Trylla. She was nameless in the graphic novel.
• Non-Humans Lack Attributes: Trolls go about naked, but lack human "naughty bits". Hilda, as a troll, is unclothed, but this is no big deal thanks to this trope... at least until she changes back into her human form and has to hide behind a rock until Tontu provides her with a spare outfit.
• Not Quite Back to Normal:
  • While Hilda is restored to her human form, she's somehow still able to communicate with the trolls, and is implied to have at least partly retained the enhanced strength she gained as a result of becoming a troll.
  • Hilda and Erik were able to help the Trolls and Safety Patrol stand down to prevent Amma from waking up and destroy Trolberg. Things slowly go back to normal, except for one thing: after learning the truth about Amma, the newly-promoted Gerda sets up an annual day that allows the Trolls to enter the town and be closer to Amma. A handful of both Trolls and humans still fear each other, but Hilda believes that this is a first step towards them finally understanding each other.
• Pet the Dog: Trundle has a few moments. He encourages Hilda to trust Trylla despite what she did, because she is a mother with the best of intentions and he can sense it. Later, despite overwhelming his brother, Trundle doesn't order him killed and merely walks past him to enact his Thanatos Gambit.
• Poor Communication Kills: Hilda doesn't tell Trylla about the Troll who offered to help undo her curse, whom Trylla would have immediately recognized as the Mountain King. The bearded Troll guarding the treasure hoard doesn't try to warn her away from returning the Mountain King's eye, either. By the time Trylla sees the bells missing from Trundle's cave and realizes what's happened, it's too late.
• Posthumous Villain Victory: As with the original story Trundle lets himself be killed as part of his ultimate plan to reunite the trolls with Amma, and while Trolberg is not destroyed as he expected nor does Amma get up, the trolls do reunite with her regardless.
• Power High: Hilda quite enjoys the new powers that come with being a Troll, like her great strength, stamina, and being able to roar.
• Ray Gun: The Safety Patrol has invented a new weapon capable of mimicking sunlight. The weapon is still in development however, so only two exist; one handheld version and one BFG.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Ms. Halgrim actually believes Frida that Trolls are not as dangerous as the safety patrol claims, and backs up her students during their protest.
• Red Herring: The giant Troll that Hilda faced in the Stone Forest was thought to be the Mountain King. It turns out later that he was the Mountain King's brother.
• Rule of Three: This happens within the story itself three times:
  • Hilda's deal with Trundle to have him turn her back into a human involves three tasks: 1. Give him a drink called Troll-mead. 2. Remove the bells from the cave he dwells in. 3. Retrieve a giant red orb from the abandoned castle of the Mountain King.
  • Hilda visited Trundle three times. The first was when she stumbled upon Trundle's cave when she was trying to hide from Trylla. The second was when Hilda came back to give Trundle a cup of Troll-mead. The third was when Hilda removed the giant bells surrounding Trundle's cave, and asking him about the final task.
  • Hilda's Mother had three attempts to find her daughter. Her first attempt failed when the Safety Patrol told her to leave the vicinity due to large activity of Trolls there. Her second try was going to the Stone Forest herself, but the opening to the forest was closed off, and she was chased off by rampaging Trolls. Her final attempt was far more successful, as Hilda herself exited the Stone Forest when she was being chased by a giant Troll.
• Scenery Censor: Once Hilda is transformed back into a human, she's unfortunately in her "birthday suit". Luckily, she hid behind a large boulder just before the changeling spell was nullified, so the only things we see of her are her arms, head, and right foot.
• Security Cling: David and Frida embrace each other in one after Frida's spell to turn Hilda and Baba back goes haywire.
• Seen It All: Erik's reaction to finding out that Hilda's been transformed into a troll is this trope.
• Series Fauxnale: Although the film adapts the Grand Finale of the graphic novel series and features an appropriate sense of conclusiveness by ending with humans and trolls finally reconciling with one another, author and showrunner Luke Pearson stated a year before its release that he was interested in continuing the animated series past it. Sure enough, just a month before the film premiered, Silvergate Media confirmed that a third and final season was in production.
• Shapeshifting Excludes Clothing: Though the movie doesn't show the initial body swap, it apparently physically transformed Hilda and Baba into each other. Baba woke up as a human in Hilda's bed wearing the pajamas Hilda had on when she went to sleep, and Hilda woke up in Trylla's den a naked troll. When the spell is broken, however, Baba and Hilda simply become a troll and a human, respectively, so the pair still are dressed the same as they were moments before, leaving Hilda naked a second time. Fortunately, Tontu was prepared for this and brought Hilda a set of spare clothes.
• Shout-Out:
  • While having fun climbing a mountain with Hilda, Trylla lets out the signature Mighty Roar from Godzilla, which some of the other trolls also use when roaring. Some of the other Trolls instead roar like King Kong.
  • Attack on Titan fans might remember the last time an enormous monster encountered a defensive wall that was meant to keep it and its kind out and how long it took said monster to destroy said wall — with a single kick, no less.
  • The Safety Patrol's light guns are very similar to (if less reliable than) Hans' primary weapon of choice in The Troll Hunter. Trundle's death also strongly resembles that of the giant Jotnar Troll in the same film, crumbling into rubble after being hit by one.
• Spanner in the Works: Had Trundle not given Hilda the task of retrieving the mysterious red orb from the Mountain King's castle, Hilda would never have been reunited with her mother, which in turn led to Trylla being reunited with Baba. Thus, the changeling spell would never have been broken.
• Suddenly Speaking: Since Hilda is a Troll in this story, the Trolls actually get dialogue instead of just their usual roars and grunts. Case in point, the trailer has both Trundle and Trylla speak in perfect English.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When Frida and David offer to help Hilda's mom find her, she takes them back to David's home because, no matter the setting, bringing children along would have put them in danger.
  David: I did not see that coming.
• Super-Strength: Hilda demonstrates that, even as children, Trolls are quite strong, when she manages to lift and chuck a boulder several times larger than her and later she manages to carry her mother, Baba, Twig, Tontu, and the red orb all at once.
• Tailor-Made Prison: Trundle is locked in a giant cave with dozens of bells hanging at the entrance, meaning he can’t leave without setting them off.
• Tears of Joy: After being separated for days, Johanna and Hilda shed these tears upon seeing each other again and hugging.
• Tempting Fate:
  • When Hilda becomes human again, she is left standing behind a rock without clothes on. Johanna suggests that Baba can give her clothes to Hilda, considering that the child is a troll again, only for the troll child to rip up her clothes. Thankfully Tontu brought spares.
  • Erik boasts that the bells will hold off any Trolls, even one as large as Trundle. Trundle then starts chucking boulders at the bells, beyond the range their sound can hurt the Trolls.
  • Erik then brushes off the possibility that the Trolls will breach the walls of Trolberg, stating that they've been standing for years. Trundle immediately proves him wrong with a kick. In this case, it gets lampshaded by Tontu.
  • When Tontu is left to babysit Baba while Johanna and Alfur attempt another search, he remarks that Baba is less trouble than Hilda. Baba then promptly climbs out the window and wanders off, forcing Tontu to chase after her.
• Thanatos Gambit: Trundle is counting on Amma rising to defend her troll children from being slaughtered; he goes smiling to his own death in the assumption that Trolberg and its inhabitants will soon follow.
• Time Skip: The epilogue takes place roughly a year after the Trolls were reunited with Amma. The citizens of Trolberg declared that once a year, the Trolls will be allowed to enter the city in a event called "The Night of the Trolls". Also, Baba comes by Hilda's house to spend time with Hilda and her mother, and Hilda sometimes goes mountain-climbing with Trylla.
• Tomato in the Mirror: Hilda is at first unwilling to believe she is a Troll now. She is finally convinced when she sees her own reflection in a gemstone in Trundle's cave.
• Treasure Room: All Trolls like to collect treasures in their caves, but have rather broad definitions of what they consider treasure. The palace of the Mountain King contains the most straightforward example, filled with gold and jewels, but Hilda also sees treasure rooms filled with car parts, pillows and other junk. Hilda grabs the pillows from said treasure room to stuff the giant bells from Trundle's cave.
• Truly Single Parent: Apparently, most Trolls normally just have one parental figure. When Hilda asked if she had a "Troll dad", Trylla stated that Trolls "come from the Earth" and aren't born the same way humans are. Trylla also said that she found Baba when the child Troll suddenly appeared to her one day, and declared Baba as her own.
• Two Lines, No Waiting: There is the plot of Hilda trying to become human again, a B-plot of Johanna trying to find her, and a C-plot of David and Frida searching for a way to restore Hilda to human.
• Unwitting Pawn: Hilda was this to Trundle.
• Villainous Plan Inertia: Trundle is killed after smashing the walls of Trolberg, but the other Trolls can now freely enter the city, and if the Safety Patrol fights back, this will provoke Amma into rising up from the ground and leveling Trolberg, just like Trundle intended. Hilda has to convince the Safety Patrol to stand down to prevent this.
• Walking Spoiler: It's hard to talk about Trundle without revealing who he really is, why he was in that cave in the first place, and his master plan.
• Waving Signs Around: Frida, David and 3 other students do this while protesting against the Safety Patrol and their anti-troll policies.
• What Would X Do?: Frida, desperate to find Hilda and/or restore her, asks this trope regarding Hilda herself. David jokingly suggests that Hilda would talk to a Troll, something that gives Frida an idea.
• Wild Child: The now human Baba is shown to be rather destructive due to not having any knowledge of the human world. Johanna had a hard time trying to tame her.
• With Due Respect: Frida says this to Ms. Halgrim before tearing into her for letting the Safety Patrol teach their class that trolls are evil.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist:
  • Erik Ahlberg, pared back from his Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist glory-seeking in the previous season. In the face of an actual looming threat, he does legitimately want to defend all inhabitants of Trolberg against trolls, but is still prone to Fantastic Racism and rushing to conclusions.
  • The Mountain King wants to rally his fellow Trolls to destroy Trolberg, but only because their mother is buried beneath the town and he wishes to set her free.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: After Hilda throws Trundle's red Giant Eye of Doom at Erik Ahlberg to give him the vision of the Troll's mother awakening, it is never shown or brought up again. In the graphic novel, Trundle's brother is shown to have recovered the orb while explaining the truth about Amma to Hilda, but this scene is cut from the movie.
• A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Trundle, who acts like a gentle giant towards Hilda so she will accept his help in return for completing three tasks and freeing him from his prison, but this is all an act. He is actually the Mountain King, and wants to wage war against Trolberg.
• Zerg Rush: Although he is almost the same size as Trundle, the giant bearded Troll is taken out by many regular-sized Trolls climbing him and pinning him down.

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