How to Train Your Dragon is a series of children's books written by the British author Cressida Cowell. The books are set in a fictional Fantasy Viking world, and focus on the experiences of protagonist Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, as he overcomes obstacles on his journey of "becoming a hero, the hard way". The books were published by Hodder Children's Books in the UK and by Little, Brown and Company in the United States. The first book was published in 2003 and the 12th and final one in 2015.
By 2015, the series had sold more than seven million copies around the world."Children's author Cressida Cowell scoops philosophers' award for fight against stupidity" . The Guardian. Retrieved 15 June 2017 The books have subsequently been adapted into a media franchise consisting of three animated feature films, several television series, a live-action remake, and other media, all produced by DreamWorks Animation.
Books Cowell has published twelve full novels, based around the adventures of a young Viking named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. The first book was published in 2003, and the last book was released in 2015. All the books have titles based around an instruction guide.
Book Number Title Release year 1 How to Train Your Dragon 2003 2 How to Be a Pirate 2004 3 How to Speak Dragonese 2005 4 How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse 2006 5 How to Twist a Dragon's Tale 2007 6 A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons 2007 7 How to Ride a Dragon's Storm 2008 8 How to Break a Dragon's Heart 2009 9 How to Steal a Dragon's Sword 2011 10 How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel 2012 11 How to Betray a Dragon's Hero 2013 12 How to Fight a Dragon's Fury 2015
Midquel series A spin-off midquel series, How to Train Your Dragon School, set between the sixth and seventh books, began publication in 2025. Book Number Title Release year 6.1 How to Train Your Dragon School: Doom of the Darkwing 2025 6.2 How to Train Your Dragon School: Fight of the Flamestrike 2026
Related books How to Train Your Viking, by "Toothless the Dragon" (2006) The Day of the Dreader (2012) The Incomplete Book of Dragons: A Guide to Dragon Species (2014, UK) / The Complete Book of Dragons: A Guide to Dragon Species (2014, US) How to Train Your Hogfly (2023) When the Windwalker Changed (2024)
Cowell published the supplementary spin-off stories as part of the series: The Day of the Dreader is a short story published in 2012 and the novella How to Train Your Viking was published as part of World Book Day 2006 and is claimed to be written by the dragon Toothless and translated by Cowell. Both of these titles were published in the US as part of the May 2014 How to Train Your Dragon Special Edition: With Brand New Short Stories! paperback movie tie-in edition. A picture book, Hiccup the Seasick Viking published in 2000, is not considered a part of the series despite featuring the same character of Hiccup. An illustrative guide to the dragon world, titled The Incomplete Book of Dragons, was released in June 2014 (in the US it is titled The Complete Book of Dragons). How to Train Your Hogfly was published as a short story in How to Train Your Dragon's 20th anniversary edition in 2023. When the Windwalker Changed was published as part of How to Train Your Dragon: Dragon Tales Collection (2024). A spin-off series, How to Train Your Dragon School, set between A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons and How to Ride a Dragon's Storm, was first published in 2025. Cowell cites the Scottish Inner Hebrides islands and stories of Scandinavian Scotland as inspirations for the book."Film based on little island" (5 April 2010) Press and Journal. Aberdeen..
Related picture book Hiccup: The Viking Who Was Seasick (1999, UK) / Hiccup: The Seasick Viking (2000, US), released on audio under the title How to Be a Viking
Related early reader books DreamWorks also published 6 early reader books based on the movies; these were not written by Cressida Cowell. They are:
How to Start a Dragon Academy How to Pick Your Dragon How to Raise Three Dragons How to Track a Dragon How to Defend Your Dragon How to Build a Dragon Fort
Characters Overview A dark grey cell indicates that the character was not in the property or that the character's presence in the property has yet to be announced. A Main indicates a character had a starring role in the property. A Supporting indicates the character appeared in two or more times within the property. A Guest indicates the character appeared once in the property. + Character Main characters Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third colspan="13" Stoick the Vast colspan="13" Toothless Daydream colspan="12" Fishlegs colspan="12" Gobber the Belch colspan="12" Snotface Snotlout colspan="11" Camicazi colspan="3" colspan="10" Valhallarama colspan="3" colspan="4" colspan="3" Antagonists Merciless the Green Death colspan="6" colspan="3" Alvin the Treacherous colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="5" Norbert the Nutjob colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="4" Hairy Scary Librarian colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="2" Excellinor the Witch colspan="8" colspan="5" Vikings Old Wrinkly colspan="5" colspan="3" colspan="2" Dogsbreath the Duhbrain colspan="9" colspan="2" Thuggory the Meathead colspan="7" colspan="3" Big-Boobied Bertha colspan="3" colspan="5" colspan="2" Mogadon the Meathead colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="3" colspan="2" Madguts the Murderous colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="3" Humungously Hotshot the Hero colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="3" Dragons Horrorcow colspan="2" colspan="2" Fireworm colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="3" Stormfly colspan="6" colspan="6" Windwalker colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="5" Furious colspan="8" colspan="5" Wodensfang colspan="9" colspan="4" Patience colspan="10" colspan="3" Innocence colspan="10" colspan="3" Arrogance colspan="10" colspan="3"
Main Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third (in books 1–12) is the protagonist of the books. Near the start of the series, his fellow Vikings see him as useless and weak, unappreciative of his quick wit and strategy. He is unusual for a Viking not only physically, being very thin with bright red hair, but also intellectually, as he thinks before he acts and is unusually clever. He is one of the only people ever to understand and be able to speak Dragonese, the language of the dragons. Later, Hiccup becomes a formidable sword fighter and unconventional hero, earning the respect of his peers. Toothless (in books 1–12) is Hiccup's hunting-dragon. He appears to be an astoundingly small green Common-or-Garden Dragon with no teeth, marking him as one of the King's Lost Things. He is arrogant and childlike, initially refusing to follow commands and disobeying Hiccup. As the series progresses, he becomes more loyal and loving to Hiccup yet never loses his arrogance. In book 11, he is revealed to be a young Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus. This is changed in the DreamWorks franchise, where Toothless is a Night Fury. Fishlegs (in books 1–12) is Hiccup's best friend. He has numerous medical conditions including an allergy to reptiles that make him clumsy and prone to sneezing. Like Hiccup, he is shunned by the other Vikings and seen as a wimp, but shows himself to be quite astute and cunning when he needs to be. Possessing a frequently-displayed sarcastic wit, he is also fond of poetry and aspires to become a bard in later books. He is not a Hooligan by blood but an orphan who washed up on Berk's shores as an infant, his parentage a mystery that is only solved near the end of the series. Camicazi (in books 3–12) is a fierce, impulsive and mischievous sword fighter that is the heir of the tribe of female warriors known as the Bog-Burglars. She is very skilled at escapes, burglary and sword fighting. She is in many ways the opposite of Hiccup, as she does not think about situations before jumping into them. Hiccup pulls her back, and she, in return, pushes him forward, convincing Hiccup to trust his instincts. In the DreamWorks franchise, she is renamed Astrid, both depicted as the owner of the dragon Stormfly and very close to Hiccup. Stoick the Vast (in books 1–12) is Hiccup's father and the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans, their tribe. Unlike his son, he is incredibly strong and beefy but rather unintelligent. However, he grows throughout the course of the books to become more open-minded and attempts to understand his son better. He owns two dragons, Newtsbreath and Hookfang. Stoick also has another dragon called Bullheart who appears exclusively in the ninth book. Snotface Snotlout (in books 1–11), is Hiccup's much-despised cousin. He bullies and bosses the others around, especially Fishlegs and Hiccup whom he addresses as "Hiccup the Useless and his fishlegged failure of a friend". He is top class at 'Bashyball', 'Advanced Rudery' and 'everything else'. His dragon is a Monstrous Nightmare named Fireworm, who because of her breed should technically belong to Hiccup (as the son of the Chief) according to ancient Viking law. He gets killed in an attack at the end of Book 11 in an attempt to help Hiccup become King of the Wilderwest. Later, Hiccup silently forgives Snotlout for the years of rivalry between them. Upon Hiccup informing the Vikings of his sacrifice, he is posthumously honored by the Vikings as a hero. Valhallarama (in books 1, 5, 10–12) is Hiccup's mother. She appears in only a few books, and is often away Questing. She once loved Humungously Hotshot the Hero and gave him a ruby heart necklace (which turns out to be one of the King's Lost Things). She reappears in Book 10 to help Hiccup become King of the Wilderwest. Gobber the Belch (in books 1–12) is the hulking, violent and temperamental Viking in charge of the Viking Initiation Programme (later on the Pirate Training Programme) and is described in book 5 as "a six-and-a-half-foot ax-wielding lunatic who was not the kind of teacher you argued with". At the beginning of the first few books, he gives his lessons in extreme situations, such as a storm in book 2. In later books, he is an extremely loyal member of the Company of the Dragonmark (Hiccup's followers to become King of the Wilderwest).
Vikings Dogsbreath the Duhbrain (in books 1–10) is Snotlout's friend and sidekick bully. He is usually seen following Snotlout's orders, usually the difficult and tedious jobs. He is not very intelligent and does not talk much. His dragon is a Gronckle named Seaslug. Mogadon the Meathead (in books 1, 2, 5, 9, 10 and 12) is Chief of the Meathead Tribe, close neighbors of the Hairy Hooligans. A man with a fake leg and an eyepatch, he shares a sometimes vicious rivalry with Stoick. Thuggory the Meathead (in books 1, 9–12) is Mogadon's son, and very like Snotlout. Although he is large, muscular, well-respected and has a huge silver Monstrous Nightmare dragon called Killer, he stands up for Hiccup and works with him in the first book. Later, in Book 10, he becomes the first member of Hiccup's Company of the Dragonmark (excluding Valhallarama who founded it). Alvin the Treacherous (in books 2–3, 5, 8–12) is Hiccup's Archenemy and rival to become King of the Wilderwest. Introduced as a sly, attractive charmer, he increasingly becomes more openly ruthless and impulsive as his adversity to Hiccup increases. He used to be Chief of the Outcast Tribe in book 2 and was again in books 9–12. He is the main antagonist in books 2–3, 5, and is joined by Excellinor the Witch (his mother) in books 8–12. Although he is a fantastic sword fighter, he is frequently losing parts of his body such as all of his hair, a hand, a foot, a nose, and an eye (as the results of his encounters with Hiccup), and becomes increasingly disfigured by warts (caught from his mother) across the final four books. He is also Fishlegs' father by Termagant, as revealed by the final book. He is claimed by the Dragon Guardians.