As we come closer to the Netflix premiere of DreamWorks Dragons: Race to the Edge, the time will come when we will inevitably receive the first clip (or wave of clips) from the show for us to get hyped over. While today is not that day, we did get something else.
From the official How to Train Your Dragon tumblr, we were given a complete look at the character designs for all the Dragon Riders. Aside from these images and the teaser trailer, you will have also had your first glimpse at these designs if you watched the short film Dawn of the Dragon Racers.
First, let’s look at Hiccup:
As most fans suspected, he wears what definitely appears to be a ‘beta’ version of the flight suit from How to Train Your Dragon 2. Also, notice that Hiccup wears a red shirt under his suit (as opposed to the green shirt we normally see him in).
Next up, we have Astrid:
There are three major differences to note here. First, Astrid has a more simple version of her side braid from How to Train Your Dragon 2. Second, her shirt appears to be a darker blue variant of the one that she wore on the first How to Train Your Dragon and the last two seasons of DreamWorks Dragons. Third, she appears to have cut down on the number of spikes on her skirt (the above image probably has the least amount seen at any given point in the franchise).
Moving on, we have Ruffnut:
Due to her pose, it’s hard to tell what is different about Ruffnut’s new look in comparison to her looks in previous seasons. She wears what looks to be a subtle variant of her How to Train Your Dragon 2 look. Other than that, not much has changed (although both she and her brother wear slightly different helmets).
From here, we move on to Tuffnut:
While this new design keeps with his overall appearance in How to Train Your Dragon 2, Tuffnut made the transition from surfer hair to dreadlocks. He also moved to a more ‘punk rock’ appearance in his attire (tiny belt buckles/fasteners on his shoes, a studded metal bracelet on his left arm, etc.). One cool thing I did notice is that when one looks closely at Tuff’s shoes the design resembles the twin heads of the Zippleback.
Up next, Fishlegs:
Like Ruffnut, not much changed in Fishlegs’ design since Defenders of Berk. One can see the utility belt and, on the side of his face, the small ponytail. Both are things we see in How to Train Your Dragon 2. He also wears a non-furry variation of his arm bands. Also, the color of his eyes is wrong (they are pictured as yellow above when they are meant to be green).
Last up is Snotlout:
It’s clear from his pose that Snotlout hasn’t lost any of his tough guy bravado in the time between Defenders of Berk and Race to the Edge. What are gone are the sleeveless coat and shirt that he wore in the first movie and in previous seasons. In their place is the green-scaled outfit from How to Train Your Dragon 2 (minus the bear skin fur).
In conclusion, the animators did (in my opinion) a pretty good job utilizing elements from both films and previous seasons to give us a look that feels believable for the particular period within the HTTYD timeline during which this season takes place. The characters have obviously grown from their HTTYD1/Riders/Defenders kid looks, but they are also starting to grow into their designs from How to Train Your Dragon 2. In fact, a lot of the designs are, effectively, scaled down versions of what we see in How to Train Your Dragon 2. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the level of animation work in the show has vastly improved (as seen from these character images).
Stay tuned for more news and updates concerning Race to the Edge in the weeks to come.
Dragons: Race to the Edge will premiere exclusively for Netflix on June 26.
What do you think? Do you have any thoughts on these character designs?
Edited by: Hannah Wilkes
