Tuffnut is one of the main characters of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. He is featured as an ally of the main protagonist Hiccup Horrendous Haddock. He has a twin sister named Ruffnut and they share a Hideous Zippleback named Barf and Belch.
Personality[]
Although never said throughout the show, Tuffnut seems to be dominant. Together, he and his sister love to get into trouble, even if it means getting scolded by the chief of the village. Tuff likes the idea of Ruff being in danger (as he stated that when Ruff was on fire one time, he just watched for a while before he decided to save her). Tuff enjoys the chance to argue and wrestle with his sister. He shares many similar traits with his sister. The only thing that seems to be apparent in difference, is he enjoys gross things as opposed to his sister (as seen in Gift of the Night Fury). Despite having a close sibling relationship, Tuff is frustrated when he has to share everything with his sister, but he's willing to make amends with Ruff to save his dragon. Although sharing rivalry with his sister, on occasion, he will save her if she is in trouble. He often thinks highly of his own skills, claiming that he was the world's deadliest weapon. In the TV series, Tuff appears to show a thrill-seeking and masochistic personality, displaying an attraction to dangerous situations and seems to enjoy or looks forward too whatever bodily harm he receives (usually by his sister).
Ruffnut and Tuffnut seem to actively cultivate the impression of being completely crazy, competing between themselves to outdo each other's outlandish behavior. He always makes a joke in situations and loves being the center of attention. This, along with downplaying his intelligence and exaggerating his difficulty of paying attention, dramatically lowers everybody's expectations of him, allowing him to do virtually no work.
In "Total Nightmare", he and Ruffnut appear to be very keen on theater, acting in a very theatrical manner and using almost Shakespearean words and phrases, which suggests they may actually be very smart. In addition, during "A View to a Skrill, Part 2", not only did he decide to keep track of the Frozen Skrill on Outcast Island, he successfully went undercover as a Berserker named Buffnut and avoided arousing suspicion among the Berserkers, even gaining Dagur's praise for making up a poem on the spot.
In "Living on the Edge", Tuffnut told Snotlout to read more, implying that he often reads, although he was never seen doing so on screen.
Appearances[]
How to Train Your Dragon[]
Joining the same Dragon Training class as Hiccup, at first Tuff delights in taunting Hiccup over his poor performance although he doesn't have much success either due to the fact that he couldn't get along with his sister in battle. Later, however, when Hiccup displays an amazing talent for subduing the Dragons, he becomes his avid fan (often pushing and shoving Ruff to be the first to talk to him). The twins decide to help Hiccup fight the Red Death and bond with the Zippleback that had been trapped in the training arena before. To confront the Red Death, the twins mount a Hideous Zippleback, which fits their fractious relationship, the two naming the dragon Barf and Belch. Each head seems to agree with one of the twins in particular - Ruff taking Barf and Tuff Belch, and they ride it to great effect in the final battle and afterwards. Notably, they were the only ones not forced from their dragon in the final battle.
How to Train Your Dragon 2[]
In the second film, Tuff would not let his dragon be taken by Drago Bludvist. Tuff was disgusted by his sister's attraction to the Dragon trapper Eret. Following Stoick's death, Tuff rode one of the baby scuttleclaws despite difficulty in riding them back to Berk.
Relationships[]
Ruffnut Thorston[]
Ruffnut and Tuffnut have a strong love/hate sibling relationship. Although most of the time quarreling and fighting over trivial things in life, they show an inseparable bond with each other and rarely spend too much time apart. They both enjoy the feeling of pain, especially if the pain is inflicted on the other twin. Tuffnut, in particular, has even stated that he had merely watched Ruffnut when she was caught on fire once before deciding to help her.
On occasion, Tuffnut is willing to help his sister. Tuffnut showed concern for her, asking her to leave Scauldy behind when the Changewings were approaching and was happily riding Belch afterward, watching his sister who was safe, despite the sacrifice she made for Scauldy to make his escape. After she says goodbye to Scauldy she starts to feel sad, but Tuffnut quickly teases her about her looking like a boy, in which Tuffnut succeeds in making Ruffnut smile again.
During the events of the episodes, "Edge of Disaster, Part 1" and "Edge of Disaster, Part 2", When Ruffnut is kidnapped by the Dragon Hunters, Tuffnut's main focus is to get his sister back. He even goes as far to fight Ryker head on to save her.
As twins, Tuffnut and Ruffnut share a strong invisible connection towards each other. They have the ability to understand each other's thoughts and ideas without speaking, as shown several times to finish each other's sentences or to have the same idea at the same time. They also have the ability to stay together as they are rarely too far apart for a long time. Wherever one twin goes, the other twin is never far behind, even if they intentionally try to stay away from each other. Ruffnut and Tuffnut also work incredibly well together (when they want to) and can synchronize themselves to do the same actions at the same time.
Barf and Belch[]
Being their dragon, the twins had to share riding it. The twins care tremendously about their dragon, although not as much as Hiccup. One head is loyal to each twin (Barf and Ruffnut, Belch and Tuffnut) and on occasion, the heads will fight each other when the twins fight each other. Usually, the heads will work in unity if they feel that their riders are in danger and feel that their rider's constant quarreling is annoying. Both dragon and rider are willing to risk their necks to save each other. Tuffnut even states that Barf and Belch is his "totally awesome dragon" that he shares with his "totally un-awesome sister".
Several times during DreamWorks Dragons: The Series, Barf and Belch are seen to be extremely protective of their riders when they are in danger, as they are willing to fight several enemies, such as a wild Typhoomerang in "Zippleback Down" and a wild Scauldron to defend Ruffnut in "Free Scauldy", as well as leaving the cave on Dragon Island to search for Ruffnut in "The Night and the Fury").
Despite specifically being Belch's trainer, Tuffnut does, in fact, care for both personalities of the dragon. During the events of "In Dragons We Trust", Tuffnut is shown hugging both Barf and Belch farewell after Mildew's trickery gets all dragons banished from Berk.
Chicken[]
Tuffnut first meets Chicken in the episode, "When Darkness Falls". He loves his chicken and seems to be able to speak to it. When it came running to him, he understood that it was telling him Ruffnut had been captured by the Dragon Hunters. Right before he attacked Ryker, Tuffnut threw Chicken down the cliff to help fight the Dragon Hunters in Team Astrid. Chicken knew that Gruffnut had disguised as Tuffnut, and warned all the dragons. He panicked and was crying when baby Garff shot Deathsong Amber at Chicken. He felt betrayed when Chicken revealed that she had a family. He is shown to be quite overprotective of her but he kind of treats her more than a pet as if she were his girlfriend. He also kissed her once.
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III[]
Not a lot of screen time is shown between Tuffnut and Hiccup. Most of the time, he follows Hiccup's commands, although not always done in the right way. On occasion, he, along with his fraternal twin disobey him or misinterpret his orders. Despite Hiccup doubting their abilities most of the time, he acknowledges their abilities to work together if they want to. He gains respect for the twins when they figure out the idea to "fight fire with fire" and Tuffnut's ability to train Torch in "Zippleback Down".
Although finding him and his sister annoying from time-to-time, Hiccup is shown to care for them as he and the other Vikings attempted to find them after their disappearance and were relieved to find out that Ruffnut and Tuffnut were both okay. He also acknowledges their decision to follow Alvin's ship to spy on him in "A View to a Skrill, Part 2". They also care about Hiccup — even though it's hard to tell — like when they, along with the other Riders, were very happy to see that he was alive after the battle with the Red Death and when he fell down a hole. In the episode "Gruffnut" Hiccup calls Tuffnut his best friend indicating they have a good friendship.
When Hiccup ascends to become the new chief of the Hooligan Tribe, Tuffnut can be seen cheering for him.
In the third film Tuffnut feels that it is his duty to help Hiccup out with his relationship with Astrid, and ultimately helps them get married.
Astrid Hofferson[]
Although they rarely interact in the show or movie, they remain neutral to each other and will work together when it comes to it. Most times, Astrid will get angry if they do something wrong, especially if it's because they're not paying attention or just being silly. Like Hiccup, she doubts their abilities as Dragon Trainers due to their inability to pay attention, once stating "You know, we don't have to bring them every time", although it is assumed that she gained respect towards the twins when they put out the fire and trained Torch. On occasion, she will punch Tuffnut if he angers her, although Astrid is never shown on-screen to hit Ruffnut. Astrid was one of the Vikings who attempted to find the twins after they were blasted out of the sky in "A View to a Skrill, Part 2".
It is presumed that off-screen, she had attempted to find them, although Stormfly soon grew exhausted, showing that she does indeed care for the twins.
Snotlout Jorgenson[]
Snotlout and the twins share a close relationship. Often times, the twins will follow Snotlout and act as one of his supporters when he bullies Hiccup and possibly Fishlegs as well in the first film.
In Dawn of the Dragon Racers, they listen to Snotlout's plan to cheat in the competition against Hiccup and Astrid.
Snotlout often thinks the twins are incredibly dumb and in return, they sometimes exclude Snotlout from their ideas, as seen during Auvandil's Fire in the episode, "Fright of Passage". Although sometimes siding with Snotlout, they occasionally bully him back, like how they fooled him into thinking he was dying in "The Flight Stuff". Tuffnut also made things up when Snotlout was pursuing his sister by telling him that she likes terrible terrors.[2]
It is presumed that Snotlout had attempted to find the twins (as stated by Hiccup) after they disappeared after being blasted out of the sky, which shows his apparent caring personality towards them, as seen in "A View to a Skrill, Part 1".
Fishlegs Ingerman[]
Fishlegs and the twins rarely show any screen time together. Sometimes, the twins are seen to bully Fishlegs because of his size, although Fishlegs bests the twins in terms of knowledge. The twins, particularly Tuffnut, find it annoying that Fishlegs knows a lot of things. Fishlegs attempted to find the twins after they were blasted out of the sky along with Meatlug but ended up over-exhausting his dragon. Even so, in "A View to a Skrill, Parts 1 and 2", he offered to join Hiccup on his search again and shows worry when Hiccup tells him that there was no sign of them. Just like Snotlout, Tuffnut played pranks on Fishlegs when he was pursuing his sister by telling him that his sister had a sixth toe.
Stoick the Vast[]
Stoick is well aware that the twins are capable of causing dangerous accidents and pranks, as well as notorious for causing mischief. Ruffnut and Tuffnut show a level of respect for Stoick, possibly because he's Hiccup's dad, but also like to make fun of him when he's not around. He's the one who possibly created the saying "Where there's smoke, there's the twins." in the episode, "Zippleback Down".
In How to Train Your Dragon 2, Tuffnut and the other Dragon Riders were deeply saddened by Stoick's death, and fired a flaming arrow to Stoick's ship, showing that he had always respected and honored his chieftain.
Windshear[]
Following its attack, Tuffnut became infatuated with Heather's Razorwhip, Windshear. Tuffnut loved its style and was even willing to marry it. He almost did, thinking he was dreaming until Heather snapped him out of it, as shown in "Have Dragon Will Travel, Part 1".
Meatlug[]
Tuffnut has shown to agree with Snotlout that Meatlug is a slow dragon making Meatlug feel upset about herself. He even is shown to have a good relationship with her when he had made Fishlegs and Ruffnut got married by accident and she called Meatlug his sister. He even plays with Meatlug by making her bull cow ride.
Hookfang[]
Tuffnut inadvertently rides Hookfang so that they are able to rescue Snotlout when he is being hunted by female Razorwhips in Wingmaiden Island. Tuffnut praises on how Hookfang's speed can rip a person's face off.("Snotlout's Angels")
Abilities, Skills, and Talents[]
Fighting: Tuffnut has proven to be more effective than Ruffnut in combat and battle tactics, as can be seen in "Twintuition" where Tuffnut single-handedly takes on an entire Dragon Hunter base and wins (for the most part), and "Edge of Disaster , Parts 1 and 2 "where Tuffnut's (and initially Astrid's) defense holds long enough for the other Dragon Riders to save them. Tuffnut is strong enough to carry his sister for a sum of time without getting tired.
Zippleback Gas Resistent: In has bee shown in the television series that the twins are the only ones who are not affected by Barf's gas, which can cause disorientation and a sick feeling, possibly because they are either immune or have gotten used to it.
Stamina: Tuffnut is shown to have an extremely high pain tolerance, perhaps the highest among the Dragon Riders. This can be seen when he has instructed others to attack him for his own amusement and appears to enjoy being hit at times. He has even been seen to take a rock to the head, only to end up laughing afterward as well as taking several swings from a mace to the head from Ruffnut, which he requested, and appear to recover very quickly. As a Thorston, Tuffnut has an extremely tough skull, which allows him to endure blows to his head.
Combat skills: Tuffnut has shown hand-to-hand combat skills in Dragons: Race to the Edge. He managed to whack several giant screaming eels with Hiccup's prosthetic leg, fight off armed Dragon Hunters with a broom in "Night of the Hunters, Part 2", defeat several Berserkers with a mace, go toe-to-toe with his cousin Gruffnut, and temporarily hold his ground against Ryker Grimborn in "Edge of Disaster, Part 2", who is a much more experienced warrior.
Stealth and Survival Skills: He has superior than your sister survival and stealth skills. He was able to stake out on his own on Dragon Island and even managed to sneak up on a Changewing, a pretty much invisible dragon.
Intelligence: Tuffnut does not seem to be too bright. He is unable to sit still and pay attention without fighting and/or getting into trouble with his sister, causing most of the other Vikings to doubt their abilities. Often, the others of the group have to explain to him (and Ruffnut) when they're about to execute a plan. Despite his inability to pay attention, he always knows how to make people or dragons angry, often proving helpful for him to act as a distraction or bait. In the television series, Tuffnut has been shown to often have outbursts of intelligence and a smarter outlook on life, alongside Ruffnut, revealing that the twins are much more intelligent than they initially seem, which suggests that they simply choose not to think. He seems to be smarter than his sister, often being the one who devises the plans as in "A View to Skrill, Part 1" where it occurred to him to follow the outcasts.
they initially seem, which suggests that they simply choose not to think.
The twins also have a strange ability — purposely or not — to get in trouble no matter where they are, even in an empty room. Tuffnut, as seen when he sneaked onto Outcast Island, seems to have some ability in humor and acting, as he was able to convince Dagur the Deranged that he was a Berserker and more so, for Dagur to like him even more, as seen in the episode, "The Night and the Fury". Tuffnut is also able to speak "post-lightning Snotlout" — which is gibberish that Snotlout may speak after being struck by lightning — and is the only known Viking to speak it, as seen during the events of "A View to a Skrill, Part 1".
Dragon Training and Riding: He is moderately skilled in training dragons, as shown in several episodes. Tuffnut was able to spot a Changewing once, as seen in "Gem of a Different Color", and was even able to sneak up on one and tie it down. Tuffnut trained a Terrible Terror and taught him how to ram heads with his sister's ("Worst in Show"). He also demonstrated impressive skills in training a Typhoomerang, despite being caught in a trap at the time as well as being able to teach him basic hand signals and simple obedience, as shown in "Zippleback Down". He did well training their dragon Barf and Belch, though he claims he did more of the work than his sister did, in "Free Scauldy". He was also able to train the Night Terrors as pets in "Team Astrid" and summon them ("Edge of Disaster, Part 2"). It is revealed in "Ruff Transition" that is better at training dragons than his sister.
training their dragon Barf and Belch, though he claims he did more of the work than his sister did, in "Free Scauldy". He was also able to train the Night Terrors as pets in "Team Astrid" and summon them ("Edge of Disaster, Part 2").
Pranking Skills: With the help of his sister, they are a great team to make many pranks on yaks, as shown when they pranked Snotlout in believing that he was going to die. They also did some "yak-tipping", as seen in "How to Pick Your Dragon". In "Dragon Eye of the Beholder, Part 1", they even decided to turn their pranking skills into a profession.
Acrobatics: Tuffnut has been shown to be fast enough to perform somersaults.
Understanding Abstract Images: It is shown that in the episode, "Buffalord Soldier", he and Ruffnut are shown to be experts at understanding abstract art and images. He was able to tell that a few drawings made a map. He was also able to guess the abstract images Ruffnut was holding.
Officiator: Tuffnut was learning to become an officiator from his mentor but he never completed as his mentor jumped off the cliff. Though he clearly knew a lot more than he thought as he didn't realize when Fishlegs Ingerman was teaching him as he made his own sister and Fishlegs to be untruly married. Though he made them feel like perfect the couple as they did seem to be happy at the end as Fishlegs felt very scared and uncomfortable at first, though he learns the truth that Tuffnut never completed his lessons.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Tuffnut is a character from the book, How to Train Your Dragon (Book), unlike Ruffnut who is an original character created for the film franchise.
- It is revealed in the episode "Sandbusted" that Tuffnut will cry when he hears the word "tears."
- However, in previous and later episodes, the word "tears" is mentioned and Tuffnut doesn't cry.
- His name indicates the phrase "tough".
- Tuffnut is the older twin by five minutes.
- Tuffnut appears to have a favorite blanket, as it is seen and heard many times in the series: "Give it back, it's my blanket!", although it was always said while he was sleeping, or possibly, dreaming.
- In the books, Tuffnut has the same name as his father (Tuffnut Senior), so his name in the Book Series is Tuffnut Junior, which, ironically, means his name would be T.J. Thorston, the same first name as his voice actor.
- Tuffnut is also an only child in the books.
- While Tuffnut is shown eating chicken early on in the series and the first film, he seems to no longer do so since he befriended Chicken.
- Tuffnut's vest is a different shade of gray in the series.
- Tuffnut is the only character from the movie who did not appear in any of the Racing for the Gold clips.
- Ruffnut and Tuffnut are two of the only Vikings on Berk who have a known sibling, in this case, each other. Other only known Viking siblings Dagur and Heather, and Ryker and Viggo ("The Night and the Fury").
- Ruffnut and Tuffnut are two of the only Vikings on Berk to have more than two horns on their helmets (The twins have four horns). The only other person to have more than two horns on their helmet is Mildew with six horns (but he joins the Outcasts later on).
- Tuffnut gets far less focus and screen time than his sister in the sequel movie.
- Tuffnut is the only known Viking that speaks "post-lightning Snotlout" (which is a gibberish language developed by Snotlout after he has been struck by lightning, allegedly a dozen times)
- Both Ruffnut and Tuffnut have trained a large dragon and later released into the wild. It's also possible that the dragons they trained (Torch by Tuffnut and Scauldy by Ruffnut) are counterparts to each other.
- Scauldy was trained by Ruffnut, Torch was trained by Tuffnut.
- Scauldy is a Tidal Class dragon (dwells within the water and sprays water), while Torch is a Stoker Class dragon (dwells on land and manipulates fire and air to attack).
- Scauldy was hostile and a danger to the Viking Teens, while Torch was more civil and friendly from the beginning.
- Scauldy was the one who was saved by Ruffnut and Torch was the one who saved Tuffnut.
- The twins seem to show a level of intelligence when they caught the Eel Pox in "The Eel Effect", doing experiments on air resistance, inventing ice cream, and speaking with advanced vocabulary.
- In the episode "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", he develops a crush on a mace he dubs Macey. This is still carried on in Race to the Edge.
- In "Twintuition", Macey 'dies' in an attempt to hold back the flood gears to save the Riders, and is given a proper Viking Funeral in a water trough.
- It is possible that Tuffnut has either a tattoo or a birthmark that looks like a tattoo, on the left side of his body.
- This is revealed in the first movie in a conversation between Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut when Fishlegs gasps; "[at Tuffnut] Your mom let you get a tattoo?" to which Tuffnut returns with "No, it's a birthmark.". Ruffnut then challenges his statement with, "Uh, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there.". At this Tuffnut says, "Yes it was, you've just never seen me from the left side until now."
- It may be a birthmark, as, so far as we know/have seen, Ruffnut is always on Tuffnut's right side.
- The mark is not seen, as the camera is intentionally panned away; possibly to prevent from encouraging teenage tattoos, or to create an aura of mystery, or because Tuffnut was making it all up.
- However, many different characters like Dagur have tattoos.
- This is revealed in the first movie in a conversation between Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut when Fishlegs gasps; "[at Tuffnut] Your mom let you get a tattoo?" to which Tuffnut returns with "No, it's a birthmark.". Ruffnut then challenges his statement with, "Uh, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there.". At this Tuffnut says, "Yes it was, you've just never seen me from the left side until now."
- It is revealed that Tuffnut once trained to be an officiator, but he never completed his training since his mentor jumped off a cliff.
- In Dragons: Race to the Edge, Tuffnut has sectoral heterochromia; most of his irises are a dark grey-blue, however, towards the top they are a yellowish-brown color. For unknown reasons, his eyes are a solid and brighter blue in all other appearances in the movie franchise.
- Tuffnut and Ruffnut both reference things from the modern day such as hospitals, ice cream, popcorn, sliced bread, and even a spin-off pig Latin (dubbed "boar Latin" by the twins) for humorous effect.
- Ruffnut and Tuffnut seem to be much smarter than they pretend to be as Ruffnut knew what a rhetorical question was ("Edge of Disaster, Part 1") and Tuffnut knew about symbiosis and parasitism as well as Mesopotamia ("Living on the Edge").
- Tuffnut seems to know a lot of Spanish as he speaks full sentences of it countless times throughout the tv series, or speaks in English with a Spanish accent. It is unclear whether or not he really is fluent, or has just picked up phrases. It is likely, however, that he does indeed know Spanish as a second language. In addition, sometimes he pronounces phrases or short sentences in Italian or French. How or why is unknown.
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