- “I know this is gonna be hard for you to hear, but I need you to hear it, so I'm just gonna say it. There comes a time in every Viking's life when they must give up the thing they love the most.”
- ―Ruffnut
Ruffnut Thorston is one of the main characters in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. She is a dragon rider, the sister of Tuffnut Thorston and one of the two owners of Barf and Belch.
She and her brother constantly fight with each other, up to the point where it becomes physical but it is shown they care about each other. Throughout the series, a running gag in the series is Ruffnut and Tuffnut making references to modern day culture and that she will appear smarter than Tuffnut.
Portrayal
Animation
- In the films and official shorts (except for Dawn of the Dragon Racers), she is voiced by Kristen Wiig
- In the TV series, Ruffnut is voiced by Julie Marcus in the first season and Andree Vermeulen for the rest of the series and the short Dawn of the Dragon Racers.
- In the animated series, Ruffnut is voiced by Katie Von Till.
Live Action
- In the Live Spectacular, she is portrayed by Virackhaly Ngeth.
- In the 2025 remake, she will be voiced by Bronwyn James.
Background
Official Biography
- “Ruffnut, 19, is the crass, conniving sister half of the notorious twin duo. Much like her brother, Tuffnut, she delights in all things dangerous and against the rules. While unladylike in almost every way, she is still the last single lady on Berk, making her the unwilling recipient in Snotlout's and Fishlegs' competitive wooing. It's enough to put her off romance for good — that is until Eret, son of Eret comes crushing in her life, or rather, she into his. Suddenly, a burning desire turn Ruffnut into a woman-possessed, and no one - not Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, or even Eret — is going to stop her from getting what she wants.”
- ―Visual Guide
Personality
Ruffnut is tomboyish in nature, mostly because she is a Viking, but she does tend to find it offensive when her twin negatively comments about her physique. This gets on her nerves with other individuals as well, as seen when she and the Riders first met the Wingmaidens and Atali mistook her for a male until Ruffnut took her helmet off. Ruffnut can often be seen as smug, snarky, anarchic, irresponsible, and sometimes downright vicious but she also has a strong, compassionate, and selfless side
Ruffnut demonstrates a slightly higher level of intelligence compared to Tuffnut, as evidenced by her understanding of rhetorical questions. She exhibits a degree of apprehension towards wild dragons that pose a threat to her life, often succumbing to panic when faced with such creatures. Although she shows fear towards Scauldy, she also takes on a nurturing role, distracting him to alleviate his distress when his wing becomes trapped under rocks while the Riders assist him.
Among the Thorston Twins, she is the more rational one, frequently calling out her brother's insensitivity. Her protectiveness towards Tuffnut is notable, to the extent that she would jeopardize Snotlout's safety to uncover which dragon had bitten Tuffnut, both to alleviate her brother's concerns and to retaliate against Snotlout for frightening him.
While imprisoned by Grimmel the Grisly, Ruffnut exhibited a striking indifference to her predicament. Rather than expressing fear, she incessantly discussed her own experiences and romantic interests, which ultimately annoyed her captor to the point of releasing her.
Moreover, Ruffnut displayed a lack of caution when she inadvertently revealed the location of New Berk to Grimmel during her captivity. After her escape, she did not consider whether Grimmel was pursuing her, even telling Hiccup that she never looks back. This lapse in judgment allowed Grimmel to find New Berk and subsequently capture Toothless along with the other dragons on the island.
Appearance
Ruffnut is characterized by her blonde hair, pale blue eyes, and fair complexion. She is 14 years old in the first film, the first three shorts, and first television series, 17-19 in Dragons: Race to the Edge, 19 in How to Train Your Dragon 2, 20 in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, and 29 in How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming. In the initial film and series, she is depicted wearing a light brown vest resembling animal skin, paired with a dark blue tunic that extends slightly beyond her hips and is frayed at the edges.
Her attire includes a grayish-brown mini-skirt that also features tattered ends, complemented by a metal-leather belt adorned with a central crest. She wears dark brown leggings and dark blue boots lined with fur.
Additionally, she sports long dark-gray cloth bracers, akin to those worn by Astrid, which extend from her elbows to her wrists, with a portion of the fabric woven between her first and second fingers. Her helmet is studded and features four horns, resembling her brother's but longer and more slender; the upper two are thin and bull-like, while the lower pair is longer and curved.
Ruffnut's hair is styled with a side part and short bangs across the left side of her face, featuring two small braids above her ears and three longer braids cascading down. She also wears a necklace that showcases a pendant resembling a dragon's tooth or claw. Slim for a Viking, she shares a tan complexion with her brother, along with her distinctive pale blue eyes.
In the second installment of the series, Ruffnut appears more mature. She retains the same helmet from the original film, complemented by a beige sleeveless dress that extends to her thighs. Layered over this, she dons a dark blue vest resembling a tunic, which covers her torso and terminates at her waist, secured in the center by a red cloth belt. Additionally, she wears a vest crafted from tan fur. Her ensemble includes brown leggings and dark blue fur boots, which are adorned with thin red fabric wrapping. On her arms, she sports long bracers made of dark blue, violet, and light brown fabric, extending from her elbows to her wrists, featuring lacing that interlaces between her fingers.
In the third film, Ruffnut's braids are styled to the left, frequently resulting in her head being held at an angle. During missions, she dons dragon scale armor. Her attire consists of a grayish-brown short-sleeved dress that extends just above the elbows, complemented by a dark blue tunic-like vest secured with a reddish-brown belt that is wrapped several times around her waist, along with a yellowish-brown mini vest. Additionally, she features a sheer detachable sleeve and a metal bracelet on her left arm, along with a breastplate concealed beneath her vest. The lower horns of her helmet resemble tree branches rather than traditional bull horns.
Abilities
- Fighting Skills
- Zippleback Gas Resistance
- Thievery
- Acting
- Intelligence
- Dragon Training and Riding
Appearances
How to Train Your Dragon
DreamWorks Dragons: The Series
Dragons: Riders of Berk
In "Twinsanity," Ruffnut and Tuffnut both argue with each other during Dagur the Deranged's visit. Hiccup and Astrid attempt to get the twins back together, but to no avail. It is also revealed that the twins don't like sharing everything together and would like to separate from each other once in a while. However, Ruffnut and Tuffnut eventually reconcile when they both work together to rescue Barf and Belch from being killed. The Hooligans drive Dagur and the Berserkers off Berk and consider the contract of peace "signed."
Dragons: Defenders of Berk
Race to the Edge
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Ruffnut in How to Train Your Dragon 2.
With Hiccup and Astrid officially dating, Ruffnut is the only woman available for courting, causing Snotlout and Fishlegs to flirt with Ruffnut throughout the film, first during the Dragon Races and then during the mission to rescue Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless and Stormfly from Eret. Stoick tells the other teenagers a story of how he was at a council of all the other chieftains when they were approached by a man, Drago Bludvist, who swore he could help protect the tribes if they all bowed to him. This causes Tuffnut, Ruffnut and Snotlout to snicker or laugh upon hearing this, but they stop laughing when Stoick reveals that he is the only one who survived the attack. Everyone else had been killed. The story doesn’t seem to phase Hiccup and just makes him more determined to convince Drago out of war.
Later on, the flirting between Snotlout and Fishlegs gets on Ruffnut's nerves at first, even with her drifting her attention to Eret when she sees him on the battlefield. However, Ruffnut changes at the end after Fishlegs and Snotlout both rescued her.
She participates in spying on Drago Bludvist and rescuing her dragons from the Dragon Trappers. She later takes part in the battle just outside Valka's sanctuary; however, during the battle, Stoick is killed sacrificing himself to protect Hiccup from taking a plasma blast by a brainwashed Toothless. After participating in a Viking funeral for Stoick, Ruffnut and the other Dragon Riders leave the sanctuary on the back of baby dragons.
During the final battle, Ruffnut and Tuffnut are present when Hiccup and Toothless defeat Drago and the Bewilderbeast, avenging Stoick and the previous Bewilderbeast's deaths. Before the twins are reunited with Barf and Belch, Ruffnut nearly embraces Fishlegs and Snotlout as they seemingly run towards her but the boys go past her and are instead happy to see Meatlug and Hookfang.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
Relationships
Family
Tuffnut Thorston
Friends and Allies
Heather
Despite Ruffnut's warm welcome, Heather never really bonded very closely with her, choosing to become best friends with Astrid instead as they shared more similarities with one another.
In "Edge of Disaster, Part 2", Ruffnut headbutted Heather and later received a punch in the face from Heather as payback.
Enemies
Viggo Grimborn
Since Viggo is an enemy of the Dragon Riders, it can be implied that Ruffnut dislikes Viggo to some extent. However, she and Tuffnut think that his name sounded cool before they met him.
Grimmel the Grisly
Ruffnut enjoys annoying Grimmel strongly, making comments about how long his face is (and how small his brain is), her love life, her hair, and her diet. Ruffnut was not intimidated by Grimmel at all during their encounters. When the Dragon Riders left her behind, Ruffnut was taken prisoner by Grimmel, who was surprised to see that one of the Dragon Riders stayed behind. She irritated Grimmel up to the point where he was getting uncharacteristically upset with her. After a while, Grimmel let her go so she could lead him to the Dragon Riders on New Berk.
Trivia
- Unlike Tuffnut, Ruffnut doesn't appear in the books. She is an additional female character created for the film franchise.
- Revealed in "Snotlout Gets the Axe", Ruffnut's middle name is Eugene.
- Ruffnut is the sixth Viking teen to ride Toothless as of the episode, "The Zippleback Experience".
- Hiccup, the first Viking in the entire film franchise, Astrid, the second Viking in the original film, Snotlout, the third Viking as of the episode "Defiant One", Tuffnut, the fourth Viking, and Fishlegs, the fifth Viking as shown in "The Iron Gronckle".
- Ruffnut's name indicates the phrase "rough".
- In the video game, it is stated that Tuff is the older twin by five minutes, but Ruff is slightly taller. However, the TV show reverses this.
- Ruffnut is the character who has the most cast changes of voice actors, having about four actresses voicing her.
Gallery
Promotional Images
Screenshots
External Links
- Ruffnut Thorston on the DreamWorks Animation Wiki
- Ruffnut Thorston on the How to Train Your Dragon Wiki
