- “Sorry, sis. A team is only as strong as its weakest player”
- ―Tuffnut
Tuffnut Thorston is one of the protagonists in DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon franchise.
Tuffnut is one of Hiccup's best friends and a Dragon Rider and the brother of Ruffnut Thorston. His dragon is a Hideous Zippleback named Barf and Belch, which he shares with his sister.
He is voiced by T.J. Miller in the first two films and most media before he was fired and was replaced by Justin Rupple for the third and final installment, The Hidden World.
In the 2025 film, Tuffnut will be portrayed by Harry Trevaldwyn.
Background[]
Official Description[]
- “Tuffnut, 19, is one half of the bickering, unkempt brother-sister twins known as Ruff & Tuff. Though slow on the uptake, Tuffnut is brazen and fearless, making him a dangerous combination in any scenario.
He's always up for defying orders and taking on deadly odds — the crazier, the better. The only things holding him back are his uncooperative sister and her half of the two-headed dragon they share. Tuffnut's inability to ditch Ruffnut means that he's forced to watch Snotlout and Fishlegs compete for her affection. It's enough to make him want to blow things up.” - ―Official Description
Physical Appearance[]
Tuffnut is a male human with blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin.
In the first film, the first television series, and in the shorts, he's 14 years old, 17 to 19 in Dawn of the Dragon Racers and 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 first film, Tuffnut is adorned in a long, dark brown fur vest, complemented by a pale green tunic that extends beyond his hips. A brown sash is tied around his waist. He dons light grey-blue trousers and dark brown boots lined with fur. His arms are covered by long brown armbands that extend from his elbows to his wrists. His helmet features studs and is embellished with four horns; the upper pair resembles those of a bull, while the lower pair mimics ox horns. His long blond hair is parted unevenly down the middle and is styled in dreadlocks.
Personality[]
Tuffnut Thorston is a destructive teenager and loveable dimwit. He has a strong love-hate relationship with his sister, Ruffnut. They are each other's best friends, often seen together and causing massive destruction and pulling pranks on other people on Berk. However, despite them occasionally beating up each other, Tuff and Ruff hate it when the other is in danger. He worried about her excessively when Ruffnut was kidnapped by the Dragon Hunters and was glad to see her again. When they are reunited, Ruffnut and Tuffnut are both relieved to see each other again. They have only hugged once when Ruffnut and their friends convinced Tuffnut he wasn't turning into a mythical dragon known as the Lycanwing, an alleged dragon that was supposedly human at one point.
He is the dominant twin, but his sister is slightly more intelligent than Tuffnut is. Fire example, Tuffnut warned Hiccup when the Dragon Hunters were sailing to Dragon's Edge in a nonsensical way. and Hiccup immediately turned to Ruffnut for a clearer explanation, which she provided for.
Despite his recklessness , Tuff is resourceful, as sometimes, he and his sister can cause several breakthroughs when Hiccup is inspired by their ideas. He mostly followed Hiccup throughout their time as dragon Riders. Most of the time, he follows Hiccup's commands, although not always done in the right way.
Book[]
Tuffnut appears in Cressida Cowell's book series the How to Train Your Dragon films were based upon. Here, he is named Tuffnut Junior.
Movies[]
How to Train Your Dragon[]
How to Train Your Dragon 2[]
How to Train Your Dragon The Hidden World[]
Dragons: The Series[]
Riders of Berk[]
Defenders of Berk[]
Race to the Edge[]
Season 1[]
Season 2[]
Season 3[]
Season 4[]
Season 5[]
Season 6[]
Gallery[]
Promotional Images[]
Screenshots[]
Trivia[]
- 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.
