How to Train Your Dragon

This franchise tells two related stories that share little beyond a boy named Hiccup and a dragon named Toothless. Cressida Cowell's children's novels are scrappy, funny, illustrated first-person adventures aimed at young readers. DreamWorks' film trilogy reinvents the premise almost from scratch into sweeping flight sequences and a coming-of-age arc that ages alongside its audience, building to one of the studio's most affecting endings.

The franchise keeps expanding outward. The School of Dragons game lets players raise their own dragon, holiday specials fill the gaps between films, and a 2025 live-action remake (with its planned sequel) bets that the animated images are iconic enough to restage with real actors. Start with whichever Hiccup you prefer. The two versions reward very different appetites.

The How to Train Your Dragon franchise spans 5 books, 1 games, 6 films in the CrossBinge catalog.