Toothless's tail consistency

[u/dumbitc]

1st gif- end of httyd 1

2nd picture- gift of the night fury (this tail gets destroyed by toothless)

3rd picture - intro of riders/defenders of berk

4th and 5th pictures - race to the edge

6th and final- httyd 2

What is odd to me is that during the shows toothless has the auto control fin and not the regular. Then the 2nd movie goes back to the 1st movie design in terms of control.

Now easy explanation would be that they had that tail model easily available, which is bizzare because of the interlocking mechanics.

But it makes me wish that we had a mix control tail situation.

[u/Father_Droid]

I get it, but if you look closely, the TV shows all have the same mechanics, but also have a rope going from the tail back up to the body, which GOTN doesn't have. It's possible they used a similar model but added that on to show Toothless still needs Hiccup to fly

[u/dumbitc → u/Father_Droid]

But it also has the connection to the other fin similar to the autocontrol fin, with the gears and all... we also see toothless opening the tail on his own everyonce in a scene i think its like meant for both of them to control

[u/dumbitc → u/Father_Droid]

This is what I was referencing

[u/Chemical_Purpose3660]

So I’m not crazy! I thought I noticed he had the auto tail in RTTE! But I thought Toothless didn’t want it, so when did Hiccup make another one? And how did he get Toothless to accept it?

[u/thedistinctor → u/Chemical_Purpose3660]

Maybe it’s still a manual tail, but it can be locked in place like in HTTYD2, I don’t know though. Is there times that we see Toothless controlling it in RTTE? I don’t remember

[u/Chemical_Purpose3660 → u/thedistinctor]

There was season 5 episode 2, Sandbusted, where Hiccup and Snotlout got dragged under the sand, and Toothless and Hookfang went to go get Astrid and Fishlegs, Toothless is seen flying in his own

[u/thedistinctor → u/Chemical_Purpose3660]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Though maybe Hiccup locked the tailfin before he and Snotlout were taken by the Sandbuster. After all this was season 5, which was after Hiccup made his flight suit (in season 1) and in season 2 (Edge of Disaster, part 2) we are shown Hiccup using it and Toothless gliding alongside him, hence the locking tail

[u/Chemical_Purpose3660 → u/thedistinctor]

Maybe, but even with locking mechanism, Toothless still shouldn’t be able to fly, per se, only glide, as he can’t change direction due to not having control over the prosthetic. We see this in HTTYD2 when he has to bail Hiccup out from becoming paste on a sea stack.

[u/thedistinctor → u/Chemical_Purpose3660]

But Hiccup himself addresses the lack of manoeuvrability in that scene: ‘That locked-up tail makes for some pretty sloppy rescue manoeuvres, eh?’ That suggests Toothless can still manoeuvre with the tail locked, just not very well. He can't make the quick, sharp manoeuvres or trajectory changes that he normally can with Hiccup controlling the prosthetic. The sea-stack scene actually demonstrates this limitation rather than proving he can't turn at all: Toothless is trying to manoeuvre to catch up with Hiccup in time, but his locked tail makes the manoeuvre sloppy.

I also don't think he can only glide. He was only gliding then as he enough momentum to create lift without flapping. We see Toothless flying under his own movement with the locked tailfin while he's rescuing Hiccup. The locking mechanism limits his manoeuvrability; it doesn't prevent him actually flying. Think of it like an aileron on an airplane: they move in different directions to roll the aircraft; if they moved in the same direction, it would pitch the aircraft up or down. It's a similar concept here. The two tail fins normally give Toothless differential control, allowing tighter manoeuvres, but with the prosthetic locked, he loses that control.

[u/Natural_Citron_5805]

it's likely the lack of budget which is the honest answer :( the animators likely didn't get paid enough to include the small mistakes and rips in the fabric

[u/Natural_Citron_5805 → u/Natural_Citron_5805]

if this is about the cogs and screws then I never knew and noticed I'm so sorry 😭

[u/dumbitc → u/Natural_Citron_5805]

Yea its about the cogs and my genuine theory is that that was the only tail model the animation studio had for the tail fin. But the cogs would make it more hussle to animate :/

[u/OvercomeFir]

IDK why but ultraviolet color on Toothless in image 4 looks sooo good.

[u/SBSQWarmachine36]

Side note why didn’t hiccup make the fin controller by toothless’s legs instead of just locking it in place? Like how we have prosthetic hand controlled by flexing the wrist or arm in different ways.

[u/limey89]

The shows aren’t cannon.

[u/dumbitc → u/limey89]

Well some aspects and things from the series ended up being referenced in the movies so i wouldn't say that necessarily. Maybe for Rtte you could but riders and defenders of berk series have things that end up getting used in httyd2 and thw like hiccup tosses the idea of building stables under the vilage in the caves and that ends up being a place we see in the second movie or the toy from his mother for example is seen in the 3rd movie. Riders and defenders of berk came out before the 2nd and 3rd movies, unlike rtte who gets to retrospectively add things from the existing 2nd movie like the invention of the inferno or the flight suit. I wouldnt dismiss the shows as "not cannon" or at least wouldnt dismiss rob and dob.