This shield is a multipurpose tool used by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III.
History
Dragons: Defenders of Berk
In response to the increasing danger from Alvin the Treacherous and his Outcasts, Hiccup created a special shield for his personal defense. At first it was a wooden shield in "Live and Let Fly", until Hiccup reinforced it with Meatlug's Gronckle Iron in "The Iron Gronckle". Hiccup then used his shield to defend himself and Toothless against Dagur on Dragon Island in "The Night and the Fury".
Dragons: Race to the Edge
Since "Imperfect Harmony", Hiccup continued to use the shield as a protection against wild dragons and Dragon Hunters. And in "Something Rotten on Berserker Island" he used it against Savage and his men.
Appearance
The shield started out as a wooden disc with an iron rim and center hub. Hiccup also painted an image of Toothless on the face of the shield. The iron was then replaced with Gronckle Iron, which was also used to reinforce the front surface as shown in "The Iron Gronckle". Hiccup eventually added a wide leather strap so he could sling the shield onto his back, instead of having to hold it everywhere as shown in "A View to a Skrill, Part 2". It also appears that the strap allows him to secure it to the control cables on Toothless' right side, under the wing for travel storage.
Abilities
In addition to deflecting incoming projectile and blows, the shield has some offensive capabilities built into it.
Grappling Line
The center hub contains a retractable hook and cable which can be fired off like a grappling line, allowing Hiccup to entangle a foe or to hook something from a distance. It is shown that Hiccup's lack of strength can be used against him as when the line tried to pull Gobber in, his weight exceeded Hiccup's strength, causing Hiccup to get reeled in as shown in "Live and Let Fly". Hiccup used this feature while fighting Dagur the Deranged as shown in "The Night and the Fury".
Catapult
The second offensive weapon is a hidden catapult on the rim. Although never seen in combat, it tends to trigger when anyone other than Hiccup picks it up, whacking them in the face. Hiccup used to tag several Nadders with paint near Dragon Island as shown in "Appetite for Destruction".
Crossbow Mode
It is later revealed that the Gronckle Iron doesn't just cover the shield, but was made into several moving parts that connect and joins together like a crossbow. This reinforcement made the shield an extremely sturdy platform to build on to, and allowed Hiccup to increase the shield's offensive capabilities by adding a crossbow conversion. This allows him to shoot arrows by hand, and other objects from a bowstring which acts as a high-powered slingshot. The center hub swings away and with the sides splitting apart, it creates tension for the bowstring, readying it for use as shown in "The Night and the Fury".
Bola Launcher
It's revealed that Hiccup has reused the idea of the Bola Launcher, which he had used to shoot Toothless down during the dragon raid in the first movie. He can load one bola into the center hub and launch it at an enemy, like he did to the Alpha Speed Stinger as shown in "Frozen".
Gronckle Iron Plating
The first major modification of the shield was replacing the iron with Gronckle Iron, which was also used to plate the face. This made the shield lighter and stronger than before as shown in "The Iron Gronckle". It also makes the shield heat-resistant and can deflect flaming arrows as shown in "Maces and Talons, Parts One and Two, as well as throwing daggers and other projectiles. It can also be thrown like a boomerang to disarm an opponent as shown in "The Night and the Fury".
As the shield is coated with Gronckle Iron, this makes it very light and handy. Gronckle Iron is a very lustrous material and allows the shield to catch and reflect plenty of light. this light can be used to attract or repel dragons which are attracted or has skin that's sensitive to light. The metal reflects light, which can drive away Whispering Deaths or attract the Screaming Death as shown in "Tunnel Vision".
In addition to that, Gronckle Iron appears to be a be a very heat resistant material, perfect for fending off wild dragons. it has been shown to resist against an Armorwing's flame, which is composed of oxygen and acetylene and reach soaring temperatures. It could hold up against a Night Fury's blast in "The Eel Effect", a Thundedrum's in "Imperfect Harmony", and an Armorwing's blast in "Snotlout Gets the Axe".
Weaknesses
Since plating the shield with Gronckle Iron, Hiccup has discovered that using it against a Skrill is not advisable, as the metal will conduct lighting as shown in "A View to a Skrill, Part 2". It could not protect Hiccup and Toothless from a Flightmare's mist as shown in "Maces and Talons, Parts One and Two". Since the shield reflects light, it is also a liability when stealth is needed and the reflection will give away his position.
Appearances
| Defenders of Berk | |||||||||
| 1. "Live and Let Fly": | Appears | 11. "A View to a Skrill, Part 2": | Appears | ||||||
| 2. "The Iron Gronckle": | Appears | 12. "The Flight Stuff": | Absent | ||||||
| 3. "The Night and the Fury": | Appears | 13. "Free Scauldy": | Absent | ||||||
| 4. "Tunnel Vision": | Appears | 14. "Frozen": | Appears | ||||||
| 5. "Race to Fireworm Island": | Absent | 15. "A Tale of Two Dragons": | Absent | ||||||
| 6. "Fright of Passage": | Absent | 16. "The Eel Effect": | Absent | ||||||
| 7. "Worst in Show": | Absent | 17. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes": | Absent | ||||||
| 8. "Appetite for Destruction": | Appears | 18. "Bing! Bam! Boom!": | Absent | ||||||
| 9. "Zippleback Down": | Absent | 19. "Cast Out, Part 1": | Absent | ||||||
| 10. "A View to a Skrill, Part 1": | Absent | 20. "Cast Out, Part 2": | Absent | ||||||
| Race to the Edge, Season 1 | |||||||||
| 1. "Dragon Eye of the Beholder, Part 1": | Appears | 8. "Crushing It": | Absent | ||||||
| 2. "Dragon Eye of the Beholder, Part 2": | Appears | 9. "Quake, Rattle and Roll": | Absent | ||||||
| 3. "Imperfect Harmony": | Appears | 10. "Have Dragon Will Travel, Part 1": | Absent | ||||||
| 4. "When Darkness Falls": | Absent | 11. "Have Dragon Will Travel, Part 2": | Absent | ||||||
| 5. "Big Man on Berk": | Absent | 12. "The Next Big Sting": | Absent | ||||||
| 6. "Gone Gustav Gone": | Absent | 13. "Total Nightmare": | Absent | ||||||
| 7. "Reign of Fireworms": | Absent | ||||||||
| Race to the Edge, Season 2 | |||||||||
| 1. "Team Astrid": | Absent | 8. "Edge of Disaster, Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
| 2. "Night of the Hunters, Part 1": | Absent | 9. "Edge of Disaster, Part 2": | Appears | ||||||
| 3. "Night of the Hunters, Part 2": | Absent | 10. "Shock and Awe": | Absent | ||||||
| 4. "Bad Moon Rising": | Absent | 11. "A Time to Skrill": | Appears | ||||||
| 5. "Snotlout Gets the Axe": | Appears | 12. "Maces and Talons, Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
| 6. "The Zippleback Experience": | Absent | 13. "Maces and Talons, Part 2": | Appears | ||||||
| 7. "Snow Way Out": | Appears | ||||||||
| Race to the Edge, Season 3 | |||||||||
| 1. "Enemy of My Enemy": | Absent | 8. "Stryke Out": | Absent | ||||||
| 2. "Crash Course": | Absent | 9. "Tone Death": | Absent | ||||||
| 3. "Follow the Leader": | Absent | 10. "Between a Rock and a Hard Place": | Absent | ||||||
| 4. "Turn and Burn": | Absent | 11. "Family on the Edge": | Absent | ||||||
| 5. "Buffalord Soldier": | Absent | 12. "Last Auction Heroes": | Absent | ||||||
| 6. "A Grim Retreat": | Absent | 13. "Defenders of the Wing, Part 1": | Absent | ||||||
| 7. "To Heather or Not to Heather": | Absent | ||||||||
| Race to the Edge, Season 4 | |||||||||
| 1. "Defenders of the Wing, Part 2": | Appears | 8. "Gold Rush": | Absent | ||||||
| 2. "Gruff Around the Edges": | Appears | 9. "Out of the Frying Pan": | Absent | ||||||
| 3. "Midnight Scrum": | Absent | 10. "Twintuition": | Absent | ||||||
| 4. "Not Lout": | Absent | 11. "Blindsided": | Absent | ||||||
| 5. "Saving Shattermaster": | Absent | 12. "Shell Shocked, Part 1": | Absent | ||||||
| 6. "Dire Straits": | Absent | 13. "Shell Shocked, Part 2": | Absent | ||||||
| 7. "The Longest Day": | Absent | ||||||||
| Race to the Edge, Season 5 | |||||||||
| 1. "Living on the Edge": | Absent | 8. "The Wings of War, Part 1": | Absent | ||||||
| 2. "Sandbusted": | Absent | 9. "The Wings of War, Part 2": | Absent | ||||||
| 3. "Something Rotten on Berserker Island": | Appears | 10. "No Dragon Left Behind": | Absent | ||||||
| 4. "Snotlout's Angels": | Absent | 11. "Snuffnut: | Absent | ||||||
| 5. "A Matter of Perspective": | Absent | 12. "Searching for Oswald... and Chicken": | Absent | ||||||
| 6. "Return of Thor Bonecrusher": | Absent | 13. "Sins of the Past": | Absent | ||||||
| 7. "Dawn of Destruction": | Absent | ||||||||
| Race to the Edge, Season 6 | |||||||||
| 1. "In Plain Sight": | Absent | 8. "Triple Cross": | Absent | ||||||
| 2. "No Bark, All Bite": | Absent | 9. "Family Matters": | Absent | ||||||
| 3. "Chain of Command": | Absent | 10. "Darkest Night": | Absent | ||||||
| 4. "Loyal Order of Ingerman": | Absent | 11. "Guardians of Vanaheim": | Absent | ||||||
| 5. "A Gruff Separation": | Absent | 12. "King of Dragons, Part 1": | Appears | ||||||
| 6. "Mi Amore Wing": | Absent | 13. "King of Dragons, Part 2": | Appears | ||||||
| 7. "Ruff Transition": | Appears | ||||||||
Trivia
- Being left-handed, Hiccup tends to carry the shield with his right hand. This allows him to fire it in crossbow mode with a natural stance. He has also been shown holding it with his left hand, as it's his weapon arm, when he expects to be bashing opponents with it.
- Though he didn't think much about the shield initially, Dagur the Deranged soon began wanting one after seeing its many innovations in "The Night and the Fury".
- Astrid admitted that the shield was pretty cool after seeing Hiccup use the crossbow to tag a Deadly Nadder with yellow paint in "Appetite for Destruction".
- Also in "Appetite for Destruction", Hiccup named the technique he used to defeat the Screaming Death the first time, the 'shiny shield trick'.
- Dagur referred to Hiccup's shield as being "ornate" in "The Night and the Fury", and he mentioned that his sister used to have one like it as well.
- It is last seen thrown off a cliff during the fight between Hiccup and Johann in "King of Dragons, part 2".
