Mildew

[sairen]

Why yes, I'm going to make a thread for this guy!

Our local trouble maker and cranky old man in Berk. He hates dragons and loves to make Hiccup feel miserable.

[sairen]

And double posting because unsure if I should make the first post a TL:DR as I seem to be prone to do now.

Anyway, I want to say that...I kind of love Mildew! Oh, I'd hate to know a guy like this in real life, but from his traits to his role in the story, I just find him kind of fascinating.

The thing is, it would not be difficult at all to make Mildew a developed villain. What part makes him the most 'villainous?' His hatred for dragons and his wish for them to be gone. Which we, as the audience, know is the wrong move. However, in canon? This reaction is totally and completely justifiable! Mildew is an old man in a village that has fought dragons for centuries. He's seen his village burn down countless times. He's fought and slain dragons. And suddenly the enemy, that he spent his WHOLE LIFE FIGHTING, is running around his home. To freak out is understandable.

Is he prejudiced against dragons? Oh yes. But the thing about prejudice is those with the prejudice believe they're RIGHT in their assumptions. Mildew isn't being prejudice to be a jerk, he's being prejudiced because he thinks he's right. And prejudice usually comes from fear, which was a theme in the movie. Fear, being blinded by fear, makes you do stupid and terrible things that don't need to happen.

All it would take is a few lines. "They're peaceful now, but what about when we run out of food, what will they eat THEN?" Or what happened to his wives. Any possible kids. Hell, just get almost attacked by a dragon and look truly and completely TERRIFIED. The more unjustified the reaction, the better in this case. To show he's honestly just terrified of dragons. Something I'm sure other Vikings are feeling, but aren't as vocal.

It wouldn't be hard to do in Alvin and the Outcasts either. (Which hasn't aired yet for any future readers.) Mildew just has to show he has to care about the village. In fact, if he IS working for Alvin, taht could be his whole reasoning. Alvin would help him get rid of the dragons...AND Hiccup. Hiccup who brought in the dragons and Hiccup who was the screw up BEFORE the dragons. In Mildew's eyes, Hiccup would be seen as pretty much a hindrance to the village.

And that is another thing I like about Mildew. Mildew's affect on Hiccup.

Mildew is very good at showing how Hiccup has changed and how Hiccup hasn't changed. Because while Hiccup changed through the movie, he had his character arc, he didn't change COMPLETELY. He has more faith in his ability and he's not trying to be something he's not. But he's still got a life time of low self esteem, cynicism, and the need to prove himself. But that's the thing, Hiccup still has this desire to prove himself to the village and his father. Throughout the movie though, at best we only saw frustration and desperation. We never actually saw anger.

Mildew makes Hiccup angry. The fact Hiccup glares at him is actually pretty big, this isn't something Hiccup of before would do. (Been beaten down too much.) But why does Mildew make him angry? Why, because Mildew is threatening the one thing Hiccup feels makes him belong, that gives him purpose. Mildew is threatening the thing Hiccup fought his whole life for. And Hiccup is afraid to lose that, but he's also confident enough to fight for it and continue to believe in it. Which Hiccup before didn't, that's part of why he kept failing.

Mildew is also good at predicting how Hiccup is thinking. Such as in Viking for Hire. Hiccup was definitely thinking along those lines, feeling guilty and responsible. And this could have been what prompted Hiccup to actually act. After all, Hiccup wasn't so confident about helping Gobber and Hiccup kind of likes to avoid things, so without someone else to call him out on it, he might not have truly tried.

Mildew shows how Hiccup can be the same pessimistic boy he used to be and then CHALLENGES him on it to make him change. This is kind of why I hope Mildew isn't going to go after this Two Parter. Hiccup needs people to challenge him or he won't change. And he doesn't talk about himself enough that you kind of do need someone who will dig into your weaknesses and make you stronger.

Which could also be really interesting to play with in Alvin and the Outcasts. Fact is, Mildew did do a lot to damage the village, and right before an enemy came in. But I have a feeling that it's most likely only be Hiccup who knows the full story of what the arrangement was. And I hope it ultimately comes down to Hiccup deciding whether or not to get Mildew in trouble and maybe banished. Now if this was combined with those possible ways to round out Mildew's character?

It would be kind of epic to see Hiccup forgive Mildew and allow him to stay in the village because Mildew has real concerns. And if Hiccup really wants there to be peace with Dragons, he needs to be willing to help people like Mildew understand. After all, they're all the same people.

And that's actually kind of my final point about what I like about Mildew.

Imagine if you will that Hiccup grew up without meeting Toothless. Sarcastic Hiccup. Observant Hiccup. Pessimistic, bitter, and frustrated Hiccup. Hiccup that people wanted to avoid so much they'd rather go to the Nest then look after him. Imagine if Hiccup's compassion and trusting nature didn't last under the pressure of time.

It would not be too hard for Hiccup to have ended up like Mildew. Oh, would the other villagers help him? Yes, they even show concern in the movie. But they still didn't like him and wanted to avoid him.

We know Mildew is smart. He's sarcastic and pessimistic and oh so very bitter. And he's rather thin, isn't he? Hiccup even said his foot prints weren't any deeper than his, so maybe they're even TRYING to make the physical parallels.

What if, in truth, Mildew is what Hiccup would have been like if he managed to kill a dragon. Not a Night Fury, but just some dragon, like that Gronckle. He does something to prove he has worth after a youth of scrawny failure. Perhaps that's why Mildew knows as much about dragons as Fishlegs. He studied dragons until he could find a way to kill them. (Second theory for why he knows that...). Something to get him a bit of acceptance! But would just killing a dragon really solve all his problems? Would it have solved all of HICCUP'S problems? Oh no, definitely not. He impressed his peers, but he wasn't accepted for who he was.

Someone whose unnervingly smart, way too much a smart mouth, and nowhere near enough muscle.

And while I DO think Gobber was (partially) joking about moving Mildew out of the village. Because really, when your village keeps getting set on fire, having the biggest farm OUT of town so it doesn't set on fire seems a smart idea. While I think that's part of the reason, there may be a reason why it was decided Mildew would be the farmer. They wanted him away. The dragon killing was enough to get him wives, but it wasn't enough to make him truly one of the other villagers.

And how close was Hiccup to such a fate. Perhaps this is why Mildew is so very good at telling what Hiccup is thinking. After all, the villagers couldn't understand how Hiccup thought before. Trying to do so makes them feel uncomfortable. And yet Mildew seems to be right on the money every time.

[Admin]

Mildew is perfectly horrible and I wish he remains a constant in the show because I LOVE HIM HE'S SO... WHATEVER HE IS.

And your Hiccup-Mildew comparison is very interesting. Possible plot for future episodes should the creators think the same?

[sairen]

It would be very interesting. And I've always been fascinated with shows that show how the villains and the heroes may not be so different. I'm actually pretty hopeful they'll do something with that, and unless I'm reading way too deeply into unintentional things, I do think the RoB people are able to write something that nuanced and subtle. Maybe they haven't done it this time, but now we know they definitely have the time too.

But yes, Mildew is definitely a horrible human being, but he's just so fun and good for Hiccup's development as a whole.

[Trainer Rosabeth]

Ha Ha Ha episode 7 Mildew got what he deserves

[sairen]

Mildew's on a boat!

Though, he was awfully scared.

Also, Mildew still seems to know an awful lot about dragons.

[sairen]

SOME MORE THEORIZING FROM ME.

Okay, this actually takes from a few episodes. There's still Mildew's suspicious amount of knowledge of dragons and how he's very much afraid of them. However, he's getting pretty desperate to get rid of them. There's definitely a mix of anger and fear here, but WHY is he so angry.

And I started to think about Mildew's age and then there's Hiccup as a Buff Young Man. Safe to say, Mildew seems to be older than Stoick. Older than most of the villagers. And then there's something about those chief portraits that's been bugging me.

Hamish the 2nd should be Stoick's dad. Hamish is blonde. Stoick's dad is a redhead.

Of course Fishlegs makes it obvious that there's been some assassination attempts before, and it makes sense. Since Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second in the book was also blonde if I remember right, so him being a Hiccup might elude to that. He was also the favored son who never actually became chief.

BUT for how this relates to Mildew, basically Hamish the 2nd should be about grandpa age....which is Mildew's age range.

WHAT IF MILDEW KNEW HAMISH THE 2ND? And what if Mildew knows about what Hiccups do, being a hiccup of fate like they are in the books. Or alternately, what if Mildew was friends with Hamish? Maybe having such a smart friend is what prompted him to learn so much about dragons. Mildew is certainly one of the more clever people in the village. It could also explain why Mildew is so good at reading Hiccup. He's already seen the thought process in his friend.

And maybe that's why he hates dragons. After all, Hamish is blonde and Stoick's dad is not. Which means Hamish had to die at some point. What if Hamish was trying to do what Hiccup did? And it didn't turn out so well. That could traumatize a friend.

Maybe enough to make an unreasonable amount of fear and anger in them.

[Trainer Rosabeth]

WOW never thought of that

[Admin]

What if Mildew IS Hamish the 2nd?
... ok, that's just stupid, I'll shut up now.

Actually reading this makes me wonder if Mildew is a hiccup as well...

[sairen]

MAYBE HE IS. What a twist.

Mildew is rather thin and spindly. I have been wondering if that's a sign he knows what it's like to be the outcast runt.

[Admin]

That could be another reason why he hates Hiccup so much, aside from being "Mr. Dragon Rider".

Hiccup was a hiccup, outcast, generally disliked person who managed to do something great and earn the respect of the whole village.

Mildew tried to do great things, like killing dragons, and could be a hiccup... but they still hate him. Mostly because of his oh so wonderful personality.
The green eyed monster of jealousy could run very deep within this man.

[sairen]

It was one of my first thoughts, in thinking of how well Mildew pulling negative feelings out of Hiccup and how the character play off each other. How Hiccup could have ended up very much like Mildew if he wasn't as compassionate and altruistic as he was.

Mildew is the Hiccup who let himself feel all that bitterness instead of either brushing it off or repressing it.

[nowthatsaspitfire]

I hate him suffice to say

[sannom]

I like Mildew as a villain. He's smart, cunning and, as the finale showed, capable of change, even if it was mainly for his own personal gain. He became more and more dangerous as the series went, and now his threat level is higher than ever. All in all, I feel he's one of the successes of this first season. Alvin being more of an evil counterpart to Stoick in this version, Mildew was done well as Hiccup's opposite twisted mirror.

[sairen]

Yes, that's a very good way to think of it. While Alvin can be clever, he prefers to be more direct when he can, like Stoick. Meanwhile Mildew has to be clever like Hiccup has to be. Mildew still seems like what Hiccup would be if he had been more overtly bitter.