Tuffnut Thorston

**Tuffnut Thorston** is a teenage member of the Hairy Hooligan tribe. He is the fraternal twin of Ruffnut Thorston in
 the movie franchise and they are constantly arguing with each other,
often to the point of physical violence, though never seriously enough
to separate them for too long. In the first film he's 15 years old, 19
years old in Race of the Edge and 20 in *How To Train Your Dragon 2*. His dragon is a Hideous Zippleback named Barf and Belch, which he shares with his sister.

## Personality

Although never said throughout the show, Tuffnut seems to be slightly
 more dominant twin than his sister and has a more prominent role,
especially in the television series. Together, he and his sister love to
 get into trouble, even if it means getting scolded by the chief of the
village. Tuff likes the idea of Ruff being in danger (as he stated that
when Ruff was on fire one time, he just watched for a while before he
decided to help put her out). Tuff enjoys the chance to argue and
wrestle with his sister, although it usually ends with Ruff overpowering
 him, either verbally or physically. He shares many similar traits with
his sister. The only thing that seems to be apparent in difference, is
he enjoys gross things as opposed to his sister (as seen in *Gift of the Night Fury*,
 when he smiled as Toothless put Hiccup's drool-covered helmet on his
head). Despite having a close sibling relationship, Tuff is
understandably frustrated when he has to share everything with his
sister, but he's willing to make amends with Ruff to save his dragon.
Although sharing rivalry with his sister, on occasion, he will help her
if she is in trouble. He often thinks highly of his own skills, claiming
 that he was the world's deadliest weapon.
In the television series, Tuff appears to show a thrill-seeking and
masochistic personality, displaying an attraction to dangerous
situations and seems to enjoy or looks forward to whatever bodily harm
he receives (usually by his sister). Like Ruffnut he often has a sick
toothy smile on his face. He seems to be either stupid or simply
forgetful, inattentive and perhaps more suggestible.

In Total Nightmare,
 he and Ruff appear to be very keen on theatre, acting in a very
theatrical manner and using almost Shakespearean words and phrases.

## Appearance

In both the television show and the first movie, Tuffnut wears a dark
 brown long furry animal vest with a very light pale green tunic that
goes all the way past his hip. Around his waist, there's a brown
sash-like belt that is tied around. He also wears light grey-blue pants
and dark brown furry boots. On his arms, he wears a long brown arm cloth
 arm band that starts at his elbows and ends at his wrists. His helmet
is studded with four horns: the top two are bull-like, and the bottom
two resemble ox horns. Without his helmet, his long blond hair, that
ends with a brownish tint, is unevenly divided in the middle and appears
 to look like dreadlocks, particularly in the second film his teeth are
somewhat uneven. His necklace's pendent is a large claw or tooth that
may have come from a dragon. He's relatively skinny and tan skin with
dark-blue eyes. His vest is slightly lighter in the television series.
In the second film, it is confirmed that Tuff  have an older appearance
as well as new clothes. As seen  *How to Train Your Dragon 2* , it is revealed that he has adopted a dreadlocks hairstyle.

## In How to Train Your Dragon (Movie)

Joining the same Dragon Training
 class as Hiccup, at first Tuff delights in taunting Hiccup over his
poor performance although he doesn't have much success either due to the
 fact that he couldn't get along with his sister in battle. Later,
however, when Hiccup displays an amazing talent for subduing the
Dragons, he becomes his avid fan (often pushing and shoving Ruff to be
the first to talk to him). The twins decide to help Hiccup fight the Red
 Death and bond with the Zippleback that had been trapped in the
training arena before.

To confront the Red Death, the twins mount a Hideous Zippleback, which fits their fractious relationship, the two naming the dragon Barf and Belch.
 Each head seems to agree with one of the twins in particular - Ruff
taking Barf and Tuff Belch, and they ride it to great effect in the
final battle and afterwards. Notably, they were the only ones not forced
 from their dragon in the final battle.

## In *How to Train Your Dragon 2*

In the second film, Tuff would not let his dragon be taken by Drago Bludvist. Tuff was disgusted by his sister's attraction to the Dragon trapper Eret. Following Stoick's death, Tuff rode one of the baby scuttleclaws despite difficulty in riding them back to Berk.

## Skills & Abilities

**Fighting:** He and Ruffnut are
 almost equal in terms of strength and speed. They are both skilled in
fighting, usually sparring violently with each other when they are
arguing. In the television series, Tuff is shown to be slightly worse at
 fighting than his sister, often being overpowered by her in sparring
matches and duels, as well as losing verbal arguments. Tuff even states
that her slaps "are like a guy's", even to the point of tears. On the
other hand, Tuff is strong enough to carry his sister for a sum of time
without getting too tired. The twins share the same preference for the
same weapon, which is a double-ended spear. It has been shown in the
television series that the twins are the only ones who are not affected
by Barf's gas, which can cause disorientation and a sick feeling,
possibly because they are either immune or have gotten used to it.

**Intelligence:** Tuff does not seem to be too bright. He's
unable to sit still and pay attention without fighting and/or getting
into trouble with his sister, causing most of the other Viking Teens to
doubt their abilities. Often, the others of the group have to explain to
 him (and Ruff) when they're about to execute a plan. Despite his
inability to pay attention, he always knows how to make people or
dragons angry, often proving helpful for him to act as a distraction or
bait. Recently in the television series, Tuff has been shown to often
have outbursts of intelligence and a smarter outlook on life, alongside
Ruff, revealing that the twins are much more intelligent than they
initially seem. Which suggests that they simply choose not to think.

The twins also have a strange ability (purposely or not) to get
in trouble no matter where they are, even in an empty room. Tuff, as
seen when he sneak onto Outcast Island, seems to have some ability in
humor and acting, as he was able to convince Dagur that he was a
Berserker and more so, for Dagur to like him even more[6];
 however on Dragon Island, Ruff could easily see through Tuff's lies and
 is able to pry him open of the truth without much effort.[11]
 Tuff is also able to speak "post-lightning Snotlout" (which is
gibberish that Snotlout may speak after being struck by lightning), and
is the only known Viking to speak it.[6]

**Dragon Training & Riding:** He is moderately skilled in training dragons, as shown in several episodes. Tuff was able to spot a changewing once.[4]Tuff trained a Terrible Terror and taught him how to ram heads with his sisters.[12]
 Tuff showed impressive skills in training a Typhoomerang (Torch),
despite being caught in a trap at the time as well as being able to
teach him basic hand signals and simple obedience.[5] He did well training their dragon Barf&Belch but he claims he did most of the work then his sister.

**Pranking Skills:** With the help of his sister they are
great team to make many pranks on yaks. As shown their prank on
Snoutlout to believe he was going to die showing to make everyone
believed.They also did some "yak-tipping" in the episode "how to pick
your dragon" in "dragons:riders of Berk". They even decided to turn
their pranking skills into a profession in "Race to the Edge".

## Relationships

### **Ruffnut**

Ruffnut and Tuffnut have a strong love/hate sibling relationship.
Although most of the time quarreling and fighting over trivial things in
 life, they show an inseparable bond with each other and rarely spend
too much time apart. They both enjoy the feeling of pain, especially if
the pain is inflicted on the other twin. Tuffnut in particular has even
stated that he had merely watched Ruff when she was caught on fire once
before deciding to help her.

On occasion, Tuffnut is willing to help his sister. Tuff showed
concern for her, asking her to leave Scauldy behind when the Changewings
 were approaching and was happily riding Belch afterwards, watching his
sister who was safe, despite the sacrifice she made for Scauldy to make.
 After she says goodbye to Scauldy she starts to feel sad, but Tuff
quickly teases her about her looking like a boy, in which Tuff succeeds
in making Ruff smile again.

As twins, Tuffnut and Ruffnut share a strong invisible connection
 towards each other. They have the ability to understand each others
thoughts and ideas without speaking, as shown several times to finish
each others sentences or to have the same idea at the same time. They
also have the ability to stay together as they are rarely too far apart
for a long time. Wherever one twin goes, the other twin is never far
behind, even if they intentionally try to stay away from each other.
Ruff and Tuff also work incredibly well together (when they want to) and
 can synchronize themselves to do the same actions at the same time.
It's also possible that they are able to sense where the other is and
what happened to them, as other twins are able to do.

### **Barf and Belch**

Being their dragon, the twins had to share riding it. The twins care
tremendously about their Dragon, although not as much as Hiccup. One
head is loyal to each twin (Barf and Ruff, Belch and Tuff) and on
occasion, the heads will fight each other when the twins fight each
other. Usually the heads will work in unity if they feel that their
riders are in danger and feel that their rider's constant quarreling is
annoying. Both dragon and Rider are willing to risk their necks to save
each other. Tuff even states that Barf and Belch is his "totally awesome
 dragon" that he shares with his "totally un-awesome sister". Several
times during the television series, Barf and Belch are seen to be
extremely protective of their Riders when they are in danger, as shown
as they are willing to fight a several enemies, such as a wild
Typhoomerang[5] and a Scauldron, to defend Ruffnut [13], as well as leaving the cave on Dragon Island to search for Ruff.[11]

### **Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III**

Not a lot of screen time is shown between the twins and Hiccup. Most
of the time, they follow Hiccup's commands, although not always done in
the right way. On occasion, they disobey him or misinterpret his orders.
 Despite Hiccup doubting their abilities most of the time, he
acknowledges their abilities to work together if they want to. He gains
respect for the twins when they figure out the idea to "fight fire with
fire" and Tuffnut's ability to train Torch.[5]
 Although finding them annoying from time-to-time, Hiccup is shown to
care for them as he and the other Viking Teens attempt to find them
after their disappearance and was relieved to find out that Ruff and
Tuff were both okay. He also acknowledges their decision to follow
Alvin's ship to spy on him.[6]
 They also care about Hiccup, (even though it's hard to tell), like when
 they, along with the other Riders, were very happy to see that he was
alive after the battle with the Red Death and when he fell down a hole, (then came out okay later), in [14].

### **Astrid Hofferson**

Although they rarely interact in the show or movie, they remain
neutral to each other and will work together when it comes to it. Most
times, Astrid will get angry if they do something wrong, especially if
it's because they're not paying attention or just being silly. Like
Hiccup, she doubts their abilities as Dragon Trainers due to their
inability to pay attention, although it is assumed that she gained
respect towards the twins when they put out the fire and trained Torch.
On occasion, she will punch Tuff if he angers her, although Astrid is
never shown on-screen to hit Ruffnut. Astrid was one of the Vikings who
attempted to find the twins after they were blasted out of the sky in *A View to a Skrill Part II*.
 It is presumed that off-screen, she had attempted to find them although
 Stormfly soon grew exhausted, showing that she does indeed care for the
 twins.

### **Snotlout Jorgenson**

Snotlout and the twins share a close relationship. Often times, the
twins will follow Snotlout and act as one of his supporters when he
bullies Hiccup and possibly Fishlegs as well in the first film. In the
game, they listen to Snotlout's plan to cheat in the competition against
 Hiccup/Astrid. Snotlout often thinks the twins are incredibly dumb and
in return, they sometimes exclude Snotlout from their ideas, as seen
during Auvandil's Fire[15]. Although sometimes siding with Snotlout, they occasionally bully him back, like how they fooled him into thinking he was dying[16]. Tuff also made things up when Snotlout was pursuing his sister by telling him that she like terrible terrors.[17]
 It's presumed that Snotlout had attempted to find the twins (as stated
by Hiccup) after they disappeared after being blasted out of the sky,
which shows his apparent caring personality towards them.[6]

### **Fishlegs Ingerman**

Fishlegs and the twins rarely show any screen time together.
Sometimes, the twins are seen to bully Fishlegs because of his size,
although Fishlegs bests the twins in terms of knowledge. The twins,
particularly Tuff, find it annoying that Fishlegs knows a lot of things.
 Fishlegs attempted to find the twins after they were blasted out of the
 sky, along with Meatlug, but ends up over-exhausting his dragon. Even
so, he offered to join Hiccup on his search again and shows worry when
Hiccup tells him that there was no sign of them.[6]
 Just like Snotlout, Tuff played pranks on Fishlegs when he was pursuing
 his sister by telling him that his sister had a sixth toe.[17]

### **Stoick the Vast**

Stoick is well aware that the twins are capable of causing dangerous
accidents and pranks, as well as notorious for causing mischief. Ruff
and Tuff show a level of respect for Stoick, possibly because he's
Hiccup's dad, but also like to make fun of him when he's not around.
He's the one who possibly created the saying "Where there's smoke,
there's the twins".[5]

In *How to Train Your Dragon 2*, Tuffnut and the other
Dragon Riders were deeply saddened by Stoick's death, and fired a
flaming arrow to Stoick's ship, showing that he had always respected and
 honored his chieftain.

### **Windshear**

Following its attack, Tuff became infatuated with Heather's Razorwhip, Windshear.
 Tuff loved its style and was even willing to marry it. He almost did,
thinking he was dreaming until Heather snapped him out of it.[18]

## Trivia

* Tuff is a character from the book *How to Train Your Dragon*,

 but Ruff is an original character created for the film, seemingly to
provide contrast to both Tuff and Astrid, the only other female in
Dragon Training.

* The twin's names may indicate the phrase "Rough and Tough."
* In the video game, it's said that Tuff is the older twin by five minutes, but Ruff is slightly taller.
* They appear to be based off of Jackal and Hyena from *Gargoyles*
* In the books Tuff has the same name as his father (Tuff

Senior), so his name in the Book Series is Tuff Junior, which,
ironically, means his name would be T.J Thorston, the same first name as
 his voice actor.

* Tuff's vest is a different shade of gray in the series.
* Tuff is the only character from the movie who did not appear in any of the Racing for the Gold clips.
* Ruff and Tuff are one of the only Vikings on Berk who has a

known sibling in this case, each other. The other only known Viking
siblings are Gustav and Hildegard. Dagur also said he had a sister.[11]

* Ruff and Tuff both mentioned that they have a large amount of

back hair and that they love it dearly, although Tuff said that his back
 hair had went up in flames while flying over the forest fire.[5]

* Ruff and Tuff are one 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).

* Tuff 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)

* Tuff, under the alias "Buffnut the Berserker", hasn't

told Dagur that he was in league with Hiccup and lived on Berk so it's
possibly that Dagur still believes that Tuff is a Berserker.[6]

* + Tuff is the only other Viking Teen other than Hiccup to encounter Dagur face-to-face alone.
* Both Ruff and Tuff have trained a large dragon and later

released into to the wild. It's also possible that the dragons they
trained (Torch by Tuff and Scauldy by Ruff) are counterparts to each
other.

* + Scauldy was trained by Ruff, Torch was trained by Tuff.
	+ 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.
	+ Torch was the one who (partially) saved Tuff and Ruff was the one who saved Scauldy.
* 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. That's right; a mace.
* It is possible that Tuffnut has either a tattoo on the left

side of his body, or a birth mark that looks like a tattoo, on the left
side of his body.

* + This is revealed in the first movie, by a fire, when Fishlegs

gasps: "Your mom let you get a tattoo?" Tuff's return is "No, it's a
birthmark!" but Ruffnut challenges his statement with "No way, I've been
 with you since birth, and I've never seen a birthmark!" Tuff's return
is, "That's because you've never been on my left side before."

* + - It may be a birthmark, as, so far as we know/have seen, Ruff is always on Tuff's right side.
	+ The mark is not seen, as the camera is intentionally panned

away; possibly to prevent from encouraging teenage tattoos, or to create
 an aura of mystery...