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The Live-Action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Addresses How Berk Has Become More Diverse, and Here’s How

June 13, 2025

Editor’s Note: The following contains minor spoilers for How to Train Your Dragon.

Universal’s live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon is the best live-action remake of a classic animated feature in recent memory. Dean DeBlois, who co-directed the original animated version of How to Train Your Dragon and Disney’s Lilo & Stitch with Chris Sanders, masterfully translates the animated film into a vibrant live-action feature. Although the changes to the live-action format are minor, they are present in the new update. For example, the Isle of Berk features a much more ethnically diverse population compared to the original film. The people of Berk are still Vikings, but they are now a collective of people from across the globe. The movie pulls this off in a way that’s rather ingenious and brilliantly organic to the overall narrative, so we’re going to explore that idea further.

The Isle of Berk Welcomed Strong Warriors From Other Countries

Image via Universal Pictures

How to Train Your Dragon skillfully expands upon the lore and world-building from the original animated films. The film uses a method for diversifying Berk’s denizens that makes sense within the context of the story, adapting the scene from the original feature where Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler, reprising his role from the animated film) leads a meeting in the town hall concerning how to deal with the dragons. Stoick reveals that Berk is compromised of the strongest warriors from all over the world. Not only that, Berk is a collective that welcomes warriors and peoples from other countries and lands. During the meeting, Stoick points out specific warriors of Berk whose tribes originated in the Far East, the Silk Road, and the coast of Africa.

In short, Berk became a collective of the strongest tribes, warriors, and peoples from many lands, who assimilated into Berk’s culture, making it a melting pot of various ethnic groups. Stoick’s dialogue in the meeting scene also states that Berk drew many of the strongest warriors from all across the globe because they knew that Berk was likely closest to a major dragon nest. Berk’s culture is built on dragon slaying, and its people prove their worth by becoming dragon hunters and slayers. To earn a strong reputation and living as a Viking warrior, people moved to Berk, which is an island known for its dragon slayer population.

Mason Thames as Hiccup flying on Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon 2025

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The film stars Mason Thames and Nico Parker as Hiccup and Astrid.

Dragons Are a Menace All Across the World

In another adjustment to the story’s mythology, Hiccup (Mason Thames) reveals in his narration early in the film that dragons are a problem all over the world. Therefore, dragons have spread to other countries and lands besides Berk, which is likely another reason why Berk draws in people from other homelands. Some of the tribes and people living in Berk have been displaced from their homes by dragons. Although Berk is situated close to a dragon nest, it’s also a land that has a reputation for strong dragon slayers, meaning it’s arguably much safer. Although it’s not stated outright during the film, dialogue between Hiccup and Astrid (Nico Parker) suggests that her ancestors and tribe did not originate in Berk and likely traveled there due to displacement from dragons, or to gain status as strong dragon slayers. Astrid specifically wants to become the strongest warrior in Berk by proving herself as the top Dragon Slayer so she can someday earn the title of chief.

Screen Rantreports that writer and director DeBlois also explained at a media event for the film why Berk has become more diverse, due to dragons being a global menace. The filmmaker explained, “If [dragons] were a menace to all these cultures, that could be sort of the basis of them coming together for the purpose of wiping the dragons out.” He continued, “Then it gives a sense of urgency and purpose to the start of the story in Berk.” The change creates a nice expansion for the Isle of Berk, its people, and its history.

Vikings Historically Did Not Belong to a Specific Race or Culture

From a historical standpoint, it makes sense for Berk to become a melting pot of ethnically diverse groups, despite its Viking culture. Vikings do not specifically refer to a single, monolithic culture or race. According to the Oxford Historian, Vikings consistently trended toward the assimilation of other cultures, so other people and ethnic groups historically adapted to the Viking way of life. From a historical perspective, strong warriors who were menaced or displaced by dragons in their countries of origin moving or resettling to Berk and adopting Berk’s Viking culture works organically within the fantasy realm of How to Train Your Dragon. Although the film is not a one-to-one version of historical accuracy, it adapts real-life history to explain Berk’s ethnic diversity in a way that makes narrative sense.

Berk becoming a melting pot of various tribes, people, and cultures works immensely well for the film. The live-action adaptation handles the change beautifully, and it’s integrated within the narrative without causing any major issues. Ultimately, How to Train Your Dragon is still a fantasy world, so rules and ideas can be tweaked with adaptational changes. Fans of the original animated classic will be more than pleased with how the new version turns out.

How to Train Your Dragon is now playing in theaters. The next installment, How To Train Your Dragon 2, is already dated for June 11, 2027.