Lessons From Fictional Characters — Hiccup Haddock, Queen Eclipsa, and Nareh Bedrossian

Taking a step back, opening yourself up to possibility, and being your own advocate.

If you don’t have a Medium membership, you can read the article here for free.

I had a lot of fun writing about some of the lessons I’ve learned from fictional characters, so I decided to continue sharing them. I’m also using this as an excuse to not do law school readings (none of the characters have taught me that procrastination is bad; that’s a lesson I continue to relearn all on my own). So, without further ado, here are some lessons I’ve learned from three exceptional fictional characters.

1: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third — How To Train Your Dragon

In law school, I’ve encountered a lot of people who seem to think the best way to win an argument is to yell at the other person. When I was in undergrad, people listened to each other and built off of what other people had to say. The atmosphere was much more respectful and people seemed to want to learn from one another. I don’t think I was prepared for just how much people would talk over one another in law school. There seems to be much less listening and engaging seriously in conversation, and more people speaking their opinions at you as if it were fact and as if that will convince you to think like them.

Maybe you’re thinking to yourself that lawyers argue. You’d be correct. But more importantly, a good lawyer knows how to listen. Growing up around lawyers, I can tell you that the best lawyers are sensitive, empathetic, and incredible active listeners. They don’t yell to get their point across or try to exert their will over anyone.

Hiccup Haddock might not be a lawyer, but he understands the limitations of yelling. In the books (yes, there are books), the Vikings train dragons by yelling at them. In fact, that’s really the only training technique they have. And when a giant sea dragon washes up on the island of Berk, all of their trained dragons abandon the Vikings.

Hiccup realizes pretty early on that yelling at his dragon doesn’t work for him. He decides on a few different approaches to training Toothless. He offers Toothless treats, he tells jokes, and he has conversations with the little dragon. The other Vikings make fun of Hiccup and his methods, but at the end of the day, Toothless remains on Berk and helps save Hiccup when he is swallowed whole by the sea dragon. Toothless develops a sense of loyalty towards Hiccup that he might not have if Hiccup had relied exclusively on yelling at him.

Unlike the others, Hiccup treats Toothless like a living being who matters. Yes, Hiccup wants to train a dragon for his own purposes, but he also wants Toothless to be happy. And that desire to make Toothless happy and treat him with respect ultimately helps him too. Yelling might get you some immediate benefits, but it won’t help in the long run. Hiccup doesn’t have an ego, so he’s able to see that kindness is a much more tenable path forward than brute force. And that’s something that we can all keep in mind, not just lawyers. Friendships and relationships of all sorts don’t work if they’re completely one-sided.

2: Queen Eclipsa — Star vs. The Forces Of Evil

This is a wonderful tv show that was on Disney a few years ago. A magical princess, Star Butterfly, is sent to Earth where she is supposed to learn about responsibility and self-control. She and her human friend Marco go on adventures and fight the forces of evil, and eventually they begin to unravel systems of oppression in the magic realm that have existed for generations.

Queen Eclipsa is known in history as being the evil queen. She was frozen alive as punishment for her crimes. But when she is unfrozen, Star learns that Eclipsa’s only crime was falling in love with a monster and not marrying someone “suitable” (the magic realm is populated by monsters and people who look like humans).

One thing that I admire about Eclipsa is that when she is unfrozen and wakes up in this new world, she is overwhelmed and has to adjust, but she never gives up. Everything is different, yet she goes forward and tries new things. She’s open-minded and willing to learn. She has her own issues, sure, but she recognizes that she can’t return to her previous life. She believes her husband is dead, and she doesn’t know what happened to her daughter, but she steps into the role of Queen once more and tries to help the people of the magical realm. It’s a struggle, certainly, but that doesn’t stop her from trying. And we all know, despite what Yoda says, that trying is an incredible thing to do.

We all find ourselves in a new world all the time — maybe we get a new job, or maybe we start law school for some reason. Whatever it is, the world around us is never constant. Adjusting can be really hard. I know I struggle with it. Someone took my usual seat in class yesterday and I didn’t know what to do for a few minutes (when I find a spot I like, good luck getting me to willingly move). But we can’t go back to what things we like, so we might as well open ourselves up to exploring the possibilities before us.

Queen Eclipsa, though not entirely successful, tries to move forward. I think we can all follow her example and try to adjust to new circumstances as well.

3: Nareh Bedrossian — Sorry, Bro

Sorry, Bro, is a fantastic book by Taleen Voskuni. I actually just finished listening to it the other day (again, very skilled at not doing my law school readings). Nareh (Nar) is an Armenian-American. After turning down her boyfriend’s proposal, she spends a few weeks attending local events exploring Armenian culture. She meets a woman named Erebuni, and the two really hit it off. But of course, Nar can’t date a woman. At least not without upsetting her family and the community. This is the story of how Nar navigates her own identity as a queer woman, as an Armenian-American, as a reporter, and as a daughter.

One of the things Nar has to do is learn how to be brave. Obviously, because of her family, she doesn’t feel comfortable coming out and telling them about Erebuni. She’s afraid of how they’ll react. She was also afraid of sticking up for herself to her boyfriend, and that’s probably why she was stuck with him for five years.

Nar also is mistreated at work and forced to report on stories that are beneath her. She tries to pitch different ideas to her boss, but when those ideas are dismissed or given to other reporters, Nar doesn’t fight for them. Obviously there are a whole ton of issues of sexism and misogyny in the workplace that I’ll never understand, and Nar is treated unfairly to the point where she may have a legal claim against her boss, but there’s still a sense that Nar gives in too easily. Erebuni herself tells Nar this.

Throughout the story, Nar becomes more confident with who she is and what she’s willing to do to go after what she wants. She chooses to act bravely and risk more.

While Hiccup may have taught us that sensitivity and being gracious towards others is far better than yelling at them, Nar reminds us that sometimes you need to be firm and be an advocate for yourself. I tend to find it easier to fall on the Hiccup side of the spectrum. Bravery and sticking up for myself are not things I do easily. As I continue my legal studies and tenure as a human being, I’m hoping to follow Nar’s example and speak up for myself when appropriate. I’m just as important as anyone else, and I deserve to be respected and heard, just as you do.

And that’s it for this edition of lessons I’ve learned from fictional characters! I hope you enjoyed. Please consider checking out my podcast, “Determination, Deliberation, and Dragons.” My friends and I workshop original stories, analyze books and films, and interview authors.