Grimmel the Grisly

"I will destroy everything you love."

- Grimmel threatening Hiccup.

Grimmel the Grisly is the overarching antagonist of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, appearing as the main antagonist of DreamWorks' 36th full-length animated feature film How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, the final movie in the series. He is a ruthless dragon hunter who won the reputation of driving the Night Fury race of dragons to near extinction and has his eyes set on Toothless, the last Night Fury in existence, and will stop at nothing to hunt the dragon down, putting him in conflict with Hiccup along the way. He is the greatest threat to the Dragon Riders and Hiccup's second archenemy after Drago's death.

He was voiced by the Academy Award winning actor F. Murray Abraham, who also played Antonio Salieri, Bernardo Gui, Ru'afo and Cyrus Kriticos.

Early life
Before the events of the third film, he once found a Night Fury in a vulnerable state, but killed it in its sleep instead of training it. He later started to make the Night Furies extinct, hunting down all of them, save for one: Toothless, possibly because the latter was with Hiccup and sheltered as a result.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
The Warlords have hired Grimmel to capture Toothless, the sole Night Fury he hasn't hunted down, because of their problem with dragon poaching; their intentions were to conquer the world. Grimmel accepts the offer, but hides from them secrets about what he plans to do with Toothless. He plans on using a female Light Fury as bait for Toothless, and frees her at Berk, but leaves a poison dart nearby and hides a trap.

Grimmel walks down the stairs and approaches Hiccup whilst the latter is studying his father's notes, and pours himself a glass of tea. He explains to Hiccup how he nearly hunted down all of the Night Furies, and shoots Toothless sleeping under a blanket, not realizing that it was actually Fishlegs who was sleeping under the blanket instead. Hiccup detests Grimmel by proclaiming that he will never give up Toothless. Then, the Dragon Riders come out of hiding and enter the room, revealing Toothless wasn't shot, but Fishlegs. With that, Grimmel orders Deathgrippers in an assault on the Dragon Riders. The Deathgrippers use their acid to burn down Hiccup's house, and Grimmel disappears with an ultimatum: if Toothless isn't surrendered the next day, then he will destroy everything Hiccup loves. In response, Hiccup leads the Berkians away from Berk on a journey to find the Hidden World. However, unbeknownst to them, they do exactly as Grimmel had planned. Later after this happens, by the Great Hall, Grimmel reveals to the Warlords exactly where the Berkians are headed.

Hiccup and Astrid return with Toothless from the Hidden World back to New Berk and find out the Light Fury followed them. It's at this moment when Grimmel decides to strike and capture both Toothless and the Light Fury. However, all of the dragons from the island appear with intentions to save Toothless. Grimmel forsees this, and orders Toothless to call off the dragons as he points his crossbow at the Light Fury. Grimmel succeeds in his mission and leads all of the dragons to the Warlords, but alters their deal, deciding to keep both Toothless and the Light Fury for himself.

Hiccup and the rest of the Dragon Riders, wearing their flightsuits, fly toward the armada to start a battle against Grimmel, much to the latter's surprise. During said battle, Grimmel's platform is quickly destroyed. Because of this, he makes an escape attempt by putting one of his collars on the Light Fury. The collar injects her with his Deathgrippers' venom, allowing him to gain control over the dragon. Hiccup is able to free Toothless, and starts to chase Grimmel down. However, Grimmel has prepared for this, and shoots one of his darts at Hiccup. The latter jumps off Toothless, thus evading the dart, but this causes the dart to hit Toothless instead, prompting him to plummet toward the ocean. Hiccup drubs Grimmel by kicking him off the Light Fury, and removing Grimmel's collar after seeing Toothless fall. He then tells the Light Fury to save Toothless and lets go of her, causing him to almost fall to his demise. However, the Light Fury comes back for Hiccup after saving Toothless. Hiccup removes his prosthetic leg to separate himself from Grimmel, thus allowing the Light Fury to carry him to safety. Meanwhile, Grimmel impacts the ocean water below hard. The impact crushes his bones and kills him; if not, it would eventually cause him to drown to his demise and thus, his days of dragon hunting are now permanently over.

With Grimmel gone for good, the dragon hunters were useless without his leadership and dragons were forever safe.

Physical Appearance
Grimmel is a tall, thin man with the receded gray hair, pale skin, and darker hazel eyes.

Personality
Grimmel has been referred as the darkest villain to all of the Dragon Riders, including the draconic creatures themselves. He is even worse than Drago Bludvist, as he possesses a deep hatred for dragonkind and believes humans and dragons cannot coexist peacefully, and that dragons should be wiped out completely from the world. However, Grimmel is delusional by his thinking because deep down, he is a ruthless hunter who went deep beyond redemption. Despite wanting to hunt all dragons down, he is very sophisticated by not attacking all at once. He is also sensible, as he hatched twisted plans which only he knows how they work.

Powers and Abilities

 * Dragon Hunting: Grimmel is known as the smartest dragon hunter in the world. His skill in dragon hunting is unmatched.
 * Dragon Manipulation: Grimmel was capable of manipulating dragons under the command of Drago's Army.
 * Dragon Riding: Grimmel was capable of riding the dragons.

Quotes
"I've hunted every Night Fury. Except yours. Hand him over."

- Grimmel first meeting Hiccup.

"I am the Night Fury killer."

- Grimmel boasting himself.

"You're nothing without your dragon."

- Grimmel taunting Hiccup.

Trivia

 * In many ways, Grimmel is considered an evil version of Hiccup — an example of what Hiccup could have become if he had killed Toothless the first time they met.
 * Grimmel is the most foremost antagonist in the How to Train Your Dragon series, proving to be more dangerous than Drago Bludvist. He also serves as the final antagonist of the series.
 * Grimmel and Drago are the darkest villains in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.