Wood Man

Wood Man is a recurring character in the Hilda television series, graphic novels and Hilda Tie-In Series. He was one of Hilda and Johanna's neighbors before they moved to Trolberg.

Appearance
The Wood Man is a humanoid creature about Hilda's size. As his name implies, he is made out of wood. He also has a little leaf on the top of his head. His head floats slightly above his body. He does not have a neck. It is never revealed in the graphic novels or the animated series how his head stays in place. On Luke Pearson's DeviantArt account however, there is a Hilda comic titled "The Wood Man's Head", in which Wood Man claims his head stays in place as long as he focuses on it to some extent. He loses his head when Hilda tests this theory by tickling him. "Chapter 7: The Beast of Cauldron Island" reveals his head can indeed be detached from his body. If this happens, he still feels what happens to his body, even if it is far away from him.

His face never changes expression, and his mouth never moves if he speaks.

Personality
Woodman is an indifferent character. He tends to barge into houses without permission. In chapters 1 and 2, he is shown barging into Hilda's House to give her wood and read one of his books. He only stays long enough to warm himself by the fire, and leaves the moment anyone tries to strike up a conversation with him. Why he insists on coming to Hilda's house is unknown, since he has a house of his own.

Although never hostile, he isn't above using people to get his way. This is seen prominently in Chapter 11: The House in the Woods, where he bets Hilda in a card game with a Forest Giant without her knowing, and deliberately loses her to him, knowing the giant would take her to his lair, thus putting Hilda in a position to help retrieve some other objects the Wood Man lost to the giant in previous games (and even some objects that were never his, like a crown).

He is quite relaxed and easily satisfied. When he, Hilda, Alfur, Twig and the Great Raven got trapped in The House in the Woods, he was the only one who didn't mind and tried to make the best of the situation.

Still, he does show on occasion that he cares about the people around him. He brought Hilda and Johanna firewood for their new home in Trolberg when the two were forced to move there, and at the end of Episode 11, he cheered up Hilda by reminding her that despite her living in the city, the wilderness would always be part of her.

His favorite drink is dirt tea. He likes to listen to music on records, or play it himself on a guitar. He also has a lot of books, but only informational ones. He's not the type for folk tales and other stories.

Relationships
He is friends with Hilda, who doesn't seem to mind him coming over. He brings wood to Hilda and her mother. Although Johanna doesn't like him, she tolerates him around.

In "The House in the Woods", the The House he and Hilda were trapped in contained a portrait of a female wood person. It is unknown what his relationship to her is, but she is apparently important to him considering the same house also had portraits of people important to Hilda.

Animated series
Wood Man first appears in Chapter 1, in which he stops by at Hilda's house one evening to read his book about Giants of Old by the fire. Johanna is clearly not happy with him. He leaves again after a mysterious eviction note is delivered to the house.

In Chapter 2, he visits Hilda's house again. By this time, Hilda has seen the giant Jorgen and wants to know if Wood Man knows who he is. She follows Wood Man home, and convinces him to let her read his book about the Giants of Old. It is thus she learns Jorgen's name and history. At the end of the episode, Wood Man shows up to say goodbye to Hilda and Johanna, as they are forced to move to Trolberg due to their house being destroyed.

He is not seen again till Chapter 11, in which Hilda runs into him after she gets lost in the wilderness. Wood Man agrees to help her get back to Trolberg, but still taunts her for having become a city girl. He first deliberately loses her in a game of Elf Poker to a Forest Giant in hopes that Hilda can thus help him get back some of his stuff he lost to the giant in previous games. The plan fails when the giant catches them in the act. They manage to escape from him, but in the process Wood Man gets lost as well and can thus no longer help Hilda. They eventually stumble upon a magic house, and get trapped inside. Wood Man makes a few escapes attempts along with Hilda, but when it's clear they can't leave he easily accepts his fate. After Alfur, Twig and The Great Raven also get trapped in the house, Wood Man agrees to Hilda's plan to overload the house with objects, and thus force it to let them go. This plan finally works and all five friends end up in Hilda's house in Trolberg.

Wood Man's last appearance in season 1 is at the end of Chapter 13, where he encounters Tontu and Jellybean at the ruins of Hilda's house. He tells Tontu how the house was crushed by Jorgen.

In Chapter 2: The Draugen, Hilda encounters Wood Man in the Salty Maiden, where he has just won a boat and a large sum of cash in a game of Sea Bones. The sailors he was playing with don't take kindly to him leaving the game after a big win, and Wood Man's obnoxious remarks, and kick both him and Hilda out of the Salty Maiden. Wood Man reveals his plans to go out to sea and find the Draugen. Hilda comes along since she believes Wood Man wants to help the Draugen reunite with their loved ones on land, but it turns out Wood Man just wanted to steal a magic, coral sextant from them for his home. They are nearly killed so they can be shanghaied into the Draugen crew, but are able to escape by challenging the Draugen to a race back to Trolberg. Once in Trolberg, Hilda is able to unite the Draugen with the Ghosts of their families, and they disappear. Wood Man then leaves with the sextant, leaving Hilda to deal with the aftermath of their adventure.

In Chapter 7: The Beast of Cauldron Island, his new boat is wrecked by the Kraken, and in the attack his head is seperated from his body. It washes ashore in Trolberg, where Hilda finds it. He spends the rest of the episode being carried around by Hilda and Frida as they try to find out what is attacking the ships. When the monster reveals itself, Wood Man identifies it as a Kraken, and informs them the beast should have been asleep for at least another 175 years. At the end of the episode, his body is returned to him by one of the Kraken's children after Hilda and Frida directed the Kraken to a ship graveyard she can use to feed her children. Wood Man's arms are visibly damaged due to the young Kraken partly eating him, but he doesn't seem to mind or even notice. By the time he appears again in Chapter 9: The Deerfox, his arms have fully healed. In this episode, Hilda and Johanna visit him in his home to ask about Twig, who has gone missing, but Wood Man has no usefull information for them.

Graphic novels
The Wood Man's role in the graphic novels is identical to the animated series for the episodes adapted from the two novels he appeared in. He did however have a slightly larger role in "Hildafolk" than he does in the animated adaptation of this story; he helps Hilda and Twig get back home after they get lost in the woods when running away from a troll, and he is the one who figures out why the troll follows Hilda to her house (he needs her help to get rid of the bell Hilda tied to his nose). He also doesn't show up to say goodbye to Hilda and Johanna when they are forced to move.

The events of the other Season 1 and Season 2 episodes he appears in never happen in the graphic novels.

Novelization
The Hilda Tie-In Series adapts all Season 1 episodes the Wood Man appears in. Chapters 1 and 2 are adapted into "Hilda and the Hidden People". Wood Man's role in this book is identical to the episodes. Chapters 11 and 13 are adapted into "Hilda and the Nowhere Space", but the book only adapts the plot of Wood Man losing Hilda to the Forest Giant so she can help him get his stuff back. The adventure with the House in the Woods does not happen, and Wood Man does not meet Tontu and Jellybean.

For Season 2, Chapters 2 and 7 are adapted into "Hilda and the Ghost Ship". Like in the series, Wood Man wins a sailboat, which is named Nautilus in this story, and uses it to find the Draugen so he can steal a sextant from them. After he and Hilda beat the Draugen ship in the race however, the Draugen retreat back to sea and don't follow them onto land. The adventure with the Kraken happens later on the same day. The main story from "Chapter 9: The Deerfox" is not adapted into the novels, only the flashbacks.

Appearances
Graphic novels
 * Hildafolk
 * Hilda and the Midnight Giant

Animated series
 * Season 1
 * Chapter 1: The Hidden People
 * Chapter 2: The Midnight Giant
 * Chapter 11: The House in the Woods
 * Chapter 13: The Black Hound
 * Season 2
 * Chapter 2: The Draugen
 * Chapter 7: The Beast of Cauldron Island
 * Chapter 9: The Deerfox

Novelization
 * Hilda and the Hidden People
 * Hilda and the Nowhere Space
 * Hilda and the Ghost Ship

Voice
Wood Man is voiced by Ako Mitchell.

Trivia

 * Since he was able to play cards with Elves in Chapter 11, it can be assumed he must have filled out the paperwork and is thus able to see them.
 * He is able to speak the language of Water Spirits.