The Great Raven

"I've forgotten how to fly!"

The Great Raven or Raven is a Thunderbird which is believed, but not actually, to be the raven messenger of the god the people in Trolberg worshipped.

He appears in the graphic novels, animated series, and novelization.

Appearance
The Raven is shown to be a bird with dark gray feathers and beak.

He can freely change back and forth between his actual size, and a much smaller size, which he uses when he's being discreet. In his large form, he has wide wings and strong, dark-gray legs. In his smaller form, he has smaller wings and black, stick-like legs and feet.

He also has the power to summon lightning.

Pre-series
The Great Raven's backstory is identical in all continuities of the franchise:

The Great Raven is at least several hundreds of years old. Centuries ago, he visited the human settlement of Trolberg, and settled down on the statue of the god worshiped by the local humans. The people thought he was a messenger of their god, send by his master to see what the people were up to. That year, the harvest was surprisingly good, causing people to believe the Raven brought good luck. Thus, the annual Bird Parade was started to honor the raven.

Even though he didn't bring luck, the Raven decided to go along with the ruse and visit the town every year to bring people hope. Only one year did he not show up, and through sheer coincidence, that year Trolberg was struck with disasters like a bad harvest and the coldest winter in decades.

Animated series
He is seen at times as a cameo during episodes. He is first seen during the theme song for the series, with Hilda jumping on his back and riding on him while flying close to Jorgen.

His first ever episode appearance was in "Chapter 1: The Hidden People" when it shows him flying over Trolberg and the forest until finally revealing Hilda and Twig going on an adventure.

He also appeared at the end of the episode "Chapter 2: The Midnight Giant". After Hilda complains about the cons of living in the city, especially about the wall keeping out anything interesting, he is shown sitting on the roof of Hilda's apartment building, and then flying off into the sky and shooting out thunder and lightning.

His first actual episode appearance was in the episode "Chapter 3: The Bird Parade", where Trevor hit him on the head with a rock, resulting with him losing his memory. Hilda took him back to her place, only for him to end up being thrown out by Johanna. He told Alfur that there is a statue that might help him recover his memory, and they try to go to it, only for the Raven to end up forgetting how to fly. He got captured by Trevor again, who wanted to prove his friends the bird could actually talk, before being rescued by Hilda, who reminded him who he really was; the Great Raven. This restored the birds memories and he was just in time for the Bird Parade.

His second major appearance was in "Chapter 10: The Storm", where he helped Hilda and David to reach the weather station of Victoria Van Gale, and later he helped Hilda to moderate the argument between the Weather Spirits so they would stop their snowstorm. At the end of the episode, he saw the Weather Station collapse and feared Hilda was still inside. She had fortunately been saved by a Weather Spirit.

In "Chapter 11: The House in the Woods", he came to the aid of Alfur and Twig, who were being chased by the Forest Giant. The Great Raven was able to drive the giant off, and took the two to the House in the Woods that kept Hilda and the Wood Man captive. The three of them also got trapped in the house, until Hilda figured out a way to escape.

The Great Raven is absent in Season 2 (except for a very brief cameo on a drawing in "Chapter 12: The Replacement"). A deleted scene from "Chapter 1: The Troll Circle" was posted by Andy Coyle in response to questions about the Great Raven's absence in Season 2, which showed he would've originally crashed into the airship while he was flying and explained to Hilda that he couldn't stick around as Trolberg isn't the only place he's famous and that he would see her at the next Bird Parade. The scene was cut for 'ultimately not moving the story forward'. His role in the animated adaptation of Hilda and the Stone Forest is instead given to a white Woff.

Graphic novels
The Raven has a major role in "Hilda and the Bird Parade", though he is actually called The Giant Raven here.

Like in the animated series, he loses his memory after Trevor hits him with a rock, but the story deviates from there. Trevor does not find out the Raven can talk, and doesn't bother him any further. Instead, The Raven and Hilda try to find their way back to Hilda's house, but get lost in Trolberg. They encounter a Salt-Lion and what they believe to be the Rat King. Eventually, Twig, who was sent by Johanna, finds them and leads them home. There, The Raven sees a newspaper article about the Bird Parade, and this returns his memory to him. He quickly goes to the parade to make his annual appearance, and saves Hilda when she gets trapped in the crowd. After telling Hilda his history, he drops her off with Johanna.

He is next seen in "Hilda and the Stone Forest", when the Bird Parade is near again. He drops by at Hilda's house, and takes both Hilda and Frida on a flight across Trolberg. They see Trolls are lighting up fires on the mountains around the city to warn the humans that they are still around. The Raven then collides with a zeppelin, and Frida falls off his back, but he catches her just in time. When returning Hilda home, he and Hilda are caught in the act by Johanna, who is not amused that The Raven took Hilda for a flight and grounds her. At the end of the story, the Raven shows up again along with Tontu, just in time to save Johanna and Hilda from some falling boulders as they escape the Stone Forest.

Novelization
The novelization of "Chapter 3", "Hilda and the Great Parade", puts yet another spin on the events surrounding the Great Raven losing his memory. Like in the animated series and graphic novels, Trevor causes the Raven to lose his memory by hitting him with a rock, but in this story the Raven remains amnesiac for several days. Hilda is slowly able to return his memory to him by feeding him Blue Nettle, which is good for the brain. Trevor eventually manages to get the Raven from Hilda's house by pretending to be a friend of her, and plans to use the Raven during the Wonderfull Trolberg exhibition at The Ahlberg School. The Raven refuses to cooperate however, and when the exhibition is disturbed by a young troll, Trevor flees from the school with the Raven. Hilda and David corner him at a bridge, where Trevor delilberately throws the Raven into the river. Hilda dives after him, and with some final Blue Nettle restores his memory completely. The story ends with the Great Raven appearing at the parade, and dropping Hilda off with her mother before leaving Trolberg till next year.

Personality
He is compassionate and loyal, always being ready to help a friend when necessary. He can be dramatic at times, such as when he freaks out and can make a big deal out of things, such as when he forgets to fly in Chapter 3: The Bird Parade.

He is scary at times, such as when he scares the forest giant using his larger form in "Chapter 11: The House in the Woods". He is also very aware, such as reminding Hilda of the storm raging outside during the episode "Chapter 10: The Storm" when she wants to check in on her favorite meteorologist, Victoria Van Gale. He can be brave when needed; he went out into the storm with little hesitation (though with some protest) in "Chapter 10", and attacked a Forest Giant in "Chapter 11".

Appearances
Graphic novels


 * Hildafolk (cameo)
 * Hilda and the Bird Parade
 * Hilda and the Stone Forest

Animated series


 * Hilda Opening Sequence (cameo)
 * Chapter 1: The Hidden People (cameo)
 * Chapter 2: The Midnight Giant (cameo)
 * Chapter 3: The Bird Parade
 * Chapter 10: The Storm
 * Chapter 11: The House in the Woods
 * Chapter 13: The Black Hound (cameo)
 * Chapter 12: The Replacement (cameo)

Tie-In novels


 * Hilda and the Great Parade

Voice
The Great Raven is voiced by Cory English.

Trivia

 * The legend of the Great Raven being supposedly a messenger of a god has a lot of similarities with the Norse god Odin, who had two ravens to act as his spies: Huginn and Muninn.