Twig is a principal character of the Hilda graphic novel and television series; he serves as Hilda's pet deer-fox and proves to be a cute but trusty adventure companion.
Appearance[]
Twig is a small, white deer-fox. He has black antlers on the top of his head and has a long, bushy tail, and some spots on his back.
In his younger days, his antlers were little more than two tiny bumps on his head.
Notably, in the epilogue of Hilda and the Mountain King, Twig does not look any larger than he did in the rest of the series, despite this scene being set a year after the rest of the movie. In Season 3 he looks the same as he did in Season 1 and Season 2.
In his debut in Hildafolk, his fur was blue with white fur at the end of his tail. His antlers were also lighter in color.
Personality[]
Twig is a protective, trusty and brave animal who likes to help Hilda. When he is protective, he goes in front of Hilda and growls at anyone that she doesn't know when they go up to her. However, he can also be scared, as seen in "Chapter 1: The Hidden People", when he gets scared by a troll. He also isn't too fond of Water Spirits, as proven in "Chapter 7: The Lost Clan", when he refused to come along with Hilda and Frida when a water spirit gave them a ride to the island of the Lindworm.
He is usually quick to realize something is not right, or a certain person/creature cannot be trusted. He has a sharp sense of smell; he was even able to follow the scent of a Marra despite her ability to teleport.
Relationships[]
Hilda loves Twig very much. He has been her pet since before the start of either the graphic novel series or the animated series, and is very loyal to her. He will try to defend her even against bigger opponents or if he's outnumbered.
He also gets along well with Hilda's other friends, David, Frida, and Alfur, and Hilda's mother Johanna.
Biography[]
Like all Deer-Foxes, Twig originally came from the Land of Starlight. When he was just a baby, Twig got separated from his herd and got trapped underneath some rocks. Hilda found him and saved him. Twig later returned the favor by rescuing Hilda from an eagle, but in doing so got separated from his Deer-Fox Herd and lost his chance to go home with them. He became Hilda's pet and has been her companion ever since.
Throughout the animated series, he frequently accompanies Hilda wherever she goes, though his actions do not always impact the plot of the episodes.
In "Chapter 1: The Hidden People", Twig tries to warn Hilda to stay away from a petrified troll, and narrowly escapes with her when the troll wakes up. Later, when Hilda tries to go to the Elf Prime Minister, Twig scares off the Prime Minister's cavalry, allowing Hilda to proceed.
After Hilda's house is destroyed by Jorgen, Twig moves to Trolberg with her. In "Chapter 4: The Sparrow Scouts", he meets Hilda's new friends David and Frida for the first time, with Frida in particular being surprised to see an actual deer-fox. Twig accompanies them on both of their trips to Gorrill Gardens, and defends Hilda and friends against an angry Vittra that attacks them.
In "Chapter 6: The Nightmare Spirit", Twig was able to follow David's Marra from David's House to the Huldrawood, despite the Marra's ability to teleport.
His next big role in Season 1 is in "Chapter 11: The House in the Woods", where he helps Alfur track down Hilda, who has gotten lost in The Great Forest. They follow a letter Hilda send to her mom through elf mail back to the sender, Barch, who directs them to the lair of [[Hoarder Forest Giant|a forest giant] who took Hilda with him earlier. By the time they get there though, Hilda is gone. The giant catches Twig and Alfur in his lair, but they are rescued by The Great Raven. Along with the Raven, they ultimately find Hilda in a magic house, and escape back to Trolberg with her after Hilda tricks the house into letting them go.
In "Chapter 13: The Black Hound", Twig helps Hilda look for Tontu.
In the first Season 2 episode, Chapter 1: The Troll Circle", Twig helps Hilda save an elf and his house from a Walking Land Creature. In "Chapter 2: The Draugen", Wood Man reluctantly allows Twig on board his new boat, since deer-foxes are believed to bring bad lukc on ships. This fact is also stated by Nicholas when they find the Draugen. Along with Hilda and Wood Man, Twig escapes the Draugen and ultimately lures them to St. Guglows Cemetery so they can reunited with their families there.
In "Chapter 4: The Eternal Warriors", Hilda secretly brings Twig along on a Sparrow Scouts camping trip to the Forest of Nott. On their first night, Twig follows David when the latter wanders off, and together they find Torgund's clan. When David is invited to help them in their fight with the Knudsen clan for the Medallion of Sigurd, Twig tries to stop David, but David goes through with the plan. The vikings get the medallion and use it to become fearless, David included. The effects are eventually reversed however when David is killed in the next battle, and revived with a potion from Sigurd.
Twig's biggest role in Season 2 is in "Chapter 9: The Deerfox". Besides a series of flashbacks that show how Hilda and Twig first met, there's also a plot set in the present where Twig has dreams about his homeworld that signal him that the deer-fox herd is about to return. After Hilda forgets to take him along to help David get his shoes back from a ghost, Twig begins to feel trapped and escapes from the apartment. He instinctively returns to the wilderness, where he encounters a red wolf that sets his eyes on him. Twig is able to elude the wolf for a while. When Hilda and Johanna also come to the wilderness to look for him, Hilda and Twig get rid of the wolf by causing the animal to fall off of a cliff. With the danger gone, Twig leads Hilda to the other deer-foxes, where he reunites with his parents after many years. Hilda is willing to let Twig go so he can be with his own kind again, and for a moment Twig does indeed return with the deer-foxes to the Land of Starlight. He soon comes to regret his choice and returns to Earth to be with Hilda again.
In "Chapter 11: The Jorts Incident", Twig helped Hilda and friends to catch all the Tide Mice at Jorts HQ.
In "Chapter 13: The Stone Forest" Twig ends up in the Stone Forest with Hilda and Johanna after an accident with Nowhere Space, and tries to escape the place with them without getting seen by any trolls. They come close to escaping when they allow themselves to be smuggled outside by Trylla, by hiding in the loot she is transporting with help of a goat. The plan goes south however when the Two-Headed Troll attacks and steals the goat, and Twig is unable to get off in time. The Two-Headed troll thus takes Twig with him to his lair, forcing Johanna and Hilda to follow him back inside. They thus get lost again, but are fortunately helped out by Trylla and Baba. When the two-headed troll captures Hilda and Johanna, Twig attacks the troll despite standing no chance. The thus encourages some other trolls to also stand up to the Two-Headed Troll, and they attack him. This allows Hilda, Johanna and Twig to escape. With help of Alfur, the three manage to find their way out of the stone forest again, and when the Two-Headed troll follows them outside, he instantly petrifies due to the sun. The danger is not over yet as the now petrified troll threatens to crush Hilda and Twig, forcing them to jump of fa cliff. They are saved however by the White Woff.
In the movie, Twig accompanies Johanna on her various searches for Hilda.
At the start of Season 3, Twig goes to Tofoten with Hilda and Johanna. He is not with Hilda and her friends when they end up in the Fairy Mound.
In "Chapter 3: The Giantslayer", Twig accompanies Hilda to find the Faratok tree. When he sees a Giant squirrel, he chases the animal into the tree, and thus leads Hilda and Wood Man (who was taking care of the tree) to the time of the giants.
In "Chapter 5: The Job" Twig goes with Hilda and Anders when they are send to Fort Ahlberg by The Polecat to pick up a package for him. When the truck they are driving gets a flat tire and Anders replaces it, Twig finds a petrified troll with a bell around his nose, and removes it. Along with Hilda, he decides to burry the bell. When they arrive at the castle ruins, they learn the package they were sent to pick up is a chest with gold belonging to the troll they saw earlier. However, Hilda refuses to help to steal it, leading to a fight with the Polecat's other associates Gunther and Garth. Twig fights Gunther. When the troll arrives, Gunther and Garth flee, and Anders mysteriously vanishes.
In "Chapter 6: The Forgotten Lake", Twig goes on a camping trip with Hilda and Johanna. He alerts Hilda to a net in a lake, which turns out to be a magical trap to keep a monster named the Spider Frog imprisoned. When Hilda removes the net, the beast breaks free and runs off with Hilda. Twig and Johanna follow the Spider-Frog to a cave, but there Twig also gets stuck when he tries to break through the Spider Frog's webs. Johanna eventually frees both him and Hilda, but the Spider Frog catches up with them again as they try to flee in their car. Twig tries to fight the beast, but is easily overpowered. The Spider Frog only gives up after he realizes Johanna and Hilda are humans and thus upset his stomach.
In "Chapter 8: The Fairy Isle", after Hilda finds out her father is trapped in Fairy Country somehow, she, Frida, David and Twig secretly go back to the fairy mound in Tofoten to rescue him. This time, Twig does come with Hilda to Fairy Country. They manage to make their way to one of the outer islands, where they find Anders and Victoria Van Gale. As they try to escape, they are seen by The Eyes, and only with great effort make it back to the borderlands. There, they are able to leave the fairy mound when Frida creates a portal using her magic, but Hilda goes back inside when she learns her mom had come to Tofoten and also entered the Fairy Mound to look for her. When Frida can no longer hold the portal open, the Fairy Mound collapses, trapping Hilda and Johanna inside for good. As Frida recovers in Astrid's house, Twig tries to call the other deer-foxes since knows they can also travel to Fairy Country with their light bridges, but his howl is not loud enough, and only ends up angering David, who orders Twig to be silent. After Frida has recovered and uses her magic to make a mental connection with Twig, she learns of the plan and magically amplifies Twig's howl so he can summon his herd. Backed up by his herd, Twig travels to Fairy Country and brings Johanna and Hilda back to the human world.
Twig is last seen watching the Bird Parade with Hilda.
Appearances[]
Season 1 | ||||||||||||
Hilda Opening Sequence: | Appears | |||||||||||
1. "The Hidden People": | Debut | 2. "The Midnight Giant": | Appears | |||||||||
3. "The Bird Parade": | Appears | 4. "The Sparrow Scouts": | Appears | |||||||||
5. "The Troll Rock": | Absent | 6. "The Nightmare Spirit": | Appears | |||||||||
7. "The Lost Clan": | Appears | 8. "The Tide Mice": | Appears | |||||||||
9. "The Ghost": | Absent | 10. "The Storm": | Appears | |||||||||
11. "The House in the Woods": | Appears | 12. "The Nisse": | Appears | |||||||||
13. "The Black Hound": | Appears |
Season 2 | ||||||||||||
Hilda Opening Sequence: | Appears | |||||||||||
1. Chapter 1: The Troll Circle: | Appears | 2. Chapter 2: The Draugen: | Appears | |||||||||
3. Chapter 3: The Witch: | Mentioned | 4. Chapter 4: The Eternal Warriors: | Appears | |||||||||
5. Chapter 5: The Windmill: | Appears | 6. Chapter 6: The Old Bells of Trolberg: | Appears | |||||||||
7. Chapter 7: The Beast of Cauldron Island: | Appears | 8. Chapter 8: The Fifty Year Night: | Appears | |||||||||
9. Chapter 9: The Deerfox: | Appears | 10. Chapter 10: The Yule Lads: | Appears | |||||||||
11. Chapter 11: The Jorts Incident: | Appears | 12. Chapter 12: The Replacement: | Appears | |||||||||
13. Chapter 13: The Stone Forest: | Appears |
Season 3 | ||||||||||||
Hilda Opening Sequence: | Appears | |||||||||||
1. Chapter 1: The Train to Tofoten: | Appears | 2. Chapter 2: The Fairy Mound | Appears | |||||||||
3. Chapter 3: The Giantslayer: | Appears | 4. Chapter 4: The Laughing Merman | Absent | |||||||||
5. Chapter 5: The Job: | Appears | 6. Chapter 6: The Forgotten Lake: | Appears | |||||||||
7. Chapter 7: Strange Frequencies: | Appears | 8. Chapter 8: The Fairy Isle: | Appears |
As one of the main characters, Twig appears in every installment of the graphic novels and Hilda Tie-In Series.
Trivia[]
- Twig's antlers have been said by David to be pointy and were able to hold their own against a hit from a garden spade, implying that they are much stronger than they look.
- In the original publication of Hildafolk, Twig had blue fur, a white underbelly, and white antlers. He can still be seen as such in the hardcover release of Hilda and the Troll, but he was recolored for the paperback version.
- Hilda gave Twig his name based on how his underdeveloped antlers reminded her of little twigs.
- In a community stream on May 21st, 2020 at 11PM ( GMT +0 ), director of television series, Andy Coyle, confirmed that Twig is yet to be a fully grown deer-fox. This was proven correct when "Chapter 9: The Deerfox" showed what adult deer-fox look like.
- The book "Hilda and the White Woff" claims that Hilda first met Twig five years ago, but after she rescued him it wasn't until two years later that he returned the favor and became her pet. The animated series does not state how long ago exactly they met, and both events happened on the same day. The book "Hilda and the Fairy Village" rectifies this with another scene where Hilda recalls how she met Twig that more closely matches the events seen in the series.
- Twig, at some point, signed the paperwork and is able to interact with Alfur.
- Although Hilda has had an animal companion since the very first drawings Luke Pearson made of her, this animal was initially a cat.