Based on the graphic novel series by Luke Pearson, Hilda is a popular animated series on Netflix. We
follow the story of a brave girl, Hilda, as she moves to the city of Trolberg with her mother and
her deerfox Twig, where she discovers new friends and fascinating creatures. The cartoon is filled
with many unique characters, but which one of them is the most good and who is the most evil?
I’m Brad with WickedBinge, and this is Hilda Characters: Good to Evil.
Now, this series hasn’t concluded yet, as its third and final season will be released later
in 2023. So, MAJOR spoilers are ahead. If you don’t want any potential twists or plot points
ruined for you, be sure to check out Hilda, and its movie, out on Netflix before you watch this
video. And, believe it or not, there are a lot of characters in this cartoon. So,
we’ll be focusing on the main characters and the most impactful minor ones as well.
Like always, we’ll be starting with the most pure,
noble and heroic characters before working our way down. These characters are The Good.
For our Gold medal of Good, we’re giving it to Twig. Hilda’s loyal deerfox companion is as pure
as they come. Twig has always selflessly been by Hilda’s side ever since she freed him from being
trapped by rocks. Being with Hilda and Johanna is all the payment he ever wants. When traveling with
Hilda, Twig’s willing to fiercely protect her with his life. Some particular highlights are
when he saved her from a mother eagle when she was very little, and then protected her again in the
same area years later when facing off with a red wolf. In that same episode, he had run away from
home because he felt alone and he felt that he had to join the other deerfoxes in a cosmic migration.
Twig initially did join his parents, but he ultimately came back to Hilda when he realized
that she was who he wanted to be with. But he’s also very friendly with her friends as well, as
he frequently joins them on their adventures and aids them whenever he can. In conclusion,
Twig is a very good boy and we can’t think of anyone more deserving to be this high up.
Earning our Silver medal of Good is the titular girl herself: Hilda. Upon first glance,
it might be easy to be deterred by her flaws. Hilda is a free spirit, but also can be bratty,
deceitful and especially reckless. This is hardly surprising because she is a kid,
but she takes recklessness to a whole new level. Hilda frequently makes rash decisions and goes
into insane lengths to get what she wants. However, these decisions almost always come from
a very good heart. Hilda puts herself in danger to help anyone by any means necessary, even when
she shouldn’t and when they don’t deserve it. She helped reunite a giant with his old friend, dealt
with a marra to rid David of his nightmares, and when she put tide mice on both David and Johanna
so that they could have good luck. She does have a few selfish moments as well, like when she wanted
to access the Nowhere Space more and when she had a falling out with Johanna at the end of Season
2. But in the end, Hilda always does the right thing and she stands as a great kid in our books.
Getting our Bronze medal of Good is Hilda’s mother: Johanna. Johanna is a nurturing and fair
mother, but is stern whenever she has to be. She doesn’t always get along with her daughter
but she won’t hesitate to comfort her whenever she’s feeling down. It’s evident that Hilda gets
her good nature from Johanna, but her mother is often more practical and restrained. Throughout
the second season, Johanna’s relationship with Hilda becomes more strained until she
finally calls out her daughter for her deceit and justifiably grounds her. She can be a
little overbearing sometimes, but it comes from a mother’s love. In the movie, Johanna is shown
to be vulnerable but still determined to get Hilda back no matter what. But Johanna isn’t
perfect either because she chose to trust Ahlberg, rather than Frida and David, to get Hilda back.
But mothers aren’t supposed to be perfect and Johanna is a shining example of a loving mother.
Next up, we have Alfur Adric. Alfur quickly established himself as a friendly and diplomatic
elf when he first made contact with Hilda. He helped her find a way to make peace with the
elf kingdom, even when it violated protocol. Even after Hilda’s house is destroyed, he still chooses
to go with her to Trolberg so that he could write reports about the city while living with his new
friend. Throughout the series, Alfur always goes out of his way to be helpful to his friends,
like when he traveled with the raven to help jog his memory, and when he and Twig searched all
over the forest to bring Hilda home. He’s not exactly the most brave elf and he often proved
to be powerless in stopping Hilda from making reckless decisions, but his knowledge, meticulous
note-taking and his good intentions make him a vital and cherished member of the family.
Next up is Tildy Pilqvist. Tildy initially appeared to be just a kind, old woman in
Hilda’s neighborhood. But in the second season, we find out that she actually was a powerful
and wise witch with a sassy side to her. Tildy still is very friendly to Hilda and her friends,
and acts motherly with her former student, Kaisa. She dislikes the draconian rules of
the Committee of Three and occasionally puts them in their place. But when Tildy was younger,
she had a brief encounter with a gentleman and she cast a spell on the magazine that he left
behind. She acknowledged her mistake and aided in preventing the Time Worm from eating Hilda.
Tildy meets the same man, who is actually Hilda’s neighbor, again but doesn’t tell him who she is,
because she knows when to leave it in the past. Her magic is just potent as her good heart.
Next up is David. David initially was very timid and somewhat cowardly, though this was mostly
justified. He also had a short attention span and always had a bug in his hair. David usually
was always reluctant to help his friends in scary adventures, but went along with them
anyway because he cares about them. He also is a lot more judgemental than his friends, like when
he correctly suspected that Victoria Van Gale was hiding secrets both times that he was there. Over
the course of the second season, David gradually becomes more bold and brave,
especially when he joined a viking clan so that he could touch the Medallion of Sigurd
and lose all of his fear. Afterwards, he became a more grounded character,
as he still was cautious and clumsy but not nearly as afraid as he was before.
Next up is Frida. Frida certainly has had her ups and down. When we first met her, she was
mostly concerned with being perfect and staying organized. She befriended Hilda mostly for her own
gain, but quickly warmed up to her after a while. They and David developed a great friend dynamic,
but it grinded to a halt when Frida lost her book. Yet she was not grateful to Hilda or
David when they tried to get the book back and it culminated in a fallout. Frida then made things
worse for herself by befriending the Marras and almost became one herself. Thankfully, she was
able to reconcile with her friends and it only got better from there. Throughout the second season,
she really starts to shine as a character, especially when she starts learning magic
from Tildy. Frida may not always be confident in her abilities, but her intelligence and focused
mind mean that she has the potential to be a great witch and a great friend.
Next up is Bartell. As leader of the Lost Clan, Bartell is a proud warrior who always favors
combat. His family was originally exiled from their land due to having one signature short on
the contract. Bartell was justifiably angry and outright refused to sign any contract.
But yet he is also shown to be amicable and friendly, like when he treated David well
when he was a hostage. After the contract was burned, he has been a loyal ally ever since. He
and his clan played a vital role in chasing the bell-keepers and they even attempted to
trick the elf delegation by swapping Alfur with one of their members. Bartell may always choose
violence as a first option, but there’s no denying that his heart is in the right.
Next up is Kaisa. Kaisa is the librarian who commonly assists Hilda and her friends when
they’re researching magic. We later find out that she is actually a witch who has her own labyrinth
of work studies that lead to a secret society of witches. Kaisa is designated as the keeper of
the books, but also was Tildy’s talented student. She originally had insecurities about her modest
job but she was reassured by Tildy that she had become a success in her own right. One instance,
Kaisa directly helped Hilda, Frida and David take care of the tide mice that had infiltrated Jorts.
She used her magic to suck up the mice with a vacuum and surprisingly worked well with
David. The reason she isn’t any higher on the list is because she was unable to help the kids
when Hilda was turned into a troll, but that was because witch magic didn’t work with troll
magic. Despite that, Kaisa has remained a fan favorite and still remains as a powerful ally.
Next up is Raven. Also known as the Great Raven, he was a prominent ally
of Hilda’s throughout the first season. After being hit with a rock by Trevor,
he lost his memory and had to rely on Hilda to get it back. He forgot almost everything,
including his own name and even how to fly. After being reminded who he was after almost drowning,
he is able to access his true form as a thunderbird. We next see him when he goes
into Hilda’s house to ride out the devastating storm. Despite his clear reservations, he still
takes Hilda and David to the weather station. He then takes Hilda to the center of the storm to
calm down to weather spirits, which wouldn’t have been even possible if he had not flown her there.
He takes David home but still comes back for Hilda and is genuinely terrified when she falls
from the collapsing station. He then proceeds to save Alfur and Twig from the forest giant.
We don’t really see him after Season 1, but we can confidently say that he is one brave bird.
We’re gonna be ranking Trylla next. Trylla is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, she provided
food and shelter to Hilda, Johanna and Twig when they were stuck inside the mountain. But then
she proceeded to use old troll magic to swap her daughter Baba with Hilda. Trylla explained that
she did this to keep Baba safe in Trolberg. It is undoubtedly a selfish action, but it’s done out of
maternal love. Trylla did subsequently treat and care for Hilda as if she was her real daughter,
but was resistant to reversing the spell. Yet she was remorseful for what she had done
and still truly loved Baba. Towards the end of the movies, she not only protected Baba,
but also Hilda and her family from being crushed by the falling debris of Trundle’s death. Trylla
isn’t perfect by any means, but she does show us that there is such a thing as a good Troll.
Next up is Trylla’s little daughter Baba. Baba is the adorable but rambunctious baby troll that
lives with Trylla. When she and her mother first came across Hilda, Johanna and Twig,
she was nothing but friendly towards them. Baba’s innocence is apparent in every scene that she’s
in, yet it’s also apparent that she is quite a handful. She chased a butterfly outside the house
and walked across the street without any social awareness. It isn’t her fault though, since she
was swapped with Hilda without having any say. Her low placement on the list has nothing to do with
her. It’s just that she hasn’t done anything that heroic other than biting Ahlberg’s hand.
This is completely understandable because she’s still a little child. At the end of the movie,
we even feel that Baba has developed a little and adapted to Hilda’s home more seamlessly.
Finishing up this tier, we have Tontu. Tontu is a Nisse who was kicked out of his old home due to a
misunderstanding. He seemed perfectly content with being alone, until Hilda decided to befriend him.
Tontu initially did not enjoy Hilda’s company, as she unintentionally got him into trouble on
more than one occasion. He didn’t reciprocate her kindness for a while, but he did save her
life when they were being chased by the same giant dog that had trashed his original home.
He also saved Hilda and Johanna from crashing into the Trolberg wall by cooperating with Hilda’s old
Tontu to cross into the Nowhere Space. Since then, Tontu has been a helping hand in the
household. He does still Hilda to be annoying, but he has proved to be an crucially important
ally on certain instances. He may be somewhat selfish, but he’s not Hilda’s MOST selfish friend.
Now, we have the characters that walk the line between good and
evil. These characters are in the Grey Area.
First up in this tier is Gerda Gustav. Introduced to us in the second season, Gerda was Ahlberg’s
loyal deputy and assisted him in protecting Trolberg from the perceived threat of the
surrounding trolls. She is a true follower of the law and is genuinely committed to keeping Trolberg
safe. Gerda is actually a more ethical and reasonable person than Ahlberg ever was. She did
almost accidentally drown a few elves with water, but that was under the reasonable assumption that
they were spirits since she couldn’t see them. Yet she was perfectly willing to negotiate with Alfur
when he pretended to be a deputy spirit, and she clearly favored more practical solutions to the
ever-growing troll crisis. Gerda began to slowly resent Ahlberg when he did not value the wellbeing
of Frida and David when they were alone in the forest, and took it upon herself to save them from
the exploding blimp. She still stood on Ahlberg’s side and partook in all of the draconian measures
set by the Safety Patrol. But it is apparent that Gerda has a moral compass, as she wasn’t willing
to let David and Frida be publicized for Ahlberg’s vanity. In the end, she ultimately chose not to
fire at Trundle. And Trolberg is honestly better off with her as the new head of the Safety Patrol.
Next up is the Lindworm. As the lone resident of Cauldron Island, which actually turned to be the
back of a kraken, the Lindworm is content in her decorated botanical home. For a long time, she
was used by elves to burn contracts for them yet she was never given any form of payment for it.
The Lindworm heavily values plants and flowers, but never came anywhere near Trolberg because of
her severe social anxiety. She almost ate Hilda, Frida and Alfur so she would get no more visitors,
but she ultimately agrees to a deal. After she gets some urban flowers, she gladly burns their
contract for them. We see her again after she was falsely suspected of attacking ships at the
harbor. Despite being in imminent danger, the Lindworm refused to leave her island because
she wouldn’t back down from a potential fight with Ahlberg and the sailors. Once the kraken is
awakened though, she promptly stops fighting and ultimately agrees to get David and the elves to
safety. Not the friendliest dragon out there, but she has proven to be a moderately reliable ally.
Rounding up this tier, we have Wood Man. Wood Man is unbelievably selfish and greedy.
Throughout all of his appearances in the series, he primarily uses Hilda for his own personal gain.
He initially just walked into her house, without knocking or any acknowledgement, and just threw
wood in the fireplace just so he could read his book. He didn’t even initially consider Hilda
to be that close to him, but was willing to let her into his home when she was curious about the
giant she saw. Wood Man does occasionally help Hilda find the answers to her problems, gives
out good wisdom from time to time and does now consider Hilda to be his friend. However, he has
also done some egregious and inexcusable actions that put Hilda in grave danger. He once sold her
off to a forest giant when he lost a bet, but that was just so she could steal back the stuff that he
previously lost in gambling. There was also the time that he tricked her into coming along with
him to a ghost ship so that he could steal a coral sextant from the Draugen, which almost
leads to him, Hilda and Twig to be turned into Draugen as well. Wood Man was THIS close to making
it into the evil tier, but he has just enough redeeming qualities to keep him from going lower.
Finally, it’s time to cover the baddies! These characters are the Bad and the Evil.
We’re starting this tier with Trevor. Trevor is just a bully with an even worse mother. He’s
always trying to look cool, but frequently gets mocked and teased by his fellow bullies. We’ll
cut him some slack because he’s still a kid and he hasn’t had a good role model. That being said,
he does have a few standout moments that don’t do him any favors. In the first season he and his
friends first threw rocks at innocent birds and he even landed a hit on Raven. He then locked Raven
in a cage and almost drowned him, though this was accidental. In the second season, he and his
partners-in-crime threw snowballs at Hilda, David and Frida, causing them to spill their vegetable
stew. On top of that, he appears to have little to no redeeming qualities and has only ever acted as
a minor antagonist. But he still is a harmless kid and that’s why he doesn’t rank any lower.
Our Bronze medal of Evil is going to Trundle. As the main antagonist of the movie, he used to be
known as the Mountain King. Long ago, Trundle was able to convince the trolls to unite under
his rule. He wanted to attack Trolberg, but was stopped when other trolls opposed him and his
followers. Trundle was imprisoned in a cave without his eye and bells acting as a gate,
but he successfully manipulated Hilda into feeding him, cutting down the bells and getting
his eye back. He did lie to Hilda, yet he didn’t immediately attack afterward. After leading the
trolls to the city, all Trundle did was break down the wall. He didn’t even fight his own brother,
instead having the other trolls bring him down. Trundle’s plan was evidently to get
the humans to attack him, which was supposed to awaken Amma and destroy Trolberg from beneath.
This plan almost works, as he is shot with the cannon by Ahlberg. The fact that Trundle didn’t
even resist his demise or attack the Trolberg citizens reveals that he wasn’t that malicious.
He may have had ill intent, but his actions pale in comparison to the other antagonists.
Earning our Silver medal of Evil is Erik Ahlberg. As head of the Safety Patrol,
he was the series’ main antagonist by default. Ahlberg portrayed himself as a charismatic and
brave hero who sought to protect Trolberg from the supposedly evil Trolls. In reality though, he
was just an egotistical narcissist who craved the glory and praise from the citizens.
He genuinely believed that the bells were the best way to deal with the trolls, despite those
same bells doing more harm to Trolberg than good. He frequently took all of the credit
for Hilda’s victories, ignored Gerda’s advice on not escalating the troll crisis any further,
and put all of Trolberg in danger when he killed Trundle with the cannon. What’s even worse is that
he didn’t even care that much about the wellbeing for David and Frida when his blimp exploded, which
proved that he only really cared about himself. It can be argued that the vast majority of the
destruction in Season 2 was Ahlberg’s own fault, and it could’ve been so much worse if Hilda hadn’t
forced him into Trundle’s loose red eye. This finally made him understand what the Trolls were
really doing and he made his forces stand down. He then graciously chose to step down from the
Safety Patrol for good, after he won a medal for his genuine bravery. Even without his redemption,
it’s clear that Ahlberg wasn’t a monster. But it’s for the best for him to enjoy his retirement.
And for our Gold medal of Evil, we’re giving it to Victoria Van Gale. Only ever known to Trolberg for
her weather broadcasts, it turns out she was just a mad scientist who was controlling the weather
with her weather station. Actually, calling her a mad scientist would be a massive understatement.
Victoria actually kidnapped a little weather spirit, which subsequently caused a massive
storm to form over Trolberg. She didn’t have any malicious intent, but still took an innocent
being and forced it to power her machine. She almost condemned all of Trolberg’s citizens to a
frosty death, which was only stopped when Hilda convinced the weather spirits to debate more
constructively. But once Hilda found out about the sealed weather spirit, Victoria desperately
pleaded for her to not to release it, even when the weather station was being ripped apart being
a livid weather spirit. After the weather station was destroyed, Victoria moved to an old windmill
and initially appeared to have changed her ways. In reality, she was actually using the windmill as
another destructive machine and even conjured her own artificial Tontu. Victoria’s goal this time
was to access the Nowhere Space and build homes there so that humans could populate there. Her
selfishness almost causes Trolberg to be sucked into a dark abyss, which means that she put the
city in imminent danger TWICE. Victoria ultimately allowed herself to be engulfed by the abyss while
Hilda and Tontu got to safety, so she wasn’t all bad. She truly deserves her fate to be isolated
from the rest of humanity because it’s quite clear that she has not learned her lesson. Her actions
were the most catastrophic in the whole series, so she’s ultimately our Most Evil Hilda Character.
Before we go, let’s give out some sinner medals.
The Darwin Award is going to Victoria Van Gale. While there were some contenders for this,
Victoria’s actions were the most foolish and almost resulted in massive casualties.
The Pride Medal easily goes to Erik Ahlberg. Really, who else could it
have been? Ahlberg is the personification of pride and his actions speak for themselves.
The Greed Medal is won by Wood Man in a landslide. Who else would sell a little
girl just so that she could steal treasure that he lost fair and square? Real classy, Wood Man.
And finally, the Sloth Medal is also earned by Wood Man. He’s, by far,
Hilda’s least helpful friend and he doesn’t even try to hide it either.
But let us know in the comment section if you agree with our ranking, and tell us what we should
cover next! Remember to hit that notification bell and binge our Good to Evil playlist,
where we break down the morality of the characters in your favorite cartoons,
shows and movies. But most importantly, stay wicked!