Vikingskool is a French-Irish animated series produced by Ireland's world-famous Cartoon Saloon and Samka Productions in France (known for Jamie's Got Tentacles!, Invisible Network of Kids, and Eliot Kid), with the show itself being the brainchild of Norwegian TV producers Gisle Normann Melhus and Frederick P.N. Howard.
In ancient Scandinavia, when gods, trolls, and other Norse legends walked the earth, young Norsemen are sent from across the 12 Kingdoms to attend the remote boarding academy Vikingskool and train as fearsome warriors and great heroes. Central to the show's focus among the students is a misfit trio of 12-year-olds.
These three friends are:
- Erik Forkbeard, whose determination to reclaim his once-proud family's history of legendary heroes far exceeds his competence;
- Arni Weaversonson (yes, that is spelt with two "son"'s), the timid and mild-mannered son of a family of fishermen who would much rather be The Bard than a warrior; and
- Ylva, an overenthusiastic Wild Child literally Raised by Wolves whose feral upbringing has made her a formidable fighter at the expense of her social skills.
While none of the three have all the qualities that make for the greatest of Vikings, their collective traits and The Power of Friendship give them the potential to make it through their school's ruthless curriculum — while getting into and out of plenty of mayhem along the way.
Vikingskool made its international debut in May 2022 on France 4, but has also aired on RTE2 in Ireland, NRK Super in Norway, and SVT Barn in Sweden. Otherwise however, the show's international broadcasting is generally handled by Disney Channel, with many countries also having it available on Disney+.
Vikingskool provides examples of:
- Academy of Adventure: The eponymous Vikingskool. Erik, Ylva, and Arni always manage to find some kind of adventure around their school, from fighting trolls to exploring the haunted chamber underneath to having to prevent an evil god from taking over.
- Action Girl: Ylva is by far the most competent warrior amongst the students of Vikingskool. She's often the one who gets the far less adept Erik and Arni out of scrapes.
- All Trolls Are Different: They're humanoid Rock Monsters that come in many shapes and sizes with different abilities, including Cave Trolls, Ice Trolls, and Pebble Trolls. Most are aggressive, ill-tempered brutes, but the gargantuan Mountain King Torre is a Gentle Giant who befriends the main trio.
- Alpha Bitch: Doomhild fulfills the role, but given the Viking context of the setting, she's instead the daughter of a famous Viking ruler, and rather than a Girl Posse, she's accompanied by Dumb Muscle Urk.
- Always Someone Better: Turid is this to Headmistress Ira. While Ira finds herself stuck with running Vikingskool, Turid gets all the fame and glory as she conducts typical Valkyrie warrior business, like battling monsters and saving people.
- Ambiguously Brown: Arni, who has a strangely dark complexion among all the Nordic characters.
- Ancestral Weapon: Erik carries with him the magic sword of his grandfather Olaf Forkbeard. Him trying to get it to work is a recurring plotline.
- Angry Chef: Mr. Ladler, the school cook, is a surly individual who has little tolerance for any criticism of his food.
- Angry Guard Dog: Or in this case, Angry Guard Goat. Vikingskool has several goats around its grounds that act as guard animals, occasionally using their horns against troublemaking students as well.
- Arc Villain: Loki. His quest to regain his body and the main trio's efforts to foil him are a recurring plotline throughout the show.
- The Bard: Arni is an aspiring bard, but the school also has Ms. Sinews, who teaches most of the non-combat-related subjects at the school.
- Bears Are Bad News: The characters run into angry bears on more than a few occasions.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Mr. Ladler, by default, has his big bushy eyebrows concealing his eyes, in turn emphasizing his surly nature.
- Black Vikings: Arni is an Ambiguously Brown character in a Norse setting.
- Boarding School: The eponymous Vikingskool, of course. The students eat and sleep there, with their parents being wholly absent aside from the occasional mention.
- Breather Episode: Episode 26, "The Time of Trials". After the heart-wrenchingly emotional "Grandpa Goat" and the intensity of "The Hand of Loki", the show opts to end with a comedic episode about the main trio trying to pass their midterms and failing in humorous ways while also chatting a bit about their plans for the upcoming break.
- Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": Meteors are referred to as "skystones".
- Cool Horse: The six-legged horses ridden by the Valkyries, clearly inspired by Sleipnir. These horses can't fly naturally, but rather using magic horseshoes that bind them to their rider. And as one episode shows, the bond between a Valkyrie and her steed is of greater value to a good Valkyrie than even her own life.
- Cool School: The eponymous Vikingskool. What else do you call a school designed after a Norwegian stave church where typically taught subjects include sailing longboats, fighting trolls, and engaging in diplomatic intrigue?
- Cool Sword: Erik carries around with him his grandfather's magic sword. However, he can't get it to work, and his efforts to try and master its powers are a major recurring plot point in the series.
- Deal with the Devil: Loki strikes these with Doomhild and Vargir in his first and final appearance respectively, possessing them as part of the pact to fulfill their desires.
- Demonic Possession: Through the Eyes of Loki, Loki is able to do this with anybody who uses it. Erik, Doomhild, and Vargir all fall victim to it at some point in the series.
- Dumb Muscle: Doomhild's lackey, Urk, a hulking simpleton who does all her dirty work.
- Expy: Ylva has a lot in common with previous Cartoon Saloon characters, Aisling and Mebh. Like both she is a Wild Child, has extremely long hair, is closely associated with wolves, has a habit of Running on All Fours, and has green eyes. Additionally, like Mebh, she's a Fiery Red Head, and like Aisling, she finds herself alone in the world due to having no parents and her unusual nature.
- Famous Ancestor: Erik is the grandson of Olaf Forkbeard, a once-legendary Viking hero who fell into disgrace later in life. Redeeming his grandfather's legacy and becoming every bit as great as he was is a major driver for Erik's character.
- Fiery Redhead: Ylva, who's excited about everything.
- Four Lines, All Waiting: The series has a few major ongoing story arcs occurring at the same time. While Erik's efforts to reclaim his family's once-great name are easily the most heavily focused-on, Arni and Ylva have their own smaller plots in the former's desire to become a bard and the latter's quest to find where she belongs in the world. And these is all on top of the recurring plot of Loki's antagonisms.
- Gasshole:
- Herb trolls have this as their primary weapon, made worse by the fact the little guys come in packs. Erik is unfortunate enough to get caught at ground zero of their attacks twice.
- Arni becomes this in the episode "Battle Cry" as a result of eating some bad cabbage soup. The results are powerful enough that when he's able to drive off a flock of angry seagulls by simply putting a horn up to his butt, and Mr. Hammerson mistakes the sound for the bellowing of a kraken.
- Genki Girl: Ylva is almost never in a bad mood and is always extremely excited and enthusiastic towards anything, even if its fighting trolls or bears.
- Gentle Giant: Torre the Mountain King, an enormous troll said in The Saga of Olaf Forkbeard to have been fought by Erik's grandfather. He turns out to be a pretty nice guy however, and he even ends up befriending the main trio.
- Giant Woman: Valkyries, such as Headmistress Ira, are portrayed as being significantly taller than even the tallest human characters.
- Hellish Horse: The episode "Solstice" features a Mara, depicted as a demonic horse that feeds on bad dreams. It turns out this particular one is being possessed by Loki's spirit.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Vargir performs one in "The Hand of Loki"; to stop Loki from repossessing his body, he imprisons himself in the Vault of Screams, allowing it to collapse on him and subsequently burying both Loki's body and the Eyes of Loki for good.
- Heroic Wannabe: Erik was inspired by stories of his grandfather Olaf's heroism to not only try and redeem his disgraced family's legacy, but also to follow in Olaf's footsteps. And while he has the enthusiasm for the role, his actual abilities leave a lot to be desired (primarily demonstrated through his inability to activate Olaf's magic sword).
- Horny Vikings: Played with. While not a horned helmet is to be seen amongst the cast, the Viking characters otherwise overall fit well with the stereotype of a Proud Warrior Race that get around in dragon-headed longboats. Mr. Hammerson, in particular, fits the popular image of a Rated M for Manly Norseman very closely.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: As part of her general desire to learn where she belongs, Ylva seeks to fit in with her more normally-raised classmates. She initially hides her Wild Child upbringing from them (sans Erik and Arni), and some episodes indicate she's afraid of being viewed as or regressing to a beast.
- Lethal Chef: Mr. Ladler, whose slop and gruel form the students' daily diet. Just don't tell him his food's bad though.
- Lovable Rogue: Subverted by Vargir. While he initially presents himself to the trio as a classic dashing Robin Hood-styled thief (to the point Ylva is implied to develop a crush on him when they first meet), he quickly reveals himself to be little more than a self-centered Small Name, Big Ego Jerkass. He does go through a Heel–Face Turn in "The Hand of Loki" though, culminating in his Heroic Sacrifice.
- Memento MacGuffin: Aside from Olaf's magic sword, Erik also carries around with him The Saga of Olaf Forkbeard, the scroll detailing his grandfather's achievements as a hero. It was hearing tales from the saga that motivated Erik to follow his grandfather's footsteps and become a hero.
- Nature Spirit: The characters occasionally encounter these, such as a pair of clashing wind spirits in "Foul Weather Friends" or an injured forest spirit in "Camp Valkyrie".
- No Social Skills: Due to being Raised by Wolves, Ylva frequently struggles with fitting in amongst her fellow students and finds herself frustrated with understanding others' expectations due to her poor understanding of social etiquette — the same sort that she often unintentionally defies through her animalistic habits.
- Non-Action Guy: Arni. Compared to his fellow students, Ylva and Erik included, he's absolutely unqualified as a potential warrior. He admits his parents sent him to Vikingskool against his dreams of becoming a bard because they believed it would be better for his future.
- The Nose Knows: Due to being Raised by Wolves, Ylva possesses an exceptional sense of smell.
- Only One Name: On account of being Raised by Wolves, Ylva lacks a last name, unlike Erik and Arni. This forms the basis of a major Wham Line when Loki reveals her surname to her.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: The Vault of Screams beneath the school is haunted by a ghost named Magnhild, who is unable to enter Valhalla until she is reunited with her lost weapon.
- The Pig-Pen: Erik has notoriously bad hygiene. It's a family trait apparently, and he's very proud of it ("The Forkbeard Funk", he calls it).
- The Power of Friendship: A key theme of the series. Many of the threats and challenges that Erik, Arni, and Ylva deal with are things that none could handle on their own, but with their collective skills and their loyalty towards and care for one another, the trio always manages to triumph through whatever trials and tribulations they find themselves facing.
- Precocious Crush: Arni is shown to have something of an attraction towards the school's bardic teacher Ms. Sinews.
- Proud Warrior Race: The Vikings are depicted in the show as this, naturally. The entire point of the titular academy is to train Viking warriors.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The main trio themselves. Erik, Arni, and Ylva all fail to conform with or are shunned by Viking society in some way, and none of them are particularly good students. But they manage to achieve much through their shared friendship and are doubtlessly close companions to each other.
- Raised by Wolves: Ylva, literally.
- The Reveal: Ylva's last name is Alfskogan and Mr. Ladler is a Raven.
- Recurring Extra: The show has a small set of regular Viking students (the main trio's classmates) who show up as background characters or get bit roles in episodes. All of them have names (Sven, Brenna, Fang, Harald, and Gunvald), and a few also receive some development as the show goes on.
- Rich Bitch: Doomhild, daughter of a powerful king. Which means she thinks she gets special treatment, fancy toys, and the exclusive right to look down on everyone else. Will occasionally get doses of Laser-Guided Karma, though.
- Running on All Fours: Ylva frequently does this, due to her Wild Child upbringing.
- Sadist Teacher: Mr. Hammerson takes a little too much enjoyment out of giving the students extremely dangerous tests and assignments. He even rewards the students extra points for making the challenges more dangerous to themselves. However, he still does care for the students and will protect them when outside forces threaten the school.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Doomhild often attempts to use her status as a princess to try and get special treatment at Vikingskool. It never works though.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: "The Hand of Loki" reveals Loki's body is buried under the school in the Vault of Screams. Loki himself is currently trapped in a coin called the Eyes of Loki, and his villainous motivation is to find his body and repossess it.
- Sequel Hook: "Grandpa Goat" and "The Hand of Loki" wrap up two of the main recurring plots of the series, that being Erik's goal of redeeming his grandfather's legacy and Loki's attempts to enter the school and find his body, but also provide setup for two new plots — the whereabouts of Ylva's parents and The Reveal that Mr. Ladler is one of the Ravens.
- Ship Tease: Arni receives some with his classmate Brenna as the series goes on.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Ylva, the main female character of the show, has vibrant red hair and green eyes.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Ylva tries this when they get attacked by a bear, but whatever she says just makes it even madder. She also regularly communicates with the school's goats.
- The Spymaster: Ms. Sinews mentions the Ravens and their mythic leader, The Ravenmaster, whose espionage threatens the 12 Kingdoms.
- Tender Tomboyishness, Foul Femininity: Ylva is the excitable and courageous tomboy who is also the most competent warrior of the main trio, while Doomhild is a rude and self-centered Viking princess who bullies the main characters.
- The Time of Myths: The setting appears to be set in such, with places and beings from Norse Mythology being a regular part of the show's world and the characters often interacting with them.
- Top-Heavy Guy: Mr. Hammerson, who has broad shoulders and huge arms, but teeny tiny legs. Most of the male characters who aren't beanpoles like Erik or Arni, honestly.
- Two-Teacher School: Vikingskool has pretty much only 5 faculty members, that being regular teachers Mr. Hammerson and Ms. Sinews, Headmistress Ira, Chef Ladler, and Garrick the groundskeeper.
- Valkyries: The school headmistress, Ira, is one, and she even rides around on a flying six-legged horse. We also meet her sister Turid, and the school itself has a Valkyrie training program, which Ylva participates in.
- Viking Funeral: Two are held in the series - the first for Magnhild in "The Vault of Screams" and the second for Vargir in "The Hand of Loki". Although, with the first one, they don't set the ship on fire, instead letting it go out and sink as the ghost of Magnhild sails it off.
- Wham Episode: "The Hand of Loki" serves as the culmination of the show's recurring Loki plotline. Notably darker and more serious in tone than most episodes, it culminates in the discovery that Loki's body is under the Vault of Screams and sees Vargir performing a Heel–Face Turn and Heroic Sacrifice to stop him for good. And if that wasn't enough, Loki reveals Ylva's last name and hints her parents are still around, while the audience learns in the final scene that Mr. Ladler is an agent of the Ravenmaster.
- Wham Line: Two major ones in "The Hand of Loki".
- The first being Loki revealing Ylva's surname and hinting her parents might still be alive.
Ylva: Spare me the puppet show! There's nothing I want!
Loki: Nothing, Ylva Alfskogan?
Ylva: (shocked) What did you call me?!
Loki: Not even the truth of your name? The riddle of your past?- The second is The Reveal that Mr. Ladler is a Raven.
Ladler: (sending a messenger raven) The pact is broken. Tell the Ravenmaster war is coming. - "What Do They Fear?" Episode: The episode "Solstice" sees Loki trying to learn the main trio's fears by using a Mara to invade their dreams. Through this, viewers learn of Arni's fear of being viewed as stupid, Erik's fear of others taking away his dreams of heroism, and Ylva's fear of regressing into an animal and harming her friends.
- Wild Child: Ylva was Raised by Wolves and eventually brought to civilization by hunters. She still has a lot of the wild in her, such as running on all fours and being able to speak to animals.
- William Telling: A game at the school involves trying to knock turnips off each others' heads.