The Big Four

These teens are here to combine their friendship and their power to save the world from the terrible dangers of Evil and Darkness. Their leader, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third; their healer, Princess Rapunzel of Corona; their Guardian, Jackson Overland Frost; and their archer, Princess Merida of DunBroch. These are the teammates of the Big Four.

Jack Frost
He is a carefree young lad and a mischievous boy who lived with his mother and sister for this years as a human with his loving family that he once knew. He is a mischievous teenage hellion who has no interest in being bound by rules or obligations, and rather instead favors spreading his winter magic for the sake of the personal amusement of himself and children. Despite all of these traits he was born and raised with, Jack is also gentle and generous. Even as a Guardian of Fun and an Immortal Spirit of Winter, Jack Frost sacrificed his own life for his sister who was about to fall into the frozen water and die. And, during his time in the icy water, he was chosen by the Man in the Moon, becoming the all-powerful winter spirit you see before you. By then, 300 years later, he is chosen by Manny to become a Guardian and fight back the Darkness and Evil. And by the time he found his center of what a guardian is, he and the rest of the guardians defeated the evil Boogeyman, Pitch Black, and he became one of the guardians to protect the children with all his heart which is all what the guardians have and is all what the guardians are. And he was a Guardian that protects and gives fun to the children.

In the Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons crossover, many believe that Jack Frost would be the leader or the troublemaker of the Big Four team. Because he is immortal (providing a shadow of wisdom brought from his prolonged life) and has the ability to ride on the wind and travel with the seasons, it is possible that he was able to meet Rapunzel, Hiccup, and Merida before they met each other at a perspective point and time when it all fell into place.

Princess Merida
Princess of DunBroch, the Greatest Archer in the land, first-born heiress to the Clan of DunBroch, and a carefree young lassie who wants nothing more than to be free and choose her own fate, one that will lead her down a path of excitement and adventure. She is the Princess of DunBroch, the older sister of Hamish, Hubert, and Harris (her brothers; wee devils), and the only daughter of King Fergus and Queen Elinor of DunBroch. In her family tradition, it is said that she was forced to marry one of the first born sons of each clan in the family traditions for competing: The Highland Games. But everything changed when Merida met a witch in the forest and asked for a spell that would change her mother (which the spell that Merida bought had actually turned Elinor into a bear instead of changing Elinor's mind about the marriage (and Merida needs to be more specific next time she asks for something like a potion to change Elinor's mind rather than actually turning her mother into a bear)). And by the second sunrise, both she and Elinor were able to fix their mistakes of what they had done and were able to mend their bond of their mother and daughter love between each other.

In the Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons crossover, Merida is the hardcore archer, the warrior of the group, and is fiercely loyal to her friends and will stand up for them in any situation, no matter how dangerous it may be. Merida is not one for romance because she rather follow her own destiny and fate, but some people have her paired up with Rapunzel or Jack Frost, but the pair they say is the popular one is the relationship with Hiccup.

Rapunzel
The Lost Princess of Corona and the wife of Eugene Fitzherbet aka Flynn Rider. Before she was born, her birth mother drank an elixir that was from a magical golden flower (that was able to reverse any sickness, disease, scars and scratches, or able to reverse time to make a person look young again) while pregnant to cure herself of a sickness she had, Rapunzel was born with magical blonde hair that can restore youth and heal the sick and injured, but only when she sang a song to the magic in her hair. But the owner of the flower, Mother Gothel, took her in the middle of the night, because once Rapunzel's hair has been cut, her hair turns brown and looses its magic along with it. So to prevent anyone from learning of the lost princess and her magic ability, Rapunzel was kept imprisoned and locked in a tower her entire life, and her golden hair kept on growing and growing as she reached her 18th birthday. When the wanted thief, Flynn Rider, sneaks into her tower, Rapunzel makes him an offer; he escorts her to the center of the kingdom to see the floating lanterns on her birthday and she gives him back the crown he stole (which actually belonged to Rapunzel when she was born). Soon after she and Mother Gothel came back to the tower, Rapunzel soon learns of her real origins of her past, defeats Gothel, reunites with her mother and father (the king and queen) and lives happily ever after with her husband: Eugene Fitzherbet aka Flynn Rider.

In the Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons crossover, Rapunzel is the sweetheart, the healer, and an emotional support of the group, since she is a loving woman with the sweetest nature anyone can never hurt. And since she is shown to have her long blonde hair with all her magical abilities intact in most fanfiction and fanart, she has the power to heal her friends if they ever were to get hurt during a battle with the enemy, which makes her a valuable asset to the team.

Hiccup Haddock
The Dragon Master, an inventor and the eventual Chief of Berk. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, son of Stoick the Vast and Valka, was the worst viking in the history of vikings his village, Berk, has ever seen before when dragons raided their home. Wanting to prove himself, he invents a bola-catapult that shoots down a Night Fury. Unable to kill the Night Fury because he saw the fear in the Night Fury's eyes, he frees it from its state and later befriends the night-black dragon, naming him "Toothless" for his incredible retractable teeth Hiccup saw. He learns new techniques and skills about dragons while working with Toothless, using his new found talent to become the most popular viking in the village, he then realizes, after his flight with Toothless becomes successful, that everything his tribe ever knew about dragons were all wrong. After fellow dragon-trainee Astrid discovers Toothless, the three of them soon discover the dragon's nest, and they know now that a huge, colossal dragon, that forces dragons to feed it at the cost of their lives, has been behind this mess the entire time. After nearly losing everything, Hiccup and Toothless saves his tribe from the dragon, and loosing his leg because of the dragon, and finally made peace between the vikings and the dragons after saving their lives as they saw Hiccup as a real viking and master.

In the Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons crossover, Hiccup shows more Maturity out of all the team members and has far more experience while being on the battle ground, so that leaves Hiccup as the suitable leader for the team. He is usually depicted as the voice of reason within the group and uses his quick thinking to get his best friends out of sticky situations, dangers, and problems. In fanfictions, fanarts, and other works, he is most often shown to have a romantic relationship being with Merida, though he is not limited to this relationship from the beginning or the start of their first encounter. Toothless usually accompanies him on their adventures or when they go flying in the sky to increase their speed or for fun. He is the brains of the team, making up for what he lacks in having a very special ability or power, and expertise in magic or weapons.

The History of The Big Four
It is unknown when the idea of this crossover sparked, or who started all of this. From what was said from the others, Rapunzel and Merida were the two newest additions to the Disney Princess Lineup, in the moment started the fandom, and Hiccup and Jack Frost are both beloved heroes from their respective DreamWorks movies, which makes them all CGI characters. Before the princesses were added, the fans began shipping Hiccup and Jack together in their own crossover known as How to Train Your Guardian. It is likely the four were matched together because they are all teenagers who had to face similar issues in their films. At the start of the films, all characters want more out of life. Jack wants to finally be seen, Merida wants to break free from her mother's strict control, Hiccup wants to be accepted by his village, and Rapunzel wants to leave her tower to see the lanterns. At times these goals seem far out of reach, but as the movies progress, the characters realizes that what they wanted might not be what they need. So with that said, all four films have wonderful messages within them.

Other than "Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons", there are also other names for the fandom, such as "How to Train Your Brave Tangled Guardian", "How to Untangle Your Brave Guardian" and more prominently, "The Big Four". "Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons" is usually shortened out to "RotBTD". The crossover is popular on many sites, specifically Tumblr, where it seems to have originated. The fandom is young but thriving, and it consists of hundreds of talented fans. Since nothing is canon, other fans have all the freedom to come up with AUs and ideas.

Their Encounter with AUs
Take a look at the AU category for more about other teammates.

Their Encounter with EUs
Take a look at the EU category for more about other teammates.