The Dragon Riders, their name got from the Dragon Academy, are the main protagonistic organization faction of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.
They are Vikings with all have their own dragons, with this idea created at Berk, thanks to Stoick the Vast’s son, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Usually at Berk, but it soon caught on with the locals, and thereafter, the rest of the Barbaric Archipelago.
History
Before the How to Train Your Dragon franchise started, there was already one who managed to train dragons, Drago Bludvist, albeit by force and against their will. After this the dragons became a real threat, and all the Viking chiefs of all the tribes of the Barbaric Archipelago got together to find a solution, in which Drago took advantage to gain power and authority. In exchange for his services, the chiefs of the tribes had to swear allegiance to him and bow down to him. They refused and made fun of him, and for this, he had all of his dragons killed, except Stoick, who before reaching safety saw Drago with another man who had a pair of trained dragons.
Years later the Berkians had started a great war with the dragons, in which Stoick's son Hiccup befriended a dragon, Toothless. He had tried to convince them that dragons weren't evil, but the ratings were rejected and Toothless was captured for them to find the Dragons' Nest. However, it soon became apparent that the Vikings could not defeat the monstrous Red Death alone. Hiccup, along with Astrid and their Dragon Training classmates, acted on initiative and decided to ride dragons as Hiccup had with Toothless. After Red Death was finally defeated, the dragons and Vikings were finally at peace and the war between them ended, and they were accepted as pets.
After this, the Berk Dragon Training Academy was created to increase knowledge of dragons, as well as a means to ride them. And even three Berkians who weren't part of it like Stoick, Gobber and Gustav begin to ride them. During the Flight Ban, Hiccup brought together the group of teenage Dragon Riders to form a secret Dragon Flight Club, with its first rule being "there is no Dragon Flight Club", to the confusion of some of the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. This had to be behind Stoick's back. But very soon after he discovered it, he joined it too.
Many non-Berk Vikings took up dragon riding, although she was originally from Berk, Hiccup's mother Valka also rides dragon and was much more successful in her dragon riding than her. Also, although the ride was probably one-sided, Drago Bludvist has ridden dragons before, including Toothless and his Bewilderbeast, with which he attempted to control all other dragons to conquer the entire world. Eret, son of Eret joined with Astrid and Stormfly after Stoick's death. Even a friend from the TV series, Heather and her older brother (former enemy), Dagur the Deranged, had dragon friends: Windshear, Shattermaster and Sleuther.
One year after Drago's defeat, even though he is dead, the Northern Alliance still continues to capture the dragons of the archipelago, as command has been taken by the Warlords. However, the Berkians continue to save them all and Berk is overpowered by them. However, after the great threat of Grimmel the Grisly, the Vikings sent all their dragons to the Hidden World, after which they would be safe forever.
Legacy
In modern times, however, a new organization of Dragon Riders was formed, composed of four teenagers living at the ICARIS Station. Calling themselves the Dragon Club, they work to guard the secret of the Hidden World and ensure the protection of the dragons within it from any human threats.
