History Main / DragonRider

* ''Dragon School'' by Sarah K.L. Wilson features sixteen-year-old Amel, who has a crushed hip and leg and decides to become a Dragon Rider to provide for herself. Dragon riding is a very dangerous profession where many don't survive the first year of training, so they can't afford to turn her away, but most expect her to falter easy. Raolcan, a very ornery purple dragon, decides he likes her spirit and chooses her as rider.

* ''Dragon Companion'': Thomas Whitehead is just a humble librarian, until he stumbles into a fantasy world, befriends a dragon, and learns that librarians and Dragon Companions are among the highest-ranked individuals in his new world.

* ''The Dragon Masters'': Played with. The humans of Aerlith are at war with the basics, a reptilian race from Coralyne, and both sides have subjected their prisoners of war to genetic engineering and use them as beasts of battle. The human armies ride into battle atop monstrous lizards, while the lizard armies use mutant apes.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'': Donkey accidentally romances a female dragon, [[spoiler:then she escapes from the castle and provides him and Shrek speedy transportation to Duloc.]]

** Of course, the fact that the dragons are ''treated'' as living weapons rather than actual people [[FantasticRacism becomes a major issue]] from the second book onward. For instance, the dragons start demanding payment, work opportunities outside of the military, proper shelter, and the right to not take a captain. This also happens to be the ''European'' mindset toward dragons (though this may be limited to Britain's citizens and non-aerial military divisions). Later books in the series point out that dragons are well-respected and active members of society in China, and that many African tribes view dragons as the reincarnated spirits of their ancestors.
** As with many depictions of dragon riders in fiction, most dragons in this universe do have a strong bond with their captain, which wavers between a close friendship, a parent to their captain, and also their captain's child, a bond strong enough that the threat of harming a dragon's captain is commonly used against dragons to blackmail them into behaving. It's noted that dragon-captains rarely get married because it's hard dividing attention between a jealous dragon and a spouse. Unlike many fictional dragon-rider bonds, it's more like an animal imprint than anything magical or mystical, and some dragons have rejected their captains.

*** In the game's background material it is said that in past ages High Elf Dragon Princes used to regularly ride dragons into battle. In the time-period that the game takes place however, those dragons that remain have entered a deep hibernation that takes exceptional effort to wake them from, forcing the Dragon Princes to ride purebred elven steeds.

* ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer'': Dragons show up as high-tier mounts for certain factions' Lord units: the Warriors of Chaos get mutated, two-headed Chaos Dragons, the Vampire Counts raise [[{{dracolich}} zombie dragons]] to serve as steeds, and the Wood Elves get Forest Dragons, with deer-like antlers draped with moss. The High Elves have the widest selection of dragon mounts, as Princes, Archamges, and common Mages of the Lore of Fire can all ride different dragon variants. The Orcs also get Wyverns, which have two less legs and aren't as large or powerful. These are some of the best mounts in the game, being able to bypass terrain obstacles or enemy units by flying and granting powerful combat bonuses to boot.

** N in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' as well. He flies off/touches down riding on either Reshiram or Zekrom depending on your version at least once during each game.
** In ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]'', the player can fly over the Hoenn region while on the backs of either Mega Latias or Mega Latios. They can do tricks, land anywhere in Hoenn, and even encounter Pokemon in the sky. In addition, at one point they have to ride the [[OlympusMons legendary dragon Rayquaza]] into space to battle Deoxys.

* ''VideoGame/WarcraftII'' has orc dragon-riders. As explained in [[Literature/DayOfTheDragon the novels]], they used an ArtifactOfDoom to control Alexstrasza, the dragon queen, and use her children as mounts.

* ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer'': Dragons show up as high-tier mounts for certain factions' Lord units: the Warriors of Chaos get mutated, two-headed Chaos Dragons, the Vampire Counts raise [[{{dracolich}} zombie dragons]] to serve as steeds, and the Wood Elves get Forest Dragons, with deer-like antlers draped with moss. The Orcs also get Wyverns, which have two less legs and aren't as large or powerful. These are some of the best mounts in the game, being able to bypass terrain obstacles or enemy units by flying and granting powerful combat bonuses to boot.

* "Mythology/{{Solomonari}}": Solomonar or Șolomonar are wizards from Romanian Mythology believed to not only ride dragons, but control the weather; originally just another branch of mystics, over time Christianity demonized them into hail-and-lightning-summoning hell-beast-riders and invented a counterpart, the Master Stonemasons, former Solomonar who gave up the life of a magician in order to live amongst normal people.

* "Mythology/Solomonari": Solomonar or Șolomonar are wizards from Romanian Mythology believed to not only ride dragons, but control the weather; originally just another branch of mystics, over time Christianity demonized them into hail-and-lightning-summoning hell-beast-riders and invented a counterpart, the Master Stonemasons, former Solomonar who gave up the life of a magician in order to live amongst normal people.

* "My life as a Dragon Rider": Downplayed. Basically it involves a farm boy who becomes a dragon rider after he passes the challenge of worth whitch is basically just staying on for a couple of minutes .How did it happen was a he a chosen one [[spoiler:nope he entered a pub and got into a fistfight with a guard .The fight somehow ends on a cliff where the farmboy is kicked over the edge lands on a dragon lands badly and gets stuck between two of its back spikes.]]

* ''Literature/TheElricSaga'': Arguably an {{UrExample}}. The dragons of Melnibone and their riders are pretty much the island's military trump card...though limited by the fact that, by the time the stories are set at least, the dragons need a ''lot'' of sleep for every brief period of activity.

* ''Literature/TheElricSaga'': The dragons of Melnibone and their riders are pretty much the island's military trump card...though limited by the fact that, by the time the stories are set at least, the dragons need a ''lot'' of sleep for every brief period of activity.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' features several types of dragon that can be acquired as mounts. Normally they can't do anything that would make a dragon preferable to any other flying creature (although it does look cool to fly around on a dragon). The latest expansion offers short quests in which players can commandeer a more badass dragon - raining down fireballs and swallowing enemies whole.
** There's also Rend Blackhand, a dragon-riding boss. And in ''Wrath of the Lich King'', a few quests/fights with dragon-riding.

*** During the Second War, as part of the Old Horde they bent red dragons to their service by imprisoning their matriarch Alexstrasza the Dragon Queen. She eventually broke free (as [[SealedEvilInACan sealed objects]] [[SealedGoodInACan in cans]] are wont to do) and crippled the clan during a vengeful rampage.

** The Order of the Cloud Serpent is an entire organization of Pandaren who ride on Cloud Serpents, Pandaria's [[DragonsUpTheYinYang equivalent of Asian dragons]]. Reaching Exalted reputation with them is necessary for you to be able to do the same, even if you have maximum flying skill. The intelligence of Cloud Serpents in comparison to other dragons is variable, as only supernatural ones like Tsulong or Yu-Lon are shown talking, but they're at least implied to be as intelligent as humans even if they can't speak.
** A special item made by the alchemy profession can be used to turn the player character ''into'' a rideable dragon.
** The ''Dragonflight'' expansion added the new Dragonriding mechanic, allowing players to choose from four customisable dragons to navigate the Dragon Isles. It has a bit more of a physics engine than a typical flying mount, requiring players to account for things like momentum, winds and how tired their dragon is before they can get to a particular spot, but can reach ''much'' higher speeds with the right technique and winds hopping.

* ''LightNovel/DragonarAcademy'': Nearly every single character is a Dragon Rider, since it's a school for raising and riding Dragons.

* "Mythology/Solomonari": Solomonar or Șolomonar are [[Wizard]]s from Romanian Mythology believed to not only ride dragons, but control the weather; originally just another branch of mystics, over time Christianity demonized them into hail-and-lightning-summoning hell-beast-riders and invented a counterpart, the Master Stonemasons, former Solomonar who gave up the life of a magician in order to live amongst normal people.

** The ''Dragonflight'' expansion added the new "Dragonriding" mechanic, allowing players to choose from four customisable dragons to navigate the Dragon Isles. It has a bit more of a physics engine than a typical flying mount, requiring players to account for things like momentum and how tired their dragon is before they can get to a particular spot, but can reach ''much'' higher speeds with the right technique.

** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' has the [[BonusBoss Nameless King]], who rides into battle atop a massive wyvern called The King of the Storm. Although the Nameless King is much more dangerous ''after'' you [[BerserkButton slay his mount]].

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fanfiction occasionally makes Harry himself a dragon-rider (most notably ''Fanfic/TheQueenThatFellToEarth'' and its sequel). ''Fanfic/LikeARedHeadedStepchild'' has the entire Weasley clan ride dragons against the Death Eaters, and ''Fanfic/TheParselmouthOfGryffindor'' features a dragon-rider ''GiantSpider''.

** It should be noted that while having Valyrian ancestry is often touted as a prerequisite to become a dragon rider, the exact rules are unknown. Many bastard Targaryen/Velaryon candidates Rhaenyra Targaryen picked during the Dance of the Dragons ended up getting mortally injured or straight up roasted to death attempting to ride previously-claimed dragons, while conversely, Nettles, a lowborn woman with no Valyrian ancestry to speak of, was capable to ride Sheepstealer, a wild dragon that had never been mastered before.

** ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': This prequel series is set 170 years earlier, in an age when House Targaryen was at the peak of its power with many dragons. As of the end of Season 1, dragons and their riders are as follows:

*** Prince Daemon Targaryen rides Caraxes and tries to tame Vermithor so someone else can ride him.

*** Laenor Velaryon rode Seasmoke before his disappearance, leaving the dragon for someone else to claim.
*** Prince Aemond Targaryen rides Vhagar, the only remaining dragon brought over from Aegon's Conquest and the most gigantic still living one at that.
*** King Aegon II rides Sunfyre.
*** Queen Helaena Targaryen rides Dreamfyre.

*** Prince Lucerys Velaryon rides Arrax.

** Following Valyria's downfall, Aegon "the Conqueror" Targaryen and his sister-wives Visenya and Rhaenys unified six of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros by using their dragons to ''melt'' the castle of Harrenhal, burn 4,000 men at the Field of Fire, and offer little King Ronnel Arryn a dragonback ride. As descendants of the former Valyrian Freehold, they were the only family of dragonlords (those Valyrians who could actually tame and ride dragons) who survived, their dragons giving them a distinct edge in the conquest.

** The Valyrians (including the Targaryens) built a massive empire by becoming this.
** Aegon the Conqueror and his sister-wives Visenya and Rhaenys unified six of the Seven Kingdoms by using their dragons to ''melt'' the castle of Harrenhal, burn 4,000 men at the Field of Fire, and offer little King Ronnel Arryn a dragonback ride. They inherited this from the former Valyrian Freehold where their family originated from. Aegon's personal dragon was Balerion "the Black Dread", the biggest dragon ever known. He forged the Iron Throne by melting down the swords of Aegon's enemies. In the books, Balerion's wingspan is said to have been so wide that entire towns fell under his shadow when he passed over. Queen Visenya Targaryen rode Vhagar, the smallest of the original three Targaryen dragons. But, according to a history Davos reads, Vhagar was still large enough to swallow a horse whole.
** Daenerys obviously aspires to be this when her dragons are grown. Like her ancestor Aegon the Conqueror, she will also need two other riders to get the full benefit of her three dragons. This becomes more problematic than she anticipated. The larger her dragons grow, the more difficult they are to keep under control. In the episode "The Dance Of Dragons", she finally takes flight upon Drogon and becomes the first dragon rider in over a century. After being reunited with Drogon in Season 6, she's taken to using him as her primary mount, even riding him into combat to destroy the Masters' fleet besieging Meereen.
** [[spoiler:The Night King becomes one after he kills Viserion and [[{{Dracolich}} raises him as a wight]].]]
** [[spoiler:Jon Snow is able to ride Rhaegal.]]
** King Maegor Targaryen rode his father's dragon Balerion.
** ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': The series is set in an age when House Targaryen was at the peak of its power with ten dragons. Of the riders seen so far there's:
*** Rhaenyra Targaryen, who rides Syrax.
*** Daemon Targaryen, who rides Caraxes and tries to tame Vermithor in order to have someone ride him.
*** Rhaenys Velaryon, who rides Meleys.
*** Laenor Velaryon, who rode Seasmoke before his disappearance, leaving the dragon for someone else to claim.
*** Aemond Targaryen, who rides Vhagar, the only remaining dragon brought over from Aegon's Conquest and the most gigantic still living one at that.
*** King Aegon II, who rides Sunfyre.
*** Helaena Targaryen, who rides Dreamfyre.
*** Lucerys Velaryon, who rides Arrax.
*** Jacaerys Velaryon, who rides Vermax.