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General
The Dragon Hunters are a group of Vikings that make their debut in Race to the Edge.
- Early-Bird Cameo: While they didn't appear until Season 2 of Race to the Edge, their insignia appeared on the Reaver, an abandoned ship that Hiccup and the others investigated in Season 1.
- Evil Poacher: They hunt dragons for resources and profit, but they're not your run of the mill Great White Hunters. These guys have tactics and equipment that prove that eventually, humans could wind up driving dragons to extinction.
- Good Taming, Evil Taming: In contrast to the Defenders, the Dragon Hunters not only capture and sell dragons for parts, but they also use live dragons for labor. Forcing them to fight in gladiatorial arenas for entertainment, using Quakens as wrecking balls, chaining a Submaripper to the sea-bed to obstruct Berk's trading routes, attaching the Shellfire to a warship, etc. Because of their objectifying behavior, this backfires on them every time.
- Knight of Cerebus: Things generally get much darker when they show up, especially Ryker and Viggo. Among other things, Viggo is the first antagonist to have someone explicitly killed, even if we only hear it.
- Outside-Context Problem: While they are regular humans, their tactics and gear throw the Dragon Riders off significantly. When finding an abandoned ship of theirs, Hiccup remarks that he's not seen anything like that for some time. They are also the first enemies the Riders have faced that actually have knowledge of dragons.
- Pirates: Though they initially come off as highly organized poachers, as the series goes on they're revealed to operate more like a massive fleet - if not a small nation - of pirates, albeit ones that mostly focus on dragon-related booty: harassing traders and shipping lines, plundering ports, and smuggling weapons and treasure. Ports in which they have a lot of influence invariably become Wretched Hives full of thugs and corrupt deals.
- Siblings in Crime: Two brothers.
- Villain Decay: When they were first introduced in Season 3, they were treated as the greatest threat faced by the Dragon Riders so far. In addition, their dragon-hunting weapons and specialized tactics typically forced the Riders to either improvise or come up with a way to outsmart them. Come Season 5-6, where they have been reduced to The Usual Adversaries, and the Riders are able to take them out as easily as they did with their other enemies. In addition, their dragon-hunting equipment becomes gradually less effective as the series goes on. To some degree justified, as the Riders learn to exploit their weaknesses and most of the hunters aren't smart enough to adapt their equipment in return unless their leaders tell them what to do.
Ryker Grimborn
Appearances: Dragons: Riders of Berk
Voiced by: JB Blanc
The oldest of the Grimborn brothers, he takes charge of the main Hunter armada and scours the archipelago in search of dragons to turn into profit. He also has an interest in the Dragon Eye, which is a family heirloom of his.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: A calm professional who knows dragons inside out and is. For example, he was able to identify Stormfly's dragon species just by the smell in the air.
- Bad Boss: Frequently violent towards his men.
- Bald of Evil: Not a hair on his head and pretty evil.
- Brains and Brawn: The brawn to his brother's brains, though he's plenty intelligent himself - indeed, with the possible exception of Alvin and occasionally post Time Skip Dagur (who's less a strategist, more excellent at manipulating Hiccup), he's the smartest of Hiccup's adversaries until Viggo shows up.
- The Brute: Isn't stupid, but his main role is an enforcer and physical threat to contrast his brother's various mind games.
- Bows Versus Crossbows: He uses a Dragon Hunter bow that shoots Dragon Root arrows to knock dragons out.
- Burial at Sea: He is last seen being drowned by the weight of the detached Shellfire ship into the mouth of a Submaripper.
- Cain and Abel: Averted. The season six finale has Ryker and Viggo having a falling out with Ryker seizing control of the Dragon Hunters. At first, it looks like it might be a trick, but it is confirmed by Viggo's line of Hiccup helping put Ryker "back in his place". However, while Viggo may have had a falling out with Ryker, both now willing to kill one another and the former is helping out Hiccup and the Riders, Viggo is still an enemy, as he used Astrid as to get the Dragon's Eye from Hiccup.
- Cold Sniper: A master marksman.
- Cool Sword: Ryker wields two blades made of dragon-proof metal.
- Deadpan Snarker: From time to time. For instance, when Dagur tells him not to get crazy...You are talking to me about crazy?
- The Dragon: To Viggo, as Ryker is the Number Two of the dragon hunting business.
- Dragon Ascendant: So Viggo would have us believe in "Shell-Shocked Part 1." He claims that Viggo finally snapped in his obsession to take down Hiccup - which, to be fair, is entirely plausible at this point.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite how his brother treats him, he cares about him because they're family, though this is later subverted when he betrayed Viggo and even became fine with killing him. He also seems to care about his cousin, Lars, who is also part of their dragon hunting team.
- Even Evil Has Standards: When Dagur asks if Ryker could defeat his brother, Ryker says he could and it would be easy, but he won't. Why? Because you don't harm family. He says this with such conviction it actually affects Dagur.
- Evil Counterpart: To Astrid. Like Astrid, he is the more physically capable Number Two to a genius yet physically weak leader (Ryker to Viggo, Astrid to Hiccup), who, nonetheless, is quite intelligent in their own right.
- Genius Bruiser: Shown to be more muscular than his brother and one of the bulkier characters, after Stoick and Alvin, he is shown to be strong enough to handle his foes. He also stated about his strength that he can easily hurt his brother. For the "Genius" part, while he's not as great compared to his little brother, he appears to know a lot about dragons, as he claims to his men that dragons are smarter than they appear. As he is able to come up few ideas against the Dragon Riders that seem to work out and knowing that the riders were acting to be captured on the ship, he is also a good tactician, where he outsmarted Hiccup several times. No wonder why Hiccup thought Ryker was the leader of the Dragon Hunters.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a scar underneath his right eye.
- I Lied: When the hooded Bounty Hunter brings Hiccup to Ryker for the reward, he reveals that the gold he promised was actually just a bag of rocks, intending on taking Hiccup without paying.
- Meaningful Name: "Ryker" means "strength" and "rich", referring to him being a Genius Bruiser and desiring money, respectively.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: His aforementioned speech about family inadvertently causes Dagur's Heel–Face Turn.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Despite being bald and more muscular than Viggo, they do share a remarkable resemblance that is seen in their skin complexion, eye shape, and similar jaw structure.
- Undying Loyalty: To his brother, because he's family - even if he doesn't like him very much. This seems to fray in Series 6, however, as Viggo increasingly starts to lose it.
- Unflinching Walk: A big fan of doing this.
Viggo Grimborn
Appearances: Dragons: Riders of Berk
Voiced by: Alfred Molina
The younger of the Grimborn brothers, he is a master of both psychological warfare and mind games. Devious and a brilliant tactician, he is the brains of the Dragon Hunters, directing them from behind the shadows.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Deconstructed. Viggo is the younger sibling between him and Ryker as well as the head of their dragon-hunting business. However, their relationship is strained thanks to the former's Insufferable Genius nature, treating the latter as nothing but Dumb Muscle. And their relations only worsen with Hiccup and his friends defeating them more often. As such, the two end on nasty terms with Ryker betraying Viggo.
- Arch-Enemy: An evil match to Hiccup in brains, especially after Dagur's Heel–Face Turn.
- Awesome McCoolname: Viggo Grimborn. As Tuffnut states, "Scary, but cool."
- Bad Boss: He doesn't believe in forgiveness, but he is certainly willing to let you think he is.
- Beard of Evil: The classic neat goatee, in a contrast with Dagur's growing Beard of Barbarism.
- The Beastmaster: Is able to subdue most dragons due to extensive knowledge of them. In last season of Race to the Edge, he tamed Skrill without any difficulty whatsoever.
- Brains and Brawn: The brains to his brother's brawn, though Ryker is plenty intelligent himself.
- Brainy Brunette: Has brown hair and is frighteningly intelligent.
- Cain and Abel: Averted. The season six finale has Ryker and Viggo having a falling out with Ryker seizing control of the Dragon Hunters. At first, it looks like it might be a trick, but it is confirmed by Viggo's line of Hiccup helping put Ryker "back in his place". However, while Viggo may have had a falling out with Ryker, both are now willing to kill one another and the former is helping out Hiccup and the Riders, Viggo is still an enemy, as he used Astrid as to get the Dragon's Eye from Hiccup.
- The Chessmaster: He is an excellent manipulator and strategist who seems to think of everything as if it were a chess game.
- Complexity Addiction: In contrast to many of the rider's foes, Viggo's schemes have several steps, relying on Batman Gambits and Reverse Psychology to stay several steps ahead of Hiccup and his allies.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Viggo is patient, creating elaborate plans that succeed in manipulating Hiccup and leaving the dirty work for his brother, as opposed to Dagur and Alvin, who used short-termed plans and was always at the front lines of the assault. In the beginning, he also contrasted them in that he had no personal reasons for antagonizing the Riders other than for business purposes (Alvin holding a grudge against Stoick, and Dagur holding a grudge against Hiccup).
- In "Shell Shocked Part 1", Hiccup finds Viggo begging for his help, his brother had apparently betrayed him, taken his tribe and resources and is willing to negotiate a truce if he could help him (not unlike Alvin the Treacherous). What makes this different from Alvin's predicament was that the betrayal was all an elaborate ruse Viggo orchestrated, ending with both Viggo and Ryker dying instead of peace being made.
- Cool Sword: Viggo has a large sword he carries on his back. He often uses it to threaten or imitate others. Later, in his final appearance, he gets his own Flaming Sword.
- Crying Wolf: After lying about his Heel–Face Turn in "Shell Shocked Part 1", Hiccup is understandably skeptical when he (sincerely) does it again in "''Triple Cross''".
- Curtains Match the Windows: He has brown hair and brown eyes.
- Deathbringer the Adorable: Before being introduced onscreen some attention is paid to his fearsome reputation and how ominous the name Grimborn is. When he first appears Dagur and Heather exchange a wordless look of surprise that the physically unimposing man talking about games is the feared leader of the Dragon Hunters.
- Disney Villain Death: Viggo is last seen careening into the Dragon's Edge's reignited volcano. The next season reveals he survived.
- The Dreaded: Viggo is feared by his own men and his brother Ryker. He has also become one of the Dragon Riders' most dangerous adversaries.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He's quite unhappy about his partnership with the sadistic Krogan, seen especially when he saves a henchman from falling into lava. The man is surprised, as Krogan would have let him fall, and Viggo spits out in disgust, "I know what Krogan would have done.".
- Evil Brit: Wants to wipe out all the dragons, and, inexplicably, speaks with an RP accent, while his brother speaks with a Scottish accent.
- Evil Counterpart: To Hiccup. Both rely on brains rather than brawn and are expert strategists. However, Viggo is basically what would happen if Hiccup had none of his morality, vision of the world, or respect for Dragons. Also, while Hiccup is a dragon rider who would never abandon his friends unless he had no choice, Viggo is a dragon hunter who merely states that "no one is irreplaceable". His last appearance makes this even more obvious, what with him being even equal Gadgeteer Genius and being effortlessly able to tame one of most aggressive dragons there is.
- Facial Horror: The left side of his face is mildly scarred after he falls in the Edge's volcano, including his eye being blinded. However, his overall look hasn't changed much.
- Fatal Flaw: Being an Insufferable Genius, as Hiccup notes in "Defenders of the Wing, Part 1". Viggo's penchant for telling others how much smarter he is than them was not only a reason for Dagur's Heel–Face Turn, but also the reason for his own brother turning against him.
- Faux Affably Evil: He's invariably softly spoken and polite, but he's also sadistic enough to let a minion who temporarily pawned off a dragon hide to get food think he's being forgiven before having him killed off-screen, he treats his (actually quite smart) brother like an idiot and openly enjoys hunting people.
- Flaming Sword: In his final appearance in the episode Triple Cross, Viggo now owns his own version of Inferno, complete with a rear hilt mounted gas release system, presumably an idea Hiccup borrows in his later versions. The pair even fight using their fire swords! Viggo stated he created his own fire sword after witnessing Hiccup’s. He had some improvements like to generate Hideous Zippleback Gas from the other end. This is probably where Hiccup was inspired to add this feature to his dragon blade, Inferno.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Most of contraptions and projects done by Dragon Hunters are probably from his mind, such as Project Shellfire. He also replicates and improves upon Hiccup's Inferno sword.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has claw-shaped scars on the lower right side of his neck. He later gains burn scars over most of the left side of his face.
- Heel–Face Turn: After having his life saved by a Monstrous Nightmare in RTTE Season 6.
- I Don't Pay You to Think: A common thing Viggo brings up to Dagur and Ryker whenever they want to share an idea.
- Ink-Suit Actor: His hair and beard is based on Alfred Molina's likeness in the film The Sorcerer's Apprentice, where Molina also co-starred with Hiccup's actor, Jay Baruchel.
- Insufferable Genius: Deconstructed. Viggo is quite intelligent and is well aware of this fact, as he mocks the brains of his brother, subordinates, and anyone he considers less of an equal. Over time, this not only plays into his later defeats but also causes Ryker to betray him along with the other hunters.
- A Lesson in Defeat: Viggo openly invokes this as he uses the very cauldron Hiccup and Fishlegs used to enter the Defender's volcano to find the Dragon Eye. He even warns Krogan not to underestimate him.Viggo: I have found, Krogan, that it is important to draw inspiration from those who have bested you. Hiccup's ingenuity, it's fascinating. The boy has invented things most could only dream of.
- Lesser of Two Evils: Viggo takes on this role when Krogan takes charge. While both are Bad Bosses, Viggo only ever killed his own men if they have ever tried crossing him in any way (like when one of his men tried selling one of his pelts behind his back), even in spite of seeing his men as expendable. This seems to have lessened in severity after his near-death experience after "Shell Shocked Part 2", briefly turning back from getting the Dragon Eye to save his companion from falling into the lava. Even after his defeat, Viggo has always seen Hiccup as a worthy opponent, having learned never to underestimate him. Krogan, on the other hand, has no qualms about killing his underlings for failure, speaking out against him, they're not as efficient as other minions, the most expedient way to get a job done, etc, and sees Hiccup merely as an obstacle rather than a legitimate threat.
- Manipulative Bastard: Plays Hiccup and Heather like a harp.
- Meaningful Name: "Viggo" means "war" or "battle". And he puts the Riders, notably Hiccup, through a battle of wits in their war against keeping dragons safe.
- No, Mister Bond, I Expect You To Dine: Pulls this on a number of characters, prominently Ruffnut.
- Out-of-Character Moment: When venturing into Dragon Edge's volcano accompanied by another hunter, Viggo was within a short distance of the Dragon Eye, but took the time to save his companion from falling into the lava. Keep in mind that this is the guy who was willing to infect his own men (and possibly the rest of the Archipelago) with the fatal Scourge of Odin with the intent of profiting off of the cure.
- Redemption Equals Death: After he's abandoned by Johann and Krogan and has his life saved by a dragon, he teams up with Hiccup against them and ends up sacrificing himself to cover Hiccup's escape.
- Sanity Slippage: In Season 6, it shows that Viggo is becoming more and more frustrated by Hiccup's interference, dedicating more time and effort in fighting them off and concocting elaborate plans to kill them. This is most evident with his behavior towards his brother, grabbing him by the throat more than once.
- Shipper on Deck: Downplayed. It was more about Viggo trying to get inside and mess with Hiccup's head, but he was aware of the young dragon rider's love for Astrid.
- A Sinister Clue: He's left-handed and a dragon-hunting villain.
- Smart People Play Chess: Or the local equivalent, Maces and Talons.
- Smart People Speak the Queen's English: Has a moderate accent and is the most intelligent villain in the series.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: He's not particularly sadistic, but he's certainly willing to let someone who stole from him believe he's about to be shown mercy before having him disposed of, and he does seem to enjoy chasing people down.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Despite having a head full of hair and being leaner than Ryker, they do share a remarkable resemblance that is seen in their skin complexion, eye shape, and similar jaw structure.
- Terms of Endangerment: Tends to refer to his enemies as 'My dear'.
- Villainous Breakdown: Over the course of Season 6, as Hiccup starts to dismantle his organization more and more, and his plans start to fail. His behavior becomes more violent and unstable (see Sanity Slippage), and his plans and reasoning start to suffer as he becomes more fixated on killing Hiccup. He even ditches the "game" entirely for a while, hiring bounty hunters to try and kill Hiccup directly instead. Meanwhile Ryker takes note of this and uses the opportunity to overthrow him. When Hiccup defeats Riker, destroying the Grimborn fleet and their superweapon, Viggo is left with nothing and is ultimately reduced to scrambling after the one asset he has left, so desperately and without composure that he literally leads himself off a cliff.
- Villain Respect: Is both slightly surprised and deeply impressed when he realizes that Hiccup figured out his play with the Typhoomerangs and instead of flying around the back flew down the middle of the vortex of their flames. Mostly, he seems pleased that he has a Worthy Opponent to go up against.
- Worthy Opponent: Sees Hiccup as this, openly expressing the hope that they'll go head to head again. Becomes even more apparent in Season 7 where he uses technology created by Hiccup to descend into Edge's volcano while saying he likes to learn from those who bested him and even warns Krogan that Hiccup is a real threat to their plans even if it does not seem like it.
