History Main / DisasterScavengers

* Quite common in the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' games, and a good way for the PlayerCharacter to make some [[WeirdCurrency caps]] or find good loot. That said, one of the franchise's themes is about rebuilding rather than holding on to the past, [[ApocalypseNot so the setting as a whole is moving away from this]] - new cities have been built out of the ruins of the old, groups like the Followers of the Apocalypse are figuring out how to make medicine out of post-apocalyptic herbs rather than rely on pre-War Stimpaks, while the Gun Runners started as a gang but figured out how to refurbish a gun factory, recycle shell casings, and make fresh gunpowder and propellants. Plus it's been over two hundred years since WorldWarIII, so folks are running out of stuff to scavenge.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rimworld}}'': The early game is all about this, with your only source of several crucial resources being the wreckage left behind by [[UnspecifiedApocalypse whatever caused civilisation on this world to collapse]]. Eventually, if you can hold out long enough, you'll be able to acquire some of those resources by other means and even manufacture some of them locally.

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* The Wormhandlers of ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind''.

* ''Manga/DesertPunk'' (Not to be confused with the trope DesertPunk) has entire ''corporations'' dedicated to finding LostTechnology.
* In ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'', Sword and Blade, after resorting to stealing to survive in their war-torn home, try to rob Metaknight while the latter is running from a demon beast. He then saves them from it and they become his loyal {{Side kick}}s.

* Wasteland has ruin runners, people who scavenge for trade.

* ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead'': This is how ''everyone'' is forced to survive during the ZombieApocalypse, at least those who haven't [[ImAHumanitarian resorted to cannibalism already]]. Food, weapons, vehicles, anything to get through the day. After the two-year TimeSkip, it's downplayed somewhat, as the survivors who have made it this far have reinvented some older forms of production, such as smithing and basic agriculture, mixing it with salvaged technology like solar panels and artillery. [[spoiler: As shown in the DistantFinale, society is eventually rebuilt, making scavenging unecessary.]]

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
* The Non-End variant in ''FanFic/AeonEntelechyEvangelion'' where in the wake of Harbinger battle there are a lot of intact munitions just waiting to snatched and [[ArmsDealer sold off]] to the highest bidder.

* Most of the survivors in ''Film/{{Zombieland}}''.
* In ''Film/LandOfTheDead'' survivors of the ZombieApocalypse from the ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' series have inhabited a city, cleared out the zombies, and attempt to keep themselves supplied through this method.

* After the [[EarthShatteringKaboom destruction of Krypton]] in ''Film/ManOfSteel'', Zod and his crew spend the next 30 years searching for the long abandoned Kryptonian space colonies, hoping to find other survivors. While they find no other living Kryptonians (except the [[Comicbook/{{Superman}} one]] on the Earth), they manage to scavenge equipment such as weapons, armour [[spoiler: and the Black Zero, a Kryptonian [[{{Terraform}} terraforming device]] they later use to attempt to transform Earth into a new Krypton.]]
* This is also what's going on in ''Film/SpacehunterAdventuresInTheForbiddenZone''. On planet Terra-Eleven, where an Earth colony has failed catastrophically after a plague, space salvage worker Wolff finds a gang of scavengers fighting bandits who kidnap the stranded travelers Wolff has come to rescue. He teams up with scavenger Niki to find them.

* In Cormac [=McCarthy's=] ''Literature/TheRoad'', the few survivors of an unnamed disaster have to resort to this to survive, including the protagonist.
* ''Literature/TheSurvivalist'' series by Jerry Ahern. John Rourke and his sidekick stop to salvage ammunition from an abandoned semi-trailer. As they exit the truck they find themselves confronted by a self-appointed militia who declare them looters who will be summarily executed. Rourke kills two of them and forces the others to walk back to their base -- the [[MoralMyopia militia commander is quite outraged at this]].
* How the protagonist of ''Literature/ThePostman'' got his US Postal Service coat and mail bag, which led to people thinking he was a real postman.
* ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'': To some extent, a lot of the characters living in London Underground are Disaster Scavengers, only the disaster is more of a lifestyle. When Richard first meets the Ratspeakers, for instance, they take his stuff and almost kill him. Then a grimy teenage girl befriends him after eating his banana. She would have become a MoralityPet but [[spoiler:dies not long after]].
* In ''Literature/EarthAfire'' the survivors of the ''El Cavador'' (destroyed in ''Literature/EarthUnaware'' by the Formic ship) temporarily sign on with a "crow" ship salvaging the wreckage from another battle between AsteroidMiners and Buggers. On their first wreck they are attacked by less scrupulous "vultures" and barely escape.
* In Literature/TheCulture series novel ''Literature/TheHydrogenSonata'', it is revealed that this vocation that ''entire civilizations'' engage in. Species such as the Liesieden and the Ronte get a technological leg up by scavenging the technology left behind by [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Subliming]] civilizations, and conflicts between scavengers are a considerable source of galactic conflict.

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheAdversaryCycle''. In ''Nightworld'', Hank Thompson finally gets his LaserGuidedKarma when he falls for SchmuckBait set up by members of the Kicker cult he founded. A service station [[ImpersonatingAnOfficer guarded by a policeman]] is selling fuel to those fleeing the disaster in the cities. Thompson has plenty of supplies in his van, so he thinks he'll trade. Instead, he's shot, robbed of everything he has and abandoned for the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that come out at night.

* ''Literature/TheBooksOfEmber'': The Roamers in ''The People of Sparks'' and ''The Diamond of Darkhold'', who explore and scavenge the remains of pre-disaster cities for old items they can use or sell.
* Creator/AlfredBester's "Literature/TheyDontMakeLifeLikeTheyUsedTo": This sarcastic {{novella}} is all about scavenging after the nuclear holocaust ("shopping" by leaving [=IOU=]s) to create a semblance of a normal life. Linda Nielsen works on fixing up an ideal home in the [[http://assets.centralparknyc.org/images/things-to-see-and-do/kerbs-l.jpg model-boat house overlooking the Conservatory Waters]] of Central Park. (The [[https://bikerentalcentralpark.com/content/uploads/attractions/5823a140128bb_alice_in_wonderland_sm.jpg Alice in Wonderland monument]] figures prominently too.) Jim Mayo and his friend Gil Watkins ran a bar and a TV station in New Haven just in case anyone ever came there.

* Done on a galactic scale in ''The UsefulNotes/FermiParadox is Our Business Model'' by Charlie Jane Anders. {{Precursors}} seed the galaxy with life, then wait in cryogenic sleep while the created species gains sentience, mines their world for metals and radioactive material, then [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves kill themselves off]], so they can come in after the radiation has died down and salvage all the minerals they've dug up. They're rather embarressed when humanity remains alive long enough to make FirstContact.
* This is what europeans did during the hard years in ''Literature/WorldWarZ''. They scavenge the near fields during winter in order to prepare for the summer.

* The "S" in ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'' stands for Scavenger.
* The viewpoint character in ''VisualNovel/{{Planetarian}}''.
* ''VideoGame/Warzone2100'''s plot initially revolves around searching for and salvaging pre-[[ApocalypseHow Class 2 Collapse]] military technology, but unlike a typical ScavengerWorld you're collecting it in order to reverse-engineer it and manufacture it yourself.
* The zombie apocalypse genre game ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' feature a few large groups of these as act's antagonists, one particular major group even ''[[ImAHumanitarian killing civilians or tourists who are not part of their group to shore up diminishing food supplies.]]''
* While everyone is this to an extent in ''VideoGame/{{Metro 2033}}'', special note goes to the foolhardy souls who make it their life's work to go into Moscow Above to loot things from the blasted ruins. The game outright calls them 'Stalkers' in reference to the film and game series, and their corpses will be your lifeline for ammo and filters on most of the outside levels.
* ''VideoGame/NeoScavenger'' has this as one of its core mechanics.
* In ''VideoGame/TheReckoning'', small parties of low level units named "Scavengers" travel endlessly back and forth between points of interests and castles / towns (they're basically the mod's version of villagers from [[VideoGame/MountAndBlade the unmodded game]]). It's also used as a gameplay point: exploring said points of interest allows to gather supplies, which can then be sold or exchanged for troops.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda:'' A mission on Voeld has Ryder encountering two turians engaging in some of this. If Jaal is present, he [[TranquilFury quietly but angrily]] calls them out on what they're doing. One of them happens to be suffering an attack of conscience, and hands over what they'd found to Ryder.
* ''VideoGame/{{Sheltered}}'': Family members can be sent out into the wasteland to find things like food, medicine, and whatever else they'll need to survive.

* ''VideoGame/{{Undying}}'': [[PlayerCharacter Anling]] will need to search garbage cans and wrecked cars for items needed to survive.

* ''{{VideoGame/Rebuild}}:'' Scavenging is a major part of the early game, when your fort can't produce enough food to feed its population, letting you raid stores and buildings for food and supplies. The higher a survivor's Scavenging skill (which increases when sent on those missions, even if only to protect the scavengers), the higher the chance that they'll find a stat-boosting item while on a scavenging mission.

* The Exiles from ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}''.
* The crew of {{Webcomic/Leftovers}}
* The main character in {{Webcomic/Derelict}}

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

[[folder: Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* Subverted in Literature/TheAdversaryCycle by F. Paul Wilson. In ''Nightworld'' Hank Thompson finally gets his LaserGuidedKarma when he falls for SchmuckBait set up by members of the Kicker cult he founded. A service station [[ImpersonatingAnOfficer guarded by a policeman]] is selling fuel to those fleeing the disaster in the cities. Thompson has plenty of supplies in his van so he thinks he'll trade. Instead he's shot, robbed of everything he has and abandoned for the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that come out at night.

* The Roamers in ''Literature/ThePeopleOfSparks'' and ''The Diamond of Darkhold'', who explore and scavenge the remains of pre-disaster cities for old items they can use or sell.

* The protagonists of ''Series/DayOfTheTriffids'', but Coker does point out the ElephantInTheLivingRoom and eventually forms a community on the Isle of Wright so people have the time to study how to make things instead of just salvaging them.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia "Utopia"]] has the Futurekind, who haunt the wastelands outside the bunker trying to capture humans to eat.

* How the children have survived for over 300 years in ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Star Trek]]'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E8Miri Miri]]". Kirk and his team note that the surviving canned goods are starting to run short and that the children will soon starve to death unless they intervene.

This is what europeans did during the hard years in ''Literature/WorldWarZ''. They scavenge the near fields during winter in order to prepare for the summer.

A staple of {{Scavenger World}}s set AfterTheEnd, the Disaster Scavengers are just that, people who have resorted to scavenging for food, clothes, and supplies from the rubble of their once prosperous world. While most heroes in these settings are Disaster Scavengers to an extent, they differ from rank-and file-scavengers because they haven't given up on the dream of a better world.

* [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} Sword and Blade]], after resorting to stealing to survive in their war-torn home, try to rob Metaknight while the latter is running from a demon beast. He then saves them from it and they become his [[SideKick loyal sidekicks]].

They usually get into conflict with heroes like TheDrifter by [[MuggingTheMonster trying to steal]] his RareGuns. He invariably catches the thief and gets his things back, and more often than not befriends the thief, usually a grimy child survivor, and getting a MoralityPet and SideKick out of it, who can also [[CharacterWitness vouch for him]] with the rest of the UntrustingCommunity. Sweet!

* Done an a galactic scale in ''The UsefulNotes/FermiParadox is Our Business Model'' by Charlie Jane Anders. {{Precursors}} seed the galaxy with life, then wait in cryogenic sleep while the created species gains sentience, mines their world for metals and radioactive material, then [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves kill themselves off, so they can come in after the radiation has died down and easily salvage all the minerals they've dug up. They're somewhat embarressed when humanity remains alive long enough to make FirstContact.

** Easy Pete, a character you meet early on in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', prefers the more charitable appellation of "Prospector", both to tie in to the "Post-Apocalyptic Western" vibe New Vegas is going for, as well as to differentiate between folks looking for usable tools, medicine, and weapons, and ''other'' folks looking for junk that can be repurposed. Being a former Prospector, Pete was of the opinion that none of the stuff ''he'' ever found was junk, and sure enough you can find Prospectors and their claims all over the Moh
jave.