History Main / DisasterScavengers

** Easy Pete, a character you meet early on in ''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 Mohave.

* The sarcastic novella ''[[https://www.goodreads.com/ebooks/download/8355843?doc=18703 They Don't Make Life Like They Used To]]'' by Creator/AlfredBester 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 model-boat house overlooking the Conservatory Waters of Central Park. Jim Mayo and his friend Gil Watkins ran a bar and a TV station in New Haven just in case anyone ever came there.

** Easy Pete, a character you meet early on in ''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 Mohave.

* 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 Stimpacks, 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 "Prospectors" are running out of stuff to scavenge.

* The sarcastic novella ''[[https://www.goodreads.com/ebooks/download/8355843?doc=18703 They Don't Make Life Like They Used To]]'' by Creator/AlfredBester is all about scavenging after the nuclear holocaust ("shopping" by leaving IOUs) to create a semblance of a normal life. Linda Nielsen works on fixing up an ideal home in the model-boat house overlooking the Conservatory Waters of Central Park. Jim Mayo and his friend Gil Watkins ran a bar and a TV station in New Haven just in case anyone ever came there.

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->''"…did you ever try to put a broken piece of glass back together? Even if the pieces fit, you can’t make it whole again the way it was. But if you’re clever, you can still use the pieces to make other useful things. Maybe even something wonderful, like a mosaic. Well, the world broke just like glass. And everyone’s trying to put it back together like it was, but it’ll never come together in the same way."''
-->-- '''''VideoGame/Fallout3'''''

* Rampant in the ''MadMax'' movies. Complete with scavenger sidekicks, with conditions growing progressively worse with each succeeding film.

* After the [[EarthShatteringKaboom destruction of Krypton]] in 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.]]

* Half the population of the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' world. It can often be necessary to survive/a good way to make money for a player character.
** Of course several factions have picked themselves up and are starting to make things again.
** Take the Gun Runners, who started out as any other gang. They found a gun factory and started to make weapons based on the old schematics and using the old materials. When the supplies ran out, they learned how to recycle old bullets, shell casings and scrap metal, and make gunpowder/propellants.
** Others like the Followers of the Apocalypse can make medicines out of herbs and other such naturally recurring things.
*** In fact a theme of Fallout is about rebuilding, those that stick to scavenge will only have a slow death.

Contrast NobleShoplifter. In a CosyCatastrophe, this character is likely to be TheScrounger. If multiple groups come into conflict, you'll have an ArchaeologicalArmsRace on your hands.

"Scavenging" tends to include stealing as well, and Disaster Scavengers are capable and willing to steal anything that isn't nailed down or on fire, even if it's vital to beating the BigBad or [[CosmicKeystone restoring the world]]. The result is that they end up making things worse by creating mistrust and animosity, hampering any efforts to rebuild their community and set the world right, dooming themselves and others to dying in droves.

* NeoScavenger has this as one of its core mechanics.

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* In ''[[Literature/EndersGame Earth Afire]]'' the survivors of the ''El Cavador'' (destroyed in ''Earth Unaware'' 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.

** Parodied in the ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' during their ''FistOfTheNorthStar'' {{Homage}} with the character Pad.

* Bat from ''FistOfTheNorthStar'' fit this trope for the beginning of the series. Despite being a RunningGag for the first couple of episodes, the kid grows out of this character trait and becomes Kenshiro's {{Sidekick}}.

** The Jawas' way of life as shown in ''Film/ANewHope''. They pick up lost droids and wrecked ships components, at least when they don't steal stuff.

* Rey starts out as this in ''[[Film/TheForceAwakens Star Wars: The Force Awakens]]'', trading scrap taken from wrecked Star Destroyers and X-Wings for food. Her home is a wrecked AT-AT.

* Lampooned in an episode of ''TheGoldenGirls'', when the cast is taking shelter at a local TV station during a hurricane. Blanche empties all of the soda and snack machines, explaining that whenever there's a disaster, someone always does that to create a scarcity so they can re-sell the food items at a grossly inflated price "and I decided that this time, that someone would be me."

* In the {{Series/Supernatural}} episode, "The End", Dean Winchester meets [[FutureMeScaresMe his future self]], who leads a group [[spoiler: survivors of the Apocalypse]]. He is told by [[spoiler: Prophet of the Lord]] Chuck to "hoard toilet paper like it's made of gold."
* In one DisasterMovie of the Week (whose plot I won't bore you with) the protagonists trying to refuel at a service station while getting out of Dodge, only to find it's owners are RightWingMilitiaFanatic-types charging inflated prices.

* The zombie apocalypse genre game ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' feature a few large group of these as act's antagonists, one particular major group even ''[[ImAHumanitarian killing civilians or tourists not part of their group to shore up diminishing food supplies.]]''

* ''Warzone2100'''s plot initially revolves around searching for and salvaging pre-[[{{ApocalypseHow}} Class2 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 ''TheLastOfUs'' feature a few large group of these as act's antagonists, one particular major group even ''[[ImAHumanitarian killing civilians or tourists not part of their group to shore up diminishing food supplies.]]''

* The viewpoint character in ''{{Planetarian}}''.

* Rey starts out as this in ''Film/StarWarsTheForceAwakens'', trading scrap taken from wrecked Star Destroyers and X-Wings for food. Her home is a wrecked AT-AT.