History Main / DrillTank

Given the status of drill with {{Super Robot}}s, any {{Combining|Mecha}} Super Robot has a good chance of having one of these as a component.

Subtrope of TankGoodness. Often involves FastTunnelling. Connected to ThisIsADrill.

*** In ''Film/GodzillaVsSpaceGodzilla'', the redesigned MOGUERA's upper half transforms into Land Moguera, which uses MOGUERA's drill nose and laser-firing arms to burrow.

* In the last two installments of ''Film/TheMatrix'' the machines drill their way down to [[LaResistance Zion]] in order to avoid the defence lines.

** ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'': Drill Gao / Drill Gao II, which can merge into [=GaoGaiGar=] / [=GaoFighGar=]'s legs. The [=Genesic GaoGaiGar=] upgrade from ''Anime/GaoGaiGarFINAL'' reimagines them as robotic moles.

* ''Breakfast at Twilight'' by Creator/PhilipKDick makes mention of "the snake", a long personnel carrier with caterpillar tracks and a "boring snout" that enables it to burrow through the [[WorldWarThree ruins of a nuclear-devastated United States]].

* Deconstructed in ''The Log'' by Creator/CraigCharles and Russell Bell, which details a late 21st-century project to build "Mole Tanks" which could attack the enemy from behind. Unfortunately a) they were guided by sat-nav systems, which didn't work underground, b) they kept running into things like granite escarpments which even diamond-tipped drills couldn't break through, and c) heating due to friction had a nasty tendency to cook their crews alive. 500 were deployed, of which 35 emerged in random spots around the world and 463 were never seen again. The other two emerged beneath enemy lines and achieved a great victory over two one-legged peasants and a guy with a particularly vicious-looking catapult.
* {{Discussed|Trope}} at least as early as 1941 in the militaristic short story ''Mirai no Chika Sensha-chō'' ("The Future Underground Tank Commander"), where a sixteen-year-old boy realizes his ludicrous dream of designing an underground tank after learning about basic engineering, mineralogy, physics and budget principles. After an early cutter head-equipped sketch and an unsuccessful cigar-like prototype, the final result is a contraption with three drills riddled with conveyor belts,[[note]]While the final design supposedly solves problems such as torque loss, vehicle movement, or soil displacement, it still omits some glaring design problems, like the [[GravityIsAHarshMistress lack of reinforced structures keeping the a tunnel from collapse]] the massive [[ConvectionSchmonvection heat generation which would be kept underground]], or [[FastTunnelling how slow]] such a vehicle would likely be... Ironically, it is also the least plausible design of the three, since the first and second designs have a slight resemblance to a tunnel-boring machine.[[/note]] which is conveniently dispatched just before a foreign invasion.

* A SteamPunk version shows up in ''Literature/{{Stormslayer}}'', with Brokk the dwarf offering the hero a ride in his drilling vehicle called the "Mole" to explore an underground cavern.

* The episode "The Drill" in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' deals with a massive siege engine used to penetrate the Great Wall of [[strike:China]] Ba Sing Se.

* As mentioned under Toys, ''WesternAnimation/ChallengeOfTheGoBots'' had a Renegade named Screw-Head who transformed into one of these.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Flash Gordon|1979}}'': Ming's Mecho-Mole, later hijacked by Prince Barin.

* One of these was used in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' to plow though a large crowd of hippies (it was called "the Hippie Digger"--blame Eric Cartman for that) in a parody of the plot of ''Film/TheCore''.
* In the "WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants" episode "Chum Caverns", Plankton uses one to burrow under the Krusty Krab in attempt to steal the Krabby Patty Secret Formula. However, he becomes lost inside a cave and accidentally creates a new restaurant called Chum Caverns.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' episode "The Mysterious Moles". The Moles (husband Maximus and wife Minimus) created a machine with drills on front and back. They used it to drill to the bottom of a cave where they found a LostWorld.

-->-- '''Literature/{{Boneshaker}}'''

* Unfortunately we never actually see the device in action, but Dr Blue's "Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine" is the 'title character' of ''Literature/{{Boneshaker}}'', a SteamPunk novel by Cherie Priest. A massive mobile drill created in 1860's Seattle to drill through the ice for the Russian government, [[spoiler:its inventor instead uses his creation to loot several underground bank vaults, creating massive subsidence and accidentally releasing an underground gas that turns people into zombies.]]

* A 1946 short story, "The Last Objective" by Paul Carter, features very large subterrene drill tanks the size of oceangoing warships--"underground cruisers"--in a post-apocalyptic world in which the surface has been rendered uninhabitable by atomic bombs but the survivors continue to futilely battle it out underground.

* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] at least as early as 1941 in the militaristic short story ''Mirai no Chika Sensha-chō'' ("The Future Underground Tank Commander"), where a sixteen year old boy realizes his ludicrous dream of designing an underground tank after learning about basic engineering, mineralogy, physics and budget principles. After an early cutter head-equipped sketch and an unsuccessful cigar-like prototype, the final result is a contraption with three drills riddled with conveyor belts[[note]]While the final design supposedly solves problems such as torque loss, vehicle movement, or soil displacement, it still ommits some glaring design problems, like the [[GravityIsAHarshMistress lack of reinforced structures keeping the a tunnel from collapse]], the massive [[ConvectionSchmonvection heat generation which would be kept underground]], or [[FastTunnelling how slow]] such a vehicle would likely be... Ironically, it is also the least plausible design of the three, since the first and second designs have a slight resemblance to a tunnel-boring machine.[[/note]], which is conveniently dispatched just before a foreign invasion.

* The Mole in ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}'' is one of these.

* Team Rocket from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' have used these on occasion. Majorily themed around Dugtrio.

* The climax of ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheSpaceHeroes'' have the villain Hyde using a drill-tipped tunneling vehicle in an attempt to grind Doraemon, Suneo and Aron into shreds. Suneo, gaining GadgeteerGenius powers thanks to Doraemon's gadgets, managed to counter Hyde by grabbing a bunch of random junk and turning them into a rocket ship in ''seconds''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': The Underminer appears riding one of these. In [[WesternAnimation/Incredibles2 the sequel]] it's shown to have an escape pod which is a second, smaller drill tank.

* Heck, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subterrene Subterrenes]] could ''theoretically'' drill tunnels and eliminate waste rock AND reinforce the resulting tunnels fast enough to act as '''[[FastTunnelling transportation]]'''. However, [[SovietSuperscience only the Russians]] have ever been crazy enough to actually build a "Battle Mole", as the primary component was a '''''nuclear reactor'''''. Which was able to bore fast enough because instead of a rotating drill it employed ''molten lithium.'' And supposedly the project came to an end because its reactor just '''''exploded''''' one day and killed the entire crew. UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories abound, however.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout76}}'' we have the Motherlode, a drill tank created by Hornwright Industries. It is encountered in a sidequest and is featured in the main Wastelanders plotline.

* The Gotengo[=/=]Atragon from ''Film/{{Atragon}}'' is a [[MilitaryMashupMachine submarine[=/=]battleship[=/=]aircraft[=/=]rocket]] which can also travel underground with its drill, fitting this trope. Noticeably, the ship from the original novel was "merely" a submarine-battleship hybrid with a spinning ram, so the Gotengo's association with tunneling in further appearances originates from this movie.

* The [[{{Robeast}} robot mole]] Moguera from ''Film/TheMysterians'' is an humanoid-shaped drill tank. It's more obvious in early materials, since its caterpillar tread-like torso had originally [[https://wikizilla.org/w/images/0/0b/Moguera01.JPG visible wheels on its sides]] and it was seemingly designed to roll [[https://wikizilla.org/w/images/4/46/Moguera_caterpillar_track_model.jpg according to an unused prop]].
** In ''Film/GodzillaVsSpaceGodzilla'', the redesigned MOGERA's upper half transforms into Land Moguera, which uses MOGUERA's drill nose and laser-firing arms to burrow.

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]
* The Gotengo / Atragon from ''Film/{{Atragon}}'' is a [[MilitaryMashupMachine submarine / battleship / aircraft / rocket]] which can also travel underground with its drill, fitting this trope. Noticeably, the ship from the original novel was "merely" a submarine-battleship hybrid with a spinning ram, so the Gotengo's association with tunneling in further appearances originates from this movie.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* The [[http://www.hawkwargames.com/products/model-109-breaching-drill Resistance Model 109 Breaching Drill]] on ''Dropzone Commander'' (although it's more of a drill [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier transport]]).

* Important to the plot of the movie ''Film/BattleBeneathTheEarth'' is the usage of laser drill vehicles by both the [[RenegadeRussian rogue]] [[YellowPeril Chinese general and his army]] and [[AmericaSavesTheDay the Americans]] to burrow underground and plant nuclear weapons on strategic locations that will destroy the United States (and the fight to stop said placing). While the Americans' laser drill is a prototype that craps out real quick, the Chinese drill is a perfect example of this trope, heavily armored and [[KillItWithFire equipped with an anti-personnel flamethrower]].

* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': The Mole Man, given his theme and gimmmick, makes extensive use of these.

* ''Series/UltraSeven'' has the Ultra Garrison's Magmalizer (or Magma Riser depending on how you translate it). It works perfectly well as a standard tank too.

* ''ComicBook/GoldDigger'': Gina Diggers has a {{transforming|Mecha}} Drill Tank in more recent issues. It's named [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars Gespenst]].
* The Chinese teach Mazer Rackham's squad how to operate their drill tanks in ''Literature/FormicWars: Burning Earth''.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' episode "The Mysterious Moles". The Moles (husband Maximus and wife Minimus) created a machine with drills on front and back. They used it to drill to the bottom of a cave where they found a LostWorld.
* The Mole from ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}'', one of the earliest on TV.
* In the "WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants" episode "Chum Caverns", Plankton uses one to burrow under the Krusty Krab in attempt to steal the Krabby Patty Secret Formula. However, he becomes lost inside a cave and accidentally creates a new restaurant called Chum Caverns.

* In the "WesternAnimation/ChalkZone" episode "Waste Mountain", Rudy draws one to drill into the Magic Chalk Mine in an attempt to save all the magic chalk from being destroyed by the oozing garbage bags filled with stale cheeseburger smoothies.
* During the time the Technodrome was underground in ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', Shredder and his minions used capsule-like drill tanks to carry themselves to the surface and back. The Technodrome itself may count as well.
* The [=TurboMole=] in ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats''.
* Brock Samson and later Jefferson Twilight are seen driving one of these in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'', minor character Darcy is a roadheader, meaning she's based on a real-life instance of this trope.
* The titular bus' from in the book ''Literature/TheMagicSchoolBus Inside The Earth'' and the EdutainmentGame ''The Magic School Bus Explores Inside The Earth'' (note the all-important addition of the word "explores" in the game title). Ironically, the only [=TV=] episode in which the bus has this form was about ''plants''.
* One of these was used in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' to plow though a large crowd of hippies (it was called "the Hippie Digger"--blame Eric Cartman for that) in a parody of the plot of ''Film/TheCore''.
* Dr. Wily used one to help create earthquakes in the ''WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears'' episode "The Big Shake".
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' gives us Dr. Doofenshmirtz and his Drill-inator, which he uses in his plan to [[DiggingToChina make a tunnel to China]].

* ''WesternAnimation/WingCommanderAcademy'': In a flashback scene involving the time Grunt[[note]]so named for being a Marine to transferred to flight status[[/note]] served on Repleeta, the Kilrathi use a drill tank to dig up into human rear areas.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'': In "Queen for a Day" the spies drive one called a R.A.T.V.A.T.

* ''WesternAnimation/BillyDilleysSuperDuperSubterraneanSummer'' Features "The Cheeserator" It fits the description to a tee and even plays an integral part in getting the trio trapped at the center of the Earth.
* As mentioned under Toys, ''WesternAnimation/ChallengeOfTheGoBots'' had a Renegade named Screw-Head who transformed into one of these.

* An incredibly obscure example comes from the old BBC educational kids' programme ''Zig Zag: Tales from Europe''. Intended to teach children about folklore, it featured an eccentric woman travelling around Europe in one of these called the Hypersonic Mole.

* In ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' the United Venusian Mining Consortium uses drilling machines to mine for Radium.

* One of the best known of the [[WesternAnimation/ChallengeOfTheGoBots Go-Bots]] (AKA Machine Robo) was a drill tank with the unlikely name of Screw Head.

** Nosecone, though [[Anime/TransformersVictory Drillhorn of the Breastforce]] ([[GratuitousEnglish seriously]]) fitsthe 'unimaginative name' bill.

* Meanwhile, their rivals the [[WesternAnimation/ChallengeOfTheGobots [=GoBots=]]] had an Enemy [=GoBot=] memorably and, now rather unfortunately, named Screw-Head. He [[InsistentTerminology converted]] into a drill tank.
* Microtron, a caterpillar-tracked robot from the [[Toys/{{Micronauts}} Micronauts/Microman]] toy-line was one of these, with a rotating drill-bit protruding from his groin area. With Micronaut "interchangeability", it could be reconfigured to more closely resemble a DrillTank, with the drill where the head should be and large wheels instead of arms.

* It's actually a space battleship (albeit with a land mode), but the Kurogane from ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' can serve this purpose.
** SRW also has the G-Bison component of the Grungust Type-3.
** The Gustlander mode of the [[TransformingMecha Grungust Type-1]] Doesn't actually have a drill, but invokes this trope nonetheless with its Spiral Attack, which is usually portrayed as a drill-shaped energy field in front of the tank.
* ''VideoGame/DeepRockGalactic'' features an [[EscortMission Escort Mission]] where you are tasked with defending one of these (referred to as the Drilldozer by management, and [[ICallItVera Doretta]] by the miners) from hordes of alien bugs as it drills a tunnel through various cave systems towards a valuable crystal known as an Ommoran Heartstone that's buried deep in the planet. The drill stops and needs to be refueled from oil deposits periodically, and the end of the mission has it drilling into the Heartstone's outer shell to extract it, while the players must protect it from the attacks that the Heartsone summons to fight back. The tank itself is unfortunately unarmed, but that's what the dwarves are for.
* Nemesis Army Mole Machines in ''[[VideoGame/CityOfHeroes City of Heroes/Villains]]''.
* Driller-G's in ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom''. %%The former page picture was the intro to a RandomEncounter where the only enemy on the new section of a stage is a high-level Driller-G.
** ''VideoGame/PrinnyCanIReallyBeTheHero'' has among its enemies a Sabre Cat that attacks by sending a tiny Remote-controlled Driller-G at you.

* The eponymous ''VideoGame/DrillDozer'' alternates between walking and crawling. It appears as an [[AssistCharacter Assist Trophy]] in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl''.
* While the subterranean flame tanks of ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberium Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun]]'' have spiked rollers instead, the subterranean [=APCs=] use drills.

* The [[WarmUpBoss infamously easy first boss]] in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' is a drill car. For nostalgia's sake, it made a return in the last level of ''[[VideoGame/SonicAdvanceTrilogy Sonic Advance]]'', where it can be blown to pieces with even greater ease.

* The VZR tank from the obscure NES game ''VideoGame/WURMJourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth'', which could also hover, or transform into an airplane.
* The Dark Iron dwarves in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' use these on occasion, especially during Brewfest.
** The Brewfest-only Dark Iron boss has a chance to drop a remote that controls one of these, transporting the party to the tavern he holes up in -- from anywhere. Including another '''planet'''.
* ''VideoGame/MetalFatigue'' features Drill Trucks, which, while not armed, do sport tracks and a giant drill on the front for drilling underground tunnels.
* In ''VideoGame/DarkReign'', the Freedom Guard have Phase Tanks and Phase Runners, which although they lack drills, can hide and move underground.
* ''VideoGame/LostPlanet: Extreme Condition'' has the [=GAB-25=] [[AMechByAnyOtherName Vital Suit]] that can {{transform|ingMecha}} between this and [[SpiderTank quadrupedal mech]] forms.
* At the end of ''VideoGame/GadgetPastAsFuture'', the compact spaceship known as the Ark starts out as this to tunnel out of the factory it was in, before detaching the drill component and [[TransformingVehicle morphing]] into a flying craft to navigate a series of underground tunnels.
* In ''VideoGame/MagicalDoropie'', the MiniBoss at the end of Round 2-2 is one of these.
* On one path in ''VideoGame/MetalSlug 3'', there is a Drill Slug that can extend the drill bit forward and machine guns to shoot at enemies on the ceiling.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' has the Shagohod. Which has ''two'' drills. To be fair, they're just the front ends of the turbines that act as the treads, but still.
* In ''VideoGame/BlasterMaster Overdrive'', [[CoolCar S.O.P.H.I.A.]] acquires a Drill Kit upgrade after you defeat the boss of Area 3.
* In ''VideoGame/JeffWaynesWarOfTheWorlds'', the tunneling track layer.

* The player character of the early Creator/HudsonSoft game ''Itasundorious'', also released as ''Driller Tanks''.
* Mini-boss drill tanks are used by the evil Gedow in ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe2''.
* ''VideoGame/GotchaForce'' has one borg called Beam Tank, which is the only tank-class borg capable of making melee attacks with its drill in addition to ranged attacks.
* ''VideoGame/LighthouseTheDarkBeing'' has a SteamPunk train in the endgame area, with a drill at the front that the player can use to break down a wall to reach the [[BigBad Dark Being's]] inner sanctum.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Motherload}}'', you get to drive one of these in order to mine minerals off of an alien planet.
* The African Warlords from ''VideoGame/MarchOfWar'' use them.
* The ''Grommet'' in ''VideoGame/NetZone'' is a {{Cyberspace}} variant, as a rocket with a drill that transports Newton Winters to Cycorp's Testing Facility. The drill only comes into play when Newton reprograms the ''Grommet'' to reach a hidden room.
* In ''VideoGame/ClubPenguin'', Herbert had one of these in the PSA mission 8 and caused an earthquake when he dug under the ground.

* The fourth boss in ''VideoGame/JamestownLegendOfTheLostColony'' is a drilling train with which the Conquistador rides his way into the heart of Mars.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Sundered}}'', abandoned drill tanks can be found in the Cathedral region, having been left behind by the Valkyries when they invaded the place, and the tunnels they dug serve as passageways between the region’s various caves.
* The ''VideoGame/LegoBatman'' sub-series likes giving these to Bane.
* ''VideoGame/TerraTech'' allows players to custom-build their own vehicles and has plenty of drills on offer, making drill tanks an easy design. Drills can be used both for combat and for harvesting resources, although sadly not burrowing.
* The Grineer from ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' make use of tanks with drilling equipment attached on the nose for mining. The goal of the Sabotage missions set in [[AsteroidMining asteroid bases]] is to destroy them to keep Grineer from [[ArchaeologicalArmsRace unearthing any Orokin tech that would give them an upper hand]].
* Late in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'', Isaac and Ellie hijack a giant tunnel boring machine to punch their way into the Sprawl's government sector from below after all the other ways in are deemed a no-go. You even get to gib a flood of necromorphs on the spinning blades [[NoOSHACompliance during the ride on top]] through the clever use of knockback effects, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome but you can also end up instagibbing Isaac instead if you're not careful about your movements]].
* Similar to the above, the Star [[MultipleEndings ending]] of ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' involves the repurposing of a huge tunnel borer into an assault vehicle to gain access to Arasaka Tower through its basement.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* The G-Driller in ''Anime/{{Gravion}}'' is a double-drill tank that forms the titular robot's forearms. They even come with a pair of turrets/{{Arm Cannon}}s for extra firepower. As Gravion is capable of using a RocketPunch, they soon figured out to combine the two.

* ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'': This ''Anime/MazingerZ'' sequel provides the Drill Spazer, a vehicle with ''two'' drills bolted on the front. When it {{combin|ingMecha}}es with Grendizer, the eponymous [[HumongousMecha giant robot]] is able to move and fight underground.

* Team Rocket from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' have used these on occasion. Majorily themed around Dugtrio.

* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' has a HumongousMecha example with the [[http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/msv/ems-05.htm Agg,]] a Zeon machine which was designed to tunnel into TheFederation's ElaborateUndergroundBase headquarters. The design never actually appeared in the ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' anime[[note]]A RetCon established that Char Aznable found a secret entrance that rendered the Agg unnecessary[[/note]] but has popped up in later video games.

* TheBlackSapper appeared in various British comics, as a text story and later as a comic strip, from the late 1920s until the 1970s, making this at least OlderThanTelevision. Sapper's mole had no tracks, or any other visible means of moving itself except the drill heads.
* Calvin "Cave" Carson, a classic DC Comics adventurer who still appears once in a while, is a spelunker (hence the nickname) who uses vehicles with giant drills to tunnel into the Earth's crust and such.
* [[ComicBook/GoldDigger Gina Diggers]] has a {{transforming|Mecha}} Drill Tank in more recent issues. It's named [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars Gespenst]].
* The Chinese teach Mazer Rackham's squad how to operate their drill tanks in ''Formic Wars: Burning Earth''.
* Golden Age Daredevil's enemy [[YellowPeril the Claw]] had one of these, capable of drilling from the Pacific islands to the eastern United States.
* The [[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel G.I. Joe Team]] kept one as an EscapePod, should their ElaborateUndergroundBase, the Pit, be destroyed. When the mostly-vacant Pit ''was'' destroyed amidst a Cobra invasion, Cobra Commander and Destro used it to get out.
* In the original ''Film/{{Barbarella}}'' comics by Jean-Claude Forest, our heroine briefly gets her hands on a subterrene which she uses to move from one adventure to another. The one time such a device would actually come in useful ([[CuttingTheKnot to get through a labyrinth by drilling beneath it]]), the guards blast it into rubble before Barbarella can get to it.
* ''ComicBook/{{Terra}}'': Richard Faulkner is developing a large drill to sell to the government for military and scientific use. After his transfomation he uses it to crash through the ceiling of the UndergroundCity Strata and nearly destroy it.
* ''ComicBook/Transformers2019'': Nosecone of the Technobots actually uses his drill as a weapon, fairly unusual for the franchise. When his teammate Afterburner was attacked by Bludgeon, Nosecone suddenly came up through the ground and impaled the rogue bot with his drill.
* The ''ComicBook/FixUndFoxi'' spin-off ''Lupos tolle Touren'' has one in the second issue which [[TheMafia the Mofia]] wants to use to break into a big casino in UsefulNotes/Monaco. GadgeteerGenius Einstein modifies it so that it can run on the excavated material, but he also reprograms its course so that it resurfaces in England and basically hands the crooks right over to the authorities.

* The Digger from ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire''.

* The mining vehicle from the original ''Film/TotalRecall1990''.
* The [[{{Robeast}} robot mole]] Moguera from ''Film/TheMysterians'' is an humanoid-shaped drill tank. It's more obvious in early materials, since its caterpillar tread-like torso had originally [[https://wikizilla.org/w/images/0/0b/Moguera01.JPG visible wheels on its sides]] and it was seemingly designed to roll [[https://wikizilla.org/w/images/4/46/Moguera_caterpillar_track_model.jpg according to an unused prop]].
** In ''Film/GodzillaVsSpaceGodzilla'', the redesigned MOGERA's upper half transforms into Land Moguera, which uses MOGUERA's drill nose and laser-firing arms to burrow.
* Featured in ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}''.

* In the last two installments of ''Film/TheMatrix'' the machines drill their way down to [[LaResistance Zion]] in order to avoid the defence lines.

* Important to the plot of the movie ''Film/BattleBeneathTheEarth'' is the usage of laser drill vehicles by both the [[RenegadeRussian rogue]] [[YellowPeril Chinese general and his army]] and [[AmericaSavesTheDay the Americans]] to burrow underground and plant nuclear weapons on strategic locations that will destroy the United States (and the fight to stop said placing). While the Americans' laser drill is a prototype that craps out real quick, the Chinese drill is a perfect example of this trope, heavily armored and [[KillItWithFire equipped with an anti-personnel flamethrower]].

* The dygos in ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'', where they're used by the Rokador of Zadaa to make their ElaborateUndergroundBase home.
* The "iron mole" that delivers David Innes and Abner Perry to Pellucidar in Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' ''Literature/{{Pellucidar}}'' series.
* A burrowing machine (that is never actually completed) forms part of the plot of the very strange science fiction novel ''Twilight of the Vilp'' by Paul Ableman.
* In the ''Literature/{{Tunnels}}'' series, the Coprolites use drill tanks to excavate the tunnels of their expansive civilization BeneathTheEarth. One of the heroes later steals one to break through the walls of a reinforced bunker.
* A 1946 short story, "The Last Objective" by Paul Carter, features very large subterrene drill tanks the size of oceangoing warships--"underground cruisers"--in a post-apocalyptic world in which the surface has been rendered uninhabitable by atomic bombs but the survivors continue to futilely battle it out underground.

* A SteamPunk version shows up in ''Literature/{{Stormslayer}}'', with Brokk the dwarf offering the hero a ride in his drilling vehicle called the "Mole" to explore an underground cavern.
* Deconstructed in ''The Log'' by Creator/CraigCharles and Russell Bell, which details a late 21st-century project to build "Mole Tanks" which could attack the enemy from behind. Unfortunately a) they were guided by sat-nav systems, which didn't work underground, b) they kept running into things like granite escarpments which even diamond-tipped drills couldn't break through, and c) heating due to friction had a nasty tendency to cook their crews alive. 500 were deployed, of which 35 emerged in random spots around the world and 463 were never seen again. The other two emerged beneath enemy lines and achieved a great victory over two one-legged peasants and a guy with a particularly vicious-looking catapult.

* The Drill Driver of ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'', and its ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' counterpart [[Series/GoGoSentaiBoukenger GoGo Drill]]. Far from the first, and probably far from the last.
** Black Mask's mech, Masky Drill, of ''Series/HikariSentaiMaskman.''
** [=GoZyu=] Drill from ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'', the default form of [[SixthRanger GokaiSilver's]] personal mecha [=GoZyuJin=]. Technically speaking, it's actually a Drill Jet,[[note]]Since it represents the true power of the ''Series/MiraiSentaiTimeranger'', it's based off of their own Time Jets[[/note]] but in practice it hovers low to the ground and generally acts like a Drill Tank (presumably because having it fly in every battle would make production costs skyrocket).
* The first five Series/MetalHeroes had these in some form.

* One of them is used in an episode of ''Series/{{Eureka}}''.
* ''Series/TomicaHeroRescueForce'' has one in the form of the Rescue Drill.
* The lead car of [[Series/KamenRiderDenO Kamen Rider Zeronos']] CoolTrain has a giant bull head that can flip around to reveal a drill.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'' had an episode featuring one of these, built by aliens somewhere on the DieselPunk [[TechnologyLevels stage of technological development]]. And designed by Jonas Quinn, in his final appearance. It actually turns out to not work particularly well at a critical moment, and much [[RuleOfDrama tension]] ensues.
* The Mole in ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}'' is one of these.
* A variant in ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' with the drill-capable elevator on Katratzi.

* One of the vehicles from ''Series/DenkouChoujinGridman''/''Series/SuperhumanSamuraiSyberSquad'' called Twin Driller/Borr.
* ''Series/WarriorOfLoveRainbowman'': One of the Shine Shine Dan's weapons was the Mograt, which was used for creating artificial natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. It was also a convenient excuse to show the hero's [[DishingOutDirt Earth form]] more frequently.

* [[Comicbook/GoldDigger Gina Diggers]] has a {{transforming|Mecha}} Drill Tank in more recent issues. It's named [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars Gespenst]].

* [[EvilGenius Shockwave]] from ''[[Film/{{Transformers}} Transformers: Dark of the Moon]]'' actually rides in a large Cybertronian drill tank [[SandWorm worm]].

* Termites in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. A Diorama of the Siege of the Emperor's Palace also shows the traitors using a large Drill Tank to breach one of the palace walls.

* The HAG-1 ([[BossSubtitles Monstrous Mechanical Mud-Muncher]]) from ''[[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo-Tooie]]''.

* Dr. Wily used one to help create earthquakes in the ''WesternAnimation/MegaMan'' episode "The Big Shake".