History Main / RacialRemnant

** Worse off is the fate of the Petty-Dwarves, a dwarven offshoot culture that lived in the First Age. According to the scant tales we have, elven settlers hunted them heavily, and even after this ceased and they became more familiar with them, the following years didn't get much better for them. Only three survivors remain by the time of ''Literature/TheChildrenOfHurin'', all of whom are male, and over the course of the story, all three are killed.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', [[MessianicArchetype Aang]], an Air Nomad, was the LastOfHisKind. In the SequelSeries, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', his son Tenzin is shown to have inherited his Airbending, and lives with his wife and three Airbending children in Republic City. Following the end of season 2, Harmonic Convergence granted many non-benders (including Tenzin's brother, Bumi) airbending, resulting in the birth of a new Air Nation.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':
** The Craftworld [[OurElvesAreDifferent Eldar]], the survivors of the original Eldar civilization. They fled on planetoid-sized {{Generation Ship}}s called Craftworlds before The Fall, a great calamity that gave birth to an EldritchAbomination who subsequently killed all but three of their gods, devoured the souls of the majority of the Eldar race, and created a tear in reality that consumed most of their interstellar empire. Now they drift through space in the shadow of subsequent alien empires, a borderline DyingRace trying to keep their people and culture from being extinguished forever... [[ManipulativeBastard at any cost to the other races of the galaxy]].

** There are also the Exodite Eldar, who lived on colonies far enough from the centre of their civilisation not to be affected by the Fall, and who tend to have a more rural and survivalist theme (essentially wood elves to the Craftworld Eldar's high elves; they've tended to get less mention as 40K has moved away from simply being Warhammer [[RecycledINSPACE In Space!]]). So there are three different racial remnants who all disagree on exactly which bits of their former culture should be remembered.

* In the ''Children of a Dead Earth'' trilogy by Patrick S. Tomlinson, Earth's population is reduced to a mere 50,000 on a ColonyShip (Earth and Mars were destroyed by a mobile NegativeSpaceWedgie). Much of the plot of the first book revolved around keeping humanity's population at *exactly* 50,000, due to the severe lack of resources.

* ''Fanfic/TheKingNobodyWanted'': The Sarnori people (especially those who can trace their descent to Mardosh) have been ravaged by the Dothraki and those who barely survived to relocate now live in much smaller settlements with only memories of their past culture and glory that they hope to one day regain.

** The Targaryen family are refugees from the Doom of Valyria. Although descendants of Valyrians live throughout Westeros and Essos (and easily identifiable by their silver-blond hair and purple eyes), the Targaryens are the last of the dragonlords, forty noble houses who comprised the ruling class of the Valyrian Freehold. To preserve their bloodline, they practice extensive [[BrotherSisterIncest incestuous marriages]].

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', the Targaryen family are refugees from the Doom of Valyria and are the last remnant of the Valyrian dragonlords, the ruling class of the Valyrian Freehold. They're easily identifiable by their distinct white hair and practice [[BrotherSisterIncest incestuous marriages]] to preserve their bloodline.

[[folder:Fanworks]]

[[folder: Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Live-Action Television]]

* In ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'', ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} shrunk and bottled the city of Kandor prior to Krypton's destruction, and the city was later rescued by Superman. In some continuities, they escape the bottle and find a different planet to inhabit, as Earth doesn't seem keen on sharing their planet with tens of thousands of people with the same powers as Superman.

* One theory posits the Basque language is the last extant pre-Indo-European language in western Europe

** The Craftworld [[OurElvesAreBetter Eldar]], the survivors of the original Eldar civilization. They fled on planetoid-sized {{Generation Ship}}s called Craftworlds before The Fall, a great calamity that gave birth to an EldritchAbomination who subsequently killed all but three of their gods, devoured the souls of the majority of the Eldar race, and created a tear in reality that consumed most of their interstellar empire. Now they drift through space in the shadow of subsequent alien empires, a borderline DyingRace trying to keep their people and culture from being extinguished forever... [[ManipulativeBastard at any cost to the other races of the galaxy]].

* 288 years before the events of ''Franchise/MassEffect'', the Quarian race lost their home planet to the Geth, forcing the survivors of the war to flee. At the heart of their culture is a strong sense of loyalty and a deep attachment to their home world, beliefs passed down by their ancestors. For this reason, almost every Quarian you encounter is devoted to finding a way to take back their home world from the Geth, despite the fact that no current living Quarian has ever stepped foot on the home world, as well as the fact that [[spoiler:the Geth aren't actually as hostile as they think]]. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', [[spoiler:the Quarians stop being this trope if they regain their home-world, through reconciliation with (or the destruction of) the Geth]].

* In ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'', Brainiac shrunk and bottled the city of Kandor prior to Krypton's destruction, and the city was later rescued by Superman. In some continuities, they escape the bottle and find a different planet to inhabit, as Earth doesn't seem keen on sharing their planet with tens of thousands of people with the same powers as Superman.

* This could apply to main cast as a whole in ''Fanfic/Gensokyo20XX'', as they are what remains of the original population of Gensokyo, as much of their population was killed when Gensokyo was destroyed and they had to flee Gensokyo to survive. The same would apply to anyone descendant from them (i.e, Ran's pups and their pups).

* In ''VideoGame/WarCraft 3'', Rexxar is one of the last Mok'nathal(half orc/ogre). There are few of his own kind left, since Draenor was shattered in the second war.

** The modern [[ScaryBlackMan Redguards]] of Hammerfell are the survivors of the calamity that destroyed Yokuda. Even into the 4th Era, they are said to be few in number relative to the other races of Tamriel. There are some indications there is another population of Yokudan descendants (still living on the islands left of Yokudaa), but the hints suggest they are far fewer than the Redguards.

** The modern [[ScaryBlackMan Redguards]] of Hammerfell are the survivors of the calamity that destroyed Yokuda. Even into the 4th Era, they are said to be few in number relative to the other races of Tamriel.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''
** The Dúnedain Rangers are a remnant of the men of Arnor (destroyed in the Third Age by the Witch-King), who themselves (along with the men of Gondor) are a remnant of the Númenóreans (sunk by Eru in the Second Age), who themselves are a remnant of the Edain of Beleriand (sunk during the War of Wrath in the First Age). The Rangers have held on to their heritage through the years, passing down the stories and carrying out their protective role even when their lands had been ruined.
** The elves of Rivendell and Lothlórien are a remnant of the Elves of Eregion (destroyed by Sauron in the Second Age), who (along with some of the Woodland Elves, and the Elves of Lindon, the small area of land west of the Blue Mountains) are a remnant of the Elves of Beleriand. It is a major plot point that these places are trying as best they can to sustain the essence of years past.
** Many Dwarves are like this; few if any speak Khuzdul as their native language, most speaking the language of the Men near whom they live, and taking their use-names from those cultures. J.R.R.T. said that they were somewhat analogous to the Jews of our world.

* This could apply to main cast as a whole ''Fanfic/Gensokyo20XX'', as they are what remains of the original population of Gensokyo, as much of their population was killed when Gensokyo was destroyed and they had to flee Gensokyo to survive. The same would apply to anyone descendant from them (i.e, Ran's pups and their pups).