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1%% Image replaced per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1320111930030060100&page=1#13
2%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.
3%%
4[[quoteright:288:[[Franchise/{{Tintin}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crossing_the_desert.jpg]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:288:[[WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtheadDoAmerica "The sun sucks."]]]]
6
7->'''Baylene:''' Oh my goodness. It looks like a very long walk.\
8'''Eema:''' And hot! If you smell something sizzling, could be ''me''!
9-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}''
10
11On his neverending quest to find the MacGuffin, Hero Bob must cross a desert wasteland. Expect there to be [[ScaryScorpions scorpions]], [[AllDesertsHaveCacti cacti]], a few {{Ribcage Ridge}}s, and maybe even a SandWorm or two. A [[DeadlyDustStorm sandstorm]] is also likely. For whatever reason, rather than travel during the night, Bob will nearly always travel starting at high noon, though this can be {{justified|Trope}} by the planet [[AlienSky having multiple suns]], or the desert having some kind of curse, or what have you. If Bob's travelling with Alice, Carol, and Dave, expect at least one of them to suffer from heat stroke, and another to see a HollywoodMirage.
12
13May be a ThirstyDesert. Watch out if so. In times of war, DesertWarfare can often overlap with this for any belligerent faction trying to cross through here. Contrast BravingTheBlizzard in temperature.
14
15In VideoGames, the setting itself will have some or all the traits of the ShiftingSandLand, and there'll usually be some aversion of GameplayAndStorySegregation, either by way of taking damage due to the extreme heat, or getting lost easily due to each screen looking nearly, if not completely, identical.
16
17----
18!!Examples:
19[[foldercontrol]]
20
21[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
22* ''Anime/AfroSamurai'' crosses a desert in Resurrection, with Ninja Ninja complaining the whole time. Kotaro follows, and nearly dies in the desert as a result.
23* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' has Vita and Signum looking for monster souls in a desert planet.
24%%* Shows up frequently in ''Manga/{{Claymore}}''
25* Due to the nature of the [[Franchise/{{Digimon}} Digital World]], the heroes often find themselves crossing deserts. Seldom do they have a known destination in mind.
26* The world of ''Manga/OnePiece'' has the entire country of Alabasta, where [[MagnificentBastard Crocodile]] takes advantage of the climate to cause an entire war. The Straw Hats and Vivi themselves end up having to cross the desert on they way to the town of Alubarna; fortunately Vivi is the princess of Alabasta, so she's used to the dangers of the desert and helps the rest of the group along.
27* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
28** It isn't exactly seen, but both Ling and May Chang cross a desert.
29** A downplayed example in ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', when Ed and Al have to slog through some desert to get to Liore. Ed's hungry, and complains about the sand, since if there was at least some grass he could transmute it to bread. They reach civilization soon enough, however, and Ed is able to stop at a street cafe for refreshment.
30* In the ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' anime (but not manga) Genma once had to cross a desert ([[MST3KMantra somewhere]]) with baby Ranma on his back. When he ran out of water he traded Ranma to a (well fed) stranger for a bowl of rice and some fish to eat (after the stranger fed Ranma Genma stole him back). And thus Ranma gained [[UnwantedHarem another fiancée]].
31* Gaara has done this in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' in order to get to the Leaf Village.
32* Happens early on in ''Manga/DragonBall'' when Bulma, Goku, and Oolong are on the trail of one of the titular {{MacGuffin}}s. They are soon attacked by Yamcha, the desert bandit.
33* Played with in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' in the third arc, where the group has to cross the Arabian peninsula on foot. Joseph, an experienced traveler, is smart enough to have purchased some camels to ride, plenty of extra water provisions, and has the sense to travel in the evening rather than the middle of the day. Unfortunately, an enemy Stand user has a Stand that acts like a super-intense sun, meaning they get the full blast of desert heat even in the middle of the night.
34[[/folder]]
35
36[[folder:Comic Books]]
37* The "traveling by day" bit is averted in an early ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'', where after travelling through the troll caverns the Wolfriders get thrown out into the desert (although initially they're not sure whether the desert sun is the same one they had at home, or whether it will set or not).
38* Mechanika and Winifred have to trek across the Sahara Desrt after being stranded by a zeppelin crash in ''ComicBook/LadyMechanika: The Tablet of Destinies''.
39* At the end of ''Marvel Feature'' #11, ComicBook/{{the Thing}} is stranded in the desert and must walk back home. The following issue begins with him still stranded in the desert and coming across ComicBook/IronMan, who ignores the ComicBook/FantasticFour member because he's too busy hunting ComicBook/{{Thanos}}. After a fight with the Blood Brothers, the Thing asks Ol' Shellhead if he can help him reach New York, but the fight drained the majority of Iron Man's power, preventing him from helping Ben. The first issue of ''ComicBook/MarvelTwoInOne'' has the Thing finally reach a bus stop, but he decides to pay a visit to ComicBook/ManThing in order to complain about ripping off his name before going back to New York.
40* Parodied in ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon''. Many histories end with the duo -often accompanied by other characters- crossing the desert, typically escaping either after one of their screw-ups or after [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beating to Hell and back]] someone who either messed up things or [[BerserkButton said something slightly unconvenient]].
41[[/folder]]
42
43[[folder:Fan Works]]
44* Two instances in ''Fanfic/TheLionKingAdventures''.
45** In ''Drought'', Nala and Haiba have to cross a desert in order to find Simba.
46** Simba, Nala and Haiba have to cross another desert in ''The Curse of Death''. [[spoiler: In the middle of a sandstorm, no less.]]
47* In the ''Series/StarskyAndHutch'' fanfic ''Fanfic/MojaveCrossing'', Starsky, Hutch, and the OriginalCharacter Maggie Landis are forced to flee into the Mojave Desert on foot with a limited supply of water.
48[[/folder]]
49
50[[folder:Gamebooks]]
51* More than one installment of the ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' gamebooks:
52** ''Literature/TempleOfTerror'': The titular Temple is located in the ruins of the destroyed city of Vatos, which is located in the heart of the Desert of Skulls. Your quest entails you to cross said desert - filled with giant {{Sand Worm}}s, sandstorms, and all kinds of hazards.
53** ''Literature/MasterOfChaos'' have you traversing a desert in order to reach the city of Ashkyos, but luckily you can purchase a camel as your transport if you have enough gold.
54** ''Literature/CurseOfTheMummy'' have you searching for the tomb of Ankharis, located in the Djarat Desert, which is infested with all sorts of monsters and poisonous insects.
55** ''Literature/BattlebladeWarrior'' has a very short scene at the beginning of your quest, where you and your partner, a tracker named Katya, will have to bypass a desert to find the Temple of Telak.
56[[/folder]]
57
58[[folder:Film — Animated]]
59* The second act of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'' resembled the final act of the "Rite of Spring" segment from ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}''. In fact, the soundtrack played during this scene is even called "Across the Desert!"
60* ''[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsMovie Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'': After crashing on Tatooine, Anakin, Ahsoka and R2-D2 have to walk from the crash site to Jabba's Palace. Nightfall makes things easier.
61* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtheadDoAmerica''; the duo ends up lost in the Mojave Desert, surrounded by vultures and far from civilization. Beavis eats some cactus to try and stay alive, only to end up [[MushroomSamba tripping out]] when it turns out it's peyote.
62[[/folder]]
63
64[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
65* ''Film/CapricornOne'': The three astronauts, after escaping the compound they were transported to when TheConspiracy to fake their Mars landing ran into some complications (and they would surely be killed to avoid exposing TheConspiracy and keep the hoax alive), make their way through the Southwestern desert with practically no supplies after the plane they stole ran out of fuel. Harsh enough, but then cue the [[BlackHelicopter Black Helicopters]]...
66* Paul Atreides and his mother Jessica do this in 1984's ''Film/{{Dune|1984}}'', as does Liet-Kynes.
67* Paul and Jessica again in 2021's ''Film/{{Dune|2021}}'' in order to reach the Fremen. They try to use the Fremen "dance" walk to avoid attracting {{Sand Worm}}s, but it's to little effect. Liet-Kynes is stabbed by the Sardaukar before [[GenderFlip she]] can ride a worm to do that. In ''Film/DunePartTwo'', Paul learns the ways of the Fremen, which includes riding said sand worms.
68* The characters in ''Film/AFarOffPlace'' trek through the Kalahari desert.
69* Creator/SergioLeone's ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly''. Tuco and Blondie go on "walks" through the desert, in attempts to kill each other before reaching the nearest town.
70* The first part of early documentary film ''Film/{{Grass}}'' involves the filmmakers going on a rather arduous trip across Turkey and the "salt deserts of Anatolia." They manage to fight their way through some epic sandstorms.
71%%* This is the whole plot of ''Film/IceColdInAlex''.
72* In ''Film/KangarooJack'', Charlie and Louis have to cross the Outback after their bush pilot crashes.
73* Happens at least once in ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'', naturally, first when joining Prince Faisal with the guide, then crossing the Nefud with the rest of Faisal's squad, then going back in Nefud to find his lost servant. Also doubles as a ThirstyDesert.
74%%* And of course it happens quite a lot in ''Film/{{The Mummy|1999}}''.
75%%* Happens to Bastian in ''Film/TheNeverendingStoryIITheNextChapter''
76* For the first part of ''Film/PitchBlack'', the survivors of the crash must endure this to find water, on a planet with ''three'' suns. In an interesting turn of events, once the sun(s) and heat are no longer a problem due to an eclipse, things get significantly ''worse'' for them.
77* ''Film/{{She|1965}}'': The first part of Leo, Holly, and Job's trek to the lost city. Made more difficult by tribesmen who steal their camels and water.
78* This happens in ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'', and coupled with a parody of ThirstyDesert. Things are further complicated when Lone Star and Barf discover that they'd been carrying [[spoiler: Princess Vespa's oversized hairdryder]] all along.
79* in ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', Film/JamesBond and Anya Amasova walk and walk and walk throughout the Egyptian desert after their getaway car breaks down, eventually reaching a dock.
80* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
81** C-3PO and R2-D2 in ''Film/ANewHope'' after their EscapePod lands on Tatooine. They split up because Threepio believes that R2 is going the wrong way.
82** In ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', Finn migrates across the Jakku desert until he finds Niima Outpost.
83* Moses does this after he's thrown out of Egypt in ''Film/TheTenCommandments1956''. Ramses only gives him one day's rations, figuring he'll die that way, but he manages to make it to Midian.
84* A large chunk of ''Film/TheWayBack2010'' involves trying to cross the Gobi desert. It's played out brutally, and [[spoiler:two of them die of heat stroke/dehydration.]]
85[[/folder]]
86
87[[folder:Literature]]
88* Happens ''twice'' to the company of heroes in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' and ''Literature/TheMalloreon'', once in each saga. Both events take place in the hostile lands of the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Murgos.]]
89* The first chapter of ''The Bloody Road to Death'' by Creator/SvenHassel has 2 Section doing this as the only way to escape being encircled by guerillas in the Balkans. Even the [[AFatherToHisMen Old Un]] has to kill two of his men to stop them stealing water from the others.
90* In ''[[Literature/TheBridgeKingdomArchives Traitor Queen]]'' when Lara's plans go awry, she and her husband have no choice but to cross the [[ThirstyDesert Red Desert]], without any proper preparation to boot. It almost kills them. At least they are sensible enough to travel mostly at night.
91* Dany takes her followers across the Red Waste in ''Literature/AClashOfKings'' as hostile forces lurk in every other direction. They quickly run out of food and water, horses die, and many of her followers, including [[spoiler: Doreah]], do not survive.
92* The very first adventure in ''Literature/ColdObsidian''.
93* Briefly in ''Literature/CountAndCountess'' when the Turkish army sets up camp in Syria. A young Vlad Dracula, who has been taken hostage by the Ottomans and forced into the [[ChildSoldiers Janissaries]], complains unendingly of the heat.
94* ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series begins with the mysterious, cowboy-like protagonist chasing an equally mysterious man in black across a desert.
95* In the beginning of Willa Cather's ''Death Comes for the Archbishop,'' Bishop Latour must cross the New Mexico desert to Santa Fe.
96-->'''Narrator''': The Man in Black fled across the desert, and [[TheDeterminator the Gunslinger followed]].
97* An odd example, from Creator/LaurenceYep’s ''Literature/DragonSeries'' - In ''Literature/DragonOfTheLostSea'', the dragon Shimmer injures her wing, and she and the boy Thorn have to cross a dried out sea on foot. Since all the water was removed from the sea instantaneously [[AWizardDidIt via magic]], the dry seabed is a desert plain of blindingly white salt flats, with periodic stinging salt winds.
98* In the ''Literature/DreambloodDuology'', Ehiru, Nijiri and Sunandi have to join a caravan to cross the desert outside Gujaareh so they can safely reach Kisua.
99* ''Flyaway'' by Desmond Bagley. The protagonists are stranded in the Sahara when the villains come across their 4WD, emptying the fuel and water tanks. Their only recourse is to walk across the desert to a camel track in the hope of getting picked up. Even when they reach their goal they can't rest, as it's nighttime and the camel train could easily go past without seeing them, so they have to spend all night walking backwards and forwards across the track until they blunder into a camel.
100* In ''Tribesman of Literature/{{Gor}},'' Tarl Cabot must make a long trek through the Tahari Desert to stop a DoomsdayDevice from destroying the planet.
101* Done separately by The Jaff and Tesla Bombeck in Creator/CliveBarker's ''The Great and Secret Show''; the desert is in New Mexico and the destination is [[AtomicHate Trinity]].
102* In the third book of ''Literature/HeraldsOfRhimn'', most of Meparik and Ainzel’s chapters involve them traveling across Edah Fyr’s dry desertscape on their diplomatic mission to request wartime aid from the Matrius.
103* ''Literature/TheIllustratedStarWarsUniverse'': In the Tatooine chapter, Senior Anthropologist Hoole eventually gives up on learning about the desert from moisture farmers and water prospectors, and simply walks off into the Dune Sea. Astonishingly enough, he survives unassisted, observing the animals of the surrounding desert until he finds shelter at Jabba's palace. Of course, as a Shi'ido shapeshifter, Hoole has the ability to assume a wide variety of forms adapted for life in the desert, so he has the advantage over most travelers.
104* In the first book of the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'', Eragon, Murtagh, and Saphira have to cross the Hadarac Desert to reach the Varden.
105* PlayedForLaughs in the sci-fi novel ''Literature/KilnPeople'' when Albert has to walk across a desert, and assumes his grandfather would have laughed as such a dangerous task, given that he risked his life every day driving to work (he lives in a future where people use expendable clones for anything involving the slightest risk).
106* In ''Literature/KingSolomonsMines'' by Creator/HRiderHaggard, Allan Quatermain and his crew had to spend a long time suffering while trying to cross a desert to get to the land of the Kukuanas.
107* ''Literature/TheLongestJokeInTheWorld'' begins with a character wandering lost in the desert, losing health and hope.
108* [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Frodo and Sam]] cross a very ThirstyDesert of northern Mordor on the last leg of their journey to destroy the [[ArtifactOfDoom One Ring]]. The narration explains this part of Mordor is pretty much uninhabited because of the lack of water, and the hobbits only manage to survive thanks to the cisterns Sauron has had built for his troops.
109* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''[[Literature/XuthalOfTheDusk The Slithering Shadow]],'' Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian and a girl are crossing the desert away from a disastrous battle.
110* Brutha crossed the desert from Ephebe to Om with Vorbis on his back in ''Literature/SmallGods''. Om continually insists on dumping Vorbis, because it's what Vorbis would do and also what he deserves. Brutha refuses, "because I'm ''me''." There is also the metaphysical crossing of the desert; dead souls are taken to the black desert by [[GrimReaper Death]], and they then must cross it and they then go to the afterlife they believed in. And Vorbis's disproving of the concept that no army could cross the desert: they could, if you do it in stages, don't care how many people die in the process, and start ''long before your pretext for war is in place''.
111* In Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheStand'', Trashcan Man spends a lot of time gathering old weaponry from various bases and test ranges in the Nevada desert for Flagg. After weeks wandering the desert like that in an open ATV with trailer, he ends up described as severely sunburnt with skin blistering and peeling off, as well as somewhat irradiated from the materials he's transporting.
112[[/folder]]
113
114[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
115* The Aquabats in ''Series/TheAquabatsSuperShow'' episode "Cowboy Android!" have to trek through a flat desert after their Battletram runs out of gas.
116* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Daenerys leads her people across the Red Waste to escape her enemies and reach Qarth in Season 2.
117* The opening and closing credits for the first two seasons of ''Series/KungFu1972'' show Caine walking across a desert.
118* ''Franchise/StarTrek''
119** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
120*** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E9FinalMission Final Mission]]" Picard and Wesley hitch a ride on Captain Dirgo's shuttle to Pentarus V so Picard can mediate a dispute. Dirgo's shuttle crashes on a desert moon, forcing the three men to cross a desert to a mountain range and some shelter.
121** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
122*** In "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E02ShadowsAndSymbols Shadows and Symbols]]" Benjamin Sisko, Jake, Joseph, and Ezri Dax make their ways across the deserts on the planet Tyree to find a hidden Bajoran Orb.
123** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'':
124*** Naturally this happens in the episode "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Desert Crossing]]".
125*** It again happens in the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS04E07TheForge The Forge]]" as Archer and T'Pol are forced to cross the harsh Vulcan desert.
126* One of the sequences in the ''Series/TopGear'' Middle East special has them doing this is Syria. The main obstacles in this case are mostly rocks and rough terrain.
127[[/folder]]
128
129[[folder:Music]]
130* Oleta Adams' "Get Here":
131--> ''You can reach me by caravan, cross the desert like an Arab man...''
132* The song "A Horse With No Name" by America.
133* Neo-ProgressiveRock band Galahad reference ''Lawrence of Arabia'' in their song "Aqaba (A Matter of Going)".
134* The hero of Music/{{Muse}}'s "Music/KnightsOfCydonia" must do this after getting exiled by the [[BigBad sheriff]].
135* Two songs by the Music/BlueOysterCult: ''Then Came The Last Days of May'', in which a clandestine trip into Mexico goes badly wrong in a "cold and barren plain". And ''Death Valley Nights'', which is self-explanatory.
136* Maria Maldaur's whimsical song ''Midnight at the Oasis''.
137* The BonzoDogDooDahBand's ''Ali Baba's Camel''.
138* Music/LedZeppelin's "Kashmir" is an almost hypnotic narrative of wandering the desert:
139--> All I see turns to brown, as the sun burns the ground
140--> And my eyes fill with sand, as I scan this wasted land
141--> Trying to find, [[GoingInCircles trying to find where I've been]].
142* Music/MeatPuppets: "Coming Down" (though it may be metaphoric of [[MushroomSamba another kind of trip]]):
143--> Going down to the desert, to that dirty filthy desert
144--> I'll be crawling through the sand for at least a couple days
145--> Going down to the desert, there are things there worth avoiding
146--> And it always makes me cross when them things get in my way
147[[/folder]]
148
149[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
150* Long journeys through the Desert of Desolation occur in the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' module series of the same name.
151* Adventures on Mars in ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' nearly always have segments of travel through the desert and it is entirely possible to run an entire campaign based around crossing the desert.
152* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': Cecelyne the Endless Desert is an infinite GeniusLoci expanse of silver sand that encircles [[{{Hell}} Malfeas]]. For people traveling ToHellAndBack, it always takes ''exactly'' five days to cross, no matter the method used. For the Yozis trapped in Malfeas, [[EldritchLocation it has no far side]].
153[[/folder]]
154
155[[folder:Video Games]]
156* In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIII'', you must cross a desert to get to TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. Just before you finish, [[spoiler:Nina suffers from heat stroke.]] Notably, you're strongly encouraged to only travel during the night, using the stars as guidance...because if you stay out in the day too much you'll receive permanent HP penalties.
157* In ''VideoGame/{{Boktai}} 2'', shortly after you get vampirized, Sabata drags you through the desert in a coffin. Somewhat touching, considering Sabata burns in the sunlight.
158* The entire second half of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' may qualify, since the face of the planet has become a barren wasteland due to the actions of an AxeCrazy [[GodhoodSeeker power mad lunatic.]] Applies most literally when the heroes have to make their way to the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. Fortunately, they are able to procure a CoolAirship fairly quickly, significantly reducing the usual headaches associated with this trope.
159* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', you have to wander around in a desert to find "The Boss" after you're imprisoned at Gold Saucer. Every screen is identical.
160* In ''VideoGame/KingsQuestV'' you must enter the desert to get some {{Mac Guffin}}s. The sun's [[GameplayAndStorySegregation frozen in the sky]], but you must drink water [[note]]nectar of the gods![[/note]] every ''x'' screens or you will die. Oddly, you only need water in the desert areas, never in the more temperate zones.
161* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVII'': Valenice will be just fine as long as she stays within the few screens where most of the action takes place, but when she has to venture out into the greater parts of the desert, where all the screens look the same, then she has a chance of dying of thirst.
162* ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryII'' took place in the desert land of Shapeir, and the hero could easily die of thirst if he ran out of water while traveling through the desert. Sierra likes using deserts.
163* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
164** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' has the Gerudo Desert which you must cross in order to get to the last temple, the Spirit Temple. If you get lost, you have to start over.
165** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' has the Gerudo Mesa, a large and treacherous desert that Link and Midna must cross to reach the Arbiter's Grounds.
166** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', most of the Gerudo region is a huge, dangerous desert that Link must brave to reach Gerudo Town, and eventually the Sacred Beast Vah Naboris. Local dangers include sandstorms which block your view and disables the map, various enemies, and scorching heat that damages Link if he's not prepared for it with proper equipment or meals.
167** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'': The Gerudo region, as portrayed in ''Breath of the Wild'', makes a return. Due to the influence of the monster that lurks within the Lightning Temple, the desert is experiencing a strong sandstorm that is covering it entirely, which forces Link to traverse it without the help of his tablet's map as he aims to unearth the aforementioned temple by solving a large-scale LightAndMirrorsPuzzle.
168* ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'':
169** ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' features both the Dusty Dunes Desert and the desert of Scaraba. Crossing either will eventually inflict Sunstroke.
170** The third "chapter" of ''VideoGame/MOTHER3'' starts off with a trek through the desert.
171* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun1'' and ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'' require crossing a desert three times across two games, corresponding to the real-world Taklamakan, Sahara, and Australian deserts. The first one requires you to use the Reveal Psynergy to find hidden oases or risk taking massive damage. The second just has tornadoes that will send you back to the start of the level if you don't know how to reveal the giant lizard causing them (and one tornado hides the path to the game's {{Superboss}}). The third time has lots of jumping around and steppes.
172* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' has Teehee Valley, through which Mario And Luigi must [[EscortMission guide Peach]] to get to a Mushroom Kingdom city.
173* ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana': The characters must cross a desert in order to reach one of their objective destinations. An interesting variant in that the desert takes on some aspects of TheLostWoods, in that you will frequently be recycled to the same location you started in until you find the correct path.
174* ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'': You need to cross a (very small) desert to get to some ruins. You quickly dehydrate and have to stand in the water from an oasis in order to recover, making the gameplay in this section exploring as quickly as possible to find the next oasis before you keel over. No, we don't know how standing in water rehydrates you. [[MST3KMantra Don't think about it so hard]].
175* ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' has a desert mission that behaves like the first Golden Sun example above. It actually does have a night setting where you die a little slower.
176* In ''[[Videogame/OddWorld Abe's Oddysee]]'', Abe must cross the desert of Scrabania on elum-back to reach a temple.
177* In ''VideoGame/Uncharted3DrakesDeception'', there's a chapter where you do nothing else. Unusually for a shooter game, the chapter contains no enemies at all - the only danger Nathan Drake faces is being hopelessly, pathetically lost in one of the world's largest deserts, the Rub' Al Khali, with no supplies, no help, no company and no idea where he's headed, weakening from dehydration and sunstroke. As days pass, Nate is reduced to staggering and then crawling before he begins hallucinating. He does ''try'' to navigate by the stars, but he just never learned how.
178* The beginning chapters of ''VideoGame/Journey2012'' consist of a desert landscape - one that simply places the player in the middle of nowhere, pointed toward a distant mountain split by a crevice full of light. Your objective, whole and entire, is to reach the mountain. The player characters are completely swathed in robes and don't seem to need supplies, fortunately.
179* In ''VideoGame/GatlingGears'', to reach TheEmpire's city, you have to pass through the fourth area called the Drylands. This place actually used to be ''an ocean'' until the Empire drained it dry. Thankfully, you don't suffer from heat or thirst- you're piloting safely in a MiniMecha.
180* Although several ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games have desert areas, crossing the desert starts being plot-critical in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2''. In the first one, you have to go to the Desert Resort to battle Team Plasma and meet Professor Juniper, and in both games, the Desert Resort area is home to Volcarona (although in the sequels, it's only accessible via underground tunnels). Although you aren't harmed by the constant sandstorm, any battles will involve any non-immune mons being hit by the sandstorm and losing a little HP each turn.
181** It also becomes mandatory in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' to get from Coumarine to Lumiose. You'll deal with Pokémon that attack you from underground, intermittent gusts that disrupt your ability to move, and a power plant under attack by Team Flare.
182* In the original ''VideoGame/{{Dune}}'' (the AdventureGame), any attempt to do this will ultimately end in death, even when wearing a stillsuit. However, you are required to venture out at least once, for a short time, in order to [[spoiler:gain telepathic powers]].
183* In ''VideoGame/{{Dragonsphere}}'' adventure you need to travel to a certain location in the desert and back. If you make a wrong turn, [[TheManyDeathsOfYou you run out of water and die]]. There is a local inhabitant -- Soptus[[note]]their people is hinted to be TheGreys stranded on a MedievalEuropeanFantasy planet[[/note]] -- willing to give directions, but he doesn't speak your language, and your understanding of his is rudimentary. The biggest problem: he may [[spoiler:[[MistakenForSuicidal mistake you for suicidal]]]] and give you directions to a volcano that kills you instantly [[spoiler:(Soptus version of a [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} suicide booth]])]].
184* Fire Hotlands in ''[[VideoGame/DeadlyRoomsOfDeath DROD: The Second Sky]]''. It's so hot that, for once, [[NoGearLevel Beethro has to manage without his sword]].
185* In ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'' Jak and Daxter along with Pecker had to do this because they were exiled from Haven City into the Wasteland Desert. Luckily they got rescued later.
186* In ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestITheSarienEncounter'', the desert of Kerona is inhabited by {{sand worm}}s that swallow whole those who try to travel on foot, so the only way to reach the settlement of Ulence Flats is via [[FlyingCar skimmer]].
187* In the final route of ''VisualNovel/YuNo'', Takuya arrives to a small habitable area separated by a huge desert, which he attempts to cross twice. [[spoiler: The first time he fails: Sayless tries to stop him, he spills all his water due to an earthquake, and he eventually decides to stay with her. On the second time, years later, he is accompanied by Yu-no, and they run out of supplies but manage to find an oasis.]]
188* In the zone Tanaris in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', one can find the scattered remnants of a caravan.The evidence suggests a [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids long, drawn out and grisly end for the caravan members]]. This implies that the zone very much is this trope, although it averts ShiftingSandLand. {{NPC}} dialog confirms this idea: including talk about carrying water and the local trolls threatening to drink your blood a la ''Franchise/{{Dune}}''.
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191[[folder:Visual Novels]]
192* At the end of ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'', [[spoiler:Lily, when she finally leaves the diner, goes into the desert on foot.]]
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194
195[[folder:Webcomics]]
196* The Maltak arc of ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'' consists of trekking through a vast, featureless wasteland, without pack animals, in the daytime, and without apparent protection from the sun or supplies.
197* In ''Webcomic/KissWood'' Mua, the BigBad, creates a huge desert between Sul and the Gate in an attempt to stop him escaping. After an ambiguous number of days Jubahm collapses and Sul then has to carry him. Then [[spoiler:the snow storm]] starts.
198* The entire Blood is In the Family story arc of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' takes place in a vast trackless desert on the western continent. The main characters spend a full third of the arc wandering the wastes as they search for Girard's Gate.
199* ''Webcomic/ChampionsOfFaraus'': When Daryl and Skye are dropped off in Gar'el, they have to cross a ThirstyDesert portion of the country to get to the nearest town. Thanks to the supplies [[spoiler: [[SkyPirate Popari Swiftwind]]]] dropped off, they do so without much trouble, ''and'' thanks to the LemonyNarrator, it doesn't last long.
200-->'''Narrator''': What say we skip the walking?
201* Any journey in ''Webcomic/{{Suihira}}'', since it's [[SingleBiomePlanet desert world]].
202* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': Part of [[spoiler:the TimeAbyss Jones']] ExpositionOfImmortality is a flashback to them [[https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1107 crossing]] the Gobi desert alone and barefoot. Subsequent strips show that, rather than it being any sort of grand endeavor, it's just one scene out of [[spoiler:half a billion]] years spent WalkingTheEarth.
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205[[folder:Western Animation]]
206* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', the Gaang tries to escape a desert after Appa is kidnapped. And yes, [[NeverLiveItDown Sokka and Momo]] [[MushroomSamba get high]] [[AllDesertsHaveCacti on peyote.]] With the group's main method of transportation gone, Aang despondent over the loss of Appa, Sokka and Momo getting high, and Toph being unable to see on the loose sand, Katara struggles to keep the group moving.
207* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'', Ben wanders the desert with a Highbreed, Reinrassig III, in order to get to a teleporter. The two eventually [[spoiler: share a NotSoDifferentRemark moment, causing the latter to stay behind in self-imposed exile.]]
208* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "My Three Suns", Fry crosses a desert to make a delivery on the planet Trisol. Just as the sun goes down, [[FromBadToWorse a larger one rises.]]
209* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' does this trope with a hot playground in place of a desert.
210* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' does this with the babies crossing a basketball court to find a water fountain on a hot summer day. Thanks to the babies' imaginations, it seems as grueling a journey as ''Fantasia'' or ''Dinosaur''.
211* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': Most of [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS3E18TwinSuns "Twin Suns"]] consists of Ezra and [[spoiler:Maul]] wandering the desert wastes of Tatooine [[spoiler:looking for Obi-Wan Kenobi]].
212* ''WesternAnimation/AThousandAndOneAmericas'':
213** In the eleventh episode, Chris and his pet dog long traverse the Sechura Desert to deliver a message to a decoder in the city of Moche. They do travel across a man-made road that takes them to the city, so at least they won't get lost. However, later in the episode, they and a friendly Incan who is giving them a tour do traverse into the desert off-road so they can see some harvest fields, and on the way back during the sunset they're caught by a severe sandstorm. To make matters worse, a group of enemy soldiers they were alerted about early on end up intercepting them; while Lon and the Incan put a fight, Chris is easily outmatched, leading him to wake up (it is AllJustADream).
214** In the twenty-fourth episode, Chris and Lon are told about the Nazca city of Cahuachi, which is located well within the desert so it's necessary to make a long trip across the sands to reach it. The two characters spend the rest of the day traversing the desert, but they still don't manage to reach ther destination; Chris even suspects that the Nazca warrior who told them about the city lied to them. It gets hot in the day and cold in the night, and during the latter's time they're chased by hungry coyotes. They finally find the city by following the stars in the skies, but even then they don't reach until sunrise.
215* ''WesternAnimation/YamRoll'': Tamago and Yam Roll cross the desert of Tempura's lost and found in order to find Tamago's umbrella.
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