Line #42 Main/DesertPunk


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10	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/Rage2011 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rage_6.png]]]][[caption-width-right:350: That water isn't going to loot itself...]]
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13	-> ''"Allow Me to explain. About 50 years ago the foolish practices of the humans combined with natural disasters to destroy most of the world except for this terrible desert...\
14	...Not that a little global holocaust discouraged the humans from pursuing their foolish wars. Then when we thought everything had calmed down, the single river that sustained this world, the life of our desert, suddenly stopped...\
15	...With absolutely no chance of rain, as usual, more deaths are predicted."''
16	-->-- ''Manga/SandLand''
17
18	The term "WagonTrainToTheStars" had more relevance than we thought. Much of humanity has gone to outer space, but apparently [[BBCQuarry all the planets they could settle on were dry, desert-covered worlds]].
19
20	A big advantage of setting a sci-fi world in a desert is that it's easy to conceptualize, compared to a geographically and culturally diverse world like Earth. The author doesn't have to spend time explaining the history or nuance of the world because there is none. Also, judging by the planets we've been finding around other stars in recent years, while potentially inhabitable planets seem plentiful, earthlike ones seem slightly rarer, with slight variations in size, composition, and average temperature making the difference between an Earthlike mixture and a comparative [[SingleBiomePlanet ice world, water world, or desert world]]. A moderately large galactic empire would almost certainly put up at least a token effort at setting up outpost colonies on some of the less pleasant worlds, if just to have a place to put your LandfillBeyondTheStars.
21
22	When life becomes hard, and on such a world, it usually is, morals are the first thing you throw away. Law and order are swift to break down, and suddenly we have TheWildWest [[RecycledINSPACE on another]] [[SpaceWestern planet]]. Also, it's wise to be wary of DesertBandits.
23
24	Alternate version: deserted lands AfterTheEnd (usually nuclear wars).
25
26	For the anime and manga that is also an example of the genre, see ''Manga/DesertPunk''.
27
28	See also CattlePunk.
29	----
30	!!Desert Planet Examples
31
32	[[foldercontrol]]
33
34	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
35	* ''Manga/ChildrenOfTheWhales'' features a small community of less than 600 people living on the Mud Whale, a [[MobileCity floating city of clay and magic]] that sails a seemingly endless sea of sand, with most of its inhabitants being "Marked" - [[ShortLivedOrganism a short-lived]] people [[WitchSpecies who have psychic control]] over an emotion-based power called Thymia. The inhabitants supplement the produce from their farms with salvage of things found in the desert before the scavenged location eventually sinks through the sand.
36	* Orgos from ''Manga/DesertCoral''.
37	* ''Anime/{{Trigun}}'' was probably the first big one, at least as far as anime goes, though it's also a very good trope example, and [[JustifiedTrope justifies the setting very well]]. Long story short: They were going to terraform the planet (or even just find a better one), but the BigBad tried to kill everyone and screwed it up.
38	* ''Anime/GunXSword'' is set on the "Planet of Endless Illusion", a place where rogues of all sorts gather. The protagonist, Van, travels the world searching for a man with a clawed right hand who killed his bride. He is joined by several other travelers along the way, each linked to the clawed man by a personal loss.
39	* ''Anime/SandsOfDestruction'' takes place InAWorld where SandIsWater, meaning that the whole planet is a desert except for islands of land which is capable of supporting plant life. The [[Manga/SandsOfDestruction manga]] is the same in terms of setting, though [[AlternateContinuity its plot is wildly different]].
40	* ''Franchise/{{Zoids}}'' has a considerable amount of this, seeing that the planet Zi is mostly desert.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
44	* The live-action ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'' movie took place in Dinohattan, a New York-style city surrounded by endless desert.
45	* Nimbus III in ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier''.
46	* Tatooine and Jakku from ''Franchise/StarWars'' are also fairly shining examples of this trope.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Literature]]
50	* Creator/IanMcDonald's ''Ares Express'' and ''Desolation Road'' are this away from the urban zones. In the cities it's a mix of DieselPunk and {{Cyberpunk}}.
51	* ''Literature/CthulhuArmageddon'' by Creator/CTPhipps: The world is majority desert and wasteland. Most animals and plants have been killed alongside humanity. A huge amount of the remaining lifeforms of both have been mutated. It is a struggle for everyone left just to survive. Even the stars are different.
52	* ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' and [[Franchise/{{Dune}} its sequels]] are especially prominent examples of desert punk scifi, though thematically it resembles a HeroicFantasy more than Desert Punk. Except that in ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' it's not so much TheWildWest [[RecycledInSpace In Space]] as [[UsefulNotes/TheMiddleEast The Middle East]] ([[RecycledInSpace In Space]].)
53	* The ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' novels take place on a Mars that is, mostly, a desert except for the areas bordering the canal network, a region surrounding an underground sea at the south pole, and a few swamps, which represent all that is left of the once-great oceans covering the planet. There is apparently still groundwater deep below the surface, though, since some plants and animals do manage to survive despite the complete lack of rainfall. Probably the {{Trope Maker\|s}}.
54	* ''Literature/TheMartian'' comes as close to this trope as a work of hard sci-fi possibly can.
55	* ''The Literature/PitDragonChronicles'' take place on the harsh desert planet of Austar IV. Once used to dispose of criminals, Austar IV has now flourished, under a system of masters and 'bonders', a lower class that has to pay a bond price to rise up in the world.
56	* ''Literature/{{Railsea}}'' takes place in a world where the "oceans" are barren, monster infested wastelands crisscrossed by railroads.
57	* The ''Literature/SantiagoAMythOfTheFarFuture'' books by Creator/MikeResnick. The setting of the novel is the Inner Frontier (the region toward the core of the Galaxy) of the interstellar Democracy which humans have formed. The title character, Santiago, is the most sought-after outlaw of the region if not the human universe.
58	* The first volume of ''Literature/TalesFromTheYearBetween'', 'Achten Tan', is set in a dried-up bonewaste where a city built in the enormous ribs of a long-dead leviathan is surrounded by miles and miles of dead sand.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
62	* Since it takes place in a near future UsefulNotes/LasVegas surrounded by a desert wasteland (even more of one than now) ''Series/{{Dominion}}'' qualifies.
63	* On ''Series/{{Earth2}}'', the equipment and the costumes of the Eden Advance survivors (survivors of a crashed advanced scout ship that arrived at an Earth-like planet ahead of the main colonial transport) lent themselves to a Desert Punk feeling in many episodes, although the planet G-889's terrain ''was'' more varied than just a [[SingleBiomePlanet desert planet]], and the group experienced different seasons as they traveled toward their original target destination. The Desert Punk equipment included futuristic Humvee trucks and dune buggies, cool guns, high-tech but utilitarian survival gear, and costumes that became more rugged and patched up as time wore on for the group on their journey.
64	* In ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' many border worlds and moons, as well as those on the Rim are only marginally terraformed, generally resulting in them being deserts or borderline. More affluent or Alliance worlds in the Core are more idyllic in terms of atmosphere.
65	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
66	** Any story set on [[Franchise/StarTrek Vulcan]]
67	** You know, in ''Series/{{Star Trek\|The Original Series}}'' (the original series in particular) every place they go seems to be a desert. And they all look [[KirksRock suspiciously similar]]...
68	* Reversed on ''Series/TerraNova''. The general feel of desert punk is there, especially with the Sixers, but it's set in the jungles of the Mezozoic.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder: Music]]
72	* The album ''Dopesmoker'' by Music/{{Sleep}} has this sort of setting. It's a concept album about the holy pilgrimage of the Weedians as they journey across a vast desert, following the smoke towards riff filled lands. It's like a stoner metal Book of Exodus. The album's iconic cover artwork depicts a caravan of hooded figures with gas masks (that are implied to basically act as bongs) travelling over the sand dunes, with two moons in the sky and a space ship on the horizon. Needless to say, it rules.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
76	* Shows up from time to time in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'', particularly on some of the less habitable worlds in the Periphery, where there's far less advanced technology available (to the point that some planets have an average tech level that's lower than 20th Century Earth) and the inhabitants get preyed on by pirates and gangs.
77	* The [[TabletopGames RPG]] ''TabletopGame/BurningSands'', being ([[WordOfGod by the author's admission]]) heavily inspired by ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', is another example.
78	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''' ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' campaign setting. This also crosses over with Burned-Out Earth as the planet of Athas used to be greener before Defiler mages burned away most of the plant life.
79	* Creator/GamesWorkshop games:
80	** ''TabletopGame/{{Gorkamorka}}'' has been described as ''Film/MadMax'' with [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orks]]. The game revolves around bands of Orks roving the deserts of the desolate world Angelis, fighting each other in ramshackle vehicles while [[ScavengerWorld searching for scrap]], adding communist goblins and scientist mutants, and for some HilariousInHindsight goodness, [[Film/MadMaxFuryRoad pale-skinned humans who really want to be orks and are good with tech]].
81	** The [[ExpansionPackWorld Ash Wastes setting]] for ''TabletopGame/{{Necromunda}}'' sees gangs of mutants, lizard riding nomads, and outcasts driving rust-covered vehicles clashing in the [[PollutedWasteland industrial wastes]] that separate the [[MegaCity Necromundan Hive Cities]].
82	* ''TabletopGame/{{Space 1889}}'' Caravans of Mars and Steppelords of Mars have elements of desert punk, particularly some illustrations.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Toys]]
86	* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'': Bara Magna from 2009 is a desert planet where organic being with cybernetic enhancements fight in [[GladiatorGames gladiator-style]] arena matches for whatever resources are left over. Originally the planet and its inhabitants were part of Spherus Magna, a paradisal world with jungles, oceans, plains, deserts, etc., but [[GreatOffscreenWar the Core War]] resulted in the destruction of said planet, which was split into Bara Magna, the jungle moon Bota Magna, and the endless ocean moon Aqua Magna (which turns out to have been where the first eight years of ''BIONICLE'' had been set on).
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Video Games]]
90	* The "Under the Burning Suns" campaign in ''VideoGame/TheBattleForWesnoth'' takes place in the distant future of the main setting of the game, centuries after [[AWizardDidit Mages]] ''raised a second sun into the sky''. Funnily enough, there's a solid gameplay reason for that: Lawful creatures (including mages) are stronger during the day. One way or another, having two suns led to the whole planet going desert. (The campaign features "Desert Elves".)
91	* Pandora in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' invokes very Mad-Max like look-and-feel thank to be mostly desert and having a lot of remnants of mining equipment and towns in various states of decay and numerous garbage dumps. The lore for the planet states that it has orbit with high eccentricity, making climate hot and dry at short 'summer' and chilling cold at longer 'winter' causing most local species to hibernate at local winter. Since ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' is set several years later (likely at local 'autumn'), it features much more diverse landscape, though there is still no trees and vegetation is scarce even at more hospitable areas.
92	* The world of ''VideoGame/HeavensVault'' consists of "moons" (actually small asteroids with Eatrh-like gravity and atmoshpere) connected by a network of "rivers" (water flowing between the moons). Most of the moons are mostly or completely dry, with a few notable exceptions. This makes water a valuable resource.
93	* It's quite literally AllThereInTheManual, or at least it was until ''VideoGame/HomeworldDesertsOfKharak'' came along in 2016, but the early history of the protagonist race from ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'' had elements of this. Most of the people live at the temperate poles and the deserts that make up most of the planet are almost entirely unexplored.
94	* In ''VideoGame/Journey2012'', a robed figure is born in a desert where your ancestors' civilization existed. While cloth fragments are still around, [[RagnarokProofing not as much technology functions well and the buildings have deteriorated]] [[spoiler: since the war machines' conflict against the White Robes]]. A exception to this is the snowy mountain, its peak split by a crevice.
95	* Motavia in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIV''. It's naturally a desert planet, but in between ''VideoGame/{{Phantasy Star\|I}}'' and ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarII'', it was fully terraformed into a GhibliHills world that borders on CrystalSpiresAndTogas. However, Climatrol was destroyed in ''II'', and since then, the world has been slowly desertifying and monsters have been taking over the wilds, with only the Hunter's Guild to fight them back. Thus, this crosses over with the Burned-Out Earth variant. Obviously, it was a desert planet in the original ''Phantasy Star'', but it was far less "punk" back then.
96	* ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum''. The protagonist is not a plucky 10-year old, but an [[RedemptionQuest ex-Pokémon thief]] that rescues the female protagonist, [[http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/archive/6/62/20121231043747%21Colosseum_Rui_3D.png who looks like a cheap, under-age hooker in the Japanese version]]. Together they fight their way through the badlands of Orre, [[MyHorseIsAMotorBike driving a rusty hover-cycle]] [[EnormousEngine with an engine presumably stolen from a Top Fuel dragster]]. Reinforced by the near-total lack of Pokémon (read: organic life) in the desert areas. The only real exceptions are Agate Village (a lovely green village built high in the mountains) and Phenac City, a veritable oasis city [[spoiler:whose mayor is secretly the BigBad]].
97	** The sequel game ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness'' takes place in the same region, but there are a few places where life has begun to find a way, and wild Pokémon have begun to appear. Strange, since Orre is not a post-apocalypse locale that has something to recover from, but merely in the Pokémon world equivalent of an actual desert in the southwestern United States.
98	* ''VideoGame/SandsOfDestruction'' downplays the "punk" part in favor of ScienceFantasy, but certain aspects take on a distinctly punk aesthetic - see, for example, the stern of Agan's CoolShip [[http://img.neoseeker.com/v_concept_art.php?caid=6156 The Sea Gale]].
99	* Mar Sara and a few other desert worlds from ''VideoGame/StarCraft''.
100	* Many of the ''VideoGame/WildArms'' games have elements of this, as did the anime, with ''VideoGame/WildArms3'' being the straightest example (the others all have prominent oceans and forests). Like ''Journey'', crosses over with the Burned-Out Earth, though, since Filgaia as a planet is slowly dying.
101	[[/folder]]
102
103	[[folder:Webcomics]]
104	* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', the Land of Sand and Zephyr, and Earth c. 2422 [[spoiler:(in the beta timeline, anyway).]]
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Western Animation]]
108	* Bara Magna in ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}''.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	!!Burned-out Earth Examples
112
113	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
114	* ''[[Anime/{{Xabungle}} Combat Mecha Xabungle]]'' straddles both types and plays the trope for a surprising amount of humor, but really falls here due to it being EarthAllAlong.
115	* ''Manga/{{Basara}}'' is a shoujo Manga about a [[TheChosenOne prophesied savior]] getting killed so his twin sister takes over. All this happens in a near future Japan that had been turned into a desert.
116	* ''Manga/DesertPunk'': After an implied global nuclear catastrophe Japan has been reduced to a desert ("The Great Kanto Desert"), and the surviving humans seek out a meagre living in the hot sands.
117	* Last three episodes of ''Anime/ExcelSaga'', though it was only one city. [[NegativeContinuity 26 doesn't count]].
118	* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' seems to be about 25% Kenshiro wandering through sand.
119	* ''Anime/NowAndThenHereAndThere'' is set in a far distant future Earth where the Sun has become a Red Giant and its increased proximity has reduced our planet into a desert world full of evil people that make the bandit freaks from Film/TheRoadWarrior look like saints.
120	* ''Anime/{{Ozuma}}'' is set on Earth in the future when abnormal activity on the sun devastates Earth's atmosphere and covers the entire planet in a sea of sand.
121	* ''Manga/SandLand'' is about a desert wasteland where humans and demons coexist, although not peacefully.
122	* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' Pre-timeskip, everything is desert with giant freakin robots and beastmen. Can't really say the same for [[SpaceOpera post-timeskip]] though.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Comic Books]]
126	* ''[[ComicBook/JonahHex Hex]]'': In a bizarre turn of events, WildWest gunslinger Jonah Hex finds that he had been transported to the 21st century and he becomes somewhat of a post-apocalyptic warrior in a world ravaged by nuclear war. Radiation has rendered much of the available water undrinkable, making water a precious commodity, and giving the setting a very desert-like atmosphere.
127	* Some ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' stories set in the Cursed Earth had this feel.
128	* ''ComicBook/JustAPilgrim'', by Creator/GarthEnnis, is set on an Earth devastated by a solar flare, literally burned out. The few survivors scrape along the arid ocean bottoms, beset by various mutant monsters.
129	* ''ComicBook/TankGirl'', is usually set in the Australian outback. And Tank Girl is definitely a punk.
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
133	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Nine}}'', though it's not quite clear in the film whether the ''entire'' world is like this or if it's just the place where the dolls live.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
137	* ''Film/TheBookOfEli'': Most of the action takes place in the desert, later revealed to be the devastated California Central Valley.
138	* ''Film/ABoyAndHisDog'' - Society on the surface world has been reduced to roving bands of scavengers prowling for food and sex. There is a civilization underground, but it's a bizarre, oligarchical, almost dystopian state.
139	* Much of ''{{Film/Cherry 2000}}'' takes place in the post-apocalyptic Nevada desert.
140	* Despite being set in the present day, ''Film/FairGame'' (1986) and ''Film/TheCarsThatAteParis'' (1974) have elements of this trope, most notably {{cool car}}s, arid Badlands, {{sociopath}}ic hoons in {{punk punk}} inspired clothing, and deserted settlements.
141	* TheMovie of ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'' shows an alternate timeline where the close relations between Riders did not exist and the impact of the first meteor evaporated all of Earth's oceans. Seven years after the meteor hit Earth, ZECT pretends to use a passing comet to refill the Earth's oceans, while in fact they are pulling another meteor to crash on Earth, one large enough to wipeout all of humanity.
142	* ''Film/MadMax'', set in the arid wastelands of post-apocalyptic Australia, is perhaps the TropeCodifier for Desert Punk in western media. The franchise's scrapped together hot rods and homemade punk armor would go on to influence dozens of ruined desert settings.
143	* ''Film/ResidentEvilExtinction''. While it is set in the Nevada/Utah desert, the opening explains the whole world is a desert. The world ([[RetCon somehow]]) got better in the sequels.
144	* ''Film/{{Solarbabies}}'' is an odd (and commercially disastrous) attempt to blend Desert Punk with roller-skating, teen dystopia, and elements of ''Film/ETTheExtraterrestrial'' of all things.
145	* Patrick Swayze film ''Film/SteelDawn'', which is a western with swords in a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic world]].
146	* ''Film/TankGirl'' - At least Australia is sand, but we're not sure if it's the rest of the world too.
147	* ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' seems to have this as the setting outside of cities.
148	[[/folder]]
149
150	[[folder:Literature]]
151	* ''Literature/TheAtlantropaArticles'' takes place in a post-apocalyptic Europe in the 23rd century where Nazis rule and the Mediterranean Sea has dried up, creating a massive desert called "the Kiln".
152	* ''Literature/CityOfBones1995'' takes place a thousand years after an UnspecifiedApocalypse reduced the world to a desert waste. Humanity survives in a few "fringe cities" with an exploitative FantasticCasteSystem, while the Waste is a DeathWorld inhabited by bio-engineered "krismen" and cannibalistic DesertBandits. A major plot thread involves discovering the origin of the Waste and its ramifications for the present day.
153	* Creator/ClarkAshtonSmith wrote a series of stories set on Literature/{{Zothique}}, a burned-out supercontinent in Earth's distant and bleak future. The typical Zothique story combines the CosmicHorrorStory with swashbuckling HeroicFantasy adventure.
154	* ''Literature/CthulhuArmageddon'' is set in a post-apocalypse Earth where the Great Old Ones have destroyed humanity and everyone is reduced to living in WeirdWest small towns or tribes. The majority of the world is now barren wasteland and monsters roam the Earth. Even the stars are no longer the same.
155	* ''Literature/TheThirdTheGirlWithTheBlueEye'': After one last Great War, the world's been turned into an endless desert, with scant handfuls of humanity eking out an existence amid the ruins of civilization. The world is ruled by an enigmatic race of mutants known as The Third.
156	[[/folder]]
157
158	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
159	* ''Black Knight'' is a 6 epsiode Korean series, showing on Creator/{{Netflix}}. After a massive meteor swarm hit and devastated the Earth, Korea was transformed into a polluted desert where refugees live on the surface in the old ruins while a high tech middle-class live in a surface compound that extends underground and the the wealthiest house themselves in an {{Arcology}}. Food and oxygen need to be transported so well-armed delivery men truck these vital supplies past bandits.
160	[[/folder]]
161
162	[[folder:Music]]
163	* The video for Music/TomPetty's "You Got Lucky" takes place in an AfterTheEnd version, loosely implied to be after an alien invasion.
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
167	* TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}} is set in a very strange version of the wild west that qualifies as this with a bit of magic thrown in for kicks.
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Video Games]]
171	* An unusual SwordAndSorcery take on this is Petroglyph Games's ''[[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Conan Unconquered]]'' real-time strategy/base defense game. It's set in a mythical past so distant that Earth's geography is different. Taking place in a newly erected desert stronghold, the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt End Times]] are coming to the land. Fortunately, you have the legendary Conan the Barbarian on your side. Replace DesertPunk technology with supernatural monsters, sorcerous constructs and inventions and you get a fantasy DesertPunk game with the usual trimmings.
172	* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}''. The Fallout universe as a whole is designed around the popular conceptions of future technology and the effects of nuclear war that the American public had in the 1950's. Many aspects of it are intentionally unrealistic.
173	** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}}''; Justified in this case, as the game takes place in post-apocalyptic Southern California.
174	** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}''; Justified in this case, as the game takes place in post-apocalyptic Northern California, Northwestern Nevada and Southern Oregon.
175	** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''; Justified in this case, as the game takes place in the post-apocalyptic Mojave Desert. The exception is [[DownloadableContent Zion Valley]] which is lush with life, clean flowing water, and a rain cycle.
176	** ''VideoGame/Fallout3''; Justified in this case as, even though it's set in Washington D.C., it was hit ''hard'' by nuclear weapons (the White House is ''gone''), burning it even worse than the rest of the country.
177	** ''VideoGame/Fallout4''; Mostly averted, since Boston was not hit as hard as the rest of the country. However, the southern areas are still dangerous, mainly due to the presence of the Gunners, mercenaries who in practice are little better than raiders, as well as bands of Super Mutants. There's also the [[{{Mordor}} Glowing Sea]] in the southwestern corner, a radioactive wasteland (even by Fallout standards) created by the only nuke to hit the Boston area, which is filled with various types of DemonicSpiders that occasionally wander into the Commonwealth.
178	* Donkey Crew's ''Last Oasis'' is an MMO survival game where the Earth's rotation is slowing to a near-stop turning much of the world into an uninhabitable burning zone. Humans survive by fleeing to cooler but still largely desert regions using GearPunk "walkers" which are ramshackle wooden frames powered by pedal or wind. People being people, there's plenty of tribalism, violence and looting in this new Earth. Not to mention aggressive monkeys with sticks..
179	* ''VideoGame/{{LISA}}'', being heavily inspired by ''Anime/FistOfTheNorthStar'', is pretty much solely this.
180	* ''VideoGame/Rage2011'', after Earth got hit by an asteroid and ecological disasters unfolded to turn large areas of the planet into wasteland, humanity broke down into violent factions that would loot cryogenically frozen survivors of the previous era. You're the ex-marine lone security guard for those frozen survivors fighting through the raiders and crazies to find out why the mysterious Authority is hunting you.
181	* ''Sands of Salzaar'' from ''Han Squirrel Studio'', is Chinese indie game that's a desert fantasy set in a {{Wuxia}} world resembling the western areas of ancient China during the Silk Road days. The ruling dynasty had fallen from an uprising of an alliance of tribes grown too ambitious against an old, faltering king. Unfortunately the usurpation took place during a eclipse event known as the Day of the Black Sunwhich brought the arrival of the Ifrit. But even with political upheaval and a supernatural disaster, camel trade caravans must still routinely ply their trade and bandits (including possibly yourself) are still going to raid them.
182	[[/folder]]
183
184	[[folder:Webcomics]]
185	* ''Webcomic/BicycleBoy'' takes place in a vast, dry post-apocalyptic desert.
186	* One of the [[ThirdLineSomeWaiting subplots]] of ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'' involves four survivors of [[spoiler: the ravaging of Skaia]] exiled on Earth, doing... something. That's a pretty good question, what ''were'' they doing there?
187	** Turns out their job is to both advise the players and [[spoiler:restore life on Earth.]]
188	* ''Webcomic/{{Suihira}}'' judging by the {{Saharan Shipwreck}}s and mentions that "lower desert" used to be ocean floor.
189	* ''Webcomic/WeaponBrown'': The world we know as the "modern" world ends, according to Weapon Brown, when "the Dolly Madison Corporation realizes that their artificial flavorings were a hair's breadth away from becoming lethal toxins". At the same time period that this discovery is made, Hostess is not that far away from putting them out of business. According to Weapon Brown in an internal monologue, this caused them to shift from making snack cakes to making chemical weapons. They later developed the highly dangerous Zinger Bombs, which left half of the hemisphere uninhabitable. The result is that most currency in the world of Weapon Brown is not money, but technology, particularly food and, more importantly, functioning batteries.
190	[[/folder]]
191
192	[[folder:Web Original]]
193	* The entire basis of the PlayByPost game ''Roleplay/WeAreInADesertPunk''.
194	[[/folder]]
195
196	[[folder:Western Animation]]
197	* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' with Mad Ben, an AlternateUniverse Ben who lived in a post-apocalyptic desert and [[VillainWorld used his Omnitrix to become a powerful warlord]].
198	* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. Turns out that's just what [[spoiler:3003 Los Angeles]] looks like normally.
199	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DesertPunk