->''"The day I set my flag down, it'll be over my body or over a nation I believe in."''
-->--'''Ulysses''', ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''

%% One page quote, thanks.

Usually, when someone fights, it's for a reason. Sometimes it's for patriotism or to fulfill an ideal. Sometimes it's to protect something or someone. And sometimes it's for some sort of compensation.

The motivation of fighting solely for monetary gain is generally not treated as sympathetic. However, when the compensation is more than simply money, that can change.

This group of people lost their homeland and has been seeking it ever since. Perhaps it was destroyed, or they were exiled, or they were on the losing end of a war. Whatever the reason, [[HomeSweetHome they want someplace to call home]]. Preferably their original home, but they might choose not to be picky. And they'll do just about anything for someone who can promise them that home back.

They often have no one but each other. As a consequence, their commander is often AFatherToHisMen, and they are TrueCompanions. (But not in more cynical stories.)

Compare with ThePromisedLand, which is what the characters in the work will view this future homeland as.

Not to be confused with [[MyCountryRightOrWrong fighting for]] ''[[MyCountryRightOrWrong your]]'' [[MyCountryRightOrWrong homeland]].
Contrast EagleSquadron, where you have even more idealistic motives.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* This is the main motivation for [[spoiler:the vampires]] in ''Manga/{{Shiki}}'', which aids in making them sympathetic to some degree (and creating a GreyAndGreyMorality in the series).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* The war for the Palace in the last quarter of the original ''Comicbook/ElfQuest'' series is an odd mix of fighting for a new and old home. The Palace is the original "home" of the first elves that came to the world, yet the elves who now fight for it were born long after their ancestors were driven from it. Until recently they did not even know that it existed, and even while they fight for it they don't know ''what'' it is.
* In the {{Elektra}} trade, ''The Scorpio Key'', HYDRA apparently hopes to find a permanent home in Iraq under the auspices of sympathetic dictator Saddam Abed Dasam (a CaptainErsatz of Saddam Hussein).
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[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/BlazingSaddles''. Although they aren't mercenaries per se, the railroad workers are willing to help the people of Rock Ridge against Hedley Lamarr's troops.
-->'''Sheriff Bart''': And all they ask in return is a little plot of land they can call their own to homestead.
* With one member of the ''TheMagnificentSeven'' looking to settle down as his quickness dissipates, perhaps they qualify.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* OlderThanFeudalism This is the plot of Xenophon's ''{{Anabasis}}''. And it's TruthInTelevision, since Xenophon's March ''actually happened''.
* The Golden Company in ''ASongOfIceAndFire''. Made up of exiles, their one true dream is to be able to return to Westeros, the country of their ancestor's origin, and make a home for themselves. They're portrayed as fairly honorable for mercenaries, having never [[spoiler: until recent events]] broken a contract.
* The Tedral Mercenaries in Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series are a example of a less honorable company. When their own homeland was conquered, they became mercenaries to raise money to get the land back. Over the years, the goal went from ''the'' land to ''any'' land. They are also the largest group of mercenaries ''not'' represented in the Guild (why yes, mercenaries have a guild. They may fight for money, but they do have professional standards), because they aren't willing to just settle for cash anymore. (That was part of the reason Karse hired them in ''Exile's Honor''--Karse didn't care what happened to Valdemar as long as the Heralds were out of the way, and Valdemar is routinely treated as the holy grail of farmland.)
** Valdemar itself was founded by a group of political refugees from [[TheEmpire the Eastern Empire]].
** The Kaled'a'in also briefly play this role in ''Mage Wars'' after the destruction of their homeland by the Cataclysm. Split into three groups, one by distance and the other two by irreconcilable differences over the role of magic in their lives, they each go in search of a new homeland. Each does eventually find what they seek, and it's revealed in increments over ''Mage Winds'' and ''Mage Storms'' that all of this was deliberately engineered by the gods in an attempt to set up the conditions to avert the return of the Cataclysm three thousand years later.
* ''Literature/HammersSlammers'' by Creator/DavidDrake. When Hammer first formed the Slammers he did so on the understanding that the mercenaries would be granted citizenship on the planet they were hired to defend. Their employers reneged on the promise so he took the unit off planet and turned it into one of the top mercenary units in the galaxy. However, they always remembered the broken promise and waited patiently for a chance to finally get a homeland for themselves.
* The sci-fi novel ''WhiteWing'' by Gordon Kendall has humanity joining a ColorCodedForYourConvenience [[TheFederation Federation]] fighting an evil alien race responsible for the destruction of Earth. All the good colors were already taken, so the homeworld-less Terrans got stuck with the non-color of White, hence the title. Terrans in the novel are all warriors sworn to avenge the destruction of their homeworld and mercenaries earning money to terraform 'Wing Moon' into a New Earth.
* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novels, Gaunt rescued the regiment from Tanith shortly before it was destroyed. Gaunt explains that he was promised the first planet that he conquered in the crusade and offers to let them all muster out there. (Alas, it looks like FailureIsTheOnlyOption; the new bosses will never let Gaunt conquer a planet, or admit it if he did.)
* Jerry Pournelle's ''[[CoDominium Falkenberg's Legion]]'' story ''Sword and Scepter''. After securing the freedom of the planet New Washington, the title legion receives a land grant from the government to settle down.
* TheReveal of the FrederickFosyth novel ''{{The Dogs Of War}}'' is that the titular mercenaries conquered [[BannanaRepublic Zangaro]] to give the dispossessed tribe they fought for in the prologue a home rather than deliver it to the CorruptCorporateExecutive who hired them.
* The dwarves in ''Literature/TheHobbit''.
* The arrival of the Edain in the west and their [[TheAlliance alliance]] with the elves in ''TheSilmarillion''.
* In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' series, first there's [[spoiler:[=SkyClan=]]], after they are exiled from the other Clans when their territory is destroyed by humans. Then it's [[spoiler:all the other Clans, many, many years later, when the ''rest'' of the forest starts to be torn down. At least the other Clans had a general idea of where to go based on a sign from their deceased ancestors; [=SkyClan=] had no clue.]]
* ''TheMoonIsAHarshMistress'' has the Lunar ex-cons and their descendants fighting their jailers and the entire Earth for recognition as an independent entity. The revolutionary cabal starts the whole thing for ecological reasons and pushing the patriotism button is a key part of the plan. However, most Loonies just think of Luna as "the rock", a prison, not something to be loved. It takes pretty harsh treatment by the Authority to get the Loonies revved up enough to fight and die, but by the end, even Prof is teary-eyed and dreaming of Lunar flags blowing in the breeze...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* The Drakh in ''Series/BabylonFive'' claim to be this, a race whose homeworld was destroyed in the Shadow War, willing to fight for the Minbari in exchange for a new home. They're only lying about the "willing to fight ''for'' the Minbari" part.
* This trope is what ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'' is all about when it comes down to it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myth & Legend]]
* Virgil's ''{{Aeneid}}'' is about Trojans looking for a new home--and doing a good bit of fighting along the way.
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[[folder:Radio]]
* The ''[[http://www.clockworkcabaret.com/ Clockwork Cabaret]]'' is a SteamPunk RadioDrama in which the Davenport sisters and the crew of the airship Calpurnia search for a place to call home, while avoiding the clutches of the evil organization CLANNG.
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[[folder:Religion]]
* Literature/TheBible has an example in The Book of Numbers, concerning the Promised Land. When the Hebrews doubted God for the tenth and final time by refusing to fight the Canaanites, they were sent back into the wasteland for forty years. The next generation conquered the Midians and Canannites and claimed the land around the Jordan and divided the land among the tribes.
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[[folder:TabletopGames]]
* ''{{Eberron}}'' sees this trope a lot. The people of Cyre in particular, as the Day of Mourning which ended the Last War created [[{{Mordor}} the Mournland]] out of their former home.
* ''{{GURPS}}: {{Traveller}}'' The sample campaign 100 parsecs in the volume "Sword Worlds" is about an attempt to preserve Sword Worlds culture by founding a colony far away in empty space.
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[[folder:VideoGames]]
* The New Conglomerate rebels in ''PlanetSide'', who are fighting for freedom and a home on an alien planet after the colony was cut off from Earth.
* The Zortroa Kinship of ''[[WildArmsXF Wild ARMs XF]]'' is portrayed as a ProudWarriorRace whose homeland was torn from them by a larger nation. They've been working as mercenaries ever since. They work against the party because the antagonists have promised to return their holy land to them.
* Outer Heaven of ''Franchise/MetalGear'' was (at least originally) this.
* This is why some Quarians seek a war with the Geth in ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', due to the Geth occupying the Quarian Homeworld. Others (perhaps rightly) believe this would just make the Quarians go from endangered to extinct. An added complication is that the Geth only took the homeworld in self-defense-- they were created as a labor force, and when they began to show self-awareness the Quarians panicked and tried to wipe them out. Naturally, all that accomplished was the kind of uprising they had hoped to prevent.
* The Dalish [[OurElvesAreBetter elves]] in the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' universe are trying to reclaim their past, after their homeland was destroyed by humans (twice).
* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}''. Your race's planet is burned while you are out testing your brand new colony fleet. You then set off towards your original and long forgotten homeworld, fighting all that oppose you and making use of whatever resources and allies you can find on the way.
* The Advent from ''SinsOfASolarEmpire'', who were exiled from their homeworld 10000 years ago by the Trade Order for 'deviant' behavior, basically not conforming with the Trade Order worlds' culture and practicing what they considered to be taboo. Now, they've returned with a vengeance, with advanced technology and honed psychic abilities, to try and reclaim their desert homeworld and destroy their past tormentors.
* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' is filled with this. The Tasen just want a planet to call their own to seek refuge from the Komoto, so they go to what turns out to be their homeworld, [[EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Earth]], [[EarthShatteringKaboom blow up the surface]], and then are surprised when one of the few remaining humans decides to [[GenocideBackfire fight them]] for her homeworld in turn. Then the Komoto show up and they all have to defend the planet against them.
* The ''Resistance'' ExpansionPack of the original ''OperationFlashpoint'', featuring the titular resistance fighters of the Soviet-occupied country of Nogova.
* According to the translated lyrics of the ''SuperSmashBrothers Brawl'' [[OminousLatinChanting theme song]], this is what [[spoiler: Tabuu]] is doing.
* This is what drives Ulysses in ''Videogame/FalloutNewVegas''. The problem is, he doesn't think any of the current major powers are worth following. Inspired by the way the Courier singlehandedly [[spoiler:brought about the Divide's destruction]], Ulysses wants to forge his own nation [[spoiler:with nuclear fire.]] A Courier with a high enough Speech skill can talk down Ulysses from this destructive course of action. Ulysses then regards the Courier as someone with the "shadow of a nation, the hope of the people."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Redcloak in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' sees claiming a goblinoid homeland as [[DragonWithAnAgenda a secondary goal to his service of Xykon]]. [[spoiler:Or so he says. In fact, he's merely using Xykon to take control of the Snarl, at which point he intends to use said EldritchAbomination to blackmail the gods themselves into recognising Goblins as a sapient race.]] Once [[spoiler:Azure City is taken]], he founds the nation of Gobbotopia and appoints one of his lieutenants as its leader.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:RealLife]]
* The fight of the Zionists for a Jewish homeland, though they weren't actually mercenaries so much as a nation-building movement. A very large number of them fought for TheBritishEmpire (which may have issued the Balfour Declaration[[hottip:*:A statement indicating Britain's official support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine]] with the intent of [[InvokedTrope Invoking]] the trope[[hottip:*:A Jewish homeland indebted to Britain would have helped secure Britain's interests in Egypt, as well as ensuring any oil that might have been there--none worth extracting as it turned out, but they didn't know that at the time. Also unknown to the British was that all of this would come back to bite them in the arse big-time, buying them as it did thirty years of dealing with Arabs and Jews fighting each other off and on that was probably orders of magnitude more costly than they imagined. Worse, they made competing assurances to the Arabs that ''they'' would have an independent Arab state including Palestine (also including Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq; the former two were given to the French and the latter the Brits kept) if they helped Britain defeat the Ottoman Empire. So both sides were screwed over, and none too happy with them]]), and so many Jewish soldiers signed up for British service that there were five battalions (known collectively as the Jewish Legion) of the Royal Fusiliers composed entirely of Jewish soldiers from across Europe.
** On the flip side, the various Palestinian groups opposed to Israel.
* The Flight of the Wild Geese. After the wars of the 17th century Irish soldiers emigrated in their thousands to work as mercenaries for their fellow Catholics in Spain and France, rather than live under the unbearable political and religious oppression at home. As late as 1792 the Kings of France maintained an Irish Brigade and their eventual descendants included Patrice de Mac-Mahon (first president of the French Third Republic) and Bernardo O'Higgins (one of the founders of independent Chile).
* The Vandals fearing attacks from the Huns invaded the Roman Empire searching for a new homeland. They traveled through modern-day France and Spain, being attacked and driven out along the way before crossing into North Africa, taking the Roman lands (including Carthage without a fight) and setting up their own Empire. They then went on to sack Rome.
* Pretty much all the various Germanic and Slavic tribes during the Migration Period.
* The [[ChewToy numerous]] Polish armies in exile. Basically, every time there was fighting in the vicinity of (or over) what was Poland, each side would attempt to recruit (or conscript) the Polish to fight for them. The reward the Poles asked for was always the same: Poland.
* The Sforza dynasty was started by the leader of a band of PrivateMilitaryContractors that used his men to take over an Italian city-state. They decided on Milan; Sforza ended up hiring LeonardoDaVinci when the latter ended up being too prissy for the {{Medici}}s' tastes.
* Some of the Internationals fighting for the Republic during the SpanishCivilWar were German and Italian exiles who had given up hope of returning home and instead fought to prevent fascist rule in Spain so that they might live there.
* The first Czech legion, after World War one. Their country was then merely a province of Austria-Hungary, who started the war and teamed up with the Germans. The Czechs had very little reason to fight for them, and surrendered to the opposing Russians whenever they could. Through a lot of political scheming, the Russians were convinced to raise a Czech legion of 60,000 men to fight against the Austrians. Then the Revolution broke out, and with the peace treaty between Russia and Austria, and the vicious warfare and politicking in Russia, they would not get their goal, an independent Czechia, so they turned to the western allies. They could not leave the country through the western side, so the allies chose to rendezvous with them in the port of Vladivostok, ''on the other side of Russia''. They crossed the country in three years, using the railways that they hijacked, joined with the Russian White Army (a coalition of anti-Communists) and the allies, stole the Tsar’s gold, traded it for free passage to Vladivostok with the advancing Reds when they lost, [[EarnYourHappyEnding and safely sailed home, to the newly founded country of Czechoslovakia.]]
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