History Main / NobleSavage

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* In ''Literature/{{Dinotopia}}'', large carnivorous dinosaurs in the Rainy Basin are depicted as sentient but uncivilized barbarians, though they have some form of culture and don't leave the Basin to hunt. There is, however, one ''Giganatosaurus'' named Stinktooth who clearly has a concept of honor and helps the protagonist after the he rescues his son.

A character who is a member of a primitive society (or alternately, a group ''perceived'' as such by outsiders), and because of it portrayed as nobler or in some way better than the norm. (Often regarded as living the GoodOldWays). In American works, the savages in question are quite often Native Americans. In European works, native African people tend to be common, but this trope can apply to Europe peoples such as Vikings and Celts. Rare nowadays, except as a SciFi alien--though it has made something of a comeback with the idea of MagicalNativeAmerican people being more in tune with nature than the greedy white people.

Examples of this trope that are OlderThanFeudalism exist outside the Americas: Tacitus wrote of the noble Germanic and Caledonian tribes to contrast with his view of Roman society as decadent and corrupt, and even [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade wrote eloquent Roman-style speeches about liberty and honor for "his versions" of Calgacus and Arminius]]. The trope has gone in and out of fashion over time, usually contrasting a decadent distrustful "city life" that a thinker feels has tarnished the essentially good nature of humanity. At different times, and in different hands, it has appeared in two main forms. One is that the life is strenuous and therefore the savage is nobly brave, hard-working, and honorable. The other is that the savage is not {{greed}}y and does not have a taste for luxury and is content when he has what he actually ''needs'', and so the life is ultimately easy and pleasant, without all the striving after more. (Still, [[BewareTheNiceOnes do not get on their bad side]].) As such, expect the Noble Savage to treat materials traditionally considered valuable by greedy outsiders, usually gold, as {{worthless|YellowRocks}}.

A character who is a member of a primitive society (or alternately, a group ''perceived'' as such by outsiders), and because of it portrayed as nobler or in some way better than the norm. (Often regarded as living the GoodOldWays). In American works, the savages in question are quite often Native Americans. In European works, native African people tend to be more common. Rare nowadays, except as a SciFi alien--though it has made something of a comeback with the idea of MagicalNativeAmerican people being more in tune with nature than the greedy white people.

In the USA, the Noble Savage came into style in the mid-1800s, about the time a lot of Western states/territories got their names. This left many geographical features with names of [[ShownTheirWork Indian]] (or at least [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Indian-sounding]]) extraction.

A character who is, due to their race or ethnicity, a member of a [[HollywoodNatives barbaric or savage tribe]] (or alternately, a group ''perceived'' as such by outsiders), and because of it portrayed as nobler or of higher moral fibre than the norm. (Often regarded as living the GoodOldWays). In American works, the savages in question are quite often Native Americans. In European works, native African people tend to be more common. Rare nowadays, except as a SciFi alien--though it has made something of a comeback with the idea of MagicalNativeAmerican people being more in tune with nature than the greedy white people.

* The Bazhir in ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'', a FantasyCounterpartCulture for Bedouin tribes. They're considered to be uncivilized and savage by most Tortallans and not all of them recognize the King, but they're also big into honor and ritual. Alanna winds up becoming shaman of one tribe and finds it a refreshing experience after the intrigues and complications of life in the palace, and the third and fourth books have them as flawed but definitely good guys, far more reliable than Tortallan nobles. (Pierce, who wrote this one in TheEighties, has said she regrets playing so heavily into this trope.)

* In ''Comicbook/DCRebirth'' Comicbook/WonderWoman's birth tribe of amazons on Themyscira and The Esquecida tribe of amazons in Akahim [[CultureClash both view each other]] as ignorant but noble savages. To Themyscira, The Esquecida are tragically lost cave dwellers ignorant to the traditions, responsibilities and privileges that come with being an amazon, as well as the medical, military and [[DireBeast domestication]] advances of Themyscira, but The Esquecida's efforts to defend the natural world and even protect the world of men, are admirable. To the Esquecida, Themyscira are tragically deluded and abused worshipers of [[GodOfEvil evil gods]] who take isolation from the modern world too far, depriving themselves of utilities, festivities, the joys casual flings men, but they do admire Themyscira's strong society and generous hospitality. It's the challenge of Wonder Woman, Hyppolyta, Nubia and Donna Troy to help the three tribes peacefully coexist, but only the Bana-Mighdall tribe really make things challenging.

A character who is, due to their race or ethnicity, a member of a [[HollywoodNatives barbaric or savage tribe]] (or alternately, a group ''perceived'' as such by outsiders), and because of it portrayed as nobler or of higher moral fibre than the norm. (Often regarded as living the GoodOldWays). In American works, the savages in question are quite often American Indians. In European works, native African people tend to be more common. Rare nowadays, except as a SciFi alien--though it has made something of a comeback with the idea of MagicalNativeAmerican people being more in tune with nature than the greedy white people.