History Main / DangerousDeserter

** ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'': Borogravian deserters are an unseen, background threat- "They will not be nice people! They will be impolite!" The [[KickTheDog murder of a random elderly couple]] is also attributed to them.
** ''Discworld/InterestingTimes'' features a couple of deserters who are cowardly even by the standards of the trope, but are quite happy to cut Rincewind's head off if they're completely sure he can't fight back. Luckily (so to speak), the Lady intervenes.

* In ''ComicBook/LadyMechanika: The Tablet of Destinies'' #4, Mechanika and Winifred are captured by a deserter from the British army who now leads a gang of slavers.

* The {{Villain Protagonist}}s of ''Film/RedZoneCuba''. The final third of the film is a nigh plotless series of crimes they committed after deserting.
* The Lithuanian [[LesCollaborateurs SS-collaborators]]-turned-looters who provide Hannibal Lector with his [[FanonDiscontinuity controversial]] FreudianExcuse in ''Film/HannibalRising''.
* Hachi from ''Film/{{Onibaba}}'', who narrowly escapes death as a soldier only to become a desperate bandit with nothing to lose and no honest way to make a living--despite the fact that he might be the closest thing we have to a hero in the film.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** The first book opens with the execution of one of these; see the page quote. There's no sign that the deserter was actually dangerous; it's just that he signed on to fight wildlings and found himself face-to-face with the FairFolk instead. A headsman's ax probably seemed like the lesser risk.
** Mance Rayder may well be the most dangerous deserter in the history of the Night's Watch; he abandoned his post and came back at the head of a conquering army.
** Averted and totally deconstructed with [[spoiler:Septon Meribald]], who deserted out of sheer exhaustion and heartache and only wants to live a life of peace. However, he does warn that deserters are dangerous, and the traveler must fear them ("but he should pity them as well") in [[WarIsHell his "broken men" speech]].
** A rare example who is desperate, dangerous, willing to commit crimes to stay on the run yet sympathetic is Sandor "the Hound" Clegane who deserted from the Kingsguard when a weapon triggering his [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes major phobia]] is used in the battle of the Blackwater.

* In the original ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' book, the government makes no effort to catch people who desert from Basic Training. Since the military forces are all volunteers, they figure there's no point, although some people decide they can't live with the guilt and eventually turn themselves in. If they do, they're just given 50 lashes and turned loose (with no prospect of citizenship, but no worse off than if they never enlisted at all). Nevertheless, one is caught and hanged because he raped and murdered a little girl, because the Mobile Infantry takes care of their own.
** Additionally, if someone signs up for government service and has a change of heart, they can fail to show up on their departure day with no penalty, save being disqualified from government service. Also, in both book and film, a volunteer can choose to drop out at any time, file the appropriate paperwork and be back in civvies the next morning, no questions asked.
** On the other hand, "desertion in the face of the enemy" ''is'' a capital offense, as it is in many military forces today.
* Averted in ''Literature/TheWarriorsApprentice'' by Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold with Baz Jesek. He is never asked what he did or why he deserted and, despite interacting with active duty military personnel, is never forced back or faces any charges. Despite him deserting in the heat, which carries an automatic death sentence, the charges against him are eventually dismissed -- probably a result of spending a decade as part of a classified [=ImpSec=] unit that pulled off a number of very high-profile operations that the Barrayaran government had no official involvement in.

* In Creator/DanAbnett's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''Straight Silver'', troopers find a HauntedHouse in the woods -- that proves to have a deserter in it.
** In ''The Armour Of Contempt'', a small band of deserters attempt to loot Dalin Criid's "corpse"; when they realize it's not actually a corpse yet, they try to ensure that it becomes one.
* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''Literature/TheMonsterMen'', the {{Denouement}} reveals that von Horn was this.
* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': In the first demonstration of a Lightweaver's true power, Shallan Davar transforms a band of deserters back into loyal soldiers. Some even die rescuing a civilian convoy from bandits.
* Averted in ''TheEyesOfTheDragon'' where two deserters are in line for execution, despite having only deserted to help their families survive an unusually harsh winter, then returned to their posts. Queen Sasha manages to persuade her husband to pardon them, unknowingly earning the ire of court magician Flagg, who wanted the men executed for his own political reason. This incident leads Flagg to have her murdered, disguised as death by childbirth. Flagg also happens to be another incarnation of Stephen King's recurring villain [[Literature/TheStand Randall]] [[Literature/TheDarkTower Flagg]].
* ''Literature/TheIronTeeth'' web serial has a lot of these. Deserters that have turned to banditry are quite common in the North.

* ''Literature/{{Andersonville}}'': Ira Claffey encounters three "bummers" from the fringes of Sherman's march while he is trying to travel to Richmond. It turns out that fall 1864 is a bad time to be on the roads in Georgia. Ira thinks he's going to get shot but the bummers are content with stealing his wallet.

* ''Literature/TheUnknownSoldier'' completely averts this. While some of the officer characters are bitter about the deserters, the narrator only has sympathy for the fear and the sufferings of the soldiers. The most reasonable officer explains that those who become deserters simply were taken to the limit of what a human could be expected to withstand... and then over it. They wouldn't have been of use in battle anyway, so let them go. One of the central characters tries to become a deserter but is lost from his companions and returns back to his platoon with nothing but a joke for an excuse for his absence. The others don't hold it against him.

* ''Series/{{Sharpe}}'': An small army of these crops up, made up from soldiers of all sides including Sharpe's nemesis Obadaiah Hakeswill.
* In ''Series/QueenOfSwords'', Captain Grisham is an American deserter from from the War of 1812. However, the truly dangerous deserter is Krane, the man they tried to hang in Grisham's place.
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': In the season nine episode "Shifting Sands" a Navy petty officer believed to be lost since the first UsefulNotes/GulfWar is found in Iraq, married to a Bedouin sheikh. It turns out that she’s provided intelligence to Saddam’s regime through the years.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', Ramza runs into a group of deserters on his way somewhere else. They have no interest in fighting; he has no interest in getting in their way. That is, until one of them points out that Ramza is on wanted posters all over the continent, and if they kill him and turn him in, they'll not only be forgiven for their desertion, but probably given medals and dismissed from the army. Ramza tries to talk them out of it, but is forced to kill them.
* In the Compilation of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', these are often the cause of the Shin-Ra Corporation's worst problems. Genesis took nearly half of SOLDIER with him when he defected and waged war on the company, Angeal left a mess behind, Zack wiped out an entire battalion of troops but for three men, and Sephiroth burned a trail across the Planet and through the company's ranks, to say the least. And those were the elites. What [[spoiler: Cloud]], a humble [[FacelessGoons trooper]]-turned-[[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters terrorist]], accomplished through the course of the game (through intent and ignorance both) ''led to the loss of the company's place as the de-facto world government''.
* In ''VideoGame/GuildWars: Prophecies'', one of the final quests in the Northern Shiverpeaks is to track down a band of deserters to retrieve the supplies they've stolen. Alas, they're not all that dangerous if you actually play through the game to that point instead of getting run through like so many seem to.
* ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'' has these in spades. From a technical point of view, they are very similar to regular groups of bandits, but are often far more numerous and better equipped. They can be a DemonicSpiders style threat early in the game, but become less intimidating after the player levels up considerably and creates his party.
* In ''VideoGame/FableIII'' deserters from [[TheCaligula Logan's]] army take the place of the previous game's bandits.
* Several of the hired guns in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', especially the sequel, were deserters from one side or the other ([[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor sometimes more than one]]). Most are just {{Punch Clock Villain}}s, but some, especially those who were former Sith, could be [[AxeCrazy downright sadistic]].
** Among the examples from the second game is [[spoiler:Atton Rand]], although he does a [[PsychicStatic pretty good job of]] [[StepfordSmiler hiding it]] for most of the game (and can be redeemed by the Exile's influence).

* Whiskey Foxtrot from ''VideoGame/{{Battleborn}}'' is one. A lore challenge of his reveals that he had deserted his post in the UPR. The report states that he should be considered ARMED and DANGEROUS and ANGRY. For this, he was given a bounty of 589,000,000.00 credits. Considering that he joined Reyna and the Rogues who despite their desire for freedom tend to sometimes engage in questionable acts such as space piracy, the caution is warranted.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' has an [[BadassArmy Imperial Legion]] quest which tasks you with hunting down such a deserter who is still StillWearingTheOldColors and is now in the employ of a witch as her bodyguard.

* Journalist and historian Charles Glass wrote ''Deserter: A Hidden History of the Second World War'', which studies in detail the history of deseertion from the American and British forces[[note]] Deserters from Germany, the Axis countries and the Soviet Union are not covered[[/note]]. Glass covers the motivations to desert, how deserters strove to stay undetected and survive, and what happened to them when they were captured. Among other uncomfortable revelations - the Eddie Slovik case is covered in detail - there are uncomfortable truths. Britain's principal military prison for deserters in North Africa and from Italy, had it been run by the other side, would have been called a concentration camp, and those running it (had they been German) would have tried for war crimes. Instead, senior officers and politicians covered up the scandal of men being routinely worked or starved to death and kept its existence a state secret. American prison stockades for deserters were hardly any better and in some respects even more brutal.

* ''VideoGame/{{GUN}}]]'': The renegade army led by Sergeant Hollister are former Confederate soldiers turned raiders and pirates, operating out of an old U.S Army fort, and wear parts of their old uniforms mixed with facepaint and tattoos.

* ''VideoGame/{{GUN]]'': The renegade army led by Sergeant Hollister are former Confederate soldiers turned raiders and pirates, operating out of an old U.S Army fort, and wear parts of their old uniforms mixed with facepaint and tattoos.

There are [[DefectorFromDecadence sympathetic deserters]] out there, usually having [[MookFaceTurn left a villain's army]] which they had no choice about [[ForcedIntoEvil joining in the first place]] (and the degree of sympathy that they can get often depends on how willingly they went to war) but they are not this trope. The Dangerous Deserter is hardened, desperate, and, well, ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin dangerous]]''. And many if not most of them were hardened enough {{Sociopathic Soldier}}s for their part in the war and only fled once the tide started turning against them.

* Averted in ''TheEyesOfTheDragon'' where two deserters are in line for execution, despite having only deserted to help their families survive an unusually harsh winter, then returned to their posts. Queen Sasha manages to persuade her husband to pardon them, unknowingly earning the ire of court magician Flagg, who wanted the men executed for his own political reason. This incident leads Flagg to have her murdered, disguised as death by childbirth. Flagg also happens to be another incarnation of Stephen King's recurring villain [[Literature/TheStand Randall]] [[TheDarkTower Flagg]].

* ''Film/TheDeserter'': After deserting, title character Viktor Kaleb becomes a OneManArmy waging war against the Apache. Because he is so effective, General Miles has him dragged back and [[BoxedCrook offers him a pardon]] if he leads a ragtagBunchOfMisfits on an off-the-books mission into Mexico to wipe out an Apache stronghold.

*** You'll also fight several small bands of Tal-Vashoth, deserters from the Qunari army and way of life. Since Qunari only learn one skill or trade in their lifetime, those who have been training as soldiers since they were twelve have no way to make a living ''except'' as mercenaries and bandits, making them desperate and dangerous to most anyone.

There are [[DefectorFromDecadence sympathetic deserters]] out there, usually having [[MookFaceTurn left a villain's army]] which they had no choice about [[ForcedIntoEvil joining in the first place]] (and the degree of sympathy that they can get often depends on how willingly they went to war) but they are not this trope. The Dangerous Deserter is hardened, desperate, and, well, ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin dangerous]]''. And many if not most of them were hardened enough [[SociopathicSoldier SociopathicSoldiers]] for their part in the war and only fled once the tide started turning against them.

Most people take an understandably dim view of abandoning a military post. Even works that [[ArmiesAreEvil disapprove of warfare on general principles]] usually won't approve, especially if it took place "in the heat" of battle (thus leaving more loyal soldiers hanging). So those who say ScrewThisImOuttaHere to a legitimate group tend to be [[VillainByDefault bad people]].

The problem is often not ''just'' their dishonorable abandonment. The real problem is their now-desperate situation. Desertion is usually punishable by death, so these people have no more incentive to refrain from other capital offenses, like murder, and every reason to ''engage'' in them if they think you'll turn them in. They also tend to be armed. They tend to steal what they need from the surrounding countryside. And they can't just settle down, lest they be caught. They may try to pass themselves off as WarRefugees.

There are a few [[DefectorFromDecadence sympathetic deserters]] out there, usually having [[MookFaceTurn left a villain's army]] which they had no choice about joining, but they are not this trope. The Dangerous Deserter is hardened, desperate, and, well, ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin dangerous]]''.

* An small army of these crops up in at least of the TV version of ''{{Sharpe}}'', made up from soldiers of all sides including Sharpe's nemesis Obadaiah Hakeswill.

* ''Literature/TheUnkownSoldier'' completely averts this. While some of the officer characters are bitter about the deserters, the narrator only has sympathy for the fear and the sufferings of the soldiers. The most reasonable officer explains that those who become deserters simply were taken to the limit of what a human could be expected to withstand... and then over it. They wouldn't have been of use in battle anyway, so let them go. One of the central characters tries to become a deserter but is lost from his companions and returns back to his platoon with nothing but a joke for an excuse for his absence. The others don't hold it against him.

** The Hound provides a rare sympathetic example after his pyrophobia gets the better of him in "Blackwater".

* During the famines in the 1990s in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea, rogue members of the [[NorthKoreansWithNodongs Korean People's Army]] supposedly wreaked havoc across the countryside in search for food, going as far as waylaying civilians and other military units.