History Main / DesertBandits

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/AdventureInSahara'', the remote desert outpost of Agadez is under constant threat from Arab raiders. One of Lt. Dumond's legitimate complaints against Captain Savatt is that when Savattt takes most of the company for an 80-mile forced march through the desert [[TheNeidermeyer for no reason except to punish them]], he leaves the fort undermanned and vulnerable to attack.

* Jane Buxton, her guide Sabri and her butler Chambellan in ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' nearly get robbed and murdered by a couple of these bandits ''cum'' treacherous drivers. Jane manage to appeal to the good nature of the acolyte of the chief robber to save the skins of her team.
* Parodied and then played straight in ''Franchise/OnePiece''. In the anime the crew encounters a gang of desert pirates who later fight a gang of desert bandits. Both groups believe that the desert will decide their fate in all matters, including an encounter with a large-dung beetle.

* In ''Film/AdventureInSahara'', the remote desert outpost of Agadez is under constant threat from Arab raiders. One of Lt. Dumond's legitimate complaints against Captain Savatt is that when Savattt takes most of the company for an 80 mile forced march through the desert [[TheNeidermeyer for no reason except to punish them]], he leaves the fort undermanned and vulnerable to attack.

* The forty thieves from ''Literature/AliBabaAndTheFortyThieves'' are bandits from the ArabianNightsDays; it's implied that they attack and rob from caravans in the desert.

* Most of the bandit raiders in the ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' series are found in the desert, setting up various shantytowns and hovels to wait out opportunities to rob, murder, and worse. Later games would introduce bandits in desert-equivalents such as the empty, airless/waterless expanses of the local moon.

** The Kingdom of Plegia in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' is surrounded by mass desert. They make much of their time pillaging and harassing its neighbor, Yllise.

* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'''s Kharidian Desert is one of the only places where bandits can be found. (Elsewhere, they're more likely to be labeled "thieves" or "rogues" or "highwaymen" or the like.) They play a key role in several desert-related quests, and the Bandit Camp is one of the more prominent settlements in the area.

* Bandits in the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' series. They appear as common desert enemies in various games (notable ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' and ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'') and attempt to steal Mario and co's coins in battle.

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* Jane Buxton, her guide Sabri and her butler Chambellan in ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'' nearly get robbed and murdered by a couple of these bandits ''cum'' treacherous drivers. Jane manage to appeal to the good nature of the acolyte of the chief robber to save the skins of her team.

* ''ComicBook/CodeNameGravedigger'': In ''Men of War'' #14, Gravedigger finds is captured by a band of desert bandits in North Africa, and then finds himself their leader after [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt killing their chief]].

* The Tusken raiders from the ''Franchise/StarWars'' movies and the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse are native inhabitants of the desert planet Tatooine who make their living by robbing whoever else is currently occupying the planet.

* In ''Film/AdventureInSahara'', the remote desert outpost of Agadez is under constant threat from Arab raiders. One of Lt. Dumond's legitimate complaints against Captain Savatt is that when Savattt takes most of the company for an 80 mile forced march through the desert [[TheNeidermeyer for no reason except to punish them]], he leaves the fort undermanned and vulnerable to attack.

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

* The forty thieves from ''Literature/AliBabaAndTheFortyThieves'' are bandits from the ArabianNightsDays; it's implied that they attack and rob from caravans in the desert.
* The D'regs from the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series (who feature prominently in ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'') are bandits who harass the merchants in the deserts of Klatch. Although they're [[SacredHospitality honourable]] enough to provide a BedouinRescueService to anyone who's ''lost'' in the desert (rather than simply travelling the roads) and pragmatic enough to avoid killing the merchants or robbing them too often (if they force them out of business, who would they rob?).

* ''Literature/{{City of Bones|1995}}'' by Creator/MarthaWells: Much of the setting is a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic desert wasteland]] where bands of pirates attack (and [[ImAHumanitarian usually eat]]) travelers on the Waste roads between city-states.

[[folder:TabletopGames]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* ''VideoGame/AfrikaKorpsVsDesertRats'': the game's very first mission (which is also a ForcedTutorial) has the German and British {{hero unit}}s briefly team up to have a chance of staying alive against some Libyan desert bandits who are out to kill them.
* The Gerudo race from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', starting in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]''. They are a vaguely Arabian-style race of women (and one man) who live out in the desert and work as thieves. In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'', this actually forms part of Ganondorf's stated motivation to take the Triforce, as he initially envied the prosperity of Hyrule as opposed to the harshness of the desert. By the time of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'', they have abandoned their thieving ways and are now a tribe of merchants instead.

* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'''s Kharidian Desert is one of the only places where bandits can be found. (Elsewhere, they're more likely to be labeled "thieves" or "rogues" or "highwaymen" or the like.) They play a key role in several desert-related quests, and the Bandit Camp is one of the more prominent settlements in the area.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': The Wastewander bandits of Tanaris, originally pirates who had their ships stolen by other pirates and turned to capturing water sources and stealing from the Goblins of Gadgetzan to get by.
* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder'' has bandits operating in the desert. In fact, Graham is even required to visit the bandit camp at one point in the game; an [[MacGuffin important item is there]] that he'll need.
* Bandits in the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' series. They appear as common desert enemies in various games (notable ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' and ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'') and attempt to steal Mario and co's coins in battle.
* Bandits from ''VideoGame/NuclearThrone''. While present in all levels, they appear first and most numerously in the desert area, with their leader acting as the [[BossBattle Boss]] of that area. They also look the part as much as the post-apocalyptic setting allows, being wrapped in white cloth and having their faces covered.
* ''Videogame/QuestForGloryII'' has the Desert Brigands, who are pretty much that game's [[TheGoomba goomba]]. True to the [[ArabianNightsDays Arabian Nights-inspired setting]] they wield scimitars and wear turbans (and throw daggers at you in the FanRemake). A band of these guys assaulted and raped Julanar after luring her into the desert by pretending they were in need of a healer in the back story for one of the sub-quests.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' features Bandits, Fat Bandits, and Luna Bandits, all styled in a stereotypical fashion to look like classic desert bandits, complete with scimitars in their hands and turbans around their heads. Naturally, they'll only found in the desert world of [[{{WesternAnimation/Aladdin}} Agrabah]].

* In ''VideoGame/BugFables'', the bandits are very common enemies in the [[ShiftingSandLand Lost Sands]]. They all wear hoods and are capable of [[BanditMook stealing the player's items]]. In Chapter 4, they ambush Team Snakemouth in their hideout and attempt to sell them out to the Wasp Kingdom, but wasps refused to uphold their end of the deal, so when the team defeats Astotheles, their honorable leader, he allows them to go and grants them one half of the key to the Ancient Castle in hopes that they will defeat the wasps.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' has the White Claw Raiders, who perhaps unusually dress neither in Bedouin style nor like Wild West bandits.
* The Urutan-Yensa from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' ''look'' like the Bedouin stereotype (sort of... they're [[BeastMan hermit-crab men]]) but their motive appears to be less thievery and more making sure no one else sets foot in their territory.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* The Taiwanese action film ''Film/TreasureHunter'', set in the Mongolian desert, has legions of raiders, clad in skull-faced masks and riding horses, antagonizing the main characters for most of the first half. They dissappear around the beginning of the second act after the action shifts to an underground mausoleum.