History Main / DesertBandits

* The D'regs from the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series (who feature prominently in "Discworld/{{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 robbing the merchants too often (if they force them out of business, who would they rob?).

* In ''Franchise/DragonBall'', Yamcha is first encountered as being a desert bandit. He is one of Goku's first opponents because of it, although it's [[CharacterizationMarchesOn largely forgotten after the first arc]].

* 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 maters, including an encounter with a large-dung beetle.

* The Gerudo race from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''. They are a vaguely Arabian-style race of women (and one man) who live out in the desert and work as thieves. In ''Wind Waker'', this actually forms part of Ganondorf's stated motivation to take the Triforce, as he believed that it would give his people a better life, but his lust for power eventually got in the way. By the time of ''Breath of the Wild'', they have abandoned their thieving ways and are now a tribe of merchants instead.

* The Gerudo race from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''. They are a vaguely Arabian-style race of women (and one man) who live out in the desert and work as thieves.

** Campaign ''The Fungi from Yuggoth'', adventure "The Sands of Time". When the {{PC}}s ride out to Doctor Galloway's dig site they will be attacked and captured by a group of desert bandits led by a man named Kemal. It turns out that Kemal is acting under orders from the CthulhuMythos cultists the {{PC}}s are opposing.

* ''Franchise/{{BIONICLE}}'': The Bone Hunters, former Rock Tribe Agori who splintered off into their own species, who steal resources from other tribes except the Rock Tribe, as well as capturing Glatorian, Agori, and Vorox to sell to the Rock Tribe.

* ''Videogame/QuestForGloryII'' has the Desert Brigands, who are pretty much that game's [[TheGoomba goomba]]. True to the 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.

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Life out in the desert is really harsh. With barely any rain or soil to grow crops, and a lack of other natural resources, tiny desert villages can be really poor places to live.

Because of this, many people living out in the desert only have the choice of thievery as a way of living. They prey on unsuspecting travelers crossing through the desert: hiding behind dunes planning an ambush, then making a quick strike to grab the loot. In most media, they're dressed in turbans and veils that both protect their faces and conceal their identities. They mostly appear either in Arabian-style stories, or as a FantasyCounterpartCulture of Arabian cultures. Guaranteed to show up in any DesertPunk story.

* Parodied and then played straight in ''Franchise/OnePiece''. In the anime the crew encounters a gang of sand pirates who later fight gang of sand bandits. Both groups believe that the desert will decide their fate in all maters, including an encounter with a large-dung beetle.

* Parodied and then played straight in ''Franchise/OnePiece''. In the anime the crew encounters a gang of sand pirates who later fight gang of sand bandits. It's implied that the sand pirates are noble and chose this life for freedom while the bandits are just in it for the money.

* Parodied and then played straight in ''Franchise/OnePiece''. In the anime the crew encounters a gang of sand pirates who let the desert decide their fate. Their main rival is a gang of desert bandits

* Tiger of the Wind in ''Anime/MonsterRancer'' is introduced as this, leading a band of Tigers to steal from travelers.

Because of this, many people living out in the desert only have the choice of thievery as a way of living. They prey on unsuspecting travelers crossing through the desert; hiding behind dunes planning an ambush, then making a quick strike to grab the loot. In most media, they're dressed as turbans and veils that both protect their face and conceal their identities. They mostly appear in either Arabian-style stories, or as a FantasyCounterpartCulture of Arabian cultures. Guaranteed to show up in any DesertPunk story.

* In ''Franchise/DragonBall'', Yamcha is first encountered as being one and is one of Goku's first opponents because of it, although it's [[CharacterizationMarchesOn largely forgotten after the first arc]].

* In ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' the Fremen would raid Harkonnen patrols and spice harvesters and extract their water (including that in the personnel). But the real reason for those attacks was to keep them from stumbling across the Fremen's secret terraforming operations.

* The bandits in ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler'' live in the desert and wait for caravans to drive by. They even have a special book that describes what to do in different situations that occur. For example, when a caravan comes, the instructions say "CHARGE!"