History Main / ScavengedPunk

* ''TheSpiderwickChronicles'' very much have this in the form of Thimbletack the brownie who lives in the walls and steals human items for his home. In the illustrations he is even shown to where a cobbled together outfit that includes a hat made out of sewing equipment.

[[quoteright:299: [[TheSpiderwickChronicles http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brownie2_4442.jpg]]]]

* True to form, The ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode ''[[Recap/CommunityS1E23ModernWarfare Modern Warfare]]'' (a parody of most apocalyptic tropes) contains a nod to the PostApunkalypticArmor variety of this. Many of the characters [[ImprovisedArmor outfits]] are pieced together from random available equipment. In some cases it makes solid sense (Troy, a football player, wears some modified football pads), other times it is simply amusing (members of the chess club wear plastic bowls with chess pieces attaches as helmets).

* The Tinker Bell (film series) aka ''Franchise/{{Disney Fairies}}'' features this a lot. Basically, all the fairy civilization do this to some degree, but it´s specially true with the "tinker-talent (or class) fairies", from which Tinker Bell along some others are part of, re-utilizing mostly any garbage or lost things from the human world

* True to form, The ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode ''[[Recap/CommunityS1E23ModernWarfare Modern Warfare]]'' (a parody of most apocalyptic tropes) contains a nod to the AfterTheEnd variety of this. Many of the characters [[ImprovisedArmor outfits]] are pieced together from random available equipment. In some cases it makes solid sense (Troy, a football player, wears some modified football pads), other times it is simply amusing (members of the chess club wear plastic bowls with chess pieces attaches as helmets).

Firstly, it's used for AfterTheEnd set stories in [[ScavengerWorld Scavenger Worlds]] where supplies are short and hence items from the past civilization must be used for basic necessities. ScavengedPunk specifically crops up when ImprovisedArmor and [[ImprovisedWeapon Improvised Weapons]] are emphasized.

* In EdwardEager's book, ''The Knight's Castle'', a magic world made entirely out of toys and fictional characters comes to life at night. This fantasy world contains cities built out of soup cans and generally formed (albeit not scavenged) out of everyday objects.

* ''The NomesTrilogy'' by Terry Pratchett contains this in a similar way as ''Literature/TheBorrowers''. A small race of Nomes utilizes a whole lot of scavenged material from people.

* Over the course of ''TheDresdenFiles'', Harry's dewdrop-fairy ally Toot-toot acquires his armor and weaponry by cobbling them together out of things like Pepto-Bismol bottles, hollowed-out golf balls, and hacksaw blades sheathed in pen casings.
* In ''TheTaleOfDespereaux'', the MouseWorld operates largely as ScavengedPunk. Desperaux even wields a needle as a sword.

* In the 1996 film of ''Film/TheBorrowers'' the eponymous characters take this to an extreme, with tools made from strings, paper clips, and needles. There's even a vehicle made out of an abandoned roller-skate.

* ''The NomesTrilogy'' by Terry Pratchett contains this in a similar way as ''TheBorrowers''. A small race of Nomes utilizes a whole lot of scavenged material from people.

* ''Anime/TheBorrowerArrietty'' is very much this trope in the way that all adaptations of ''TheBorrowers'' are. That said, it being Creator/StudioGhibli, this film is a particularly stunningly beautiful example.

* In the 1996 film of ''TheBorrowers'' the eponymous characters take this to an extreme, with tools made from strings, paper clips, and needles. There's even a vehicle made out of an abandoned roller-skate.

* ''TheBorrowers'' is probably the UrExample. Its plot revolves around a race of tiny people who live in the walls of the homes of normally sized people and "borrow" whatever they need to survive. Movies based on these books have provided some very cool visual looks at ScavengedPunk.

* ''TheBorrowers'' is probably the URExample. Its plot revolves around a race of tiny people who live in the walls of the homes of normally sized people and "borrow" whatever they need to survive. Movies based on these books have provided some very cool visual looks at ScavengedPunk.

* ''Railsea'' like many of the books by ChinaMieville features a SteamPunk inspired world, the difference is this one is set a really long time AfterTheEnd and features [[LostTechnology several scavenger piles]] from which people gather resources.

* True to form, The ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode ''[[Recap/CommunityS1E23ModernWarfare Modern Warfare]]'' (a parody of most apocalyptic tropes) contains a nod to the AfterTheEnd variety of this. Many of the characters [[ImprovisedArmor outfits]] are pieced together from random available equipment. In some cases it makes solid sense (Troy, a football player, where some modified football pads), other times it is simply amusing (members of the chess club wear plastic bowls with chess pieces attaches as helmets).

* ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'', from the same creators as ''FlushedAway'' has this for its animal characters. It's especially noticeable in Nick and Fletcher who work as, well, scavengers. One of them sports a coat made out of a food sack with a full sized human zipper whose pull tab is as big as his head. Supplies they scavenge include a human spoon which becomes a shovel and a badminton birdie which is used as a hat. The movie, like ''FlushedAway'' is full of similarly great background details.

* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'', the Hidden Village of the Machina is built largely on parts scavenged from Mechonis proper.

When technology is constructed in a much more limited capacity it is simply {{MacGyvering}}. Note that while ScavengedPunk is not necessarily a [[SpeculativeFiction fiction]] trope, most real life examples fall under {{MacGyvering}} or ScavengerWorld. Also contrast with BambooTechnology where technology is built from rudimentary natural materials but not junk.

* ''TheSpiderwickChronicles'' very much have this in the form of Thimbletack the brownie who lives in the walls and steals human items for his home. In the illustrations he is even shown to where a cobbled together outfit that includes a hat made out of sowing equipment.

* In the 1996 film of ''TheBorrowers'' the eponymous characters take this to an extreme, with tools made from strings, paper clips, and needles. There's even a vehicle made out of an abandoned roller-scate.

[[caption-width-right:299: Recognize anything? [[hottip:*: doll’s shirt, spool and thread hat, pants made from dress socks, thimble bucket, and badminton feather duster.]] ]]

* {{Studio Ghibli}}'s ''TheBorrowerArrietty'' is very much this trope in the way that all adaptations of ''TheBorrowers'' are. That said, it being StudioGhibli, this film is a particularly stunningly beautiful example.

* In the 1996 film of ''{{The Borrowers}}'' the titular characters take this to an extreme, with tools made from strings, paper clips, and needles. There's even a vehicle made out of an abandoned roller-scate.
* ''HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' There are shades of this as the kids begin to piece together some makeshifts equipment.
* ''OverTheHedge'' provides a mild example as RJ the raccoon uses solely scavenged equipment (such a pocket fishing rig as a grappling hook) and begins to teach the other animals to do the same.
* In both ''TheRescuers'' films, the rodent-sized civilization make considerable use of human castoffs.

* ''{{Rango}}'' has an old west town where the inhabitants (anthropomorphic animals) all have technology built from human trash.
* ''ABugsLife'' drifts into ScavengedPunk during the city sequence. The city is built entirely out of discarded boxes and trash with a tipped over soup can doubling as a dive bar (the countertop inside the bar is a swiss army knife). The background of the entire sequence is scattered with numerous details like this.
* ''FlushedAway'' contains a sewer world, populated by animals, that is entirely this trope. For example, a pair of egg beaters is repurposed as jet skis.
* ''ChickenRun'', from the same creators as ''FlushedAway'' has this for its animal characters. It's especially noticeable in Nick and Fletcher who work as, well, scavengers. One of them sports a coat made out of a food sack with a full sized human zipper whose pull tab is as big as his head. Supplies they scavenge include a human spoon which becomes a shovel and a badminton birdie which is used as a hat. The movie, like ''FlushedAway'' is full of similarly great background details.
* ''AnAmericanTail'' has this as part of its MouseWorld.
* ''TheSecretOfNimh'' similarly has this trope in place as a background element.

* In the ''DoctorWho'' episode, ''The Doctor's Wife'', the Doctor encounters a "bubble universe" that is filled with trash from the wider universe that has been fashioned into something of a home on top of a living asteroid. It's interesting to note that much of the scavenged junk is not supposed to be from earth and hence looks very strange.
* True to form, The ''{{Community}}'' episode ''[[Recap/CommunityS1E23ModernWarfare Modern Warfare]]'' (a parody of most apocalyptic tropes) contains a nod to the AfterTheEnd variety of this. Many of the characters [[ImprovisedArmor outfits]] are pieced together from random available equipment. In some cases it makes solid sense (Troy, a football player, where some modified football pads), other times it is simply amusing (members of the chess club wear plastic bowls with chess pieces attaches as helmets).
* On ''SesameStreet'' the Twiddlebugs' house is made from a half pint milk carton with golf pencils for roof shingles, a backyard swing is made out of paperclips, etc.

* In ''XenobladeChronicles'', the Hidden Village of the Machina is built largely on parts scavenged from Mechonis proper.
* In the ''{{Fallout}}'' series, weapons, equipment, clothing, armor, and at least one entire city are made of Pre-War junk.

* In ''{{Futurama}}'' the sewer mutants build their entire impressive civilization out of human trash flushed down toilets.
* ''AdventureTime'' functions partially off of this, with Finn and Jake scavenging a lot of things. Also the Hyoo-man society scavenges from the ruins of old humanity.

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* ''ChickenRun'', from the same creators as ''FlushedAway'' has this for its animal characters. It's especially noticeable in Fletch and Digger who work as, well, scavengers. One of them sports a coat made out of a food sack with a full sized human zipper whose pull tab is as big as his head. Supplies they scavenge include a human spoon which becomes a shovel and a badminton birdie which is used as a hat. The movie, like ''FlushedAway'' is full of similarly great background details.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Nine}}'' takes this to its extreme with a hyper stylized AfterTheEnd world where even the characters are built out of zippers, gloves, and spare bits of trash. Once again the characters are small enough to utilize almost anything. Director Shane Acker has referred to them as [[PunkPunk stitch punk]]. This film actually fulfills both typical scenarios as it set AfterTheEnd AND contains miniature creatures.

In either case (but especially the second), this trope is often made to be extremely visually interesting as random objects are put to surprising [[AwesomeYetPractical practical]] ([[RuleOfCool or not]]) new uses. Because of this visual focus, ScavengedPunk has been common in animation especially recent [[AllCGICartoon CGI films]].