History Main / WastelandWarlord

** ''Series/TheWalkingDeadTheOnesWhoLive'' has Major-General Johnathan Beale, who as commanding officer of the Civic Republic Military is [[GreaterScopeVillain responsible for all their actions across the franchise]], including enslaving small survivor communities to exploit their resources and destroying larger ones that might potentially be threats. Downplayed, however, as despite the CRM's autonomy, it's ultimately subservient to the Civic Republic's civilian government, which is LockedOutOfTheLoop about their actions. [[spoiler: The final episode reveals that Beale plans to [[MilitaryCoup overthrow the civilian government and declare martial law]] (becoming this trope in full(, before then wiping out every community outside of the CR's city, as part of a delusional belief that it's the only way to ensure humanity's survival in the long run.]]

** ''Film/KingdomOfThePlanetOfTheApes'': An unspecified amount of time after the fall of humanity, evolved Ape descendant Proximus Caesar operates out of a militaristic compound, seeks out dangerous weapons, makes grand speeches, and wears a flashy but ominous outfit unlike anything else in Ape society.

*** A bigger example is Genet, the leader of a populist nationalist movement called "the Cause", which seeks to reunite France by force under her leadership. To this end, her militias roam the countryside enforcing brutal rule of law, while she also employs human traffickers for test subjects as she tries to weaponize the walkers.

** In keeping with its [[Film/MadMax inspirations]], the TabletopGame/BaldursGateDescentIntoAvernus adventure for D&D 5e includes several rival gangs roaming through [[{{Hell}} Avernus]] on [[WeaponizedCar Weaponized Cars]] [[SoulPoweredEngine fueled by the souls of the damned]], each one led by one of these characters. [[FallenAngel Zariel]], the [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils archdevil]] overseeing this layer of the Nine Hells, has [[OrderVersusChaos significantly]] [[EvilVersusEvil bigger]] [[OurDemonsAreDifferent priorities]] than cracking down on warlordism in her domain, so she's content to just allow them to fight each other until they destroy themselves.

* ''Film/BattleForThePlanetOfTheApes:'' Kolp has been mutated by the radiation from World War III. His wardrobe and convoy of vehicles would be right at home in a ''Film/MadMax'' movie. He declares war on the immensely stronger and more prosperous Ape City out of jealousy and boredom.

* ''Film/KingdomOfThePlanetOfTheApes'': An unspecified amount of time after the fall of humanity, evolved Ape descendant Proximus Caesar operates out of a militaristic compound, seeks out dangerous weapons, makes grand speeches, and wears a flashy but ominous outfit unlike anything else in Ape society.

** ''Film/FuriosaAMadMaxSaga'': This {{prequel}} to ''Fury Road'' adds a [[TheRival rival]] to Immortan Joe, Dementus (Creator/ChrisHemsworth), who rides in a chariot pulled by motorcycles.

The Wasteland Warlord is the powerful, autocratic leader of a faction in your StandardPostApocalypticSetting. Much like real-life [[TheWarlord warlords]] in many war-torn regions, {{Failed State}}s, or other chaotic areas of the world, the Wasteland Warlord usually [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership attains power by force]] and by commanding the unwavering support and loyalty of their followers. In the power vacuum left by the collapse of civilization, the Wasteland Warlord often fulfills the closest thing the setting has to a functioning government, providing their followers with resources, security, stability, [[VisionaryVillain a sense of purpose]], or [[{{Cult}} even the promise of a rewarding afterlife]].

** ''Film/FuriosaAMadMaxSaga'': This {{prequel}} to ''Fury Road'' adds a [[TheRival rival]] to Immortan Joe, Dementus (Creator/ChrisHemsworth).

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series:
** In the [[VideoGame/Fallout1 first game]], Garl Death-Hand is the ruler of the Khans, who at the time were a major gang that terrorized Shady Sands and became boss by virtue of being the meanest and bloodthirstiest of the gang as well as killing his own father. By the time of ''New Vegas'' however, the Khans have become a dying gang struggling to stay alive while their current boss Papa Khan is more akin to a WastelandElder than anything.

** ''Film/FuriosaAMadMaxSaga'': This {{prequel}} to ''Fury Road'' adds a [[TheRival rival]] to Immortan Joe, Dementus (Creator/Chrishemsworth).

[[caption-width-right:350: "Enough blood has been spilt. Just walk away."]]

* ''VideoGame/Jak3'': Jak's DisappearedDad Damas became a more benevolent version of this after he was banished from Haven City. He's big into vehicular combat and not above using his rig to grind renegade raiders under his wheel.

* A staple of the ''Film/MadMax'' series, which may as well be the TropeCodifier.

** ''Film/MadMax2TheRoadWarrior'': The Lord Humungus, the self-proclaimed "Warrior of the Wasteland, the Ayatollah of Rock-N-Rolla", and leader of the raider band that menaces the refinery inhabitants for their precious oil. He is perhaps the single most iconic and influential example of this trope, having inspired numerous [[FountainOfExpies knock-offs, copycats, and parodies]]; any [[TheApunkalypse post-apunkalyptic work]] inspired by ''The Road Warrior'' is almost guaranteed to feature a villain based on him.

*** Also from ''New Vegas'' is Robert Edwin House, CEO and sole proprietor of the New Vegas Strip, backed up by his private army of several hundred [[MechaMooks Securitrons]]. Downplayed in that while he meets the criteria for this trope, he is more reserved, well-spoken, cerebral, and has a more hands-off approach than most other examples on this page. Justified in that he was also a successful pre-War businessman, and approaches the challenges of running a functioning city in the middle of the wasteland with the same tact and business acumen. His [[VisionaryVillain long-term goals]] include the restoration of the world to its pre-War state, though with himself as a benevolent autocrat, because in his own words...

*** In the Wild Card ending of ''New Vegas'', the Courier themself becomes one by killing Mr. House (or simply cutting off his life support pod's access to the outside world), then driving the NCR and Legion from the Mojave to seize control of New Vegas for themselves.

** ''Series/TheWalkingDeadDeadCity'': The man known only as "The Croat" is a former member of the Saviors whom Negan exiled for [[EvenEvilHasStandards being too sadistic]], and has in the years since then settled in the ruins of Manhattan, where he now leads a gang of ruthless marauders. Through them, he rules most of the island, destroying any means off of it that he doesn't control, stranding any survivors who come ashore and then hunting them; if captured, he then tortures them for his own amusement.

* ''Literature/TheDogsOfWar'': An unusual example in that he's the recognized President of a nation-state, but President Jean Kimba of Zangaro is effectively this. His nation is supposed to be a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, but it's really a failed state: all economically productive sectors have been nationalized by his government and promptly collapsed as his crones have no idea how to run them, no resources have been put into education, medicine, infrastructure, or anything else that might raise standards of living, and anyone with any education or capital left the country a long time ago. The only thing that ''sort of'' works is the military, which Kimba uses to keep order and terrorize the population, and even that's badly run enough that a small mercenary operation is able to overcome them easily.

** ''Literature/ChoicesOfOne'': Warlord Nuso Esva a generation later is another conqueror making his way through the Unknown Regions. He's a more ambitious warlord than the Miskara, however, trying to carve out an actual empire for himself instead of just moving on when he's depleted a planet, and trying to extend his reach into the Empire itself when he becomes aware of it rather than sticking to the Unknown Regions.

* ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'': Boba Fett is a rare benevolent example, or at least trying to be. The series has him claim the title of Daimyo of Tatooine (left vacant by Jabba's death), but he doesn't try to do it through violence; instead he tours the various factions on the planet, from the Tusken Raiders in the desert to the small town of Mos Pelgo to the small-time gangs in the larger cities, tries to earn their loyalty, and offers them protection from larger cartels like the Pyke Syndicate or the Hutt twins. It actually works against him to an extent, as people expect him to behave like a standard Wasteland Warlord and rule through terror, and mistake his attempts at a softer approach for weakness.

* ''Series/StargateSG1'': The Goa'uld are effectively this. They're living in the ruins of ''vastly'' more advanced civilizations, chiefly the Ancients, and most of the technology they rely on (including the Stargate network itself) was simply inherited from these people. However, anyone who could contest their leadership of the Milky Way is either unaware of them (the Replicators, Wraith, and Ori, who live in other galaxies) or uninterested in them (the Tollan and Nox, isolationists who stick to their own planet), so they're effectively its rulers by default. The territories they rule are also shockingly primitive even by Earth standards: some of their tools (weapons and some transportation) are space age technology, but they still live in preindustrial villages and small towns with very few of the modern amenities Earth developed in the last two hundred years.