History Main / WastelandWarlord

-->'''Mr. House''': If you want to know the fate of democracies, look out the windows.

** 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.

** In the Wild Card ending of ''New Vegas'', the Courier themselves 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 themselves.

Compare and contrast with WastelandElder, who tends to be more of a mentor or advisor than the one in charge (or if they are in charge, tend to be a lot more benign and less despotic). Also contrast with DisasterDemocracy, where the faction's leadership is far more democratic and egalitarian. If the post-apocalyptic setting features a conflict between a good faction and an evil one, the good guys will usually be the ones practicing some form of democracy, while the bad guys will be the ones led by a warlord.

** Even after 10,000 years of Imperial rule, warlordism is still widespread in the sprawling Underhives of major Hive Cities and Planets across the Imperium. Since they're generally too polluted and dangerous, and the population not really worth protecting, Imperial law doesn't affect them much. As such, the only "order" in these parts is established by gangs of marauders, smugglers, mercenaries, and religious zealots.

* ''Film/WaterWorld'': The Deacon, the leader of The Smokers, a gang of pirates who operate from their floating base aboard an old oil tanker and regularly raid and terrorize the other atoll-dwellers. The Smokers hail him as their savior and the one who will eventually lead them to dry land.

* In ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'' a big chunk of the Caped Crusader's RoguesGallery gets a chance to live out their warlord fantasies. Black Mask goes in for mutilating his subjects in order to "unmask" them, while Killer Croc and Victor Szasz are shown in some kind of turf war.

** ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome'': Auntie Entity, the founder of Bartertown. She rules the town with an iron fist, sentencing anyone who "busts a deal" (i.e. breaks a vow) to "face the wheel" (a literal wheel with ten punishments written on it, most of them harsh, spun to determine the person's fate). The only people who dare defy her are Master Blaster, as they control the town's fuel supply, so she hires Max to eliminate her competition by challenging them to combat in [[TheThunderdome the titular Thunderdome]].

The Wasteland Warlord is the powerful, autocratic leader of a faction in your [[AfterTheEnd stock post-apocalyptic setting]]. Much like real-life warlords in many war-torn regions, failed states, or other chaotic areas of the world, the Wasteland Warlord usually [[Main/AsskickingEqualsAuthority 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 [[Main/{{Cult}} even the promise of a rewarding afterlife]].

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* ''Series/Dark2017'': When traveling to the [[BadFuture future world of 2052]] for the first time, Jonas encounters a faction of heavily-armed survivors and cultists led by a grown-up [[spoiler: [[CheerfulChild Elisabeth Doppler]], of all people]]. Despite being deaf and blind in one eye, she is able to maintain power through a mix of brutality (hanging anyone who disobeys her), religious fervor (preaching about "paradise" to her followers), and help from her lieutenant, Silja ([[spoiler:later revealed to have been specifically sent there by [[DiabolicalMastermind Adam]], as Elisabeth and Silja play a role in Adam's greater, overarching plans]]).

** Phil Blake, aka the Governor, is the first major human antagonist of the series. Having managed to build a safe zone out of the town of Woodsbury, he [[VillainWithGoodPublicity presents himself as a benevolent leader]] trying to rebuild society, but is soon revealed to be a brutal dictator who happily kills anyone he views as a threat to his plans. After coming into conflict with the protagonists, he starts a war with them; when he starts losing, he suffers a VillainousBreakdown, killing many of his own people and burning Woodsbury down. He then wanders off and eventually joins a survivor caravan, which he swiftly takes over and uses to attack the prison community again in a final attempt to claim it for himself.

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The Wasteland Warlord is the powerful, autocratic leader of a faction in your [[AfterTheEnd stock post-apocalyptic setting]]. Much like real-life warlords in many wartorn regions, failed states, or other chaotic areas of the world, the Wasteland Warlord usually [[Main/AsskickingEqualsAuthority 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 [[Main/{{Cult}} even the promise of a rewarding afterlife]].

* ''Literature/ThePostman'': General Macklin, the leader of [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic the Holnists]], who rampage across the former United States mercilessly pillaging and slaving as they go. He's also a [[spoiler: first generation SuperSoldier]], ensuring that he is able to stay in command of the Holnists (whose entire philosophy is built around MightMakesRight taken UpToEleven).

* ''TabletopGame/ApocalypseWorld'' features the Hardholder [[Main/CharacterClass playbook]] whose main shtick is that they are in charge of an entire in-universe settlement and almost everything they do feeds into this [[Main/ConstructionAndManagementGames settlement sim]] in one way or another. Furthermore, if they permanently lose of their settlement, whether to rebellion or invaders, the Hardholder is expected to either retire, or to switch playbooks.

** Commonplace during the Age of Strife, the post-apocalyptic nightmare Terra collapsed into before the God Emperor of Mankind unified the planet once again and founded the Imperium of Man. The various "techno-barbarian" factions ranged from continent-spanning empires like Ursh, to feral bands of raiders and scavengers that crisscrossed the vast dried up ocean beds for salvage, water, slaves, and lost tech.

** Played with by Arthur Maxson in ''VideoGame/Fallout4''. He's not the supreme leader of the Brotherhood of Steel, and is implied to be a PuppetKing for the West Coast Elders. However, he is the undisputed leader of all Brotherhood forces within the Commonwealth, and he wields considerable authority and respect to the point where the men are loyal to him specifically.

** ''VideoGame/Borderlands1'' has Baron Flynt, Leader of the Bandits and (self-proclaimed) "most dangerous man on Pandora", who controls most of the bandit gangs in Pandora from a huge excavation drill by the time the game takes place. Prior to the game's events, he was a [[MegaCorp Dahl]] convict who was left to his own after Dahl abandoned the planet, seizing the chance to free and lead the remaining convicts. Big-name bandits such as Sledge, Krom and Nine-Toes also work for him.

** In the event that Wrex dies in the first game, his brother Wreav takes over leadership of Clan Urdnot and is a much more traditional, villainous version of this trope. Where Wrex believes in diplomacy and tries to unite the various clans by showing how much better off they'll be, Wreav rules through fear and aggression, stockpiling nuclear weapons and preparing to destroy any who won't submit.

* Saul Buchanan, the Patriarch of ''VideoGame/Wasteland3'', who lords over the frozen wastes of Colorado from atop his throne at The Broadmoor, though under his reign, Colorado has become one of the few places left on Earth with any semblance of functioning civilization. Each of his three children seek to become warlords in their own right and overthrow their father, causing the Patriarch to reach out to the Arizona Desert Rangers for help, thereby kicking off the events of the game.

** Phil Blake, aka the Governor, is the first major human antagonist of the series. Having managed to build a safe zone out of the town of Woodsbury, he [[VillainWithGoodPublicity presents himself as a benevolent leader]] trying to rebuild society, but is soon revealed to be a brutal dictator who happily kills anyone he views as a threat to his plans. After coming into conflict with the protagonists, he starts a war with them; when he starts losing, he suffers a VillainousBreakdown, killing many of his own people and burning Woodsbury down. He then wanders off and eventually finds himself leader of a survivor caravan, which he swiftly takes over and uses to attack the prison community again in a final attempt to claim it for himself.

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'': [[BigBad Negan]] is the leader of The Saviors, a gang that can best be described as a ZombieApocalypse version of TheMafia meets TheEmpire. The Saviors, numbering hundreds strong and all having sworn UndyingLoyalty to Negan, maintain their large army and their base of Sanctuary by extorting food and tribute from surrounding communities of the Washington, D.C. area in exchange for their "protection". However, Negan's actions and violent methods eventually lead to all-out war between The Saviors and [[TheAlliance an alliance]] of the communities of Alexandria, Hilltop, and the Kingdom.

* In the ''Emberverse'' series of books by Creator/SMStirling, which follow the breakdown of society in the USA after modern technology suddenly ceases to function, viable states arise from the wreckage. One such is the Portland Protective Association, run by Norman Arminger, a man who creates a pseudo-medieval fiefdom with himself as King.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wizards}}'': 2 million years after a nuclear war, Earth is inhabited by mutants, elves, and fairies. The malevolent wizard Blackwolf rules over a region called Scortch [sic]. It's a ruinous wasteland with little greenery and much decay. There, Blackwolf finds a way to instill militancy in the wretched mutants that inhabit Scortch, and marshal them against the elves and fairies that abide in the nicer parts of the world ReclaimedByNature.

->"I am your redeemer! It is by my hand you will rise from the ashes of this world!"

* ''VideoGame/LISA'' has several:

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* In the ''Crosstime Traffic'' book ''The Valley-Westside War'' by Creator/HarryTurtledove, a nuclear war in the 1960s reduced the United States and the USSR to hundreds, if not thousands, of petty states. The title refers to the Kingdoms of Westside and the San Fernando Valley, fighting over control of what used to be Los Angeles, 130 years later. The Valley is a straight example of this trope, ruled by King Zev, but Westside is ruled by a nine-member city council.
* In the ''Emberverse'' series of books by Creator/SMStirling, which follow the breakdown of society in the USA after modern technology suddenly ceases to function, viable states arise from the wreckage. One such is the Portland Protective Association, run by Norman Arminger, a man who creates a pseudo-medieval fiefdom with himself as King.

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** In the Wild Card ending of ''New Vegas'', the Courier themselves 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/KipoAndTheAgeOfWonderbeasts: Scarlamange functions as one, controlling the goth apes directly and being powerful enough to intimidate all the other mutant tribes into following him. Played with in that despite civilization having fallen, it's not really that bad on the surface aside from some of the more aggressive feral mutants.

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