Line #52 Main/BikerMedia


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8	''Works of fiction that delve into the (outlaw) biker subculture, often starring motorcycle clubs ("[=MCs=]" for short) and their individual members in key roles, either as protagonists (especially in the newer works) or as the main villains (particularly in the [[ExploitationFilm "bikerploitation"]] movies of TheSixties).''
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10	Throughout the decades, the pop-cultural image of outlaw bikers has gone through several phases/subgenres, each associated with a particular narrative about them:
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12	* "Bikers are [[RebelliousSpirit causeless rebels]]": This was the original conception of the biker presented in ''Film/TheWildOne'' ([[TheFifties 1953]]), whose Johnny Strabler deliberately antagonizes the society that is basically alright and has no quarrel with him, initially. The next two narratives evolved this idea in different directions.
13	* "Bikers are a [[{{Dehumanization}} bestial]] [[HordesFromTheEast invading horde]]": Popularized by the bikerploitation movies from ''Film/TheWildAngels'' ([[TheSixties 1966]]) onward, this narrative zoomed in on the [[RapePillageAndBurn antisocial, destructive, and violent]] aspects of biker lifestyle, essentially portraying them as AlwaysChaoticEvil.
14	* "Bikers are [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood misunderstood]] [[LibertyOverProsperity freedom seekers]]": ''Film/EasyRider'' (1969) sublimated the ideas of TheSixties' counterculture into a new narrative of bikers as sympathetic sentimental outcasts. While few movies have followed said narrative to the letter (the latest being ''Film/HarleyDavidsonAndTheMarlboroMan'' in 1991), it remains an important counterpoint to the mostly negative biker portrayals in the media.
15	* "Bikers are [[TheApunkalypse post-apocalyptic raiders]]": Since TheSeventies, thanks to both ''[[Film/DawnOfTheDead1978 Dawn of the Dead]]'' (1978) and ''Film/MadMax1'' (1979), marauding biker packs have become an inextricable staple in [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] and {{dystopia}}n fiction as overarching or final antagonists.[[note]]Never mind that if gasoline production ever stopped (e.g. in case of an apocalypse), all existing refined gas on Earth would get used up, evaporate, or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline#Stability go bad]] within a year, tops, turning "biker gangs" into simple "gangs".[[/note]]
16	* "Bikers are [[BadassBiker generic tough guys]]": The shift of the "evil biker" image from "an unstoppable force of nature" to this in TheNineties is perhaps best illustrated by T-800 [[TheWorfEffect beating up a bunch of bikers]] and seizing a hog at the start of ''Film/{{Terminator 2\|Judgment Day}}'' (1991).
17	* "Bikers are a {{power fantasy}}": A product of [[TheNineties the early '90s]]' revisionism, ''VideoGame/FullThrottle'' (1995) blended a sympathetic portrayal of bikers with their tough guy image to let players experience the fantasy of being a BadassBiker. This narrative is, for [[{{Escapism}} obvious]] [[RuleOfFun reasons]], mostly found in interactive media.
18	* "Bikers are [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels ruthless criminal enterprises]]": After the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Biker_War Quebec Biker War]] (1994–2002)[[note]]which wasn't the ''first'' [[MobWar biker drug-trade war]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milperra_massacre not by]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lennoxville_massacre a long]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Nordic_Biker_War shot]], but it was the largest in scale and the best publicized[[/note]], the "bestial horde" narrative was largely displaced as the default biker image by their portrayals as organized [[DrugsAreBad drug-pushers]] and/or [[ArmsDealer gun-runners]], best exemplified by ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'' ([[TurnOfTheMillennium 2008]][[TheNewTens –14]])[[note]]although the series did pit this narrative against the romanticized biker image from ''Easy Rider'' and ''Full Throttle'' as the protagonist's main internal struggle[[/note]].
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20	Other common tropes in biker media include: AllBikersAreHellsAngels, BadassBiker, CoolBike, BadGuyBar, MotorcycleDominoes, and UsefulNotes/{{Bosozoku}} (in Japanese media). Usually absent: UsefulNotes/MotorcycleSafety. For more information on the history of the genre, see also our [[MediaNotes/BikerMedia notes on Biker Media]] and Website/TheOtherWiki's article on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw_biker_film Outlaw biker film]].
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22	Any media which depicts outlaw motorcycle clubs as criminal groups also doubles as GangsterFiction, though anything starring non-criminal bikers obviously wouldn't fit in there.
23	----
24	!!Examples:
25	[[foldercontrol]]
26
27	[[index]]
28
29	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
30	* ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' (1982), as well as its 1988 animated movie adaptation, are rarely considered as an example of biker media, but the story does focus on two {{Japanese\|Delinquents}} biker gang members, Kaneda and Tetsuo, and is largely responsible for the proliferation of the CoolBike trope in the {{Cyberpunk}} genre, as well as for popularizing (via Kaneda) ''heroic'' bikers to dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction.
31	* ''[[Manga/GTOTheEarlyYears Shonan Jun'ai Gumi!]]'' (1990-1996), its prequel ''Manga/BadCompany'' (1996), and its sequel ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'' (1997-2002) focus on UsefulNotes/{{Bosozoku}} bikers Eikichi Onizuka and Ryuji Danma (Ryuji is DemotedToExtra in GTO).
32	** ''Manga/BadCompany'' especially focuses on UsefulNotes/{{Bosozoku}} culture, being an OriginsEpisode about how the duo got their bikes in the first place.
33	** In ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'', Eikichi is no longer an active gang member, but he still rides a [[CoolBike custom motorcycle]] and is well-known in the biker gang community.
34	%% * ''Literature/SuperCub'' -- ZCE; please expand on how the show examines (outlaw) biker subculture before uncommenting
35	* ''Manga/TokyoRevengers'' revolves around the Tokyo Manji gang, a Bōsōzoku gang of JapaneseDelinquents that started out [[NobleDemon relatively innocuous aside from street fights]], but evolved into a major crime syndicate in the present day.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Comic Books]]
39	* ''ComicBook/BarbWire'' is a HellBentForLeather BountyHunter always seen on her bike.
40	* ''ComicBook/GhostRider'': A stunt biker with a flaming skull for a head fights crime as part of a DealWithTheDevil.
41	* ''ComicBook/GothamCityGarage'' is a comic {{Elseworld}} based on a statue line, in which mostly-female DC Comics heroes are [[TheApunkalypse Apunkalyptic]] biker outlaws fighting the totalitarian reign of Lex Luthor.
42	* ''ComicBook/{{The Humans\|ImageComics}}'' follows the exploits of the namesake club, who all happen to be great apes. Its set in an alternate Earth where apes are the dominant species and humans are used as livestock. The settings' history follows our own pretty closely, so much so that the Vietnam War happened and the main character is a recently returned veteran. Essentially ''The Humans'' is ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'' meets ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes''.
43	* ''ComicBook/JoeBarTeam'' concerns the lives and times of a group of Parisians bikers who hang out at the eponymous Joe Bar.
44	* ''ComicBook/RoadqueenEternalRoadtripToLove''
45	* ''ComicBook/SherwoodTexas'' (2014) is a retelling of the Myth/RobinHood mythos, pitting the protagonist against a violent outlaw biker gang, The Nobles, in a modern setting.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
49	* ''[[Film/OnePercent 1%]]'' (2018) an Australian biker gang drama showing clear influence by ''Sons of Anarchy''.
50	* ''Film/BarbWire'' (1996), an InNameOnly adaptation of the comic book.
51	* ''Film/BeyondTheLaw'' (1992) also sees an undercover cop infiltrating a biker gang and soon finding himself BecomingTheMask.
52	* ''Film/TheBikeriders'' (2024) follows the rise of the Vandals MC, a fictional Chicago outlaw biker club in The60s.
53	* ''Film/TheBlackSix'' (1973), a blaxploitation biker film.
54	* ''Film/DearGodNo'' (2011), a gang of outlaw bikers pull a home invasion on a disgraced anthropologist hiding a secret locked in his cabin basement.
55	* ''Film/DisturbingThePeace'' (2020), a police officer must fight back against a violent outlaw motorcycle club that takes over his small town.
56	* ''Film/EasyRider'' (1969) was likely the first sympathetic depiction of bikers as [[MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold sentimental outcasts]], a deliberate subversion of the violent biker archetype of the time.
57	* ''Film/GimmeShelter1970'', a {{Rockumentary}} of the 1969 Altamont concert by Music/{{The Rolling Stones\|Band}}, in which the actual Hells Angels were hired as "security" for musicians on the stage.
58	* In ''Film/{{Goldstone}}'' (2016), the Furnace Creek Mining Group employs an outlaw motorcycle gang called the Howlers as enforcers; using them to deal with troublemakers while maintaining plausible deniability.
59	* ''Film/HarleyDavidsonAndTheMarlboroMan'' (1991) portrays the eponymous bikers as {{Lovable Rogue}}s despite their criminal lifestyle.
60	* ''Film/TheHellcats'' (1967), a bikerploitation film.
61	* ''Film/HellRide'' (2008) is an homage to the old bikerploitation movies of the '60s.
62	* ''[[Film/HellsAngels69 Hell's Angels '69]]'' (1969) was the second and, to date, last biker movie produced in association with the real Hells Angels.
63	* ''Film/HellsAngelsOnWheels'' (1967), notable for being one of the few biker films produced in collaboration with [[CastTheExpert actual bikers of the Hells Angels MC]].
64	* ''Film/HellsBloodyDevils'' (1970), a bikerploitation film where a spy battles a neo-Nazi biker gang.
65	* ''Film/KillersOnWheels'' (1974), an ExploitationFilm where a family of vacationers are terrorized by a bloodthirsty biker gang.
66	* ''Film/LoneHero'' (2002), where an actor in a Wild West show must become a mythical Western Hero when a biker gang descends upon a small Montana town.
67	* ''Film/TheLosers1970'', where a biker gang are hired to rescue POW's in Vietnam. Features machine guns mounted to motorcycles.
68	* ''Film/TheLostBoys'' (1987) is about two brothers encountering a biker gang who happen to be vampires.
69	* In ''Film/{{Made}}'' (2001), Puffy Daddy's character is a drug kingpin in New York who has a gang of black bikers under his command.
70	* ''Film/MadMax1'' (1979) features a biker gang as the primary villains, but rather than being a straight up exploitation of the biker image, it had established outlaw biker gangs as an obligatory feature of dystopian and post-apocalyptic settings.
71	* ''Film/MastersOfMenace'' (1990) is a rare biker ''comedy'', presenting the outlaws as fun-loving, hard-drinking, but mostly harmless vagabonds.
72	* ''Film/NamAngels'' (1989), the ''other'' movie where a biker gang are hired to rescue POW's in Vietnam. Features machine guns mounted to motorcycles.
73	* ''Film/{{Quick}}'' (2011) is about a famous ex-outlaw biker who has to deliver a bomb before it explodes.
74	* ''Film/TheSidehackers'' (1969), a bikerploitation film.
75	* ''Film/{{Stone}}'' (1974), an Australian flick about a cop who infiltrates a biker gang.
76	* ''Film/StoneCold'' (1991) has a cop go undercover in a criminal biker gang.
77	* ''Film/StrayCatRockDelinquentGirlBoss'' (1970), a Japanese bikersploitation film about an all-female biker gang.
78	* ''Film/StreetsOfFire'' (1984) is another movie with an outlaw MC as the main antagonists.
79	* ''Film/{{Torque}}'' (2004) portrays a lone motorcyclist in conflict with several (drug-running) outlaw [=MCs=] at once.
80	* ''Film/WerewolvesOnWheels'' (1971), a film about bikers turned into werewolves by a Satanic cult.
81	* ''Film/TheWildAngels'' (1966) is one of the first and best-known bikerploitation films of the '60s.
82	* ''Film/WildHogs'' (2007) sees four regular middle-aged shmoes go on rides with outlaw biker attires -- only to run afoul of actual outlaw bikers (and obvious stand-ins for the Hells Angels).
83	* ''Film/TheWildOne'' (1953) is, by most accounts, the first biker film, which established the outlaw biker image in popular subconsciousness.
84	* ''Film/WildRebels'' (1967), a bikerploitation film.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Literature]]
88	* Veteran Hells Angel Creator/SonnyBarger wrote a number of novels on the outlaw lifestyle well into his senior years, as well as his memoirs and non-fiction books about motorcycling in general.
89	* Edward Winterhalder, the retired founder of Oklahoma chapter of the Banditos, is another prominent non-fiction writer and popularizer of the outlaw biker lifestyle.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
93	* ''[[Series/BikieWarsBrothersInArms Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms]]'' (2012) is an Australian mini-series dramatizing the events of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milperra_massacre Milperra massacre]] of 1984.
94	* ''Series/GanglandUndercover'' (2015–ongoing) is based on the memoirs of Charles Falco, an undercover informant who infiltrated several outlaw biker gangs in service of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
95	* ''Series/TheLastChapter'' (2002) is a Canadian six-episode mini-series about the fictional Triple Sixers MC, loosely BasedOnATrueStory of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Biker_War Quebec Biker War]] (1994–2002).
96	* ''Series/{{Renegade}}'' (1992-1997), a [[FrameUp framed-up]] ex-cop who becomes a BountyHunter, riding a chopper and adopting a biker aesthetic.
97	* ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'' (2008–14) tells the story of the eponymous (fictional) [[ArmsDealer gun-running]] outlaw MC.
98	** ''Series/MayansMC'' (2018–ongoing) is a spinoff series that focuses on the Sons' eponymous "frenemies".
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
102	* ''[[TabletopGame/OnePercenter 1%er - The Outlaw Motorcycle Game]]'' (2013) is a TabletopRPG where the players take on the roles of bikers belonging to the "nomad" chapter of an outlaw MC, meaning that they don't have a permanent base but ride around doing odd jobs (mostly of the criminal kind) for the club.
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Video Games]]
106	* [[/index]]The [[RussianVideoGames Russian developer/publisher Akella]] had been working on a biker-themed ActionGame ''Axle Rage'' (later rebranded as ''Rage Rider'') from 2002 to right up until its closure in 2012. The game took a lot of its inspiration from ''Full Throttle'', and [[WhatCouldHaveBeen would have been]] a WideOpenSandbox set in a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] CityOfAdventure that is carved up among several biker gangs, with the player belonging to one of them.[[index]]
107	* ''VideoGame/DaysGone'' (2019): Main characters Deacon and Boozer are all that remains of their outlaw motorcycle club from before the ZombieApocalypse. In fact, the game had been originally [[https://ftw.usatoday.com/2022/01/days-gone-2-interview pitched]] as "''Franchise/TheWalkingDead'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy''".
108	* ''VideoGame/FullThrottle'' (1995) follows the leader of an outlaw biker club trying to save his crew from fabricated murder accusations. Two sequels, ''Full Throttle: Payback'' and ''Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels'' had been in production at Creator/LucasArts, but fell to CreativeDifferences in 2000 and 2003, respectively.
109	* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndDamned'' (2009) puts the focus on the Lost MC, who have previously appeared as side characters in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' and ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheBalladOfGayTony The Ballad of Gay Tony]]''.
110	* ''VideoGame/HarleyDavidsonRaceAcrossAmerica'' (1999) is a more or less bare-bones AdvertisementGame for Harley-Davidson where players race their way to the annual Sturgis Bike Rally.
111	* ''VideoGame/RideToHellRetribution'' (2013): The motorcycling protagonist is ''not'' a member of an outlaw MC, but his primary antagonists, the Devil's Hand gang, are.
112	* ''VideoGame/RoadRash'' (1991) made waves when it came out for not just being a motorcycle racing game, but one where you could attack the other competitors with punches, kicks and weapons while avoiding the cops. Later installments play up the "rebel biker" angle more, coming to a head in 2000's ''Road Rash: Jailbreak''
113	* ''VideoGame/RoadRedemption'' (2017) is set in a [[TheApunkalypse post-nuclear apocalypse America]] run by biker gangs and the sole remaining MegaCorp. The protagonist is an independent biker who fights his way through multiple gangs' turf for a bounty put by said MegaCorp on a mysterious motorcycling assassin.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Western Animation]]
117	* ''WesternAnimation/AvengerPenguins'' (1993–94) casts anthropomorphic animals (penguins, in this case) as a kid-friendly biker club.
118	* ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'' (1993–96) was a kid-friendly take on the genre, featuring a trio of anthropomorphic alien mice as the remnant of a Martian outlaw biker club.
119	[[/folder]]
120	[[/index]]

Context Main / BikerMedia