Cattle Punk: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Let's face it. Cowboys are awesome. [[The Western]] used to qualify as their own genre so many of them used to be made. The thing is, in the modern world, [[Science Fiction]] is much more high-brow. And yet the awesome allure of cowboys cannot be ignored. Solution? [[Steampunk]] meets [[The Western]].

This kind of plot usually takes place either on another planet or in a very obvious [[Alternate History]], since making it work on Earth seriously messes up the [[Timey-Wimey Ball|space time continuum]].

 

 

Expect ample [[Schizo-Tech]] in this setting. This a bit of a variation on the [[In Space]] model, though characters here rarely ever actually go into space, at least for extended periods of time.

Not to be confused with Cowpunk, a form of music combining (you guessed it!) Country and Punk, which existed mainly in the 1980s. Although a Cattle Punk movie with a Cowpunk soundtrack would be a good idea.

 

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Trigun]]''. Desert planet. The Future. High tech not entirely lost, but not in general circulation, but a fairly large proportion of outlaws appear to be bio-modded. Trains replaced by titan things called 'sand steamers,' but you can also take a bus, buy a truck or motorcycle, or ride an ostrich-horse creature called a thomas.

 

== Comic Books ==

* The graphic novel ''[[Daisy Kutter]]'' utilizes this setting with surprisingly little ham-handedness, largely because robots appear only when it makes sense for them to do so in the plot.

* The comicbook ''[[Iron West]]'' by Doug TenNapel, in which cowboys and Gold Rush prospectors must fight off a robot zombie uprising.

* ''Justice Riders'', a [[Justice League of America]] [[Elseworld]], in which [[Wonder Woman|Sheriff Diana Prince]] leads the flying Native American [[Hawkman|Katar Johnson]], the [[Steampunk]] engineer [[Blue Beetle|Beetle]], the maverick gambler [[Booster Gold|Booster]], the fast-drawing [[The Flash|Kid Flash]], and the extremely mysterious [[Martian Manhunter|John Jones]] against rail baron Maxwell Lord, whose plan to control the West combines Felix Faust's magic and alien (Dominator) technology.

 

* ''[[Film/Oblivion|Oblivion]]''

* The 1935 serial ''[[The Phantom Empire]]'' with Gene Autry as ''The Singing Cowboy'' who discovers an advanced underground civilization with robots and other high tech.

* ''[[Westworld]]'' was kind of an inversion: Late 20th century robotic and [[Artificial Intelligence]] technology were used to re-create the Wild West for entertainment.

 

== Literature ==

 

== Live-Action TV ==

 

== Music ==

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[Phantasy Star Zero]]''

* ''[[Gun Mute]]'', a piece of interactive fiction by C.E.J. Pacian.

* A great deal of ''[[Twilight Princess]]'' invokes a western setting. Even the first quarter or so of the game is reminiscent of ''[[The Searchers]]'', except there's no rape and the Indians are orcs.

* ''[[Damnation]]'' portrays the United States torn by Civil War that lasts for at least several decades.

** Also a [[Justified Trope]] for New Vegas as the NCR has basically rebuilt the US government from scratch. They've just reached the 19th Century level of advancement.

 

== Web Comics ==

* ''[[Penny Arcade]]'''s Sand project.

** Also, [[Red Dead Redemption|Gunhorse. It's DLC.]]

* ''[[The Guns Of Shadow Valley]]'' is set in an Old West where all of the major characters have superpowers. One of the villains has a mechanical arm, and one of the protagonists has the ability to make steampunk weaponry.

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[The Lone Ranger]]'' had a 60's animated cartoon that turned this trope on and off as the producers desired. Among example plots, we have: an entire ghost town taken over by an anti-social madman of a ventriloquist who used mannequins and his talents to drive away real folk (preferring the company of his dolls) who try to set up, a magician in a devil costume named Mephisto who used a mixture of stage magic and apparently real spells to commit crimes, a botanist who created a valley filled with mutant plants capable of killing people, a German aviator attempting to take over the West with an armada of zepplins, an assassin who used explosive clocks as his weapon of choice, and a villain-worshipping child prodigy who would come up with (and pull off) plans like leading a gang of crooks on spring-heeled boots or becoming the general of an army of animated toys.

* The 90s animated series ''[[The New Adventures Of Zorro]]'' had Diego fighting [[Steampunk]] cyborgs and magical foes. To even the odds, [[Magical Native American|Grey Owl]] provided Zorro with his own magical assistance, and Barnardo was reinvented as a [[Gadgeteer Genius]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Speculative Fiction]]

[[Category:Otherworld Tropes]]

[[Category:The Western]]

[[Category:Punk Punk]]