The Drifter: Difference between revisions

* Kenshiro of ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'' fits this trope to a tee, especially at the beginning of the series. He wanders the [[After the End|post-apocalyptic]] landscape from town to town looking for his kidnapped lover, has his sidekick in Bat, is theoretically not looking for trouble, and yet somehow always leaves behind body counts that range from dozens to hundreds.

* The protagonist, Ginko, from ''[[Mushishi]]'' (a sort of ''mononoke''-ologist)

* [[Raven Tengu Kabuto]], from the anime of the same name. The above description is almost a plot synopsis.

* Vash The Stampede of ''[[Trigun]]'' has this as pretty much his whole thing, except he's also a wanted outlaw and an immortal mutant freak.

** Since his setting is Western-inspired and he has mad gun skills, [[Chronic Hero Syndrome]] and multiple issues with settling down, he does a lot of this, especially in the anime which put of the [[Cerebus Syndrome]] a lot longer, although most of the story is consumed by the plot happening.

*** Interestingly, that situation gets resolved by Wolfwood drifting ''into'' town looking for him the same day Vash's adopted family member is kidnapped, and then both of them kick ass and walk off into the sunset. Vash's [[But Now I Must Go]] costs him a ''lot'' more than usual this time.

* Ran from ''[[Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran]]''.

* While he's mostly a [[The Wise Prince|Wise Prince]], Ashitaka from ''[[Princess Mononoke]]'' has shades of the Drifter, as he becomes entwined with and takes a stake in the outcome of the conflict between the various factions he encounters during his travels.

** As Eboshi says when asked if she saw him come around: "Came, and went."

* The titular Kino of [[Kino's Journey]], travelling the world on her talking motorcycle, with a strict rule to never stay in one country for longer than three days.

 

** Note also that one of the films he directed is called ''[[High Plains Drifter]]''.

*** ''[[High Plains Drifter]]'' plays with the conventions of this trope a bit, mainly in that The Stranger (as he is credited) is hinted at being {{spoiler|the ghost of a man murdered by the townsfolk (indirectly) years prior and thus brings on a little vengeance by turning the town's folk against each other, manipulating and scaring them into giving him absolute power and pretty much ruining the town's economy (by blowing up the hotel, tearing down the barn and not paying for any of the many goods and services he takes advantage of, such as buying everyone in town a drink from the bar at the bartender's expense. In fact, he's barely in the town for ten minutes before he kills three men, drags a woman to the barn and rapes her. }}

* Sanjuro, in Kurosawa's ''[[Yojimbo]]'' (the prototype for ''For a Fistful of Dollars'') and ''[[Sanjuro]]''.

* Also [[Zatoichi]], hero of a ''long''-running series of Japanese films. In each film, he wanders into a new [[Adventure Towns|Adventure Town]], where he at first pretends to be a simple itinerant masseur and gambler. But when some local yakuza boss or corrupt official threatens him or the group of innocent commoners he's befriended, he reveals himself to be a master swordsman and all-out [[Badass Normal|badass]]. Oh, and he's blind, too.

* The animated film ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'' starts off with a dream sequence where Po fits this trope PERFECTLY. Of course, this is just his dream self, but it does seem to show how [[Genre Savvy]] he is. Two tropes for the price of one?

* ''[[Shane]]'', of course.

* Comrade Sukhov from [[White Sun of the Desert]]. A retired soldier who just wants to go home, he walks the sands of Turkestan and gets into trouble.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* Joe Christmas in ''[[A Light in August]]''

* Made famous in literature, and later in film, by ''[[Shane]]''.

* Roland, [[Stephen King]]'s [[The Dark Tower|Gunslinger]], especially in ''The Wolves of the Calla''.

* Etienne Lantier is the catalyst for the events of Emil Zola's ''[[Germinal]]''.

* [[Ben Snow]] is a wandering cowhand looking for work who keeps stumbling into mysteries. It doesn't help that he is sometimes mistaken for Billy the Kid.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* The Doctor in ''[[Doctor Who]]'' does this throughout time and space.

* Caine from ''[[Kung Fu]]''.

** Whose lack of visible problems that would realistically be associated with [[Walking the Earth]] may be [[Justified Trope|justified]], as well, since it's a dog. It can find a river to dunk in, and scraps lying around, and [[Kick the Dog|only the pure evil would hurt him.]]

* Sam Beckett from ''[[Quantum Leap]].''

* Bronco Layne from ''[[Bronco]]'', a [[Spin-Off]] from ''[[Cheyenne]]''.

* ''[[The Westerner]]''

* ''[[Then Came Bronson]]'': Michael Parks and a [[Cool Bike]].

* Eiji Hino is only said to be a drifter before ''[[Kamen Rider OOO]]'' starts, since he stays in the same general area for most of the series, but he goes back to that lifestyle in the end - only now he has a group of friends to stay in touch with.

* Nick does the same thing as OOO in ''[[Power Rangers Mystic Force]]''; blow into town as the [[Naive Newcomer]] in the beginning, leave again at season's end with a new set of [[True Companions]] to show for it.

** The Winchesters more than most, because they have less of a home base than the majority of hunters, and are unusually kind and personable...even if they are violent maniacs with no respect for the law who lie like they breathe.

 

== [[Music]] ==

* [[Ralph Mc Tell]]'s "The Ferryman" is an exploration of this trope.

* Elvenking's "The Wanderer". It's rather obvious.

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* This is a typical trait for [[Promethean: The Created|Prometheans]]. If they settle in any one place for too long, [[Torches and Pitchforks|Disquiet]] starts to take hold in the townspeople and [[Walking Wasteland|Wastelands]] bloom up under their feet. Hence, they're constantly on the move, only staying long enough in any one town to enjoy contact or refresh supplies without polluting the land or warping people's minds.

 

== [[Toys]] ==

* While they be called Dream Chasers, Mercenaries, Wanderers, or yes, Drifters, these make up most of your PCs in the ''[[Wild Arms]]'' series.

** [[Trope Namer|build up foundation]] indeed

* Nearly every ''[[Fallout]]'' game has you playing some variant on this character type.

* Similarly to ''[[Fallout]]'', ''[[Oblivion|The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]'' allows you to wander the countryside, picking up whatever quests you want, joining any/all of the five main factions, or whatever else you can think of that has nothing to do with the main story.

== Webcomics ==

* [http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119505 Claudita] seems to be just drifting around trying to figure out Eman Cruz and drift wherever he goes.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==