Walking the Earth: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"I'll just walk the earth. ... You know, like Caine in ''[[Kung Fu]]''. Walk from place to place, meet people, get in adventures."''|'''Jules Winnfield''', ''[[Pulp Fiction]]''}}

Footloose and fancy-free, perhaps [[Noble Fugitive]]s on the lam, or maybe [[Desperately Looking for a Purpose In Life]], we set off among the [[Adventure Towns]], seeking the next place, rather than our fortunes.

Most of us would agree with Vincent Vega's response to Jules: "You're gonna become a ''bum!'' If you don't have a job, a home, and legal tender, that's all you'll be is a bum. Someone who picks in garbage cans and eats the stuff I throw away." Most people who go [['''Walking the Earth]]''' by themselves are male (or [[Sweet Polly Oliver|disguised as male]]). Females generally belong to a nomadic group, mostly for defense purposes.

It's much easier when you have a valuable skill... but this is [[Knight Errant|a different trope]]. You can get away with just [[Walking the Earth]] in settings with sufficiently strong traditions of [[Sacred Hospitality]], though -- likethough—like Homeric Greece (obviously), the Muslim world (where hospitality is a religious obligation), the Balkans if you're not from next door, and [[Sweet Home Alabama|the American South]]. Some Walkers, however, have some skills like craftsmanship that they utilize to make a trade/earn a living while traveling, like Hobos.

ThereFor havemany beenyears there were few [[Walking the Earth]] shows lately; the trope lay fallow until fall 2005, when a [[Walking the Earth]] show entitled ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' premiered.

If a character [[Walking the Earth]] has a strict code of honor and spreads justice in his wake, he's a [[Knight Errant]]. Same code of honor (and wanderlust) usually results in passing the [[Leave Your Quest Test]].

Subtrope of [[In Harm's Way]]. See also: [[Stern Chase]], and [[The Drifter]], [[Flying Dutchman]].

* ''[[Mushishi]]'' is a good example of this because its main character, Ginko, goes from place to place studying the mushi and helping others with mushi. While it's true he has friends and tends to revisit places, he has no real home.

* The cast of RPG-trope specific ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' also engaged in [[Walking the Earth]], as especially pointed out via the amazing [[Ghibli Hills]] landscapes in the ending credits of the first movie. If the game is any indication, it's a-okay to wander the world alone at the age of ten! While Ash and his entourage all do have homes with families they can fall back on (Pallet Town in Ash's case, Pewter City for Brock, Cerulean City for Misty, and so on) they're rarely actually at home.

* In ''[[Ranma One Half½]]'', the Saotomes had been doing this for about fifteen years at the opening of the series. It's left up in the air whether or not their time in the Tendo Dojo qualifies as the ''end'' of their [[Walking the Earth]], or merely a temporary respite. Also, antagonist Ryoga Hibiki always Wanders The Earth, due to the fact that his [[No Sense of Direction|sense of direction]] is so ''bad'' he gets lost trying to [[The Exit Is That Way|walk across a room]]. [[Unlucky Childhood Friend|Ukyo Kuonji]] also spent about ten years doing this after Genma stole her father's cart and abandoned her, while minor [[Villain of the Week|single-arc antagonists]] are often implied to be doing this, like Natsume & Kurumi (anime) and Ryu Kumon (manga), who are travelling all over Japan in search of their father and the counterpart to their school of martial arts respectively.

* A lot of the immortals in ''[[Baccano!]]'' do this. The most notable are the years between 1970-2002 in the novels where Maiza, Sylvie, and Czes spend a long time with the broad needle in a haystack reason of finding the other immortals who have scattered across the planet over a few hundred years.

* {{spoiler|Simon and Boota}} did this at the end of ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''. Not all fans were pleased with the circumstances.

* The characters from ''[[Blood Plus+]]'', literally circling the world by the time the series is over. Particularly Hagi, who not only accompanies Saya on her journey during the series, but also wanders the earth during her dormant periods as well.

** Kenshin’s mentor, Hiko was a wandering master swordsman, before he took Kenshin in.

* Van from ''[[Gun X Sword]]'' was [[Walking the Earth]] before the series began - more specifically, before he met Elena - and then ends up wandering about nearly aimlessly in search of The Clawed Man who killed her. {{spoiler|After he gets his revenge, he leaves his comrades to continue his aimless wandering. The last shot of the series, however, indicates his wandering may be cut short.}}

* [[Claymore|Claymores]]s don't have a home. They are constantly given assignments that take them from town to town and never settle in one place.

* Remi from the ''[[Ienakiko Remi]]'' anime series. Both one from the early 80's and the [[Gender Flip|Gender Flipped]]ped one from the nineties. In both of them, the travelling musician Remi travels through France either on his/her own or with their master, their best friend, and/or their animals.

* In all but the last few chapters of ''[[Plus Anima|+Anima]]'', Cooro and his gang wander around the kingdom. {{spoiler|it seems like Cooro was collecting Anima for Fly, but he really just wanted to get away from him and find friends.}}

* Doctor Bruce Banner in ''[[Incredible Hulk|The Incredible Hulk]]''. Given [[Hero with Bad Publicity|his alterego's reputation]], it's never a good idea to stay in one place for long.

* [[Green Lantern]] and [[Green Arrow]] spent some time [[Walking the Earth]] -- orEarth—or America, at least -- togetherleast—together in the early '70s. It was a coming-of-age time for the comic book, as much of what they saw was commentary on current politics and social situations.

** Or because Americans are human, he's based in America, or part of the deal is that he's not flying on his journey and it's rather hard to walk to other continents.

* European comic ''Aria'' features a rare solo female example and an [[Anvilicious]] one at that who chose this lifestyle because she wanted to remain [[Childfree Is Not Allowed|childfree]] and, most of all, [[Does Not Like Men|man-free]].

* The end of ''[[Teeth]]'' implies that {{spoiler|our heroine will spend the rest of her days as [[The Drifter]], [[Walking the Earth]] and, um, [[Squick|chomping off the penises of sexual predators]]}}.

{{quote| ''I cannot rest from travel: I will drink''<br />

*:* Note that Dante, at least formally believing the ''Aeniad'''s conceit that the Trojans founded Rome and became the national ancestors of the Italians, has it in for Odysseus, hence his position among the False Counselors in the Eighth[?] Circle of Hell.

* [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s blind singer Rhysling, composer of the song "[[The Green Hills Ofof Earth]]" in the short story of the same name. Until the accident that blinded him, he had been a spaceship engineer; after the accident, he took advantage of the informal custom that a spacer could have one free trip home, using it to wander at will all over the solar system.

** In ''[[The Dark Tower]] V: Wolves Of The Calla'', Father Callahan reveals that he had spent the time between the events of ''[['Salem's Lot]]'' and his arrival at Calla bryn Sturgis wandering the Earth.

* [[Mark Twain]]'s ''[[Adventures of Huckleberry Finn|The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]'' ... possibly in part inspired by Twain's real life experiences - for that matter, two of his autobiographical books are named ''Life on the Mississippi'' and ''Roughing It'' [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|for a good reason]].

** In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Gandalf the Grey spent two millennia [[Walking the Earth|Walking The (Middle) Earth]] while searching for ways to resist the return of Sauron.

** Aragorn and the other Rangers have a bit of this as well -- inwell—in fact, it's implied that this is a good part of the reason why Aragorn and Gandalf are such good friends.

* In the ''[[Casca]]'' series by Barry Sadler, Casca is the Roman soldier who stabbed Jesus in the side with a spear. Christ dooms Casca to walk the Earth until his second coming. Casca busies himself during this time be being involved in numerous wars and adventures throughout history.

*** The Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to get cash out of [[AT Ms]]ATMs in "The Long Game" and "The Runaway Bride."

** Subverted by Donna during her off-screen time between Christmas 2006 and series four. She started [[Walking the Earth]] after having met the Doctor, but got bored after a few weeks after she realised that "it's all bus trips and guidebooks and don't drink the water and two weeks later you're back home."

* The protagonists of ''[[Highway to Heaven]]'' -- though—though again, having an Angel of the Lord riding shotgun probably makes the little things easier to deal with.

* ''[[The Littlest Hobo]]'' was this kind of series, only the central character was a dog. (And [[Canada|Canadian]], which makes this a rare non-American example.)

* Some versions of ''[[Lassie]]'' also depict her travelling alone, a la ''Littlest Hobo''.

{{quote| '''Driver:''' Taking a trip?<br />

'''Bronson:''' Yeah.<br />

'''Driver:''' Where to?<br />

'''Bronson:''' Oh, I don't know. Wherever I end up, I guess.<br />

* In the short-lived [[FoxFOX]] series ''[[Danger Theatre]]'' one of the two rotating series was "The Searcher," a parody of ''Renegade'' and ''Knight Rider''.

{{quote| Someone needs help, so they called me. That’s what I do. I help people in trouble...They call me: The Searcher.}}

* The short-lived [[Judson Scott]] TV series ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083464/combined The Phoenix]'' also followed this model, except the man doing the walking was a space alien.

{{quote| I feel like walking the world, like walking the world }}

* Too many ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' [[We Help the Helpless|adventuring parties]] to count. (Although all those dungeons mean that they have ''some'' means of support, at least...)

* Eldar in ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' who feel too confined by their society's rigid structure are allowed to pursue the Path of the Exile and become Rangers, though they usually respond to requests from their craftworld to return and offer their skills (and sniper rifles) in defense of their race.

* Dwarf Slayers in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' are [[Flying Dutchman|banished from Dwarf society]] and doomed to [[Death Seeker|seek out battles]] so they can [[Forgiveness Requires Death|meet an honourable death]].

* ''[[Promethean: The Created]]'' sets this up in the very metaphysics of the titular characters -- staycharacters—stay in any one place too long, [[Torches and Pitchforks|the locals get restless]] and [[Walking Wasteland|the land blights beneath your feet]]. That, and the more you explore the world, [[To Become Human|the more of a chance you have of getting all that to]] ''[[To Become Human|stop]]''.

* Most, if not all of the ''[[Wild ArmsARMs]]'' games. They're called "[[The Drifter|Drifters]]" for a reason, you know.

** Of course, in Wild [[AR Ms]]ARMs mythology, Drifters are less about walking the earth and more about living day to day, doing odd jobs (which tend to be monster hunting) to earn a living. They don't wander because they want to either: more than a few characters have become drifters by necessity rather than by choice.

* It is only implied, but this supposedly happens to {{spoiler|Vayne and Pamela}} in their ending in ''[[Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al -Revis]]''. This is probably because {{spoiler|Pamela is a ''ghost'', and she hasn't grown out of her habit of scaring people.}}

* A staple of the ''[[Fallout]]'' series where the protagonists travel the Post-Apocalyptic Wastelands while saving the world.

* Ohforf'Sake, the main character of ''[[The Noob]]'' is continuing to wander the world of a [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]].

* Subverted in ''[[Cwen's Quest]]'' where Cwen is [https://web.archive.org/web/20110402000949/http://www.drunkduck.com/Cwens_Quest/index.php?p=413930 cold, hungry and miserable] during a walking the earth phase in her past. Even in the present, while she is on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]], her life is often shown to be less than glamorous.

* ''[[Off White]]'' revolves around a pack of wolves who are [[Walking the Earth]] to meet a mysterious sage.

* [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario]], Luigi, Princess Peach, and Toad in ''[[The Super Mario Bros. Super Show.!]]''

* ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'', in all its incarnations, is centered around this trope, as the teenage heroes roam the country solving mysteries for local townspeople, without getting paid, without having any recurring family or friends, and without ever worrying about school or jobs. Later spin-offs, adaptations and supplemental material refer to them as "Mystery, Inc.," though it's only in the more recent entries that they're generally recognized as investigators, and even then there never seems to be any payment involved. Their wanderings are [[Parental Bonus|subtly]] parodied in some spin-offs: at one point, the Mystery Machine drives through a snowfield to a scientific outpost, andfollowed by a charactercheerful cheerfully announces,announcement: "hereHere we are, gang, -- Antarctica!"

*** The''[[Scooby-Doo: mostMystery recentIncorporated]]'' show retcons the whole shenanigan - all the mysteries the gang solved in previous incarnations of the show actually happened in their hometown of Crystal Cove, which has made it famous as a supernatural hotspot, and most local business is based chiefly on tourism. So much so, that Velma and her tendency to bitterly point out that every last one was a hoax pose a significant danger to the local economy all by herself.

* [[Adult Swim]]'s ''[[Xavier: Renegade Angel]]''.{{context}}

** The [[Hanna-Barbera]] series ''[[Devlin]]'' is also a subversion, since the main characters are part of a travelling circus. (wellWell, technically the title character is; his brother Todd assists him with bike maintenance, etcand the like, while both are the legal guardians of their sister Sandy).

* The Gaang must do this in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', initially to gettraveling from the South to the North Pole and making a lot of detours/helping people along the way. After the first season, they get more involved with the Earth and Water militaries, and their destination keeps changing, andoften theywith are oftenthem on the run. While the nature of the Avatar's duties call for a certain amount of walking the earth, they do generally have homes they return to (e.g. Kyoshi Island and Roku's island), and Aang would probably would too if not for [[You Can't Go Home Again|certain events.]]

** TheOn that note, the Air Nomads lived their lives [[Walkingwalking the Earth]]earth.

* In ''[[Transformers Prime]]'', it's Wheeljack who does this with the galaxy. It's later revealed that a fellow Wrecker of his, Seaspray, did the same until Dreadwing killed him. Wheeljack then pursued him to Earth and has since given up the whole galaxy wandering - but now he wanders the Earth instead.

** Erdős is infamous enough to even get a [[Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon]] spinoff for himself, known as the [[wikipedia:Erd%C5%91sErdős number|Erdős number]]. Naturally, the [[wikipedia:Erd%C5%91s%E2%80%93BaconErdős–Bacon number|two have been combined]].

* On May 1st1, 2011, Laura Milkins set out from her home in Tucson, Arizona to walk to her mother's house...

** ...in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 2000 miles away. She [https://web.archive.org/web/20131209051513/http://www.walkinghomestories.com/ arrived] there on October 3rd3 at noon.

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