History Main / BanditClan

* The pinball game ''Cactus Canyon'' has the Bart Brothers (Big Bart, Bandelero, and Bubba), three WildWest bandits that must be defeated as part of the game.

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Subtrope to TheClan.

Compare TheMafia, BarbarianTribe, DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster, GenericEthnicCrimeGang, WretchedHive (where these clans often reside). Particularly depraved and horrific examples may overlap with CannibalClan.

* The Fratellis in ''Film/TheGoonies'' are a violent clan of criminals.

* Creator/RudyardKipling's poem �The Ballad of East and West� deals with the leader of such a clan who steals a British officer's horse. The officer's son rides after him to retrieve it, and after impressing the bandit with his courage and manliness does so.

* There is a category of Scottish folk music called �Border Ballads�, which are often about the Reiver Clans. These songs include:
** ''The Ballad of Little Jock Elliot�, a [[BadassBoast brag song]] about a leader of the Elliots, one of the most powerful Reiver clans.
** �Lock the Door Larriston�, which is about a feud between two such clans
** �The Moss-Trooper's Lament'�, composed after the unification of the thrones of England and Scotland and the consequent elimination of the lawless border. The song complains that the former reiver lifestyle must be abandoned for a boring farmer's life.

* [[Creator/RudyardKipling �The Ballad of East and West�]] deals with the leader of such a clan who steals a British officer's horse. The officer's son rides after him to retrieve it, and after impressing the bandit with his courage and manliness does so.

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* Creator/RudyardKipling's poem “The Ballad of East and West” deals with the leader of such a clan who steals a British officer's horse. The officer's son rides after him to retrieve it, and after impressing the bandit with his courage and manliness does so.

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* There is a category of Scottish folk music called “Border Ballads”, which are often about the Reiver Clans. These songs include:
** ''The Ballad of Little Jock Elliot”, a [[BadassBoast brag song]] about a leader of the Elliots, one of the most powerful Reiver clans.
** “Lock the Door Larriston”, which is about a feud between two such clans
** “The Moss-Trooper's Lament'”, composed after the unification of the thrones of England and Scotland and the consequent elimination of the lawless border. The song complains that the former reiver lifestyle must be abandoned for a boring farmer's life.

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* [[Creator/RudyardKipling “The Ballad of East and West”]] deals with the leader of such a clan who steals a British officer's horse. The officer's son rides after him to retrieve it, and after impressing the bandit with his courage and manliness does so.

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These groups are rare nowadays, as there are very few areas left sufficiently lawless to sustain them, but they can appear in historical fiction, fantasy, and any type of science fiction that involves TheFinalFrontier. They tend to have a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy warrior culture]] that honors strength, cunning, and ruthlessness, and tend to be big fans of [[TheRustler cattle theft]], as well as a good old fashioned RapePillageAndBurn. While the family business isn't usually murder specifically, they aren't shy about killing anyone who stands in their way (or annoys them, or looks at them funny...), so many will have elements of an extended multi-generational [[TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether Family That Slays Together]]. They may well be a BadassFamily as well, when the outright criminality of the lifestyle is downplayed or because EvilIsCool.
They are usually land-based, but seagoing and spacefaring pirate clans also fall under this trope.

Compare TheMafia, BarbarianTribe, DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster, GenericEthnicCrimeGang, WretchedHive (where these clans often reside).

->The last of our steers on the board has been spread,\\

There are dangers to dare, and there's spoil to be won.

* Historically, many residents of the Hindu Kush and Afghanistan have made a living in this way, as in ''Literature/ThePeshawarLancers''. These were a constant threat along the SilkRoad.

* The ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' universe has the Angel family, a clan of disfigured misfits who live in the Cursed Earth, preying on the occasional traveler. They are also cannibals and sometimes, their nefarious plots lead them into Mega City One.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', the mountain clans are a loosely-affiliated group of clans who live in the foothills of the Mountains of the Moon, and appear to make a living at least partially through banditry, preying on travelers to and from the Vale of Arryn. In the first novel, Tyrion recruits several clans (among them the Black Ears, Burned Men, Milk Snakes, Moon Brothers, and Stone Crows) to the Lannister cause by promising them arms and armor with which to conquer the Vale.

* The Cooper Clan, as in ''Franchise/SlyCooper'' are a family of the worlds greatest master thieves. Of course this is played with as they all have shades of {{Genterman The|if}}ves (like stealing only from other thieves) and the fact that Sly himself is the only Cooper alive (as his parents were killed by the first game's BigBad, Of course Thieves in Time allowed his to meet some of his ancestors).

-> The last of our steers on the board has been spread,
-> And the last flask of wine in our goblet is red
-> Up up, my brave kinsmen! belt swords and begone,
-> There are dangers to dare, and there 's spoil to be won.
-->--'''Sir Creator/WalterScott''', ''The Foray''

* Manga/{{Inuyasha}} and Kagome's adventures through feudal Japan had them encountering numerous bandit clans, some of which were being lead by a demon in disguise. For the first bandit clan that Kagome and Inuyasha encounter, a Shikon Jewel shard was reanimating the corpse of their dead leader, and it was Kagome who noticed he was dead to begin with. When she started loudly ordering everyone to be careful of the now rampaging corpse, all the bandits declared her to be their new leader. She loudly objects to that as well.

Sometimes crime is a family business even when the family doesn't live in an urban environment. This clan or extended family lives in a rural or wilderness area, away from civil authorities and makes a living by either robbing passers-by or traveling to raid farms, manors and villages. This can extend to 'protection' schemes similar to those used by urban criminal organizations, but otherwise there is little overlap in their activities. Like TheMafia, these groups tend to be strong practitioners of blood feud, and unwilling to involve outside authorities in their disputes.

* ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'' and Kagome's adventures through feudal Japan had them encountering numerous bandit clans, some of which were being lead by a demon in disguise. For the first bandit clan that Kagome and Inuyasha encounter, a Shikon Jewel shard was reanimating the corpse of their dead leader, and it was Kagome who noticed he was dead to begin with. When she started loudly ordering everyone to be careful of the now rampaging corpse, all the bandits declared her to be their new leader. She loudly objects to that as well.

* The Beagle Boys from the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse are a family of hundreds of criminal brothers led by their mother Ma Beagle. Every one of the Beagle Boys wears a domino mask and is only known by their prisoner id number.

** ''The Reavers'' is a [[TheRemake Remake]] of ''Literature/TheCandlemassRoad,'' featuring substantially the same setting and cast of characters, but a more comedic tone and storyline.

* There is a category of Scottish folk music called “Border Ballads”, which are often about the Reiver Clans. Examples include:

* Chief Petty Officer Pertwee of ''Radio/TheNavyLark'' represent an unusual example: he has sold out of Navy Stores everything from blankets to battleships, and the Pertwee [[TheClan Clan]] has been selling Naval stores ever since the Battle of Trafalgar. It's a tradition.

* The first recurring enemies in several FireEmblem games have the characters facing off against local bandit clans. This is a decent way to ease into the series as the hero usually has [[TacticalRockPaperScissors swords which have the advantage over the axes]] that bandits prefer. Later in the game you typically fight the evil Empire whose soldiers favor lances and swords to outdo or match your main character.

* The Border Reivers, as mention above, haunted the Anglo-Scottish border from the 13th to the 17th centuries, during which time England and Scotland both claimed the land, and thus neither could station troops or sheriffs there. Thus, English and Scottish law alike allowed for the summary execution without trial by anyone who could for those caught 'red handed' (i.e. bloody from violence)in the commission of such a raid.
* Historically, many residents of the Hindu Kush and Afghanistan have made a living in this way, as in ''Literature/ThePeshawarLancers''. These were a constant threat along the Main/SilkRoad.

* "The Rivers" segment of ''Film/HowTheWestWasWon'' features Creator/WalterBrennan as "Alabama Colonel" Hawkins, the leader of a clan of river pirates who prey on unsuspecting settlers moving westward into the Illinois Country.

* The main antagonist of ''Film/IchiTheKiller'' is the leader of a bandit clan who descend down from the nearby caverns to bully around the villagers who run the local Inn.