History Main / CrazySurvivalist

* ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'' has the unnamed man. His base has loads of ammunition, sawed-off shotguns, he carries a portable flamethrower, plus he has a journal full of notes on how to deal with [[spoiler: the Wendigos]]. Naturally, he [[spoiler: managed to kill the strongest wendigo as well as capture almost all remaining ones before the start of the game, only to die the instance he gets too close to the main characters.]]

* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': In "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersS23E1 The Blacktrees Prophecy]", Lyra Kaine, has the flannel, the gun and her bear traps nearly take off Winter's foot.

* [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment The Spoony One]] has some shades of this. He claims to have built an ark at one point, he owns a huge arsenal of guns, mistakes a (white) [[Creator/CriticalMarine uniformed marine]] for President Obama coming to confiscate said guns, tried to turn his dog into a cyborg security system and generally acts paranoid and twitchy.

* ''WebVideo/{{Nightfall}}'': The film opens with Eve packing and trying to figure out what she needs for the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt upcoming chaos]].

* Dale Gribble in ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' is always prepared for the government collapse/apocalypse/[=Y2K=].

* WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck during [[WesternAnimation/RabbitFire hunting]] [[WesternAnimation/RabbitSeasoning season]].

* Phillip J. Fry's father in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' seems to be one of these. He turned the family's basement into a shelter, for one thing.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' episode "The Fried Chicken Flu", Huey stockpiles tons of food and other supplies for any possible emergency. This seems to come in handy when a viral outbreak originating from fried chicken restaurants spreads around the country.

* The reality TV series "Series/TheColony" had participants play the part of one of several groups of survivalists after a simulated [[ThePlague viral apocalypse]]. The participants may not qualify for this trope, but some of their simulated antagonists certainly do.

* Series/{{MacGyver|1985}} has been known to pull some Crazy Survivalist tricks out of his hat when needed.
* Jim Taggart on ''Series/{{Eureka}}''. Sometimes he's usefully crazy, other times, he's just running around in the woods naked for a reason known only to himself.

* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', FBI Agent [[InspectorJavert Henriksen]] (quite accurately) profiles the Winchester clan this way. However, he's wrong in his speculation that [[AbusiveParents John]] might have been a white supremacist and child molester.
* A serial killer/kidnapper pretends to be this (very convincingly) so he can play out his AdamAndEvePlot fantasy with his surviving female victim in ''Series/{{Medium}}''

* ''[[Series/{{Highlander}} Highlander: The Series]]'' has Methos, who's survived for 5000 years by being one step ahead of the other guy (or girl). He never puts himself in unnecessary danger and always has a way out.

* In "The Release", an episode of the short-lived ''Series/{{Animorphs}}'' TV series, there was Mr. Perkins, a high school teacher and former Controller who eventually runs off into the woods once he's found out. Unlike many other examples of this trope, Mr. Perkins was light on the crazy and heavy on the survivalist, rather than the other way around.

* Myth/RobinHood and the Merry Men have the aesthetic if not the ideology in ''Series/OnceUponATime''.
* Ron Swanson of ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' has tendencies towards this trope, which have increased via {{Flanderization}}.
* There are some hints of this trope with Professor Buzz Hickey of ''Series/{{Community}}''.
* In the ''Series/MastersOfHorror'' episode "[[Recap/MastersOfHorrorS1E1IncidentOnAndOffAMountainRoad Incident On and Off a Mountain Road]]", the heroine's husband Bruce is so obsessed with survivalist skills that he eventually drives his own wife away. It borders on ProperlyParanoid, since the things he taught his wife did end up helping her when she was actually attacked by a psycho.
* A segment on ''Series/ShaunMicallefsMadAsHell'' features Craig Javello and his hilariously poorly thought-out plans to survive the MayanDoomsday. The result:
-->'''Shaun''': A postscript to that story, within an hour of entering his bunker for the test, Craig Javello was rushed to hospital suffering from botulism, smoke inhalation, [[{{Corpsing}} rabies, bullet wounds, and dysentery]]. He is not expected to survive. I guess the old days of the old-fashioned monthly wall calendars are numbered. Pretty pointless if they weren't, I guess.
* ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'': Derek Reese probably seems like this to outsiders. Of course, he's actually a different trope entirely, but no one's supposed to know that.
* An episode of ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' has Holmes and Watson investigating the murder of a doctor who turned out to be a prepper. Watson notes he doesn't seem the type but Holmes says that the man is "a more odious version," the rich survivalists convinced the poor will rise up against them. They uncover the man had invested $100,000 in a "high-class" bunker meant for the wealthy and check it out, seeing a lavish area complete with game room. It takes Sherlock two minutes to figure out the whole place is a facade: The filtration unit vents are covered with dust, the concrete coming apart, mold seeping in, a brick wall behind the "generator room" door, and the "supplies" all just empty boxes. The place couldn't stand up to a strong storm, let alone the Apocalypse, and the guy running it has been scamming millions off of survival nuts.
** The two check into a suspect who reveals he's actually a journalist investigating the place himself. He shares his story which opens with the observation "Of course, a survival bunker for the rich is a scam, these are the people who push every man for himself." He relates that this scam is common as, for supposedly paranoid people, survivalists can be incredibly naive. They will buy the line of "top secret experts" involved keeping them from knowing too much but there should be some paper trail for buying thousands of galleons of fuel as well as medical supplies. This leads to the discovery of the killer being the doctor's partner as the doctor (needing to get drugs for a gang) had raided the bunker only to find no supplies and in his shock over the whole thing being a scam, was killed by his partner to not risk their practice in scandal.
* PlayedForLaughs in an episode of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', with the head of the Neighborhood Watch's home security measures.
-->'''NW Leader''': Not gonna happen in my house. I'm ready for them. I got 50,000 volts of electricity running through my window bars. I got a bucket of battery acid hanging over the back door and I got a .30-aught-6 rigged to the front doorknob.\\
'''Steve''': Then how do you get into your house?\\
'''NW Leader''': Wouldn't ''you'' like to know!
* ''Series/{{Murderville}}'': One of the suspects in the Marshawn Lynch episode is "doomsday prepper" Chester Worthington, who lives in an underground bunker, fears society, and tries to print his own currency.
* ''Series/TheLastOfUs2023'': Bill lives alone off the grid, living off the land with lots of guns and death traps to protect himself, and distrusts everyone else, which comes in handy when the Zombie Apocalypse actually happens (which he is happy about).
* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': In "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersS23E1 The Blacktrees Prophecy]", Lyra Kaine, has the flannel, the gun and her bear traps nearly take off Winter's foot.

* The "Full Metal Nutball" character build of ''TabletopGame/FengShui'' is explicitly based on Burt Gummer of ''Tremors'' fame above, and bringing this mentality (and an awful lot of guns) to the Secret War.

* If you've ever heard the Jeff Wayne musical version of War of the Worlds, there's also the young infantryman who decides that the best thing to do is hide out in a cellar and carve out a brand new underground city. His glorious project is, by the time the protagonist reaches him, a 10 ft deep hole in the cellar wall, and yet he's making plans for playing cricket underground, defeating the invaders, and starting again. With "just a handful of men".

* ''VideoGame/ProjectZomboid'': The human enemies in the game are this. You yourself can become this.

** The Halls, a.k.a. the family of snipers, have this going on as well. Well, not [[OnlySaneMan Thomas]], but otherwise...
* The Spartan Federation, an ''entire society'' of these guys, are one of the factions in ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri''. Humorously, they're the only faction canonically confirmed to have been completely eradicated.
* The four protagonists of ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' all have a touch of this.
** Not to mention the church guy. [[MadnessMantra Better safe than sorry]]!
** The sequel gives us minor character Whitaker, a gun store owner who barricaded himself in a shed on the roof with more food and ammo than appears in the rest of the game combined. He forgot to store drinks, though, resulting in a FetchQuest for you.
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'': Father Grigori of Ravenholm certainly fits the trope. The sole remaining human resident of Ravenholm, armed with his trusty rifle [[ICallItVera Annabelle]], he sets traps all over the place to tend to his "flock" -- consisting entirely of assorted headcrab zombies that are all that remain of the town's residents. Unlike many crazy survivalists, Grigori is actually a very helpful character, who saves your life several times and even has the common decency to provide you with your very own shotgun so you can help with him with his [[UnusualEuphemism good work]].
* The first ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]'' game had Norton Mapes, a fat guy who was always locking himself in (and you out) to save himself from the bad guys at your expense. He gets killed at the end although in the [[CanonDiscontinuity un-canon]] expansion ''Extraction Point'' he is shown to have survived it and returns to do the same CrazySurvivalist act all over again. Though, in truth, he was being less like a CrazySurvivalist, and more like a FatBastard and DirtyCoward. [[spoiler:And intentionally trying to murder you.]]
* Jenkins from ''VideoGame/RedFactionGuerrilla'', complete with check shirt, puffy vest, and cap. While the player performs RailShooter missions, popping rockets off at EDF assets from the back of Jenkins' trike-car, Jenkins relates his survivalist philosophy. He wants total independence of Mars from "them" (Earth), to the point of inventing his own "Mars words" to replace English and [[ArtisticLicenseBiology trying to "teach" himself to breathe carbon dioxide]]. Upon blowing up a target he will frequently cry out that he is "Clean and Righteous." At other points, he announces that while everyone thinks he is crazy, he is the only sane man, and that "they" are always watching. [[spoiler: Jenkins eventually goes right over the [[TheMole edge]], deciding the Earth forces exist because of the rebellion, so the only way to be Clean is to betray the rebellion.]]
* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'' features Crazy Dave, your neighbor, who drives around with a station wagon full of lethal seeds, [[BucketHelmet wears a pot on his head]], and speaks in a Sims-like garbled growl. The plants he gives you turn out out to to be the key to stopping the zombies, however.

* In ''VideoGame/RogueSurvivor'', you can play your own character this way, especially as you can murder survivors who intrude in your safe house.
* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' has the aptly named Paranoid Incarnation, [[IdentityAmnesia a past version]] of [[PlayerCharacter you]] who was both quite insane and absolutely, screamingly terrified of enemies lurking in every corner trying to "steal his body"; he had a habit of strangling people when they gave him news he didn't like and using his own detached arm in combat (since he always had it on hand, so to speak). Nonetheless, despite or perhaps because of his crazy, he left many clues for himself that prove helpful to you - provided you survive whatever ''spectacularly'' lethal defences he set up around them. And then successfully decipher his ramblings. Which may be written in a dead, obscure, complicated language known only to him and the guy who taught it to him, whom he strangled. He - well, [[TheParanoiac it was an apt name]]. [[spoiler:However, he is ultimately revealed to be a tragic character, much like you; waking into a strange world that showed him nothing but hatred and fear for reasons he couldn't remember. He's relieved to the point of tears when you finally convince him he doesn't have to be afraid, and willingly joins his mind with yours to find some peace.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheSims 3'', of all games, features a premade character like this: Hunter Cottoneye, who lives in Riverview. He lives in a bunker, wears all camouflage, and has the Insane, Neurotic, Loner, Mean-Spirited, and Angler traits.
* When players of ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' succession fortress Headshoots decided to turn the fort's greatest champions into ravening undead to kill the fort, a dwarf called Gex quietly packed a backpack with rations and took off to [[AlienGeometries a part of the fortress that didn't technically appear on the map]], where the undead champions couldn't find him.
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'', Desmond Miles would tell people who asked about his history that his parents were these. It's true from a certain point of view: his family lived on a farm off the grid in the middle of nowhere because they were Assassins and their enemies control the world.
* The Scarlet Crusade in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' is an entire faction of this, mixed with KnightTemplar and CorruptChurch. They managed to survive and organize themselves to fight the [[ZombieApocalypse Scourge]], but are so paranoid that they attack on sight pretty much anybody who isn't them.
* Achenar in ''VideoGame/MystIVRevelation'' acquires something of a CrazySurvivalist vibe, constructing elaborate BambooTechnology security-measures to keep pesky animals from stealing his carefully-hoarded supplies.
* After the [[FallenStatesOfAmerica collapse of the United States]] in ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'' and the [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica subsequent occupation by North Korea]], many retreated to the countryside to live in isolated camps. Despite being American, they don't care much about the Resistance or the KPA. One of the camps encountered is shown to torture Korean soldiers for fun.
* Bill from ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs''. The crazy part is {{Downplayed|Trope}} but still certainly there, with his paranoia, anti-social behaviour and eccentric talking to himself. The survivalist part is definitely there: through liberal use of booby traps, a huge stockpile of supplies, and being utterly CrazyPrepared, he's able to hold down ''an entire town'' single-handedly. Seriously, the whole town of Lincoln, Massachusetts is explicitly referred to as ''his''.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has a challenge path where you play as a zombie in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. There's an enemy called the zombie-huntin' feller, who looks and speaks like a redneck, stored up dehydrated meals, weapons, and hard-copy pornography before the apocalypse, and is out to "bag me some zombies, just like I been waitin' for these nigh-on ten years or so". While he attacks you, sometimes the reality of fighting an actual zombie stuns him.
* ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'' has the unnamed man. His base has loads of ammunition, sawed-off shotguns, he carries a portable flamethrower, plus he has a journal full of notes on how to deal with [[spoiler: the Wendigos]]. Naturally, he [[spoiler: managed to kill the strongest wendigo as well as capture almost all remaining ones before the start of the game, only to die the instance he gets too close to the main characters.]]
* ''Videogame/ZombiU'': As his nickname implies, the Prepper has spent a long time preparing for the zombie outbreak, building a secret bunker in the London Underground and hacking into CCTV cameras around the city. While he does let the player character in and help them to survive, he still has a decidedly ruthless streak, such as when he suggests robbing an uncooperative trader.

* [=Lonewolf37=] from ''VideoGame/HouseFlipper'' is definitely one of these. While the other two potential buyers from the ''Apocalypse Flipper'' DLC are fairly normal as preppers go, this guy is an absolute nutjob. For one thing, he [[TheFaceless obscures his face with a gas mask for all of his communication with you]], and [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname refuses to go by anything other than his screen name]]. He also gets mad if you put any furniture in his bunker, saying it "won't help [him] survive", and that includes ''giving him a toilet''. All he wants is lots of water jugs, lots of canned food (because he refuses to cook for himself), and [[GunNut guns, guns, guns, guns, GUNS]]!
* ''VideoGame/MrPrepper'' is a game about turning your basement into a fully-fledged self-sustaining bomb shelter; your country is turning into a plague-ridden PoliceState obsessed with "[[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Blessing the President]]", and now it's illegal to leave, so building a sprawling underground base is the ''least'' irrational thing you can do. Unfortunately, it's not rational to go hunting wolves with a crowbar, or talk to plant-obsessed old ladies in the woods, or ''build a functioning ICBM''.

* Sousuke from ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'', all the way. Along with how he manages to be CrazyPrepared despite [[{{Hammerspace}} not having any visible baggage to carry all his weapons and equipment in]].

* Crazy HunterTrapper Buck Wylde from Topps ''Franchise/{{Zorro}}'' comic.
* ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan''. The "Sons of Arizona" are convinced the [[{{Gendercide}} death of all the men]] is a federal government plot and beat up Dr. Allison Mann in the belief that she's somehow involved.

* Huey was like this in ''ComicStrip/TheBoondocks''. To give one example, in one series of strips, he was certain a bird flu epidemic would cause a plague that would destroy America, and stockpiled 18 months worth of food to prepare, saying he wouldn't even share with his brother when it happened. (Given that the bird flu had no cases outside of Asia, you can only find this [[HilariousInHindsight rather absurd now]] along with a lot of his paranoia in the strip.)
* In the 2018 Film/MarsAttacks comics by IDW, the two protagonists briefly come across one of these carrying a shotgun and hiding from the martians. However, his paranoia turns into SuddenlyShouting, alerting the attackers to both of their positions and getting him killed.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* The movie ''Film/ResidentEvilExtinction'' opens up with a family of Crazy Survivalists trying to rob Alice. Poor, poor crazy survivalists...
* Harlan Ogilvy in ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds2005'', a paramedic holed up in his cellar whose mind began to deteriorate after his wife and child died in the invasion. Ray is eventually forced to kill him to prevent his ravings from attracting the invaders.
* Burt Gummer from the ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' movies and TV series is a somewhat rare friendly, even heroic version of this. He actually helps out the rest of the town when they need it, since he's the only one with enough guns to fight the [[SandWorm graboids]]. ("Well, I guess we don't get to make fun of Burt's lifestyle anymore.") Through the second and third movies, he adds ever more powerful weapons to his arsenal (including an anti-tank rifle and an anti-aircraft cannon). By ''Film/Tremors3BackToPerfection'' he stops being this and becomes more ProperlyParanoid, seeing as he's already lived through two monster invasions. By the time we get to ''[[Series/{{Tremors}} Tremors: The Series]]'' he's pretty much become a professional monster hunter.
* Sarah Connor in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' appears to have [[TookALevelInBadass taken a level in badass]] towards this end, given that her paranoia is [[ProperlyParanoid quite well justified by hard fact]].
* The Creator/RobinWilliams / Creator/WalterMatthau film ''Film/TheSurvivors'' poked fun of the survivalist craze (emphasis on "craze") that peaked in the mid [[TheEighties eighties]] just before the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. William played Donald Quinelle, a hapless yuppie who turns into a rabid survivalist after losing his job and being threatened by a criminal.
* Bobby Lee Swagger from ''Film/{{Shooter}}'' lives in isolation at the mountains and has a rather extensive field training.
* Everyone in ''Film/{{Carriers}}'' is a crazy survivalist when an infection threatens to wipe out all of humanity.

* The original ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' film featured one of these as an ex-military, gun-toting vigilante who witnessed one of the Kurgan's modern-day duels. He shoots the Kurgan like Swiss cheese. Having killed the apparent murderer, the survivalist goes to look and gets skewered, lifted off the ground on the Kurgan's sword. He (barely) survives and probably became a Watcher if series mythology figures in.
* The protagonist of ''Film/TakeShelter'' begins to show shades of this when he secures a risky loan just to buy an expensive shipping container, all in order to expand the shelter in his backyard in preparation for the imaginary storm that is to come.
* A mild version occurs in ''Film/BridgeOfSpies''. James Donovan's son begins taking absurd safety measures to protect himself from a nuclear war until his father tells him to get a hold of himself.
* ''Film/TheSurvivalist:'' The DVDBonusContent includes a short prequel in which a man who is convinced that social collapse is coming teaches his sons to shoot. He also believes that they need to learn to ''kill'', so he unleashes a savage dog on them.

* ''Film/FridayThe13th2009'': Where most versions just present serial killer Jason Voorhees as an immortal zombie-esque killing machine, this version is actually surprisingly capable, having lived on his own in the former Camp Crystal Lake for almost thirty years, setting various traps for his targets, building a complex tunnel network, and even demonstrating enough skill with a bow and arrow to shoot a man in the head while his target was on a fast-moving boat.
* ''Film/DefCon4'' has Vinny, a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic scavenger]] played by Creator/MauryChaykin who has fortified his home with barbed wire and various booby traps.
* ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'': In [[BadFuture 1985-A]], Marty discovers that [[DeanBitterman Mr. Strickland]] has become this after [[NoodleIncident Hill Valley High School was destroyed in a fire six years earlier]], and he's both constantly attacked by a gang (presumably of former students) [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and somebody's always stealing his newspapers]].
* ''Film/TheDecline'': Every character to varying degrees, but taken to an extreme by Alain. Three-quarters of the main cast do not survive the movie as a result.

* The artilleryman from ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds1898'' is an UnbuiltTrope version of this; he makes grandiose plans for building a (literal) underground resistance and is brushed off by the narrator when he realizes that the artilleryman is all talk and no action.
* The book ''Literature/ThePostman'' states that America as a nation scraped through World War III and even appeared to be on the road to recovery... only to be permanently torn down by attacks by anarchic survivalist militias. Though it's admitted that the Holnists are more like {{Social Darwinist}}s who want to be feudal lords rather than "true" survivalists, but the term has been permanently associated with them by the survivors.
* Subverted in ''Literature/WorldWarZ'', where these guys are officially referred to as [=LaMoEs=] -- Last Man on Earth -- and came in two varieties: the ones that are still sane, and -- after the initial confusion -- welcome the army are referred to as Robinson Crusoes. The second type, which the narrator notes is the type that the rank and file actually ''do'' refer to as [=LaMOEs=], are the ones who either went a little too mad or just got too used to their newfound lifestyle and didn't want to reintegrate into society. The tie-in in-universe guidebook ''Literature/TheZombieSurvivalGuide'' actually ''encourages'' you to become a CrazySurvivalist in case of a ZombieApocalypse, provided you become one of the cooperative "Robinson Crusoe" variety.
* Inverted in ''The Survivialist'', the 1980s AfterTheEnd action-adventure series by Jerry Ahern, whose protagonist (a doctor and former intelligence agent) is a good deal more rational and clear-thinking than most of the people he encounters. But then Ahern deliberately set out to avert the popular image of the crazy, right-wing survivialist (the protagonist's closest friend is Jewish, and his UnrequitedLove is a female communist agent).
* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody's catchphrase is "Constant vigilance!" His crazy magical eye that can see through most solid objects and magical barriers (like Harry's Invisibility Cloak) only enables his Crazy Survivalist behavior further, as does his sizable collection of magical artifacts for detecting and fighting evil. Though he has good reason to act this way: he's an Auror (Dark Wizard fighter) and has lost a leg, an eye, and a chunk of his nose on the job. [[NoodleIncident And possibly, at one time, a buttock.]]
* ''Literature/MortalEngines'' does this with ''entire cities''.
* Andrew Loeb in Neal Stephenson's ''Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}''.
* ''Traveller'', a pulp novel series from TheEighties. it was sort of a cross between ''Literature/TheExecutioner'' and ''Film/MadMax'' set in a post-apocalyptic CrapsackWorld.

* ''Literature/TheWaySeries'': In ''Eon'', it's mentioned that these guys didn't last long after the Death. In fact, they were abhorred for their unwillingness to help others.

* The 1997 book ''The Sovereign Individual'' by William Rees-Mogg and James Dale Davidson is a non-fiction example, which openly revels in such an approach. Their basic solution for the world's billionaires in the event of inequality-driven societal collapse? [[SwissBankAccount Move oneself and one's billions to tax havens]].
* Amos in ''Literature/NemesisGames'' is told about a survivalist who shoots first and asks questions later. He promptly pays him a visit to get some supplies for a weeks-long journey (in particular, bikes) that ends with that man dead.
* Deconstructed in TheFifties stories ''Lot'' and ''Lot's Daughter'' by Ward Moore. The protagonist is only too glad when nuclear war breaks out, gloating over how he's prepared and everyone else isn't. Eventually he even starts to regard his own family as 'parasites' and abandons his wife and delinquent sons, taking only his teenage daughter. In the sequel, it's revealed that he's hopeless at living off the land especially as he gets older, and his daughter ends up [[LaserGuidedKarma abandoning him in turn]], along with [[ParentalIncest their son]].

* ''Literature/TheUngoverned'': Jake Schwartz, a farmer who "went armadillo" and has spent the last three years stockpiling as much military-grade firepower as possible, including [[spoiler:illegal nuclear weapons]].

* This trope is the reason why people who take emergency preparedness more seriously than most call themselves "[[InsistentTerminology Preppers]]" instead. The "Crazy" part is averted by at least one notable [[http://www.survivalblog.com survivalist/prepper blogger]], who advises to share your stocks with less-than-prepared people as soon as your own well-being is secured.

* Not surprisingly, the Magazine/NationalGeographic series ''Doomsday Preppers'' occasionally focuses on this type of prepper. Episodes end with professionals evaluating the prepper's actual odds of survival in a doomsday scenario... the aggressive loner rarely has good odds.

* The reality TV series "Series/TheColony" had participants play the part of one of several groups of survivalists after a simulated [[ThePlague viral apocalypse]].

* ''Film/TheDecline'': Every character, to varying degrees. Three-quarters of the main cast do not survive the movie as a result.

* Music/TomWaits guest stars as one in a 2013 episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. Interestingly, the episode was something of a deconstruction of the Survivalist stereotype. The survivalist camp was populated by disgruntled, angry people who were practically chomping at the bit for the day when things finally fall apart. When things actually ''do'' fall apart [[spoiler: temporarily, due to a power outage at the nuclear plant]], the Survivalists almost immediately start fighting amongst themselves for control over food and water supplies. Meanwhile, the people still in town found it surprisingly easy to hold it together and get through the crisis, almost as if all of the disgruntled angry people who would have caused problems had already left...

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "Shelter Skelter", Harry Dobbs is convinced that a nuclear war is imminent. As his home in Dunston, Kansas is only a few miles away from Wakefield Air Force Base, a likely prime target, he has a fallout shelter built in his basement. It has a lead-lined door, four foot thick concrete walls, and outside temperature and radiation gauges. Harry has kept it a secret from his neighbors and warns his wife Sally not to reveal its existence to her sister Wendy. However, he later tells his friend and employee Nick Gatlin about it as he considers him to be practically part of the family. When the base is destroyed by a nuclear blast, the two of them take refuge in the shelter and wait to see whether the radiation will die down so that they can go outside again. [[spoiler:In the final scene, it is revealed that the base was not destroyed by an enemy bomb during WorldWarIII but by an American cruise missile which accidentally detonated aboard a B-1 bomber. Dunston was destroyed but the horror at the loss of life pulled the world back from the brink of nuclear war. A radiation-proof dome, which has come to be known as the Peace Dome, was constructed to contain the fallout.]]

* By the third season of ''Series/TheWalkingDead'', Morgan (from the first episode) has become this.

* In the ''Series/MastersOfHorror'' episode "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road'', the heroine's husband Bruce is so obsessed with survivalist skills that he eventually drives his own wife away. It borders on ProperlyParanoid, since the things he taught his wife did end up helping her when she was actually attacked by a psycho.

* Subverted in the ''[[Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo 1632]]'' short story "Curio & Relic". Paul Santee has a lot of the common CrazySurvivalist traits. He lives on his own on the outskirts of town, he's a Vietnam veteran, and he has a lot of guns. Fortunately for Eddie Cantrell, Santee's actually not crazy at all, he's just not a people person. As for the guns, he's a registered collector and seller of antique firearms, so all the guns he has are legal. Once the situation is explained to him, he's more than happy to donate his SurvivalistStash to the new army, and even gets the job of "Chief Weapons Scrounger".
* In ''Literature/{{Eon}}'', it's mentioned that these guys didn't last long after the Death. In fact, they were abhorred for their unwillingness to help others.

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'':
** Father Grigori of Ravenholm certainly fits the trope. The sole remaining human resident of Ravenholm, armed with his trusty rifle [[ICallItVera Annabelle]], he sets traps all over the place to tend to his "flock" -- consisting entirely of assorted headcrab zombies that are all that remain of the town's residents. Unlike many crazy survivalists, Grigori is actually a very helpful character, who saves your life several times and even has the common decency to provide you with your very own shotgun so you can help with him with his [[UnusualEuphemism good work]].

** Subverted by a [[ShellShockedVeteran former Marine]] in the ''Honest Hearts'' DLC for ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' who, despite surviving unbelievable wasteland conditions and human atrocities, becomes a benevolent StealthMentor to a group of kids, who eventually become [[spoiler: The Sorrows.]] Read his exploits [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Randall_Dean_Clark here]].

* The Creator/RobinWilliams / Walter Matthau film ''Film/TheSurvivors'' poked fun of the survivalist craze (emphasis on "craze") that peaked in the mid [[TheEighties eighties]] just before the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. William played Donald Quinelle, a hapless yuppie who turns into a rabid survivalist after losing his job and being threatened by a criminal.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody's CatchPhrase is "Constant vigilance!" His crazy magical eye that can see through most solid objects and magical barriers (like Harry's Invisibility Cloak) only enables his Crazy Survivalist behavior further, as does his sizable collection of magical artifacts for detecting and fighting evil. Though he has good reason to act this way: he's an Auror (Dark Wizard fighter) and has lost a leg, an eye, and a chunk of his nose on the job. [[NoodleIncident And possibly, at one time, a buttock.]]

* Harlan Ogilvy in 2005 ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds'', a paramedic holed up in his cellar whose mind began to deteriorate after his wife and child died in the invasion. Tom Cruise's character is eventually forced to kill him to prevent his ravings from attracting the invaders.

* The artilleryman from ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' is an UnbuiltTrope version of this, where he makes grandiose plans for building a (literal) underground resistance and is brushed off by the narrator when he realises the artilleryman is all talk and no action.

* In the 2018 Film/MarsAttacks comics by IDW, the two protagonists briefly come across one of these carrying a shotgun and hiding from the martians. However, his paranoia turns into SuddenlyScreaming, alerting the attackers to both of their positions and getting him killed.

* ''LARP/HumansVsZombies'': Given that the goal of human players is ultimately to survive to the end, some naturally fall into this trope, becoming paranoid and selfish rather than fighting for the survival of the whole.

* Mythology/RobinHood and the Merry Men have the aesthetic if not the ideology in ''Series/OnceUponATime''.