History Main / InvadingRefugees

Our heroes' hometown is invaded or simply attacked suddenly by enemies, so they fight the invaders off. Later, [[DiscOneFinalBoss they find out the invaders weren't actually invading]], but actually [[WarRefugees fleeing]] from [[AlwaysABiggerFish something]] [[GreaterScopeVillain much worse]] [[EvilerThanThou than them]]. Can result in an EnemyMine in order to deal with the bigger threat. It can also result in a MeleeATrois if none of the sides can put away their differences.

Alternatively, [[DoomedHometown the invaders' home may have been or about to be lost to a disaster]] and the heroes may help them in restoring their home, finding them a new one, or preparing for the disaster when it reaches their home.

May result in a variation of PlanetLooters. See also ForebodingFleeingFlock. Depending on the severity of the danger, the invaders may simply [[WhyIsntItAttacking ignore]] whoever they run into. Contrast StrandedInvader.

* The ELS in ''Anime/Gundam00AwakeningOfTheTrailblazer'' are only attempting to invade the Earth because their original home planet was destroyed and now they travel around the galaxy, assimilating with other celestial bodies to gain and share their knowledge. And they aren't even malicious, either; they don't have any means of communication that humanity understands, and they don't realize that the assimilation process is '''extremely''' painful.
* In ''Anime/LastExile'', Disith invades Anatoray because an imbalance in their [[WorldShapes artificial planet]] is causing their land to freeze over.
** Inverted in ''Anime/LastExileFamTheSilverWing'', as the invading Ades Federation wants to ''retake'' the land stolen from them by the descendants of invading refugees, mostly to deal with their overpopulation and give the descendants of the refugees who were ousted by the invaders their homelands back.

** The Wildlings — a tribal society living beyond the Wall that marks the realm's Northern border — have been raiding the southern lands for as long as anyone can remember, and the Night's Watch has all-but forgotten its original mission as they focus all their resources on fighting back Wildling raiding parties. As the books begin, the Watch is getting worrying reports that the wildlings are massing together into a single horde intent on smashing their way through the Wall. What the Watch and the Seven Kingdoms are slower to come to terms with is that the reason for this sudden determination to move south is [[spoiler:the re-emergence of the old enemy the Watch was created to hold back: the zombie-raising, icy {{Humanoid Abomination}}s known only as "the Others".]]
** In backstory history, the Rhoynar came to Westeros fleeing Valyrian conquest.
** The Targaryens are also an example of this trope as they're the last dragonlords fleeing the Doom of Valyria. Their rag-tag fleet found that the land they sought safety in, was also ripe for conquest.

* In ''Series/{{Defiance}}'', the Votans arrive in space arks after fleeing the destruction of their solar system when its sun went nova, although they supposedly made an attempt to negotiate for peaceful settlement before going to war. Later on repeated by the [[IAmAHumanitarian Omec]], a race the others deliberately left behind to die because of their cannibalistic tendencies. One of their ships survives and manages to track the Ark fleet to Earth.

* After fleeing from the Dutch plantations in what is now Suriname, many escaped slaves, known as "Maroons", retreated into the jungles for sanctuary. The Maroons established their own tribes and kingdoms in the cover of the inaccessible jungle strongholds. Although relations with the indigenous tribes varied considerably from group to group, the Saramaka maroons had an especially vicious blood feud with the native Caribs. Saramaka warriors frequently abducted Carib women from their villages, and killed every Carib man that entered their territory on the spot. In return, the Caribs serviced themselves as slave hunters, and sold every Saramaka they captured back to the Dutch plantations.

* After fleeing from the Dutch plantations in what is now Suriname, many escaped slaves, known as "Maroons", retreated into the jungles for sanctuary. The Maroons established their own tribes and kingdoms in the cover of the inaccessible jungle strongholds. Although relations with the indigenous tribes varied considerably from group to group, the Saramaka maroons had an especially nasty blood feud with the native Caribs. Saramaka warriors frequently abducted Carib women from their villages, and killed every Carib man that entered their territory on the spot. In return, the Caribs serviced themselves as slave hunters, and sold every Saramaka they captured back to the Dutch plantations.

** It is implied by some fluff that something even worse than the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts tyranids]] is chasing them into the Milky Way.

* The Liwa Fatemiyoun militia active in the Syrian Civil War is a complicated inversion example. They technically aren't "invaders" in the traditional sense of the term, as they are fighting under the banner of the Syrian government. However, their numbers consist entirely of Shia Hazaras that have been driven out of Afghanistan by the Taliban and other jihadist insurgents, and sought refugee in Iran. In exchange for payment and other social benefits, the Iranian government organized the Hazara refugees into the Liwa Fatemiyoun militias, and deployed them to fight for Assad in Syria. A possibly more straight example in the Syrian Civil War are the Chechen and Uyghur fighters that have been pushed out by Russian and Chinese crackdowns at home, and joined local several of the local rebel and jihadist groups.

* The Liwa Fatemiyoun militia active in the Syrian Civil War is a complicated inversion example. They technically aren't "invaders" in the traditional sense of the term, as they are fighting under the banner of the Syrian government. However, their numbers consist entirely of Shia Hazaras that have been driven out of Afghanistan by the Taliban and other jihadist insurgent groups, and sought refugee in Iran. In exchange for payment and other social benefits, the Iranian government organized the Hazara refugees into the Liwa Fatemiyoun militias, and deployed them to fight for Assad in Syria. A possibly more straight example in the Syrian Civil War are the Chechen and Uyghurs fighters that have been pushed out by Russian and Chinese crackdowns at home, and joined local several of the local rebel and jihadist groups.

* After the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) toppled the Rwandan government, remnants of government loyalists and Génocidaires fled into neighboring Zaire. In the refugee camps on the Zairean border, the government loyalists organized themselves into rebel groups to raid the now RPF held Rwanda. Mobutu, the then president of Zaire, refused RPF demands to stop the attacks. Outraged by his inaction, the RPF government created a proxy rebel group, the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL), to overthrow Mobutu and stamp out Génocidaire remnant refugee bases. A Zairean dissident Laurent Kabila was installed as its' leader. The joint AFDL-Rwandan army [[CurbStompBattle captured all of Zaire and killed tens of thousands of Hutu refugees in just 6 months]]. Even after Mobutu's fall, Kabila had a falling out with his Rwandan backers, and [[HereWeGoAgain still continued to sponsor the Génocidaire remnants]]. The RPF tried forming another rebel group to remove Kabila and the still remaining ex government loyalists the following year, but this only resulted in a long and grueling stalemate.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs Warhammer 40K]]'': What the Imperials essentially are. The Xek-Tek Sector they hail from was about to come under siege from a [[SwarmOfAlienLocusts Tyranid Hive Fleet]] tendril, and after Roboute Guilliman discovered that the [[SpacePirates Dark Eldar]] were lying in wait, and had arranged for a large number of Imperial forces to gather in one place so that the two enemies could destroy each other and leave the Imperial civilian populations virtually undefended and ripe for harvesting, he gave the order for them to evacuate. All of the people and resources in the Sector that could be withdrawn were loaded onto the ships, the planets were razed to deny the enemy what resources remained, and the combined armada of Battlefleet Xek-Tek, the three Astartes chapter fleets, and the other assorted military and civilian craft attempted to escape before the Tyranids and Drukhari could arrive, but were caught in a Warp Storm and were forced to make a risky jump into the [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Cicatrix Maledictum]]; thus being hurled through time and space to the ''Franchise/StarWars'' galaxy.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': It is implied by some fluff that something even worse than the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts tyranids]] is chasing them into the Milky Way.

** ''TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragonsFirstEdition'', supplement ''Oriental Adventures'': In the section on randomly rolling up yearly events, one example of a Major Incursion was a barbarian horde that had been driven from its homeland.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs. Warhammer 40K]]'': What the Imperials essentially are. The Xek-Tek Sector they hail from was about to come under siege from a [[SwarmOfAlienLocusts Tyranid Hive Fleet]] tendril, and after Roboute Guilliman discovered that the [[SpacePirates Dark Eldar]] were lying in wait, and had arranged for a large number of Imperial forces to gather in one place so that the two enemies could destroy each other and leave the Imperial civilian populations virtually undefended and ripe for harvesting, he gave the order for them to evacuate. All of the people and resources in the Sector that could be withdrawn were loaded onto the ships, the planets were razed to deny the enemy what resources remained, and the combined armada of Battlefleet Xek-Tek, the three Astartes chapter fleets, and the other assorted military and civilian craft attempted to escape before the Tyranids and Drukhari could arrive, but were caught in a Warp Storm and were forced to make a risky jump into the [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Cicatrix Maledictum]]; thus being hurled through time and space to the ''Franchise/StarWars'' galaxy.

* After fleeing from the Dutch plantations in what is now Suriname, many escaped slaves, known as "Maroons", retreated into the jungles for sanctuary. The Maroons established their own tribes and kingdoms in the cover of the inaccessible jungle strongholds. Although relations with the indigenous tribes varied considerably from group to group, the Saramaka maroons had an especially nasty blood feud with the native Caribs. Saramaka warriors frequently abducted Carib women from their villages, and killed every Carib man that entered their territory. In return, the Caribs serviced themselves as slave hunters, and sold every Saramaka they captured back to the Dutch plantations.

* After fleeing from the Dutch plantations in what is now Suriname, many escaped “maroon” slaves retreated into the jungles for sanctuary. The “maroons” established their own tribes and kingdoms in the cover of the inaccessible jungle strongholds. Although relations with the indigenous tribes varied considerably from group to group, the Saramaka maroons had an especially nasty blood feud with the native Caribs. Saramaka warriors frequently abducted Carib women from their villages, and killed every Carib man that entered their territory. In return, the Caribs serviced themselves as slave hunters, and sold every Saramaka they captured back to the Dutch plantations.

* After fleeing from the Dutch plantations, many escaped “maroon” slaves retreated into the Guianan jungles for sanctuary. The “maroons” established their own tribes and kingdoms in the cover of the inaccessible jungles. Although relations with the indigenous tribes varied considerably from group to group, the Saramaka maroons had an especially nasty blood feud with the native Caribs. Saramaka warriors frequently abducted Carib women from their villages, and killed every Carib man that entered their territory. In return, the Caribs serviced themselves as slave hunters, and sold every Saramaka they captured back to the Dutch plantations.

* When the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was defeated by the Qing Dynasty, various other loosely affiliated rebel groups fled from Southern China to escape government reprisals. They entered neighboring Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos, and became several competing bandit gangs known as the "Flag Armies." The Flag Armies used their experiences in guerilla warfare to fight against the local authorities and each other. However, some of the Flag Armies, the Black Flag Army in particular, came to ally with their host states. In exchange for sponsorship, the Black Flag Army assisted the Vietnamese government in suppressing Hmong uprisings, cracking down on rival Flag Armies, and fighting the French invasion.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs. Warhammer 40K]]'': What the Imperials essentially are. The Xek-Tek Sector they hail from was about to come under siege from a [[SwarmOfAlienLocusts Tyranid Hive Fleet]] tendril, and after Roboute Guilliman discovered that the [[SpacePirates Dark Eldar]] were lying in wait, and had arranged for a large number of Imperial forces to gather in one place so that the two enemies could destroy each other and leave the Imperial civilian populations virtually undefended and ripe for harvesting, he gave the order for them to evacuate. All of the people and resources in the Sector that could be withdrawn were loaded onto the ships, the planets were razed to deny the enemy what resources remained, and the combined armada of Battlefleet Xek-Tek, the three Astartes chapter fleets, and the other assorted military and civilian craft attempted to escape before the Tyranids and Drukhari could arrive, but were caught in a Warp Storm and were forced to make a risky jump into the Cicatrix Maledictum; thus being hurled through time and space to the ''Franchise/StarWars'' galaxy.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs. Warhammer 40K]]'': What the Imperials essentially are. The Xek-Tek Sector they hail from was about to come under siege from a [[SwarmOfAlienLocusts Tyranid Hivefleet]] tendril, and after Roboute Guilliman discovered that the [[SpacePirates Dark Eldar]] were lying in wait, and had arranged for a large number of Imperial forces to gather in one place so that the two enemies could destroy each other and leave the Imperial civilian populations virtually undefended and ripe for harvesting, he gave the order for them to evacuate. All of the people and resources in the Sector that could be withdrawn were loaded onto the ships, the planets were razed to deny the enemy what resources remained, and the combined armada of Battlefleet Xek-Tek, the three Astartes chapter fleets, and the other assorted military and civilian craft attempted to escape before the Tyranids and Drukhari could arrive, but were caught in a Warp Storm and were forced to make a risky jump into the Cicatrix Maledictum; thus being hurled through time and space to the ''Franchise/StarWars'' galaxy.

* When the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was defeated by the Qing Dynasty, various other loosely affiliated rebel groups fled from Southern China to escape government reprisals. They entered several neighboring Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos, and became several competing bandit gangs known as the "Flag Armies." The Flag Armies used their experiences in guerilla warfare to fight against the local authorities and each other. However, some of the Flag Armies, the Black Flag Army in particular, came to ally with their host states. In exchange for sponsorship, the Black Flag Army assisted the Vietnamese government in suppressing Hmong uprisings, cracking down on rival Flag Armies, and fighting the French invasion.

* In ''Videogame/StarRuler2'''s ExpansionPack, the Heralds are fleeing ''something'' that is devouring their civilization in a nearby galaxy, [[EternalRecurrence and they have done so for eons]]. Their method of colonization frequently puts them in conflict with other empires, as they have no control over the refugee ships that BlindJump into the galaxy and pick random worlds to land on.

* The Sea Peoples who attacked and raided the Eastern Mediterranean in 1200-900 BC causing great destruction. Although contemporary Egyptian inscriptions stating, "No land could stand before their arms," may be exaggerated to increase the glory of their own victory, the collapse of several kingdoms during this period, including Egypt's main rival the Hittites, hints that the Sea Peoples may be responsible or at least contributed. Nobody knows exactly who they were or where they came from (given that the two main Egyptian inscriptions lists ''several'' groups as having united with only partly overlapping lists for the two attacks against Egypt, there may not be any one answer[[note]]some of the groups on the lists appears to have names that correlate with known groups and places, but it is possible they went to the associated places ''after'' being driven out of Egypt[[/note]]), but historians theorize that they were part of a mass migrations of peoples caused by some unknown disturbance.

* Triggered in South Africa by the conquests of UsefulNotes/ShakaZulu in the late 18th-early 19th centuries. His conquest of one tribe would drive the survivors further away from him, towards the territory of another tribe; sometimes they would clash violently, other times the influx of refugees would simply strain the resources of the native tribe. Either way, the result was that the region ahead of him was pre-weakened by the time Shaka actually arrived. The havoc of the events known as the Mfecane continued for some time after the death of Shaka and would not end until the 1840s.

* When the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was defeated by the Qing Dynasty, various other loosely affiliated rebel groups fled from Southern China to escape government reprisals. They entered several neighboring Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos, and became several competing bandit gangs known as the "Flag Armies." The Flag Armies used their experiences in guerilla warfare to fight against the local authorities and each other. However, some of the Flag Armies, the Black Flag Army in particular, came to ally with their host states. In exchange for sponsorship, the Black Flag Army assisted the Vietnamese government in suppressing Hmong uprisings and fighting the French invasion.