History Main / PlanetLooters

* The Horde from ''ComicBook/StrikeforceMorituri''. All of their technology was stolen from others, and the only reason they got off their homeworld in the first place was by stealing from (and slaughtering) the alien ambassadors who visited them.
* Calvin from ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' once wrote a poem about such aliens visiting Earth and sucking up the ocean and atmosphere.
* Franchise/{{Superman}} villain ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}, who steals a city from every planet he visits, as a sample of the civilisation, before downloading all the information a planet has, then destroying the planet.
* ''ComicBook/{{PS238}}'' examines and {{lampshades}} this trope (along with AlienInvasion); Herschel [[http://ps238.nodwick.com/?p=192 explicitly points out]] that the only reason why any aliens would choose to invade a world would be if the planet contained ''something'' that can't be found anywhere else. Raw materials are far more efficiently gained by mining asteroids, planetoids, moons, and other celestial bodies without an atmosphere, high gravity and a local population. The Earth is invaded by a species of planet looters later, however: [[spoiler:The aliens, for whatever reason, cannot breed on their own and unleash a bio-plague on the planet intended to rewrite all human DNA and turn all following generations of humans into their species.]]

* ComicBook/TheTransformers: Cybertronians can use any energy, Energon is just much better for them. The Decepticons, however, see this as "just oil." Makes sense, since all their Earth-based alt-modes run on oil-based fuels. Too bad their main base is made out of a nuclear power plant, which would have powered them better than oil, and yes the humans do point this out.
* The end result of the Decepticons' Infiltration Protocol in [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMegaseries IDW's early Transformers work]] is stealing the resources of any planet they come across, in-between burning the planet to a cinder. They've been at this for [[ForeverWar roughly one million years]], and in numerous cases they've ''[[TheBadGuyWins succeeded]]''.

* The aliens from the movie ''Film/IndependenceDay''. The President finds this out via an attempted psychic attack about halfway through the movie, which prompts him to order the military to NukeEm.
** They return 20 years later in the sequel with an even bigger ship, after TheRemnant sends a distress call. In this movie, we find out just how literally this trope applies to them, as they use a giant laser drill to try and suck up Earth's core to use as fuel. Luckily, humans have rebuilt with ImportedAlienPhlebotinum.

* ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'', by Creator/HGWells, published in 1898, depicted a Martian invasion with overt analogies to European hegemony. The invaders have perfectly good reasons: according to contemporary theories, outer planets are the first to form and the first to die. With spaceflight in the Creator/JulesVerne steam cannon stage, the aliens have nowhere to go but inward. The novel heavily implies that when the invasion of Earth doesn't go well, the Martians take over Venus.
* Creator/CSLewis' ''Literature/OutOfTheSilentPlanet'' has humans as the planet looters trying to conquer Mars -- even though the solar system runs under the same theory as Wells', and the Martians point out that their world will die ''before'' Earth.
* In a rare example of humans doing it to other humans, the [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny People's Republic of Haven]] from ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' regularly conquers and loots other planets simply to prop up their own bloated, unproductive welfare state. Things turn ugly when they try to do it to the Star Kingdom of Manticore and their Short Victorious War turns into a long and bloody one. Making matters worse for Haven is the fact that unlike a lot of nonhuman Planet Looters, the Havenites build their newly conquered planets into their own empire. Which means that each looted planet eventually becomes a new drain on the budget just like the homeworld. The parallels to AncientRome may or may not be deliberate.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheGentleVultures": The alien [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys herbivorous primates]] maintain an AlienNonInterferenceClause until a species has destroyed itself in [[WorldWarIII nuclear war]], then it arrives to repair the damage in exchange for a resource that world has in abundance. They don't even do the looting themselves, making the devastated world pay tribute to the Hurrians. They take everything from [[SlaveRace slaves]] to steel, from manganese salts to processed lumber.

* [[MarsNeedsWater Water]] is apparently one of them, and countless aliens have needlessly lost their lives in futile attempts to steal our oceans. [[note]]For some reason, they overlook comets, dwarf planets and moons in the outer solar system which are not only made of mostly water in convenient prepackaged frozen form but don't have anyone out there to stop them from simply flying away with it.[[/note]]

* The end result of the Decepticons' Infiltration Protocol in [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMegaseries IDW's early Transformers work]] is stealing the resources of any planet they come across, in-between burning the planet to a cinder. They've been at this for several hundred years, and in several cases they've ''[[TheBadGuyWins succeeded]]''.

* Calvin from ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' once wrote a poem about such aliens visiting Earth. It's too large for the main article, but can be found on the quote page.

* Earth is the densest planet in the solar system, so it's a plausible choice of targets if aliens are looking to collect a ''huge'' amount of metal/minerals in one go, rather than chase down millions of asteroids.

** The first series of the revived ''Who'' returned to this trope immediately. The [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose very first episode]] has a baddie, the Nestene Consciousness, who wants to feed on the Earth after its own worlds were destroyed in the [[GreatOffscreenWar "Time War"]]. In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon "Aliens of London"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E5WorldWarThree "World War Three"]], an alien criminal family called the Slitheen take over [[{{Whitehall}} 10 Downing Street]] as the first step of a plan to melt the Earth down into a source of radioactive fuel for spacecraft.

* According to some {{Ancient Astronaut|s}} theorists, a race of aliens called the Annunaki, who were worshiped as gods by the Sumerians, came to this planet to mine for gold and created mankind to use as slave labor. This is ''very'' loosely based (via poor translation of an incomplete ancient text) on the Sumerian creation myth.

* ''WebComic/KillSixBillionDemons'': In fitting with her theme as the [[EmbodimentOfVice Demiurge symbolizing]] [[VillainousGlutton Gluttony]], DimensionLord Mottom follows this trope. She travels the planets under her domain in her flying castle, demanding ruinous amounts of tribute of slaves, food, decorations and other luxuries from the planets she visits to feed herself and her DeadlyDecadentCourt with gifts and glories. Cio at one point comments that the wasteland they're currently in was a vibrant forest before Mottom got a taste for a fruit that grew on some of its trees, and had the entire thing stripped bare to feed her hunger.

** They return 20 years later in the sequel with an even bigger fleet, after TheRemnant sends a distress call. Luckily, humans have rebuilt with ImportedAlienPhlebotinum.

* The space vampires from ''Film/{{Lifeforce}} come to Earth to harvest the eponymous [[LifeEnergy life force]] from humans to power up their EldritchStarship. They have been doing this since ancient time, hiding within the tail of Halley's comet, to the point that's theorized within the film that their past visits [[DoingInTheWizard gave birth to the legends of modern vampires]].

* ''[[http://www.tor.com/stories/2010/08/the-fermi-paradox-is-our-business-model The Fermi Paradox Is Our Business Model]]'', a short story by Charlie Jane Anders, offers an interesting and unusual, yet chillingly ''extreme'', example.
** The earlier "The Gentle Vultures" by Creator/IsaacAsimov followed similar principles, although the aliens in that one simply used [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves the situation]] rather than deliberately creating it.
* John Stith's novel ''Literature/ManhattanTransfer'' begins with aliens tossing a dome over and ripping out [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity Manhattan Island]] without any obvious explanation, then stowing it inside their massive spacecraft. The people in Manhattan think they have been looted, but it eventually turns out [[spoiler:that the race which stole Manhattan is trying to save a sample of humanity from a soon-to-arrive PlanetKiller.]]

* ''WebComic/KillSixBillionDemons'': In fitting with her theme as the [[EmbodimentOfVice Demiurge symbolizing]] [[VillainousGlutton Gluttony]], MultiversalConqueror Mottom follows this trope. She travels the planets under her domain in her flying castle, demanding ruinous amounts of tribute of slaves, food, decorations and other luxuries from the planets she visits to feed herself and her DeadlyDecadentCourt with gifts and glories. Cio at one point comments that the wasteland they're currently in was a vibrant forest before Mottom got a taste for a fruit that grew on some of its trees, and had the entire thing stripped bare to feed her hunger.

* ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' flips this around mostly. Humanity has outstripped its ability to sustain itself, so they build Planet-Crackers; gigantic starships that tear planets apart in a multi-year process to provide raw materials for humanity. The resulting gravitational shifts wreak holy hell on the solar systems of the cracked planets. However, it appears that nobody can really complain about this as humanity hasn't run into any alien life. Until the events of the game, and they're really mutated human space zombies anyways. [[spoiler:And we knew they were there.]] There's also the very [[spoiler: literal planet looting that happens when a Marker outbreak reaches convergence, with the planet's population being siphoned off of it to form a new Brethren Moon.]]

* The Yeerks from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''. {{Justified|Trope}} in that what they want from Earth is something that can only be found on Earth. ''Us''. Or more specifically, our bodies with our big, fat brains ripe for infestation.
** In the first book, it's stated that humans would give ''every'' Yeerk in the pools a host.

* The Saiyans and their employers, Frieza's people in ''Manga/DragonBall Z'' regularly ravage entire worlds of their population for sale to the highest bidder. And destroying them if they think it won't sell well enough.
* In ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', [[spoiler: due to the severe damage suffered by the Frontier fleet, and the dwindling resources (it's stated that they will last for two or three months maximum), the government decides to attack the Vajra homeworld and break through the Vajra defenses, hoping to colonize it. At one point, one of Alto's wingmen deliberately comments "This planet is ours!" while blasting away at the local inhabitants. Once peace is established with the Vajra, they willingly give up the planet and leave the galaxy for unknown reaches.]]

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': The Sangtee Empire have conquered planets they use just to mine and strip of resources, and as part of the buffer between them and the wider universe. Not every planet they've taken over is used this way, but the one Wondy is consigned to after being enslaved is.

*** Gorthan's faction of Evronians in the reboot finds out the Guardians came up with a process to reverse the drain, [[PragmaticEvil thus Gorthan aborts the invasion of Earth at the last moment to prevent said process to be lost and insure the Evronians would never go hungry again.
** Another attempt, showing just how ''desperate'' the Evronians are, was to harness Xadhoom's power. Problem is, Xadhoom is a PhysicalGoddess that wants to bring the Evronians to extinction for destroying her homeworld...

* In ''Film/MenInBlackII'', a criminal alien releases one of her old partners in crime from TheMenInBlack's prisons. This convict's crime was that he tried to steal the Earth's ozone layer.
** The third movie has the Boglodites, who are described much like an alien species of Planet Looters. And that's mostly what they are, but we see the VillainWorld they create, and it doesn't involve exterminating the human race or making an extremely quick retreat once they have their resources. Their VillainWorld just consists of a world inhabited by humans and Boglodites, with the Boglodites playing the role of tyrannical overlords of course.

* In ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' and ''Film/{{Delgo}}'', [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters militant Earthlings]] are looting an alien planet for literal {{Unobtanium}} and a place to live, respectively, after making their own planet a CrapsackWorld. Diplomacy was attempted in ''Avatar'', but by the time the film starts it's broken down.