History Main / TheDrifter

Like a gust of wind, The Drifter quietly blows into [[AdventureTowns a troubled town]]. He's [[TheStoic low-key]], and usually TheQuietOne that's not looking for trouble. He'll rarely raise the interest or curiosity of the [[{{Muggles}} townspeople]] or the BigBad that's been slowly draining the town of all life and money. Usually, he just wants an odd job to make ends meet before leaving again, the implication being that he's either [[SternChase running from someone]] or WalkingTheEarth [[InHarmsWay for the fun of it]] or [[FightingForAHomeland for finding a good home for him/her/itself.]] Occasionally TheSheriff and his deputies, or a QuirkyMinibossSquad of the BigBad (sometimes one and the same) will visit the DeterminedHomesteader employing the Drifter or him directly, to try and lay down the law and [[BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord extort some money.]]

* Many Creator/ClintEastwood characters, [[Film/DollarsTrilogy most notably]] ''[[TheNameless The Man with no Name]]''.
** Note also that one of the films he directed is called ''Film/HighPlainsDrifter'', which plays with the conventions of this trope a bit, mainly in that The Stranger (as he is credited) is hinted at being [[spoiler: the ghost of a man murdered by the townsfolk (indirectly) years prior and thus brings on a little vengeance by turning the town's folk against each other, manipulating and scaring them into giving him absolute power and pretty much ruining the town's economy (by blowing up the hotel, tearing down the barn and not paying for any of the many goods and services he takes advantage of, such as buying everyone in town a drink from the bar at the bartender's expense. In fact, he's barely in the town for ten minutes before he kills three men, drags a woman to the barn, and rapes her. ]]

* The aptly named [[NoNameGiven The Drifter]] from ''Film/{{Bunraku}}''.
* A rare female example in Mae Doyle from ''Film/ClashByNight''.

* The main character from ''Film/HoboWithAShotgun''.
* Franchise/IndianaJones acts somewhat this way in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom''.

* Tetsu Hondo in ''Film/TokyoDrifter''.

* Waylander in Gemmell's ''Literature/{{Drenai}}'' novels.
* Etienne Lantier is the catalyst for the events of Émile Zola's ''Literature/{{Germinal}}''.

* Made famous in literature, and later in film, by ''Literature/{{Shane}}''.

* Elvenking's "The Wanderer". It's rather obvious.
* Music/LedZeppelin's "Ramble On" from ''Music/LedZeppelinII''.
* Ralph [=McTell=]'s "The Ferryman" is an exploration of this trope.
* Music/{{Metallica}}'s "Wherever I May Roam".

* Music/ModestMouse's "The World At Large" even goes so far as to mention that the narrator relates to songs and books written about drifters.
* Music/{{Saga}}'s "Giant" from ''The Beginner's Guide To Throwing Shapes''.

* Perhaps in name only, but in Toys/{{BIONICLE}}, all six Piraka seem to have nicknames, and [[AnIcePerson Thok's]] is "the drifter."
** Lesovikk is also this in practice, following the loss of his toa team, [[TheAtoner which he blames himself for.]]

* Oblio of ''VideoGame/DanceCentral'' is a drifter in all its splendor.

* Similarly to ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'', ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' allows you to wander the countryside, picking up whatever quests you want, joining any/all of the five main factions, or whatever else you can think of that has nothing to do with the main story.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', the Dragonborn wanders the countryside in-between/on-the-way-to/during battles with Dragons.

** [[TropeNamer Build up foundation]], indeed.
* Adol from ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' series is this trope.

* The animated film ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' starts off with a dream sequence where Po fits this trope PERFECTLY. Of course, this is just his dream self, but it does seem to show how GenreSavvy he is. Two tropes for the price of one?

* Bruce Banner in ''Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk''. While he's had a fixed abode a few times in the comics, most of the time he's WalkingTheEarth either looking for a cure, running from people looking to destroy/control the Hulk, or both. One of the most common Hulk stories is the basic Drifter story - Bruce arrives in town, finds trouble, ends up HulkingOut to deal with it and then is forced to move on because either the authorities are hot on his heels, and/or the [[HeroWithBadPublicity townsfolk he just saved see him as a bigger threat than the one he just saved them from]].

* The TV version of ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk'' was based on the ''Fugitive'' template of a wanted protagonist helping people during his travels, with the twist that Dr. David Banner's usual method of solving problems was [[HulkingOut turning into a green-skinned monster]] with SuperStrength.

By this point, he's either got a personal stake in helping the [[MeekTownsman meek townsmen]] chase off the BigBad, like saving a hostage or other [[LoveInterests love interest]], or will do it just because it's [[GoodSamaritan the right thing to do.]] An interesting twist on the above is that TheDrifter is not just pretending he [[IAmNotLeftHanded is Not Left Handed]] in terms of martial skill, but is also concealing his true purpose--to depose the BigBad and his goons--[[HiddenInPlainSight hiding in plain sight]] as a mere {{Muggle}} to get information to bring him down.

* Goku from ''Manga/DragonBall'' became this after he was told to WalkTheEarth by Master Roshi. In the filler in-between the end of the Red Ribbon Army Saga and the next tournament, Goku is shown going to town to town, helping people along the way and then leaving as soon as his task is completed. He was also like this during the previous saga when he was looking for his grandfather's Dragon Ball.

* Rokusho of ''VideoGame/{{Medabots}}'' fits as well. He wanders into story lines and back out, always willing to help the helpless or the righteous without any need of reward.

** The titular character purposefully became this after the war and settled down starting on the first episode. We see him comment that with the friends he makes, he may stop wandering. Also, "Rurouni" can be translated as wanderer. So Yeah.

* Vash The Stampede of ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' has this as his whole thing, except he's also a wanted outlaw and an [[spoiler: immortal superhuman]]. Since his setting is Western-inspired and he has mad gun skills, ChronicHeroSyndrome and multiple issues with settling down, he does a lot of this, especially in the anime which put off the CerebusSyndrome a lot longer, although most of the story is consumed by the plot happening. He only stops the drifting thing during his TenMinuteRetirement after he inadvertently shot the moon, when he grows a BeardOfSorrow, changes his name, and doesn't kick the asses of the creeps who come to his new hometown and start killing everybody who annoys them. Which is kind of extreme restraint, given the town ''couldn't build enough coffins to house all their dead.'' Interestingly, that situation gets resolved by Wolfwood drifting ''into'' town looking for him the same day Vash's adopted family member is kidnapped, and then both of them kick ass and walk off into the sunset. Vash's ButNowIMustGo costs him a ''lot'' more than usual this time.

* Another ''MLP'' fic example is ''FanFic/TheRockFarmersDaughters''. Set in an [[AlternateUniverseFic alternatate universe]] where neither Pinkie Pie nor Cheese Sandwich are party ponies, the story has Cheese as a variant of this, except with a good dose of [[{{Adorkable}} Adorkability]], and he's more shy than stoic.

** Note also that one of the films he directed is called ''Film/HighPlainsDrifter'', which plays with the conventions of this trope a bit, mainly in that The Stranger (as he is credited) is hinted at being [[spoiler: the ghost of a man murdered by the townsfolk (indirectly) years prior and thus brings on a little vengeance by turning the town's folk against each other, manipulating and scaring them into giving him absolute power and pretty much ruining the town's economy (by blowing up the hotel, tearing down the barn and not paying for any of the many goods and services he takes advantage of, such as buying everyone in town a drink from the bar at the bartender's expense. In fact, he's barely in the town for ten minutes before he kills three men, drags a woman to the barn and rapes her. ]]

* ''Film/{{Shane}}'': Shane, a laconic but skilled gunfighter with a mysterious past, is a drifter who rides into an isolated valley in the sparsely settled Wyoming Territory, some time after the Civil War. He is hired as a farm hand by local rancher Joe Starrett who lives as a homesteader with his wife, Marian and their young son, Joey. Shane soon gets caught up in helping the homesteaders fight the attempts of the local CattleBaron to drive them of their lands. When the land war is over, Shane mounts up and rides off again.

* The hero of ''Film/ThreeIron'' gets along by breaking into homes which are empty and temporarily unoccupied. He does not steal from the homes like any typical run-of-the-mill burglar. In a bizarre, parasitic manner, he lives off the food resources and physical amenities provided by the homes, yet leaves them in a better state than when he first broke in, repairing damaged appliances and washing dirtied clothing thrown around by its owners.

** In ''Literature/TheStand'', Randall "The Walkin' Dude" Flagg was the embodiment of this trope's EvilCounterpart for a long while, until he decides to settle down and [[AfterTheEnd rebuild America]] in his own image using newfound [[SorcerousOverlord magical powers]]. He takes on shades of this trope ''again'' when he goes traveling through [[TheVerse time and the multiverse]], and keeps "becoming", amongst other things, a marine, a member of the UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan, a headsman, a [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Viet Cong]], a supporter of a radical blacks' rights group, a [[Literature/TheEyesOfTheDragon court magician]] ([[Franchise/TheDarkTower several times]]), and other roles that helps his subversive schemes. Really, the only thing that makes him into Nyarlathotep, and separates him from being an evil [[Series/DoctorWho Time Lord]] is magic and a lack of a Tardis.

-->''"In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... the A-Team."''

* ''Series/ThenCameBronson'': Michael Parks and a CoolBike. James "Jim" Bronson, a newspaperman who becomes disillusioned after the suicide of his best friend Nick (Martin Sheen), and with "working for The Man" after a heated argument with his editor. In order to renew his soul Bronson becomes a vagabond searching for the meaning of life and seeking experiences that life has to offer.

* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', such characters are too often played to the point they have become a cliche, earning the pejorative [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Murderhobo murderhobo]]. Treating them as what they are (i.e., vagrant serial killers) is [[KillerGameMaster a DM's delight]]. The trend is believed to have been started in reaction to the KillerGM using complicated backstories to hurt characters far worse than merely killing them: a PC whose only function is to kill things and take their stuff until he dies is far more easily replaced than a unique character with crushable hopes, breakable dreams, and a 5,000 word backstory.
* One of the playable archetypes in ''TabletopGame/FengShui'' is The Drifter. He even has the ability to show up exactly where and when he is needed. In game terms, he announces he wants to show up, and everyone picks a reason how he got there. He chooses the one he likes the best.

* Medoute in ''VideoGame/BlazeUnion''. She winds up settling down with the rest of the party for a while after realizing she needs to take responsibility for influencing some of their important decisions, but towards the end of the game she remembers that the whole point of her journeying was because she didn't want to have to deal with responsibility and starts chafing. In most of the endings of the game, she leaves and goes back to WalkingTheEarth.

* ''VideoGame/ShirenTheWanderer'' fits this well. All of the Wanderers (not just Shiren) are always on the move. In fact, it's a gameplay feature: if the player stays too long in a single floor they hear a gust of wind, telling them to move on or suffer a NonstandardGameOver. Also, backtracking is rarely a good idea, because no items spawn in the level and you end up fighting more monsters. It's all there to ensure that you always keep on the move...

* "Space Cowboy" by Kacey Musgraves is written from the perspective of the girlfriend who let her own lover go using the imagery of this trope. Said imagery is portrayed in a [[DeconReconSwitch bittersweet manner]]: On one hand, the relationship between them is over and they likely will never see each other again... but both of them no longer love each other and are moving on with their lives.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant No relations]] with MultiTrackDrifting at all, even if he ''is'' a BadassDriver.

* ''Manga/TheWalkingMan'', currently [[http://everything2.com/title/Walking+Man%252C+An+Annotated+Index residing on Everything2]], definitely qualifies.

* Bill Door, aka [[DeathTakesAHoliday Death]], in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/ReaperMan''.

* Rokusho of ''VideGame/{{Medabots}}'' fits as well. He wanders into story lines and back out, always willing to help the helpless or the righteous without any need of reward.

* Sundown, from ''VideoGame/LiveALive''. Also an example of a [[TheGunslinger Gunslinger]], both Type A and B.

* Bartz from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' starts off as one of these, with his pet Chocobo, Boco. [[spoiler:This was actually his deceased father's last request.]]
* Shadow from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' actually has a chance to just take off and leave your party after every battle.
* Nearly every ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' game has you playing some variant on this character type... unless you prefer evil karma, in which case you become a DoomMagnet.
* Similarly to ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'', ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' allows you to wander the countryside, picking up whatever quests you want, joining any/all of the five main factions, or whatever else you can think of that has nothing to do with the main story.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', the Dragonborn wanders the countryside in-between/on-the-way-to/during battles with Dragons.
* ''VideoGame/ShirenTheWanderer'' fits this well. All of the Wanderers (not just Shiren) are always on the move. In fact, it's a gameplay feature: if the player stays too long in a single floor they hear a gust of wind, telling them to move on or suffer a NonstandardGameOver. Also, backtracking is rarely a good idea, because no items spawn in the level and you end up fighting more monsters. It's all there to ensure that you always keep on the move...
* Medoute in ''VideoGame/BlazeUnion''. She winds up settling down with the rest of the party for a while after realizing she needs to take responsibility for influencing some of their important decisions, but towards the end of the game she remembers that the whole point of her journeying was because she didn't want to have to deal with responsibility and starts chafing. In most of the endings of the game, she leaves and goes back to WalkingTheEarth.
* You're pretty much this way in the ''VideoGame/RuneFactory'' games even with your monsters and friends and neighbors. But when you want to go beat the snot out of wild monsters, who helps you out? No one.
* In ''Franchise/DragonAge'', most of the Grey Wardens spend their time WalkingTheEarth, searching for any sign of darkspawn.
* Dillon and his partner Russ from ''VideoGame/DillonsRollingWestern'' drift from village to village, only staying long enough to help defend them against the Grock before moving on.
* The player is essentially this in virtually any ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' game: a stranger who wanders into town, helps people with their problems, then leaves.
* Oblio of ''VideoGame/DanceCentral'' is a drifter in all its splendor.

* In the CattlePunk world of ''Webcomic/CwynhildsLoom'', Cwynhild drifts around UsefulNotes/{{Mars}}, performing odd jobs and helping people who seek her out.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack''.

%%* ''Series/ThenCameBronson'': Michael Parks and a CoolBike.
* Eiji Hino is only said to be a drifter before ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' starts since he stays in the same general area for most of the series, but he goes back to that lifestyle in the end - only now he has a group of friends to stay in touch with.
** If Eiji counts, the passing-through Kamen Rider [[Series/KamenRiderDecade Tsukasa Kadoya]] does too, though he [[MagneticHero quickly acquires companions]] and could probably not be called low-key.
** Before either of them, we had [[Series/KamenRiderKuuga Yuusuke Godai]], who like his partial {{Expy}} Eiji only stays in the same general area over the course of the series because of the circumstances regarding the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Gurongi]] and his own sense of responsibility as the one bearing the power of Kuuga.
* Jared from ''Series/ThePretender'' is on the run from an evil organization that held him prisoner from childhood, but finds time to research and uncover injustice and save people's lives wherever he goes.
* Nick does the same thing as OOO in ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce''; blow into town as the NaiveNewcomer in the beginning, leave again at season's end with a new set of TrueCompanions to show for it.
%%* [=Steve McQueen=] in ''Series/WantedDeadOrAlive''
* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''; The Winchesters and most other hunters as well. The Winchesters have less of a home base than the majority of hunters and are unusually kind and personable...even if they are violent maniacs with no respect for the law who lie like they breathe.
* It might take a bit longer than other examples, but Immortals in ''[[Series/{{Highlander}} Highlander: The Series]]'' have to move around every decade or so when people begin to notice that they don't age.
* The main characters of the series ''Series/Route66'', who are driving across America more or less aimlessly. They'll stop in a town, encounter someone who needs help, do what they can, then be on their way.
%%* ''Series/TheLoneRanger''
* Wade Norton, protagonist of ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'' episode "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1963S1E26TheGuests The Guests]]", as often [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by both himself and the other characters. He's a handsome, well-intentioned youth who's WalkingTheEarth while DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife.
* Gai Kurenai, the main character and human form of ''Series/UltramanOrb'', is a homeless drifter who spends most of his life hitch-hiking across the world. WordOfGod states that the character is partially based on the archetypal drifter cowboys as portrayed in ''Creator/ClintEastwood'' westerns.

* The Music/{{Whitesnake}} song "Here I Go Again" fits this trope. It even has the line "Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone".
* Music/{{Metallica}}'s "Wherever I May Roam".
* Ralph [=McTell=]'s "The Ferryman" is an exploration of this trope.

* Music/{{Saga}}'s "Giant" from ''The Beginner's Guide To Throwing Shapes''.

* One of the playable archetypes in ''TabletopGame/FengShui'' is The Drifter. He even has the ability to show up exactly where and when he is needed. In game terms, he announces he wants to show up, and everyone picks a reason how he got there. He chooses the one he likes the best.
* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', such characters are too often played to the point they have become a cliche, earning the pejorative [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Murderhobo murderhobo]]. Treating them as what they are (i.e., vagrant serial killers) is [[KillerGameMaster a DM's delight]]. The trend is believed to have been started in reaction to the KillerGM using complicated backstories to hurt characters far worse than merely killing them: a PC whose only function is to kill things and take their stuff until he dies is far more easily replaced than a unique character with crushable hopes, breakable dreams, and a 5,000 word backstory.
* A villainous version is Typhus the Traveller of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': he goes around the galaxy to spread disease and contagion wherever he goes.

%%* ''Film/{{Shane}}'', of course.

%%* Joe Christmas in ''Literature/LightInAugust''.

* Bill Door, aka [[DeathTakesAHoliday Death]], in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/ReaperMan''.
* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', the Rangers of the North are very much this trope. They have few if any permanent settlements and most of the men's time is spent wandering the wilds of Eriador patrolling for servants of the Enemy and safeguarding the villages and roads, even though the people they are protecting regard them with suspicion and fear.

* Waylander in Gemmell's ''Literature/{{Drenai}}'' novels.

* Frank Chambers of ''Literature/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice'' starts out as a drifter who gets work at a small California diner/gas station. He is far from heroic, however.
* Jimmy Hedgecock from ''Gunfighter's Ride'' helps people while he delivers the mail.
* Etienne Lantier is the catalyst for the events of Émile Zola's ''Literature/{{Germinal}}''.
* In the ''Literature/BenSnow'' series, Ben is a wandering cowhand looking for work who keeps stumbling into mysteries. It doesn't help that he is sometimes mistaken for Billy the Kid.
* In Creator/DevonMonk's ''Literature/DeadIron'', Cedar. He's been around this particular town long enough that he thinks it may be safer to move on.
* Insomuch as ''Literature/StarWarsKenobi'' is a SpaceWestern, Ben Kenobi plays the role of the Drifter--first appearing in a BigDamnHeroes moment, then trying to stay quietly out of the way but unable to avoid solving the problems that appear in front of him, making friends and enemies in the process. His attempts to remain apart from the inhabitants of the Pika Oasis only increase their curiosity in him. He doesn't [[ButNowIMustGo drift on]] when the story is over, though--his mission requires him to settle in as TheHermit instead.
* Barnaby Gold, the protagonist of ''Literature/TheUndertaker'' series of novels. Originally planning on travelling to Europe following his father's death, he goes on the run after killing Floyd Channon in the first book. He roams the West after that, staying one step ahead of the bounty hunters who are after him.
* ''Literature/TheManWithTheTerribleEyes'': The Man eventually becomes one after quitting his job and fleeing the city. He, Dog, and the beetles travel around the country to keep from being captured again by Iotech, and in the process encounter [[MonsterOfTheWeek a wide variety of strange beings]] tormenting people.

%%* The title character of ''Here's Boomer'' is another drifter dog.

* This is an absolutely perfect description of Cheyenne Bodie from ''Series/{{Cheyenne}}''. After the Civil War, nomadic adventurer Cheyenne Bodie roamed the west looking for fights, women, and bad guys to beat up. His job changed from episode to episode.
* Bronco Layne from ''Series/{{Bronco}}'', a SpinOff from ''Series/{{Cheyenne}}''. A former confederate soldier wanders the old west, and meets such famous characters as Jesse James, William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody, and Theodore Roosevelt.

%%* ''Series/TheATeam''

* Rokusho of Medabots fits as well. He wanders into story lines and back out, always willing to help the helpless or the righteous without any need of reward.

* The [[ComicBook/TheLegendOfZelda comic books]] spun off of the original ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' give this sort of backstory to Link, who happens to wander into Hyrule from his native Calatia just as Ganon is starting to wreak havoc.
* [[ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo Miyamoto Usagi]]. Also Inazuma and Chizu.
* ''ComicBook/GrooTheWanderer''. Played with in that he's always looking for a fray.
* ComicBook/DouweDabbert always ends up helping and protecting people wherever he goes and never stays anywhere for long.
* In the Franchise/StarWarsLegends comic ''Nomad'', Darca Nyl ends up giving this impression. He's actually trying to track down the man who killed his son, but along the way, people keep thinking that he's a Jedi, and needing his help. [[BecomingTheMask And he gives it]], and [[GoodFeelsGood it's the only good thing he's felt in a long time]]. In the end, once he kills the man, he decides to take up this trope/become a KnightErrant.
* The heroes in ''ComicBook/SinCity'' have the demeanor of the drifter (quiet loners with troubled pasts), even if they tend to stick to the city limits of Basin. Wallace might be an aversion since his story seems to indicate that he is relatively new in town. He doesn't seem to grasp how corrupt the city is and despite his deadliness, he is a relative unknown.

* ''ComicBook/BatLash'': Wanted by the law, Bat keeps moving; never staying in any one place for too long. Needless to say, he finds trouble wherever he goes.
* [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]]. While he's had a fixed abode a few times in the comics, most of the time he's WalkingTheEarth either looking for a cure, running from people looking to destroy/control the Hulk, or both. One of the most common Hulk stories is the basic Drifter story - Bruce arrives in town, finds trouble, ends up HulkingOut to deal with it and then is forced to move on because either the authorities are hot on his heels, and/or the [[HeroWithBadPublicity townsfolk he just saved see him as a bigger threat than the one he just saved them from]].

* For a brief period when his secret identity was exposed, he'd lost most of his powers and he was a fugitive from the US government, [[Comicbook/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]] was one, travelling from town to town on a CoolBike righting wrongs before moving on.

* The eponymous Traveler from the MassiveMultiplayerCrossover fic ''FanFic/TheLoneTraveler''. It's pretty much all he does.

* The main character from ''Film/HoboWithAShotgun''.

* Many Creator/ClintEastwood characters, [[Film/DollarsTrilogy most notably]] ''[[TheNameless The Man with no Name]]''.
** Note also that one of the films he directed is called ''Film/HighPlainsDrifter'', which plays with the conventions of this trope a bit, mainly in that The Stranger (as he is credited) is hinted at being [[spoiler: the ghost of a man murdered by the townsfolk (indirectly) years prior and thus brings on a little vengeance by turning the town's folk against each other, manipulating and scaring them into giving him absolute power and pretty much ruining the town's economy (by blowing up the hotel, tearing down the barn and not paying for any of the many goods and services he takes advantage of, such as buying everyone in town a drink from the bar at the bartender's expense. In fact, he's barely in the town for ten minutes before he kills three men, drags a woman to the barn and rapes her. ]]
* Franchise/IndianaJones acts somewhat this way in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom''.
* The title character of Creator/NicholasRay's ''Film/JohnnyGuitar'' is a former gunslinger turned travelling musician. As he states at one point:
-->'''Johnny Guitar:''' I've a great respect for a gun, and besides I'm a stranger here myself!
* Sanjuro, in Kurosawa's ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'' (the prototype for ''For a Fistful of Dollars'') and ''Film/{{Sanjuro}}''.
* Also ''Franchise/{{Zatoichi}}'', hero of a ''long''-running series of Japanese films. In each film, he wanders into a new [[AdventureTowns Adventure Town]], where he at first pretends to be a simple itinerant masseur and gambler. But when some local yakuza boss or corrupt official threatens him or the group of innocent commoners he's befriended, he reveals himself to be a master swordsman and all-out [[BadassNormal badass]]. Oh, and he's blind, too.

* The aptly named [[NoNameGiven The Drifter]] from ''Film/{{Bunraku}}''.
* ''Film/{{Sartana}}'' is a subversion; while he does go from town to town for adventure, he is definitely not the silent, brooding type.
* Comrade Sukhov from ''Film/WhiteSunOfTheDesert''. A retired soldier who just wants to go home, he walks the sands of Turkestan and gets into trouble.
* In ''Film/TheManFromEarth'', John [[PunnyName Oldman]] is moving away, which he says he does every decade. [[spoiler: He reveals that he has been doing this for 14,000 years because people start to realize that he doesn't age.]]

* A rare female example in Mae Doyle from ''Film/ClashByNight''.
* At the start of ''Film/Siren2010'', Marco has been travelling the world for two years, trying to "find himself".
* Pete and Joey, the main characters in the 1970 Canadian movie ''Goin' Down the Road'', who move from Nova Scotia to Toronto in search of work, leaving the city (and in Joey's case, his ex-girlfriend and unborn child) when things go south.

* Laconic cowboy Dave Blasingame--the protagonist of ''Series/TheWesterner''--wanders the WildWest with his faithful dog Brown is his unending quest to become rich enough to buy his own ranch.

See also WesternCharacters. Fairly common in AfterTheEnd settings, where he'll get a [[DisasterScavengers scavenger sidekick]]. [[CastCalculus Occasionally]] joins up or becomes the leader of a band of HitchhikerHeroes. Closely related to the KnightErrant, who wanders the land actively seeking wrongs to right. The FlyingDutchman is often pressed into this role (though not always as a protagonist) by means of a curse.

%%* This is an absolutely perfect description of Cheyenne Bodie from ''Series/{{Cheyenne}}''.
%%* Bronco Layne from ''Series/{{Bronco}}'', a SpinOff from ''Series/{{Cheyenne}}''.

%%* ''Series/TheWesterner''

Then the gloves come off.

* In the WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic fanfiction ''Fanfic/{{Jericho}}'', the titular main character and narrator, [[FirstPersonSmartass Jeri]][[SociopathicHero cho]], is a form of this. Save for the fact that he is, of course, not quiet or stoic at all. He is openly [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastic]], a [[FirstPersonSmartass smartass]], occasionally a bit of a CloudCuckoolander, and his reasons are rather shady. He wanders around the world and, [[UnreliableNarrator according to him]], is just doing [[GoodSamaritan what's right]]. However, when he gave [[{{Woobie}} Cards]] a speech about doing what's right to help yourself deal with a [[TheAtoner great guilt]], his InnerMonologue questioned how much what he said was true, to which Jericho refuses to say to the reader, but a good deal of it appeared to be a [[BlatantLies lie]] in hindsight. It's doubly strange when considering that Jericho seems to be a [[TheSociopath sociopath]].

* ''[[FanFic/TheRockFarmersDaughters The Rock Farmer's Daughters]]'': Set in an AU where neither Pinkie Pie nor Cheese Sandwich is party ponies, the fic has Cheese as a variant of this, except with a good dose of [[{{Adorkable}} Adorkability]], and he's more shy than stoic.
* The eponymous Traveler from FanFic/TheLoneTraveler. It's pretty much all he does.

* John J. Macreedy in the classic film ''Film/BadDayAtBlackRock'', although he arrives in the titular town with a specific purpose in mind (which is ''not'' to clean the place up.)

** Note also that one of the films he directed is called ''Film/HighPlainsDrifter''.
*** ''Film/HighPlainsDrifter'' plays with the conventions of this trope a bit, mainly in that The Stranger (as he is credited) is hinted at being [[spoiler: the ghost of a man murdered by the townsfolk (indirectly) years prior and thus brings on a little vengeance by turning the town's folk against each other, manipulating and scaring them into giving him absolute power and pretty much ruining the town's economy (by blowing up the hotel, tearing down the barn and not paying for any of the many goods and services he takes advantage of, such as buying everyone in town a drink from the bar at the bartender's expense. In fact, he's barely in the town for ten minutes before he kills three men, drags a woman to the barn and rapes her. ]]

* ''Series/TheFugitive''. Dr. Kimble is on the run from the law and trying to find "the one-armed man" who killed his wife
%%* The TV version of ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk''.
%%* Caine from ''Series/KungFu''.

* Sam Beckett from ''Series/QuantumLeap.'' His drifting is to different time periods as well as different locations.
%%* The ''Series/{{Sliders}}.''

* The main characters of the series ''Series/Route66''.