View source for Barbarian Tribe

{{trope}}
[[File:conan-barbarian-tribe-001 2162.png|link=Conan the Barbarian|frame|You no longer need to ask what's worse than one angry Barbarian]]

The '''Barbarian Tribe''' is usually portrayed as a band of barely-literate, and often chaotic warriors. They have no problem burning villages, [[Kick the Dog|dog-kicking]], playing polo with severed heads, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|even stealing cable]]. In a work of fiction, they may form the mook army of the [[Dark Lord]], [[Evil Prince]], or [[Knight Templar|religious fanatic]].

If the work of fiction wants to portray them positively, they will be composed of [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]s or [[Noble Savage]]s who are [[Nature Hero|in touch with the environment]]. A [[Barbarian Hero]] will originate in one of these tribes.

This is [[Truth in Television]] to an extent, since one of the main thrusts of history in Eurasia (until the advent of gunpowder weapons) was the periodic invasions of urban areas in China and Europe by [[Born in the Saddle|mounted steppe tribes]]. Many other groups of people, such as the ancient Germanic peoples, Native American tribes and [[Darkest Africa|tribal Africans]], could also be considered this.

On the other hand, Claude Levi-Strauss said the only real barbarians are the ones who believe in barbarians. The Ancient Greeks, who invented the term, applied it pretty liberally to anyone they didn't like, including peoples who were quite civilized by any reasonable standard (like the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]] and the Persians) and even other Greeks who didn't live up to Athenian ideals. A modern work that applies [[Character Development]] to its barbarians may quickly find them to be [[Not So Different]].

See [[The Horde]] for when they are portrayed as [[Exclusively Evil]]. See also [[Hordes From the East]] and [[Born in the Saddle]].

The [[Sufficiently Advanced]] often compare those "below" them to this.

{{noreallife|as discussed above, "barbarian" is "not us", so we're all barbarians to somebody.}}

{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
* The Visigoths from the Capital One credit card commercials. They shill the credit card by talking about ordinary-sounding purchases that we see are being done in a "barbaric" way. For example, they might talk about using the card to pay at the drive-through when we see them in the drive-through in a war chariot.


==  Film  ==
* Native Americans in movies about the [[The Western|Old West]] in America will use this trope. Older movies use the more negative version, while newer movies will use the positive one.
* ''[[The 13th Warrior]]'' with Antonio Banderas. The barbarian Vikings defend themselves against the even more barbarous {{spoiler|Neanderthal tribe}}.
* The Celts who allied themselves to the Sheriff of Nottingham, in ''[[Robin Hood]]: Prince of Thieves''.

==  Literature  ==
* The Dunlendings (hill-people who were ejected from their ancestral homeland by the Rohirrim) were portrayed this way in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]].'' Middle Earth's backstory also includes the Wainriders and other barbarian groups from the east. The original humans who migrated to join the elves in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' were a heroic version of this.
* In the Military SF series ''[[The General]]'' the "Barbarians" are descended from [[The Federation|Federation]] troops stationed in the boonies before the Fall. It is undoubtedly just coincidence that their native language is 'Namerique' and they have a variety of Northern European names.
* The Kadeshi in the [[Farsala Trilogy]] are a pretty straight example of this trope, whereas the Suud are more of a [[Subverted Trope|subversion]].
* [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Conan the Barbarian]] often leads this. However improbable it is that he is always taken in and rises to the top.
** In "[[Literature/The People Of The Black Citadel|The People Of The Black Citadel]]", he has to negiotiate over his captured men.
** In "[[The Devil in Iron]]" he is leading raids on the civilization.
* Parodied in the [[Nightside]] novels with the Tribe of Gay Barbarians: urbanized variants with their own reasons for dressing in spikes and leather loincloths.

==  Live-Action TV  ==
* ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'', ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'', and ''[[Beastmaster]]'' all used this trope extensively. These TV shows were made in Australia or New Zealand, so they may draw upon the same group of writers who particularly like these types of antagonists.
** ''Beastmaster'' actually included an ''inversion'' of the trope during one season, when the "civilized" new military power overshadowed the previous [[Big Bad]] barbarian tribe, wiping them off the map with ease. They saw the Beastmaster and his allies as this too.
* An episode of ''[[Farscape]]'' had the Venek Hordes, barbarian tribes of [[Petting Zoo People|Lion People]].

==  Tabletop Games  ==
* ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' has planets that are in a technological and cultural state lower than the more modern worlds of the Imperium - designated as either Feudal and Feral Worlds. Most are in a state reminiscent of the medieval period, but many are more primitive or less organized for some reason. Because Feral Worlds are often inhospitable to human life<ref>usual for [[Death World]]s that don't entirely depend on the outside contact, but Jungle and Desert Worlds tend to be pretty rough too</ref> too, the populations are often fierce and tough, and are often used as recruiting grounds for [[Space Marines]] Chapters and low-tech [[Badass Army|Imperial Guard]] regiments (such as cavalry and close combat oriented infantry). The most famous Feral World is Fenris - a snowball where winter interrupts only for a season of high volcanic activity - the home of the Space Wolves Chapter, who recruit from the viking tribes of that world.
** The [[Our Orcs Are Different|Orks]] have shades of this trope: they scarcely have any technology that's particularly sophisticated (although much of it is still very effective); and hardly have any political structure beyond "Do wot da [[Large and In Charge|Warboss and da Nobz]] say." It's played straighter by the Feral Orks and the Snakebites Clan who are more tribal in nature, and completely straight with the [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] Orcs.
** Averted with the Chaos Marines, who may maraud and plunder Imperial worlds, sometimes just at random, yet still maintain a very strict and regimented lifestyle.
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' settings, aside of humans, mostly use rare sapient species, goblinoid or elves this way, though wild halflings (sometimes [[Cannibal Tribe|cannibalistic]]) and jungle dwarves are not unheard of.
* The Aslan in [[Traveller]] are an example of this with overlap into [[Proud Warrior Race]]. They are a technologically advanced society that maintains a tribalistic social and political structure.
** The Vargr are a closer analogue to this then the Aslan.

==  Video Games  ==
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]'', Bulblins seem to operate in this fashion. They live in a crude encampment in the desert, but venture out into the world for raping and pillaging. They tame wild boars, and are ruled by the gargantuan Lord Bulblin (who, as the biggest of the Bulblins, is also [[Large and In Charge]])
* Centaurs in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', are based on the Mongols. They call their leaders Khans, wear fur-lined conical helmets, travel in nomadic hordes, and live in tent villages.
* The ''[[Civilization]]'' games have barbarian hordes. In Civ 4, barbarian cities are named after real historical tribes and the second expansion set added an occasional event where numerous barbarian units appear next to a random civilisation. As one might expect, there are no diplomacy options with barbarians (aside from giving in to them when they say, "Give us X amount of gold or else we pillage you") and they will try to conquer or sack any cities they come across.
* ''[[Total War]]'': All of the games have some sort:
** In ''Rome: Total War'' there are the Gauls, Scythians, Dacians, Germans and Britons (all from the point of view of the player of course) and there was even an expansion called ''Barbarian Invasion'' featuring the Huns, Goths, Vandals and various other Nomadic and Germanic tribes.
** The ''Medieval Total War'' (both I and II) have the invasion of the Mongols in the late 1200's that can easily steamroll civilizations that have not prepared for them in advance. [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|Of course the only way you know how to prepare for them is if you get steamrolled by them first and then know what to do the second time around.]] Or if you're [[It Was His Sled|up to date on your medieval history]].
** ''Medieval: Total War'' even has a cheat code allowing you to play as barbarians/rebels. The code? ''"[[Conan the Barbarian|conan]]"''.
** In the ''Empire Total War'' game, the minor native civilizations appear as this to your player.
* The [[4X]] strategy game ''Galactic Civilizations II'' has the Drengin Empire. They are Mongols [[Recycled in Space|in space]], more or less.
* ''[[King of Dragon Pass]]'' is basically a fantasy barbarian tribe simulator. Subverted in that, while warlike and, well, barbaric by present-day standards, they have a lot of hidden depths and a culture that places a high emphasis on learning, literacy and commerce. And, ofcourse, they're the good guys (arguably even more so in ''[[RuneQuest]]'', where they are traditionally put against a civilized, evil [[The Empire|empire]]).
* Act 5 of [[Diablo II]] had you helping a friendly version. Barbarians were even a choosable class.
* In [[Fallout: New Vegas]] the Khans are a post-apocolyptic version of a barbarian tribe. Caesar's Legion is a collection of barbarian tribes assimilated into one massive [[The Horde|Horde]] by a highly-educated man with a love of Roman history. Honest Hearts includes the White Legs, a band of savage tribals {{spoiler|trained by [[Foil|Ulysses]]}} who possess military hardware after raiding a weapons cache.
* ''[[Europa Universalis]]: Rome'' includes barbarian incursions and uprisings as periodic occurrences. Unlike in other games, if they go unchecked for long enough, they'll actually establish a new faction from the victim's conquered territory.
* [[Heroes of Might and Magic]] has featured a Barbarian faction throughout the series. At least ''some'' of their towns that appeared throughout the campaigns were this trope, though the actual term 'Barbarian tribe' doesn't come up that often.
* The space dragon from ''[[Master of Orion]]'' 2 can be seen as a science fiction equivalent.

== Web Comics ==
* Tiffany from ''[[Exiern]]'' comes from an almost text book perfect example of one of these tribes. This causes some problems when it comes to her attitude to women and [[Gender Bender|being turned into one]].

==  Western Animation  ==
* The Vikings in ''[[Gargoyles]]'' were generally portrayed in this manner.

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