The Wretched were a large group of people that traveled from afar to The Citadel in search of a better life.
Description[]
After Immortan Joe took over the aquifer and turned it into The Citadel, the news of its vast water and food supplies spread across The Wasteland. Many people, including whole families decided to travel to The Citadel in search of a better life. Plagued by disease and hunger, they lived in makeshift tents, or in holes dug in the ground, feeding off of maggots and trading or holding onto whatever little possessions they had.
Gathered at the feet of The Citadel they rely on Immortan Joe's occasional supply of water, fighting for it more often than not. They also hope to be taken aboard the elevator platform up to The Citadel. Only the people useful to Immortan Joe are taken up. Healthy children, potential breeders, and those fit enough for manual labor.[1]
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga[]
After Furiosa loses her arm, she staggers back to The Citadel. But she passes-out before she can be brought up. Furiosa later awakens inside one of the Wretched's holes where, to her horror, she discovers that many of these wretched people have been either gathering severed limbs, or severing the limbs of corpses, or even their own in order to farm and harvest maggots for sustenance.
Mad Max: Fury Road[]
The Wretched are only seen at the beginning and the end. These people are the haggard, the old, and the infirmed, essentially, people that Immortan Joe couldn't find use for. This begs the question why he would allow them to remain at the foot of the citadel. Yet, Immortan Joe preaches to these people in a way to give them hope and turns on the water for them to gather, but only for a few moments.
Post-Fury Road[]
After overthrowing Immortan Joe, The Citadel offered water for The Wretched and took up whoever could fit onto the lift. Bearings of Immortan Joe's cult were destroyed and The Wretched formed a small town at the feet of the former Citadel where trade and prosperity was now present. The citizens of the former Citadel would be taught about historical events and other preserved, reclaimed, and even newly discovered academic knowledge by The History Men.[2]
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