History Main / ChronicPetKiller

* Sapnap from the ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'' is best known for being ''lethal'' to just about any pet on the server, to the point where three entire ''wars'' (aptly called the Pet Wars) were started because of him. Among other casualties, he's killed Dream's horse Spirit, Niki's fox Fungi, Tommy's cow Henry, and Tommy's horse Juorse[[note]]except for Juorse, all of those casualties were accidental[[/note]]. He later ''weaponized'' his habits during the Doomsday War, where he personally killed over ''sixty'' members of Technoblade's army of hounds (including the leader of the pack, Max). He also spent about half an hour trying to pet Tubbo's fox Squeeks... which in his mind means [[AndCallHimGeorge punching him and shooting at him with fire arrows]] while Tubbo runs around frantically trying to get Squeeks to safety. Ironically enough, Sapnap's own pets seem to be treated well, as evidenced by his still-alive pet fish Mars[[note]]though Mars appears to be the exception and not the rule, as Sapnap previously owned a pet horse named Joffrey only to kill him in an attempt to attack George[[/note]].

-->'''Duncan''': [[ImplausibleDeniability She's always looked like that]], [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial nothing horrible happened]].
* Website/{{Killerbunnies}}: Frankie's profile mentions this with her pets because she used them as test subjects.

* In the early episodes of ''WebVideo/StampysLovelyWorld'', Stampy himself is this, as demonstrated by the fact that he has more ''dead'' dogs (16) than alive ones (9). He notes that he isn't very proud of the list of dogs which made it to the memorial at the back of the Top Paw Dog Assault Course in Episode 110, "Lunar Friends"; and a story from Episode 243, "[[HalloweenEpisode Ghost Stories]]", even lists out all the known dogs that died during episodes, which had had more additions since Episode 110. Even in his early videos, he [[LampshadeHanging occasionally jokes]] that he's the worst dog owner in the world, given his track record. This is all somewhat justified in that other than [[spoiler:Aqua and Spring]], all the dog deaths occurred before Episode 105 when he was still a relatively inexperienced dog owner. [[CharacterDevelopment He eventually grows out of this and becomes much more cautious about his pets' safety]], to the point that no [[spoiler:[[BackFromTheDead (permanent)]]]] casualties have happened since [[spoiler:Spring]] was killed in August 2014... [[spoiler:until Episode 700, "[[WhamEpisode Tragic Day]]", where two of his dogs died in battle fighting alongside him against [=HitTheTarget=] and Veeva Dash (with a third being mistaken for dead for months), but even then, it makes more sense to blame HTT than Stampy for this.]]
* Some horrible stories from ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'' involving customers who [[https://notalwaysright.com/10-shocking-stories-about-customers-who-have-no-business-being-anywhere-near-a-fish-tank/235825/ don't know that fish need to be fed, or breathe, or their water changed, put too many of them into a bowl, or ''take them out of the water to play with them]]''!

* Some horrible stories from ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'' involving customers who [[https://notalwaysright.com/10-shocking-stories-about-customers-who-have-no-business-being-anywhere-near-a-fish-tank/235825/ don't know that fish need to be fed, or breathe, too many of them into a bowl, or ''take them out of the water to play with them]]''!

* Some horrible stories from ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'' involving customers who [[https://notalwaysright.com/wet-the-appetite/71252/ don't know]] that [[https://notalwaysright.com/algae-get-another-one/71290/ fish need to be fed]], [[https://notalwaysright.com/like-a-fish-out-of-water/71126/ or breathe]], [[https://notalwaysright.com/the-great-fish-massacre-of-2008/68920/ cram too many of them into a bowl]], or ''[[https://notalwaysright.com/like-a-fish-out-of-water/71126/ take them out of the water]] to [[https://notalwaysright.com/pray-she-doesnt-get-puppies/254060/ play with them]]''!

* ''LetsPlay/FluxBuddies'': LetsPlay/DuncanJones has a pet cat named [[StockAnimalName Tiddles]] that he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiwITHrNqLU keeps accidentally killing]] (accidentally dumping lava on her, accidentally shooting her with a crossbow, etc.) and then [[ReplacementGoldfish replacing]] with another cat named Tiddles.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/MovilleMysteries'' centers on a boy named Emil who is obsessed with getting pets, but is horribly neglectful of them, to the point his backyard doubles as a cemetery for them. The plot kickstarts when the local pet shops refuse to sell him more and he gets some exotic animals from a strange man named Mr. Pong. The animals are very healthy and effective despite being as neglected and cause him to have nightmares about his previous pets raising from the dead. [[spoiler:At the end is revealed that "Mr. Pong" is the vengeful spirit of one of his pets, a frog named Ping-Pong]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': Gumball went through a dozen Darwins before Richard purchased the current one.

* Some horrible stories from ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'' involving customers who [[https://notalwaysright.com/wet-the-appetite/71252/ don't know]] that [[https://notalwaysright.com/algae-get-another-one/71290/ fish need to be fed]], [[https://notalwaysright.com/like-a-fish-out-of-water/71126/ or breathe]] [[https://notalwaysright.com/the-great-fish-massacre-of-2008/68920/ cram too many of them into a bowl]], or ''[[https://notalwaysright.com/like-a-fish-out-of-water/71126/ take them out of the water]] to [[https://notalwaysright.com/pray-she-doesnt-get-puppies/254060/ play with them]]''!

** It's noted in ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'' that the Death of Rats isn't very busy on Hogswatch Eve, but business picks up about three days later, when all the children who got mice, gerbils, or hamsters for Hogswatch start forgetting to feed their pets.
** In ''Literature/WyrdSisters'' it's revealed that Magrat has gone through quite a few familiars, invoking this trope.

Whether it's a [[AndCallHimGeorge propensity for overly-tight hugs]], [[InHarmsWay frequent life-threatening hijinks]], [[ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare complete cluelessness about pets' needs]], or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoosadism something else entirely]], this person should ''not'' be allowed to own animals. Period.

* This tendency wound up being discouraged in ''''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' with the Cavalier, who must go through a week-long grieving ceremony if his horse is killed.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

* ComicBook/HarleyQuinn is this way in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndHarleyQuinn''. Her dog got lost, she killed her hamster, and she killed her 'pet' plant as well.

** This tendency wound up being discouraged in Pathfinder with the Cavalier, who must go through a week-long grieving ceremony if his horse is killed.

* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'': Gramma has overfed Sweetie to the point that he's gotten obese, and Greg thinks that Sweetie's gotten depressed from that.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Lennie from ''Literature/OfMiceAndMen'', PlayedForDrama. The guy [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength doesn't know his strength]], many cute pets [[spoiler: and one important woman]] are accidentally crushed by him.
* Tonk Fah from ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}''. He has a monkey, then a parrot, and they both die. [[spoiler: In this case, it's used to make him a little creepy. He's a sociopath who tortures his pets to death for fun.]]

* In ''Series/GilmoreGirls'', all of Lorelai Gilmore's pets - at least until she adopts the dog Paul Anka in season 6 - have died. It's a running gag, to the point where the town's people attempt to stop the dog shelter worker from giving the dog to Lorelai.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'': Stephen Spookyraven's pets tending to be strangely short-lived is the [[HandWave explanation]] for why the Haunted Conservatory at [[BigBoosHaunt Spookyraven Manor]] has unlimited numbers of small undead animals for you to kill. After the May 2014 revamp of Spookyraven Manor, [[BackstoryHorror we find out why Stephen's pets kept dying]]: [[spoiler: Stephen was a budding MadScientist who used to ''practice surgery'' on stray animals, and as he grew older he started experimenting on his "pets" in an effort to keep them alive.]]

-->'''Miranda''': Executing marine life seems to be some sort of hobby with you.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/MovilleMysteries'' centers on a boy named Emil who is obsessed with getting pets, but is horribly neglectful of them, to the point his backyard doubles as a cemetery for them. The plot kickstarts when the local pet shops refuse to sell him more and he gets some exotic animals from a strange man named Mr. Pong. The animals are very healthy and effective despite being as neglected and cause him to have nightmares about his previous pets raising from the dead. [[spoiler: At the end is revealed that "Mr. Pong" is the vengeful spirit of one of his pets, a frog named Ping-Pong]].

* This is tragic TruthInTelevision for children who don't understand how to care for their animals and whose parents keep getting them pets because they are either:
** Just as clueless,
** Unwilling to help or take over as needed,

** A combination or all of the above.

* Wiki/{{Killerbunnies}}: Frankie's profile mentions this with her pets because she used them as test subjects.

* In book two of ''RE:PLAY'', a fictional interview with some of the lead characters reveals that lead singer Cree has killed four hamsters, a guinea pig and one unfortunate canary. Oh, and countless goldfish. Poor bastards...
* An episode in ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'' begins with some goldfish in Nobi's resident die ''again'', causing Doraemon to solve a problem by using the special paint that can create multiple types of pet from rocks.

* The Death of Rats in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' reaps the souls of a lot of mice, gerbils and hamsters that run into this. Susan has to replace the class pet at her school regularly.

** Also Buffy ''"I killed my Giga Pet"'' Summers, herself.(This was part of an arc that drew parallels between these two protagonists left and right, so probably an afterthought rather than normal characterization.)

* In ''Series/GilmoreGirls'', all of Lorelai Gilmore's pets - a least until she adopts the dog Paul Anka in season 6, have died. It's a running gag, to the point where the town's people attempt to stop the dog shelter worker from giving the dog to Lorelai.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'': Stephen Spookyraven's pets tending to be strangely short lived is the [[HandWave explanation]] for why the Haunted Conservatory at [[BigBoosHaunt Spookyraven Manor]] has unlimited numbers of small undead animals for you to kill. After the May 2014 revamp of Spookyraven Manor, [[BackstoryHorror we find out why Stephen's pets kept dying]]: [[spoiler: Stephen was a budding MadScientist who used to ''practice surgery'' on stray animals, and as he grew older he started experimenting on his "pets" in an effort to keep them alive.]]
* [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard]] can become this in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''. Shepard's cabin aboard the ''Normandy'' features a fishtank, and Shepard can purchase fish from various vendors. The fish need to be fed between missions or they'll die, and have to be repurchased. Later on, Shepard's yeoman offers to take care of the fish, and from that point on it's no longer a worry. ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' introduces a rather expensive automated fish-feeder that provides the same function. Thankfully, your ''hamster'' is indestructible.

* Invoked in ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'', especially ''Save the Homeland'' and ''[[VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife Wonderful Life]]'' where the games strictly keep track of your dead pets. The more animals die in your farm, the more people will hate you.

* In the early episodes of ''WebVideo/StampysLovelyWorld'', Stampy himself is this, as demonstrated by the fact that he has more ''dead'' dogs (16) than alive ones (9). He notes that he isn't very proud of the list of dogs which made it to the memorial at the back of the Top Paw Dog Assault Course in Episode 110, "Lunar Friends"; and a story from Episode 243, "[[HalloweenEpisode Ghost Stories]]", even lists out all the known dogs that died during episodes, which had had more additions since Episode 110. Even in his early videos, he [[LampshadeHanging occasionally jokes]] that he's the worst dog owner in the world, given his track record. This is all somewhat justified in that other than [[spoiler:Aqua and Spring]], all the dog deaths occurred before Episode 105, when he was still a relatively inexperienced dog owner. [[CharacterDevelopment He eventually grows out of this and becomes much more cautious about his pets' safety]], to the point that no [[spoiler:[[BackFromTheDead (permanent)]]]] casualties have happened since [[spoiler:Spring]] was killed in August 2014... [[spoiler:until Episode 700, "[[WhamEpisode Tragic Day]]", where two of his dogs died in battle fighting alongside him against [=HitTheTarget=] and Veeva Dash (with a third being mistaken for dead for months), but even then, it makes more sense to blame HTT than Stampy for this.]]

* While not a killer, Unikitty in ''WesternAnimation/{{Unikitty}}'' is so focused on the "fun" of having a pet, that she loses track of them, to the point of permanently losing them and moving onto the next pet. The castle even has a "Hall of Lost Pets" memorial hall, with pictures of all the pets Unikitty has lost, including a planted Venus flytrap.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/MovilleMysteries'' centers on a boy named Emil who is obsessed with getting pets, but is horribly neglectful of them, to the point his backyard doubles as a cemetery for them. The plot kickstarts when the local pet shops refuse to sell him more and he gets some exotic animals from a strange man named Mr. Pong. The animals are very healthy and affective despite being as neglected and cause him to have nightmares about his previous pets raising from the dead. [[spoiler: At the end is revealed that "Mr. Pong" is the vengeful spirit of one of his pets, a frog named Ping-Pong]].

* This also happens with some ''adults'' who don't think carefully enough about all the care and attention that a pet entails, but decide to keep trying anyway. Because of this, vets commonly put [=PSAs=] out at their offices to prevent this from happening.

* Sapnap from the ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'' is best known for being ''lethal'' to just about any pet on the server, to the point where three entire ''wars'' (aptly called the Pet Wars) were started because of him. Among other casualties, he's killed Dream's horse Spirit, Niki's fox Fungi, Tommy's cow Henry, and Tommy's horse Juorse[[note]]except for Juorse, all of those casualties were accidental[[/note]]. He later ''weaponized'' his habits during the Doomsday War, where he personally killed over ''sixty'' members of Technoblade's army of hounds (including the leader of the pack, Max). He also spent about half an hour trying to pet Tubbo's fox Squeeks... which in his mind means [[AndCallHimGeorge punching him and shooting at him with fire arrows]] while Tubbo runs around frantically trying to get Squeeks to safety. Ironically enough, Sapnap's own pets seem to be treated well, as evidenced by his still-alive pet fish Mars[[note]]though Mars appears to be the exception and not the rule, as Sapnap previously owned a pet horse named Joffrey only to kill him in an attempt to attack George[[/note]].
* {{Wiki/Killerbunnies}}: Frankie's profile mentions this with her pets because she used them as test subjects.

* In the early episodes of ''WebVideo/StampysLovelyWorld'', Stampy himself is this, as demonstrated by the fact that he has more ''dead'' dogs (14) than alive ones (10). He notes that he isn't very proud of the list of dogs which made it to the memorial at the back of the "Top Paw Dog Assault Course" in Episode 110, "Lunar Friends"; and a story from Episode 243, "[[HalloweenEpisode Ghost Stories]]", even lists out all the known dogs that died during episodes, which had had more additions since Episode 110. Even in his early videos, he [[LampshadeHanging occasionally jokes]] that he's the worst dog owner in the world, given his track record. This is all somewhat justified in that other than [[spoiler:Aqua and Spring]], all the dog deaths occurred before Episode 105, when he was still a relatively inexperienced dog owner. [[CharacterDevelopment He eventually grows out of this and becomes much more cautious about his pets' safety]], to the point that no [[spoiler:[[BackFromTheDead (permanent)]]]] casualties have happened since [[spoiler:Spring]] was killed in August 2014... [[spoiler:until Episode 700, ''[[WhamEpisode Tragic Day]]'', where three of his dogs died in battle fighting alongside him against [=HitTheTarget=] and Veeva Dash, but even then, it makes more sense to blame HTT than Stampy for this.]]

** Just as clueless
** Unwilling to help or take over as needed
** Are used to placating a whiny kid instead of saying "no"
** Just don't care if the animals die
** A combination or all of the above

** The Simpsons in general--StatusQuoIsGod ensures that their only permanent pets are Snowball II and Santa's Little Helper, so any new pet is on its way out, though most of the ones we see in the show are given away. In "How Munched is That Birdie in the Window," Bart, shortly after losing the latest (a pigeon), finds out that none of his previous pets were actually [[DogGotSentToAFarm sent to a farm upstate]] and asks where they really went, to which Homer gives him the rundown: