History Main / ContractOnTheHitman

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/JohnWickChapter2 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/john_wick_chap_2.jpg]]]]

Sometimes it's because the assassin wants to quit their profession, leading to TheSyndicate (or TheGovernment, or [[MurderInc whatever other employers he's working for]]) reminding him, in deadly fashion, that [[ResignationsNotAccepted there's only one way to leave]]. Sometimes it's because his employers don't want to pay him for a crucial job or consider him to have [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived his usefulness]] or [[YouHaveFailedMe failed them in some manner]], particularly if he refused to do a hit for them that the assassin considered to be [[EvenEvilHasStandards against his principles]] (women and kids are an all time favorite, falling InLoveWithTheMark being especially common). Sometimes it's revenge for a past loss or embarrassment at the assassin's hands, or because he or she wants something (or someone) that the assassin has and wants him or her out of the way. But most often, the reason for the ContractOnTheHitman is because the employer doesn't want anything linking the killing that the assassin did back to them, and wants the assassin eliminated because -- say it with us, people -- HeKnowsTooMuch.

* ''Film/TheInternational'' features a MegaCorp that's rather [[BadBoss too fond]] of YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness. The fact that their ContractOnTheHitman shows its hand before "[[DeadlyEuphemism The Consultant]]" manages to kill the protagonist saves the target's life, resulting in a fairly awesome EnemyMine BlastOut ''in [[MonumentalBattle the Guggenheim]]''.

** In ''[[VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution Absolution]]'', after 47 goes rogue Benjamin Travis sends an Agency hit-squad known as "The Saints" after 47, who ambush him while he's resting in a motel.

* Outerlight's games ''VideoGame/TheShipMurderParty'' and ''VideoGame/BloodyGoodTime'' are based around this trope. Kill a specific target while avoiding your killer...which is harder than it sounds for a game without very many [=NPCs=] that share player appearance, because of the needs system. Don't fulfill your character's needs? You lose control and present your killer with a very vulnerable target.

* Depending on who you ally with at the end, or allying with no one at all, the final missions of ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' turns into this. The Ventrue Prince, after sending you on dirty jobs, will have a Blood Hunt called on you, and you'll be under attack from vampires. Unless you go out of your way to get in his good graces, you'll have to fight your way from ground floor rent-a-mooks all the way up to his BigBad lieutenant.

* Handled more subtly in ''Film/MrAndMrsSmith2005''; the two assassin organizations found out their best employees were married to someone on the other side, decided this was bad for business, and set them on a collision course so that they'd have to kill each other. The result is alternatively tense (as a straight up action thriller) and wryly amusing (as a metaphor for a troubled marriage). After they end up refusing due to a mutual InLoveWithTheMark (only after much drama, naturally), both organizations try a more traditional way of getting rid of them. [[spoiler: [[BattleCouple They fail.]] ]]

* The 1995 Venezuelan film ''Sicario'' has a group of Columbian street kids being trained for an assassination by a cartel boss. He picks the best one, the protagonist Jairo, and sends his men to kill the others. Despite a speech by the AffablyEvil cartel boss how [[NotSoDifferentRemark they aren't so different]], Jairo knows full well he's next on the list [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness after he carries out the assassin]], so draws a gun on his best friend who's driving his getaway motorbike, only to be forced to kill him when he refuses to let him just walk away. Jairo and his girlfriend then try to get out of the city, only for Jario to be gunned down by [[DramaticIrony another street kid like himself]].
* The short film ''[[http://www.spike.com/video/talking-dessert/434948 Talking Dessert]]''.

* In ''Film/ThisGunForHire'' - employers of hitman Raven pay him with recorded bills and report him as a violent robbers, telling the police to shoot to kill [[spoiler: Overall it's a stupid plan]]

* Inverted in the ''Literature/{{Burke}}'' novels by Andrew Vachss. Sociopathic hitman Wesley is given a contract by TheMafia to kill a martial arts expert, but Burke kills him first. The mob then decide there's no point in paying Wesley, so he decides to KillThemAll.

* Myth/NorseMythology: The dwarf Fáfnir turns himself into a dragon to protect his cursed gold from his brother, Regin. So, Regin hires Sigurd to kill Fáfnir, but then Sigurd [[SpeaksFluentAnimal learns from the birds]] that Regin plans to kill ''him'', too. Now that's OlderThanPrint for your ass!

* ''Literature/SaveTheEnemy'': [[spoiler:Zoey's mom was an assassin specializing in slow-acting poisons. She was murdered, supposedly by a random mugger, [[ResignationsNotAccepted for wanting out]].

* This method of dealing with unneeded hitmen is used by the BigBad of the novel ''Quite Ugly One Morning'' by Christopher Brookmyre, and the protagonist uses his knowledge of this trope to his benefit later in the story.

* The 1995 Venezuelan film ''Sicario'' has a group of Columbian street kids being trained for an assassination by a cartel boss. He picks the best one, the protagonist Jairo, and sends his men to kill the others. Despite a speech by the AffablyEvil cartel boss how they're NotSoDifferent, Jairo knows full well he's next on the list [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness after he carries out the assassin]], so draws a gun on his best friend who's driving his getaway motorbike, only to be forced to kill him when he refuses to let him just walk away. Jairo and his girlfriend then try to get out of the city, only for Jario to be gunned down by [[DramaticIrony another street kid like himself]].

* The game ''VideoGame/ShadowWarrior'' has Lo Wang, the title character, being targeted by his former employer Zilla when he quit his corporation after learning of Zilla's plan to rule Japan with creatures summoned from the dark side. Being a martial arts style FirstPersonShooter, it soon becomes a quest to avenge Wang's master, who is killed by Zilla's men.

* Done memorably on ''Series/{{Angel}}'', much to the frustration of the contractors:

** Specifically, Wolfram and Hart hired Faith to kill Angel. She then made a HeelFaceTurn and Angel gave her sanctuary in his apartment. Wolfram and Hart then hire a demon to kill Faith, but Faith kills it instead.

* After the titular character in ''Series/TheMandalorian'' rescues The Child from the Imperial Remnant he delivered him to earlier in the episode "The Sin", all the bounty hunters on Nevarro come after him on the way to his ship. The Bounty Hunter's guild puts a bounty on Mando's head, which at least one character will try to collect on per episode until the end of the season, when the head of the Guild, Greef Carga basically pardons him and performs a HeelFaceTurn when The Child saves his life.

* After the titular character in ''Series/TheMandalorian'' rescues The Child from the Imperial Remnant he delivered him to earlier in the episode "The Sin", all the bounty hunters on Nevarro come after him on the way to his ship. The Bounty Hunter's guild puts a bounty on Mando's head, which at least one character will try to collect on per episode until the end of the season, when the head of the Guild, Greef Carga basically pardons him when The Child saves his life.

** ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'': The ICA's new rivals, Providence, have put a hit on THEIR top assassin, code-named Shadow Client, for going rogue. 47 isn't sympathetic to Shadow Client's cause (most notably because of all the intentional chaos Shadow Client is causing) and is more than willing to use Shadow Client as a stepping stone to hunt down Providence, but Shadow Client has spared 47 multiple times for reasons unknown.

!!Examples

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

* In ''FanFic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'', two of the Conduit's associates, Miss T. and Mr. Wire, make plans to deal with Mr. Black.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Film/TheBourneSeries''

* In ''Film/{{Crank}}'', Jason Statham's hitman character is targeted after [[spoiler: his Columbian employers hire him to assassinate a Chinese mob boss, and they want to use him as the scapegoat. The twist is that he didn't kill the Chinese guy, who is [[BigDamnHeroes appropriately grateful.]]]]
** At least until the sequel.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:Myth And Legend]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* Toyed with in ''ComicStrip/DickTracy''. In one story arc, Big Boy Caprice, now dying, decides to get revenge on a thorn in his side, Dick Tracy. So he puts a million dollar contract on Dick Tracy's life; but the younger folk running the crime syndicate now tell the villain that [[PragmaticVillainy Dick Tracy wasn't worth it]] and so they put a million dollar contract of their own on anyone who ''accepts'' the Dick Tracy contract.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Played for laughs in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0CdnUKGmMA The Hitman]].

* A TV special on Richard Kuklinski (aka "The Iceman") explained how he once committed an assassination with two accomplices. He then brought one of the accomplices along with him to kill the other accomplice (he poisoned him and when he didn't die fast enough he strangled him with a phone cord). The other accomplice had a blinding flash of the obvious and realized that he was next.

* In ''VideoGame/MafiaIITheBetrayalOfJimmy'', this is what happens to the titular character after wiping out TheTriadsAndTheTongs for TheMafia and TheIrishMob for [[HeKnowsTooMuch knowing too much]]. Thankfully, he manages to avoid being killed, and escapes prison to go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

* Attempted several times on Jimmy in ''VideoGame/MafiaIITheBetrayalOfJimmy''. All fail.

* Attempted several times on Jimmy in ''VideoGame/MafiaII''. All fail.

* ''Discworld/{{Mort}}'': Death comforts the ghost of an assassinated king with the knowledge that he has an appointment with the king's assassin later on. One would think an assassin would know better than to let an employer skilled in poisons and capable of contracting a killer prepare them a packed lunch...

* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', Ice King sends a hitman, Scorcher, to go after Finn and Jake, without knowing full well what "hitman" actually means (he thinks it just means ''hitting'', like punching them on the shoulder or something). Having realized his mistake, Ice King tries to get Scorcher to stop, and when nothing else works, he hires a second hitman to kill him. Scorcher quickly dispatches the other hitman, leaving Ice King back to square one.

* Vlad Taltos in Steven Brust's ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'' series finds himself in this situation after a few books in the series.

* Rachel Morgan of ''Literature/TheHollows'' novels isn't technically a assassin but a runner, a combination bounty hunter, private detective and law enforcement agent. When she tries to quit her job at Inderlander Security and go independent they put a death mark on her to make an example to other employees who may be thinking of quitting.

* This method of dealing with unneeded hitmen is used by the BigBad of the novel ''Quite Ugly One Morning'' by Christopher Brookmyre, and the protagonist uses his knowledge of this trope to his benefit later in the story.
* ''Discworld/{{Mort}}'': Death comforts the ghost of an assassinated king with the knowledge that he has an appointment with the king's assassin later on. One would think an assassin would know better than to let an employer skilled in poisons and capable of contracting a killer prepare them a packed lunch...
* In the short story "The Photographer and the Sailor" by James Holding, an assassin (the Photographer) turns down a contract on a high profile victim. His employers hire another assassin (the Sailor) to do the job. After the Sailor attracts the attention of the police, they hire the Photographer to eliminate the Sailor.
** Holding also wrote "The Photographer and the Undertaker". The Photographer is hired to kill a mortician, but realizes that the mortician is also stalking him. He determines that his target is the Undertaker, another assassin, and that their mutual employers wanted to downsize staff, by setting their best hitmen to eliminate one another and retaining the services of the best one.
* ''Literature/ElementalAssassin'': In ''Spider's Bite'', Gin is hired to kill a target. Another assassin, the Viper, is hired to kill her immediately after she completes the contract so that the authorities have a convenient scapegoat to hang the murder on.

* Max Allan Collins's ''Quarry'' novels are an inversion of this; the main character is a hitman, who after fatally breaking with his handler, keeps tabs on fellow hitmen, alerting their targets that they are in the crosshairs and offering to remove both the assassins and those who hired them.

* Non-lethal variant: in the pilot to ''Series/{{Werewolf}}'', a bounty hunter breaks off contact with his boss to [[SternChase track Eric across the country]]. His frustrated employer grouses that he's going to have to hire a bounty hunter to locate his bounty hunter.
* In the ''Series/QueenOfSwords'' episode "Duel With a Stranger", Montoya hires a swordsman to kill the Queen, planning to have Grisham murder the swordsman so he won't have to pay him.

* ''Series/ElleryQueen'': In "The Adventure of Caesar's Last Sleep", the killer provides the police the location of a hitman who had bungled an earlier attempt on the victim, knowing that the hitman will shoot it out with the police rather than being taken alive. The killer does this because the hitman can identify them as the successful murderer.
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': This is the impetus for the VillainOfTheWeek in "The Job": One of his previous clients realized that the hitman was still keeping tabs on him, grew paranoid, and hired another to take him out. He survived the attempt and, not knowing which client ordered the hit, decided to track down and kill ''all'' of them.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': In "The Mile High Job", a CorruptCorporateExecutive puts a killer on a flight to take out an accountant who knows too much about his unethical dealings. However, as a backup plan, he plans to crash the plane, thus ensuring that both the target and the assassin are dead.
* ''Series/{{CSI}}'': The VictimOfTheWeek in "Passed Pawns" is ultimately discovered to have been a low-rent hitman murdered as a result of his activities.

* Harold Pinter's ''Theatre/TheDumbWaiter'' is about two hitmen, Ben and Gus, waiting for their next assignment. No prizes will be awarded for guessing who Ben is ordered to kill.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'', naturally, has this a ''lot.''
** In one mission of ''[[VideoGame/Hitman2SilentAssassin Silent Assassin]]'', which has you revisiting the site of a previous mission, [[spoiler: turns out to be a setup from your current employers, who are trying to 'terminate' 47 - using another Hitman, codenamed 17. 47 was both surprised - since he thought he'd killed all of his 'brothers' already - and somewhat insulted that they'd think an inferior model had any chance of taking him out]].
** Somewhat related is the plot for ''[[VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney Blood Money]]'', in which a major part of the plot involves a rival contract agency called "The Franchise", who is killing off all the ICA's agents. Towards the end, [[spoiler: only 47 and his handler, Diana, are still alive. They split the remaining money and part their separate ways. However, Diana seems to be a turncoat for the Franchise, and "kills" 47 to fulfill the contract on the guy's head by the Franchise's CorruptCorporateExecutive (he wanted 47's clone DNA as a starting point for his own super-assassin cloning scheme). This turns out to be a ploy by her to weed out the one behind the Agency's liquidation, and she revives 47 just in time to finish the bloke off.]]
** ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'': The ICA's new rivals, Providence, have put a hit on THEIR top assassin, code-named Shadow Client, for going rogue. 47 isn't sympathetic to Shadow Client's cause (most notably because of all the intentional chaos Shadow Client is causing) and is more than willing to use Shadow Client as a stepping stone to hunt down Providence, but Shadow Client has spared 47 multiple times for reasons unknown.
** In ''[[VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution Absolution]]'', after 47 goes rogue Benjamin Travis sends an Agency hit-squad known as "The Saints" after 47, who ambush him while he's resting in a motel.
* In the FightingGame ''VideoGame/EternalChampions'', this is how the character Shadow died - her organization realized she wanted to turn against them, and thus "gave" her a trip off the 100th floor of their headquarters.
* This is the premise of the game ''VideoGame/BushidoBlade''; your character is trying to escape from the clan of assassins he or she belongs to, and the rest of the cast wants you dead.

* The game ''VideoGame/ShadowWarrior'' has Lo Wang, the title character, being targeted by his former employer Zilla when he quit his corporation after learning of Zilla's plan to rule Japan with creatures summoned from the dark side. Being a martial arts style FirstPersonShooter, it soon becomes a quest to avenge Wang's master, who is killed by Zilla's men.
* ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'': After Kiri Nanaya, the head of the [[BadassFamily Nanaya clan]] of demon/demon-hybrid assassins, retires and leaves the protection of the organization he belonged to, Makihisa Tohno and Kouma Kishima lead an attack on them. After a prolonged battle, Kiri is killed by Kouma, who goes on to slaughter everyone else except Shiki. Both were motivated by personal vendetta: Kouma was attacked and had one of his eyes blinded by Kiri when he was younger during one of his missions, and Makihisa is implied to have been the client for that hit, who Kiri tried and failed to kill out of impulse.
* Depending on who you ally with at the end, or allying with no one at all, the final missions of ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' turns into this. The Ventrue Prince, after sending you on dirty jobs, will have a Blood Hunt called on you, and you'll be under attack from vampires. Unless you go out of your way to get in his good graces, you'll have to fight your way from ground floor rent-a-mooks all the way up to his BigBad lieutenant.
%%
%%* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'': A version of this trope is pretty much the plotline in both games.
* Outerlight's games ''VideoGame/TheShipMurderParty'' and ''VideoGame/BloodyGoodTime'' are based around this trope. Kill a specific target while avoiding your killer...which is harder than it sounds for a game without very many [=NPCs=] that share player appearance, because of the needs system. Don't fulfill your character's needs? You lose control and present your killer with a very vulnerable target.
* The ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' Multiplayer is all about this. Each player is given the goal of assassinating specific players within an area filled with similar-looking [=NPCs=]. The player then must find and kill their target while avoiding assassination themselves.

* In ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'', one optional mission has a rather unique take on this trope where [[BigBad Handsome Jack]] (in the throes of a VillainousBreakdown) contacts you and offers you a nice reward to kill yourself. He instructs you to go to a specific cliff and throw yourself off of it. Alternately, there is a phone there which will contact a suicide hotline, which tells you "Thank you for calling the Hyperion Suicide Prevention Hotline, Handsome Jack regrets to inform you that you are a coward". Whatever you do, it doesn't really matter; the Hyperion New-U station will instantly resurrect you if you die, taking a portion of your money but earning you 12 Eridium as a reward; Jack knows this, he just wants to watch you die for kicks. If you call the hotline instead, you get no Eridium, but triple experience for the quest.
* Attempted several times on Jimmy in ''VideoGame/MafiaII''. All fail.

* In ''Anime/{{Noir}}'', the titular assassin duo constantly finds themselves targeted by the same people who they are working for, however, it is later revealed that their "employer" only wanted to increase their skills in TheSpartanWay.
* Several of the employers of Manga/{{Golgo 13}} have tried this. He's killed every last one of them for it. His first rule: "I will not accept a client's betrayal."
* Train Heartnet in ''Manga/BlackCat''.
* Teresa in ''Manga/{{Claymore}}''. She isn't quite a hitman per se, since her assignments are only hits on Youma, but that's basically the same thing.

* In the ''Anime/WeissKreuz'' OVA, Ken and Omi refuse to kill a sympathetic target, so their teammates are ordered to kill them. Turns out to be part of a plot, though.

* Pretty much the premise of ''Manga/LoneWolfAndCub'' is disgraced government executioner Lone Wolf evading the many, many, many people out to kill him.
* Section 9 in ''Manga/GhostInTheShell'' is officially a special search and rescue team, unofficially a cybercrime-focused counter terrorism unit, but the entire country of Japan is in such a corrupt state that they are really just one of the countless hit squads employed by the many rival political factions. As one of the few units who take their job of protecting the population seriously, they frequently make themselves targets of other teams that want them dead for interfering with their superiors' illegal activities. Actually, they end up fighting against other government employees almost as often as against actual terrorists or criminals [[spoiler:who usually end up to revealed to be goons of some politician or another as well]].
** As an example, in addition to JurisdictionFriction between Section Nine and the police (with Section Nine more than once taking over a case the cops couldn't handle), and the corrupt Ministry of Health SWATTeam, the climax of season one sees them hunted by [[spoiler: the Umibozu, the Japanese Navy's version of SEAL Team Six]]. In 2nd Gig, they get hunted down by [[spoiler: Army Rangers]].

* In ''ComicBook/FromHell'', the conspirators contemplate having William Gull killed when his mental illness reveals him as a liability. Ultimately they [[spoiler:throw him into an asylum under a false name.]]
* Jackie Estacado, mafioso hitman, of ''ComicBook/TheDarkness'' finds himself on the receiving end of this once his powers manifest.
* Three [[CorruptCorporateExecutive businessmen]] who once hired ComicBook/{{Elektra}} had this as official policy. They would routinely "retire" hitmen after they performed three jobs, using their replacements to do the deed. One of the three was smart enough to avoid trying this with Elektra. Too bad one of the others didn't get the memo...

* ''ComicBook/ButtonMan'': Harry has found himself unwittingly becoming the target of hired guns or other Button Men on occasion after he [[ResignationsNotAccepted tries to get out of the Game]].

[[folder:Fan Fic]]
* In ''FanFic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'', two of the Conduit's associates, Miss T. and Mr. Wire, make plans to deal with Mr. Black.

* The ''Film/{{Hitman}}'' movie. See also the VideoGame examples below.
* Film/TheBourneSeries
* The titular character of John Woo's ''Film/TheKiller'' has to deal with his syndicate trying to kill him after pulling off the hit that he hoped would earn him the money to have a singer he accidentally blinded be able to see again, due to the boss, Wong Hoi/Johnny Weng, wanting to keep the money for himself and clear the table for his ambitions. [[spoiler:[[TheHeroDies He doesn't survive]], though to his credit, it takes the mob boss himself to finally end him]].
* Chow Yun-Fat's character in ''Film/TheReplacementKillers'' also has to deal with a syndicate who wants him dead after he refuses to kill a cop's eight-year-old son for a Triad boss with a [[RevengeByProxy fucked up sense of revenge]].

* ''Film/TheMechanic1972'' movie with Charles Bronson as a mob hitman. Bronson's character trains the son of a Mafia boss in his art without getting permission from his employers, so they set them both up to be killed. [[spoiler:Ironically after escaping the trap, the mobster's son then murders Bronson for his own personal reasons, and is himself killed by a bomb left by Bronson in his car.]]
* ''Film/LaFemmeNikita'', including the American version ''Film/PointOfNoReturn'' (a.k.a. ''The Assassin'') and the Hong Kong version ''Black Cat''.

* In ''Film/{{Crank}}'', Jason Statham's hitman character is targeted after [[spoiler: his Columbian employers hire him to assassinate a Chinese mob boss, and they want to use him as the scapegoat. The twist is that he didn't kill the Chinese guy, who is [[BigDamnHeroes appropriately grateful.]]]]
** At least until the sequel.
* The Grammaton cleric John Preston in the movie ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'' is a highly-trained police officer/executioner for the Fascist theocratic government of a mid-21st century police state. Once he [[HitmanWithAHeart recovers his own emotions]] and realizes what monstrous society has been created in the name of peace and tranquility, he [[HeelFaceTurn becomes a rebel himself]] and turns the tables on his former employers, [[spoiler:killing the people send out to kill him and executing the head of the State Church.]]
* Belgian {{film}} ''Film/TheAlzheimersCase,'' also known as ''De Zaak Alzheimer'' and ''Memory of a Killer'' features this after the main character refuses to kill a child prostitute.
* The short film ''[[http://www.spike.com/video/talking-dessert/434948 Talking Dessert]]''.
* ''Film/{{Telefon}}'' (1977). Charles Bronson plays a KGB agent sent to stop a RenegadeRussian who has stolen a list of {{Manchurian Agent}}s that could be used to start WorldWarThree. In order to ensure that word won't get out about this cock-up, his superiors order a female American DoubleAgent to kill Bronson once his mission is complete. [[spoiler:Fortunately she's smart enough to realise that she'll also get the chop for [[HeKnowsTooMuch knowing too much]], and the two run off together at the end of the movie.]]
* ''Film/InBruges'' is an example where the assassin is targeted because EvenEvilHasStandards: he accidentally killed a child with a stray bullet.

* ''Film/{{Gomorrah}}'' (2008). Two teenage hoodlums have been running out of control in the local Camorra clan's territory, despite warnings from the mob boss to behave themselves or die. They ignore this warning, stealing a cache of weapons hidden by the Camorra. An older mobster points out they'll have trouble with the police if two youngsters are killed publicly, so he approaches them with a deal -- for 10,000 euros they return the weapons and kill a mobster who has betrayed him. The youths follow their target to an isolated location, only to be murdered in an ambush and their bodies carted away by a bulldozer to be disposed of.
* Wesley Gibson [[spoiler:and his father, Cross]] in ''Film/{{Wanted}}'' [[spoiler:but that was an EvilPlan by his shady employer.]]
* The nameless protagonist in ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'' (and the remake, ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'') leaves the first family he hires himself out to because he overhears them plotting to kill him when the job is finished, to avoid paying him.

* Subverted in the 1969 film ''Film/TheAssassinationBureau'' in that the head of the titular agency willingly accepts a contract on his own head as a challenge to weed out the unworthy elements within his organization.
* ''Film/TheInternational'' features a MegaCorp that's rather [[BadBoss too fond]] of YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness. The fact that their ContractOnTheHitman shows its hand before "[[DeadlyEuphemism The Consultant]]" manages to kill the protagonist saves the target's life, resulting in a fairly awesome EnemyMine BlastOut ''in [[MonumentalBattle the Guggenheim]]''.
* George Clooney's character in ''Film/TheAmerican'' ends up with one of these after deciding he'll quit the business after his last job which is simply to build a gun for another female assassin. [[spoiler: The employer of both him and the woman decides to have him be the first person terminated by the woman after the gun is completed, but she can't find a safe time to do so. He rigs the gun to misfire in a moment of conscience, thus killing the other assassin after her attempt on his life. He is then wounded in a shootout with his former employer and his fate is left ambiguous.]]
* An amateur falls victim to this trope in the 1976 film ''Film/KillingOfAChineseBookie''. Strip club owner Cosmo Vittelli reluctantly accepts the title contract to pay off his own heavy gambling debt. The "bookie" is actually an elderly triad leader, and once he's dead the contractors decide the hit is a ''faux pas'' that has to be covered up by eliminating the hitman.
* In the UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} film ''Film/KillDil'', Dev's boss (and foster father) puts a contract on Dev after Dev falls in love and attempts to quit the business.
* In ''Film/JohnWick'' the BigBad puts out a two million dollar bounty on the eponymous back-from-retirement assassin when the latter seeks vengeance on the BigBad's son for wrongs done to him. It happens again in [[Film/JohnWickChapter2 the sequel]]. [[spoiler: By the end of that movie, because John broke the rule of killing in the Continental, even if the bastard deserved it, his membership is now revoked and he has an open $14 miliion dollar bounty on him.]]
* In ''Film/BrandedToKill'', the #3 killer in Japan becomes the target of the #1 killer after botching his latest assignment.
* In ''Film/ThisGunForHire'' - employers of hitman Raven pay him with recorded bills and report him as a violent robbers, telling the police to shoot to kill [[spoiler: Overall it's a stupid plan]]
* In ''Film/TheInformer'' the leader of a murder for hire organization starts having his killers murdered to prevent the police from climbing the food chain to get to him.