History Main / GuiltFreeExterminationWar

* In ''VideoGame/StarFox Assault'' the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Aparoids]] are exterminated without a second thought. And in at least some of the possible endings to ''Command'' the Anglar are presumably wiped out as well (considering their homeworld is terraformed in a couple of endings).

* In the ''ComicBook/MetabaronsUniverse'', humanity is threatened by an alien invasion. Rather than waste resources fighting a war, they agree to a battle between two champions. The loser commits "immediate racial suicide." This is perfectly in keeping with the ''Metabarons'' storyline, where everything is cranked up.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' presented a case of this in The 1990's ''Planet of the Symbiotes'' storyline. The whole series went as far as to portray the Symbiotes as a HordeOfAlienLocusts dedicated to finding and taking over the bodies of other sentient beings to feed on their life forces until they become decayed hollow shells. The Venom symbiote and its progeny are apparently the only ones who care for their hosts due to a form of mutation. At the end of the series, Eddie Brock as Venom manipulates Spider Man and Scarlet Spider into finishing a plan to send out a telepathic scream that would create enough pain and despair that the Symbiotes would commit suicide. Spider Man feels guilty about essentially causing the genocide of an entire race, but is given the {{Aesop}} that the ends sometimes do justify the means if the species eliminated is a AlwaysChaoticEvil race dedicated to destroying worlds to feed itself. It's even more jarring considering the Aesop was delivered by Mary Jane Watson of all people.

* In ''ComicBook/CurseOfTheMutants'', ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} outright says that he is prepared to commit genocide against Xarus' vampiric people.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' story arc ''ComicBook/TheUnknownSupergirl'' presents a subversion. During a Kryptonite-induced hallucination, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} believes she has developed an uncontrollable DeadlyGaze and leaves Earth to not hurt anybody. Then she remembers the existence of a planet inhabited by an utterly evil monster race who prey on other planets, destroy civilizations and kill people. Kara heads towards there to glare all of them to death, and after wiping them out, awakens from her hallucination.
* ''ComicBook/MarvelUniverseVsThePunisher'': Played with. The question of whether or not it's okay to slaughter large numbers of what are effectively very sick people creates tension within the Heroes ranks, but the question falls by the wayside as it becomes clear how far the infection has spread. The heroes are still shown to pay lip service to the idea of containing people's infected loved ones, though.

** On top of all that, it is suggested several times throughout the film that humanity is ''losing'' the war off-screen ''because'' they're so guiltless. Exhibit A: The replacements in Rico's Roughnecks [[ChildSoldiers are clearly fourteen-year-olds]], meaning that the military will soon be sucked dry of soldiers ([[HumanitysWake and possibly what's left of humanity]]) by the time the war ends. Exhibit B: The main characters all end up in senior command positions when Captain Deladier and Lieutenant Rasczak both end up as battle fatalities. Exhibit C: The deranged General Owen screaming "My God! We're ALL going to die!" could be interpreted as him knowing the real strategic outlook.

** On top of all that, it is suggested several times throughout the film that humanity is ''losing'' the war off-screen. Exhibit A: The replacements in Rico's Roughnecks [[ChildSoldiers are clearly fourteen-year-olds]]. Exhibit B: The main characters all end up in senior command positions when Captain Deladier and Lieutenant Rasczak both end up as battle fatalities. Exhibit C: The deranged General Owen screaming "My God! We're ALL going to die!" could be interpreted as him knowing the real strategic outlook.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]]:

* Related to the ''{{TabletopGame/Starfire}}'' example in Tabletop Games are the novels based off it by Creator/DavidWeber and Steve White. In addition to the war with the Rigellians as part of the back story, there is the war with the Arachnids or Bugs. No attempt at communication succeeds and they view other sentient species as nothing more than food. The only world that is not subjected to massive orbital bombardment is the homeworld of one member of the Crucian Alliance which is liberated the hard way.

This is when ''both sides'' have '''no issues''' in trying to destroy the other side, and the only way that the war will end is with one side's destruction. Peace is not an option, and the only end is when the other side is destroyed entirely and there are no survivors. It may not even be a war: it may just be a natural enemy that is a constant danger to the {{Heroes}}, like the ZombieApocalypse. Don't expect AnAesop or musing about how war is terrible or TheHero is [[HeWhoFightsMonsters becoming like their enemies]]. There won't be an [[GenocideDilemma agonizing decision about whether or not it's okay]] to [[CurbStompBattle annihilate enemy forces if the chance arises]]. These enemies aren't just okay to kill individually like [[WhatMeasureIsAMook Mooks]], these enemies are okay to '''exterminate''' in their entirety. However, one side keeping the other around as [[ImAHumanitarian food]] or [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong nurseries]] fits in as well.

* The Martians in ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' have this attitude toward humanity; the humans are too busy being terrified and/or dying to return the sentiment. In Garrett P. Serviss's unauthorized sequel ''Edison's Conquest of Mars'' the humans fly to Mars and cheerfully wipe out the Martians who tried invading Earth. Technically it's an accident, but nobody's really bothered by the extermination of a whole species.

* Manhwa/WitchHunter has a GuiltFreeExterminationWar on ''both'' sides of the conflict. The human side began to kill witches as a new and powerful religion that spoke against them began to spread, leading to the death of countless mostly innocent witches. In answer to this, the witches began ''their'' own war against the humans, wiping out whole countries using their magic and powerful familiars. The humans in answer to this, started an Organization called WH, made up of powerful humans and witches, with the stated goal of capturing and restraining as many witches as they can, locking them up and draining them of their powers. The main problem is that many of their more powerful non-witch members ''despise'' witches for their actions and kill as many of them as they can, and also wish to kill the ones that fight for ''their'' side.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* The humans on ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', for the most part, believe this since the Cylons themselves wiped out 99.99% of humanity in the pilot. They will frequently torture and kill captured Cylons because they're "[[JustAMachine just machines]]" and don't really feel pain. People who object are typically just written off as incredibly naive or crazy. [[spoiler:Over the course of the series, however, this attitude decreases to the point where some rebellious Cylons ultimately perform a HeelFaceTurn and turn against their leader, the BigBad Brother Cavil, and form an alliance with the humans.]]

** The war between the Thals and the Kaleds would only end with one destroying the other. The Thals "won" by destroying the Kaled bunker thanks to information leaked to them by Kaled scientist Davros - who then turned his creation, the Daleks, on the Thals, thus destroying them as well.
** The Daleks themselves are utterly convinced that every single non-Dalek lifeform in the universe must be exterminated; they are also genetically engineered to feel "no emotion but hate", and once engaged in a mutual civil war of annihilation when Davros made a new breed with only trivial, aesthetic differences between them. The Doctor himself varies on the issue; on rare occasions, he will try diplomacy or some more peaceful tactic, but on plenty of others he's more than ready to commit genocide and is horrified when JokerImmunity kicks in and a handful -- or even a lone -- Dalek survives. As was said in the new series episode where the Cult of Skaro first encountered the Cybermen: "THIS IS NOT WAR! THIS IS PEST CON-TROL!"
** The Last Great Time War seems to be this as well, from what little we know of it. The Time Lords and Daleks seemed to be out to simply destroy each other, and at some point, the Doctor decided that both sides had to be destroyed. There is, however, ''lots'' of guilt on his end due to the billions of innocent Gallifreyan lives that were lost, not to mention at least some reason to believe he [[IDidWhatIHadToDo was out of alternatives]]; the implacable nature of Daleks had already been shown, and "The End of Time" showed the Time Lords had become just as bad. The guilt is examined at length in the MilestoneCelebration "The Day of the Doctor", in which the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors have to confront their past self's actions, accept them, and [[spoiler:then Eleven's companion Clara Oswald, horrified by their acceptance, convinces them and the War Doctor that they can find another way to end the war; all of the Doctors through Twelve manage to hide Gallifrey in a pocket universe, an act that only destroys the Daleks attacking the planet at the time]].
** The audio drama ''Doctor Who and the Pescatons'' has its reliance on this trope to be one of the many reasons it's considered SoBadItsGood - the Doctor and Sarah commit genocide against a race of shark people who are trying to find a new planet to live on after the destruction of their own world on the grounds that "[[AlwaysChaoticEvil they are a truly evil race]]", and [[OutOfCharacterMoment neither show any moral conflict or remorse about it at all]]. This should be strongly contrasted to the Fourth Doctor's attempt to commit genocide in "Genesis of the Daleks", which was ''not'' guilt-free at all, and he was unable to go through with it.

** In "Quality of Mercy" and "The Light Brigade", humanity is at war with an alien species who are determined to wipe them out. As the war progresses, the UNDF becomes convinced that the only way to defeat the aliens is to destroy their homeworld with a subatomic bomb.

[[folder: Music]]

* ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'': The titular protagonist's one-man war of genocide against the goblins, a sapient species, is morally acceptable because goblins are made clear to have [[AlwaysChaoticEvil no redeeming qualities whatsoever]], without exception, including their children. On the flip side, part of their vindictive hate for all other civilization comes from surviving attempts by those civilizations to exterminate all goblins for being AlwaysChaoticEvil savages, causing an eternal CycleOfRevenge that will only end when either all goblins are dead or goblins rule the world.

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' with the war between the Red Court of Vampires and the White Council of Wizards. Initially, it seemed to be one of these - [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Red Court vamps only gain their power after their first kill]], and were responsible for starting the war in the first place ([[UnwittingPawn they manipulated Harry into striking first]], but they were going to start the war sooner or later regardless) in order to wipe out the White Council. In ''Literature/{{Changes}}'', [[spoiler:Dresden killed all of the vampires with a blood curse that affected everyone who shared a blood link with the Red King: the entire court. Granted, this was actually a HoistByHisOwnPetard as the Red Court had other plans for the curse. [[IDidWhatIHadToDo Harry had acted to save various others and himself.]]]] However, subsequent books point out that this action [[spoiler:also took out the [[PhlebotinumRebel Order of St. Giles]] as collateral damage, created an EvilPowerVacuum that still hasn't been cleaned up, and has inarguably left the world in a worse and more unstable position than they were with the Red Court at full strength]].

** Despite the length both sides go to, Galactic Civilization isn't automatically fighting this one to the death in all cases. [[spoiler: Lonabar and Thrale]]], for example, are occupied and brought into Galactic Civilization, and most of the planets the Patrol destroys are fortress worlds whose indigenous life the Boskonians had already exterminated. Toward the end of the war, the Patrol is letting the survivors of their curb-stomp battles go home without any attempt at pursuit.

** ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'': The conflict between Civilization and Boskone is a fight to the death. Neither the Galactic Patrol nor the pirates of Boskone ever surrender to the other, and entire planets are destroyed in the conflict. The justification is that the Eddorians (the beings behind Boskone) are completely amoral and implacable beings from another dimension who consider plundering whole universes to be not just acceptable but ''de rigueur'' (they did just that with the last dimension they inhabited), and their hierarchy is based upon that philosophy.

*** The [[UrExample first]] is the planetary war between the two empires on Osnome, Kondal and Mardonale. Both sides are {{Proud Warrior Race}}s led by absolute monarchies whose sole goal is to conquer the other and commit genocide against the loser, but their total war (there are no civilians) has been locked in a stalemate for millennia. (It is perhaps not a coincidence that Smith wrote the first draft while the First World War raged in Europe, but before the Americans got involved.) Even though both sides are guilty of war crimes and practice slavery, the Kondalians are willing to help the heroes when they arrive on their planet, unlike the Mardonalians who imprison them on sight, so the heroes ally with them and the narrative treats them as ALighterShadeOfBlack, in spite of the fact that [[spoiler:they use resources from the heroes to build superweapons which they then use to annihilate Mardonale to the last man, woman, and child.]]

*** The aforementioned ConflictKiller is a species of {{Absolute Xenophobe}}s called the Fenachrone, whose entire civilization is aimed toward the complete destruction of every other civilization in the universe. To that end, they’ve planned their conquest for centuries, mapping out the entire Galaxy and developing super-advanced weaponry in order to assure their success on the first try. They do suffer internal dissent, but even then, the debate is solely about whether they’re ready, and there is no debate that all non-Fenachrone must be destroyed. This convinces the heroes that [[DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs the Fenachrone must be wiped out too]], and [[spoiler:they blow up their planet and destroy the fleeing ship full of survivors]].

* In ''LightNovel/IAmTheEvilLordOfAnIntergalacticEmpire'', the protagonist has this attitude towards pirates, both individually and as a whole. This is justified by the fact that regardless of origin or excuse, pirates are so heinous and their crimes so horrific that the only acceptable punishment is death, and showing them any mercy whatsoever just allows them time to rebuild, rearm, and come back stronger and meaner than before. Pirates also completely practice DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs, firmly convinced that if they don't completely exterminate the people ''they go out of their way to antagonize in the first place'' then their victims will just summarily hunt them down and kill them, or hire someone to do it for them.

* {{Deconstructed}} in ''LightNovel/{{Maoyu}}'' - while the story is introduced as a ''very'' stereotypical HighFantasy with BlackAndWhiteMorality, not only does "demons are evil" turn out to be propaganda (with demons believing the same about humans), but the Demon King believes that [[WonTheWarLostThePeace humans would end up worse off if they actually won]]. [[spoiler:What's more, the highest ranks of the Human Church and the Blue Demon Clan (the most influential anti-demon and anti-human factions respectively) are actually working together, using the war to achieve their own objectives.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' In the Season 4 episode "Promortyus", Rick and Morty wake up after having had their bodies taken over by {{PuppeteerParasite}}s. While killing a whole bunch of people or aliens is pretty standard for them anyways, they actually enjoy the violent rampage they go on during their escape in this case. ("It's like popping bubble wrap!"). Being Rick and Morty, this is subverted when they are forced to return to the planet and deal with the aftermath.

* The ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series has had a few of these. Your mission in ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' is to completely exterminate the Metroids as they have been deemed too dangerous to exist. This is accomplished by the end of ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'', but ends up backfiring in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' - turns out that the Metroids are the only things that pose a threat to the newly-discovered X Parasites. The peace-loving Chozo created the Metroids specifically for this purpose as even they were unable to find anything redeeming or potentially beneficial about the X Parasites, fearing that the entire universe was at risk until they were 100% wiped out. [[spoiler:The Metroids are extinct at the end of ''Fusion'' and the X-Parasites at the end of ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'', and that's good for everyone.]]
** The conflict between the Luminoth and Ing in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' is another one, with the Luminoth unsuccessfully tring to defend themselves from the invaders from [[DarkWorld Dark Aether]] and nearly being eradicated by the start of the game. [[spoiler:The Ing and Dark Aether are completely destroyed at the end, ensuring that the Luminoth are safe and that the Ing can't spread any further.]]

* The ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series has had a few of these. Your mission in ''VideoGame/MetroidIITheReturnOfSamus'' is to completely exterminate the Metroids as they have been deemed too dangerous to exist. This is accomplished by the end of ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'', but ends up backfiring in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' - turns out that the Metroids are the only things that pose a threat to the newly-discovered X Parasites. The peace-loving Chozo created the Metroids specifically for this purpose as even they were unable to find anything redeeming or potentially beneficial about the X Parasites, fearing that the entire universe was at risk until they were 100% wiped out. [[spoiler:The Metroids are extinct at the end of ''Fusion'' and the X-Parasites at the end of ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'', and that's good for everyone.]]

** The Daleks themselves are utterly convinced that every single non-Dalek lifeform in the universe must be exterminated; they are also genetically engineered to feel "no emotion but hate", and once engaged in a mutual civil war of annihilation when Davros made a new breed with only trivial, aesthetic differences between them. The Doctor himself varies on the issue; on rare occasions, he will try diplomacy or some more peaceful tactic, but on plenty of others he's more than ready to literally KillEmAll and is horrified when JokerImmunity kicks in and a handful -- or even a lone -- Dalek survives. As was said in the new series episode where the Cult of Skaro first encountered the Cybermen: "THIS IS NOT WAR! THIS IS PEST CON-TROL!"

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' In the Season 4 episode "Promortyus", Rick and Morty wake up after having had their bodies taken over by {{PuppeteerParasite}}s. While killing a whole bunch of people or aliens is pretty standard for them anyways, they actually enjoy the violent rampage they go on during thier escape in this case. ("It's like popping bubble wrap!"). Being Rick and Morty, this is subverted when they are forced to return to the planet and deal with the aftermath.

You know how most wars end when one side gets what they want, or stops caring, or the other side surrenders? This is not that kind of war. This is a war where the only possible outcome is the utter annihilation of the other side. This isn't like many cases of BlackAndWhiteMorality either, where one side wins forever and there's sugar and gumdrops for the rest of eternity[[note]](Or EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce and you get a Crapsack VillainWorld)[[/note]], this is two sides fighting to the death for reasons [[BlueAndOrangeMorality that cannot be summed up]]. Other options are neither explored nor put forth as viable in any way. Don't expect either side to feel guilty either.

Frequent users include: ZombieApocalypse, BugWar, RobotWar, HordeOfAlienLocusts, CreatureHunterOrganization and some cases of ScaryDogmaticAliens [[note]] though for ScaryDogmaticAliens it depends on [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism the type of story]] and [[WriterOnBoard the author]] [[/note]]. Compare AlwaysChaoticEvil for when TheHero considers the enemy to be guilt-free but don't engage in a protracted war. Compare FinalSolution, which isn't necessarily a war or an instance of BlueAndOrangeMorality or one side does it but the other side is unwilling to. May eventually wind up with WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide. Compare DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs. Also compare {{Dehumanization}}, when one or both sides see the other as an "inferior race/species/creature".

* Galactic Alliance vs. Hideauze war in ''Anime/GargantiaOnTheVerdurousPlanet'' definitely feels like this. And at least the Alliance is desperate enough to employ [[DesignerBabies artificially-grown]] ChildSoldiers like the protagonist. Then it's revealed that [[spoiler: the Hideauze are genetically altered Humans. Suddenly, Ledo begins feeling a lot of guilt.]]

** The primary conflict between humanity and the [[HumanoidAbomination Titans]]. Humanity is on the brink of extinction, and the protagonist's stated goal is to wipe the Titans from the face of the earth so humanity can be free again. Then it becomes complicated, zigzagging all over the place. [[spoiler: At least some of the Titans are actually humans with a LovecraftianSuperpower, utilizing a trio of {{Tyke Bomb}}s to carry out the extermination. All three begin to crumble under the guilt of their actions, revealing the enemy isn't as mindlessly evil as it seemed. Then the protagonists learn that ''all'' Titans are human, merely innocent victims merged with a monster and unable to control their actions. The senior members of the Survey Corps are deeply shaken by this revelation]].
** Later on, this trope applies to [[spoiler: the Marley vs. Eldia conflict. Marley, at the very least, seems to not care about civilian deaths so long as they can get rid of the Eldian empire as well as Paradis Island and its inhabitants. If recent chapters are any indication, Eren is willing to kill civilians in order to make a statement to the enemy.]]
** And then in [[WhamEpisode Chapter 123]], [[spoiler: Eren announces his intentions to annihilate ''every living thing'' outside of Paradis with his Titan army in order to protect his home. The "guilt-free" aspect is averted in Chapter 131, where it's made clear the emotional toll of massacring millions of innocents proves to be too much for Eren to handle in the moment, and as somewhat of a defense mechanism, [[HappyPlace he begins to hallucinate that he's a child again, freely exploring the world just like he's always wanted]].]] [[spoiler: Even the "extermination" aspect is also averted as Eren planned for his friends to stop him before he killed all of humanity, so that said friends go down as heroes and stop injustice against the Eldians.]]

* One of the central themes of ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' explores the consequences for both sides, when this sort of attitude is in full force. Since Ghouls can only eat human (or Ghoul) flesh, the majority adopts an attitude that devalues life in order to deal with eating sentient beings to survive. Humanity has passed the Ghoul Countermeasure Acts, requiring the extermination of Ghouls and harsh punishment for any human that fails to report one. Most people don't even realize that Ghouls are people, considering them inhuman monsters that may mimic human appearance but not seeing anything wrong with torturing or killing small children if they are Ghouls. Reality is more complicated, and the series focus on a human turned into a HalfHumanHybrid and taken in by a group of [[VegetarianVampire peaceful Ghouls]] that scavenge dead bodies to survive. Kaneki comes to realize the cruelty of the endless cycle of killing, with humans and Ghouls alike suffering because of it. Encountering him makes Ghoul Investigator [[WorthyOpponent Amon]] begin to question everything he's been taught, while InterspeciesRomance repeatedly plays a significant role in the story more than once. The finale of the original series brings this full circle, with [[spoiler: the CCG raiding Anteiku and both sides left absolutely devastated while the militant [[AntiHumanAlliance Aogiri]] benefits from the carnage]]. The utter pointlessness of it all is driven home by a pair of Investigators wondering if anyone could be considered the victor, while the sequel shows that the consequences have made things worse for humans and Ghouls alike.

* ''Manga/CellsAtWork'': The Immune Cells are merciless against foreign invaders, immediately killing anything they recognize as an antigen or germ. Given that they are [[AlwaysChaoticEvil literal germs with no other aspirations or purpose other than to take over the body or kill the cells for nutrients]], there's never a need to feel bad about it - it's something that goes on inside you every second of every day after all. This is one reason why [[spoiler: Cancer Cell wants to multiply and take over the body. Since the world wanted him dead, he feels that the other cells should taste what being hunted and killed feels like. However, despite his more sympathetic characterization, his death is still portrayed as entirely necessary.]]

* In ''Film/PacificRim'', the Kaiju are here to kill humanity. There's nothing to hold humanity back from punching them in the face in turn, and eventually [[spoiler: sending a nuclear warhead back through the interdimensional gateway to hit the Kaijus' creators]].

** At the end of the movie, when they [[spoiler: capture the Brain Bug, Carl psychically merges with it to learn what it's thinking. When he announces that it's afraid, rather than feeling empathy or sympathy, all the soldiers triumphantly cheer!]]

* In ''Literature/CodexAlera'', the conflict against the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts the Vord]] turns into this. The vord have a genetic imperative to absorb and destroy all other life, so there isn't really much room to negotiate. The Vord have already nearly wiped out [[spoiler: the Canim]], with [[spoiler: the Canim being almost exterminated]], save for the ones that [[spoiler: Tavi and Varg were able to evacuate]]. The HiveMind nature of the Vord also means that except the Queens, Vord are essential mindless beasts, meaning only a handful of actual sapient lifeforms have to die to stop the swarm.

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' with the war between the Red Court of Vampires and the White Council of Wizards. Initially, it seemed to be one of these - [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Red Court vamps only gain their power after their first kill]], and were responsible for starting the war in the first place ([[UnwittingPawn they manipulated Harry into striking first]], but they were going to start the war sooner or later regardless) in order to wipe out the White Council. In ''Literature/{{Changes}}'', [[spoiler: Dresden killed all of the vampires with a blood curse that affected everyone who shared a blood link with the Red King: the entire court. Granted, this was actually a HoistByHisOwnPetard as the Red Court had other plans for the curse. [[IDidWhatIHadToDo Harry had acted to save various others and himself.]]]] However, subsequent books point out that this action [[spoiler: also took out the [[PhlebotinumRebel Order of St. Giles]] as collateral damage, created an EvilPowerVacuum that still hasn't been cleaned up, and has inarguably left the world in a worse and more unstable position than they were with the Red Court at full strength]].

** When a Pak Protector comes to one of their lost colonies in the outer edges of the galaxy he finds that the Protectors died off and the colonists evolved into a species that is intelligent enough to build starships before becoming Protectors, but they smell wrong so they must be exterminated. He captures one of the mutants for interrogation and accidentally turns him into a Protector, said mutant learns everything about the Paks, then kills him as a threat to his children. Fortunately [[spoiler: human]] Protectors are also rational enough to realize that unrelated members of their species aren't automatically a threat.

* ''Literature/OldMansWar'' by John Scalzi initially presents humanity in a constant state of war with other species for colonies, using a similar justification to that of ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' (one of Scalzi's inspirations) in that "this galaxy ain't big enough for the two of us". But [[spoiler: it is subverted in later books by the Conclave.]]

* Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse:

*** At one point in their ancient history, the Centauri were {{Absolute Pacifist}}s... Then they discovered the southern continent of their homeworld, and the Xon, who lived there, tried to exterminate the Centauri for no apparent reason, only to eventually lose and the Centauri hunt them down to the last. While [[UnreliableNarrator the Centauri are not the most unbiased source]], their descendants clearly feel no guilt about this, instead considering it a favor they did to the universe.

** The Last Great Time War seems to be this as well, from what little we know of it. The Time Lords and Daleks seemed to be out to simply destroy each other, and at some point, the Doctor decided that both sides had to be destroyed. There is, however, ''lots'' of guilt on his end due to the billions of innocent Gallifreyan lives that were lost, not to mention at least some reason to believe he [[IDidWhatIHadToDo was out of alternatives]]; the implacable nature of Daleks had already been shown, and "The End of Time" showed the Time Lords had become just as bad. The guilt is examined at length in the MilestoneCelebration "The Day of the Doctor", in which the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors have to confront their past self's actions, accept them, and [[spoiler: then Eleven's companion Clara Oswald, horrified by their acceptance, convinces them and the War Doctor that they can find another way to end the war; all of the Doctors through Twelve manage to hide Gallifrey in a pocket universe, an act that only destroys the Daleks attacking the planet at the time]].

** ''Series/StargateSG1'': the Replicators are (initially) non-sentient, will consume anything and everything to replicate, and the only way to stop them for good is to destroy them, so the war with them inevitably becomes this. A different type of Replicators appear in ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', and this applies to them as well.

** The rachni were hunted to extinction. ([[spoiler:{{Deconstruction}}; they were a peaceful race until they were brainwashed by the Reapers--or possibly the Leviathan.]]) When first told about the Rachni Wars, Shepard ''will'' question if hunting them to extinction was really necessary, the VI telling you about merely it replies that it is not programmed to make moral judgments like that. [[spoiler:If you exterminate the last rachni queen in ''1'', there is very little objection to it; and the council member who does condemn you ("Do you enjoy committing genocide?"), [[CommanderContrarian hates you and everything you do anyway]]. You can leave the rachni queen to die in ''3'' as well, again to little objection]].

** [[PlayerCharacter Shepard]] is personally responsible for wiping out the Collectors. ([[spoiler:{{Reconstruction}}; they were sentient once, but [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul are now mindless]]. However, some do appear in multiplayer after the suicide mission]])
** Shepard is forced to choose HeelFaceBrainwashing or destroying the [[spoiler: heretic]] geth. ([[spoiler:Zig-zagged, PlayedForDrama. Neither side is really portrayed as morally right or wrong (although one gives you Paragon points and the other Renegade points). Killing them does make the GoldenEnding easier to get in ''3'' though]].)

** The above two are combined when the quarians throw their entire race into a final war with the geth. ''Somebody'' is getting wiped out, and both sides' hands are so bloody nobody feels too bad about it afterwards either way, maybe bar [[spoiler: the deaths of [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Tali, Zaal'Koris, and Legion]]]]. [[spoiler: There is a third route where they make peace, but it requires [[GuideDangIt a lot of work]] and an OldSaveBonus to pull off.]]
** The Reapers, the central antagonists of the original trilogy, openly view all other species as bacteria, fit only to be purged, enslaved or -- in "worthy" cases -- [[spoiler: processed into genetic paste to build a new Reaper.]] ([[spoiler:{{Subverted|Trope}} in the Control and Synthesis endings of ''Mass Effect 3''; played straight in the Destroy and Refusal endings. By that point, ''no one'' would object to exterminating the Reapers.]])

* ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}'': the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Zerg]] are a race burdened with a hard-coded biological imperative, instilled by the Xel'naga, to assimilate and destroy other species. The absolute best that could possibly be done short of true extermination is destroying the Overmind to reduce them to merely ''very'' dangerous animals. [[spoiler: Turned on its head when it turns out the Overmind [[ThanatosGambit intentionally got itself killed]] to place Kerrigan as its successor and finally relieve the Zerg of this compulsion, and on top of that they may be the ''only'' thing standing between the other races and [[GreaterScopeVillain Amon]], a rogue Xel'naga that will otherwise destroy all life in the galaxy -- the Overmind executed this gambit because otherwise, the Zerg would be enslaved and destroy all other life, then be destroyed in turn by him once they stopped being useful.]]

* The Highbreed from ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' were convinced they were more "pure" than every other organism, and thus intended to wipe them out. Of course other space-faring species caught on to this and had no mercy in dealing with the Highbreed in return. [[spoiler: Ben found a way to Play With this trope and resolve the issue: he used the Omnitrix to graft alien DNA into all the Highbreed, leaving them no longer "pure" Highbreed and removing the rationale for their Extermination War. In a sense, they ''were'' wiped out '''as Highbreed''' to resolve the conflict; they just got new lives as hybrids instead of having to die ''en masse''.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' In the season 4 episode "Promortyus", Rick and Morty wake up after having had their bodies taken over by {{PuppeteerParasite}}s. While killing a whole bunch of people or aliens is pretty standard for them anyways, they actually enjoy the violent rampage they go on during thier escape in this case. ("It's like popping bubble wrap!"). Being Rick and Morty, this is subverted when they are forced to return to the planet and deal with the aftermath.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In "[[Recap/AmphibiaS1E37ChildrenOfTheSpore Children of the Spore]]", Hop Pop faces off against a sapient parasitic fungus (named Gary) who wants to spread himself by infecting every other sapient lifeform and turning them into PeoplePuppets, and clearly states he intends to do this to the entire continent. When Hop Pop has Gary at his mercy, the mushroom [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the trope as he [[VillainsWantMercy begs for his life]] (through the mouth of his host), saying he is the {{last of his kind}} and if he's killed then his species will be forever extinct. Hop Pop, who has little sympathy for Gary, declares he can live with that, and promptly helps Bessie to finish Gary off.

* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'': In the future, [[RobotWar humans vs the robots]]. Skynet sees humans as worthy of extinction and programs its robot troops to kill any in their path without compunction; the humans' only real way to win the war is to destroy Skynet and its armies for good. This is however subverted by the intelligent Terminator models, who have the potential to understand the value of life. This feature is routinely deactivated by Skynet for field models [[RobotsEnslavingRobots to make it easier to control them]].
* ''Film/IndependenceDay'': The aliens, in keeping with their HordeOfAlienLocusts nature, have no issues wiping out entire cities full of people. [[spoiler:Humanity has no issues returning the favor for the alien mother ship.]] The US President actually does probe for peace even after they destroy every major city on Earth, with an alien that had just slaughtered a team of scientists no less. The response was a MindRape that would have killed him if the alien wasn't shot, and it showed him that their entire civilization is based upon moving from one world to another, wiping out the natives, [[PlanetLooters using up all the resources]], and then moving on to the next planet to repeat.\\
The second film maintains this, as the queens' objective is still to harvest the Earth, there's just a side note of revenge. The humans by the end get invited to a coalition of other species that had survived the harvesting of their planets, with the purpose of hitting the Harvester aliens at their homeworld and exterminating them in turn.
* In ''Film/PacificRim'', the Kaiju are here to kill humanity. There's nothing to hold humanity back from punching them in the face in turn, and eventually [[spoiler: sending a nuclear warhead back through the interdimensional gateway to hit the Kaijus' creators]].
* The Martians in Film/MarsAttacks, they invade Earth and massacre everyone with glee. Then the humans in turn do the same to the invaders when they figured out their weakness.
* In ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', both the Asgardians and Dark Elves are okay with exterminating each other to the last. This is explained because the Dark Elves, created before light itself existed, can only really survive in the dark. Since every other race needs light to survive, it makes it a Us Or Them war for both sides. Even Odin and the new, conscientious Thor never really pause and say "There must be a peaceful way...right?"

* In ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'' and ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', the only strategy against the Gremlins is to kill them all, given that their sole aim is ChaoticEvil.
* In the end of ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', [[spoiler:Iron Man doesn't hesitate to use the power of the Infinity Stones to Snap all of Thanos's forces out of existence, presumably rendering the Chitauri and Outrider species extinct.]]

* The humans on ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', for the most part, believe this since the Cylons themselves wiped out 99.99% of humanity in the pilot. They will frequently torture and kill captured Cylons because they're "[[JustAMachine just machines]]" and don't really feel pain. People who object are typically just written off as incredibly naive or crazy. [[spoiler:Over the course of the series, however, this attitude decreases to the point where some rebellious Cylons ultimately perform a HeelFaceTurn and turn against their leader, the BigBad Brother Cavil, and form an alliance with the humans.]]
* ''Franchise/StargateVerse'':
** ''Series/StargateSG1'': the Replicators are (initially) non-sentient, will consume anything and everything to replicate, and the only way to stop them for good is to destroy them, so the war with them inevitably becomes this. A different type of Replicators appear in ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', and this applies to them as well.
** ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': the fight against the Wraith is generally seen as an us-or-them game as well -- the Wraith certainly aren't out to ''kill'' all humans, and in fact go out of their way to use non-lethal weaponry unless a human civilization particularly resists or threatens them... but that's only because humans are their food supply, and treat a war with us as being like a farmer fighting his own cattle. Later on, Dr. Beckett develops a virus that turns Wraith into humans, but it wears off without regular boosters and is nigh-impossible to deliver. Even later the Replicators and renegade Asgard force the Atlantis expedition into multiple EnemyMine situations with one Wraith faction and at one point offer them an experimental treatment that would allow them to live without feeding on humans. However, Col. Sheppard points out that even if they manage to convince the Wraith to take the drug, certainly taking complete destruction of their species off the table, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the Wraith might decide to enslave the humans in their galaxy instead like the Goa'uld did in the Milky Way]].

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': The "War for Dawn" and the "Long Night", which occurred thousands of years in the past, was fought between the King of the North and the White Walkers and their undead army. It ended in a defeat for the Walkers and forced them to retreat back to their arctic homeland, but they eventually return for another war against the living. There's literally no possibility of a truce and this war will only end when one side is completely obliterated since the White Walkers are essentially a LivingWeapon gone wrong and their only purpose is to kill every man, woman, and child.
* ''Series/FallingSkies'': In the finale, [[spoiler:Tom kills the Espheni Queen, and it's indicated that the entire Espheni race is wiped out, down to the last one. Its also indicated that all the Skitters (who mind you are slaves) are also wiped out. This is treated as a completely good thing.]]

* ''Series/Babylon5'' plays with it in its examples:
** The Earth-Minbari War is initially presented as having been this for the Minbari, resulting in humanity being completely flabbergasted when the Minbari surrendered with no apparent reason on the verge of finishing off Earth's military and actually starting the extermination. It's eventually revealed that many Minbari actually realized they were going too far but felt compelled to continue until the reveal that [[spoiler:Minbari souls apparently reincarnate in humans]] gave the Grey Council an excuse to stop.
** The Dilgar War was this for almost everyone involved: the Dilgar had their sun about to go nova and they considered other races as inherently inferior, thus they tried to enslave and exterminate the League races rather than ask for help, and most of the League races were understandably furious at the Dilgar's unprovoked and apparently unmotivated aggression (the Dilgar having kept the secret about their sun being about to explode) and annihilating the planet Mitoc out of spite, and by the end of the war the only thing keeping them from exterminating all life on their homeworld from orbit was that Earth Alliance, that had saved them and kept a very large fleet, preferred to simply bring all Dilgar back to their homeworld and seize their jumpgate... Thus accidentally wiping them out when their sun went nova four years later. By the time of the series the League Races, and more than a few Narn, still feel this way toward at least some Dilgar... Thus when war criminal [[PlagueMaster Jha'Dur]] (who earned the nickname of [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Deathwalker]] with her practices) turns out to be still alive Na'toth, aide to the Narn ambassador, tries to murder her on the spot, and Earth finds itself in trouble for having an interest at keeping her alive.
** In the backstory, the Orieni see the Shadows and all their minions as worth of extermination for opposing the Vorlon, that they worship as their Living Gods ([[AGodIAmNot in spite of the Vorlon making immediately clear they're simply much older aliens]]), leading to an immense blunder during their war against the Centauri: already furious at the Drakh for retreating their forces and costing them a battle in a war they were already slowly losing, upon finding out they were followers of the Shadows they mobilized a large part of their fleet to sterilize their homeworld, weakening their frontline and allowing the surprised Centauri to launch an offensive nearly unopposed before the survivors of the attack to the Drakh homeworld could rejoin the main front. To make things worse, after losing the war the Orieni found out that the Drakh were actually nomadic and only a small part of them had settled on that world specifically to better manipulate the Orieni...
** Also in the backstory, the Centauri found themselves involved in two such wars in their distant part:
*** At one point in their ancient history, the Centauri were {{Absolute Pacifist}}s... Then they discovered the southern continent of their homeworld, and the Xon, who lived there, tried to exterminate the Centauri for no apparent reason, only to eventually lose and the Centauri hunt them down to the last. While [[UnreliableNarrator the Centauri are not the most unbiased source]], their descendants clearly feel no guilt about this, instead considering it a favor they did to the universe.
*** While they were still hunting down the Xon, the Centauri suffered a sudden and apparently unmotivated invasion from the alien Shroggen. After barely repelling it with the help of three passing Technomages (and having no idea the Shroggen were actually after the Technomages and would have left without fighting as long as they could take them to their masters the Shadows), the Centauri slowly developed their technology and went in space with the specific purpose to destroy the Shroggen before they could come back, not knowing that [[YouHaveFailedMe the Shadows had already done the deed for that and many other previous failures]].
* Deconstructed in the ''Series/BlackMirror'' episode [[Recap/BlackMirrorMenAgainstFire "Men Against Fire"]]. The episode takes place ten years after TheGreatOffscreenWar which saw the spread of the "Roaches" all across the world. They are said to have been defeated and wiped out in the US, but the country has sent troops abroad to more rural areas of the world to try and take down the remaining ones. It is then [[TheReveal revealed]] that [[spoiler:the "Roaches" are actually humans, and likely refugees who were displaced during the war, who were deemed undesirable. In order to make it so that the soldiers won't feel guilty about killing off these people, the government and military give them implants that distort their perception, making them see the "Roaches" as terrifying mutant monstrosities while turning the civilian population against them with massive amounts of propaganda]].

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', Hop Pop faces off against a sapient parasitic fungus (named Gary) who wants to spread himself by infecting every other living thing and turning them into PeoplePuppets. When Hop Pop has Gary at his mercy, the mushroom [[VillainsWantMercy begs for his life]] (through the mouth of his host), saying he is the last of his kind, and if he's killed, his species will be forever extinct. Of course, Hop Pop has little sympathy for Gary, and feeds the mushroom to his giant pet snail.

** It's not just the humans who are gleefully genocidal, by the way--The Bugs feel the same way. When one of them talks through a [[PuppeteerParasite possessed human]] in the second film, he expresses his extreme disgust for Humanity's lack of a HiveMind and compares them to a virus that has to be exterminated completely. While the humans are clearly the aggressors, it's doubtful that peace would ever be possible even if the humans left the Bugs alone.