History Main / GuiltFreeExterminationWar

** ''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]].

** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'': The war devolved into this after the destruction of the Eurasian military forces at JOSH-A, the Earth Alliance was quick to adopt extremely dubious policies like using drugged up SuperSoldiers to keep up with Zaft's genetically enhanced ones, and ZAFT used Genesis to microwave their enemies alive.

* In ''Literature/LastAndFirstMen'', the Fifth Men kill off the native Venusians without a second thought. Of course, by then Earth was dying and Venus had to be [[{{Terraforming}} terraformed]] to be inhabitable. Earlier the Second Men used a bioweapon to wipe out the Martians who had been invading Earth for several thousand years, but it destroyed their civilization as well.

* ''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.]]
* ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby'' sees humanity threatened by demons. [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Every single demon is evil and seeks humanity's extermination]] [[spoiler: so no tears are shed when their genocide of humanity results in the demons dying along with the humans.]]
* 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.]]
* ''Literature/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.

* In ''Literature/ImTheEvilLordOfAnIntergalacticEmpire'', 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.

* ''Manga/{{Mushishi}}'': while Ginko is normally a FriendToAllLivingThings and incredibly forgiving to even the most violent or dangerous mushi, his response when confronted with a species of mushi that exists solely by preying on people is to explain calmly that humans and that breed of mushi cannot coexist, and humans are stronger.

* This is ''not'' the case in ''Manga/{{Superior}}'', but most side characters think it is, as does the female lead. The primary conflict between her and the male lead is over whether a peaceful solution is possible. (To make matters worse, they're supposed to be leading opposite sides of the fight--[[InLoveWithTheMark she argues with herself quite a bit over why she hasn't just killed him if she's so certain he'll have to die eventually]].)

* ''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.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': The series presented a case of this in The 1990's ''ComicBook/PlanetOfTheSymbiotes'' 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.
* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': The 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/XMen'': In ''ComicBook/CurseOfTheMutants'', ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} outright says that he is prepared to commit genocide against Xarus' vampiric people.

* The Space Ponies of ''Fanfic/MyBravePonyStarfleetMagic'' have engaged in this with any species deemed Always Chaotic Evil - the Crystallites, the Insectos, etc.

* ''Literature/TheBookOfDragons'': "Literature/TheLongWalk2020", the dragons' ultimate goal is the total extermination of the demons. This is because demons are relentlessly murderous creatures who always react to encountering other beings by trying to destroy them, and killing them off is the only way to keep them from exterminating everything else.
* ''[[Literature/TheShipWho The City Who Fought]]'' has the Kolnari, a HumanSubspecies of hyperfertile clever-but-not-smart StupidEvil black men who want to steal everything, murder men, and rape women. (''The City Who Fought'' was written in the 90s and the ways the Kolnari embody racist fears of urban black "superpredators" is extremely unsubtle.) A pacifist character who swore never to harm another human being rapidly decides that Kolnari don't count as human. Another character scoffs at the idea that they can ever be rehabilitated and compares them to cockroaches. When they reappear in ''The Ship Who Returned'' and are lured into a trap and killed, Helva tells nuns who want to pray for their souls that Kolnari don't have them.
** ''The Ship Avenged'', between ''The City Who Fought'' and ''The Ship Who Returned'', has a [[TokenHeroicOrc token heroic Kolnari]], less aggressive than most and mocked for it by his people, who gets to [[DefectingForLove defect for love]] and is then defended and protected by his lover from ''her'' people. Soamosa is said to have "given him his humanity", but there's no consideration about if others could benefit as well.

* The Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse novel ''Sky Pirates!'' revealed that the Timelords had a couple of wars like this in the distant past, where the opponents were just so utterly different each side regarded the other as an EldritchAbomination to be utterly eliminated. The Timelords won.
* 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 zig-zag it, pointing out that this action [[spoiler:also took out the vast majority of 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. However, Michael Carpenter counter-argues that there are always consequences to any action, and the Red Court's fall ''was'' a good thing - better chaos than horrific business as usual]].

* ''Literature/EndersGame:'' [[spoiler:Subverted with both sides due to a major misconception. The buggers, being a hive-mind, didn't realize that humans were individually sentient. When they realized their mistake after killing millions of humans they felt so guilty that they let humanity wipe them out with the exception of one pupal Queen. On the other hand, when Ender destroyed the bugger homeworld, he believed it was merely a simulation and so felt no guilt about his actions until he learned after the fact that he had committed xenocide for real]]. Card's later ''Ender'' books establish a scale of "alienness" between individuals and species, where on the farthest end of alienness it becomes possible to acknowledge that avoidance or xenocide are the only options for interaction between species because they simply cannot comprehend one another. The moral burden is upon the would-be exterminator to make certain there's no way to communicate with (or just avoid) the other species before committing to the extermination war, however.

* In ''[[Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain The High King]]'', Taran uses the sword Drynwyn to [[spoiler:kill off ''all'' of the [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Cauldron Born]], previously thought to be unkillable (when he ran through ''one'' of them, ''all'' of them fell at once because Dyrnwyn actually broke the curse that kept them undead). Since the Cauldron Born were made from the dead being dragged into undead servitude, this is portrayed as a MercyKill.]] The very end of the story also reveals that [[spoiler:all of the gwythaints were dead as well. This is mentioned in passing, which is a bit jarring when one remembers that the gwythaints distinctly ''weren't'' an evil species and only served Arwan through him torturing them as fledglings and that Taran is pretty easily able to win the loyalty of one by sparing its life and healing its hurt wing.]]

* The ''Literature/InheritanceCycle''. The AlwaysChaoticEvil Ra'zac are almost exterminated in the backstory by the riders, then finished off by the protagonist. While the morality of killing Urgals and human empire soliders is questioned, no one ever raises and issue with killing the Ra'zac. Mostly because they solely eat humans. Even ignoring the fact that they seem to take [[ForTheEvulz direct, perverse joy]] in killing humans--[[WouldHurtAChild especially children]], there isn't really room for a peace between two sentient races when one is physically required to eat the other.

* Larry Niven's ''Literature/KnownSpace'' universe: any war among [[AbusivePrecursors Pak protectors]] is one of these. The protector-stage Pak are hyper-intelligent and, at the same time, have incredibly powerful, genetically-hardwired instincts that drive them to fanatically protect their own offspring and close relatives and exterminate anything or anyone else. While the Pak can -- and do -- wipe out other threatening species, their killer instinct is strongest for other Pak who are not in their own bloodline, because they "smell wrong" (this also applies to their own descendants who are mutants, a relatively common occurrence on the Pak homeworld, which abounds with radiation both as a consequence of being near the galactic core and having loads of nuclear fallout from very frequent nuclear wars). Pak protectors are rational enough to form alliances with non-relatives for mutual advantage, but the very ''instant'' there is an opportunity for betrayal, a Pak will take it. The Pak have wrecked their homeworld with constant wars of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons and exotic anti-nuclear countermeasures, and biological weapons (they are quite fond of genetically-engineered plagues which sterilize certain genotypes, as unlike nukes plagues leave behind land and resources which can be seized).

* In ''Literature/LastAndFirstMen'' the Fifth Men kill off the native Venusians without a second thought. Of course, by then Earth was dying and Venus had to be [[{{Terraforming}} terraformed]] to be inhabitable. Earlier the Second Men used a bioweapon to wipe out the Martians who had been invading Earth for several thousand years, but it destroyed their civilization as well.
* ''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.
** 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, reformed 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. The only absolute genocide the Patrol carries out is of the Eddorians, and that's because leaving just one alive is too dangerous (since they reproduce by binary fission, the offspring having all the memories of the parent).
* ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'': The humans and elves vs the armies of Mordor. The closing section of ''Literature/TheHobbit'' talks quite pleasantly about the goblins being hunted into extinction in the Misty Mountains, without any hint that anyone ''could'' have a problem with this (except, presumably, a large number of dead and therefore irrelevant goblins.) Out-of-universe, author Creator/JRRTolkien was ''very'' ambivalent about this particular plot point, and [[FlipFlopOfGod went back and forth]] about whether the orcs were really as AlwaysChaoticEvil as they seemed right up until his death.
** Nearly every major battle in the trilogy ends in an aftermath where the surviving human enemies are taken captive and treated well, while the orcs are exterminated to the last, and unceremoniously burned. This is even brought up in ''Two Towers'' by two orcs who comment that the only way for them to survive is through Sauron's victory, even though they aren't all that fond of the Dark Lord, themselves.
* Creator/ManlyWadeWellman's Stone Age tales of Hok the Mighty play with this trope, pitting HandsomeHeroicCaveman Hok and his fellow humans against the savage, [[CannibalTribe cannibalistic]] [[FrazettaMan Neanderthals]] in a war that [[ForegoneConclusion the reader already knows]] will end with the Neanderthals' extinction[[note]]These stories were written before anthropologists understood how much mixing there had been between the two species, and we now know that Neanderthals weren't so much slaughtered en masse as they were genetically absorbed by ''Homo sapiens''[[/note]]. Everyone in-story, human and Neanderthal, seems to see this trope as very much in effect, and the idea of peaceful coexistence is never even suggested, but Wellman goes out of his way to make the reader very uncomfortable with the situation, [[DeliberateValuesDissonance and Hok's actions]].
* {{Deconstructed}} in ''Literature/{{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.]]
* ''Literature/MidnightTides'', book five of the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', opens with the tail end of a mutual extermination war between the K'Chain Che'Malle and the allied Tiste Andii and Tiste Edur forces. The K'Chain Che'Malle have just lost but it's obvious that both sides went all-out on each other, going as far as employing suicide commandos and field-spanning destructive sorceries. The reason? The Tiste didn't want any competition when they set out to settle this world and the only thing both sides would've agreed upon would've been that there's not space enough for both races' egos.

* This is the case in ''Literature/TheObsidianTrilogy'', where the races of the Light and the Endarkened or "demons" are opposed in a very, well, [[BlackAndWhiteMorality black and white conflict]]. The AlwaysChaoticEvil Endarkened see any other species, including their own allies, as disgusting corruptions of their own perfection, but they do serve as good sources of BloodMagic. ''The Outstretched Shadow'' mentions the possibility that a baby imp raised lovingly might ''not'' be evil but this idea is never raised again.
** The Endarkened bred captive elves to create [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Shadowed Elves]] that they seeded under Elven lands. In ''To Light A Candle'' the Elves, with Kellen's help, spend the entire book rooting them out and killing them. No efforts are made to communicate with them and when a village is found where all the children and babies were hidden away, without hesitation the Elves move to kill them all. They ''do'' feel guilt about this, but the trilogy's protagonist Kellen is [[NoSympathy unable to understand why]] since the Shadowed Elves are just evil tools of the Endarkened. A FriendToAllChildren, Kellen sleeps soundly after slaughtering Shadowed Elf toddlers with fire and the sword.
* ''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.]]

** ''Literature/BlackFleetCrisis'': The main villains are the Yevetha, who are your typical ScaryDogmaticAliens -- they're well able to learn Basic and sent someone to meet with the New Republic, fair enough, but they only do this as the prelude to starting a war with it, in which we see that they are ''impossibly'' xenophobic and culturally narcissistic; their culture had developed and become advanced with not a single recorded speculation that there was other intelligent life in the galaxy, and FirstContact only convinced them that everything else was unworthy vermin which had to be exterminated. (Granted, their first contact was with the Empire, who immediately enslaved them.) Every member of the species was prepared to die fighting, but after winning the New Republic just destroyed all of their ships and left them stranded on their world. Years later, when the [[Literature/NewJediOrder Yuuzhan Vong]] with their similar if not ''quite'' as extreme xenophobia showed up, the Yevetha refused to submit and were hunted down and systematically killed.

** When the Chiss finally go to war against the Vaagari at the end of ''Survivor's Quest'', it's hinted that the Vaagari are either obliterated entirely or will be if they ever rear their heads again (and that this is S.O.P for Chiss military doctrine - don't start a fight, but make sure once you've begun, the other person can't ever start one again). Neither Luke or Mara seem at all alarmed by this, given the Vaagari have shown themselves to be without any redeeming qualities of any kind.

* ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' by Creator/RobertAHeinlein: Neither the Terran Federation or the [[BugWar Bugs (Arachnids)]] have any qualms about wiping the other out in their drive to expand across the universe. The major effort and a significant part of the plot is dedicated to capturing "brain" Bugs, in order to understand their psychology and see if it is possible to reach an understanding. It's after succeeding in this task that humans conclude that the only way to end war is to wipe Bugs from the face of the universe. This is one of the few things retained by [[Franchise/StarshipTroopers all]] of the adaptations.
* ''Literature/TheSunEater'': The combatants are the human Sollan Empire and the alien Cielcin species have been at war for over 1000 years (It's only the Sollans at war, other human factions are either neutral or allied with the Cielcin). The Cielcin ultimately seek the destruction of the physical universe in service to their evil gods, while the Sollan Empire are at least partially contemptuous of every alien species and they've taken the brunt of Cielcin atrocities. So there's little angsting when the Sollans reduce the trillions+ Cielcin to a few hundred in captivity at the start of the story.
* The Martians in ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds1898'' 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 ''Literature/EdisonsConquestOfMars'', the humans fly to Mars and cheerfully wipe out the Martians who tried invading Earth. It's technically an accident, but nobody's really bothered by the extermination of a whole species.
* Creator/RoaldDahl's ''Literature/TheWitches'' features a thoroughly horrific MageSpecies as AlwaysChaoticEvil antagonists whose prime directive is to exterminate every child on Earth in various nightmarish ways. At the climax of the story, a boy and his grandmother hijack the witches' ultimate weapon and use it to massacre all the witches of England along with the [[MonsterLord Grand High Witch]] herself. The book concludes with our heroic duo laying out a plan to wipe out the rest of the world's witches using the same weapon.
* In Creator/WenSpencer's ''[[{{Literature/Tinker}} Wolf Who Rules]]'', Windwolf insists on this, though feeling more qualms that he shows, because of the onis' total LackOfEmpathy and the way they breed like rabbits.
* The "Holy War" that annihilated the race of the Ghouls in E. R. Eddison's ''Literature/TheWormOuroboros'' is treated that way by the polite nations of the world of Mercury. Lampshaded when Lord Gro tries to mine the genocide for anti-Demonland propaganda and is rebuked by the Red Foliot (a peaceful and mild-mannered chap), who assures him that the extermination of the Ghouls was most certainly a praiseworthy heroic. As the Ghouls were cannibal sea-raiders, it can be inferred that the Ghouls felt no different towards the other races of Mercury.

* ''Series/Babylon5'' plays with it in its examples:

* Operation Final Fury in ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X3: Terran Conflict]]'' is a military operation between [[ProudWarriorRace three]] [[HumansByAnyOtherName separate]] [[FishPeople races]] to completely wipe out a hostile race of BeePeople - the Kha'ak. The player helps out as a mercenary and is the one to kill off the Kha'ak Hive Queen. By the time ''Albion Prelude'' takes place, the Kha'ak are totally absent - the only sign of them are their abandoned ships drifting through space. Which conveniently allows the [[LostColony Argon Federation]] to focus its resources into trying to kill off the [[HumanityIsAdvanced Earth State]], which they start by blowing up the [[RingworldPlanet Torus Aeternal]] defense station which encircles Earth's equator, causing it to [[ColonyDrop de-orbit and kill tens of millions]]. The Terrans respond in kind by obliterating any Argon ships and stations they come across. The war becomes so brutal and apocalyptic - and the [[AIIsACrapshoot Xenon fleets]], now ignored, were allowed to [[HordeOfAlienLocusts expand exponentially]] - that the Ancients shut down the [[PortalNetwork jumpgate network]], grinding the war - and [[EndOfAnAge interstellar civilization]] - to complete stop instantaneously.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'', this is pretty much your only option if your galactic neighbors are a HiveMind with the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts "Devouring Swarm"]] trait, or a machine empire with the [[RobotWar "Determined Exterminator"]] trait (unless you're a machine empire yourself). Such star-nations have HardCodedHostility, limiting their diplomatic options with other races to insults, declarations of rivalry, or declarations of war. [[spoiler:The endgame crisis factions - the Unbidden, Prethoryn Scourge, or the Contingency - as well as the End of the Cycle should someone be stupid enough to make a bargain with it, are even more limited, and are simply in a state of perpetual war with everyone else.]] Empires with the [[AbsoluteXenophobe Fanatical Purifiers]] civic also have HardCodedHostility but other empires that conquer their planets can attempt to integrate their populations (though it is difficult).

* In ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'', the endgame objective for [[WarHawk Omsk]] (should they unify Russia) is to push through the [[red:Great Trial]], a final war to destroy the Third Reich and wipe the German people from the face of the Earth, in the name of vengeance for twenty years of atrocities committed against the Russian people. [[spoiler:As both sides have nuclear weapons and are willing to use them, FailureIsTheOnlyOption.]]
* 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:Some harvested Metroid DNA enabled the Federation to create a Metroid cloning program in ''Fusion'' and briefly bring them back, but it gets destroyed and the Metroids are at last truly extinct, with only the Metroid DNA inside Samus' body providing any remote hope of the creatures ever coming back. The X Parasites are initially believed to also be extinct at the end of ''Fusion'', but it isn't for real until the end of ''VideoGame/MetroidDread''. And that's good for everyone.]]

** The overarching plotline throughout the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' is another example, with the radioactive space goo called Phazon eventually mutating a Metroid into Dark Samus, who ends up acting as a kind of avatar for Phazon as a whole. Dark Samus wants to spread Phazon across the entire universe to supplant all other life. [[spoiler:Despite having some beneficial uses in the short term, Samus and the Federation destroy the Phazon homeworld of Phaaze to cause all Phazon everywhere to disappear - this is technically xenocide, as Phazon has some level of sentience.]]

NoRealLifeExamplesPlease, this issue could effectively become a FlameWar even in fictional settings, also might invoke any alien's wrath should they ever took note of it.

* ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans2'': Late in the game, [[TheReveal it's revealed]] that the reason the Soviet Union is hunting down Crypto is becuase it was taken over by the blisk, the mortal enemies of the furons. When Crypto asks Poxy about why there are still blisk in existence, [[MrExposition Orthopox explains that]] the blisk turned Mars into an interplanetary power and seeked to expand their dominions, which brought them into conflict with the Furon Empire. At the conclusion of [[GreatOffscreenWar the Martian War]], the blisk were tought to be extinct and Mars was turned into a sterile rock, but the blisks' natural ability to thrive in radioactive environments combined with the powerful nuclear weapons the furons used to kill blisk en-masse resulted in [[GodzillaThreshold the furons becoming sexually esterile]], and [[PyrrhicVictory after millions of furons died in the conflict]], they had to rely on cloning to reproduce, which is becoming more impractical as [[CloneDegeneration furon DNA's been breaking down due to repetetive cloning]]. When Crypto confronts [[spoiler: [[BigBad Premier Milenchov]], the latter reveals that after the last damaged blisk ship crashlanded in [[TheTunguskaEvent Tunguska]], the surviving blisk infiltrated Czarist Russia, and manipulated the events that led to the [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober the 1917 Revolution]], with blisk leaders assuming the role of [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Soviet Premier, from Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev]], and says that he plans to kill Crypto, destroy his cloning chamber, and [[HostileTerraforming irradiate earth to make it a heaven for the blisk]]]]. Since earth contains the virgin furon [=DNA=] he needs to harvest in order to make furons virile again, [[EvilVersusOblivion Crypto will have none of that]]. After Crypto defeats [[spoiler: Milenchov, the final remaining blisk send a distress signal to any sentient liferoms to rescue them from earth, and the PostFinalLevel has Crypto hunting down these blisk and [[FinalSolution eliminate them once and for all]]]]

* The Website/NewGrounds browser TurnBasedStrategy flash game "World Domination" amounted to [[TakeOverTheWorld achieving such]] by completely wiping out all enemy populations through nuclear, biological, and conventional attacks.

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.

* ''Literature/TheSparrow'': The Jana'ata are a violent carnivorous species and the docile Runa are their domesticated prey. The Jana'ata fear the numbers of the Runa as they outnumber the Jana'ata 25 to 1. Meanwhile the Runa are subject to murder, cannibalism, rape and the occasional population cull, the only reason they hadn't retaliated is they're ConditionedToAcceptHorror. When a small group of human missionaries give the Runa the notion that they can beat the Jana'ata through population size. In the sequel novel, this eventually triggers a revolution by the Runa and it's a fight for survival by both sides. Karma came for the Jana'ata and they're almost extinct save for those progressive members that never harmed the Runa.

* ''Literature/TheSunEater'': The combatants are the human Sollan Empire and the alien Cielcin species have been at war for over 1000 years (It's only the Sollans at war, other human factions are either neutral or allied with the Cielcin). The Cielcin ultimately seek the destruction of the physical universe in service to their gods, while the Sollan Empire are at least partially contemptuous of every alien species and they've taken the brunt of Cielcin atrocities. So there's little angsting when the Sollans reduce the trillions+ Cielcin to a few hundred in captivity at the start of the story.

* ''Literature/TheSunEater'': The combatants are the human Sollan Empire and the alien Cielcin species have been at war for over 1000 years. The Cielcin ultimately seek the destruction of the physical universe in service to their gods, while the Sollan Empire are at least partially contemptuous of every alien species and they've taken the brunt of Cielcin atrocities. So there's little angsting when the Sollans reduce the trillions+ Cielcin to a few hundred in captivity at the start of the story.

* ''Literature/TheSparrow'': The Jana'ata are a violent carnivorous species and the docile Runa are their domesticated prey. The Jana'ata fear the numbers of the Runa as they outnumber the Jana'ata 25 to 1. Meanwhile the Runa are subject to murder, cannibalism, rape and the occasional population cull, the only reason they hadn't retaliated is they're ConditionedToAcceptHorror. When a small group of human missionaries give the Runa the notion that they can beat the Jana'ata through population size, this eventually triggers a revolution by the Runa and it's a fight for survival by both sides. Karma came for the Jana'ata and they're almost extinct save for those progressive members that never harmed the Runa.

* ''WebAnimation/DingoDoodles'': It is revealed that this is the reason why the Foreclaimers disappeared. [[spoiler:They created an artificial god named Xanu and then performed cruel experiments on him. Xanu came to the conclusion that the Foreclaimers needed to be destroyed because their LackOfEmpathy made them capable of horrible atrocities. So he took control of their machines and attempted to wipe them out. He was only partially successful, as they excaped from him by opening a massive portal to another plane, which slamed shut on Xanu as he was chasing them and shattered him into pieces. His goal now that he has mostly reformed himself is to open the portal and finish them off.]]

* ''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.

* ''Manga/{{Mushishi}}'': while Ginko is normally a FriendToAllLivingThings and incredibly forgiving to even the most violent or dangerous mushi, his response when confronted with a species of mushi that exists solely by preying on people is to explain calmly that humans and that breed of mushi cannot coexist, and humans are stronger.
* In ''Anime/{{Gunbuster}}'', the space monsters are described as a galactic "immune system" trying to wipe out the "disease" of humanity. Humanity is aware that their winning may carry consequences for the galaxy but decides "Fuck that, we're gonna try to survive anyway."
* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'': The war devolved into this after the destruction of the Eurasian military forces at JOSH-A, the Earth Alliance was quick to adopt extremely dubious policies like using drugged up SuperSoldiers to keep up with Zaft's genetically enhanced ones, and ZAFT used Genesis to microwave their enemies alive.
** The Veigans and Earth Federation Forces also apply in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE'', all of the Veigans are fanatically loyal to Elzecant and the Earth Federation knows nothing short of the extermination of the Veigan will stop them.
** Orga's policy towards the enemy in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' after Biscuit's death at the hands of Carta when Mika goads Orga to a more ruthless direction. This puts them on a much more ruthless and suicidal approach to fighting their foes in battle. The focus of the brutality can be felt after the Turbines were nearly massacred by Iok and Jasley killing Lafter to spark off a violent reaction from Tekkadan which in term resulted in a brutal counterattack without compromise for anyone, even the normally sane Human Debris pilots Nadi and Dante gave Zack a cold glare for suggesting mercy.
* This is ''not'' the case in ''Manga/{{Superior}}'', but most side characters think it is, as does the female lead. The primary conflict between her and the male lead is over whether a peaceful solution is possible. (To make matters worse, they're supposed to be leading opposite sides of the fight--[[InLoveWithTheMark she argues with herself quite a bit over why she hasn't just killed him if she's so certain he'll have to die eventually]].)
* 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.]]

* ''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.
* 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.
* ''Literature/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.
* In ''Literature/ImTheEvilLordOfAnIntergalacticEmpire'', 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.
* In ''Anime/TekkamanBlade'', absolutely no one feels bad about killing off the Radam's alien hordes; the Tekkamen... not so much.
* In ''Manga/ThePromisedNeverland'' this is the attitude of [[spoiler:Norman]] and his followers towards the human-eating Demons. In contrast, Emma works to stop their extermination plan because she believes the Demons can be reformed without going extinct (albeit still requiring the death of their extremely corrupt and evil Royal Class).

* 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.