| 1 | [[quoteright:274:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smallpox_is_dead.bmp]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:274:We've wiped it off the face of the planet, [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing and that's awesome!]]]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"We must scour them from the stars before they do the same to us."'' |
| 5 | -->-- '''Chaplain Ortan Cassius''' on the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]], ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' |
| 6 | |
| 7 | 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. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | 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]], [[SlaveRace slaves]], or [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong nurseries]] fits in as well. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | 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". |
| 12 | |
| 13 | [[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease No Real Life Examples, Please]], 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. |
| 14 | ---- |
| 15 | !! Examples |
| 16 | |
| 17 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 18 | |
| 19 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 20 | * ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': |
| 21 | ** 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]]. |
| 22 | ** 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.]] |
| 23 | ** 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.]] |
| 24 | * ''Manga/{{Blame}}'': The Silicon Life have been hunting humans since the dawn of the city, as they pose a threat to the established state of the Net Sphere. Humans fare no better: when they get a hold of the architects, they find no guilt in destroying entire hives, as told by Pcell in the sequel one shot. Neither seem to consider coexistence to be possible, even though the City is big enough to house both their civilizations. She seems to value human life, however, so there might be hope after all. |
| 25 | * ''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.]] |
| 26 | * ''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]]. |
| 27 | * The Galactic Alliance vs. Hideauze war in ''Anime/GargantiaOnTheVerdurousPlanet'' definitely feels like this. 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]]. |
| 28 | * 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." |
| 29 | * ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'': |
| 30 | ** ''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 {{Super Soldier}}s to keep up with Zaft's genetically enhanced ones, and ZAFT used Genesis to microwave their enemies alive. |
| 31 | ** 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. |
| 32 | ** 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. |
| 33 | * ''Manga/LandOfTheLustrous'' is unique in that the race is both the aggressor ''and'' the target. The Lunarians are essentially living souls that cannot pass on unless prayed for, and the only being that can do so on Earth is Kongou Sensei. Throughout the series, other races like the Lustrous and Admirabillis are regularly put in harm's way to force his hand, [[spoiler:and once it's eventually revealed that praying them away en masse will take out every sentient race with them, they see nothing wrong with converting everyone else ''into'' their race to make the job easier.]] |
| 34 | * ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'': The Vajra are subjected to one. A galaxy-spanning swarm of StarfishAliens, they're not only bent on destroying the Frontier fleet for unknown reasons, they're too different from humanity to even communicate with, so diplomacy is impossible. Either the Frontier exterminates the Vajra for its own safety, or the Vajra will exterminate humanity. [[spoiler:In truth, communication ''is'' possible -- the war started because the Vajra are convinced the one human capable of doing so is a fellow Vajra kidnapped by alien monsters, and the war continues because a rogue human faction is manipulating both sides for personal gain. When contact is finally established, the Vajra cease all hostilities.]] |
| 35 | * ''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. |
| 36 | * 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). |
| 37 | * 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]].) |
| 38 | * In ''Anime/TekkamanBlade'', absolutely no one feels bad about killing off the Radam's alien hordes; the Tekkamen... not so much. |
| 39 | * 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. |
| 40 | [[/folder]] |
| 41 | |
| 42 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 43 | * ''ComicBook/CurseOfTheMutants'': Cyclops outright says that he is prepared to commit genocide against Xarus' vampiric people. |
| 44 | * ''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. |
| 45 | * ''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. |
| 46 | * ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'': Xadhoom's war against the Evronians: they are an imperialistic AlwaysChaoticEvil species who destroyed her homeworld and exterminated almost all of her people, so she's going to exterminate them in return. |
| 47 | * The ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' series presents a case of this in the 1990s ''ComicBook/PlanetOfTheSymbiotes'' storyline. The whole series goes 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 AnAesop 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 that the Aesop is delivered by Mary Jane Watson, of all people. |
| 48 | * ''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. |
| 49 | [[/folder]] |
| 50 | |
| 51 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 52 | * ''Roleplay/HatchlingQuest'': Samus's default response to fighting the SpacePirates, which horrifies and shocks the other characters due to this attitude being in [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness sharp contrast to her usual carefree, excitable nature]]. Once they get access to Samus's records of her dimension/time period, see what the Pirates are capable of, and learn just how AlwaysChaoticEvil they are (to say nothing of what they did to Samus personally), they come to agree that their new friend's "kill on sight" approach is entirely justified. |
| 53 | * The Space Ponies of ''Fanfic/MyBravePonyStarfleetMagic'' have engaged in this with any species deemed Always Chaotic Evil -- the Crystallites, the Insectos, etc. |
| 54 | * ''Fanfic/ThePrayerWarriors'' have no qualms with wanting to wipe out all their enemies, since their version of God told them to do so, and they don't believe their enemies are humans, anyway. |
| 55 | [[/folder]] |
| 56 | |
| 57 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 58 | * ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'': The Drej are EnergyBeings who attempt to wipe out humanity when they started fearing that humans will supplant them as the dominant species in the cosmos if they're allowed to thrive. [[spoiler:The Drej themselves are exterminated by the survivors of the destroyed Earth as their mothership is consumed by the Titan to create a new homeworld.]] |
| 59 | [[/folder]] |
| 60 | |
| 61 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 62 | * ''Film/{{Aliens}}'': After the first engagement with the Xenomorphs leaves most of the Colonial Marines dead, Ripley convinces the remainder to exterminate the alien monsters by [[ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure firing a nuclear missile at them from orbit]]. The Xenos are an omnicidal species adhering to a BlueAndOrangeMorality, a species that is heavily implied to be a genetically engineered bioweapon that is supposed to completely supplant any sentient lifeform in the area it infects. The only person to object to this is a CorruptCorporateExecutive with a stake in weaponizing them. |
| 63 | * 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.]] |
| 64 | * ''Film/BladeTrinity'': The vampire antagonists of this movie are planning to take over the world and farm all of humanity for blood now that they have Drake, whilst the Nightstalkers in turn are hoping that they can use the Daystar virus to wipe out ''all'' vampires on Earth once the virus is completed with Drake's blood. On one hand, [[Film/Blade1998 the first movie]] was pretty clear that vampires are AlwaysChaoticEvil monsters, regardless of who they used to be when they were human; on the other hand, the first movie also showed that some if not most elite vampires are more reasonable and pragmatic than the trilogy's antagonists, willing to maintain the status quo of living alongside humanity without usurping us. The moral and ethical questions about whether or not the Nightstalkers' plan for ''total'' vampire extermination is really justified get more disturbing in light of [[Series/BladeTheSeries the sequel TV series]]' introduction of the House of Leichen[[note]]A vampire house which strictly swears off killing and whose members subsist on cloned blood, although this is more a matter of spirituality than morality[[/note]] -- however, it should also be noted that even the series makes it clear that the only really "good" vampires whose personalities aren't twisted out of shape after turning are ones who've subsisted mainly on Blade's blood-substitute serum more than actual blood since being turned, and there wasn't any such vampire in existence before Krista Starr was turned during the series. |
| 65 | * ''Film/EndersGame'': The premise of the movie revolves around this, as the humans seemed to fight a HopelessWar against the Formics. [[spoiler:[[DeconstructedTrope Then the movie then sends a fist towards the viewers' faces]] when the [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humans]] themselves became too bloodthristy for their own good that they tricked [[ChildSoldiers Ender]] into [[ApocalypseHow/Class6 wiping out the entire Formic race]].]] |
| 66 | * In ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'' and ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', the only strategy against the Gremlins is to kill them all, given that their sole aim is ChaoticEvil. |
| 67 | * ''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.\ |
| 68 | 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. |
| 69 | * 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. |
| 70 | * 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]]. |
| 71 | * ''Film/StarshipTroopers'': |
| 72 | ** The film satirizes this by having the Humans take a disturbing amount of glee in the destruction of the InsectoidAliens. The propaganda reel after the alien meteorite destroys Buenos Aires particularly demonstrates this. One of the survivors looking straight into the camera and earnestly declaring, "The only good bug is a dead bug!" The next clip of people at home "doing their part" is of school children crushing cockroaches and their teacher maniacally cheering them on. The one journalist who suggests that compromise is possible if Humans stay out of Insect-populated worlds is immediately shouted down. |
| 73 | --->'''Rico''': I'm from Buenos Aires, and I say, '''''Kill'em all!''''' |
| 74 | ** 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!]] |
| 75 | ** 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 must be exterminated. While the humans are clearly the aggressors, it's doubtful that peace would ever be possible even if the humans left the Bugs alone. |
| 76 | ** 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 about the war. 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. |
| 77 | * ''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]]. |
| 78 | * In ''Film/{{Them}}'', a horde of [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant ants]] pose an existential threat to humanity, and it's not enough to simply destroy the colony; the heroes have to make sure to track down all the escaped queen ants to stop them forming new colonies, assuring that the ants are well and truly destroyed. There's never any sense that exterminating them is wrong. Justified because the ants are {{nuclear mutant}}s and not part of the natural order. |
| 79 | * 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?" |
| 80 | [[/folder]] |
| 81 | |
| 82 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 83 | * Literature/TheBible is the UrExample, as the Hebrews are ordered by {{God}} to displace and destroy the Canaanite people. This is supposed to be okay because they practice child sacrifice and temple prostitution, and also [[BecauseDestinySaysSo because the 'curse of Canaan']] [[FateAndProphecyTropes says it will happen]]. It's up to the reader whether this is ValuesDissonance or not. |
| 84 | ** The Orthodox Jews consider even today the extermination of Amalekites (and their assumed descendants) as a ''mitzva''. |
| 85 | ** Technically, only the Amalekites were supposed to be destroyed... that is, the rest of the nations were given the option to clear out. Allegedly, one did. |
| 86 | * ''Literature/{{Bolo}}'': The Final War with the Melconians. The entire war becomes a war of genocide with the only strategy being "kill everything of the enemy's before he kills yours." And the authors do mean EVERYTHING. The fact that everyone that survived the war was horrified at what happened, with what little remains of both sides agreeing that it was a terrible thing, shows that it wasn't really guilt-free at all. |
| 87 | * ''Literature/TheBookOfDragons'': In "The Long Walk", 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. |
| 88 | * ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'': In ''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]]. |
| 89 | * 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. |
| 90 | * The ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresSkyPirates Sky Pirates!]]'' reveals 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. |
| 91 | * 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]]. |
| 92 | * This is part of the SignatureStyle of Creator/EEDocSmith: |
| 93 | ** The ''Literature/SkylarkSeries'' features one of these after another: |
| 94 | *** 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 the Kondalians. |
| 95 | *** The second book opens with the heroes on Earth, getting a visit from the Osnomians, who have since gotten into ''another'' genocidal war with the inhabitants of their neighboring planet Urvania. Despite Seaton’s and Crane’s wives objecting to the conflict, they go there anyway, since Seaton doesn’t want to see his friends wiped out. While on the way to Osnome, [[spoiler:his ship is attacked by representatives from yet another alien species, who have vastly superior technology and reveal their plan to conquer the Galaxy. He fights them off and steals their technology, and gives Osnome and Urvania an ultimatum to call off their war, or [[GunboatDiplomacy he will destroy the survivor]] with ImportedAlienPhlebotinum. This causes Osnome and Urvania to become allies]], but leads to... |
| 96 | *** 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 after issuing an ultimatum (and having it rejected), [[spoiler:they blow up the planet and destroy the fleeing ship full of survivors]]. |
| 97 | *** The Chlorans are the Fenachrone writ large, having conquered ''multiple galaxies'' and exterminated the native inhabitants. [[spoiler:They are destroyed by having every star in their control go nova at once.]] |
| 98 | * ''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. |
| 99 | * ''Literature/ForestKingdom'': In the ''Hawk & Fisher'' spinoff series' book 6 (''The Bones of Haven''), the villains are willing to sacrifice anything, even their own lives, to their cause -- the total destruction of the kingdom of Outremer, and of the Low Kingdoms with it. |
| 100 | * ''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. |
| 101 | * 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]]. |
| 102 | * The war against the Pitar in the ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'' novel ''Dirge'' becomes this unintentionally. When they are exposed as having [[LeaveNoSurvivors murdered every human]] on a colony planet and [[OrganTheft extracted the females' reproductive organs]], they retreat to their fortified home system and fight to the point of their own extinction. They're eventually exposed as {{Absolute Xenophobe}}s who deplored the existence of "inferior" races and, [[AlwaysChaoticEvil without exception]], chose SuicideByCop rather than surrender to a human. The humans oblige. |
| 103 | * 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. |
| 104 | * ''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. |
| 105 | * ''Literature/TheIronDream'' {{deconstruct|ion}}s this trope in a DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything manner. In an AlternateHistory, [[RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman a science fiction author]] named UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler writes a popular pulp novel about a hero on a crusade to exterminate all mutants who are contaminating his race. |
| 106 | * In the ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' series, particularly the earlier books, a number of Barsoomian races and species get fought or hunted to extinction with little thought to the consequences. With Barsoom being a borderline DeathWorld kept artificially viable by a single "atmospheric plant", there is generally an attitude that the fewer nations or species there are, the more resources will be left for the survivors. |
| 107 | * ''Literature/KnownSpace'': 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). |
| 108 | ** [[spoiler:Even when the Pak flee their homeworld ahead of the core explosion, the Pak fleet is in a constant state of war with itself, which often spills over on planetary systems on their path, which the Pak fight to plunder for supplies.]] |
| 109 | ** 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. |
| 110 | ** Three billion years earlier the galaxy had been conquered by the Thrint, a race with the ability to telepathically brainwash any non-Thrint species. The only exception were the Tnuctipun, a race of hyper-geniuses who managed to fake being under Thrint control until they were ready to rise up. The war was one of absolute extermination, ending with the losing Thrint triggering a doomsday device that killed ''all multi-cellular life in the galaxy''. |
| 111 | * 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 {{terraform}}ed 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. |
| 112 | * ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'': |
| 113 | ** 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. |
| 114 | ** 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). |
| 115 | * {{Deconstructed|Trope}} 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.]] |
| 116 | * ''Literature/MidnightTides'' 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. |
| 117 | * ''Literature/MonsterHunterInternational'': The vast majority of the undead fall into this as they fall under the "humans are tasty" clause. Many other creatures do as well, like fishmen which like to [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong lay eggs in live human beings]]. While the government takes this stand in general against most non-humans, they're aware that not every supernatural being are inherently incapable of getting along with people, they just use it for blackmail. |
| 118 | * 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 guilty 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. |
| 119 | * ''Literature/OldMansWar'' 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 author Creator/JohnScalzi's inspirations) in that "this galaxy ain't big enough for the two of us". [[spoiler:Subverted in later books by the Conclave.]] |
| 120 | * ''Literature/PandorasStar'' includes an implacable hive mind whose only motivation is to be, not just the only sentient being in the universe, but the only life form at all, and has no problem wiping out humanity. Given that its entire species consists of a single individual, victory for humanity would by definition leave it extinct. |
| 121 | * ''Literature/TheShipWho'': |
| 122 | ** ''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. |
| 123 | ** ''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. |
| 124 | * ''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 don't harm the Runa. |
| 125 | * ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': |
| 126 | ** The main villains of ''Literature/TheBlackFleetCrisis'' 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. |
| 127 | ** The Bothans have this as a little-used[[note]]exactly three times in their entire recorded history[[/note]] cultural practice called ''ar'krai''. Every able Bothan is required to volunteer for military service in order to not only slay every last member of the offending group or species but [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill grind their homeworld to dust]]. They declare ''ar'krai'' against the [[Literature/NewJediOrder Yuuzhan Vong]] after perennial ObstructiveBureaucrat Borsk Fey'lya pulls a HeroicSacrifice during the fall of Coruscant. This example actually provides a bit of {{Deconstruction}}: the rest of the [[TheFederation Galactic Alliance]] isn't quite so giddy about genocide, and finds a ([[EarnYourHappyEnding relatively]]) peaceful solution to the war. This causes some tension between pro-ar'krai Bothans (who form a political party called [[FinalSolution True Victory]]) and the rest of the galaxy, and possibly contributes to [[spoiler:Bothawui seceding from the Alliance]]. |
| 128 | ** When the Chiss finally go to war against the Vaagari at the end of ''[[Literature/OutboundFlight 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 nor Mara seem at all alarmed by this, given the Vaagari have shown themselves to be without any redeeming qualities of any kind. |
| 129 | * 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 with the Bugs succeeds, and they view other sentient species as nothing more than food. The only Bug worlds that are not subjected to massive orbital bombardment are the handful of worlds that still support populations of captive sentient alien species that the Bugs keep as 'food sources'. Such worlds are liberated the hard way, but the Bug garrisons are still exterminated. |
| 130 | * ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'': 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]]. |
| 131 | * ''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. |
| 132 | * ''Literature/{{Tinker}}'': Windwolf insists on this in ''Wolf Who Rules'', though feeling more qualms that he shows, because of the onis' total LackOfEmpathy and the way they breed like rabbits. |
| 133 | * ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'': |
| 134 | ** 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). |
| 135 | ** The humans and elves vs. the armies of Mordor in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. 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. 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. |
| 136 | * 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' [[FanSequel 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. |
| 137 | * ''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. |
| 138 | * The "Holy War" that annihilated the race of the Ghouls in ''Literature/TheWormOuroboros'' is treated this 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. |
| 139 | * In ''Literature/XeeleeSequence'', the Xeelee have been at war with the Photino Birds for practically the entire existence of the universe, and since the two sides are composed of incompatible forms of matter (the Xeelee baryonic matter, the Photino Birds dark matter) that require the same thing to survive (stars) but in mutually exclusive forms (Xeelee need black holes, Photino Birds white dwarfs), it automatically becomes one of these since the only way for one to survive is to wipe out the other to protect their vital energy source. |
| 140 | [[/folder]] |
| 141 | |
| 142 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 143 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'' plays with this in its examples: |
| 144 | ** 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. |
| 145 | ** 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. |
| 146 | ** 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... |
| 147 | ** Also in the backstory, the Centauri found themselves involved in two such wars in their distant part: |
| 148 | *** At one point in their ancient history, the Centauri were [[ActualPacifist Absolute Pacifists]]... 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. |
| 149 | *** 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]]. |
| 150 | * The humans in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'', 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.]] |
| 151 | * 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]]. |
| 152 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 153 | ** The war between the Thals and the Kaleds, as shown in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Genesis of the Daleks]]", would only end with one destroying the other. The Thals "win" by destroying the Kaled bunker thanks to information leaked to them by Kaled scientist Davros -- who then turns his creations, the Daleks, on the Thals, thus destroying them as well. |
| 154 | ** 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 is said in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday Doomsday]]" when the Cult of Skaro first encounter the Cybermen: "THIS IS NOT WAR! THIS IS PEST CONTROL!" |
| 155 | ** 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 "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]" showed the Time Lords had become just as bad. The guilt is examined at length in the MilestoneCelebration "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor 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]]. |
| 156 | ** 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 "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Genesis of the Daleks]]", which is ''not'' guilt-free at all, and he is unable to go through with it. |
| 157 | * ''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.]] |
| 158 | * [[MagnificentBastard Scorpius]] spends a lot of time in the later seasons of ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' trying to convince Crichton that the Scarrans want to wipe out or enslave everyone, and have to be stopped by any means necessary. Considering that they started wiping out as many species as possible during "The Peacekeeper Wars", Scorpius was probably right. But then Crichton figures out [[TakeAThirdOption a third way]] that actually ends the war with all sides still intact...''including his'', which was his big motivation for pulling it off. |
| 159 | * ''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 BioweaponBeast gone wrong and their only purpose is to kill every man, woman, and child, and the living's only hope of stopping them for good is to kill their MonsterProgenitor so that every undead he's made will spontaneously die with him. |
| 160 | * ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': |
| 161 | ** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S4E21PromisedLand Promised Land]]", humanity is practically extinct twelve generations after the Tsal-Khan conquest of Earth. The few remaining former slaves who escaped from the android-run concentration camp in "The Camp" are possibly the last surviving humans. Officially, the humans attacked them even though they came with gifts and in peace, so the Tsel-Khan largely believe it was justified. Dlavan tells his daughter Krenn however that in reality, their people attacked with no provocation, to conquer Earth for its resources. After this, they enslaved the survivors to extract them. His great-grandparents stayed on Earth to settle out of guilt, averting this for them. |
| 162 | ** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S1E14QualityOfMercy Quality of Mercy]]" and "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S2E18TheLightBrigade 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. |
| 163 | * ''Franchise/StargateVerse'': |
| 164 | ** ''Series/StargateSG1'': the Replicators 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. |
| 165 | ** ''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, the Wraith might decide to enslave the humans in their galaxy instead like the Goa'uld did in the Milky Way. |
| 166 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': The good guys almost never think anything of eradicating an entire supernatural race or subspecies if the last few survivors of said species end up on their radar as a threat to people. By the show's end, creatures which have officially been rendered extinct by this trope include the Jefferson Starships (which were engineered specifically to turn or wipe out all humanity), the Knights and Princes of Hell, the Grigori and the Mandragora. |
| 167 | [[/folder]] |
| 168 | |
| 169 | [[folder:Manhwa]] |
| 170 | * ''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. |
| 171 | [[/folder]] |
| 172 | |
| 173 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 174 | * Defied in "Oshrjad Bonebreaker" by ''Music/ClamaviDeProfundis'': when discussing the brutalness of the orcs, and whether they're AlwaysChaoticEvil, the idea of killing "every orc that has ever drawn breath" is treated as suitably vile; considering the song is being told from the perspective of a TokenHeroicOrc who became TheAtoner, it's implied that orcs in this world are ''not'' AlwaysChaoticEvil, and so killing the entire species is still a crime. |
| 175 | [[/folder]] |
| 176 | |
| 177 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 178 | * In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', nearly every single race has reasons and plans to exterminate every other race. |
| 179 | ** This is quite literally the Imperium's standard colonization protocol: drop a few [[BadassArmy Imperial Guard]] regiments, exterminate all sentient life on the new planet, ship colonists in. The stone age Tau only escaped that fate thanks to a freak warp storm. |
| 180 | ** The [[TheFederation Tau]] don't automatically exterminate every species they come across, preferring to integrate and "adopt" other species as they discover them. Still, when they do encounter a species that they determine unfit or unable to peacefully coexist, they will ruthlessly exterminate them. Considering [[CrapsackWorld the]] [[ExaggeratedTrope galaxy]] they live in, this probably happens pretty frequently. |
| 181 | ** The [[SpaceElves Aeldari]] are, compared to the [[MedievalMorons average human in this setting]], impossibly advanced and long-lived with technological and cultural sophistication far eclipsing anything humanity has achieved. In the distant past, they once ruled the galaxy unopposed until their civilization was destroyed through a galactic cataclysm of their own design (which gave rise to the [[EldritchAbomination Chaos God, Slaanesh]]). The only survivors being the lucky descendants of those who managed to escape on Craftworlds (planet-sized cosmic lifeboats) or those of Aeldari conservatives who fled in disgust towards the frontier planets for a simpler existence, the degenerate AlwaysChaoticEvil denizens of a massive city sequestered in another dimension, scattered warbands of pirates and adventurers, and a mysterious cult dedicated to Cegorach, the surviving Aeldari god of trickery supposedly plotting a gambit that will overthrow Slaanesh and save their race. While most Aeldari maintain a morose and pessimistic view of the future, some believe that the galaxy is still theirs by right. [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Craftworlds Biel-tan and Saim-hann]] and the [[AbsoluteXenophobe Masque of the Frozen Stars]] view the races of humanity, Orks and the Tau in the manner of heavily-armed sentient cockroaches breeding everywhere, and are notorious for their near-constant xenocidal guerrilla warfare against a tide of lesser beings who outnumber the Aeldari thousands to one. Craftworld Alaitoc is known for its grim crusades against the Necrons, vowing to destroy them wherever they are found. Colonizing an Aeldari Maiden World as such almost always results in a nasty SuperweaponSurprise from the vengeful Asuryani. |
| 182 | ** Tyranids exist to eat, breed and absorb the best characteristics of every species that they can get their claws on -- only characteristics that facilitate those three imperatives, of course. |
| 183 | ** Pre-5th Edition, the Necrons served beings that wish to annihilate everything related to the Warp. The Warp is sustained in part by the emotions of living beings. Nothing more needs to be said. |
| 184 | *** Said beings, the C'Tan Star Gods also eat the souls of beings slain by their undead robot minions. |
| 185 | *** In 5th Edition, they just want to conquer and dominate to rebuild their old empire while it was retconned that they actually shattered the C'Tan to shards just after the War in Heaven in a revolt as revenge for the loss of their souls, but the Necrons are willing to wipe out all life on a colonized tomb world and also capture a lot of people for destructive scientific experiments while some Dynasties are xenophobic on top of wishing to rebuild their empire. One of the Dynasties is still ideologically omnicidal and the Flayer Virus, caused by the only actual death of a C'Tan, the Flayer, at the hands of said omnicidal Dynasty, also makes any Necron inflicted with it obsessed with gaining flesh back by skinning any sentients nearby and using the leather as a substitute. The Retcon was explained as the initial group to wake up after 60 million years to be damaged and a glitch causing them to think they still served the C'Tan. There is also the Destroyer cult, which are Necrons who, while not insane due to the Flayer Virus or due to the fact that they were awake during their 60 million year stasis, actively decided to purge biological life after waking up out of a combination of jealousy over their souls and bodies being lost to them and sheer hatred. |
| 186 | ** Orks vs. anyone that isn't another Ork comes down to this. Orks are strongly implied to be a bio-engineered species, essentially {{Super Soldier}}s taken to LivingWeapon levels; they literally cannot understand the concept of ''not'' fighting, and so anything that isn't an Ork essentially needs to be wiped out or is so good at fighting they attract more Orks through the gestalt psychic field they have that was given to them by the Old Ones when they were made (wholesale as an artificial species, along with the Eldar) to fight in the War in Heaven against the Necrons (after the Necrontyr sold their souls to the C'Tan, the aforementioned beings who want to annihilate the warp and post 5th Edition are shards of their former selves controlled by the Necrons, and became the Necrons). There's admittedly no ''malice'' to it, they're essentially a whole species who think "fighting is super awesome fun!" and don't understand that other races don't think this way. Other races, accordingly, treat Orks as the ultimate form of dangerous vermin, a pestilence that needs to be eradicated wherever it appears. Given the fact Orks ''multiply like crazy'' (depends on the edition, but the implication is that they ''way'' outnumber everybody else save for possibly the Tyranids), they have a point. |
| 187 | ** The forces of [[TheCorruption Chaos]] are on the receiving and giving end as well. A vast majority consists of Imperial traitors or descendants of such separatists so the Imperium already despises them even without the whole selling out your soul to Dark Gods that want to rule everything and makes you into various forms of psychopaths or obsessive lunatic that is a parody of your former self thing. The Lost and the Damned in turn consider every war to be a guilt free extermination war, after all, the Dark Gods care not for such petty concepts like basic decency or reason. |
| 188 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Starfire}}'' by Task Force Games: The Third Interstellar War between the Alliance (Terrans and Khanate of Orion) vs. the fanatically racist and warlike Rigelian Protectorate. The Rigelians were determined to wipe out the Alliance, and the Alliance was forced to destroy the Rigelians completely to eliminate them as a threat. |
| 189 | ** Later in the timeline comes the Fourth Interstellar War, which puts all the new races and people introduced against the Arachnid Omnivoracity, a Horde of Alien Space Locusts. |
| 190 | * ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' deals with this whenever [[TheVirus Ph]][[ZombieApocalypse yre]][[CyberneticsEatYourSoul xi]][[FromASingleCell ans]] get involved, especially in ''Invasion'' and ''Scars of Mirrodin'' blocks. |
| 191 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': |
| 192 | ** The [[EvilVersusEvil Blood War]] between the Lawful Evil devils/baatezu and the Chaotic Evil demons/tanar'ri, it's been raging for millenia and is unlikely to end until and unless one or both sides gets totally exterminated. Which is fortunate for everybody else because the fiends could probably wipe out the celestials and everybody else in the multiverse if they weren't so busy fighting each other. |
| 193 | ** Beholders with even the slightest morphological differences from one another will always try to destroy one another out of pure, uncompromising bigotry. |
| 194 | ** It's [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide glossed over quite often]], but humanity and its allied races are engaged in one with almost every sentient evil-aligned creature in the books. In some cases (such as the [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil neogi]], [[ImAHumanitarian illithids, and vampires]]), it's a justified trope: only their extinction will spare humanity from a FateWorseThanDeath. |
| 195 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'': Per WordOfGod, this was the reason they invented the Emerald Claw. Of course, because Eberron is GrayAndGrayMorality world that averts AlwaysChaoticEvil, the Emerald Claw are not a species or culture, they're an ''unaligned terrorist organization''. The only people working for the Emerald Claw are those who want to bring about an empire of undeath under the rule of the Queen of the Dead. Their leader, Lady Illmarrow, does in fact have a FreudianExcuse... but since the Claw don't know it, they don't even get the benefit of being {{Tragic Villain}}s. |
| 196 | -->'''Keith Baker:''' So focusing specifically on the Emerald Claw, it's INTENTIONAL that everyone hates them, that they don't have the support of nations, that they can't field an army. They are a terrorist force that can appear anywhere to cause chaos, but they DON'T have the power to, for example, conquer a nation (or even a large city). If you oppose them, YOU aren't making an enemy of a nation or choosing a side in the Next War. |
| 197 | * Frequent in ''3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars''. Because it's [[OmnicidalManiac us]] [[BugWar or them]]. |
| 198 | * In ''TabletopGame/GURPSReignOfSteel'' this is the attitude of ''most'' of the Zonemind computers toward humanity (if not all living things) -- and the attitude of nearly all surviving humans toward the Zoneminds. The only major exceptions are the inhabitants of the British Isles, whose Zonemind ignores them so long as they don't get in its way (the British government can compare with the other Zones nearby, so they know this is pretty much the best situation they could have) and the inhabitants of the eastern US, who think their "tame" Zonemind is a loyal servant and protector (they're wrong about the first, and wrong about the ''reasons'' for the second). |
| 199 | * In ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'', the Garou war against [[EldritchAbomination the Wyrm]] is framed as this. The Wyrm and its minions are depicted as depraved, irredeemable, and [[OmnicidalManiac determined to destroy Gaia]], making the Garou's savage tactics understandable. |
| 200 | ** One of the game's most depraved antagonists was the Seventh Generation, a Wyrm cult that abducts children and uses them as human sacrifices. After ascending the throne, King Albrecht orchestrated a Garou slaughter of Seventh Generation devotees, virtually wiping out the cult. |
| 201 | ** The line still subverts it, though. While the forces who've fallen to the Wyrm need killing yesterday, it's made clear the Garou have had times where they haven't been able to tell the difference between "fallen to the Wyrm," "Wyrm-tainted," and "smells of the Wyrm." And yes, there are differences there. As a result, their tactics have resulted in [[NiceJobBreakingItHero a genocidal war that eliminated some of their closest allies and alienated all the others, as well as the destruction of one of their own tribes]], events that they have ''plenty'' of guilt over. |
| 202 | [[/folder]] |
| 203 | |
| 204 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 205 | * ''VideoGame/TotalAnnihilation'': Both factions use this and ''have'' to be sure they've wiped the other side out or they'll just rebuild with {{nanotechnology}}. The campaign demonstrates this, since you begin with the last commander unit in the last base on the last held planet and tear apart the entire enemy faction from there. |
| 206 | ** The add-on campaign demonstrates it further; the previous campaign's canonical ending is with Arm victorious and Core destroyed to the last unit. But the Universe is a big place, and Core have hidden away a lone Commander as a contingency plan in case of an Arm victory. He promptly activates and the ForeverWar reignites. |
| 207 | ** The intro puts it best: |
| 208 | ---> "What began as a conflict over the transfer of consciousness from flesh to machines escalated into a war which has decimated a million worlds. The Core and the Arm have all but exhausted the resources of a galaxy in their struggle for domination. Both sides now crippled beyond repair, the remnants of their armies continue to battle on ravaged planets, their hatred fueled by over ''four thousand years'' of total war. This is a fight to the death. For each side, the only acceptable outcome is the complete elimination of the other." |
| 209 | * In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', variations of this trope are played a few different ways. |
| 210 | ** 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]]. |
| 211 | ** The turians and salarians used a DepopulationBomb to end the Krogan Rebellion. {{Defied|Trope}}; the genophage was made specifically to avoid this trope and was originally intended by the salarians to be a deterrent. What the salarians, [[TheSpock impeccably practical]] as they are, seem not to have anticipated is that the krogans would get so demoralised by having their fertility cut to 1% (which, [[ImmortalProcreationClause given how long-lived the krogans are, was calculated to ensure a steady population]]) of its natural level that most of them gave up on reproducing altogether; they either didn't know or overlooked that the plague produced ''a lot'' of [[DeathOfAChild dead newborn krogan]] (according to [[VillainHasAPoint the krogan Clan Weryloc speaker]] in Mass Effect 2). Mordin Solus, a salarian scientist who helped restore the genophage at a time when the krogans seemed to be recovering from it, comes to feel extremely guilty about it when he realises that the krogan species is essentially dying out from ''collective depression.'' Wrex summarizes this as "The genophage infected us, but it's not what's killing us". |
| 212 | ** [[PlayerCharacter Shepard]] is personally responsible for wiping out the Collectors. [[spoiler:{{Reconstruction}}: They were sapient once, but [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul are now mindless]]. However, some do appear in multiplayer after the suicide mission]]. |
| 213 | ** 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]]. |
| 214 | ** In general, there's a standing order in [[TheFederation Council Space]] that all [[AIIsACrapshoot AIs are to be terminated on sight]]. The exceptions are those which are authorized by controversial research companies such as Synthetic Insights. Knowing that every organic in the galaxy is united to kill them without a second thought, many synthetic creatures, such as the geth, adopt a similar "shoot first and ask questions later" policy. |
| 215 | ** 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.]] |
| 216 | ** 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.]] |
| 217 | * The only option (other than Assimilation Plague) in ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'' before the second expansion added psychology techs that allow a player to force a planet to surrender after just one or two nukes. |
| 218 | * In ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'' 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). |
| 219 | * In ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction'', pretty much everyone who brings up the subject considers the Lombaxes the "Saviors of the Universe" for completely wiping out the Cragmites. [[spoiler:Granted, it turns out they actually sent them to another universe, but no one else ''knew'' that.]] |
| 220 | * ''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.]] |
| 221 | * ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': The Human-Covenant war is mostly this, with the Covenant going to far as to [[ApocalypseHow completely destroy]] each human planet they encounter since their Prophets have declared that humanity should be wiped out. However, there are still many Covenant members with no real ill-will against humanity, with some even wondering why the Prophets haven't already asked humanity to join the Covenant instead. This trope starts to go away once [[spoiler:the Covenant's Elites get betrayed by the Prophets (with many being forced to team up with humanity) and the Covenant religion itself is shown to be a lie]]; nowadays, while tensions remain, the majority of those left from both sides have no wish to wipe each other out, with many finding ways to even cooperate. Played thoroughly straight by anyone who has to fight [[ZombieApocalypse the Flood]]. |
| 222 | * In ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'', [[ActionGirl Joanna]] teams up with the [[TheGreys Maians]] in the last two levels to exterminate all the [[LizardFolk Skedar fanatics]]. This is not remotely depicted as a bad thing because they have a HiveMind and can't be reasoned with. |
| 223 | * The Human-Locust War in ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' is one of these. The Locust want to exterminate humanity so they can have the surface of Sera, and the humans want to exterminate the Locust in self-defense. The Lambent also get in on this when they show up, making it a [[MeleeATrois three-way]] GuiltFreeExterminationWar. |
| 224 | * The war against the Kreegan in ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic III: Armageddon's Blade'' becomes this after Erathia drops out. The remaining anti-Kreegan forces are well aware that the 'Devils' are a severe threat to the world (even if they aren't aware of the full scope of the threat), and finishing the war to the bitter end is really the only long-term option, while the Kreegans built the titular Armageddon's Blade to burn the world. Even before Erathia dropped out, the problems the nobles had with a campaign of extermination wasn't the extermination, but rather the cost in troops and gold. |
| 225 | * In ''VideoGame/WingCommander'', the Confederation-Kilrathi war was this for the Kilrathi from the start, and for the humans it became so after the Kilrathi [[ISurrenderSuckers faked a desire for peace in order to build up a massive fleet that was used to completely sterilize several planets]], with Earth on the list for the same treatment before being pushed back as shown in the novel ''[[Literature/WingCommander Fleet Action]]''. |
| 226 | * The gameplay of the ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' games generally play this straight. To win you typically have to annihilate the enemy force down to the last peasant worker and farm and they'll do the same to you if given the chance. In-story the Alliance refused to wipe out the remaining Orcs when the war was lost, but the survivors were so dispirited that attempts to coexist with them failed utterly and they ended up in internment camps until Thrall led an uprising. |
| 227 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'''s quests often boil down to this. There are some specific examples in the story. |
| 228 | ** Used in ''Cataclysm'' with the evil Black Dragon's being rendered extinct by Wrathion; apparently the only uncorrupted Black Dragon. |
| 229 | ** ''Mists Of Pandaria'' plays this straight with the formerly neutral Zandalar tribe and the Mogu. |
| 230 | * 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. |
| 231 | * In [[https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/uxpil/ive_been_playing_the_same_game_of_civilization_ii/ this]] amazing game of ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} II'' which has been running on and off for the past '''ten years''', the world has descended into a nightmarish dystopia which proves undeniably that WarIsHell. There are three main factions -- the Americans, the Vikings, and the Celts -- who are locked into a brutal, genocidal, fight to the death and have been for the past 1,700 years. All attempts at peace or even EnemyMine situations [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption fail miserably]] with the AI sides betraying and attacking the player and each other scant moments after a cease-fire or agreement is signed, the constant nuclear war has [[DepopulationBomb killed 90% of the world's population]] and reduced the Earth's surface to radioactive swampland, the polar ice caps have melted 20 times so far, and large cities and improvements are a thing of the past because [[WeHaveReserves all available resources go to fueling the war effort]] and any city that does grow large is likely to be nuked. |
| 232 | * In ''VideoGame/GuildWars Prophecies'' this is the nature of the war between the Charr and humans. The Charr are all too willing to wipe out all three human nations on the continent and use the survivors as slaves and entertainment while the humans view the Charr as little more than dangerous animals. Even after the Shamans were overthrown, the Charr persisted in a war to drive out the remaining Ascalonians for over ''two centuries''. It took the appearance of the Elder Dragons to stop the fighting and some hardliners on both sides have decided to keep the war going. The Mursaat were willing to kill anyone who refused to submit to their control, resulting in an all-out war between the White Mantle and the free people of Tyria. In the end, nearly the entire Mursaat race was exterminated along with the majority of the Mantle. |
| 233 | * ''VideoGame/KillingFloor'': The zeds are clone soldiers who are all designed to be homicidally insane, especially towards the civilians, so feel free to take them out with every sadistic implement you can 3D-print. Even the clearly-sentient bosses can copy their minds indefinitely, so killing them just means they'll come back after at least four waves. |
| 234 | * If the two [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Progenitor]] factions are present in a game of ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'', this will always be the result. Unlike the human factions, who can overlook ideological differences for pragmatic reasons such as global politics, good trade relations and technology sharing, the Progenitors have their aggression hard-coded into their AI. They will ''never'' stop fighting, and will sink every available asset into grinding the other faction into dust. |
| 235 | * 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). |
| 236 | * ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'': You can't get a much more objectively evil enemy than literal demons whose only desire is to inflict pain, horror, and suffering for no reason. Not once has the ''Doom'' series suggested that the LegionsOfHell are anything other than pure evil incarnate, therefore there is no moral quandary with chainsawing and shotgunning them to death by the thousands. Later games even suggest it's a form of MercyKill, given how they are created. |
| 237 | * ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'': Dagda has no qualms removing all gods; in particular, by creating a new universe where they don't exist. He'll also [[spoiler:gladly order the mass murder of humans who believe in gods, as the power of humanity's observation of gods is what allows those gods to exist]]. If you pursue his ending, [[spoiler:he too disappears as the new universe is created, happy to be just another aspect of nature]]. |
| 238 | * ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII'' appears to have one; unlike prior games in the series, the main adversaries are not ordinary human assassins who fight for personal reasons, but aliens who fancy themselves as superheroes and are hell-bent on conquering the Earth, with their leader FU having a city razed to declare his intent. So, the player would presumably not need to feel sorry about killing them. |
| 239 | * 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.]] |
| 240 | * 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.]] |
| 241 | ** The conflict between the Luminoth and Ing in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' is another one, with the Luminoth unsuccessfully trying 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.]] |
| 242 | ** 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.]] |
| 243 | * ''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 after 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 [[HumanResources 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]]]] |
| 244 | * Played for laughs in ''[=NeuroVoider=]'', with [[ExcusePlot such little plot it has]]. Following a war between humans and robots that left humanity near-extinct, the robots proceeded to [[TheHedonist celebrate endlessly]]. This eventually prompts about [[BrainInAJar four brains in jars]] to break out of their containment, hijack robotic shells, and wipe out the robots. All in all, this is the equivalent of calling the cops on the neighbors because they're partying too loud while you're trying to sleep. |
| 245 | [[/folder]] |
| 246 | |
| 247 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 248 | * ''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 escaped 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.]] |
| 249 | ** When the time comes for the genocide, things become more complicated and guilty. For ''half'' the race. [[spoiler:One faction of Foreclaimers had a HeelRealization, and vowed to use technology in moderation. Without the eugenics, they eventually re-developed their empathy (and sense of humor). The other faction is exactly as sociopathic as Xanu claimed they are, and they were planning to ''destroy the sun'' to claim dominance and immortality. The main characters convince Xanu not to kill everyone, but [[TheMagicGoesAway take away their magical technology forever]]. Which... is still technically genocide, just a more poetic one.]] |
| 250 | [[/folder]] |
| 251 | |
| 252 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 253 | * In ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'', a PlagueZombie apocalypse has seemingly made the Nordic countries humanity's last bastion, and even said bastion has gone through a massive DepopulationBomb because of it. Humanity's remaining soldiers hence have few qualms about literally burning down PlagueZombie winter dwellings in the process of land reclamation and shooting any residents that escape the fire. On top of this, the MeatPuppet situation of plague victims means that killing the monsters they have become is a MercyKill. |
| 254 | * Humans in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' have seriously considered nuking Sam Starfall's homeword fearing that the Sqids may be a threat to humanity if they ever got off their planet because their [[PlanetOfHats hat]] is kleptomania, and also because [[BrownNote the sight of them makes humans sick]]. Sam points out that Sqids are no threat to humans because if humans wanted to wipe them out, they wouldn't have to use nukes, they could easily destroy the Sqid planet's ecosystem just by introducing a few invasive species such as ''ants''. |
| 255 | * In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Pandora [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2016-12-21 views]] the extermination of werewolves this way though Adrian Raven does not. The [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2018-01-15 near]] [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2018-02-09 total]] extermination of [[https://www.egscomics.com/?id=1716 Aberrations]] is probably viewed as this given how [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2017-01-27 irredemable]] they are. |
| 256 | [[/folder]] |
| 257 | |
| 258 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 259 | * The Platform/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. |
| 260 | [[/folder]] |
| 261 | |
| 262 | [[folder:WesternAnimation]] |
| 263 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In "[[Recap/AmphibiaS1E37ChildrenOfTheSpore Children of the Spore]]", Hop Pop faces off against a sentient 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. |
| 264 | * 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''.]] |
| 265 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'' is an understated case. Zordrak frequently threatened to kill off more Urpney minions the longer he had to wait for the Dreamstone and his enemies to be annihilated (and early on was [[YouHaveFailedMe perfectly willing to act on that]]). Only once have members of both sides thought of [[JustEatGilligan joining forces to get him out of both their hair]], otherwise they both tend to think the other is quite cruel for not accepting the brunt of his wrath for their sake. Later episodes tried to underplay the Urpneys' lethal stakes, likely so the heroes could look more morally superior. |
| 266 | * ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' In the Season 4 episode "Promortyus", Rick and Morty wake up after having had their bodies taken over by {{Puppeteer Parasite}}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. |
| 267 | [[/folder]] |
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