"My quest was arduous, but necessary... A pestilence was creeping across the ashlands, a menace with an insatiable hunger that plagued innocent travelers simply trying to get home. It was my self-sworn task to hunt them down one-by-one and drive them from the skies... They were the notorious cliff racers, and they had to be destroyed."
— Saint Jiub, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
A character exterminates (or otherwise drives away) a pestilent species who becomes Famed In-Story for the act, ranging from local celebrity status to becoming a full-blown legend. The species in question is always genuinely dangerous, either directly or towards something people need to survive, like crops, livestock, or fresh water. Methodology can vary as well, ranging from manual slaughter to some sort of divine or magical act to, in more sci-fi settings, something like a Sterility Plague. Regardless of how or why, the end result is the same: the species is no longer a threat thanks to the actions of this person. If the species appears elsewhere and becomes problematic, expect this person to get a call (if still alive and able) to come exterminate once again.
Saint Patrick
is the Trope Codifier, alleged to have driven all of the snakes from Ireland, and has been the model for numerous examples in fiction. See his entry under "Mythology and Religion" for more.
If just a single member of a species is causing problems, such as a "man-eater" carnivore, a Great White Hunter or Egomaniac Hunter is more likely to be called to take them out. (Though some traits may cross over if someone is trying to eradicate the species for the fame.) Ditto for a Hunter of Monsters or Creature-Hunter Organization, where it is more fantastic beasts being hunted.
Compare/contrast Eccentric Exterminator, which is more about someone who removes pests from your house (though overlap is possible if they are so effective as to eliminate an entire species).
While there are, unfortunately, many examples from history where an individual gains fame/infamy from killing many other humans, these individuals do not count for this trope as humans are all the same species (and, obviously, still exist). Those examples are covered by Final Solution. Examples of humans famous for exterminating another species in real life are allowed.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
- An Isekai Manga simply named Exterminator is about an exterminator who is sent to a fantasy land after death. Without any weapons, he instead uses knowledge from his trade in life to exterminate monsters and other menacing creatures.
Comic Books
- Vertigo Comics' The Exterminators: For the Bug-Bee-Gone Pest Control company, exterminating is Serious Business; as such, they have their own tales of legendary exterminators, including two who annihilated thousands of rats in a single day, and one who managed to kill a Mayan Hisser (a highly evolved cockroach that can easily dispatch a human being).
Film - Live-Action
- Tremors: Thanks to his experience in the first two movies, by the time of the third film, and carried over into the TV series, Burt Gummer has become the go to guy for eliminating Graboids, Shriekers, and Ass-Blasters, even being called in by various government bodies to deal with them when they appear.
Literature
- Animorphs: Alloran, Visser Three's host, is repeatedly referred to as "Alloran the Hork-Bajir killer" because he released a disease onto the Hork-Bajir world in an attempt to keep them from being Yeerk hosts. By the time of the main series, no free Hork-bajir remain.
- Played with in Consider Her Ways. In the future/Alternate Universe the story is set in, a biochemist named Dr. Perrigan was renowned for creating an artificial virus which killed all rabbits in Australia (where they are an invasive species that has devastated farmers and the environment alike). He attempted to follow it up with a virus which would wipe out all brown rats worldwide — unfortunately it ended up killing all men as well, and his name is remembered in a rather different way than he intended.
- Honor Harrington: The planet formerly known as Kuan Yin—after the Chinese goddess of mercy—turned out to be infested with a native bacterium that ruthlessly devoured Terran chlorophyll. The settlers were saved from starvation by the mercenary Gustav Anderman, who brought in offworld scientists to develop crops that were resistant to the disease in exchange for being named their monarch. The Anderman dynasty has ruled an empire from what is now known as New Berlin ever since.
- The Victim From Space by Robert Sheckley has a planet where a painful and prolonged death is considered a great honor. It is mentioned that the most Glorious Death of all (a torture rack known as The Ultimate) was last earned six centuries ago by a demigod named V'ktat who saved the whole Igathian race from "the dread Huelva Beasts".
Mythology and Religion
- Saint Patrick was a fifth century religious leader who helped spread Christianity to Ireland, but is most famous for allegedly driving all of the snakes from the island. (A legend introduced about three centuries after his death.) In fact, paleontological evidence suggests that Ireland hasn't had snakes at any point since before the last ice age.
Tabletop and Card Games
- In Magic: The Gathering, you can become this with the Exterminatus card from the Warhammer 40,000 set. Based on that series' act of so utterly destroying a habitable planet as to render it a "Dead World" (typically to prevent the spread of infection or heresy), it destroys all non-land permanents and even strips the "Indestructable" effect from opponent(s) cards to ensure they are destroyed as well.
Video Games
- In Dawn of War II: Retribution, Inquisitor Adrastia gave the "Exterminatus" order on the planet Typhon Primaris, where plants and animals had become mutated by Tyranid organism infection, killing the human settlers' livestock. This act of last resort to prevent spread rendered it a "Dead World", no longer able to support life. The notorious order draws the ire of a Chaos Champion who must then be defeated.
- In The Elder Scrolls series, Saint Jiub "the Eradicator" is a Dunmeri (Dark Elven) crusader canonized by the Tribunal Temple for cleansing Vvardenfell of Cliff Racers in atonement for his past crimes. On the Meta-level, he was originally just a fellow prisoner who asks the player their name at the start of Morrowind, but his intimidating appearance (one-eyed, bald, and shirtless) and friendliness made him popular within the fandom leading to Game Mods and Fanfics adding him back in. Bethesda took notice and mentioned him in Oblivion with a rumor that he eradicated the Cliff Racers, a much-reviled enemy type by the fanbase. Come Skyrim's Dawnguard DLC, the player character can meet his spirit in the Soul Cairn and help him recover the pages of his "opus" to tell his story.
- Final Fantasy XIV:
- The Warrior of Light becomes famous as the world's preeminent slayer of primals, Tulpa of gods and heroes brought to life via prayer and large sources of aether, over the course of the story. Due to possessing the Echo, they can fight these gods without the risk of being turned into mindless thralls, becoming so good at it that they're the first one called in to handle any primal uprising.
- The last incarnation of the legendary pirate Mistbeard led an expedition to exterminate the sirens terrorizing the seas off the coast of Vylbrand. By the present day, sirens had largely faded into legend until multiple sirens take roost on the Isle of Umbra, requiring the Warrior to face them so the restoration of Pharos Sirius can proceed.
- In the Mass Effect series, Shepard has the opportunity to become this twice depending on player choices:
- In Mass Effect, Shepard discovers that Saren was experimenting on surviving Rachni, a Hive Mind insectoid species that nearly overran the galaxy in a Bug War, including a queen. They were thought to be rendered extinct and Shepard has the choice of releasing or killing the queen. Taking the latter option finishes the species off for good and is mentioned in a news report in the sequel.
- At the end of Mass Effect 3, Shepard will eliminate the Reaper threat one way or another. Instigators of a galactic Vicious Cycle in which they harvest all space-faring life dating back millions of years, Shepard can either destroy them outright or merge with their controlling AI to make them more benevolent. This Distant Finale indicates that Shepard's actions made them into a legendary figure.
- Metroid: After facing the titular creatures in the original Metroid, Samus Aran, the main protagonist of the series is hired in the sequel Metroid II: Return of Samus by the Galactic Federation to travel to the planet of SR-388 to completely exterminate the species. The goal is to prevent them from being used as biological weapons ever again, a mission which she successfully completes with the exception of an infant Metroid which she delivers to the Galactic Federation so their scientists can properly study it.
- Star Trek Online: There are titles granted for defeating specific numbers of other races or factions, such as Cardassians, Klingon, Borg, etc. For example, defeating 10,000 Starfleet officers in ground combat will reward the "Scourge of the Federation" title.
- Team Fortress 2: Saxton Hale, among other things, is known for routinely hunting entire species of endangered animals and even cryptids to extinction as one of his hobbies. By "hunting", we mean him beating the crap out of them up close.
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: While most Witchers in the franchise do not consider Dragons to be true "monsters" and do not hunt them on principle, those of the School of the Griffin (located in the Northern Kingdoms where the Nordlings consider dragons "to be the single greatest enemy of the human race") became renowned dragon hunters. One of their order, known only as George, earned the title "Dragonslayer" for his success and the tomb in which he was put to rest became known as the "Dragonslayer's Grotto". Notably, the north has fewer remaining dragons than any other area.
Western Animation
- In the Futurama episode "Fry Am The Egg Man", Angus MacZongo hunted the dreaded Bone Vampire to extinction on the planet Doohan 6 (where they were a threat to the local sheep population) and has been living off of the idol status ever since. After the crew hatches a Bone Vampire egg, they attempt to return "Mr. Peppy" to its home planet. Seeing the chance to renew his hero status, MacZongo slaughters some sheep himself to pin it on a allegedly vegetarian Mr. Peppy so he can justify hunting it. As it turns out, Mr. Peppy isn't vegetarian and the villagers are actually happy to have a Bone Vampire around to de-bone their sheep for slaughter.
- Garfield and Friends: In "Another Ant Episode", Garfield and Jon have their house taken over by ants. They find an ad in the phone book for a renowned exterminator named Mr. Crater, who uses a robot to drive pests away and introduces himself with a song including the lines:
Mr. Crater:"From here to the Equator,"Everyone knows Mr. Crater!I'm the best exterminator!"
- Smiling Friends: The pilot episode involves Pim and Charlie attempting to cheer up a suicidal man named Desmond while the rest of the group discovers an infestation of tiny creatures called Bliblies. The two plot lines converge when Desmond kills a Bliblie and realizes he’s found his calling in life, becoming a renowned Bliblie exterminator.
- The Exterminator on The Itsy Bitsy Spider is focused on a sole mission: to eliminate Itsy what ever it takes. Itsy's human pal Leslie McRoarity tries to keep that from happening.
Real Life
- Buffalo Bill is a Zig-Zagged case. Part of his rise to fame (earning him the nickname) as a Folk Hero was as a brutally effective bison hunter (colloquially referred to as "buffalo" despite not being true buffalo). The species was driven to near-extinction (From an estimated 30 million in 1850 to just 300 in 1900) by railroad and farming interests that considered them a threat by the end of the 19th century and the actions of these "bison hunters" have undergone more scrutiny in hindsight. (Conservation efforts have brought the population back up to around 20,000 today.)
