History WouldHurtAChild / Literature

* One example in which this is caused by an AgeLift; In the ''Literature/WorldsOfPower'' novelization of the first ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' game on the UsefulNotes/{{NES}}, [[BigBad Jaquio]] holds the life of a 13-year old Irene Lew for ransom, puts a 13-year old Ryu Hayabusa through a gauntlet and a fight to the death with his brainwashed father; again threatening to kill said father and Irene if Ryu doesn't fight; and attempts to kill Ryu and his father himself. Foster additionally sets all of the above in motion by ordering said 13-year olds to retrieve the Demon statues for him, an act that nearly gets both of them killed, thus falling into the "deliberately placing them in life-threatening situations" definition.

* ''Literature/EmilyBonesCityOfGhosts'': The BigBad has no qualms murdering the heroine, who is a 13-years-old girl, to use her life energy and liberate the GraterScopeVillain. It is also repeatedly stated that he (and by extension, the other dead) would murder Sophie, Emily's little sister (who is about ten), if given the chance.

* Lieutenant Karool Tapp from ''Literature/EnteringTenebrea'' when she isn’t busy hunting down dissenters and aliens, she likes to relax by enforcing her brutal authority on the locals. She takes perverted delight in tormenting children and enjoys the sounds of screaming.

* In ''Literature/FlightToTheLonesomePlace'' by Alexander Key, Anna Maria Rosalita, about 12-years-old, is smacked so hard on her face by her step aunt that she is dazed and has serious bruises days later. The same woman wants to bring her home to the Dominican Republic to a village where the people view Anna Maria Rosalita as a practitioner of black magic and want to kill her. Also, Ronnie Cleveland, 12 years old, is running from men who want him dead because of what they think he knows.

* ''Literature/TheFragilityOfBodies'': Not only is the entire railway GameOfChicken about putting kids in incredible danger to [[BloodSport gamble on their lives]], but Juan Garcia orders his henchmen to kill the two kids in the final game just so they can tie in loose ends.

** Voldemort's first known act in the books is to attempt to kill a baby, and his Death Eaters attack muggle children just as much as they would muggle adults (including one scene in the 7th book where Voldemort kills a German woman and her two kids). He also considers killing a little boy ForTheEvulz on his way to kill Harry's parents when the kid thinks his getup is a Halloween costume but decided against it. His Death Eater followers aren't above torturing Hogwarts students in the 7th book and ordering students to torture each other (the youngest of whom are preteens).
** Umbridge likewise makes rule breakers write lines using their own blood with a magic scarring quill clearly not even having an age-limit for this punishment and when she gets, years later, the power of life and death over Muggle-borns little children are to receive the same sentences tortured, imprisoned with Dementors and possibly even killed.

* ''Literature/HellsChildren'': A little boy's head explodes. A little girl is tortured, then raped, and then has her arms, legs, and eyes, amputated. But for some reason, she survived them all thanks to her powerful telekinesis. And some point in the story, a man cuts out the brain of his own son.

** The senior citizens of the suburb that Benny Rose haunts turn out to be in on his plans to murder and devour kids. They hate children, so they made a deal with him that he can hunt the kids in their neighborhood so so that he rids the neighborhood of them.

** In the first chapter Titan overtakes Gallantpride by killing the leader. He tries to kill Gallant's two cubs, Fearless and Valor. Fearless runs away while Valor is (narrowly) spared because she is female. Titan later tries to kill the year-old Fearless in anger when his own son gets kidnapped by cheetahs.
** A group of cheetahs kidnap Titan's very young son Ruthless in retaliation for lions always stealing their prey. They attempt to kill Ruthless, however Fearless and his baboon friends save him in time.
* ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' plays it straight with Keifer Porter, who would not only hurt a child, he would rape a child, too. The rape is downplayed in the narrative, as his "servicing" her, as that's how sex is usually described in the setting, and he is [[ExoticExtendedMarriage married to her]]. It is averted with Captain Raven Tern, who would, indeed, prefer to not corner the frightened children in the Whistler farm, because she might have to kill one if there'd be a fight. The law of the land is that, for some crimes, the whole family is put to death, including children. None of the heroes like this. [[spoiler:In the end, the Whistler family plays a vital part in avoiding the execution of a child.]]
* ''Literature/TheCaliphate'': Fatima Al Khalifa not only hurts children, but takes a inordinate amount of pleasure in doing so. She flays a child alive as a example towards her other servants. She commands her guards to brutally rape the protagonist. All while she watches with great pleasure. In the aftermath of a battle, she comes across a injured little girl begging for help. Fatima obliges by sadistically stomping on her head until she's no longer recognizable. It's heavily implied that she experienced powerful orgasms while she stomped the child to death.
* ''Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure'': Given that this series of books was aimed at an audience of 10- to 14-year-olds, and the main protagonist was – given he/she was referred to in the second person – implied to be a reader in that age group, several endings involving death are highly disturbing, frightening and graphic, and are heinous acts against children or young teenagers committed by individuals without conscience or without fear of the consequences. While some are acts of nature (being buried alive in avalanches, mauled by tigers, etc.), other deaths were by people who were purely evil: drawn and quartering, being dipped in hydrochloric acid and hot sulfur, being taken to a deep-level basement in a warehouse in the middle of a forest and left for dead, being handcuffed and locked by a corrupt police chief and left to heat suffocate in the back seat of the squad car (while he goes inside for coffee, doughnuts and to sexually harass the waitresses) … and one ending that is simply ended as "'''CENSORED DUE TO EXTREME VIOLENCE'''."

** Ironically, Cassidy herself is forced to dispel a ghost of 9-years-old child in the second book, since [[spoiler: he was transforming into a ''poltergeist'' and could have wreaked immense havoc if unstopped.]]

* In ''Literature/AlexRider'' [[RareFemaleExample Julia Rothman]] and other members of Scorpia have the majority of London school children injected with nano-capsules containing cyanide, and plan to dissolve the capsules if the UK government does not accede to an impossible request. Rothman herself also [[spoiler:has Alex injected- after not being able to watch his father's death in person, she wants to see the son]]'s.

** Realistically this applies to pretty much every villain in the series at some point, given their interactions with [[TeenSuperspy Alex]], even the "good guys" at [=MI6=]. They essentially forcibly constript [[ChildSoldiers a teenaged Alex]], and while they generally aren't trying to hurt him, they are intentionally putting him in life threatening situations on a regular basis.
* In ''Literature/AmericanPsycho'', Patrick Bateman stabs a small boy to death just to see if he'd enjoy it. He doesn't... because he doesn't find it ''evil enough'':

* ''Literature/TalmaGordon'': Captain Gordon's killer kills not only the Captain and his wife but also their baby son.

** Actually, given their treatment of Alex, this trope could apply to almost any villain in the series - and arguably even to [=MI5=]. They wouldn't hurt Alex ''directly'', sure, but...

** Voldemort's first known act in the books is to attempt to kill a baby, and his Death Eaters attack muggle children just as much as they would muggle adults (including one scene in the 7th book where Voldemort kills a German woman and her two kids). He also considers killing a little boy ForTheEvulz on his way to kill Harry's parents when the kid thinks his getup is a Halloween costume but decided against it. His Death Eater followers aren't above torturing Hogwarts students in the 7th book and ordering students to torture each other 9 (the youngest of whom are preteens).

[[caption-width-right:350:Students are always a hairsbreadth away from invoking Trunchbull's wrath.]]

** Voldemort's first known act in the books is to attempt to kill a baby, and his Death Eaters attack muggle children just as much as they would muggle adults (including one scene in the 7th book where Voldemort kills a German woman and her two kids). He also considers killing a little boy ForTheEvulz on his way to kill Harry's parents when the kid thinks his getup is a Halloween costume but decided against it. His Death Eater followers aren't above torturing Hogwarts students in the 7th book (and ordering students to torture each other).
** Umbridge makes rule breakers write lines using their own blood with a magic scarring quill and seriously considers using the (most illegal) torture curse on the students.