History Main / TheRightOfASuperiorSpecies

* "Fanfic/TarkinsFist": The general attitude of the average Imperial towards the Earth, though less 'superior species' and more 'superior civilization'. Earth born humans are classified by the Empire as "near-Human" due to their exceptionally low Midichlorian count (far below what was thought possible in any other sapient species encountered by the Empire) and are treated with condescension at best. Individual imperial citizens like Brakatak and Ashla are able to make friends with Earth born characters like Jason Bogan, but even they have a tendency to dismiss the Earth as a whole as primitive.

* In Iain M. Banks' ''Literature/TheCulture'' novels, the super-A.I.s who run the eponymous civilization classify life on a "logarithmic sentience scale", in which one Mind is worth the lives of billions of humanoids. Somewhat subverted they're not jerks about it most of the time, and do their best to make sure that members of lesser species thrive and enjoy their lives.

* In Iain M. Banks' ''Literature/TheCulture'' novels, the super-AIs who run the eponymous civilization classify life on a "logarithmic sentience scale", in which one Mind is worth the lives of billions of humanoids. Somewhat subverted as they're not jerks about it most of the time, and do their best to make sure that members of lesser species thrive and enjoy their lives.

* ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' by H.G. Wells. Unusual in that this is articulated by the human narrator at the beginning of the book. After reflecting on how much more advanced and intelligent the Martians are, he concludes:

* ''Literature/CradleSeries'': Dragons are naturally far more powerful than humans and basically immortal, so they consider themselves far superior and see nothing wrong with slaughtering entire towns for no reason, [[CrimeOfSelfDefense and then cry for justice if anyone fights back]]. Though in fairness ''everyone'' on Cradle is like this. The emphasis on AsskickingEqualsAuthority has resulted in a culture stuffed to the gills with MoralMyopia. Lindon only gets one dragon swearing a blood oath against him for a stupid reason, but three humans do so, each for their own reasons.

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "The Voyage Home", an astronaut returning from the first manned mission to Mars learns that his crewmembers have been turned into aliens. He kills one via airlock, but the other one convinces him that they're peaceful and merely wish to survive. However, during re-entry, he sees through the ruse and realizes that the alien intends to spread spores through Earth's atmosphere, turning humans into others of his kind. The alien drops all pretense and outright claims that his species is very old compared to humans and deserves to live much more than we do by that comparison alone. The astronaut [[HeroicSacrifice opens the airlock]], and the pressure imbalance causes the ship to blow up.

* ''Literature/AgeOfFire'': This seems to be the overarching perspective dragons have on the other races, seeing themselves superior in every way, and are thus allowed to do whatever they please with them. It also gets deconstructed somewhat, as the story generally portrays the dragons as actually superior to the other races (not only are they physically stronger, but are just as, if not more intelligent), something none of the protagonists contest. However, its indicated that even if they are, it does not give the dragons the right to do whatever they want to the "lesser" races. Wistala is the only one of the leads who doesn't share this view, with AuRon mostly dismissive of the others with occasional exceptions, and [=RuGaard=] fully subscribing to this belief.

** The superhumans from ''Literature/StarTrekTheEugenicsWars'' believe that they're inherently superior to the rest of humanity and that it's their natural place as rulers. They're not above [[spoiler: gassing a UN meeting to strike at a single person]], for example, because the others are only human.

** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. This is Q's go-to argument for being a JerkassGod to Humanity in general and the crew of Enterprise in particular[[note]]He might just be an asshole, though. Other Q entities are shown disapproving of a good many of his attitudes and actions.[[/note]]. This has led to more than one PatrickStewartSpeech in response.

** This is Emet-Selch's justification for his actions in the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' expansion ''Shadowbringers''. He believes the Ascians to be a superior race that inherently hold much more value than the modern races of the world, whom he sees as mere fragments of what the Ascians once were. To him, the denizens of the Source and its many shards are but fuel to feed Zodiark, and will sacrifice them to [[spoiler:bring back the Ascian empire of yore]]. It's partially subverted in that he sees the lesser races as not just genetically inferior, but ''morally'' inferior - he asks if the modern races would sacrifice half of themselves to save another [[spoiler: as the Ascians themselves did to summon Zodiark and repair the world]] - but it's clear he holds contempt for their innate lack of arcane acumen compared to the Ancients as well, using [[spoiler: the illusion of Amaurot]] to really drive home just how superior [[spoiler: the old Ascian civilisation]] was.

** Also, some humans are racist against all non-humans both Zerg and Protoss. This starts to look very silly when [[spoiler: Sarah Kerrigan becomes the Zerg Queen]].

** This was essentially the reasoning the Cardassian Union used to justify the occupation of Bajor prior to the start of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', as they viewed themselves as a "superior race" to the Bajorians. In reality, they were simply desperate for resources to maintain their fragile hold on power as a second rank galactic power and there is much evidence that the Bajorians either matched or surpassed their Cardassian occupiers, such as developing a primitive form of space travel 200 years prior to the widespread usage of wrap drives for most Star Trek species.

* In ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' the [[spoiler:Maykr]] have been facilitating the demonic invasions of mortal worlds for millions of years in order to receive [[spoiler:Argent energy]], the only thing preventing their race's extinction. [[spoiler:Khan Maykr]] openly declares that this is their right as a higher species and creators of the setting's [[spoiler:Heaven]] analogue. Of course, when this results in a GenocideBackfire thanks to the Doomslayer, [[MoralMyopia she hypocritically calls him out]] on defeating her through his superior OneManArmy status.

* Part of the game mechanics in ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'', interstellar empires cannot engage in normal diplomatic relations with pre-FTL species. They can just research them like animals, uplift them as a protectorate, or simply [[AlienInvasion invade]]. And fighting other space empires requires a formal declaration of war, you can bombard or invade a pre-FTL planet at any time.

* Played with, but mostly [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in ''Series/StarCraft'' with the demonstrably superior in every way Protoss. At least... the Khalai Protoss (and then later those led by Artanis): but the Tal'darim, not so much. While some Protoss early on "cleanse" human colonies of the Zerg without so much as even trying to rescue the humans, this is also before the Protoss realize that humans are actually sentient (their definition of sentience includes the ability to speak telepathically and perform at least basic feats of telekinesis). When they encounter a human who has psychic abilities, Sarah Kerrigan, they pretty quickly start to treat ''all'' humans as equals (regardless of telepathic ability).

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', [[spoiler:it's revealed that this was the reason that Amphibia 1,000 years before the series was a prosperous civilization despite the fact they were {{Planet Loot|ers}}ing {{Multiversal Conqueror}}s. Back then, all amphibians were indoctrinated to believe that there was nothing wrong with strip-mining worlds and enslaving the races that lived there because of their superiority. However, after the theft of the Calamity Box which led to Amphibia's advanced technology going inert, along with the FantasticCasteSystem Andrias put in place following Leif's betrayal, this mindset faded out of the current generation, to the point that they knew that invading innocent worlds, especially the one where Anne and her friends came from, is ''wrong'']].

* In ''Anime/WickedCity'', Makie's ex-lover Jin tries to make her admit this by saying, "Human are lower-class creatures than us. They're only fit for slavery. ''That's'' their heritage."
* ''Franchise/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': [[spoiler:Kyubey/The Incubators]] play with this trope. They [[spoiler:turn vulnerable teenage girls into magical girls in order to fight witches, but don't tell them that they do so by essentially turning them into [[OurLichesAreDifferent Liches]]]]. Then the girls find out that if they don't keep their [[TransformationTrinket Soul Gem]] pure, they [[spoiler:become witches too]], and it ''then'' it turns out [[spoiler:Kyubey]] is doing all this to [[spoiler:collect energy to fight the heat death of the universe, and they have been assisting humanity since the stone age]]. All this while subtly implying that they regard humanity the way humanity regards cattle. However, [[spoiler:The Incubators]] lack emotions, so they do this not out of a sense of being superior to humanity (or at least that's not the most important reason), but because they need to [[spoiler:prevent the universe from dying, and this is the most efficient way he's found to do it]].

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman''

* This is Chatoyance's take on ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureau'', where she gives this excuse to justify the genocide of all humans (by [[ForcedTransformation ponification]]). She [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/27678/ten-minutes-aftermath#comment/671772 firmly believes]] [[http://imgur.com/a/Aq2n7 (screenshotted)]] [[InsaneTrollLogic that a superior species justifiably can do things that would be considered evil if a "lesser" species (namely, humans) were to do them.]]

* General Zod in ''Fanfic/TheLastSon'' uses this to justify his attempt to take over Earth, concluding that Earthlings are a race of savage primitives incapable of governing themselves [[spoiler:after North Korea attempts to nuke Battlestation Sentrius,]] and declares in his KneelBeforeZod speech that if they're to become Krypton's heirs, they first need to behave themselves.

* In ''Film/TheArrival'', one of the aliens tells the protagonist that humans don't deserve this planet, since they're so keen on ruining it. In fact, in their mind they're helping us along on our way to extinction by using secret underground factories to conduct HostileTerraforming to their native environment.

* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'': Ego, as a nearly omnipotent Celestial, believes that it his "purpose" to [[AssimilationPlot convert every planet in the universe into more of him]]. The death of every other being in existence doesn't matter to him because they are so ''lacking'' in comparison to a Celestial.

* ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' by H.G. Wells. Unusual in that this is articulated by the human narrator at the beginning of the book. After reflecting on how much more advanced and intelligent the Martians are, he concludes:
-->And before we judge them too harshly, we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished bison and the dodo, but upon its inferior races. The Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination waged by European immigrants, in the space of fifty years. Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred in the same spirit?

* In ''Priest Kings of Literature/{{Gor}}'', Sarm justifies the Priest-King practice of [[FantasyGunControl smiting humans who experiment with firearm technology]] by claiming that Priest-Kings are superior to humans in the same way that humans are superior to the animals they kill for food.
* Harry Turtledove's ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' series. The reptilian Race considers themselves eminently justified in conquering Earth and making humanity a subject race because of what they view as their incomparably superior culture and technology, even though said technology turns out to be not quite ''that'' advanced over humankind's. Indeed, one of the "Lizard" characters pretty much lampshades this during a conversation with a human character, when the human points out all the rights and liberties that his people yearns for and the Lizard claims, in all seriousness, that humans would enjoy those freedoms under the rule of the Race.
** They also find the Nazi arguments for the latter's claims of being the Master Race lacking. Then again, they don't even try to explain why they think their culture is better. Any time someone asks, they simply say "The answer should be obvious". Many times they express their outrage that humans have a level of technology close to theirs. They have no ''right'' to have technology like this by all rules (of course, by their rules, even a small technological change should take centuries of careful integration into society in order not to upset the status quo; their first two conquests were like-minded, [[HumansAdvanceSwiftly humans not so much]]).
* Another Creator/HarryTurtledove work about AlienInvasion, the short story "Vilcabamba", is a direct allegory for the Spanish conquest of the Americas. The Krolp see no problem with taking whatever they want from the inferior human race, and willfully destroy the environment for mineral resources.
* The Strong Races are this to the Weak ones in ''Literature/TheStarsAreColdToys'' duology. The galactic rules are like this: if your race is powerful enough to wipe out any other race except fellow Strong ones, you can do whatever you please. If it isn't, you better possess some unique talent useful to the Strong races, or be wiped out by them to make space for new strains of evolution.
* ''Literature/OutOfTheDark'' by Creator/DavidWeber, is about a race of aliens who usually do this successfully but get way more than they bargained for with humanity. In this case, the carnivorous Shongairi view themselves as superior to ''all'' galactic species, especially those annoying herbivores dominating the galactic society and dictating the rules. As far as the Shongairi are concerned, they're just biding their time and building up their advantage before showing the others who's boss. Averted with [[spoiler:Dracula, who doesn't consider vampires to be superior, merely different. Maybe he did once, but those days are in the past]].
* In just about any story featuring vampires, the vampires consider themselves to be on top of the food chain, and consider humans their prey.

* The dragons from Robin Hobb's ''Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings'' are like this. Even after a long absence and teetering on the brink of extinction, they fully expect humanity to serve them.
* Creator/RobertWestall's ''Literature/UrnBurial'': Stated almost word for word by the Wawaka as the reasoning behind their disdain for and lack of concern over, humans. When Ralph accuses them of torturing humans, they respond that humans treat animals in exactly the same way.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novels:
** In ''Literature/StarTrekMillennium'', Leej Terrell considers the Bajorans little more than cattle, and refuses to accept that Cardassia was doing anything wrong in enslaving them. Indeed, she tells Sisko that humanity's biggest problem is its refusal to distinguish "truly sapient" races like the Vulcans from "stock" like the Bajorans. Dukat made a similar argument in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', though he wasn't quite so brutal in his description of the Bajorans.
** The Shedai in ''Literature/StarTrekVanguard'' believe they rule other species by right and generally have no issue with slaughtering those who resist them. Indeed, the Shedai word for peoples outside their hegemony often doubles as a synonym for "base criminals" or "uncivilized beings". Even the Apostate, who believes in benevolent rule and rejects the idea of conquest, seems to think the Shedai are natural leaders, above all other species.
** In the ''Literature/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineRelaunch'', the [[PuppeteerParasite Kurlans]] are completely unapologetic about their infestation of humanoid beings, insisting that humanoids are simply "meat". Whenever someone tries to reason with one of their number, it responds only with sneering contempt, mockingly explaining that humanoids "think with their glands" and know nothing of true intelligence.
** The superhumans from ''Literature/StarTrekTheEugenicsWars'' believe that they're inherently superior to the rest of humanity and that it's their natural place as rulers. They're not above [[spoiler: gassing a UN meeting to strike at a single person]], for example, because the others are only human.
* On the rare occasion that the ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' directly interact with [[PuppeteerParasite Yeerk controllers]], the Yeerks almost always pull out this argument. As far as they're concerned, all other species are to Yeerks as cattle are to humans, so Yeerks are fully justified in enslaving, {{Mind Rap|e}}ing, and killing humans, Hork-Bajir, Andalites, and so on. Of course, [[JustifiedTrope the Yeerks the Animorphs can interact with are the ones who think this]] -- the ones who don't agree don't leave the Yeerk pools in the first place, except a few who only changed their minds later.
** The Yeerks ''do'' [[VillainHasAPoint have something of a point]] in that being a PuppeteerParasite is what evolution made them, and expecting them to not take over and use other beings as hosts is tantamount to expecting them not to ''live,'' as without a host a Yeerk is a blind, deaf, helpless worm, despite possessing the same sentience as more physically-able creatures. Some more sympathetic Yeerks (such as Aftran) argue that they can't help what they are. Where the argument falls apart is when they claim this entitles them to form a galactic empire to conquer and enslave all other sentient beings in search of more and better hosts.

* The First-Born in ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars The Gods of Mars]]'' regularly assaults the Thern gardens, taking their women as slaves and only the women to serve as chattel and food, invoking the right of being the very first race in Barsoom to achieve sentience to exploit the lesser races of Barsoom as they see fit. The Therns themselves qualify since they consider themselves closer to the primary deity of the planet and use it to enslave every other race on Mars. [[MoralMyopia The fact that they are guilty of the same crimes that they are in the receiving end by someone else is lost on them]].
* The Cetagandans of the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' constantly flirt with this trope both in their internal and external politics. The ''haut'' ruling caste are engaged in a centuries-long genetic experiment in what they consider the uplifting of the human species into something greater. The main point of internal debate on the matter is whether they've reached "superior species" status ''yet'' -- as opposed to merely being a MasterRace -- and much of the rest of galactic society is worrying about the day the Cetagandans decide they've transcended humanity and don't need the rest of the species anymore. Especially since the Cetas have tailor-made diseases that can literally melt bones.
* In the ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'' series, this attitude crops up among powerful [[OurElvesAreDifferent Dragaerans]] as regards humans, at least when they bother to really think about humans at all. The Dragaerans can make a case for it, as they live for millennia, are taller, stronger, and more magically gifted than humans, and have a variety of other advantages. Whenever the question comes up whether the Dragaeran Empire should invade its human neighbors, the argument against invasion is usually more "Is the army ready for it? No? How inconvenient. Bored now, let's do something else." And yet above the Dragaerans are the Jenoine, alien beings of fantastic power and BlueAndOrangeMorality who created the Dragaerans from human stock as an experiment, and mostly just want to get the lab rats back in their cages.
* In Iain M. Banks' ''Literature/TheCulture'' novels, the super-AIs who run the eponymous civilization classify life on a "logarithmic sentience scale", in which one Mind is worth the lives of billions of humanoids. Somewhat subverted as they're not jerks about it most of the time, and do their best to make sure that members of lesser species thrive and enjoy their lives.
* In ''Literature/MasterOfFormalities'', Lord Frederain muses on [[AbsentAliens no intelligent alien life]] being discovered in the millennia since humankind left Earth and spread throughout the galaxy. He then admits that it's possible some colonists ''did'', in fact, encounter alien life forms but then simply reasoned that any life form that gets in the way of a heavily-armed colonist can't rightly be called "intelligent".
* In ''Literature/MagikOnline'' Concordia is founded on the belief that dragons are inherently the strongest and wisest race and it's their job to enlighten and uplift lesser species. Basically, they conquer everyone and forcibly integrate them into their culture and sadly have more than enough power to back it up.

* ''Literature/CradleSeries'': Dragons are naturally far more powerful than humans and basically immortal, so they consider themselves far superior and see nothing wrong with slaughtering entire towns for no reason, [[CrimeOfSelfDefense and then cry for justice if anyone fights back]]. Though in fairness ''everyone'' on Cradle is like this. The emphasis on AsskickingEqualsAuthority has resulted in a culture stuffed to the gills with MoralMyopia. Lindon only gets one dragon swearing a blood oath against him for a stupid reason, but three humans do so, each for their own reasons.
* In one of the spinoff novelizations of ''Film/IndependenceDay'', a human soldier suddenly finds himself thinking that maybe the [[SwarmOfAlienLocusts Harvesters]] were justified in trying to wipe out mankind, as humans are so primitive, warlike, and disgusting, like a civilization of giant cockroaches... but soon snaps out of it when he realizes that a nearby alien was [[MindRape influencing him telepathically]].
* ''Literature/AgeOfFire'': This seems to be the overarching perspective dragons have on the other races, seeing themselves superior in every way, and are thus allowed to do whatever they please with them. It also gets deconstructed somewhat, as the story generally portrays the dragons as actually superior to the other races (not only are they physically stronger, but are just as, if not more intelligent), something none of the protagonists contest. However, its indicated that even if they are, it does not give the dragons the right to do whatever they want to the "lesser" races. Wistala is the only one of the leads who doesn't share this view, with AuRon mostly dismissive of the others with occasional exceptions, and [=RuGaard=] fully subscribing to this belief.

* In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode 'Pretense', a Goa'uld justifies the taking of human hosts by claiming superiority to humanity and comparing the practice to the hunting and fishing practiced by humans. When Daniel Jackson points out that nearly all Goa'uld technology has been stolen from other races, the Goa'uld merely shrugs and says it doesn't matter how it was acquired. The Goa'uld have the technology; the humans don't. It's as simple as that. What's better is that both sides are trying to convince a third party represented by a Nox, a race of [[PerfectPacifistPeople perfect pacifists]] that already considers itself to be superior to both humans and Goa'uld.
* The aliens in ''Series/{{V 1983}}'' don't really think of themselves as a superior race, but consider the humans they covertly conquered as a resource to be consumed. At one point, the original miniseries has aliens offhandedly discussing how it was inadvisable to sedate human captives before butchering them because the drug alters the taste of the flesh.
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' adventure ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E3TheMarkOfTheRani The Mark of the Rani]]'', the Rani compares her experiments on humans with the rearing of animals for food.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' John is split into three forms -- his regular self, a caveman-like version, and a possibility of what humans could evolve into thousands of years into the future. When they find out they need to sacrifice a Crichton, many of the crew including regular John are quite prepared to sacrifice the primitive one. When that doesn't work, the advanced one reveals he views regular John as just as disposable.
* Both the Vorlons and the Shadows in ''Series/BabylonFive'' see themselves as superior beings tasked with shaping the lesser races. If that means torturing people, provoking wars or all-out genocide, that's a minor issue.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. This is Q's go-to argument for being a JerkassGod to Humanity in general and the crew of Enterprise in particular[[note]]He might just be an asshole, though. Other Q entities are shown disapproving of a good many of his attitudes and actions.[[/note]]. This has led to more than one PatrickStewartSpeech in response.
* This was essentially the reasoning the Cardassian Union used to justify the occupation of Bajor prior to the start of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', as they viewed themselves as a "superior race" to the Bajorians. In reality, they were simply desperate for resources to maintain their fragile hold on power as a second rank galactic power and there is much evidence that the Bajorians either matched or surpassed their Cardassian occupiers, such as developing a primitive form of space travel 200 years prior to the widespread usage of wrap drives for most Star Trek species.

--->'''Gideon:''' The torture, the terror, the raiding, the killing, maiming, stealing. Everything. ''Why?''
--->'''Asdrubael Vect:''' Why should I not? You are of no consequence. If you had not been captured by my servants and did not fall foul of some illness or mishap, you would still die within another twenty of your planet's short years. Why should I not use such a pointless creature for my amusement and sustenance? You are prey-species, nothing more.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has had several species that like to pull this out:
** The [[{{Cthulhumanoid}} illithids]] ''need'' to eat brains to survive, and so consider every other horror they inflict upon the cattle they enslave to be barely worth considering. For bonus trope points, the illithids have been depicted as originally coming from the ''D&D'' universe equivalent of deep space (or even beyond space and time) to enforce their will upon their conquered slaves.
** The githyanki, who were once enslaved by the illithids, have learned that you're either a Superior Species or an Inferior Species just waiting to be stepped on. They were once humans, changed by the illithids to make stronger servants, but then threw off their masters' rule. The githyanki then turned around and began their own empire on the right of their strength as the ones who threw down the illithids, but were stopped by internal dissent from a faction who split off to become the githzerai. The 'yanki do show at least a modicum of respect toward anyone else strong enough to avoid getting stepped on, but they still aren't too fond of outsiders even so.
** The 3rd Edition ''Fiend Folio'' introduced the [[HumanoidAbomination ethergaunts]] who came from the depths of the Ethereal Plane with strange and advanced technologies, ready to reclaim an ancient empire from before their self-imposed exile. Little is known of them except they hate divine magic and the gods, have a rigid caste system, and consider all other races inferior and subject to their whims.
** The evil chromatic dragons (especially the reds) personify this trope, as their whole attitude is basically "We're really big and powerful, so we can do anything we want."
** ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'': This is why dragons are so dangerous to deal with. They unquestionably, unhesitatingly, and shamelessly consider themselves better than any other species, and therefore justified in doing absolutely whatever they want to humans, elves, and the like. Even the nicest dragons view mortals as more of an environmental concern, protecting a cute but dangerous species, than because they see them as ''people''. The black dragon Vvaraak was declared an apostate by her kin because she taught druidic magic to the orcs of Khorvaire so that they could defend against a Xoriat incursion. To her, it was a simple exchange of knowledge, but her people cast her out.
* ''TabletopGame/ScarredLands:'' The [[OurTitansAreDifferent titans]] combine this with AbusivePrecursors, as they see all of their creations (including the gods) as just playthings they can treat any way they want.

* Baron Alexander from ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' justifies the meticulous, brutal torture of thousands of human beings, optimized for maximum terror and pain, with the fact that [[spoiler:he's an immortal being from another dimension, and torture of sapient beings is the only way to gather ''vitae'' that allows him to work towards getting back home.]] To his dubious credit, there isn't a hint of sadism in his actions; all the torment is carefully calculated and purpose driven without any kind of emotional dimension. However, at one point when examining one of his memory things [[spoiler: he admits that he's a monster who's done unforgivable things, but he just wants to get home too badly to stop.]]
* Part of the game mechanics in ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'', interstellar empires cannot engage in normal diplomatic relations with pre-FTL species. They can just research them like animals, uplift them as a protectorate, or simply [[AlienInvasion invade]]. And fighting other space empires requires a formal declaration of war, you can bombard or invade a pre-FTL planet at any time.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda:'' The Kett Empire justify their actions on the grounds that A: "reproduction cannot be left to chance", and B: "The superior race dominates". They often don't treat or consider other races sentient, even as they're destroying them. Their monumental arrogance even applies to their language. The name for it translates as "true speech".
* The Ancients from the ''VideoGame/AncientShivanWar'' mod for ''VideoGame/Freespace2'' regard every other race in the universe as inferior, and believe that they have the sole right to decide which ones are worthy of existence. They had absolutely no qualms about hunting other sapient races to extinction, yet when the [[PrecursorKillers Shivans]] start doing the same to them, they never even bother to compare it to what they themselves did, at least until the very end.
* The encyclopedia of ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' says that the "Golden Age of Man" was a lot less so for {{Muggles}} and beastfolk, who were demeaned and enslaved respectively by the ruling Adepts.

* In ''Anime/NadiatheSecretOFBlueWater'', Neo Atlantis holds humans to be nothing but uppity {{Upifted Animal}}s better off under Atlantean governance.

* This is Chatoyance's take on ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureau'', where she gives this excuse to justify the genocide of all humans (by [[BalefulPolymorph ponification]]). She [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/27678/ten-minutes-aftermath#comment/671772 firmly believes]] [[http://imgur.com/a/Aq2n7 (screenshotted)]] [[InsaneTrollLogic that a superior species justifiably can do things that would be considered evil if a "lesser" species (namely, humans) were to do them.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', [[spoiler:it's revealed that this was the reason that Amphibia 1,000 years before the series was a prosperous civilization despite the fact they were {{Planet Loot|ers}}ing multiversal-scale [[MultivereConqueror conquerors]]. Back then, all amphibians were indoctrinated to believe that there was nothing wrong with strip-mining worlds and enslaving the races that lived there because of their superiority. However, after the theft of the Calamity Box which led to Amphibia's advanced technology going inert, along with the FantasticCasteSystem Andrias put in place following Leif's betrayal, this mindset faded out of the current generation, to the point that they knew that invading innocent worlds, especially the one where Anne and her friends came from, is ''wrong'']].

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', [[spoiler:it's revealed that this was the reason that Amphibia 1,000 years before the series was a prosperous civilization despite the fact they were {{Planet Loot|er}}ing multiversal-scale [[MultivereConqueror conquerors]]. Back then, all amphibians were indoctrinated to believe that there was nothing wrong with strip-mining worlds and enslaving the races that lived there because of their superiority. However, after the theft of the Calamity Box which led to Amphibia's advanced technology going inert, along with the FantasticCasteSystem Andrias put in place following Leif's betrayal, this mindset faded out of the current generation, to the point that they knew that invading innocent worlds, especially the one where Anne and her friends came from, is ''wrong'']].

** This is Emet-Selch's justification for his actions in the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' expansion ''Shadowbringers''. He believes the Ascians to be a superior race that inherently hold much more value than the modern races of the world, whom he sees as mere fragments of what the Ascians once were. To him, the denizens of the Source and its many shards are but fuel to feed Zodiark, and will sacrifice them to [[spoiler: bring back the Asican empire of yore]]. It's partially subverted in that he sees the lesser races as not just genetically inferior, but ''morally'' inferior - he asks if the modern races would sacrifice half of themselves to save another [[spoiler: as the Ascians themselves did to summon Zodiark and repair the world]] - but it's clear he holds contempt for their innate lack of arcane acumen compared to the Ancients as well, using [[spoiler: the illusion of Amaurot]] to really drive home just how superior [[spoiler: the old Ascian civilisation]] was.