History RewardedAsATraitorDeserves / Literature

* In ''Literature/{{Dune}}'', Dr. Wellington Yueh betrays the House Atreides. He is painfully [[AntiVillain aware that what he's doing is despicable]], but there's no other way: Baron Harkonnen [[IHaveYourWife Has His Wife]] and the Baron's right-hand-pysychopath [[TortureTechnician Piter deVries]] is keeping her in a [[RoboticTortureDevice pain amplifier]]. He betrays Duke Leto on the condtition that his wife Wanna will be [[ReleasedToElsewhere released]] from this torture. What's more, he is fully aware of what his "reward" will be: as soon as he's done his part, he and Wanna will have [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Outlived Their Usefulness]] in the eyes of the cruel Baron. It plays out exactly as Yueh expected: instead of thanking him for his cooperation, the triumphant Baron confirms that Wanna has already been killed and promptly sends Yueh to join her.

** Janos Slynt, the commander of the city's guards, agreed to back Ned Stark during a coup but then backstabbed him during it. As reward for his service, Janos is granted a castle fit for kings by the queen regent. Before he could enjoy his new lordship, however, his reward gets cancelled out by the replacer of the man whom he betrayed, citing his past treachery, and he himself gets consigned to a penal colony.

** Janos Slynt, the commander of the city's guards, agreed to back Ned Stark but backstabbed him during his coup. As reward for his service, Janos is granted a castle fit for kings by the queen regent. Before he could enjoy his new lordship, however, his reward gets cancelled out by the replacer of the man whom he betrayed, citing his past treachery, and he himself gets consigned to a penal colony.

** Janos Slynt, the commander of the city's guards, feigned loyalty and then betrayed Ned Stark during a coup. As reward for his service, Janos was granted a castle fit for king by the queen regent. Before he could enjoy his new lordship, however, his reward got cancelled out by the replacer of the man whom he betrayed, citing his past betrayal, and he himself gets consigned to a penal colony.

* ''Literature/TheBible'':
** King David was fighting a civil war against King Saul's successor, Ish-Bosheth, and two opportunistic officers assassinated the enemy king and presented his head to David in anticipation of a reward. He executed the traitors, cut off their hands and feet, and hung their corpses up by the pool at Hebron as a warning to others. As for Ish-Bosheth, David ordered him buried with full honors. This is also in keeping with how he treated an Amalekite who came bringing his predecessor Saul's crown and armband, claiming to have done a mercy-killing on Saul himself. Although David presumably found out later (after executing him) that the man was lying, he cited his decision concerning this other man to Ish-Bosheth's murderers, pointing out that what they'd done was far worse.
** ''The Bible'' also has two aversions. The first one: Balaam showed his loyalty to Yahweh even though his life was at risk and blessed the Israelites rather than cursing them as God told him to. He was killed for trying to have it both ways. He wouldn't betray God by pronouncing a curse where a blessing was required, but he still wanted the reward that the Midianites were offering to him. So he taught them how they could [[TakeAThirdOption turn the Israelites away from the commandments of God and bring His curse upon themselves]], making him a pretty straight example of this trope.
** Second one: The prostitute Rahab gave aid and comfort to two Israelite spies, allowing them to bring back information that allowed them to annihilate Jericho. Joshua spared her, and she became one of the ancestors of Christ! [[note]]Rahab married Salmon and became the mother of Boaz (Matthew 1:5) from who David's paternal family came.[[/note]]

* Averted in ''Literature/{{The Art of War|SunTzu}}'', if an enemy turns to your side, you should treat him well, and encourage others to do the same, though this is told in more of a DefeatMeansFriendship style.

* In the ''Literature/{{Iliad}}'', Dolon was captured by Odysseus and Diomedes and interrogated. To save his life, he quickly tells everything he knows. Then Diomedes kills him for speaking too easily.

* Averted, surprisingly enough, in ''Literature/ThePrince''. Machiavelli expounds on how this Trope is actually bad practice. Any advantage the Prince can cultivate against his enemies is a welcome one, and if there are people working for his enemies that are willing to turn on them, they should be encouraged, and then fairly rewarded if said betrayal works to the Prince's favor. The Prince is essentially gaining an ally in the traitor, and someone who punishes his allies for helping him will soon find himself without any.

* In the ALO arc of ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', one member of the Sylphs tries to sell out his race (which is in the process of allying with the Cait Sith), to the Salamanders, who are in a powerful position now and are expected to be even better off in the next patch, so that he can reroll as a Salamander. The plot fails thanks to Kirito's intervention and the traitor is exiled, but the Sylph leader suspects that even if the traitor's plan had succeeded, it's unlikely that the Salamander leader would have kept his end of the bargain.

* In ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'', Listelka offers to spare the Seven Dragon Paladins if they join her. Magialca and Singlen quickly do so, only for Listelka to say that they will be executed, as she can't trust people who switch sides so easily. In a twist, Magialca and Singlen weren't trying to surrender; rather, their true aim was to make Lux (another Paladin) appear to be a better option as a collaborator. This succeeds and kicks off a chain of events that leads to Aeril (Listelka's sister) betraying her family and all of the Paladins escaping. The trope is then subverted when Aeril is allowed to live despite being a traitor to her family.

** [[spoiler: Peter Pettigrew]] betrayed the Potters in hopes of ensuring himself a cosy, little seat on Voldemort's side, but instead it led to him being forced to go on the run and live as a common animal, which in a variation happened only because the backfire of his treachery led to the Dark Lord's other minions mistakenly thinking of him as a triple-agent. Even when he gets the chance to revive Voldemort and resume his position, he has pretty much nothing to offer Voldemort except as TheIgor when he's at his lowest point, and they both know it as they both know that he only helps him because his cover is blown and he is too cowardly to strike on his own. He spends the rest of the books in the background as Voldemort's contemptible, abused servant. [[spoiler: His death is also a classic example of the trope- Voldemort programmed the silver hand he gave Wormtail to strangle him if he ever betrayed Voldemort, because Voldy knew that he would do so in an instant if provided with a better option. Wormtail never really got that option, but his moment of hesitation in killing Harry (which ironically was his sole reaction caused by qualms) was interpreted as betrayal and he got strangled by Voldemort's gift to him.]]

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': [[spoiler: Peter Pettigrew]] betrayed the Potters in hopes of ensuring himself a cosy, little seat on Voldemort's side, but instead it led to him being forced to go on the run and live as a common animal, which in a variation happened only because the backfire of his treachery led to the Dark Lord's other minions mistakenly thinking of him as a triple-agent. Even when he gets the chance to revive Voldemort and resume his position, he has pretty much nothing to offer Voldemort except as TheIgor when he's at his lowest point, and they both know it as they both know that he only helps him because his cover is blown and he is too cowardly to strike on his own. He spends the rest of the books in the background as Voldemort's contemptible, abused servant. [[spoiler: His death is also a classic example of the trope- Voldemort programmed the silver hand he gave Wormtail to strangle him if he ever betrayed Voldemort, because Voldy knew that he would do so in an instant if provided with a better option. Wormtail never really got that option, but his moment of hesitation in killing Harry (which ironically was his sole reaction caused by qualms) was interpreted as betrayal and he got strangled by Voldemort's gift to him.]]

%% *** Played straight with Tom.

* Averted quite notably in ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'s ''Victory of Eagles'': Napoleon's offer in the last book of [[spoiler:sanctuary for Laurence and Temeraire ("I will not insult you with offers of treasure"), or barring that free passage to China, in return for the plague cure was at least in part a coldly logical tactic for keeping the bloodline of the Chinese Celestial breed away from the British. However, during increasingly violent foraging raids from occupied London, ''despite'' the fact that both Laurence and Temeraire were both serving the British once more, Laurence's family estate remained untouched apparently out of nothing more than sheer gratitude.]]

-->'''Miao Ze:''' I desire no reward, only Chunxiang for a wife.
-->'''Cao Cao:''' For the sake of a woman, you destroyed your brother's entire family. A man so faithless does not deserve to live.

* In Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', Sauron tells his captive Gorlim that he will be reunited with his wife Eilinel (apparently captured by Sauron) if Gorlim reveals where the heroes are. Gorlim gives in, at which point Sauron reveals that Eilinel is already dead--and Sauron does, indeed, [[ExactWords reunite Gorlim with her]].
** The Easterlings also suffer this fate in ''The Silmarillion''. Instead of the promised reward of the fertile lands of Beleriand, after betraying Maedhros at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the Easterlings instead are driven to the wasteland of Hithlum, which they are not to exit on pain of death. ''Heavily'' overlaps with YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'',

* In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/{{Ultramarines}}'' novel ''Nightbringer'', as soon as [[spoiler:Chanda]] reveals himself as TheMole and captures [[spoiler:the governor and the inquistor for de Valtos, deValtos hands him over to be [[ColdBloodedTorture tortured]] before the other prisoners.]]

*** A similar thing thing happened at the end of "The Dance of the Dragons", a Targaryen civil war. As Cregan Stark approached King's Landing with his army, Aegon II was poisoned before he could harm his nephew, who succeeded as Aegon III. Even though Cregan had been fighting against Aegon II, he still had their murderers executed or sending them to the Wall (though pardoned Corlys Velaryon), as he believed a King's murder should be punished.

** Vargo Hoat and the Brave Companion betray the Lannisters in exchange for the Boltons. [[spoiler:Once the Boltons join House Lanister, Roose has Hoat handed over to the Lanisters. Gregor Clegane has Hoat slowly dismembered (ironically, Gregor subverts this trope by sparing the life of a cook who opens a sidegate at Harrenhal, where Hoat and his remaining men are holed up, to let Gregor's forces take the castle)]].
** Historically, as detailed in ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'', this happened at the end of "The Dance of the Dragons", a Targaryen civil war. As Cregan Stark approached King's Landing with his army, Aegon II was poisoned before he could harm his nephew, who succeeded as Aegon III. Even though Cregan had been fighting against Aegon II, he still had their murderers executed or sending them to the Wall (though pardoned Corlys Velaryon), as he believed a King's murder should be punished.
** Another historical example from the novella "The Sons of The Dragon": several lords of the Vale helped [[CainAndAbel Jonos Arryn depose and murder his brother Ronnel]] to seize control of the Vale. The remaining Vale lords rose up in disgust at this outrage, forcing the rebels to retreat back to the Eyrie...and then Prince Maegor Targaryen (the future king known as [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Maegor the Cruel]]) arrived to reinforce the loyalists, along with the monstrous black dragon, Balerion the Dread. Fearing a repeat of [[KillItWithFire what Balerion had done to Harrenhal]], Jonos's fellow rebels promptly turned on him, killed him ([[DisneyVillainDeath they hurled him out the Moon Door]], [[LaserGuidedKarma the same way he'd murdered his brother]])and then surrendered in the hopes of gaining mercy. Unfortunately, the only mercy they got from Maegor was a hanging. ''[[HumiliationConga Naked.]]''

* The Maurice Ogden poem ''Literature/TheHangman'' tells the story of a traveling hangman who comes into a quiet town and builds a gallows, telling the citizens that he has come to execute the one who "serves me best". He begins hanging random citizens under the pretense that he has to make sure the gallows are still functioning, and the populace are either too indifferent to help or too afraid that they will be next if they intervene. Eventually, the narrator is the only person left in town, and when the Hangman comes to him, he explains that the narrator was the one he came to hang, [[AccomplicebyInaction as his willingness to let the Hangman murder an entire town]] in the [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo naive hope that he would be spared]] makes him the Hangman's most faithful servant.

[[folderontrol]]

[[E-I]]

[[S-Z]]

* Averted, surprisingly enough, in ''Literature/ThePrince''. Machiavelli expounds on how this Trope is actually bad practice. Any advantage the Prince can cultivate against his enemies is a welcome one, and if there are people working for his enemies that are willing to turn on them, they should be encouraged, and then fairly rewarded if said betrayal works to the Prince's favor. The Prince is essentially gaining an ally in the traitor, and someone who punishes his allies for helping him will soon find himself without any.

* In Creator/MercedesLackey and Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/TheElvenbane'', a wizard decides that the rebellion against the elven overlords is doomed to failure and attempts to buy his survival by offering his services and his knowledge of the rebels' secrets to an elvenlord. The elvenlord smiles encouragingly, listens to him carefully, and then [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique tortures him to be sure he wasn't lying]] and finally reduces the man to ashes when he's done.
* Averted quite notably in ''[[Literature/{{Temeraire}} Victory of Eagles]]'': Napoleon's offer in the last book of [[spoiler:sanctuary for Laurence and Temeraire ("I will not insult you with offers of treasure"), or barring that free passage to China, in return for the plague cure was at least in part a coldly logical tactic for keeping the bloodline of the Chinese Celestial breed away from the British. However, during increasingly violent foraging raids from occupied London, ''despite'' the fact that both Laurence and Temeraire were both serving the British once more, Laurence's family estate remained untouched apparently out of nothing more than sheer gratitude.]]

* In ''Literature/RepairmanJack'' novel ''By the Sword'' Yakuza interrogate a local mook by threatening to cut off his pinky. The man caves in and gives the information. Then Yakuza cut off the finger and swallow it (to prevent re-attachment) for ratting on a friend.
* ''Literature/TheSarantineMosaic'': Styliane Daleina, with her two brothers, murders Emperor Valerius II and her husband Leontes takes the throne; Leontes executes the one brother who survives the plot, has Styliane blinded and imprisoned on an island outside the city, and marries Queen Gisel for political advantage. In a twist, none of this really matters to Styliane: Leontes himself was loyal to Valerius and most likely would have become emperor one day anyway since Valerius had no children. Styliane's motivation was vengeance, since Valerius had been part of the conspiracy to murder her father fifteen years before.
* ''Literature/TheStand'': Randall Flagg, using a few different methods of persuasion, manages to convince Harold Lauder to try and destroy the good guys' governing committee, post-apocalyptic plague. Lauder sets off the bomb and heads out to join Flagg's burgeoning army in Las Vegas. However, Flagg arranges for Harold's death on the way, and Flagg's surrogate basically says, "Once a betrayer, always a betrayer."
* ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'': When Simon has told the Supreme Custodian about the location of Zelda's cottage, the Supreme Custodian plans to kill Simon along with the other Heaps.
* In the ALO arc of ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', one member of the Sylphs tries to sell out his race (which is in the process of allying with the Cait Sith), to the Salamanders, who are in a powerful position now and are expected to be even better off in the next patch, so that he can reroll as a Salamander. The plot fails thanks to Kirito's intervention and the traitor is exiled, but the Sylph leader suspects that even if the traitor's plan had succeeded, it's unlikely that the Salamander leader would have kept his end of the bargain.

* In ''[[Literature/MichaelVey The Prisoner of Cell 25]]'', Ostin manages to come up with a plan that lets Michael overpower Hatch's enforcer Nichelle, whose powers he used to keep the Electric Children in line via torture. When Nichelle begs Hatch to take her with him in his escape from the facility, he scoffs that she's [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived her usefulness]]. Nichelle says she thought they were friends and he answers that a person who betrays her own kind isn't a friend of anyone.
* In Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', Sauron tells his captive Gorlim that he will be reunited with his wife Eilinel (apparently captured by Sauron) if Gorlim reveals where the heroes are. Gorlim gives in, at which point Sauron reveals that Eilinel is already dead--and Sauron does, indeed, [[ExactWords reunite Gorlim with her]].
** The Easterlings also suffer this fate in ''The Silmarillion''. Instead of the promised reward of the fertile lands of Beleriand, after betraying Maedhros at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the Easterlings instead are driven to the wasteland of Hithlum, which they are not to exit on pain of death. ''Heavily'' overlaps with YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness.

* Combined with FalseReassurance in ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers''. One treacherous character gets rewarded for aiding UsefulNotes/CardinalRichelieu and has the bad judgment to "remind the Cardinal he is still alive" with what is presumably a letter begging for money. The Cardinal's response is that he will "take care of him for the rest of his life". The reader is informed a page later that the guy disappeared one day and is assumed to have spent the rest of his life "secure" in a castle with all of his meals provided. The character appears again, much transformed, in the sequel. Exactly what he went through is not clear, although it's unlikely Richelieu really cared what happened to him.
* In the Creator/SusanCooper novel ''Literature/TheDarkIsRising'', Merriman Lyon's servant Hawkin betrays him and goes over to the Dark. At the end of the novel, the Dark callously throws him down from a great height, severely injuring him.

* In Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/InterestingTimes'', TheMole reminds Lord Hong of his promise to [[ExactWords "neither write nor speak"]] orders for his execution. Lord Hong just smiles and tells the guards to "take him away"... [[TakeAThirdOption while holding a headless origami man]].

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'',
** Littlefinger does this in having [[spoiler: Dontos Hollard, who helped sneak Sansa out,]] turned into a human pin-cushion as soon as his job was done. A combination of HeKnowsTooMuch and YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness with the standard Traitor's Reward cited as either an explanation or an excuse.
** The Small Council in ''A Feast for Crows'' suggest doing this to [[spoiler: House Frey]] after their [[spoiler: horrific betrayal of House Stark/Tully in the [[MoralEventHorizon Red Wedding]]]], but Cersei just tells them to let them be, considering that [[spoiler: Walder Frey is very old and is likely to die soon]]. The Small Council is actively seeking to publicly distance itself politically from an atrocity committed with their secret approval and tacit encouragement. The only person who expresses distaste for such a den of traitors is Jaime Lannister when confronting [[spoiler:Lady Spicer]], and he still sticks to his father's agreement to reward her with titles and good marriages for her family (though decidedly ''not'' quite the ones she was hoping for). So, this is also an aversion of this trope after nodding at it. A Lannister, after all, pays his debts... even while twisting his top lip in distaste. However Jaime's cousin Ser Daven Lannister also shows distaste for the Freys, wishing that some of those under his command would die, though notably finds a few decent (the ones that didn't take part in the [[spoiler:Red Wedding]]).
** Vargo Hoat and the Brave Companion betray the Lannisters in exchange for the Boltons. [[spoiler:Once the Boltons join House Lanister, Roose has Hoat handed over to the Lanisters. Gregor Clegane has Hoat slowly dismembered (ironically, Gregor subverts this trope by sparing the life of a cook who opens a sidegate at Harrenhal, where Hoat and his remaining men are holed up, to let Gregor's forces take the castle)]].
** Historically, as detailed in ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'', this happened at the end of "The Dance of the Dragons", a Targaryen civil war. As Cregan Stark approached King's Landing with his army, Aegon II was poisoned before he could harm his nephew, who succeeded as Aegon III. Even though Cregan had been fighting against Aegon II, he still had their murderers executed or sending them to the Wall (though pardoned Corlys Velaryon), as he believed a King's murder should be punished.
** Another historical example from the novella "The Sons of The Dragon": several lords of the Vale helped [[CainAndAbel Jonos Arryn depose and murder his brother Ronnel]] to seize control of the Vale. The remaining Vale lords rose up in disgust at this outrage, forcing the rebels to retreat back to the Eyrie...and then Prince Maegor Targaryen (the future king known as [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Maegor the Cruel]]) arrived to reinforce the loyalists, along with the monstrous black dragon, Balerion the Dread. Fearing a repeat of [[KillItWithFire what Balerion had done to Harrenhal]], Jonos's fellow rebels promptly turned on him, killed him ([[DisneyVillainDeath they hurled him out the Moon Door]], [[LaserGuidedKarma the same way he'd murdered his brother]])and then surrendered in the hopes of gaining mercy. Unfortunately, the only mercy they got from Maegor was a hanging. ''[[HumiliationConga Naked.]]''
* ''Literature/TheBible'':
** King David was fighting a civil war against King Saul's successor, Ish-Bosheth, and two opportunistic officers assassinated the enemy king and presented his head to David in anticipation of a reward. He executed the traitors, cut off their hands and feet, and hung their corpses up by the pool at Hebron as a warning to others. As for Ish-Bosheth, David ordered him buried with full honors. This is also in keeping with how he treated an Amalekite who came bringing his predecessor Saul's crown and armband, claiming to have done a mercy-killing on Saul himself. Although David presumably found out later (after executing him) that the man was lying, he cited his decision concerning this other man to Ish-Bosheth's murderers, pointing out that what they'd done was far worse.
** ''The Bible'' also has two aversions. The first one: Balaam showed his loyalty to Yahweh even though his life was at risk and blessed the Israelites rather than cursing them as God told him to. He was killed for trying to have it both ways. He wouldn't betray God by pronouncing a curse where a blessing was required, but he still wanted the reward that the Midianites were offering to him. So he taught them how they could [[TakeAThirdOption turn the Israelites away from the commandments of God and bring His curse upon themselves]], making him a pretty straight example of this trope.
** Second one: The prostitute Rahab gave aid and comfort to two Israelite spies, allowing them to bring back information that allowed them to annihilate Jericho. Joshua spared her, and she became one of the ancestors of Christ! [[note]]Rahab married Salmon and became the mother of Boaz (Matthew 1:5) from who David's paternal family came.[[/note]]
* In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'', Mulch attempts to sweet talk some goblins by claiming he doesn't approve of the dwarf/goblin tunnel wars and is actually a goblin sympathiser. In response, the goblins attempt to kill him; the only thing they hate more than a dwarf is a traitor to his own kind, and Mulch ticks both boxes.
* In the ''Literature/{{Iliad}}'', Dolon was captured by Odysseus and Diomedes and interrogated. To save his life, he quickly tells everything he knows. Then Diomedes kills him for speaking too easily.

* ''Literature/MaulLockdown'': The Hutt enforcer working as a prison guard who names all of the others after being threatened with death isn't given any special consideration for this when Warden Blirr leaves them all to the mercy of the prison gangs.
* In the ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' series book ''Mattimeo'', Slagar adds a defecting shrew to his chain gang of slaves after the shrew volunteers useful information.
** Slagar is a double-crosser anyway, promising his slaver recruits the sky only to abandon those who haven't died along the way and pit them against each other.
** Badrang in ''Martin the Warrior'' does this.
** Subverted by Tsarmina in ''Mossflower'', who states that ''not'' invoking this trope is the only reward for defecting to her side.
** A spy in ''The Bellmaker'' is warned about this by Urgan Nagru, the BigBad, after he offers information on Nagru's mate (they're constantly plotting against each other) after the rat suggests a reward would be in order. He's then happy to escape with his life.
---> "Life is the highest reward of all, my friend. [[TheMole Double dealers]] and [[TheStarscream traitors]] often receive death as their payment. But I will spare you for your treachery to me and my queen. Your reward is that I allow you to live."
** As far as goodbeast species traitors, Skan the shrew in ''Mattimeo'' was put in Slagar's slave line as reward for his treachery, and soon after killed by the Painted Ones.
* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', the Winter Knight Lloyd Slate betrayed Mab, and the way she punished him was... excessive. She entombed him in ice, crucified on a tree of the same, until he's almost dead from frostbite and exhaustion... at which point Mab takes him out, feeds him, heals him, and takes him to bed with her, only to return him to his torture when he wakes up. Never piss off the queen of TheFairFolk, people.
-->'''Mab:''' To be sure, the White Christ never suffered so long or terribly as did this traitor. Three days on a tree. Hardly enough time for a prelude. When it came to visiting agony, the Romans were hobbyists.
** Averted with [[spoiler: Harry himself]]: when ''he'' tried to cheat Mab of her Knight, she was not only amused and proud, but she risked ''reality itself'' by spending six months healing him. Justified Mab knew [[spoiler: Harry]] well enough to know that he would try to find a way out, and he was not betraying her to someone else, he was being a RulesLawyer about their bargain- which is actually something Mab ''wants'' in a Knight, as she's looking for someone who can survive [[DecadentCourt Faerie politics]] and be something more than your average Winter thug. By weaseling out of their bargain like he did, [[spoiler: Harry]] showed that he was clever enough to almost cheat the Winter Queen, had enough moral fiber and determination to resist the [[TheCorruption Winter Knight's mantle]], was independent enough to create his own plans and execute them without her micromanagement, and was cheeky enough to question her if need be. [[spoiler: Harry]] actually gets her to back down on controlling him by threatening to ''not'' show these qualities- if she tries to control him, he'll go LiteralGenie on her and force her to spend all her time pushing him places if she wants anything done.
* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/HaveSpaceSuitWillTravel''. Two of the Wormfaces' human minions receive this treatment. When the Wormfaces [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness have no more use for them]], they kill the minions and turn them into soup [[ImAHumanitarian so the Wormfaces can eat them]].

* Averted, surprisingly enough, in ''Literature/ThePrince''. Machiavelli expounds on how this Trope is actually bad practice. Any advantage the Prince can cultivate against his enemies is a welcome one, and if there are people working for his enemies that are willing to turn on them, they should be encouraged, and then fairly rewarded if said betrayal works to the Prince's favor. The Prince is essentially gaining an ally in the traitor, and someone who punishes his allies for helping him will soon find himself without any.
* Averted in ''Literature/TheLegendsongSaga'' when Glynn is rescued by myrmidons on Fomhika. Instinctively trusting her, they take her back to the inn where several Darkfall allies have gathered and, despite her attempts to leave, offer her the chance to join them. Hella then reveals that Glynn is working for the Drakka and they realise she now [[HeKnowsTooMuch knows too much]], but they offer her the chance to spy on the Drakka for them instead. Glynn is tempted to take their offered escape, but her [[HonorBeforeReason sense of honour]] forces her to refuse. Duran is impressed, and reveals that if she had accepted she would have allowed one of the other myrmidons to kill her. Instead she lets her go, offering friendship and requesting that Glynn reconsiders about her loyalties.
* In ''Literature/TheDinosaurLords'', a captured knight is more than happy to rat out the identity of TheMole in heroes' ranks, noting that by now, the man is [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness pretty much useless]] to his side.
* The Maurice Ogden poem ''Literature/TheHangman'' tells the story of a traveling hangman who comes into a quiet town and builds a gallows, telling the citizens that he has come to execute the one who "serves me best". He begins hanging random citizens under the pretense that he has to make sure the gallows are still functioning, and the populace are either too indifferent to help or too afraid that they will be next if they intervene. Eventually, the narrator is the only person left in town, and when the Hangman comes to him, he explains that the narrator was the one he came to hang, [[AccomplicebyInaction as his willingness to let the Hangman murder an entire town]] in the [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo naive hope that he would be spared]] makes him the Hangman's most faithful servant.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': [[spoiler: Peter Pettigrew]] betrayed the Potters in hopes of ensuring himself a cosy, little seat on Voldemort's side, but instead it led to him being forced to go on the run and live as a common animal, which in a variation happened only because the backfire of his treachery led to the Dark Lord's other minions mistakenly thinking of him as a triple-agent. Even when he gets the chance to revive Voldemort and resume his position, he has pretty much nothing to offer Voldemort except as TheIgor when he's at his lowest point, and they both know it as they both know that he only helps him because his cover is blown and he is too cowardly to strike on his own. He spends the rest of the books in the background as Voldemort's contemptible, abused servant. [[spoiler: His death is also a classic example of the trope- Voldemort programmed the silver hand he gave Wormtail to strangle him if he ever betrayed Voldemort, because Voldy knew that he would do so in an instant if provided with a better option. Wormtail never really got that option, but his moment of hesitation in killing Harry (which ironically was his sole reaction caused by qualms) was interpreted as betrayal and he got strangled by Voldemort's gift to him.]]
* Invoked in book 6 of ''Literature/GuardiansOfGaHoole'' by the Ice Talons League in regards to their banishment of Ifghar and Gragg. But the Ice Talons League ''lost'' the pivotal battle where the two betrayed the Kielian League, so it could be more of a YouHaveFailedMe situation.
** Averted in the rest of the series. The Guardians believe in second chances, and both [[AcademyOfEvil St. Aggie's]] and the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Pure Ones]] are always in need of new recruits, so this trope never actually takes place.
* ''Literature/NewJediOrder:''
** Everyone generally figures this is what the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]] will do to the [[LesCollaborateurs Peace Brigade]] when everything's over if they win. Certainly, some of the Vong do genuinely despise traitors, but the Vong BlueAndOrangeMorality makes it unclear. The Vong might well have killed them when they were done, but in their minds this might have been a legit, non-ironic reward. In fact, despite the Brigade trying to be seen as equals many of them ended up enslaved in the later stages of the war [[TooDumbToLive but the majority kept fighting for them anyway]].
** The [[ProudMerchantRace Hutts]], however, weren't so lucky. The Hutts betrayed the rest of the galaxy and arranged a peace agreement with the Vong, offering one of their own planets as a staging ground for an attack against the New Republic in exchange for early notice of which worlds they'd invade so they could avoid them. After [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom a crime lord allied with the Hutts]] gave the Smugglers' Alliance and Republic said list of worlds, the Vong saw this as a deliberate betrayal by the Hutts and decimated their homeworld and moon with bioweapons.
* ''Literature/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': During the school trip, two of Angelica's former followers decide to sell out all of the students aboard their cruiser, to be taken hostage by the Principality of Fanoss. After Angie surrenders herself, they're left aboard the ship, and they realize too late they're going to be executed along with everyone else.
* ''Literature/Overlord2012:'' The forces of Re-Estize betray and kill their commander and prince Zanac, then offer his severed head to Ainz in the hopes that he spares them and their families. Ainz, who had personally met Zanac and formed a short but amicable rapport with him, has the mutineers escorted to [[TortureTechnician Neuronist]] [[AFateWorseThanDeath Painkill]] as "a reward comparable to their efforts." For good measure, Ainz also orders that Neuronist does not kill them unless they beg for it... and not to kill them quickly even if they ''do'' beg.

* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': During the school trip, two of Angelica's former followers decide to sell out all of the students aboard their cruiser, to be taken hostage by the Principality of Fanoss. After Angie surrenders herself, they're left aboard the ship, and they realize too late they're going to be executed along with everyone else.

* ''LightNovel/HowToBuildADungeonBookOfTheDemonKing'': Aur is captured by Figurian strategist Cass, an advisor to the king (manga chapter 13). He works out that she's going behind the king's back and hopes to use him to advance herself. After he's rescued by Yunis and the others in the next chapter, he rejects Cass's offer to ally with him to save herself and [[KillItWithFire burns her alive]].

** The AlternateUniverse version of Tobias is controlled by a Yeerk loyal to Visser One, TheRival to BigBad Visser Three. Upon torture and threats from Visser Three, Tobias betrays Visser One and expects to be spared. Visser Three kills Tobias instead, almost directly citing this trope.