History YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness / Literature

'''Warning: Often serves as a DeathTrope, and frequently involves spoilers.'''

** The Grimmauld Place is decorated with heads of the House of Black's former house-elves. According to Sirius, his family had a tradition of chopping off the heads of house-elves who were too weak to carry a tray.

* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': A heroic example. At the start of ''The Lightning Thief'', Sally Jackson is married to Gabe Ugliano, an abusive slob of a man who stinks so bad his stench can mask the scent of a powerful demigod like her son Percy. Once Percy finds a new home in Camp Half-Blood, Sally decides she no longer needs Gabe's stench to protect Percy and [[spoiler:uses Medusa's head to kill him before selling his petrified corpse as a statue and using the money earned from the sale to start a new life as a writer]].

* ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' features a rare heroic example, by a [[UnscrupulousHero ruthless]] protagonist. In order to bring down the genocidal PathOfInspiration that rules [[GaiasRevenge Cascadia]], post-American warlord General Rumford allies with the local Resistance. Once their common enemy is beaten, he sends a flight to bring the resistance leaders over to the recaptured capital as promised -- Only to have the planes [[ILied bomb and strafe them instead]], killing them all, before turning Cascadia over to [[LesCollaborateurs his own picked men]].

* In ''Literature/AnimalFarm'', Old Major names this trope as one of the chief evils committed by man against animals, citing that "the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty." When Napoleon takes over the farm, he has [[spoiler:the big draft horse Boxer sold to the knacker's to have his throat cut and his remains boiled down for the foxhounds the very day his great muscles lose their power, and the dogs drowned in a pond when they become old and toothless.]] Unsurprisingly, he is shown to be [[FullCircleRevolution at least as bad as Farmer Jones]], who the animals overthrew near the start.

* In the Creator/GeorgeOrwell novel ''Literature/AnimalFarm'', Old Major names this trope as one of the chief evils committed by man against animals, citing that "the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty." When Napoleon takes over the farm, he has [[spoiler:the big draft horse Boxer sold to the knacker's to have his throat cut and his remains boiled down for the foxhounds the very day his great muscles lose their power, and the dogs drowned in a pond when they become old and toothless.]] Unsurprisingly, he is shown to be [[FullCircleRevolution at least as bad as Farmer Jones]], who the animals overthrew near the start.
* Visser One from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' is downright pathological about this, as revealed in [[VillainEpisode VISSER]]. Over the course of the narrative she goes through seven hosts, killing them one by one once she's got someone better and they're no longer of any use.

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/ConanTheBarbarian novel ''Literature/TheHourOfTheDragon'', Valerius knows Amalric will kill him as soon as the trope came into play, and so works hard on TakingYouWithMe.

* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':

** In ''Literature/{{Mort}}'', the [[TheEvilPrince Duke]] (a dab hand with poisons) catches the antidote-dosed King Olerve off-guard by simply hiring an assassin with a crossbow and a fast horse. Death assures the King's ghost that the assassin's horse isn't fast enough: [[AC: He allowed the Duke to provide him with a packed lunch]].
* In ''Literature/{{Dune}}'', Baron Vladimir Harkonnen [[IHaveYourWife has Yueh's wife kidnapped]] to coerce him into betraying the house of Atreides, then [[ReleasedToElsewhere "frees" his wife]] and [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves "reunites" him with her]], because "he [[IGaveMyWord always keeps his promises]]". (However, Yueh had [[GambitPileup already guessed the Baron's intentions and planned a posthumous revenge]].)

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'': Voldemort kills [[spoiler:Snape ]] because he believed that [[spoiler:Snape needed to die at his hand in order to gain control of the Elder Wand]]. Ironically, Voldemort failed to notice the slightly greater crime of [[spoiler:continually betraying him for the last eighteen years]].
** He also kills Bertha Jorkins in the fourth book because she is of no use to him anymore.
** Honestly, this trope serves as [[EvilCounterpart Voldemort's biggest contrast with Harry]]; [[MagneticHero Harry inspires loyalty]] [[PowerOfFriendship from his friends]] while Voldemort uses fear tactics. [[spoiler:His insistence on using this trope is what ultimately leads to his undoing. Not only does Narcissa Malfoy betray him at a critical moment, but his Death Eaters start to abandon him during the final fight.]]
* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/HaveSpaceSuitWillTravel''. Two of the Wormfaces' human minions receive this treatment. When the Wormfaces have no more use for them, they kill the minions and turn them into soup [[ImAHumanitarian so the Wormfaces' can eat them]].
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': In ''Mockingjay'', Coin didn't want Katniss to use her influence to recommend someone else for President after the war, and since she had already united the districts against the Capitol, she tried to pull this on her. By sending her BrainwashedAndCrazy kind-of ex-boyfriend to do it.
* In the Literature/ModestyBlaise novel ''I, Lucifer'', when the villains are abandoning their base before the authorities arrive, BigBad Seff casually shoots his underling Bowker and remarks that his usefulness is ended, since his skills were vital for the scam they were running but they won't be able to do that scam again, and now he is just a loose end that needs tidying up.

* Discussed and averted in Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{Insomnia}}''. When Charlie Pickering is arrested for trying to kill Ralph, Ralph's cop friend tells him that Ed Deepneau will let Pickering rot in jail and find himself a new [[TheDragon dragon]]. They're both surprised when Deepneau pays Pickering's considerable bail.

* ''Literature/JamesBond''

* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': In ''Literature/AMagesPower'', [[spoiler:Tasio says this about Aio, his alter ego. Since Eric has gained many other friends, he has played his role in Eric's development.]]

* Zandramas, the BigBad of ''Literature/TheMalloreon'', does this approximately fifty times in five books. Had to catch a ship? Sink it as soon as you're off. Don't need an escort any more? Break their legs and leave them for the lions. While Zandramas had a lot of bad habits, this was the one she indulged in most often.
** Interestingly, protagonist Garion points out the pragmatic downsides to this when he tries to dissuade his new friend Zakath from relying on executions as a punishment -- just because someone isn't useful anymore ''right now'' doesn't mean they won't be at some possible time later, and you can't exactly dig up people and un-execute them.

* In the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' prequel books, Marilena Carpathia, the mother of the future Antichrist Nicolae Carpathia, was killed off when Nicolae, still a child, was old enough to be cared for by his mentor Viv Ivins. His [[HasTwoMommies two biological fathers]], who were living together off payments from the corporation that funded the genetic project that brought forth Nicolae, were later killed off. Jonathan Stonagal, the man who financed Nicolae's birth, upbringing, and rise to power in the prequel stories, was killed off by Nicolae along with his associate Joshua Todd-Cothran when he saw that he no longer needed them.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': In ''Eclipse'', Jasper recounts his history as a member of a Vampire Newborn Army. Newborns are useful in their first year after being turned, because they are [[SuperStrength super strong]], but after their strength wanes, they are normally killed by their masters.

* ''Literature/TheTamuli'': [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by [[TheChick Sephrenia]] in ''The Shining Ones'', when she incorrectly believes she's outlived her usefulness to the other good guys.

* The Easterlings suffer this fate in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. Instead of the promised reward of the fertile lands of Beleriand, after betraying Maedhros at Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the Easterlings instead are driven to Hithlum (a depopulated wasteland following the battle) where they are not to exit on pain of death penalty. ''Heavily'' overlaps with RewardedAsATraitorDeserves

* Referenced in Jules Verne's ''Facing the Flag'': main character Simon Hart, who has been the only man to speak with MadScientist Thomas Roch for years, knows that the moment Roch reveals the secret to his superweapon, both of them will be killed by BigBad Ker Karraje. Much to their luck, Roch is paranoid enough that he keeps the secret to himself - and Karraje believes Hart knows more than he lets on.

The [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness elimination of inconvenient loose ends]] by villains of literature.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''