Discussion Main / YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness

Deleted the following as it's incorrect.

• Goldfinger, from which AVTAK cribbed much of its plotline (replace "gold" with "computer chips" and "Fort Knox" with "Silicon Valley") naturally invokes the trope as well, as Goldfinger leaves many of his subordinates, including Odd Job, who's loyal to the end, locked in the gold depository with a ticking nuke.

Goldfinger wasn't trying to get rid of his subordinates. He sealed the door to the vault after the American troops started their attack so they couldn't disarm the nuclear bomb.

Is Royd Lloyd's death scene from the TYBW anime an example of this trope? If so, could we add a video example of it?

Basically: "We don't need you anymore, so we're gonna kill you."

Deleted the following example (which violates Example Indentation and Examples Are Not Arguable) from The Spy Who Loved Me entry. Nowhere in the movie is there any indication that Stromberg blew up the Liparus. The fire and explosions caused by the combat between the Stromberg and submarine crews completely explain the destruction of the ship.

• A possible case with the Liparus and crew happens later. Immediately after the nuclear missiles detonate, the ship is rocked by explosions and begins to sink. It is entirely possible that fires from the earlier battle reached the ship's fuel or ammo storage, but the timing suggests this may have been a factor as well. The ship had completely served its purpose by that point after-all.

Where do hostages/captured heroes fit? If a prisoner has no more information, or if these are not the Hobbitses you were looking for (because they're not carrying the ring), would summary execution fit this trope? Or, is there another trope that can be linked and contrasted from here?

I think this article should have no real life examples. No Real Life Examples, Please! lists evil and villain tropes as not being allowed to have real life examples, but this trope is on the Evil Tropes index, and clearly is something reserved for villains. Basically, the real life examples there now are implicitly calling certain people or organizations evil, which doesn't really seem like it should be on this site.

Why is it "useful ness" instead of "usefulness"?

In Mass Effect 3, the Dalatrass Linron objects to healing the genophage stating that the krogan, with the rachni defeated, had lost their usefulness and that the affliction must not be cured, lest the krogan become a threat to the galaxy again. However, Shepard can nevertheless decide whether to actually cure the genophage or sabotage the cure.

Depending on the player's choice, Linron either congratulates or berates Shepard for their actions.

Would this trope apply in this instance?

Would this apply to "GI Joe vs. the Transformers"? In vol. 2, issue 4, a refitted Starscream escapes to rejoin Shockwave, the new Decepticon leader (Megatron was defeated in the prior volume) and just when Shockwave is about to let him "come home" a recording plays. It's revealed Cobra Commander had lined his housing with plastic explosives as the part of Shockwave's tower with him, Starscream and other Decepticons in it explodes.

meta-trope from Literature

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_and_Peace#Book.2FVolume_Four If you bothered to read, you may ntice, that the author has few favorite characters, who "live the life right way" Others serve mostly as opponents and temptations.

And in last Volume 4 they fades away one by one. For any random chance, for any strange accident, they either die or move far-far away. Almost all of them. They have no use for the author toward the end of the book, as he now gives medals to right guys.