History Main / GuiltFreeExterminationWar

NoRealLifeExamplesPlease, this issue could effectively become a FlameWar even in fictional settings, also might invoke any alien's wrath should they ever took note of it.

* ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans2'': Late in the game, [[TheReveal it's revealed]] that the reason the Soviet Union is hunting down Crypto is becuase it was taken over by the blisk, the mortal enemies of the furons. When Crypto asks Poxy about why there are still blisk in existence, [[MrExposition Orthopox explains that]] the blisk turned Mars into an interplanetary power and seeked to expand their dominions, which brought them into conflict with the Furon Empire. At the conclusion of [[GreatOffscreenWar the Martian War]], the blisk were tought to be extinct and Mars was turned into a sterile rock, but the blisks' natural ability to thrive in radioactive environments combined with the powerful nuclear weapons the furons used to kill blisk en-masse resulted in [[GodzillaThreshold the furons becoming sexually esterile]], and [[PyrrhicVictory after millions of furons died in the conflict]], they had to rely on cloning to reproduce, which is becoming more impractical as [[CloneDegeneration furon DNA's been breaking down due to repetetive cloning]]. When Crypto confronts [[spoiler: [[BigBad Premier Milenchov]], the latter reveals that after the last damaged blisk ship crashlanded in [[TheTunguskaEvent Tunguska]], the surviving blisk infiltrated Czarist Russia, and manipulated the events that led to the [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober the 1917 Revolution]], with blisk leaders assuming the role of [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Soviet Premier, from Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev]], and says that he plans to kill Crypto, destroy his cloning chamber, and [[HostileTerraforming irradiate earth to make it a heaven for the blisk]]]]. Since earth contains the virgin furon [=DNA=] he needs to harvest in order to make furons virile again, [[EvilVersusOblivion Crypto will have none of that]]. After Crypto defeats [[spoiler: Milenchov, the final remaining blisk send a distress signal to any sentient liferoms to rescue them from earth, and the PostFinalLevel has Crypto hunting down these blisk and [[FinalSolution eliminate them once and for all]]]]

* The Website/NewGrounds browser TurnBasedStrategy flash game "World Domination" amounted to [[TakeOverTheWorld achieving such]] by completely wiping out all enemy populations through nuclear, biological, and conventional attacks.

This is when ''both sides'' have '''no issues''' in trying to destroy the other side, and the only way that the war will end is with one side's destruction. Peace is not an option, and the only end is when the other side is destroyed entirely and there are no survivors. It may not even be a war: it may just be a natural enemy that is a constant danger to the heroes, like the ZombieApocalypse. Don't expect AnAesop or musing about how war is terrible or TheHero is [[HeWhoFightsMonsters becoming like their enemies]]. There won't be an [[GenocideDilemma agonizing decision about whether or not it's okay]] to [[CurbStompBattle annihilate enemy forces if the chance arises]]. These enemies aren't just okay to kill individually like [[WhatMeasureIsAMook Mooks]], these enemies are okay to '''exterminate''' in their entirety. However, one side keeping the other around as [[ImAHumanitarian food]] or [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong nurseries]] fits in as well.

* ''Literature/TheSparrow'': The Jana'ata are a violent carnivorous species and the docile Runa are their domesticated prey. The Jana'ata fear the numbers of the Runa as they outnumber the Jana'ata 25 to 1. Meanwhile the Runa are subject to murder, cannibalism, rape and the occasional population cull, the only reason they hadn't retaliated is they're ConditionedToAcceptHorror. When a small group of human missionaries give the Runa the notion that they can beat the Jana'ata through population size. In the sequel novel, this eventually triggers a revolution by the Runa and it's a fight for survival by both sides. Karma came for the Jana'ata and they're almost extinct save for those progressive members that never harmed the Runa.

* ''Literature/TheSunEater'': The combatants are the human Sollan Empire and the alien Cielcin species have been at war for over 1000 years (It's only the Sollans at war, other human factions are either neutral or allied with the Cielcin). The Cielcin ultimately seek the destruction of the physical universe in service to their gods, while the Sollan Empire are at least partially contemptuous of every alien species and they've taken the brunt of Cielcin atrocities. So there's little angsting when the Sollans reduce the trillions+ Cielcin to a few hundred in captivity at the start of the story.

* ''Literature/TheSunEater'': The combatants are the human Sollan Empire and the alien Cielcin species have been at war for over 1000 years. The Cielcin ultimately seek the destruction of the physical universe in service to their gods, while the Sollan Empire are at least partially contemptuous of every alien species and they've taken the brunt of Cielcin atrocities. So there's little angsting when the Sollans reduce the trillions+ Cielcin to a few hundred in captivity at the start of the story.

* ''Literature/TheSparrow'': The Jana'ata are a violent carnivorous species and the docile Runa are their domesticated prey. The Jana'ata fear the numbers of the Runa as they outnumber the Jana'ata 25 to 1. Meanwhile the Runa are subject to murder, cannibalism, rape and the occasional population cull, the only reason they hadn't retaliated is they're ConditionedToAcceptHorror. When a small group of human missionaries give the Runa the notion that they can beat the Jana'ata through population size, this eventually triggers a revolution by the Runa and it's a fight for survival by both sides. Karma came for the Jana'ata and they're almost extinct save for those progressive members that never harmed the Runa.

* ''WebAnimation/DingoDoodles'': It is revealed that this is the reason why the Foreclaimers disappeared. [[spoiler:They created an artificial god named Xanu and then performed cruel experiments on him. Xanu came to the conclusion that the Foreclaimers needed to be destroyed because their LackOfEmpathy made them capable of horrible atrocities. So he took control of their machines and attempted to wipe them out. He was only partially successful, as they excaped from him by opening a massive portal to another plane, which slamed shut on Xanu as he was chasing them and shattered him into pieces. His goal now that he has mostly reformed himself is to open the portal and finish them off.]]

* ''Manhwa/WitchHunter'' has a GuiltFreeExterminationWar on ''both'' sides of the conflict. The human side began to kill witches as a new and powerful religion that spoke against them began to spread, leading to the death of countless mostly innocent witches. In answer to this, the witches began ''their'' own war against the humans, wiping out whole countries using their magic and powerful familiars. The humans in answer to this, started an Organization called WH, made up of powerful humans and witches, with the stated goal of capturing and restraining as many witches as they can, locking them up and draining them of their powers. The main problem is that many of their more powerful non-witch members ''despise'' witches for their actions and kill as many of them as they can, and also wish to kill the ones that fight for ''their'' side.

* ''Manga/{{Mushishi}}'': while Ginko is normally a FriendToAllLivingThings and incredibly forgiving to even the most violent or dangerous mushi, his response when confronted with a species of mushi that exists solely by preying on people is to explain calmly that humans and that breed of mushi cannot coexist, and humans are stronger.
* In ''Anime/{{Gunbuster}}'', the space monsters are described as a galactic "immune system" trying to wipe out the "disease" of humanity. Humanity is aware that their winning may carry consequences for the galaxy but decides "Fuck that, we're gonna try to survive anyway."
* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'': The war devolved into this after the destruction of the Eurasian military forces at JOSH-A, the Earth Alliance was quick to adopt extremely dubious policies like using drugged up SuperSoldiers to keep up with Zaft's genetically enhanced ones, and ZAFT used Genesis to microwave their enemies alive.
** The Veigans and Earth Federation Forces also apply in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE'', all of the Veigans are fanatically loyal to Elzecant and the Earth Federation knows nothing short of the extermination of the Veigan will stop them.
** Orga's policy towards the enemy in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' after Biscuit's death at the hands of Carta when Mika goads Orga to a more ruthless direction. This puts them on a much more ruthless and suicidal approach to fighting their foes in battle. The focus of the brutality can be felt after the Turbines were nearly massacred by Iok and Jasley killing Lafter to spark off a violent reaction from Tekkadan which in term resulted in a brutal counterattack without compromise for anyone, even the normally sane Human Debris pilots Nadi and Dante gave Zack a cold glare for suggesting mercy.
* This is ''not'' the case in ''Manga/{{Superior}}'', but most side characters think it is, as does the female lead. The primary conflict between her and the male lead is over whether a peaceful solution is possible. (To make matters worse, they're supposed to be leading opposite sides of the fight--[[InLoveWithTheMark she argues with herself quite a bit over why she hasn't just killed him if she's so certain he'll have to die eventually]].)
* Galactic Alliance vs. Hideauze war in ''Anime/GargantiaOnTheVerdurousPlanet'' definitely feels like this. And at least the Alliance is desperate enough to employ [[DesignerBabies artificially-grown]] ChildSoldiers like the protagonist. Then it's revealed that [[spoiler:the Hideauze are genetically altered Humans. Suddenly, Ledo begins feeling a lot of guilt.]]

* ''Manhwa/WitchHunter'' has a GuiltFreeExterminationWar on ''both'' sides of the conflict. The human side began to kill witches as a new and powerful religion that spoke against them began to spread, leading to the death of countless mostly innocent witches. In answer to this, the witches began ''their'' own war against the humans, wiping out whole countries using their magic and powerful familiars. The humans in answer to this, started an Organization called WH, made up of powerful humans and witches, with the stated goal of capturing and restraining as many witches as they can, locking them up and draining them of their powers. The main problem is that many of their more powerful non-witch members ''despise'' witches for their actions and kill as many of them as they can, and also wish to kill the ones that fight for ''their'' side.
* One of the central themes of ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' explores the consequences for both sides, when this sort of attitude is in full force. Since Ghouls can only eat human (or Ghoul) flesh, the majority adopts an attitude that devalues life in order to deal with eating sentient beings to survive. Humanity has passed the Ghoul Countermeasure Acts, requiring the extermination of Ghouls and harsh punishment for any human that fails to report one. Most people don't even realize that Ghouls are people, considering them inhuman monsters that may mimic human appearance but not seeing anything wrong with torturing or killing small children if they are Ghouls. Reality is more complicated, and the series focus on a human turned into a HalfHumanHybrid and taken in by a group of [[VegetarianVampire peaceful Ghouls]] that scavenge dead bodies to survive. Kaneki comes to realize the cruelty of the endless cycle of killing, with humans and Ghouls alike suffering because of it. Encountering him makes Ghoul Investigator [[WorthyOpponent Amon]] begin to question everything he's been taught, while InterspeciesRomance repeatedly plays a significant role in the story more than once. The finale of the original series brings this full circle, with [[spoiler:the CCG raiding Anteiku and both sides left absolutely devastated while the militant [[AntiHumanAlliance Aogiri]] benefits from the carnage]]. The utter pointlessness of it all is driven home by a pair of Investigators wondering if anyone could be considered the victor, while the sequel shows that the consequences have made things worse for humans and Ghouls alike.
* ''Literature/GoblinSlayer'': The titular protagonist's one-man war of genocide against the goblins, a sapient species, is morally acceptable because goblins are made clear to have [[AlwaysChaoticEvil no redeeming qualities whatsoever]], without exception, including their children. On the flip side, part of their vindictive hate for all other civilization comes from surviving attempts by those civilizations to exterminate all goblins for being AlwaysChaoticEvil savages, causing an eternal CycleOfRevenge that will only end when either all goblins are dead or goblins rule the world.
* In ''Literature/ImTheEvilLordOfAnIntergalacticEmpire'', the protagonist has this attitude towards pirates, both individually and as a whole. This is justified by the fact that regardless of origin or excuse, pirates are so heinous and their crimes so horrific that the only acceptable punishment is death, and showing them any mercy whatsoever just allows them time to rebuild, rearm, and come back stronger and meaner than before. Pirates also completely practice DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs, firmly convinced that if they don't completely exterminate the people ''they go out of their way to antagonize in the first place'' then their victims will just summarily hunt them down and kill them, or hire someone to do it for them.
* In ''Anime/TekkamanBlade'', absolutely no one feels bad about killing off the Radam's alien hordes; the Tekkamen... not so much.
* In ''Manga/ThePromisedNeverland'' this is the attitude of [[spoiler:Norman]] and his followers towards the human-eating Demons. In contrast, Emma works to stop their extermination plan because she believes the Demons can be reformed without going extinct (albeit still requiring the death of their extremely corrupt and evil Royal Class).

* The Martians in Film/MarsAttacks, they invade Earth and massacre everyone with glee. Then the humans in turn do the same to the invaders when they figured out their weakness.