History Main / ShootTheBuilder

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** In "Hot Money," Hogan uses the fear of being murdered to get a printing technician to sabotage a Nazi counterfeiting operation. Some ManipulativeEditing of a recording is used to make the technician (who is in no real danger) think that he'll be shot for security reasons once the counterfeiting operation is complete. This gives the printer a vested interest in sabotaging the printing plates and sending the operation back to the starting line.

[[folder:Anime And Manga]]

So you've created your ultimate weapon of terror/fortress of doom/super-secret thing. One problem: somebody had to build/design this thing. What happens if [[HeKnowsTooMuch they talk]] or grow a conscience? Simple solution: have them all killed! Your secrets will be safe and s/he [[DisposableSuperheroMaker can't build another one]] for any rivals, and if done to a particularly naive engineer, you just acquired their services for free!

Of course, you have to hope there are NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup to ruin your scheme and lower the UniquenessValue of your weapon / fortress. Or the fact that an engineer/architect even a little bit savvy probably sees this trope coming and, by dint of the engineering skill the BigBad recruited them for in the first place, will often have a nasty FaustianRebellion prepped for a boss seeking to betray their builders.

* Downplayed by, of all people, H. H. Holmes, one of America's earliest and most infamous serial killers. During construction of his personally designed HellHotel (filled with hidden passageways, death traps, makeshift gas chambers and places to dispose bodies), he would fire workers after two weeks at maximum citing shoddy workmanship, so he would be the only person who knew exactly what it was that was being built.
** [[EvilIsPetty Also so he wouldn't have to pay them.]]

** Well he's an evil CIA agent, and [[EstablishingCharacterMoment it's implied by this action]] that his job is to stop Mexico from becoming too good.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': Shortly before the events of "Poof, You're Dead", magic trick inventor Zelman Drake built a robotic dummy to control the take off of Dahl's plane and make it look like Dahl was onboard so the [=SEC=] wouldn't pursue Dahl. Dahl killed him to keep the plot secret, which became a RevealingCoverUp.

** ''Literature/TheColourOfMagic'' features Goldeneyes Silverhand Dactylos, a parody of several RealLife myths[[note]]1. The unnamed architect who created the Moscow Kremlin who was ordered to be blinded by tsar Ivan The Terrible; 2. Ruze who created the Astrological Clock of Prague, who was also blinded so that he could never build a clock that would rival it; 3. Greek inventor Daedalus, kept imprisoned by his patron the king of Crete, so that nobody else could benefit from his genius (Daedalus escaped by building himself a set of wings and flying away).[[/note]] Dactylos built a golem army for Pitchiu, who richly rewarded him but put out his eyes so he could make nothing for his rivals. Dactylos made himself some non-functional golden eyes, then learned how to work metal by ''hearing'', helped build the Palace of the Seven Deserts, and was showered in silver by its emir, who also had Dactylos' hand lopped off. Dactylos made himself a silver prosthesis and helped build the great Light Dam for the tribes of Nef, who hamstrung and imprisoned him, until Dactylos crafted himself a flying machine and escaped. When he appears in the story, Dactylos has just finished making a flying machine for the rulers of Krull, who promised to reward him with nothing but his freedom, without lopping off any limbs. [[ILied Instead]] they shoot him InTheBack with a crossbow.

* Recurring ''ComicBook/IronMan'' villain Killer Shrike attempts to do this to GadgeteerGenius and villain arms maker the Tinkerer after he upgrades Shrike's suit. The Tinkerer, being used to dealing with the worst scum Marvel has to offer, is too savvy to fall for it, and has built-in fail-safes that let him disable any weapon he has made, in case anyone would be stupid enough to try this trope on him.
* Downplayed cruelly in ''ComicBook/NikolaiDante''. The Tsar has a massive monument of his own visage built in New Moscow, which was paid for by a raise in the tribute from all of the other dynasties. He has the architects who designed it [[EyeScream blinded]] so that they may never top this achievement.
* ''Comicbook/ThePunisher''

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'': In "Ramadan", as Haroun al-Rashid is walking through his castle, the various rooms that are mentioned include one that contains the skeletons of the castle's architects. The description notes "It is seldom healthy to know the secrets of a king."
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' CListFodder rogue The Fly does a spur-of-the-moment version of this when he opportunistically seizes the builder's work. He gets his powers when he's on the run from the police and finds a scientist named Stillwell working on a chemical formula that will create a meta human with animal characteristics. The Fly forces Stillwell to use it on him, then kills the scientist.
* The comic version of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' has the [[spoiler:experts who made the fake alien]] killed via a bomb on their boat. And then, the EvilPlan involved a ''deadly pyramid of killers that will kill the previous killers'' so no one could connect the deaths.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', King Maegor [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Cruel]], who organized the completion of the royal palace and King's Landing, had the architects, masons, etc. murdered so that he would be the only one who knew the location of all of the secret passages. [[spoiler: Despite this, Varys the Spider has access to most of the passageways. In fact when we finally see it's all one network; once you've got inside one you can find all the other entrances from the back.]] One of the (many) scenarios suggested about Maegor's mysterious death is that a surviving worker broke in through the passageway and killed him.
** Shortly after having all the workers killed, Maegor the Cruel began construction of the Dragonpit. Any workers who hadn't worked on the Red Keep promptly [[GenreSavvy fled the city.]] He had to use prisoners instead.

* ''Literature/TheDayOfTheJackal:'' Zigzagged. The Jackal visits a gunsmith and a forger in preparation for his mission. He kills [[spoiler:the forger]] [[BlackmailBackfire for trying to blackmail him]], but never considers doing the same thing to the [[spoiler:gunsmith]]. However, it's mentioned that [[spoiler:the gunsmith]] has hidden evidence of his various criminal dealings, so that any client who ''does'' decide to shoot the builder will get an unwelcome visit from the police.

* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'': In "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb," Victor Hatherly is hired to repair a hydraulic press, with his client (a counterfeiter named Fritz) trying to kill him once he's done with the rather suspicious job. Hatherly only escapes due to the intervention of Fritz's less-ruthless accomplices, one of whom references "the last time" and how Fritz promised "it should not [happen] again." [[DoomedPredecessor After hearing the story, Holmes recalls the disappearance of another engineer who was likely killed by Fritz after either building the press or conducting previous repairs]].

* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'': In "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb," Victor Hatherly is hired to repair a hydraulic press, with his client (a counterfeiter named Fritz) trying to kill him once he's done with the rather suspicious job. Hatherly only escapes due to the intervention of Fritz's less-ruthless accomplices, one of whom references "the last time" and how Fritz promised "it should not [happen] again." [[DoomedPredecessor After hearing the story, Holmes recalls the disappearance of another engineer who was likely killed by Stark after either building the press or conducting previous repairs]].

* ''Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy'': The construction crew who built the Maw Installation think tank were thanked for their services and sent on their way … in a shuttle with a sabotaged navigation system, causing them to crash into a black hole and take the secret of the [=WMD=]-developing base with them to their graves.
** Prior to ''Literature/LabyrinthOfEvil'' Palpatine killed everyone involved in the design and delivery of Darth Maul's ship except two scientists he planned to use later and a pilot who went into hiding. During the book's events, Palpatine unsuccessfully attempts to kill the pilot and the less important scientist to cover his tracks.
--->'''Fa'ale Lah:''' You know, they killed the engineers, the mechanics, just about everyone who worked on that craft. But I knew. I made the delivery, grabbed what was due me, and I was away. Not far enough, though. They tracked me to Ryloth, Nar Shaada, half the starforsaken worlds in the Tingel Arm. I had my share of close calls.

[[quoteright:1000:[[ComicStrip/ModestyBlaise https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shoot_the_builder.jpg]]]]

* ''Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy'': The construction crew who built the Maw Installation think tank were thanked for their services and sent on their way … in a shuttle with a sabotaged navigation system, causing them to crash into a black hole and take the secret of the [=WMD=]-developing base with them to their graves.
** Prior to ''Literature/LabyrinthOfEvil'' Palpatine killed everyone involved in the design and delivery of Darth Maul's ship except two scientists he planned to use later and a pilot who went into hiding. During the book's events, Palpatine unsuccessfully attempts to kill the pilot and the less important scientist to cover his tracks.
--->'''Fa'ale Lah:''' You know, they killed the engineers, the mechanics, just about everyone who worked on that craft. But I knew. I made the delivery, grabbed what was due me, and I was away. Not far enough, though. They tracked me to Ryloth, Nar Shaada, half the starforsaken worlds in the Tingel Arm. I had my share of close calls.

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* In ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'', George Ozone [[HumanNotepad tattooed a treasure map on the insoles of the feet of his sons]]. He then murdered the tattoo artists (although one survived) so they could not reveal the secret.
* ''ComicStrip/ModestyBlaise'': In "Black Queen's Pawn", Ranavalona has the slaves who built her treasure chamber put to death, and then the officers who commanded the slaves murdered, so that only she knows its location.
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