History YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness / VideoGames

* In ''VideoGame/Persona4: [[UpdatedRerelease Golden]]'', this is [[spoiler:Marie's]] potential fate in the route to the TrueEnding. With the two other PiecesOfGod defeated, her remaining purpose is to [[spoiler:get rid of all traces of Izanami's AssimilationPlot, herself included, so that said goddess can try it again at a later date]]. Saving her is actually optional, though [[spoiler:Izanami]] doesn't actually care if you do.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'', [[spoiler:this is done to you after stage 6, when you find out that Selene wasn't LaResistance, but TheEmpire. But it might have been a bad idea to try something like that on a OneManArmy]].

* In the non-canon ''VideoGame/{{Ys}} IV'': The Dawn of Ys, Gruda mortally stabs Eldeel after the latter raises the Ancient City from the ground, stating that the real reason he worked for him is to revive Arem, the true leader to the Clan of Darkness.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro: Dawn of the Dragon'', Malefor does this to the apes by giving them a FateWorseThanDeath as a reward for freeing him from his prison, and also because they ''only'' helped him in the first place because he was giving them power.

* In ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'', [[spoiler:General Shepherd shoots his subordinates, Roach and Ghost, after they retrieve intel on Makarov, then has his Shadow Company goons douse the bodies in kerosene, which he personally ignites. [[TearJerker Oh, and you see all of this through Roach's eyes.]] A rare case of this being done to {{Unwitting Pawn}}s, not Mooks]].

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', in the 2013 Halloween event, once the mercenaries take the corpse of Redmond/Blutarch to hell, the remainder will send everyone to hell so he doesn't have to pay them.

* [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Dimitri Rascalov]] attempts this several times in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''. After Niko offs his AxCrazy business partner on Dimtri's orders, Dimitri tries to sell Niko out to Bulgarin, a crime boss with a grudge against Niko, which results in a shootout in a warehouse. If Niko later agrees to assist Dimitri in a drug deal, Dimitri sends a hitman to Roman's cousin's wedding, who tries to shoot Niko, but ends up killing Roman instead.

* ''VideoGame/AceCombat''

* This is one of the main M.O.s for the [[ReligionOfEvil Order of Zugzwang]], the main villains of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV''. The slaves forced to build their colossal temple in the human world? Killed to cover their tracks. [[spoiler:The EvilChancellor who hands over your wife to TheDragon? Promptly murdered.]] Not even their own are safe from this treatment. [[spoiler:King Korol, a high-ranking Order official who was in charge of the aforementioned temple, is casually tossed aside by [[BigBad Nimzo]] after he fulfills his final duty.]]

* At the end of ''VideoGame/MafiaIII'', after taking over the city , you have the option of killing all of your surviving lieutenants in order to clean up loose ends at the urging of your CIA contact. Doing this results in [[spoiler:Lincoln getting blown up with a car bomb the next time he enters a car, planted by his former mentor Father James, who now sees him as beyond redemption]].

* At the end of ''Videogame/MafiaIII'', after taking over the city , you have the option of killing all of your surviving lieutenants in order to clean up loose ends at the urging of your CIA contact. Doing this results in [[spoiler:Lincoln getting blown up with a car bomb the next time he enters a car, planted by his former mentor Father James, who now sees him as beyond redemption]].

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', [[spoiler:the Illusive Man]]'s new antagonism towards Shepard is apparently a case of this, [[spoiler:though in fact it's because he's indoctrinated]]. Later on during the game, during the attempted siege on the Citadel, [[spoiler:Cerberus has a mole inside C-Sec, who is killed shortly before Shepard gets there for this reason.]]

* In ''VideoGame/SystemShock 2'' [[spoiler:SHODAN]] tells you this after you kill The Many. [[SarcasmMode Big surprise there.]]
** Although it's somewhat subverted: [[spoiler:She'd originally hoped to have you serve as her "avatar", but her plan will destroy everything upon the Von Braun and Rickenbacker, and the escape pods have already been taken.]]

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', [[spoiler:the Illusive Man]]'s new antagonism towards Shepard is apparently a case of this, [[spoiler:though in fact it's because he's indoctrinated]].

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', [ spoiler:the Illusive Man]]'s new antagonism towards Shepard is apparently a case of this, [[spoiler:though in fact it's because he's indoctrinated]].

* Stated almost word-for-word by [[labelnote:The Leader]]Read: UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler with the SerialNumbersFiledOff[[/labelnote]] to Killt in ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'' and its UpdatedRerelease.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman 64}}'', after you [[spoiler:beat [[FinalBoss Altair]] with 100 gold cards, [[TreacherousQuestGiver Sirius]]]] does this to you, taking up the role of TrueFinalBoss [[spoiler:(but only after you've bomb-jumped your way through the NintendoHard Rainbow Palace)]].

** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'': If you tell Autumn the purifier code, he shoots you on the spot. In ''Point Lookout'', if you side with Calvert in the final main quest, he says something to this effect and activates a squad of Protectrons to kill you.

* TheReveal of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' involves [[spoiler:Ikutsuki doing this to the party]], though the death part, at least, had a purpose: He was going to use his tools as {{human sacrifice}}s to accelerate his plan. Because apparently he can't wait [[spoiler:three lousy months (though the party would have [[HeKnowsTooMuch known too much]] anyway)]]. [[SmugSnake Still fails, though]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}: [[UpdatedRerelease Golden]]'', this is [[spoiler:Marie's]] potential fate in the route to the TrueEnding. With the two other PiecesOfGod defeated, her remaining purpose is to [[spoiler:get rid of all traces of Izanami's AssimilationPlot, herself included, so that said goddess can try it again at a later date]]. Saving her is actually optional, though [[spoiler:Izanami]] doesn't actually care if you do.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' has this happen fairly often.

** In VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}, [[spoiler:Wheatley]] also tries this as soon as he can replace Chell with robotic test subjects.

* In the fourth case of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'', Mack Rell, after killing Deid Mann for the smuggling ring, accuses Byrne Faraday of hiring him and being the Yatagarasu ([[spoiler:he's lying about the former but correct about the latter]]). After his true client [[spoiler:Calisto Yew]] kills Byrne, he helps her rearrange the scene of the crime, then gets shot dead for his efforts.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', [[spoiler:Edelgard, aka the Flame Emperor, despises "those who slither in the dark" [[TeethClenchedTeamwork despite being allied with them]], [[IDidWhatIHadToDo viewing their cooperation as a necessary evil]] to succeed in her campaign against the Church of Seiros. She fully intends to turn on them once she's achieved that goal, and in her route's ending, she does just that, ultimately wiping them out entirely. As the group in question are utterly despicable {{Hate Sink}}s to a man in contrast to the WellIntentionedExtremist Edelgard, this is a rare heroic — or at the very least {{antihero}}ic — example]].

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': In the Arcatraz dungeon, Warden Mellichar, under the influence of mind-control, releases Harbinger Skyriss, who promptly kills Mellichar.

* ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'': After the end of World War II [[AlternateHistory in 1949]], the Nazis turned on its former allies, Italy and Japan. Italy invaded and stood no chance against the technologically advanced, eventually being carved up and assimilated into their territory. Japan, meanwhile, was forced to relinquish all of its conquered lands to German control and was reduced to a client state on the home islands.

** And in the manga adaptation for ''Manga/KingdomHeartsII'', [[{{Disney/Mulan}} Shan-Yu's]] failure to conquer China and kill its Emperor results in Xigbar shooting him in the head.

* At the end of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', the eponymous mask does this to the Skull Kid, whom it had been using as a host for most of the game. [[spoiler:But he gets better at the end.]]

* In any game where you can [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential kill allies and receive any upgrades they might have]] often prompts many players to use this trope themselves. Take, for example, the original ''VideoGame/HalfLife1''. Guards can help you out by being a second gun and shooting enemies... but once you come to an inevitable airduct where they can't follow, well... it's a shame to just leave that ammo behind...

** In ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'', Rosa Cossette D’Elise, the princess of Erusea, had been manipulated by young Erusean officers called the Radicals to declare war on Osea under the belief that she was protecting her country from what she perceived as Osean Imperialism. During the war, the Radicals used her as a propaganda girl to bolster troop moral, and rally support for Erusea against Osea. [[spoiler: However, when Farbanti had fallen under Osea control, and Rosa fled in her personal plane, the Radicals had tried to kill her by shooting down her personal aircraft, as she was no longer of any use to them, and because their drone army was nearing completion. After she barely survived, Rosa was taken in by the Oseans to help bring about the end of the war.]]

* ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol''. The main character is recruited by Alpha Protocol and sent to Saudi Arabia to recover missiles stolen from Halbech by a terrorist leader, and kill said terrorist leader. [[spoiler:It turns out that Halbech really ''sold'' those missiles to the terrorist, and have sent you in to kill him since he's outlived his usefulness... And once you've done so they try to do the same to you, since ''you've'' outlived your usefulness and [[HeKnowsTooMuch know too much]].]]

* Bartholomew Roberts in ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'' is portayed as a big believer in this trope; he kills the Portuguese captain who helped him set up a FalseFlagOperation (quoting the trope name to Edward when the latter asks why the captain isn't on the ship anymore), guns down members of his own crew to prevent them [[spoiler:being driven insane by the technology contained in the Observatory]], and [[spoiler:'rewards' Edward for helping him find the Observatory by handing him to the British Navy in exchange for a bounty and leaving him to rot in a Jamaican jail cell.]]
* There is a double case in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII''. When the characters enter the drow city, they see a drow male killing a slave (while actually saying the trope name). A moment later his mommy shows up, and kills him, saying he is much more expendable than that slave.
* In ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos'', Kalas [[spoiler:says to the Guardian Spirit (the player) "I don't need you any more!" and forcefully ejects the player out of the game, leaving the screen to fade to black.]]

* From ''{{VideoGame/Bayonetta}}'' [[spoiler:[[BigBad Father Balder]] had already previously decided that his brainwashed [[TheDragon Dragon]], Jeanne, was supposed to die in order to help Bayonetta regain her lost memories. However, Jeanne shakes the brainwashing at the last moment and escapes, coming back later to save Bayonetta from Balder.]]
* It's implied that ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine'''s Joey Drew hired Bertrum Piedmont to build a Bendy-themed amusement park then threw him away once the plans failed and Bertrum had the audacity to call him out on his mistakes. The result was Bertrum fusing with one of the failed theme park's rides, lying in wait for Joey, and [[ThoroughlyMistakenIdentity attacking Henry instead.]]
* Stated almost word-for-word by [[labelnote:The Leader]] Adolf Hitler[[/labelnote]] to Killt in ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'' and its UpdatedRerelease.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman 64}}'', after you [[spoiler:beat Altair with 100 gold cards, [[TreacherousQuestGiver Sirius]]]] does this to you.
* This example is half of the reason why Dr. Neurosis wants Lance dead in ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'', the other half being that Lance had called him [[BoringInsult an "average mad scientist"]].
* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'', [[spoiler:After Reznov and Dimitri have captured Steiner and secured Nova 6, Dragovich uses Dimitri as a guinea pig to test Nova 6. Reznov manages to escape, but ends up in Vorkuta prison.]]

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 3''; BigBad Vergil stabs Arkham through the midsection after it became apparent that he was useless to him. [[spoiler:Arkham may have brought this on purpose, in order to later convince Lady to hunt Vergil and complete his plan for world domination. Dialogue and AlternateCharacterInterpretation suggests it's also quite possible that Vergil attempted to kill Arkham out of disgust; Arkham is an active worshiper of Evil and murdered his own wife, while Vergil is simply power-hungry and seeks to regain what he sees as his own heritage. It doesn't take, and it's actually Lady who finishes him off, with a bullet to the head in revenge for killing her mother, just before Dante and Vergil's final battle]].
* In chapter 5 of ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'', Maderas does this to [[spoiler:Etna after he forced her to betray Laharl. Fortunately, she foresaw this and her counter-plan was set into motion.]]
** Similarly, in the last chapter of the same game, MagnificentBastard / GuileHero Seraph Lamington does this to [[spoiler:Vulcanus by rewarding him with a transformation into a flower (or a frog in ''Anime/MakaiSenkiDisgaea'', take your pick) - that also as punishment for making pacts with demons and using humans to attack innocent demons - after he has served his purpose of bringing peace between angels, demons, and humans well. This was a very satisfying punishment for Vulcanus]].
* After getting revenge against the Lord Regent in ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'', [[spoiler:the leaders of the Loyalist group, Corvo joined to help him, poison his drink. They do this for three reasons: 1. To completely cover their actions of plotting against the Lord Regent. 2. Leave Corvo behind to take the blame along with others who had no idea. 3. To eliminate any possible influence Corvo would have over future Empress Emily, allowing the conspirators to use her as a puppet.]]
* In ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'', when you finally find him, Sebille's master, [[spoiler:The Shadow Prince]], admits that this was his plan for her when she had killed everyone he needed her to, specifically by using his mind control song to make her commit suicide. The only problem is that she escaped first, and now wants him dead.

* ''VideoGame/DoubleSwitch'': Early on, Eddie needs your help to escape the basement he's trapped in. [[spoiler:After you free him, he goes on a rampage, and when he realizes that you are thwarting him, he will try to cut off your connection to the security system, and you will have to stop him from doing so]].
* This is one of the main M.O.s for the [[ReligionOfEvil Order of Zugzwang]], the main villains of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV''. The slaves forced to build their colossal temple in the human world? Killed to cover their tracks. [[spoiler:The EvilChancellor who hands over your wife to TheDragon? Promptly murdered.]] Not even their own are safe from this treatment. [[spoiler:King Korol, a high ranking Order official who was in charge of the aforementioned temple, is casually tossed aside by [[BigBad Nimzo]] after he fulfills his final duty.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'', [[spoiler:this is done to you after stage 6, when you find out that Selene wasn't LaResistance, but TheEmpire. But it might have been a bad idea to try something like that on a OneManArmy.]]

*** The Fighters Guild questline ends with this if one goes for the "evil" path of working with the corrupt Master — [[spoiler: you kill the Thieves' Guild leaders]] for him to get in good with the [[TheSyndicate Camonna Tong crime-syndicate]], and then when you talk with him to get your payment, he declares you're a potential threat to him and that he's going to kill you instead of paying you, now that you've done your part.
*** The ''Tribunal'' expansion ends like this, with [[spoiler: Almalexia]] attempting to kill you after you've completed her quests. The reasons are a bit vague, on account of her madness, but it seems to be a combination of this and thinking you would be useful as a dead martyr (the intent is to frame someone else, possibly the Empire, for killing you).
*** The Werewolf path in the ''Bloodmoon'' expansion ends precisely the same as the other path: [[spoiler: you facing off against an avatar of Hircine]] in battle, regardless of your previous service to the Daedra. ''Bloodmoon'' also features the corrupt path in the East Empire Company questline, where it comes up twice -- first with you being the chosen means for killing the person who has outlived his usefulness, and then with you being the ''target'' (unfortunately for [[spoiler: Carnius Magius]], you turn out to be tougher than his band of hired killers, and his last-ditch effort to kill you ''personally'' when you show up to confront him is not much more dangerous).

*** This rule is also pretty much standard procedure for [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Princes]]. Several of their quests require you to kill some formerly favored servant of theirs, often so [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt you can take over the job]]: [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Boethiah]]'s champion proved to be unworthy, [[PlagueMaster Peryite]]'s followers stopped following orders, and in the case of [[DestroyerDeity Mehrunes Dagon]]'s quest, he wants you to get rid of the guy who got you started on the job, [[OmnicidalManiac just because]]. (Dagon then sends grunts to kill ''you'', again just because. It happens a lot with the Daedric Prince of Destruction...)

* In ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'',[[spoiler: when the [[EldritchAbomination Bazaar]] decides one of its cities has stopped being useful it melts the citizens into Lacre and literally drops the next city on top of the old one, squashing it flat.]]

** Elijah in the ''Dead Money'' tells you that he doesn't care what happens to your comrades once they get inside the casino, and while it's up to you whether they live or die, if it was up to him they'd all be dead. Once you've broken into the vault, he will attempt to kill you as well.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' revealed that [[spoiler:Delita]] does this throughout the game and was the way he rose in power and became King, after he fooled the world into believing he ended the Lion War. [[spoiler:He even does this to his best friend Ramza, sending him and his party into a death trap. However, Ovelia whose seen his devious actions over the years, fears that Delita might do the same to her - knowing that he used her to become King. On her birthday, she strikes first and stabs Delita. She was right as Delita was planning to and does kill her, while it's unknown rather the wound that he received from Ovelia was fatal or not.]]

* This happens ''four times'' in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'', and two of these murders are carried by the same person. [[spoiler:First, Ephidel stabs Lord Helman to death when he questions his plan to kill Eliwood. Second, EmotionlessGirl Limstella kills one of the Reed brothers (it can be either the Swordmaster Linus or the Hero Lloyd, depending on which one you fought against) ''and'' Sonia's [[TheDragon right hand]], the Valkyrie Ursula, assuming she survives the player's Army, after their defeats. And ultimately, after being defeated at the Water Temple, Sonia is either killed by Nergal or left to die by Limstella, depending on whether or not you took a sidequest.]]
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', [[spoiler:Edelgard, aka the Flame Emperor, despises "those who slither in the dark" [[TeethClenchedTeamwork despite being allied with them]], viewing their cooperation as a necessary evil to succeed in her campaign against the Church of Seiros. She fully intends to turn on them once she's achieved that goal, and in her route's ending she does just that, ultimately wiping them out entirely. As the group in question are utterly despicable {{Hate Sink}}s to a man in contrast to the WellIntentionedExtremist Edelgard, this is a rare heroic -- or at the very least {{antihero}}ic -- example.]]
* [[spoiler:Commander Sith]] does this to [[spoiler:Yomiel]] towards the end of ''VideoGame/GhostTrick''. [[spoiler:He didn't want Yomiel's services, just the Temsik Meteorite that gave him the ghost trick powers. Since he couldn't kill someone who was already dead, he simply removed the meteorite fragment from Yomiel's body and sunk the submarine, leaving Yomiel trapped at the bottom of the ocean with no way to escape by possessing another body or using the phone lines.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheGodfather 2'' there are only so many slots on your BadassCrew. Want to recruit someone better? You can mark an existing member for death, allowing you to dispose of him.
* This happens to the trio that took Gene's arm in ''VideoGame/GodHand''. After beating them a second time, a later cutscene in the stage has them running to another area, still upset, only for them to encounter Azel who dashes past them and turns them into dust for being worthless.

* Steve Heines invokes the trope to the letter in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' but Trevor (in a rare moment of compassion) after an extensive session of torture lets the poor soul go away.

* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'': [[spoiler: Master Li]] kills [[spoiler: the Spirit Monk]] once they've slain [[spoiler: the Emperor. However they get better and possibly take revenge.]]

** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' after Naminé finishes restoring Sora's memories at the end of the prologue, [=DiZ=] orders Riku to destroy her, at least partially because of his [[FantasticRacism prejudice against Nobodies]]; Riku, however, has no intention of doing so, both because of Naminé helping him and Sora during the events of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' and because he's ''not'' happy to discover that [=DiZ=] only helped restore Sora for the sake of petty revenge against Organization XIII, and instead lets her go. During the game's final act, Organization XIII also declares that, with their Kingdom Hearts completed, they have no further need for Sora, and try to dispose of him.
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' Aqua is in the same boat. Her role in ThePlan is to just succeed at the Master exam while Terra doesn't to make him feel inferior and rush off half cocked. This happens in the first 10 minutes of the plot [[spoiler:and the rest of her story arc is the BigBad sending her into danger and later sending his Dragon to personally finish her off. But she's made Master rank for a reason and refuses to die. Eventually she winds up screwing the whole Gambit just by being an extra person who wasn't expected to be around for the final stages]].
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', [[spoiler:Xemnas tried to confront Roxas and Xion by casting an illusion where both of them thought they were facing an Heartless with the expectation one would kill the other. All this because he wanted a full-powered Sora clone rather than two half-powered ones.]]
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', [[spoiler: Riku finds himself in the exact same position of Xehanort's plans as Aqua was well over a decade ago, given that he's now [[IncorruptiblePurePureness immune to Xehanort's attempts to corrupt him with darkness.]] And, just like Aqua, he ends up giving Xehanort a [[{{AwesomeBosses/KINGDOMHEARTS}} much-deserved ass-kicking]] in the climax.]]

* At the end of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' the eponymous mask does this to the Skull Kid, whom it had been using as a host for most of the game. [[spoiler:But he gets better at the end.]]

* At the end of ''Videogame/MafiaIII'', after taking over the city you have the option of killing all of your surviving lieutenants in order to clean up loose ends at the urging of your CIA contact. Doing this results in [[spoiler:Lincoln getting blown up with a car bomb the next time he enters a car, planted by his former mentor Father James, who now sees him as beyond redemption]].

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' [[spoiler:the Illusive Man]]'s new antagonism towards Shepard is apparently a case of this, [[spoiler:though in fact it's because he's indoctrinated]].
* At the start of ''[[VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}} Mercenaries 2: World In Flames]]'', the player is working for Ramon Solano, a CorruptCorporateExecutive who's friend, a Venezuelan General, is being held for treason. After breaking out the General, Solano decides to kill you before he starts his coup. After many explosions, Oil Rig explosions, castle explosions, and a war between the US and China (with explosions), and TWO nuclear explosions, the Merc finally catches up to Solano. Memo to all would-be dictators; don't piss off a [[SociopathicHero Sociopathic Norwegian]], ScaryBlackMan, or [[LadyOfWar High Class British Military Contractor]].
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', Liquid Snake says this to Solid Snake word for word when Snake finally (unknownly) activates Metal Gear Rex. Then he tries to gas him.
** The Patriots do this in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' with every single character, such as deactivating Richard Ames pacemaker nanomachines for him to act out FOXDIE (although the fact that his actions mentioned in In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth were mentioned, and resulted in the incident being exposed among others, may also qualify as a very subtle version of YouHaveFailedMe), they engineered President Johnson's betrayal and later capture by Solidus for the S3 plan, and then had Ocelot execute him, and then had Ocelot attempt to execute Solidus, Fortune, Snake, and Raiden aboard Arsenal Gear with RAY.
** Effectively the case with Snake as well in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots''. [[spoiler:Snake has, at best, one year left to live and [[YoungerThanTheyLook looks like a man in his eighties when he is only 42]]. Turns out this CloneDegeneration is a form of planned obsolescence designed to kick in at 40 years old because by that point his physical condition would begin to decline and so he would have by and large outlived his purpose.]]

* In ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'', [[spoiler:General Shepherd shoots his subordinates, Roach and Ghost, after they retrieve intel on Makarov, then has his Shadow Company goons douse the bodies in kerosene, which he personally ignites. [[TearJerker Oh, and you see all of this through Roach's eyes]] A rare case of this being done to Unwitting Pawns, not Mooks]].
** [[spoiler:Shepherd doesn't care much for Shadow Company either- after Soap and Price breach SC's command base, Shepherd sets the place to self-destruct to cover his own escape, telling those still inside their "[[BlatantLies sacrifice will be honored]]".]]

** He does (or threatens to) something similar several times during the game. Considering [[StrawNihilist he deems human life as a waste of natural resources]] or, at best, material [[ForScience for experiments]], this is hardly surprising.
** Midway through ''Dual Strike'', Von Bolt tries to off [[spoiler:Hawke and Lash]] when their questioning of his plans surpasses their usefulness to him. This prompts their subsequent HeelFaceTurn.
* After the Shadow Queen [[spoiler:possesses Peach]] in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', Grodus attempts to order her around- not exactly the smartest move, considering her [[EldritchAbomination nature]]. She proceeds to blast him with lightning. [[spoiler:He got better.]]

* TheReveal of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' involves [[spoiler:Ikutsuki doing this to the party]], though the death part, at least, had a purpose: He was going to use his tools as human sacrifices to accelerate his plan. Because apparently he can't wait [[spoiler:three lousy months (though the party would have [[HeKnowsTooMuch known too much]] anyway)]]. [[SmugSnake Still fails, though]].

** In Ryuji's confidant, you find that Yamauchi, the replacement coach for the track team is almost as bad as Kamoshida. While eavesdropping on a conversation between him and a drinking buddy, you learn that Yamauchi's planning on making Takeishi captain in order to gain the favor of his wealthy parents, but since Takeishi isn't any good at track, Yamauchi hopes he'll suffer an "accident" and lose his spot on the team.
** [[spoiler:Masayoshi Shido]], [[BigBad the main antagonist]] and head of TheConspiracy, has a tendency to dispose of his fellow conspirators when they're more useful to him dead than alive. He has [[spoiler:Principal Kobayakawa and Kunikazu Okumura]] killed to frame the protagonists for their deaths, kills [[spoiler:the SIU director]] after [[spoiler:the protagonist's apparent death]] because he's a direct link between the Phantom Thieves case and TheConspiracy, and even says that [[spoiler:he'd dispose of his son, Goro Akechi]] after becoming Prime Minister, because [[spoiler:Akechi, as his illegitimate child and personal assassin,]] would be nothing more than a potential liability.

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/PsychoWaluigi''. After Waluigi frees Psycho Iris, the latter says he is about to do this, but then he follows it up by saying, "...JUST KIDDING! I only said that 'cause you were expecting me to, and I didn't want to dissapoint."

* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'', Albert Wesker does this to [[spoiler:Excella]] near the end of the game. During the final confrontation, Chris mocks Wesker's tendency to do this to his allies by noting that Wesker is all alone with his back to a wall.

** [[spoiler:She would've done the same to Tia if not for her friend Freu interfering with a massive ice attack that freezes her one last attack with it]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Section 8}}: Prejudice'' Salvador disposes of [[spoiler:Thorne]] when the latter is cornered by 1st Recon.
* In ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'', Kato's commanding officer and love interest is gunned down by Japanese soldiers when she ceases to be any use to the army high command... as Kato helplessly watches. [[spoiler:This starts the chain of events that turns him into the final BigBad of ''Covenant''.]]
* In ''VideoGame/ShogoMobileArmorDivision'', if Sanjuro agrees to help Ryo in exchange for his support in saving Kura, after completing the task, Ryo says "Thanks for the assistance, Commander. You're no longer useful to me. Sorry to leave you hanging," then deactivates the energy bridge leading to the area the Sanjuro is in, forcing him to get back to the main part of the building an air intake chute.
* These exact words are said by [[spoiler: [[TheManBehindTheMan Clod/Armageddon]]]] as part of his PreAssKickingOneLiner in ''VideoGame/SilhouetteMirage''. "You Have Outlived Your Usefulness, Messenger."

** [[spoiler:Galcian pulls this himself much later in the game on Belleza, although in a very indirect manner as he simply unleashes the continent-destroying superweapon on the continent he sent her to. This proves to be a fatal error on Galcian's part, as Belleza is late to arrive and thus escapes the blast. She proceeds to aid the heroes in planning their assault on Galcian's fortress, then personally rams her ship into his escape pod when he flees.]]
** Finally, Mendoza, the prior Grand Admiral (whom Galcian replaced) tried this on Ramirez in the latter's backstory. Ramirez is a {{tykebomb}} created for assassination and has a blade that ''can slice photons in half'', and is, not to mention, still alive when the game comes around: You work out how well that one went. It goes without saying that Galcian is ''not'' big on trying to repeat that whopper...
*** Not to mention, Galcian saw Ramirez as being like a son, decidedly ''not'' just a tool to be disposed of once he's served his purpose.

** In ''VideoGame/StarcraftIIWingsOfLiberty'', [[spoiler:a peek into a possible BadFuture shows the [[EldritchAbomination Dark Voice]] and his Hybrids pulling this on the Zerg, exterminating them as soon as he was done using them to annihilate the Terrans and Protoss.]]
** Like most of the horrible things she did in ''Brood War'', this is invoked and defied by Sarah Kerrigan in VideoGame/StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm, which focus on her redemption. After their EnemyMine in the Skygear missions, [[spoiler:Stukov]] expects her to pull out this on him, only for Kerrigan to not only spare him, but offers him a place in the Swarm since he has nowhere to go. In the Hyperion mission, Zerg ask Kerrigan if they can devour the Raiders now that they have done what they could to help, only for her to angrily forbid any attempt on their life. The trope is still played straight when Kerrigan abandons her own creation Niadra once she is done [[spoiler:eliminating the Protoss on the ship she was sent]], but considering she had been used to ShootTheDog, it is sort of understandable Kerrigan didn't want to keep her.

* This, crossed with YouHaveFailedMe, starts the plot of the NES ''Manga/{{Strider}}'' game - Strider Hiryu is informed that Strider Kain was captured by the enemy. Just when you think you're being sent to rescue him... "As his identity is now known, rescue is not an option. Kill him! That is all." Needless to say, Hiryu's ''not'' about to kill a comrade on some computer screen's say-so, and heads out to find more information...

** [[spoiler:Dimentio]] [[UnusualEuphemism ends]] [[spoiler:[[UnusualEuphemism Mr. L']]]][[UnusualEuphemism s game after he loses to the heroes the second time]]. This serves the secondary purpose of [[spoiler:allowing Luigi to join the heroes]].
** [[spoiler:Dimentio]] does it again in the final chapter. [[spoiler:After Count Bleck's defeat, he shows his true colors by attempting to assassinate him. Once he steals the Chaos Heart from his former boss, he sends him to Dimension D and declares that he will kill him later.]] In the Japanese version, he actually says this line to a T.
--->'''Dimentio:''' [[spoiler:Count Bleck]]! You look so tattered and pathetic, I nearly forgot about you. I'll squeeze the life out of you later. Just wait over in that dimension, OK? Great.

* In ''VideoGame/SystemShock 2'' [[spoiler:SHODAN]] tells you this after you kill The Many. [[SarcasmMode Big surprise there]].
** Although it's somewhat subverted:[[spoiler: She'd originally hoped to have you serve as her "avatar" but her plan will destroy everything upon the Von Braun and Rickenbacker, and the escape pods have already been taken.]]

** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'', Dhaos callously eviscerates Mars and his henchmen after brainwashing them to free him from prison, even having the gall to tell them they have outlived their usefulness.

** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', [[spoiler:Van]] uses these words when the villain leaves Ion and the party behind to die once [[spoiler:Luke has doomed Akzeriuth to sink into the core under his direction]]. In a subversion, the appearance of the villain's sister in the party suddenly adds a person the villain ''doesn't'' want to die into the mix -- but since she can save herself (with the minor prize that she'll save the party alongside herself) and the villain knows this, it doesn't change matters.

* ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'': [[spoiler:Garrett]] almost falls victim to this after [[spoiler:delivering the Eye to Constantine, who puts out one of his eyes and leaves him for dead, trapped in a thicket of flesh-eating plants. Garrett is rescued by the Keepers.]]
* The fate of [[spoiler: the Adviser]] in ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer''; [[spoiler: midway through the Warriors of Chaos Campaign, he arrives and gives you a mocking speech about how you have little power against the Gods. Mockery turns to terror when his albino raven familiar is consumed by light, and he pleads for his life before the bird pecks out his eyes and reveals itself to be Sathorael the Ever-Watching, a Lord of Change that has been manipulating all of the factions in order to usher in the End Times.]]
* In ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfileCovenantOfThePlume'', you are given the option of sacrificing your characters in exchange for a rather large power boost [[spoiler:though if you do it too much you'll receive the bad ending.]]
* In ''VideoGame/WingCommander II'''s second Special Operations pack's ending, it is revealed that the Mandarins, humans who cooperated with the Kilrathi in order to become part of the Kilrathi government and change Kilrathi society from within, were about to outlive their usefulness before Blair destroyed their Ayers Rock base.

** The [[EldritchAbomination Old Gods]] do this to Deathwing in the alternate future where they win; to break free, ALL the Dragon Aspects have to die. [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice So he's impaled on top of the Wyrmrest Temple.]]
** In ''VideoGame/WarcraftII: Beyond the Dark Portal'' ' Orc ending, Ner'Zhul and the player go through a portal and leave the rest of the Horde on Draenor, which is about to be destroyed.
** In ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'', once Archimonde is summoned the control of the Scourge is handed over to Tichondrius, leaving Arthas, Kel'thuzad, and Ner'zhul as nothing.
** Before that, once Mal'Ganis finished bringing Arthas to TheDarkSide, he is killed by Arthas and the Burning Legion doesn't interfere.