Dig Your Own Grave



When a character must literally dig a hole for their body, usually being forced to as the last thing they do before being killed or even Buried Alive.

One might wonder in these kinds of situations why the character just doesn't refuse to dig the grave since they're going to die anyway. Usually the reasoning is that the prisoner goes along with it because we wants to eke out as much time for his life as possible. And, at least in fiction, this is often what saves the character. Much like an elaborate Death Trap, it gives the digger time to think of an escape plan, or their allies time to save them.

Advertising

 * Subverted in an advertisement (for life insurance?). A middle-aged man announces that "If you want something done properly, do it yourself," and begin to dig. After several shots angled to make it look as if he's digging his own grave, it's revealed that he's actually working on a swimming pool.

Comic Books

 * The cover of World's Finest #195 (pictured above) had Batman and Superman forcing Robin and Jimmy Olson to dig their own graves. (Superman, being a dick, forces them to dig the graves when it would take him less than a second and no effort at all for him to dig them.)

Film

 * Happens to all the (former) deputies at the hands of the wanted mass murderer,, in Reno 911!. They try to make the best of it, although it takes a really long time (Junior suggests they go back into town and rent a backhoe).
 * The Nazi prisoner who uses the opportunity to try to endear himself to his captives in Saving Private Ryan.
 * Happens in O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Digging a grave by hand does take a lot of time, a lot of things can happen.
 * In Creepshow, a man forces the guy who committed adultery with his wife to dig a hole in the sand on the beach, then jump in and be buried up to his neck. When the tide comes in...
 * The Soviets did this to the Polish officer corps in Katyn.
 * Happens to the banditos in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

Literature

 * Witches in the Discworld series know exactly when they're going to die, so some of them will dig their own graves and lay down in them when the time comes, to make everything nice and tidy. Wizards also know when they're going to die, but they tend to use that knowledge to have death parties.
 * Subverted in Artemis Fowl :The Eternity Code; Mulch is forced to 'dig his own grave', but he's a dwarf, with natural tunnelling abilities, so he was hardly in any danger.
 * In Pale Horse Coming by Stephen Hunter, corrupt cops arrest the protagonist, and one orders him to dig his own grave. However, the police chief, recognizing the protagonist's Badass potential, says it's a stupid idea and has him thrown in jail instead.

Live-Action TV

 * One of the fantasy spots in Scrubs shows Eliot doing this as she antagonises Carla.
 * In the sixth season of Lost,  is forced to do this by Ilana. He's able to get away, though, and is redeemed when he confronts her and she forgives him for.
 * Criminal Minds episode "Revelations". Spencer Reid is forced to dig his own grave, but acts as though he's too weak to finish it. His captor puts down the gun and grabs the shovel and Reid picks up the gun and shoots him.
 * The Sopranos episode "Pine Barrens". Christopher and Paulie try to force Russian mob member Valery to dig his own grave. Valery attacks them with the shovel and escapes. They later discover that Valery was a former special forces soldier.
 * I though he was a Interior Decorater...
 * Happens to Cal Lightman in the Lie to Me episode "Beat the Devil".
 * In Brass Eye's episode "Crime," a fake news report on juvenile delinquency told the story of a kid who dressed up as an angel, broke into an old man's house, convinced him he was dead, and then forced him to bury himself outside.
 * In Life, there was a two-partner called "Dig A Hole" and "Fill It Up." In the first episode, Crews and Reese solve a murder case where the Sympathetic Murderer forced his victim to "dig a hole" and then "fill it up." In the second episode, when Crews finds the real killer of the crime he was falsely imprisoned for, he forces him to dig a hole....
 * In the Inspector Morse episode "The Way Through The Woods", the murderer forces Lewis to dig a grave for himself and another victim. As per the trope text, this gives Morse time to come to the rescue.
 * In the Mission: Impossible episode "The Council", a shady mobster digs his own grave before being beaten, tossed into the grave, and buried alive by his boss. The IM Force dig him up immediately afterward so they can interrogate him about that boss.
 * Subverted on Las Vegas, when Ed hauled a creep out to the desert and ordered him to dig his own grave with his bare hands, terrorizing him for his misdeed, then just left him standing there.

Tabletop Games

 * Dungeons & Dragons once had a cursed magic item that did this. When the Shovel of Internment was used it dug a hole, forced the user to jump into the hole and paralyzed him, then filled up the hole, burying the victim.

Video Games

 * Officer Tenpenny has C.J. do this in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas when C.J. finally outlives his usefulness. Though it isn't C.J. who ends up in the grave.

Western Animation

 * In the Family Guy Star Wars Special, Peter, as Han Solo, makes several stormtroopers dig their own grave, then shoot each other because he's tired of the special being so family friendly.
 * In one episode of The Simpsons, Comic Book Guy and Skinner are ordered to dig their own graves by Burns. Comic Book Guy prays to Superman for help digging his hole.

Real Life

 * Notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who had a construction business, at one time charged some of his employees with digging trenches in the crawlspace under his house. Gacy later killed one of those employees, Gregory Godzik, and threw him in the trench that Godzik had helped dig.