Last Kiss



"I lifted her head, she looked at me and said

"Hold me, Darling, just a little while."

I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss;

I found the love that I knew I would miss

And now she's gone, even though I hold her tight

I lost my love, my life, that night."

- J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers, "Last Kiss"

The only kiss that's more meaningful and dramatic than the First Kiss (unless, as is frequently the case, they happen to be one and the same). It's not just the last one we'll see, it's the last one these two characters will ever share... as far as they know at this point, at least. If the characters don't think it could be their Last Kiss, the music and color scheme of the scene will definitely indicate to the audience that it is.

The favorite time to write it in seems to be when one (or both) of the partners is/are on their deathbed (or past it), literally or proverbially, such as just before someone goes off into battle (or their wedding). Possibly will be teary. Less dramatic in old shows where the main character could share one with every new Girl of the Week or Temporary Love Interest.

May be a Last Request.

See Also: Final First Hug and Go Out with a Smile. Death's the time to show you love someone.

Sometimes overlaps with Dude, She's Like, In A Coma.

Not to be confused with Kiss of Death or Sealed With a Kiss. And definitely not with I Love the Dead. If the characters think it's their Last Kiss but it turns out not to be, it's a Now or Never Kiss.

As a Death Trope, there may be unmarked spoilers ahead.

Anime and Manga

 * Neon Genesis Evangelion: Misato, knowing she's about to die from the bullet wound in her back, kisses Shinji, possibly to snap him out of the near comatose depression he's in. It backfires spectacularly as, moments later, Shinji wipes her blood off his mouth and realizes she has probably died.
 * Ninja Scroll - In the cold universe of the film, where lust, violence and greed has cheapened sex as an expression of love, Kagero's simple kiss for Jubei was an expression of love stronger than any other.
 * Yoko from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a prime example of these, being kissed by and  This is prominent enough for her to earn the Fan Nickname "Doombitch". However,  subverted it as he stole a kiss from her fully knowing he was going to die anyway, apologizing for his selfishness when he does so. She understands and even hugs him.
 * 's last act before she disappears into nothingness was kissing.
 * Played straight and subverted in the same episode of Mai-HiME:
 * share one before they go down together.
 * Subverted moments later with  just barely missing out on one of these as  disappears before their lips touch.
 * That, or he vanished at the exact instant their lips do touch. Either way, she doesn't get to... uh, 'enjoy' it.
 * kisses and tells her how she feels about her (she may not have the feeling  wanted, but she's happy she loved her and also loves her) before destroying both their Childs, killing them both.
 * Tokyo Mew Mew combines this with Almost Kiss, Final Speech, and Pieta Plagiarism when in the second to last episode.
 * Subverted in Basilisk.
 * Almost played straight in Bleach where
 * Code Geass has a case of both First Kiss and Last Kiss between Lelouch and Kallen near the end of the show, complete with background music and all. The irony is that, Kallen initiates the kiss without knowing it at the time.
 * Or maybe she's just trying to resolve their UST one way or another. She gets the bad ending as not only Lelouch doesn't return it, he completely ignores the fact that he had just been kissed and looks at her with such neutrality as if nothing happened.
 * Also subverted at the end of season 1 with CC since death is a non-issue for her.
 * share a last kiss in Inuyasha, right before she definitely dies in his embrace.
 * In Five Centimeters Per Second, Takaki and Akari share a (first and) last kiss at the end of the first chapter. The remaining two chapters are about their separate lives afterward. Heartbreak ensues.
 * Used in +C:Sword and Cornett to portray Linna Orhadi's final moment with his Prince.
 * Sadly,  share their first and last kiss in Episode 7 of Hellsing Ultimate. To be fair, it is the most impressive combination of a Tear Jerker, Crowning Moment of Awesome, and Crowning Moment of Heartwarming to date.
 * in C the Money And Soul of Possibility.
 * Zero no Tsukaima Season two, Louise and Saito come incredibly close to this before the knockout potion Saito put in her champagne kicks in. Almost literally, a split second before they kiss, she passes out.
 * Steins;Gate has another (rather heartrending) first-and-last-kiss between
 * Elfen Lied: Lucy kisses Kouta shortly before confronting the soldiers who have been assigned to kill her. (Her fate, however, is left ambiguous.)
 * In Sonic X, after the Kill Us Both scene, Cosmo kisses Tails as she fades away.

Comics

 * When Raven and Beast Boy had their First Kiss, Beast Boy asked if she did it just because they were facing "certain death". Yes, because Heaven forbid a woman should kiss you because she wants to, Gar.
 * He also admitted that he did this with Firehawk, and didn't seem too happy about it. But why? She's hot!

Film
"Dorian: There's ALWAYS time for one last kiss!"
 * The Postman Always Rings Twice. A kiss in a car, and death follows quickly.
 * In Pirates of the Caribbean, Elizabeth shares not one, but four last kisses with different partners:  Good thing death isn't always permanent.
 * Jack Sparrow lampshades this in the third movie when Elizabeth tries to kiss him, telling her that once was enough.
 * Another one from Disney: In Tron, Flynn kisses Yori (the spitting image of the ex-girlfriend he still carries a torch for) before making his Heroic Sacrifice.
 * Neo and Trinity's last kiss before she dies in The Matrix Revolutions.
 * One such occurrence in Signs is based off an urban legend of a worker at a quarry who falls into the rock crusher and will die soon whether or not he is pulled out or left there, so a third option is taken: he's fed painkillers and his wife is called in who kisses him goodbye and then turns the machine back on.
 * After Madeleine omniously tells Scottie in Vertigo, "If you lose me, then you'll know I loved you and wanted to go on loving you," she gives him a final kiss before heading off to the clock tower that seems to strangely draw her...
 * Jim and Selena's ...messy kiss from 28 Days Later. It's their third kiss throughout the film- the first was on the cheek and the second was intentional, but this is a full on, Chick Flick Hold, with-tongue affair, sure proof of being doomed. Shortly afterward,
 * In the film version of Death Note,  share a Last Kiss when , as a tragic callback to   stating that she would only kiss in public for her Last Kiss. Its a rather dark example since.
 * This got elevated to somewhat disturbing levels during the Pierce Brosnan James Bond films where he gives the dead Paris Carver a last kiss before he goes and backseat drives in Tomorrow Never Dies, and to Elektra King before starting the final action sequence of The World Is Not Enough. Considering he shot her dead, Bond should logically be giving a smooch to a bloody mess.
 * The concept is used in The Mask, when the nightclub singer love interest asks her ex-boyfriend for one last kiss before he blows up the nightclub and kills them all. He is so moved by the request that he complies despite the fact that the bomb he planted is already activated and counting down.


 * share a kiss in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
 * Mars Attacks (Film). Donald and Natalie share a last kiss (as disembodied heads) just before the saucer they're on crashes.
 * From The Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn gave a dying Boromir a kiss on the forehead as part of a blessing.
 * Anakin and Padmé kiss each other in Revenge of the Sith, when he asks her to wait for him when he goes to Mustafar.
 * Part Now or Never Kiss and part Last Kiss in Captain America the First Avenger when Steve and Peggy kiss since the audience knows he will be frozen and won't wake up in seventy years.

Literature

 * Juliet's final kiss to Romeo before stabbing herself may count, despite that Romeo was already dead.
 * This actually happens twice more: once before Romeo is exiled (a Fate Worse Than Death), and Romeo's line, "Thus, with a kiss, I die."
 * His Dark Materials:  share one final kiss (rushed, clumsy, and tearful) before.
 * In GK Chesterton's The Return of Don Quixote, when John Braintree and Olive admit that their opposing principles mean they should not be a couple, they part after a kiss.
 * A Series of Unfortunate Events had
 * In Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword, the dying hero's Last Request is for a Last Kiss.
 * In Outbound Flight, Jedi Knight Lorana Jinzler and the Chiss syndic Mitth'ras'safis of the Eight Ruling Family, pulling an epic Heroic Sacrifice together, reach out and hold hands for a long moment. It overlaps with Hold Me and It Has Been an Honor, they were on a Full-Name Basis since there hadn't been time to exchange first and core names, and both of them were from emotionally cold societies, so exactly what the gesture meant is left to the reader, and some say it was the equivalent of a kiss.
 * Glinda and Elphaba of Wicked fame share such a kiss the last time they see each other. Changed to a hug for the musical.
 * Liesel and Rudy share one in The Book Thief.
 * The book subverts this trope somewhat in that the narrator
 * Subverted in the Star Wars novel Star by Star, when Tahiri Veila leans in to kiss Anakin Solo, but pulls back, saying, "For that, you have to come back."
 * In the Midnight World novel Igor shares the Last Kiss with his wife

Live Action TV

 * Doyle kissing Cordelia  in episode 9 of Angel.
 * Also, Cordelia kissing
 * And Wesley kissing
 * Buffy kisses Angel goodbye in the season 2 finale.
 * In the Space 1999 2nd season episode "The Beta Cloud", a monster is rampaging through Alpha Complex and nothing the crew tries can stop it. Maya and Tony Verdeschi are together waiting for the end when they suddenly start making out (kissing).
 * In the Doctor Who episode "The Parting of the Ways", when Jack goes off to die, he kisses both the Doctor and Rose goodbye.
 * in "Day of the Moon". Heartbreaking because from her perspective, because it's their.
 * In Torchwood: Children of Earth as
 * I Carly: Both the Sam/Freddie and Carly/Freddie have their own last kiss.
 * Sam/Freddie break up in iLove You, but decide to hold off for an hour on the break up so they can make out a bit more.
 * Carly/Freddie break up in iSaved Your Life, Freddie asks Carly that because he wasn't sure they were going to break up, if he could have one last kiss and she sweetly kisses him on the cheek.
 * Chuck and Sarah are trapped with a bomb about to go off, and go for what they believe will be their Last Kiss... and then the bomb doesn't go off. Awkward.. Even worse, it wasn't even a bomb. It was actually a Human Popsicle box.
 * Psych has one episode where the wife of a murder victim gives him a Last Kiss at his funeral.
 * Lost: Charlie kisses Claire right before diving down to The Looking Glass,
 * Robin Hood: Kept alive only due to the fact that, share their Last Kiss after She then proceeds to
 * This trope is Subverted between  in the Grand Finale of the show. She attempts to kiss him goodbye after he's been fatally poisoned, only for him to deliberately turn his face away and give her a platonic hug instead. A few moments later,
 * Battlestar Galactica Reimagined. Cylon Natalie kisses a fellow Number Six before pulling the trigger on her for killing one of their Colonial allies. Given the nature of the Cylons it's uncertain whether this would qualify as Les Yay or Sister Sister Incest. Also President Roslin has a vision of herself dying in Galactica's sickbay; after her heart monitor flatlines a weeping Adama kisses her, then places his wedding ring on her finger.
 * Farscape, in the episode "Infinite Possibilities Part II: Icarus Abides". Aeryn and Crichton share a final kiss, shortly before he dies of radiation poisoning.
 * In the Supernatural episode "Abandon All Hope", Dean and  say good-bye to each other and everything that could have been with a last kiss.
 * Ned and Chuck on Pushing Daisies only got one of these.
 * In the 1998 Merlin series, this happens between  right before the latter dies of her injuries.
 * Arthur and Guinevere have what they think is their last kiss in the season 3 finale of Merlin. Both make it through the battle though, and get another one when they're reunited.
 * Lewis, in the last episode of Inspector Morse, kisses his ex-boss on the forehead as a goodbye.
 * Clifford tries to invoke this with Paula Abdul on Muppets Tonight, citing a stray cannonball as the source of his injury. (It's the Muppets) Paula isn't fooled, makes Clifford kiss Rizzo.
 * Clifford tries to invoke this with Paula Abdul on Muppets Tonight, citing a stray cannonball as the source of his injury. (It's the Muppets) Paula isn't fooled, makes Clifford kiss Rizzo.

Music
"Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;
 * Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" tells the story of a motorcycle-riding outlaw and his beloved, ending with her coming to the hospital and finding him shot and dying. He "gave her one last kiss and died," slipping her the keys to his titular motorcycle as he does so.
 * Marty Robbin's song "El Paso" (quoted above) tells the tale of a man who loved a dancer in a bar and killed a man who shared his interest. He later runs off into the badlands of New Mexico to escape vengeance from the family of the man he killed only to come back to El Paso and be shot off his horse. Crawling to the door of the bar, the woman cradles him in her arms and kisses him before he succumbs to his wounds.
 * In the 1960s, Teenage Death Songs were remarkably popular, including such classics as "Teen Angel" (Mark Dinning), "Patches" (Dickey Lee), "Tell Laura I Love Her" (Ray Peterson), "Leader of the Pack" (the Shangri-Las), "Ode to Billy Joe" (Bobbie Gentry), and, of course, the Trope Namer.
 * Spoofed by Jimmy Cross in a rather shocking manner in "I Want My Baby Back".
 * Not necessarily an impending death, but still... "Ae Fond Kiss," by the 18th century Scots poet, Robert Burns:

Ae fareweel, alas, for ever!

Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,

Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee!"

"And I kissed her goodbye, said, "All beauty must die"
 * "Last Kiss" by Taylor Swift. However, the lyrics are more akin to a breakup song than a death one.
 * A quite dark twist happens in the Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave duet "Where the Wild Roses Grow" that ends with:

And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth"

Theater

 * In Richard Wagner's Die Walküre, Wotan's kiss that strips his daughter Brünnhilde of her powers. The Leitmotif is quite touching.

Video Games

 * In the Leon B scenario of Resident Evil 2, after
 * Subverted in the ending of Final Fantasy X wherein
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed ended its rather unsubtle romantic subplot with this.
 * Unsubtle romantic subplots? In my Star Wars!? It's more likely than you think.
 * The Star Wars Expanded Universe is generally held to higher standards than that.
 * Knights of the Old Republic had a possible figurative one for a male player and Bastila, which would become an actual one if.
 * Dragon Age: Origins has the possibility for one.
 * It may or may not be a trope in Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 4: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood, but at the end of the chapter,
 * In Professor Layton and The Unwound Future,
 * When Nie R is forced to kill Kaine in the third ending, he finally realises that he loves her and (despite her being a Shade at the time) gives her a hesitant kiss. Doubly emotional, since not only was it also their first kiss, but it's left unclear whether Kaine knew that Nier returned her feelings, since she couldn't speak.
 * In Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, if you say the right thing, Tatsuya will give a final kiss to Maya before
 * When Nie R is forced to kill Kaine in the third ending, he finally realises that he loves her and (despite her being a Shade at the time) gives her a hesitant kiss. Doubly emotional, since not only was it also their first kiss, but it's left unclear whether Kaine knew that Nier returned her feelings, since she couldn't speak.
 * In Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, if you say the right thing, Tatsuya will give a final kiss to Maya before

Western Animation

 * Avatar: The Last Airbender: Princess Yue's already in spirit form when she gives Sokka one last kiss before disappearing.
 * Teen Titans: After several tries, Cyborg finally lets Sarasim kiss him as the two wait to go into battle.

Real Life

 * Admiral Horatio Nelson, while lying on his death-bed, asked the captain of his flagship, Thomas Hardy, for a kiss before he died. Hardy kissed him twice, on the cheek and the forehead, as a last gesture of affection to the man who had been his mentor and leader for his entire adult life.
 * Accounts vary - Nelson's last words may have been " Kismet (i.e. fate), Hardy". But it is also recounted that some of Nelson's captains were so moved by the brilliance of his battle plan for Trafalgar that they wept, so the Kiss Me version has credence.
 * It has now become generally accepted that he said "Kiss me", and not "Kismet", the latter being largely apocryphal. See QI.
 * See also this Hark! A Vagrant comic.
 * According to her biography by Carolly Erickson, Queen Victoria nursed her husband, Prince Albert, through his fatal illness (presumed at the time to be typhoid fever, though modern physicians suspect he had stomach cancer). When she knew the time was near, she leaned over and asked him for a last kiss, which he gave on her cheek.