Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
214,481
edits
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (→Examples:: -> examples template) |
No edit summary |
||
(8 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Line 2:
A character dies, but their death is exactly the way they wanted it to be. They have no regrets, they accomplished their goals, and while people may mourn their death, they know that it was not in vain. The character dies satisfied, with no unfinished business. They know that whoever they leave behind will be okay, or might even benefit from their death. They might not even have accomplished anything significant, but just lived a good life and believe that death is only the natural last step.
Of course, what the dying character's perfect death is like will vary wildly depending on said character's personality and outlook in life. A character who's in love might sacrifice themselves to save their love's life, or die so that [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy|they may go on living happily]]. A just [[The Hero|Hero]] might do a [[Heroic Sacrifice
An evil character who dies this way will ALWAYS [[Face Death
Tropes that have good synergy with this one include:
* [[Ascend to
* [[Die Laughing]]: Usually the most benign form of this trope is the one at play: the character laughs because they die genuinely happy.
* [[Died Happily Ever After]]: If the work in question has the element of the afterlife present, the character dying will ALWAYS express their happiness beyond the wall of death.
* [[Dying
* [[Dying Declaration of Love]]: The character dies happy in the knowledge that they were finally able to [[Cannot Spit It Out|spit it out]].
* [[Dying Moment of Awesome]]: VERY common with this trope.
Line 24:
'''IMPORTANT''': There are NO [[Subverted Trope|Subversions]] with this trope. If a death is not specifically a Good Way To Die, it then belongs to another trope, not this one. It may be [[Averted Trope|averted]], but it should only be recognized as such if a particular situation stops it, at the last minute, from being a Good Death.
{{deathtrope}}
{{examples}}
== Anime And Manga ==
* ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'' sees this trope at play a lot amongst heroes or main antagonists. Raoh, Toki, Rei, Yuda, Ryuga, Jyuza, Fudoh, Shu and Souther all die without regrets (Raoh actually has this as [[Famous Last Words|his final words]]).
{{quote|
** This is also reflected in Kenshiro's ''Musou Tensei'', the strongest technique of Hokuto Shinken. When Kenshiro uses it, the spirits of his dead allies gives him strength, and a spiritually powerful fighter can see their spirits watching over Kenshiro, as if still putting their hopes on him even after death.
* In ''[[Getter Robo|Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo]]'', Musashi has the most dignified death of all his incarnations, gleefully taking the Dinosaur Empire with him as he goes.
** This is actually pretty much the same way he goes out in the original Manga, only there he was [[Determinator|melting and on fire at the time]].
* [[You Should Know This Already|Kamina]] certainly dies this way in ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''
* An interesting case where an inanimate object had a good death: the Going Merry, Luffy's first ship in ''[[
* Lelouch vi Brittania orders Kururugi Suzaku to kill him in his staged public execution of his former allies - the Black Knights, at the end of ''[[
== Comic Books ==
* [[The Flash|Barry Allen's]] final heroic sacrifice in ''[[Crisis
* Richard Dragon's (apparent) death during his duel with Lady Shiva is heavily implied to be this. He dies having A) sacrificed himself to save the life of a young boy in a hospital, B)Finally proven, at least to himself, that he could beat Shiva, and C) spent his last moments on Earth with the woman he loved most in the world. It comes with an absolutely beautiful internal monologue and a fantastic splash page as Shiva finishes him off with her [[Forgotten Superweapon|trademark]] [[Forbidden Technique|Leopard]] [[Finishing Move|Blow]], which only she and Dragon know how to use, Shiva having taught the technique to him when they were lovers years ago. It somehow manages to be a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]], [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]], and [[Tear Jerker]] all at once.
{{quote|
== Film ==
* In the 1930s film ''The Petrified Forest'', Leslie Howard demands this from [[Humphrey Bogart]] and gets it. Arguably, Bogart later gets one of his own, ultimately being gunned down because he couldn't bear to give up on love.
* The Evil Robot [[Bill and Ted]] go out like this, surprisingly enough, congratulating the "good human usses" for outwitting them, and die smiling.
{{quote|
'''Evil Ted''': Kudos to you, Good Human Usses! }}
* In the film version, after being done with his [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]], Eric Draven, AKA [[The Crow]], lies against his tombstone dying, but right before death, he is visited by his lover Shelly's spirit, and he dies fully content that both his revenge was done and that he was reunited with his lost love.
* In ''[[The Last Samurai]]'', Katsumoto and his Samurai brethren choose to die the way they lived; with honour, as warriors fighting with traditional weapons in a hopeless battle against an overwhelmingly superior force.
* V's death in the ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' film.
{{quote|
'''V''': ''That is the most beautiful thing you could have ever given me...'' }}
* [[Kill Bill|Bill]] dies this way. Not only did Beatrix prove to him she was the better fighter, but he also died with their business concluded and their daughter in good hands.
{{quote|
'''Beatrix''': ''You look ready.'' }}
* ''[[Star Trek II:
{{quote|
* In ''[[
* ''[[The Avengers (
{{quote|
== Literature ==
* ''[[Little Big Man]]'': At the end of the novel, the Cheyenne chief Old Lodge Skins declares that "It is a good day to die." He asks Jack to accompany him to the summit of a nearby hill, where he lays down and promptly dies.
** Averted in the [[wikipedia:Little Big Man (film)|film adaptation]], in which he doesn't die and instead just gets up and walks back down the hill.
{{quote|
* In ''Xenocide'', Ender refuses to Speak the death of {{spoiler|Quim}}, not because the deceased would have disapproved (though he would have), but because Ender felt there was nothing to say - {{spoiler|Quim's}} life was true and complete, and he died spreading the Gospel, as he'd have wished.
* In ''[[
▲== Live Action TV ==
* Edie Britt from ''[[Desperate Housewives]]''.
{{quote|
* The old klingon warrior in the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
* In ''[[Lexx]]'' Kai led some of his fellow Brunnen-G in a doomed counterattack against His Divine Shadow rather than give up and accept death like the rest of their race. In the musical episode "Brigadoon" the song about the Brnnen-G's [[Last Stand]] is even called "
{{quote|
== Music ==
* The Loreena McKennit song "Skellig" is about a monk dying of old age after living a life doing exactly what he wanted to do and passing on his legacy to another monk to continue.
== Video Games ==
* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Grunt]]'s death during the [[Suicide Mission]] in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' is this. His [[Famous Last Words]] are "Good fight, Shepard. Good fight."
** Zaeed's too: "Always figured it might end something like this."
* ''[[Legend of Dragoon]]'': While Lavitz's actual physical death is a rather needless [[Heroic Sacrifice]], his undead spirit ends up trapped in an [[Abusive Precursors|ancient Wingly city]]. Once freed, he manages to use the last of his life energy to give the protagonists a way to avert [[The End of the World
* Psycho Mantis's death in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]''. He actually says so himself, stating that helping Snake before he dies feels "nice".
* Similarly, [[Anti-Villain|The Boss]] in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'''': Snake Eater'', who has the nickname "[[Meaningful Name|The Joy]]" for the emotion she feels in battle, has [[The Last Dance|a final showdown]] with [[Duel Boss|her most beloved apprentice]], [[Player Character|Naked Snake]], from which [[I Cannot Self-Terminate|she does not intend to survive]] but does not intend to throw either. It is [[Looks Like She Is Enjoying It|clear from her words and expressions]] before, during, and after the battle, that this was the way [[Peaceful in Death|she wanted to go]].
* In ''[[Persona 3]]'', Chidori dies not only saving Junpei from death at the expense of her own life, but also declaring her love for him. She even shows her love beyond death, with her Persona fusing with Junpei's to form Trismegistus.
** Prior to that, Shinjiro dies satisfied after [[Taking the Bullet]] for Ken, whose mother he'd accidentally killed two years before. In this case, he's satisfied not only because he's saved Ken, but because he was concerned about what effect it would have on Ken if Ken avenged his mother personally as he was planning to (and Shinjiro was prepared to let him) do. His [[Famous Last Words]] sum it up: "This is the way it should be."
* The [[Fallout: New Vegas]] DLC Honest Hearts gives us [[Crazy Survivalist|The Survivalist]], who, after surviving [[The End of the World
* In ''[[Danganronpa (video game)|Danganronpa]]'', {{spoiler|Celestia is sentenced to be burned at the stake. Seeing as Celestia seems to believe herself to be an actual witch - or at very least, having fantasized about being one her whole life, she seems accepting of it, possibly even complacent, seeing it as a fitting end for a witch. She has a content smile on her face as the fire is lit. Unfortunately, Monokuma takes it completely off script; before she is actually burned, he drops a fire truck on her.}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Death Tropes]]
|