Death Is Cheap: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:suporstupor 2127.jpg|link=Super Stupor|frame|[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann|A real man never dies, even when he's killed!]]]]

 

{{quote|'''Lynne:''' Ha ha! I died again!

'''Sissel:''' ... I thought you'd be a little more grave, under the circumstances.

 

So you had your big, important fight. The enemy is defeated, and wasn't even [[Left for Dead]]. They did, in fact [[Never Found the Body|find the body]]. [[No One Could Survive That]], and no, he didn't. He's not [[Monty Python's Flying Circus|pining for the fjords]] either - nor did he [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]]. He's just ''dead''. Sure, because, as everybody knows, [[Anyone Can Die]].

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' and its sequels are notorious for playing this trope to death. Everybody and their grandmother dies and is resurrected at some point. Much of the show is in fact motivated by collecting the Dragonballs to be able to wish somebody back to life. By the time ''Dragon Ball Z'' ended, only Mr. Satan the [[Fake Ultimate Hero]] and a few gods ''hadn't'' died at least once. Counting ''GT'', [[Overshadowed by Awesome|Krillin]] died ''four times''.

** Prior to the Namekian Dragon Balls, a person could only be restored once, as the same wish couldn't be granted twice.

** In season five, it's made a little less cheap: Though death isn't permanent, there is no guarantee that the reborn Mon will remember its prior life, in most cases being very unlikely. And ''then'' Kurata figures out how to make a Digimon [[Deader Than Dead]].

** Digimon's reliance on this trope causes a huge [[Player Punch]] when it's brutally subverted in Digimon Tamers. A Leomon dying became memetic after this instance. However, it soon becomes apparent that this particular Leomon won't be coming back at all.

** It still ''hurts'' though.

* In ''[[Kinnikuman]]'', Choujin who have died can come back by completing certain trials in the afterlife. Thus, it is entirely possible for a character to be graphically killed off then show up in the next story arc with no-one batting an eye. Note that this doesn't work for those who die of old age, though.

* The last third or so of the chapters in ''[[Shaman King]]''. Can we say [[Just for Pun|overkill]]?

* People from [[Heart no Kuni no Alice|Wonderland]] have clocks instead of hearts. When they die, they can be replaced. This knowledge leads to the place being so violent.

* ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' - but only the manga. A lot of people who die stay dead, but the ones who don't, do so so annoyingly that it definitely fits this trope. Specifically: Kurama, Bando, Kaede/Nyu/Lucy.

 

== Comic Books ==

* Jean Grey from [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]: [[The Phoenix|an endless cycle of Jean dying, coming back, and dying again.]]

 

* Deconstructed in ''[[Bleach]]'' fanfic [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4063172/6/Calm_After_the_Storm Calm After the Storm]. Orihimie managed to bring her friends back to life multiple times (Ichigo stopped counting after 5) but there are still people who couldn't be saved. Seeing friends dying, even if they come back later still traumatized the heroes. There is also a sense of guilt that always touches survivors.

* In ''[[With Strings Attached]]'', As'taris has one of the shortest deaths imaginable—about half a page later, he's been resurrected. Turns out resurrection is cheap 'n' easy in Baravada.

** An example of this is Grover, who dies so many times that we've lost count.

* In the [[Pokémon]] fanfic [[Legend Has It]] the main character Justice dies a total of four times (the last time being permanent). The first time he died he gave his life to Arceus in order to fix everything that Cyrus had undone about the world. The second time, he was briefly brought back to life by a Celebi (which turned him into a White-Haired Pretty Boy in the process) only to die right after completing Celebi's task. Then Arceus resurrected him to stop the war going on between Teams Rocket and Plasma. During that time he is killed by Archer and his Giratina immediately tries to bring him back by using a bunch of Dusknoir. The process forces him into a kind of [[Heel Face Turn]] that makes him go absolutely crazy and has him attempt to destroy the world, only to be shot out of the sky by Arceus in a Curb Stomp Battle that kills him for good.

 

== Film ==

* Happens so often in the ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' franchise that in ''At World's End'' Tia Dalma had to [[Hand Wave]] why a certain character ''couldn't'' come back.

** Of course, that all got started in the second movie. Which is part of the reason some [[Contested Sequel]] the [[First Installment Wins|Sequels.]]

 

== Literature ==

* [[Cory Doctorow]]'s ''Down And Out in the Magic Kingdom'' takes this trope to its logical conclusion by having everyone take resurrection for granted. Thus, the narrator (Julius) is killed early in the novel and spends the rest of the story fighting back against those he believes responsible for his murder. He theorizes that they timed his death carefully so that he'd be out of commission at the exact point when his enemies were putting a plan into effect, since obviously if they killed him too early he would be alive again at by that point.

** And in both that book and [[Ken MacLeod]]'s ''Newton's Wake'', resurrection is so automated that other medical skills have atrophied or been lost; it's easier to get a new body than to fix the one you have. Like consumer electronics today.

* In ''[[Dragaera]]'', it's a relatively simple process to become "revivified" after death. It's fairly expensive, however, and some circumstances can make it impossible. Assassinations among the Jhereg criminal organization often do not take. In the first novel, Vlad even claims that someone might be assassinated as a warning to back off, though this level of cheapness is not carried over into subsequent novels.

* The ''Takeshi Kovacs'' novels by Richard K. Morgan take place in a largely post-death world where a person's consciousness is housed in a chip in his brain, called a "stack." When his body dies, his chip is inserted into a new one. Bodies, now called "sleeves," are bought and traded like garments. In the first book of the series, a centuries-old magnate hires the hero to find out how his previous sleeve was murdered.

** In a similar fashion, {{spoiler|the discovery that Prince Aegon, previously thought to have been killed as an infant was alive and well}} makes the death of many other characters fall into question.

** The general rule for character deaths in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' is that unless you witness a character definitively die from ''someone else's'' point of view, that character is likely not dead for good. {{spoiler|Of the POV characters that have been killed, Ned's execution was from Arya's POV, whereas Catelyn got her throat slit in her own POV chapter. Ned's definitively dead whereas a resurrected Zombie Catelyn is wreaking havoc in the Riverlands. Arys Oakheart died from Arianne Martell's POV. Quentyn Martell may have sustained his fatal injuries in his own chapter, but his death was witnessed from the perspective of Barristan Selmy.}} Almost all of the [[Only a Flesh Wound]] reveals mentioned above came at the end of a POV character's own chapter. The exception to this overall rule is the Prologue and Epilogue characters—they ALWAYS die at the end of their lone chapters.

 

== Live Action TV ==

* Invoked, subverted, and [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] to hell and back in ''[[Lexx]]''; many of the characters who die in the second season return with seemingly no explanation in the third season, but it becomes increasingly apparent as time goes on that the planets the Lexx is orbiting at the time are, in fact, the afterlife. When the Lexx [[It Makes Sense in Context|blows up the afterlife,]] they all move to Earth. When the Lexx blows up the ''Earth,'' too, it seems as though everyone is finally [[Killed Off for Real]], simply because there is no more afterlife to be resurrected from. Subverted again by Kai, who dies in the first scene and ''stays'' dead, but animate, through the whole series. In the finale, when a [[Deal with the Devil]] backfires, he's brought back to life for real...just in time for an event he can't possibly survive.

** This means that there are in fact three versions of most characters: the original versions, the Fire and Water versions, and the Earth versions.

{{quote|'''D'Anna:''' Do you have any idea what you're accusing me of?

'''Baltar:''' Yes... intentionally killing yourself over and over so you can download over and over. Death is just a revolving door, isn't it?

* ''[[Passions]]'', due to its status as a [[Supernatural Soap Opera]], abused the hell out of this one. Who knows how many times Sheridan's been involved in situations that would have been fatal to anyone else...in fact, she died at least once, only to have a storyline in [[Fluffy Cloud Heaven]].

* ''[[Being Human (UK)]]'' uses this trope with Herrick, who dies in the series one finale and returns for series three, only to keep the mysterious method of his revival a secret.

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

{{quote|[[Lampshade Hanging|"Oh for crying out loud...he's not dead AGAIN, is he?"]]}}

* Opus has had a few near-death experiences, meaning that either he can return from death or he's just incredibly resilient. From what we've seen of him, the former is a ''lot'' more plausible.

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

* [[The Undertaker]]'s whole gimmick revolves around threatening to steal his opponents' souls, kill them, and/or send them to Hell. It is unclear, however, what this has to do with winning wrestling matches. The one incident that stands out in particular was when he threatened to send [[Edge]] to Hell; at the end of the match, he apparently did just that, by chokeslamming him through the ring apron with flames shooting out, as both he and the announcers proclaimed that Edge had indeed gone to Hell. [[Edge]] returned a few months later without explanation. The Undertaker does not seem discouraged by this.

** Done for [[Rule of Cool]] mostly. [[The Undertaker]] himself has "died" and come back to life before, quite a few times in fact. There was the 1994 [[Royal Rumble]] incident, in which Yokozuna and a bunch of other heel wrestlers bombarded him, opened his urn which caused him to lose his powers, and rolled him into a casket. As [[Paul Bearer]] rolled the casket away he was shown on the titantron inside the casket and he gave a speech in which he promised "I will not rest in peace." He then "floated" out of the casket and up to the rafters of the arena, presumably crossing over into the afterlife, only to return again later that year. Then of course there was the 2003 [[Survivor Series]] in which [[Kane (wrestling)|Kane]] buried Undertaker alive, thus "killing" his Biker persona and leading to his return as the Deadman we all know and love at [[Wrestlemania]].

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Car Wars]]''. Death is expensive - you have to buy your clone for $5000 at Gold Cross.

* ''[[BattleTech]]'' had "Life is cheap. BattleMechs aren't." as its slogan—given the shortage of giant robots, it was easier to find a replacement pilot than a replacement 'Mech.

 

== Video Games ==

* Played with in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]''. In the original campaign, this is averted: party members who lose all their HP simply suffer a [[Non-Lethal KO]] (unless the entire party is KO'd) and revive at the end of the fight. Despite being based on D&D rules (see [[Tabletop Games]], above), three friendly characters suffer [[Plotline Death]] and [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|can't be resurrected]]. Possibly justified by the setting requirements for resurrection: you have to be willing, and there can't be anything keeping you back.

** Played straight in the second expansion ''Storm of Zehir''. KO'd party members will bleed out and die if left unattended, but resurrecting them is as easy as traveling to the nearest temple and paying for a ''resurrection'' spell (or keeping a good stock of Coins of Life handy, consumable items that cast ''resurrection'').

 

== Web Animation ==

* ''[[Happy Tree Friends]]'' picks this trope up, runs around with it and gleefully slams into sharp, heavy, incendiary, acerbic, cursed and furrycidal objects.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

** Subverted in another case, where Xykon is [[Cold-Blooded Torture|mindlessly torturing]] a captive soldier; Xykon thinks that he can just be resurrected if they kill him by mistake, but Redcloak points out that the soldier's soul has to allow itself to be brought back, and given [[Fate Worse Than Death|his situation]], he'd probably rather stay in the afterlife. {{spoiler|Possibly double-subverted, because the soldier was creating a list of Xykon's spells; he might have chosen to come back if he had died before sending this important information to the heroes.}}

* ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' has returning from the dead as a major plot point.

{{quote|'''Ben Franklin''': (Sitting in a restaurant in purgatory) It's alright. I've left this restaurant without paying my bill once before... And I have ensured that it will happen again.

'''Beeman''': That was the most ''menacing'' promise of dine and dash I've ever seen. }}

{{quote|'''Gigafyte:''' "I don't have to spend all eternity around you, do I?"

'''[[Grim Reaper]]:''' You kidding me? You [[Superhero|costumed freaks]] come back from the dead so often I don't even get to count you towards my quota." }}

** On one occasion, Black Mage kills several characters in a fit of rage, only to discover one by one that they are all alive. He expects that Ranger is also alive somehow, but Cleric says no, he's dead. Then Cleric just resurrects him.

* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'', if your brain is intact, any sufficiently-skilled [[Mad Scientist]] can bring you [[Back from the Dead]] - it is their purpose in doing so that may be the issue.

** Note ''intact''. Brain damage sets in quickly, so unless you die in a lab you're probably out of luck. Then there's the fact that most of them [[Came Back Wrong|come back mad]]...like really mad. [[Mad Scientist|Worse than when they started]].

**** The fact that the dream bubble afterlife allows the properly dead characters to still take part in the story (mostly as vehicles for exposition) further cheapens death, for the kids and trolls at least.

* ''[[Nodwick]]''. Justified primarily by [[Rule of Funny]]; it's easier to laugh when Nodwick is disassembled as a result of a [[Zany Scheme]] if you know he's coming back next time, covered in duct tape and making [[Deadpan Snarker|smart remarks]].

* ''[[Last Res0rt|Last Res 0 rt]]'' [http://www.lastres0rt.com/2009/05/death-is-expensive-punchlines-are-cheap/ lampshades it outright] after turning a [[Red Shirt]] Galaxy Girl Scout's brains into [[Pink Mist]]:

{{quote|Death is Expensive. ''Punchlines'' are Cheap.}}

* ''[http://mountaincomics.com Mountain Time]'' regular characters Dave and [http://mountaincomics.com/characters/ Agoraphobic Hamster] have each died and reappeared whenever the plot demands it.

** An odd instance of this trope occurs in Chapter 4, where Moon dies after delivering a fatal, explosive [[F-Zero|Falcon Punch]] to Aaron, who tried to steal Moon's life dream. A character brings him back to life in the next chapter. Or so everyone thought. Actually, Aaron, disguised as Moon, was the one brought back to life. Later on, it is revealed that [[Staying Alive|Moon didn't die at all]] and his weakened, barely surviving body was in fact captured by the comic's [[Big Bad]] for researches.

* In ''[[1/0]]'', every character gets one "ghost point" - they can die and come back as a ghost exactly once. They also have the option of removing themselves from the strip by "pulling a Ribby"; that is, imagining a perfect reality to live in and going there. In fact, ''none'' of the characters stay dead. Tailsteak resurrects them all as the strip is winding up, to send them to Oregon. He even brings back characters that pulled a Ribby.

* In ''[[Casey and Andy]]'', main character and [[Author Avatar]] Andy was killed in the very first strip! And many times thereafter, Casey and Andy being [[Mad Scientist|mad scientists]] who leave boxes of antimatter lying around. The first time, C&A appear at the Pearly Gates... but after Andy starts dating [[Evil Is Sexy|Satan]], they always seems to end up going to the [[Hell|other place]].

* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' has people who weren't vaporized, [[Chunky Salsa Rule|blown up into really tiny bits]] and so on returning in full health if first aid is available in a few minutes. Where minimal "first aid" is "find the head and roll it into a [[Nanomachines|nanny]]-bag".

** Kevyn found one way of bringing back someone from very definitely final death {{spoiler|via [[Time Travel]]}}... and the author made it very clear that it was a one-shot deal when the unique wormgate used to make it happen exploded after use.

* ''[[Spacetrawler]]'' hasn't used this trope (yet), but the author comments on it in [[The Rant]] below [http://spacetrawler.com/2010/12/14/spacetrawler-102/ this page]. He points out that sci-fi has so many ways to bring mortally wounded or dead characters back that an author who wants to permanently kill a given character needs to disintegrate them on-screen (at the very least) to convince the audience that they're dead.

* ''[[The Non-Adventures of Wonderella]]'' has moments like [http://nonadventures.com/2011/07/23/the-long-con/ this]:

{{quote|'''Wonderella''': ...Apparently a lot of 'em are dead now.

'''Wonderella''': '''Superhero''' dead, guys.

'''crowd''': ''Ohhhhh.'' }}

 

== Web Original ==

* In ''[[The Salvation War]]'' series, many first lifers are beginning to think this way. Second lifers on the other hand...

** "Sadly, just after completing this daring rescue, Doctor Orwell suffered a heart attack and died from his exertions. We will be broadcasting an interview with him shortly."

* [[Homestar Runner|Strong Bad]]'s crudely drawn and amazingly long-running comic [[Teen Girl Squad]] exemplifies this trope. Most likely, The Brothers Chap didn't think it would go beyond that one e-mail, but then realized that they had something corny and really easy to animate that they could milk the bejabbers out of and decided to run with it.

* ''Averted'' in ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'': as it turns out, the only people who ever officially died and came back actually were AI, and therefore never alive to begin with. Played straight with Donut, though, although it's not seen in the series itself, just a sponsor video. Arguably played straight with the red and blue armies Caboose and Sarge meet.

** After Church was revealed to be the Alpha, he was destroyed by the EMP at the end of Reconstruction. The one seen in Recreation and Revelation is the Epsilon AI, a fragment of the Alpha that is reconstructed by Caboose telling him stories about the old Church. At the end of Revelation, the Epsilon AI and Tex are permanently sealed inside the unit, essentially killing them both off.

* Villain Ghostfreak from ''[[Ben 10]]'' got killed ''twice'' in a [[Family-Unfriendly Death]] kind of way (burnt to ashes to be precise). Each time, he was able to come back, the first time by being resurrected by his henchmen and the second by an unknown process (though an explanation exists, since he can come back [[Enemy Without|as long as there is a sample of him in Ben's Omnitrix]])

** Similarly, in future episode "Ben 10000", [[Arch Enemy|Vilgax]] was ''torn to pieces'' by the future incarnation of Ben, but was still brought back to life by [[Mad Scientist|Dr Animo]].

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Death Tropes]]

[[Category:Just for Pun]]

[[Category:Example as a Thesis]]

[[Category:Resurrection Tropes]]