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{{deathtrope}}
{{examples|Examples that don't fit into any subtropes}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' the manga/Brotherhood version, each of the Homunculi dies in a manner thematically appropriate to the associated Deadly Sin:
** Lust is burned to death by a man whose [[Everyone Can See It|probable]] [[Bodyguard Crush|love interest]] she was about to kill.
** Greed Mk.I is boiled down for his most valuable part. However, he came back later.
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* [[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'s ''Eye Opening Arc'' ends with local Yandere Shion Sonozaki falling from her apartment building to her death. The irony? She had spent the majority of the arc masquerading as her twin sister [[The Woobie|Mion]] so she could frame her for her infamous [[Kill'Em All|murder rampage]], and she had just finished her grand plan by sneaking out and stabbing Keiichi. While she scales her apartment building to sneak back in, the fall is caused by the holster she is wearing (which is part of her disguise) snagging on the wall. Note this does not happen in ''Cotton Drifting'', or in the original Visual Novel or Manga adaptation of ''Eye Opening''.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* A ''Star Wars Tales'' comic is told entirely from the perspective of a career storm trooper who's about to board the ''[[A New Hope|Tantive IV]]''. As he thinks back on his life in the military and the things he's done, his ruminations are interspersed with the present as the Star Destroyer pulls the ship into its docking bay and they prepare to board. The man dreads being chosen to be sent in first, because the guy sent in first ''always'' dies—he's seen it dozens of times. [[Tempting Fate|Naturally, the sergeant chooses him.]] They set the charge on the door, and the storm trooper dryly remarks on its functionality, designed to blow the door inward and hopefully make the enemy flinch. And for once...it works. The rebels flinch, buying the man time to get into the hallway and start shooting. And right behind him, the sergeant that ordered him in first is shot in the face.
* In [[DC Comics]], this is the fate of Darkseid's mother, Queen Heggra. She didn't appreciate how her son was falling in love with a beautiful and understanding scientist, Suli, so she had the court poisoner, Desaad, poison her potential daughter-in-law. Darkseid returned the sentiment by having Desaad poison her, too. This parley would eventually come back to bite Desaad in the ass, too. When Darkseid accidentally freed his [[Always a Bigger Fish|father, Yuga Khan]] from the Source Wall, Desaad groveled before him, telling him how his service to Darkseid "was a lie." Yuga Khan then reminded Desaad how he murdered his beloved wife, then [[Critical Existence Failure|promptly disintegrated]] the sniveling toad. He came back with help from Darkseid after Yuga Khan, ironically, got himself re-stuck in the Source Wall.
** Another DC Comics example, this time concerning a possible future demise for noted immortal villain [[Vandal Savage]]. In ''[[DC One Million]]'', after having lived up to the 853rd century, Savage goes back in time to the 20th-century and arrives in Montevideo, Uruguay just in time to get caught in a nuclear blast that devastates the city...an attack that is ordered by 20th-century Savage.
== [[Film]] ==
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* Most of the victims in ''[[Theatre of Blood]]'', most notably George Maxwell, a pompous egotist who is killed in the manner of [[Julius Caesar]] (and who wouldn't have even been present at the murder scene if he hadn't allowed his vanity to override his common sense); Oliver Larding, [[The Alcoholic]], who is drowned in a barrel of wine in the style of Clarence in ''[[Richard III]]''; and Chloe Moon, a vain woman who ends up electrocuted at her hair salon.
* In ''[[Collateral]]'', Vincent, for all his love of [[Hannibal Lecture|Hannibal Lecturing]] Max on the need to change, adapt, and roll with whatever life throws at you, shoots entirely by rote. He always uses the Mozambique Drill: two shots to the chest and one to the head. In the climactic shootout at the end of the film, which takes place in a blackout and aboard a subway train, this ensures that not a single one of his shots hits Max, as they all plunk dead-center into a set of sliding metal doors. Max, meanwhile, fires randomly and kills Vincent with a lucky shot.
== [[Literature]] ==
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* ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' sees Chuckles the Clown die from a rogue elephant attack... while wearing a peanut costume.
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
* [[The Bible]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%2014:25-26&version=NIV describes] one of the rebellious sons of King David, Absalom, as a very handsome man with a magnificent mane of hair. His [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%2018&version=NIV death] is therefore rather ironic.
** To clarify: Absalom instigated a revolution, and overthrew his father, King David. Eventually, David would regroup, and waged more battles in order to drive out Absalom. At the Battle of Ephraim Wood, Absalom got his magnificent mane caught in the low-hanging branches of an oak tree as his steed rode beneath, leaving him hanging there for days until Joab, David's chief minion, found and killed him.
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* Speaking of Perseus, the king, Polydectes, wooed his mother, Danae, hoping to marry, then ravish her. In order to get rid of Perseus, who knew of his foul intentions, Polydectes invited Perseus to a lavish banquet where all the guests had to bring a horse, as a gift. As Perseus had no horse to give, he, instead, was tasked with bringing back the head of Medusa, the only mortal Gorgon. Of course, Polydectes assumed that Perseus would either die trying, or live in exile as a failure. He did not anticipate that Perseus would receive divine assistance from Athena, and as a result, [[Gone Horribly Right|paid for it very dearly]].
== [[
* In ''The Insect Play'', the Chrysalis, after spending two whole acts promising to do great things when born, finally emerges in the epilogue as a Moth. She says she will explain the meaning of the whole world, then falls dead just like all the other moths did.
* In the play ''The Whipping Man'', the whipping man is beaten to death (Off screen) by a slave, using the first whip that the whipping man had used on that slave.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* The Abbot in the
** What's even more ironic about his last words is that Gabriel and Zobek ''do'' in fact go to hell, and Zobek was actually one of the bad guys who orchestrated the starting events of the game.
* Happens to ''both'' of the Combine Hunter-Choppers encountered in [[Half-Life (series)|Half-Life 2]]. The first one stalks and hounds you through the Canals, tormenting you with a Heavy Pulse Gun mounted on it's underside. However, a group of Rebels have managed to scavenge the one of the very same Pulse Guns used by the Chopper, which is given to you to use against the Helicopter. The Pulse Gun tears the Helicopter apart, forcing it to retreat and leave you alone for a little while. Soon after you duel the Chopper 1 on 1, using the very same weapon it's been using against you the whole time. Then in Half-Life 2: Episode 2, another Hunter-Chopper again chases you to a Rebel Base, the chopper begins peppering the base with spherical mines, which are set to go off about 5 seconds after hitting the ground. You defeat the Helicopter by tossing these mines back at it until it's significantly damaged, loses control and spins out, then crashes into a hillside.
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** What makes this even more ironic is that if you zoom in on the bust of Hippocrates, there's a little brass plaque underneath that says "DO NO HARM", the time-honored motto of the health profession.
* In ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic]] IV'', Mardor, captain of the town guard of Vitross, attempts to burn necromancer Gauldoth to death when the latter is wrongfully accused of being a child murderer. Gauldoth flees the town, and returns several months later with an army which he uses to besiege and capture the town. One of his first acts as lord of Vitross is to have Mardor burned at the stake.
* In ''[[Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
* If the player chooses to kill Sander Cohen in ''[[BioShock (series)]]'', then they can add as many delicious layers of irony as they want. After an entire level has been devoted to you running about Fort Frolic, murdering Cohen's ex-students and using the photographs of their dead bodies to complete his self-proclaimed "Masterpiece", the player can kill Cohen and take a picture of his corpse to net the appropriately-named "Irony" achievement. But wait, there's more! For some sweet poetic justice, why not kill him with the crossbow he gave to you? Better still, load it up with Incendiary Bolts—because nothing says irony like burning to death in an underwater city.
* In one quest in ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]'' you meet a Dunmer trapped in a spider web. After killing the [[Giant Spider]] involved, he asks you to cut him loose in exchange for a [[MacGuffin]]. After you do, he shouts "[[You Fool!]]" and runs ''deeper'' into the dungeon. Should the player choose not to pursue and kill him, he wakes up [[Our Zombies Are Different|draugr]] that kill him, or failing that, steps on a pressure plate and gets splattered by a booby trap.
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Shoot him with 12 Gauge coin shot (shotgun shells loaded with legion denari i.e. his own army's money). }}
** In the ''Dead Money'' expansion, you can seal Elijah permanently in the vault he desperately wanted to get into.
*
* ''[[Honkai Impact 3rd]]'': Otto Apocalypse, who disdained the Kaslana [[Heroic Lineage]] for its [[Heroic Sacrifice|self-sacrificing]] [[Martyrdom Culture]] and the [[Flaming Sword]] [[Ancestral Weapon]] Judgment of Shamash so often used for that, ended up dying by sacrificing himself for the one he'd spent centuries trying to save, using a replica of said weapon.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]: [[Start of Darkness]]'', Right-Eye the [[Red Oni, Blue Oni|rash, impulsive brother of analytical and carefully planning Redcloak]] is killed when he finally thinks something through carefully and formulates a well-thought out scheme... Only to have it ruined during the execution stage when his brother does something rash and impulsive. Redcloak [[lampshade]]s it.
** More recently, Tsukiko is killed by her own wights after Redcloak takes control of them.
* In ''[[Paranormal Mystery Squad]]'''s debut, the deer woman they are chasing is incapacitated when she runs in front of a car.
* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', Equius, Kanaya, Eridan and Nepeta are killed in this way. Equius is garroted with his own bow - that is to say, the Heir of Void is left void of air. Additionally, he was shot through the leg with an arrow and strangled with a broken bow - after dedicating himself to being an archer, but always breaking his bows and never firing a shot successfully. Kanaya is shot through the stomach by the wand she made for Eridan; her sign is virgo and she's left barren. Eridan himself is chainsawed in half by Kanaya after she was revived as a [[Our Vampires Are Different|rainbow-drinker]], or rather, the magician was sawed in half by his lovely assistant. Nepeta's fate was been left unknown for some time after being advanced upon by Gamzee - that is to say, [[
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' had Kevyn (who invented teraport) comment on this [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2006-06-04 immediately upon] "waking up to a bad teraport".
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* Season 3 of [[Penny Arcade Dungeons and Dragons Podcast|Penny Arcade's D&D Podcast]] ends with Aeofel dying in the villain's mansion by getting caught in a acid pit. Later in the first PAX live game, the group ventures [[To Hell and Back|to hell so they can bring him back]] while getting their revenge on the [[Big Bad]]. When they finaly get to her, she ultimately falls into an acid pit and dies.
* In ''[[Splinter Cell Extinction]]'', Julian Hunter is ordered by director Ward to shoot Douglas Hyland (who didn't expect that) in episode 4. And then he's shot by Ward in episode 7. He didn't expect that.
* In a meta example in ''Vigor Mortis'', the chapter where {{spoiler|the character August dies was published on November 1st on Royal Road. The author swears that she didn't plan the timing}}.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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* Alright, he didn't die (given he's a spirit, he probably ''can't'' die), but Discord from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' receives his [[Fate Worse Than Death]] in this fashion. After spending two episodes [[Manipulative Bastard|using the mane cast's flaws]] to [[Break the Cutie|break]] and [[Mind Rape]] them, his own flaws -- [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good|namely his inability to think the mane cast could reunite their friendship after he effectively broke it apart]] and his ego further blinding him to that fact—are his undoing. Because of this, he lets them take a second free shot at him under the belief the Elements Of Harmony are useless thanks to their broken friendship and it'll fail. [[Oh Crap|He realizes he was wrong]] when the Elements actually fire and it's too late for him to do anything about it, resulting in him being [[Taken for Granite]].
== [[Real Life]] ==
* The Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang, was obsessed with obtaining immortality through alchemical elixirs. In Chinese Alchemy, mercury was considered a potent ingredient, so one of his solutions was to always have a daily dose of mercury everyday. In the end he died of mercury poisoning when he tried a new formula of mercury pill. The irony of it was in his quest for immortality, he instead found a way to
** Even worse, his greatest friend and most trusted adviser told him that he shouldn't be taking the potion and that the apothecaries were killing him with it. A special on [[The History Channel]] showed him dying from the potion right after his adviser told him to stop. Though this may not be ironic and be more [[Too Dumb to Live]].
** Legend says that the Chinese inventor of gunpowder came up with the formula while also trying to fabricate an elixir of immortality... and promptly got a severe case of explosion to the face.
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* Chrysippus was a Greek philosopher who belonged to the school of thought known as [[The Stoic|Stoicism]]. He died of laughter.
* [[Harry Houdini]] was known to take heavy blows to the gut with little to no effect if he prepared properly. A sucker punch to the gut was what killed him.
** Even worse, Houdini was a very healthy man who stayed very fit. The sucker punch (which came from a guy who didn't know that Houdini had to prepare) caused his appendix (he had appendicitis, but refused to have it treated for days) to burst and the toxins contained within spread throughout his body. He was so healthy when this occurred that it took him ''days'' to die, thus prolonging his suffering...
* [[Elvis Presley]], otherwise known as 'The King', died while taking a crap in a toilet... otherwise known as a 'Throne'.
* [[Rene Goscinny]] died from cardiac arrest during a cardiac stress test.
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* Dancer Isadora Duncan always wore a scarf in public. One day, when she was driving, her scarf got entangled between the spokes of her car wheels and accidentally snapped her neck.
* Stunt man Bobby Leach, who had crossed great heights during his career, died in 1911 when he slipped over a banana peel and broke his leg. His leg caught gangreen and he passed away.
*
* Comedian [[Tommy Cooper]] died on stage during a live TV broadcast. While he suffered a heart attack the audience thought it was all part of the act and laughed as he drew his final breath.
* Playwright J.I. Rodale died while he was a guest on the [[Dick Cavett]] show. During the recordings Rodale ironically claimed he felt great and said: ''"I'm in such good health that I fell down a long flight of stairs yesterday and I laughed all the way", "I’ve decided to live to be a hundred"'', and ''"I never felt better in my life!"'' He had also previously bragged, ''"I'm going to live to be 100, unless I'm run down by some sugar-crazed taxi driver."'' A few minutes later he suffered a heart attack and passed away. The show was never broadcast.
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Maggiore Christine Maggiore], who was HIV-Positive, denied the fact AIDS was the result of such virus and got pregnant. Maggiore didn't take any anti-HIV medication during the pregnancy, [[Blatant Lies|claiming it wouldn't be passed down]]. Sadly, this led to the death of her daughter, Eliza Jane Scovill, who wasn't tested for AIDS. Years later, Maggiore would also later died of AIDS-related pneumonia.
* Donna Rosenthal's book ''[[The Israelis]]'' mentions an Israeli who fled Israel because of the terrorism (specifically Al-Aqsa Intifada). He was at his job on the 103rd floor on September 11, 2001.
* Child actor James Street, son of ''[[Madeline]]'' composer Andy Street and a voice actor for the 2003 ''[[Strawberry Shortcake]]'' series, died in a skateboarding accident in 2007. His character, Huckleberry Pie, was portrayed as a skateboarding enthusiast complete with a skate park in his tree fort home.
* Countless cases of [[COVID-19]] denialists have died from the very same disease they initially dismissed as a hoax, examples of whom can be found [https://www.reddit.com/r/HermanCainAward/ here].
{{reflist}}
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