Death by Irony: Difference between revisions

== Anime and Manga ==

** 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.

* In James Herbert's post-nuclear holocaust novel ''[[Literature/Domain|Domain]]'', a particularly obnoxious character chortles with glee at having had the foresight to build himself a nuclear bunker. He takes great delight in denying his neighbours entry and when he discovers a cat has accidentally joined him ends up killing it. However, when he gets sickened by the stench of dead cat and tries to leave he discovers that the exit hatch has been blocked shut by the remains of his house landing on it.

* In ''[[Literature/The Pale King|The Pale King]]'', a soybean farmer was decapitated by a Think Farm Safety billboard during a tornado in 1987.

* [[Tad Williams]]' ''[[Otherland]]'' applies a liberal dose of irony to the deaths of all of the members of the Grail Brotherhood conspiracy. Many die by committing suicide, believing that they are [[Brain Uploading|uploading]] themselves into virtual bodies, not knowing that the procedure has been sabotaged by [[The Starscream|Dread]]. (For further irony, the process ''does'' work, and the Other ends up using it on two of the heroes.) Shortly afterward, Daniel Yacoubian, a powerful general, is killed by getting stabbed in the chest by a teenage boy. After Dread's apocalypse, the remaining members die in similarly ironic ways: Jiun Biao, the powerful financier, is killed by a giant bug in Kunohara's simulation. David Wells, software mogul, is killed by Dread in a [[You Have Failed Me]]. And Jongleur himself dies at the [[Turned Against Their Masters|hands of his own creation]].

* In [[Tim Dorsey]]'s first novel, ''Florida Roadkill'', an assassin who is a member of a Satanic cult is preparing to sacrifice Serge and Coleman (By kneeling in the middle of the highway and praying in black clothing in the middle of the night) when he is run over by a bus full of devout Christians.

** To clarify (as much as one can, given the various interpretations of greek myths), the centaur attempted to kidnap Deianira, and Hercules came to the resuce and slew the centaur with an arrow coated in hydra-blood poison. As he lay dying, Nessus told Deianira to take some of his [the centuar's] blood, and if she ever feared that she was losing Hercules to another woman, use the blood as a love potion to keep Hercules faithful forever. Eventually, Dieanira became concerned that Hercules was straying in his devotion (whether or not he was depends on which writer you choose to believe) and spread the blood on his famous lion-skin cloak. Although Hercules was to strong for the potion/poison to kill outright, the pain did drive him to suicide (effectively), so this story actually contains heavy irony on multiple levels.

* To add insult to mortal injury, the primordial sea monster-goddess, Ceto, was slain when Perseus [[Taken for Granite|petrified her]] with the decapitated head of her own daughter, Medusa.

== [[Theater]] ==

** 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 in [[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 with the formula while also trying to fabricate an elixir of immortality... and promptly got a severe case of explosion to the face.

* [[Sam Kinison]], who had spent all eight years of his career either advocating drug use or sarcastically telling people not to, drinking heavily, and other such things, died in a drunk driving accident. The irony is that the accident was a totally sober Kinison getting hit by a drunk driver while in a crosswalk.

* Proving that it doesn't discriminate against good, bad or neutral parties, [[Amy Winehouse]] died in fall 2011 of a drug overdose. Her most famous song is "Rehab", which is about her desires to avoid going there.

* Basil Brown, an English health food advocate, died of liver damage caused by hypervitaminosis after drinking 10 gallons of carrot juice.

* Michael Anderson Godwin, sentenced to death by the electric chair but commuted to life in prison, was electrocuted while fixing a television while sitting on a metal toilet seat.

* [[W. C. Fields]] died on the day he despised the most: Christmas Day.

* [[Joseph Stalin]] terrorized Russia for decades. One morning when he couldn't breathe and was in desperate need for medical help nobody dared to enter the room without his explicit permission...

* General John Sedgwick was very dismissive of the other troops' shooting skills. At one point during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (1863) he said: ''"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance"''. He was shot seconds later.

* 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.

* 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.

* Singer Felix Powell, best known for the song ''"Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag (And Smile, Smile, Smile)"'', later committed suicide.

[[Category:Death Tropes]]

[[Category:Death by Irony]]