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Sometimes when a character, especially a [[Sad Clown]] or [[Plucky Comic Relief]] type, is facing death, they find the whole experience laugh-out-loud funny. Or sometimes, the laughter itself is what kills them. Either way, that's where this trope comes in. Can also overlap with [[Laughing Mad]].
{{deathtrope}}
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[
* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro
▲* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Anime)|Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'': {{spoiler|Jougan and Balinbow}} have their [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] making a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to save Gimmy and Darry, then they die laughing maniacally... and take out an Anti-Spiral fleet with their death.
▲* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni]]'': Rena dies laughing in the [[Big Bad]]'s face during one arc.
* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'': When Shishio spontaneously combusts from his extreme body temperature, he dies, burning in flames, laughing to the end.
* In ''[[
* In the ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' OVA "Bardock, Father of Goku", Bardock goes out this way when he realizes the prophecy he had of a Saiyan vanquishing Frieza wasn't of him, but [[Identical Grandson|of his son, Goku.]]
* After Jessie ends up being incapable of restraining her amusement of Haunter's antics when the platform she and the rest of Team Rocket were on and lets go, Meowth comments while she is laughing that she's going to die laughing. Knowing these characters, they survive, albeit at the end of the episode, they [[Taken for Granite|are encased in cement]].
== Comic Books ==
* In ''[[Sin City]]'', when Marv learns that his foe is Cardinal Roark, he realizes that it's going to kill him, whether he takes down Roark or not. Marv decides to press on: "Hell, dying will be nothing. I'll die laughing if I know I've done this one thing right." {{spoiler|And so he does.}}
* Joker venom, starting with the very first [[Batman]] vs. [[The Joker]] story. Victims literally die laughing with huge unnatural smiles on their faces.
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== Film ==
* ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'': All but one of the weasels die of laughing and become ghosts. Just like Doom warned them they would.▼
* In ''[[Ice Age|Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs]]'', this is the fate of any who breathes in the gas in the Chasm of Death, though the furry heroes are saved by Ellie before they actually, you know, [[Never Say "Die"|die]].▼
▲* ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'': All but one of the weasels die of laughing and become ghosts. Just like Doom warned them they would.
▲* In ''[[Ice Age|Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs]]'', this is the fate of any who breathes in the gas in the Chasm of Death, though the furry heroes are saved by Ellie before they actually, you know, [[Never Say Die|die]].
▲{{quote| '''Ellie:''' They're just laughing. What's so bad about that?<br />
'''Buck:''' ''(pointing at dinosaur skeletons)'' They ''died'' laughing! }}
* Laughing gas was used as a weapon in ''[[Radioland Murders]]''.
* In ''[[The Princess Bride (
* In ''[[Mary Poppins]]'', the grumpy old banker Mr. Dawes Sr. [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|dies laughing after hearing Mr. Banks's joke]].
* An alternative ending of ''[[The Lion King]]'' plays it straight with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y14TwUGQ3xE Scar].
** As well as an alternate ending of ''[[Beauty and
* In ''[[Batman (
* El Guapo in the ''[[¡Three Amigos
* In ''[[Quest for Camelot]]'', Ruber laughs as he is obliterated by accidentally stabbing Excalibur, which is forged with his arm, back into its stone.
== Literature ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* In the backstory of ''[[The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril]]'', the comedian Ah Hoon was found murdered, with a laugh frozen on his face. As we find out at the very end, this was due to the great difficulty the killer had in reaching Ah Hoon: The killer looked ridiculous at the moment of the murder.
* ''[[The Dark Tower]]'': Cuthbert and Roland, the last gunslingers of Gilead, are pulling a [[Self
** A shapeshifting emotion vampire tries to kill Roland this way in the final novel. It's mentioned that this was a particularly effective method as Roland is normally rather humorless.
* ''[[The
* In ''[[Holes]]'', Kathleen Barlow ("Kissin' Kate Barlow") is taken in for arrest, to be tortured for information. Before they can do anything to her, however, a Yellow Spotted Lizard bites her on the ankle, which causes a slow, painful death; and Kate dies laughing, as "there was nothing more they could do to her now".
* "[[Harry Potter]]", Sirius Black gets offed mid-laugh. His cousin and murderer, Bellatrix Lestrange, cops it exactly the same way from Molly Weasley.
** {{spoiler|Fred Weasley}}(as a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]], he's laughing at a joke made by [[The Unfavorite|Percy]], who up to this point has displayed [[No Sense of Humor]]).
* In ''[[The Underland Chronicles]]'', a certain type of carnivorous plant in the Vineyard of Eyes emits a [[I Can't Believe
* In ''[[The Hunger Games]]'' President Snow dies laughing after Katniss shoots Coin, having believed what he told her about Coin dropping the bombs that killed her little sister, Prim.
* ''[[
== Live Action TV ==▼
▲== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'': This is the fate of whoever reads or hears the [[Brown Note|World's Deadliest Joke]], so lethal it was used as a weapon in [[World War Two]].
* ''[[
== Theater ==
* In ''[[Cat
▲* In ''[[Cat On a Hot Tin Roof]]'' Big Daddy explains to his son Brick that he wants to leave behind all of his riches to him and the rest of the family because his own father was a worthless old hobo. His only tie to glory was a worthless old uniform from his time served in the Military which he gave to Big Daddy, but despite his terrible situation he died laughing with his son by his side. Brick thinks that he died laughing the way he did because he was happy that he had his son by his side, and that he left behind many happy memories and love for his son the best way he knew how, Big Daddy is deeply moved by this perspective.
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Silent Hill 4]]'': Jasper laughing hysterically as he burns alive, glad to have met "the Devil", followed by carving 17/21 into his own chest with a candlestick right before he dies.
* Father Grigori does this in ''[[
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword]]'', {{spoiler|while Ghirahim is violently converted back to his master Demise's sword, he laughs maniacally, then falls limp when Demise pulls his sword out of Ghirahim's body. It's debatable whether this is an actual "death", but it meets most qualifications.}}
* In ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum]]'' the Joker's toxin causes this to happen.
** Speaking of which, at the end of ''[[Batman: Arkham City]]'' an incredibly dark and twisted version happens {{spoiler|when [[The Joker]] dies. Batman tells him that if Joker hadn't tried to stab him, he would have saved the Joker. To which the Joker starts laughing hysterically while coughing uncontrollably and admits that it's pretty funny. [[Go Out
* In one of the cut endings of ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (
* Suprisingly, [[Monster Clown|Kefka]] [[Laughing Mad|Palazzo]] of [[
** Gestahl does, however, refer to the trope when Kefka starts [[Laughing Mad|laughing for no apparent reason]] {{spoiler|when Gestahl attempts to kill him to prevent him from having the Warring Triad unleash their true power and cause the apocalypse}}. Subverted in that his spells {{spoiler|have absolutely no effect on Kefka due to being in the Warring Triad's energy field.}} It's even given a [[Continuity Nod]] in ''Dissidia Duodecim Final Fantasy'', from Sephiroth says the trope name word for word when about to fight Kefka.
{{quote|
Gestahl: No hard feelings, now... I'm just going to use this power you've unleashed to put you to sleep...//
''(Kefka starts laughing)''//
Gestahl: What's so funny!? Very well... I suppose it's only fitting that you go out laughing.
''Dissidia Duodecim''//
Sephiroth: ''(to Kefka)'' Die laughing. }}
== Web Comics ==
* The [[Man
* In ''[[The
▲* The [[Man Eating Plant|Nepenthes Dulcis]] found in ''[[Girl Genius (Webcomic)|Girl Genius]]'' incapacitates prey by inducing feelings of extreme happiness, letting it eat them while they're laughing all the way.
▲* In ''[[The KA Mics]]'' this was a side effect of using the [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/4806540/ Swiss Army Sword.]
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[
▲* ''[[The Batman (Animation)|The Batman]]'': The Joker's gas victims. They die with a smile on their faces. After laughing uncontrollably. In pain. To be precise, as in the comics version, it's the uncontrolled laughter that kills them.
* In the [[Looney Tunes]] compilation movie ''Daffy Duck's Quackbusters'', Daffy Duck goes on a quest to become a dying millionaire's companion. He winds up the millionaire's jester, and the millionaire winds up laughing uproariously as he pelts Daffy with pies, right up to his death.
* In the ''[[
* Joker venom is non-fatal in ''[[Batman:
== Real Life ==
* Alex Mitchell found ''[[
* Rumor has it that somebody almost died laughing while watching the scene in ''[[A Fish Called Wanda]]'' where Kevin Kline puts chips up [[
▲* Alex Mitchell found ''[[The Goodies (TV)|The Goodies]]'' episode Kung Fu Kapers so funny he laughed non-stop for ''[[Reality Is Unrealistic|25 minutes straight]]''. The strain on his heart was such that he suffered a fatal heart attack. His widow sent [[The Goodies (TV)|The Goodies]] a letter thanking them for making his last moments so happy.
▲* Rumor has it that somebody almost died laughing while watching the scene in ''[[A Fish Called Wanda]]'' where Kevin Kline puts chips up [[Michael Palin (Creator)|Michael Palin]]'s nose.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Death Tropes]]
[[Category:Die Laughing]]
[[Category:
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