Dying Alone: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|'''Inara''': ''Mal, you don't have to die alone.''<br />

[[I Work Alone|Being alone]] [[Loners Are Freaks|is bad]]. [[Tear Jerker|But dying alone is horrible.]]

 

 

[[Lonely At the Top]] almost always carries the threat that the character will die alone. It is frequently suggested to the single and [[Mandatory Motherhood|childless]] that this may result from their actions.

The one exception when a character is performing a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], particularly after [[More Hero Than Thou]] dispute: then, dying alone carries the consolation that the other characters have escaped with their lives.

 

 

They may do this even if the dying person is apparently unaware of them. Similarly, the [[True Companions|closest friend]] in a group of people may [[A Friend in Need|insist on being the one]] to deliver a [[Mercy Kill]]. If death takes a long time, [[Unbroken Vigil]] may result. Falling asleep by a deathbed is not always considered failure. Dying characters may try to force the issue if the other character is clearly on the verge of collapse.

 

 

 

Note that this trope is not only limited to heroic characters. If used on a villain, particularly the [[Big Bad]], it will serve to show us just what a miserable and horrible human being they really were, to the point where even their own supposedly loyal servants won't be bothered to accompany them as they die.

* In ''Bakugan'', this happens alot. Wavern warns Naga that his quest for power will end with this. Ironically, she inflicts this fate upon herself when she [[Heroic Sacrifice|forces Drago to kill her]]. Naga winds up being trapped in the doom dimension, which was recently emptied when its inhabitants were freed.

* To spare his friends the displeasure of seeing him die a gory, undignified death, Rei locks himself in a shed to die alone. [[Tear Jerker|Definitely THE most tragic, heartbreaking death]] in ''[[Fist of the North Star]]''.

** Also, {{spoiler|the first Lockon Stratos, Neil Dylandy}} died alone... [[In Space]]. [[Tear Jerker|;_; ]]

* In ''[[Houshin Engi]]'', this is probably the death Taikoubou {{spoiler|AKA Fukki}} would have gotten if {{spoiler|it weren't for Dakki}}. {{spoiler|Jyoka}}, being afraid of [[Dying Alone]], requests that Taikoubou accompany her, to which he agrees. After {{spoiler|she dies, he is left to crumble and die alone, away from all his companions and friends}}. Thankfully for him, {{spoiler|Dakki revives him}}.

* {{spoiler|Kamina}} from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]] '' might sort of count - although he does give touching final words to the group, it's done away and out of sight, and they aren't really by his side.

* ''[[Vampire Hunter D]]: Bloodlust'' sees Leila admit her biggest fear is dying alone and unmourned. She and D make a deal - the one who lives longer will visit the other's grave, just to avert this. {{spoiler|The ending [[Tear Jerker|shows Leila's grave, surrounded by her family - she died with those she loved tending to her]]. And D visits the grave, as promised.}}

** In the anime, this also happens to {{spoiler|Scar}}. He ends up taking a ''lot'' of people with him shortly after.

** Distressingly done with {{spoiler|Kiba}}. Although he manages to drag himself over to [[Half-Human Hybrid|Cheza]] for one last embrace, {{spoiler|Cheza doesn't just die--she ''disintegrates into flower seeds''.}} Not only is Kiba completely broken from this, it's implied that he's {{spoiler|''the last living thing in the entire world'' before he falls through the ice and drowns.}} You can't get more alone than that.

** A bit different in the manga, because people are present at the time, but it can still be quite the [[Tear Jerker]], depending on what side of the [[Broken Base]] you are on.

*** Either way, he's emotionally alone- there's [[Karmic Death|no sympathy to be had from anyone there]]. He even calls out for many of the people he's used or betrayed to help him.

* {{spoiler|Jun Ushiro}} in the ''[[Bokurano]]'' TV series. Fitting, as {{spoiler|his is the last fight of the series, all of the other pilots are dead, and his sister Kana is at home since he and Youko saved her from being the last in the list.}}

** Also in the anime, {{spoiler|the aforementioned Youko Machi dies alone and [[Snow Means Death|in the snow]], in front of her brother Koyemushi's lifeless body.}}

* As a child, Rangiku Matsumoto from ''[[Bleach]]'' was very close to dying alone due to starvation and implied orphanhood. A boy named Gin Ichimaru saved and befriended her. {{spoiler|They grew into either [[Cain and Abel]] or [[Star-Crossed Lovers]], depending on whether you ship Gin/Rangiku or not.}}

** Kaien tells Rukia that "heart" exists between her and those she cares about, and that she must not die alone. {{spoiler|After defeating Aaroniero, but being severely wounded in the process, she reflects on his words, recalls that she is not alone in the general sense despite having no one at her side, and resolves to keep going to save her friend Orihime before collapsing}}.

* In ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] A'''s, Hayate notes in the introduction to Episode 9 that the thought of dying from her [[Ill Girl|illness]] didn't scare her because she had been alone until the Wolkenritter came into their life, but now that they are depending on her, she wants to live and be there for them. {{spoiler|Graham also suggests that if she were to be sealed away with the Book of Darkness, no one would have to mourn her}}.

* In subverted in ''[[Zombie Loan]]'', in the [[Xu Fu]] arc {{spoiler|Touhou (Toho)}} nearly does so after carrying out his {{spoiler|hidden rebellion against Xufu }}, but in the end, Shito arrives and stays with him.

* One of the most defining moments in ''[[Legend of the Galactic Heroes]]'' is the death of {{spoiler|Yang Wenli}}, who was shot and bled to death in an empty hallway with neither friend nor foe to either help him or finish him off.

* Narrowly averted with {{spoiler|Shizuo}} from ''[[Durarara]]''. He is apparently shot twice by [[Jerkass|Horada]] and left to bleed to death, alone in an alley, but his {{spoiler|natural resistance to pain}} saves him from this.

* This is the fate of any jinchuuriki captured by Akatsuki in ''[[Naruto]]''. Beaten into coma-like states, their bijuu is torn from their bodies and they die alone and unmourned by their village. This is a big part of Naruto's motivation.

* In ''[[Blood Diamond]]'', {{spoiler|1=Leonardo DiCaprio's character receives a severe bullet wound while escaping mercenaries in Sierra Leone, and tells the two people with him to move on and leave him there. He calls his love interest with a satellite phone and tells her "I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be".}}

** Note that the line about him being where he was supposed to be wasn't about dying alone, but rather solidifying his love for Africa, despite what he went through in the movie.

** Parodied by ''[[SF Debris]]'' who changes Kirk's line to "Or with a Frenchman. Which is basically the same thing."

** Although considering he was with [[The Spock|Spock]] and [[The McCoy|McCoy]] when he said it, it's possible he meant dying without either of them there.

* [[Donnie Darko]] has a minor freakout over Grandma Death telling him that everybody dies alone. {{spoiler|Both do, as does [[Sinister Minister]] Jim Cunningham (Cunningham's & Grandma Death's [[Department of Redundancy Department|deaths]] were explained in [[Guide Dang It|the film's website]]). Gretchen & Frank each die with plenty of people around, but then Donnie prevents those events from happening, so they're both alive at the end anyway.}}

** Donnie himself dies alone, it is arguably one of the major themes of the movie.

* What drives [[Bridget Jones Diary|Bridget Jones]] to get out of her funk and do something is her fear that she will die alone and her corpse will be eaten by wild Alsatians.

* Doc Holliday dies alone in ''[[Tombstone]]'', only because he told Wyatt Earp to leave the room. Combines a [[Tear Jerker]] with a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]].

 

* In ''[[Saw]] VI'', William must decide between {{spoiler|killing}} a young, healthy man with no family or friends but a hard worker in his insurance firm, or his older, faltering secretary who has a husband, children and tons of friends. {{spoiler|He decides to kill the young man after much agonising because his loss wouldn't be felt as much as the secretary, and despite the secretary and William near him as he's killed he gets angry at them both for deciding he is worth less than them and stays emotionally cut off until the rather nasty end.}}

** In complete contrast to {{spoiler|his father}}, who died {{spoiler|from a heart attack while playing with his grandson in his own tomato garden}}.

*** Which is actually the point of the whole series.

* [[Godzilla]] at the end of ''[[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah]]''.

 

 

== [[Literature]] ==

** In ''The Killing Ground'', Uriel kneels by {{spoiler|the gravely wounded Lord of the Unfleshed}} and comforts him before {{spoiler|[[Mercy Kill|shooting him]]}}.

* In [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s ''[[Vorkosigan Saga|Memory]]'', Miles tells Elli Quinn that Taura will die soon and asks her to get him the news so that he can be with her.

* In the [[Forgotten Realms]] novel ''Spellfire'', Elminster says "If it falls within thy power, let no creature die alone.''

* In Charles Dickens's ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'', Sydney Carton talks with a seamstress on the tumbrel, confides the truth, and encourages her in facing death. He succeeds.

* A villain in the [[X Wing Series]], Kirtan Loor, observes as he is dying that his most hated rival Corran Horn was right- there is nothing worse than dying alone.

** The series is one in which [[Anyone Can Die]], and basically anytime one of the good guys die - well, any time when they can see it coming, which isn't always possible in a dogfight - his or her wingmates are there, desperately trying to prevent it, and it's always seen as tragic and heroic. Kell's effort to save {{spoiler|Jesmin Ackbar}} earn him one of the highest awards in the New Republic, the Kalidor Crescent, which he sees as a [[Medal of Dishonor]] because, well, he failed. When {{spoiler|Phanan}} is shot down over a planet in enemy territory and Face follows and refuses to leave his dying friend, abandoning the others despite leading a mission at the time, it's not seen as [[Honor Before Reason]]. And [[Word of God]] holds that {{spoiler|Phanan}} died in part because he felt that [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|cybernetics ate his future]], and he had no one.

{{quote| "[[You Are Not Alone|Did you really think I would leave you here alone?]]" }}

* In Jim Butcher's ''[[The Dresden Files|Dead Beat]]'', {{spoiler|Harry has been death cursed by Cassius to suffer this. Then [[Dead Person Conversation|his father assures him]] that while death must be suffered alone, there is no need for him to be alone before, or after}}.

* In [[Ben Counter]]'s ''Galaxy In Flames'', Tarvitz hunts for his battle brothers, the Emperor's Children, in battle -- partly in hopes of getting the battle back together, but partly so that he will not die alone {{spoiler|but with battle brothers, in defiance of [[Unfriendly Fire|Horus's treachery]]. It succeeds; he reflects when he gathers with the last handful, whether Emperor's Children, Luna Wolves, or World-Eaters, that he knew their names now, men who had just been grime-streaked faces were now his [[Fire-Forged Friends|brothers]]}}.

* In Lee Lightner's [[Warhammer 40000]] [[Space Wolf]] novel ''Wolf's Honour'', Ragnar stays by the dying {{spoiler|Haegr}}, holding his hand.

** In [[Graham McNeill]]'s ''Fulgrim'', {{spoiler|Lucius}} walks away from the dying Captain Solomon Demeter, but in a complete inversion, Solomon is glad of it, finding it "peace", because he had [[Turncoat|betrayed them]] and {{spoiler|tricked Solomon into [[Friend or Foe|killing men on his own side]]}}. (On the other hand, the [[Cue the Sun|sun is setting]], and he feels as if [[Empathic Environment|the world marked his passing]].)

* In ''[[Mystic River]]'', {{spoiler|Jimmy Marcus}} explains that he killed {{spoiler|Ray Harris}} not as revenge for {{spoiler|Ray}} ratting him out to the cops, but because it meant that {{spoiler|Jimmy}} was in prison while his wife died alone.

{{quote| ''What killed me about it was that she had to go through it completely alone. I know what you're thinking, we all die alone. True. That last stage when you've slipped away, yeah, you're alone. But my wife had skin cancer. She spent six months dying slow. And I could have been there for that. I could have helped her with that. Not the death part, but the dying.''}}

{{quote| ''Next day, as the Ferris wheel was taken apart and the race horses were being loaded into vans and the entertainers were packing up their belongings and driving away in their trailers, Charlotte died. The Fair Grounds were soon deserted. The sheds and buildings were empty and forlorn. The infield was littered with bottles and trash. Nobody, of all the hundreds of people that had visited the fair, knew that a grey spider had played the most important part of all. No one was with her when she died.''}}

** However, it is subverted in the 1973 film version, {{spoiler|when Wilbur stays long enough to watch her pass away before [[Tear Jerker|he cries]].}}

** [[Irony|Ironically enough]], Koris had originally rejected Rafen for his failures at teamwork, and accepted him after Rafen had expressed his [[An Aesop|lesson]] as "He who fights alone dies alone, but those [[Fire-Forged Friends|who battle as brothers]] will live forever" -- but in the course of the duology, Rafen finds himself fighting {{spoiler|and nearly dying}} alone and isolated.

{{quote| ''He was not alone; there were comrades with him—the boy with his finger in the dike, Colonel Bowie, too ill to move but insisting that he be carried across the line, the dying Captain of the Chesapeake still with deathless challenge on his lips, Rodger Young peering into the gloom.''}}

* A mark of Raistlin's cruelty in [[Dragonlance|The Test of the Twins]] is his threat to leave Crysania to die alone in the Abyss {{spoiler|and actually going through with it}}.

* ''[[The Stand]]'' has a few:

** There's an entire chapter dedicated to the deaths of people who are all alone because of the plague. Some are very depressing.

** After betraying the Free Zone Committee and {{spoiler|murdering Nick Andros and Sue Stern, Harold}} escapes with {{spoiler|Nadine}} only to hit a pot hole and crash. Once he gets back to his bike, he writes a letter of apology to the Free Zone and then puts his gun in his mouth.

* Referenced by Eragon and Glaedr in ''Eldest'', the second book of [[The Inheritance Cycle]]. While tutoring Eragon in the ways of dragons and riders, Glaedr warns him against taking his partner's soul into his body, "as this will result in both your deaths." Eragon comments "How terrible, to die alone, separate from the one who is closest to you." To this, Glaedr responds "Everyone dies alone, Eragon. Whether you are a king on a battlefield or a lowly peasant lying in bed among your family, no one can accompany you into the void..."

* Defied in Suzanne Collins's ''[[The Hunger Games]]'', when Katniss stays with {{spoiler|Rue}} and sings {{spoiler|her}} a song for {{spoiler|her}} [[Last Request]].

* From "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" by Sir Walter Scott, the fate of "The wretch, concentred all in self":

{{quote| ''''Living, shall forfeit fair reknown,<br />

* In ''[[Star Trek Mirror Universe]]: The Sorrows of Empire'', Mirror Spock and his wife, Marlena, have a conversation in which he promises her that they'll be together when they die, but notes that in ''the end'', everyone is alone when they die.

* In [[The Pale King]], Frederick Blumquist dies of a heart attack at his desk at an IRS office. He passes away on Tuesday, but no one noticed until Saturday evening when a janitor finds him sitting in the dark. It took over four days for any of 25 other employees in the room to realize that they were working with a corpse. Since he was a quiet person and died in his typical sitting position, everyone just assumed he was really absorbed in his work. {{spoiler|His personality doesn't change when he comes back as a ghost.}}

* This troper can't remember the title, but in a children's book, a dog wanders off and digs a hole to die when the injuries caused by his abusive owner kill him. The hero screams at the owner, who was also the school bully, that the dog had preferred to die alone in a ditch than die with his abuser by his side.

 

 

* In ''[[Firefly]]'', when 'Serenity' is crippled by an explosion, Mal evacuates the crew but stays onboard himself in the slim hope their distress signal is answered before he freezes. When told he doesn't have to stay behind and die alone, he counters: "Everybody dies alone."

** This convinces her despite her [[Tsundere]] tendencies {{spoiler|because she's [[Secretly Dying]], which is why she doesn't pursue a relationship with him.}} A bit sadder in hindsight.

* Cally's first words in ''[[Blake's Seven|Blakes Seven]]'' are "May you die alone, and silent."

* In ''[[Lost]]'', Jack tries to unite the survivors, who were starting to fight with each other, with a [[Rousing Speech]] that ends with the [[One-Liner Echo|oft-quoten]] line atop the page.

** And then, of course, in the finale, Jack prepares to {{spoiler|die alone, having saved all of his friends...and then Vincent comes into the clearing and lies down beside him as he dies.}} One word: [[Tear Jerker|Jears]].

{{quote| '''Castiel''': I want you to understand that the only thing you're gonna see out there is [[Archangel Michael|Michael]] killing your brother.<br />

'''Dean''': Well then I ain't gonna let him die alone. }}

 

== Theatre ==

 

 

** It's less obvious but implied that this is what happens to Shadow if you don't wait for him at the end of the floating continent panic sequence - and it's also implied that this happens to anyone you don't retrieve in the World of Ruin: all you get for their part of the ending is their portrait floating above their last known location. With a couple exceptions: {{spoiler|Terra}}, who shows up regardless; and {{spoiler|Sabin, who's mentioned in the scene he would normally share with Edgar}} - although he would likely survive regardless.

* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts]] 2'', this is what Roxas implies will happen to him {{spoiler|when he talks with Axel as he's leaving Organization XIII}}. When Axel {{spoiler|tries to convince him not to leave, telling him the Organization will kill him, Roxas says indifferently that "no one would miss me"}}. And in a way, {{spoiler|he ''did'' sort of end up dying alone. Or, at least, having the majority of his personality go dormant inside of Sora, with no one being there with him at the time when he returned to Sora's body}}.

** And after defeating Illidan with the help of the players, she admits that she is empty now, and as she's never seen again, is possibly subject to this trope.

* [[Left 4 Dead|Bill]] ends up dying alone, but just before he does, he takes comfort in the fact he saved the other three.

* {{spoiler|Emil}} in ''[[Nie R]]'' spends his last moments cowering in fear of his imminent death, wishing to see his friends just one more time.

* In ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]'', {{spoiler|Wander is left to die in Dormin's temple alone during the final cutscene. He ends up getting resurrected in the form of a small horned baby.}}

* Defied twice in ''[[Tales of Monkey Island]] Chapter 4: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood'': {{spoiler|1=once when LeChuck fatally stabs Morgan in De Singe's laboratory and leaves her alone to die, [[Normally I Would Be Dead Now|yet she lives long enough]] for De Singe to discover the incident before he leaves, and for Guybrush to discover and hold her in her final moments as Jacques the Monkey sadly watches; and once at the end of the chapter, when it appears that LeChuck would leave Guybrush alone to die after stabbing him, with only Elaine right by his side, but then the villain returns as a transformed Demon Pirate at the last second to [[I Wished You Were Dead|taunt him]] and watch him [[Died in Your Arms Tonight|die in the arms of his grieving wife]].}}

* While subverted in that it doesn't actually happen in ''[[Splinter Cell]]: Chaos Theory'', when Sam is asked a question, he replies "we all die alone".

* ''[[Shin Megami Tensei II]]'' has you find the corpse of [[The Hero]] of ''[[Shin Megami Tensei I]]'' alone, in a secluded cavern.

 

 

== [[Visual Novels]] ==

** Archer is said to have died alone in his back-story. At the end of the Fate route, {{spoiler|so does Saber, after commanding Bedivere to leave her}}.

*** ''Last Episode'' makes it hard to say if she really died, though it's likely that they were simply reunited after death. Speaking of ''Last Episode,'' Shirou likely followed the same path as Archer; however, unlike Archer, he did not regret his life, nor did he make a deal with the World to become a Counter Guardian, as it would be a betrayal of Saber and their ideals if he did. Also unlike Archer, he had a clear goal in mind: the [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|endless]] [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|pursuit]] of the golden-haired girl, [[I Will Wait for You|eternally waiting]] [[Love Transcends Spacetime|for him alone]] [[Together in Death|on the]] [[Died Happily Ever After|fields of gold.]]

 

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

** The former page image comes from [http://xkcd.com/695/ this strip].

 

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* In ''[[Freemans Mind]]'', our [[Heroic Mime]] given a voice estimates that this is his most probable fate (it's the series' page quote, summarizing his journey through ''[[Half Life]]'' quite well, from a cynical standpoint anyway).

 

 

** Mona also dies alone, watching TV in Homer's living room after she can't convince him to forgive her for being a [[Missing Mom]]. {{spoiler|And he's the one who finds her lifeless body... right when he was about to tell her that could finally forgive her}}. [[Tear Jerker|Sniffff.]]

* In the 'epilogue' episode of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', Batman sits with {{spoiler|Royal Flush Gang member Ace,}} who was dying specifically because of her powers, so that she wouldn't have to die alone, {{spoiler|lest her death agony destroy the town}}. Quite the [[Tear Jerker]].

* In "Spelling Applebees" of ''[[Drawn Together]]'', Foxxy mentions that her only fear is dying alone before hinting that she might want a boyfriend to ensure that doesn't happen.

* There is one scene in ''[[The Brave Little Toaster]]'' when the poor little flower realizes that it was loving its own reflection on Toaster after he runs away, and as he peeks into the bushes, he notices that the flower is losing its petals as it dies emotionally alone and brokenhearted. So disturbing... [[Tear Jerker|and heart-breaking]]!