Fate Worse Than Death/Quotes

"They say, this city, she's been dead for years now... for years now,
So death is not something... not something that scares me... that scares me

There's worse things than death here..."

—Joe, Keep Quiet

".... And as your classmate has pointed out, sometimes death is not the worst punishment you can give. Sometimes the worst punishment is kindness. For the proud, the worst death is a slow death, over many decades, watching everything they have built crumble before their eyes as you replace it with your kindness. Threaten them with this fate should they not comply, and you will get better results than if you threaten them with just death."

—Lars, The Open Door

The Daemonic leads two crimes. You turn away from the path of righteousness and you abandon the Emperor as the object of your devotion. For the first death is merely a just retribution. The second is a Heresy so terrible that no punishment can be sufficient. Yet the search for an appropriate penalty continues, and it shall be found.

—Ecclesiarch Isus, Warhammer 40,000

There is a fate reserved for those who betray the Emperor's trust. It is not death. It is not life. What is it when flesh and mind are taken into the body of the Golden Throne? What is it when organs are absorbed slowly into the flesh of the living machine? Is there a mind that suffers for eons as the Emperor suffers, or does the personality fade and melt away as the flesh that houses it dissolves into nothing?

—Warhammer 40,000

"At the door of life by the gate of breath, there are worse things waiting for men than death."

—Algernon Charles Swinburne

Plum: What are you afraid of, a Fate Worse Than Death?

Peacock: No, just death. Isn't that enough?

—Clue

"A fate worse than a Fate Worse Than Death? ...That's pretty bad."

—Blackadder

Red Mage: Maybe eternal torment is fun.
Black Mage: That's your alternative?

Red Mage: It's all we've got left.

—8-Bit Theater

Immortal: I can't swim. What do you think would happen if I fell in the water?
Middleman: Well, I suppose you'd drown, come back to life, and drown again, for all eternity.

Immortal: Yeah... I'm not getting on the boat.

—The Middleman

"You are home, Counciler, and I'd rather be dead than you."

—Tales from the Crypt

Raziel: As your agent, I am beyond death.

Elder God: There are fates worse than death, Raziel.

—Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2

Today, just dying is a result!

—The Doctor, Doctor Who, "The Big Bang"

Voldemort: You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore? Above such brutality, are you?
Dumbledore: We both know there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom. Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit -
Voldemort: There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!

Dumbledore: You are quite wrong. Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness -

—Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

"Did you not recognize the creatures that moved in the shadows? The Apes too had served the Dark Master, but more for their own greed and thirst for power than any true loyalty to him. This is how Malefor repaid them...doomed to remain in the dark... feeding off the power of others, never being fulfilled."

—The Hermit commenting on the fate of the Apes. The Legend of Spyro: Dawn Of The Dragon

Kassandra: Why couldn't he just kill me? Nothing could be worse than this!

Giles Redferne: His very thought.

—Warlock

Zuko: If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed.
Iroh: But if the Fire Nation discovers us, we'll be turned over to Azula.

(Beat)

Both: Earth Kingdom it is.

—Avatar: The Last Airbender

Khan: "I've done far worse than kill you. I've hurt you. And I wish to go on hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her... marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet. Buried alive... buried alive..."

—Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan