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{{trope}}
[[File:
Where a major character is killed, and is not restored by a [[Reset Button]], or the death was not [[All Just a Dream]], or any of the other resurrection plot devices.
This can be used as vengeance against a recalcitrant actor (see [[Dropped a Bridge on Him]]) or just a dramatic way of writing off a departing one (see [[McLeaned]]), especially on soaps such as ''[[Coronation Street]]'' or ''[[Days of Our Lives]]''.
Despite what the trope title may suggest, being Killed Off For Real is still no guarantee that a character won't come [[Back from the Dead]] far into the future; the [[First Law of Resurrection]] makes sure of that. Creators are gradually replaced over a work's run, and they have different ideas on who should or shouldn't be alive. Even when the same creator sticks around, she can always change her mind later on. And even if such a death occurs in the [[Grand Finale]], they may still be subject to being [[Uncanceled|revived along with the show]].
May lead into [[Personal Effects Reveal]], [[Meaningful Funeral]], [[To Absent Friends]], and [[Dead Guy, Junior]]. See also: [[Tonight Someone Dies]], [[Disney Death]], [[Not-So-Small Role]], [[Really Dead Montage]].
{{noreallife|eventually, this will apply to ''everyone''.}}
{{deathtrope}}
▲See also: [[Tonight Someone Dies]], [[Disney Death]], [[Not-So-Small Role]], [[Really Dead Montage]]. The [[Video Game]] version would be [[Final Death]].
{{examples}}
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* The mangaka of ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' is not afraid to kill off his characters. Supporting protagonists usually have a good chance of dying; William Zeppeli from Part 1, Caesar Zeppeli from Part 2, and several of the primary protagonists' [[True Companions]] from Parts 3 and 5. Mostly averted in Part 4, which takes place in relatively tame circumstances compared to the other installments.
** Even main characters can get this treatment when you least expect it. Jonathon Joestar sacrifices himself at the end of Part 1, Jolyne Kujo (along with ''everyone else on the good guys' side'' save for their [[Tagalong Kid]]) are killed just before the conclusion of Part 6, and Gyro Zeppeli (who shares main character status with Johnny Joestar) dies in Part 7.
* The final deaths of all the homunculi except Pride in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. Hughes, Fu, Buccaneer, Kimblee and Hohenheim die as well.
* ''[[Black Cat Detective]]'' is almost schizophrenic about this. On the one hand, this show has no problem killing characters for real. The evil mice [[Captain Obvious|certainly die when they get killed]]. His second in command, well, if you watch this show, don't get to attached to him. But the elephant who gets shot in the middle of the head at point blank range is revived by an enormous syringe.
* Played straight ''and'' subverted in ''[[Code Geass]]''. One of the elements contributing to its [[Broken Base]] status was the fact that sometimes a character would appear to be
* Everyone in ''[[Soukou no Strain]]''.
* ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'' killed off Akito's friend and enthusiastic mecha pilot Guy Daigoji early on, and teased his return several times. The only time he ever appeared again was in a hallucination, and it wasn't Akito's. The character that ''did'' come back was a minor backgrounder. Another example of the show's recurring theme, "life is not like [[Super Robot]] anime".
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* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'': depending on which ending you choose, either Kaji and Kaworu, or [[Kill'Em All|the entire human race except for Shinji and Asuka]]. [[Mind Screw|Maybe]]. Depending on how you interpret the original ending, possibly the entire human race period.
* Misuzu in ''[[AIR]]'', in one of the most [[Tear Jerker|heart-wrenching]] anime scenes ever devised (the word "goal" will never hold the same meaning anymore to anyone who has seen it). The fact that she ''might'' be reincarnated or freed from her curse does not diminish the fact that Misuzu herself is gone for good and leaves behind her immensely grieving adoptive mother, Haruko.
* This is an inviolable rule in the [[CLAMP]] universe. If a person dies, there is absolutely ''
* In the ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross|Macross]]/[[Robotech]]'' episode, "Pineapple Salad/Goodbye Big Brother," it should have been made obvious what was going to happen with Hikaru Ichijou/Rick Hunter's senpai/brother, Roy [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Focker/Fokker]], but the usual standard [[Bowdlerization]] of 1980s television animation made assuming that the show would choke rather obvious. When the show actually followed through and killed him off, it showed this was no ordinary animated series on North American TV. [[Moral Guardians]] raised a fuss and complained that it was bad for children.
** No such ambiguity in the original Japanese version of the episode. Three ragged holes in his back and everything. And the reactions of the rest of the main characters seals the fact that he wasn't coming back. In fact, just to give Akira Kamiya more stick time as Focker, they had to bring him back in a prequel.
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* ''[[Simoun]]'' has the [[Heroic Sacrifice]] death of Mamina. And to add insult to injury, the Simile carrying her coffin is shot down. Other characters are much more ambiguous: We have Rimone and Dominura, who [[Time Travel]], then take off to parts unknown; Amuria, for whom they [[Never Found the Body]]; Onasia, who, well, [[Mind Screw|who knows]]; Yun, who now exists in the sort of limbo the previous did; and Neviril and Aer who [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]]. Angulas also manages to die as a suicide bomber, but still show up as a body in the cockpit of an enemy Simoun later. ''Great'' series, but very very strange.
* ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' has the protagonist, Shirou ([[Multiple Endings|potentially]]) [[Heroic Sacrifice|killed off]] in the finale of Heaven's Feel. The [[Tear Jerker]] ending sticks to and expands on this, showing the epilogue through the eyes of Sakura as she ages and watches everything change around her, remaining alone until the end... The most depressing part of the game, hands down.
* The entire ''[[Gundam]]'' franchise is absolutely ''notorious'' for this. With only a few exceptions, all of the series pull no punches when displaying the brutality of war. This is the series that gave rise to [[Kill'Em All]] after all.
** The Universal Century timeline has this all over the place. Besides the millions upon millions who die in the background, major characters fall in some fantastically '''brutal''' ways. The most memorable of these comes during [[Chars Counterattack]], where {{spoiler|[[The Hero|Amuro Ray]] and [[The Rival|Char Aznable]] die at each other's hand in the climax.}}
** The Cosmic Era is hands down the [[Bloodier and Gorier|bloodiest]] and [[Darker and Edgier|darkest]] of the [[Alternate Universe|Non-UC timelines]]. [[Gundam Seed]] in particular saw the death of more main characters than the most violent of the Universal Century series, [[Victory Gundam]]. Thanks to higher technological capabilities at the time of production, all of the carnage was visible in high definition.
* The original Lockon Stratos was
** Just when they're getting developed, Gundam 00 also has the deaths of both Lichty and Christina via point-black gunshot from a ''mobile suit''. It's made all the more tragic considering Lichty [[Heroic Sacrifice|used his body]] to shield Christina, but she got a large piece of debris jabbed into her back anyway. Just in case there was any thoughts they could survive, ''the cockpit also exploded''. This series is obviously fond of deaths by explosions.
*** And then there is the
** And Nena. She got her [[So Last Season|antique]] mobile suit brutally dismembered into just the cockpit by Lousie who then stabbed the cockpit for good measure. Naturally, the last we see of Nena is cursing the hell out of her opponent with [[Blood From the Mouth]] before her cockpit explodes.
* ''[[Death Note]]'' is set in the Real World. [[Captain Obvious|When somebody dies, they stay dead]]. It is initially implied that, for Death Note users, when they die, instead of Heaven or Hell, they go to Nothingess (Mu). [[The Nothing After Death|Ouch.]] It is later revealed that this is true for EVERYONE.
** Not that this has stopped the fanfic writers.
** In the manga, Light uses deductive reasoning to come to the conclusion there is no heaven or hell.
* Cibo and Sana-Kan from ''[[Blame!]]''
* In ''[[Pokémon]]'', the scientists who created Mewtwo in the first movie, Latios in the fifth movie, Lucario and Sir Aaron in the eighth movie, and J in [[DP 151]].
* Leomon from ''[[Digimon]]'' season one and three. Also Oikawa,Black Wargreymon (could not be reborn due to being artificial),Arukenimon,and Mummymon from season two, as well as some family members of various characters that died before the seasons' start.
** We might not see him again, but Leomon (Season 1 only) was presumably reborn, as Whamon was. Digimon who are destroyed get reborn in Primary Village. Except the evil Digimon, cause they never come back to cause trouble after they are destroyed. Etemon and Myotismon's deaths are retconned, but both are later killed for good. This only applies to Seasons 1 and 2; 3 is a different type of universe and it does not apply. Wizardmon, on the other hand, wasn't reborn, for reasons unknown returned as a ghost to help them defeat the Digimon Emperor, and then disappeared. (Maybe he was reborn after that?)
*** Wizardmon's death was, in fact, permanent. Because he died in the 'real world', there was no way for his data to be reborn.
*** Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon also got
*** In a sense Devimon returns as a ghost, but is destroyed for the second time along with Kimeramon
** ''[[Digimon Savers]]'' also works sort of like the first two seasons,until [[Complete Monster|Kurata]] figured out how to permanently kill off Digimon,which he did to [[Sacrificial Lamb|Frigimon]],[[Noble Demon|Merukimon]], Eldradimon,[[Asshole Victim|SaberLeomon]],and countless others.
* While ''[[Naruto]]'' has several [[Disney Death
** Not anymore . . . Asuma, Jiraiya, and Nagato/Pain were brought back to life, though this trope is true for Jiraiya and The Third Hokage, and possibly Danzo.
*** That doesn't count; if they were truly brought back to life, they wouldn't be fighting the good guys like they are. They're walking among the living again thanks to Kabuto's Edo Tensei jutsu, which DOES let them have/keep their memories and bloodline abilities(if applicable) and stuff, but they're still not really alive and Kabuto can strip them of their will for absolute control if he so chooses. TLDR: The
* There's a common rule in ''[[One Piece]]'': If you die in a flashback, you're
* In a subversion of [[Never Say "Die"]], in the English dub of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''
* ''[[Bleach]]'': [[Tite Kubo]] is quite good at making sure most villains are
* In ''[[Rainbow Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin]]'', Sakuragi dies about midway through the series. This is especially surprising since he was [[The Hero]], [[Big Good]] and possibly the protagonist as well.
* In ''[[Soul Eater]]'' manga there Mifune, Tezca, Arachne and, Joe.
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*** Not as of chapter 86...
*** Tezca is a bizarre case because he seems to be somehow immortal. After he dies, his soul is still alive, can still appear in mirrors, implies that he can just get a new body, and still counts himself as being one of the Death Scythes.
* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' killed off Sayaka while the protagonist, Madoka, willingly erases her existence from both the physical world and the memories of (almost) everyone who knew her. Mami and Kyoko were seemingly
* Most of the cast of ''[[Rose of Versailles]]'' are killed off at the end of the series (save for Rosalie, Bernard and Alain). Since it took place in [[The French Revolution]], this is [[Foregone Conclusion|a given]].
* Everyone who was dear to, or trusted by, the protagonist of ''[[Le Chevalier d'Eon]]'' is dead by the end of the series -- [[Downer Ending|leaving him completely alone and utterly disconsolate.]]
* ''[[Inuyasha]]'': [[Rumiko Takahashi]] isn't afraid of this trope. Not only do major villains get
== Comic Books ==
* "Nobody stays dead except [[Captain America (comics)|Bucky]], [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Uncle Ben]], and [[Batman|Jason Todd]]." Since that saying was coined, both Bucky and Jason Todd [[Death Is Cheap|have found themselves resurrected]]. But Uncle Ben works, since an Alternate Universe version of him appeared and died.
** For this reason, all the below must come with the caveat ''"at time of writing."''
* Martha and Thomas Wayne, or Batman's
* Many DC characters that have died were thought to come back after ''[[Blackest Night]]''. While [[Brightest Day|12 random people were brought back to life]] many more stayed dead. Examples are [[Identity Crisis|Sue Dibny]], [[Justice Society of America|Johnny Quick (Johnny Chambers)]], [[The Question]] [[52|(Charels Victor Szasz)]], [[Elongated Man]] (Ralph Dibny), Eclipso (Jean Loring), [[The Flash|Mirror Master (Samuel Joseph Scudder)]], [[Justice Society of America|Doctor Midnight (Charles M. McNider), Sandman (Wesley Dodds), Mister Terrific (Terry Sloane), Damage (Grant Emerson)]], [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Kal-L (Earth 2)]], and many more not listed here.
* If you don't count her clone or her lookalike daughter, [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Gwen Stacy]] is, miraculously, still dead.
* [[Marvel]]'s [[Captain Mar-Vell|Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell)]], Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Scarlet Spider (Ben Reilly), Banshee (Sean Cassidy), Thunderbird (John Proudstar), Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), Unus (Angelo Unuscione), Abomination (Emil Blonsky), Baron Heinrich Zemo, George Stacy, Synch (Everett Thomas), Destiny (Irene Adler), Hornet (Eddie McDonough), Goliath (Bill Foster), Iron Monger (Obadiah Stane), Jean DeWolff, Karen Page, Lilandra Neramani, Microbe (Zachary Smith Jr.), Pyro (St. John Allerdyce), Robert Kelly, and Moira MacTaggert are all, at the moment, very much dead, among others.
* [[The Other Wiki]] [[wikipedia:List of dead comic book characters|lists]] these and other characters but notes it [[Death Is Cheap|can change at any time]].
* In a move that surprised those who were still reading it, Master Splinter was killed off from old age in Volume 4 of the Mirage ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]''
* Several of the [[G.I. Joe
*
* The Sentry, Marvel's Superman [[Expy]] with more power and psychological problems than is good for him was killed after his human identity begged a supercharged Thor to kill him before the [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Void]] regained control. Considering how much crap the guy has gone through over the years, it's hard not to feel sorry for him. Thor dropped him into the Sun, but he can resurrect himself at will, so it's doubtful if it will stick.
* About one fourth of ''[[Fallen Angel (comics)|Fallen Angel]]'
* [[The Flash|Barry Allen]] had a long and prestigious run on this list (for a popular comic book character), in part because he was given a really good death, reversing that death would have undone the heroes efforts to save the universe, and fans eventually embraced his successor Wally West even if they still wanted Barry back. But 24 years and two mega-crises later, Barry has finally subverted this trope though it looks like he may be skirting the [[Came Back Wrong]] trope for a while.
* Most of the cast of [[Garth Ennis]]'s ''[[Hitman (Comic Book)|Hitman]]'' series, including the titular character himself, "Hitman" Tommy Monaghan, die by the end of the 60-issue run, and since that was one of Ennis's babies, it seems doubtful anyone will ever be allowed to resurrect them. In fact, compared with the rest of the DC universe, Hitman's Gotham seems almost like some kind of parallel universe where death actually means something.
* Sarah Gordon, Commissioner Gordon's wife, has, remarkably, remained dead ever since being murdered by [[The Joker]] in ''[[Batman: No Man's
* ''Zenith'' (''
* Kobra, a longtime [[Big Bad]] in [[The DCU]], ''seems'' to have been Killed Off For Real (having your heart ripped clean out of your chest by Black Adam will do that). However, since his minions recently resurrected his brother (who was killed off waaaaaaay back in 1978) to become the new head of their [[Religion of Evil]], all bets are off.
* [[Wolverine]], one of the most popular characters in the [[Marvel Universe]], got killed off in ''[[X-Men Forever]]''. All that remained was a metal skeleton, and to further prove that he's dead, he was connected to Jean Grey at the time.
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* From the ''[[Spider-Man]]'' continuity, former ''Daily Bugle'' reporter Ned Leeds is definitely dead. The Hobgoblin, who wanted to retire, [[Brainwashed]] him into thinking he was the Hobgoblin, and he was killed by assassins who thought so, too. The guy who had him killed, Jason Macendale, is also definitely dead. He took over the Hobgoblin identity, made a complete hash of it, and ended up being reduced to a smoking skeleton in his jail cell by the genuine article.
* ''[[Sin City]]'' characters always stay dead but since the series is in [[Anachronic Order]], readers can still expect to see them again. For instance, Marv died in the very first story, but has popped up many times throughout the series.
* ''[[The Umbrella Academy]]'': As of the start of the series
* In the most recent{{when}} ''[[Hellboy (comics)|Hellboy]]'' miniseries, the Fury, Hellboy meets his end when Nimue pierces his chest and tears his heart out, resulting in his death. Mignola has stated he intended to kill Hellboy off for a long time, and that he has no plans to bring him back to life anytime soon. This does not mean Hellboy is gone - it is said the series will continue, although the difference is we will see Hellboy acting within his new home: Hell.
* In Neil Gaiman's ''[[The Sandman|Sandman]]'', the main character, Morpheus, dies. Although a successor is raised/created who looks and acts a lot like Morpheus, it is explicitly stated that while this person is Dream, he is not Morpheus. In fact, though occasionally we see ghosts and spirits, everyone who actually dies in Sandman stays dead, courtesy of Dream's [[The Grim Reaper|older sister.]]
* When Lord Snooty the Third appeared in ''[[The Beano]]'' in 2008 it was heavily implied that the older Lord Snooty (an older Beano character dating back to the 1930s but last appeared in 2005) had been killed off for real. The older Lord Snooty had previously been dropped from the comic and reappeared a number of times before 2008 when his death was revealed.
* Peter Parker in ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]]'' is definitely dead. [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|The final arc is even called "The Death of Spider-Man"]]. There's even a variant cover that has Uncle Ben's spirit walking with the ([[Department of Redundancy Department|spirit]]) Peter telling him he "did good". The series was rebooted and now focuses on another young man trying to live up to Peter's heroic standard.
== [[Film]] ==
* Every villain save Catwoman in the [[Tim Burton]] [[Batman (film)|''Batman'' films]] die. The Joker famously averts [[Joker Immunity|his own trope]], Max Schreck gets a [[Family-Unfriendly Death]], and The Penguin gets a tear-jerking death.
** Catwoman survived because [[Cats Have Nine Lives|she has nine lives]].
{{quote|'''Catwoman''':Two lives left. I think I'll save one for next Christmas. But in the meantime, how about a kiss Santi-Claus? }}
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** [[Joss Whedon]] does this a lot. See ''Buffy'' in Live-Action Television, among others. Although the fans have decided that it's not canon, just because they all have such huge crushes on Wash.
* Jafar from Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' is killed off for real in ''The Return of Jafar''. The ''Aladdin'' canon continued with three seasons of a cartoon series as well as a final movie, all without bringing Jafar back, even though Jafar is a relatively popular Disney villain. He does return in a ''Hercules'' crossover episode, in which he's still technically dead.
* Harvey Dent/Two
** Ra's Al Ghul. Dead.
* Mufasa really was killed by Scar in ''[[The Lion King]]''. And at the end, Scar is eaten alive by his former hench-hyenas. Given Scar's occasional cameos in the questionably-canon Timon and Pumbaa series, some fans think that he [[He's Just Hiding|survived and is in hiding]].
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**** Four if you count [[WALL-E|Auto's]] deactivation at the end on his film.
**** And as of 2011, ''[[Monsters, Inc.]]'' is now the only Pixar film series not to feature any permanent deaths at all! And [[Cars|do you]] [[The Character Died with Him|know why?]]
* The 1990s version of ''[[Godzilla]]'' dies at the end of ''[[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah]]''. He is not revived for another film, [[He's Just Hiding|he's not faking it]], he does NOT get better. It's one of the few films in the Godzilla franchise in which Godzilla dies and stays dead. Although his son (who was
** Likewise, in ''GMK'' Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidorah are all killed-off by Godzilla and stay dead throughout the rest of the film.
** Also, the original 1954 film? Yes, folks, Godzilla dies. Even though the original film is considered canon across all continuities of the franchise, the Godzilla that shows up in any of the sequels; he's just another Godzilla. The first one really did die. Going by ''[[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah]]'', this also means Godzilla died for good twice.
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* ''[[Scream (film)|Scream]]''. The [[Genre Savvy]] heroine makes sure the villain ''stays dead''.
{{quote|'''Randy Meeks:''' Careful. This is the moment when the supposedly-dead killer comes back to life for one last scare.
[''Billy starts to rise, only to receive a [[Boom! Headshot!|headshot]] from Sidney.'']
'''Sidney Prescott:''' Not in my movie. }}
* Captain James T. Kirk in ''[[Star Trek: Generations]]''. Let's just say they... [[Dropped a Bridge on Him]].
** And then revived in a Star Trek novel written by...William Shatner!
* Also Data in ''[[Star Trek: Nemesis]]''
* In ''[[The Black Hole]]'', Reinhardt's robot Maximilian drives a spinning blade attachment through Alex Durant's stomach.
== [[Literature]] ==
* The ''[[Lone Wolf]]'' game book series has no compunctions about killing <s>you</s> the viewpoint character.
* Some ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fans hoped for Sirius Black to [[He's Just Hiding|come back after his death]] in the fifth novel, as evidenced by many fan fictions. He didn't.
** The same could also be said for Albus Dumbledore, despite much fan speculation to the contrary. Although he did contact Harry from beyond the grave.
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* Kisten Felps dies in ''[[The Hollows]]'' series by Kim Harrison. Also: Matalina, Piscary.
* The first Visser One, Jara Hamee, Tom (and his Yeerk), ''all'' of the auxiliary Animorphs and Rachel from ''[[Animorphs]]''. That last one is the impetus of many a [[Fix Fic]]. As is the very possible death of all the main group except Cassie.
* The ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]'' killed off Chewbacca in the first book of the ''[[New Jedi Order]]'' series. It took a ''[[Colony Drop|falling moon]]'' to take him out.
** The first movie character to be KOFR was General Maximilian Veers, an Imperial [[Ascended Extra]] from ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'' who was killed in action in the ''[[Dark Empire]]'' comics.
** General Crix Madine (an [[Ascended Extra]] from ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'') was murdered by Durga the Hutt in ''[[The Callista Trilogy|Darksaber]]''.
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** [[Fan Dumb|Some people]] were annoyed that Luke Skywalker has been dead for several decades in ''[[Star Wars Legacy]]''. They seem to ignore the fact the series is set 137 years after ''[[A New Hope]]'' and Luke ''died of old age''.
* Everyone that dies in ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]''. Luke not dying even though Percy thought he did in ''Titan's Curse'' doesn't really count because Annabeth told him about thirty seconds later that Luke wasn't dead. The only aversion to this is Tyson. Everyone else thinks that Percy dies, too, but since the story is from his perspective so we know otherwise, it doesn't count.
*
* ''[[The Sisters Grimm]]'', which uses every fairy tale trope possible...
* ''[[The Lions of Al-Rassan]]'' builds up the hope that when Ammar ibn Khairan and Roderigo Belmonte duel, they will both survive. That is not what happens, and one of them dies (with the other receiving a permanent wound, but otherwise getting a pretty happy ending). Quite a few other characters are permanently killed as well.
* In ''[[Pretty Little Liars (novel)|Pretty Little Liars]]'', anyone who is important to the plot is gonna die soon. Toby committed suicide, Mona was pushed off a cliff, Ian, Jenna, and Courtney were all murdered by Ali. Played with with Ali (Oooh, is she ''really'' dead??)
*
* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' loves this trope: notable characters who died include, but are not limited to, Viserys Targaryen, Eddard Stark, Robb Stark, Robert Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, Joffrey Baratheon, Tywin Lannister, Balon Greyjoy, Khal Drogo, Oberyn Martell, Sir Rodrik Cassell, Maester Aemon, Maester Luwin, Lysa Tully, Beric Dondarrion (finally), and others, with several characters [[Not Quite Dead]] and a few cases of [[Back
* In ''[[Warrior Cats]]'', most of the cats who die either end up in StarClan or the Dark Forest, but they're dead all the same and are unable to [[Death Is Cheap|come back to life]], even though some of the dead cats can interact with the living.
** [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] with the leaders, who have nine lives. If they die once, they lose a life, and so on. However, when they lose their last life, [[Played Straight|they still are killed off for real]].
** Also subverted with {{spoiler|Cinderpelt}} who gets reincarnated.
* In ''[[The Kingdoms of Evil]]'' a whole bunch of characters die: Bloodbyrn's father, Pon, and The Paladin.
* Cilla in "[[I Miss You I Miss You]]".
* Most Americans are unaware that Geralt was
* Balefire in the ''[[Wheel of Time]]'' combines this trope with short-term [[Ret-Gone]] (the extent of its effects determined by how much power is used). Even the Dark One can't resurrect someone killed by Balefire. However, it can be destabilizing - too much retconning will ''literally'' unravel the "threads" of reality.
== Live-Action TV ==
'''Many entries in this section are outdated and need updating, having been written as [[All The Tropes:Examples Are Not Recent|"recent"]] at the time of the fork in 2012.'''
* When the actor playing the part dies in real life, it ''usually'' [[The Character Died with Him|means the character dies as well]].
* ''[[Blake's
* Teri Bauer in ''[[24]]'' is the first in a very long line, which includes George Mason, President David Palmer, Sherry Palmer, Michelle Dessler, Bill Buchanan, Milo Pressman (introduced in season 1, killed when he returned in season 6) and Renee Walker. By the end of the series, Jack and Kim Bauer, Mike Novick, Tony Almeida and Agent Aaron Pierce are the only notable season 1 characters to have survived all eight seasons.
* Prue Halliwell in ''[[Charmed]]''. Also a case of being [[McLeaned]], since
* Jenny Calendar, Joyce Summers, Tara Maclay, Anya Jenkins and to a lesser extent most of the Slayers in training, as well as Xander's friend Jesse on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''.
** And because Joss Whedon hates us, ''Buffy Season 8'' gives us Giles.
* Doyle, Wesley, and Cordelia on ''[[Angel]]''. The personality of Fred was also permanently destroyed by an elder god taking over her body, in spite of the entire cast utilizing the resources of an interdimensional law firm to bring her back. [[Word of God|Had the show been renewed]], however, Fred and said elder god would have somehow been split apart. this may already be happening the canonical comic follow up.
* ''[[Friends]]'': Joey angers the writers of the soap opera he is working on, and they kill off his character by throwing him down an elevator shaft. The gang is watching the show when Phoebe says "Well, maybe they can find a way to bring you back" only to be told by Joey [[Chunky Salsa Rule|"They said that when they found my body, my brain was so smashed in that the only doctor that could have saved me was me. Supposed to be some kind of irony or somethin'."]] He did eventually come back in the end, with a
* A similar plot was used decades earlier by the British show ''[[Hancock's Half Hour]]''. In an episode where the Hancock character is a BBC radio soap star (in a parody of ''[[The Archers]]'') the other actors are so fed up with his erratic acting style that the producer finally decides to kill him off. Unfortunately it turns out that the character was more popular than the producer thought and the BBC receives a barrage of hate mail. Eventually Hancock agrees to come back as the original character's twin brother - but only if he is given full creative control, which he then uses to kill off the ''rest'' of the cast.
* One of the interesting aspects of HBO's ''[[Oz]]'' is their frequent killing of main characters, even ones who had been well-established over multiple seasons. See [[Anyone Can Die]].
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* Also getting bumped off fairly quickly was Wild Bill Hickock in HBO's ''[[Deadwood]]'', after just four episodes.
** Since the show was based on reality, Hickok in real life never made a comeback either.
* Several title characters were killed off permanently on ''[[St. Elsewhere]]'', including Drs. <s>Kiem</s> Armstrong (suicide) and Caldwell (AIDS). In an interesting subversion the terminally ill Dr. Aushlander, whom the residents had a pool for when he would drop, lasted until the last episode.
** Disgraced doctor Peter White was shot dead by Nurse Shirley Daniels after being found innocent of rape charges (he was guilty, and she knew it).
** Dr. Elliot Axelrod was unexpectedly killed off by a heart attack in the penultimate episode.
* Some killings don't provoke the best of reactions from viewers. [[Television Without Pity]] writes of a killing on ''[[Charmed]]'' in its summaries for the latest eps: "In other news, Big Gay Chris remains dead. Bastards!"
* Any number of doctor deaths on ''[[ER]],'' including Lucy Knight (victim of a mental patient), Mark Greene (brain tumor), Robert Romano (helicopter fell on him, ''twice''), and Michael Gallant (roadside bomb while serving in Iraq).
* Den Watts was
** Parodied in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "Army of Ghosts"; when the Doctor is flipping through TV channels, he lands on ''EastEnders'', where Den Watts's ghost appears in the Queen Vic. Peggy, exasperated, yells, "GET OUT OF ME PUB!" at him.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' occasionally kills off a character for real, one example including Adric.
** This was originally intended for the Daleks in ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S4
* Cigarette-Smoking Man and Alex Krycek of ''[[The X-Files]]'' are examples of characters who had cheated death (usually because they [[Never Found the Body]]) so many times that their real deaths (by being at ground zero of a missile blast and shot right between the eyes, respectively) had to be made very explicit, so as to make it clear that, yes, this time they were well and truly dead. And Krycek managed to kind-of return for the Finale anyway.
** William Mulder (Mulder's father) and the informants Deep Throat and X both died for real (even though Mulder sees Deep Throat in a dream and X as a ghost in "The Truth"). Mulder also cheated death by dying and then coming back to life after being abducted in season 8.
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* ''[[The Wire]]'' would often kill off major and supporting characters in pretty vicious and unheroic ways. Thanks to the show's strict real world nature and no flashback policy if a character was killed you knew you'd never see that character again onscreen in any capacity whatsoever. Victims of this tropes include: {{spoiler|Wallace, Frank Sobotka, Stringer Bell, Brody and Omar.}} And that's just the main characters that bite it, the list gets a lot longer if you add important supporting and recurring characters.
* ''[[Supernatural]]'' - Even if some of them do appear afterwards (through flashbacks, time travel, and the sort), the Winchesters' mother Mary, their father John, Sam's girlfriend Jess, Ash, all the psychic children in the Second Season Finale, Azazel, Bela ([[Word of God]] that she's never coming back), Pamela, Lilith, Ruby, Ellen and Jo Harvelle, Zachariah, Gabriel, Rufus, Balthazar, Raphael, and Bobby Singer all die for real.
* Most deaths on ''[[Lost]]'' are of this variety. The exceptions are Charlie's [[Disney Death]] and Shannon's [[All Just a Dream]] death in season 1, plus a few [[Not Quite Dead]] villains since, but all of these have later ended up
** Ethan Rom is notable for appearing in more episodes ''after'' his death than before it, thanks to flashbacks.
** Season 5 played heavily with this trope. Upon returning to the island, John Locke came back to life after being strangled to death by Ben. But in the season finale, it was revealed that Locke actually ''was'' dead- Jacob's unnamed nemesis had somehow taken on his appearance and used it to manipulate the Others.
** Mikhail Bakunin was a minor villain who had proven to be so death-resistant that, even after he died by intentionally detonating a grenade while holding it, some fans were sure that he'd come back. He didn't, although an alternate version of him appeared in the flash-sideways universe. That one was killed too.
* The majority of the cast of ''[[The Sopranos]]'', including the vast majority of the mafia characters of any prominence. Of the mob-level characters who make the main cast, you can more or less count the number who are still alive by the series' end on ''two hands.''
* In the final episode of ''[[Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future]]'', Jennifer dies when the Power Base self-destructs. Even though there was a fairly blatant angle for her to come [[Back
* In the period drama ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs]]'', Lady Marjorie Bellamy sails to visit family in America and Canada in April
* Yes, noone but Marian in ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]''.
** And as of the end of season 3 Guy of Gisborne, Allan a Dale and Robin Hood himself
* ''[[Farscape]]'' set up a brilliant loophole for themselves by having main character Crichton doubled. NOT cloned; the resulting two people were one person made two, with both having an equal claim to being the "real" Crichton. Thus, when one was killed off the writers were able to fully play off the emotions surrounding that death while still keeping the character around. And D'argo is definitively
* Henry Blake in ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|
* Valerie Hogan in ''
* ''[[Law and Order]]'' has had a few over the years: Max Greevey, Claire Kincaid and Alexandra Borgia. In a case of [[Real Life Writes the Plot]], Lennie Briscoe was written to have died offscreen after Jerry Orbach himself passed away from cancer.
* [[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|The
* On ''[[NCIS]]'', Kate Todd is sniped in the head while talking to Gibbs and Tony. Combines with [[Wham! Episode]] and [[Dropped a Bridge on Him]], since the fight was over, she had already dodged one bullet, and prior advertisements did not employ [[Tonight Someone Dies]]. Just in case anyone had any doubts, the following episode has her body shown in autopsy and the director recommending a posthumous military award.
** Yes, the same director who was killed off herself in the fifth season.
** And Mike Franks, too.
* In ''[[Reno 911!]]'' Deputies Garcia, Johnson, and Kimball were killed in the parade float crash.
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'': Eden McCain, Simon Deveaux, Isaac Mendez, Daniel Linderman, D.L. Hawkins, Kaito Nakamura, Niki Sanders, Bob Bishop, Adam Monroe, Elle Bishop, Arthur Petrelli, Benjamin "Knox" Washington, Daphne Millbrook and Nathan Petrelli. All major or significant recurring characters, and all
* Two cases in ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'', Kutner committing suicide in the middle of Season 5, and Amber's death being the focus of the 4th Season Finale.
* ''[[Torchwood]]'': In just five episodes, we lost Tosh, Owen and Ianto.
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** Lt. Ford, Carson Beckett, and Elizabeth Weir on ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]''. Beckett was resurrected via cloning. Ford's fate was left up in the air. Weir was turned into a replicator and left floating in space.
** And now Sgt. Hunter Riley on ''[[Stargate Universe]]''.
** SG-1 has a (somewhat distracting) habit of giving [[Not Quite Dead|recurring villains]] with a bad habit of [[Back
*** After Apophis is finally killed off, Jack O'Neill even lampshades this tendency, revising his 100% certainty that their four-season opponent was dead down to "99% sure". Then the guy returns in hallucinations and [[Alternate Timeline
* In ''[[Dexter]]'' Rita, Dexter's wife is killed off for real at the end of season 4. Ironically, in a show about a killer, where minor and major characters are killed off constantly as part of the show's concept, this death is especially poignant and heartbreaking.
** Also, Doakes in season 2 and Lundy in season 4 were also major characters who met their ends.
* ''[[Sesame Street]]'', of all shows, used this--[[The Character Died with Him|to deal with the fact that Will Lee, who played Mr. Hooper, had also died.]]
* It's to be expected in a soap opera, but if a character leaves ''[[Neighbours]]'' they either get [[Put on a Bus]] or are
* In ''[[Tinsel]]'' Monica Ade-Williams and Reginald Okoh.
* In ''[[Chuck]]'', Bryce Larkin is killed at the end of Season 2, and Emmett Millbarge at the beginning of Season 3. Stephen Bartowski at the end of season 4 as well.
** In Season 5, CIA representative [[Smug Snake|Clyde Decker]] gets killed off, too.
* As of ''[[Castle]]''{{'}}s third season finale, Commissioner Montgomery.
* ''[[Game of Thrones]]'': Episode 9 left many viewers (save those who read the novel) in complete and utter disbelief. [[Decoy Protagonist|You know exactly who]].
* ''[[Primeval]]'' is fond of this. To date, the show has killed Captain Ryan, Stephen Hart, ''main character'' Nick Cutter, Sarah Page, Helen Cutter, Christine Johnson, Oliver Leek, loads and loads of minor and [[Victim of the Week]] characters, and, [[Ret-Gone|technically]], Claudia Brown.
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* Vincent Nigel-Murry on ''[[Bones]]''.
** Also the Gravedigger.
* Both Boris and Will in ''[[Young Dracula]]''.
* In ''[[Being Human (UK)|Being Human]]'', not only does Mitchell get staked at the end of series 3, but by the opening of the fourth series Nina is pronounced dead off screen after being killed by vampires and George later dies from kidney and heart failure from forcing himself to transform and is seen going through the door to the other side to [[Together in Death|be reunited with Nina,]] [[Tear Jerker|but not before naming his newborn daughter "Eve."]]
* Over the course of its first two seasons, ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]]
* In ''[[Death in Paradise]]'', with Ben Miller leaving the show, the writers killed off DI Poole. It being a cozy mystery series, the remaining cast (and [[The New Guy]]) naturally are left with the task of solving his murder.
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Warhammer
** [[Late Arrival Spoiler|Horus]] would be an example of this happening to someone who isn't a [[Red Shirt]] and had access to ways of cheating death. He was
** Captain Tycho of the Blood Angels was killed off in the Armageddon worldwide campaign.
** Eldrad Ulthran of the Ulthwe Craftworld (plus his coterie of Seers) was [[It Got Worse|killed in the end of the Thirteenth Black Crusade]] because he had no idea that a [[Forgotten Superweapon|Talisman of Vaul/Blackstone Fortress]] had already [[Oh Crap|been inhabited by a manifestation of]] [[Fate Worse Than Death|Slaanesh]]. Though the newest codex allows you to field him in your army as 'a symbol of hope' because a few of the soulstones he delivered to various battleseers during the 13th Black Crusade did not all fade.
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* This is a popular trope in ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]'', [[Popularity Power|although the body count is significantly higher for recently introduced characters than it is for those who have been around for years.]]
* The rules of ''[[Exalted]]'' states very clearly that for all amazing things magic and charms and exaltation can accomplish, dead is dead and you can't be brought back. And while reincarnation is a common theme and you may have memories of previous lives, it's made clear that it's not so much ''your'' past life as just a past life that happened to have the same shard, which retained a few memories that you can use. And, although spirits do exist, as well as undead, and weapons that can have souls bound to them (rather painfully), one can never return to life.
== Theatre ==
* ''[[Angels in America]]''
== Toys ==
* Loads of ''[[Bionicle]]'' characters, including Lhikan, Matoro, Botar, "Ancient", Carapar, Zaktan, Icarax, Mutran, Gorast, Panrahk, Guurahk, Bitil, Chirox, Antroz, Krika, Vamprah, "Guardian", Kodan, Sidorak, Nidhiki, Krekka, Reysa, Jovan, Nikila, Nocturn, Gadunka, Ihu, Kojol and Teridax.
* After coming [[Back
▲* After coming [[Back From the Dead]] some 20 times over the course of the ''[[Castlevania]]'' series, Dracula is destroyed for good in the beginning of the game ''Aria of Sorrow''. He tries to reincarnate, but Soma Cruz (the would-be reincarnation) wants nothing to do with it, and thus Dracula stays dead. People argue about to what level Soma is Dracula, but it's kind of a meaningless argument, as the games following it are all set ''before'' ''Aria''.
** And the event in question hasn't been put into a game yet!
* ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' is popular for the sad, emotional death of one of your main party members Aerith, where she is suddenly stabbed right through her back by the main villain Sephiroth. Although there [[Urban Legend of Zelda|are many rumours about resurrecting Aerith in some way created by fans]], the only way to do so is through some cheating device (which invariably messes up your game anyway). May be spoilers but... [[It Was His Sled|surely you've heard of this by now]].
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** In ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'', [[Heroic Sacrifice|Tellah dies]] after casting [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower|the ultimate magic Meteo to defeat Golbez]]. In a title positively ''dripping'' with [[Unexplained Recovery|Unexplained Recoveries]], this is a little jarring.
*** To add insult to injury, [[Senseless Sacrifice|Golbez survives]].
** In ''[[Final Fantasy IV: The After Years]]'', a number of characters can be
** In ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' Shadow can die for real if you don't wait for him on the floating continent.
*** Also, General Leo is killed off for real in a cut scene after the first and only time you get to use him as a party member.
** ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'' features Galuf, killed by the villain Exdeath. However
** ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' sets you up to think this is going to happen to Yuna. In the end, Yuna lives (obviously, since she's the star of the sequel), but both Tidus and Auron really do die for real. Well, Auron was ''already'' dead, but he still sorta counts. Although, the perfect ending of both FFX and [[FFX 2]] shows Tidus apparently alive and well. The [[FFX 2]] one even shows Yuna reuniting with him.
*** Tidus is an animated dream of several dozen dead people, so technically, he was never really "alive" to begin with. Though this depends on [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]].
* This is built into the gameplay of ''[[Fire Emblem]]''. If one of your units reaches zero
** A few have subverted it, though. Fire Emblem Gaiden had resurrection springs (though reaching one was a
** Similarly, ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' has party members die for real if they are not revived after 3 turns when their HP hits zero. This also counts as an instant game over if Ramza is killed. Guest units are simply knocked out instead of dying unless the mission conditions state otherwise.
*** ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' eases up on the concept of party members dying for real, restricting true death to Jagds where party members can die if they are not revived before the battle ends. This is explained in the story where judges and the laws prevent death and the Jagds are places where laws cannot exist, thus people can truly die and only the most hardened clans are willing to have battles in those areas.
* The ''[[Phantasy Star]]'' series also exhibits this with respect to main characters:
** In ''[[
** In ''[[
* ''[[Tekken]]'' has several cases of this, especially after the time skip and Ogre attacked and absorbed several characters' abilities, with suspicions that he
** Armor King was another case where at first, he's thought to be
*** ''Tekken 6'' reveals that the Armor King who attacked Craig is the brother of the original Armor King; he even used the same outfit and stage name alongside his brother at the same time.
** Kunimitsu was supposedly killed off for real by Yoshimitsu in ''Tekken 2'', although there's no official [[Word of God]].
** The [[Word of God|official statement]] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110213061513/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/226228/interviews/tekken-6-your-questions-answered/ see here]) is that only King I (killed by Ogre) and Armor King I (dying from [[Incurable Cough of Death|some]] [[Blood From the Mouth|disease]] he picked up around the time of ''Tekken 2'', later killed in a bar brawl by Marduk pre-''Tekken 4'') kicked the bucket. Jun is [[He's Just Hiding|apparently just hiding]] (she's [[The Bus Came Back|set to return]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieWp4FvXxk8 in the non-canon] ''Tekken Tag Tournament 2''), as is Kunimitsu (maybe).
* Zato-1 from ''[[Guilty Gear]]''. His voice actor [[Kaneto Shiozawa]] died, and they didn't want to use anyone else for the character, so they killed him off. Doesn't stop people from saying he should return. Conveniently, his character story involved being menaced by a psychic parasite he gained as part of a bargain to trade his eyesight for power, so they had said parasite kill him and take over his body, writing him out of the story but keeping his moveset and sprite in the game.
** The death of
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'' has a character named Vamp who, no matter how many times he'd seemingly "die," he always comes back to life. Metal Gear Solid 4 explained this as a result of nanomachines enhancing his already powerful healing factor, and once Snake disables them with a syringe, Raiden is able to kill him off for good.
** ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' ties up the Solid storyarc with ''lots'' of this. Big Boss, who was [[He's Just Hiding|just hiding]], is finally
* In ''[[Persona 3]]'', Shinjiro Aragaki bites it a mere month after he joins your party. And so does Junpei's love interest, Chidori (though in the FES version of the game, it is possible to resurrect her). And in the very end, the Main Character sacrifices his life to save the world.
** It's also possible to save Shinjiro in the PSP version.
* In ''[[Clive Barker's Jericho]]'', a game in which the main characters make up an army-based squad of people with supernatural powers, two of whom who have the ability to bring recently-deceased squadmates back from the dead provided that they maintain visual contact, has both Simone Cole and Xavier Jones being killed off (extremely horribly) towards the end of the game, when the Firstborn decides to '''blow them into bloody pieces''', with no chance of revival even remotely possible.
* ''[[Steel Battalion]]'' does this
* Zero, throughout the entire ''[[Mega Man X]]'' series, has been killed and resurrected several times already. However, at the end of the ''[[Mega Man Zero|Zero]]'' series, he is never coming back, with a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] that will last.
* Tassadar, in the original ''[[
** In the sequel, it seems that Blizzard has managed to do just this without ruining the canon. Tassadar comes back just long enough to warn Zeratul of the impending apocalypse in the capacity that Obi-wan does in ''[[Star Wars]]'', as a sort of Force ghost, or Khala ghost, as it may be.
** Many other characters are also killed, most of them in the Brood Wars expansion and some in official (or authorized) side campaigns. Other than obviously the Overmind (and the new Overmind formed to replace it); these include Raszagal, Gerard DuGalle(suicide), Edmund Duke, Fenix (died, came back, then
* While a few characters in the ''[[Warcraft]]'' series have cheated death such as Medivh, many others have been
** In the Wrathgate event of ''[[World of Warcraft]]''{{'}}s "Wrath of the Lich King" expansion, Highlord Bolvar Fordragon and Dranosh Saurfang are killed off for real. With Wrath's new "phasing" technology it's now possible to kill NPCs off for real for any individual player by changing the way they interact with the game world. This happens to a number of NPCs in several quest lines, after which they are never encountered again by that player and other NPCs will refer to them in the past tense. (Although they can still be not-yet-killed from another player's perspective.)
*** As of the most recent patch, neither were actually
**** Technically Saurfang the younger was killed off for real, but was raised as an undead abomination. With his destruction, he is very much killed off for real. As for Bolvar, the final cinematic reveals his burnt, tortured body is trapped between life and death due to a mix of the plague and the life-bringing flames of the red dragonflight. Oh, and he becomes the new Lich King, doomed to pull back on the leash of the scourge for all eternity. Maybe dying wouldn't have been so bad?
*** As of Cataclysm, still ''more'' [[NPC
* The MMORPG ''[[Shaiya]]'' does this to players playing on [[Harder Than Hard|Ultimate Mode]]. While you have access to the most powerful weapons and equipment on that difficulty level, if you don't get revived by an ally within three minutes of your character's death, that character's data is ''erased'', and you have to start all over.
** There is actually an AP item (premium item that you have to pay REAL money for) called "Character Revival". It costs 7500 AP. The exchange rate of AP to USD is approximately 100:1 (i.e., it'll cost you $75). However, seeing as how you have to reach level 40 on both Normal and Hard mode (no mean feat, if you don't use AP items and have a life outside of playing the game) to be able to create an Ultimate mode character in the first place AND it takes 4x the normal XP to level such a character, it may be worth it.
* In ''[[
** In ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', one ending kills off Commander Shepard permanently. Save files with this ending will not be able to be used in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]''.
** ''Mass Effect 2''{{'}}s final dungeon requires a coordinated attack using your entire squad, in which you must assign characters to perform certain tasks (hacking a door, leading a squad, etc). Picking the wrong characters for certain roles will get them permanently killed off.
** Obviously, characters who died in the first two games don't appear in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]''. Of the squadmates who can survive through to the third game, two (Thane and Legion) are guaranteed to die no matter what choices you pick, one (Mordin) can only survive if another squadmate (Wrex) is dead or killed, and several others (Jack, Miranda, Tali, Grunt, Samara) can die depending on the choices you make. Additionally, Shepard dies in all of the endings except for one variant of the "Destroy" ending.
* The Flash-based platformer ''You Only Live Once'' is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]. If you die once, it's game over. Try to continue, and you'll just get several cutscenes showing your girlfriend finding your body, calling an ambulance, a news report of your death, etc. Keep reloading the game and it'll just end up showing your grave. You ''can't play again''. (unless you delete two save files from your computer).
* The game ''Evil Genius''. If one of your henchmen is defeated 3 times, they're gone for good.
* Most every [[Roguelike]] game has this in effect for the player; dying deletes the save for the character, meaning any player death is permanent. Often times in these there are randomized dungeons involved that can very easily lead to player death for something small or impossible to see coming, like a very powerful creature showing up well before the player is ready, or a trap destroying critical pieces of the player's equipment. Slightly subverted in those that have an item (Amulet of Life-Saving in ADOM) that will resurrect the player immediately after death (usually breaking to avoid invulnerability).
* The upcoming [[
** Funnily enough, two of the characters have [[Plot Armour]] that doesn't come off until endgame. Those two are Ethan - who can be killed by the police or commit suicide - and Shelby - who dies either by getting shoved into a grinder by Jayden, shot by Jayden/Ethan/Lauren or impaled by Madison.
* After being an immortal villain for almost the entire series up until ''[[Resident Evil
* In ''[[The World Ends With You]]'', all the Players are already dead and are playing the Reaper's Game to win another chance at life. However, Players erased by the Noise are killed off permanently and their entry fee is lost forever. Notable victims of Erasure include Rhyme in the first week (she recovers though), Sota and Nao in the second (as well as that Reaper)) and all three Game Masters (Sho also gets recovers) as well as Megumi.
* In the ''[[Suikoden]]'' series, your characters may randomly die for real if defeated in a large-scale war battle.
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* E-102 Gamma in ''[[Sonic Adventure]]''. After the battle with E-101 Beta, he self-terminates himself to free the last trapped bird.
** This also applies to all [[Big Bads]] who are not Robotnik or Metal Sonic.
* ''[[Ratchet
* In ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'' and related games, Wrinkly Kong dies between ''Donkey Kong Country 3'' and ''[[Donkey Kong 64]]''. She does remain in the series as a ghost, however.
* Both ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' games treat dying as [[Death Is a Slap on The Wrist]] since dead players can come back later on in a closet, the next map, or be revived with a [[Magical Defibrillator]]. Dying in a finale makes you dead for good since there's no closets for you to come back in. Realism and VS mode also enforce the trope.
** Also, Bill sacrificing himself to raise a drawbridge so the others could escape at the end of the first game. You find his corpse in the second game, and there is no way to bring him back.
* In ''[[Sam and Max]]'', Max himself dies in The Devil's Playhouse due to the events of the final episode. Specifically, he was transformed into [[Eldritch Abomination|a giant Cthulhu-rabbit hybrid]] in the fourth episode, and at the end of the fifth episode, before Max can be turned back to normal, he gets impaled by a nuclear bomb and teleports off the planet before it can go off. Despite being the perfect set-up for a [[Grand Finale]], [[Chekhov's Gunman|Max's time-travel paradox duplicate from season 2]] re-appears soon after Maxthulhu's death, implying more adventure.
** The current{{when}} body count for that episode also includes everyone caught in said nuclear explosion, which would be Sal, Sammun-Mak, General Skunka'pe, and Girl Stinky.
* In ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'', Isara dies on the Marberry shore, after her latest invention, the smoke shells, save her squad. Stupidly, Isara and many other characters who were in fact killed off for real, such as Selvaria, are secret unlockables in Valkyria Chronicles
* Any non main spirits that fall in battle in ''[[Eien no Aselia]]'' are killed off. Main spirits result in a game over. On the first playthrough, {{spoiler|Kouin and Kyouko}} are killed off and can be in later playthroughs as well if you don't do the third chapter exactly right.
* ''[[Rock Man 4 Minus Infinity]]'' had Shadow Man escape from every battle until his last battle. He falls off the kite and dies with an offscreen explosion.
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The
* [[Dummied Out]] in ''[[Star Wars: The Old Republic]]'', at least in regards to companion characters, for game balance reasons.
* Wingmen who get killed in ''[[Tachyon the Fringe]]'' stay dead. The exception is the [[Fun with Acronyms|JASPER]] robots, who are mass-produced and replaceable.
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** Borders on [[Nintendo Hard]] in the ''X-Universe'', because the game can't distinguish between dying because your ship got shot to pieces and dying because the [[Random Number God]] decided to [[Tele Frag|make a cruiser crash into you at a jumpgate]]. (In fairness, that would be really hard to code.)
* {{spoiler|Shandra Jerro}} in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]''.
* Turned into a core game mechanic in ''[[Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume]]''. Activating the titular item [[Super Mode|maxes out a character's stats]], at the cost of [[Deadly Upgrade|having them die permanently at the end of the battle]].
* Several characters die in ''[[
* ''[[Arkham City]]'' concludes with the death of The Joker. Yes, even despite having [[Joker Immunity]]. Even Comissioner Gordon is stunned by the news. Mark Hamill has since tweeted that he had a great time playing the Joker, but he won't be doing so anymore.
{{quote|'''Batman''': "You know what's funny? Even after everything you did, I still would have saved you." ]]
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** Then Mark Hamill did more work as the Joker and said that he never detailed his retirement from the Joker character even though he widely pronounced it
* This is Nanako's fate in the [[Multiple Endings|worst ending]] of [[Persona 4]]. However, that's only if you ''really'' screw up. In every other scenario, she suffers a mere [[Disney Death]].
* ''[[Dark Souls]]'' does this [[Anyone Can Die|''a lot'']] of [[NPC
==
* Black Belt from ''[[8-
* The character Bush was killed near the end of ''Exploitation Now!'' She started off as a minor character but after [[Cerebus Syndrome]] set became one of the two protagonists.
* ''[[Erfworld]]'' example: After Wanda gets the Arkenpliers and reveals its powers of 'decryption', Parson hopes that she can decrypt Bogroll, since he died in a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. This hope is quickly squashed when Wanda points out that his remains "were rather thoroughly obliterated."
* Angels and demons are told to not have any afterlife in ''[[Slightly Damned]]''. [[Word of God]] says that the character in question was created completely from the dreamer's imagination, no [[Back
* ''[[Megatokyo
{{quote|Yes, yes, Miho is no more, I know.}}
** [[Lying Creator|He lied.]] [[He's Just Hiding|She was just hiding.]]
*** [[This Is Unforgivable!|Yurusenai.]]
* Freddy from ''[[Horndog]]'', although he later [[Back
* Kairi was killed off in the first season of ''[[Ansem Retort]]''. [[Word of God]] says if she ever comes back to life, he's officially run out of ideas.
* Dave Kelly was very fond of this trope in his comics. In ''[[Purple Pussy]]'' he killed off Shelly Squirrel, and all the characters expected she'd come back since this was just a comic. She didn't. And in his other comic, ''[[Living
* ''[[Homestuck]]'' appears to be fond of this lately, though because of how many ways there are to come back <s> [[Came Back Wrong|wrong]]</s>, it remains to be seen just who all is gone for good. At least Bro has been confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt for now.
** [[It Got Worse]]: The trolls are dying with [[Kill'Em All|alarming frequency]](Though at least one got better.) and both the kid's and troll's guardians are all officially dead. On the other hand, the fairly generous afterlife offered by the dream bubbles means that death is little more than a minor inconvenience. Though it still equates to putting them on a bus for all narrative purposes.
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', where as a general rule [[Death Is Cheap]], Lord Shojo was attempted to be resurrected, but apparently he refused to come back (in [[Dungeons
** We can now add [[Dark Chick|Tsukiko]] to the list as
*** And this came within strips of Redcloak having [[Total Party Kill|completely wiped out]] the Resistance (with the exception of Niu, who escapes).
* Lt. Col. Thomas Knowlton is killed off for real in ''[[The Dreamer]]''.
* Faye
* Juu from Inhuman. [[Word of God]] even stated in the comments for the page, "
== Web Original ==
* ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'': Everybody except the winners of the game and Burton Harris, due to some [[Body Double]] antics in Burton's case. He ends up dying anyway. Also. some handlers are fond of putting fake 'Student deceased' messages in their posts when it seems as if the characters have died but are actually alive. (very uncommon though, and it's invariably revealed to not be the case). Also: Maxie Dasai To escape in V3
* ''[[
** Subverted or not? Too soon to tell; the clearest [[Word of God]] actually states that Joss and the cast and crew want [[Felicia Day]] back for the sequel in any capacity; her revival as Penny is neither guaranteed nor ruled out.
* Donut is shot in the end of ''[[Red vs. Blue]] Recreation'' (Season 7) and is pronounced dead by Doc in the beginning of ''Revelation'' (Season 8).
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** [[Patch Adams|Dr. Bitch Spasms]], lampshaded in Nostalgia Critic's Top 11 Fuckups Part III.
{{quote|'''Critic:''' I bet you thought he'd come in here and do something funny, but nope! I shot him! He's still lying there on my living room floor...I really should do something about that.}}
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[
* Thanks to [[Media Watchdogs]] and the cultural osmosis of [[Back
** In the third season, Combustion Man is also Killed Off For Real.
** Yue in the first season finale. An odd one, as the excuse for Jet's death not being shown was that the network wouldn't let them show a kid die onscreen - but Yue's death ''was'' onscreen, and she was the same age. It ''might'' be because Jet's was a violent death, while Yue's looked more like she fell asleep, and she was shown becoming the Moon Spirit immediately after, while Jet was just dead.
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** Frank "Grimey" Grimes is dead and his son confirmed it.
** Also possibly averted with Lionel Hutz's habit of repeatedly running over Judge Snyder's son. Being repeatedly run over might be enough to kill the Judge's son, but like Mr. Burns in "Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 2", [[Unexplained Recovery|his conditions must have been upgraded to alive at the "better" Springfield General Hospital everytime.]] Because Lionel Hutz, like Troy McClure, was retired when voice actor [[Phil Hartman]] was killed off for real by his wife in a murder-suicide, it is not known of Hutz's habit has continued and the Judge's son is always killed, then revived.
* In ''[[Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures
* ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' has quite a few, most [[Tear Jerker|heartbreakingly]] 24's death by exploding muscle car.
* In ''[[King of the Hill]]'', quite a few recurring or main characters have been killed off over the years including Luann's first boyfriend Buckley, Buck Strickland's mistress Debbie, Pops Poppaseto, Cotton's war buddy Topsy, and most recently Hank Hill's father Cotton Hill.
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** Inverted with [[They Killed Kenny|Kenny]]. He was killed off for real but they decided to randomly bring him back in "Red Sleigh Down", one season after his deaths.
** Other recurring characters to have died over the years include Ms. Choksondik, Ms. Crabtree, the mayor's aide named Ted, and most recently Pip.
* B'wana Beast, [[Blue Beetle|Ted Kord]], the original [[Black Canary]], and the entire [[Doom Patrol]] are all killed off during the three season run of ''[[Batman: The
* In ''[[Winx Club]]'' they have killed off the main villains of season 2, 3 and 4 at the end of those seasons. In addition to this, we lost [[Heroic Sacrifice|Nabu]] in season 4.
* At the end of the ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'' two-parter "Apokolips Now", after Darkseid's invasion of Earth is thwarted and just before he leaves he murders Superman's friend Metropolis Police Inspector Dan Turpin with his Omega Beams in front of Superman and a crowd of onlookers. Some fans hoped Turpin was just teleported to Apokolips like Kalibak had been after ''he'' got apparently zapped, but it seems he's gone for good.
* ''[[The Boondocks]]'' Season 1: "Granddad's Fight." The karmic fate of life-long, Five-Star [[Magnificent Bastard]] Colonel H. Stinkmeaner, who effectively gets his ass handed to him by Robert Freeman in an ironic [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: Stinkmeaner had beaten up Freeman in an argument over a parking spot, and the entire episode revolves around Huey making him out to be a version of a blind assassin, and Robert training for a rematch. It turns out Stinkmeaner was just a crotchety old man who got lucky. Unfortunately, he's such a temporal [[Jerkass]], absolutely ''nobody'' realizes this until Robert pulverizes him. The beating is so bad, Stinkmeaner ends up stone-cold dead with a solid punch to the face. Feeling remorseful at his grave, Robert prays to God for forgiveness the end of the episode.
** Although dead, Stinkmeaner [[Took a Level
** In yet another Stinkmeaner-related episode, death strikes again, this time nailing Bushido Brown, via [[Off with His Head|on-screen decapitation]] during his fight in Season 3: Stinkmeaner 3: The Hateocracy". The Colonel apparently palled around with a group of disgruntled elderly, [[Jerkass|nigh-crazy jerkasses]] who formed the Hateocracy, a gang that wreaked havoc within the walls of a nursing home. The members of the gang show up to [[Curb Stomp Battle|curbstomp]] the Freeman family in what looks like a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]], so the Freemans hire Bushido as their equally jerkass bodyguard, who actually holds off the Hateocracy- until he catches a [[Everything's Better with Spinning|spinning disk of doom to the neck]]. The Freeman family's reaction? A group [[Precision F-Strike|"OH, SHIIIIT!"]].
*** It gets more bizarre when Stinkmeaner's name comes up. Robert tries to reason with the Hateocracy to leave them alone and forget revenge, and they reveal they couldn't care less about the deceased Colonel- [[For the Evulz|they're just ruining lives for the hell of it]]. Luckily, an army of cops shows up in the nick of time to cart off the unruly trio. Taking a jab of his own at his ungrateful cohorts, Stinkmeaner's ghost, who has been narrating on and off throughout the episode, [[Lampshade Hanging|hangs a cynical lampshade on his fate over his old pals]]: He thinks death and hell are ''better'' than being in jail!
* Warhok and Warmonga from ''[[Kim Possible]]'' were confirmed by [[Word of God]] to be dead for real after {{spoiler|Ron used his Mystical Monkey Powers to throw them into their own ship after they threatened to kill Kim, after which the ship exploded exploded}}. They're about the only villains in the series to be killed for real... {{spoiler|Except perhaps for [[Taken for Granite|Monkey Fist.]]}}
* In ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' this possibility arises with Dick Hardly, a one-episode villain of "Knock It Off", who, within the episode, [[Complete Monster|cemented himself as probably one of the most evil villains on the show]], may actually have been the only human villain to ''die'', considering that, after his episode, him and his various PPG knockoffs ([[Hoist by His Own Petard|which were the ones that did him in]]) were ''never'' seen again.
▲== Real Life ==
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