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Killed Off for Real: Difference between revisions
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[[File:rsz_wicked_witch_of_the_east_is_dead_742.jpg|link=The Wizard of Oz (film)|frame|"As Coroner, I must aver<br />I've thoroughly examined her<br />And she's not [[Only Mostly Dead|only merely dead]]<br />She's really most '''sincerely''' dead."]]
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]]''. Often reinforced by having it [[Deader Than Dead|done in a spectacularly over the top way]] just to make sure that everyone understands this character is not coming back.
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== 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 [[Killed Off for Real]], explicitly or at least implicitly, when in fact it was a case of [[Only Mostly Dead]] (Jeremiah, Mao, Guilford, and Cornelia) or [[Never Found the Body]] (Nunnally, Suzaku). The characters who DO die for real include, among others, Clovis, Mao (the second time), Euphemia, Shirley, Rolo, Emperor Charles, Marianne, Diethard and, finally, Lelouch.
* Everyone in ''[[Soukou no Strain]]''.
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** You forgot the 'coughs up blood, makes a final 'I love you' speech, does the [[Really Dead Montage]] and has a memorial shot at the end with his glasses. You know, because [[Alien (franchise)|it's the only way to be sure.]]
* Non-minor characters from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' that [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|somehow managed to die]] instead of simply getting [[Defeat Means Friendship|befriended]]: The first Reinforce, Zest. Non-minor characters from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' that seem to be dead: Precia.
* The character Cosmo is killed in the last episode of ''[[Sonic X]]''. By a shot fired by Tails, using a cannon for which Sonic and Shadow were the ammo, no less]]. Though this is [[Macekre|completely wiped out in the dub]].
** The same is true for the revolutionary, Molly, in the episode ''Molly's Dream''. 4Kids even went so far as to digitally edit out her gravemarker in the final scene.
* ''[[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 [[Killed Off for Real]] near the end of the first season in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]''. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSraFV8AOvM It's arguably the most tragic moment in the whole series].
** 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 EXTREMELY satisfying death of Ali Al-Sachez near the end of the second season. The original Lockon's brother, Lyle, tried to spare him but when Ali tried to use the opportunity to kill him, Lyle quickdrew his pistol and shot him in the head then casually shot him a few more times in the torso to make sure. Quite fitting since Ali was the one who killed Neil/Original Lockon Stratos. On the other hand, Tieria was shot similarly a while earlier but [[Virtual Ghost|survived]] and came back in [[The Movie]] to kick some more ass... only to die ''again'' when his Gundam went into [[Super Mode|Trans-Am]] [[Explosive Overclocking|overload]] to avoid [[You Will Be Assimilated|being assimilated]]. He didn't stay dead this time either, unlike [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTREnsljqWk Graham] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80vHif4TldY Andrei].
** 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.
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* 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]]'' comic--perhaps the highest point in that volume of the series. The Shredder and Baxter Stockman--unquestionably the franchise's most prominent antagonists--are also dead.
* Several of the [[G.I. Joe|G.I. Joes]] have been [[Killed Off for Real]] over the years. And not just ones created for the comic book, like Mangler. Those with actual figures. The most notably would probably be Lady Jaye, who was killed by Dela Eden, member of the Red Shadows.
* [[Peter David]], in his book, ''Writing for Comics'', said that the best way to have a character killed is in a very deliberate, human way. His example: In ''Fallen Angel'', a key character was shot six times in the head and then kicked off a building. He got letters asking if that character was really dead. If he'd been magicked off into a dark dimension, he'd be back to life. No questions asked.
* 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]]'s'' cast has been killed thorought the duration of the series. To wit: Shadow Boxer, Dr, Juris, Slate, Malachi, Wilde, Moloch/<s> Jubal</s> have all kicked the bucket.
* [[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.
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* ''Zenith'' (''2000AD'' series): Apart from Lux and Spook, who faked their own deaths (unintentionally, in the case of Spook), Dr. Beat/Warhead (alive in name only) and the conflict in the final phase (all of which took place inside the cosmos-mimicing entity Chimera) all of the '''many''' character and background deaths in the series were for real.
* 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.
** It's worth noting, though, that this whole series is essentially an [[Elseworlds]].
* ''[[Fritz the Cat (comics)|Fritz the Cat]]'', one of the most popular characters of the [[Underground Comics]] scene, was killed off by his creator, [[Robert Crumb]], via an ice pick to the forehead in "Fritz the Cat, Superstar", in response to [[Fritz the Cat (animation)|the animated film]] directed by [[Ralph Bakshi]].
* In ''[[Dreamkeepers]]'', Paige is killed off by a nightmare looking for the main character, Mace (who is then blamed for it). The room is completely covered in gore when he finds her. The creators have explicitly said that no character would come back from the dead.
* Played with in ''All-new Atom'' where, searching for Ray Palmer, the heroes find themselves in what appears to be heaven and are greeted by the spirit of former [[Blue Beetle]] Ted Kord. Ted lampshades the uneven reversibility of comics death, lamenting that he and Batman's parents are the "only people with a permanent parking spot" in the afterlife. (It turns out not really to be heaven, in fact, and not really to be Ted, but the dude (five years dead now and counting!) has a point.)
* In ''[[Archie Comics Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' the Doctor Robotnik of Sonic's universe was killed off in the 50th issue, and eventually replaced with one from a parallel world.
* 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.
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* 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 dad.
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* Den Watts was [[Killed Off for Real]] in ''[[Eastenders]]'', but as proof of just how hard it is to kill a soap star, he was resurrected many years later with the [[Retcon]] that he was hiding in Spain. But after this miraculous recovery from the choir invisible, he was finally really, ''really'' killed, and just to hammer it home to future writers not to bring him back, there was a whole arc around the disposal, discovery and then burial [[Disposing of a Body|of his body]]. So he can't be brought back this time... [[Zombie Apocalypse|we hope]].
** 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 E9 The Evil of the Daleks|The Evil of the Daleks]]'', but their immense popularity eventually made a comeback inevitable. They've developed a very bad case of [[Joker Immunity]] since then.
* 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.
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* 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.
** And with ''[[Torchwood: Miracle Day]]'', Esther, Oswald Danes and Doctor Juarez can be added to the list.
* The original Stig from ''[[Top Gear]]'', even though they [[Never Found the Body]]. Only a single black glove was recovered.
* On ''[[Fringe]]'' the second season opener killed off Charlie. Just to hammer the point home the thing that stole his face ends the episode by tossing the body into an incinerator.
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* ''[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander]]'' had quite a few over the years: Tessa Noel, Hugh Fitzcairn, Richie Ryan, and in [[Highlander|the first film]], Ramirez, who recovered only to die off for real in the sequel. Connor MacCleod and Joe Dawson joined the list in later films.
* Dr. Fraiser on ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''.
** She does come back - sort of - as a member of an SG-1 team (which also includes Martouf) from an alternate universe. It's actually does bring a certain degree of satisfactory closure.
** 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 From the Dead|coming back from the dead]] ambiguous death scenes in which you [[Never Found the Body|never see the body]]. ...in at least two cases, Apophis and Hathor, said villains were actually ''never seen again''.
*** 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|Alternate Timelines]].
* 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 [[Killed Off for Real]]. There are very few inbetweens. A few examples of characters [[Killed Off for Real]] are: Daphne, Kerry, Todd, Jim, Julie, Cody, Cheryl, Helen, Madge, Drew, David, Stingray, Marco, Bridget, Ringo, etc.
* 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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* King Uther on ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]''
* Vincent Nigel-Murry on ''[[Bones]]''.
** Also the Gravedigger.
* Both Boris and Will in [[Young Dracula]]
* In ''[[Being Human (UK)]]'', 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."]]
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** In ''[[Phantasy Star|Phantasy Star II]], Nei is either killed by NeiFirst completely overpowering her or dies after killing NeiFirst due to them being part of the same original being - even the Clone Shop says that nothing can be done. Subverted in the Sega Ages remake - after completing a process that can only be described as [[Guide Dang It]] on a MASSIVE scale, Nei is resurrected without fanfare at the Clone Shop as if it was a normal combat death.
** In ''[[Phantasy Star|Phantasy Star IV]], Alys Brangwin is hit by, declines from, and permanently dies [[Heroic Sacrifice|due to saving the main protagonist Chaz Ashley]] from the Dark Energy Wave. It is specifically mentioned that healing techniques do nothing to help as her health declines.
* ''[[Tekken]]'' has several cases of this, especially after the time skip and Ogre attacked and absorbed several characters' abilities, with suspicions that he [[Killed Off for Real|killed them for good]]. But most characters later were brought back in the latter installments, thereby setting up that the only one [[Killed Off for Real]] were Jun Kazama and the original King. Not to worry, they got their successors all right (Asuka and the second King).
** Armor King was another case where at first, he's thought to be [[Killed Off for Real]] outside the Ogre interference (Marduk killed him), but he reappeared in ''Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection''. However, his personality is rather different, raising predictions whether Armor King really came [[Back From the Dead]], or it's Armor King's successor and the first Armor King was really [[Killed Off for Real]].
*** ''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.
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** 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 WITH THE PLAYER. The game is so determined to present the most realistic mecha combat simulation possible, that there is no way to resume a game after you die; when your mech is close to blowing up, you are given ample chances to eject. If you don't, and your character dies, it ERASES YOUR SAVE.
* 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 ''[[Starcraft]]'', dies to save the galaxy from the original Zerg Overmind. It is completely real, as far as video games go: he gives a stirring speech to those who will live on after him, to remember what was done there that day, which is then followed by the cinematic of him effectively blowing himself up via his awesome psionic abilities, and taking the Overmind with him. In sequel games, the death is so complete that the Protoss change their usual greeting of "An'taro Adun," which effectively means "May Adun protect you," to "An'taro Tassadar." If he were brought back, it would destroy half the ''Starcraft'' canon.
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** 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 [[Killed Off for Real]]), Aldaris, Alan Schezar, probably Ulrezaj, Atticus Carpenter, Edullon, Jack Frost and EVERY ZERG CEREBRATE. Most of these are unlikely to come back, however it is not impossible as Fenix came back once before dying again, and it turns out Alexei Stukov is definitely [[Back From the Dead]]. Even so, the only ones likely to come back are the cerebrates...and probably not the same ones. Other characters also die in other media, such as the novels.
* While a few characters in the ''[[Warcraft]]'' series have cheated death such as Medivh, many others have been [[Killed Off for Real]]. King Llane, Blackhand, Gul'dan, Anduin Lothar, Ogrim Doomhammer, King Terenas, Uther the Lightbringer, Grom Hellscream, Tichondrius, Mannoroth, and Archimonde from the RTS games have all died in ways to show that they likely won't be coming back, even with all the resurrection and necromancy present in the series. Llane had his heart ripped out, Blackhand had his head cut off, Gul'dan was torn apart by demons, Lothar and Doomhammer both died on the battlefield (not the same battle), Terenas and Uther were both slain by Arthas with Frostmourne, Hellscream died in a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], Tichondrius was permanently killed by Illidan after Illidan absorbed the Skull of Gul'dan's power, Mannoroth was killed by Hellscream's aforementioned [[Heroic Sacrifice]] (and his ''skeleton'' has been made into a memorial dedicated to Hellscream), and Archimonde was ''disintegrated'' by the released power of the World Tree. And that's not even covering the characters permanently killed by the players in ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. Although Gul'dan's soul "lived on" within his skull.
** 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 [[Killed Off for Real]]. Saurfang returns as a [[Tragic Monster]] boss, Deathbringer Saurfang, in the Lich King's dungeon, and while we have yet to see Bolvar, he appears to be suffering a [[Fate Worse Than Death]] at the hands of the Lich King.
**** 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|NPCs]] have been killed off for real. The one most likely to hit home? The Grimtotem clan took advantage of a duel to assassinate [[Badass Grandpa|Cairne]] [[A Load of Bull|Bloodhoof]] and try to pin it on [[Creator's Pet|Garrosh Hellscream]]
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* 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 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.
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{{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 From the Dead|came back]] [[Rise From Your Grave|as a zombie]].
* 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 In Grey Town, he had so many important characters killed off willy-nilly that he added in a counter for every time a character died. By the end there were only a handful left.
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** 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.
*** Actually ''somewhat'' arguable, as she pulled a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to replace the moon spirit Zhao killed, and thus lives on in a way as said spirit. But she really is gone for good.
*** What we're looking at is a case of death via [[Heroic Sacrifice]] (Yue) vs. [[Downer Ending|being murdered by the Big Bad]]. There's only ''so much'' [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|crap you can get past the radar]], and considering the intensity of Jet's "murder," it's no surprise the writers handled it the way they did.
** Also, Zhao and Hahn from the first season.
** Jet's ambiguous fate is actually lampshaded by Sokka in one of the last episodes, where the gang was watching a play about themselves and saw Jet die. Zuko asks if he really died, and Sokka casually remarks "You know, that was really unclear.".
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** 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 Real Adventures of Jonny Quest]]'', while the show's other main villains tended to get the [[No One Could Survive That]] treatment in their last episodes -- and since the show didn't get a third season, it's probably safe to say that they're gone for real -- Ezekiel Rage had an established tendency to cheat death. Therefore, [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|just to be sure]], he got sent back to prehistoric times and blown up by a nuclear bomb, [[Never Found the Body|leaving a skull behind]] for good measure. [[Deader Than Dead]]? Deader than dead.
* ''[[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.
* ''[[Transformers]]'' as a whole has never shyed away from this.
** ''[[Beast Wars]]'' continually killed its cast, despite the fact that Beast Wars characters are a bit hard to kill, as robots they have survived deadly attacks and being blown to bits (in which case they can easily be repaired). Some simply died, in one case to make room for new characters. A surprising number died, were brought back, and died again. Two of them died, were brought back as a fused form of the two, and then died. And two of them died [[Chekhov's Gun|with the possibility that they might return]], but didn't.
*** Major characters to permanently die are (in order of death) Terrorsaur, Scorponok, Dinobot, Tarantulas, Rampage, Depthcharge, Tigatron, Airazor (both as Tigerhawk), Inferno, Quickstrike, and Dinobot II. Major characters to survive to the end of the final episode are Optimus Primal, Rattrap, Cheetor, Rhinox, Blackarachnia, Silverbolt, Megatron, and [[Joker Immunity|Waspinator]].
*** If you count the comics, the list of permanently dead characters is reduced to both Dinobots, Rampage, Tigerhawk, Inferno and Quickstrike.
** In ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' Blurr is killed, pretty graphically, for a machine. It's 'possible' he'll come back, but given that his remains were handed over to another character, in convenient crushed-box form, and were immediately dumped down a trash chute...it may be that we have seen the last of him, although his 'spark', or soul, can be partially seen in some shots, so it's might be a [[Not Quite Dead]].
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*** ''Crossfire'' has added Breakdown to the scrap heap.
* In ''[[Family Guy]]'' a few recurring characters such as Mr. Weed, Paddy Tanniger, Vern and Johnny, and Francis Griffin have been killed off. Despite [[Negative Continuity]], any returns are made by their ghosts.
** Joan Quagmire died on a technicality, having tried to grab Death's hand. As she was married to the "deceased" Glenn Quagmire and having taken his last name, he agreed to take her instead. Being a bit off didn't hurt, either....
** It was revealed in a Season 6 episode that Joe's son Kevin had died in Iraq. This was done because the writers thought he was boring. However, [[Subverted Trope|he came back in the recent Thanksgiving episode (it turned out he had faked his death)]].
** Stewie killed his half-brother [[Complete Monster|Bertram]] in 15th-century Italy, which creates a very odd temporal paradox.
** In fact, [[Butt Monkey|Meg]] and [[Jerkass|Peter]] are the only characters to die and come back to life.
** In the ninth season premiere, [[Tonight Someone Dies|the trailers advertised that someone would die]]. As it turns out, Muriel Goldman, Derek, Diane Simmons, and one time characters Stephanie and Priscilla were killed off.
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* In a subversion of [[Joker Immunity|the very trope named after him]], the Joker eventually got this treatment in the [[DCAU]]. Yes, having proven himself as much of a survivor as his counterpart in the comics, every bit the "no one" in [[No One Could Survive That]], ''[[Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker]]'' took the big leap and put him down once and for all - killing him twice in the same movie just to make sure. (In just a bit of a cheat, the event occurs at the far end of the universe-at-large's history, allowing him to show up in stories taking place earlier; ''[[Justice League]]'' took advantage of this.)
* In ''[[The Animals of Farthing Wood]]'' quite a few of the main characters were killed off like the Hedgehogs, Badger, Mole, Bold, The Great White Stag, Sinuous and quite a few others.
* ''[[South Park]]''
** Unless Isaac Hayes is somehow reanimated in real life, Chef is likely gone for good, despite his "Darth Chef" remaking.
** 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.
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[[Category:Tropes of Legend]]
[[Category:Real Life Writes the Plot]]
[[Category:Orphaned/Sandbox/Depressing Tropes]]▼
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
[[Category:Killed Off for Real]]
[[Category:Nana/Characters]]
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