No Dead Body Poops

Be warned: This page contains some serious Squick material!

"See, say what you like about us British, we're punctual and clean - none of this shitting-out-our-internal-organs-in-a-screaming-blubbering-heap for us. No, we just lay down and die, in neat piles."

—Charlie Brooker, commenting on Survivors

"That's what people do after they die - they wet and shit themselves. They never do show you that part in movies but maybe that's because it wouldn't be as poetic. Can you imagine if Simba's father shit himself after he died?"

—Ask That Guy With The Glasses

People die, for whatever reason. Some die a natural death, some get killed, some kill themselves, but still dead is dead. A natural occurrence is after all is said and done, is that someone tries to retrieve the body of the dead person. However, biology does not stop at death. Muscles control the retention of wastes in the bladder and the rectum, and these muscles relax soon after death. If the rectum or bladder happens to be occupied at the moment of death, the result in Real Life is the people who find the body wishing the dead person had worn brown trousers (and wishing they had brought a gas mask).

Girls and women are much more likely to urinate when they die, as males have to use actual muscle movement to push out their pee, while females urinate mostly using gravity.

In fiction, this practically never occurs. Therefore, we have a case of No Dead Body Poops, where the death scene is almost always much much much less nasty than it could be in real life. This is not surprising, given that most people are not aware someone dying can be a crapshoot.

For examples of living people whose biological functions of this type aren't shown, see the Super-Trope Nobody Poops.

No examples of this trope being played entirely straight are listed below. We're not interested in having a huge list of every character dying without soiling themselves.

As a Death Trope, Spoilers ahead may be unmarked. Beware.

Examples of No Dead Body Poops include:

Anime and Manga

In Yoshiyuki Tomino's Mobile Suit Gundam novels, a female character is described as losing control of her bowels while suffering a particularly violent death. Interestingly, she also seems to suffer a psychic version of this effect & begins uncontrollably broadcasting her worst memories into Amuro's mind in her death throes.
Referenced in the Rurouni Kenshin manga when Jin-e tries to kill Kaoru by paralyzing her lungs with his illusory stare, telling Kenshin that death by asphyxiation was an "ugly way to go for a girl", as Kaoru would salivate and lose control of her bladder and bowels as she died.
In Yomigaeru Sora Rescue Wings an earthquake victim suffers from crush syndrome and is shown becoming incontinent.
The female characters of Queen's Blade (pretty much 98% of the cast) are frequently seen urinating themselves in fear, pain, and death.
- Reina is especially notable for wetting herself often when she is defeated, particularly after losing to Mellona, who ridicules her for it just before finishing her off.
Seiko in Corpse Party averts this as she is hanged to death. Naomi tries to save her, but realizes she is too late when she sees Seiko's urine soaking the front of her skirt and flowing down her legs as she died.

Comic Books

On Johnny the Homicidal Maniac's twitter account he acknowledged it at least three times, one time being about how they pissed themselves though.

Fan Works

Trivia and AKK's Fanfics will mention this. Not so shocking when you consider the fanfic writers themselves. Both have medical backgrounds and are known for their brutally frank exploration of things floated under the radar...including the obvious.
There's a Fallout 2 fanfic where Lara (the chick from the Den) goes up to fight against Lo Pan, hand to hand. Just as the fight is about to end, Lo Pan pulls out a gun and blows off half of Lara's face. As she lay on the ground dying, a character nearby witnesses "a dark stain spreading on the crotch of Lara's red shorts, soaking the fabric and becoming a rapidly expanding puddle on the mat. At the same time, semi-solid brown matter dribbled out between the fabric of her shorts and the inside of her thighs.".
In the Girls und Panzer fanfiction One Shot, the girls drive real tanks with live ammunition to battle. Many of them are eventually killed in the ensuing battles, and mentions are made of the girls' urination and defecation as they died.

Tiberium Wars doesn't shy away from this (War Is Hell being a central theme) with several scenes mentioning the stench of "corpse-shit" from the bodies littering the urban battlefields.

Film

A related example is from the film Point Of No Return, the American Remake of La Femme Nikita, where Maggie urinates after being given a lethal injection.
In the Hong Kong film Madam City Hunter, a man shoots a group of youngsters in front of May, who urinates in fear before she is also shot dead, and her urine can still be seen flowing down her thighs after her body collapses. A detective examining the scene after that notes that the other girl in the group had also soiled herself in her death.
The Takashi Miike film Visitor Q shows the father having sex with the corpse of a young female coworker. The movements cause the dead woman's urine and feces to flow out of her. He eventually realizes this and reacts with mild disgust...but keeps going.
In the live action movie for Nou Shou Sakuretsu Girl, girls who fail the challenges are killed by a gun which destroys their brains. The gamemasters comment that though the gun inflicted no external wounds, the girls still made a mess as they died as their bodies released their bowels.
In The Killer Inside Me, Kate Hudson's character Amy voids her bladder as she is beaten to death by Lou; as she lay on the ground dying, he tore her dress open, exposing her white underwear, after which her urine can be seen flowing out from beneath her lower body.
Averted in the 1994 thriller Sensation, where detective Ron Perlson describes a murder scene to Kari and states that the naked young victim released her bowels as she was strangled to death.
In the Russian film Sluga Gosudarev, a young woman urinates as she is hanged. Her urine can be seen dripping off her bare feet, splattering the ground under her body as she dies.

Literature

In The Witcher novel, when Ciri's team gets slaughtered by a Psycho for Hire, he makes her take a look at the bodies "See, that's how people die. In their own piss."
When Junior in Under the Dome cozies up to the two girls he killed, he notes the fact that they've defecated in their death.
The Ender's Game companion, Ender's Shadow, averts this, as Achilles talks about how Poke voided her bladder and bowels as she died.
The Gentleman Bastard Sequence Sequence features a scene where young Locke and the twins end up buying a corpse from the day's hanging (long story) and Locke is annoyed that he had to be downwind of the corpse because ... well.
Referenced in a David Sedaris essay. His Greek grandmother came to live with the family when David was a kid, and his father was telling him and his sisters about how the grandmother found her brother dead in the streets, slain by mercenaries. David and his sisters pester the grandmother with questions like "When he died, did he crap his pants?"
Somewhat averted in BattleTech's Warrior trilogy, where Dr. Lear at one point goes into some detail on just what treating a soldier with abdominal injuries means for both the patient and the medics. No, she's not a fan of war at all.
Averted in the Outlander series, as it is often described that the deceased 'lose their bowels' shortly after death, except in the case of Roger, who lost his bowels when he was NEARLY hung to death.
Referenced in Dead Lines by John Skipp and Craig Spector. The antagonist tries to avoid soiling himself after committing suicide by fasting and emptying his bowels and bladder as much as he can beforehand, because he doesn't want his body to be found covered in effluvia. It is not stated whether the plan worked or not.
In his Island in The Sea of Time and Emberverse series, S. M. Stirling often describes people as "voiding" when they die, and battlefields smelling like sewers.
In The Book of the New Sun, Severian, while having the last talk with a prisoner he is to execute the next day, advises him to eat only a light breakfast to avoid this.
In Jean Genet's Our Lady of the Flowers. Divine is described as voiding herself quite graphically after her miserable death from tuberculosis. The author doesn't shy away from the subjects of various bodily functions (even when one might want him to) and it's not a terribly romantic scene.
In The Dark Sleep, Escott first realized that his acting-troupe colleagues ... all 12 of them had been murdered when he catches the scent of blood, urine and excrement at the crime scene. He recognizes the significance of this, because he'd smelled the same thing during his WWI military service.
In Chris Ryan's Strikeback, the Hezbollah mention that the reason they're starving their captive is so this doesn't happen when she's executed.
Averted in the Michael Crichton book Prey, when in the beginning a person in a hospital is dying next to the bed of a small boy. The curtain's are drawn during the dramatic death, but the boy can still smell the bowels being emptied.
In The Dressmaker Stuart Pettyman does this after running head-first into a wall and breaking his neck.
Averted in The Riftwar Cycle; the stink of the bowels being voided is often mentioned when someone dies.
Not quite dealing with post-mortem defecation, but corpses in The Things They Carried are mentioned as belching as they are loaded onto carts.
Averted in Spider Robinson's Callahan's Legacy, when a character talks about a knife fight he had when he was younger. He specifically mentions that he knew, intellectually, what was going on, but becomes shocked and physically ill when he gets feces on his hand after stabbing someone in the abdomen.
Implied aversion in the Xeelee Sequence story Raft. One character sees "a shape hanging from rope" and "a pool of something brown and thick" beneath it.
One of the CSI: Miami tie-in novels averts it, the corpse is found in a car trunk and a 'number 3' is referred to, then it's explained.

Live Action TV

The League of Gentlemen does this with a bunch of people who died when the air supply to their bondage suits was cut off. When the suits are opened... eugh!
Actually played for humor in Supernatural, believe it or not. Sam is stuck in a Groundhog Day Loop where Dean dies (in various, hilarious ways) every day. Sam is aware of the repeating days; Dean is not. Sam tries to explain that in another version of that day, Dean got hit by a car and killed:

Dean: And?
Sam: And what?
Dean: Did it look cool like in the movies?
Sam: You peed yourself.
Dean (defensively): Of course I peed myself. Man gets hit by a car, you think he has full control over his bladder? Come on!

Obliquely referenced in a CSI: New York involving a man who was buried alive, dug his way out, then died. One of the clues that he'd previously been interred is that he's found wearing an adult diaper: a standard precaution in the funeral industry.
One episode of Twin Peaks had Agent Cooper mention this fact, but never actually depicted it.
Before his scheduled execution in Prison Break, Lincoln is presented with a diaper to put on beforehand for precisely this purpose.
Happens in Six Feet Under when a character is transporting a corpse back to the morgue and has to clean it up later.
One of the characters in The Sopranos urinates himself immediately after he hung himself in the basement.
In the House episode "97 Seconds", a clinic patient (and later, House himself) poops after deliberately electrocuting himself in order to have a Near Death Experience.
Mentioned in Oz, when a Catholic priest in the prison who had begun trying to reform Ryan O'Reilly and became his cellmate died suddenly in his sleep. Ryan gets to deal with the bowel failure, and in an unusually thoughtful and morose moment afterward, muses on the symbolism of the fact that everyone shits as they die.
On NCIS, the presence of urine on a carpet provided the first confirmation of an eyewitness's claim she'd seen a murder through her window. McGee explains this trope to account for it.
In an episode of Action, director Titus Scroad drowns face down in his pool. When Peter and Uncle Lonny go to investigate, Lonny muses on the possibility that he might not be dead, because "people usually shit their pants when they die". Then he sees "the turd in question".
Discussed in an episode of Game of Thrones: King Robert mentions how "they don't put that in the songs" during a conversation with Ser Barristan. Robert himself is nearly disemboweled a few episodes later and while lying on his deathbed mentions how it "stinks like death".
Mentioned in the pilot episode of Tales from the Crypt. A prison executioner (William Sadler) muses on the impending end of a death-row inmate's life and decides that the man will probably soil himself when he dies in the electric chair.
Not involving death, but still extremely egregious. In one episode of The Job, Mike is suffering a severe Potty Emergency when a criminal body-checks him into the bathroom wall, knocking him on his ass and unconscious. By all reasonable logic, this should have caused him to shit his pants.

Theatre

Referenced (sort of) in Waiting for Godot, except it's about the penile sphincter rather than the anal one.

Vladimir: What do we do now?
Estragon: Wait.
Vladimir: Yes, but while waiting.
Estragon: What about hanging ourselves?
Vladimir: Hmm. It'd give us an erection.
Estragon: (highly excited). An erection!
Vladimir: With all that follows. Where it falls mandrakes grow. That's why they shriek when you pull them up. Did you not know that?
Estragon: Let's hang ourselves immediately!

- Postmortem erections, by the way, are known as "angel lust," and occur when a body dies in an upright position. Gravity causes the person's blood to pool in his lower extremities, which causes the feet and legs to swell along with... the obvious.

Video Games

In World of Warcraft, one of the bosses alludes to this as he dies:

Forgemaster Garfrost yells: Garfrost hope giant underpants clean. Save boss great shame. For later.

In DikuMUD, one of the possible item drops from killing a monster is "steaming turds of [monster name]".
In the online flash game Don't Shit Your Pants, the goal is to... well... If you kill yourself, you appear to succeed at first, but then this trope comes into play.
Averted in Yume Miru Kusuri, of all games. This occurs when Aeka and Kouhei strangle Kyoka to death...or try to. Considering Kyoka actually survives (if barely, and thanks to this trope), it might not count.
When investigating a murder victim in L.A. Noire the coroner will refer to the usual evacuation smell.
Some of the shown deaths in Kara no Shoujo, particularly those of Tsuzuriko and Orihime, avert this (though only for the latter if Reiji dies alongside her).
The patient in Trauma Center doesn't die, but one of them has a hole in her intestines that is, essentially, leaking shit into her blood and poisoning her to death; you have to remove some of it from the liver and then patch the hole.
It's mentioned in Laura Bow and the Dagger of Amon Ra that several victims have "additional wet marks", which Laura declines to touch.
Lampshaded in Deja Vu

Atari ST Version Text: You realize with horror that you will be found dead without a proper change of underwear and socks. You cringe in the worst way till death mercifully takes the unbearable thought away. Start again.

Web Original

Mentioned in Team Four Star's Dragon Ball Abridged Bardock Father of Goku special. Dodoria blasts Bardock and his dead teammates, the latter ending up in a pile on top of Bardock, and he remarks "Oh God, you really do soil yourself when you die."
Also referenced in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Abridged, when Dio considers removing Jotaro's pants to see if he's really dead because "After all, they say after you die, you do sh*t yourself."
VG Cats example here.
A fan-edit for Puella Magi Madoka Magica crossed over with Hidamari Sketch showed this happening to Mami/Miyako. Note that this did not happen in the actual episode.

Western Animation

In The Venture Bros. When Race Bannon dies, he evacuates his bowels. The boys get Squicked out and Brock points out that, "They never show that part on TV".
Averted in South Park as a Running Gag in Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes.
- In another episode, specifically as a Call Back to the above, it was an indication that a major character, Chef, had been Killed Off for Real. Cartman says "The last thing you do before you die is crap your.."- cue poop. Also see, Crosses the Line Twice.
- To the point where it's now become a running gag to show a dead body unceremoniously letting out loud fart sounds to purposely ruin the drama going on.
In the Futurama episode "The Sting" the priest at Fry's funeral grosses out the audience by drawing attention to this having occurred.
Refered to in one episode of Family Guy. When Quagmire is playing dead to be rid of a woman, Peter attempts to confirm it by shouting "You know what'll prove it? When people die, they void their bowels. I said, when people die they void their bowels!" Quagmire sells it. Peter then makes fun of him for it.
- In the season 3 episode, "Death Lives", Death told Peter he soiled himself when lightning struck him.
- Also, when Peter takes first aid, he runs to assist someone (who's perfectly fine), freaking them out when he insists he has to check if they've soiled themselves.
- Brian comments that Bertram voided his bowels upon being killed by Stewie.

Real Life

Some Samurai would fast before a battle so that "their bodies would not pass dirt upon death" in order to avert this trope.
Any mother who ever used the Stock Phrase "Always wear clean underwear, because it'll be shameful if you get run over by a car and are found to have been wearing dirty undies when you died". Er, hate to break this to you Mom, but, as Bill Cosby said in reference to mothers insisting that their children wear clean underwear in case they get in a car accident: "First you think it, then you say it, then you do it." He did come up with a workaround in that most mothers say "Have a clean pair of undies" when invoking this phrase, all he needs is to have them stored in the glove compartment.
The classic joke where the condemned orders fiber muffins for their last meal. Think about it...
Not death, but one of the (several) reasons patients scheduled to undergo surgery are often instructed to fast beforehand is if their operation requires the administration of a muscle-relaxant that will affect the anal sphincter. This is also cause to pity obstetricians, since the baby's head emerging from the birth canal compresses the lower intestine, like a tube of toothpaste (squeezed from the bottom, no less.)
- More likely reasons are to avoid regurgitation/inhalation of vomit, and to have the operating zone reasonably clean in cases of intestinal surgery.
Some places in the United States where capital punishment is still practiced place the condemned in an adult diaper.
When the killers were about to be hanged for the Clutter family murders in Truman Capote's non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, one of them kept asking to use the bathroom because they wanted to avoid this. They had to be told no matter how much you get out before you die, it will still happen.
When a programmer says that their computer, program, or operating system "shit the bed," they mean that the computer/program/operating system crashed horribly. The phrase comes from this trope.