Redemption Equals Death: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''Hey Giles, here's a nifty idea. Why don't I alleviate my guilt by going out and getting myself really, really killed?''|'''Xander''', ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''}}

== Anime &and Manga ==

== [[FanficFan Works]] ==

* {{spoiler|Barley's}} final act in ''[[The Tainted Grimoire]]'' was to try and save {{spoiler|Cid}}. Ewen had him killed for that.

* Played 100% straight in ''[[Blood Diamond]]''.{{context}}

* Darth Vader (pictured above) could likely be the [[Trope Codifier]]. At the climax of ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'':, Thethe Emperor is electrocuting Luke with force lightning. Choosing his son over all power, Darth Vader lifts the Emperor away from Luke, hurls him down the Death Star reactor shaft, and as he does so is himself shocked, shorting out his life support system. After one last talk with his son, he dies peacefully. On the bright note Anakin became [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence|one with the force]], along side Yoda, and Obi-wan.

* Horribly apparent in the run-of-the-mill [[Harrison Ford]] action/suspense movie ''[[Firewall]]''. Within a certain character's first few lines, it becomes obvious what his eventual fate will be.

* Dates back to Victorian times: If a woman had sex outside of marriage or in adultery, the only accepted redemption for her was death. The very rare plays that dared to challenge this sexual [[Double Standard]], such as W. S. Gilbert's ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060901090614/http://diamond.boisestate.edu/gas/other_gilbert/html/charity.html Charity]'', were declared immoral.

* In ''[[Shadowgirls]]'', {{spoiler|Robert Olmstead and several other Deep Ones turn on Mother Hydra when she goes all-out [[Omnicidal Maniac]] and sends her own people to senseless death as [[Cannon Fodder]]. Robert chooses to be sacrificed, while his allies die in battle}}.

* The theme of the ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' story "That Which Redeems" is that seeking redemption is [[Death Seeker|a death wish]]. {{spoiler|Mosp falls victim but Torg eventually decides that "redemption is overrated."}}

* ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' plays with this here and there, but thoroughly averted with {{spoiler|Miko Miyazaki}}, though. Burlew even says in the graphic novel that {{spoiler|Miko}}'s death was meant to show that not everyone gets a chance to redeem themselves after fucking up royally in the real world, and we should all be mindful of our actions.

*** Whether intentional or not, {{spoiler|Miko}} does redeem {{spoiler|her}} character to some extent. {{spoiler|She does, after all, finally accept a compromise (seeing Windstriker again, even if she couldn't become a paladin again). Also, Miko was widely hated by the fanbase but still gets redeemed enough in the fans eyes to get a tear jerker ending.}}

* Dex Garritt from ''[[Dominic Deegan]]'' seems to have gotten a ''retroactive'' version of this. When we first met him, Dex was the only decent guy in a team of [[Jerk Jock]] slaughterball players, and subsequent adventures have shown him to be an all-around nice and upstanding guy. Then, in the most recent story arc, we learn that in his younger days, {{spoiler|Dex was an alcoholic and a druggie, and once beat his wife (although he did state that he regretted it, which was a major reason he became a decent, upstanding person to begin with)}}. Almost ''immediately'' afterward, Dex {{spoiler|gets his intestines ripped out by The Infernomancer, and since he's [[Blessed with Suck|resistant to all forms of magic]], there's no way to save his life with magical healing}}. Karma's a ''bitch''. {{spoiler|Turns out he's [[Normally I Would Be Dead Now|not quite ready to give up yet though,]] as his ex-wife is still not ready to forgive him. Dex basically invokes the reverse of this trope: If there's not going to be any Redemption, he refuses the Death. One could argue that he had already redeemed himself by starting a fistfight with an [[Eldritch Abomination]] to give the civilians, his wife among them, a chance to escape.}}

* {{spoiler|Nega-Ki}} in ''[[General Protection Fault]]'' attempts to surprise Nega-Nick when he is about to use Nick's [[MU Te X]]MUTeX device to escape. She is mortally wounded when Nega-Nick shoots her with a laser welder, but her actions give Nick an opportunity to try to get the welder away from his counterpart, before {{spoiler|Nega-Nick tries to teleport away, but Nick was [[Crazy Prepared]] and the lack of a critical part causes him to be warped to an unknown location, and possiblyapparently disintegrated}} - until it was shown he was rescued.

** Similarly, {{spoiler|Chuck}}, who {{spoiler|testified against and got his best friend Fooker convicted of murder, and was responsible for hitting Ki's father with a car}} while under Trudy's control, finally rebels after Ki gets him to come to his senses. He saves Fooker, but Trudy activates a device that causes him pain, turns it to its maximum setting and causes his death.