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Snow Means Death (view source)

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{{examples}}
== Anime andManga ==
* In ''[[Seven Ghost|07 -Ghost]]'', the first scene involves two hands (we are to assume they're Teito's) holding snow. Just as the line ''The snow was so beautiful...and so merciless'' appears, the snow immediately turns into blood. We later learn that this was foreshadowing to {{spoiler|Teito's [[Big Brother Mentor|foster father's]] death}}.
* In the 2006 version of ''[[Kanon]]'', this trope is so prevalent that it's hard to pick out which examples fit it the best. The lyrics of the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mym-FZ6DCQI#t=32s opening theme] ("Last Regrets") practically announce it. Yuuichi's repressed memories are first hinted at in how much he hates snow. When {{spoiler|Makoto}} dies, the illusion of a green field fades to show that the surroundings were covered in snow. Snow is practically a central theme for Yuuichi's meetings and conversations with Shiori, {{spoiler|who is terminally ill.}} Snow is arguably the ''cause'' of the [[Your Mileage May Vary|subverted]] [[Look Both Ways]] incident {{spoiler|when Akiko's hit by a car that appears to be skidding out of control}}, and the imagery of the red strawberries thrown into the snow where it happened is painfully evocative. The same symbolism is made brutally real shortly after, when Yuuichi finally remembers {{spoiler|what happened to Ayu years ago: she fell off a tree and was left comatose}}: unable to take any more, Yuuichi runs out into a snowstorm {{spoiler|calling for Ayu; he runs past the place where they used to play without recognizing it because it's covered in snow. With the snow now falling furiously all around him (just as the deaths seem to be), he lays down and waits to die}}. The upbeat [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3olm7_kanon-ed-2_shortfilms ending theme] about someone trying to find their way home seems to contradict the trope, showing Ayu happily running through the snow - until {{spoiler|you find out where she's been all along}}.
* ''[[Clannad (Visual Novel)|Clannad]]'', another [[Anime]] by [[Key Visual Arts]], makes use of this trope on several occasions. As a young child, {{spoiler|Nagisa}} nearly dies in the snow, thus [[Foreshadowing]] events years later in ''~After Story~''. {{spoiler|She dies soon after giving birth to Ushio; not only is it snowing at the time, but the snow-clogged streets bring about her death in that they made it impossible to get her to the hospital or to get a doctor to her in time.}} A few episodes later, when {{spoiler|Ushio}} dies, it is not ''because'' of the snow (most likely) -- she's been ill for a long time -- but the scene ''does'' take place in the snow, and immediately afterwards {{spoiler|her stricken father Tomoya}} dies of grief. In addition, in the Illusionary World, {{spoiler|the little girl (who is Ushio after her death, minus all her memories of the real world) essentially freezes herself to death in the snow}}.
* Pulled a [[Rule of Three|third time]] by Key with ''[[Angel Beats (Anime)|Angel Beats]]'' but on a smaller scale. {{spoiler|Yuzuru Otonashi's sister Hatsune expires after her battle with an unknown illness on Christmas Eve}}.
* In ''[[Ghost in Thethe Shell]]:[[Stand Alone Complex]]'', the flashback origin story of Kuze takes place in the Korean winter. Let's just say it sufficiently explains how he became the [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]] terrorist leader.
* Pulled a 4th time by Key, though much earlier on with ''[[Planetarian]]''. In the finale, {{spoiler|The closing scenes of the game reveal that the rain has stopped and the snow is finally falling which represents hope not only for the Junker, but for humanity. }}
* The incident in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikersStrikerS]]'' where Nanoha was unprepared for a sudden ambush. There was so much blood on her white Barrier Jacket and the snow-covered terrain, while Vita tried to keep her awake in the gently falling snow.
** And then there's {{spoiler|Reinforce's}} last moments in ''[[Nanoha As|Nanoha A's]]''. Also snow.
* The first ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' intro. A city in ruins and an [[Empathy Doll Shot]], all covered in a sheet of falling snow. [[The Movie]] ''Endless Waltz'' actually shows how it happened ({{spoiler|Heero accidentally blew up an apartment building}}); as the realization sinks in, snow starts to fall.
* The ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' anime has this one. It starts snowing {{spoiler|just as Naomi lets down her guard enough to reveal her real name to Light, who sentences her to suicide. The snow continues as she walks to her fate}}.
** Also doubles as a massive amount of luck on Light's part, as {{spoiler|the snow makes Kira Investigation member Aizawa get out his umbrella, obscuring his vision. The guy literally walks right past Light and Naomi without noticing either of them. 'cause, you know, if he did see the two of them, Light's little reign would've ended then and there}}.
* In ''[[Naruto]]'', the deaths of Zabuza and Haku are marked with the falling of snow. Though this is also partially because Haku's name means white, and he comes from a snowy village...
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* The [[Happy Flashback]] to Sara meeting her brother Ralph in the snow in ''[[Soukou no Strain]]'' appears just before they prepare to fight to the death in the present.
* In ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'', {{spoiler|Tomoe}} dies in the snow.
* In ''[[Full Moon Oo Sagashite]]'', it's snowing once Mitsuki has learned of {{spoiler|Eichi}}'s death.
* Episode 13 of ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', as Gren's ship crashes in a snowy field. He doesn't die there, but he starts coughing up blood and is clearly a goner.
* At the end of the Galaxian Wars arc of ''[[Saint Seiya]]'', it starts to snow in the mountains where Phoenix Ikki has just been defeated by the other Bronze Saints. While Seiya and the others hold off Docrates' forces, preventing them from stealing the Sagittarius Gold Cloth, a dying Ikki regards the snow as a symbol of his purification... and then gets up and [[Redemption Equals Death|brings down the mountain on himself and Docrates]] to save the Saints' lives, burying everything and everyone in rock and snow. Then again, he IS the ''[[Back From the Dead|Phoenix]]'' Saint.
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* The last episode of ''[[Welcome to The NHK]]'' combines this with [[Snow Means Love]]; for various reasons, Sato and Misaki both attempt to commit suicide at a snow-covered jetty and realise they love each other.
* At the end of ''[[Winter Cicada]]'', the doomed lovers commit ''seppuku'' in the snow.
* In ''[[Wolfs Rain|Wolf's Rain]]'' there's a scene where Quent, thinking Blue is dead, lies down in the snow to die. It's a subversion because Toboe saves him by sharing his body warmth. {{spoiler|In the final two episodes they and others end up dead anyway, and snow covers their bodies before the titular rain finally shows up.}}
* {{spoiler|The death of Tsukiyono's brother}} in ''[[Gamble Fish]]''.
* The [[Tear Jerker|tear-jerking]] scene (which scarred many Latin American children in [[The Nineties]]) of ''Nobody's Boy Remi'' (''[[Ie Naki Ko]]'', based on French novel "''Sans famille''," by Hector Malot), when the performing monkey Jolie-Coeur dies of pneumonia after forcing itself to perform one last time on the snowy streets.
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* {{spoiler|Stella's burial}} in [[Gundam Seed Destiny]].
* The [[Downer Ending]] to ''The Dog Of Flanders'', which can be read about [http://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/comparisons/kanto/ep048.html here].
* ''[[Kara noKarano Kyoukai]]'': {{spoiler|the deaths of Souren Araya and Lio Shirazumi, both villains.}} Narrowly averted with {{spoiler|Shiki Ryougi, who gives up on living right after revenge-killing the latter, thinking her boyfriend was dead.}}
* It snows in ''[[Bokurano]]'' during the deaths of {{spoiler|Youko Machi}} and {{spoiler|Kanji Yoshikawa}}
* In ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', the final confrontation with the Dark Kingdom takes place at "D Point" near the North Pole, and the penultimate episode in which {{spoiler|the Senshi all die facing the Doom and Gloom Girls}} is appropriately snow-covered. To fit with the theme, {{spoiler|each one of them also happens to die on a mountain-like structure of spiked ice}}
* ''[[SoSora Rano No wo ToWoto]]'''s last three episodes happen in the middle of Winter. A minor secondary character commits suicide by walking out into a snowstorm, and the truce going on since the first episode is suddenly broken and war finally comes to the small town our heroines are deployed.
* In ''[[Sakura Gari]]'', {{spoiler|Sakurako dies this way, slitting her wrists open with a katana and then drowning self in a pond as the snow falls...}}
* ''[[Mai Hi ME-HiME]]'': Immediately following Alyssa Searrs' defeat, the Searrs corporation ordered the "termination" of the project Alyssa had been created for due to her failure. This involves firing missiles at most of the main characters. No one actually dies from this, but it begins snowing immediately after. What happens next, you ask? Miyu, the robot girl, flees with a weakened Alyssa, who gets shot while Miyu is fetching water for her. So Miyu takes Alyssa's body, walks into a nearby pond with it, and freezes the two of them at the bottom.
* Shows up in episode 10 of [[Figure 17]] {{spoiler|which deals with Sho's sudden death.}} Shot of falling snowflakes against night sky is used repeatedly.
* {{spoiler|The Going Merry}} in ''[[One Piece]]''.
* {{spoiler|Mitsuru}} in ''[[Seven7 Seeds]]'' commits suicide by freezing to death in the snow.
* The entire Northern Campaign in ''[[Claymore]]'' [[Everybody's Dead, Dave|ends this way]]. Most emotional was when {{spoiler|[[Heroic Sacrifice|Jean dies after helping]] [[Obi-Wan Moment|and reassuring Clare]].}}
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' scenes at the {{spoiler|Tucker}} house are often shown with the three kids playing in snow. {{spoiler|Nina gets turned into a human/dog chimera with her pet Alexander by her father and subsequently killed by Scar. Depending on which continuity you are viewing, Shou was either killed by Scar too or also became a chimera.}}
* In [[Claudine (Manga)|Claudine]], {{spoiler|the main character kills himself in a snowy night.}} It also snows when {{spoiler|his [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]] Rosemarie visits his grave.}}
* In [[Gundam AGE]], {{spoiler|as Yurin L'Ciel is dying, she shares a psychic vision of her time on Minsry with Flit. As the vision of Minsry's forest ends, the scenery changes and it starts to snow...}}
* As [[Detective Conan]] is a series where people fall dead in almost every episode, there are ''many'' murder cases that happen in the snow, and where footprints and other signals happen to be totally ''vital'' as clues to reveal who killed the victim of the week. One of the most emblematic cases is The Ski Lodge Mystery, where {{spoiler|a [[Hot Teacher]] organizes a ski trip with her workmates... to murder two of them, in punishment for [[Would Hurt a Child|having killed one of their students]] [[He Knows Too Much|for knowing too much about their dirty deals]]. Both murders happen during a snowy night... And then Conan finds out and unmasks her through Ran. ([[Break the Cutie|Poor]], [[Broken Pedestal|poor]] [[Detective Conan (Manga)/Tear Jerker|little]] [[The Woobie|Ran]].)}}
** Also ''weaponized'' in a filler case, where {{spoiler|the [[Body Double]] of a famous actress kills her boss via drugging her and burying her in the snow, thus causing her to die of hypothermia.}}
 
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== Film ==
* In the movie ''[[Three Days of the Condor]]'', the protagonist, Joseph Turner (a.k.a. Condor), notices that Kathy Hale photographs and displays only scenes of winter (bare trees, lifeless snow). He comments to her that she is focusing on death, which she confirms.
* Not a straight example, but the snow globe in ''[[Citizen Kane (Film)|Citizen Kane]]'' should get an honorable mention.
* The Chinese movie ''[[Raise the Red Lantern]]'' has the servant Yan'er kneel outdoors in winter until she dies from the cold, while snow flakes fall around her.
* O-Ren in ''[[Kill Bill]]'' also enjoys picturesque death on the snow.
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* One segment of Akira Kurosawa's ''[[Dreams]]'' features the story of a mountain climber who, trapped in a blizzard and suffering from frostbite, either hallucinates or experiences a visit from a yuki-onna - a snow demon who takes the form of a beautiful woman.
** A yuki-onna figures in one of the stories in ''[[Kwaidan]]'', an anthology film adapting several Japanese folk tales.
* In the 1989 film of ''[[Dangerous Liaisons (Literature)|Dangerous Liaisons]]'', Valmont gets stabbed to death in a midwinter duel. This is pretty much entirely so the director can have a cool shot of his blood splattered across the snow.
* ''[[The Ice Storm]]'' is the cinematic tribute to this trope.
* ''[[The Sweet Hereafter]]'' depicts children in a horrific bus accident, caused and contrasted by the peacefulness of the snow around them. Snow and cold are used throughout the movie to symbolize the original serenity in the town.
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* Played with in the 2001 movie ''Cats And Dogs''. {{spoiler|Lou, the heroic beagle, is basically at ground zero right as the main storage tank in a ''Christmas flocking'' factory goes bang, generating an artificial snowstorm, and is dragged out of the factory by another dog, Butch...lying motionless on a Christmas Wreath. This movie being intended as a comedy, he got better.}}
* Used subtly in [[Sympathy for Lady Vengeance]]. The movie ends in the snow {{spoiler|after the brutal murder of Mr. Baek.}} White is also used actively to symbolize purity, which is what Geum-ja is trying to move toward.
** [[Old BoyOldboy]] similarly ends in a field of snow {{spoiler|after a similarly bloody climax}}. It may be used as a symbol for leaving the past behind or renewal.
* ''[[Dead Snow (Film)|Dead Snow]]'': is made of this trope, even if it's used for horror and comedy instead of explicit beauty.
* In Kunio Watanabe's 1958 version of ''[[The 47 Ronin]]'', the whole film builds to the epic battle in a snow-covered courtyard.
* ''[[Let the Right One In]]'' is full of this. Considering it takes place in [[Useful Notes/Sweden|Sweden]]...
* An interesting subversion in [[ItsIt's a Wonderful Life]]. The snow ''stops'' after George wishes that he'd never been born and only starts up again after he decides that he wants to live again.
* ''[[Vertical Limit (Film)|Vertical Limit]]'' takes this literally. The characters are climbing one of them most dangerous mountains in the world, and quite a few of them die, either in an avalanche or on the mission sent to rescue the first team. One of the points stressed by the movie is just how dangerous a thing climbing like that is.
* Averted in a Soviet movie ''[[The Needle]]'': the protagonist is stabbed with a knife, falls to his knees in the blood-stained snow... but he sruggles to his feet and walks away, disappearing in the snowstorm, and we never see him dead. [[Word of God]] later stated that the protagonist survived.
* In ''[[The Patriot]]'', a few battles set in winter, with [[High Octane Nightmare Fuel|corpses covered by snow]].
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* In Christina Rossetti's ''[[Goblin Market]]'', Lizzie reminds her sister of Jeanie, who ate the goblin fruit, but sickened and "fell with the first snow" of winter. (Since Laura has already eaten the fruit, this lets readers know just how much time she has left.)
* In [[Warrior Cats|Bluestar's Prophecy]], One of {{spoiler|Bluefur's}} kits, {{spoiler|Mosskit}}, freezes to death in the snow when {{spoiler|Bluefur}} is taking them to {{spoiler|Riverclan to stay with their father, Oakheart}}.
* In ''[[Miss SmillasSmilla's Feeling for Snow (Literature)|Miss Smillas Feeling for Snow]]'', Smilla sees Isaiah's body in the snow, and her description of his funeral is punctuated by her observations about the snowfall. Of course, the book takes place in Denmark, it's winter, and the narrator is a bit obsessed with snow in general.
* Nello and Patrasche in [[A Dog of Flanders]] freeze to death on Christmas Eve.
* In ''My Ántonia'', Mr. Shimerda commits suicide during his first Nebraskan winter.
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* Jonathan Kent's funeral in ''[[Smallville]]''.
* [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] by ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', in which Angel's First Evil-inspired attempt to kill himself is foiled by an inexplicable snowstorm in southern California.
* Joss later played it straight in ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]'', with {{spoiler|Tracey}}'s funeral.
** The above is a meta-example, since it was also the very last scene shot [[Screwed Byby the Network|for the entire series]].
* {{spoiler|Brian's Dad}}'s funeral in ''[[Queer Asas Folk]]''.
* The Cybermen gatecrash a funeral in the snow in ''[[Doctor Who]] The Next Doctor''.
** After he has seen Rose in a beautiful white snow scene punctuated with multicolored string lights, the Tenth Doctor {{spoiler|struggles over to the TARDIS for his regeneration}} while the ood begin to sing to him
* In [[Mahou Sentai Magiranger]], after Miyuki Ozu's {{spoiler|supposed}} death, snow fell.
* David's funeral in the first episode of ''Rubicon.''
* Two episodes of ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'' occur on an ice planet: during these two episodes, {{spoiler|Aeryn}} drowns when her ejector seat lands in a frozen lake, Diagnosan Tocot is killed by a Scarran operative in the crygenics facility, two Peackeepers are shot in the frozen corridors... finally, the Scarran agent himself ventures out into a blizzard, only to be shot repeatedly by {{spoiler|the ressurrected Aeryn}} and stabbed to death with an icicle.
** Averted in any episodes that take place in [[Reality Warper|Einstein's]] [[Eldritch Location|dimension]], which is essentially a large iceberg floating in a sea of wormholes. In the first visit Einstein does warn Crichton that he might be forced to kill him, but most of the carnage of that episode takes place in the thoroughly non-snowy [[Alternate Universe|Unrealised Realities]] Einstein displays.
* The brutal, bloody final battle of ''[[Kamen Rider Kuuga]]'' happens on the snowy slopes of Mount Kuro.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* Several levels throughout the [[Hitman]] series take place in snow-covered terrain.
* [[One-Man Army]] [[Max Payne (Video Gameseries)|Max Payne]] goes on his killing rampage while snow constantly falls down around him.
* In ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]'', {{spoiler|Zelos gives a detailed account of his childhood, culminating in him witnessing his mother's murder in the snow.}} You get a really clear mental picture from it.
* Elise Deauxnim, {{spoiler|best known as Misty Fey, Mia and Maya's mother,}} in the fifth case of ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]: Trials and Tribulations''.
** The series has a few cases set in the snowbound winter, and since Phoenix's cases are [[Always Murder]]...
* {{spoiler|Sniper Wolf}} in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]''.
** And {{spoiler|Crying Wolf}} in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 4''. Interestingly, this occurs {{spoiler|on the [[Continuity Nod|exact same snow field that Sniper Wolf died on nine years earlier]].}}
** However, the entire first game takes place on an island in Alaska, so there's snow in every outdoor area. The first fights against Vulcan Raven and Liquid Snake also take place in the same snow storm, and nobody dies.
* The snow and fog used in the ''[[Silent Hill]]'' games (and the ice in ''[[Silent Hill: Shattered Memories]]'') might be a use of this trope.
* [[The Undead]] Scourge of ''[[War CraftWarcraft]]'' make their base in the frozen north. Heck,[http://www.wow-europe.com/wrath/intro.xml just watch the new cinematic for the expansion that focuses on it]
* In ''[[Kana Little Sister|Kana: Little Sister]]'', {{spoiler|In one of the many endings that feature her death, Kana tells her brother that she will make it snow when she dies. And of course, [[Tear Jerker|the moment it starts to snow she's dead.]]}}
* White Len, the "evil" counterpart to Len in ''[[Melty Blood]]'' specifically makes her zone snow with her dream powers.
* The prologue of ''[[Katawa Shoujo]]'' initially appears to be [[Snow Means Love]]. The main character, Hisao, meets his [[High School Sweethearts|High School Sweetheart]] on a snowy day for a confession of love. Unknown to anyone, [[Heart Trauma|he has cardiac arrythmia and the excitement brings on a heart attack]]. He barely survives, but his old life is over.
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* ''[[Sunset Over Imdahl]]'' takes place over the course of four seasons. Spring and summer are relatively cheerful, fall is when [[The Plague]] hits, and winter is when [[Everybody's Dead, Dave|nobody's left to clear the snow out of the streets]].
* In the short adventure game ''Ulitsa Dimitrova'', the [[Idle Animation]] is first a yawn, followed by a shiver, and falling asleep on the ground, before a localized snowfall starts. [[Downer Ending|That's the only ending.]]
* In ''[[Professor Layton and Thethe Unwound Future]]'', just after {{spoiler|Claire returns to 10 years in the past to die in the lab explosion,}} it begins snowing.
* Snow rather literally means death for ''everyone'' in ''[[Mystery Case Files]]: Dire Grove'', where an ancient curse is going to freeze the entire world if it can't be stopped.
* Similarly, the broken heart of [[The Snow Queen (Literature)|The Snow Queen]] threatens to turn the world to ice in the third game of the ''[[Dark Parables]]'' series.
 
 
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In the Rankin-Bass [[Stop Motion]] special ''Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey'', the title character's mother dies after covering him with her body and keeping him warm for all night during a blizzard.
* [[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]] [[Playing Withwith a Trope|plays with this]] - black snowfall, caused by the soot put out by their ships, heralds the arrival of Fire Nation forces at both the North and South Pole when they attack the Water Tribes.
* One of the more famous examples is from ''[[Bambi (Disney)|Bambi]]'' in which the titular character cries out for his mother during a heavy snowfall after she is shot dead.
 
 
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