Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* Astonage, one of the mechanics who survives ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam|Zeta Gundam]]'' and ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ|Gundam ZZ]]'' is killed off in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment in ''[[Char's Counterattack]]'' by a missile that impacts the hanger bay. This is probably because he picked up a love interest sometime before the movie. You didn't honestly think that [[Kill'Em All|Kill 'em all Tomino]] would let him get away with ''that'' did you?

** And unsurprisingly his love interest dies too. [[Love Hurts|That's Tomino for you]].

* For most of ''[[Hell Girl]]'''s second season, the main human characters of the first season are AWOL. Finally Tsugumi appears; she seems fine, but it sounds like something has happened to Hajime. We don't know for sure yet, but the similarity to ''[[The Ring]]'' is suggestive.

* Many of the remaining characters from ''[[Fafner in the Azure|Fafner: Right of Left]]'' OVA end up dead in the first one-and-a-half episodes of the tv series.

* JC, the main supporting character of the 1998 video game ''SiN'' dies just minutes into its anime sequel counterpart, ''SiN: The Movie''. He goes through a particularly gruesome transformation and has to be put down by his boss, John Blade. This clears the way for JC's younger, hotter sister to join Blade's police force.

 

 

== Comic Books ==

** While we're on the subject of The Long Halloween, {{spoiler|Holiday}} fits this trope. {{spoiler|Alberto Falcone was simply smothered to death by his own sister in Dark Victory while begging to be spared}}.

* [[Raymond Briggs]] created the characters of Jim and Hilda Bloggs, a charming but simple elderly couple, for his graphic novel ''Gentleman Jim''. They proved so popular he brought them back - for ''[[When the Wind Blows]]'', in which they die horribly from radiation poisoning after a nuclear war. Oh dear.

 

 

* King Harold in ''[[Shrek]] 2'' has a good example of a non-death [[Heroic Sacrifice]], as he throws himself in the path of the Fairy Godmother's wand to save Shrek. The result is that his previous 'happy ending' is removed and he is turned back to the frog he was. But he's still alive at the end of the movie, and his wife doesn't mind his being a frog at all. Unfortunately, within the first act of ''[[Shrek]] the Third'', King Harold, well, [[Incredibly Lame Pun|croaks]].

* If you want to count ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]] 2'', in the beginning, Charlie's friend Itchy gets sent to Heaven after he died by choking on a chicken drumstick and both are reunited. Of course, since the films star dead dogs, this doesn't really put Itchy out of commission at all.

** Mathis from ''[[Casino Royale]]'' fare a little better than the norm, making it about halfway through ''[[Quantum of Solace]]'' before being gunned down and tossed into a dumpster.

** Valentin Zukovsky survives ''[[Goldeneye]]'' and appears again in ''[[The World Is Not Enough]]'' where he dies near the end.

* ''Hostel Part II'': Paxton, the [[Final Girl|Final Guy]] from the first film, is decapitated early on.

* The character Jake from ''Rings'', a short film that bridges ''[[The Ring]]'' and ''[[The Ring]] Two'', spends the majority of the (surprisingly well-written) story hallucinating and freaking out over the influence of the [[Artifact of Doom|Cursed Tape]]. At the end of the horrible [[Mind Screw|seven day-long mind screw]], he calls up a girlfriend to pass the curse on to her... He dies in the opening scene of ''[[The Ring]] Two'', as the girl refuses to watch the tape and he's pulled into a [[Special Effects Failure|cheesy special effect]].

** There's an even better example in the original Japanese works. The protagonist of the first book dies in the sequel, ''Rasen'', and in ''both'' the movie sequels (an adaptation of ''Rasen'' and an original sequel, ''Ring 2''). In all cases, the cause of death is not being the protagonist anymore.

* The Chinese man who originally owned Gizmo returned to reclaim him at the end of the original ''Gremlins'', and dies about ten minutes into the sequel. This, of course, ensures that he is [[The Plot Reaper|out of the way]] so Gizmo could end up being reunited with Billy. It's possible that actor Keye Luke was in too poor of health to have an extended role in the film, as he died a year after the film's release.

* ''[[Saw]] II'' revealed that Adam, one of the main characters from the original, had died, showing us his corpse. In ''[[Saw]] III'' not only showed his death scene (in a flashback) but it also killed off Amanda (a former test subject, [[In Love with Your Carnage|then apprentice]]), Detective Kerry, who had been investigating the Jigsaw case since the beginning and ''Jigsaw himself''. ''[[Saw]] IV'' saw the death of two characters who were introduced in ''[[Saw]] II'', [[Corrupt Cop|Det. Eric Matthews]] and Agent Daniel Rigg. The main character of ''III'', Jeff Denlon, was also quickly dispatched. Special Agents Peter Strahm and Lindsay Perez were introduced in ''IV'' and died in the second ''[[Saw]]'' film they appeared, respectively ''V'' and ''VI'', the second one ''after having been declared dead in V'', in which also their boss, Agent Erickson, who first appears in ''V'', ended up dying. Detective David Tapp, whose fate is unclear in ''I'', is revealed to be dead in ''V'' and his fate is shown in the canonical ending of [[The Video Game]], while the saga could possibly avert the trope with the return of the 'possibly' lone survivor of ''I'', Dr. Lawrence Gordon, for the last sequel, ''VII'', and/or playing it straight with the return of some survivors of other movies who will be in ''VII'' (it's been confirmed that Simone and Emily from ''VI'' will be back too).

* Vin Diesel's character is mentioned in passing as having been killed by a guerrilla ambush in the beginning of ''xXx: State of the Union,'' to make way for Ice Cube as the new xXx. Ice Cube is [[Genre Savvy]] enough not to stick around for his turn, and retires at the end of the film so a new xXx can appear in the sequel without requiring his death.

* Played with in [[Mission Impossible (film)|Mission:Impossible--Ghost Protocol]] where it first appears that the Ethan Hunt's wife Julia from the third film fell victim to this trope. Later it is completely subverted when it is revealed he faked her death to protect her and she is alive and well. She even makes a brief appearance.

* {{spoiler|Irene Adler}} dies within the first few minutes of ''[[Sherlock Holmes (film)|Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows]]''.

* {{spoiler|Io}} in ''[[Clash of the Titans|Wrath of the Titans]]''. Then again, that's the least of the film's problems...

* ''[[Pitch Black]]'' survivors {{spoiler|Jack/Kyra}} and {{spoiler|:Imam}} fare much worse in the sequel ''[[The Chronicles of Riddick]]''.

== Literature ==

* {{spoiler|Boromir}} survives all through ''[[The Lord of the Rings|The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' only to die in the very first chapter of ''[[The Lord of the Rings|The Two Towers]]'' after an off-screen skirmish (that arguably started at the end of the first book). Subverted in [[The Lord of the Rings (film)|the movie adaptation]], where he is killed at the end of the first movie, possibly to hype up [[The Climax]] (though he appears in flashback form in the Extended Cut of movies two and three).

* In the first ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' book, the character Genarro actually lives, and isn't ignominiously eaten while on the toilet like he was in the movie. He even gets to beat up a raptor. By the second book, he's died of dysentery.

** Accidental inversion in that Ian Malcolm, the main character of the second book, ''dies'' at the end of the first one. He gets better, though.

* The main character of Raymond E Feist's ''Mistress of the Empire'' series spends the first two books in various political machinations to secure her title and lands. {{spoiler|The triumph of her goal is to have a son, who dies in a faked accident two pages into the third book}}.

* The last book of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' has the main character, Arthur's, newfound love interest from the fourth book, Fenchurch, not just die, but suddenly disappear. It was technically her fault because they went on a ship which [[Offer Void in Nebraska|has problems with people from Plural sectors]], such as Earth (Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha).

* Jenny, [[Forrest Gump]]'s [[The Ditz|ditzy]], [[Anything That Moves|slutty]] childhood sweetheart was alive and well in the original book's [[Mega Happy Ending]]. But since [[The Film of the Book|the movie]] had her contract a terminal illness, she's [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|already dead]] at the beginning of ''Gump & Co.''

* Julius Root has a [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|bridge dropped on him]] at the opening of the fourth ''[[Artemis Fowl]]'' book.

* Empress Nerissa and her entire family die offscreen in a bloody assassination just before the opening scenes of the second book of Patricia Bray's ''Chronicles of Josan'' trilogy. Considering her importance in the first book, this comes as a bit of an immediate shock, but it isn't done wastefully or for no reason. Her death shapes the circumstances surrounding Josan's life for the entire rest of the trilogy.

** ...and then played straight in the fourth series, where (so far) almost all of the deaths are those of characters who have been alive since early in the series.

* ''[[Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows]]'' plays this trope masterfully. With [[Tonight Someone Dies|one major character dying in the climax of every book]] since [[Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire|the fourth]], Rowling had settled major character death into a predictable, [[Tropes Are Not Bad|albeit terrifying]] pattern. Cue Deathly Hallows, and {{spoiler|Harry's faithful owl Hedwig}} dies. '''''In chapter four'''''. Soon followed by {{spoiler|the off-screen death of [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Mad-Eye Moody]]}}. Ok, Rowling, we get it now: shit just got real, son.

** [[It Got Worse]]. For those who thought losing {{spoiler|Hedwig and Mad-Eye}} was bad enough, the fans certainly did ''not'' expect 10+ more major characters to die. Though this is probably justified since J.K. Rowling may be trying to set a dismal, almost dystopian tone for her seventh and final book.

* In the first chapter of ''Eldest'' (Book 2 of the ''[[Inheritance Cycle]]''), Murtagh {{spoiler|(supposedly)}} and Ajihad are killed by [[Our Orcs Are Different|Urgals]].

* In the fifth ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'' book, {{spoiler|[[Black Dude Dies First|Beckendorf]]}} dies in the first chapter.

** Caspian subsequently dies, right on the page, in the final chapter of ''[[The Silver Chair]]''.

** Then in ''[[The Last Battle]]'', Eustace and Jill learn that their friend from the last book, Rilian, "has been dead for over two hundred years." Presumably Puddleglum has, too. In fact, that book begins with the deaths of {{spoiler|everyone from our world who ever visited Narnia, except Susan, in a train crash.}} But due to Narnia doubling as some kind of entrance to the afterlife, nobody actually notices they're dead until the end.

* ''[[The Hardy Boys|The Hardy Boys Casefiles]]:'' {{spoiler|Iola Morton, Joe's girlfriend,}} a regularly recurring character from the original series, gets blown up in the ''very first chapter'' of the Casefiles series.

* Happens in both sequels to [[Beggars in Spain]].

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* In the first episode of the 80's ''[[V]]'' sequel series, Martin (a prominent supporting character and fifth-columnist alien) gets dispatched by the [[Big Bad]], Diana, halfway through the first episode. Other resistance members from the miniseries (including Robin Maxwell's father and Elias) are anticlimactically killed off within the first few episodes of the series.

* Season five of ''[[24]]'' opened with the deaths of Michelle Dessler and President Palmer.

** Another example would be Curtis Manning only four episodes into season six (the fact that he was billed as a guest star, as opposed to a regular was a painfully obvious indicator that Curtis wouldn't be around for the long haul that season).

* {{spoiler|Mr. Eko}} from ''[[Lost]]'', who was a major character in season 2 but killed off just a few episodes into season 3.

* [[All in The Family|Edith Bunker]] made it to the [[Spin-Off]] ''[[Archie Bunker's Place]]'', but died of a stroke in between the first and second seasons.

* A version of this happens in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' TV Movie, where the 7th Doctor makes a brief appearance only to get shot and then die on an operating table. However, being the Doctor, he gets better.

* ''Captain Barbell's'' love interest from the 2007 series bites it in the first episode of the new 2011 series.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

** Subverted in that {{spoiler|she continues to narrate the game after her "death", and is ultimately restored to her true form once the Prince defeats the Vizier.}}

* Simone Taylor was one of three characters to survive ''5 Days a Stranger'', the first game of the [[Chzo Mythos]]. (The second character would come down with a case of [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]] shortly afterward, and the third was the player.) The second game, ''7 Days a Skeptic'', is set in the distant future, and the player finds a letter that mentions, among other things, that Simone was killed very shortly after the events of ''5 Days''. The third game, ''Trilby's Notes'', goes back and actually is set very shortly after the events of ''5 Days'' and the prologue/tutorial ends with the discovery of Simone's body.

* Liam Spencer from ''The Getaway''. You don't even know he survived the events of the first dame until you find his corpse in the second level of the second game.

* Harry, the protagonist of the first ''[[Silent Hill]]'' game, is killed in the third after being ambushed in his home by a boss-type mook, without his weapons.

* In ''[[Killzone]] 2'', the heroes of the original ''Killzone'' all appear as [[Older and Wiser]] NPCs helping the new player character Sev, until they all end up getting killed over the course of the game.

** Rico possibly survived, but we don't know if the entirety of the ISA forces on the ground were wiped out after the surprise attack following the death of Scolar Visari.

* ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]]'' loves these:

** ''Wing Commander II'' - The Tiger's Claw is destroyed in the intro sequence, killing many of the characters from the first game (eg. Halcyon, Shotglass).

*** There's also Hobbes' [[Face Heel Turn]], leading to his death.

** ''Wing Commander IV'' - Vagabond is killed a short way into the game.

* In Neverwinter Nights 2, between the Original Campaign and Mask Of The Betrayer, many of the main character's companions are killed off when they seemed to be in sight of safety. All characters who weren't killed in the final battle were making their escape, but most of them are killed. The ones that survive are decided by how the player answers certain questions in the expansion.

* In [[Mass Effect|Mass Effect 2]], Navigator Pressly is killed during the opening sequence when the Normandy is attacked by the Collectors. Commander Shepard also dies, [[Back From the Dead|but is revived two years later]].

** The third game promises to allow you to resolve all those story arcs continuing them from wherever you left them in the first, their lack of interactive progression in the second game is to keep the amount of possibilities ''in the 4 digit range''. Expect the rest of the first game as well as the returning Mass Effect 2 cast to once again be susceptible to [[Anyone Can Die]].

*** And indeed, there's exactly ''one'' main character who is completely without a potential [[Plotline Death]] in the entire series, and therefore not susceptible to this trope: {{spoiler|Liara}}.

* Orthopox-13 in ''[[Destroy All Humans!]] 2''. To be fair, [[Mission Control|he didn't confront]] [[Voice with an Internet Connection|much of the action]] in the first game, but it says something that he was '''''nuked in space''''' in the intro to the sequel; in fact, the crashing debris of the mothership is what creates the setting for the prologue. [[Brain Uploading|He does get better fairly quickly, though.]]

* In ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood|Assassin's Creed Brotherhood]]'', Ezio's Uncle Mario is killed off in the first half hour.

* Johnny Gat is offed before the end of the second mission, in ''[[Saints Row]]:'' The Third.

* In ''[[Modern Warfare]] 3'', Griffin (the sergeant who assisted you in the ''MW1'' mission "Crew Expendable"), Russian loyalist Sgt. Kamarov and former main character 'Soap' MacTavish die.