View source for You Are Already Dead

{{trope}}
[[File:fotnscollage 3904.jpg|link=Fist of the North Star|frame|Redefining [[Boom! Headshot!]].]]


{{quote|''He hits you with his fingertips at five different pressure points on your body. And then he lets you walk away. But once you’ve taken five steps, your heart explodes in your body, and you fall to the floor, dead.''|'''Bill''', ''[[Kill Bill]]'', describing the legendary Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique.}}

The [[Final Battle]] has begun. The two opponents square off, and one of them hits the other with a [[Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs|series of mighty blows that would fell a mountain]]. But what's this? [[Delayed Reaction|Nothing seems to be happening!]] That's when your opponent tells you that '''You Are Already Dead''', right before [[Your Head Asplode|your head explodes]], your [[Half the Man He Used To Be|body separates in two]], or you [[Ludicrous Gibs|disintegrate into a fine mist.]] If you're lucky, [[Fate Worse Than Death|only one of those happens]]. Sometimes, you may also discover that you were [[Made of Explodium]].

A common trope in martial arts series, this involves some form of [[Finishing Move]] that does not take effect immediately. When used with martial arts, it may involve [[Pressure Point]] attacks or some form of [[Ki Attacks]]. Assassins may use [[Universal Poison]] to achieve a similar effect. In video games, [[Damage Over Time]] abilities often have this effect.

When used with swords there are a number of common variations, often shown with a [[Diagonal Cut]]. In sword duels, the two sides charge each other and attack. There will be a pause as the two pose, then one (or both) will fall down. Another one is for a [[Master Swordsman]] to perform a series of lightning-fast slashes, and then slowly and dramatically sheath their sword (with an audible *click*) before their attacks take effect.

This trope is not necessarily limited to martial arts, either. In more modern settings, gunshot wounds can often have this effect, since getting shot typically feels like getting punched hard and it is not uncommon for victims to take some time to realize it. This can be exploited for dramatic effect in war movies, where fatally wounded soldiers wander the battlefield before succumbing.

Compare [[Delayed Reaction]] for the comedy version. May lead to [[Died Standing Up]]. See [[Determinator]] or [[Heroic Second Wind]] for when it doesn't work. Can overlap with [[Badass Boast]]. A subtrope of [[Time-Delayed Death]]. Not to be confused with [[Dead All Along]] or [[Dead to Begin With]].

{{deathtrope}}

{{examples}}

==  Anime and Manga  ==

* ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'' is the [[Trope Namer]]. Kenshiro, the protagonist, used this as his [[Catch Phrase]] ("Omae wa mou shindeiru") when he made his opponent's [[Your Head Asplode|head]] or [[Ludicrous Gibs|entire body explode]] with superpowered [[Pressure Point]] martial arts.
** Even subverted a couple of times. One time a mook attempts to do this to Kenshiro, only for his own head to explode.<ref>Kenshiro hit a pressure point in his face a few moments before, making it a [[Time-Delayed Death]]</ref> And Bat claims to be able to do this to a mook, only he was lying so he could use the mook's horrified reaction to retreat.
** ''[[Fist of the Blue Sky]]'''s protagonist does much the same thing. Only in Chinese.
* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' does this with ''mechs''.
* ''[[Naruto]]'' uses this often, seeing how it's a show about ninjas.
* ''[[Bleach]]'' has a lot of examples, but Aizen is particularly good at it.
** Actually [[Shout-Out|referenced]]/[[Lampshaded]] when Love quotes it while reading manga.
** Soi Fon also deserves mention, given that her shikai actually guarantees death in two hits, which combined with her high speed leads to this trope.
* ''[[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Saga]]'' parodies this in their ''Fist of the North Star'' episode by having victims turn into plushies.
* ''[[One Piece]]'' has Brook who uses this as his signature attack. He is able to slowly walk ten feet, and then put his sword away before his slash takes effect.
** Zoro seems to have some attacks of this type too, especially Sishi Sonson, which he used to finish off Mr. 1; however, they aren't stated as such like in the case of Brook.
* ''[[Death Note]]'': If no cause of death is written into the Death Note after a name is written, the victim will die of a heart attack after about 40 seconds.
** This also happens if the cause of death specified is vague. Hell, if your (true) name is in the book, and the writer had your face in mind, you are dead. No exceptions.
*** No meaningful exceptions, rather. One of the [[All There in the Manual|rules that never factors into the actual storyline]] is that the Death Note does not work on anyone over the age of 124. Given the extreme unlikelihood of a human living to that age, it's not clear why they even bothered with such a rule.
**** One can gain excess life-span if a Death God sacrifices themselves for you. Just how much extra time Misa gained through the course of the story is unknown, regardless of giving up half of her remaining life twice.
** Light literally says "He's already dead" in episode 24, at 10:30.
* Parodied in ''[[Lucky Star]]'':
{{quote|'''Soujirou:''' ''(pointing at a mosquito on his arm)'' [[Shout-Out|You are already dead.]]
'''Konata:''' You are already bitten. }}
** Actually [[Truth in Television]], as mosquito bites include an anesthetic and most people don't realize they've been bitten until the mosquito is almost done feeding.
*** That's not the point here. Soujirou was demonstrating how tensing up the arm muscles could result in the mosquito getting its proboscis stuck. Naturally, if the mosquito gets stuck long enough it would die of starvation, which is the reason for the above quote by Soujirou.
*** Not to natter, but if you pull the muscle trick, the dear lady explodes due to your [[High-Pressure Blood|Blood Pressure]] rather than dying of starvation.
* Said almost verbatim in [[Burning Hell]] - a [[Villain Protagonist]] [[Deadly Doctor]] can use this trope with his sword... for [[Flaying Alive]] his opponent.
* Very common in ''[[Saint Seiya]]'', to the point where people can receive an attack, wax philosophical, and suddenly get flung across the room, usually through some pillars.
* ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'': At the climax of the 50th episode, Agumon warp evolves to WarGreymon, slices up [[Big Bad|Machinedramon]], makes a [[Three-Point Landing]] and reverts to [[Sleep Mode Size|Koromon]] before Machinedramon falls to pieces. It only happens after a brief debate over the effectiveness of WarGreymon's assault, where Koromon reminds Machinedramon of [[For Massive Damage|the special power of WarGreymon's claws]]. This trope is dub-only - in the original, Koromon instead responds to Mugendramon with a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|touching]] [[World of Cardboard Speech]].
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]:'' Kuu Fei and Mana's fight in the fighting tournament ends with one of these (in a non-lethal way). Kuu's palm is on Mana's abdomen as Mana believes she has bested Kuu, but that Kuu put up a remarkable fight. And they have a brief exchange before Kuu informs Mana that that wasn't all. Then the back of Mana's shirt ''explodes'' from the attack. Even if the attack was released after the exchange, Kuu clearly landed the strike at the start of the conversation. [[Took a Level in Badass|This is the first time Kuu ever uses a ki technique.]]
* Happen once in ''[[Claymore]]'', with a slight variation : the victim had his hand immediately cut off, complain because of it, then the [[Diagonal Cut]] kicks in.
* Happens to Seiryu in ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''. Sliced 16 times by Hiei, and he wonders what happened before the camera (meaning he) starts dropping to the ground in pieces.
** And again (though not a killing blow this time) against Makintaro in the Dark Tournament. Hiei flashes his sword, Makintaro tells him to bring it on—and Hiei pulls out his severed arm, saying he already did.
* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' has this happen during a fight between Virgilia and Beatrice. One of the combatants makes an illegal move which means that she lost the fight automatically, as she did not successfully counter all attacks. The soon to be loser is about to kill her opponent when she informs her of this. This causes all attacks made after that point to be illusory because she was already dead. The previously checkmated opponent is therefore left completely unharmed.
* In the final episode of ''[[Katanagatari]]'', Shichika hits an opponent who is wielding a sword that is meant to keep people from dying with an attack that kills him several times saying ''"You've now died 272 times"'' before said opponent collapses to the ground.
* Done on a fairly regular basis in ''[[Samurai Deeper Kyo]]'', especially during the beginning chapters and/ or when a new enemy is introduced. As the series progresses however, this becomes rather rare as the Mooks and [[Redshirt Army|Red Shirt Armies]] are gradually replaced with [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]]s, various [[The Dragon|Dragons]] and the [[Big Bad]], who's power levels range from [[Charles Atlas Superpower|Charles Atlas]] to [[Made of Iron]] to ''[[Physical God]]''.
* Happens at least once in ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'', when Jin is stabbed in the back by Kariya, only for Kariya to wince in pain and have the camera pull back to reveal that Jin left himself open so he could fatally wound Kariya.
* ''[[Dragonball Z]]'': In the seventh movie Future Trunks battles Android 14, their fight comes to an end when their blows collide with Trunks using his sword, Android 14 comes out seemingly unscathed he runs out at Trunks and his body splits in half just before he reaches him.
** Parodied at one Martial Arts Tournament, when Mr. Satan and Android 18 are fighting. 18 says she'll throw the match if he agrees to pay her double the prize money. He does, and throws a heavy punch to knock her out of the ring. 18 just takes the punch to the face without moving, asks if that was really the best finishing move Mr. Satan could come up with... ''then'' throws herself backward out of the ring. Mr. Satan then tries to pass off this bizarre chain of events as this trope to the confused audience: a "delayed reaction" punch.
** In the dub of ''[[Dragonball Z Kai]]'', Future Trunks says "You're already dead." to Cyborg Frieza just before their fight. [[Curb Stomp Battle|If you can it a fight]].
* In ''[[Lupin III]]'', Goemon does this frequently, though usually not against actual people. Nevertheless, most things he cuts only fall apart after he has sheathed his sword.
{{quote|Goemon: [[Catch Phrase|Once again I have cut a worthless object.]]}}
* In ''[[The Slayers]]'', Gourry rushes between two rows of would-be bounty hunters. Reaching the end, he clicks his sword in his scabbard. Cue the bodies dropping to the ground. (Amelia: "Make that eleven...")
* Shows up in ''[[Baccano!]]'', when [[Psycho for Hire|Ladd Russo]] slits the throat of an underling in his uncle's office. He has time to turn away and close his switchblade before the [[High-Pressure Blood]] kicks in.
* In the 2003 ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' anime, [[Mad Bomber|Kimblee's]] favourite trick is to use alchemy to [[Why Am I Ticking?|turn people into delayed time bombs]] by transmuting their bodies' sulphur and phosphorous into a slow-oxidising explosive. He eventually does this to Al.
* [[Subverted]] in [[Ranma ½]], where Ranma spends half an episode dodging Ryoga's [[Finger-Poke of Doom|Bakusai Tenketsu]], which can supposedly shatter anything by [[Attack Its Weak Point|exploiting natural weakpoints]]. When Ranma finally beats Ryoga, he is casually hit with the technique by Cologne. A look of horror spreads across his face...  only for [[Trickster Mentor|Cologne]] to reveal its true nature - a mining technique designed for use against rocks (which it had been used on every other time) and inert against humans.

== Comic Books ==
* This happens to assassin Evelyn Cream in ''[[Miracleman]]'' when he's decapitated by a monster dog but doesn't realize it until the end of the issue.
* A nonlethal example happened in one ''[[Spider-Man]]'' comic where the hero fought [[Evil Albino| Tombstone]], a bruiser with rock-hard skin who is ''very'' hard to hurt. Spidey puts all he has into one punch to the villain's face. Tombstone doesn't seem hurt at first (even though his nose is bleeding), he threatens Spidey, then lifts his fist to hit him... Then he gets dizzy, and finally collapses, out cold. Spidey quips, "Well what do you know? Like a dinosaur. Took a few seconds to reach his brain."

==  Film  ==
* ''[[Kill Bill]]'' has this with the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique, which is delivered to Bill at the end of the film.
* Used for dramatic effect in ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'' during the Normandy scene, where severely injured soldiers in the throes of shellshock wander the battlefield before succumbing.
* In ''[[Ghost Ship]]'', a thin wire rips through everyone on the dance-floor of the ship, instantly cutting them all in half; and yet they remain standing perfectly upright... and slowly all fall apart (when in actuality they'd obviously fall immediately).
* In one of the ''[[Pink Panther]]'' movies, a ninja-master gives a demonstration where he strikes a rock, and nothing happens; then he leaves, and the entire room collapses.
* ''[[Wagons East]]'': During the gunfight at the end of the movie, Julian and Slade have a stand off during which Slade is shot but doesn't notice until Julian points it out to him.
* Darth Maul takes a second to realize he's been cut in half at the end of the climactic fight scene in ''[[The Phantom Menace]]''.
* ''[[V for Vendetta]]'': I killed you ten minutes ago.
* In ''[[Kiss of the Dragon]]'', Jet Li hits the bad guy with the titular attack, paralyzing him. Jet Li then has time to describe what is about to happen, right before starting the process of death by yanking the needle out and walking out of the room. The bad guy then starts to have extreme pain and blood starts leaking out of every possible opening until he dies.
* In the obscure horror film ''Skinned Deep'', the Surgeon General takes a swing at a kid with his knife. Nothing seems to happen, and the kid remarks that he missed. Cue kid splitting in half.
* ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'': Barbossa takes a few moments to realize that Jack ''didn't'' waste that last shot.
* The guy who challenged Kyuzo to a duel first with sticks, then with swords in ''[[Seven Samurai|The Seven Samurai]]''. Kikuchiyo's death could also qualify.
* Spock's [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to repair the Enterprise in ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]''.
{{quote|'''Kirk:'''"He's dying!"
'''Scotty:'''[[Tear Jerker|"He's dead already."]]}}
* A variation of this occurs in ''[[The World Is Not Enough]]''. The anarchist Renard has an untreatable bullet wound to the head; the injury will ''eventually'' kill him, but until it does, it makes him stronger and more resistant to pain every day. And he ''knows'' this, giving Bond an enemy that literally has nothing to lose - he is not just losing the ability to feel pain, but the ability to feel ''anything''. In fact, when Bond threatens to kill him in one scene, Renard chuckles and says, "You forget... I'm already dead."

== Literature ==
* By [[Ciaphas Cain]]'s account (in Emperor's Finest), he give an ork an injury that was a little short of bisecting it. Then the ork tried to attack him, realized it's severe injury, and fell to the ground. Ork's are pretty robust creatures and Cain didn't say explicitly say it died, but the ork was obviously (at the very least, temporarily) neutralized.
* In [[Sergey Lukyanenko]]'s ''[[Line of Delirium]]'', this is the favorite tactic of the [[Everything's Worse with Bears|Bulrathi]] when fighting humans during the Vague War. They would strike the liver with a special move then let the prisoner go. The victim would feel perfectly fine for several days before the liver would suddenly fail, and the person would die. The main character ends up on the receiving end of this strike at the beginning, during his [[Training from Hell]], but [[Unexplained Recovery|gets better]]. He later accidentally hits a guy the same way during an interrogation, but reasons that the guy probably deserves it.
** Several such attacks are described in the book against aliens. The Bulrathi themselves have a gland that, when punched hard, causes them to die of intense pleasure. There are also the unexplained "reflexive points" that can also be used to kill within seconds. The Bulrathi, being obsessed with hand-to-hand combat, also develop a technique for taking down a [[Silicon-Based Life|Silicoid]] (a hovering column of rock) with ''singing'' and a single punch. The main character is the first human to use this technique.
* Gar Quithnick from Roger Zelazny's ''Forever After'' practices ''Tian-shi-sheqi'', a martial art that demands that death be a summation of life, rather than a mere cessation. To that end, he employs the ''kuo-tak'' strike to set up a sort of psychic resonance that kills the victim upon experiencing a certain stimulus. With it, he causes a predator to die the instant it pounces, tells a deposed despot that he will die the moment he considers himself greater than another man ([[Cool and Unusual Punishment|though he can still live a long life of humility]]), and even turns one enemy into a [[MacGuffin Delivery Service]].
* [[David Langford]]'s ''fractal basilisks'' infect the human mind with [[Brown Note|an image it cannot process]], producing this effect. In the short story "BLIT," a vandal is [[Hoist by His Own Petard]] when he accidentally looks at a stencil of "The Parrot" while using [[Goggles Do Something|protective goggles]] (the cops who arrest him die instantly). The effect doesn't kick in later, and can only be countered with [[What Did I Do Last Night?|strong drink]] to ensure short-term memory loss.
* [[Jack Vance]]'s ''[[The Demon Princes]]'' series has ''cluthe'', a microbiological agent delivered by needle (usually fitted to a protective glove) which has a progressive paralytic effect. Essentially an extremely accelerated case of tetanus, except that you're dead in minutes instead of hours to days. The onset seems to be able to be varied, from instantaneous to something like twelve or more ''hours'' later.
* A number of creatures in the [[Wheel of Time|Aiel Waste]] are known for this, by name. They are also apparently a snack. This is one of the many good reasons to not mess with the Aiel.
* In ''[[Humanx Commonwealth|Mid-Flinx]]'', Teal concludes her contemptuous tirade at the mercenaries' inability to survive the jungle by announcing that one of their party is already dead. Within moments, the native woman's words are proven true, as the tuft of flowers one of the group has been wearing in her hair [[Body Horror|sprouts parasitic tendrils]] that spread rapidly throughout the wearer's body and reduce her to a lump of nurturing compost.

== Live-Action TV ==
* In ''[[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive]]'', Kamdor, one of several major [[Big Bad]]s, and Black Ranger Will charge at each other, and strike in passing. Will falls, and Kamdor, thinking he's won, turns to leave... and then goes kaflooey. Will pulls himself to his feet a little later.
* In ''[[Kamen Rider Den-O]] [[The Movie|I'm Born]]'', Den-O Sword form and [[Big Bad|Kamen Rider Gaoh]] have one final showdown. After the two have an exchange of slashes, Gaoh suddenly starts being reduced to sand after a few moments.
* In ''[[Ultraman Tiga]]'', Tiga and [[Evil Counterpart|Evil Tiga]] have a midair attack exchange. Tiga falls to his knees, causing Evil Tiga to turn and laugh before suddenly clutching his chest in pain and falling to the ground. While it doesn't kill him in the series, it gives Tiga the oppertunity to finish him. In ''Ultraman Fighting Evolution 3'', this is how he kills him.
* [[Xena: Warrior Princess]] had a move where she could cut off blood flow to a person's brain. It required precise strikes to the underside of the chin, and could be reversed with a different series of nerve strikes. She mainly used it for interrogating [[Mooks]], though, before her [[Heel Face Turn]], she used it more like this trope.
{{quote|'''Xena:''' I've cut off blood flow to your brain. You'll be dead in two minutes.
'''Mook:''' ...what...do you want to know?
'''Xena:''' Nothing. I just thought I'd tell you. }}
* On the ''Homicide'' episode "Subway", a man is pushed into the path of a subway train and winds up lodged beneath the car from the waist down. Medics rush to the scene, but quickly realize there's nothing they can do to prevent him from bleeding out internally as soon as the train's weight is removed. Needless to say, the pinned man is not pleased with this prognosis.

==  Stand-up Comedy  ==
* On David Cross' CD, ''Shut Up You (lift flap for dirty word) Baby!'' he launches into a long tirade mimicking the puffed-up threats rednecks make when they're about to start a fight:
{{quote|"I just take my eyelash, man, and then you fuckin' put it in your eye, and you're fuckin' dead, man, you're dead for an hour, you don't even know it, man. You'll be walkin' around, thinkin' you alive, but you been dead for an hour, man."}}

==  Tabletop Games  ==
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'': 
** In 3E, this is basically what the Quivering Palm ability of the Monk does. Once per week, a high-level Monk can declare an unarmed strike to be a Quivering Palm attack. Any time within the next several (at least fifteen) days, the monk can simply will the target to drop dead (although he gets a saving throw to survive).
** In ''[[Planescape]]'', a fhorge is a boar-like animal native to the Outlands that has an uncontrollable temper, so much that it can fight even when reduced to 0 hit points or less<ref>Most living creatures are unconscious when this happens, and in all cases, lose 1 hp per combat round, and dies if they fall to -10</ref> only stopping when they fall to -10, at which point they die instantly. A fhorge is just too mean to know it's been killed.
* In the ''[[Feng Shui]]'' fan supplement ''Out For Blood'', the fu power "Harmonious Fist" from the Path of the Harmonious Chord, a fu path for those adept in both Martial Arts and Sorcery, allows its user to launch a Martial Arts attack that doesn't deliver its damage until you make a Sorcery check, and among other things can be used to deliver many strikes that only take effect when the Sorcery check is made to activate them all. ''Omae wa mou shindeiru'' indeed.
* The Ninjas And Super-Spies RPG from Palladium Books contains the dreaded Dim Mak technique. Only a few Martial arts allow you to learn it and one must be of the most evil (Diabolic) of alignment. A successful infliction of this technique destroys one's ability to recover the positive chi required for healing, leading to one slowly wasting away and dying from the incurable breakdown of the body over the following weeks. It can even be delivered with a finger poke where the victim never knows what happened, and an advanced version can even work (with more difficulty) through phone lines!

==  Theatre  ==
* [[Older Than Steam]]: In ''[[Hamlet]]'', Act V, Scene 2, Laertes pulls this on Hamlet:
{{quote|'''Laertes''': Hamlet, thou art slain. No medicine in the world can do thee good. In thee there is not half an hour of life. The treacherous instrument is in thy hand, unbated and envenom'd.}}

==  Video Games  ==
* A common tactic among feral druids in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' is to land your bleed attacks when the opponent is fairly low on health (40%) and instantly move to another target, knowing your original foe will die in seconds.
* Gen from ''[[Street Fighter Alpha]] 2'', whose martial art style is classified as an "assassination fist" like Kenshiro's, has a Super Combo called ''Shitenshuu'' or the "Death Point Attack". When Gen performs the Lv. 3 version on his opponent, it will cause a timer to appear above their head, which will cause an instant K.O. Unlike other examples, the effect can be canceled if the opponent manage to strike Gen before the countdown reaches zero. His other Super Combo, ''Zan Ei'' is a lesser version of this. He dashes forward hitting his opponent once, but after the pass, the opponent receives multiple mysterious hits.
* The ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'' fighting game gives Kenshiro two attacks with "the line." One is his [[One-Hit Kill|Fatal KO]], the Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken. The other attack is the Zankai Ken, a Super that gives the opponent three seconds before being defeated. [[Mythology Gag|Just like in the original series]], however, this attack doesn't work on Souther.
* ''[[Dragon Age Origins]]'' has the Walking Bomb spell, which causes whatever it is cast on to explode after a set amount of time. Its upgrade, Virulent Walking Bomb, turns anyone else in the blast radius into bombs themselves.
* The ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series has the various spells and attacks that inflict the Doom status effect. This places a timer above the victim's head, counting down to zero. When the timer hits zero, the character dies.
** Some enemies have a doom-like ability that is un-dispellable. Essentially, you're already dead, you've just been given a short grace period.
** This also appears in the [[Kingdom Hearts]] series.
* One of the ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' comics shows a High Frequency Blade-d guard's head slowly sliding apart in mid-sentence.
* In ''[[Diablo|Diablo III]]'', one of Monk class' skills, Exploding Palm, causes the target to [[Ludicrous Gibs|explode]] if it is killed by Damage Over Time. ''[[Fist of the North Star|Omae wa mou shindeiru]]'', indeed.
* [[BlazBlue|Taokaka]]'s Astral Heat has her (intending) to finish the opponent after saying this, word for word. Considering the nature of Blaz Blue, it is very likely that it's a [[Shout-Out]].
** Hakumen even has an achievement named this in Continuum Shift. Its objective is to deal 10,000 damage in one combo, which is such an absurdly high amount that if you're not dead, you're probably one good poke from dead (unless the opponent is also Hakumen or Tager, who are the only characters that can withstand such a combo at whopping 12,000 and 13,000 health respectively).
* In ''[[Shinobi]]'' for the [[PlayStation 2]], Hotsuma can attack multiple enemies in a chain, and after the chain attack is completed, they all [[Ludicrous Gibs|fall to pieces]].
* ''[[Mortal Kombat: Deception]]'': One of Li-Mei's fatalities involves this.
* Vergil's [[Signature Move]] in ''[[Devil May Cry|Devil May Cry 3]]'' is [[Diagonal Cut]]ting his opponent, then waiting several seconds before sheathing his [[Katanas Are Just Better|sword]] (with an audible CLICK), and only then the enemy goes asunder.
** [[Light Is Not Good|Beowulf]] actually managed to ''speak'' to him before [[Family-Unfriendly Death|his head went in pieces]].
* The original ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'' for the NES opened with this happening to Ryu Hayabusa's father in a [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Cut]] [[Cutscene|Scene.]]
* One of the [[Catgirl|Nekomata]]'s attacks in ''[[Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten]]'' is a dead ringer for the Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken. After delivering multiple blows, the opponent becomes irate and walks up. Cue the explosion about halfway there.
* At the beginning of Shadow's story in [[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 video game)||Sonic '06]], Shadow briefly pulls this with several robots by simply running through/by them.
* The [[No Moment]] sword tech and Fist fighting tech in ''[[SaGa Frontier]]''.
* Reiji and Xiaomu in ''[[Super Robot Taisen Endless Frontier]]'' when they perform their ''Shinra Banshou'' overdrive. After Reiji wails on the enemy with his guns and swords, Xiaomu finishes with a slash from her sword staff. As soon as she clicks it into her staff, the enemy gushes out blood in the air.
* In a really wrong way, the game ''[[Prototype (video game)|Prototype]]'' makes it impossible to let someone go after grabbing them without killing them. So they are pretty much dead once you get your hands on them.
* In ''[[Prototype 2]]'' gives us [[Why Am I Ticking?|the BioBomb]]. Where you insert into an victim a variation of the virus that incubates for a short time, enough to leave the scene, before exploding them into a mass of tentacles impaling everything near him.
* Evie's Drain attacks in [[Vindictus]] have this effect, particularly the Mark of Death and [[Razor Floss|Bloody Thread]] attacks. You can hit an enemy with a smash and then hit them with the Drain attack, which you can then explode later for extra damage.
* Ukyo Tachibana from the [[Samurai Shodown]] series inflicts something like this as his special and his finisher. He runs up to his opponent, walks "through" him or her a few times, stops behind him or her, twirls his sword, sheathes it aaaaaand..... one torso less attached to it's legs.
* Played with in [[Kingdoms of Amalur]]:Reckoning with said Reckoning move. When this Rage mode is active, everything turns blue and time slows down, allowing your character to deal massive damage with room for error. Any enemy whose HP drops to about zero enters a near-death mode signalled by their supposed "fated death" erupting out of them in the form of blue strings of fate. If the player can successfully execute one of these characters (how they were supposed to die happens now, supposedly) before Reckoning runs out, the rest suddenly die from the chain reaction. Otherwise, they somehow regain a small percentage of their HP.

==  Web Comics  ==
* ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'' used this trope along with [[Diagonal Cut]] against ninja mooks in the first Franz Rayner arc.
{{quote|'''Dr. McNinja:''' Aaaaand the split...}}
* Aldran does this in [http://antiheroescomic.com/comic/163 this] ''[[Anti-HEROES]]'' comic by magically force-feeding an opponent some "berries".
{{quote|'''Evil Druid''': While I appreciate the snack [cough], you didn't have to shove 'em down my throat!
'''Aldran''': Actually, I did. See if I had given you the time to actually taste them, you might have noticed that not all of them were, in fact, berries.
'''Evil Druid''': ...What he hell did you just feed me?
'''Aldran''': Are you familiar with the spell "[[Delayed Explosion|Delayed Blast Fireball]]"?
'''Evil Druid''': [[Oh Crap|...Oh Gods.]] }}
* Given the author's tendency to use and abuse [[Shout-Out|shout outs]] for fun and profit, ''[[MS Paint Masterpieces]]'' uses this as [http://ferretcomic.com/249 a deliberate reference] to ''[[Fist of the North Star]]''.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130605204839/http://noneedforbushido.com/2011/comic/454/ This comic] in ''[[No Need for Bushido]].'' Also counts as [[Killed Mid-Sentence]].
* Played for laughs in [http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/237 this] [[Nerf Now]] comic.

==  Web Original  ==
* Episode 18 of ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho Abridged]]'' gives us this example:
{{quote|'''Seiryu:''' Hm. Seems you're pretty fast... but not fast enough.
'''Hiei:''' Oh really? You have no idea how fast I am.
'''Seiryu:''' Oh yeah, smartass? Then how fast are you?
'''Hiei:''' You really want to know?
'''Seiryu:''' Enlighten me.
'''Hiei:''' You ''sure'' you want to know?
'''Seiryu:''' ''Yes'' I'm sure!
'''Hiei:''' Positive?
'''Seiryu:''' Positive!
'''Hiei:''' Absolutely sure?
'''Seiryu:''' Yes, goddammit!
'''Hiei:''' You've been dead for twenty seconds.
<[[Beat]]>
'''Seiryu:''' AhhhhAHHHHHH!!! }}
* This happens twice to [[The Big Guy|Axem Yellow]] in [[Super Mario Bros Z]], first it took him several seconds to realize that, after an attempted attack on Mecha Sonic, his axe had fallen apart. Later, Mecha Sonic spin-dashes him. Five seconds later, he splits in half. Both halves explode.
* ''[[Avatar: The Abridged Series]]'' did a [[Fist of the North Star]] parody, complete with the line.
* [[Atop the Fourth Wall]] gave us Pollo's [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to repair Comicron-1's engines after [[Mecha Kara]]'s latest attempt at domination. This was a direct [[Shout-Out]] to Spock's death in ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]''.
* The internet meme of saying [[Candle Jack]]. The person typing dies before they fin

==  Real Life  ==
* Frequently in boxing and kickboxing, a strike to the point of the liver has a delayed reaction. The struck fighter often feels nothing at all for two or three seconds - and then collapses.
* Also a common response to a [[Groin Attack]] when in a pressure situation; In the right circumstances, you won't realize you have been hit there by a kick hard until some time has passed. Typically, it's just a few seconds, but sometimes it can stretch to a full minute before the opponent falls to ground, writhing in pain.
** Police in China were called in when a [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/26/woman-squeezed-mans-testicles-kills-parking-china_n_1457487.html man] died from his injuries to his testicles after they were squeezed by his attacker after arguing with her over a parking lot.
* Though not necessarily a fatal instance, an adrenaline rush running as a result of or alongside some physical incident can have the side effect of deferring pain. As a result, one could be experiencing anything from a sprained ankle to much worse and not realize it, carry out various tasks, and only experience the intense pain of the incident itself much later.
* Crush Syndrome.
* Can happen with heart attack or sudden cardiac arrest victims.
* Secondary drowning.
* Take a high enough dose of hard radiation and you're guaranteed to die rather suddenly...in about three days. There's even what's known as the walking ghost phase after the exposure there are no direct symptoms and you feel fine for up to a day. What is happening is it takes time for things to die, and are normally replaced, but those replacements aren't happening now, as your bone marrow is dead.
* Being fatally shot doesn't always kill people outright. Considering being shot feels kinda like being punched really hard, it's entirely possible you wouldn't realise you were dead until it all went black....
* Shallow water blackout. Don't hyperventilate before breath-hold diving.
* If your hard drive starts clicking, it's already dead.
* Cerebral edema, which sometimes develops in the wake of a head injury, can cause compression of the medulla oblongata and abrupt cessation of breathing. This is why doctors don't let patients who've suffered a blow to the head leave the ER and go home by themselves, as undetected brain swelling can cause the victim to drop in their tracks without warning.
* Tylenol overdose. Occasionally used to attempt suicide by people who [[Did Not Do the Research]], if you take a high enough dosage you ''will'' die...in about three weeks as your liver slowly shuts down.
* If one suffers a blow to the brain stem that is serious enough to cause absence of reflexes with pathways, the outcome isn’t good since it’s irreversible. The situation is known as [[wikipedia:Brain stem death|brain stem death]], [[Meaningful Name|for a reason]].
** While cardiac arrest is one thing, at least it’s reversible. Brain death, on the other hand, [[Captain Obvious|what do you think that means]]?


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{{quote|''Huh? The page ends? Does this mean that I -- '''[[Your Head Asplode|HIDEBU!!]]'''''}}

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[[Category:Death Tropes]]
[[Category:Fight Scene]]
[[Category:Stock Phrases]]
[[Category:Combat Tropes]]
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