History DeathSeeker / Literature

* In ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'', Oreg mentions being this during his backstory: trapped in a FateWorseThanDeath of [[MadeASlave magically-enforced slavery]] and [[ICannotSelfTerminate only able to be killed]] by whichever master he currently served, he would purposely irritate his owners in the hopes that one of them would snap and finally kill him. After this eventually resulted in his being [[ATasteOfThelash flogged so badly]] there was almost no skin on his body left unlacerated, and he ''still'' survived, he pretty much gave up. [[spoiler:He's eventually killed by Ward [[MercyKill at his own request]], though by this point it's a HeroicSuicide to bring down [[PoweredByAForsakenChild Castle Hurog]].]]

* ''Literature/VitaNuova'': A FeverDreamEpisode causes [[Creator/DanteAlighieri Dante]] such misery that he prays for death. His despair of life only grows worse as he hallucinates [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt an apocalypse]] brought upon by the death of his one love.

* In ''Literature/KnightsOfTheBorrowedDark'', [[BrokenAce Vivian Hardwick]] became this after [[spoiler:the [[CrusadingWidow death of her husband]] at the hands of the Clockwork Three]]. Didn't work, as she's [[TheAce just too badass to kill]]. [[spoiler:She tones it down after reconnecting with her [[DaddyAbandonedYouForAGoodReason long-lost]] son.]]

* In ''Literature/TheSorcererOfTheWildeeps'', Captain, haunted by his DarkAndTroubledPast, is implied to deliberately be putting himself in harm's way. During a training exercise with Demane, he deliberately fails to dodge a spear strike that would have been lethal if Demane's reflexes hadn't been good enough to miss at the last moment. [[spoiler:During the fight with the second jukiere, he deliberately stops fighting and allows his own death to be the distraction that gives Demane an opening to attack it.]]

* In ''Literature/EarthChildren'', Thonolan becomes one after his mate dies (with their unborn baby also dying with her). He tells Jondalar it doesn't matter if he dies and that he intends to keep travelling "until the Mother takes [him]"; when he gets stuck in a swamp, he initially tells Jondalar to leave him. He later recklessly heads into a lion den to retrieve a stolen kill despite being aware of the dangers, [[spoiler:which indeed leads to his death]].

* ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'': The first story in ''Mr. Midshipman Hornblower'' has Hornblower becoming vaguely suicidal not long after he joins the Navy, being viciously bullied by Mr. Simpson and the general misery of life at sea. He challenges Simpson to a duel where one pistol will be loaded, chosen at random -- Hornblower figures that if he picks the empty one and dies, he'll still win, because he would rather be dead than go on. (Needless to say, he lives. The captain rigs the duel and transfers Hornblower to a ship where he'll be less miserable.)

* Variation in ''{{Series/Highlander}}'' where Creator/LordByron was an immortal and suicidal so he kept seeking out deadly activities even though as an immortal, he’d survive. He was badly influencing his student in the same way and ultimately, Duncan took his head.

* ''Literature/AlienInASmallTown'': Nuada, once he realizes that the monstrous [[{{Kaiju}} hoon's]] arrival means that he can [[HeroicSacrifice die as a hero]] (at least in his own eyes), futilely protecting the very people he was trying to murder only moments earlier.

** Inverted in ''Literature/PaladinOfSouls''. Arhys is dead, but his soul is still stuck in his animated body.

--> '''Immortals: WE SEEK!'''
* [[spoiler: Saak-Fas]] from the ''Destroyermen'' series. After surviving Grik imprisonment, he sets forward with only two goals; to kill as many Grik as possible, and to die. He gets his chance when [[spoiler: ''Mahan'' RAMS ''Amagi'' and Saak-Fas personally detonates over a dozen depth charges]]
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Harry Dresden becomes this in ''Literature/{{Changes}}'', thanks to hitting the DespairEventHorizon after losing everything he cares for, being on the verge of [[spoiler: dying as the daughter he never knew he had is sacrificed by monsters]], and helpless to do anything to stop the bad guys without doing a DealWithTheDevil (or Mab, anyway, who's not much nicer), which will very quickly turn him into [[HeWhoFightsMonsters the sort of thing he's spent his life fighting]]. A combination of the right words at the right time from [[spoiler: Lasciel]] end up pushing him over the edge, to the point where he takes the deal [[spoiler: (after arranging his own murder, has his memory wiped of it so he's apparently genuinely ignorant of his plans)]] with the explicit hope that he'll only last long enough to save [[spoiler: his daughter]], and initially reacts to barely surviving with absolute despair. However, the right words from [[spoiler: Uriel]] tip the balance back, and give him some renewed hope, though he doesn't really totally shake it off until the middle of ''Literature/SkinGame'' - three books later.

* Captain Beatty deliberately provokes Montag into killing him at the end of ''Literature/{{Fahrenheit 451}}''. Why he would do so is left up to the reader, and is frequently brought up during discussions about the book.
* By the end of Creator/KJTaylor's ''Literature/TheFallenMoon'' trilogy, Arenadd has definitely become one of these. The only slight problem is that he is the [[TheUndead undead]] [[TheChosenOne avatar]] of the Night God, who likes him right where he is and is perfectly willing to bring him BackFromTheDead [[spoiler:again...and again...and again...]] if he stuffs up her plans.

* In Creator/TomHolt's ''Literature/FlyingDutch'', Vanderdeken and his crew - who gained immortality, as well as horrifying B.O., through an alchemical mishap, rather than the usual FlyingDutchman experience - are wandering the Earth trying to figure out how to become mortal again. One member of his crew insists on throwing himself out of the crow's nest just to see if it'll work this time, to the aggravation of the ship's carpenter, who has to fix the resultant damage to the deck. Meanwhile, Jane Doland (the other main character) is trying to chase Vanderdeken down and stop him because [[CompoundInterestTimeTravelGambit thanks to his life insurance policy, he'd crash the world economy if he succeeded]]. [[spoiler:Eventually, they regain their mortality while heroically stopping a nuclear reactor from melting down, only to immediately chug a new, weirder immortality formula while partying afterwards with the alchemist who created the first one...but at least they got a better ship, and Jane and Vanderdeken fall in love, so things sort of cheer up after that.]]

* ''Literature/TheGreenMile'' uses this near the end. [[spoiler:Paul offers John Coffey the chance to escape, but John makes it clear he ''wants'' to die. He's spent so long - even he doesn't know ''how'' long - feeling all the pain and suffering in the world, wandering alone and with nowhere to call home while feeling how cruel people can be to each other (he compares it to ''shards of glass in his head''). He just wants it to ''end.'']]

** [[spoiler: Albus Dumbledore]] becomes this trope at some point in between ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'' and ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince The Half Blood Prince]]'', when he becomes [[spoiler: cursed to die by the ring containing the resurrection stone. To end the misery of dying slowly and to spare Draco Malfoy, who he learned had been tasked by Voldemort to kill him, Dumbledore asks Snape to kill him in an [[GambitRoulette overly elaborate plot]] to also get Snape closer to Voldemort and to continue protecting Harry.]]
** In fact, Snape himself became this after [[spoiler: Lily Evans's death]] until Dumbledore [[QuitYourWhining snapped him out of it.]]

* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': In ''Literature/AndAnotherThing'' [[spoiler:[[WhoWantsToLiveForever Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged]]]] reveals that this is the motivation behind his constant insulting of others.
* In ''Literature/{{Holes}}'', Kissin' Kate Barlow was an outlaw without a cause, having lost all will to live after [[spoiler: Sam, the man she loved, was murdered right in front of her]]. This was what prompted her transformation from [[spoiler: kindly schoolteacher to ruthless criminal]]. In the end, after being cornered by [[spoiler: the man who killed Sam]], rather than reveal the location of her hidden treasure she [[spoiler: purposely provokes a yellow-spotted lizard into biting her and dies laughing]].
* ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'': The first story in ''Mr. Midshipman Hornblower'' has Hornblower becoming vaguely suicidal not long after he joins the Navy, being viciously bullied by Mr. Simpson and the general misery of life at sea. He challenges Simpson to a duel where one pistol will be loaded, chosen at random--Hornblower figures that if he picks the empty one and dies, he'll still win, because he would rather be dead than go on. (Needless to say he lives. The captain rigs the duel and transfers Hornblower to a ship where he'll be less miserable.)
* This eventually happens to [[spoiler:Katniss Everdeen]] in the third book of ''Literature/TheHungerGames''. Having lost [[spoiler:Peeta's love, she]] only wants to do two things: kill President Snow and then die. Ends up being subverted in the end, though.
* In Phyllis Ann Karr's [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthurian novel]] ''Literature/TheIdyllsOfTheQueen'', Mordred fits the role pretty well--he spends the majority of the novel expecting (and hoping) the narrator Kay will kill him ([[spoiler:his theory of the murder he and Kay are attempting to solve is that it was an attempt on his life by Kay and Guinevere]]) and pisses a couple people off hoping they'll murder him because of the prophecy that he'll bring Arthur's kingdom down. A better example in his backstory: right after a hermit gives him the prophecy and tells him who his father is, he rides on into the tourney he was headed to and nearly succeeds. Most people think those injuries addled his brains.
* In ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'': In the first book, ''Literature/{{Eragon}}'', it is early on revealed that Galbatorix, the kingdom's tyrant king, was a Dragon Rider at first. When his Dragon died in battle, though, he went mad with grief, and sought death as best he could as he "chased after every breathing being." So recklessly he threw himself into anything that could get him killed--but failed to do so--that monsters started to fear him, and even ran away from him once they spotted him. He stopped after he got the idea that he might be able to convince the elders to give him another dragon. And once that didn't work, [[BigBad well...]]
* In ''Literature/{{Insurgent}}'', Tris is looking for ways to die [[spoiler:due to grief over the death of her parents and her guilt over being forced to kill Will]].

* The Tharks in Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' series: "the cause of the Thark's great and sudden love of life I could not fathom, for it is oftener that they seek death than life--these strange, cruel, loveless, unhappy people." It's pretty effective, since ''98 percent of them'' die in various violent ways.
* ''Literature/TheKillerAngels'', the novel about the Battle of Gettysburg, features Confederate general Dick Garnett. "Stonewall" Jackson accused him of shirking shortly before his death, destroying Garnett's reputation. While his friends know that Garnett is no coward and Jackson sent him into an impossible situation on bad intelligence, most of the army believes their dead hero unconditionally, and the only way for Garnett to redeem himself is to die heroically on the field. Lewis Armistead tries to have Longstreet and then Pickett intervene to keep him out of the battle, but they all understand that Garnett won't accept anything else. As his leg is injured, he insists on riding Pickett's charge on horseback, which makes him a prime target and gets him the honorable death he desires.

* Druss in the Creator/DavidGemmell novel ''Legend'' chooses to seek out death on the walls of Dros Delnoch rather than wither from age; he's sixty and doesn't really have much left to live for anyway. [[spoiler:He gets it, and since the villains are {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s they not only throw him a funeral for being a WorthyOpponent, they accept most of his closest allies as guests for the duration.]]

* In ''Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt'', specifically in the book ''Exile'' (the second book in the ''Literature/TheDarkElfTrilogy'' which forms part of the broader ''Drizzt'' canon) we meet Clacker a Pech (a small smurf-like underground creature even tinier than a gnome) who was [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting transformed into]] a monsterous Hook Horror by an evil wizard. He is [[DeathOfPersonality slowly losing his mind]] as it becomes more and more [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody like that of his new monsterous form]] and he begs Drizzt on several occasions to kill him [[DyingAsYourself whilst he's still mentally himself]]. [[spoiler:Drizzt can't bring himself to do it, and even risks returning to the other Dark Elves who want Drizzt dead looking for a reversal spell, but Clacker ends up using the last of his will power protecting Drizzt and their mutual friend Belwar during a cave in caused by a fight only to be crushed by a cave in said fight causes, he does wind up [[ThisWasHisTrueForm reverting to his Pech form after death]]]].

* Éowyn in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', whose courageous ride to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields has also been described as a lovesick suicide attempt. According to Aragorn, the very object of her unrequited love, her disappointment was just the final straw--personal frustrations and grief having already robbed her of much hope. And then of course there's the apparent hopelessness of the global situation--Sauron cannot be defeated by force, no matter how many battles are won. To paraphrase Gandalf and Aragorn, she had to look after Théoden as he succumbed to Grí­ma's lies and part-truths, all the while listening to them herself, and it seemed like she would never do anything else but watch as the House of Éorl sank deeper into dishonor. Even after Aragorn heals her, she wants to go out and die.

* ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'':
** Jace is explicitly described as being this. Isabelle flat-out says that Jace is "in love with the idea of dying" and she and her brother Alec put considerable effort into saving him from his own recklessness.
%% ** [[spoiler:Luke was also one for a time, after Valentine set him up to be bitten by a werewolf]].
* In ''Literature/MyDarkAndFearsomeQueen'', [[spoiler: Erik's reckless behavior turns out to be this at the end of the first book.]] Upon finding out, Jensen tells him to either be a hero or kill himself, but stop getting the two mixed up.
* Case, the protagonist of Creator/WilliamGibson's ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', has a subconscious death wish at the beginning of the novel following his crippling by his former employers which took away his ability to interface with [[{{Cyberspace}} the Matrix]], which pushes him to riskier crime in the infamously cut-throat [[WretchedHive Chiba City]].

* In Diana Gabaldon's ''Literature/{{Outlander}}'' series, Jamie becomes this during and after the battle of Culloden, [[spoiler:having sent Claire back into the future thinking he will never see her or their child again]].

* In the ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' novel "High Rhulain", it's explained that [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Cuthbert Blanedale Frunk]] has become [[TheBerserker a berserker]] since the murder of his daughter, with the hope of ultimately dying in a heroic battle. [[spoiler:In the end, he gets his wish.]]
* Yakhag of ''Literature/TheRedemptionOfAlthalus''. Robbed of all his emotions by BigBad Daeva, Yakhag's only remaining wish is a faint desire to die. It's not strong enough to spur him to suicide, but when he finally does die, he [[GoOutWithASmile Goes Out With A Smile]]

* [[RetiredMonster Daylen]] in ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror,'' wants nothing more than to die and finally be released from [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone his guilt]], but can't bring himself to end his life until [[AlternativeCalendar the last few falls]] before old age does him in, because he believes it would be cowardly opting out of [[SentientCosmicForce the Light]]'s [[CruelMercy chosen punishment]] for him.

* One of the characters in Peter David's black comedy fantasy novel ''Literature/SirAproposOfNothing'' was a Death Seeker whose reckless deeds resulted in him becoming the most highly respected knight in all the land. At that point he realised that he actually quite liked being alive, hung up his sword and retired behind a mantle of [[ObfuscatingStupidity obfuscating senility]].
* ''Literature/SisterhoodSeries'' by Creator/FernMichaels: UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} director Calvin Span is revealed to be this in ''Home Free''. He died of a heart attack as a result of him shovelling his driveway. He knew better than to do that, considering that he had heart surgery a few years ago. His co-conspirator Owen Orzell thinks that Calvin had a death wish. Considering that Calvin was in bed with BigBad Henry "Hank" Jellicoe, had a gambling addiction that was going out-of-control, had to turn against Jellicoe to save his own hide when Jellicoe's bad guy status was revealed, had the deaths of CIA agents on his conscience because Jellicoe wanted {{Revenge}} for Calvin turning against him, and the president forced him to resign for failing to capture Jellicoe in one month, it's not much of a stretch for this guy to become a Death Seeker.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': By ''A Dance with Dragons'', [[spoiler:Theon Greyjoy's]] only wish is to be able to die as himself, and dreams of dying with a sword in his hand.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': In the ''Literature/XWingSeries'' novel ''The Bacta War'' the character Elscol Loro tells the recently widowed Iella Wessiri the reason Wedge Antilles dismissed her from Rogue Squadron was because she kept trying to get herself killed fighting Imperials, and that getting thrown out made her reevaluate her priorities in life.
* In ''Literature/TheSorcererOfTheWildeeps'', Captain, haunted by his DarkAndTroubledPast, is implied to deliberately be putting himself in harm's way. During a training exercise with Demane, he deliberately fails to dodge a spear strike that would have been lethal if Demane's reflexes hadn't been good enough to miss at the last moment. [[spoiler:During the fight with the second jukiere, he deliberately stops fighting and allows his own death to be the distraction that gives Demane an opening to attack it]].

* Broxigar of the ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}: Literature/TheWarOfTheAncients'' trilogy fits this trope perfectly, after being the sole survivor of his squad. [[spoiler:He actually gets his wish in the end by performing a HeroicSacrifice]].
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' book this happens to some of the soldiers, particularly Gol Kolea.
** In ''Only in Death'', Ezrah ap Niht, believing [[spoiler: Gaunt is dead]], believes himself intolerably dishonored by surviving. He sets out on ''bludtoll'', [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge to kill as many of the enemy as he can before his own death]]. [[spoiler: Fortunately, he finds Gaunt prisoner.]]
** In the ''Literature/ThousandSons'' novel ''Ahriman: Exile'', the renegade Space Marine Thidias chooses to sacrifice himself in a YouShallNotPass moment because he knows that he has fallen from grace and will fall even further if he continues to follow Ahriman, and would rather die now “as a warrior who could still remember what honour was”.
* A'lan Mandragoran (Lan) from ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series. Fortunately or unfortunately for him, depending on your perspective, getting married changes his outlook.

** Also, any male among the [[ProudWarriorRace Aiel]] that discovers they can channel, since men who channel eventually go insane, they go into [[GardenOfEvil the Blight]] and die fighting the minions of [[{{Satan}} the Dark One]].[[spoiler: Of course, they don’t know that the Dark One wants them alive for supplying evil channellers for Tarmon Gai’don...]]
** In the last book [[spoiler: Moridin]] is revealed to be this--one of the primary motivations for his well-established [[StrawNihilist nihilism]] is that he can't bear the thought of being [[TheAntichrist him]] any longer and doesn't feel that a world capable of producing him deserves to exist. He's a DeathSeeker for himself ''[[OmnicidalManiac and the whole universe]]''. His prolonged life isn't a sign of favor from The Dark One. It's a ''punishment''.
* In Antti Tuuri's ''Literature/TheWinterWar'', probably out of sheer exhaustion in the last battles, the narrator's squad leader stands upright against a tree to fire his submachine gun at the oncoming enemy. He is said to live surprisingly long.

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': ''The Malloreon'' reveals that Zakath was once a compassionate, promising young emperor until Taur Urgas framed the love of his life; only after she had been executed for attempting to assassinate the Emperor of Mallorea did Zakath learn the truth. His guilt and grief pushed him over the DespairEventHorizon and sent him on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge to whip out not just Taur Urgas' entire family, but also his entire race. It reduced him to an EmptyShell who decided to try and take over the world out of the secret desire to find someone strong enough to kill him. The Prophecy has a very important task it needs him to do, but it requires him to first end his obsession, overcome his self-loathing and learn how to love again. As a result, even the news that Destiny will ensure he dies by winter if he doesn't stop [[RefusalOfTheCall rejecting the call]] doesn't convince him. The Seeress of Kell has to intervene personally and throw the full weight of Destiny at him just to change his mind.

* There is a story by Creator/RobertSheckley about a planet with humanoid aliens who believe that only violent death leads to heaven. Some deaths are dispensed by the priests, but many people (despite a strict taboo) arrange some accidents (like sawing a thorny tree so that it will fall upon you). They die smiling.

* Nuada in ''Literature/AlienInASmallTown'', once he realizes that the monstrous [[{{Kaiju}} hoon's]] arrival means that he can [[HeroicSacrifice die as a hero]] (at least in his own eyes), futilely protecting the very people he was trying to murder only moments earlier.

* Felix, from the 1984 science fiction novel ''Literature/{{Armor}}'' by Creator/JohnSteakley, [[spoiler:following the death of his wife]]. In his case, he's explicitly nigh-unkillable ([[BlessedWithSuck not a good thing, in the circumstances]]) as a result of his personal background; at the end of the novel, a former acquaintance who's come to find him, on being informed that he was last seen [[spoiler:clinging to the ''outside'' of a badly damaged spacecraft with insufficient fuel to reach the next planet]], merely nods and says that they'll keep looking until they find somebody who actually ''saw'' him die.
* Creator/UmbertoEco's novel ''Literature/{{Baudolino}}'' features a group of warriors who all want to die in battle, because they believe that then they'll go to heaven. The main characters think that this will make them good fighters in an impending war, since they won't be afraid. They are wrong, because they don't even fight, just ask the enemy to kill them.
* In Ursula Vernon's ''Literature/BlackDogs'', the elven [[BrokenBird Sinai]] blames herself for the capture, rape and death of her cousin, at the hands of the evil sorcerer Vade. She accepts increasingly dangerous and suicidal missions from the elven nation, and her behavior is so well known that in the elves' native tongue she is known as The Dead Wolf.

* In ''TheFiresStone'', Aaron spends a significant portion of the book insisting he's already dead inside and simply waiting for the failure that will finally get him killed for real. It's why he tries to commit an ImpossibleTheft at the opening.

* In ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'' the main character mentions having this attitude during World War I, probably from having to leave the woman he loved behind. His death wish was mistaken for courage and he was decorated.
* Harry Dresden of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' becomes this in ''{{Literature/Changes}}'', thanks to hitting the DespairEventHorizon after losing everything he cares for, being on the verge of [[spoiler: dying as the daughter he never knew he had is sacrificed by monsters]], and helpless to do anything to stop the bad guys without doing a DealWithTheDevil (or Mab, anyway, who's not much nicer), which will very quickly turn him into [[HeWhoFightsMonsters the sort of thing he's spent his life fighting]]. A combination of the right words at the right time from [[spoiler: Lasciel]] end up pushing him over the edge, to the point where he takes the deal [[spoiler: (after arranging his own murder, has his memory wiped of it so he's apparently genuinely ignorant of his plans)]] with the explicit hope that he'll only last long enough to save [[spoiler: his daughter]], and initially reacts to barely surviving with absolute despair. However, the right words from [[spoiler: Uriel]] tip the balance back, and give him some renewed hope, though he doesn't really totally shake it off until the middle of ''Literature/SkinGame'' - three books later.

* In ''Literature/TheKillerAngels'', Confederate general Dick Garnett was unjustly accused of cowardice by Stonewall Jackson, and then Jackson died. Even though Garnett's friends still respect him, the veneration of Jackson after his death means the rest of the army believe the charge. Garnett's sole intent in the Battle of Gettysburg is to find a way to die valiantly to clear the indelible stain left by the accusation, and he succeeds in doing so during Pickett's Charge.

** It's implied that this happened to Grindelwald. He willingly lets Voldemort kill him, even laughing in his face, and says, " I welcome death." At that point, he's been rotting in a [[FateWorseThanDeath prison]] for over half a century with nothing to do but wallow over his own misdeeds, he's in his 110s, and the only person he ever truly cared about and cared about him back ([[spoiler: Dumbledore]]) is dead.