History DroppedABridgeOnHim / Literature

* In the web-novel ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', the actions of a single girl set up the entire backstory and plot to come. The entire first third has Taylor Hebert driven by an act of betrayal, to the point that she wouldn't even have powers without that person. And then, during the final act, we learn that Emma Barnes, Taylor's ex-best friend and tormentor for two years, was among the billions(possibly trillions) of dead left in the wake of Gold Morning. This is after she fell off Taylor's radar for over two years, and is mentioned almost in passing, Taylor just moving on from her old life.

!!As a DeathTrope, all spoilers will be '''unmarked'''. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.

** Invoked with the death of Criston Cole. His troops are ambushed by a much larger force of Northerners. Cole tries talking his way out, and each attempt is refused. He demands TrialByCombat and is told he can forget it. Then he's filled with arrows, being told that there'll be no songs about how brave he died, since the Dance of Dragons is partially his fault.

** His sister Visenya goes much the same a few years later. Her son Maegor goes out to kill some people, and when he comes back, mom's dead. Dead of ''what'' is unknown, since the book doesn't say. She's just very suddenly dead.

* Due to the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters in the ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' fiction, this was bound to happen at some point. Notable examples include [[MagnificentBastard Hanse Davion]] in the early days of the Clan invasion, KnightInShiningArmor Arden Sortek towards the end of the Civil War, and more than a few major characters from prior novels in the course of the Word of Blake Jihad, including mercenary commanders Jamie Wolf, Wayne Waco, and Daniel Allard.

** Foxface, who was clever enough to survive almost to the end of the games without harming a single person, is killed by stealing berries from Peeta that he hadn't realized were poisonous.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': James, the BigBad of the first book, corners Bella and prepares to rip her to shreds, but then [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Edward]] and the rest of the Cullens arrive. Just when you were expecting some [[FightScene epic combat]], Bella blacks out, and since she's the narrator, the next scene shows her in the hospital, where Edward reveals that James is dead. Er, where's the action? Where's the epic combat? Where's the one part where something ''interesting'' could have happened? GONE!

** And then [[AuthorExistenceFailure died of a heart attack]]. The irony would be thick, if we weren't talking about a real person.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': Shaidar Haran disappeared from the story around the time [[AuthorExistenceFailure Robert Jordan died]]. In A Memory of Light, Rand finds his boneless corpse lying in the middle of the Bore right before he starts fighting Moridin; Moridin refers to him as a pawn of the Dark One, and leaves it at that. For reference, he was a Myrdraal capable of wielding the One Power, and was so terrifying that even the Forsaken tried to stay on his good side.

** Alastor Moody, one of the most powerful auras in the series, dies by random death eaters outside of Harry's perspective and thus not at all recounted on the pages of the book.

* ''Literature/FireAndBlood:'' Invoked with the death of Criston Cole. His troops are ambushed by a much larger force of Northerners. Cole tries talking his way out, and each attempt is refused. He demands TrialByCombat and is told he can forget it. Then he's filled with arrows, being told that there'll be no songs about how brave he died, since the Dance of Dragons is partially his fault.

** This also happens to Aegon the Conqueror. A badass [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething warrior king]] who [[DragonRider rode the largest dragon in existence at the time]] to war, he survives numerous brutal military campaigns and a few assassination attempts, only to suddenly die at home of a stroke in his forties while spending a lazy afternoon with his grandchildren.