History DyingMomentOfAwesome / LiveActionTV

%%* Doyle from ''Series/{{Angel}}''.
%%--> "Is that it? Am I done?"

** [[spoiler: Especially Hodor. If you've [[TearJerker been fated since youth]] to "Hold the Door", then dammit you're going out like a goddamned boss.]]

* In the season 4 finale of ''Series/BreakingBad'' [[EvilCripple Hector Salamanca]] of all people gets one of these. After having spent years refusing to even look at his tormentor, [[BigBad Gus Fring]], once Fring arrives to kill him and says "This is your last chance to look at me Hector," he receives one of the angriest looks in the history of television before Hector dings his bell one last time to activate the bomb that [[EnemyMine Walt attached to his chair]] [[SuicideAttack killing himself]] [[TakingYouWithMe and taking Gus and his mook down with him]] in spectacular fashion.

--> '''Sloane''': (''to a dying Jack'') I think you've overestimated your position, Jack. You can't hurt me anymore.
--> '''Jack''': True. But I can keep you down here with me. (''Jack opens up his jacket to reveal C4 and a detonator'') You beat death Arvin. But you couldn't beat me. (''Detonates the bomb, [[AndIMustScream trapping Arvin, forever]]'').

** "This one's for my boys."

** The Master in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]]. "You did this to me! You. Made. Me! One! Two! Three! FOUR!"
--->'''The Master:''' Get out of the way.
** Luke Rattigan in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E5ThePoisonSky "The Poison Sky"]]. Sure, the HeroicSacrifice is a horrible cliché (especially for ''Series/DoctorWho''), but even that utter stupidity is not enough to ruin the sheer awesomeness of that final "You Sontarans are so screwed" sneer and that defiant "[[IronicEcho Sontar-Ha]]!"
** Much of the fandom considers the Fifth Doctor's regeneration story [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani "The Caves of Androzani"]] as Creator/PeterDavison's best story and it was recently voted by Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine as the best story in the ''entire run of the series.''
** From "[[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned Voyage of the Damned]]": "Bannakaffalatta CYBORG!!!!"
** From "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E742 42]]":
--> "'Til death do us part, ''Harry''!"
** From "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday Doomsday]]": From "I did my duty for Queen and Country! (Repeats) Oh God!" Yvonne Hartman just before she walks into a conversion unit. She then does it AGAIN as a Cyberman becoming the first person to resist having their will overridden by the programming, holding off a small army of Cybermen as they try to escape through the rift in a YouShallNotPass moment.
** When River Song finds out the Doctor [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E9ForestOfTheDead is planning to sacrifice himself to save thousands,]] she punches him out, handcuffs him to a wall and wires herself in instead, thus saving all the people and the man she loves. It's a major {{Tearjerker}}, not least because at the time, he hasn't got any idea who she is or why she's willing to die for him.
** Captain Jack's first death. After trying to stop the Daleks with weapons he knows won't work very well, empties his assault rifle, then he warns the Doctor that time is running out, telling him how long he has left to complete the DIY Superweapon, whilst emptying his totally ineffective revolver into the first Dalek. Afterwards, it says, "[[AC:Exterminate!]]" and he sets himself and says this:
--->'''Jack Harkness:''' I kind of figured that.

** [[spoiler: Olenna Tyrell swallows the poison Cersei sent through Jaime, then calmly and casually tells him that she was the one who murdered Joffrey, demanding that Jaime tell Cersei that too.]]
* ''Series/{{Jericho}}'' has Bonnie going down shooting while her home is being invaded. Did I mention she's a deaf teenage girl?
* The episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' entitled "Blaze of Glory" has Eddington go down fighting against a horde of Jem'Hadar.
** Kor, an aging Klingon warrior first seen in the original series, bordering on the edge of senility, knocks out Worf to take his place, and with just a single damaged Bird of Prey, delays a Jem'Hadar attack force long enough for the rest of the fleet to make it to safety. The emotionally moving performance by John Colicos just seals the deal.
** The ''Franchise/StarTrek'' canon [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness except for the original itself]] has it that for [[ProudWarriorRace the Klingons]], this is the ONLY good way to die.
** The captain and crew of the ''Enterprise-C'' (TNG Yesterday's Enterprise) took on a Romulan task force attacking a lightly-defended Klingon colony. Despite knowing they were going to certain death, they gave the Romulans a good fight. This act of bravery was the single reason that the Federation and Klingons avoided a full-scale war and eventually became allies.
* ''Series/HarpersIsland'' has Chloe Carter [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled willingly falling]] to her death rather than letting serial killer John Wakefield murder her. But not before facing him and saying "You can't have me.

* The conclusion to the 2 part episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' entitled "Equinox" has Captain Ransom go down with his ship by piloting it out to space while a hoard of angry aliens attack and destroy it. This also counts as RedemptionEqualsDeath.
** Janeway also pulls one off in the climax to Year of Hell when she, as the last person aboard, sets a collision course and rams a crippled Voyager into Anorax's Time Ship. She also hit the reset button on her way so she's alive after time resets, but its still awesome. She even manges to get in a PreMortemOneLiner while staring directly at the Time Ship through the hull breach Anorax blew into the bridge.
---> '''Janeway''': Time's...'''''up.'''''
** Another example would be in the episode "Deadlock", the ship had been duplicated by some NegativeSpaceWedgie, one of the duplicates has been overrun by aliens harvesting organs, and that ship's Janeway sets the auto destruct (on silent mode). When the bad guys show up on the bridge, Janeway has just time enough for a smile and a PreMortemOneLiner (''"Welcome to the bridge"'') before one of them sees the destruct countdown ([[ShoutOut just like the Klingons on the original]] ''[[Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock Enterprise]]'') and [[OhCrap they realize they are going to lose]].
** Harry Kim, having been [[TheyKilledKennyAgain killed repeatedly]], gets more than one: his BigYes as he saves Voyager in "Timeless," and his [[spoiler:biomimetic copy's]] stint as acting Captain in "Course:Oblivion", in which EnsignNewbie demonstrates himself to be a clear-headed commander who [[DoNotGoGentle refuses to go gentle]] even as Voyager's situation grows increasingly doomed.
* Bodie's death in season four of ''Series/TheWire''. He realizes that the two figures stalking him in the night are Chris Partlow and "Snoop" Pearson, [[ProfessionalKillers the top drug assassins]] in Baltimore who have carried out literally dozens of murders for their power mad boss Marlo. Everyone who has been confronted by Chris and/or Snoop up to that point has either [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere run for their lives]] or begged (futilely) for mercy. Bodie decides to [[LastStand go out fighting]]. He grabs a hidden gun and makes the two of them run and duck behind parked cars for cover, all while shouting at them to BringIt. Too bad Chris and Snoop are just [[WeNeedADistraction a diversion]], occupying Bodie's attention while a third shooter sneaks up on him...
-->'''Bodie:''' Yo, this is my corner. I ain't runnin ''nowhere!'' [[BringIt Come on with it, motherfuckers]]!
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** Jo and Ellen Harvelle: Jo is injured too badly to escape, so she and Ellen stay behind to blow up a building full of hellhounds and give the Winchesters a shot at Lucifer. Even if the Colt didn't work, that was still pretty badass.
-->'''Ellen:''' ''(as a hellhound breathes in her ear)'' You can go straight back to hell you ugly bitch.
** Gabriel's final moments before his death are spent telling Lucifer that God is right: humans are better than them because they try.
--->'''Gabriel''': Lucifer, you are my brother, and I love you, [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu but you are a great big bag of dicks]].
** Bobby's death in "At Death's Door" -- having been shot by [[BigBad Dick]] [[SmugSnake Roman]] in the previous episode, Bobby lies comatose, stuck in a dream world made up of his memories with the bullet stuck in his brain slowly killing him, while a [[TheGrimReaper Reaper]] chases him. So what does he do? Well, first he traps the Reaper in one of his memories, then proceeds to deliver an ''epic'' ShutUpHannibal to the memory of his dead, [[AbusiveParents abusive]] [[CallingTheOldManOut father]], before forcing himself to wake up -- with ''the bullet still in his brain'' -- long enough to pass on some vital information about the Leviathans to Sam and Dean before finally dying.
** Sam's HeroicSacrifice in "Swan Song". Sam is not only willing to sacrifice his own life to [[SealedEvilInACan seal Lucifer back in the Cage]], but he also ''jumps into the Cage along with Lucifer'', condemning himself to horrible torture for ([[BackFromTheDead what is as far as he knows]]) all eternity in order to save the world. He's also possessed by Lucifer at the time, meaning that he had to do this while resisting the influence of a being almost infinitely more powerful than him. Unlike those listed above, he got better.
** Villainous example: Dick Roman in "Survival of the Fittest" [[GoOutWithASmile goes out with a smile]]-not because he's succeeded, but because he's had the last laugh. The explosion caused by Dean killing him drags an unsuspecting Dean and Castiel to Purgatory.
** Crowley goes out in "All Along The Watchtower" as only a MagnificentBastard of his caliber deserves -- trading a few final spiteful barbs with Lucifer, he then [[HeroicSacrifice kills himself]] to trigger a spell designed to seal the portal to the post-apocalyptic AlternateUniverse that Lucifer has been tricked into traveling to, trapping him there.
* In ''Series/StargateSG1'', when Dr. Janet Frasier is killed in the battlefield while tending to a wounded airman, ultimately saving his life. The same episode had been built up to suggest it was either that random soldier who died or one of the titular four SG-1 characters (Jack O'Neill). Janet dying, after being in the show for so long and having become a fan favorite after having started off as simply 'a necessary character'; and as someone who a lot of people would argue somehow almost always seemed 'safe'; her death was one of the most beautiful and heart breaking in the series for alot of people.
** In the same series, Daniel Jackson dies after single-handedly preventing a catastrophe, exposing himself to a lethal dose of radiation in the process. However, this might not quite count, as he isn't really dead; Oma ascended him, and he later comes back to the mortal plane. Three seasons later, he stands up to [=RepliCarter=], who is probing his mind for information, and overpowers her. He knows full well that this only means she will kill him sooner, but he does it anyway. This may not count, either, because he manages to ascend and come back one last time.
** Dr. Samantha Carter, in the first Alternate Universe episode:
--->'''Samantha Carter:''' I surrender! I have information that can help Apophis! There is technology he will want to know about! This is a remote control to an interdimensional portal. I can tell Apophis how to find it! \\
'''Jaffa:''' Hashak Kreyak! \\
'''Samantha Carter:''' [pulling out a grenade] Thank you. Oh yeah. [[ISurrenderSuckers I also wish to blow us all to hell]].
* In the Series/StargateAtlantis episode "The Last Man," alternate universe versions of Todd and Ronon get a DyingMomentOfAwesome. Todd and Ronon run into each other on separate missions to blow up one of Michael's bases. They get trapped, decided to team up even though they hate each other and take out the base. Even more awesomely, as they are fighting Michael's soliders in their final moments, they dispose of all their enemies and then turn their weapons on each other, saying "Force of habit." In the same episode Sam gets one too. After her ship is crippled, she rams it into the enemy, taking down three Hive ships with her.
* Two examples in ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' enforce a point about Terminators:
** Riley's last act before being killed was to brutally and viciously assault Jessie, who had betrayed her and manipulated her all along. She lost the struggle, but for an untrained, terrified teenage girl, it was pretty damned impressive. She even managed a form of TakingYouWithMe since the multiple defensive wounds on her body made it obvious that she wasn't killed by a Terminator, as Jessie tried to convince the others.
** Inverted with Derek who gets shot in the head before he even has a chance to be awesome by a foe who didn't even stop his stride.
* In ''Series/RobinOfSherwood'' Adam Bell does a HeelFaceTurn (having done the [[FaceHeelTurn the opposite]] years before) and saves Robin with a [[RedemptionEqualsDeath berserk, suicidal charge into a mass of soldiers]].
* Doyle from ''Series/{{Angel}}''.
--> "Is that it? Am I done?"
* One of the best deaths ever on ''Series/{{Lost}}'' Charlie Pace and "Not Pennys Boat"
** Eko's death, staring down the monster defiantly, was this.
** And so was Jack's death.
** After Juliet survives being dragged into a 50-foot-deep shaft and hit by several huge chunks of metal, she makes a hydrogen bomb go off by hitting its core eight times. She survives that too, but dies shortly afterwards in her beloved's hands, with a smile on her lips. And she calls that bomb a son of a bitch while hitting it.
* Grayson telling Stefan to save Elena on ''Series/TheVampireDiaries''.
** Repeated by Elena for Matt in the season 3 finale.
** Jenna charging at Greta in an attempt to kill her to prevent Klaus from finishing the sacrifice.
* George Mason's heroic exit from ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'', saving millions including Jack Bauer himself.
** During the siege of the White House Bill Buchanan tackles a Mook and fires his gun into the gas filled air. The resulting explosion kills him and most of [[DiscOneFinalBoss Benjamin]] [[FourStarBadass Juma]]'s strike force, acts a signal for the FBI to storm the building, and gives Jack the chance to move. His actions saved everyone in the building, including The President. Both this and George Mason's death are a case of them recognizing that Jack is too valuable an asset and preempting his HeroicSacrifice.

* ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'': Just when you think the IAmSpartacus scene in the finale was the bar-none moment for the series, Zordon's sacrifice shortly afterwords nearly supplants it, convincing Andros to shatter his tube. The resulting wave destroys every monster in the entire universe, bringing peace to everyone...until next season.
** Dark Specter has one as well as he SWALLOWS Darkonda after being defeated

* John Basilone at [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo Iwo Jima]] in ''Series/ThePacific''. Everything he did leading up to the death was surperbly badass and his actions saved many lives in what bloodbath.
* Happens all over the place on ''Series/{{Farscape}}'':
** The death of Zhaan, who's already dying of a terminal illness after reviving Aeryn in the season 3 premier. Moya and a Pathfinder vessel are entangled and trapped in the periphery of a wormhole, and the only way out is to steer one of the two ships into the wormhole where it will be ejected, but the other will be ripped apart by tidal forces. Zhaan calmly walks onto the bridge of the Pathfinder vessel, turns it so Moya will be pushed into the the mouth of the wormhole, and engages the engines. She even has time to send Stark (who is having a panic attack when he realizes Zhaan's intent) a telepathic message, before calmly waving good-bye to Crichton and Aeryn as they watch.
** Later in the season, the sacrifice of one of the twinned Crichtons. With a Scarran Dreadnought bearing down on the planet, Crichton and the Ancient, Jack, construct a displacement engine, which will essentially use a wormhole to blast the ship with ''the corona of the nearby star''. The device is stolen by Furlow before it can be used, and after she wrecks attempting to escape Crichton, the casing is damaged, flooding the area with random pulses of radiation. Crichton attempts to dive and seal it in the gap between pulses, but instead takes a full-face blast of lethal radiation. Even as he's practically collapsing from terminal radiation sickness, he ''still'' flies the mission to destroy the Dreadnought.
*** Earlier in the same episode, ''Rygel'', of all people, gets one, manning a point turret to help defend the spaceport from Charrid ground troops. During the engagement his gun is struck by artillery fire and Rygel is fatally wounded by a massive piece of shrapnel. Aeryn ''does'' manage to revive him, though, so his death doesn't stick. And what does he do? Despite the severity of his wounds, and the fact that he had just been ''resuscitated'', he gets ''right back up'' and takes control of his gun to keep killing Charrids[[note]]Hynerians ''despise'' Charrids, as Charrids consider Hynerians (and more significantly their ''young'') a delicacy, and have been responsible for the slaughter of millions, if not ''billions'' of Hynerians in the history of their interactions, so ItsPersonal.[[/note]]
** In the penultimate episode of season 3, Crichton's attempts to sabotage Scorpius's wormhole project are failing, and Moya's crew has been captured. It turns out, Crais knew all along that Crichton's efforts would be in vain, so comes up with a plan of his own: Have Talyn engage [=StarBurst=] while contained inside the Command Carrier. The resulting release of energy will cause the ship to collapse upon itself, destroying the vessel while still giving time for the crew to escape. Crais secures Talyn's assistance, and delivers an ''epic'' ReasonYouSuckSpeech to Scorpius. He then stands at attention, closes his eyes, and disappears in a ball of fire as he gives the order.
--> '''Crais''': Talyn. [=StarBurst=]!
** In the ''Peacekeeper Wars'' miniseries, D'Argo is mortally wounded fighting the Scarrans, and elects to stay behind to cover the rest of the survivors' retreat. [[TearJerker After saying their goodbyes]], D'Argo reminds the Scarrans ''exactly'' who their daddy is, as he opens fire on the reinforcements.
--> '''D'Argo''': ''I'm'' your daddy!

* Sergeant Doakes in ''Series/{{Dexter}}''. When he realises he's got no way out of the exploding hut, he utters one word: "Motherfuck!"
* Felix Gaeta's death from ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. You can see that for the first time since New Caprica, he is at peace, even though he is staring down the guns of an execution squad.
--> "It stopped..."
** Referring to the phantom limb pain from his lost foot, which had been getting worse and worse, to the point where he was bordering on becoming addicted to pain killers.
** The Battlestar ''Pegasus''. When it's lost, Lee sends it rocketing towards a baseship. It not only destroys the baseship in the collision, but destroys another nearby with what's left of its starboard flight pod.
** Apollo's death in the [[Series/BattlestarGalactica1978 original series]] at the hand of Count Iblis was treated with great dignity. The fact that he went down defending someone else was very awesome. He recovered later, but still.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Spike. He is burning up from in the inside, and dies laughing as he turns to dust in a big explosion of light. Doing this closes a freakin' hellmouth and saves the world.
-->"I want to see how it ends."
* ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'' is a ForegoneConclusion tale about {{Doomed Moral Victor}}s in AncientRome. As such, ''many'' of the characters go out this way.

* Detective Roy Montgomery in ''Series/{{Castle}}''. It's revealed he's been lying to them since the start about his involvement in whoever it was who killed Beckett's mother. But rather than go down easy he lures four trained killers to one location, tells Beckett almost everything and goes down shooting. His final act is to shoot the last of the four monsters with a concealed derringer.
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'':
** Mike Franks, already dying from some unknown illness (probably lung cancer), decides he'd rather go out on his own terms when he confronts Jonas Cobb, the Port-to-Port Killer, just outside Gibbs' house. He manages to wound Cobb before getting knifed in the chest.
---> "My name is Mike Franks. I figure I got one more fight left in me. You want it?"
** Similarly, Jenny Sheppard. Knew there were assassins on her tail (and that she was already dying of a terminal illness), so lured them out to an abandoned diner in the middle of the desert and managed to take four of the assassins with her.

* In the season 4 finale of ''Series/BreakingBad'' [[EvilCripple Hector Salamanca]] of all people gets one of these. After having spent years refusing to even look at his tormentor, [[BigBad Gus Fring]], once Fring arrives to kill him and says "This is your last chance to look at me Hector," he receives one of the angriest looks in the history of television before Hector dings his bell one last time to activate the bomb that [[EnemyMine Walt attached to his chair]] [[SuicideAttack killing himself]] [[TakingYouWithMe and taking Gus and his mook down with him]] in spectacular fashion.
** This is Gus Fring's as well. After the explosion, he gracefully walks out of the door with [[TwoFaced half his face blown off]], adjusting his tie before he falls dead.
** In Season 5, Hank Schrader goes out like a champ, in stark contrast to Walt pleading for Jack to spare him.
--->'''Hank:''' ''My name is ASAC Schrader, and you can go fuck yourself.''
** Walter White dies from bleeding out after being with with a bullet from an M60 he set up to remotely wipe out all the white supremacists in their compound, being hit after using his body to shield Jesse. Before he dies, he gets revenge on Jack for killing Hank, [[KilledMidSentence not even letting him finish his attempted bargain]], catches Lydia on the phone to let her know that he poisoned her with ricin and she has days left to live, and finally walking in the meth lab, the one place where he truly feels alive. He dies on his own terms rather than from the cancer as the police storm the compound.
* Happens offscreen in a BadFuture episode of ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}''. Helen somehow ends up a few years in the future during a ZombieApocalypse, and Will tells her how [[UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper Druitt]] died. He teleported with a nuke into a city infested with zombies and detonated it.
** Ashley gets one in the real timeline when she overcomes her brainwashing long enough to recognize her mother and kill herself along with the enemy.
* Evan Abby, a guy dying from leukemia, in the ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode "Ashes and Dust" decides to lead the [=UnSub=] (who is an arsonist who likes to watch people burn to death) into a highly flammable building, knowing that the [=UnSub=] wants to kill him. This doubles as a ThanatosGambit.
-->'''Arsonist''': How do you plan on getting out?\\
'''Evan''': ''(holding a lighter)'' I don't.\\
''(cue OhCrap look from the arsonist)''
** The line just before that is even better, considering that Abby is a man who founded an eco-terrorist group to try to redeem himself after helping various companies hide toxic waste, then dissolved the group when he realized that it itself was becoming too dangerous, and doing more harm than good:
--->'''Arsonist''': What are you doing?\\
'''Evan''': (Laughing bitterly) I'm doing the right thing.
* First Officer York's clone in ''Series/{{Hyperdrive}}''. Squadron Leader Mason has locked his crew out of the bridge and is flying the ''Pride of Glenrothes'' straight at the ''Camden Lock''. The clone takes Shuttle 3 and flies it into the ''Pride of Glenrothes''' ramscoop, gutting the engines and forcing the ship to crash on the Lunar surface.
--> York Clone: (Girlish voice) Helloooo? (Normal voice) I do this for you, Eduardo Pauline York. Bye...
** Later averted in that during the clone's funeral, he keeps interrupting Henderson's eulogy with phrases of gibberish from inside the coffin, incliding "I'm dead. Has no one seen my handbag?"
* In ''Series/ChinesePaladin'', Yue'Ru's HeroicSacrifice: she pulls a PercussivePrevention on two characters--both stronger combatants than her ''and'' who were both expecting it--and hurls them out of harm's way. She then has just enough time to smile reassuringly before being crushed by the CollapsingLair.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
** Sheridan bringing a nuclear-armed Whitestar crashing down on Z'ha'dum as he takes the plunge to his "death" (after a fashion).
** The part of Kosh that remained with Sheridan after his earlier HeroicSacrifice later leaps out of Sheridan to aid in the killing of Ulkesh ("Kosh II"), taking them both outside the station where they die in a massive and spectacular energy release.
** Neroon's death in the Starfire wheel: Delenn and Shakiri are the leaders of the two sides of the Minbari Civil War. In order to end the civil war Delenn agrees to a duel in the ancient fashion where both leaders stand under the starfire wheel, an energy emitter which slowly opens to increase the intensity. Traditionally, the leader who remains under the wheel longer is the winner. After Shakiri wimps out, Delenn remains in the wheel, preparing for her own death to finish the war for good. Neroon, the chief lieutenant of Shakiri is stunned by her personal display of honor, and rushes into the starfire wheel to push her out, and declares himself to be her follower, ending the war.
* ''Series/ColdCase'' features a variation. Many of the victims get their own personal moments (standing up for their principles, calling their killer out on their bullshit, etc.), and more often than not this is what results in their death.
* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': After spending most of the series thus far [[JamesBondage in captivity]], in the episode "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E11TheStand The Stand]]", Danny decides that he needs to start pulling his weight and refuses to run and hide. Soon afterwards, Rachel and Miles return with the anti-air weaponry, but Miles is non-fatally wounded by the enemy fire before he can take out the chopper carrying the amplifier. Danny runs out, grabs the missile launcher, and blows up the chopper, immediately causing the other chopper to lose power...and then as said chopper is falling, its guns discharge multiple rounds clear through his body. (Which sort of also makes it a dying moment of awesome for the [[TheRepublic Monroe Republic]] {{Mook}}s, who knew that they were dead as soon as their chopper hit the ground and still managed to [[TakingYouWithMe take out their killer]] on the way down.)
* In the first season finale of ''Series/{{Intelligence|2014}}'', CIA Director Tetazoo is ambushed and shot twice in the chest before he can send some crucial information to Lillian. He manages to draw his sidearm and shoot his own killer, then sends the information before expiring.
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': The Season 2 episode "Seeing Red" gives one of these to Moira Queen. When [[spoiler: [[BigBad Slade]]]] abducts Oliver and his family, he tries to make Oliver [[SadisticChoice choose whether Moira or Thea will die]], in an intentional CallBack to the situation on the island that resulted in [[spoiler: Shado]]'s death. However, Moira, [[MamaBear being who she is]], refuses to let Oliver have to make that choice and live with the guilt. So, while still tied up, she calmly gets to her feet, tells her children she loves them one last time, then looks [[spoiler: Slade]] in the eye and tells him to kill her. [[spoiler: Slade]] even admits he [[SympathyForTheHero admires her courage]], before whipping out a sword and stabbing her in the chest, letting her gracefully fall to the ground.
** [[spoiler: Sebastian Blood]] has one in "Streets of Fire". His last act is giving Oliver the Mirakuru cure cementing his HeelFaceTurn, when confronted by Isabel, he tells her she's lost before she stabs him twice.
** When Malcolm Merlyn is finally KilledOffForReal in the Season 5 finale, it's in an amazing blend of RedemptionEqualsDeath and PapaWolf. As Oliver's friends are attempting to flee Lian Yu, Thea [[LandmineGoesClick steps on a landmine]]; with no time to disarm it, Malcolm knocks Thea off and takes her place, before making her and the others flee. When Captain Boomerang and several other of [[BigBad Prometheus']] mooks catch up, Malcolm steps off the mine, blowing them all up and buying the others time to escape.
* ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack''. [[spoiler:Miss Rosa]]. ''Don't Fear The Reaper''. "Always so rude, that one."
* ''Series/FallingSkies'' has two in season 4. First the 2nd Mass is pinned down by Espheni led by an overlord with a personal vendetta against Tom Mason. While the others hide, [[spoiler: Tector]] takes a long-range shot at the overlord's head and misses by an inch. Skitters swarm him. He opens his coat, says, "Tick, tick, boom!" and all of them up.
** In the season finale, [[spoiler: Lexie]] scores one when [[spoiler: she]] manually flies an Espheni ship into the moon base's power core, destroying it.
* In one fourth-season episode of Sixties ''Franchise/{{Dragnet}}'', a cop is mortally wounded while saving bystanders from a gunman.
* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'': Nina Sharp, cornered by the Observers, delivers an epic TheReasonYouSuckSpeech about their pretensions towards being an advanced species by pointing out they've unintentionally bioengineered themselves to take on primitive lizard traits, then blows her own brains out to avoid interrogation.
* John Reese in the GrandFinale of ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', fighting off hordes of Samaritan's men in a shootout and being fatally wounded before the cruise missile strikes.
* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'': The series finale has all of the main characters, sans Melchett, going over the top of the trenches to their (implied) deaths. Doubles as a [[TearJerker tear jerker]] because instead of it being depicted in a comedic way, it is depicted in a rather somber and depressing manner, complete with a melancholic piano version of the series' main theme. It's even made sadder by the fact that there were thousands of men that died the same way in WWI.
* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': [[spoiler:Captain Cold]], of all people, sacrifices himself to destroy the machine that allows the Time Masters to observe and control the timeline, which has a failsafe requiring someone to stay and hold it down. Time Master Druce arrives and orders him to shut it down, and his response - and last words - is a snarled "There are no strings on me", before the big boom.

* In ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'', Uther Pendragon's last act is to rise from his sickbed to fight the assassin trying to kill his drugged son. Uther manages to strike the death blow ''after'' being fatally stabbed by his opponent.
* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryApocalypse'': In the finale, as [[TheAntiChrist Michael]] is killing off the remaining witches, [[BigGood Cordelia]] confronts him head on. She gives him a scathing TheReasonYouSuckSpeech about what a ManChild he is, and then [[HeroicSuicide kills herself]], knowing that Mallory will therefore fully inherit the mantle of Supreme and become powerful enough to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong go back in time and kill Michael before he fully developed his powers]]. Special note to the line Cordelia closes with:
-->"Satan has one son. But my sisters are legion, [[PrecisionFStrike motherfucker]]!"

* In ''Series/{{Merlin}}'', Uther Pendragon's last act is to rise from his sickbed to fight the assassin trying to kill his drugged son. Uther manages to strike the death blow ''after'' being fatally stabbed by his opponent.

* In ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', Riley's last act before being killed was to brutally and viciously assault Jessie, who had betrayed her and manipulated her all along. She lost the struggle, but for an untrained, terrified teenage girl, it was pretty damned impressive. Derek on the other hand gets shot in the head before he's even has a chance to be awesome by a foe who didn't even stop his stride. Both of these enforced a point the series was trying to make about the Terminators.

-->"You're alone. But my sisters are legion, [[PrecisionFStrike motherfucker]]!"

* In ''Series/{{Merlin}}'', Uther Pendragon's last act is to rise from his sickbed to fight the assassin trying to kill his drugged son. Uther manages to strike the death blow ''after'' being fatally stabbed by his opponent.

* In the Series/StargateAtlantis episode "The Last Man," alternate universe versions of Todd and Ronon get a DyingMomentOfAwesome. Todd and Ronon run into each other on separate missions to blow up one of Michael's bases. They get trapped, decided to team up even though they hate each other and take out the base. Even more awesomely, as they are fighting Michael's soliders in their final moments, they dispose of all their enemies and then turn their weapons on each other, saying [[CrowningMomentOfFunny "Force of habit."]] In the same episode Sam gets one too. After her ship is crippled, she rams it into the enemy, taking down three Hive ships with her.

** It didn't take, but Matt Parkman's momentary death in Volume 5 is also seen as a potential CrowningMomentOfAwesome for the series. Sylar's been trapped inside Matt's head for a few episodes now.Sylar's been using this connection to make Matt do his bidding. Eventually Sylar supplants Matt as the primary controller of Matt's body even! This leads up to the climax of the storyline in "Shadowboxing", where Matt realizes that he'd rather be dead than let Sylar continue to terrorize people. He momentarily takes control of his own body to trick Sylar into writing down that he plans to kill everyone in the Burnt Toast Diner. As Matt-Sylar leaves, the owner calls the cops. The cops surround Matt-Sylar in the parking lot. Matt uses one lst bit of telepathy to control his body into acting like it's gonna pull a gun on the cops, forcing them to shoot him to death, ending Sylar's reign of terror...for about half an episode.

* ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'': Just when you think the IAmSpartacus scene in the finale was the bar-none CrowningMomentOfAwesome for the series, Zordon's sacrifice shortly afterwords nearly supplants it, convincing Andros to shatter his tube. The resulting wave destroys every monster in the entire universe, bringing peace to everyone...until next season.

--> [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming "It stopped..."]]

* ''Series/ColdCase'' features a variation. Many of the victims get their own personal CrowningMomentOfAwesome (standing up for their principles, calling their killer out on their bullshit, etc.), and more often than not this is what results in their death.

** Ser Barristan Selmy rescues a comrade against seemingly impossible odds.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': "The Obsolete Man" is one long one for Romney Wordsworth. He has been deemed obsolete due to his occupation as a librarian and sentenced to death. However, he's allowed to choose his method of execution. He chooses to have a bomb go off in his room and for the event to be televised. With less than half an hour to go, the Chancellor who ordered his execution decides to pay him one last visit and gloat about the superiority of the state's methods...which Wordsworth uses to lock him inside. Both men claim to FaceDeathWithDignity, but while Wordsworth calmly spends his final moments reading from his Bible, the Chancellor ultimately cracks and begs to God to be let out. Wordsworth frees him seconds before the bomb goes off and dies, but the Chancellor now has to face the reality that he showed great weakness and begged to God (who he claimed that the state had proven nonexistent) on live television. As such, ''he'' is declared obsolete- something Wordsworth surely new would happen. The ending implies he's also given the much more painful death of being ripped limb from limb by an angry mob.

** [[spoiler: Sebastian Blood]] has one in "Streets of Fire". His last act is giving Oliver the Mirakuru cure cementing his HeelFaceTurn, when confronted by Isabel, he tells her she's lost before she stabs him twice

** [[spoiler: Olenna Tyrell swallows the poison Cersei sent through Jaime, then calmly and casually tells him that she was the one who murdered Joffrey.]]

** Danny Pink, Clara's boyfriend, is converted into a Cyberman, but overcomes his programming to lead the Cybermen fleet in stopping the techno-virus that threatened the world in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E12DeathInHeaven Death in Heaven]]", the Series 8 finale.

* Bodie's death in season four of ''Series/TheWire''.
--> Bodie: Yo, this is my corner. I ain't runnin '''nowhere'''!

* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': [[spoiler:Captain Cold]], of all people, sacrifices himself to destroy the machine that allows the Time Masters to observe and control the timeline, which has a failsafe requiring someone to stay and hold it down. Time Master Druce arrives and orders him to shut it down, and his response - and last words - is a snarled "There are no strings on me", before the big boom.

---> "My name is Mike Franks. I figure I got one last fight left in me. You want it?"

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' has far too many deaths, but some of the characters go out on their own BadAss terms:

** With his wings on fire and a sword in his stomach Hawkman flies to the rescue one last time, saves Lois from falling, and has a last conversation with Clark before he dies. {{Badass}}.

* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'': The series finale has all of the main characters, sans Melchett, going over the top of the trenches to their (implied) deaths. Doubles as a [[TearJerker tear jerker]] because instead of it being depicted in a comedic way, it is depicted in a rather somber and depressing manner, complete with a melancholic piano version of the series' main theme. It's even made sadder by the fact that there were thousands of men that died the same way in WWI.

** The only time in the series that the audience gains some respect for Principal Snyder is when he tells Mayor Wilkins, who has just turned into [[EldritchAbomination a]] ''[[EldritchAbomination full]]'' [[EldritchAbomination demon-far more dangerous than any of the "demons" (actually human-demon hybrids) shown in the series until that point]], to get the hell off his campus right before getting eaten.

--->'''Gabriel''': You are my brother, and I love you, [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu but you are a great. Big. Bag of]] ''[[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu dicks]]''.

** During the siege of the White House Bill Buchanan tackles a Mook and fires his gun into the gas filled air. The resulting explosion kills him and most of [[DiscOneFinalBoss Benjamin]] [[FourStarBadass Juma]]'s strike force, acts a signal for the FBI to storm the building, and gives Jack the chance to move. His actions saved everyone in the building, including The President.

** "Bannakaffalatta CYBORG!!!!"
** 'Til death do us part, ''Harry''!
** "I did my duty for Queen and Country! (Repeats) Oh God!" Yvonne Hartman just before she walks into a conversion unit. She then does it AGAIN as a Cyberman becoming the first person to resist having their will overridden by the programming, holding off a small army of Cybermen as they try to escape through the rift in a YouShallNotPass moment.

** Danny Pink, Clara's boyfriend, is converted into a Cyberman, but overcomes his programing to lead the Cybermen fleet in stopping the techno-virus that threatened the world in "Death in Heaven", the Series 8 finale.

* John Reese in the GrandFinale of ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', fighting off hordes of Samaritan's men in a shootout and being fatally wounded before the cruise missile strikes.

* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'': Nina Sharp, cornered by the Observers, delivers an epic TheReasonYouSuckSpeech about their pretensions towards being an advanced species by pointing out they've unintentionally bioengineered themselves to take on primitive lizard traits, then blows her own brains out to avoid interrogation.