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** Ellaria Sand's punishment in a nutshell; forced to watch her daughter slowly die with no way to hold or comfort her in her last hours, before being kept alive to watch Tyene's body decay, with the promise of being force-fed if she tries to starve herself to die. Makes her begging for the Ironborn to kill her on the spot from the previous episode sounds more merciful.
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** Speaking of subjective Fates Worse Than Death, there's the fate presented to [[spoiler:the Saxon Master]] in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E10TheDoctorFalls The Doctor Falls]]'': [[spoiler:that one day [[FutureMeScaresMe he will become Missy, turn good and actually *help* the Doctor.]]]] Faced with this, he decides to [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceDoorSlam kill Missy before she can complete her redemption.]]]]
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** Speaking of subjective Fates Worse Than Death, there's the fate presented to [[spoiler:the Saxon Master]] in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E10TheDoctorFalls ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls The Doctor Falls]]'': [[spoiler:that one day [[FutureMeScaresMe he will become Missy, turn good and actually *help* the Doctor.]]]] Faced with this, he decides to [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceDoorSlam kill Missy before she can complete her redemption.]]]]
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** Speaking of subjective Fates Worse Than Death, there's the fate presented to [[spoiler:the Saxon Master]] in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E10 The Doctor Falls]]'': [[spoiler:that one day [[HeelFaceTurn he will become Missy, turn good and actually ''help'' the Doctor.]]]] Faced with this, he decides to [[spoiler:kill Missy before she can complete her redemption.]]
to:
** Speaking of subjective Fates Worse Than Death, there's the fate presented to [[spoiler:the Saxon Master]] in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E10 ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E10TheDoctorFalls The Doctor Falls]]'': [[spoiler:that one day [[HeelFaceTurn [[FutureMeScaresMe he will become Missy, turn good and actually ''help'' *help* the Doctor.]]]] Faced with this, he decides to [[spoiler:kill [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceDoorSlam kill Missy before she can complete her redemption.]]]]]]
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** Speaking of subjective Fates Worse Than Death, there's the fate presented to [[spoiler:the Saxon Master]] in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E10 The Doctor Falls]]'': [[spoiler:that one day [[HeelFaceTurn he will become Missy, turn good and actually ''help'' the Doctor.]]]] Faced with this, he decides to [[spoiler:kill Missy before she can complete her redemption.]]
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* ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'': Being sent to the Colonies, where people clean up toxic waste until their skin falls off from being poisoned and they finally die.
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* ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'': ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'':
** Being sent to the Colonies, where people clean up toxic waste until their skin falls off from being poisoned and they finallydie. die.
** While her lover is executed, [[spoiler: Ofglen]] survives due to her fertility. [[spoiler: But you don't need a clitoris to get pregnant...]]
** Being sent to the Colonies, where people clean up toxic waste until their skin falls off from being poisoned and they finally
** While her lover is executed, [[spoiler: Ofglen]] survives due to her fertility. [[spoiler: But you don't need a clitoris to get pregnant...]]
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* ''Series/EmeraldCity'' has the Prison of the Abject for those who break the Wizard’s prohibition against magic. They are kept in a cast cavern inside a mountain, stuck in mud and rock, unable to move or talk. East's interaction with Dorothy and Lucas implies it's their ''souls'' that are stuck in there.
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* ''Series/EmeraldCity'' has the Prison of the Abject for those who break the Wizard’s prohibition against magic. They are kept in a cast vast cavern inside a mountain, stuck in mud and rock, unable to move or talk. East's interaction with Dorothy and Lucas implies it's their ''souls'' that are stuck in there.there.
* ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'': Being sent to the Colonies, where people clean up toxic waste until their skin falls off from being poisoned and they finally die.
* ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'': Being sent to the Colonies, where people clean up toxic waste until their skin falls off from being poisoned and they finally die.
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* In ''SpartacusBloodAndSand'' and its sequels being sent to the mines is implied to be this for the slaves. In ''Vengeance'', Mira certainly believes this to be the case, to the point that when she's informed [[spoiler: Naevia]] died on the way to the mines, she considers it a blessing. From what we see of the mines, this is true.
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* In ''SpartacusBloodAndSand'' ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'' and its sequels being sent to the mines is implied to be this for the slaves. In ''Vengeance'', Mira certainly believes this to be the case, to the point that when she's informed [[spoiler: Naevia]] died on the way to the mines, she considers it a blessing. From what we see of the mines, this is true.
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** In "The Sentence", the scientist who designed the virtual prison that simulates years-long sentences in the span of mere minutes is charged with reckless endangerment after he fails to save an innocent man from dying since the scientist had failed to take into account the possibility of an innocent person being placed in the machine. During his trial, one of the previous test subjects acts as a witness and tearfully claims that he'd rather be dead than endure the simulation again. This testimony helps doom the scientist to a life sentence. [[spoiler:Made more significant when it's revealed that the whole "sentence" was a simulation. The scientist had saved the man after all but wound up trapped in the simulation himself. His guilt over what happened to the man warped the simulation into a nightmarish ordeal. In other words, he had come to view his own creation as a FateWorseThanDeath. He's naturally horrified in the end when the senator who was previously skeptical of the virtual prison decides it's a great idea after all and approves its use.]]
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** In "The Sentence", the scientist who designed the virtual prison that simulates years-long sentences in the span of mere minutes is charged with reckless endangerment after he fails to save an innocent man from dying since the scientist had failed to take into account the possibility of an innocent person being placed in the machine. During his trial, one of the previous test subjects acts as a witness and tearfully claims that he'd rather be dead than endure the simulation again. This testimony helps doom the scientist to a life sentence.twenty years in prison. [[spoiler:Made more significant when it's revealed that the whole "sentence" was a simulation. The scientist had saved the man after all but wound up trapped in the simulation himself. His guilt over what happened to the man warped the simulation into a nightmarish ordeal. In other words, he had come to view his own creation as a FateWorseThanDeath. He's naturally horrified in the end when the senator who was previously skeptical of the virtual prison decides it's a great idea after all and approves its use.]]
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* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "The New Breed", a man who injected himself with nanomachines to stop his cancer discovers to his horror that they [[TransformationHorror involuntarily mutate the rest of his body]] to repair "imperfections" (e.g. a lack of ''gills''). He tries to stab himself to death, but the machines simply repair the damage and restart his heart.
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* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'':
** In "The New Breed", a man who injected himself with nanomachines to stop his cancer discovers to his horror that they [[TransformationHorror involuntarily mutate the rest of his body]] to repair "imperfections" (e.g. a lack of ''gills''). He tries to stab himself to death, but the machines simply repair the damage and restart hisheart.heart.
** In "The Sentence", the scientist who designed the virtual prison that simulates years-long sentences in the span of mere minutes is charged with reckless endangerment after he fails to save an innocent man from dying since the scientist had failed to take into account the possibility of an innocent person being placed in the machine. During his trial, one of the previous test subjects acts as a witness and tearfully claims that he'd rather be dead than endure the simulation again. This testimony helps doom the scientist to a life sentence. [[spoiler:Made more significant when it's revealed that the whole "sentence" was a simulation. The scientist had saved the man after all but wound up trapped in the simulation himself. His guilt over what happened to the man warped the simulation into a nightmarish ordeal. In other words, he had come to view his own creation as a FateWorseThanDeath. He's naturally horrified in the end when the senator who was previously skeptical of the virtual prison decides it's a great idea after all and approves its use.]]
** In "The New Breed", a man who injected himself with nanomachines to stop his cancer discovers to his horror that they [[TransformationHorror involuntarily mutate the rest of his body]] to repair "imperfections" (e.g. a lack of ''gills''). He tries to stab himself to death, but the machines simply repair the damage and restart his
** In "The Sentence", the scientist who designed the virtual prison that simulates years-long sentences in the span of mere minutes is charged with reckless endangerment after he fails to save an innocent man from dying since the scientist had failed to take into account the possibility of an innocent person being placed in the machine. During his trial, one of the previous test subjects acts as a witness and tearfully claims that he'd rather be dead than endure the simulation again. This testimony helps doom the scientist to a life sentence. [[spoiler:Made more significant when it's revealed that the whole "sentence" was a simulation. The scientist had saved the man after all but wound up trapped in the simulation himself. His guilt over what happened to the man warped the simulation into a nightmarish ordeal. In other words, he had come to view his own creation as a FateWorseThanDeath. He's naturally horrified in the end when the senator who was previously skeptical of the virtual prison decides it's a great idea after all and approves its use.]]
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* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', Cersei has Septa Unella at her mercy in the season six finale. Cersei reminds Unella that she promised her face would be the last thing Unella ever saw as payback for her torture in the previous season. Unella claims to be relieved, and says she is ready to meet the gods. Cersei then explains that Unella isn't going to die. Not today, not for quite a while. Cersei then introduces Unella to her new "god": Ser Gregor Clegane (a brutal murderer, torturer, and SerialRapist in life and now a rotting zombie-like monster who may still have his old proclivities). Cersei then leaves and shuts the door to allow them to get acquainted, as Unella breaks down screaming in terror.
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* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** Cersei has Septa Unella at her mercy in the season six finale. Cersei reminds Unella that she promised her face would be the last thing Unella ever saw as payback for her torture in the previous season. Unella claims to be relieved, and says she is ready to meet the gods. Cersei then explains that Unella isn't going to die. Not today, not for quite a while. Cersei then introduces Unella to her new "god": Ser Gregor Clegane (a brutal murderer, torturer, and SerialRapist in life and now a rotting zombie-like monster who may still have his old proclivities). Cersei then leaves and shuts the door to allow them to get acquainted, as Unella breaks down screaming interror.terror.
** Tyrion implies that the Night's Watch is this, claiming that most rapists choose the dangerous process of castration rather than taking the black.
** Inflicted on anyone captured by Ramsay Bolton.
** Beric Dondarrion, who's becoming more and more empty every time he's resurrected, tells Arya that he would not wish his fate on her father, but Arya disagrees.
** Cersei has Septa Unella at her mercy in the season six finale. Cersei reminds Unella that she promised her face would be the last thing Unella ever saw as payback for her torture in the previous season. Unella claims to be relieved, and says she is ready to meet the gods. Cersei then explains that Unella isn't going to die. Not today, not for quite a while. Cersei then introduces Unella to her new "god": Ser Gregor Clegane (a brutal murderer, torturer, and SerialRapist in life and now a rotting zombie-like monster who may still have his old proclivities). Cersei then leaves and shuts the door to allow them to get acquainted, as Unella breaks down screaming in
** Tyrion implies that the Night's Watch is this, claiming that most rapists choose the dangerous process of castration rather than taking the black.
** Inflicted on anyone captured by Ramsay Bolton.
** Beric Dondarrion, who's becoming more and more empty every time he's resurrected, tells Arya that he would not wish his fate on her father, but Arya disagrees.
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* ''Series/EmeraldCity'' has the Prison of the Abject for those who break the Wizard’s prohibition against magic. They are kept in a cast cavern inside a mountain, stuck in mud and rock, unable to move or talk. East's interaction with Dorothy and Lucas implies it's their ''souls'' that are stuck in there.
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* In ''Series/DoctorSynTheScarecrow'', being PressGanged is basically treated as a death sentence by everyone. The third episode has a deserter who describes Navy life as being like slavery and prefers being a fugitive for a capital crime than going on there. (Although the press didn't work as shown, it's true that conditions in the Royal Navy ''were'' incredibly harsh in the days of WoodenShipsAndIronMen.)
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* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', Cersei has Septa Unella at her mercy in the season six finale. Cersei reminds Unella that she promised her face would be last thing Unella ever saw. Unella claims to be relieved, and says she is ready to meet the gods. Cersei then explains that Unella isn't going to die. Not today, not for quite a while. Cersei then introduces Unella to her new "god": Ser Gregor Clegane (a brutal murderer, torturer, and SerialRapist in life and now a rotting zombie-like monster who may still have his old proclivities). Cersei then leaves and shuts the door to allow them to get acquainted, as Unella breaks down screaming in terror.
to:
* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', Cersei has Septa Unella at her mercy in the season six finale. Cersei reminds Unella that she promised her face would be the last thing Unella ever saw.saw as payback for her torture in the previous season. Unella claims to be relieved, and says she is ready to meet the gods. Cersei then explains that Unella isn't going to die. Not today, not for quite a while. Cersei then introduces Unella to her new "god": Ser Gregor Clegane (a brutal murderer, torturer, and SerialRapist in life and now a rotting zombie-like monster who may still have his old proclivities). Cersei then leaves and shuts the door to allow them to get acquainted, as Unella breaks down screaming in terror.
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* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', Cersei has Septa Unella at her mercy in the season six finale. Cersei reminds Unella that she promised her face would be last thing Unella ever saw. Unella claims to be relieved, and says she is ready to meet the gods. Cersei then explains that Unella isn't going to die. Not today, not for quite a while. Cersei then introduces Unella to her new "god": Ser Gregor Clegane (a brutal murderer, torturer, and SerialRapist in life and now a rotting zombie-like monster who may still have his old proclivities). Cersei then leaves and shuts the door to allow them to get acquainted, as Unella breaks down screaming in terror.
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** ''[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]'' revolves around a Time Lord seeking the secrets of Rassilon to obtain true immortality, as opposed to the "mere" extremely long life of a Time Lord. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor He gets his wish]], as [[TakenForGranite an immobile stone statue]]. ''Forever''.
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** ''[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]'' revolves around a Time Lord seeking the secrets of Rassilon to obtain true immortality, as opposed to the "mere" extremely long life of a Time Lord. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor He gets his wish]], as by [[TakenForGranite becoming an immobile stone statue]].face]]. ''Forever''.
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add recaps, example to Doctor Who section
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** In the episode "Flesh and Stone", Amy is forced to make her way through a forest full of Weeping Angels, with her eyes closed, to escape a crack in the universe. When she protests, the Doctor’s reply is: "The Angels can only kill you." [[spoiler:If she is caught by the crack, it will erase her entire existence.]]
** Donna's initial departure: [[spoiler:Because a human mind cannot handle Time Lord knowledge, she was in danger of dying. To save her, the Doctor had to erase all her memories of her travels with him, erasing all her CharacterDevelopment, ''just'' as she realized she was important (and right as she saved the universe).]] Things get better for her, but this is one of the sadder fates for a companion ever.
** In "A Good Man Goes to War", it's revealed that the Sontarans punish the worst crimes against their race by forcing the perpetrators to serve as [[CombatMedic medics on the battlefield]]. Because the Sontarans are a {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}}, being forced to serve the weak and injured is deemed the ultimate humiliation.
** The Doctor spares the Master this in "The Time Monster," asking Kronos to free him rather than subject him to an eternity of torment in the void the monster inhabits.
** "The Five Doctors" revolves around a Time Lord seeking the secrets of Rassilon to obtain true immortality, as opposed to the "mere" extremely long life of a Time Lord. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor He gets his wish]], as an immobile stone statue. ''Forever''.
** In "The Family of Blood", all four of the eponymous family are inflicted with a custom-made version of this trope, in the process learning why you never, ever, ''ever'' [[BewareTheNiceOnes make the Doctor mad]].
** "Planet of the Ood" has a ruthless CEO personally market the peaceful, squid-like Ood as slaves worldwide. The CEO's fate? [[spoiler:He [[KarmicTransformation gets turned into]] one of the very creatures he's been mistreating]].
** Donna's initial departure: [[spoiler:Because a human mind cannot handle Time Lord knowledge, she was in danger of dying. To save her, the Doctor had to erase all her memories of her travels with him, erasing all her CharacterDevelopment, ''just'' as she realized she was important (and right as she saved the universe).]] Things get better for her, but this is one of the sadder fates for a companion ever.
** In "A Good Man Goes to War", it's revealed that the Sontarans punish the worst crimes against their race by forcing the perpetrators to serve as [[CombatMedic medics on the battlefield]]. Because the Sontarans are a {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}}, being forced to serve the weak and injured is deemed the ultimate humiliation.
** The Doctor spares the Master this in "The Time Monster," asking Kronos to free him rather than subject him to an eternity of torment in the void the monster inhabits.
** "The Five Doctors" revolves around a Time Lord seeking the secrets of Rassilon to obtain true immortality, as opposed to the "mere" extremely long life of a Time Lord. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor He gets his wish]], as an immobile stone statue. ''Forever''.
** In "The Family of Blood", all four of the eponymous family are inflicted with a custom-made version of this trope, in the process learning why you never, ever, ''ever'' [[BewareTheNiceOnes make the Doctor mad]].
** "Planet of the Ood" has a ruthless CEO personally market the peaceful, squid-like Ood as slaves worldwide. The CEO's fate? [[spoiler:He [[KarmicTransformation gets turned into]] one of the very creatures he's been mistreating]].
to:
** In the episode "Flesh "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E5FleshAndStone Flesh and Stone", Stone]]", Amy is forced to make her way through a forest full of Weeping Angels, with her eyes closed, to escape a crack in the universe. When she protests, the Doctor’s reply is: "The Angels can only kill you." [[spoiler:If she is caught by the crack, it will erase her entire existence.]]
** Donna's initialdeparture: departure. [[spoiler:Because a human mind cannot handle Time Lord knowledge, she was in danger of dying. To save her, the Doctor had to erase all her memories of her travels with him, erasing all her CharacterDevelopment, ''just'' as she realized she was important (and right as she saved the universe).]] Things get better for her, but this is one of the sadder fates for a companion ever.
** In"A "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar A Good Man Goes to War", War]]", it's revealed that the Sontarans punish the worst crimes against their race by forcing the perpetrators to serve as [[CombatMedic medics on the battlefield]]. Because the Sontarans are a {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}}, being forced to serve the weak and injured is deemed the ultimate humiliation.
** The Doctor spares the Master this in"The ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E5TheTimeMonster The Time Monster," Monster]]'', asking Kronos to free him rather than subject him to an eternity of torment in the void the monster inhabits.
**"The ''[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors" Doctors]]'' revolves around a Time Lord seeking the secrets of Rassilon to obtain true immortality, as opposed to the "mere" extremely long life of a Time Lord. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor He gets his wish]], as [[TakenForGranite an immobile stone statue.statue]]. ''Forever''.
** In"The "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E9TheFamilyOfBlood The Family of Blood", Blood]]", all four of the eponymous family are inflicted with a custom-made version of this trope, in the process learning why you never, ever, ''ever'' [[BewareTheNiceOnes make the Doctor mad]].
**"Planet "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E3PlanetOfTheOod Planet of the Ood" Ood]]" has a ruthless CEO personally market the peaceful, squid-like Ood as slaves worldwide. The CEO's fate? [[spoiler:He [[KarmicTransformation gets turned into]] one of the very creatures he's been mistreating]].
** Donna's initial
** In
** The Doctor spares the Master this in
**
** In
**
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** At the beginning of 'The Ribos Operation', the Doctor asks the White Guardian what will happen to him if he refuses the commission being offered:
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** At the beginning of 'The ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E1TheRibosOperation The Ribos Operation', Operation]]'', the Doctor asks the White Guardian what will happen to him if he refuses the commission being offered:
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** In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E4TheEnemyOfTheWorld The Enemy of the World]]'', would-be world dictator Ramon Salamander survives an assassination attempt. At the end of the story, he dematerialises the TARDIS ''with the doors open'' and is promptly sucked into the time vortex, where he presumably remains forever. He probably wishes the assassin succeeded.
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Lore example in Star Trek
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** After Lore is first exposed as a danger, he is beamed out into open space and left there. Lore is an android with an inexhaustible energy source who could easily have remained in the vacuum of space indefinitely, while fully conscious and aware, were he not picked up by a Pakled ship two years later.
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* In ''Series/{{Lexx}}'', this was the idea behind His Shadow's decision to turn Kai into a Divine Assassin. It is subverted since Kai regains his willpower and becomes TrueCompanions with the rest of the main cast, though it's still somewhat bittersweet since being around living people reminds him of what he's lost.
-->'''His Divine Shadow:''' This last specimen of the now extinct culture of romantic dreamers merits punishment beyond death.
-->'''His Divine Shadow:''' This last specimen of the now extinct culture of romantic dreamers merits punishment beyond death.
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* ''Series/{{Lucifer 2016}}'': Subverted. Since there's no one in Hell to punish sinners, very nearly everything is a fate worse than death.
-->'''Lucifer:''' No no no, you just let him off too easy! He doesn't need to escape it! He needs to suffer! He needs to FEEL THE PAIN!\\
'''Chloe:''' Don't worry. I'm sure where he's going, the pain's coming.\\
'''Lucifer:''' No, actually, it's not, and you know why? Because ''I'm HERE!''
-->'''Lucifer:''' No no no, you just let him off too easy! He doesn't need to escape it! He needs to suffer! He needs to FEEL THE PAIN!\\
'''Chloe:''' Don't worry. I'm sure where he's going, the pain's coming.\\
'''Lucifer:''' No, actually, it's not, and you know why? Because ''I'm HERE!''
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* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
** It can be assumed that being thrown into the Sea of Sorrows, which Rita planned to do to Kat for betraying her and later wanted to do to Ninjor, is something like this. (The writers seemed to assume that while [[NeverSayDie they couldn't let the villain outright say]] they wanted to execute the hero, ''this'' was better.)
** In ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'', Divatox's mother (called "Mama-D" to her children) had access to a punishment like this called the Vortex of Eternal Doom and Sorrow; she had disposed of Divatox's father this way, and her daughter seemed to have been fine with that; when the vortex was opened (revealing ghastly moans) she claimed she could ''hear'' him.
** It can be assumed that being thrown into the Sea of Sorrows, which Rita planned to do to Kat for betraying her and later wanted to do to Ninjor, is something like this. (The writers seemed to assume that while [[NeverSayDie they couldn't let the villain outright say]] they wanted to execute the hero, ''this'' was better.)
** In ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'', Divatox's mother (called "Mama-D" to her children) had access to a punishment like this called the Vortex of Eternal Doom and Sorrow; she had disposed of Divatox's father this way, and her daughter seemed to have been fine with that; when the vortex was opened (revealing ghastly moans) she claimed she could ''hear'' him.
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* On ''TheVampireDiaries'', vampires mummify when deprived of blood for an extended period of time, but until that happens they are in an extreme state of hunger and agony.
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* On ''TheVampireDiaries'', ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'', vampires mummify when deprived of blood for an extended period of time, but until that happens they are in an extreme state of hunger and agony.
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* On ''TheMentalist'', the SerialKiller Red John punishes self-proclaimed [[ISeeDeadPeople psychic medium]] Kristina Frye for trying to "read" him on live TV by abducting her and brainwashing her to believe that she's dead. She remains in a completely catatonic state unless someone performs a seance ritual to "contact" her "spirit."
to:
* On ''TheMentalist'', ''Series/TheMentalist'', the SerialKiller Red John punishes self-proclaimed [[ISeeDeadPeople psychic medium]] Kristina Frye for trying to "read" him on live TV by abducting her and brainwashing her to believe that she's dead. She remains in a completely catatonic state unless someone performs a seance ritual to "contact" her "spirit."
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** The curse that gave Angel his soul - sure, they ''could'' have staked him before or after, but why do that when they can force him to live with his actions for the rest of time?
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** The Doctor spares the Master this in "The Time Monster," asking Kronos to free him rather than subject him to an eternity of torment in the void the monster inhabits.
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** The system lord Ba'al once had the captured Jack O'Neill tortured to death repeatedly and then revived in the sarcophagus, only to start again the next day. Apophis was tortured the same way (possibly worse, since it was not to draw information) by Sokar.
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** The system lord Ba'al once had the captured Jack O'Neill tortured to death repeatedly and then revived in the sarcophagus, only to start again the next day. Apophis was tortured the same way (possibly worse, since it was not to draw information) by Sokar. Idem for Teal'c, when a Jaffa tried to extort from him a filmed admission that Goa'ulds are true gods.
**The Goa'uld also distorted the healing use of sarcophagus directly for the purpose of a particularly painful punishment against one of them (whose crime were too high even for Goa'uld standards). They locked up the convicted person inside a sarcophagus with a fierce alien wild beast. In that way, the goa'uld was condemned to fight eternally against the animal since their respective injuries were constantly healed by the machine they were trapped in.
**The Goa'uld also distorted the healing use of sarcophagus directly for the purpose of a particularly painful punishment against one of them (whose crime were too high even for Goa'uld standards). They locked up the convicted person inside a sarcophagus with a fierce alien wild beast. In that way, the goa'uld was condemned to fight eternally against the animal since their respective injuries were constantly healed by the machine they were trapped in.
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** In the Season Two episode "The Gamekeeper", SG-1 is imprisoned in a virtual reality realm and forced to live the worst moments of their lives over and over again. They eventually escape.
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** In the Season Two episode "The Gamekeeper", SG-1 is imprisoned in a virtual reality realm and forced to live the worst moments of their lives over and over again. They again, until they eventually escape.escape.
*** The temporal loops could also have lasted a long time if they didn't manage to talk down the archaeologist from seeking to see again his late wife.
*** The temporal loops could also have lasted a long time if they didn't manage to talk down the archaeologist from seeking to see again his late wife.
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** Elisabeth Weir and her fellow Asurans are left to drift in the spatial void...forever.
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* Being a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombie]] in the ''Series/BeingHuman'' universe is implied to suck big time. Zombies are created under very rare circumstances; when a person dies but something blocks their transition to the afterlife, their soul will sometimes remain within their corpse. They can think and feel pain as though they were still alive, but they can 'survive' serious injuries such as having internal organs removed. [[spoiler:When humans first encounter them, they are subjected to medical experiments, and later incinerated as a biohazard; because undeath makes them immune to anesthetics, they are fully conscious throughout the procedure.]] Their souls are denied passage into the afterlife until their bodies decay beyond the point of being able to sustain them, during which time they can [[{{Squick}} feel their own bodies decomposing from within]].
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* Being a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombie]] in the ''Series/BeingHuman'' ''Series/{{Being| HumanUK}} [[Series/BeingHumanUS Human]]'' universe is implied to suck big time. Zombies are created under very rare circumstances; when a person dies but something blocks their transition to the afterlife, their soul will sometimes remain within their corpse. They can think and feel pain as though they were still alive, but they can 'survive' serious injuries such as having internal organs removed. [[spoiler:When humans first encounter them, they are subjected to medical experiments, and later incinerated as a biohazard; because undeath makes them immune to anesthetics, they are fully conscious throughout the procedure.]] Their souls are denied passage into the afterlife until their bodies decay beyond the point of being able to sustain them, during which time they can [[{{Squick}} feel their own bodies decomposing from within]].
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** Wolfram & Hart's holding facility for their troublesome employees; on surface it's a banally normal suburb, but every inhabitant must every day go in the cellar of their homes to have their hearts cut out by a demon, only to forget it ever happened, except for impending sense of dread. ''Every day''. Illyria rescues [[spoiler:Charles Gunn]] from the place, and learning that somebody must always take the place of the departed, both disturbingly and awesomely forces the torturer demon himself to be that somebody. The final scene from the place shows the demon strapping himself to the table, and putting knife to his own chest.
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** Wolfram & Hart's holding facility for their troublesome employees; on surface it's a banally normal suburb, but every inhabitant must every day go in the cellar of their homes to have their hearts cut out by a demon, only to forget it ever happened, except for impending sense of dread. ''Every day''. Illyria rescues [[spoiler:Charles Gunn]] from the place, and learning that somebody must always take the place of the departed, both disturbingly and awesomely forces the torturer demon himself to be that somebody. The final scene from the place shows the demon strapping himself to the table, and putting the knife to his own chest.
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* ''{{Kings}}'': Silas decides to spare [[spoiler:his gay son Jack]] because he's already found a better punishment for him. As Thomasina explains [[spoiler:when she brings Jack's wife to his room: "Your father wants for you a living death. To brick you into a wall with someone who loves you, who you can't stand the sight of... until you produce an heir whom Silas will take and raise right this time."]] When [[spoiler:Jack]] begs her for mercy, she twists the knife: [[spoiler:it's not so bad, all he has to do is close his eyes and think of his dead lover]].
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* ''{{Kings}}'': ''Series/{{Kings}}'': Silas decides to spare [[spoiler:his gay son Jack]] because he's already found a better punishment for him. As Thomasina explains [[spoiler:when she brings Jack's wife to his room: "Your father wants for you a living death. To brick you into a wall with someone who loves you, who you can't stand the sight of... until you produce an heir whom Silas will take and raise right this time."]] When [[spoiler:Jack]] begs her for mercy, she twists the knife: [[spoiler:it's not so bad, all he has to do is close his eyes and think of his dead lover]].
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* Despite being a lighthearted show ''Series/{{Eureka}}'' has Beverley Barlowe inflict a punishment like this on her boss. [[spoiler: She traps her in a computer simulation of the Sheriff's office, all alone with no chance of escape.]]
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* ''Series/{{Forever}}'': After their final showdown, Henry stops himself from trying to kill Adam ("trying" is the key word, since both possess ResurrectiveImmortality). When Adam tries to end Henry for good using the same pistol that first made Henry immortal, Henry injects him in the neck with a syringe. The pistol fails to kill Henry for good (proving that theory false), and the last we see Adam, he's paralyzed in a hospital bed (from an embolism that Henry gave him), hooked up to a life support system, with the triumphant Henry telling him that he'll continue trying to figure out how to end their "curse".
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* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'': "Kitty Karry-All is Missing." Cindy, at the time 6 years old, fears this has happened to her precious doll when it goes missing and a search for Kitty – at least two of them – is not successful. In her haste, Bobby is to blame for whatever happens to Kitty.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** The only reason Angelus didn't kill Drusilla after turning her insane was because "death would be mercy."
** One mention of Faith's Watcher stops her in her tracks. Buffy asks if Kakistos killed her. Faith just stares and says, "They don't have a word for what he did to her." According to the novel ''Go Ask Malice'', he literally ripped Faith's Watcher in half while making her watch.
* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', Moira Sullivan [[spoiler:slowly slips back into a permanent catatonic state]] in front of Clark and Chloe. [[spoiler:[[{{TearJerker/Smallville}} She barely had any time to get to know Chloe, her daughter.]]]]
* Parodied frequently in ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.
-->'''Crow:''' ''(despairing)'' To be dead, to be nothing... to watch ''[[Film/InvasionOfTheNeptuneMen Neptune Men]]'' no more...
* ''Series/{{CSI}}'':
** In "Ellie" a drugs-mule starts to feel ill and comments that he is going to die. Brass responds "it's worse, you're going to live".
** Another episode features a legendary mob boss, who was thought dead for decades, killing his surviving enemies before he dies of a bullet lodged in his body (which everyone thought had killed him in the first place). After he's caught, the guy brags about how he's going to die yet be immortalized in legend. Then Catherine reveals that the bullet was removed with no problems (as she explains "'mob doctors' become mob doctors because they ''suck''") and now the mob boss will spend the next estimated 20 years of life in a prison filled with criminals who don't know who he is and fade into obscurity.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** Wolfram & Hart's holding facility for their troublesome employees; on surface it's a banally normal suburb, but every inhabitant must every day go in the cellar of their homes to have their hearts cut out by a demon, only to forget it ever happened, except for impending sense of dread. ''Every day''. Illyria rescues [[spoiler:Charles Gunn]] from the place, and learning that somebody must always take the place of the departed, both disturbingly and awesomely forces the torturer demon himself to be that somebody. The final scene from the place shows the demon strapping himself to the table, and putting knife to his own chest.
** Another episode has Fred, who had been stuck in a hell dimension for five years where humans were treated like cattle, find out who sent her there. She plans to send that person to a hell dimension to suffer as revenge, rather them killing him.
** In "Hell Bound", the gang is plagued by a sadistic ghost named Pavayne who feeds other dead souls to hell in exchange for not going there himself; they stop him by making him corporeal again. Since they can't kill him, Angel has him [[TailorMadePrison locked in a box]] [[AndIMustScream in the basement]] of Wolfram & Hart.
** Wesley's ghost is still stuck working for the Senior Partners in Hell.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'':
** The Reavers are probably something like this.
-->'''Zoe''': If they catch us, they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skin on to their clothing. And if we're very, very lucky, they'll do it InThatOrder.
** In some cases, they take one victim and let them live while forcing them to watch the atrocities they inflict on the rest. In the end, after they've witnessed such evil, they have no choice but to become it. That's how new Reavers are made.
** In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', River asks Simon to [[ICannotSelfTerminate kill her]], partially to protect the crew, but also because she ''does not'' want to be taken back to [[SchoolForScheming the Academy]].
** How the very first Reavers were created: [[spoiler:they were the very, very small percentage of the people of the planet Miranda who had the opposite reaction to the Pax, the experimental chemical that the Alliance seeded the planet with which ended up causing nearly the entire planet to simply lie down and die]].
* In ''Series/{{Blackadder}} Goes Forth'', Blackadder is captured by the Germans, and is visited in his cell by a German commander who threatens him with a fate worse than death... unless he attempts to escape, in which case he'll suffer a fate ''worse'' than a fate worse than death. Although Blackadder immediately thinks of the term's origin, the fate worse than death turns out to be [[spoiler:teaching home economics at a girls school in Heidelberg. Designed to strike at the very soul of a man of honour, it doesn't have the expected effect on Blackadder]].
-->'''von Richthoven:''' For you, as a man of honour, the hu-mil-i-ation will be unbearable.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** In the episode "Flesh and Stone", Amy is forced to make her way through a forest full of Weeping Angels, with her eyes closed, to escape a crack in the universe. When she protests, the Doctor’s reply is: "The Angels can only kill you." [[spoiler:If she is caught by the crack, it will erase her entire existence.]]
** Donna's initial departure: [[spoiler:Because a human mind cannot handle Time Lord knowledge, she was in danger of dying. To save her, the Doctor had to erase all her memories of her travels with him, erasing all her CharacterDevelopment, ''just'' as she realized she was important (and right as she saved the universe).]] Things get better for her, but this is one of the sadder fates for a companion ever.
** In "A Good Man Goes to War", it's revealed that the Sontarans punish the worst crimes against their race by forcing the perpetrators to serve as [[CombatMedic medics on the battlefield]]. Because the Sontarans are a {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}}, being forced to serve the weak and injured is deemed the ultimate humiliation.
** "The Five Doctors" revolves around a Time Lord seeking the secrets of Rassilon to obtain true immortality, as opposed to the "mere" extremely long life of a Time Lord. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor He gets his wish]], as an immobile stone statue. ''Forever''.
** In "The Family of Blood", all four of the eponymous family are inflicted with a custom-made version of this trope, in the process learning why you never, ever, ''ever'' [[BewareTheNiceOnes make the Doctor mad]].
** "Planet of the Ood" has a ruthless CEO personally market the peaceful, squid-like Ood as slaves worldwide. The CEO's fate? [[spoiler:He [[KarmicTransformation gets turned into]] one of the very creatures he's been mistreating]].
** The Cybermen "reproduce" by ripping out a human's brain and central nervous system and implanting it into a mechanical body, in the process dulling their minds to remove any emotion or individual thought, and the bodies are designed to last for a ''very'' long time. Worse, they seek to inflict this on everyone because the Cybermen themselves view their state as an ''improvement'', [[BlueAndOrangeMorality genuinely not understanding]] why anyone would refuse the process.
** At the beginning of 'The Ribos Operation', the Doctor asks the White Guardian what will happen to him if he refuses the commission being offered:
-->'''White Guardian''': Nothing.\\
'''The Doctor''': Nothing? You mean nothing will happen to me?\\
'''White Guardian''': Nothing at all. ''Ever.''
* ''Series/KeyAndPeele'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxWzsrj8bZE Key & Peele - LMFAO's Non-Stop Party]]. A party that doesn't stop.
* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'':
** In ''Children of Earth'', Jack got [[spoiler:trapped in cement]] until he was rescued, and before that he underwent the prolonged and (judging from the screams) extremely painful process of [[spoiler:regrowing his body]] after being [[spoiler:blown up by a bomb implanted in his lower torso]]. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when a witness to this resurrection comments that he'd have been better off staying dead.
** And then there's the fate [[spoiler: his brother, Gray,]] cooked up for him in "Exit Wounds": [[spoiler: being buried alive under Cardiff for the best part of 2000 years.]] "Your gift of life becomes a curse" [[AndIMustScream indeed]].
** "Adrift", where [[spoiler:they introduce Flat Holm, a place for people who had been taken by the Rift and returned. Then you have Jonah, who had been trapped on a burning planet, saw the destruction of a solar system, and looked into a Dark Star, which drove him insane. Now he screams for twenty hours a day.]]
** ''[[Series/TorchwoodMiracleDay Miracle Day]]'' is based on WhoWantsToLiveForever. Nobody, no matter how badly injured, can die. This leads to a particularly disturbing scene wherein a suicide bomber's "remains" are being examined by a medical team. His body has been largely blown apart and what little is left is burned, but the guy is still alive and appears to be conscious. [[AndIMustScream Even when they sever the remaining tissue connecting his head to the rest of him]]. Meanwhile, a sympathetic character is ''burned alive.'' If you think that's the worst way a person could die, imagine that as a way to live.
* Ascertained and subsequently often subverted in ''Series/{{Highlander}}''. Many Immortals suffer from a Fate Worse Than Death. Others (like Duncan) want to be mortal so they can die, but continue to fight to keep their heads.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** The system lord Ba'al once had the captured Jack O'Neill tortured to death repeatedly and then revived in the sarcophagus, only to start again the next day. Apophis was tortured the same way (possibly worse, since it was not to draw information) by Sokar.
** Anubis and Oma Desala end up [[SisyphusVsRock locked in an eternal battle]], leaving them no ability to do anything except fight to survive. The same probably applies to Adria in her struggle with Ganos Lal (aka Morgan Le Fey), as the effect of Morgan taking Adria away looked the same as Oma doing the same to Anubis.
** The experience of being used as a host by a Goa'uld for thousands of years, a meat puppet with no control of their body whatsoever, forced to endure both the atrocities the Goa'uld commit ''and'' their GeneticMemory (filled with innumerable other atrocities), will drive humans insane. Despite this, [[spoiler:Ba'al's host]] seems to be okay after being separated from the symbiote.
** In the Season Two episode "The Gamekeeper", SG-1 is imprisoned in a virtual reality realm and forced to live the worst moments of their lives over and over again. They eventually escape.
** ''Stargate Atlantis''' Wraith are capable of sending people to the very brink of dying by old age... then return them to normal... then take them back to the brink... again, and again, and again.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone'':
** One episode had a Nazi war criminal be tortured by the angry spirit of a Holocaust victim by experiencing the pain his victims felt before they died. He was eventually driven insane before being found by authorities, and the spirit warned that it would continue to haunt him for the rest of his life.
** The end of the infamous "Time Enough at Last". [[spoiler:You're the last person alive, with enough food to last you a lifetime and all the books you could ever want to read and no one will make fun of you for it. You pick up the first book... and your reading glasses fall off and break.]]
** The IronicHell episodes. You love gambling? Great. You'll ''always'' win.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Being assimilated by the Borg and converted into one of their drones is considered this. Captain Picard explicitly says in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' that the Enterprise crew will be doing their assimilated colleagues a favor by killing them.
** In the original series, there was the ending of "The Alternative Factor", which left the matter and anti-matter Lazaruses trapped between universes, at each other's throats for eternity. It's compounded by FridgeLogic when you realize they really just had to imprison the insane Lazarus and destroy his ship to protect the two universes.
** An episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' begins with an encounter with a Q who had been condemned to be trapped in an asteroid for all eternity, and therefore sought asylum from Captain Janeway so that he could commit suicide. Court trial and MoralDilemma ensue.
* ''{{Kings}}'': Silas decides to spare [[spoiler:his gay son Jack]] because he's already found a better punishment for him. As Thomasina explains [[spoiler:when she brings Jack's wife to his room: "Your father wants for you a living death. To brick you into a wall with someone who loves you, who you can't stand the sight of... until you produce an heir whom Silas will take and raise right this time."]] When [[spoiler:Jack]] begs her for mercy, she twists the knife: [[spoiler:it's not so bad, all he has to do is close his eyes and think of his dead lover]].
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'''s version of Hell. You're tortured, daily, in unimaginable ways, for decades on end, unless you agree to do the same to others. [[spoiler:Dean is able to hold out for thirty years before giving in]], although [[spoiler:his dad, John, held out for one hundred years, and never gave any sign of giving in]]. "Stuff legends are made of," indeed.
** To take it up a notch, the end of season five had [[spoiler:Sam throw himself into hell's solitary confinement with vengeful archangels FallenAngel [[ArchangelLucifer Lucifer]] and [[ArchangelMichael Michael]] to lock them away so they didn't [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt raze the world]]]]. He thought they'd get to spend eternity torturing him creatively for this, but lucked out and [[spoiler:was freed]] after ''only a hundred and eighty years or so''.
*** And it's even suggested that it might have been closer to ''five millennia''.
** Even people who are already demons are afraid of this. In season 5, Crowley tells Brady that Lucifer will probably kill him outright, but keep Crowley alive to be tortured forever. Later, Crowley spreads a rumor about Brady being in league with him, then announces, "Good news--you're gonna live forever."
** In later seasons, after Crowley [[spoiler: becomes the King of Hell, it's heavily implied that any demon crossing him meets a fate of unimaginable torment.]]
--> '''Captured Demon''': "Now kill me. Come on, man. Better death than Crowley."
* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
** People who die while in the middle jump of entering either hyperspace or realspace well be trapped that way, forever dying at that one moment. Made even worse by the indications that the people this happens to might be ''conscious'' of what's happening to them.
** Being made to be the pilot of a Shadow vessel. BodyHorror aside, the experience fundamentally changes you. You're no longer the same person you were before, despite having all the same memories. [[spoiler: This is revealed to be the explicit fate of Anna Sheridan.]]
*** It is implied that the actual integration with the Shadow vessel essentially kills the personality of the person integrated. Simply being prepared (by the use of implants that radically alter brain function) drives the person violently insane. [[spoiler: And being integrated is strongly implied to be in a state of incomprehensible agony, leading to the way Shadow vessels scream constantly.]]
** The Minbari regard having their souls captured by a Soul Hunter to be this, since it prevents their souls from being reborn into the next generation. ''The River of Souls'' delves deeper into this, with an entire race the Soul Hunters captured slowly going mad from their containment.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': In "Across The Sea", Jacob provides [[NoNameGiven his brother]] with one of these when [[spoiler:after his brother kills their Mother, Jacob shoves him into the light of the world that the brothers are tasks to protect and creates the Smoke Monster.]]
* ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'':
** "Let the Punishment Fit the Crime" features an AmoralAttorney who gets tried in a nightmarish KangarooCourt. She is eventually sentenced to death, but her public defender talks the judge into giving her public service. [[spoiler: She is led into a room with the electric chair, which alarms her...until the defender steps forward and straps himself in. He reveals that he was once an attorney like her, until he ended up in the court. But now he's free thanks to her. After he is killed, the woman is suddenly wearing his outfit, now stuck working in the courts forever]].
** "Loved to Death" has essentially a StalkerWithACrush pining away for a neighbor. A LovePotion gets her interest and he's happy at first, but she becomes increasingly obsessive and clingy. [[spoiler:However, he winds up drinking poison and dies. In the afterlife, he thinks he's going to get some peace, but then the girl shows up. She says she couldn't live without him, so she killed herself by jumping out a window, and happily announces they'll be together forever.]]
** "Abra Cadaver": As revenge for a prank gone wrong, a doctor induces a heart attack in a younger jerk of a brother and injects him with an experimental drug meant to keep his brain alive. Clinically dead and unable to move, the younger brother is put through the process of being a cadaver for a medical school. [[spoiler:Turns out to just be an elaborate prank in itself with no harm meant, as well as to show that the older brother's drug does work. However, the younger brother suffers a second heart attack and seemingly dies, but not before another injection. The younger brother's brain is still alive, as his autopsy begins. ''And he can feel everything!'']]
* Being a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombie]] in the ''Series/BeingHuman'' universe is implied to suck big time. Zombies are created under very rare circumstances; when a person dies but something blocks their transition to the afterlife, their soul will sometimes remain within their corpse. They can think and feel pain as though they were still alive, but they can 'survive' serious injuries such as having internal organs removed. [[spoiler:When humans first encounter them, they are subjected to medical experiments, and later incinerated as a biohazard; because undeath makes them immune to anesthetics, they are fully conscious throughout the procedure.]] Their souls are denied passage into the afterlife until their bodies decay beyond the point of being able to sustain them, during which time they can [[{{Squick}} feel their own bodies decomposing from within]].
* Barnabas Collins from the soap opera ''Series/DarkShadows'' was turned into a vampire, which made him '''un'''dead, then he had to watch his beloved little sister discover what he was and run away into a storm, which led to an illness, which led to her death; then the love of his life [[spoiler:committed suicide in front of him so that he could not turn '''her''' into a vampire]], then his father found out about his condition and stowed him in his coffin in a room of the family mansion, hoping to find a cure. Then Barnabas' mother promptly discovered the whole thing and [[spoiler:committed suicide with poison]], again, right in front of Barnabas. At the last, Barnabas begged his father to kill him, but the old man couldn't bear to do it, so instead, he just chained Barnabas inside a coffin in a hidden part of the family mausoleum, where Barnabas remained '''for almost 200 years.'''
* ''Series/{{House}}'':
** In season 5, Wilson confronts House over the potential effects of his self-treatment for [[spoiler:hallucinations]], yielding the former page quote:
-->'''Wilson''': Heart attack, stroke, seizure, death, or worse.\\
'''House''': [[DeadpanSnarker Worse? Double death?]]\\
'''Wilson''': You live, but you damage the only thing you care about: Your rational mind.
** According to Cameron, "it's easier to die than to watch someone die".
** In Season 8, [[spoiler:Wilson thinks wasting away from cancer in a hospital or dying in an ambulance]] would be this.
** A patient from Season 5 suffered from locked in syndrome-in reasonably good health, but had no control over his own body other than blinking. Doctors were mistaking him for brain-dead and thought they should pull the plug, and had no idea how to treat him even if they wanted to.
* On ''TheVampireDiaries'', vampires mummify when deprived of blood for an extended period of time, but until that happens they are in an extreme state of hunger and agony.
* In ''Series/TheRiver''; Jonas is subjected to this after filming a native death ritual. Specifically, he is cursed to forever be hanged by the forest's vines, experiencing pain but never death.
* On ''TheMentalist'', the SerialKiller Red John punishes self-proclaimed [[ISeeDeadPeople psychic medium]] Kristina Frye for trying to "read" him on live TV by abducting her and brainwashing her to believe that she's dead. She remains in a completely catatonic state unless someone performs a seance ritual to "contact" her "spirit."
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': Gold specifically says this when talking to Regina about [[spoiler: what she did to Belle]]. He says that [[spoiler: Regina keeping her alive so that she could be killed when it best suited Regina is a Fate Worse Than Death.]] He then [[spoiler: tries to get revenge by giving her one right back.]]
* ''Series/SixHundredSixtySixParkAvenue'': When Gavin realizes that one of his associates has betrayed him, he traps him an endless hallway with no way out until he cracks and confesses. And then the trope is subverted when Gavin just plain kills him.
* In ''Series/MythQuest'', Alex become Váli, son of Loki. Loki was condemned to be chained to a rock underneath a snake whose venom seared his skin. His suffering was so awful that Alex decided to hold a bowl over his father to collect the venom and prevent it from causing more pain. For all eternity.
* On ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', Ziva regards captivity, along with the torture and abuse it entails, as a fate worse than death. In Season 3, after recounting an incident in which one of her friends from Mossad was taken hostage and beheaded by Hamas, she tells Tony that she had decided that she would "never be taken alive". She eventually is a little over three years later.
* In ''Series/ChoujinSentaiJetman'', Radiguet finally got his revenge by mentally damaging Tranza's mind. End result? Tranza stuck as a human, in a mental hospital, getting mental attacks from time to time, with Tranza shouting "No! Forgive me!" at the end of the episode.
--> '''Radiguet''': I won't kill you. You will fear my name your whole life, while living among the humans!
* ''Series/BlackMirror'' has the episode ''White Bear'' [[spoiler:about a woman who watched (and recorded) her boyfriend burning a kidnapped child to death]]. Her punishment is to relive a single day of [[spoiler:being chased around by manics while be recorded by 100's of onlookers who stand around and do nothing to help]]. Then at the end of the day her mind is wiped and she gets to do it [[AmnesiaLoop again, and again]]. Apparently the last thing she says every day is that she wants to be killed.
* In ''Series/{{Charmed}}'', Demons and the like come from the Underworld, but when they get vanquished, they go to the Wasteland. They lose their human forms and face being devoured by a beast under the ground. [[spoiler:Cole - having retained his human form because he's only half-demon - kills the beast in Season 4, though.]]
* In ''SpartacusBloodAndSand'' and its sequels being sent to the mines is implied to be this for the slaves. In ''Vengeance'', Mira certainly believes this to be the case, to the point that when she's informed [[spoiler: Naevia]] died on the way to the mines, she considers it a blessing. From what we see of the mines, this is true.
* In ''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'', when a Rider is defeated they don't die, they're vented: they disintegrate and are transported to the Advent Void- a limbo between dimensions from which there is no escape, there are no people, and- once we see the Advent Void- we see you're trapped in a small box that resembles a coffin, ''and you're still conscious''. The Void was actually intended to keep Riders from dying so that they could heal from injuries in a safe environment, but when Master Eubulon was defeated by Xaviax prior to the series' start, injured Riders had no way of getting out of the void after being vented. [[spoiler: Eubulon is revived late in the series and rescues everyone stuck in the void.]]
* In ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'', the title character is forced to do this to Phoenix, antagonist with ResurrectiveImmortality who [[CameBackStrong comes back stronger]] every time he's killed: Haruto [[HurlItIntoTheSun kicks him into the Sun]], where he will continuously die and be reborn in the intense flames, but will never be powerful enough to escape its gravitational pull.
* The ''Series/KamenRider555'' novel gives one of these to Masato Kusaka, Kamen Rider Kaixa (not that he doesn't [[LaserGuidedKarma deserve it]]): [[spoiler:When he tries to "claim" Mari, the subject of his MadLove (and whom he [[RapeAsDrama raped]]), her friend/love interest Yuji hacks off Kusaka's arms and legs, but he stays alive due to the Orphnoch DNA implanted in him. Saya Kimura, in this continuity Kusaka's StalkerWithACrush, takes him in and in a very ''{{Literature/Misery}}'' fashion keeps him in the hopes that he'll grow to love her, all while he keeps repeating to himself "Mari will save me..."]]
* In the ''Series/MastersOfHorror'' episode "Pick Me Up", the two rival serial killers Walker and Wheeler both leave the same victim alive, chained to a tree with barbed wire so she will die of prolongued exposure instead.
* A rather upsetting one was featured in ''Series/InLivingColor'' where a character played by Creator/JimCarrey was a cynical guy at a performance of a magic show. The magician, played by David Alan Grier, then brings him him on stage, gives him the mind of a chicken and then [[spoiler: keels over, dead of a heart attack. Flash forward to the present day, where the event has left the guy homeless and while he is able to ''think'' of what he wants to say, he is left unable to communicate either verbally or through writing it down since he has been left with the mind, ''and speech'', of a chicken.]]
* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "The New Breed", a man who injected himself with nanomachines to stop his cancer discovers to his horror that they [[TransformationHorror involuntarily mutate the rest of his body]] to repair "imperfections" (e.g. a lack of ''gills''). He tries to stab himself to death, but the machines simply repair the damage and restart his heart.
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* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** The only reason Angelus didn't kill Drusilla after turning her insane was because "death would be mercy."
** One mention of Faith's Watcher stops her in her tracks. Buffy asks if Kakistos killed her. Faith just stares and says, "They don't have a word for what he did to her." According to the novel ''Go Ask Malice'', he literally ripped Faith's Watcher in half while making her watch.
* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', Moira Sullivan [[spoiler:slowly slips back into a permanent catatonic state]] in front of Clark and Chloe. [[spoiler:[[{{TearJerker/Smallville}} She barely had any time to get to know Chloe, her daughter.]]]]
* Parodied frequently in ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.
-->'''Crow:''' ''(despairing)'' To be dead, to be nothing... to watch ''[[Film/InvasionOfTheNeptuneMen Neptune Men]]'' no more...
* ''Series/{{CSI}}'':
** In "Ellie" a drugs-mule starts to feel ill and comments that he is going to die. Brass responds "it's worse, you're going to live".
** Another episode features a legendary mob boss, who was thought dead for decades, killing his surviving enemies before he dies of a bullet lodged in his body (which everyone thought had killed him in the first place). After he's caught, the guy brags about how he's going to die yet be immortalized in legend. Then Catherine reveals that the bullet was removed with no problems (as she explains "'mob doctors' become mob doctors because they ''suck''") and now the mob boss will spend the next estimated 20 years of life in a prison filled with criminals who don't know who he is and fade into obscurity.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** Wolfram & Hart's holding facility for their troublesome employees; on surface it's a banally normal suburb, but every inhabitant must every day go in the cellar of their homes to have their hearts cut out by a demon, only to forget it ever happened, except for impending sense of dread. ''Every day''. Illyria rescues [[spoiler:Charles Gunn]] from the place, and learning that somebody must always take the place of the departed, both disturbingly and awesomely forces the torturer demon himself to be that somebody. The final scene from the place shows the demon strapping himself to the table, and putting knife to his own chest.
** Another episode has Fred, who had been stuck in a hell dimension for five years where humans were treated like cattle, find out who sent her there. She plans to send that person to a hell dimension to suffer as revenge, rather them killing him.
** In "Hell Bound", the gang is plagued by a sadistic ghost named Pavayne who feeds other dead souls to hell in exchange for not going there himself; they stop him by making him corporeal again. Since they can't kill him, Angel has him [[TailorMadePrison locked in a box]] [[AndIMustScream in the basement]] of Wolfram & Hart.
** Wesley's ghost is still stuck working for the Senior Partners in Hell.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'':
** The Reavers are probably something like this.
-->'''Zoe''': If they catch us, they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skin on to their clothing. And if we're very, very lucky, they'll do it InThatOrder.
** In some cases, they take one victim and let them live while forcing them to watch the atrocities they inflict on the rest. In the end, after they've witnessed such evil, they have no choice but to become it. That's how new Reavers are made.
** In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', River asks Simon to [[ICannotSelfTerminate kill her]], partially to protect the crew, but also because she ''does not'' want to be taken back to [[SchoolForScheming the Academy]].
** How the very first Reavers were created: [[spoiler:they were the very, very small percentage of the people of the planet Miranda who had the opposite reaction to the Pax, the experimental chemical that the Alliance seeded the planet with which ended up causing nearly the entire planet to simply lie down and die]].
* In ''Series/{{Blackadder}} Goes Forth'', Blackadder is captured by the Germans, and is visited in his cell by a German commander who threatens him with a fate worse than death... unless he attempts to escape, in which case he'll suffer a fate ''worse'' than a fate worse than death. Although Blackadder immediately thinks of the term's origin, the fate worse than death turns out to be [[spoiler:teaching home economics at a girls school in Heidelberg. Designed to strike at the very soul of a man of honour, it doesn't have the expected effect on Blackadder]].
-->'''von Richthoven:''' For you, as a man of honour, the hu-mil-i-ation will be unbearable.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** In the episode "Flesh and Stone", Amy is forced to make her way through a forest full of Weeping Angels, with her eyes closed, to escape a crack in the universe. When she protests, the Doctor’s reply is: "The Angels can only kill you." [[spoiler:If she is caught by the crack, it will erase her entire existence.]]
** Donna's initial departure: [[spoiler:Because a human mind cannot handle Time Lord knowledge, she was in danger of dying. To save her, the Doctor had to erase all her memories of her travels with him, erasing all her CharacterDevelopment, ''just'' as she realized she was important (and right as she saved the universe).]] Things get better for her, but this is one of the sadder fates for a companion ever.
** In "A Good Man Goes to War", it's revealed that the Sontarans punish the worst crimes against their race by forcing the perpetrators to serve as [[CombatMedic medics on the battlefield]]. Because the Sontarans are a {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}}, being forced to serve the weak and injured is deemed the ultimate humiliation.
** "The Five Doctors" revolves around a Time Lord seeking the secrets of Rassilon to obtain true immortality, as opposed to the "mere" extremely long life of a Time Lord. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor He gets his wish]], as an immobile stone statue. ''Forever''.
** In "The Family of Blood", all four of the eponymous family are inflicted with a custom-made version of this trope, in the process learning why you never, ever, ''ever'' [[BewareTheNiceOnes make the Doctor mad]].
** "Planet of the Ood" has a ruthless CEO personally market the peaceful, squid-like Ood as slaves worldwide. The CEO's fate? [[spoiler:He [[KarmicTransformation gets turned into]] one of the very creatures he's been mistreating]].
** The Cybermen "reproduce" by ripping out a human's brain and central nervous system and implanting it into a mechanical body, in the process dulling their minds to remove any emotion or individual thought, and the bodies are designed to last for a ''very'' long time. Worse, they seek to inflict this on everyone because the Cybermen themselves view their state as an ''improvement'', [[BlueAndOrangeMorality genuinely not understanding]] why anyone would refuse the process.
** At the beginning of 'The Ribos Operation', the Doctor asks the White Guardian what will happen to him if he refuses the commission being offered:
-->'''White Guardian''': Nothing.\\
'''The Doctor''': Nothing? You mean nothing will happen to me?\\
'''White Guardian''': Nothing at all. ''Ever.''
* ''Series/KeyAndPeele'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxWzsrj8bZE Key & Peele - LMFAO's Non-Stop Party]]. A party that doesn't stop.
* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'':
** In ''Children of Earth'', Jack got [[spoiler:trapped in cement]] until he was rescued, and before that he underwent the prolonged and (judging from the screams) extremely painful process of [[spoiler:regrowing his body]] after being [[spoiler:blown up by a bomb implanted in his lower torso]]. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when a witness to this resurrection comments that he'd have been better off staying dead.
** And then there's the fate [[spoiler: his brother, Gray,]] cooked up for him in "Exit Wounds": [[spoiler: being buried alive under Cardiff for the best part of 2000 years.]] "Your gift of life becomes a curse" [[AndIMustScream indeed]].
** "Adrift", where [[spoiler:they introduce Flat Holm, a place for people who had been taken by the Rift and returned. Then you have Jonah, who had been trapped on a burning planet, saw the destruction of a solar system, and looked into a Dark Star, which drove him insane. Now he screams for twenty hours a day.]]
** ''[[Series/TorchwoodMiracleDay Miracle Day]]'' is based on WhoWantsToLiveForever. Nobody, no matter how badly injured, can die. This leads to a particularly disturbing scene wherein a suicide bomber's "remains" are being examined by a medical team. His body has been largely blown apart and what little is left is burned, but the guy is still alive and appears to be conscious. [[AndIMustScream Even when they sever the remaining tissue connecting his head to the rest of him]]. Meanwhile, a sympathetic character is ''burned alive.'' If you think that's the worst way a person could die, imagine that as a way to live.
* Ascertained and subsequently often subverted in ''Series/{{Highlander}}''. Many Immortals suffer from a Fate Worse Than Death. Others (like Duncan) want to be mortal so they can die, but continue to fight to keep their heads.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** The system lord Ba'al once had the captured Jack O'Neill tortured to death repeatedly and then revived in the sarcophagus, only to start again the next day. Apophis was tortured the same way (possibly worse, since it was not to draw information) by Sokar.
** Anubis and Oma Desala end up [[SisyphusVsRock locked in an eternal battle]], leaving them no ability to do anything except fight to survive. The same probably applies to Adria in her struggle with Ganos Lal (aka Morgan Le Fey), as the effect of Morgan taking Adria away looked the same as Oma doing the same to Anubis.
** The experience of being used as a host by a Goa'uld for thousands of years, a meat puppet with no control of their body whatsoever, forced to endure both the atrocities the Goa'uld commit ''and'' their GeneticMemory (filled with innumerable other atrocities), will drive humans insane. Despite this, [[spoiler:Ba'al's host]] seems to be okay after being separated from the symbiote.
** In the Season Two episode "The Gamekeeper", SG-1 is imprisoned in a virtual reality realm and forced to live the worst moments of their lives over and over again. They eventually escape.
** ''Stargate Atlantis''' Wraith are capable of sending people to the very brink of dying by old age... then return them to normal... then take them back to the brink... again, and again, and again.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone'':
** One episode had a Nazi war criminal be tortured by the angry spirit of a Holocaust victim by experiencing the pain his victims felt before they died. He was eventually driven insane before being found by authorities, and the spirit warned that it would continue to haunt him for the rest of his life.
** The end of the infamous "Time Enough at Last". [[spoiler:You're the last person alive, with enough food to last you a lifetime and all the books you could ever want to read and no one will make fun of you for it. You pick up the first book... and your reading glasses fall off and break.]]
** The IronicHell episodes. You love gambling? Great. You'll ''always'' win.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Being assimilated by the Borg and converted into one of their drones is considered this. Captain Picard explicitly says in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' that the Enterprise crew will be doing their assimilated colleagues a favor by killing them.
** In the original series, there was the ending of "The Alternative Factor", which left the matter and anti-matter Lazaruses trapped between universes, at each other's throats for eternity. It's compounded by FridgeLogic when you realize they really just had to imprison the insane Lazarus and destroy his ship to protect the two universes.
** An episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' begins with an encounter with a Q who had been condemned to be trapped in an asteroid for all eternity, and therefore sought asylum from Captain Janeway so that he could commit suicide. Court trial and MoralDilemma ensue.
* ''{{Kings}}'': Silas decides to spare [[spoiler:his gay son Jack]] because he's already found a better punishment for him. As Thomasina explains [[spoiler:when she brings Jack's wife to his room: "Your father wants for you a living death. To brick you into a wall with someone who loves you, who you can't stand the sight of... until you produce an heir whom Silas will take and raise right this time."]] When [[spoiler:Jack]] begs her for mercy, she twists the knife: [[spoiler:it's not so bad, all he has to do is close his eyes and think of his dead lover]].
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'''s version of Hell. You're tortured, daily, in unimaginable ways, for decades on end, unless you agree to do the same to others. [[spoiler:Dean is able to hold out for thirty years before giving in]], although [[spoiler:his dad, John, held out for one hundred years, and never gave any sign of giving in]]. "Stuff legends are made of," indeed.
** To take it up a notch, the end of season five had [[spoiler:Sam throw himself into hell's solitary confinement with vengeful archangels FallenAngel [[ArchangelLucifer Lucifer]] and [[ArchangelMichael Michael]] to lock them away so they didn't [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt raze the world]]]]. He thought they'd get to spend eternity torturing him creatively for this, but lucked out and [[spoiler:was freed]] after ''only a hundred and eighty years or so''.
*** And it's even suggested that it might have been closer to ''five millennia''.
** Even people who are already demons are afraid of this. In season 5, Crowley tells Brady that Lucifer will probably kill him outright, but keep Crowley alive to be tortured forever. Later, Crowley spreads a rumor about Brady being in league with him, then announces, "Good news--you're gonna live forever."
** In later seasons, after Crowley [[spoiler: becomes the King of Hell, it's heavily implied that any demon crossing him meets a fate of unimaginable torment.]]
--> '''Captured Demon''': "Now kill me. Come on, man. Better death than Crowley."
* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
** People who die while in the middle jump of entering either hyperspace or realspace well be trapped that way, forever dying at that one moment. Made even worse by the indications that the people this happens to might be ''conscious'' of what's happening to them.
** Being made to be the pilot of a Shadow vessel. BodyHorror aside, the experience fundamentally changes you. You're no longer the same person you were before, despite having all the same memories. [[spoiler: This is revealed to be the explicit fate of Anna Sheridan.]]
*** It is implied that the actual integration with the Shadow vessel essentially kills the personality of the person integrated. Simply being prepared (by the use of implants that radically alter brain function) drives the person violently insane. [[spoiler: And being integrated is strongly implied to be in a state of incomprehensible agony, leading to the way Shadow vessels scream constantly.]]
** The Minbari regard having their souls captured by a Soul Hunter to be this, since it prevents their souls from being reborn into the next generation. ''The River of Souls'' delves deeper into this, with an entire race the Soul Hunters captured slowly going mad from their containment.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': In "Across The Sea", Jacob provides [[NoNameGiven his brother]] with one of these when [[spoiler:after his brother kills their Mother, Jacob shoves him into the light of the world that the brothers are tasks to protect and creates the Smoke Monster.]]
* ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'':
** "Let the Punishment Fit the Crime" features an AmoralAttorney who gets tried in a nightmarish KangarooCourt. She is eventually sentenced to death, but her public defender talks the judge into giving her public service. [[spoiler: She is led into a room with the electric chair, which alarms her...until the defender steps forward and straps himself in. He reveals that he was once an attorney like her, until he ended up in the court. But now he's free thanks to her. After he is killed, the woman is suddenly wearing his outfit, now stuck working in the courts forever]].
** "Loved to Death" has essentially a StalkerWithACrush pining away for a neighbor. A LovePotion gets her interest and he's happy at first, but she becomes increasingly obsessive and clingy. [[spoiler:However, he winds up drinking poison and dies. In the afterlife, he thinks he's going to get some peace, but then the girl shows up. She says she couldn't live without him, so she killed herself by jumping out a window, and happily announces they'll be together forever.]]
** "Abra Cadaver": As revenge for a prank gone wrong, a doctor induces a heart attack in a younger jerk of a brother and injects him with an experimental drug meant to keep his brain alive. Clinically dead and unable to move, the younger brother is put through the process of being a cadaver for a medical school. [[spoiler:Turns out to just be an elaborate prank in itself with no harm meant, as well as to show that the older brother's drug does work. However, the younger brother suffers a second heart attack and seemingly dies, but not before another injection. The younger brother's brain is still alive, as his autopsy begins. ''And he can feel everything!'']]
* Being a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombie]] in the ''Series/BeingHuman'' universe is implied to suck big time. Zombies are created under very rare circumstances; when a person dies but something blocks their transition to the afterlife, their soul will sometimes remain within their corpse. They can think and feel pain as though they were still alive, but they can 'survive' serious injuries such as having internal organs removed. [[spoiler:When humans first encounter them, they are subjected to medical experiments, and later incinerated as a biohazard; because undeath makes them immune to anesthetics, they are fully conscious throughout the procedure.]] Their souls are denied passage into the afterlife until their bodies decay beyond the point of being able to sustain them, during which time they can [[{{Squick}} feel their own bodies decomposing from within]].
* Barnabas Collins from the soap opera ''Series/DarkShadows'' was turned into a vampire, which made him '''un'''dead, then he had to watch his beloved little sister discover what he was and run away into a storm, which led to an illness, which led to her death; then the love of his life [[spoiler:committed suicide in front of him so that he could not turn '''her''' into a vampire]], then his father found out about his condition and stowed him in his coffin in a room of the family mansion, hoping to find a cure. Then Barnabas' mother promptly discovered the whole thing and [[spoiler:committed suicide with poison]], again, right in front of Barnabas. At the last, Barnabas begged his father to kill him, but the old man couldn't bear to do it, so instead, he just chained Barnabas inside a coffin in a hidden part of the family mausoleum, where Barnabas remained '''for almost 200 years.'''
* ''Series/{{House}}'':
** In season 5, Wilson confronts House over the potential effects of his self-treatment for [[spoiler:hallucinations]], yielding the former page quote:
-->'''Wilson''': Heart attack, stroke, seizure, death, or worse.\\
'''House''': [[DeadpanSnarker Worse? Double death?]]\\
'''Wilson''': You live, but you damage the only thing you care about: Your rational mind.
** According to Cameron, "it's easier to die than to watch someone die".
** In Season 8, [[spoiler:Wilson thinks wasting away from cancer in a hospital or dying in an ambulance]] would be this.
** A patient from Season 5 suffered from locked in syndrome-in reasonably good health, but had no control over his own body other than blinking. Doctors were mistaking him for brain-dead and thought they should pull the plug, and had no idea how to treat him even if they wanted to.
* On ''TheVampireDiaries'', vampires mummify when deprived of blood for an extended period of time, but until that happens they are in an extreme state of hunger and agony.
* In ''Series/TheRiver''; Jonas is subjected to this after filming a native death ritual. Specifically, he is cursed to forever be hanged by the forest's vines, experiencing pain but never death.
* On ''TheMentalist'', the SerialKiller Red John punishes self-proclaimed [[ISeeDeadPeople psychic medium]] Kristina Frye for trying to "read" him on live TV by abducting her and brainwashing her to believe that she's dead. She remains in a completely catatonic state unless someone performs a seance ritual to "contact" her "spirit."
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': Gold specifically says this when talking to Regina about [[spoiler: what she did to Belle]]. He says that [[spoiler: Regina keeping her alive so that she could be killed when it best suited Regina is a Fate Worse Than Death.]] He then [[spoiler: tries to get revenge by giving her one right back.]]
* ''Series/SixHundredSixtySixParkAvenue'': When Gavin realizes that one of his associates has betrayed him, he traps him an endless hallway with no way out until he cracks and confesses. And then the trope is subverted when Gavin just plain kills him.
* In ''Series/MythQuest'', Alex become Váli, son of Loki. Loki was condemned to be chained to a rock underneath a snake whose venom seared his skin. His suffering was so awful that Alex decided to hold a bowl over his father to collect the venom and prevent it from causing more pain. For all eternity.
* On ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', Ziva regards captivity, along with the torture and abuse it entails, as a fate worse than death. In Season 3, after recounting an incident in which one of her friends from Mossad was taken hostage and beheaded by Hamas, she tells Tony that she had decided that she would "never be taken alive". She eventually is a little over three years later.
* In ''Series/ChoujinSentaiJetman'', Radiguet finally got his revenge by mentally damaging Tranza's mind. End result? Tranza stuck as a human, in a mental hospital, getting mental attacks from time to time, with Tranza shouting "No! Forgive me!" at the end of the episode.
--> '''Radiguet''': I won't kill you. You will fear my name your whole life, while living among the humans!
* ''Series/BlackMirror'' has the episode ''White Bear'' [[spoiler:about a woman who watched (and recorded) her boyfriend burning a kidnapped child to death]]. Her punishment is to relive a single day of [[spoiler:being chased around by manics while be recorded by 100's of onlookers who stand around and do nothing to help]]. Then at the end of the day her mind is wiped and she gets to do it [[AmnesiaLoop again, and again]]. Apparently the last thing she says every day is that she wants to be killed.
* In ''Series/{{Charmed}}'', Demons and the like come from the Underworld, but when they get vanquished, they go to the Wasteland. They lose their human forms and face being devoured by a beast under the ground. [[spoiler:Cole - having retained his human form because he's only half-demon - kills the beast in Season 4, though.]]
* In ''SpartacusBloodAndSand'' and its sequels being sent to the mines is implied to be this for the slaves. In ''Vengeance'', Mira certainly believes this to be the case, to the point that when she's informed [[spoiler: Naevia]] died on the way to the mines, she considers it a blessing. From what we see of the mines, this is true.
* In ''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'', when a Rider is defeated they don't die, they're vented: they disintegrate and are transported to the Advent Void- a limbo between dimensions from which there is no escape, there are no people, and- once we see the Advent Void- we see you're trapped in a small box that resembles a coffin, ''and you're still conscious''. The Void was actually intended to keep Riders from dying so that they could heal from injuries in a safe environment, but when Master Eubulon was defeated by Xaviax prior to the series' start, injured Riders had no way of getting out of the void after being vented. [[spoiler: Eubulon is revived late in the series and rescues everyone stuck in the void.]]
* In ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'', the title character is forced to do this to Phoenix, antagonist with ResurrectiveImmortality who [[CameBackStrong comes back stronger]] every time he's killed: Haruto [[HurlItIntoTheSun kicks him into the Sun]], where he will continuously die and be reborn in the intense flames, but will never be powerful enough to escape its gravitational pull.
* The ''Series/KamenRider555'' novel gives one of these to Masato Kusaka, Kamen Rider Kaixa (not that he doesn't [[LaserGuidedKarma deserve it]]): [[spoiler:When he tries to "claim" Mari, the subject of his MadLove (and whom he [[RapeAsDrama raped]]), her friend/love interest Yuji hacks off Kusaka's arms and legs, but he stays alive due to the Orphnoch DNA implanted in him. Saya Kimura, in this continuity Kusaka's StalkerWithACrush, takes him in and in a very ''{{Literature/Misery}}'' fashion keeps him in the hopes that he'll grow to love her, all while he keeps repeating to himself "Mari will save me..."]]
* In the ''Series/MastersOfHorror'' episode "Pick Me Up", the two rival serial killers Walker and Wheeler both leave the same victim alive, chained to a tree with barbed wire so she will die of prolongued exposure instead.
* A rather upsetting one was featured in ''Series/InLivingColor'' where a character played by Creator/JimCarrey was a cynical guy at a performance of a magic show. The magician, played by David Alan Grier, then brings him him on stage, gives him the mind of a chicken and then [[spoiler: keels over, dead of a heart attack. Flash forward to the present day, where the event has left the guy homeless and while he is able to ''think'' of what he wants to say, he is left unable to communicate either verbally or through writing it down since he has been left with the mind, ''and speech'', of a chicken.]]
* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "The New Breed", a man who injected himself with nanomachines to stop his cancer discovers to his horror that they [[TransformationHorror involuntarily mutate the rest of his body]] to repair "imperfections" (e.g. a lack of ''gills''). He tries to stab himself to death, but the machines simply repair the damage and restart his heart.
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