History Main / AlmostDeadGuy

* Yoda's final function in ''Film/StarWarsReturnOfTheJedi'' -- "There is... an...other... Sky...walk...errrrr."
* Also happens in ''Film/StarWarsAttackOfTheClones'', where Anakin's mom survives a long period of time enslaved by Sand People, only to die in Anakin's arms once rescued. Given Padme, it is clear prequel women have a strange sense of deciding when to die.
* Rocket in ''Film/SuckerPunch'', after she gets stabbed. Played to be a DyingMomentOfAwesome in Babydoll's imagination.

** Referenced in the ''Partners in Crime'' collection of ''Literature/TommyAndTuppence'' stories. Tuppence, discussing her readiness to [[JumpedAtTheCall Jump at the Call]], wishes a dead man would stagger into the room and say something enigmatic. Her husband responds "Tuppence, what ''have'' you been reading?"

* The last words said by Tejano signer Music/{{Selena}} before her death was simply "Yolando...158"; referring to the hotel room where she had been shot by Yolando Saldivar - who Selena was about to fire for stealing from various related businesses.

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife''

* Many times in ''VideoGame/HalfLife'', Gordon romps into a character who dies within 10 seconds, with or without delivering a line of dialog beforehand. It became somewhat a staple of fan missions.

* In the video game version of ''VideoGame/MissionImpossible1997'', at one point you find a captured agent who tries to give you information, but dies before he can finish. Ethan remarks: "I just knew he wasn't going to finish that sentence."

* Buzz Buzz in ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', in the humorous style typical of the game, will literally refuse to die of a mortal wound until Ness hears his full exposition (and confirms that he understood it).
** This seemed to be parodied when Everdred is "dying." He gives a long speech, asks for confirmation then... stands up and leaves.
*** Actually, [[VideoGame/BattalionWars he's had it, commander]]. Don't believe me? Just sleep at the Fourside Hotel after going through Moonside.....

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemOfTheHolyWar'', Lord Byron is said to have been severely injured during the assassination for which he was framed, with the expectation tht the wounds are mortal. This is just before a one-year TimeSkip, after which is another full chapter of civil war for Sigurd. It's only by chapter 5 that Lord Byron appears to deliver his broken AncestralWeapon, and then expires immediately once he does so (assuming the player reaches him before the enemy does).

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'':
** Greil is impaled through the chest with a {{BFS}}, which would definitely cause him to bleed out quickly and severely damage the parts necessary for speech, but he manages to have quite a lengthy conversation with Ike and the Black Knight and then stagger along on Ike's shoulder for at least a few paces through the woods before he finally expiers.
** Rajaion lives long enough to say goodbye to Ena.
** Lotz's sole purpose of existence. Poor Lotz.

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Heavily wounded and on the verge of death, the Almost Dead Guy manages to stay alive just long enough to answer a question, or [[BringNewsBack give a message]] (or at least [[HisNameIs the first part of a message]] — or even an [[DyingCurse insult]]). Almost Dead Guys seem to have a sixth sense of their value to the plot, and if necessary will cling to life for hours, sometimes even days, only to die within minutes of being questioned. Expect this character to die with their head heavily nodding to one side.

* Villain Lordgenome in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', after being beaten, managed to stand up and give an ominous warning of the dangers that the heroes were getting themselves into to. The amazing part of this is that he speaks for a good fifty seconds after getting most of his torso blown out with visible pieces of him floating off into the wind for the entire speech. And even that isn't enough to kill him. Later in the series, [[RuleOfCool after getting obliterated on the atomic level, he overtakes the power of a]] '''big bang''' and converts it into Spiral Energy, giving it (with verbal cues) to the titular mecha.
* Used several times in ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'', where despite gaping holes in chests through the heart characters are able to deliver important last words often critical to the plot (though till the end one guy just CannotSpitItOut). At least in the flipped American manga it was a little more plausible since the victims were punched through the lung, not the heart as in the original Japanese.
* A nameless knight gets this honor in ''LightNovel/TheSacredBlacksmith'' in the first episode, to inform our heroes that they were ambushed. Whether he lived or not isn't mentioned.
* The ''Anime/MegaManNTWarrior'' anime does this unusually often with Glyde. When Colorman/[=Wackoman=] takes him down, he tells Mega Man, "beware the...ball..." and similarly, when taken down by a plant-themed Navi he whispers, "beware...the vines..." - this guy pretty much IS this trope personified.

* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', a member of the wolf tribe seems to limp home with impossible wounds to deliver the tale of the wolf tribe's massacre to Koga. Shortly afterwards, it's revealed he actually died with the others, and was being controlled like a puppet by Kagura.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'',
** Seaman Lines bursts into Baratie, bleeding and injured, to tell his commander (who, unbeknownst to him is also unconscious) that their prisoner escaped. He is then shot in the back by said prisoner, and is never mentioned again.
** Played for drama with Corazon. He used his silence powers on Law to ensure that he could safely escape from the Doflamingo pirates, and continued to keep himself alive through sheer willpower even after being riddled with multiple gunshot wounds. The moment of his death is marked by Law's voice returning and his (understandable) sobs echoing across the island.

* Teoro of ''VideoGame/{{Utawarerumono}}'' manages to get his message to Hakuoro so that he can prepare for a surprise attack. Nobody actually realizes his almost dead status despite the fact that when they're gone he leaves a huge bloody stain everywhere. That's right, his message was so important it stopped blood from soaking his clothes.
* In ''Anime/{{Mnemosyne}}'', Tamotsu is DisconnectedByDeath by a military sniper but clings on to life long enough to tell Rin where Teruki has been taken to.
* Gauron from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' - namely in ''The Second Raid''. He pretty much lost all of his limbs from sharks eating them, lost an eye, and half of the skin on his face (on the same side as his lost eye) had become keloidal. Of course, the guy ends up being able to hold on like that for ''six months'', and it's implied that the only thing that sustained him was [[StalkerWithACrush his desire to see Sousuke again]]. He's shown to be ''insanely'' happy to see Sousuke again, and although most of his last words to Sousuke only seem to piss Sousuke off, he ''does'' end up giving Sousuke an important clue ("Badham") that was necessary for a future mission. The rest of his last words were mostly for his own self satisfaction, [[MindRape screwing with Sousuke's mind]] because he's [[AxCrazy crazy that way]]. Interestingly enough, he does manage to say all that he wants to say, and the person who ends up cutting him off and killing him is Sousuke (which is [[ManipulativeBastard exactly what the guy wanted]]).

* Adolf Junkers in ''Anime/{{Monster}}'', who has the honor of reuniting his murderer with the good doctor who saved him.
* Several dogs from ''Manga/GingaNagareboshiGin'' and ''Anime/GingaDensetsuWeed.'' Riki and John are examples.
* In ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End of Evangelion]]'', Shinji and Misato get ambushed by JSSDF soldiers on their way to Unit 01, and Misato is clipped by a high-velocity bullet in the back just as they make it out of harm's way through a door. Misato masks the extreme pain from her wound and gives a mentally broken Shinji encouragement and a genuine kiss before sending him off in the elevator. Right after the elevator door shuts, she collapses to the floor and starts bleeding out heavily. Misato says some wishful last words, but doesn't die peacefully- the JSSDF bomb the area she's taken refuge in- her body is blown in half and incinerated. Ouch.

* In the early ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' comics, this trope was used many times with background characters who would provide vital information before shoving off.
** A memorable near-example is Joe Chill, the criminal who shot Bruce Wayne's parents. In his first appearance, Batman tracks him down and unmasks while threatening him; Chill flees, then [[KarmicDeath gets shot]] by vengeful fellow crooks. Suddenly realizing they've just shot the only person who knows Batman's real name, they urge Chill to tell them -- and he's ''about'' to. But Batman knocks out the crooks just in time, and Chill's last words are to him instead.

* The informant in [[http://www.htmlcomics.com/Book/html.asp?Series_Name=Get%20Smart&Book_No=001&Page_Number=1Α=G&Lookup= this]] ''Series/GetSmart'' comic, who also subverts a now-tired HisNameIs crossover gag.
* A non-lethal example is in ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' where a messenger from China is giving the titular character a message but before he got to tell it, he was shot a "crazy serum" which [[DrivenToMadness turns him crazy]]. Before he become completely insane, he managed to blurt out "Shanghai" to Tintin.

* ''Fanfic/EchoesOfEternity'' uses the UnreliableNarrator version[[note]]Maria getting shot then making a speech, not Maria getting shot ''after'' the speech[[/note]] of Maria's death from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog''. As a result, she gets shot several times in the back, gets back up after a period, and delivers a speech to Shadow. Mind you, Maria is a terminally ill twelve year old. She was just ''[[{{Determinator}} that]]'' determined.

* ''Fanfic/AGrowingAffection'': In chapter 11, Hinata is mortally wounded, and Sakura pronounces her beyond saving, but keeps her alive long enough for Naruto to finish the fight and say goodbye. In the next chapter Naruto says screw that, and puts himself at risk to heal Hinata.

* ''Film/{{Marlowe}}'': Marlowe has been looking for Orrin Quest, a missing person. He hears a gunshot in Dr. Lagardie's office, goes to investigate, and finds Orrin, who has been shot. Orrin has just enough strength to stab Marlowe in the back with an icepick before he falls over dead.

* The German Comedy ''[[Film/DerWixxer Neues vom Wixxer]]'' has the eponymous serial killer shooting up the office of Scotland Yard's Commissioner from a safe distance via sniper rifle. During the shootout, a random bobby happens to walk in and exclaim, "Good news, Sir John! [The doctor says] [[TemptingFate I don't have cancer after all]]!". Then... well, [[BoomHeadshot you know]]...
* Humorously subverted and parodied by Zucker, Abrams and Zucker in ''Film/TheNakedGun 2½'' ("Who else here is almost dead?" and "Well if that's your attitude, forget it") and in ''Film/TopSecret'', where the character Latrine only ever runs into shot and gasps something when he's injured.
* ''Film/ThePhantom1943'': One of the spy ring's agents, after being shot to prevent the Phantom learning anything, takes several minutes to die, long enough to explain how she came to be working for the spy ring, and then dies just as it seems she's about to reveal the identity of the spy ring's leader.
* In the original ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' movie, ''Film/{{Gojira}}'', some shipwrecked mariners are found. They say that they were attacked by a monster, and then die almost immediately after of radiation burns. This was actually subverted. The guy who washes up on shore near the beginning of the movie survives and moves back in his with family in the village. Of course, the brutal irony here is when he's eventually killed by Godzilla ''anyway'' when the monster tramples the village during the night, as he's the same guy who throws open the door during the storm and screams as he meets Godzilla face-to-face. The commentary on the Classic Media two-disc set talks about this misconception in great detail, and you can blame it somewhat on the American version's choppy editing and translating.

* Parodied in ''Film/LastActionHero'', where Art Carney lives just long enough to give Arnold Schwarzenegger the key piece of information, then says, "I'm outta here!" and dies.
* Played straight in ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' with Book. And then, depending on your interpretation, there's either a subversion or just an interesting way of playing it straight when Mr. Universe lives long enough to program his [[RoboticSpouse wife]] with a message for Mal.
* Occurs in ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', when a dying Confederate soldier reveals to Tuco that he knows where the gold is, but needs water, and while Tuco looks for water "Blondie" (Clint Eastwood) is told by the dying man the actual location, after which the man promptly dies, requiring Tuco to save Blondie's life in order to find the gold (Tuco had been forcing Blondie to cross a desert with no water in an effort to kill him).
* Yoda's final function in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' -- "There is... an...other... Sky...walk...errrrr."
* Also happens in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', where Anakin's mom survives a long period of time enslaved by Sand People, only to die in Anakin's arms once rescued. Given Padme, it is clear prequel women have a strange sense of deciding when to die.
* Captain Jacobi in ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon1941'' comes staggering into Sam Spade's office, with several bullets in his body and carrying a package. He has just enough time to gasp out "black bird" before he keels over and dies. The package is the Maltese Falcon, the titular MacGuffin, a valuable medieval statue of a black bird.
* Subverted in ''Film/KungPowEnterTheFist'' where all of TheChosenOne's friends (including his dog) become {{Almost Dead Guy}}s, but then wake up and yell at him for assuming they were dead just because they sighed and fell limp. Except for Wimp Lo. Poor Wimp Lo.
-->'''Master Tang:''' Just because a guy goes "eeeeeaaaahhh..." doesn't mean he is dead.
* Played almost to the point of ridicule in ''Film/DeadOnArrival''. The main character, fatally poisoned, staggers into a police station and tells his story to the policemen, narrating the whole movie before dying.
* Played straight in ''Film/{{Heat}}''. One of De Niro's posse is murdered offscreen by Waingro. However, this guy ''truly is almost dead'' -- as in, clinically he displays the symptoms of a person mortally wounded: extremely low respiratory rate, pale complexion and so on.

* ''Film/JudgeDredd''. After being wounded, former Chief Justice Fargo lasts just long enough to pass on to Dredd the truth about his origin and tell him to stop Judge Griffin.
* Parodied repeatedly in the Jet Li movie ''Film/LastHeroInChina''. After discovering the plot, a secondary character is warned that "once a seriously injured person tells a secret, they die after telling the secret.". Further attempts to reveal the secret see him wounded throughout the film. At the end of the movie, he staggers up to tell Jet Li's character who simply turns and walks away while the other characters groan and chastise him yet again.

* In ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', the marines find a colonist who awakens and begs the marines to kill her as a chestburster tears through her.
* ''Film/{{Ugetsu}}'': Genjuro and his family are crossing the lake when they see a drifting boat. It contains a grievously wounded man who warns them that there are pirates on the lake. He then dies.
* ''Film/TheLastHurrah'': Defeated mayoral candidate Frank Skeffington more-or-less reconciles with the Roman Catholic Cardinal on his deathbed. As Skeffington fades off into death, Roger Sugrue (Skeffington's longtime opponent and [[MoralGuardian self-appointed arbiter]] of acceptable Roman Catholic behavior) suggests that Skeffington would do everything differently, if he had it to do over again. Skeffington then summons the energy to say one last thing before he dies: "''Like hell I would!''"
* In ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'' the whole misadventure is set off when notorious criminal "Smiler" Grogan kicks the bucket ([[VisualPun literally]]) after sending his car flying off a cliff, but not before telling a group of witnesses to the accident about $350,000 he buried in a distant state park. True to this trope, he groans into unconsciousness...then scares everyone by bolting up yelling "Say it don't make no difference, Aunt Belle!" before fading out again.
* Rocket in ''Film/SuckerPunch'', after she gets stabbed. Played to be a DyingMomentOfAwesome in Babydoll's imagination.
* Parodied in ''Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' where vampire Amilyn campily milks his death scene for almost a minute. He's still going during the credits.
* Parodied (possibly a shout out to Monty Python) in ''Film/SinCity'': The Big Fat Kill.
* In ''Film/TheEdge'', Bob and Charles get stranded in the wilderness in the middle of winter and have to try to survive and get rescued. Bob becomes badly injured by an animal trap while trying to kill Charles because he loves Charles' wife and is jealous of his fortune, and then spends a long time as the Almost Dead Guy, being kept alive by Charles. Finally, Charles sees a rescue plane and goes to signal it, but Bob [[DistractedFromDeath finally dies unnoticed in the minute or two]] it takes to get the plane's attention.
* In the 1951 ''Film/{{Scrooge|1951}}'', young Scrooge, thinking his sister has died, bitterly storms from the room, and misses her dying request to him. Later, much older Scrooge has Marley delivering a warning with his last breaths, but it's pretty much over his head. Scrooge even waited until business was over to bother visiting him; his maid incredulously declares "I'll see if I can get him to hold out, I'm sure!"
* Colter Stevens from ''Film/SourceCode'' is an example of this.

* When the fatal blow is struck on Detective Latham in ''Film/SheWolfOfLondon'', he manages to tell to the constables nearby that he was attacked by the "wolf-woman" before dying.
* ''Film/IComeInPeace'': After the alien drug dealer mortally wounds the [[SpacePolice space cop]] who was pursuing him, the good one survives just long enough to tell Jack and Larry about the drug dealer's plans and give them his energy gun.
* In ''Film/ThreeHundred'' when the Spartans come across a village slaughtered by the Persians, a lone child strolls up with no visible damage, stares at Leonidas for a second, collapses in his arms, whispers something about the attackers coming from the darkness, and then closes his eyes, presumably dead
* In ''Film/{{Deewaar}}'', Vijay finds Anita dying, and all she's able to say before dying is that she didn't tell her attackers anything.
* In ''Film/Siren2010'', things start going seriously wrong for the protagonists when their yacht runs aground off a deserted island. Then an almost dead sailor swims from the island to their boat, babbles an incomprehensible warning (the sailor does not share a common language with anyone on the boat), and keels over dead.
* In ''Film/{{Numb}}'',, the foursome come upon a mostly frozen man who, after he dies, is found to have a set of GPS coordinates on him which lead to a hidden treasure.
* Parodied in ''Film/Deadpool2'' when a mortally wounded Wade takes [[OverlyLongGag over several minutes]] to die, running out of material for his poignant final speech and having multiple fake-outs. [[ShootTheShaggyDogStory And then he comes back to life anyways thanks to Cable time traveling]].
* In ''Film/TheMysteryOfTheHoodedHorsemen'', Tom Wilson is shot and LeftForDead by the Hooded raiders, but he clings to life long enough to gasp a dying message to Tex.
* In ''Film/Shazam2019'', by the time Billy is summoned, the Wizard is on the verge of death due to a combination of his own old age and being attacked by Sivana moments prior. He survives long enough to hastily explain the situation to the boy and, in a last act of desperation, forces him to take his powers, crumbling into dust immediately afterwards.
* In ''Film/{{Husk}}'', the ScaryScarecrow has murdered Chris and is hoisting his body onto the scarecrow frame in preparation for turning him into a scarecrow. Scott stumble on to the scene and the scarecrow attempts to kill him to. However, Chris proves to be clinging to life and manages to grab the scarecrow and pull him off long enough for Scott to escape. The scarecrow then finishes Chris off for good.
* ''Film/MissileXTheNeutronBombIncident'': Alec gets to Stetson just before he dies of his knife wound.
* In ''Film/{{Rovdyr}}'', Roger, Camilla and Jorgen find an almost dead guy tied to a tree when they wake up in the forest. However, his ability to give them any kind of message about what is coming on is severely hampered because [[TongueTrauma his tongue has been cut out]]. To their credit, Camilla and Jorgen attempt to take him with them when the run, but he is soon caught and killed by one of the hunters.
* ''Film/ThePitAndThePendulum1991'': When Mendoza performs his HeelFaceTurn, Torquemada stabs him and leaves him for dead. After Torquemada is killed, Mendoza reappears--barely alive--and [[RailingKill topples over the railing]], and survives long enough to deliver some expository dialogue.
* This happens twice in ''Film/TwentyOneBridges'': Adi tells Michael the password to a couple of encypted flash drives containing evidence of a criminal conspiracy right before succumbing to bullet wounds, then later a mortally wounded Michael tells Andre the password.

* Creator/DianaWynneJones's ''Literature/CartAndCwidder'': Clennen is dying from stab wounds, but he has just enough time to tell Moril that the magical cwidder is now his responsibility. Moril later realizes that the cwidder playing is what keeps Clennen alive so long.
* In ''Honored Enemy'', a novel of Literature/TheRiftwarCycle by Raymond Feist and William Forstchen, a young soldier is stabbed by a traitor but manages to survive the ride back to his fort, where he warns his commander of the traitor's actions - and, in his commander Hartraft's eyes, he is finally redeemed for having indirectly and unintentionally caused the death of Hartraft's oldest friend.
* Parodied in ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'' with a scene where a dying man gasps out an important piece of information to Arthur Dent -- which Arthur keeps asking him to repeat because he missed a bit or because he wants to make sure he has all the details written down correctly. It ends with the line:
-->"Oh, for heaven's sake," said Prak, and died testily.
* From ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'': the angel Baruch manages to get to Lord Asriel's tower and deliver his message - only semi-coherently, amid distracted rambling that reveal his origins and his once-blood relationship with the Metatron - before a ''gust of wind'' dissolves him into Dust.

* In the Literature/ModestyBlaise novel ''The Night of Morningstar'', a CIA agent is shot by the terrorists he's investigating, but lingers long enough to tell Modesty everything he's found out about them.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
** In Creator/SandyMitchell's ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' series:
*** In ''Cain's Last Stand'', a scrivener survived a tyranid attack -- apparently for days -- just long enough to fill in Cain; then the tyranids kill him. Except it was really ''necrons'' who attacked the place, the tyranids had only just shown up. The man dies before explaining ''what'' attacked and only one odd comment (he was hiding in air ducts? From tyranids?) serves as an indication of what really happened.
*** In ''The Traitor's Hand'', a praetor is fleeing Chaos insurgents when he meets Cain's forces. He fills Cain in and is shot. Unusually, the medic pronounces his injuries not serious, and later, Cain is told that he is recovering well.
*** Back to ''Cain's Last Stand'', would Donal count? He fills pretty much the same expository purpose, it's just rather unusual in nature, both [[BrainwashedAndCrazy the danger]] and [[DrivenToSuicide cause of death]].
** In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's ''Literature/{{Ultramarines}}'' novel ''Nightbringer'', Gedrik. In fact, he should have been dead. This causes Uriel to take what appear to be ramblings very seriously: he thinks that being so near death [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane may have given him visions]].
** In Lee Lightner's ''Literature/SpaceWolf'' novel ''Sons of Fenris'', Magni lives just long enough to tell Ragnar about the HostageSituation they face.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'':
** Subverted by Pedron Niall, Lord Captain Commander of the Children of the Light. Niall has just gotten a message of tremendous importance from his real spymaster when his decoy spymaster assassinates him. His last thought is that if he can die clutching the message in his hand, or even just reaching for it, it'll be noticed and acted on. But it's fallen into a puddle of wine and is unreadable.
** Later on played straight by Verin, except she killed herself to be able to deliver the message.
* Parodied in ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'', where the villain, who hates opera, makes an [[OverlyLongGag extended complaint]] about everything opera-related after being stabbed, apparently dying only to return to life several times in as many minutes. His final complaint? [[HypocriticalHumor How everyone takes so long to die]].
* In ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Two Towers]]'', Boromir hangs on long enough to apologize to Aragorn for having tried to steal the Ring from Frodo, and to tell him that the Orcs got Merry and Pippin. Unfortunately, by the time Aragorn gets around to asking the most salient question (i.e., did the Orcs have Frodo too?) Boromir has died.
* And in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', Morwen stays alive long enough to reunite with her husband, tell him she's dying, and then die.
* In the first ''Literature/KurtWallander'' novel, one of the murder victims manages to hang on to life for several days after she is attacked. When she regains consciousness she mouths the word "foreign" and dies. This is sort of a DoubleSubversion because she dies before the police are able to get any useful information from her, but her attackers do indeed turn out to have been Czech.
* In ''[[Literature/WarriorCats Warriors]]'', this happens with Bluestar (who gets to say goodbye to her kits), Yellowfang (thanking Fireheart), and Hawkfrost (sneering at Brambleclaw). There are more. Also Downplayed, as Ravenpaw (who announces Redtail's death) falls.. but he's just unconscious.
* In ''Literature/LesMiserables'', both Eponine and Jean Valjean take their sweet time dying, yet both keep talking articulately to the very end. Gavroche also gets this briefly, as he keeps singing defiantly after being shot, but then a second bullet [[InstantDeathBullet instantly]] finishes him off.

* In ''Literature/CityOfHeavenlyFire'', when sustaining DeathEqualsRedemption, Jonathan gets to talk about the real him that never got a chance because of Valentine and the demon blood.
* ''Literature/TheSagaOfThePeopleOfVatnsdal'': Thorstein Ketilsson stabs the highwayman Jokul with a sword, so the sword gets stuck in the bed under Jokul. Nevertheless Jokul manages to tell Thorstein his own name and family and instructs him to bring the news of his death to his parents. Only then he tells Thorstein to pull out the sword, upon which he dies.

* In Creator/JohnBuchan's ''Greenmantle'', Harry Bullivant survives long enough to deliver the crucial clues that set Richard Hannay off on his adventure.

* Happens at least once in ''Series/{{Angel}}''. In "[[Recap/AngelS05E22NotFadeAway Not Fade Away]]", Wesley stays alive just long enough to say goodbye to Illyria who is pretending to be Fred--the original owner of her body--by Wesley's wish.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink "Blink"]]: Billy Shipton is attacked and killed by the Weeping Angels — well, not quite. He gets sent back to 1969, where he manages to live ''38 years'' [[TheSlowPath back to the present]] just to deliver a message to Sally Sparrow. On his deathbed.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]]: The Tenth Doctor himself does this as he's dying of radiation poisoning — he manages to survive just long enough to visit all of the surviving companions he'd known in that incarnation, cleverly avoiding actual death by giving out no plot-relevant information besides supplying Jack with the name of the guy sitting next to him in a bar. Of course, once he started dying really ''badly'', he went ahead and travels to 2005 and hints to Rose that later that year she'll be traveling with [[TheNthDoctor his previous incarnation]]. That seemed to have finished him off.

* Parodied in an episode of ''Series/TheYoungOnes'', when a dying secret agent bursts into a hideout to blurt out his final secret to his comrades - however, they're too busy quibbling about finding a pencil and a piece of paper to write it down with to listen to him, and so miss the entire thing.

* Subverted in a fluff piece from the ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' second edition rulebook. An [[RedshirtArmy Imperial Guardsman]] staggers into a command centre and gasps a desperate warning with his dying breaths: Ork forces have broken through the Imperial defences, slaughtering regiment after regiment of troops. The officers, however, ignore the dead soldier. Instead, they calmly watch the battle monitors as [[WeHaveReserves reserves]] close in to trap the advancing Orks - [[BatmanGambit exactly as planned]].

** Riccardo/Gustavo in the final scene of Verdi's ''Theatre/UnBalloInMaschera''. TruthInTelevision – in fact the death is sped up for the stage, as the real Gustav III lingered for two weeks after he was shot.

** It's more likely that Shakespeare was just misinformed - apparently it was commonly thought at the time that people could briefly revive after suffocation, and he was not the only playwright to use this idea for dramatic last words. The title character of John Webster's ''The Duchess of Malfi'' has an almost identical event, in fact.

* The first hitman in ''Theatre/TheAltos'' manages to survive ''almost'' to the end of the song "Come Clean" as he attempts to give his information only to be interrupted by another verse.
* ''Theatre/LesMiserables'': Fantine, Éponine and Jean Valjean all have very drawn-out death scenes. The latter two are more or less taken straight from the novel. Fantine's is actually a LighterAndSofter case; in the novel she's very sick but not necessarily past hope, but when Javert barges into her hospital room and tries to arrest Valjean, [[DeathByDespair the shock instantly kills her.]]

* ''VideoGame/SniperEliteV2'' has Dr. Efram Schweiger, a German scientist, and part of Hans von Eisenberg's research team. Unlike the rest of his colleagues [[CommieNazis who are all willing to sell out to the Soviets in exchange for their lives]], he [[EvenEvilHasStandards absolutely refuses to do so knowing it'll be trouble]], and promptly attempts to defect instead to the Western Allies. However, before he can flee west, he is discovered by [[BigBad Dr. Wolff]], one of his fellow scientists, who has him executed for [[HeKnowsTooMuch being a liability]]. Despite Karl managing to botch his execution, he gets wounded in the escape attempt, and by the time Karl manages to meet him person, he is already bleeding to death, only managing to give him the name "Tabun" before passing.
* ''VideoGame/FarCry3'''s multiplayer literally gives the player to the option to cling onto life by rapidly tapping the "A" button in hopes of revival.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestII'' is more or less the TropeCodifier for this trope in the realm of [[EasternRPG JRPGs]]. The game starts with an evil sorcerer attacking the castle of Moonbrooke, and the only person to flee the attack is a single wounded guard, who hobbles from Moonbrook all the way to the main character's castle of Lauraisa and doesn't die until just after he warns the king there about the impending doom, thus [[ExcusePlot starting your quest to beat down Hargon]]. Needless to say, fans of the game have subsequently reasoned that said guard must have been [[http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c269/StormEagle14963/DETERMINATION.jpg a]] {{Determinator}} and/or BadassNormal to survive the entire journey between castles despite fatal wounds.
* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' (aka ''Doukutsu Monogatari'') subverts this trope. After a lethal fall, Professor Booster survives only long enough to give the player a jet pack, the Booster. However, if the player avoids speaking to him, he survives and later gives an improved version of the Booster instead.
** King plays it straight, surviving just long enough to give you his weapon and tell you to avenge him.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has a few, the most memorable being Tela Vasir's final moments, in which she tries to justify working for the Shadow Broker, before expressing her disgust at Commander Shepard for working with the pro-human terrorist organization Cerberus before succumbing to her wounds mid-sentence.
---> '''Tela Vasir''': "You want to judge me? Look in the mirror! Kidnapping kids for biotic death camps! Killing Alliance admirals who ask questions! And you're working with them! Don't you dare judge me! Don't you..."
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' has Dorn'Hazt, the dying quarian on Rannoch who lives just long enough to direct Shepard to a communication jamming tower... and to leave a final message for his son.
* The ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' games have '''lots''' of them!
** In [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid the first game]], the very first character Snake meets is right in the middle of giving him important information when he suddenly dies of a heart attack. Not much later, he rescues a second man who can explain to him what's going on, when things start to seem fishy, when he also dies of a heart attack five minutes later. None of the bosses he defeats die instantly once the fight is over, but usually stay alive for a few more minutes before they are dead and provide Snake with more information. It's particularly bad with Sniper Wolf, who slowly bleeds to death explaining her story, before requesting a mercy kill. Later in the game it is revealed that Snake was injected with a bio-engineered virus and was just supposed to get close enough to all the targets so the virus would kill them by causing a heart attack, to make sure nobody would survive and be able to talk.
** In the [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty second game]], Emma stays conscious just long enough to disable the main computer, after being stabbed in the stomach.
** Happens only to The Boss in [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater the third game]].
** There's quite a number again in [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots the fourth game]]. It is revealed that Vamp got his apparent immortality from nanomachines that instantly regenerated all damage to his body. Naomi had terminal cancer for years and was also be kept alive by the very same nanomachines. After having achieved all her goals, she commits suicide by shutting them down and dies just minutes later. And finally, Zero is an incredibly old man by the time the game ends and just too stubborn to die even though he's completely paralyzed by age and barely has any consciousness left. He dies only when Big Boss cuts off his oxygen supply.
** It appears to happen to EVA after she is impaled by a rod from an iron grate after she crashes her bike in a ShoutOut to the third game where she suffers exactly the same injury. Though it would most likely be lethal within minutes, she was able to walk it off in 15 minutes and is then able to skip at an easy jog and prepare a plane for takeoff without any signs of pain. Being 50 years older now, she seems not to be able to take it that well, but still manages to wait 20 minutes for Snake to kill their attacker, climb into the sewers and travel underground to the river, where they are captured again with a 30-minute conversation taking place without anyone attending to her injuries. Then the boat that transported her gets sunk in a massive firefight and she gets pulled out of the river. And after 3 more minutes of talking with Snake, she suddenly dies just as ambulances are arriving. However, while it's never mentioned in the game, it's assumed that it was the Foxdie virus that was injected into Snake 10 years ago and specifically engineered to kill the leaders of the Patriots enemies.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'' does this no less than five times:
** At the start of the game, a villager from [[DoomedHomeTown Seles]] lives just long enough to tell Dart that Shana's been taken prisoner.
** A knight shows up in the town of Lohan to inform you that the king has been kidnapped, and dies. Particularly convenient since your characters had just decided to go and see the king.
** At the end of Disc 1, Doel informs the party that Lloyd is heading west to Tiberoa.
** Greham tells Haschel that Princess Emille is a fake and the real one is hidden inside the castle. Unlike others, it's implied he might have lived if he didn't strain himself.
** Lastly, Lloyd lives long enough to gift the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Dragon Buster and Divine Dragon Spirit]] to the party before dying.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' has the rare example of an Almost Dead Computer. He survives being erased somehow, long enough for you to travel the entire world (That's not an exaggeration; the quest to get to him involves visiting every city on the map), travel to the moon, and fight your way through an enemy fortress (including a HumongousMecha boss). Then he dies, taking the fortress with him. Almost... he hangs on long enough for you to get to the teleporter and safely off the moon. At the end of the game, he's brought back to life with the factory intact without any real explanation.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'':
** Greil is impaled through the chest with a {{BFS}}, which would definitely cause him to bleed out quickly and severely damage the parts necessary for speech, but he manages to have quite a lengthy conversation with Ike and the Black Knight and then stagger along on Ike's shoulder for at least a few paces through the woods before he finally expiers.
** Rajaion lives long enough to say goodbye to Ena.
** Lotz's sole purpose of existence. Poor Lotz.
* After Altair takes down his assassination targets in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'', they all give a full exposition on their motives, beliefs, and hints towards the error of Altair's ways as he carries out his master's orders - some of which go on for a full five minutes or more. Interesting that they're able to give him that much information for that extended period of time, considering he ended up stabbing them in the throat on numerous occasions.
** Notably this doesn't happen in real-time, but in the "cyberspace" where the protagonist ends up when the synchronization fails. When these scenes end, not a second has passed around them. Of course, this raises the question of just how this works in the story's internal logic.
*** The way a couple of the monologues are said, including the leader of the Teutonics going "No, please, don't do this!" despite already having been knifed, implies that Altair cornered his targets and allowed them final words before killing them.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' makes these far more believable. The targets only have enough time for one or two sentences before dying. One early one uses his sentence to mock the long confessions from the first game "What were you expecting, a confession?" *dead*
* In one Shockwave adventure game, you encounter in the first scene a dying man clinging to the edge of a rooftop. It's important to ask every question you can if you want all his info, because the second you leave the conversation he loses his grip and falls off the roof.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast,'' Link finds his uncle in the sewers under Hyrule Castle, mortally wounded. The uncle lives just long enough to give Link his sword and tell him to go help the princess before expiring.
** After Zelda flees Castle Town in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', searching an alleyway reveals an injured RedShirt who tells Link that Zelda wanted to give him something, and that if he has it he should to hurry to the Temple of Time. He then visibly slumps, and any further attempts at conversation result in "He's not moving anymore..."
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' parodies this with Mikau, the Zora. After he makes it back to shore with Link's help, he collapses and asks Link to listen to his final words before he dies...and then leaps up and starts jamming on his guitar while singing about how pirates stole his girlfriend's eggs. Immediately after that, he collapses back onto the beach, dead.

* In the video game version of ''VideoGame/MissionImpossible1997'', at one point you find a captured agent who tries to give you information, but dies before he can finish. Ethan remarks: "I just knew he wasn't going to finish that sentence."

* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' Villainess Konishi mockingly tells Beat that Rhyme's memories were his entry fee, not hers, and therefore Rhyme didn't hold him in the same esteem that he holds her before succumbing to erasure.
** There is also Sota who states his and Nao's demise isn't Neku's fault and wished Neku good luck before his time was up. Neku's response drives home that he's no longer an [[IneffectualLoner uncaring loner]].
* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series up to ''Fallout: Tactics'' gives information when you examine enemies - those with 25% HP or less are called "Almost Dead." If you have the "Awareness" perk, the description is replaced with how much HP the target actually has and what weapon they're carrying. However, the Almost Dead part is subverted in an Easter Egg featuring the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Normally, this just results in War ranting about how [[ContinuityNod people say that he never changes]] but attack them and they'll fight back. They all come up as "Almost Dead", but have hit point maximums in the thousands (Compared to your HP more than likely being 100 and change.) Awareness will show their current HP in the thousands too...
** In ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' Hakunin the shaman [[PsychicDreamsForEveryone sends you a dream]] urging you to return to Arroyo. When you do so, you find him dying, and he dies as soon as he explains what's happened to you. Of course, it does not matter how long did it take for you to get to him.

* Buzz Buzz in ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', in the humorous style typical of the game, will literally refuse to die of a mortal wound until Ness hears his full exposition (and confirms that he understood it).
** This seemed to be parodied when Everdred is "dying." He gives a long speech, asks for confirmation then... stands up and leaves.
*** Actually, [[VideoGame/BattalionWars he's had it, commander]]. Don't believe me? Just sleep at the Fourside Hotel after going through Moonside.....
* ''VideoGame/Doom3'' features at least four people dying of their injuries as the player find them, their last lines range from entire monologues to a single line ("Sarge, you got to stop him, he took my gun..") There are several others who die just after meeting you.
* Used often in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'', where many characters, including Kel'Thuzad, Uther and the [[ThresholdGuardians Guardian of]] [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Frostmourne]] all get a final speech before falling over and dying.
** In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', in a quest chain in Magister's Terrace, a Scryer agent hangs on long enough to inform the player what Kil'Jaeden's forces are doing before dying. Players who drop the quest and retake it can hear him say it again. Kael'thas, the boss of the dungeon, gives his FinalSpeech while standing up after being defeated.
* ''VideoGame/Area51'', with a soldier. Notable in that he survives being shot point blank with a machine gun in order to tell the player character absolutely irrelevant information they would have dealt with anyway.
* Done in an implausibly epic and disturbing way near the very beginning of ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle''. There probably aren't too many examples in fiction where Almost Dead Guy manages to deliver his message after [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSTmLHO7AdU being decapitated...]] and essentially telling the guy who did it that he's a pathetic little bitch.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''. Near the beginning of the game, you come across a random soldier who is badly wounded. You have the option of fixing him up and letting him limp back to camp, letting him limp back without medical aid at all, or ''killing him yourself''. However, if you don't kill him, he presumably dies along with everyone else at Ostagar. But he doesn't die of his wounds!
** Played straight in the Return to Ostagar DLC. The player comes across Elric, one of the King's men, as he is caught by Loghain's cohorts in a forested area. Regardless of player action, he is ran through the chest by a sword. He survives long enough to have a detailed conversation that sets up the DLC's plot and goals. As soon as he is done relaying this information, he dies.
* In ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' games, everyone who isn't already dead (or [[EverythingTryingToKillYou trying to kill you]]) is this.
* In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireI'', the second of the two soldiers protecting Nina dies of his injuries after reaching Windia.
* In the point-and-click adventure ''Amerzone'', this trope is used three times, with all three members of a long-ago jungle expedition. Possibly justified, as each man is about a hundred years old, and meeting you gets them emotionally worked-up enough to induce cardiac arrest.
* Marvin Branagh from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', after being bitten by a zombie in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilOutbreak'', stays in the police station and gives a key card to Claire before locking himself in his office. You can come back later, at which point he turns into a zombie and attacks.
* In ''VideoGame/SDSnatcher'', Gillian finds Jan's navigator Little John badly damaged, and it says something garbled about a blood trail, Napoleon and Outer Heaven before becoming inoperative.
* In ''VideoGame/ClockTower'' - ''First Fear'', if Lotte is found at the altar in the caves, she relays information essential in killing Scissorman, before dying (presumably of blood loss) shortly afterwards.
* Many times in ''VideoGame/HalfLife'', Gordon romps into a character who dies within 10 seconds, with or without delivering a line of dialog beforehand. It became somewhat a staple of fan missions.

* Call of Duty 3 has a small example, At the end of the 3rd American level Sgt. [=McCullin=] is mortally wounded by a mortar round and his last words to Cpl. Dixon are "Tell.. tell Guzzo... tell him... tell him to go to hell..." he then laughs insanely before passing away.
* In the first two titles of the VideoGame/{{STALKER}} series, this is ''you'' at the beginning. Obviously subverted you pull through, but in both cases it's noted that you not being dead after what happened is bizarre, even for the Zone.

* In ''VideoGame/KultHereticKingdoms'', Alita encounters a dying messenger in the forest, who asks her to carry his vitally important message. She can do so, but it turns out not to be as vital as the messenger thought — the sender actually sent several messengers, just to be sure, and one of them gets through anyway. (The fact that the dying messenger had been robbed of his uniform, though, turns out to be significant — the ''other'' messenger Alita finds in the forest is actually her quarry [[MuggedForDisguise in disguise]].)
* The Severe Bluejacket in ''Videogame/FallenLondon'', who infamously clung to life for several months to give out new Exceptional Stories.

* In the "Blindsighted" quest in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', one of the bandits will always be alive at Irkngthand to tell you of the horrors that killed them, right before he dies.

* Invoked in ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman''. In the chapter "Eden Club", Connor and Hank are called to the scene of a homicide, where they find a severely damaged [[{{Sexbot}} Traci]] model. Connor is capable of reactivating her for questioning, but due to the damage she sustained, she only lasts a few seconds before shutting down for good.

* Either invoked or ''played for laughs'' in ''[[VideoGame/GoldenSun1 Golden Sun]]''. During the intro sequence, a man is crushed by a boulder, and if you talk to him, he'll ask if he's going to be alright. If you say no, then he loses hope and dies shortly afterward. But if you say yes, he realizes he's NotQuiteDead, and then gets up and is perfectly fine.

* The third chapter of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' has Hifumi Yamada wake up after being fatally wounded, and he manages to give out his killer's name before dying for real. Unfortunately he only manages to say his killer's last name, which nobody knew because they go by an alias and [[SignificantNameOverlap it happens to be the same as the first name of the man they were trying to frame in the first place]].

* Toward the end of WebAnimation/PowerStar, Luigi becomes this after his demonized brother Mario stabs him through the upper-lip area, somehow managing to say about one or two more words before dying.

* Another Mario sprite-animation examples occurs in WebAnimation/RiseOfTheMushroomKingdom at the beginning of part 3, when Luigi saves Mario from a fleet of bullet bills, sacrificing himself in the process and getting blown in half. Somehow, he manages to inform Mario about Wart's involvement in the murder attempt, prompting Mario to head to Subcon to put an end to the menace.

* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'':
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in [[http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=010302 this strip]] where Hereti-Corp issues a '''memo''' instructing employees to die in someone's arms just before revealing vital information.
** Parodied in an ''[[Series/TheXFiles X-Files]]'' arc parody when a waitress is assassinated to prevent the Mulder Expy from learning what the daily special is.

%%* Poked at in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0472.html Apparently, having a name ''does'' increase your chances of survival...]]
* In ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'', [[http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-7-title/ Rusty lurches into Ye Olde Proverbial Hook]] badly injured, towing the still more injured Madeline, and croaks out "...help..."
%%* [[http://www.brunothebandit.com/d/20050926.html Lampshaded]] in ''Webcomic/BrunoTheBandit''.

* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'': As part of the story's FirstEpisodeTwist, the {{magical girl}}s of Team Alchemical are killed by a powerful monster while their [[TheLeader leader]] Tessa is [[AchillesInHisTent sitting out the night's patrol]]. By the time Tessa does arrive, only Undine is left clinging to life, just enough to give some last words of encouragement to the soon-to-be SoleSurvivor as she fades away. [[spoiler:This ends up being {{subverted|Trope}}, however -- Tessa, not willing to accept losing her friends, manages to [[EnergyDonation channel her own magical energy]] into Undine, [[DePower burning out her own power]] but saving Undine's life in the process.]]

* By the time the Rose sisters find Jozk in ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'' he can no longer move due his fatal injuries, yet he is able to make ''most'' of a lengthy request to them.
%%* Used [[http://cockeyed.webcomic.ws/comics/147 here]] to start a ''Webcomic/CockeyedComix'' series.

* In his ''[[Comicbook/XMen Uncanny X-Men #424]]'' review, [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] notes the length of Father Whitney's FinalSpeech. A picture of his tombstone reads, "Father Whitney PlotDevice and Preacher. Also, Angelo."
* In Creator/OlanRogers's ''New Prime'', we have Hans, and in ''The Last Scene'' we have Zack.

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
** Parodied in the cartoon "Deduce, You Say" when a messenger collapses on Dorlock (i.e., Daffy) Holmes' doorstep. Holmes eagerly [=IDs=] him as "a clear case of curare poisoning, of one of Her Majesty's Cold-cream Guards!" only to have the guard chirp "You'd best 'ave that step fixed, guv'nor!" as he pops up and hands Holmes the telegram. "Just for that, you'll receive no gratuity!"
** Bugs Bunny always pretends to be this when he's FakingTheDead, usually causing Elmer Fudd to burst into tears.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' after being stabbed InTheBack, and barely surviving a fall into a pool of water, King Claudus has enough time to tell his son Lion-O, "No matter what happens, you've made me [[SoProudOfYou proud]] today," before dying [[DiedInYourArmsTonight in his arms]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheCrow'', "WesternAnimation/RobinHoodlum": The Sheriff of Nottingham walks up to Prince John, says "I quit", and keels over with two arrows in his back.

** The original version of the Phedippides story (recorded by [[Literature/TheHistories Herodotus]], who was writing about forty years after Marathon) is actually an [[AvertedTrope aversion]]: This story has it that Phedippedes was a professional distance runner who ran from Athens to Sparta in two days to deliver Athens' request to Sparta for aid against the impending Persian expedition. He delivered his message, received Sparta's reply (briefly: "We'll muster and quick-march to your aid as soon as we are done with this extremely important religious festival"), then ran back with the reply, then delivered the reply to the Athenian Assembly ''before'' the Battle of Marathon. Herodotus doesn't say anything about him after that--he certainly doesn't say Phedippedes died. This version has itself inspired a modern footrace, the rather intimidating 246-km [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartathlon Spartathlon]] ultramarathon from Athens to Sparta (which has multiple checkpoints, takes even the best runners over 20 hours to complete, and kicks a participant out for any sign of exhaustion).

** The plot starting device of ''Why Didn't They Ask Evans?'' The protagonist suddenly sees an Almost Dead Guy who, before dying, utters the title sentence, and the protagonist decides to solve this mystery.

* In ''Film/TheUntouchables'', Sean Connery's character takes a burst from a Thompson in the chest, but manages to live long enough to talk later.

* In ''[[Literature/WarriorCats Warriors]]'', this happens with Bluestar (who gets to say goodbye to her kits), Yellowfang (thanking Fireheart), and Hawkfrost (sneering at Brambleclaw). There are more. Also Downplayed, as Ravenpaw announces Redtail's death and falls.. but he's just unconscious.

* In ''[[Literature/WarriorCats Warriors]]'', this happens with Bluestar (who gets to say goodbye to her kits), Yellowfang (thanking Fireheart), and Hawkfrost (sneering at Brambleclaw). There are more.

* Poked at in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0472.html Apparently, having a name ''does'' increase your chances of survival...]]

* [[http://www.brunothebandit.com/d/20050926.html Lampshaded]] in ''Webcomic/BrunoTheBandit''.

* In ''Webcomic/HowNotToRunAWebcomic'', Colby Purcell parodies this trope using the lead characters of his webcomic ''Webcomic/{{Lint}}''. The dying Bactine lies with her head in her lover Sangwine's lap and makes a big speech despite (as Sangwine lampshades) having three iron poles in her torso. Then this exchange happens:

* Used [[http://cockeyed.webcomic.ws/comics/147 here]] to start a ''Webcomic/CockeyedComix'' series.

See also FinalSpeech. If no one is nearby to hear the message when the guy "graduates" from the "almost" part, there's an option of leaving behind a DeadManWriting.

'''Lt. Drebin:''' Where?! Where?! ''[Mook dies]'' All right, who is else is almost dead?

** The special, ''Anime/DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku'', has Bardock's ally Tora who stays alive long enough to tell Bardock Frieza's plan to kill the entire saiyan race before shortly [[DiedInYourArmsTonight dying in Bardock's arms]].

* Captain Jacobi in ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon|1941}}'' comes staggering into Sam Spade's office, with several bullets in his body and carrying a package. He has just enough time to gasp out "black bird" before he keels over and dies. The package is the Maltese Falcon, the titular MacGuffin, a valuable medieval statue of a black bird.

[[folder: Folklore]]

* YUP's ToppatakkejaJaToledonTerasta has a song "Pää Puhuu (The Head Talks)" where severed, but living head records important evidence on a cassette.

* Subverted in a fluff piece from the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' second edition rulebook. An [[RedshirtArmy Imperial Guardsman]] staggers into a command centre and gasps a desperate warning with his dying breaths: Ork forces have broken through the Imperial defences, slaughtering regiment after regiment of troops. The officers, however, ignore the dead soldier. Instead, they calmly watch the battle monitors as [[WeHaveReserves reserves]] close in to trap the advancing Orks - [[BatmanGambit exactly as planned]].

* After Altair takes down his assassination targets in ''VideoGame/{{Assassins Creed|I}}'', they all give a full exposition on their motives, beliefs, and hints towards the error of Altair's ways as he carries out his master's orders - some of which go on for a full five minutes or more. Interesting that they're able to give him that much information for that extended period of time, considering he ended up stabbing them in the throat on numerous occasions.

** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' Hakunin the shaman [[PsychicDreamsForEveryone sends you a dream]] urging you to return to Arroyo. When you do so, you find him dying, and he dies as soon as he explains what's happened to you. Of course, it does not matter how long did it take for you to get to him.

* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} 3'' features at least four people dying of their injuries as the player find them, their last lines range from entire monologues to a single line ("Sarge, you got to stop him, he took my gun..") There are several others who die just after meeting you.

* ''VideoGame/{{Area 51}}'', with a soldier. Notable in that he survives being shot point blank with a machine gun in order to tell the player character absolutely irrelevant information they would have dealt with anyway.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Breath of Fire|I}}'', the second of the two soldiers protecting Nina dies of his injuries after reaching Windia.

* In the first two titles of the [[VideoGame/{{STALKER}} STALKER series]], this is ''you'' at the beginning. Obviously subverted you pull through, but in both cases it's noted that you not being dead after what happened is bizarre, even for the Zone.

[[folder:Real life]]

** Tristan in the final act of Wagner's ''Theatre/TristanUndIsoldeWagner''.
** Gilda in the final scene of Verdi's ''Theatre/Rigoletto''.
** Manon in the final scenes of Massenet's ''Theatre/Manon'' and Puccini's ''Manon Lescaut.''
** Werther in the final act of Massenet's ''Theatre/Werther.''
** Riccardo/Gustavo in the final scene of Verdi's ''Theatre/UnBalloinMaschera''. TruthInTelevision – in fact the death is sped up for the stage, as the real Gustav III lingered for two weeks after he was shot.

** [[IllGirl Mimí]] in the fourth act of Puccini's ''Theatre/LaBoheme''.
** Tristan in the final act of Wagner's ''Tristan & Isolde''.
** Gilda in the final scene of Verdi's ''Rigoletto''.
** Manon in the final scenes of Massenet's ''Manon'' and Puccini's ''Manon Lescaut.''
** Werther in the final act of Massenet's ''Werther.''
** Riccardo/Gustavo in the final scene of Verdi's ''Un Ballo in Maschera''. TruthInTelevision – in fact the death is sped up for the stage, as the real Gustav III lingered for two weeks after he was shot.