History Main / DeadHandShot

*
The final shot from ''Film/TheGreatZiegfeld'' as Ziegfeld's hand falls limp after his final flashback and his call for "more stairs".

* The Franchise/PowerRangers franchise gets in on this with the opening episode of ''[[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Time Force]]''. Alex is killed by Ransik near the end of the pilot, and upon his death we are treated to his hand falling and hitting the ground from two different angles as dramatic music swells.
* In the ''Series/HighwayToHeaven'' episode "Keep Smiling," Jane is setting Margaret's hair. As she briefly leaves the room to make tea, Margaret appears to be in some distress. The camera slowly pans down from her troubled face and zooms in on her hand as it falls from the armrest. Jane returns to see that Margaret has suddenly died in her chair, kicking off the plot of the episode.
* A variation in the MiniSeries "[[https://youtu.be/Yw9te6_fGGY The Murder Of]] [[https://youtu.be/6wf99s4DseA Mary Phagan]]", when we see the dead girl's ''feet'' when Newt Lee, the night watchman at the factory where she worked, discovers her body in the basement.

* Hai An's death in ''Manhua/InfinityGame'' as the rest of his body is obscured by the explosion smoke.

* This happens twice in ''Webcomic/KissWood'' after the Professor is shot by a Watcher and only a hand is shown of Ahbon's corpse as its crushed under rubble. Subverted with the latter, as he survives with only his hand injured.

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead's'' [[http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/904/766043-left4dead_windows_cover_large.jpg cover art]] is of a dead hand-- it's in the opening movie as such.

%% * Used in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' when Sonic is killed during the Last Episode.
* One of the endings for ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' shows this for the protagonist, on his deathbed.
* The GameOver screen for ''VideoGame/KingOfTheMonsters'' shows the arm of a corpse hanging over a wrecked car [[SceneryGorn with the smoldering ruins of a Japanese city in the background]].

* In the ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'' HQ-exclusive bad ending ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGNuDAvtiMI seen here]]), Kotonoha is pushed by Sekai onto train tracks and is fatally hit by the arriving bullet train. Right after the train hits, the scene cuts to Makoto holding the poor girl's [[AnArmAndALeg torn-off hand]]
* The introduction to ''Animism: Book of the Emissaries'' has one after a running man is attacked by a wolf.
* Played with in ''Haunted Legends 6: The Dark Wishes'' as Duke Roberto is only ''believed'' to be dead due to dark magic, despite receiving one of these during the introduction.
* Used in conjunction with RaisedHandOfSurvival during the special animated promotion for ''VideoGame/{{Elsword}}'''s Lu and Ciel: when Karis kills Ciel this trope plays out, soon followed by the latter.
* At the start of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', we know that Nora is dead when they zoom in on her hand in Snow's grasp and the fingers go limp. The whole of her is shown when he loses his grip, but it's a signal that she's already gone when she falls.
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', as a fatally wounded Elise perishes in Xander's arms, her hand goes limp.
* The ''Honor and Glory'' promotional cinematic for ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' includes a shot of a [[MechaMooks Bastion unit]] dying with a trembling outstretched hand like this near the end of Reinhardt's rampage through the enemy ranks.
* The intro to the first case of ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'' ends on a shot of the victim's hand as he sits dead in a chair.
* Chapter 8 of ''VideoGame/LikeADragonInfiniteWealth'' ends on a shot of a dead Hanawa's hand and his phone ringing as Kiryu tries to get in touch with him.

* Near the end of the ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'' episode "Undersea Urgency", Jonny and other survivors of a doomed UnderwaterBase (overrun by Film/{{CHUD}}-like creatures awakened by a a seaquake), one of surviving scientists tries to go back for one of the dead creatures (ForScience!). Turns out the creature (and it's inhuman maw full of razor-sharp teeth) is NotQuiteDead. Cue this trope.
* ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'' used this. In "The Metallikats," gangster Katscratch is blasted by Mac Mange's laser gun, and goes crashing into a pile of crates, which collapse down onto him. We see his burned hand sticking out from under them. Then in "Razor's Edge," some of Dark Kat's ninja {{Mooks}} throw a guard into another pile of crates, burying him, and we see his twitching hand fumble for, and press, a silent alarm before he apparently dies or passes out.
* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons Superman]]'' theatrical short "Destruction, Inc.", we see the hand of a murdered night watchman sinking into a swamp at the beginning.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'': In "The Key," after the Schyphozoa has drained Aelita's memory, the girl drops in a CrucifiedHeroShot to the floor. The camera focuses on her hand, which reaches for some semblance of life, but then drops back.
* The Creator/DiCEntertainment ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' two-part episode "The Greatest Evil" had the episode's villain, a drug dealer known as the Headman, die from an overdose. The very end of the episode shows his lifeless hand protruding from the rubble of his lair to confirm that the overdose killed him.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'' episode "Open Wide for Zombies" ended with Edgar the Swamp Witch drowning in the swamp, the last we see of her being her hand sinking into the marshy depths.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePeriwigMaker'': A little girl watches as her mother, a victim of TheBlackDeath during the 1665-66 London Great Plague, is loaded onto a corpse cart. The mother's hand and arm flops out from under her shroud as her body is thrown onto the cart, and the little girl sobs.

* In ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'', the flashback of Tom Riddle shows a hand hanging from a sheet-covered corpse on a barrow, carried by four unnamed medic wizards down a stairway. We later learn that the dead girl is "Moaning Myrtle," the very girl whose ghost haunts the ladies' room in the second floor, and that she was killed by the basilisk on the orders of none other than Tom Riddle himself.

* The first ''Film/SawI'' film has promotional posters featuring both a severed hand and a severed foot, with corresponding {{tagline}}s ("Every piece has a puzzle." and "Every puzzle has its pieces."). Later films have posters with similar depictions focused on other body parts, such as two severed fingers for ''Film/SawII'', three teeth for ''Film/SawIII'', and John's severed head on a pound for ''Film/SawIV''. ''Film/SawVI'' brings back the severed hands with a leather glove-like stitching.
* The horror movie ''Film/{{House}}'', starring William Katt.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMlDPsRwZE4 The ending]] of the 1930 film version of ''Film/AllQuietOnTheWesternFront1930''.
** Also a scene in the middle showing a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciq9ts02ci4 French soldier's hand gripping some barbed wire after the rest of him has been blown to pieces.]]
* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'', Captain Barbossa drops an apple as he dies.
* William Wallace after his execution at the end of ''Film/{{Braveheart}}''.
* After Neil kills himself in ''Film/DeadPoetsSociety''... though the drama is ruined somewhat by the subsequent slo-mo shot.

* Orange Juice's death in the film version of ''Literature/LifeOfPi''.
* Cora's death in ''[[Film/ThePostmanAlwaysRingsTwice1946 The Postman Always Rings Twice]]''.
* ''Film/WelcomeToThePunch'' (2013). During a struggle in the morgue, the detective protagonist bumps into a laden gurney and a hand drops out from under the sheet. This is how he discovers his partner has just been murdered, due to her [[CouldntFindAPen habit of writing notes on the back of her hand]].
* ''Film/MadMax'':
** ''Film/MadMax1''. Max forces his way into the hospital room where the Goose lies under an oxygen tent after being burnt alive in his car by Toecutter's gang. Cue the Goose's charred arm falling out from under the tent. Max then pulls back the cover, and [[GoryDiscretionShot only his horrified expression hints at what's under it]].
** Subverted at the end of ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome''. After Max causes a crash, the hand of [[TheDragon Ironbar]] falls out of his vehicle, strokes the woman's dollface on his standard, then turns upwards for a final defiant FlippingTheBird.
* In ''Film/BatmanForever'', when Two-Face falls to his death in Riddler's DrowningPit, the last we see of him is his hand sinking into the water as his TwoHeadedCoin falls into its palm [[KarmicDeath (Tails up)]] before it goes under.

* ''Film/JurassicPark1993'':
** When Jophrey the worker is ([[UncertainDoom apparently]]) killed at the beginning, his death is signified by a closeup of his slowly relaxing hand slipping free from Muldoon's grasp in dramatic SlowMotion.
** A much more, uh, literal variation is done with Arnold. After being attacked by a raptor, Ellie bumps up against a cabinet, and Arnold's hand comes down and appears to grab her shoulder. She sighs in relief, only to turn and discover it's ''just'' [[AnArmAndALeg his arm]].
* ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'':
** Another very literal interpretation is done with the helmsman of the ''Venture'': all that's found is his severed hand gripping the wheel.
** On the ''Venture'''s deck, a crew member's dead body is signified by his arm sticking out from behind a control panel (which is obscuring the rest of him), holding the remote control for the ship's hold doors in his hand.

* In ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon'', a somewhat tipsy man named Sean goes venturing into the woods to look for his missing friends Harry Berman and Judith Browns, who are late for a dinner party. Suddenly, he steps on something. He looks down to find that it's Harry's hand... and ''only'' his hand.
* In ''Film/{{Selena}}'', after Selena is shot by Yolanda, the audience is shown a closeup of Selena's hand slowly dropping the ring that Yolanda gave her.
* ''Film/SilentFall'': When Jake visits the scene of the Wardens' murder, there's a shot of a bloody hand sticking out from under a sheet.

* In ''[[Film/Blade1998 Blade]]'', Whistler is bitten by vampires and badly wounded. He takes Blade's gun and orders him to walk away. We hear a gunshot and see the gun fall from his bloody hand.
* The final shot from ''Film/TheGreatZiegfeld'' as Ziegfeld's hand falls limp after his final flashback and his call for "more stairs".
* ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'': As [=McCoy=] tries to save Klingon Chancellor Gorkon after an assassination, Gorkon gestures to Kirk, resting his hand upon his head and weakly says "Don't let it end [[ThisMeansWar this way]], Captain...", when his hand slowly slides down and he dies.
* ''Film/GreenForDanger'': When Freddi is sleeping in her room that is slowly filling with coal gas, there is a shot her hand falling limply over the side of her bed, although she turns out to be merely unconscious and Sanson arrives in time to save her.
* ''Film/TheHitList'': When Arbor shoots Gates, the camera shows the glass of milk Gates was holding hit the floor and shatter, and the Gates' hand outstretched hand landing in the spilt milk.

* Happens to a middle school student whom ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'' bit for blood [[AccidentalMurder and accidentally killed]] [[VampireBitesSuck by fully draining her]] in [[WholeEpisodeFlashback the fourth OVA.]] First there's a ScreamDiscretionShot to the school building and a bunch of students as another girl finds her, then a while later the girl's body is shown from a long distance, and last but not least there's a shot of her hand [[LongHairIsFeminine and some strands of her long hair.]]

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', as Vegeta draws his final breath on Namek, his tear-blurred vision fades from his point of view, and we next see a close-up of his gloved hand falling onto the ground, followed by a shot of his body shivering with his eyes closed before becoming still and lifeless, followed by a gust of wind blowing on his body.
** In the movie ''[[Anime/DragonBallZDeadZone Dead Zone]]'', this is how the death scene of two members of the QuirkyMinibossSquad is handled. Goku uses a Kamehameha to launch Ginger into a building that he earlier knocked Nicky into using his Power Pole. Ginger hits Nicky, Kamehameha and all, and the building explodes. Ginger's twitching hand sticks up from the rubble afterwards before going limp.

* Flashbacks to the background story of the Uchiha Clan massacre in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' would show a bloodied hand ripping out of the paper doors, while the shadowed figure of the perpetrator Itachi Uchiha looms above the body.
* Happens to Nono Motoe in ''Anime/BloodC''. Or better said, we see her legs after she and her twin sister Nene are ''horribly'' eaten alive in front of their friend Saya Kisaragi. And then it's subverted: it was all an act. They ''do'' get killed off again... [[CruelAndUnusualDeath and it's much worse]].
* ''Anime/WolfsRain'': A flashback of Toboe's life as a pet had him accidentally kill his own elderly owner because of his unrestrained playfulness. The last shot is off the woman's gasping pleas to Toboe to get off her and her outreached hand falling to the floor as she dies.

* In ''Literature/{{Another}}'', the last we see of the nurse Mizuno Sanae after she's been [[ElevatorFailure crushed inside a malfunctioning elevator]] is her limp, bloody hand poking out of the wreckage.
* In the first episode of ''Anime/{{Madlax}}'', the titular ActionGirl is speaking to an injured boy named Pete whom she has just rescued in the jungle. They're talking about having a date once they're done, but in the middle of their conversation Pete passes away from his injuries; the first signal we get is how he stops talking after he tells Madlax his name, and the second is how his hand goes limp.
* ''Manga/DeathNote'': VillainProtagonist Light Yagami concocts a plan to trick the man tailing him, FBI agent Raye Penbar, into revealing his FBI badge and information so Light can kill him. Using the Death Note, he makes a drug addict and failed bank robber called Kiichiro Osoreda hijack the bus where both Light and Raye are currently on. Then Light tricks Osoreda into picking a piece of the Death Note causing him to be able to see Ryuk. Horrified at the appearance of the shinigami, the hijacker empties his handgun at him to not use, then he makes the bus driver stop the bus and quickly makes for an exit only to get hit and killed by speeding car as soon he gets out of the vehicle. The last we seen of the man is his lifeless hand lying on a large pool of blood.

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersLastStandOfTheWreckers'': Had an AnyoneCanDie story and the final issue had a variant cover with a hand lying limp on the ground.

* Poe is left holding Gia's detached twitching arm when she's torn from it and killed in ''ComicBook/LabRats''.
* The eighth issue of ''ComicBook/RomSpaceKnight'' combines this trope with EmpathyDollShot in a flashback sequence where Rom recounts how he and the other Space Knights failed to prevent the Dire Wraiths from destroying planet Angelica. The last panel of the flashback sequence shows a lifeless hand and a doll among the ruins observed by Rom and the other Space Knights.

* ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', complete with dropped apple. Of course, it's only "sleeping death".

* Towards the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'', a dying Kerchak's hand falls to the ground after he tells Tarzan to [[TakeCareOfTheKids take care of the other gorillas.]] It was even animated in a slow-mo like fashion.
* ''Literature/ThePlagueDogs'': The scene where the dog shoots the hunter in the head.

* As the rats clear away the wreckage of their hoist device in Creator/DonBluth's ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', they find the limp arm of their leader, Nicodemus, which is the only part of him visible amid the large pieces of debris.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'', as the Beast lies dying in Belle's arms, he caresses her face until his paw goes limp, followed by a close-up of [[BigSleep his eyes closing]] with his last breath.
* A variation in ''WesternAnimation/AladdinAndTheKingOfThieves''. After [[BigBad Siluk]] ends up getting turned to gold by the Hand of Midas, his golden form falls into the water below and lies still on the bottom, with the last shot of him being his left hand and its tiger claw gauntlet, both of which were now solid gold.

'''As a DeathTrope, all spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''

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[[folder:Manhwa]]
* Happens in ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' after Nia's death, as to confirm Lurker's statement that he is dead. We see his blood covered legs.
* This happens twice in ''Webcomic/KissWood'' after the Professor is shot by a Watcher and only a hand is shown of Ahbon's corpse as its crushed under rubble. Subverted with the latter, as he survives with only his hand injured.

* ''Series/MoneyHeist'': In the Season 2 premiere, Oslo's left hand stopping to move is what shows that Helsinki's MercyKill of him was successful.