History Main / DeathByFallingOver

* ''Series/{{Vera}}'': The VictimOfTheWeek in "Darkwater" was killed during a violent argument when he was shoved off the bank of a lake; falling on rocks and smashing his skull and breaking his neck.

* ''Series/TheSandman2022'': Infuriated, Roderick Burgess attempts to strike his son with his cane. Alex deflects the blow and shoves his father away from him. Roderick stumbles, loses his balance, falls backward, and smacks the back of his head against the glass cage in which he has imprisoned Dream. He then drops to the floor, the unintentional impact proving to be fatal.

* In the last episode of ''Series/Supernatural'', Dean dies from falling against a large piece of metal sticking out of a wall. Especially jarring considering this is the series finale, and he is one of the main characters.

* Happened to UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump’s ex-wife Ivana,

* ''Manga/WalkToDeath'' [[PlotTriggeringDeath begins with]] the main character Tokiko's adoptive father falling and hitting his head on a table.

* ''Film/TheFBI'': In "Sky On Fire", George Bellamy (Bradford Dillman) punches out his blackmailer Carl Platt (Charles Grodin), causing him to fall and fatally strike his head on a fireplace hearth.

* ''Series/KungFu'':

[[quoteright:250:[[Webcomic/ToonHole https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/death_falling_over.png]]]]

* In the Disney version of ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', Frollo knocks Quasimodo's mother over on the steps of the cathedral, and she goes down so decidedly it almost looks like she's already dead when her head hits the stone.

* PlayedForLaughs in the ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' DLC ''Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt''. BigBadWannabe Nakayama prepares to go out fighting the heroes... and promptly falls down a flight of stairs to his death. Complete with a boss health bar that slowly drains with every impact.

* ''Series/{{CSI NY}}'':
** In one episode, it appears that a main character kills another just by pushing them over, onto a rug. It even going so far as to have them arrested for the murder and even having them admit it. Later, it's revealed that the victim was just fine and got up after the other character left, only to be killed by someone else immediately after.
** In another episode, a movie producer died in suspicious circumstances so the detectives think someone pushed him, but it turns out that his death really was an accident: his wife had put him on a diet, so he was reaching up for a secret candy stash on the balcony, but he'd been drinking so he lost his balance and fell.

* In April 1324, Emma de Latthere swatted five-year-old John de Burgh on the face for stealing a ball of wool and hiding it under his cap. The blow caused some kind of unseen damage, and the lad died the next day.

TruthInTelevision, since it's actually not uncommon for people to die in this way, [[StaircaseTumble especially if stairs are involved.]] Aside from someone being pushed, a common example is drunk people not protecting themselves when they fall over, leaving their heads to smash uninhibited into concrete. The main risk is that a blood vessel will rupture and bleed into the brain or skull, causing pressure to build so the delicate tissue doesn't get enough oxygen. Depending on the severity of the bleed, it can take anywhere from minutes to hours for death to occur. A person with a slow bleed may even be able to [[TimeDelayedDeath function normally for a while]], until the headache and other symptoms overwhelm them. Often the person's life can be saved if they get medical attention quickly enough.

* This is how ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux'' dies in one of her episodes.
* How Bart meets his end in the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''' rendition of ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''. After Bart (playing Hamlet) kills Claudius, he starts to walk off to celebrate life, only to slip on a pool of blood and die.