History Main / DoNotGoGentle

* Definitely describes [[spoiler:Buffy's]] final fight in the ''Series/{{Angel}}''/''Literature/TheHungerGames'' crossover "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10718717/1/Demon-s-Games Demon's Game]]"; [[spoiler:as she CameBackWrong after her recent resurrection and knows she will die soon, when circumstances require someone to engage in a fight on the Astral Plane, Buffy volunteers despite her lack of experience in this kind of fighting, as she's so close to death it doesn't matter if she can't come back and this way a strong fighter can take on the challenge]].

* ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' subverts this with the execution of [[spoiler:Pekoyama]], who tries to go down swinging against an army of robots until [[spoiler:she accidentally badly injures her childhood friend who's she's spent her whole life protecting as his bodyguard, who rushed in to try and save her, allowing the robot army to finish her off while she's having a "MyGodWhatHaveIDone" moment, gently cradling him as he bleeds.]]
** [[spoiler:Gundham Tanaka]] gives the students a RousingSpeech to this effect before heading off to his execution; the students had been locked in a building, slowly starving to death and losing hope, and [[spoiler:Tanaka]] urged them to keep fighting from now on and never give up on life again, which is especially powerful when you remember that the only reason he killed was because [[spoiler: he and Nidai agreed that SomeoneHasToDie, because no one would be freed from the building otherwise, so they had a DuelToTheDeath to decide who which one would due in battle and which would be convicted for the killing and executed. Like Pekoyama, he also attempted to fight back during his execution, despite going willingly, though this ultimately failed]].

** Tien facing off against [[spoiler: Semi-Perfect Cell to buy time for Android 18 to escape despite knowing it would mean his death either from overuse of the Tri-Beam or from Cell's wrath afterwards.]]

** Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and [[spoiler:his wife, Uzumaki Kushina]], give up their life while saving the Konoha village from the Kyuubi's attack, but also take steps to ensure that the BigBad would be eventually defeated, by sealing the Kyuubi inside Naruto. Minato even adds ''[[CrazyPrepared two]]'' fail-safe mechanisms into the seal just in case things go wrong.
** [[spoiler:Jiraiya]] dies while fighting against Pain, but ''temporarily comes back from death through sheer willpower'' only to leave behind enough information to help someone else defeat Pain.

-->"My wealth and treasures? If you want it, it's yours. I left everything I gathered in one place. But you'll have to search the ''entire world!''"

-->'''[[spoiler:"ONE PIECE EXISTS!"]]'''

--> '''Megatron''': What could you possibly do? (''aims his tail gun at Dinobot'')
--> '''Dinobot''': ''Improvise!'' (''whacks stick onto a rock, smashes his new-formed stone hammer into Megatron, grabs the Golden Disc, and obliterates it with an eye-laser that takes the last out of him'')

* The end of the German corsair ship ''Kormoran'' during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII fits the trope to a t: cornered by the light cruiser HMAS ''Sydney'', that outclassed her by an enormous margin [[note]]''Kormoran'' was 18 knots fast and armed with 6 WWI-vintage 155mm guns, 2 37mm anti-tank guns, 5 20mm anti-aircraft guns and 6 torpedo launchers - ''Sydney'' was 32.5 knots fast and armed with 8 modern 155mm guns, 4 quick-firing 101mm guns, 21 machine guns and 8 torpedo launchers[[/note]]. Also, being an actual warship facing a converted merchant ship, ''Sydney'' had better armor and fire control, and, having the main battery on turrets, could concentrate all its heavy firepower on either broadside while ''Kormoran'' could use only three of her heavy guns at most), the crew of the ''Kormoran'', that was intercepted while disguised as the liner ''Straat Malakka'', bullshitted their way into having the enemy come very close ([[RefugeInAudacity even launching a distress signal claiming they were under attack from a corsair]]), and when the enemy was at 1000 m they opened fire with everything they had. At the end of the battle ''Kormoran'' was so damaged the skipper ordered her scuttled, [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome but not before seeing their opponent run away on fire until she sunk]].

* The end of the German corsair ship ''Kormoran'' during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII fits the trope to a t: cornered by the light cruiser HMAS ''Sydney'', that outclassed her by an enormous margin (''Kormoran'' was 18 knots fast and armed with 6 WWI-vintage 155mm guns, 2 37mm anti-tank guns, 5 20mm anti-aircraft guns and 6 torpedo launchers, while ''Sydney'' was 32.5 knots fast and armed with 8 modern 155mm guns, 4 quick-firing 101mm guns, 21 machine guns and 8 torpedo launchers. Also, being an actual warship facing a converted merchant ship, ''Sydney'' had better armor and fire control, and, having the main battery on turrets, could concentrate all its heavy firepower on either broadside while ''Kormoran'' could use only three of her heavy guns at most), the crew of the ''Kormoran'', that was intercepted while disguised as the liner ''Straat Malakka'', bullshitted their way into having the enemy come very close ([[RefugeInAudacity even launching a distress signal claiming they were under attack from a corsair]]), and when the enemy was at 1000 m they opened fire with everything they had. At the end of the battle ''Kormoran'' was so damaged the skipper ordered her scuttled, [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome but not before seeing their opponent run away on fire until she sunk]].

** More generally, this is the exact attitude a large number of wizards take with their [[CastFromHitPoints Death Curses]]. Of particular note is Simon Pietrovich, who didn't take his death lying down when his base is attacked by vampires - instead he made sure he had a lot of company at the Gates.

** Similarly, [[spoiler:his FriendlyEnemy Whitebeard did the same thing at his own death. As a marine victory was poised to snuff out the Golden Age of Piracy, Whitebeard shouted out his FamousLastWords, reigniting the idea once again, and started an entirely new age of piracy. Those words?]]

# Death seems certain for a character, and they [[DespairEventHorizon are going to just lie down and take it]]. Someone may admonish them for that, and they [[ThePowerOfFriendship decide to get up]] and [[LastStand fight with all their might]]. May overlap with RousingSpeech. Also may manifest as a mental process, in defense of a loved one, or a rush of HeroicSpirit. Expect them to be outnumbered and out-gunned. Sometimes a hero or villain will decide to take out as many enemies as they can before their death. If a hero is doing this, it will most likely end in a HeroicSacrifice, but it as least certain to be a DyingMomentOfAwesome.

* While ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' itself showed the ComicBook/MartianManhunter getting stabbed in the back by Libra's flaming spear, the ''[[TitleRequiem Requiem]]'' reveals that J'onn didn't go to his ComicBookDeath merely from this, but went down fighting the Secret Society, even managing to get some friends to tell his life story and [[DefiantToTheEnd tell Libra to his face that he'd never win]].

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* In ''[[FanFic/IcedFairysANewWorld A New World]]'', a particularly extremist family of Lunarians have had enough of the human expansion on the False Moon and decide to take action. By seizing control of Earth-bound comms channels and triggering a nuclear war at a global level, triggering a holocaust and decimating Humanity. It all goes downhill for them after that.

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''[[Webcomic/FifteenMinds Blue Moon Blossom]]'', when the rabbit spirit is dying, as its last action, it flies over to the pit of rabbits that were turned to stone and crumbles away, restoring them all to life.
* [[CowboyCop Zeke Strahm]] eventually gets one of these in ''Blog/SeekingTruth''. He's hoping to survive, but considering that [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos his opponent]] is a thus-far [[TheBadGuyWins undefeated]] EldritchAbomination...

* A slight inversion in ''Roleplay/{{AJCO}}'' with Egg, who has accepted that she will die and begs ''the others'' to not go gently in her last speech rather than the other way around.
--> '''''' I’m begging you – fight.\\
'''''' Fight for your right to be free from monsters like her.\\
'''''' Fight the lies and the torture and the treachery.\\
'''''' F-Fight to see the days that… I’m not going to be able to\\
'''''' …otherwise your entire life will be for nothing.
** It has an immediate effect on the person responsible for her [[spoiler:apparent]] death in the first place, who promptly runs out into a landscape that she believes to be highly toxic [[WorthyOpponent after the girl]].
* There are a number of instances of this trope in ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'', but one of the most spectacular ones is [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2069 SCP-2069]]: Aliens attack Earth and rapidly destroy most of the planet's cities and major infrastructure, bringing mankind to its knees, and then the SCP Foundation and Global Occult Coalition [[EnemyMine join forces]] into an organization called AEGIS, assume control of every remaining military asset in the world and bring the fight to the aliens. They succeed in destroying nearly half the alien fleet with weaponized satellites while the other half was defending itself against [[MacrossMissileMassacre thousands of ICBMs]], then launched pretty much everything else at their grounded ships. When the aliens inevitably regain the upper hand through sheer technological and logistical advantage, AEGIS develops a weapon called a [[DoomsdayDevice Nova Bomb]], and, whatever it is, it's powerful enough to punch a hole from their reality into our own, probably taking the aliens with it.

* ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' subverts this with the execution of [[spoiler:Pekoyama]], who tries to go down swinging against an army of robots until [[spoiler:she accidentally injures and almost kills Kuzuryuu, her childhood friend/superior, who rushed in to try and save her, allowing the robot army to finish her off while she's having a "MyGodWhatHaveIDone" moment]].
** [[spoiler:Gundham Tanaka]] gives the students a RousingSpeech to this effect before heading off to his execution; the students had been locked in a building, slowly starving to death and losing hope, and [[spoiler:Tanaka]] urged them to keep fighting from now on and never give up on life again. [[spoiler:Like Pekoyama, he also attempted to fight back during his execution despite going willingly, though this ultimately failed]].

* In Verse 2 of the Episode Ignis DLC for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', Ignis faces off against Ardyn [[spoiler: at Zegnautus Keep]] in an attempt to change the future and prevent [[spoiler: Noctis' eventual [[HeroicSacrifice Heroic Sacrifice]]]]. To do so, he decides to [[spoiler: wear the [[DeadlyUpgrade Ring of the Lucii]] and offer his life for the power to fight Ardyn, [[HeroicSacrifice guaranteeing his death at the end of the fight]].]] Bear in mind that Ardyn was able to match and overpower [[spoiler: Regis]] in combat, and he was easily able to defeat [[PlayingWithFire Ifrit]], a PhysicalGod. He not only succeeds in defeating Ardyn (albeit temporarily), his [[spoiler: temporary]] HeroicSacrifice alters the future enough to [[spoiler: turn the game's BittersweetEnding into an EarnYourHappyEnding where Ravus lives to undergo a HeelFaceTurn and allies with Noctis and friends, allowing the five of them to permanently kill Ardyn without requiring a HeroicSacrifice and rebuild Insomnia]].

-->'''Shepard''': ''Maybe you're right. Maybe we can't win this. But we'll fight you regardless... However insignificant we may be, [[LastStand we will fight, we will sacrifice]], and we will find a way. [[HumansAreSpecial That is what humans do]].''

* This choice actually [[MultipleEndings determines what ending]] you get in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}''. Go quietly into TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, [[spoiler:and you will die, unaware of what happened to you.]] Choose to fight against all hope, [[spoiler:and you will die, albeit by a HeroicSacrifice in order to SealedEvilInACan so everyone else will live.]]

* ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'': [[spoiler:When the Nazis invade the Resistance's base, one of BJ's timeline-dependent teammate will give the Nazis hell before dying. Tekla will shoot several Nazis before she is gunned down, while J cranks his guitar's amp UpToEleven and rocks Berlin with "Star-Spangled Banner" in his final moments.]]

* ''VideoGame/ForHonor'': [[BigBad Apollyon]] respects people who defy her to the bitter end rather than meekly submit to their fates. In fact, she lets those who take this attitude with her ''live'', believing that [[SocialDarwinist they are the only warriors deserving of life]].

---> '''Rawne:''' Feth! '''Feth it all!''' It can't end like this! I won't allow it!
---> '''Kolea:''' Now what?
---> '''Rawne:''' We take as many of those bastards down with us. All of them! Every last Emperor-damned one of them!
---> '''Kolea:''' [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Just what I was about to say myself.]]

** Londo noted how the humans, during the Earth-Minbari war, knew they were doomed because of their lesser technology, but where other races would fall into despair humanity fought back even more strongly after every defeat (as he narrated we are shown a few examples of this, including a man trying to stand back up and fight ''after being knifed to death''). He was quite impressed and moved to tears even. After two years of constant fighting, of trying to hold back the advance, with the Minbari force on Earth's and humanity would muster what military it had to HoldTheLine as civilians tried escaping. Ironically, humanity was saved when The Minbari surrendered, which baffled everyone ([[spoiler:they had discovered that each race was carrying some of the other's DNA--their races had crossed 1,000 years ago, as is revealed in season 3]]).

* The poem is being read to a rousing music in a commercial about fighting cancer. With so much success in treating the various forms of it, it'd be stupid of people to just give up.

* [[TheReptilians Azala]] of ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', being a supreme [[TheFatalist fatalist]], acknowledges before her last stand that it is probably her and her species' fate to lose to the humans but refuses to go down without a fight.

--> '''Rawne:''' Feth! '''Feth it all!''' It can't end like this! I won't allow it!
--> '''Kolea:''' Now what?
--> '''Rawne:''' We take as many of those bastards down with us. All of them! Every last Emperor-damned one of them!
--> '''Kolea:''' [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Just what I was about to say myself.]]

*
''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', depending on what you did, [[spoiler:has Alistair wishing to do this by killing the [[BigBad Archdemon]] as his first and ''final'' act as King of Ferelden so he could be remembered as one of the good ones.]]

* In military science fiction novel ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'', the leaders of the futuristic LadyLand Azania prefer mutual nuclear destruction to defeat in war against their archenemies, the reactionary Christian fundamentalists of the Northern Confederation. Other Azanians disagree with this, however.

* In Verse 2 of the Episode Ignis DLC for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', Ignis faces off against Ardyn [[spoiler: at Zegnautus Keep]] in an attempt to change the future and prevent [[spoiler: Noctis' eventual [[HeroicSacrifice Heroic Sacrifice]]]]. To do so, he decides to [[spoiler: wear the [[DeadlyUpgrade Ring of the Lucii]] and offer his life for the power to fight Ardyn, [[HeroicSacrifice guaranteeing his death at the end of the fight]].]] He succeeds in driving off Ardyn, but [[HeroicRROD he succumbs to wounds inflicted by the Ring]] and dies minutes later [[DiedInYourArmsTonight in Noctis' arms]]. [[spoiler: Don't worry, he gets better.]] This alters the future significantly, resulting in [[EarnYourHappyEnding Earn Your Happy Ending]].