History Main / GiveMeLibertyOrGiveMeDeath

* In ''ComicBook/{{Scion}},'' when the Raven and Heron kingdoms invade the [[SlaveRace Lesser Races]]' Sanctuary island, Exeter makes it clear that he's willing to die defending it, which leads to this speech:

-->'''Zanj army''': LIBERTY OR DEATH!\\
'''Frightened-looking Arab soldier''': You lack sophistication, my dear fellow! Have you ever thought of the idea that no man is ever completely free?\\
'''Zanj soldier''': But completely dead, yes!

-->"We'll either die free chickens, or we'll die trying!"
-->"Are those the only choices?"

--> '''Tanya:''' (slowly breaking into tears) I love you, Tony. I love you more than life. And what did you make of me? "Spot White". I couldn't go back to that. I couldn't. Forgive me.

* ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'':

-->'''Marco:''' You know what it says on the New Hampshire license plates?
-->'''Visser One:''' Live free or die.
-->'''Marco:''' [[spoiler:My mother]] walks out of here a free woman, or she dies.

-->“Before the war,” he said, “our slogan here in Fiume was ''‘Give us Italy or death.’'' ” He swallowed at his drink. “And now do you know what we have? Italy ''and'' death.”

-->"When we left Macquarie Harbour it was in the pouring rain\\

And some fool muttered 'death or liberty' ..."

-->''There's smoke down by the river''\\
''Hear the cannon and the drum''\\
''Even if I die, I've got to try''\\
''Can you run?''

* ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'': L'Manburg plays with this a lot in its War for Independence. At the start of the war, Wilbur, its first leader, declares an equivalent of this during the secession of L'Manburg, stating that its citizen-members would rather die than give in to Dream's [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem corrupt]] rule. Dream, being a ControlFreak who considers the entire server to be his property (in a DivineRightOfKings sort of way), retaliates to this by delivering death to the L'Manburgians' doorstep, manipulating Eret to [[RebelliousRebel betray the nation]] and have everyone else LuredIntoATrap to be outright ''massacred'' in the Final Control Room by Dream and his allies. Wilbur is willing to stand down after the massacre (given [[spoiler:it doubles as his CynicismCatalyst]], it makes sense in hindsight), but Tommy ''isn't'', and plays this trope fully straight by having a DuelToTheDeath against Dream for L'Manburg's independence; while Tommy loses the duel and his second canon life in the process[[note]]Each DSMP character has three canon lives; every Revolution-era L'Manburgian other than Eret lost their first canon life in the Final Control Room massacre[[/note]], he ends up negotiating L'Manburg its independence anyway after trading [[NumberOneDime his Cat and Mellohi discs]], two items Dream wants, for it.[[note]]Wilbur, being Tommy's BigBrotherMentor-figure, initially tried to talk him down from this, believing L'Manburg's freedom and independence to be not worth Tommy's life, but ultimately gives in.[[/note]]

Basically this is when people are willing to fight to the death for freedom. Sometimes they actually do end up dying for it, but this trope is solely about being willing to die for freedom, regardless of the result. Expect a RousingSpeech or two.

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]

* ''Manga/InuYasha'': [[BrokenBird Kagura]] is enslaved to [[TheCorrupter Naraku]] but is [[{{Determinator}} determined]] to obtain her freedom. [[ImpliedLoveInterest Sesshoumaru]] warns her that her path will lead to her death if she's not careful, but she persists anyway because there is no other alternative for her. Eventually, even though she knows it will cost her life to do so, she [[HeroicSacrifice saves]] [[DesignatedVictim Kohaku]] from being killed by Mouryoumaru and is promptly killed by Naraku. Bittersweet because she realises as she's dying that the only way she could ever gain her freedom [[IDieFree was by dying]], but that it is true freedom. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] later on by Mouryoumaru when he accidentally triggers Sesshoumaru's BerserkButton by insulting Kagura's willingness to die for her freedom, an ideal and death he views as worthless.

* ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', with the Brotherhood. [[spoiler: It turns this was set up by the SecretPolice, though, [[XanatosGambit as only Thought Criminals would join such an organization and so the Brotherhood gathers all potential rebels while the loyal Party members ignore it]].]]

* ''Series/{{Impulse 2018}}'': Dominic, one of the teleporters, would rather [[spoiler: shoot himself and [[MercyKill take his 8-year-old son with him]] than let him be taken by the people who experimented on him.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' Anders seems to believe it’s better if mages die fighting for their freedom rather than live in the Circle, that for him is nothing more than a GildedCage. [[spoiler: He blows up the Chantry to provoke a war and force mages to rebel or be slaughtered.]]

** There were also a number of slave revolts, even though the slaves knew there was a high chance they'd be crushed by the militia and executed.

** Likewise during the French Revolution, their slave run colonies heard some of that fancy Republican rhetoric and decided they wanted in. This led to rebellion in Haiti, the only nation founded by a successful slave rebellion. The National Convention acknowledged the rebellion until UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte destroyed the Republic and reinstated slavery, and captured the great Toussaint Louverture during a peace negotiation. The people of Haiti rose up in Rebellion and repelled the French, forcing Napoleon to abandon all of France's New World colonies.

** UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar was an ironic twist on this for the South. They wanted freedom from the North.

--->You know what it says on the New Hampshire license plates?
--->Live free or die.
--->My mother walks out of here a free woman, or she dies.

** The trope is mocked in ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'', where zealous revolutionary Reg Shoe shouts at the enemy, "You can take our lives, but you can never take our freedom!" There's a long pause and some mumbling while everyone runs that sentence through their heads again and decides that, yes, it's the stupidest battle cry they've ever heard. [[spoiler:Sure enough, Carcer answers "Wrong!" and shoots him.]]

* Older Sister Maid in ''LightNovel/MaoyuuMaouYuusha'', when she had to impersonating Crimson Scholar, and being arrested for being heretical.

* ''The Two-headed Eagle'' by John Biggins. Otto Prohaska saves an Italian patriot from the FiringSquad, only to find him years later, a broken and penniless man in Fiume, now a run-down backwater under Mussolini's corrupt dictatorship.

* Those tiny blue ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' William Wallace stand-ins, the Nac Mac Feegle. "Nae king! Nae Quin! Nae Laird! Nae master! We willna be fooled again!" Then again, they also think they're dead and in warrior paradise, so their views on getting killed are a little unique.
** The trope is mocked in ''Discworld/NightWatch'', where zealous revolutionary Reg Shoe shouts at the enemy, "You can take our lives, but you can never take our freedom!" There's a long pause and some mumbling while everyone runs that sentence through their heads again and decides that, yes, it's the stupidest battle cry they've ever heard. [[spoiler:Sure enough, Carcer answers "Wrong!" and shoots him.]]

* ''Series/{{Impulse}}'': Henri's father, Dominic, would rather [[spoiler: shoot himself and [[MercyKill take his 8 year old son with him]] than let him be taken by the people who experimented on him.]]

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', this is pretty much the moto of the Ala'Mhigan rebellion against the Garlean Empire, with rallying cries of "Liberty or Death" being heard all through the Stormblood expansion

-->''I'm gonna be free or die.''

-->'''I'm gonna be free or die.'''

* ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', with the Brotherhood. [[spoiler: It turns this was set up by the BigBad, though. [[XanatosGambit Only Thought Criminials would join such an organization and so the Brotherhood gathers all poetential rebels while the loyal party members ignore it]].]]

* In ''Series/Supernatural'', when Sam and Dean join Charlie in larping at the end of the episode, Dean legit quotes the ''Braveheart'' speech word for word.

* When Sam and Dean join Charlie in larping, Dean legit quotes the ''Braveheart'' speech word for word.

** UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar was an ironic twist on this for the South. They wanted freedom ... the freedom to keep slaves.

* Harriet Tubman, a "conductor" on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Railroad Underground Railroad]] (that smuggled slaves from the American south to freedom in Canada), carried a handgun with her for protection. She once said that when a runaway slave lost heart and wanted to give up and return to the plantation, she pointed the gun at him and said, "You go free or die."

* In ''ComicBook/{{Scion}},'' when the Raven and Heron kingdoms invade the [[SlaveRace Lesser Races]]' Sanctuary island, Exeter makes it clear that he's willing to die defending it, which leads to his CrowningMomentOfAwesome:

-->'''Zanj army''': LIBERTY OR DEATH!
-->'''Frightened-looking Arab soldier''': You lack sophistication, my dear fellow! Have you ever thought of the idea that no man is ever completely free?
-->'''Zanj soldier''': But completely dead, yes!

* In ''Film/BlackPanther2018'', Erik Killmonger thinks like this, which becomes evident after [[spoiler:T'Challa mortally wounds him in battle]]—"''Bury me with my ancestors who jumped from the slave ships, because they knew death was preferable to bondage.''"