History Main / KilledOffforReal

->''"The cycle of nature and your stupid plan don't mean a thing! Aerith is gone. Aerith will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry or get angry."''
-->-- '''Cloud Strife''' to Sephiroth over [[ItWasHisSled one of the most famous examples of this trope in gaming]], ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' is where DeathIsCheap, but an epic intraplanar Assassin's guild called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Garrote]] makes this their modus operandi. Long story short, they're known for getting the job done and making it ''stays'' done. Not even DivineIntervention nor RealityWarping can bring back a person thoroughly disposed by The Garrote.

'''Naturally, as a DeathTrope all spoilers will be unmarked ahead. ''YouHaveBeenWarned.'''''

->''"The cycle of nature and your stupid plan don't mean a thing! Aeris is gone. Aeris will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry or get angry."''

* The rules of ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' states very clearly that for all amazing things magic and charms and exaltation can accomplish, dead is dead and you can't be brought back. And while reincarnation is a common theme and you may have memories of previous lives, it's made clear that it's not so much ''your'' past life as just a past life that happened to have the same shard, which retained a few memories that you can use. And, although spirits do exist, as well as undead, and weapons that can have souls bound to them (rather painfully), one can never return to life.

* Although ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'' has a tendency to bring deceased characters back to life in various ways, especially with the revelation that the Red Star is a RespawnPoint for the Matoran Universe, there are a few characters who are confirmed to be dead. Specifically, the Red Star can ''only'' respawn those in the Matoran Universe who have a corpse; anyone else is Killed Off For Real. These include Matoro, "Ancient", Carapar, Icarax, Mutran, Gorast, Bitil, Chirox, Antroz, Krika, Vamprah, Nidhiki, Krekka, Kojol, and Teridax.

** Sanguinius was slain by Horus so hard that the Marines descended from his gene-seed felt it. That's not an exaggeration -- the Black Rage that haunts the Blood Angels nearly thirty thousand years after their Primarch's end is the psychic trauma from the moment of his death.

** Sanguinius was slain by Horus so hard that the Marines descended from his gene-seed felt it. That's not an exaggeration -- the Black Rage that haunts the Blood Angels over a thousand years after their Primarch's end is the psychic trauma from the moment of his death.

* ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' uses the Vortex system, which generally allows both player characters and NPCs to dodge death using their pool of story points, even if they are dropped into a volcano or last seen falling into space with a hole in their chest. However, if a character is all out of points or has the Slow Death trait, they are gone for good. Occasionally major NPCs die in story moments too.

* KilledOffForReal/TabletopGames

* KilledOffForReal/{{Toys}}

* KilledOffForReal/{{Theatre}}

->''"The cycle of nature and your stupid plan don't mean a thing! Aerith is gone. Aerith will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry or get angry."''

For a dead character to be considered Killed Off For Real it cannot be simply any death; it must be one that under normal circumstances for the setting and genre could have been reversed, undone or revealed to be some sort of trick. If it's a setting with AllDeathsFinal, this never comes into play -- remember that permanent death is LikeRealityUnlessNoted. Consequently, most realistic or mundane works do not provide examples of this trope.

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

In some kinds of stories, CharacterDeath [[DeathIsCheap doesn't carry much weight.]] Maybe [[BackFromTheDead resurrection is commonplace]] or some sort of magical alternate universe [[OpeningACanOfClones has a spare copy to borrow]]. Maybe [[NegativeContinuity the format]] [[ResetButton of the show]] makes any sort of death meaningless and temporary. Maybe for some reason people [[MadeOfIron never die when they should]]. Sometimes, even in these stories, a character dies and they ''stay dead.'' No magical return from the dead, no {{retcon}} and no copout. They're dead and they're staying that way.

* Wrestling/LuchaUnderground[[/folder]] has killed off characters throughout its run. The first person killed was Bael, who was fed to Dario Cueto's "monster" brother Matanza. In the season 2 premiere, three more "underground fight club enthusiasts" got fed to Matanza.

* The Urban Wrestling Federation was infamous for killing off several members of its roster, up to and including a freshly crowned champion, Rasche Brown.[[/folder]]

Contrast DisneyDeath and DeathIsCheap. Compare DeaderThanDead.

* Wrestling/FightingOperaHUSTLE saw Monster Bono accidentally kill him mother, Yin Ling the Erotic Terrorist.
* The Urban Wrestling Federation was infamous for killing off several members of its roster, up to an including a freshly crowned champion, Rasche Brown.[[/folder]]

Contrast DisneyDeath and DeathIsCheap.

'''As a DeathTrope (and for that matter, THE DeathTrope), all spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''

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

[[DeaderThanDead She's really most]] '''[[DeaderThanDead sincerely]]''' [[DeaderThanDead dead]]."]]-]

Note that (theoretically) there might still be ''other'' ways to revert a death, like declaring it AllJustADream -- see the FirstLawOfResurrection.

This is [[CaptainObvious one of those things we shouldn't have to point out]], but even so: sadly, this trope has been very much TruthInTelevision for the entirety of life's existence. All currently living organisms are mortal and will cease to carry out the functions of life at some point in the (relatively) near future.