History Main / LastGraspAtLife

* One of the posters for the HBO film "Deadly Voyage" (the story of 8 African stowaways murdered by the crew of the cargo ship they snuck onto) features this , with the large ship sailing away in the background. [[note]] Kingsley Ofosu, the sole survivor, said that the other men were shot/beaten before being thrown overboard, some still alive.

* Subverted in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', as Arnie signs off being lowered into the crucible with the thumbs-up taught to him by Connor.
-->'''''[[{{MST}} Dreamgun Film Reads]]:''''' Arnie gives a thumbs up, the universally recognised sign for "I want to go back up!"

!!Examples

* The ''Terminator'' scene gets parodied in Lobo comics - while sinking in quick drying cement, ComicBook/{{Lobo}} (modified into a robocopesque cyborg at that time) uses his last gesture to give everyone a finger.

* Subverted in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', as Arnie signs off being lowered into the crucible with the thumbs-up taught to him by Connor.
-->'''''[[{{MST}} Dreamgun Film Reads]]:''''' Arnie gives a thumbs up, the universally recognised sign for "I want to go back up!"
* Gollum in the film version of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing'' as he falls into the lava pit at Mount Doom, holding the Ring in that one hand.

* ''Film/TheNakedGun'' does this in the first movie, to a {{Mook|s}} sent by the main bad guy to kill Drebin at the slaughterhouse.
* The second ''Film/DerWixxer'' movie gives us a variant of this, by having the bad guy giving the middle finger.
* Towards the end of Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/SleepyHollow1999'', Lady van Tassel is [[DraggedOffToHell dragged to hell]] by the Hessian through the [[{{Hellgate}} Tree of the Dead]]. All that remains of her in the physical world is her hand, which sticks out of the tree.

* ''Film/MadMax''
** After {{Car Fu}}ing several pursuing vehicles in the opening ChaseScene of ''Film/MadMax2TheRoadWarrior'', Max dismounts from his vehicle only to be startled by a sudden scream, and see a hand grasping in the middle of the wreckage before its owner expires.
** ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome'' has the FlippingTheBird version when [[TheDragon Ironbar]] is killed at the end of the movie.

* In ''Nomads of Literature/{{Gor}}'' the BigBad uses a living pool, "The Yellow Pool of Turia," as his preferred method of execution. He keeps it in a hothouse where there are vines growing around which he can manipulate via remote control so they're closer or further from the victim, to torture them by making them think they could grab a vine and pull themselves out. "I have even seen them reach for vines a spear's length above their head and think they could reach them!" [[ChekhovsGun Naturally]] this comes back to bite him in the ass during the climax.
* In ''Literature/{{Nation}}'', First Mate Cox [[LastBreathBullet raises his gun]] one last time as he's sinking into the lagoon [[ThreateningShark full of sharks]].

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', If Link falls into lava or quicksand, he'll sink down into it, with just his hand reaching up before he respawns.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', if Mario falls into toxic waste or quicksand, he is seen sinking in it and then drowns before he puts a hand up above the surface one last time.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', elven males, both night and blood, perform this for the last frame of their death animation.

* One of Reptile's fatalities in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' melts an opponent in an acid pool, leaving only a twitching hand.

* ''Literature/GodsAndWarriors'': In the climax of ''The Crocodile Tomb'', the last thing seen of [[DarkChick Alekto]] is her arm reaching for the sky before crocodiles drag her under the Nile's surface.

See also FutileHandReach, which is more likely to be executed by a witness to the death. SisterTrope to the DeadHandShot.

** Jafar's hand is the last thing to disappear into the lamp, reaching out to take Iago with him. Because if you're going to spend eternity in an oil lamp, you want Gilbert Gottfried in there with you.

* Used in at least one film rendition of Franchise/SherlockHolmes's famous story ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles,'' which takes place in an English moor ''infamous'' for its swamps.

* Common in card art for ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''. Examples include [[http://magiccards.info/vi/en/166.html Quicksand]] and [[http://magiccards.info/m11/en/78.html Unsummon]].

* The ''Terminator'' scene gets parodied in Lobo comics - while sinking in quick drying cement, SelfDemonstrating/{{Lobo}} (modified into a robocopesque cyborg at that time) uses his last gesture to give everyone a finger.

* One of Reptile's fatalities in ''MortalKombatXL'' melts an opponent in an acid pool, leaving only a twitching hand.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' animation [S]GAME OVER, his hand desperately reaching out is the last we see of [[spoiler:Karkat]] as he sinks/is thrown into a LavaPit.

* Blood Elf males in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' perform this for the last frame of their death animation.

* Two examples in ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'':

* Towards the end of Tim Burton's ''Film/SleepyHollow'', Lady van Tassel is [[DraggedOffToHell dragged to hell]] by the Hessian through the [[{{Hellgate}} Tree of the Dead]]. All that remains of her in the physical world is her hand, which sticks out of the tree.

* Gollum in the film version of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Return of the King]]'' as he falls into the lava pit at Mount Doom, holding the Ring in that one hand.

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* Used in at least one film rendition of SherlockHolmes's famous story ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles,'' which takes place in an English moor ''infamous'' for its swamps.
* In ''[[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II Secret of the Ooze]],'' Shredder begins the film by reaching his hand out from a pile of garbage. At the end he thrusts his hand out from the ruins of the dock that had just collapsed on him, only to die.
* After {{Car Fu}}ing several pursuing vehicles in the opening ChaseScene of ''Film/TheRoadwarrior'', Max dismounts from his vehicle only to be startled by a sudden scream, and see a hand grasping in the middle of the wreckage before its owner expires.

* Thrax dies in this way in ''Film/OsmosisJones''. The last part of him to go is his index finger, which is his signature weapon, bursting cells upon contact.

* In ''[[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles TeenageMutant Ninja Turtles II Secret of the Ooze]],'' Shredder begins the film by reaching his hand out from a pile of garbage. At the end he thrusts his hand out from the ruins of the dock that had just collapsed on him, only to die.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', if Mario falls into toxic waste, he is seen sinking in it and then drowns before he puts a hand up above the surface one last time.

* The last we see of Film/DrNo in the eponymous ''Film/JamesBond'' movie is his RobotHand trying to grasp a metal support beam as he drowns in the cooling tank of a nuclear reactor.

* ''Series/XenaTheWarriorPrincess'': In the ending of the episode "The Return of Callisto", both Callisto and Xena end up trapped in a large pit of quicksand. Xena eventually manages to free herself, but leaves Callisto to her fate. As Callisto sinks more while frantically begging Xena to rescue her, the last we see of her are her hands fruitlessly trying to reach out until she sinks completely and drowns.

[[folder:TabletopGame]]
* Common in card art for ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''. Examples include [[http://magiccards.info/vi/en/166.html Quicksand]] and [[http://magiccards.info/m11/en/78.html Unsummon]].