History Main / LastMinuteReprieve

The gallows can be replaced with a [[ShotAtDawn firing squad]], an electric chair or lethal injection in modern settings. Similarly, the messenger on horseback can be replaced with a telephone call from the mayor, governor or other ReasonableAuthorityFigure.

** Sinbad himself interupts Proteus's execution via cutting the blade off the executioner's axe, so he can take his friend's place in failure. The executioner then has to draw his sword for Sinbad's turn on the block, only to lose ''that'' too when Eris intervenes.

** It's the villain who gives the reprieve: [[BigBad Eris]] interrupts Sinbad's execution, which he accepted to save Proteus (who had pledged his own life in his place if Sinbad failed to return with the Book of Peace {{MacGuffin}}), right before the sword comes down on his neck. She rages at him for proving her wrong about his character, as she had assumed he was lying when he claimed he would return to be executed if he didn't get the Book from her. When he points this out to her, she's forced to concede defeat and give it back.

* All the way back in ''Action Comics'' #1, the very first heroic thing anyone ever saw Franchise/{{Superman}} do was break into the governor's house (and we do mean ''break'') to present evidence that an innocent woman was about to be executed and got the governor to phone in a reprieve, having found the real murderess [[NoodleIncident in some unseen event]].
* Happened once in ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}, with two twists: Diabolik ''deserved'' his death sentence, and he got a reprieve only because an anti-death penalty activist had pointed out that [[KangarooCourt his trial before had been accidentally rigged by public opinion]] (as it's pointed out, at the time there was no evidence that Diabolik even existed, and the only witness was already on the verge of going crazy and thus was unreliable) and had to be redone in an attempt to get Diabolik to rot in jail (in the end Diabolik's trial is ''not'' redone, but by then Diabolik has already managed to break out again). This is a {{Justified}} example: Diabolik has had a death sentence hanging on him for years and the police, knowing his ability to break out of jail, keeps a guillotine ready to execute him ''immediately'' in case they capture him, so any reprieve will naturally come at the last minute.

* ''ComicBook/StarWarsDoctorAphra''. Having been awarded three demerits, Imperial officer Magna Tolvan is [[YouHaveFailedMe automatically sentenced to execution]]. As she's standing before a firing squad of stormtroopers, the long-delayed paperwork for her promotion comes through; she's been transferred to a position that entitles her to ''four'' demerits before she can be executed, so the execution is cancelled. She then awards the commander of the firing squad a demerit point. [[LaserGuidedKarma Unfortunately it's his third...]]

* Villainous example in ''Film/ThePostman'': Bethleham realizes that [[PragmaticVillainy he has nothing to gain]] from executing Postmaster Ford Lincoln Mercury after TheReveal that [[spoiler:Many of the postmen organizing resistance against him are working independently of the Reunited States Postal Service.]]

* ''{{Series/Matlock}}'' featured an episode where a client (played by Stephen Baldwin) ends up exhausting his appeals despite a key witness recanting her testimony due to remembering more details about the night in question. The appeals judge informed them that the only way to overturn the conviction is if new physical evidence is found. Come the night of the scheduled execution, Ben's assistant is with the police who have cornered the real killer in a house. After a confrontation leaves the suspect dead, they discover that the gun he was holding was the previously-missing murder weapon, and the episode ends with Ben answering a call informing them of that fact, therefore halting the proceedings.

* ''{{Series/Probe}}'''s "[[Recap/ProbeMetamorphicAnthropoidicPrototypeOverYou Metamorphic Anthropoidic Prototype Over You]]": Austin and Mickey try to get the Judge to issue a stay of execution to prevent Josephine (an orangutan [[ThisBearWasFramed suspected of murder]]) from getting a lethal injection. At that same time, an AnimalWrongsGroup tries to free her from [[PoundsAreAnimalPrisons the pound]].

* Kind of done in the game ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'', where [[spoiler:a giant "Siege Golem" lunges its ax downward at one of your party members, and stops right above the party member's head... because at that exact moment you defeated the person controlling the golem.]] It's not a messenger, but...
* [[spoiler:Jowd]] gets at least three of these in ''VideoGame/GhostTrick''. Sissel rescues him from being killed by the electric chair (not ''in'' the chair, it explodes and kills him before he can sit on it) by helping him escape from prison. [[spoiler:He's immediately recaptured by Cabanela.]] Lynne then goes to convince the Justice Minister to give him a reprieve. Unfortunately, when she gets there, he's [[spoiler:died of a heart attack]]...but that's nothing Sissel can't handle. However, the minister won't give a reprieve until he's sure that [[spoiler:his daughter hasn't been kidnapped since he's being blackmailed into upholding the execution order]]. After all these hoops are jumped through, he's finally allowed to live another day [[spoiler:as well as be out of prison for the rest of the night.]]
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' [[spoiler:Olga]] steps in front of Raiden to stall Solidus for a few more moments before he can shoot him, [[spoiler:since the moment Raiden dies, Olga's daughter will as well]]. He simply grabs her and kills her with a bullet to the head, but right when he aims to shot Raiden, the virus that had been placed in the main computer hours earlier finally becomes active, causing Solidus to keep him alive for the time being.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* In the "Sacrificing Myself" ending of ''VisualNovel/SteamPrison'', [[spoiler:Adage]] is mere seconds away from being executed for [[spoiler:killing Glissade]] when Ines intervenes and convinces [[WardensAreEvil Sachsen]] to hire the prisoner on to work for the HOUNDS instead. [[spoiler:With Glissade gone, they're in need of a medic and no doctor from the Heights is likely to take the job voluntarily, so Sachsen agrees to spare Adage in return for his services]].
[[/folder]]

* An unusual variant occurs in ''WesternAnimation/SinbadLegendOfTheSevenSeas'', where it's the villain who gives the reprieve: [[BigBad Eris]] interrupts Sinbad's execution, which he accepted to save Proteus (who had pledged his own life in his place if Sinbad failed to return with the Book of Peace {{MacGuffin}}), right before the sword comes down on his neck. She rages at him for proving her wrong about his character, as she had assumed he was lying when he claimed he would return to be executed if he didn't get the Book from her. When he points this out to her, she's forced to concede defeat and give it back.
** Immediately before this, Sinbad himself interupts Proteus's execution via cutting the blade off the executioner's axe, so he can take his friend's place in failure. The executioner then has to draw his sword for Sinbad's turn on the block, only to lose ''that'' too when Eris intervenes.

* In the ''Series/AlloAllo'' episode ‘Firing Squashed’, Herr Flick and von Smallhausen receive a lucky escape from being executed by General von Klinkerhoffen from Herr Flick’s Godfather, Heinrich Himmler. This comes just after the pair think all hope is lost when a previous telegram from Berlin turned out to be from the General’s tailor.

* The First of the ''Literature/BooksOfSamuel'' tells how Saul charged the people with a vow that necessitated everyone refrain from eating food until they had slaughtered the Philistines. His son, Jonathan hadn't heard the vow or his father's instructions because he and his armor-bearer went ahead to start the battle. Jonathan comes across some honey and eats it. When Saul finds out, He has no qualms about OffingTheOffspring but Jonothan's life is spared because the people vouch for him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "The [=ABC=]s of Beth", Tommy's father was wrongfully accused of killing and eating his son. As his execution date is nearing, Rick and Beth find the missing Tommy in another dimension. But he refuses to return home and clear his father's name, so they make a clone from his finger to show up at the execution mere moments before the lethal injection was administered.

* ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' has the deposed king consort of Melromarc, and the former first princess Malty, exposed in a plot to sunder the four Legendary Heroes and make war with neighboring realms. Queen Mirellia sentences these two to death by guillotine for such treason. However, the Shield Hero intercedes one moment before the blades drop to have their punishments commuted [[spoiler:to demotion to vassals, and be renamed Trash and Bitch, respectively]]. The Queen concurs and the condemned are spared.

* ''Series/PrisonBreak'': Lincoln Burrows is already on the electric chair for the [[FrameUp (fake) murder he was framed for]] when a phone call from the Governor comes in to postpone his execution so that new evidence in his case can be reviewed. The Warden profusely apologizes to Lincoln and his family for the extremely callous manner in which the Governor handled it, who later refuses to pardon him anyway. Luckily, this does give Michael the time he needs to implement his escape plan.

* Done in BigDamnHeroes style in ''Film/ThePlayer''. One movie within the movie is an art film in which the heroine dies in the gas chamber at the end, even though innocent. By the end of the main movie, the director of the art film has become so corrupted by Hollywood that his little art film with a DownerEnding now has Creator/BruceWillis rescuing Creator/SusanSarandon from the gas chamber complete with snappy one-liners.