History Main / OnlyEvilCanDie

* In ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'', the only people explicitly shown to die are [[spoiler:Hordak Prime]] and [[spoiler:Shadow Weaver]] (the latter being an AntiVillain who [[RedemptionEqualsDeath dies to save the protagonists]]). The HeroicSacrifice of [[spoiler:Angella]] is treated as equivalent to death, but she's still alive out there somewhere and can possibly be brought back.

** In ''Film/IronMan2'', despite the Hammer Drones going amok amid the crowded Stark Expo and doing untold fortunes in property damage, not a single bystander is ever shown getting so much as a boo-boo. The only deaths are Whiplash, who commits suicide, and his father in the backstory.

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:

* In ''Film/IronMan2'', despite the Hammer Drones going amok amid the crowded Stark Expo and doing untold fortunes in property damage, not a single bystander is ever shown getting so much as a boo-boo. The only deaths are Whiplash, who commits suicide, and his father in the backstory. This is something of a common theme of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, and [[MemeticMutation many jokes have been made]] about [[Film/TheAvengers2012 The Battle of New York]] having a death toll consisting entirely of aliens and parked cars.

* In ''Film/IronMan2'', despite the Hammer Drones going amok amid the crowded Stark Expo and doing untold fortunes in property damage, not a single bystander is ever shown getting so much as a boo-boo. The only deaths are Whiplash, who commits suicide, and his father in the backstory.
** This is something of a common theme of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, and [[MemeticMutation many jokes have been made]] about [[Film/TheAvengers2012 The Battle of New York]] having a death toll consisting entirely of aliens and parked cars.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Mythology, Religion, and Folklore]]
* Justified. In mainstream UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}}, death is the wage of sin and, more precisely, the consequence of the original sin.
->''For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.''
-->--'''[[Literature/BookOfRomans Romans 6:23]]'''

* Very notable in ''Manga/OnePunchMan''. Monsters are killed by the thousands yet Heroes have not suffered a single casualty. Hell, it's not just evil, but humans, good or evil are spared. While many civilian deaths are mentioned, the instances where a human actually gets killed onscreen can be counted on one hand.

* Very notable in ''Manga/{{OnePunchMan}}''. Monsters are killed by the thousands yet Heroes have not suffered a single casualty. Hell, it's not just evil, but humans, good or evil are spared. While many civilian deaths are mentioned, the instances where a human actually gets killed onscreen can be counted on one hand.

* Played with in ''Franchise/{{Dragonball}}'' that while people of either alignment die DeathIsCheap, but this almost always applies to heroic characters. Villainous characters almost always are KilledOffForReal if they haven't had a HeelFaceTurn, with notable exceptions of Vegeta (though he was [[TokenEvilTeammate working for the heroes]] at the time) and Frieza (it takes a long time in-universe and out, but he does eventually gain JokerImmunity). The Majin Buu arc invokes this with them wishing everyone but the most evil people Majin Buu back and all the villains in the arc so far stay dead.

'''As a DeathTrope, beware of spoilers!'''

In this trope, no one dies except the BigBad, the VillainOfTheWeek, and villains' {{Mooks}} (although good characters may end up FakingTheDead).

As a DeathTrope, beware of spoilers!

Ad a DeathTrope, beware of spoilers!

This trope exists mainly because people don't feel the same level of upset when the villain dies as when the good characters die, and killing the villain is a good way to resolve the plot. This is also a notable trope in fairy tales and fantasy for younger readers, as once again, villain death is not treated with the seriousness that good character death is. No PosthumousCharacter counts towards these - only characters with onscreen deaths. SubTrope of PlotArmor when not only the main character but all the morally correct characters have it. See also ImprobableInfantSurvival if the large group with the PlotArmor is the children rather than the good characters, although they may overlap if the good guys are kids and the bad guys are adults. Mutually exclusive with TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth. NOTE: This trope only applies when the good characters are actually in situations in which they might die.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* A very well-known tendency in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is that despite the sometimes extremely gory battles and almost every fight being to the death, none of the good guys or those allied with them ever die. Even potentially crippling injuries get healed in some fashion.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder''. Despite all of the danger the good guys go through, only the poacher McLeach dies by falling down a waterfall.

** The Descendants tie-in novel ''Isle of the Lost'' revealed that Beast asked the Fairy Godmother to bring back any dead villains so they could be properly punished on the Isle of the Lost, so it's likely Gaston actually did die.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder''. Despite all of the danger the good guys go through, only the poacher Mc Leach dies by falling down a waterfall.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'', although everyone sleeps for a hundred years, no one dies except the villain Maleficent. All the people in the castle, such as Aurora, her parents, and the serving staff, live.

* Discussed in a ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode where Tom Paris goes onto the holo-deck and finds one woman, Constance Goodheart, dead. He notes that something must be wrong, as the programme is based on old silent movies, where the "good guys" never died.

* Particularly egregious in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'', where nearly all good characters never suffer permanent injury in any capacity and only the villains get killed off. Even [[spoiler:Xion]], the only ally casualty, miraculously comes BackForTheFinale.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder: Films- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'', although everyone sleeps for a hundred years, no one dies except Maleficent, the villain. All the people in the castle, such as Aurora, her parents, and the serving staff, live.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'', Gaston is the only casualty, even though there were wolves and a battle. However, they NeverFoundTheBody and it's revealed in Descendants that he later had a son.

[[folder: Literature]]
* In the YA novel ''Literature/AStudyInCharlotte'' and its sequels, [[spoiler: no one actually dies except JerkAss Lee Dobson and villain Lucien Moriarty, although good characters August Moriarty and Dr. Larkin do fake it at one point, ]] and there are lots of attempts on the good characters' lives.

[[folder: Religion]]
* Justified. In mainstream UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}}, death is the wage of sin, and more precisely the consequence of the original sin.
->''For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.''
-->--'''[[Literature/BookOfRomans Romans 6:23]]'''
** This led to Catholicism developing the doctrine of the Assumption, since Mary, being without the taint of Original Sin because of Immaculate Conception, couldn't die.

[[folder: Films- Live Action]]
* In ''Film/PeterPan'' live-action, villainous pirate Hook is the only one to die, despite the battle between the pirates and the kids.

[[folder: TV]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

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