History Main / OurHeroIsDead

* ''SluggyFreelance'' did this very dramatically with [[spoilers: two main characters]] at the end of the chapter "bROKEN"; some people were actually convinced, while others were deep in HesJustHiding. [[spoiler: The truth was something in between.]] A much less serious one was at the end of a single comic (in the middle of the story, but in this case the daily nature of the webcomic was clearly exploited to make it a cliffhanger), where it appeared that Oasis had broken Torg's neck. Two days later it was shown that [[spoiler: the snapping sound was really Bun-bun eating celery.]] And in one of Bun-bun's fights with Santa Claus, the rabbit ended up in a warehouse rigged to explode and wasn't heard of again for a while.

* ''SyphonFilter: Logan's Shadow'' ends on a CliffHanger with Lawrence and possibly Teresa KilledOffForReal and Xing attempting to [[CleanPrettyReliable resuscitate]] Logan.

->'"The Paladin is dead,FOE!"'
--> -- '''F.O.E.''' by '"{{IOSYS}}"'

* At the end of the third season of ''Yu-Gi-OhGX'', the main character Judai is the only one that doesn't return from the the Duel Monsters world (well, Misawa didn't return as well, but [[IsntItSad no one cares about him]]). However, he returns one episode later, saying he went on a journey to 'grow up'.

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[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

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[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' anime, where [[spoiler: Ed is killed moments after Envy's true form is revealed]]. There was one more episode that followed, showing [[spoiler: Al sacrificing himself to bring Ed back to life, and then Ed doing the same for Al, leaving the two brothers on opposite sides of The Gate.]]
** And before that, [[spoiler:Ed, in his alternate universe counterpart's body, is killed ''again'' when a [[DeathFromabove WWI zeppelin crashes into him]]]].
* Subverted in ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' with [[spoiler:Kamina, who pulls the standard "seems to die but then gets back up" only to collapse ''again'', this time for good, shortly afterward. Turns out he wasn't the hero.]]. Though, admittedly, he does [[spoiler:show up in the penultimate episode to save the day... as some sort of ghost angel thing]]. Which is totally awesome.

* About halfway through the ''Houshin Engi'' manga, Taikoubou is killed by Choukoumei. The chapter even ends with ClosingCredits (apparently written by Choukoumei, seeing as how he's listed as the hero). Then the next chapter begins with a new manga series (also written by Choukoumei) until the remaining good guys put a stop to it. [[spoiler:It later turns out Taikoubou wasn't killed, and another villain sacrificed himself to save him.]]
** It happens again towards the end of the series, with Taikoubou dying during the TournamentArc. [[spoiler:Really this time.]] He comes back a few chapters later [[spoiler:by [[FusionDance combining with one of the villains]]]].
* [[spoiler:Urameshi Yusuke]] of ''YuYuHakusho'' during his fight with [[spoiler:Sensui]]. Turns out he's [[spoiler:part demon]].

* Both played straight and averted in ''{{Pluto}}''. Being a retelling of a famous ''AstroBoy'' story, one can't actually expect Atom to ''stay'' dead [[spoiler: and, sure enough, it looks like he's finally back]]. Of course, as this is also a [[KillEmAll Tezuka story]] written by [[AnyoneCanDie Naoki Urasawa]], anyone else is free game [[spoiler: including Gesicht, the ''main character'' -- although that's likewise a ForegoneConclusion to anyone who read the original story.]]
** Speaking of Astroboy, that particular plot point didn't come from the original "''World's Strongest Robot''" arc, but instead was based on the finale of the ''Blue Knight'' saga, which ended with Astro losing his head & half his upper torso in a HeroicSacrifice to protect the evil Count Burg from being killed by the Blue Knight's final desperation attack in his own death-throws. The subsequent "''Astro Reborn''" arc had several failed attempts to revive him before Dr. Tenma finally resurfaced & pulled it off, but with Astro losing all his memories & priefly doing a FaceHeelTurn.
* In ''MacrossFrontier'', [[spoiler: the 24th episode ends with the protagonist Alto Saotome being destroyed, with the path of his explosion following that of Ranka Lee's arm,]] resulting in the expected reaction montage. In the next episode, [[spoiler: once [[BigDamnHeroes SMS]] returns, we find that Alto ejected as he passed through the illusion and is 'safe' amidst some debris until such times as his VF-25 is brought back out to him.]]
* In the fourth episode of the ''GateKeepers'' OVA, [[spoiler:Ayane is [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim shot from behind]] on the way home after defeating one of the QuirkyMinibossSquad. The last thing she sees before fading to black is her bell, after which she spends the next episode and a half in a coma.]]
* Happens in ''{{CLANNAD}}'' to [[spoiler: Nagisa, except for the fact that she actually dies. She [[IGotBetter gets better]], though.]]
** Played straighter with [[spoiler:Tomoya and Ushio's deaths in episode 21 of ''After Story''.]]

* In {{Higurashi no Naku Koro ni}}, Keiichi [[spoiler: dies in just about every arc.]] Though the emphasis on him as the "main character" isn't as big as deal as other shows. Although, [[spoiler: all of the other main characters die in just about every arc as well.]]
** [[spoiler:Rika]] is the [[DecoyProtagonist true]] main character.
*** Who also [[OurHeroIsDead dies]] in just about every arc.
* This troper can hardly believe that {{Maburaho}} hasn't been mentioned, seeing as it totally upends this trope. The entire second half of the season deals with the {{Unwanted Harem}} [[spoiler: trying to bring him back to life from ghost-hood!]]

* The second-to-last episode of the first season of ''[[GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex Ghost In The Shell : Stand Alone Complex]]'' ends with the Major's [[YourHeadASplode Asploding]]. [[spoiler: Good thing she wasn't in the body at the time]]. The Tachikoma do one in each season, although more for philosophical reasons than for dramatic ones.
* Ulquiorra of {{Bleach}} [[spoiler:blew a giant gaping hole in Ichigo's chest after curbstomping him.]] He was probably legitimately dead. Orihime didn't care for that and [[spoiler:Ichigo is currently some sort of berserk hollow... thing... that doesn't seem to be related to/act like his own inner hollow. The fight turned one sided in the other direction and ended in approximately four seconds.]]

* In TwentiethCenturyBoys [[spoiler:Kenji]] apparantly dies [[spoiler:in an explosion at end of the first arc.]] Throughout the ''entire'' middle third of the story [[spoiler:he]] is nowhere to be seen. However, just after the series' DarkestHour, [[spoiler:he]] reappears, having [[TookALevelInBadass taken several levels in badass]], in what is one of the [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome most awesome scenes in the series]].
** This is probably the MostTriumphantExample of this trope, due to the fact that it's not one or two episodes but a wopping 15 years (in story), and 10 volumes before we realise that [[spoiler:Kenji]] is infact not dead.

* About half way through ''MysteryMen'', the bumbling C-list heroes accidentally kill the city's resident superhero [[TheCape Captain Amazing]], and thus have to save the day on their own.
* The climax of ''{{Pirates of the Caribbean}} 2: Dead Man's Chest'', when [[spoiler:the hero of the series, Jack Sparrow, gets pulled under along with his ship by the Kraken, thanks to Elizabeth.]]
* Subverted every which way in ''Dead Man'', in which William (Johnny Depp), whose heroism itself is arguable, is shot early on. [[spoiler: It is indeed fatal, and he spends the rest of the film trying not to get killed while he is, in fact, in the process of dying. It's implied that the film ends with his very last breath.]]

* Used in ''TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' when the HalloweenTown citizens thinks Jack was shot down and killed (well, okay, [[DemBones Jack was dead already]], but there's apparently a DeaderThanDead scenerio).

* Used to great and shocking effect in the third book of the ''Deptford Mice Trilogy'', where tough, streetwise city mouse [[TheHero Piccadilly]] finally comes up with a plan to defeat the BigBad and sets off to put it into action. It starts as expected, with Piccadilly killing the WorthyOpponent in single combat and triumphantly confronting the CosmicHorror with the one item that can harm him… [[spoiler:only for the CosmicHorror to counter said item effortlessly and kill Piccadilly [[KilledOffForReal dead]].]]
** [[spoiler:His girlfriend eventually defeats the BigBad. How’s that for twists?]]

* Chapter 34 of HarryPotter and the Deathly Hallows ends with Harry being [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice struck by Voldemort's Killing Curse]]. He hasn't died yet, and decides to come back to finish Voldemort, but, as he's pretending to be dead, his friends spend most of Chapter 36 thinking he is.]] TheBigGuy actually carries him back to Hogwarts.
* Retroactively done by the ''SherlockHolmes'' stories; Holmes' FightToTheDeath and plunge into the Reichenbach Falls with Professor Moriaty was supposed to see him KilledOffForReal -- however, Holmes was so popular with the public that Conan Doyle kept being bugged by people to bring him back to life. Conan Doyle eventually got so sick of it that he capitulated and wrote "The Empty House", which revealed that Holmes had faked his death all along.

* Happens to [[spoiler:Marian]] in the second-to-last episode of the first season of the current series of ''Series/RobinHood''. It happens again in the finale of second series. [[KilledOffForReal This time she stays dead.]]
** [[spoiler:Robin]] dies in the final episode as well, leading to a TogetherInDeath scene with [[spoiler:Marian]].
* The [[TheFireflyEffect short-lived FOX drama]] ''Vanished'', where [[spoiler:The lead investigator of the kidnapping of a senator's wife was taken out by a sniper and replaced by a new main character in the seventh episode]].

* Keeping with the FOX theme, ''{{Bones}}'''s third season featured an episode where Booth gets shot and the screen blacks out at the end...because he is a main character, this troper did not believe it would stick.

** Buffy's first death in season 1 does not fit this trope, since it happens in the middle of an episode and she recovers before the episode's end.

* Happens repeatedly in ''Farscape''. Every main character has "died" at least once, but only [[spoiler: Zhaan's (and arguably D'Argo's)]] deaths were permanent.

* ''TalesOfMonkeyIsland: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood'' [[spoiler:[[{{Cliffhanger}} ends with]] Guybrush being killed off by [=LeChuck=], who turns out to have been faking his HeelFaceTurn. Guybrush returning to life takes up much of the plot of the fifth and final episode, ''Rise of the Pirate God''.]]

* In ''{{Ever17}}'', no matter which of his routes you take, [[spoiler:Takeshi]] always dies at the end. Justified in that [[spoiler:his death is what sets off half of the plot]] and [[spoiler:subverted because [[IGotBetter he gets better]] by the end of the game.]]

* [[spoiler: Roy]] in ''OrderOfTheStick'' literally died--thank goodness he lives in a universe where DeathIsCheap, even if it took a few months to get his corpse to a cleric for resurrection. He got a lovely lament song from the resident bard, too.

* Chapter 16 of the 2010 ''{{Neopets}}'' story arc, "The Faeries Ruin", ends with [[spoiler:Hanso [[{{TakenForGranite}} turned to stone]] after destroying the artifact]].

* Chapter 13 of current ''{{Neopets}}'' story arc, "The Faeries Ruin", ends with [[spoiler:Hanso [[{{TakenForGranite}} turned to stone]] after destroying the artifact]].

* Happened in ''RurouniKenshin'', at the end of the episode ''The Age Chooses Shishio''. The hero stays down for 1½ episode before getting up again to finish the fight.

** Word of God. "He's dead" -Jim

* ''Tales of MonkeyIsland: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood'' [[spoiler:[[{{Cliffhanger}} ends with]] Guybrush being killed off by [=LeChuck=], who turns out to have been faking his HeelFaceTurn.]]

* Used in ''TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' when the HalloweenTown citizens thinks Jack was shot down and killed (well, okay, [[DemBones Jack was dead already]], but there's apparently a DeaderThenDead scenerio).

* Spoony and the Critic have nothing on their fellow reviewer {{Phelous}}, who almost always dies OnceAnEpisode (or is DeadAllAlong, or is killed at the start and the Phelous from the next episode shows up to do the review, or...).

* While in the games not many people really notice, in the ''KingdomHearts'' Manga Beast and the six remaining princesses are shocked when they realize, the keyblade master had just dissolved into thin air. Especially since they needed him to seal the keyhole. However, as soon as beast says "The key-barrer is no longer..." Soras voice answers from the doorway: "No longer what?"

* About halfway through ''ToyStory 3'', the villains show their true colors and lock up Andy's toys. In order to keep them compliant, they show them Woody's hat, and claim he was killed when trying to leave.

* Both played straight and averted in ''{{Pluto}}''. Being a retelling of a famous ''AstroBoy'' story, one can't actually expect Atom to ''stay'' dead [[spoiler: and, sure enough, it looks like he's finally back]]. Of course, as this is also a [[KillEmAll Tezuka story]] written by [[AnyoneCanDie Naoki Urasawa]], anyone else is free game [[spoiler: including Gesicht, the ''main character.'']]

->''"[[OnTheNext Next on]] Mazinkaizer, Episode 6: Kabuto Kouji Dies in Lava!...Wait, what?"''
--> -- '''Kabuto Kouji''', ''[[MazingerZ Mazinkaizer]]''

* Played straight in ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', when Aang gets struck by lightning and killed in the second season finale, only to be brought back to life afterwards. Almost everyone in-universe thinks he's died, which becomes pivotal to the plot.
** DangerouslyGenreSavvy Azula isn't fooled.

* About halfway through ''ToyStory 3'', the villains show their true colors and lock up Andy's toys. In order to keep them complaint, they show them Woody's hat, and claim he was killed when trying to leave.