History Main / Seppuku

* In the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "Back to Reality", one of the Despair Squid's victims kills himself in this manner.
** In the Series 10 episode ''The Beginning'' a simulant who has failed the boss thinks he's being told to do this and does. Then the exasperated boss explains he was actually only asking him to clean his sword.
* One episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had Worf getting crippled from the waist down by a falling crate. Since he's [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy a Klingon]], he feels that the only honorable thing for him to do would be to commit ritual suicide and asks Riker to be his second. Everyone aboard objects strenuously, and Worf is nearly convinced that life is still worth living -- Until a rogue surgeon offers him a possibly deadly operation, [[DebateAndSwitch which he almost instantly takes them up on]], and it works perfectly.

** Worf also attempts this in "Night Terrors", when the ''Enterprise'' is stuck in a [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Tyken's Rift]] and the crew are faced with the prospect of being slowly driven insane by a lack of REM sleep. Troi manages to stop him just before he goes through with it.
** Worf's brother, Kurn asks that Worf assist him in performing this ritual after Worf dishonors his family in ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]''. Dax realizes Worf's intent and tries to stop it, just a moment too late. Odo claims that Worf could be charged with murder if Kurn doesn't survive.
** Also from [=DS9=], the Jem'Hadar are a species born and bred to serve the Founders, a race of GodGuise shapeshifters. The Jem'Hadar were programmed from birth to revere their masters and would commit suicide en masse if a Founder died on their watch. ("The Ship")

* ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy5'': Dropping [[BonusBoss Telperion's]] health low enough will trigger a quote that parodies and implies this:

** [[spoiler:Zenitsu gets a major boost in motivation after he finds out that his sensei (who was like a grandfather to him) committed seppuku in shame after finding out that his other student Kaigaku betrayed the Demon Slayer Corps to become a demon. When the two confront each other, Zenitsu angrily reveals that the master didn't even have a ''kaishakunin'', meaning he died in immense pain.]]

** Kumadori frequently claims responsibility for failures that aren't his fault in the first place, and proceed to attempt seppuku -- only to always subconsciously [[InstantArmor harden his body]] and thus survive.

** [[spoiler:Yukio Washimine gives herself an ImpromptuTracheotomy with Ginji's katana after Revy kills him in the final episode. It counts as ''seppuku'' as not only she does it right after the death of her only remaining supporter, but it follows [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigai the traditional suicide rite for women]]: piercing her own throat. Only Yukio, for obvious reasons, does it with a katana instead of a dagger.]]

* The main villain of the ''Literature/JamesBond'' novel ''Literature/TheManWithTheRedTattoo'' has dedicated himself to follow the old Samurai ethics, and in the climax, he follows his failure to defeat Bond in a duel with seppuku.

* In ''Series/CriminalMindsBeyondBorders'' episode "Whispering Death", the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Criminal of the Week]] was a {{hikikomori}} whose parents were DrivenToSuicide after their sushi shop was closed down shortly after being acquired by an American company. He then targeted the people he blamed the death of his parents for and staged the crime scenes as suicides to make them atone for what they've done. Two murders, an American woman who planned to move to the department subleased by the criminal's father and a former employee of the shop, were made to resemble seppuku rituals (''Jigai'' and ''Seppuku'' proper respectively).

* The german Boardgame "Bushido: Der Weg des Kriegers" has this as an option. Every turns the title of daimyo changes to the next player in turn order. First order of the day is to appoint someone from the other players as general, someone as advisor, and someone as buke (Read: Target). The general's job is to attack a region owned by the buke player with the current daimyos forces. The buke tries its best to defend. The side that wins gains honor (points) for doing so. If your general loses the battle though, the advisor can suggest several punishments for the insubordinate samurai, based on handcards. One of those options is seppuku, which can be a HUGE loss in points. This can lead to doomed missions, where the dishonorable daimyo sends the general on an unwinnable mission, with the intent to take out his point lead.

* ''VideoGame/NineMonkeysOfShaolin'': The fight against Hannya, the DiscOneFinalBoss, ends with her choosing to disembowel herself rather than face the shame of defeat, with a "forgive me father, I have failed you" as her last words.

--> '''Tauemon:'''Oooh, I've brought dishonor upon myself! To make amends, I shall slice open my belly and...\\

* ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy5'': Dropping [[BonusBoss Telperion's]] health low enough will trigger a quote which parodies and implies this:

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torii_Mototada Torii Mototada]], a retainer of UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu, did this after his LastStand at the Siege of Fushimi Castle in 1600, where he led a group of 2,000 men against a 40,000-strong army. Mototada was able to stall the army for ten days and give Tokugawa time to raise his forces for the decisive Battle of Sekigahara, which would lead to the end of the UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod. His ''seppuku'' was said to be so bloody that the floorboards he bled on still have his bloodstains. These [[https://www.amusingplanet.com/2018/05/the-blood-stained-ceilings-of-kyotos.html bloodstained wood remnants]] were subsequently incorporated as ceilings in a number of temples throughout Japan, and can be examined by visitors to this day.

** General [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korechika_Anami Korechika Anami]] was one of the high officials who opposed the surrender. He signed it, but he committed ''seppuku'' the next morning, before Emperor Hirohito was to announce it (as portrayed in the documentary ''Film/{{Hiroshima}}''). He left a suicide note reading, "My death is my apology for my great crime" -- what he meant by that remains open to interpretation.

** And his ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}''-entering descendant [[NamesTheSame Yoshimitsu]] continues the tradition with the standing suicide (which can be followed up by spinning like a spinning blade at your opponent--hits do 2 damage to both of you, while the actual stab does ''60'' to whoever's hit--especially you), and the Turning Suicide (dash in, turn, gut yourself for 100 points of damage)..and the Double Stab (after taking the earlier 100, take another--and you have 140 hit points to play with, at most).

* Seppuku and the legend of UsefulNotes/The47Ronin are spoken about in the (distinctly non-Japanese film) ''Film/{{Ronin}}''.
* Played for laughs in ''Film/ScaryMovie4'': The Japanese UN delegate runs himself through after the President accidentally uses an alien weapon to remove his clothes.

* At the end of the ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' story ''The Blue Lotus'', it's stated that BigBad Mitsuhirato committed hara-kiri (as it was usually known in the West at the time).
* Parodied in the Latin-American comic strip of TheSeventies ''ComicStrip/{{Mafalda}}'':
--> '''[[HonestJohnsDealership Manolito]]''': I heard that the Japanese slice their bellies open and FWOOOSH [makes a gesture on his stomach] they commit [[{{Malaproper}} Ikebana]]!
--> '''[[LittleMissSnarker Mafalda]]''': What the Hell, that's hara-kiri! Ikebana has to do with flowers! (leaves)
--> '''Manolito''': That's their ''wake'', you MORON!
** Later when Felipe confirms the act is indeed named hara-kiri, Manolito says that having to admit that he was wrong is "pride's hara-kiri".
* Appears regularly in ''Comicbook/UsagiYojimbo'', since the series is based on historical Japan.
** A unique case is Usagi finding a town haunted by the ghost of a general who was killed before he could complete the ceremony. Usagi waits for the ghost to make his nightly arrival, respectfully saying they both served the same lord and "I would be honored to be your second." As the ghost makes the belly cuts, Usagi uses his sword (blessed in holy water) to "behead" the spirit and finally let the general be at peace.

* This is an important plot point in ''Comicbook/{{Ronin}}''.
* In the very first issue of ''Comicbook/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|Mirage}}'' the four heroes offer Shredder the chance to commit Seppuku so that he may die with honor. (In most versions of the Turtles' continuity, the term ''bushido'' is used liberally and is a code that can be followed by Ninja as well as Samurai.) Instead [[TakingYouWithMe Shredder opts to blow them all up with a grenade]].

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'', if the player defeats Sir Alonne under a set amount of time and without taking any damage, a short cutscene will play where Alonne stabs himself in the gut rather than simply falling over dead without a cutscene like normal. However, it's not clear if he did so out of shame at getting so thoroughly beaten, or if his EvilWeapon compelled him to do it to satisfy its hunger for blood since it wasn't able to have any of yours.

* In the Manga/{{X 1999}} TV series, [[spoiler: Hinoto performs ''jigai'' in the Dream Scape to kill both herself ''and'' [[TakingYouWithMe her]] [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Dark Self]]. As a bonus, Hinoto's body appears mortally wounded in the Real World - quite the feat, considering she's [[IllGirl crippled, deaf and blind]] in here.]]

** It got to a point where her inclination to commit seppuku gets [[CharacterExaggeration very exaggerated]] in ''VideoGame/DigaeaRPG'' that she'll try it at any level of dishonor. Her brother, Fubuki, is just as bad about it as her.

* In ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'', after spends its lifetime as a [[LeakingCanOfEvil sealed leaking can]] of [[BigBad The Radiance's]] plague, the FinalBoss , [[TragicMonster The Hollow Knight]] a.k.a. [[SealedEvilInACan Sealed Vessel]], stabs itself in the guts, [[MadeOfIron even if it doesn't finish it off]], [[CombatBreakdown until it cannot act, attack, or recover anymore to fighting against the infection from the inside]].

* In ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'', after spends its lifetime as a [[LeakingCanOfEvil sealed leaking can]] of [[BigBad The Radiance's]] plague, the FinalBoss , [[TragicMonster The Hollow Knight]] AKA [[SealedEvilInACan Sealed Vessel]], stabs itself in the guts, [[MadeOfIron even if it doesn't finish it off]], [[CombatBreakdown until it cannot act, attack, or recover anymore to fight against the infection]].

* Parodied and implied in ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy 5''. During the BonusBoss fight against Telperion, getting it to low health will trigger the in-game dialogue to say that the cats inside the boss "can be heard commiting Sudoku".

* In ''Manga/{{Ooku}} The Inner Chambers,'' a number of retainers follow Shogun Iemitsu into death. UsefulNotes/The47Ronin also make an appearance later.

[[caption-width-right:300:[-Image by [[http://commons.marymount.edu/en204fa13/2013/10/28/wole-soyinka-death-and-the-kings-horseman/seppuku-2/ Kunikazu Utagawa]]-] ]]

[[folder:Opera]]
* Cio-Cio-San in the [[TearJerker tear-jerking]] finale of the opera ''Theatre/MadameButterfly''. She commits ''jigai'' by cutting her throat with the ceremonial dagger presented to her father by the Mikado, bearing the inscription: "To die with honor when one can no longer live with honor."
* In ''Theatre/TheMikado'', Nanki-Poo threatens to perform "the Happy Despatch" with a dagger if Ko-Ko tries to prevent him from hanging himself.
[[/folder]]

* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', Fuyuhiko attempts this in chapter three, when trying to make amends for his behavior in the previous chapter. His classmates are horrified and drag him to the hospital, where his wounds are seen to.
* Parodied in ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney''. At the end of the first trial of ''Resolve'', [[spoiler:Prosecutor Taketsuchi Auchi]] composes a death poem for himself, holds up a knife, and it really looks like he's going to do it... [[spoiler:Then he [[StabTheSalad cuts off a strand of his hair]].]]

Subtrope of SelfPunishmentOverFailure.

* ''VideoGame/NineMonkeysOfShaolin'': The fight against Hannya, the DiscOneFinalBoss, ends with her choosing to disembowel herself rather than face the shame of defeat, with a "forgive me father, I have failed you" as her DyingWords.

* Ranma's mother Nodoka in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' is charged with carrying around the sword to be used by her as the ''kaishakunin'' [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/RM36-111sepp.gif should her son or husband disgrace themselves]]. Luckily for them, she's not very good with the sword. Unluckily for them, she's ''dead serious'' about her duty. What pushes this into HonorBeforeReason territory (and would push Nodoka into AbusiveParents territory in any series that [[ComedicSociopathy took itself more seriously]]) is that the contract she is so dedicated to following literally consists of a verbal vow from Genma that "I will make Ranma a [[IWantToBeARealMan man among men]]", and a written contract consisting of "I will commit seppuku", signed with Genma's thumb-print and baby-Ranma's handprint.

* [[SuicideAsComedy Something of a]] RunningGag in the ''Franchise/MobileSuitGundam'' {{Omake}} ''Char's Daily Life''. Whenever he makes a mistake, the [[AlternateUniverse AU]] version of Garma (who was a perfectionist WellDoneSonGuy in the original series) strips down and points a knife at himself. Char always stops him.