History Main / SurprisinglySuddenDeath

* ''Manga/DeathNote'' had a particularly nasty one at the end of the anime, when Mikami, realizing that Kira and his cause are done for, drives his pen into his chest, puncturing his heart and [[HighPressureBlood spraying blood everywhere]]. He dies within the minute.

* When Lars from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' jams a pointed rock into the "[[EyeScream eye]]" of one of the [[KillerRobot Shattering Robonoids]], it suddenly ''explodes''. Problem, Lars was sitting on top of it. He takes shrapnel to the face, slams into a wall with an audible CRACK, then falls a good ways to the ground and [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath doesn't get up]]... [[spoiler:Until Steven accidentally brings him back with his tears.]]

* In ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' Kat is shot in the head midsentence, while you and the rest of your team are running to a safety bunker midway through what amounts to hyper-nuclear bombing. Funny thing is, another member of your fireteam noticed a few moments ago that all the Covenant aircraft were suddenly leaving the area (to avoid the nuclear death beam), so that one dropship with the sniper has no reason to be there.

* In the film version of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers]]'', this is how Hama dies. He and Gamling are riding along, minding their own business, then their horses start freaking out and then, suddenly, warg attack!

** ''Film/{{Alien}}'': The dinner scene. Kane, having been infected previously, eats dinner after recovering, appearing perfectly normal. He suddenly starts convulsing and is killed by a chestburster.

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': Your first real fight of the game is against [[TeamMom Toriel]] (if you choose and try to leave the Underground). Video Game logic says "keep fighting her until she gives up" or you defeat her and she relents. Instead, if you keep fighting her, one of your attacks will suddenly do an insane amount of damage. [[KilledOffForReal Mortal damage.]] A shocking way to set the stage for how fights [[AnyoneCanDie (and deaths)]] work in this game.

* Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's "Literature/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath" had a mysterious guest appear in Prince Prospero's MasqueradeBall clad in funeral garb and an apparent mask to mimic that of the victims of the plague the nobility had shut themselves away from. The results are not pretty.

* Partway into {{FanFic/Eugenesis}}, Autobot City is getting swarmed by Quintessons. Grimlock meets up with Ultra Magnus as the Autobots are trying to fight them off and the two start discussing what they should do. Than in midsentence a string of gunfire from a passing hovercraft blasts Grimlock in the chest and kills him. The narration even notes that as he fell over he looked[[LampshadeHanging more surprised than pained]].

** In season 8, Daenerys is idyllically flying to Dragonstone when Rhaegal is taken out by scorpion bolts.

** Ramsay abruptly stabs Roose less than a minute after it is announced that Walda has given birth.

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Bane is on the verge of killing Batman, and suddenly gets BlownAcrossTheRoom by Catwoman without any preamble or any indication whatsoever of what's about to happen. The [[DroppedABridgeOnHim suddenness and anticlimax]] is the main reason why many people watching expected him to get up again, thinking that his metal vest might have protected him, coupled with the fact that he's ''[[MadeOfIron Bane]]'' and anyone who has played [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum the video game]] knows he can survive being hit by the Batmobile.

** [[BadassGrandpa Hosea]] is captured by the Pinkertons and shot in cold blood in front of the gang during the failed Saint Denis bank robbery. Doubles a SacrificialLion moment as his death is the first with major plot ramifications, being an [[MentorOccupationalHazard father figure]] to Arthur and the voice of reason for Dutch. His death sends Dutch's SanitySlippage into overdrive.

* Happens to [[FightingIrish Sean]] in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'' as him and a few other members of the gang are walking down a [[ItsQuietTooQuiet suspiciously quiet Rhodes]]. The unfortunate poor bastard gets his brains blown out before he can even [[KilledMidSentence finish his line]].

-->'''Griffin:''' When someone leaves your life, those exits are not made equal. Some are beautiful and poetic and satisfying. Others are abrupt and unfair. But most are just unremarkable, unintentional, and clumsy.

-> ''"Tis a vile thing to die, my gracious lord,
When men are unprepared, and look not for it."''

-> ''"Tis a vile thing to die, my gracious lord, When men are unprepared, and look not for it."''

** Neferpitou, who was just introduced, jumps directly to the heroes and rips off Kite's right arm. After their off-screen battle, Neferpitou is showing sitting with Kite's severed head and is shown to have only received scratches from the battle.
** Sillva's deadly DynamicEntry kills Cheetu (before he can showing all his abilities).

* In ''Manga/{{Judge}}'', this happens to Hiro. After he and Hikari have accomplished their goal, they talk about how they are finally free and can start a new life... only for Hiro to collapse and Hikari admitting that she poisoned him because she learned that he was indirectly responsible for Atsuya's death.
* Seeing how ''Manga/OnePiece'' had never killed any major characters outside of flashbacks until that point, and that the Marineford Arc was all about saving Ace, it was pretty sudden when they're finally free and running away that [[ShootTheShaggyDog Ace suddenly throws himself between Akainu and Luffy, getting impaled and burned to death in the process]].
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', Episode Three. Mami doesn't pay enough attention when fighting Charlotte, and promptly gets eaten head first.

** ''Film/{{Alien}}'': The dinner scene. Kane, having been infected previously, eats dinner after recovering appearing perfectly normal. He suddenly starts convulsing and is killed by a chest burster.
** ''Film/{{Aliens}}'': The android Bishop is apologizing for scaring the heroine. At this moment he is ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice and you see the [[Main/BigBad Alien Queen]] drop down from underneath the Dropship where it had stowed onto the ship and then rips Bishop in half with her claws. Subverted in that Bishop isn't dead -- he's a robot, after all.
** ''Film/{{Alien 3}}'': Dr. Clemens is built up as a main character, but then he suddenly gets grabbed by the Alien and killed off. The prison warden is killed while yelling at Ripley, in a room full of other people no less.

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Bane is on the point of killing Batman, and suddenly gets BlownAcrossTheRoom by Catwoman without any preamble or any indication whatsoever of what's about to happen. The [[DroppedABridgeOnHim suddenness and anticlimax]] is the main reason why many people watching expected him to get up again, thinking that his metal vest might have protected him, coupled with the fact that he's [[MadeOfIron Bane]] and anyone who has played [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum the video game]] knows he can survive being hit by the Batmobile.

* ''Franchise/FinalDestination'' is now known for its drawn out, [[RubeGoldbergMachine overly complex and infeasible death sequences]] but [[Film/FinalDestination the first movie]] has a notoriously simple and shocking death when Terri is hit by a bus immediately after a heated argument with her friends. Cue the rewind button on a lot of home videos to check if that really did just happen.
* A similar scene happens in ''Film/FinalDestination4'' when two characters leave a hospital deep in conversation, and one gets run over by an ambulance.

* In the film version of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers]]'', this is how Hama dies. He and Gamling, riding along, minding their own business, then their horses start freaking out and then, suddenly, warg attack!

* ''Manga/DeathNote'' had a particularly nasty one at the end when Mikami, realizing that Kira and his cause are done for, drives his pen into his chest, puncturing his heart and [[HighPressureBlood spraying blood everywhere]]. He dies within the minute.

* When Lars from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' jams a pointed rock into the "[[EyeScream eye]]" of one of the [[KillerRobot Shattering Robonoids]], it suddenly ''explodes''. Problem, Lars was sitting on top of it. He takes shrapnel to the face, slams into a wall with an audible CRACK, then falls a good ways to the ground and [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath doesn't get up]]. [[spoiler:He was eventually brought back to life, though]].
* Maude Flanders of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' was abruptly killed by flying t-shirts at a sports race.

* The Scotsman in ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' is killed rather abruptly while raining Aku with endless insults.