History Main / SurprisinglySuddenDeath

* In ''{{Fallout 3}}'', just before entering GNR, Initiate [[RedShirt Reddin]] gets this treatment courtesy of a Super Mutant Behemoth.

[[caption-width-right:350:Even the most GenreSavvy viewer didn't see this coming.]]

* This being a death trope, the ''MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' series has multiple instances: One that stands out for being a rather egregious DiabolusExMachina (even for this series) the death of [[TheHero Trull Senegar]] at the end of ''Toll The Hounds''. The BigBad (of that particular arc) is dead, the war is over and Trull is taking a moment alone to catch his breath. Then he's backstabbed by the now-totally insane EvilChancellor we haven't seen for the last 200 pages.

* Done a bit elaborately, but for the same dramatic effect, in the intro of Mass Effect 2. Really the very first thing that happens is a huge alien ship comming out of nowhere, immediately shoting your trusty ship from the first game to pieces. There's nothing to do but abandonning ship and you watch the ship disintegrating around you while rescuing the pilot. Then they fire again, blowing it up inside you and sending you flying down towards the planet in a leaking space suit. It really works perfectly in establishing the new villains of the game and instantaneously wanting to destroy them, without any mention of who they actually are.

* ''{{Elfen Lied}}'' is full of these, two of the most notable examples being the deaths of Kouta's sister and father: Lucy splits Kanae in half while she tearfully apologizes to Kouta, and then decapitates his father when he walks over a moment later. Both deaths happen within ''mere minutes'' of each other.
* ''{{Hellsing}}'': Andserson attempts this with Seras and nearly succeeds, but misses her heart.

* Kaname Tousen from ''{{Bleach}}''. When fighting Hisagi, he pulls out his [[OneWingedAngel Hollow form]], and while busy laughing at how screwed the heroes are...is promptly stabbed in the head by Hisagi before he can show anything.

* In the ''Left4Dead'' comic two guards just heard the alarm to evacuate their base, then they are killed by a Hunter and a Smoker before they could react.

* ''FanFic/FalloutEquestria'': Steelhooves/Applesnack is on the wrong end of a Hellhound attack very early on in Chapter 39. This comes as a bit of a shock due to his status as a Canterlot ghoul, hence able to revive from most forms of damage. Turns out decapitation isn't something he can revive from.

* ''{{Film/Serenity}}'': The crew is being chased by a Reaver ship through a giant space battle. After some technical difficulties they manage to make a rough landing. Wash starts to repeat his signature line for the movie, congratulating himself on landing with no power to speak of, when a huge metal spike crashes through the cockpit window and takes Wash right through the heart, killing him instantly. Turns out he didn't lose the Reavers, which are still after them and the crew is still utterly screwed.

* {{Edgar Allan Poe}}'s ''Masque of the Red Death'' had a mysterious guest appear in Prince Prospero's {{Masquerade Ball}} glad 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.

* In ''{{Doom}} 3'', you're introduced to the Lost Souls through the horrific death of a female scientist, whose head rips itself off her body to become the monster in question.

* Creepy RealLife example: In the 60's, Japanese politician Inejiro Asanuma was talking on live TV. Then, a teenager named Otoya Yamaguchi pulled a DynamicEntry on stage... [[SnuffFilm and stabbed him to death.]]

* ''JurassicPark'', this happens with the programmer played by Samuel L. Jackson when he goes to reset the circuit breakers and is eaten alive by a Velociraptor. Ellie has to run from the very same Velociraptor when she enters the bunker to reset the breaker.
* ''DeepBlueSea,'' Samuel L. Jackson, when he gets snarfed down by a shark as he's giving his RousingSpeech.

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

* Parodied in ''{{Spaceballs}}'' (which even has John Hurt, who [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the entire event by muttering "Oh no, not again!")

* One death scene in ''{{Psycho}}'' was filmed to invoke this, as focusing the camera on the man's feet would clue the audience in that something was about to happen.

* Kate from ''{{NCIS}}'' dives in front of Gibbs in order to take the bullet intended for him. For a second everyone believes her dead, but she jumps right up, revealing her bullet-proof vest. However, as they are all laughing in relief, [[BigBad Ari]] shoots her in the head and walks away.

* ''{{Dead Space}}'' introduces the necromorphs by having the player enter another room to shut down a security lock. A bio-hazard lock down is immediately triggered and both [[RedShirt Red Shirts]] accompanying the player are ripped apart as the player watches.

* You do this in the ''[=~Assassin's Creed~=]'' series, all the time. While they force you to engage in open conflict from time to time, both Altaïr and Ezio are meant to be shanking people before the targets know they're there. Especially visible in the AttractMode video for ''2'', where we don't see Ezio for a while until he suddenly pops up and kills the first target.

[[folder: Other]]

* May appear in [[SonictheHedgehog2006 Sonic 06]]. Sonic and Elise are just walking around when BLAM! [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice Death Ray!]] And [[LargeHam hammy]] [[DanGreen laughing,]] too.

* May appear in SonictheHedgehog(2006). Sonic and Elise are just walking around when BLAM! Death Ray! And hammy laughing, too.

* One death scene in {{Psycho}} was filmed to invoke this, as focusing the camera on the man's feet would clue the audience in that something was about to happen.
* In Cache, after inviting Georges into his home, Majid slits his own throat. Apropos of nothing. In this case, it's the fact that the death is self inflicted that is shocking, as well as the apparent lack of motivation for doing so.

* TheForeverWar, being a sci-fi war novel written by an actual Vietnam vet, takes this trope and runs with it. Causes of sudden, random death include: laser to the face, dropship crash, space suit malfunction, earthquake, surprise missile attack by your own superiors, dart to the chest, jumping too hard and leaving orbit, and ''slipping and falling on frozen helium''.

* British sitcom ''Ideal'': Moz mentions to Cartoonhead (a hitman) that they should "take Craig out", meaning taking him out to a club. Cartoonhead, who is on LSD at the time, misinterprets this and shoots Craig in the head.

* Infamously, Paul from {{Dollhouse}} in the final episode.
* Used several times in OneThousandWaysToDie. One notorious example is the ''Pam Caked'' segment: the AlphaBitch Pamela causes the flyer of her cheerleader group, Amber, to fall to the ground in public due to petty jealousy, and when she stands in front of the girls to gloat... she is accidentally [[TrampledUnderfoot trampled to death]] ''[[TrampledUnderfoot by the whole football team]]'', as they enter the sports grounds through a banner that blocks her from their view.
* Kate from {{NCIS}} dives in front of Gibbs in order to take the bullet intended for him. For a second everyone believes her dead, but she jumps right up, revealing her bullet-proof vest. However, as they are all laughing in relief, [[BigBad Ari]] shoots her in the head and walks away.