History Main / SurprisinglySuddenDeath

* 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.]]

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

* Not uncommon in ''ASongofIceAndFire''. For instance, people can be forgiven for flipping back a few pages during [[spoiler:the Red Wedding to determine when exactly the crossbows came out]].

* In the film version of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings 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!

* Not uncommon in ''ASongofIceandFire''. For instance, people can be forgiven for flipping back a few pages during [[spoiler:the Red Wedding to determine when exactly the crossbows came out]].
* In book fourteen of TheDresdenFiles, {{Literature/Cold Days}}, Lily, the Summer Lady, gets shot in the head by [[spoiler:Maeve]] with no warning. Bonus points for [[DidntSeeThatComing nobody]], not even [[TheChessmaster Mab]], [[DidntSeeThatComing seeing it coming]].

** Also from Dollhouse, Bennett. Seriously, Whedon loves killing people.

* Scully's father on {{The X-Files}} was killed off this way. The first time we meet him, he's having dinner with his daughter at her home. An hour later, she gets a call saying he's died of a heart attack.

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

** This doesn't kill him though. As he lay dying, Tousen is filled with remorse. He asks Hisagi if he can show him his face, but is abruptly killed by Aizen, who explodes his body.
* Seeing how OnePiece [[NeverSayDie never ever kills any major characters outside of flashbacks]], and that the Marineford Arc was all about saving Ace, it was pretty sudden when they're running away and [[ShootTheShaggyDog Ace suddenly throws himself between Akainu and Luffy, getting impaled to death in the process]].

* In ''{{Resistance}} 2'', Hawthorne and Warner are killed by BigBad Daedalus surprising the characters in separate instances as they walk ahead of Hale in spacious corridors by impaling them with his tentacles in order to discourage Hale from advancing to him, a sort of FinalBossPreview.

* 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.

* ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': When the MonsterOfTheWeek is introduced odds are good that it is going kill, eat or kidnap someone, possibly plural. It's a wonder anyone bothers moving to Sunnydale, since any decently run government would've labeled it a deathtrap and [[{{Aliens}} nuked the site from orbit just to be sure]].

Can also be considered a subtrope of HarbingerOfImpendingDoom but is generally a plot twist. As in, up to this point everything has been going in the protagonists favor up until this trope is invoked. Also compare with DynamicEntry, which is usually nonfatal and portrayed in a [[LighterAndSofter lighter tone.]] InTheBack may use this. KilledMidSentence is a specific sub-trope.

* ''ElfenLied'' 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 seconds'' of each other.

* ''Film/TheThing'', when one of the members has an apparent heart attack and the doctor tries to revive him with a defibrillator. Turns out the team member was the titular Thing when the guy's chest splits open and [[{{Squick}} literally disarms the doctor]].

* Used for comedy in ''BoondockSaints''. In the middle of a relatively serious scene of the main characters getting drunk and discussing plans, Rocco slams his fists down on the table. This sets off his gun, resulting in his girlfriend's cat getting blown all over the wall to the complete shock of everyone involved.

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

* You do this in the ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'' 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.

* ''ElfenLied'' 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.

** The third time is after Spence backstabs the group and traps them in the lab, he tries to get on the train. He stops to inject himself with the anti-virus, and is attacked by the [[strike:Hunter]]Licker and killed, introducing another obstacle that later tries to attack them while still trapped in the lab when the Queen unleashes a XanatosGambit.

* ''{{Hellsing}}'': Andserson attempts this with Seras and nearly succeeds, but misses her heart.

* Done a bit elaborately, but for the same dramatic effect, in the intro of ''VideoGame/{{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 abandoning 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.

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