History Main / TakeAMomentToCatchYourDeath

-->'''Deke''': Ain't nothing gonna stop us now.
-->'''Larry''': (laughs) Sure looks that way.
-->'''Mary''': (eyes widen, but she doesn't have time to say anything.)
-->'''68 Charger''': ([[spoiler: crashes into a train]].)
* In ''Film/GhostTown'', Greg Kinnear's character avoids being crushed by a falling air conditioner. As he talks about his close call over the phone, he's run over by a bus.

--> '''Posse Member:''' What happened?
--> '''Barbara:''' Got another one for the fire.

* One of ''VisualNovel/{{Ever17}}'''s [[MultipleEndings endings]] has the characters escaping the imploding facility via submarine. They are amazed that they survived. [[spoiler: Cue the DiabolusExMachina where the sub starts sinking, and the [[HeroicSacrifice main character's way of]] [[TearJerker reducing the weight]].]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

--->'''Elan''': ''Whenever someone says that right after surviving something dangerous, something totally random pops out and kills them!''

---> '''[[spoiler:Dragon:]]''' Ah. Whew. That was close. For a moment, I thought... I thought it had all been for nothing.
---> '''[[spoiler:Vaarsuvius:]] Shapechange.''' ''*SHHHRLLRIPPP!!!*''

[[folder:RealLife]]

** The football player Lewis narrowly avoided having his head cut off by ornamental scimitars while on a weight machine. Exuberant, he does another rep on the machine, not realizing that the scimitars have frayed the cables, resulting in them snapping and crushing his head between the weights. [[NoOSHACompliance Who would design a machine like that anyway?]]
** While [[spoiler:Julie and Kevin]] both died when the train derailed in [[spoiler:Wendy's second vision]], she survived long enough to see them die, crawl out of the wreckage, and be hit by the train coming in the opposite direction.

** ''Film/FinalDestination3'' had the football player narrowly avoid having his head cut off by ornamental scimitars while on a weight machine. Exuberant, he does another rep on the machine, not realizing that the scimitars have frayed the cables, resulting in them snapping and crushing his head between the weights. [[NoOSHACompliance Who would design a machine like that anyway?]]

* In the end of ''Film/TheGuardian'', Jake is trying to free the captain of a small ship from some machines that have him pinned. He manages to get him free and they take a moment to grin at each other, then a large wave rolls the ship over, throwing stuff all over and knocking the captain dead. [[FromBadToWorse And now Jake is trapped in a hold that is filling with water.]]

* Being an Early Access game that has yet to implement the ending, ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'' has a running gag where the Narrator will end all of player's successful escapes from the Underworld by explaining that Zagreus immediately got himself killed in a comical fashion (stepping on a rake, slipping on a banana peel, waking up to realize it was AllJustADream... that also somehow kills him, etc.) before showing him once again emerging from the River Styx in the House of Hades.

The VideoGame variant of this is KaizoTrap, when during a seemingly moment of peace the player will be killed if not ready.

* In ''Film/VerticalLimit'', two of the climbers get the message that the nitroglycerin they're carrying should be kept out of the sun... after its been in the sun a ''long'' time. They run, get it in the shade, and bury it in the snow. They sigh in relief, and even chuckle after they panic over almost dropping a water bottle. Unbeknownst to them, the nitro container is leaking and slowly reaches the sun. BOOOOOM!

* ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' has this happen to the doctor's wife, after she narrowly escapes the graboid that just ate her husband. The car she's in stops shaking, the camera zooms away from her face as calm music plays on the radio... and suddenly zooms back in when the graboid returns to pull the whole car underground.

* In ''Film/TheCranesAreFlying'', during an ArmyScout mission, Boris carries an injured fellow soldier off the battle field into "safe" territory, then takes a deep breath and ... gets shot himself.

* In ''Film/PacificRim'', after the [[TheCenterpieceSpectacular mid-movie battle]] has finished and everybody is taking a deep breath, Hannibal Chau is suddenly SwallowedWhole by a NotQuiteDead baby Kaiju. Subverted in TheStinger, when we sees Chau having survived in the Kaiju belly.
* ''Film/Creepshow2''. In "The Raft," Randy desperately races the BlobMonster to the shore, and makes it. The thing gives him a few seconds to pant out "I beat you," then rises up out of the water to engulf him.
* In ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'', Adam and Barbara are heading home after a trip to town and swerve to avoid a little dog inside a covered bridge. They crash through the wall, and take a moment to collect themselves and look around. The dog is perched on the end of a loose plank under their car as if on a teeter-totter, which is the only thing keeping their car from plunging into the river. Then the dog steps off the plank.
* In ''Film/SweetCountry'', a black farmhand, Sam Kelly, goes on the run after killing a white land-owner in self-defense. Eventually he is arrested and goes to trial, where the court finds that his actions were justified and he is acquitted of all charges. The judge also orders a police escort to accompany Sam and his family out of town in case any of the locals decide to express their displeasure at the verdict. Once they're safely out of town, the police escort turns for home, and the family just have time for a heartwarming moment before Sam is shot by the dead land-owner's neighbor, who was angry enough about what he sees as a miscarriage of justice to follow them out of town and wait for the police escort to leave.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' novel ''Literature/HaloGhostsOfOnyx:'' [[spoiler: Dante's]] death. After most of the Spartans get to relative safety, he reports "I think I got nicked, sir", then dies. An examination of his body shows that the "nick" was several needler shards that exploded with enough force to not only destroy his armor, but ''expose his ribs''. [[spoiler:The reason he didn't drop dead earlier was because he was running off the pure adrenaline plus the effects of the PsychoSerum in his body.]]

** In a way that is possible only via time travel, in ''The Angels Take Manhattan'' Amy and Rory trigger a paradox (by [[spoiler:jumping to their deaths]]) to avoid a lifetime of being trapped in a building by the Weeping Angels (where they had previously witnessed an old Rory dying). After the timeline repairs itself and everyone is safe in 2012, Rory notices a gravestone with his name carved into it ... before being suddenly zapped back in time by a Weeping Angel (and the gravestone updates itself to reflect the age he died at). The Doctor views it as if Rory had been killed, because that point in New York's timestream has been damaged enough that the Doctor can't land the TARDIS back there to go get him.

** This is how [[spoiler: Audrey]] dies in Day 9 (''Live Another Day''): [[spoiler: She's saved by the CIA from a sniper that was about to kill her, only for another assassin accompanying him to run and and gun her down seconds later.]]

* ''Series/StrangerThings'': Poor [[spoiler:Bob]]. After fleeing through Hawkins lab with a Demodog hot on his heels, he escapes to the lobby, and locks the door behind him to trap the critter inside. He has just long enough to smile at [[spoiler:Joyce]] before ''another'' Demodog tackles him from the side and tears him apart.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' novel ''Literature/HaloGhostsOfOnyx:'' [[spoiler: Dante's]] death. After most of the Spartans get to relative safety, he reports "I think I got nicked, sir", then dies.

* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': The death of Dr. [[spoiler:Beckett]], following a surgery to remove an explosive tumor, and the subsequent pass off to the bomb squad with [[BombproofAppliance portable containment chamber]]... it explodes before they can get it inside said containment chamber -- right in the middle of radioing in the success no less!

To clarify, this does NOT refer to just any sudden, shocking death. The death in question must immediately follow an escape from imminent peril, interrupting the peaceful tranquility of apparent success. However, the cause of death need not be the exact thing that was [[JustForPun perilizing]] the heroes in the first place. They could be blindsided by a completely new threat or an older one about which they'd forgotten. Or a wound could suddenly catch up to them -- aversions of HardHead often produce this. If the incident doesn't take place immediately after ''and'' has a totally separate cause, see CheatedDeathDiedLater.

To clarify, this does NOT refer to just any sudden, shocking death. The death in question must immediately follow an escape from imminent peril, interrupting the peaceful tranquility of apparent success. However, the cause of death need not be the exact thing that was [[JustForPun perilizing]] the heroes in the first place. They could be blindsided by a completely new threat or an older one about which they'd forgotten. Or a wound could suddenly catch up to them -- aversions of HardHead often produce this.

* Being an Early Access game that has yet to implement the ending ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'' has a running gag where the Narrator will end all of player's successful escapes from the Underworld by explaining that Zagreus immediately got himself killed in a comical fashion (stepping on a rake, slipping on a banana peel, waking up to realize it was AllJustADream... that also somehow kills him, etc.) before showing him once again emerging from the River Styx in the House of Hades.

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* This was a running joke with Mister Easter, a street-level hero from the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' who had the power to come back from the dead after three days (he's Mister '''Easter''', [[DontExplainTheJoke get it?]]). One of Mister Easter's Disadvantages was "Fated to Die at Least Once Per Story" and boy did he live up to that. During his crimefighting career he was hit by the bus several times, choked on a fish bone, was hit on the head by a falling fire-escape ladder, accidentally electrocuted himself, and once was stabbed to death by a bad guy who wasn't quite dead. And the GM always managed to make his death a perfect example of this trope.
[[/folder]]

-->-- ''[https://www.theonion.com/near-death-experience-followed-by-right-on-the-money-de-1819565004 The Onion]''

-> ''"Fly, you fools!"''
-->-- '''Gandalf''', ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing''

* ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings The Fellowship of the Ring]]''. Gandalf is snatched off of the bridge after uttering an audible sigh of relief. (He comes back in the next movie, though.)

[[caption-width-right:350:The skeleton of a man who escaped the initial eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii, only to get smashed to bits by a boulder launched by the volcano after just making it to a safe distance. Look at it and laugh. Then feel bad about it. [[CrossesTheLineTwice Then laugh even harder.]][[note]][[ScienceMarchesOn Later developments]] suggested that [[DoubleSubversion he had in fact asphyxiated by this point]].]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'', the [[spoiler: Fairy Godmother]]'s death goes like this. Step 1: shoot a magic bolt at Shrek. Step 2: get hit by [[HoistByHisOwnPetard your own reflected blast]]. Step 3: Find yourself [[HopeSpot apparently unharmed]], grin evilly, and prepare to fire again. Step 4: [[NobodyLeftBehind Die]].

* [[spoiler: Eddie's]] death in ''Literature/TheDarkTower2004'' is of this kind. The ka-tet has just beaten tremendous odds and won a great victory unscathed - and then a downed, dying enemy manages to raise his gun and take one last shot.

* [[spoiler: Eddie's]] death in ''Literature/TheDarkTower'' is of this kind. The ka-tet has just beaten tremendous odds and won a great victory unscathed - and then a downed, dying enemy manages to raise his gun and take one last shot.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* In ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End Of Evangelion]]'', Asuka catches their death the moment she kills the last of the nine MP EVAs. '''[[DiabolusExMachina Out of nowhere]]''', a double-bladed parrying staff is thrown at and stopped by her AT Field - until it re-assembles itself as a synthetic Lance of Longinus, piercing her AT Field and running the EVA through its skull and [[EyeScream left eye]], subsequently popping Asuka's eye as well. Out of power, the [[ShootTheShaggyDog EVA cannot move as the nine MP EVAs regenerate]], [[EatenAlive devour it alive]], [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice and skewer it]] with its pilot. [[spoiler:Somehow, she gets better in the end.]]

* In ''Anime/PokemonSpecial'', the Kanto Dex Holders [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg (and Silver)]] are celebrating after finally coming out on top of all the crap that happened to them throughout the FRLG arc. [[spoiler: Then they get TakenForGranite by a villain who has [[NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow no excuse for surviving]] the aforementioned crap. Luckily, they get turned back later by the Hoenn Dex Holders.]]

* In ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End Of Evangelion]]'', Asuka catches their death the moment [[{{Determinator}} she]] [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome kills the last of the nine MP EVAs]]. '''[[DiabolusExMachina Out of nowhere]]''', a double-bladed parrying staff is thrown at and stopped by her AT Field - until [[OhCrap it re-assembles itself as a synthetic Lance of Longinus]], piercing her AT Field and [[{{Squick}} running the EVA through its skull]] [[EyeScream and left eye]], subsequently popping Asuka's eye as well. Out of power, the [[ShootTheShaggyDog EVA cannot move as the nine MP EVAs regenerate]], [[EatenAlive devour it]], [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice and skewer it]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath with its pilot]]. [[spoiler:Somehow, she gets better in the end.]]
* The villain of the Kyoto Arc of ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' manages to get away from [[BigDamnHeroes E]][[BigDamnVillains v]][[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld a]], only to run into [[AxCrazy Chacha]][[PerversePuppet zero]]. [[SubvertedTrope Too bad she only scares her silly.]]