History Main / TakeAMomentToCatchYourDeath

* ''Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer'': Louise. Oh, Louise. You thought getting away from Ben in the middle of a parade was going to save your bacon. Shame you took so long to get moving again...

* ''Series/TheYoungOnes'': In the final episode, the characters are on a bus which falls off a cliff. They survive the crash and comment on how lucky it was, and the bus promptly explodes into flames. Whether they survive isn't explained.

* A strange occurrence happens in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace''. Throughout the game, Isaac runs into scripted events in which a tentacle shoots out around the corner and grabs him by the ankle. If Isaac fails to wound the tentacle enough, it pulls him into the hole and a scripted death occurs. During one of these death scenes, Isaac holds onto the sides of the hole for dear life, but the tentacle actually lets go. Isaac stands up, trying to catch his breath, but just as he goes to escape, the tentacle comes back out, grabs him by the face, and finally pulls him down, killing him.

* 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. [[spoiler:And in the final release, it turns out that merely leaving the realm of Hades will kill him, though slowly enough that he can visit his mother for a bit every time he makes his way out.]]

* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': [[spoiler: When Kate gets sniped off.]]

Related to HopeSpot, may be preceded by a CatScare, and has been known to involve NotQuiteSavedEnough and DiabolusExMachina. This is the kind that '''[[DeathTropes definitely ends in death]]'''. If a character collapses and faces the serious danger of death, see AfterActionHealingDrama. The cruelty factor goes up if immediately preceded by CatharticExhalation.

-->'''Wash:''' [[CatchphraseInterruptus I'm a leaf on the wind. Whatch how I-]]'''[[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice SHLICK]]'''\\

* In ''VisualNovel/DeathMark'' and its sequel ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'', in chapter endings where the spirits are destroyed as opposed to pacified, the protagonist and his companions will return home, safe from the danger of spirits... or so they think. Then it'll be revealed that the lingering grudge of the spirit is still around, and gruesomely murders one of the companions.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skel.jpg]]
[[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.[[note]][[ScienceMarchesOn Later developments]] suggested that [[DoubleSubversion he had in fact asphyxiated by this point]].[[/note]]]]

[[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.[[note]][[ScienceMarchesOn Later developments]] suggested that [[DoubleSubversion he had in fact asphyxiated by this point]].]]

* In ''Film/Utoya22Juli'', a reenactment of the Breivik Massacre (which happened [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin on the island Utøya on 22. July 2011]]), Kaja, the main heroine, survives the terrorist's attack while hiding in the rocks, despite her exposed position. The terrorist then leaves, and Kaja moves to the Eastern part of the beach with Magnus.[[note]](which at this point would already be safe in Real Life, as Breivik never returned there after the rock shooting).[[/note]] While they argue about what to do next, a single shot is heard - and then Kaja collapses on the ground.

** At the end of the original ''Film/{{Alien}}'' Ripley blows up the ''Nostromo'', finally begins relaxing, and just as she's plotting the co-ordinates the titular monster's arm swings into her face. However, it is subverted in that she survives the encounter.

* In George R.R. Martin's ''[[Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg The Hedge Knight]]'', after the CombatByChampion is over and concluded, one of champions dies abruptly from a wound he suffered during the melee.

* In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', after the brothers win against Bowletta, she reveals a Bob-omb during her 'dying' monolouge, K.O's the pair and inhales them in to her stomach for the REAL final battle.

* This can happen in many video games in general: Defeat a difficult enemy with just a sliver of health left and, during the death animation, a stray obstacle defeats the player character and forces the player to fight the enemy all over again.

* One of the first deaths in ''VideoGame/AlienIsolation'' occurs at the beginning of the game- Ripley and Axle get close to the transit system, but then Axle is attacked from behind. Ripley saves him by striking the human assailant with her heavy tool, Axle shoots him in the head and they both run ahead. They stop to catch their breath... [[spoiler:then Axle gets impaled from behind by the tail of the resident Xenomorph, dragging him into the vents.]] Hell of a way to highlight the most dangerous threat on Sevastopol Station.

* ''Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming'' (1990). Fleming uncovers a Nazi plot to have him killed that day. He regards this as ActuallyPrettyFunny until he realises his girlfriend is staying at his flat. He rushes over there and is relieved to find her alive. Then the flat blows up in his face.

* ''Series/DesperateHousewives'': Edie survives being choked by Dave, a car accident, and being electrocuted in quick succession for a minute -- then Susan comes over to comfort her and she dies.

* In ''Literature/TheMoteInGodsEye'' by Creator/LarryNiven & Creator/JerryPournelle, two Co-Dominium ensigns get left behind and fight off an attack by fearsomely efficient Motie Warriors. All seems well until [[spoiler: one ensign's arm is broken because "one of the dead ones threw a rock"]]. Trope nearly averted until they realize they'll just be tortured for information and [[spoiler:a couple of murders]] ensue.
* [[spoiler: Eddie's]] death in ''Literature/{{The Dark Tower|2004}}'' 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.

* In ''Literature/HouseOfLeaves'', Jed Leeder is filled with fear by encountering an unknown person, but is soon relieved to realize it's just a few other members of the exploration team. [[spoiler: Seconds later, he's shot in the head by Holloway Roberts.]]

* In the middle of season 5 of ''Series/TwentyFour'', CTU has been infected with nerve gas and a handful of survivors have made it to quarantined saferooms, but an acidic compound in the gas is slowly dissolving the protective seals. Eventually, two men sacrifice themselves by exposing their room in order to filter the gas. Eventually one of them can't hold his breath anymore and is forced to take a gasp of air. Nothing happens for several seconds, he begins expressing relief and joy that the gas must have been filtered out in time... and then begins coughing up blood and spit. The other guy soon follows.
** 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 gun her down seconds later.]]
* ''Series/MadMen'': During the Korean War, Dick Whitman and Don Draper (the real one) take cover from enemy fire. After the shooting halts, the two get up and breathe sighs of relief...until Dick accidentally drops his lighter and causes an explosion, killing Don.
* In ''Series/ThisIsUs'', Jack Pearson manages to save his family from a disastrous house fire and even survives going back in to save his daughter Kate's dog, only to die of a heart attack caused by excessive smoke inhalation hours later.
* ''Series/WalkingWithMonsters'': The Devonian amphibian ''Hynerpeton'' and his mate escape from the giant flesh-eating fish ''Hyneria'''s approach by crawling onto land. Just when it seems they're safe, the ''Hyneria'' reveals how powerful its fins are by dragging itself after the amphibians and grabbing the male by surprise.
* ''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.

* Caster of ''LightNovel/FateZero'' does this to a child in the second episode, claiming that the HopeSpot makes its death more satisfying.
* In Episode 3 of ''Anime/KanColle'', after the Abyssals have been forced to retreat, [[spoiler: Kisaragi sighs in relief. Then one last Abyssal plane appears...]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoxtrolls'': Goodbye, [[BrickJoke leeches]]. Hello, [[spoiler: falling SpiderTank]]. [[SquashedFlat Goodbye]], [[spoiler:[[TheDragon Mr. Gristle]].]]

* In ''Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry'', the trio of Mary, Larry, and Deke have committed robbery and have spent the movie evading the police with many narrow escapes. It looks as if they've gotten away. Final lines of the movie:

* In ''Film/{{Ghost Town|2008}}'', 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.
* ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'':
** Sascha manages to stop the plane right before it falls off the cliff. He then breathes a sigh of relief.... and the plane tilts forward... and blows up after it hits the ground.
** The president of the USA stands up after a 9.5 magnitude earthquake near the White House where the refugees are (to be exact, at North Chesapeake Bay)... only for a tsunami to wipe out the White House.

* In ''Film/VerticalLimit'', two of the climbers get the message that the nitroglycerin they're carrying should be kept out of the sun... after it's 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!
* The film ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' did this to [[spoiler: Wash]], right after [[spoiler:crash-landing the ship on Mr. Universe's moon]]. Damn you, Joss...
* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing''. Gandalf is snatched off of the bridge after uttering an audible sigh of relief. (He comes back in the next movie, though.)

* Played with in ''Film/BladeII:'' One of the Blood Pack has a small explosive in the back of his skull, courtesy of Blade. [[spoiler: It is revealed that Whistler's replacement, Scud, is TheMole and the supposed explosive he provided is a dud]]. Scud pulls out the explosive for some quality gloating time. Blade promptly [[spoiler:reveals that he knew Scud was a traitor, "and no, it's not a dud." He hits the detonator and Scud is killed in the explosion]].

* Happens to Alan Tudyk (again!) as the Doc in ''Film/ThreeTenToYuma2007''. After escaping the miners and riding off with Ben Wade the music is soaring triumphantly. The Doc shouts to the others: "Did you see me hit that guy with the shovel [during the melee]?" and is promptly shot and killed by their pursuers.
* Near the end of ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'', when the surviving characters have finally gotten onto the escape helicopters, they finally have a moment to relax and for the first time in the movie get a good idea of what the monster looks like. After cheering when the military appears to land a powerful blow against the monster, it promptly lunges out of the smoke and punches the helicopter, sealing the fate of those survivors.
* ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' franchise:
** At the end of the original ''Film/{{Alien}}'' Ripley blows up the ''Nostromo'', finally begins relaxing, and just as she's plotting the co-ordinates the titular monster's arm swings into her face. However, it is subverted in that she survives the encounter.
** In ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', Ripley and Newt have just been rescued by [[ArtificialHuman Bishop]], having arrived just in time in the drop ship to help them escape the Queen Alien...who announces that she hitched a ride by impaling Bishop and tearing him in half. Being a robot he doesn't ''die'', but it fits the trope in all other ways.
* ''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.
* ''Film/TrueLies'' combines this with TheLastStraw (and plays it for laughs) as a car full of terrorists totters on the edge of a bridge. They have just enough time to start cheering before a pelican lands on the hood of the car and unbalances it.

* Happens to Boris in the Bond film ''Film/GoldenEye''. He survives grenades, remote mines, a falling array, but then, while [[TemptingFate screaming "I AM INVINCIBLE"]]...
* Comedic example in ''Film/TheNakedGun 2'': the bad guy survives the fall from a hotel window, goes away unscathed... only to be mauled by a lion freed from the zoo by Drebin earlier in the film.

* ''Film/TheGuardian2006'': In the end, 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.]]
* At the end of ''Film/OneNightAtMcCools'', Carl's character escapes a shootout between Dehling and Utah's twin brother, and runs across a street screaming an elated "Thank you God!", only to have a dumpster dropped on his head.
* In ''Film/GalaxyQuest'', the heroes save the day and everybody is cheering when suddenly a bullet hits Quelleck...
* ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderman2'': After destroying [[PsychoElectro Electro]], Peter and Gwen share a moment of relief. Then the Green Goblin flies into the scene, [[ILetGwenStacyDie and, well]]...
* In ''Film/TheCranesAreFlying'', during an ArmyScout mission, Boris carries an injured fellow soldier off the battlefield into "safe" territory, then takes a deep breath and ... gets shot himself.
* In ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', after [[spoiler: Angharad]] manages to cut the chain binding the War Rig and Immortan Joe's car and narrowly avoids slamming into a pile of rocks, she shows a smile of relief while Max gives her a thumbs up. Immediately after that, the door she's holding onto falls off and she's hit by Joe's car.
* 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 see 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.

* Subverted in ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'', when [[spoiler:Talos gets shot]] right as the door is closing on his escape spaceship, but he ultimately survives his wounds.
* ''Film/KingKong2005'': In a deleted action scene, the rescue team travel through a mangrove swamp on Skull Island when they're attacked by a giant predatory fish which eats several crewmen. When they get back on land safely, all seems well... until the fish jumps out of the water just to grab another man.
* ''Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming'' (1990). Fleming uncovers a Nazi plot to have him killed that day. He regards this as ActuallyPrettyFunny until he realises his girlfriend is staying at his flat. He rushes over there and is relieved to find her alive. Then the flat blows up in his face.

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ''

* The villain of the Kyoto Arc of ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' manages to get away from Eva, only to run into [[AxCrazy Chacha]][[PerversePuppet zero]]. [[SubvertedTrope Too bad she only scares her silly.]]

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* ''Series/DesignatedSurvivor: After infiltrating the property of Patrick Lloyd and sending in evidence against him, Jason Atwood is walking through the forest when he suddenly hears the bushes rattle. Terrified, he turns to look at what it was, being relieved it was just a deer. Moments later, he is shot dead by one of Lloyd's accomplices.

* ''Series/Designated survivor: After infiltrating the property of Patrick Lloyd and sending in evidence against him, Jason Atwood is walking through the forest when he suddenly hears the bushes rattle. Terrified, he turns to look at what it was, being relieved it was just a deer. Moments later, he is shot dead by one of Lloyd's accomplices.

* In Episode 3 of ''Anime/KantaiCollection'', after the Abyssals have been forced to retreat, [[spoiler: Kisaragi sighs in relief. Then one last Abyssal plane appears...]]