History Main / VasquezAlwaysDies

** A similar occasion occurred in an earlier season, [[PowerRangersLostGalaxy Lost Galaxy]]. The geeky, military trained Pink Ranger got killed off mid-season as part of RealLifeWritesThePlot, while the MsFanservice, Yellow Ranger was joined by another [[BareYourMidriff FanService girl]] to finish the season.

* The movie ''PitchBlack'' also had the more Vasquez-like of the two[[hottip:* :actually three, but no one except Riddick knows that until much later]] women in the cast (the one played by Claudia Black) killed off early (rather graphically at that), although this is played with in that the other woman is also killed off in the movie's climax, as a curious play off of RedemptionEqualsDeath: in this case, it's actually ''[[AntiVillain Riddick's]]'' redemption.
** It's sort of averted: Jack, the girl who survives, is a SweetPollyOliver.
** And it's the redemption of both Riddick and Frye (the other [[strike:other]] woman in question). She was the ship's docking pilot and attempted to save the doomed ship (and more specifically, herself and her surviving crewmate) by ditching the dead weight of the cargo containers - [[MoralEventHorizon including the container with all the passengers]]. Her attempt only failed because the other crewmate (who ended up dying in the resulting crash) foiled it.

* Averted in StarTrekDeepSpaceNine, in which [[spoiler: Jadzia Dax]] dies while [[spoiler: Kira Nerys]] survives all seven seasons. Although "death" may not be quite the right word, since this particular character makes heavy use of [[spoiler: TheNthDoctor]]

* Sort of straight and sort of not in ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', depending on whether you consider the doomed Dr. Augustine less feminine than Neytiri. Either way, the above-mentioned Michelle Rodriguez is less feminine than either, and doesn't last long.

* The [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]] mentioned above, in ''[[Film/{{Alien}} Aliens]]'' the chinup-pulling, smartgun-wielding Colonial Marine Vasquez dies, while (comparably) soft, maternal, civilian Ripley lives... Okay, so maybe at the end the [[MamaBear "Maternal" canceled out the "Soft"]], but you get the idea. Admittedly, Vasquez's death is awesome, trapped in a shaft with the bundle of nerves that was Lieutenant Gorman, who was only on his second mission as commander. He instantly redeems himself when he suggests they go out with a grenade, taking several aliens with them: "You always were an asshole, Gorman!"

* In the ''{{Punisher}}:MAX'' arc "Man of Stone," the ex-CIA killer O'Brien. She's hot, smart, and highly skilled at violence and mayhem, and her panties get wet whenever Frank is murdering the fuck out of people who deserve it. They have a brutal, joyless whirlwind romance. So of course she steps on a mine at the end of the story.

** As for MichelleRodriguez herself, the list of roles where she ''doesn't'' die is very short.

* Played straight in {{Film/Avatar}} where Trudy, the helicopter pilot played by MichelleRodriguez, is blown up heroically in an explosion.
** Played straight? Sigourney Weaver's scientist dies too. Hell, she dies first.
** Which makes it an example of two Vasquezes. Only the [[NubileSavage Nubile]] [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Blue Skinned]] ShallowLoveInterest may live.
*** Weaver's character was all around cool, but that she was in the movie at all made the death of the strong, Hispanic woman all the more glaring.
**** Seeing as how our one female character who survived qualifies as an action girl...I'm not sure this trope is being played straight.
** If we count the Na'vi princess as an ActionGirl, the trope's still played straight.

*** [[YourMileageMayVary This may not be a bad thing]]

Compare BuryYourGays, FauxActionGirl, FinalGirl (the weakest and most innocent girl is the only one to live), TheWorfEffect, DeathByPragmatism. Somewhat an inversion of this is LunaticLoophole.

[[folder:FanFiction]]
* Subverted in the BattleRoyale fiction [=~72 Hours~=], in which Ashley ''Vasquez'' (a clear homage to the trope namer in both name and character) is actually the sole survivor of the Program. The more traditional FinalGirl, Katherine, comes in fourth place.

A more charitable explanation would be that there's much more shock value in killing the tough, competent warrior; leaving the less competent one around thus increases suspense, since her survival isn't as assured. It's easier for an audience to feel fear if the FinalGirl is less battle savvy and thus more vulnerable. A hardened Vasquez left alone wouldn't be as terrifying. The death of the Vasquez character is thus a form of WorfEffect or SacrificialLion. Alternatively, the Vasquez may have been made an [[MenAreTheExpendableGender honorary man]].

A more charitable explanation would be that there's much more shock value in killing the tough, competent warrior; leaving the less competent one around thus increases suspense, since her survival isn't as assured. The death of the Vasquez character is thus a form of WorfEffect or SacrificialLion. Alternatively, the Vasquez may have been made an [[MenAreTheExpendableGender honorary man]]. It's also easier for an audience to feel fear if the FinalGirl is less battle savvy and thus more vulnerable. A hardened Vasquez left alone wouldn't be as terrifying.

A more charitable explanation would be that there's much more shock value in killing the tough, competent warrior; leaving the less competent one around thus increases suspense, since her survival isn't as assured. The death of the Vasquez character is thus a form of WorfEffect or SacrificialLion. Alternatively, the Vasquez may have been made an [[MenAreTheExpendableGender honorary man]].

* The [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]] mentioned above, in ''[[Film/{{Alien}} Aliens]]'' the chinup-pulling, smartgun-wielding Colonial Marine Vasquez dies, while (comparably) soft, maternal, civilian Ripley lives... Okay, so maybe at the end the [[MamaBear "Maternal" canceled out the "Soft"]], but you get the idea. Admittedly, Vasquez's death is awesome, trapped in a shaft with the bundle of nerves that was Lieutenant Gorman, who was only on his second mission as commander. He instantly redeems himself when he suggests they go out with a grenade, taking several aliens with them. You always were an asshole, Gorman!

** Mind you, she's [[TookALevelInBadass much less shy or geeky]] in the sequel.
** In the sequel, [[spoiler: it's nearly played straight. Miranda, the most feminine of your crew, cannot die until after the very last boss fight. Jack, a psychotic felon, will always be the first person to die on the suicide mission if you've been neglecting your ship upgrades.]]

** In the sequel, [[spoiler: it's nearly played straight. Miranda, the most feminine of your crew, cannot die until after the very last boss fight. Jack, Tali, and Samara can die earlier and are indeed among the most likely to die if you leave them to hold the line.]]

* Subverted by the early 90s CyberPunk action film ''Nemesis''. Four terrorists who look like supermodels are killed by the protagonist within the first 10 minutes. The protagonist's tall, lanky deep-voiced partner and the female bodybuilder contact he meets with later have a bit more longevity. The only significant female character who survives the end is immature {{Tomboy}} sidekick. To be fair, a) most of the male characters don't survive either, and b) all women in the movie are {{Action Girl}}s, even the old lady crossing the street. SoYeah.