History Main / WhiteShirtOfDeath

* Mr. Blank from ''SamAndFuzzy'' wears [[HighlyVisibleNinja an all-white ninja tunic]], which tends to get blood-splattered a lot when he goes into combat ([[OneManArmy though not with]] ''[[OneManArmy his]]'' [[OneManArmy blood]]). [[spoiler:His death is remarkably bloodless if we ignore the part where he got his face and mask torn off by a killer robot -- he fell of the side of a building.]]

* In an extension, after each character dies in the musical ''SweeneyTodd'' they're outfitted with a red-streaked white shirt for the rest of the show (since they still need to be on-stage as the chorus or to play instruments or whatever, depending on staging). In one production the dead characters put white makeup on and powdered their hair white/grey, and spent the rest of the show as ghosts.

* The [[spoiler:lawnmower incident]] on MadMen.

* Solf J. Kimblee in ''FullmetalAlchemist'',wearing a enterely white suit after being released from prison, his death? getting his yugular vein and possibly the carotid artery bitted off by a chimera, which Pride lampshades [[spoiler:before eating him and gaining his alchemic power]].

* The duel at the end of 'Dangerous Liaisons'.

-->--'''Ladd Russo''', ''{{Baccano}}!''

* [[spoiler:Solf J. Kimblee]] in ''FullmetalAlchemist'',wearing a enterely white suit after being released from prison, his death? getting his yugular vein and possibly the carotid artery bitted off by a chimera, which [[spoiler:Pride]] lampshades [[spoiler:before eating him and gaining his alchemic power]].

* [[spoiler:Solf J. Kimblee]] in ''FullmetalAlchemist'', which [[spoiler:Pride]] lampshades [[spoiler:before eating him and gaining his alchemic power]].

* For the final arc of ''CodeGeass'' [[spoiler:''Emperor'' Lelouch]] wears a fancy white set of robe. In the very last episode [[spoiler:he is stabbed through the chest with a big honking sword, [[XanatosGambit just as he planned]]. A lot of focus is put on the blood .]]

->''"Wearing white is going to make the blood look so pretty.''

* The Kurama vs. Karasu fight in Yu Yu Hakusho is definitely an example of this. Karasu's bombs eventually make Kurama bleed so much the entire front of his outfit and some of the back is dyed red.

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* Briefly mentioned in the {{Seppuku}} article: the {{Samurai}} would wear a white kimono for ritual suicide.
* Subverted with hospital scrubs; all uniforms used to be white, but blood is much less disturbing-looking against blue and green scrubs.
* Junior officers in the French Army in 1914 thought it chic to die in white gloves, perhaps so they could press their hand to the fatal wound and remove it dramatically. The French Army was... slightly crazy at this point in time, with a very Napoleonic and romantic attitude to the way modern war should be waged, and it paid accordingly.

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* In an extension, after each character dies in the musical ''SweeneyTodd'' they're outfitted with a red-streaked white shirt for the rest of the show (since they still need to be on-stage as the chorus or to play instruments or whatever, depending on staging). In one production the dead characters put white makeup on and powdered their hair white/grey, and spent the rest of the show as ghosts.

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Ever notice [[{{RuleOfDrama}} how much more dramatic]] blood looks on a white background? It's no surprise that, more often than not, wearing a white shirt can be more hazardous than wearing a RedShirt. Often, however, the death of a person wearing a white shirt will be [[{{Gorn}} much]] [[{{Bloody Hilarious}} bloodier]] than that of your traditional RedShirt, even if they're equal in terms of importance to the plot (the very first victim in a SlasherFlick, for example).

Also, in Korea, China, Japan and any FantasyCounterpartCulture strongly influenced by the same, white is the traditional color for funeral dresses. A quite literal interpretation of the trope existed in the Bulgarian army around the beginning of the 20th century as some common soldiers would keep a white shirt for last and put it on when defeat seemed imminent in odd contrast to BringMyRedJacket.

* As can be seen above, Ladd Russo from ''{{Baccano}}!'' finds himself subject to this trope (no need for spoilers, being the [[AnachronicOrder first episode and all]]). He doesn't ''die'' per se, but he does get his ear clipped off and his left arm [[NightmareFuel completely skinned to the bone]].
** Notably, Ladd invoked the trope, explaining that he and his friends all wear white because he thinks blood spatters look best on white clothing. Of course, at the time, he probably didn't think it would be ''his'' blood...
* [[spoiler:Chidori]] from ''{{Ayashi No Ceres}}'' is wearing a white dress when she is fatally shot in the chest to protect [[spoiler: Yuuhi]].
** [[spoiler:Aya]] does so as well when she is stabbed by [[spoiler:Aki, who is possessed by Shisou]]. The only difference is that she survives, along with [[spoiler:Tooya's baby]].

* When Kenshin and Tomoe met in the RurouniKenshin manga and OAV, she was wearing a white kimono. He had just killed a man in front of her. She said "you make rain blood". Do the maths.
* [[UminekoNoNakuKoroNi Battler Ushiromiya]] combines this with BringMyRedJacket; his habitual outfit is a white suit with a red shirt. Although he doesn't tend to die in as many arcs as some of the other characters, [[FateWorseThanDeath his luck still sucks a lot]].

* In ''{{Kill Bill}}'', the Bride faces and messily defeats O-Ren Ishii while the latter is clothed in a white kimono and [[SnowMeansDeath standing in snow]].
* In Lethal Weapon 4, Jet Li's character enters the final showdown dressed entirely in a white version of the black suit he's been wearing for the rest of the movie. [[ForegoneConclusion They couldn't have made it more clear what was going to happen to him.]]
* In the [[FilmOfTheBook film adaption]] of HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince, Harry slices Draco up like a Christmas ham in the bathroom and Draco NEARLY dies, but [[IGotBetter he gets better]], so it doesn't ''completely'' count. But the shirt was white and it was covered in his blood.

* [[TheThrawnTrilogy Grand Admiral Thrawn]]. Crimson blossom of blood; [[PuttingOnTheReich spotless white uniform]]. Even his ''murder'' was [[MagnificentBastard stylish]].
** Even his FamousLastWords were stylish:

* [[spoiler:Samantha Roth]] on ''TwentyFour''.
** Also, later on in the same season, [[spoiler:Erica]].
* Variation: When [[spoiler:Tara]] gets shot in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', we can tell because it splatters onto [[spoiler:Willow's]] white shirt.
** For added effect, she doesn't ''realize'' she was shot; her last words are a confused "Your shirt?" before she falls.

* The promotional images and DVD boxsets of {{Dexter}} often depict Dexter in white, blood splattered clothes standing in front of a white background.

* Junior officers in the French Army in 1914 thought it chic to die in white gloves, perhaps so they could press their hand to the fatal wound and remove it dramatically. The French Army was... slightly crazy at this point in time, with a very Napoleonic and romantic attitude to the way modern war should be waged, and it paid accordingly. No other army was so deluded.
** Deluded, but still managed to conquer almost all of Europe.
*** In 1914? Nah, they managed to be conquered ''by'' most of Europe.

* In an extension, after each character dies in the musical ''SweeneyTodd'' they're outfitted with a red-streaked white shirt for the rest of the show (since they still need to be on-stage as the chorus or to play instruments or whatever, depending on staging).
** In one production this troper saw, the dead characters put white makeup on and powdered their hair white/grey, and spent the rest of the show as ghosts.

* ''{{Hitman}} 2'' makes good use of this, cutting to a white screen whenever you die that really highlights your character's blood pooling around his body.
** In addition, there's the [[spoiler:funeral shootout]] at the very end of ''Hitman Blood Money''.
* Every normal headcrab zombie in ''HalfLife 2'' (and maybe the original game) wears a very blood-covered white shirt.
** This was [[{{LampshadeHanging}} lampshaded]] in a ''{{Concerned}}'' strip. Frohman becomes a zombie and laments that "He had to be wearing white" at the time (referncing both the zombies' bloody white shirts and the fact he had started to adjust to life in Ravenholm).
* [[spoiler:Vladimir Lem]] in ''MaxPayne 2''.
* Kaede Smith in ''{{Killer7}}'' always wears a white dress with a big red blood splat on it.
** Especially fitting, given that [[spoiler:the bloodstains match the bullet wounds that ended her previous life.]]
** Whenever you die in ''Killer7'', you get a shot of your character's severed head on a completely white background exploding into a smear of blood. There's a lot of blood in ''Killer7''.
*** Also, the blood smear when you die in ''Killer7'' is shaped like a screaming skull (seen from profile).
* In MetalGearSolid you fight against Sniper Wolf two times. The second time is in the middle of a snow storm, so she's obviously wearing a white camouflage anorak.
** Also in MetalGearSolid 3, the most dramatic battle takes place in a field of white flowers against a blonde opponent in a white battle suit.
* All six of the Handmaidens in KnightsOfTheOldRepublic 2 wear white jumpsuits, or grey robes. Every appearance of the five who stick with their white jumpsuits fighting ends with them getting their asses handed to them.

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[[{{Baccano}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/whiteonred.jpg]]
[[caption-width:305:Ladd Russo, not quite expecting it to be ''his'' blood on that suit.]]

->''"Don'cha think it'll be cool to have 'em stand out against the white? The blood stains, that is."''

Compare SnowMeansDeath, which uses the color white to similar effect. See also WomanInWhite, and BloodSplatteredWeddingDress, BedsheetGhost. Contrast BringMyRedJacket.