History Main / WhyWontYouDie

* A certain boss in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'' actually says this in RoboSpeak quite late into the battle.

* A rare hero(ine) example occurs in ''Film/Interceptor2022'' when Collins is fighting the sole female mercenary who turns out to be just as tough and determined as she is. The mercenary does get fatally shot right after this comment though.

* In the movie ''Film/MeMyselfAndIrene'', one scene has Charlie finding a cow lying in the road, and he tries to put the poor thing out of its misery, thinking it had been hit by a car. It refuses to die despite having a gun emptied into its head, being pistol whipped, and then choked unconscious. [[BrickJoke The cow shows up again before the credits, bandaged up but otherwise okay.]]
** A deleted scene taking place afterward has a farmer warn Charlie to watch out for his cow, who got loose and has a habit of taking naps in the road.

* A rare hero(ine) example occurs in ''Film/{{Interceptor}}'' when Collins is fighting the sole female mercenary who turns out to be just as tough and determined as she is. The mercenary does get fatally shot right after this comment though.

* A rare hero(ine) example occurs in ''Film/{{Interceptor}}'' when Collins is fighting the sole female mercenary who turns out to be just as tough and determined as she is. The mercenary does get fatally shot right after this comment though.

* In the manhwa/manga ''Manhwa/ShinAngyoOnshi''. This is [[spoiler:Hong Gildong's reaction to Munsu still being alive despite having a massive Ki bomb fired at him.]]

* In the original live-action ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' movie, while trying to take down a particularly well-armoured Decepticon with a tank for a vehicle mode, one whose name is either "Brawl" or "Devastator" depending on who you ask, Captain William Lennox watches the robot shrug off a severed limb, several disabled weapons systems, and constant fire from Lennox and his marines, and says in disbelief, "These things just ''don't die!''"

* In the manwha/manga ''Manhwa/ShinAngyoOnshi''. This is [[spoiler:Hong Gildong's reaction to Munsu still being alive despite having a massive Ki bomb fired at him.]]

** During his fight against Kabuto, Naruto grits his teeth together and asks "Why won't you die already?"

* Said verbatim by Creator/StuartAshen to a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z14SlZ1i7rc dancing JarJar figurine]] he was "reviewing" (read: [[DropTheHammer smashing with a pair of hammers]]).

* Jon Irenicus of ''Franchise/BaldursGate'' has this reaction when you catch up to him at the end of the game after surviving every obstacle he threw in your direction.

* Two-Face and The Riddler say this to Franchise/{{Batman}} in ''Film/BatmanForever'':
-->'''Two-Face:''' Why can't you just DIE?!
** Ironically, he then unleashes an attack that's perhaps the closest either of them comes to actually killing him.

** An odd line, considering that not only does The Riddler never really try to kill Batman at any point in the movie, he actually ''prevents'' Two-Face from doing him in earlier.

** In the battle between [[Anime/DragonBallSuper Goku Black]] and [[ComicBook/EobardThawne Reverse Flash]], both combatants travel back in time and kill their opponent's past selves, but since they are both immune to changes in the timeline, neither of them are affected. They scream at the same time, "WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD?!"

** Kira himself invoke this trope in the final episode to Rey Za Burrel [[spoiler:after he realized Rey is a [[CloningBlues cloned "younger brother/successor"]] of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED previous installment's]] BigBad, [[CharClone Rau]] [[LightIsNotGood Le]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Creuset]], which himself also a cloned human]], also complete with his HeroicBSOD.

* In ''Film/The6thDay '', Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger's character gets annoyed that the QuirkyMinibossSquad keeps {{cloning|Blues}} themselves.

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS22E20HomerScissorhands Homer Scissorhands]]", driven mad by all the constant chatter by the women he styles, drives him to commit barbercide. Where he causally walks over and drinks a glass of blue cleaning liquid for his tools, only for nothing to happen.

* ComicBook/TheJoker says this to Batman in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' in the episode "Joker's Wild". [[JokerImmunity (Right, look who's talking...)]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' episode "The Duck Knight Returns", a fight breaks out between two people dressed as Darkwing Duck: [[spoiler:Jim Sterling, the actor who played Darkwing Duck in the Show Within a Show, and the actor playing Darkwing in the film reboot, with Sterling being the more antagonistic of the two]]. Over the course of the fight, the more heroic of the two Darkwings gets beaten down over and over again, only to keep getting back up, prompting the villainous Darkwing to angrily demand "Why won't you stay down?!" The line carries some added irony, since the ShowWithinAShow Darkwing's tendency towards being a {{Determinator}} is what inspired the heroic Darkwing to take up the role in the first place.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Rebirth", after Bender survives being eaten by the Cyclops Eater and exploding from the doom's day bomb that was powering him up, he walks out asking "What does it take to kill me?".

** In the four-part episode "City of Stone", a man in a mask who [[AntiVillain Demona]] identifies as "[[HunterOfMonsters The Hunter]]" shows up to stop her. She says somewhat incredulously, "How many times must I destroy you?!" Subverted twofold: Demona ''has'' killed previous Hunters before, but [[LegacyCharacter their descendants always take up the mantle]]; and in this case the man in the mask was actually [[DeathSeeker Macbeth]], the one person she wants very much ''never'' to kill (since she would magically die along with him).
** Before this, Demona gets such a line in "The Mirror". Towards the beginning of the episode, she orders Puck to rid her of "the human Elisa Maza." Puck [[LiteralGenie playfully misconstrues this]] and, rather than use deadly force, turns Elisa into a gargoyle. When Gargoyle-Elisa shows up to [[TookALevelInBadass kick ass and take names]], Demona does a DoubleTake before raging, "What does it take to DESTROY you?!" Which is [[HilariousInHindsight somewhat hilarious]] as she should have realized Elisa was still alive after she made Puck "do the same to every human in the city."

* In ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill,'' when Cotton is on his deathbed, he enters cardiac arrest several times before Hank and Peggy, but manages to come back each time, spiteful as ever. Peggy tries to send him off herself before shouting this quote and [[CallingTheOldManOut giving him a piece of her mind.]]
-->'''Peggy:''' ''[gently]'' It's okay. I'm here. You can go now. Go... go! Into the light! The light is good! You can just let go now!\\

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheProblemSolverz'' episode "Videogamez", Horace says this exact line when attacking the final boss in ''Tomb of Nefertiti'', who seems invincible.

--->'''Aku:''' Well, I just assumed that eventually, over time, he would just '''''[[SuddenlyShouting DIIIIIIIEEEEE!!!]]''''' But he hasn't even aged. I mean, like, at all. He just grew that stupid beard. It looks like he'll be here forever!

** In the Valentine's Day episode, the skywriter with whom Homer has been struggling finally succumbs to the urge to vent:
--->'''Skywriter:''' Doggone it, why won't you DIE?!
** In the episode "Homer Scissorhands", driven mad by all the constant chatter by the women he styles, drives him to commit barbercide. Where he causally walks over and drinks a glass of blue cleaning liquid for his tools, only for nothing to happen.
--->'''Homer:''' Awww why doesn't anything kill me?
** In the Halloween episode where Homer kills Death, the Springfield mafia pick a bad time to deal with [[TheStoolPigeon Frankie the Squealer]].

* Inverted in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Coon vs. Coon & Friends", where Kenny [[spoiler:as his superhero alter-ego Mysterion]] asks [[spoiler:Cthulu]] "Why. Can't. I. ''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Die?!]]''" in reference to all his NegativeContinuity [[TheyKilledKenny deaths]].

* Mrs. Puff in the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Demolition Doofus", when her plan for [=SpongeBob=] to get killed (yes, killed) at a demolition derby is backfiring and he doesn't get hurt because he's an invertebrate and his bad driving causes the other drivers to crash.
-->'''Mrs. Puff:''' WHY...ARE YOU STILL...ALIVE?!?!?\\
'''[=SpongeBob=]:''' "[[PoorCommunicationKills Put it in drive]]"? Thanks, Mrs. Puff, you're the best!
* The ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'' episode "Steal of the Century" has Lawrence Limburger make such a statement after the Biker Mice once again evade one of his death traps.
-->'''Lawrence Limburger:''' How dare you escape certain destruction! Again!
* In ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR's'' series finale, [[spoiler:Evil Coop says this verbatim when he finds out his good counterpart not only survived Megas's destruction and returned to his own dimension, but did so with ''his'' copy of Megas in tow.]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' episode "The Ever-Burning Fire", while Lord Dregg is getting beaten up by the Turtles and their allies, he bellows out "Why won't you let me end your pitiful lives?!". Naturally, the feeling is mutual when Casey Jones remarks that he's harder to squash than a cockroach after he's ([[NotQuiteDead seemingly]]) knocked down towards a sea of lava.

* In an issue of Adam Warren's ''ComicBook/DirtyPair'', Kei, fighting an artificially created "warbeast", starts unloading into its head at point-blank range with a gun capable of stopping a PowerSuit with one shot.

* ComicBook/TheJoker says this in his [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/goofybatman110-13.jpg very first appearance]] in Batman #1. Ironic, given Joker's [[JokerImmunity later ability.]]

-->'''Joker: Smile damn you, why don't you smile?!''' You've got enough Joker Venom in you to finish off a regime of elephants. Why don't you '''smile?''' Why don't you '''die?'''
-->'''Batman:''' Because it's not '''funny.'''

* This happens in ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' before the final battle. Complete with a freakin' PowerWalk.
-->'''[[spoiler:Nakago]]:''' (to [[spoiler:Tamahome]]) Damn you... I thought you were dead.

* ''Fanfic/TruePotential'': Raiga screams "WHY AREN'T YOU DYING YET?" to Anko during their fight.

* In episode 10 of ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'', after losing a card game to Yami, [[VillainOfTheWeek Panik]] instead decides that ''killing'' Yami by burning him alive is the next best option. Unfortunately, Panik underestimates the power of PlotArmor.
-->'''Panik:''' Why aren't you dead?!\\
'''Yami:''' As I explained earlier, I'm the ''main character''.
* In ''WebVideo/YuYuHakushoAbridged'', Kuwabara has apparently already killed Byakko twice when Byakko comes back again, albeit horribly wounded.
-->'''Kuwabara:''' How many times do I have to kill that guy!?\\
'''[[DeadpanSnarker Yusuke]]:''' Once would suffice.
* In ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'':
** As quoted above, Freeza tells Goku to stop not-dying when he begins to grow frustrated with him.
** Vegeta says this quote whilst trying to punch Gohan into oblivion as he turns into an Oozaru.
** A bit later, he screams, "Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me! They're still alive?!" after trying and failing to kill Goku, Gohan and Krillin all at once with an explosion.
** Vegeta does this again against Cell. After Cell [[NoSell No-Sells]] the Final Flash, Vegeta blasts him over and over with smaller attacks and shouts this at the top of his lungs.
--->'''Vegeta:''' WHY WON'T YOU DIE!?\\
'''Cell:''' Prince, [[LampshadeHanging has this ever worked?]]
* From ''WebVideo/NarutoTheAbridgedComedyFandubSpoofSeriesShow'''s [[TheMovie movie]], [[BigBad M. Night Shyamamalama-sama-kun]] says a lighter variation after Naruto shows up once again despite his previous attempts to kill him.
-->'''M. Night Shyamamalama-sama-kun:''' How many times do I have to spank you before you stay spanked you little bitch?!

--->''"[[spoiler:[[MemeticMutation Nanomachines, son.]]]]"''

* In ''LightNovel/IsThisAZombie'', Kyoko screams this when [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Ayumu]] won't die no matter how many times she stabs or blasts him.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid: Portable Ops''. Null: "Why won't you die, Snake?"
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' has Raiden angrily shouting this to [[spoiler:Senator Armstrong]]. His answer?
--->"[[spoiler:[[MemeticMutation Nanomachines, son.]]]]"

** Nicole Horne issues this message to her men:

** [[spoiler:Vlad]] gives a much more explicit version of this near the end of ''Max Payne 2''.