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3%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Take care to put your example in its proper place in accordance with Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings!
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7[[quoteright:217:[[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/uncanny.png]]]]
8
9->''"Only... I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense? I don't want them to change me. Turn me into some kind of monster that I'm not."''
10-->-- '''Peeta Mellark''', ''Literature/TheHungerGames''
11
12TheCorruption has taken hold of this character. Fully ahold, leaving no trace of the original. Not a time for DrivenToSuicide or ICannotSelfTerminate; there is not enough mind left. Often it's not even a matter of MercyKill -- you have to kill in self-defense. Or ColdBloodedTorture or MindRape has utterly destroyed the mind. There is nothing left. Looming death may make MercyKill unnecessary -- but it may not, but dying has strange effects. For just a moment, you know that this character is aware of you. This may be the point at which you recognize your friend -- possibly because it coincides with ThisWasHisTrueForm, with physical freedom as well as mental, but possibly just the change in expression and the like. Gratitude, expressed in the form of GoOutWithASmile or just a glimmer in the eye, is likely. Perhaps you can hold his hand so he is not DyingAlone. Perhaps he can say MyGodWhatHaveIDone or shed TearsOfRemorse, or even undergo VillainousBSOD, and you can try to console him. Some form of LastWords is sometimes possible -- possibly even a LastRequest. Often he will be PeacefulInDeath. May sometimes lead to a TearJerker. This is also the way a TragicMonster often kicks the bucket.
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14In some cases, this may be a physical change too, combining EvilMakesYouMonstrous with NoOntologicalInertia.
15
16A form of DeathEqualsRedemption. May overlap with RestorationOfSanity. Compare DiedHappilyEverAfter, IDieFree. Contrast FightingFromTheInside. Not to be confused for ThisWasHisTrueForm.
17
18!!As this is a {{Death Trope|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].
19----
20!!Examples:
21[[foldercontrol]]
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23[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
24%% The following Administrivia/{{Zero Context Example}}s have been commented out and copied to Discussion. Please don't add them back unless you also add context to show how they fit this trope.
25* In ''Manga/ZeroSevenGhost'', Teito's friend Mikage gets half his soul destroyed and is possessed by the big bad to attack and capture Teito. However when Mikage is defeated and is dying, he spends his last moments giving Teito one last smile and hug.
26* In ''Anime/AfroSamurai: Resurrection'', Kuma, said to have had [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul so much of himself replaced by cybernetics that nothing of his original personality remained]], shows there's still some humanity left in him after all before dying.
27* A ShowWithinAShow example, in ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'' this is how [[spoiler:the Muto Ashirogi team end their bestselling manga ''Reversi'', by having their two main characters in it lose their demonic powers whilst plummeting towards Earth from miles above the ground. With it implied the characters chose to do so]].
28* ''Manga/BattleRoyale'': [[spoiler: Kazuo]] when he is [[spoiler: killed by a gunshot straight through his brain at the end of the manga. It "frees" his memories and he is able to remember everything. Also cue TearJerker moment.]]
29* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
30** When [[spoiler: Kaien Shiba]] was possessed by a hollow, [[spoiler: Rukia Kuchiki]] was forced to kill him to stop its rampage in his body. As he was dying he thanked her for killing him and apologized to her.
31** Orihime's brother became a hollow after his death and attempted to kill Orihime. Ichigo beats him up and gives him a lecture about how older brothers are supposed to ''protect'' their younger sisters. For one brief moment, Sora manages to regain control enough to rip off his mask and share the goodbye with Orihime that they'd [[NeverGotToSayGoodbye never been able]] to have before Ichigo finishes him off (at his request) to save his soul (the anime takes a LighterAndSofter approach by having Sora kill himself rather than the shounen hero doing it).
32** Anime Episode 291. When [[spoiler:Kaname Tousen]] is stabbed and mortally wounded while in Hollow form, he [[ThisWasHisTrueForm returns to his true form]] and his mental state appears to return to normal as well.
33* A fairly creepy case in the second episode of the ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis: AD Police Files''. The story centers around a woman who replaced her entire reproductive system with bionic implants so she'd stop having her monthly period. She eventually starts attacking prostitutes, ripping out their reproductive organs. At the end she is being chased by the AD Police, who are allowed to kill her on sight because she is categorized as a Boomeroid (someone who has more than 70% of their anatomy replaced with cybernetic components), and hence does not rate as a human being anymore. She ends up in an abandoned subway car filled with criminals; she rips off her clothes and allows them to rape her to death. The character Cara Iris realize that she chose to die as a woman instead of a boomer.
34* ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'': As {{Half Human Hybrid}}s, every Claymore will eventually transform into a yoma monster. When they sense their time coming near, they send a "Black Card" to another Claymore close to them, requesting that they be killed while still human.
35* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', when [[spoiler:Euphemia lies mortally wounded after being hypnotized to kill thousands of innocent Japanese, she finally manages to break the [[MagicalEye Geass]] order's power over her when it tries compelling her to kill her Japanese boyfriend... and then she dies.]]
36* ''Anime/CowboyBebopKnockinOnHeavensDoor'': [[spoiler:Vincent's death at the end of the film, and his choice to not kill Electra, having just remembered his life with her, definitely falls into this trope. "I remembered your face."]]
37* ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'':
38** [[spoiler:Maine]] manages to pull himself back from the throes of cyberpsychosis long enough to arrange a "funeral pyre" of explosives to honor his dead lover [[spoiler: Dorio]], which would also kill him. He uses his final moments to encourage David to save himself before the explosion.
39** [[spoiler:Lucy's TrueLovesKiss manages to pull David out of his cyberpsychosis long enough for him to help her escape with Falco and provoke Adam Smasher into a HopelessBossFight to buy them time. David uses his final moments to reject Smasher's offer to become a construct and [[GoOutWithASmile goes out smiling]], knowing he kept his loved one safe.]]
40* ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'': Cherubimon loses his monstrous appearance right before he dies.
41* ''Anime/FateStayNight'': Berserker (in a constant state of madness) gets one of these in the Fate route (covered by the anime) [[spoiler:after being killed for good by Saber, holding a brief conversation with her about the weapon she just used]]. To a lesser degree in the UBW route as well, as [[spoiler:he wills himself back to life for one last shot at killing Gilgamesh because he remembers that Illya reminds him of his own lost child, and then forces himself to remain manifested as she dies to LetThemDieHappy]].
42** Ironically, a similar scene occurs in ''Literature/FateZero'' with that war's Berserker, [[spoiler:returning to the knight Lancelot after being fatally impaled by Saber.]]
43* At the end of the Tower of Heaven arc in ''Manga/FairyTail'' Erza gives a ReallyDeadMontage for [[spoiler: Jellal]], who's body they never found. In it she theorizes that he returned to his good self before preforming a HeroicSacrifice to save them. [[spoiler: Turns out he didn't die, he was just in a coma, but as Erza predicted he did return to his old self.]]
44* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Most homunculi die as themselves (which are usually hideous monsters, so it's mostly an inversion). [[spoiler:Even "Father" is eventually sucked into the Gate to "[[FateWorseThanDeath not die]]" as himself, in the form he loathes, presumably for the rest of eternity.]] In-world aversion to this (and one of the few cases this trope is played straight), [[spoiler:Bradley]] dies as a gray-haired old man, as he originally was a human and a part of him thought himself as such, being the only one of the Homunculi to keep this form after fatal injury and death.
45** Also the reason Scar killed the chimera Tucker created: it was the mix of Nina and her dog Alexander, and there was no possibility of returning to them to their normal state.
46** In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', [[spoiler: Sloth]] has been spending all her "life" trying to prove she's not Trisha Elric, but as she's dying, she tells them to "take care of each other".
47* In ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'', Miboshi's power as a Seishi is to possess the bodies of living people in order to prolong his own life, and spends most of the series in the form of a small child... until he possesses [[spoiler: Chiriko]], who has just enough will power to throw him off, just long enough to commit single-bodied murder-suicide.
48* ''Anime/{{Gankutsuou}}'', [[spoiler:The Count]] and [[spoiler:Ferdanand]] get this when they kick it.
49* [[spoiler:[[EmotionlessGirl Inori]], Gai, and [[{{Yandere}} Mana]]]] are given this at the end of ''Anime/GuiltyCrown'', the latter two getting a sweet TogetherInDeath Moment and the former [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice Absorbing the Apocalypse Virus from Shu and killing herself in the process]]]]
50* In ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'', [[DecoyProtagonist Hisashi Igou]] is bitten by one of "[[NotUsingTheZWord them]]" and requests this of Takashi. Unfortunately, Takashi hestiates long enough for Hisashi to become one of them.
51** Furthermore, in [[FuroScene Episode 6]], Kouta and Takashi request this of each other in the event of being bitten... but only in the dub, for whatever reason.
52** Saeko uses this to comfort a student who has been bitten and thus must be put down.
53* In ''Anime/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', [[spoiler:Shion]] gets a moment of sanity ([[MyGodWhatHaveIDone and regret]]) before finally dying. [[GroundhogDayLoop ...Sometimes]]. In the visual novel she actually commits suicide out of remorse after apologizing to Satoko and the others in her mind, in her last breathing moments she imagines a happy life where she's Satoko's loving older sister. [[spoiler:She gets her wish in another timeline.]]
54* In ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'', Sango's [[BrainwashedAndCrazy possessed]] little brother Kohaku becomes himself again just for a moment before he dies. [[spoiler: He gets better.]]
55* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
56** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood Phantom Blood]]'': Black Knight Bruford is defeated when Jonathan manages to unleash a flurry of Ripple-infused punches on him. Since the Ripple is the essence of life itself, it temporarily revitalizes the zombie even as it starts to destroy his body and the honorable personality he had in life is restored. Bruford spends his final moments acknowledging Jonathan as a friend and passes on his sword "Luck" to him in honor of Jonathan's courage, going the extra mile of renaming his sword "Luck & Pluck".
57** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'': Yoshikage Kira impersonated Kosaku Kawajiri after killing him to hide from the heroes. After getting his head crushed and appearing in the Ghost Alley, his face transitions back from Kosaku's to his original one as he threatens Reimi, only to get [[DraggedOffToHell dragged away by the hands of the dead]].
58** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'': [[spoiler:F.F.]]'s greatest fear was losing their intelligence and not being able to say goodbye to their friends if they died. Therefore, they're actually quite happy that, even though they died, they got to say goodbye to Jolyne and tells her not to bring them back, as it wouldn't be them.
59* Knuckle Joe's father in ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'', after being brainwashed and forcing his best friend to kill him, shakes Nightmare's control long enough to make one final request: that Meta Knight brings his locket to his son.
60* ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime1999'' has Volvagia being corrupted by Ganondorf during the seven years between Link's seal and Adult Link's awakening (long story short, Volvagia was actually a friend of Link whom Link managed to buy from a Bazaar.), and Link reluctantly fights Volvagia, with him continously attempting to get Volvagia to remember what it once was. It was only after Link was forced to decapitate Volvagia that it came back to its senses, and somberly tells Link that it "hurts." in one of the manga's biggest {{Tear Jerker}}s.
61* A combination of this and StakingTheLovedOne had Reinforce have Nanoha and Fate delete her permanently at the end of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' because she couldn't prevent her [[EnemyWithout Self-Preservation Program]] from starting to regenerate.
62* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', [[spoiler: one of the alternate timelines in Episode 10 ended when an imminently witch-ifying Madoka requested Homura to end her life. Homura complied with immense grief.]]
63* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'': [[spoiler:Tiol, suffering from AmnesiacResonance combined with SanitySlippage ever since becoming a TragicMonster, finally remembers who he is and that he's fighting to be with Sheryl, just as Akira kills him for [[BackFromTheDead the final time]] with NoRangeLikePointBlankRange mini-missile rounds.]]
64* In ''Anime/{{S cry ed}}'', the BrainwashedAndCrazy Biff's last words, after being only able to say "Hammer" for the entire season is a relieved sounding, "My name is... Biff."
65* In ''Anime/ShadowSkill'', [[PowerBornOfMadness insane]] FallenHero G is finally restored to sanity when he is forced to fight Gau in a lucid state. He self-destructs shortly afterwards as he was already a PaperTalisman[[OurLichesAreDifferent Lich]] LivingOnBorrowedTime but DeathEqualsRedemption.
66* In ''Anime/StrainStrategicArmoredInfantry'', [[spoiler:Ralph Werec's insanity loses hold of him just as [[CainAndAbel his sister]] is forced to kill him to keep him from enacting his OmnicidalManiac vision on the galaxy. To heap on the symbolism, his [[OrphansPlotTrinket musical pendant]] snaps off when it happens, just like her identical one did when he destroyed her Flyssa in the first episode.]]
67* In ''Literature/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'', the spirit of the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orc Disaster]] is freed from the madness that his [[HorrorHunger Starved]] Skill inflicted on him once [[TheHero Rimuru]] [[TheAssimilator absorbs]] him and swears he will [[WellIntentionedExtremist save the orc race from extinction by famine as the Orc Disaster was pushed to do]] via a DealWithTheDevil to obtain the Starved Skill. He returns to his original form and passes on thanking Rimuru for "sating his hunger" at long last.
68* ''Anime/TransformersEnergon'' features the Autobot Inferno suffering from being corrupted by Megatron's power and being turned into an insane Decepticon. Eventually, as he was pulled into the Energon Sun, Inferno broke free of the influence and his Autobot symbol returned. Subverted somewhat as his spark (a transformer's soul) survived and was later given a new body, reborn as Roadblock.
69* In ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', [[spoiler: C!Syaoran is a soulless enemy after Acid Tokyo, but after C!Sakura's death, he returns to what he was before. We only find this out in the few moments before his death.]]
70* A girl in ''Manga/VenusVersusVirus'' was turning into a Virus but managed to ResistTheBeast enough. She had trouble however when Lucia shot her she was still able to die contently in her brothers arms.
71* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', When a Dark Signer loses a Duel of Darkness while possessed by his Jibakushin (Earthbound God/[[Creator/FourKidsEntertainment Immortal]]), he gets "unpossessed" for a few moments before he dies.
72* While it doesn't fall squarely under this trope, the book burnings of Pamoon and Laila in ''Manga/ZatchBell'' have elements of this trope, as Pamoon's pride as a warrior is restored before he goes, and Laila's book burning is at her request, since she has no part in the battle to decide the present Demon King. Before this, they were controlled into near paralysis by Zofis' inflicted fear.
73[[/folder]]
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75[[folder:Comic Books]]
76* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': An early [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] ''ComicBook/DetectiveComics'' story featured a man named Lamb, who after falling down stairs and hitting his head gained a split personality named Wolf, who would awaken at midnight and commit the crimes from the book he was reading at the time. At the end he is chased by Batman through the museum and fell down the same stairs, breaking his neck, and reverting to Lamb as he died.
77* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': Just barely averted with Betty Ross. When Skaar stabs Red She-Hulk, Betty reverts to herself in time to die... only to be saved by Doc Samson.
78* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'':In ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague2018'', a future version of ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} alludes to this just before pulling a HeroicSacrifice to help the Justice League escape.
79-->'''Wonder Woman:''' I will not leave you to die, Barbara Ann!
80-->'''Cheetah:''' Barbara Ann died years ago, sister. [[DeathEqualsRedemption This is how I bring her back to life. By doing this.]]
81* ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'': When Lucifer kills the demon Musubi, he asks her if she's sure she wants to die wearing the form of a Heian lady and she replies that it's easier to kill.
82* In the epilogue to the ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'' storyline/prologue to ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite'' in ''ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics'', [[spoiler:half of the Wily Robot Masters [[IDieFree absolutely refuse to live out their lives in forced normalcy and opt to be shut down]].]] [[HeroicBSOD This really hurts Mega Man and Roll]].
83* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'': In the ''ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'' storyline, [[spoiler:a body-surfing enemy is taking over Supergirl's mind]] so she [[spoiler:removes her [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Red Ring]] -even though Red Lanterns die if they take their rings off-]] as a last resort to kill it while she can still think for herself.
84* ''ComicBook/RevolutionaryWar'': Killpower shakes off Mephisto's conditioning for a moment and asks the assembled heroes to kill him before that personality returns. [[MercyKill They oblige]].
85* ''ComicBook/TheSpirit'': Towards the end of Darwyn Cooke's run, the titular vigilante evokes the trope by name after being nearly beaten to death by BigBad El Morte, ripping his mask off while saying "I want to die as me".... He doesn't actually die, but it does invoke this trope.
86* ''ComicBook/SwampThing'': In the story "The Curse," a young woman's repressed anger at her misogynistic husband causes her, under occult influence, to transform into a werewolf and attempt to kill him. However, even in her frenzied state, she can't bring herself to do so. Upon hearing from the Swamp Thing that he can't release her from her "cursed" state, she impales herself in despair. She then transforms back into human form and, before dying, asks the Swamp thing if her husband's okay. When he assures her so, she dies happily.
87* ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'':
88** After Madame Rouge is fatally wounded by Beast Boy in ''ComicBook/NewTeenTitans'' #15, the mental conditioning that she'd been subjected to by the Brain finally wears off. With her dying breath, she expresses regret for her actions, and urges Beast Boy to escape her exploding fortress before it's too late.
89-->'''Madame Rouge''': ...Logan...th-thank you for freeing me, Logan--thank you...[[TogetherInDeath Oh God, Niles, I come to you...I...come...to...you...]]
90** Jericho was possessed by the evil spirits of Azarath during the ''ComicBook/TitansHunt''. He managed to get rid of them for a moment and ask his father for a mercy kill. Understanding his suffering and what was a stake, ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} crossed the MoralEventHorizon and killed his own son.
91* ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'': [[spoiler:Inazuma dies like this in her brother's arms]] after months of FightingFromTheInside.
92* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': Possibly, when [[spoiler:Rorschach dies at the end of Chapter 12, he takes off his mask and is killed while he has his human face visible, rather than, what he refers to as his "real" face, which is his mask. He said earlier that the mask is a face he can tolerate, face of someone who sees no grey areas in world. In the end he is killed by his friend, because he refuses to hide a terrible secret. Thus he gives up, abandons his face and tells his friend to kill him. [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Alternately]], he doesn't need the mask to be his face; he is Rorschach through and through, sticking to his principles by accepting death rather than compromise, so it doesn't matter what face he wears on top anymore.]]
93* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
94** Played with during one of the most known examples is ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga''. ComicBook/JeanGrey tapped into a source of infinite power, the Phoenix Force, and became Phoenix. But she got DrunkWithPower later, and turned into Dark Phoenix, a being so insanely powerful that she may destroy complete solar system on a whim. The X-Men fought against her, attempting the IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight. Eventually, the good Jean does emerge, but asking her friends for a MercyKill. Neither ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} nor ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} could bring themselves to do that, they love her. So she eventually committed suicide.
95** Karima Shapandar, under the control of her Sentinel programming, attacks Utopia and is disabled during the fight by Hellion. When she briefly reasserts herself over her programming, she ''begs'' Hellion to kill her to prevent her from attacking everyone again, and he complies.
96** In ''ComicBook/SinsOfSinister'''s ''Nightcrawlers'' #1 [[spoiler:Wallcrawler volunteers for a likely suicide mission, scouting the World Farm, as he can feel Sinister's presence growing at the back of his mind, eating away at his free will. The stolen lab complex on the World Farm has [[TeleportInterdiction teleport shielding]], so he dies instantly when he reappears there. Over the next century this becomes a tradition for Nightkin who feel their identity slipping away]].
97[[/folder]]
98
99[[folder:Fan Works]]
100* In ''As the Wind Blows'', a realistic variant occurs with an elderly and senile Shiro when he dies with his memories returned. Naturally, it allows him to die in peace.
101* In the ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/BreakMyHeartBreakYourHeart'', Gabriel Reyes briefly emerges from within [[AxCrazy Reaper]] as he lays dying, just long enough to say goodbye to his friends and apologize for all the evil he had done.
102* In ''Fanfic/{{Cenotaph}}'', Stormtiger, after turning into the newest Butcher, blows his own head off rather than remain trapped in the prison that's being controlled in that manner.
103* John Druitt in ''Concerning Us''. When they find a way with Janine to remove the elemental from his brain both know that it can mean his death, but agree that it's their best option. In the end they succeed but the elemental kills him - still, in his last moments he's finally free.
104* In ''Fanfic/DangerousTenant'', Jill Valentine chooses this when the Doctor confirms that the only thing keeping her alive after sustaining serious injuries is a subtle strain of the T-Virus, as Jill doesn't want to risk becoming another mutation and the Doctor having no time to find a viral combination that will save her before Wesker initiates his own plans to infect the world with another strain of the virus.
105* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2511820/1/Dark-Chocolate Dark Chocolate]]'' is a ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' DeathFic where Wonka refuses treatment for his leukemia. He would rather not risk spending his last days being unable to eat candy due to the medicine.
106* Happens within ''Roleplay/ADynastyOfDynamicAlcoholism'', with a chaos infected knight delivering message to the main character while holding back his corruption by pure force of will, going out with a shout of defiance.
107-->"You didn't get me, you hear me?!? Reinhardt Hertwig died with his soul free!"
108* ''Fanfic/EvaSessionsSomeplaceVastAndDry'': Kyoko briefly regains lucidity long enough to tell Asuka how much she loves her, before dying from a stroke caused by [[spoiler:a combination]] of her Contact Experiment-induced dementia [[spoiler:and complications from a head injury inflicted by a terrorist during the hostage situation at the NERV Evangelion Center six months before.]]
109* Happens to [[spoiler:Twilight Sparkle]] in ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestria''. After spending over two centuries as part of the Goddess' HiveMind, including being used as a genetic template for one of the three sub-races of [[SlaveMooks alicorn drones]], she manages to temporarily free herself after the [[NukeEm Goddess' demise]] by [[BodySurf leaping into a host body]]. After helping Littlepip and company escape the [[CollapsingLair exploding facility]] her consciousness 'died', represented by the cutie mark on the host body fading away.
110* In ''Fanfic/AGrowingAffection'', Sasuke has allowed Orochimaru to perform a GrandTheftMe in return for Itachi's murder. And he is forced to swear that if he interferes in a fight between Orochimaru and any of his former teammates, Sasuke's soul will be ejected from his body. Uchiha chooses to do so anyway, so that he can give Naruto a chance to kill his body while he is in control.
111* [[spoiler:Gordon Freeman]] from ''Fanfic/HalfLifeFullLifeConsequences''. [[spoiler:he was reanimated by Combines's science, but John Freeman broke it off of his face.]] He died, [[GoOutWithASmile but had smiles on face.]]
112* Attempted in ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/332008/in-sheeps-clothing/ In Sheep's Clothing]]'', in a flashback in which Queen Chrysalis is the victim of an imminent GrandTheftMe:
113-->All at once, I felt a pull on my very essence, as if hooks had dug into me and had begun to drag me towards the box she held. At the same time, something foreign was burrowing its way into my body. All of a sudden, I knew. She was going to become queen not by trying to take my magic, but by stealing my body. I was being evicted, torn out without ceremony or care, separated from the font of power that marked me as queen of the hive.
114-->My fear turned into determination. With a final burst of magic, I took hold my axe one last time. If she was going to take my body, I was going to make sure she felt it.
115-->I aimed my axe at my own neck and hurled it, just as I had finally lost my grip on my own body.
116* Much of the reason as to why Nui tries to kill herself in ''Fanfic/MaimDeMaim'', after [[spoiler: Ragyo cancels her antipsychotics prescription]], as, without said medication, [[spoiler:her split personality (Nui Prime) will take over and she wasn't keen on letting that happen]]. Her attempts end in failure.
117* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' fanfic ''The Moment Has Been Prepared For'' centers around [[spoiler: Donna Noble]]'s death from the perspective of her granddaughter by her side on her deathbed. Right before dying, [[spoiler: Donna becomes Doctor-Donna again and remembers all her adventures with the doctor.]] Arguably a subversion -- [[spoiler:Donna regenerates and doesn't die after all.]] Link [[http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=23433 here]].
118* [[spoiler:BrainwashedAndCrazy Luu-Luu]] from ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', when she is stabbed through the chest by the Holy Moonlight Sword of a reluctant Kyril. She thanks him for [[MercyKill doing the deed]] as he [[CradlingYourKill holds her hand]] during her final moments.
119* In ''Fanfic/PokeWars: The Exigence'', [[spoiler:Harley's Ariados]] becomes animalistically hungry due to the dampener removal. He spends several chapters following May and her group, trying to figure out a way to kill them without the blame falling on him. During a Ursaring attack, however, the inner voice that represents his pre-removal self wins over the bloodlust, and he [[HeroicSacrifice tackles]] [[spoiler:Harley]] out of the way of a [[WaveMotionGun Hyper Beam]] that burns the bottom half of his body to nothing.
120* In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' RecursiveFanfiction ''[[http://fav.me/d4lrntt Fading Futures]]'' Twilight Tragedy manages to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong via telepathic messages to her past self, preventing the [[BadFuture Epilogue timeline]] from ever happening in the first place. However, as a result, the timeline begins to fade, everyone basically dying and being reborn as their Reharmonized counterparts. She spends the rest of her time before her impending final confrontation with Discord comforting her friends as they do this trope. [[spoiler:Her original plan was to allow her pent up revenge and pain to consume her and become [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nightmare Purgatory]] for one last RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Discord, but upon realizing that [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim if she brutally kills him in cold blood when he can't defend himself, she'll have become]] SheWhoFightsMonsters. She manages to free herself from Nightmare form, lets go of all her pain and suffering, and forgives Discord, deciding to fade away as Twilight Sparkle rather than Twilight Tragedy or Nightmare Purgatory.]]
121* [[spoiler: Averted]] in the Manga/DeathNote fanfic, ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5590180/27/Story_Of_The_Century Story of the Century]]''. OriginalCharacter Erin attempts to [[spoiler: destroy the notebooks under Light's and Misa's ownership [[SaveTheVillain to restore them to their original personalities,]] and to keep L from testing the 13-day rule, but L blocks her. When Light is cornered and Ryuk writes his name in his notebook, he dies in his father's arms, defending Kira's cause with his last breath.]]
122* ''Fanfic/SuperRWBYSisters'': At the end of "RWBY and the Seven Sirens", as [[BigBad the Empress Siren]] lies dying, her corruption fades, giving her a chance to apologize to both the heroes as well as the other sirens for everything she did before she dies.
123* In the ''{{VideoGame/Warcraft}}'' fanfiction [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6981143/1/Coup-de-What Coup de What]], [[spoiler:Deathwing regains his mind as Neltharion]] after being mortally wounded. [[spoiler:Despite knowing that Alexstrasza could heal him, he asks her not to, preferring to die as Neltharion rather than inevitably being corrupted by the Old Gods again]].
124[[/folder]]
125
126[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
127* Towards the end of ''Anime/DigimonTheMovie'', Kokomon turned into his pure, virus-free form shortly before disappearing. He gets better.
128* In ''WesternAnimation/MuneGuardianOfTheMoon,'' the BigBad, Necross, was once a hero and guardian until something went wrong. The protagonist, Mune, realizes that he's had a [[LightIsNotGood Corruptor]] wound around his heart the entire time, and tears it away. Briefly, Necross morphs back into his original form before dying.
129* Happens to [[spoiler: King Candy/Turbo]], the BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph''. The climax sees him merging with a [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Cy-Bug]], and being defeated by Ralph exploiting a piece of Cy-Bug programming, [[spoiler: namely, that they are programmed to always go towards bright lights, even if said bright light comes from an erupting volcano]]. He alternates between straight following the Cy-Bug programming and protesting, [[spoiler: with the shift being marked by a change between his King Candy disguise and his true appearance as Turbo]]. It's his true, protesting self that's in charge when [[spoiler: the volcano vaporizes him]].
130[[/folder]]
131
132[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
133%% The following Administrivia/{{Zero Context Example}}s have been commented out and copied to Discussion. Please don't add them back unless you also add context to show how they fit this trope.
134* A variation in ''Film/BladeII''. [[DarkActionGirl Nyssa]] has been bitten by Nomak and is succumbing to TheVirus. Per her request, Blade gently carries her out into the sunlight, allowing her to die as a vampire. Priest asks for this earlier in the film, but it's too late.
135* In ''Film/TheBourneIdentity'', the Professor has a lapse of humanity shortly before he dies in order to deliver the ArcWords to Jason: "Look at us. Look at what they make you give."
136* In ''Film/TheCrazies2010'', [[spoiler:Russell]] realizes that he's going to succumb to the craziness soon and goes down in a HeroicSacrifice to buy time for his friends.
137* ''Film/DawnOfTheDead1978'' subverts this with Roger. Rather than accept Peter's offer to kill him as a human, Roger chooses to succumb because he "wants to try to not come back as one". [[spoiler:He reanimates and is shot.]]
138* The alternate ending of ''Film/DisturbingBehavior'' has this happening to [[spoiler:Gavin]]. In his last words, he laments the fact that he'll never get to meet his idol, [[Music/NineInchNails Trent Reznor]].
139* ''Film/{{Doom}}'': [[spoiler:Goat]] realizes he's turning into a zombie, and kills himself. [[spoiler:He crosses himself]] before bashing his head fatally against the wall, showing that he was still himself at the time.
140* ''Film/DraculaTheDarkPrince'': Leonardo is bitten by vampires during the rescue attempt to save Alina. He uses a crossbow to destroy the ceiling above to expose sunlight and destroy him.
141* In ''Film/TheExorcist'', Father Damien invites the demon who possesses Reagan into him in order to save her. This causes his skin to go white. The moment just before he flings himself out of the window, his skin returns to normal.
142* The trope is repeated in ''Film/TheExorcistIII'' where Father Morning is able to weaken the demons' control of Damien long enough for Kinderman to get in a few shots at the request of Damien.
143-->'''Damien:''' BILL, NOW! SHOOT NOW! KILL ME NOW--!
144* ''Film/TheFly1986'' features a {{double subver|sion}}sion of this as Seth Bundle doesn't think he can die as himself before the Bundlefly persona can take over. However, given he does silent request Veronica to kill him with the shotgun, Seth did die more human than monster on the inside.
145* ''Film/FrightNight1985''. After "Evil" Ed Thompson is converted into a vampire and turns on his friends, one of the characters presses a cross into his forehead, [[HolyBurnsEvil branding him]]. After he's killed by a wooden stake in the heart, the forehead brand disappears and his face relaxes, indicating that he's finally at peace. [[spoiler:Subverted in the end and the later canon comics, he's not dead, he's still a vampire, and still a bit of a creep.]]
146* ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'': After he is bitten by the vampires, Jacob makes his children promise him to put him down before he turns. Unfortunately, when that time comes Scott hesitates and gets killed, before Kate finishes him off.
147* [[spoiler:Zartan]] in ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'' reverts back to his real self after being impaled by [[spoiler:Storm Shadow]].
148* ''Film/HarbingerDown'': The Harbinger's captain gets infected and orders one of the others to keep him covered with the [[KillItWithIce spray tank of liquid nitrogen]]. Eventually he begs to be frozen now rather than wait for the infection to take its course. [[spoiler:Unfortunately the monster that infected him is NotQuiteDead and kills the man with the tank before he can do so.]]
149* In the ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}'' movies, Cenobites revert to human form when they are killed.
150* ''Film/TheHungerGames'': Kind of. It's what Peeta wanted. If he was going to die in the arena, he didn't want the Games to change who he was, like they often did with other tributes.
151* Griffin in ''Film/TheInvisibleMan1933'' becomes visible again when he dies.
152* In ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'', Arthur, who throughout the movie has been the ultimate snob, curses Eggsy in purest Cockney as he's dying from the poisoned brandy.
153* In ''Film/TheLazarusEffect'' Once Eva hits Zoe with enough tranquilizers she calms down before dying. [[spoiler:Subverted. Zoe not only survives, it might have been just a dying dream.]]
154* ''Film/TheManWhoKilledDonQuixote'': After spending years believing that he's Don Quixote, Javier has a fatal fall and regains his sanity. Just before dying, he recalls that he was cast for the role of Don Quixote because Toby thought he had "the kind of face you see in insurance commercials."
155* In ''Film/MazeRunnerTheScorchTrials'', Winston is scratched by a Crank and infected so they begged their friends to help them so they wouldn't become a Crank. Newt hands them a loaded gun and the rest quietly leave. After the group travels far enough, [[SoundOnlyDeath a gunshot was heard.]]
156* In ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'', when the Wolfman is fatally wounded, he turns back into a human and manages to whisper "Thank you" before expiring.
157* In ''Film/TheNeanderthalMan'', the titular monster transforms from a Neanderthal back into a human before he dies.
158* Tear Jerker of a film ''Film/TheNotebook'' is based around the fact that people with dementia occasionally experience moments of clarity which can be comforting if slightly disturbing for the family. It's one of the most depressing chick flicks ever.
159* ''Film/Onmyoji2001'': [[spoiler: Sukehime]] chooses to commit suicide, and is able to die as a human rather than as a murderous demon.
160* In ''Film/TheReturnOfTheLivingDead'', [[spoiler:Frank]] does this by turning on the morgue crematorium and climbing inside, having just seen [[spoiler:Freddy]] give in to the pain and become another brain-eating zombie. That he's doing this to try and preserve his humanity through his destruction is obvious; he solemnly removes his wedding ring, kisses it and hangs it up, then offers a short prayer to be forgiven before immolating himself.
161* ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'':
162** Although he had just tried to kill Spider-Man, Green Goblin's last words show some of Norman's humanity peeking through.
163--->'''Norman:''' Peter... don't tell Harry.
164** Dr. Octopus in ''Film/SpiderMan2'': "I will not die a monster!"
165* ''Franchise/StarWars'': In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', Anakin Skywalker's final wish [[RedemptionEqualsDeath before dying]] is that his son remove his mask so he can look at him "with [his] own eyes". And he does: his eyes are not the red-ringed sulphur-yellow of a Sith he had as Darth Vader, but the blue eyes he had as a Jedi.
166** ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' sees Kylo Ren follow in his grandfather's footsteps, becoming Ben Solo again in time to give his life for Rey. This is highlighted by Rey taking his hand and holding him in her arms, which she said she would only do for Ben Solo, not Kylo Ren.
167* ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'': After the Necrosword is destroyed, Gorr's body returns to normal but he is still focused on his revenge. It's only when Thor tells him that Eternity could bring his daughter back to life instead of killing the gods that the loving father he was finally returns. He spends his last moments cradled by his returned daughter.
168* ''Film/TimeAfterTime'': Stevenson nods to Herbert when Herbert goes to remove the time machine key which will kill Stevenson. Stevenson knows he's a monster and needs to be stopped.
169* In ''Film/TronLegacy'', [[spoiler:[[TheDragon Rinzler]]]] turns out to be the corrupted [[spoiler:Tron]] who has a HeelRealization and commits a HeroicSacrifice. As he is drowning, his TronLines change from red to blue.
170* In ''Film/VanHelsing'', the title character kills Mr. Hyde, who turns back into Dr. Jekyll right before he dies. Apparently, this trope applies to many of the monsters Van Helsing kills, which causes some people to consider him a murderer.
171* ''Film/WarCraft2016'': Before dying, [[spoiler:Medivh]] returns to his human form and has a final chance of redemption by [[spoiler:opening a portal to Stormwind in the middle of the orcs' camp, allowing the human prisoners to escape]].
172* At the end of ''Film/TheWolfman2010'', Gwen fatally shoots Lawrence. As he lays dying [[ThisWasHisTrueForm he reverts to human form]] and thanks Gwen for doing what needed to be done.
173* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
174** ''Film/X2XMenUnited'': Lady Deathstrike is kept under Stryker's control by use of a formula which periodically has to be renewed, as indicated by her irises changing color. She has a fight to the death with Wolverine which ends when he injects her body with liquid adamantium--moments before the formula wears off. We see her eyes change, and she looks at him before dying.
175** ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'': The Phoenix transforms from a nasty veined, green-grey skinned demon with black eyes to her regular self; Jean Grey smiles peacefully when Logan kills her.
176[[/folder]]
177
178[[folder:Literature]]
179%% The following Administrivia/{{Zero Context Example}}s have been commented out and copied to Discussion. Please don't add them back unless you also add context to show how they fit this trope.
180* After one of their fights, the Literature/{{Animorphs}} demanded that a Yeerk leave a fatally-injured Controller, so that "he can live his last moments as a free man" -- but the Yeerk ''can't'' due to the body's damaged state. Other Controllers ''do'' get this, at least, usually because the Yeerk is running for it in its natural form. Notably, this happens to [[spoiler: John Berryman, AKA Visser Four]].
181* In ''Literature/{{Cell}}'', [[spoiler:Ray]] shoots [[spoiler:him]]self in the head so that [[spoiler:the Raggedy Man won't discover Ray's plan to blow up all the Phoners (which he hasn't told anyone else and hopes they'll figure out on their own)]].
182* In the ''Literature/CommonwealthSaga'', [[spoiler: ruce]], the Starflyer Assassin, has a brief [[DyingAsYourself moment of clarity]] after having his mind taken over, where he asks Gore to MercyKill him.
183-->'''[[spoiler:Bruce]]:''' Do it. Kill the alien.\
184'''Gore:''' Good for you, son.
185* ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'': This happens with each of the vampires, including Dracula himself (in the moment before he crumbles into dust). It happens in the first stage adaptation as well, but for some reason tends not to happen in movie versions.
186-->There was, on the face, a look of peace.
187* ''Literature/TheEdgeChronicles: Stormchaser'' features an interesting variation during Twig's fight against Screed. Just as Screed is about to kill Twig, the professor yells the name "Screedius Tollinix!", which causes Screed to pause. Twig immediately stabs Screed through the heart, realising only afterwards that Screed's demeanor has been completely changed by the memory of who he once was.
188* ''Literature/TheEmpiriumTrilogy'': Eliana's mother manages to regain enough of her humanity in her final moments to beg Eliana to kill her.
189* ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'': In the middle of a fatal (both to himself and others) qi deviation, Nie Mingjue snaps out of his murderous rampage at the sound of his younger brother's scream after injuring him with a wild saber swing. The flash of sanity only lasts long enough for him to collapse and die. The manhua adaptation plays the scene the same way, while the donghua makes it more nebulous whether or not he hurts his brother first, or manages to dredge up just enough control to kill ''himself'' instead.
190* Mentioned explicitly in ''Literature/TheGraveyardBook'', when Bod is captured by the ghouls.
191* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'':
192** Mentioned by Peeta: "Only... I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense? I don't want them to change me in [the arena]. Turn me into some kind of monster that I'm not."
193** Brought up again in ''Literature/{{Mockingjay}}'', in which [[spoiler:the hijacked Peeta fights against his bouts of insanity and begs the other members of the Star Squad to kill him while he's lucid, implying that he wants to die as himself and not as what Johanna Mason calls the evil version of himself]].
194* ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'': In ''Dragon Bones'', [[spoiler:Penrod]] regains his true personality after Tosten stabs him because he was trying to murder Ward. He smiles, happy that his body didn't succeed, and apologizes for not having successfully fought the mind control.
195* One of the ''Literature/JediApprentice'' novels features a world where [[DeathOfPersonality amnesia]] is a common punishment by the government. [[spoiler:It turns out that TheDragon is the sister of two rebels who Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon teamed up with, only mindwiped and basically turned all-out evil. When she takes a blaster bolt, she suddenly regains her memory.]]
196* Sadly averted in ''Literature/TheLastOfTheRenshai''; Colbey uses the last nodenal ("needle of mercy") on Episte precisely because there is no chance of the boy's mind coming back.
197* In Creator/PeterSBeagle's sequel novella to ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn'', "Two Hearts", King Lir dies as a hero, killing a griffin, after his friends rouse him out of a prolonged period of mental and physical decay.
198* In the last ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'' novel, [[spoiler:Jaina Solo feels her twin Jacen/Darth Caedus revert to his pre-Sith personality and call out through the Force to his wife... in the second before she kills him.]]
199* ''Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt'':
200** Drizzt Do'Urden's sister Vierna was probably most sympathetic to him -- this was implied to be [[LamarckWasRight because she was Drizzt's full-blooded sister, not just Malice's daughter but Zaknafein's too]]. However, Drizzt escaped, most of the rest of the family was killed, and Vierna became a houseless rogue, she became ever more desperate to regain the favor of the drow goddess Lolth, becoming more like their late, vicious elder half-sister Briza, but with all of Malice's cunning. She decided to try one more time to bring Drizzt back and sacrifice him to Lolth. It didn't work, and Drizzt, despairing at how she'd changed, was forced to kill her. In death, he noted she seemed to be at peace, and gained some of her softness back.
201** ''Exile'' kills two characters this way in a single set piece. One is treated as a DyingMomentOfAwesome; the other is just sad.
202* ''Literature/LostVoices'': After the mermaids use their enchanted voices to sink a yacht, Luce tries to use her song to get the cook's teenage daughter Tessa to transform into a mermaid, which would save her life. To her surprise, Tessa fights the change. She says, "No. I won't let you. I want do die ''human''." Then she drowns, along with everyone else on the yacht except for Anais, who does transform into a mermaid.
203* King Elias in ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'' gets a moment like this, when [[spoiler:his daughter Miriamele is forced to kill him to prevent the [[SealedEvilInACan Storm King]] from [[DemonicPossession possessing his body]]]].
204* ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'':
205** [[spoiler:Marsh regains his identity a few times throughout, but most importantly at the end, to remove Vin's earring which was the last of the power that kept Preservation from her. Subverted, as he loses control right after, and although she effortlessly kills all the other Inquisitors, her body evaporates from the power before she can finish him off. He ends up regaining control of himself permanently, but only after Ruin has been killed, resulting in him appearing in Era 2, 300 years later, as a supporting character.]]
206** WordOfGod reveals that [[spoiler:the Lord Ruler had been corrupted, though not directly controlled, by Ruin through Hemalurgy, which was how he went from {{Jerkass}} to evil. However, we see in ''[[Literature/MistbornSecretHistory Secret History]]'' that this is another subversion; 1000 years of Ruin's influence has left Rashek permanently altered, and he coldly insults Kelsier and Preservation before passing on]].
207* This comes up several times in the ''Literature/{{Newsflesh}}'' world, with it being accepted practice for those fighting zombies to save a bullet for themselves, and one character irate over a delay in the MercyKill of someone about to become a zombie. He insists that from that time on, anyone he knows who's about to go zombie ''will'' die while they're still able to remember their own identity, if he can possibly do anything about it (and that includes himself).
208* A werwolf girl is shot with charmed bullets while protecting the protagonist Anton in ''Literature/NightWatchSeries''. Despite his warnings that in her lupine shape she has better chances of survivng she still morphs back explaining with her last bit of strength that she doesn't want to die as a beast.
209* Subverted in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. Might also be seen as an {{Inversion}}. Winston's old self has to be completely obliterated before he can be killed.
210-->''"But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. [[spoiler:He loved Big Brother]]."''
211* ''Literature/ParadoxTrilogy'': In the second book, ''Honor's Knight'', Ren seems to regain some memory of her former identity as Yasmine just before dying.
212* Apparently inverted in ''Literature/{{Perelandra}}'' when MadScientist Weston appears to break free of [[DemonicPossession Satan's control]] and begs Ransom for his life. Ransom promptly bashes his head in with a rock. Readers cried [[ValuesDissonance What The Hell, Ransom?]], but it seems Lewis intended it to be a fakeout on Satan's part.
213* [[spoiler:Gage]] in Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/PetSematary'': [[spoiler:''"Daddy!"'']]
214** Averted in the film version: [[spoiler:''"No Fair!"'']]
215* Interesting version in Creator/RobinHobb's ''Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings'': [[spoiler:Kennit]] dies in Paragon's arms so that their souls can be reunited and both of them can be whole once again. Their separation was a major source of madness and corruption in both of them, but the moment of death restores their "missing pieces," thereby restoring their true selves.
216* In the final ''Literature/SanoIchiro'' book, [[spoiler: Hirata's sacrifices his body and forces General Otani's spirit away for good.]] Although broken and dying, he is also relieved because he is no longer possessed and allowed to be himself as he passes away.
217* In the Creator/HPLovecraft story, "Literature/TheShunnedHouse", the protagonist's uncle, Elihu Whipple, transforms into a rotting monster under the house's influence. It then takes the forms, in rapid succession, of all those who had lived and died in the house. As the monster is on the verge of disintegrating completely, it takes on, after an apparent struggle with itself, the kindly appearance of Whipple once again. "I like to think," says the protagonist, "that [my uncle] existed at that moment, and that he tried to bid me farewell."
218* Toyed with, but finally averted in the fifth book of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'': Reek fantasizes about [[spoiler: dying with a sword in his hand, as he would have if he had retained his identity as Theon Greyjoy.]] However, he [[spoiler: finally breaks free from his Reek identity while managing to stay alive.]]
219--> [[spoiler: Theon]]: You have to know your name.
220* Gregory Maguire's ''Literature/SonOfAWitch'' -- Candle and Liir help the dying Princess Nastoya return to her true form as an Elephant after a decaying spell leaves her half-human, half-Animal. A subverted trope, in that a Animal form is the character's natural form, and the human is the corrupted form.
221* ''Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse'':
222** In ''Vendetta'', Picard stabs a recently assimilated Borg in the chest. The Borg disconnects from the collective a moment before actually dying, and thanks Picard.
223** In the ''Strange New Worlds'' short story ''A Private Victory,'' the assimilated [[MauveShirt Lieutenant Hawk]] is revealed to have had a brief few seconds of individuality after Worf shot him in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact''.
224* Played with in the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Rebel Force'' series. A brainwashed assassin, X-7, finds that with extended time away from his master he's starting to feel emotion again, and flashes of memory, but he has no context and finds it all unsettling and disturbing. He does still want to find out who he was and so goes rogue to search, but time spent with the Rebel brother of who he (maybe) used to be, and exposure to old places and images, doesn't jog his memory. When X-7 is confronted again by his master the programming is reinforced; he believes he really is no more than a tool anymore, learning about his past is worthless, and he has to kill the brother and stop the Rebels. But X-7 fails -- and while he does not suddenly recognize the brother when mortally wounded, he does beg to be called 'brother' again, to be told that he was someone, once. Not just a tool. That he mattered to someone.
225* During the finale of ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'', Jekyll realizes that Hyde is taking over his body, and his use of the potion will only transform him back into Jekyll for a short time before he turns back into Hyde. Quickly running out of the potion and unable to make more, Jekyll decides that his final transformation into Hyde will mark the 'death' of Jekyll, as Hyde's only options after that will be to face execution for his crimes or kill himself. (Hyde ends up going for the latter.)
226* In ''Literature/TailchasersSong'', Scratchnail spends the latter half of the book in a state of insanity due to brain damage received after he was punished by Hearteater. Scratchnail has a moment of clarity ''just'' before he is killed by a boulder.
227* Healers possessed by demons in ''Literature/TalesOfKolmar'', if subdued by a powerful enough mage, may be able to speak for long enough to beg the mages to kill them while they are themselves. After a few healers are killed this way a mage figures out a way to get the demon out of the healer, leaving the healer much weakened but alive, but after ''that'' the mage starts finding healers whose souls were killed by their demons.
228* In ''Literature/ThisRoughMagic'', [[spoiler:Caesare]] has been used all book as a puppet by Czernobog. As he dies, the control lapses, and he says "thank you" to the person who killed him.
229* The character of the Fool in Creator/GuyGavrielKay's ''Literature/{{Tigana}}'' has a moment of clarity when [[spoiler: Brandin draws on all the power available to him, including the enchantment keeping the fool under control. [[TheDogBitesBack He uses it to kill Brandin]].]]
230* In ''Literature/UnfinishedTalesOfNumenorAndMiddleEarth'', we catch a glimpse of what [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Isildur]] was like with the Ring. He is in immense, constant pain from carrying it due to it having burned him when he first touched it, and, despite having maintained his faculties, he's already well on the way to the toxic obsession that most bearers have towards it. However, when the Ring finally slips off his finger in the river, he feels a great sense of loss and considers drowning himself--and then, suddenly, the mood passes and he feels better than he has in some time, knowing in his heart that he's no longer carrying a great burden. Unfortunately for him, the Ring's invisibility was also the only thing saving him from being shot to death by orcs, and those orcs are still close by...
231* Happens a LOT in the ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' novels:
232** In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel ''Only In Death'', as Mkoll {{Mercy Kill}}s victims of the Blood Pact's ColdBloodedTorture, one of them looks up with awareness, and Mkoll feels like a priest handing out a final blessing.
233** In William King's ''Literature/SpaceWolf'', when Ragnar faces a ''wulfen'', [[TheCorruption an aspirant turned into a mindless wolf-like creature]], he is tormented by the knowledge that it could be a friend of his. [[spoiler:It attacks, and he kills in self-defense. It manages to speak: "Ragnar". He checks the body, and realizes it was his closest friend, Kjell.]]
234** In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's Literature/{{Ultramarines}} novel ''Dead Sky Black Sun'', Larana Utorian, dying and deranged by her suffering at the hands of the Chaos forces, nevertheless manages to collect her wits and [[GoOutWithASmile smile]] at [[spoiler:Leonid]], thus giving him the courage to [[spoiler:set off a grenade, [[HeroicSacrifice killing them]] and the monsters that could have pursued their companions who could escape]].
235** In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's Literature/HorusHeresy novel ''False Gods'', when Horus mortally wounds Temba, the Chaos taint leaves him, and he [[ManlyTears weeps at the scale of his betrayal]]. He is so obviously free that Horus [[DyingAlone immediately kneels beside him and comforts him]].
236** In Simon Spurrier's Literature/NightLords novel ''Lord of the Night'', the dying Inquisitor reveals [[spoiler:to Mita that the eldar had been mostly mind-controlling him, but his failure to kill her stemmed from FightingFromTheInside]].
237** A variation is featured in Creator/SandyMitchell's ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' novel ''Cain's Last Stand'': [[spoiler:Commissar-Cadet Donal]], corrupted by [[spoiler:the CompellingVoice of Warmaster Varan]], has a brief moment of clarity when approached by Gunner Jurgen (an [[AntiMagic anti-psychic]] "blank") and uses it to [[DrivenToSuicide end his own life]]. The [[spoiler:Battle Sisters]] who were [[spoiler:mind controlled by Varan]] did something very similar.
238** In Creator/JamesSwallow's Literature/BloodAngels novel ''Deus Encarmine'', Sergeant Koris succumbs to the "red thirst," but mortally wounded, [[FightingFromTheInside recovers his wits enough to warn Rafen about the danger]].
239*** In ''Deus Sanguinius'', [[spoiler:Arkio]] dies like this, finding Rafen's tears over his death a great mercy, and while certain of his own damnation, begging Rafen's forgiveness.
240*** In ''Red Fury'', the Bloodfiends have fragmentary [[GeneticMemory memories]] of the Blood Angels whose [[BloodMagic blood they have drunk]]; after Rafen kills one -- being reminded of various Blood Angels during the fight -- its last breath might have been a word: Brother.
241** Mentioned in the Horus Heresy "Collected Visions", once the Emperor realized there was nothing of Horus left, he used his psychic powers to strike Horus down for good. The Chaos gods, knowing their pawn was now worthless, withdrew their influence, leaving Horus to die by his father's hand, knowing the awful fullness of his deeds.
242* Bluestar, in ''Literature/WarriorCats'', has a stage lasting a couple books where she develops some dementia, being confused and extremely paranoid: she [[RageAgainstTheHeavens is convinced that their ancestors have abandoned them]] and that all her Clan are traitors; she does not even trust Fireheart. Right toward the end of her life, she realizes she's been wrong, and performs a HeroicSacrifice saving Fireheart from the dog pack. She has just enough time to reconcile herself with her long-lost kits before she dies.
243* Averted in the final book of the ''Literature/{{Wereworld}}'', when [[spoiler: Hector wants Drew to kill him. However, Drew instead chops off his ruined arm, thus expelling Vincent from his body.]]
244[[/folder]]
245
246[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
247* ''Series/The10thKingdom'': The BigBad reverts to her original, non-evil persona when dealt a mortal wound and spends her last moments consoling the daughter she'd spent the series [[ArchnemesisDad trying to kill]].
248-->'''Virginia:''' No! No! No, please, don't die, don't die! Just remember who you are!\
249'''Christine:''' It's too late. Don't cry. My little girl. ''[smiles]'' My little girl. I gave away my soul...
250* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
251** Londo's death; he's had a keeper on his neck keeping him controlled for the last 18 years or so. Only in rare times does it let him free as himself for a few minutes or hours, usually if he gets drunk. Takes the form of ProphecyTwist as he had a vision when he was very young of him being strangled to death by G'Kar, as shown in the first episode, but rather than being an act of hatred it's an old friend carrying out a MercyKill.
252** A variation in "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS04E22TheDeconstructionOfFallingStars The Deconstruction of Falling Stars]]": A fascist dystopia is using holographic simulations, endowed with the forms and (initially) the personalities of Sheridan, Delenn, Franklin and Garibaldi, to make a propaganda film discrediting the Interstellar Alliance. Rather than allow the film to be released and tarnish the legacy of his long-deceased friends, the Garibaldi hologram hacks into the system and broadcasts the plan, as well as the location of the secret base where the film's being made, to the enemies of the people making it. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:this starts a nuclear war, although it was implied to be about to start anyway, and Garibaldi made sure the good guys got the first shot]].
253* In ''Series/BeingHumanUK'', [[spoiler:Lauren]] begs for an [[ICannotSelfTerminate assisted suicide]] with this as justification. She says that pretty soon the girl who was afraid her parents catching her smoking won't be there anymore.
254* There's a ''{{Series/Bonanza}}'' episode called "The Dark Gate" in which one of Adam's friends has lost his mind and started stealing cattle and abusing his wife. The poor man dies at the end, but when he does he acts like somebody waking up from a long nightmarish sleep.
255* ''Series/BreakingBad'' has a darker spin on this. [[spoiler:During the series finale, Walter finally admits to his wife that everything he did as Heisenberg, he did for himself, because he enjoyed it rather than for his family as he stated many times over the course of the series. And shortly after he dies in a druglord chemistry lab, the place he realized he was always meant to be.]]
256* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
257** Used in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E22BecomingPart2 Becoming, Part 2]]", when Buffy [[spoiler:defeats Angelus just as Willow completes her spell to turn him back to Angel. Although he is himself again, Buffy has to kill him anyway to close the gate that Angelus opened]]. It's reversed when he came back though.
258** Spike's Mum, in the much, much later (Season 7, near the end) episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E17LiesMyParentsToldMe Lies My Parents Told Me]]". With particular reference to the moment of grateful self-recovery.
259* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
260** Padmasambhava in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E2TheAbominableSnowmen The Abominable Snowmen]]", released from the grip of the Great Intelligence and finally able to pass on in peace...
261--->''"At last... my soul is freed. Thank you for returning, Doctor, and... saving me from myself."''
262** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E4TheMutants The Mutants]]", Varan and his warrior clan choose this rather than await the mutation that has taken over the other inhabitants of their planet, charging the Overlords' space station to certain death.
263** [[CatFolk Cheetah Person]] Karra in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E4Survival Survival]]" reverts to human form as she dies, and has time for a few last words with Ace.
264** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E6TheAgeOfSteel The Age of Steel]]", the Doctor destroys all the Cybermen's emotional inhibitors, causing them to remember their humanity and realise what they've become, which in turn causes their heads to explode.
265--->'''Cyber Controller:''' What have you done?!\
266'''The Doctor:''' I gave them back their souls!
267** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E9TheSatanPit The Satan Pit]]", after the Beast is flung into the black hole, the Ood trapped on Krop Tor as it falls in after him are freed from his control, looking very confused.
268** Averted in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E6TheLazarusExperiment The Lazarus Experiment]]": although Lazarus returns to his original human form when he dies (both times), his personality was the same throughout, even when he was in his monstrous form.
269** The villain of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E7TheUnicornAndTheWasp The Unicorn and the Wasp]]" is brainwashed to kill thanks to an ExpositionBeam informing him of his heritage getting mixed up with the murder mysteries his birth mother is a fan of. At the end, when he drowns, it's implied he may have returned to normal when he releases Creator/AgathaChristie, who was mentally linked to him, from the link before she would have died.
270** A heroic variation is basically {{invoked|Trope}} on the Doctor by each of their regenerations, made visible at the end of [[Characters/DoctorWhoTenthDoctor Ten]] and [[Characters/DoctorWhoEleventhDoctor Eleven]]'s respective lives: the first phase of regeneration is that the Doctor's current body "resets" before the Doctor changes into their next self (Ten losing his facial injuries and Eleven resetting from his advanced age back to his original youth).
271** What the Twelfth Doctor tries to do in lieu of regenerating in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls The Doctor Falls]]". He doesn't want to go through the agony of becoming a new person all over again because he's at last content with the man he currently is. Instead of regenerating, he stops the process and allows himself to die. Only his companion, Bill, and her lover Heather have something to say about this. Moreover, while he still manages to stop it in the final scene of this story, [[Creator/DavidBradley his first incarnation]] suddenly arrives on the scene...
272* In ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'', a doll is programmed to murder an enemy of Rossum, but manages to resist and commits suicide. It's a slight variation in that it wasn't literally ''themselves'', but rather an imprint that had managed to gain control.
273* ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman'': Matthew's fiance Ingrid gets bitten by a rabid dog and soon the symptoms of the disease develop: she screams and moves about uncontrollably, she's afraid of water and she doesn't recognize anybody. When her death is near, she regains lucidity and is again like her own self. Matthew comes to her to say goodbye and they have a [[MetaphoricalMarriage metaphorical wedding]].
274* Alia in ''Series/FrankHerbertsChildrenOfDune''. Possessed by Baron Harkonnen, her suicide breaks his hold over her, returning her to her normal self.
275* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
276** Implied in the Season 6 finale. [[spoiler:When [[PuppetKing King Tommen]] sees the Great Sept explode, with his wife Queen Margaery, her brother Loras, their father Mace Tyrell, Kevan Lannister, the High Sparrow and several hundreds of people inside, destroying part of King's Landing with wildfire, he takes off his crown before jumping off a window, dying as Tommen Baratheon instead of as King of the Seven Kingdoms. In addition, in jumping out the window of the Red Keep, he finally was able to make a single decision as his own person without anyone guiding his hand -- not Tywin, not Cersei, not the High Sparrow.]]
277** WordOfGod has confirmed that Bran's warging wore off by the time that Hodor actually held the door against the Wights. Hodor therefore chose to hold off the Wights and allow Bran and Meera to escape of his own free will. His last thoughts were even that of happiness, knowing he managed to save his friends' lives.
278* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'': Strongly implied in the episode "Turnabout". Duncan's fellow Immortal Michael Moore turns up, saying that his old enemy Quentin Barnes is on the loose and killing again, thirty years after being executed for the murder of Michael's wife. It turns out that [[spoiler:Barnes is a SplitPersonality, sharing time with Michael, and the "Barnes" personality is getting stronger. In the climax, Michael seems to briefly retake control and hold himself motionless so Duncan can kill him, and Barnes with him.]]
279* In ''Series/HoratioHornblower'' episode "Retribution", the mad Captain Sawyer seems to regain his sanity when Wellard enters the cabin, intending to kill him so that he won't name either Hornblower or Kennedy as the man who pushed him. Sawyer confronts this calmly and admits that Wellard is worthy of respect. Though Wellard can't go through with it, the Spanish break in moments later and Sawyer stands side-by-side with Wellard, calling him a brave lad just before they're both shot down.
280* In ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'', the Scorpioworm as Tsurugi tells Tendou to kill him.
281** Also counts as SuicideByCop, since [[spoiler:his FaceHeelTurn and everything that followed was a gambit to get most, if not all, of the Worms killed]].
282* In the final season of ''Series/{{Lost}}'', [[spoiler:Sayid, who has been in an emotionless state and serving the [[BigBad Big Bad]] for the entire season, finally breaks out of it and performs a [[HeroicSacrifice Heroic Sacrifice]], dying to save his friends.]]
283* In ''Series/Merlin2008'' Series 4, this is [[spoiler: Lancelot]] to Merlin after Morgana brings him back from the dead as a 'shade', controlled entirely by her, and forces him to stop Arthur [[spoiler:and Gwen's marriage, leading to Gwen's banishment of Camelot]]. Just before Merlin gives him a proper funeral, he awakens as himself once last time to thank Merlin.
284* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
285** Invoked twice, [[spoiler:though no one actually dies]], in the Season 2 Finale. Greg and Tamara have activated a trigger that will destroy Storybrooke and kill everyone. Grumpy gives Rumpelstiltskin a potion that he will cause Lacey to lose her cursed memories and return her memories of her as Belle, saying that she shouldn't die as Lacey. As Regina prepares to sacrifice herself to stop the trigger, she begs Emma to let her do it citing this:
286--->'''Regina:''' Everyone looks at me as The Evil Queen, including my son. Let me die as Regina.
287** Invoked in the Season 5 mid-finale by [[spoiler: Hook. He was turned into a Dark One and consumed by the darkness, almost dragging all of Storybrooke into the Underworld. But finally seeing Emma in danger made him strong enough to fight it off and he begs her to stab him with Excalibur and let him destroy their darkness with his death.]]
288--->[[spoiler:'''Hook:''']] Let me die a hero. As the man I want you to remember, please.
289* An example from ''Series/RescueMe'' may apply, though it does not involve death. Chief Jerry Reilly's beloved wife is rapidly deteriorating due to Alzheimer's disease. For weeks, she's been calling him "Bud", her brother's name. After she tries to kill herself while he's out, he realizes that he can no longer care for her properly and commits her to a nursing home for Alzheimer's patients. After he says goodbye to her and begins walking away, she calls after him on the verge of tears, [[TearJerker "Jerry!"]]
290* [[spoiler:Ashley]] in ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}''. She breaks free from the brainwashing just long enough to address Magnus, shed a tear, and decide to kill herself along with the last bad guy.
291* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
292** "Visage": [[spoiler:Tina Greer]] dies as herself after her KarmicDeath.
293** "Eternal", Davis tries to convince Chloe into doing a MercyKill, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. When Clark crashes in, [[spoiler:Doomsday starts to emerge]], and the fear for Clark's life overcame her guilt and she pulled the lever. Davis turns back to being himself as he dies. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, it doesn't stick.]]
294* ''Franchise/{{Stargate|Verse}}'':
295** A variation in ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' when Rodney comes down with "Second Childhood", basically advanced Alzheimer's. Ronon and Teyla want to take him to a particular location that will allow him to regain his identity long enough to say his goodbyes and die with dignity. Once they get there, Rodney immediately says "the hell with dying!" and is actually pissed off that they thought he'd be better off cognizant of his impending death. Of course, they eventually do find a way to remove the parasite from his brain.
296** ''Series/StargateSG1'':
297*** "Serpent's Song" ends with the death of Apophis; without him, his host quickly ages and dies as well, and Daniel performs an Egyptian death ritual to let the host FaceDeathWithDignity. Sokar later uses the sarcophagus to bring Apophis back to life, but [[FridgeHorror hopefully nothing of the host survived death]].
298*** The end of "Forever in a Day", after Teal'c shoots Sha're to save Daniel. Ammonet (the symbiote) dies leaving Sha're just enough time to tell Daniel she loves him before she dies as well.
299*** In the episode "The Enemy Within", Charles Kawalsky is taken over by a Goa'uld and he under goes surgery to remove it, he says beforehand that he "wants to wake up as himself or not at all."
300* Subverted tragically in the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Collective", where the oldest leader of a group of Borg children disconnected from collective continues to remain stubbornly loyal to the Borg after the other children begin to regain their individuality. When he is electrocuted, his last words are "We are Borg".
301* ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'':
302** In [[Recap/Supergirl2015S2E7TheDarkestPlace "The Darkest Place"]]. [[DefectorFromDecadence M'gann M'orzz]] asks a [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge vengeful]] [[ComicBook/MartianManhunter J'onn]] that if he's going to kill her, she wants to die in the [[VoluntaryShapeshifting human form she's chosen]], rather than her original White Martian form.
303** In "[[Recap/Supergirl2015S2E18AceReporter Ace Reporter]]", where Jack turns out to be both mind controlled and kept alive by a nanobot swarm.
304* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
305** In Season 4, Dean says that at least Sam will "die as a human" if [[spoiler:the demon blood detox]] kills him.
306** Also happened back in Season 1. Meg, possessing an innocent human woman at the time, was thrown out a several story high window but her powers kept the body alive. Episodes later, Dean and Sam exorcise Meg out of her body and she thanks them right before dying from the injuries.
307** PlayedWith in early Season 7, Castiel has absorbed thousands of souls from Purgatory and goes mad with the power. After committing multiple atrocities, he manages to expel the souls and becomes himself again, promising to redeem himself to Dean. However, his body is also infected with Leviathans, which take over and cause his vessel to break down completely and he is presumed dead.
308** In Season 9, after being branded with the Mark of Cain in Episode 11, Dean is corrupted by its influence and slowly becomes AxCrazy. In the season finale, after he's fatally wounded by Metatron and [[DiedInYourArmsTonight dying in Sam's arms]], Dean admits he's actually relieved to be dying because the Mark "was turning me into something I don't wanna be." Unfortunately, dying is the final step in doing just that, and Dean is subsequently [[CameBackWrong resurrected as a demon]].
309* In ''Series/TwinPeaks'' it is eventually revealed that Laura was killed by Bob because she refuses to allow herself to be corrupted by him and do the Black Lodge spirit's will. James mentions that on the night she died, she had some sort of breakdown in front of him, and when she came out of it she was "the same old Laura", who then proceeds to go off and allow herself to be killed.
310* [=MechaZamusha=] in the ''Series/UltramanMebius'' Ghost Reverse Gaiden tells Mebius to kill him before [[spoiler:he becomes a revived Empera]].
311[[/folder]]
312
313[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
314* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', Basic D&D module X2 ''TabletopGame/CastleAmber''. Theophile, the Abbot of Perigon, turns into a monster called the Beast of Perigon when a red comet is overhead. If killed, he returns to his true form.
315* Some vampire characters in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' seek to become human again, at any cost. The books suggest that if such a character dies in an act of true self-sacrifice, they die as a human rather than as a vampire.
316* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' The Emperor of Mankind blasted the daemonically enhanced Horus with a mind spike of such power that it sent the Chaos forces occupying Horus' mind running home screaming. He could see the man that was once his most beloved son in his eyes. Sadly, the Emperor couldn't risk Horus getting possessed again, so he mind reamed him even harder at Horus's own request.
317[[/folder]]
318
319[[folder:Theatre]]
320* In the concept album for ''Theatre/JekyllAndHyde'', as Hyde dies, his voice fades back to that of Jekyll.
321* ''Theatre/PeerGynt'' has the protagonist dying as himself after a life of [[NotHimself not being himself]]. He needed {{the power of love}} to get that far.
322* In Noah Smith's stage version of ''Theatre/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'', Hyde dies after Jekyll's friends [[spoiler:trick Hyde into using a batch of the formula with a lethal flaw]]. Jekyll resurfaces for a moment to thank his friends before death overcomes him.
323[[/folder]]
324
325[[folder:Video Games]]
326%% The following Administrivia/{{Zero Context Example}}s have been commented out and copied to Discussion. Please don't add them back unless you also add context to show how they fit this trope.
327* In the video game of ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'', Smythe breaks free of prison and heads back to his lab, realizing he's mutating into a monster. He activates a Slayer unit and uses it to kill himself.
328* ''VideoGame/{{Arknights}}'': In the event "Lingering Echoes" [[spoiler:Kreide]] was consumed by the Voice of Terra implanted in him due to outside interference and turned into a vessel of the Witch King. After his friend Ebenholz defeated him, [[spoiler:Kreide]] returned to his normal self and gave Ebenholz an encouraging speech before he died.
329* In the visual novel ''VisualNovel/AseliaTheEternalTheSpiritOfEternitySword'', if you don't recruit [[spoiler:Kyouko and Kouin]] the former dies finally freed of the mind control/brainwashing that had been forced on them.
330* Some of Savoranola's brainwashed lieutenants in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' express regret with their dying words, with a few going so far as to say MyGodWhatHaveIDone (though at least one is NotBrainwashed). Ezio's sympathy varies.
331* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', after you mortally wound the necromancer Lavok, he's revealed to have been possessed by some unknown force for centuries. Of course, he was a necromancer who murdered his family before that.
332* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'', this is implied to be the fate of [[spoiler:Mr. Freeze and Nora Fries. With Freeze's research and equipment destroyed and lost in stopping Deathstroke's men and Nora released from her cryogentic tube, Nora begs Victor to stop trying to save her and let them live normal lives, especially seeing how much doing so destroyed him. Victor ultimately agrees and pops open his suit's visor, deciding that they'll live their last days as normal as possible.]]
333* A scene in the prologue of ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2'' turns out to be this, as a result of the events of the game's ending. [[spoiler:The Lumen Sage Balder regains his sanity just before his death as a result of the Jubileus fight from the first game. His return to sanity lasts just long enough for him to ensure that the soul of Loptr remains in his body, and dies with him]].
334* Near the end of ''VideoGame/BioShock2'', [[spoiler: Sinclair breaks into Persephone to rescue Delta (you), but is captured and turned into an Alpha Series Big Daddy. His mind is still intact (but fading) and he can still talk to you, but his body is being controlled by Lamb. He requests that you kill him quickly before his mind goes completely. Unfortunately, he has a key on him that you need, so killing him is your only option.]]
335* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'':
336** Gilbert is one of the first friendly characters the player meets and gifts them with the Flamesprayer after defeating Father Gascoigne. He reveals that he came to Yharnam seeking aid for his illness and doesn't have much time left, but expresses gratitude that he'll at least die human. Ultimately subverted, as he transforms into a beast after defeating Rom, the Vacuous Spider, requiring the player to put him down.
337** Ludwig is a hideously deformed horse-like abomination that WasOnceAMan, but midway through the battle against him, he finds and recognizes the sword that he wielded before his degeneration and regains enough humanity to use it for the remainder of the fight, and when he is finally defeated, [[AlmostDeadGuy his severed head]] asks the player whether his sacrifices and actions were in vain (they were, but [[VideoGameCaringPotential the player can choose to tell him otherwise]]).
338* In ''VideoGame/CaveStory'', Mimigas that are subjected to [[PsychoSerum red flowers]] turn back into their normal shape when they get killed.
339* ''VideoGame/DeathsDoor'': [[spoiler:In the post-game sequence, if the Reaper obtains Steadhone's locket as a TragicKeepsake and returns it to him, he becomes so overwhelmed with grief at the loss of his dog Monty that his own immortality causes him to turn corrupt and evil. Once the Reaper manages to defeat him, he returns to normal as he lies down on his back and thanks the Reaper for freeing his soul, knowing that "[[ArcWords [his] time in this world is over]]" before passing on and [[NoBodyLeftBehind becoming dust]].]]
340* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', Senior Grey Wardens nearing the end of their 30 years of service will often embark on the Calling. [[spoiler: It's later revealed this is to prevent them turning into ghouls as the Darkspawn Taint takes control of them.]]
341** Anders' mage friend in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', who was made Tranquil against his will, asks to be killed while he still has his emotions.
342** [[spoiler: If the rivalry path is pursued with him, Anders himself asks Hawke to kill him before the demon possessing him completely consumes him.]]
343-->[[spoiler:'''Anders''':]] Kill me now before there is nothing left of me.
344-->'''Hawke''': I know you would have changed it if you could.
345-->[[spoiler:'''Anders''':]] But I have proven I cannot! If I cannot control [[spoiler:Vengeance]] now, I never will! I need to die.
346* In ''VideoGame/EldenRing'', this is what Millicent opts to do if you aid her against her sisters. She removes the Unalloyed Gold Needle, choosing to let the Scarlet Rot consume her rather than live and be reborn as something else.
347-->'''Millicent''': With your help, I was able to live as my own person, if only in passing.
348* In the GoldenEnding of ''VideoGame/FaithTheUnholyTrinity'', Amy's face reforms as the UNSPEAKABLE ends its {{demonic possession}} of her. Following John giving her last rites in the form of the Trinitarian formula, her soul finally ascends to Heaven, leaving behind her skeleton.
349* ''VideoGame/FatalFrameMaskOfTheLunarEclipse'':
350** Female Patient's Note has her writing about how the Getsuyuu Syndrome is making her forget about her deceased family members more and more. She doesn't want to live and completely forget them, so she says she'll commit suicide while she's still herself and remembers at least some part of her family.
351** Dr Haibara's assistant has a note that reveals that most of the advanced Getsuyuu Syndrome patients have done this, to choose a 'natural' way to die, rather than succumb completely to the Syndrome.
352* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': One of the bosses faced in "Hell Realm Mandala, Heian-kyo" is Taira-no-Kagekiyo, a collective personification of the Taira clan possessing the body of Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune. When defeated by the player, the Taira collective disappears and Yoshitsune was able to reassert control (shown by her eyes turning from TechnicolorEyes back to blue and the heavy makeup disappearing) before dying.
353* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'', [[spoiler:Queen Brahne]] combines it with DeathEqualsRedemption. In the last moments before [[spoiler:her]] death, [[spoiler:she finally manages to break free of her greed, seems to revert back to TheHighQueen and mother she once was and makes peace with Garnet]].
354* Feral Chaos in Scenario 000 in ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy]]'', shortly after being defeated by the party of five, regains his sanity long enough to thank the party for saving Cid, his father, as well as restoring Cosmos and driving away Shinryu.
355* In the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series, this is very common with characters who are BrainwashedAndCrazy or suffering from DemonicPossession.
356** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' and its remake have Duma, who succumbed to the dragon's SanitySlippage long ago but regains enough of himself before expiring to give Alm and Celica a stern warning not to repeat his and Mila's mistakes.
357** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'' plays this straight with [[spoiler: Hardin]], but the DS remake has a particularly cruel twist on this trope: [[spoiler: Eremiah was an orphanage caretaker brainwashed by Gharnef into creating {{Tyke Bomb}}s. After the party defeats her, Gharnef un-brainwashes her as she's dying ''just so she can re-live the most horrible memories of her former life in her last moments.'' Just in case you didn't realise he was a colossal dick before...]]
358** The [[BossRush morphs in the final chapter]] of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' are modeled after the Four Fangs, as well as other high-level enemy commanders encountered throughout the game, heavily implied to be crafted using their [[YourSoulIsMine essence]]. Their coloration is off, being much paler than their normal portraits, and dead silent. When slain in combat, their coloration returns to normal and most give a slight smile before crumbling to dust.
359** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' has Lyon in Eirika's route, who regains control of his body from the Demon King right as he bites it. (It's less so in Ephraim's route, where Fomortiis goes the MoreThanMindControl route instead.)
360** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' has Rajaion, Ena's fiancé and Dheginsea's son, who was captured by Ashnard, fed the Feral One drug, and forced to act as Ashnard's personal mount. After Ashnard bites it, he shares one last moment with Ena before following him into the grave.
361** This is heavily implied to happen to [[spoiler:the Grima-possessed [[HelloInsertNameHere Avatar]] from the BadFuture]] in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' in the [[DownloadableContent Future Past timeline]], who seizes control of their body long enough to allow [[spoiler:Lucina]] to land the final blow, and apologizes to their child [[spoiler:Morgan]] with their last breath. {{Averted|Trope}} in the main game, where [[spoiler:it's all Grima raging against the end until the finishing blow by either Chrom or the Avatar.]]
362** Most of [[spoiler:[[GreaterScopeVillain Anankos]]]]'s victims in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' get this after you put them out of their misery, including [[spoiler:[[BigBad Garon]]]] in ''Birthright'', [[spoiler:[[RivalTurnedEvil Takumi]]]] in ''Conquest'', [[spoiler:Scarlet, Arete, Mikoto, and Sumeragi]] in ''Revelation'', and [[spoiler:[[MadGod Anankos himself]]]] in the best ending of the ''Heirs of Fate'' DLC. [[spoiler:Garon]] is too far gone in ''Conquest'' and ''Revelation'', however, and [[spoiler:[[TheMole Gunter]]]] has a very close shave with this trope before he is brought back to his senses and manages to survive.
363** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors'' has [[spoiler:Darios]], who is released from his DemonicPossession just in time to pull a HeroicSacrifice to save the twins and their comrades.
364* After his [[FinalBoss evil and twisted monster form]] is defeated in the ending of ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'', [[spoiler:Volechek]] gives his life to [[spoiler: [[BigBrotherInstinct save his sister]]]] before the player is treated to one last look of his character portrait as he [[LastWords says goodbye]], [[GoOutWithASmile smiles]] and [[TearJerker closes his eyes]] as the screen [[FadeToWhite fades to white]].
365* ''VideoGame/GreyArea2023'': After defeating the Goddess of Ichor, a {{Mad God}}dess corrupted by the power of the orb who acts as the FinalBoss, she regains her lucidity and apologizes to Hailey, then explains the situation before she expires.
366* In ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'', [[spoiler: Trahearne]] is forcibly connected to [[spoiler: the elder dragon Mordremoth]], who intends to [[spoiler: use him as a backup body should the original seed be destroyed in the Dream. Trahearne begs the Pact Commander to kill him as Mordremoth's consciousness begins to take control, and the Player ''has'' to do so to end the storyline.]] There are other places in the game where enemy monsters who are [=NPC=]s that have been tainted by Elder Dragon corruption, but haven't had their minds completely succumb yet, will ask you to finish them off before they turn into shambling killers.
367* In ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' XX AC+, one of [[spoiler:Millia's]] endings involves [[spoiler:her slowly being possessed by her Forbidden Beast parasite, Angra, much like Zato was possessed by Eddie. Suddenly, out of nowhere, her admirer runs up to her and stabs her. He freaks out when he realizes what he's done, but she, with her dying breaths, thanks him for letting her die as herself.]]
368** However, this ending isn't canon, as she is still very much alive in Xrd.
369* Inverted in ''VideoGame/Halo3''. The Arbiter wants to ''kill'' [[spoiler: the Prophet of Truth]] as himself, instead of as [[spoiler:the Gravemind that had infected Truth's body and was slowly possessing him.]]
370--> '''Arbiter:''' [[spoiler: I will have my revenge... on a Prophet, not a plague.]]
371* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
372** Towards the end of ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', [[spoiler:Xion fulfills her programming and becomes a perfect replica of Sora. After Roxas kills her, though, Sora's memories fade away from her, and she spends her final moments as herself, lying in Roxas' arms.]] Another interpretation is that [[spoiler:Xion was always "herself" mentally, but chose an inhuman form to [[SuicideByCop make it easier for Roxas to finish her off]], changing back to her original form only to say goodbye.]]
373** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' [[spoiler:we learn that Marluxia had [[LaserGuidedAmnesia forgotten his life before he was a Nobody]]. On his deathbed he says "So ''now'' it all comes back to me..." and then genuinely thanks Sora for helping him remember.]]
374* ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'': Upon defeating the [[spoiler:Sectonia Clone, she distorts and reveals her true form: a figure strongly resembling [[VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe Taranza]], but with mascara, differently shaped horns, and longer hair before it explodes. As shown in future entries, this was her original form before she became obsessed with beauty.]]
375* In ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs,'' Tess reveals to Joel and Ellie that she's been bitten, but after fighting Infected for twenty years, she's resolved that she ''will not'' become one of them. So when they see that the militia is quickly approaching, she sends the two of them away so she can [[LastStand kill as many as she can]] [[HeroicSacrifice before she's gunned down herself.]]
376** Joel and Tess encounter a person pinned by debris with a broken mask in a butt of spores early into the game, who pleads for death for this reason. [[VideoGameCaringPotential It's up to the player whether]] [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential or not]] [[MercyKill Joel kills him.]]
377* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'' provides an interesting example in the case of the [[DemonicPossession demon-possessed]] ghost of [[spoiler:Lavitz]]. Even though he's already dead, the demon possessing him prevents him from leaving, and forces him to attack his former friends. However, following the boss battle, [[spoiler:Lavitz]] recovers just long enough to run himself through with his own spear, killing the demon in the process; [[spoiler:Lavitz]] has enough time to share a moment with his friends before disappearing altogether.
378* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
379** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'': Ganondorf is depicted in ancient legends as [[PigMan a monstrous pig demon]] known exclusively as Ganon, and his Triforce of Power makes him an immortal sorcerer capable of plunging the Great Sea into eternal darkness. By the end of the game, Ganondorf gives up his Triforce of Power in a failed attempt to make his wish of restoring Hyrule to its former glory, making him mortal once again. He ends up dying in the final battle as a human, not a pig demon, remembering his once noble goal before his corruption.
380** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'': When the Triforce of Power fades from his hand, Ganondorf suddenly becomes mortal and the glow on his wound disappears. He dies not as Ganon, the dark god that granted Zant the power to invade Hyrule, but as Ganondorf, the mortal Gerudo criminal with an overdue execution.
381** ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'': Some clarity appears to return to Cia as she lies dying after being defeated by Link. The "dying" part is subverted in ''The Wind Waker'' arc in ''Legends'' and ''Definitive'' Edition.
382* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'': In the 2022 remake, [[spoiler:during the TrueFinalBoss, Oersted is able to break free from the living embodiment of the hatred in his heart that had turned him into Odio, Lord of the Dark, and finishes it off. He spends his last few moments reflecting in horror on what he'd done and shows true remorse for it as his old self again. He then warns the other heroes to be wary of the darkness that lies in wait in every heart, then he fades away]].
383* ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'': [[spoiler: [[CosmicPlayThing Hope]]]], after spending the entire game [[spoiler: [[DemonicPossession as God's pawn]],]] is determined to have [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived his usefulness]]. Before he [[DisappearsIntoLight dies]], he says [[PreSacrificeFinalGoodbye goodbye]] to Lightning and remarks that he is glad he can speak to her as himself one last time.
384--> [[spoiler: '''Hope:''']] At least I've had this chance to be myself again, here at the very end. After all that's happened, it's enough.
385* ''VideoGame/MariAndTheBlackTower'': The boss of the HELLGATE floor, [[spoiler:Harold's team, will give their party words as they die. Harold in particular will point out an alternate portal the party can take to get to the next floor]].
386* After you defeat [[spoiler:Benezia]] in ''Franchise/MassEffect'', her indoctrination wears off again for a short time before she dies.
387** If you can make [[spoiler:Saren]] realize he's being indoctrinated, [[spoiler:he'll shoot himself]]. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', you can do the same thing with [[spoiler:the Illusive Man]].
388** Also, in Mass Effect, Fai Dan does this to stop the [[spoiler:Thorian from turning him into a thrall]].
389** In the third game, Samara's daughter Rila does this by [[spoiler: detonating a bomb in the Ardat-Yakshi monastery to destroy several Banshees, as well as keep herself from becoming one due to her starting to become indoctrinated.]]
390* [[spoiler:Revolver Ocelot]] at the end of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots''. Noticeable when he makes his [[spoiler: trademark hand gesture, saying "you're pretty good."]]
391* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'':
392** In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'', we learn through [[ApocalypticLog the logs of Luminoth warriors]] that, in the event that they are [[DemonicPossession possessed]] by the Ing, they choose to kill themselves rather than be used as weapons against their people.
393** [[spoiler: Rundas]] in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption''. [[spoiler: All the hunters get corrupted and have to be fought and killed off, but when Rundas is beaten, he seems to look around, confused. He almost tries to speak, but is impaled by an ice spike. It is uncertain whether this was him euthanising himself or not.]] It makes it even more sad.
394* ''VideoGame/Mother3'':
395** [[spoiler:Claus]]'s deliberate suicide. It's quite the TearJerker.
396-->[[spoiler:Claus]] fired an intense bolt of lightning!\
397Lucas's Franklin Badge reflected the lightning back!\
398[[spoiler:Claus]] took mortal damage!
399** There's also the [[UnwillingRoboticisation Mecha]] [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul Drago]], who manages to shed a single tear of sorrow [[spoiler: (presumably over having killed Hinawa)]] as it draws its last breaths.
400* If you have some but not enough ranks in Persuade in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'', [[spoiler:Aribeth]] comes back to herself enough to beg for death. The same happens with [[spoiler:[[{{Expy}} Bastila]]]] in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''.
401* Late in ''VideoGame/NEOTheWorldEndsWithYou'', the Wicked Twisters realize that [[spoiler:Kanon]] is being possessed by a Noise that erases [[spoiler:her]] identity and turns her against others, and try to save [[spoiler:her]] from it. They're unable to save [[spoiler:her]] life, but their efforts allow [[spoiler:Kanon]] to die as a human rather than a Noise host.
402* Implied in ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysofEurope'' with the mad Russian warlord Rurik II, who spent the last years of his life [[NapoleonDelusion claiming to be the]] second-coming of the ancient Varangian prince Rurik. Shortly after reuniting Russia under a new Muscovite kingdom, on his deathbed [[spoiler:he admits to his children that maybe the whole charade was worth it in the end, and he passes peacefully as the ex-Red Army Major-General Nikolai Krylov.]]
403* ''VideoGame/OddworldStrangersWrath'': When Sekto is defeated, [[spoiler:he's revealed to actually be an [[PuppeteerParasite oktigi]] possessing the Olden Steef. Upon being freed, the Olden Steef lives just long enough to have a brief, final conversation with his fellow steef, the Stranger.]]
404-->'''[[spoiler:Olden Steef]]:''' Is... th-the water... free...?\
405'''Stranger:''' ...Yeah. It's all free.\
406'''[[spoiler:Olden Steef]]:''' ''[[GoOutWithASmile Free]]''...
407* In ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'', at the end of Cornelius' chapter, he fights and mortally wounds [[spoiler:Belial]], breaking him free of an evil sorcerer's control, and giving him just enough time to ''eat'' said sorcerer before dying. The same thing happens in the battle against the Beast of Darkova, who is a transformed [[spoiler:Ingway]]. No matter which character you battle him with, in the final moments he reverts back to himself.
408* In ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'', Ori is forced to fight the Stink Spirit-possessed Kwolok for the Strength of the Forest wisp. After the battle, Kwolok regains control of himself and crushes the creature before dying from his injuries.
409* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'':
410** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'': After being captured and injected by Alexia, Steve Burnside mutates and becomes a raging monster, until the virus ultimately kills him. He barely survives long enough to turn back into human and give Claire a DyingDeclarationOfLove.
411** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'': At the end of Chris Redfield's campaign, [[spoiler:his partner Piers Nivans is forced to inject himself with a C-Virus syringe to save Chris from the HAOS, giving him a mutated arm that shoots electricity. When they reach the escape pods, Piers pushes Chris inside and stays behind in the collapsing underwater facility, knowing the infection will eventually take him over. He still manages to shoot one last discharge at the HAOS when it attacks Chris' pod before the place explodes.]]
412* When mortally wounded, the final boss of ''VideoGame/{{Resistance}}: Retribution'' briefly regains her sanity long enough to warn the protagonist of the next big coming alien threat; then her mind vanishes completely and he sadly shoots her.
413* In ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'':
414** During the quest The Ritual of the Mahjarrat [[spoiler: Arrav is finally freed from Zamouregal's mind control during the final battle by the player, and it able to turn on his master. After the quest is over, the player is given the task of finding Arrav, who is still on the battlefield. When the player finds him, he could die at any second as he body is thousands of years old. He asks you to free his soul so he can finally rest.]]
415** In the Forgiveness of a Chaos Dwarf quest, Hilda, who was transformed into a chaos dwarf, is able to gain a bit of sanity and give the protagonists a package with items that will help them.
416* ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestVTheNextMutation'' used this on Klorox II, where a pukoid-infected colonist is fatally shot by Droole. In his dying moments, he thanks Roger and Droole for putting him out of his misery.
417* ''VideoGame/StarControl 2'': The backstory has this. The Dnyarri can telepathically control creatures. But they withdraw from their minds at the moment of death, lest the Dnyarri experience that death with the being. [[spoiler:A Ur-Quan notices this and guesses that this also counts for extreme pain. So he injects himself with acid. In the last moments before his death, when the Dnyarri have pulled out of his mind, he gets to a comm device and tells every Ur-Quan on-planet about it. They begin hacking at body parts and so forth to give themselves the few seconds of freedom needed to get to the nearest Dnyarri and kill it. So begins the fall of the Dnyarri slave empire.]]
418* In ''VideoGame/StarCraftI: Brood War'', the dark templar Matriarch Raszagal, after Zeratul mortally wounds her, is freed of Kerrigan's mind control long enough to thank him and place him in charge of the dark templar before dying.
419* In ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'', [[spoiler:General Pepper]], finding himself and his flagship taken over by the Aparoids, begs and pleads for Fox to kill him as quickly as possible, so that he can die with his identity and honour intact, rather than being assimilated.
420--> [[spoiler: '''General Pepper''': You would make me an accomplice to these... fiends?!]]
421* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
422** ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' had something slightly similar to the above mentioned ''Ocarina of Time'' manga: Mario ends up forced to fight Fracktail (Fracktail was originally supposed to simply let Mario pass without a fight, but Dimentio ruined it by casting a spell that caused Fracktail to undergo a glitch that forced it to fight Mario). Shortly after Mario delivers the coup de grace on Fracktail, Fracktail regains his senses and then apologizes to Mario for his error before self-destructing.
423** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'' did something similar with Mizzter Blizzard, one of the bosses who went insane because of the Royal Stickers. Reverting back to himself after defeat, he apologizes and revealed he only got the Royal Sticker because he prayed for life, as he was about to melt. He dies, but asks Mario to return when it gets colder so Mario can remake Mizzter Blizzard and the become his friend.
424* ''VideoGame/SwordOfPaladin'':
425** [[spoiler:Chris is driven insane by the Royal Gem of Wind and turns into a succubus. She then fights the party believing that they killed her brother, but is fatally wounded from the backlash of the gem. As she dies, she regains her sanity, apologizes to the party, and reveals that Lancelot manipulated her.]]
426** [[spoiler:Augustus spends most of the game as an AxCrazy vessel for Ragnarek. Once he turns into a Royal Gem and is freed from Ragnarek's influence, he returns to his benevolent personality, helps Nade and Alex defeat Ragnarek, and passes on with the other Royal Gem souls.]]
427* Subverted in this scene in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'':
428-->'''[[spoiler:Mithos]]:''' Do it now! ...Before I too...am no longer myself...\
429'''Genis:''' Lloyd, please, help him! Let him die while he's still himself.\
430'''Lloyd:''' [hesitantly] ...All right...\
431'''[[spoiler:Mithos]]:''' Farewell, my shadow. You, who stands at the end of the path I chose not to follow. I wanted my own world, so I don't regret my choice. I would make the same choice all over again. I will continue to choose this path!
432* ''VideoGame/TheThing2002'': [[spoiler:Captain Pierce]] shoots himself when he realizes he's been infected so he won't become a Thing.
433* ''VideoGame/TormentedSouls'': A diary page mentions that the antidote for monster status swiftly kills the afflicted person, but also that they will at least spend their last moments in their right mind, and in their right body. [[spoiler: At the end, you'll have to do this to your sister to get the best ending.]]
434* In ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'', a somewhat unusual example occurs when a major ''villain'', namely [[spoiler:Thorne, a formerly human computer virus]] reverts to his former, less villainous (although not good) self for a few minutes before dying.
435* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III'' contains an almost-example, when Grom and Thrall confront Mannoroth and kill him, Grom is fatally wounded but when Thrall rushes to him, we see the [[RedEyesTakeWarning red glow in his eyes]] (a sign of demonic possession of all Orcs) slowly fading out:
436-->'''Grom:''' I have... freed myself...\
437'''Thrall:''' No, old friend... You have freed us all.
438* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' is filled with various bosses and leaders that were corrupted by various evils to their side, most notably by the undead and the black dragonflight.
439** Many of their original personalities and moral values still show to various degrees... either in ''LastWords'', during the fight or even before. How much of the original personality shows depends on how powerful the being was beforehand, or how perverse is the corruptor -- or both. This tends to fall into ''FightingFromTheInside'' -- although many times they can't -- their voice is the only freedom they have left.
440** Perhaps most startling for fans was the death of [[spoiler: Arthas, the Lich King. Despite the many assurances of in-game characters that nothing of the man Arthas remained, as he lay dying the Lich King persona faded and, for a brief moment, Arthas could be seen. It's almost enough to make you forget his horrible deeds]].
441--->[[spoiler:'''Arthas''': Father! Is it... over?]]\
442[[spoiler:'''The specter of Terenas''': At long last. [[ArcWords No king rules forever]], my son.]]\
443[[spoiler:'''Arthas''': I see... only darkness... before me...]]
444** Given that [[spoiler: when Frostmourne was shattered the souls it had stolen were released, and that Arthas' own was the first it stole...]]
445** According to the novels, [[spoiler:Arthas destroyed his good and evil sides out of his fear of unending failures as a light guy, leaving only an obsessive sociopath. It's implied that the realization that miracles are possible -- Tirian begging the light to save him from twelve inches of solid ice and the wards of an evil overlord looked like a complete joke to Arthas, only for it to work -- caused him to remember what he was past his own fear of failure.]]
446** In another example, the players fight a red dragon that has been corrupted by the blue dragonflight leader Malygos. As the fight near its end, she begins to beg the party to kill her, lest she kill them instead. When finally slain she's freed enough to pray to the Dragonqueen for deliverance.
447* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', a young Fei summons a fireball to kill himself and [[spoiler:his own mother, possessed by Miang.]] She shields him from the blast, and dies with her arms around him.
448** It is implied that every time [[spoiler:Miang]] dies, her host body has a moment of lucidity before death.
449* At the end of Chapter 8 of ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'', [[spoiler:Gulcasa]], after losing everything and giving his body over to Brongaa, regains himself while dying and is even able to reach reconciliation (of a sort) with Yggdra. The scene is both incredibly touching and horribly sad.
450[[/folder]]
451[[folder:WebAnimation]]
452* WebAnimation/WolfSongTheMovie: [[spoiler: Damien’s ultimate fate. At the end of the movie, he is possessed by the Death Alpha, but Kara, his daughter, manages to albeit momentarily bring him back to his senses, but he instructs her to kill him to avoid a FateWorseThanDeath for him and the rest of the pack. She reluctantly obliges]]
453[[/folder]]
454[[folder:Webcomics]]
455* ''Webcomic/CollegeRoomiesFromHell'': Roger Pepitone's mother turns back into a human when ''Margaret kills her'', the first time she'd killed a human at that point. Since she's destined to be a post-apocalyptic warrior, this seems to affect her ''more'' than it does Roger.
456* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', [[spoiler: Durkon]] manages to do this after being turned into a vampire [[note]]In this setting, vampirism causes the individual to be possessed by an evil undead spirit that keeps control of the victim's soul, explaining why vampires are always evil regardless of what the living individual's alignment was[[/note]]. He bided his time and, when the moment was right, shoved all of his memories into the vampire spirit simultaneously, which (temporarily) caused the spirit to be identical to him long enough to allow [[spoiler: Belkar]] to kill him before he was overwhelmed by the vampirism again.
457[[/folder]]
458
459[[folder:Web Original]]
460* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', [[VillainProtagonist Taylor]], after having acquired an EleventhHourSuperpower at the cost of her sanity in order to save the world, briefly retakes control of her body from the nearly mindless alien entity now controlling it to talk with Contessa, who offers her a chance at regaining control of her body if Taylor can fight back against her passenger. Taylor finds herself unable to give a reply, believing that she doesn't deserve the chance, and so Contessa shoots her twice in the head. [[spoiler:The epilogue reveals that this is a subversion, as Contessa's power allowed her to shoot so accurately that she shot out the part of Taylor's brain linked to the passenger without killing her.]]
461[[/folder]]
462
463[[folder:Western Animation]]
464* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', when the magic that keeps [[spoiler: [[Characters/AdventureTimeIceKing Ice King aka Simon Petrikov]]]] insane (and immortal) is [[AntiMagic dispelled]], he tells [[spoiler:his fiance Betty]] not to restore it, as he'd rather die from NoImmortalInertia than go crazy again. She instead convinces him that she can cure his insanity without killing him, and so he goes back to being [[spoiler:Ice King]] for the time being.
465* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': In "Lake Laogai", [[spoiler: Jet has been brainwashed by the Dai Lee. Although he seems to have broken free at first by memories of his lost family, he finally regains control for real after Aang reminds him he was a FREEDOM fighter (and his memories of his crew). He tries to kill Long Feng. He fails, and Long Feng instead launches a large rock formation which hit him, causing him to die, presumably from internal bleeding]]. Of course, he died FREE and with honor, telling the heroes to escape while they still can.
466* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'': Due to the way her life was set up, it's difficult to tell exactly who [[spoiler: Sarah Lynn]]'s self was. However, through a series of flashbacks, it can be deduced that she was worn down into the [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl drug addict alcoholic nihilist]] as a result of ''many'' things. However, before she dies, she experiences a HeroicBSOD in which she realizes [[WhatHaveIBecome she doesn't like anything about herself]]. Her parting words in the planetarium she'd been longing to go to are heart-breaking for most fans of the show, as it not only shows that she never strayed from her childhood dream (shut down by her StageMom), but were also ''unclear'' final words until the screen went black.
467-->'''[[spoiler: Sarah Lynn:]]''' Isn't this place amazing?\
468'''[=BoJack=]:''' Totally. I always forget there are more than just the six stars you can see in the Los Angeles sky.\
469'''[[spoiler: Sarah Lynn:]]''' Yeah, that's cool too, [[HiddenDepths but I meant this building!]] It's a giant dome! Domes are so cool.\
470'''[=BoJack=]:''' I prefer rectangular buildings, [[CallBack as I've firmly established.]]\
471'''[[spoiler: Sarah Lynn:]]''' [[CallBack I wanna be an architect...]]\
472'''Neil Degrasse Tyson/Planetarium Show:''' Be it horse, cat, human, or even lizard, our lives are but the briefest flashes in a universe that is billions of years old.\
473'''[=BoJack=]:''' See, [[spoiler: Sarah Lynn]]? [[CallBack We're not doomed.]] In the great, grand scheme of things, we're just tiny specks that will one day be forgotten. So it doesn't matter what we did in the past or how we'll be remembered. The only thing that matters is right now, this moment, this one spectacular moment [[DramaticIrony we are sharing together.]] Right, [[spoiler: Sarah Lynn]]? ''beat'' [[spoiler: Sarah Lynn?]] ''beat'' [[spoiler: ...Sarah Lynn?]]
474* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': Indirectly {{invoked}} on [[spoiler:one of the [[DeadAlternateCounterpart zombified alternate Gary's]]]]: Invictus is exorcised from him, and he remains alive with his wrecked body for about a minute during which he talks with the main Team Squad before expiring.
475* ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'': The first Reaniman experiences this. After his helmet is removed, he sees his reflection and partly snaps out of the brainwashing, looking at his roboticized arms and realizing what he's become, he commits suicide.
476* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': In the GrandFinale, [[spoiler:after being separated from the Titan's heart, Belos' body reconfigures into his original self, [[Characters/TheOwlHouseEmperorBelos Philip Wittebane]], who thanks Luz for "freeing" him from a "terrible curse" that made him do evil things. It's a blatant lie that gets undone when the boiling rain hits human form, burning it and revealing a decaying, muddy skeleton barely clinging onto life. In a sense, this is Belos' true self: a miserable, manipulative monster of Gravesfield inhabiting Philip's corpse]].
477* In the ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' episode "Jack and the Lava Monster", the Lava Monster briefly resumes human form after Jack defeats him, at which point he rapidly ages. Jack gives him his sword before, as he had hoped, the Valkyries come to take his soul to Valhalla.
478-->'''Viking''': I. AM. '''''FREE!''''' At last, my flesh is restored! The curse... is... lifted...
479* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Savage Opress was originally a ProudWarriorRaceGuy who defended the other Dathomirian males from the Nightsisters. After Ventress chose him as her champion, however, Mother Talzin used magic to turn him into a vicious, hulking brute that was, well, [[MeaningfulName Meaningfully Named]]. He stayed that way until the end of [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E16TheLawless "The Lawless"]], when he's mortally wounded by [[spoiler:Sidious]], whereupon he reverts to his original personality and tearfully tells [[spoiler:Darth Maul]] "[[spoiler:Brother]], I am an unworthy apprentice. I'm not like you. I never was..." before dying.
480* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', Silas, [[spoiler:who was combined with the sparkless body of Breakdown by his scientist before becoming the Decepticon's new lab rat, was infused with a mix of Knock Out's Synthetic Energon and Dark Energon, turning the body into an Energon hungry [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Terracon]]. During his rampage, he ends up freeing Arachnid (ironically the one who killed Breakdown in the firstplace), who cuts off the body's connection to the Dark Energon. She then opens up the body's chassis attempting to destroy Breakdown's spark, only to find a weak and tired Silas, who thanks her before passing away]].
481[[/folder]]
482
483[[folder:Real Life]]
484* People with dementia occasionally experience moments of clarity. It can be rather creepy but also comforting for the family if that person didn't have long to live.
485** This is also the reason why some countries allow elective (as in: the sick person asked for it themselves) euthanasia for people suffering of dementia.
486* Up until recent sources have determined to be sketchy in terms of validity, the ancient Persian Emperor Cambysses, first son of Cyrus I, experienced this. During his campaigns in Egypt, the losses and his paranoia over maintaining his power drove him mad. He eventually had his brother, Bardia, assassinated. But then, it was revealed to him while he was on his deathbed that it was another court member that had claimed to be Bardia trying to vie for power; he broke down and begged his advisors to take revenge for his brother.
487* Most antipsychotic drugs reduce symptoms of schizophrenia somewhat, but clozapine is the only one that ever really provides a cure. Unfortunately, it also causes side effects ranging from diabetes to agranulocytosis (severe loss of immune system function). Even though these are serious, many "super-responder" patients choose to risk death and remain on clozapine -- electing to risk dying as themselves.
488* If you believe the story about her DemonicPossession, then this is supposedly how [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anneliese_Michel Anneliese Michel]] died.
489* Terminal lucidity is the medical term for a rare phenomenon occurring in patients with profound mental illnesses or neurodegenerative diseases -- though it has been documented in those not suffering from pre-existing conditions as well -- shortly before death. In terminal lucidity, the patient's faculties and memories return in the final weeks, days or hours before they die. It's not known for sure what causes this, but for the dying and their family, it may provide them some comfort to see some of what made them who they were return after such a long and horrendous decline, even if the end is near.
490* Business example: Radio Shack was founded in 1921 to serve the then brand-spanking-new electronics hobbyist market, which at the time meant ham radio. In the mid 90s it started focusing more and more on consumer electronics, especially cell-phones, at the expense of individual components of interest to hobbyists. This put it up against giants like [=BestBuy=] and later Amazon, against whom Radio Shack couldn't compete. By the start of TheNewTens the writing was on the wall, and in a last ditch effort to save itself, Radio Shack tried going back to its roots by catering to the maker movement by offering things like 3D printers. This didn't work, and it declared bankruptcy a few years later. It's now remembered by older hams and other electronics nerds as the place down the street where you could buy resistors.
491[[/folder]]

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