Line #48 Main/GayGuyDiesFirst


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7	->''"You're [[BlackDudeDiesFirst black]], I'm gay, we are ''so'' dead!"''
8	-->-- '''Josh Detmer''', ''Film/{{Freaky}}''
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10	This work has filled out its cast of the hero, the hero's friends with characterization, and a bunch of token stereotypes. They add variety. Of course, if this work also likes to kill off characters then the first to go will be one of these expendables, only brought in to hit the token targets without really caring for what they mean. Given Hollywood's interesting track record with gay characters, you can almost guarantee that if it's not the preppy screaming girl or the black dude dying first, it's the gay guy.
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12	One reason it may be done specifically (rather than just the excuse of bumping off the side characters) is to [[BuryYourGays bury the gays]]. It may seem that only one gay character died compared to the straight ones, but he was probably the only gay character and he was gone in the first 2 minutes. It counts, as a work-based prejudice kill. It stops the gay character meaning much, except as someone that is weak or obviously should be the first to die.
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14	There's also the possibility, like with most minority characters dying early, that the typically straight white male writers have no idea how to handle the character and kill them off so they don't have to make much of an attempt.
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16	Unsurprisingly, this trope can sometimes cause controversy due to UnfortunateImplications.
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18	Note that we're using "gay" to refer to LGBT+ people of all orientations.
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20	See also: BlackDudeDiesFirst, VasquezAlwaysDies. Subtrope of BuryYourGays.
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23	!!Examples:
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25	[[foldercontrol]]
26
27	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
28	* ''Manga/AkumaNoRiddle'': An odd example since it's a manga about lesbian assassins trying to kill one another, but the two characters with most ShipTease, outside of the main couple, are [[spoiler:Chitaru and Hitsugi]], and they are the first characters [[KilledOffForReal to actually die on screen.]] Bonus points for [[spoiler:being a huge Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet ShoutOut]] as well. [[spoiler:They survive in the anime's ending]].
29	* The first prominent character to die outside of a flashback in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is [[spoiler: Magne, who is all but directly stated to be a transwoman]].
30	* Uzume from ''Anime/{{Sekirei}}''. The only female Sekirei to have a female partner, and is also in love with said partner. She's the first major character to be Terminated, with the heroes swearing to revive her. [[spoiler:In the end, they succeed and she's happily reunited with her partner]].
31	* DepravedHomosexual Lain Brody in the manga ''Manga/UnderGrandHotel'' is shot to death in the first volume.
32	[[/folder]]
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34	[[folder:Comic Books]]
35	* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways 2015}}'', bisexual Pixie is the first member of Team Puce to get killed during the Finals.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Fan Works]]
39	* ''Fanfic/EvangelionGear'': [[spoiler: Kaworu]], he's literally the first character to die in the fic, in the very first chapter of the story. Not to mention, it happens literally out of nowhere, along with AssPull/ DeusExMachina to accompany it. Although it's a bit complicated due to [[spoiler: Kaworu's [[DiscountLesbians Discount Homosexual]] status]], it still does invoke a '''lot''' of UnfortunateImplications.
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
43	* In ''Film/TheCraftLegacy '', [[spoiler: Timmy]], who is revealed to be bisexual, is the first major character to be killed off. In fact, he's the ''only'' heroic character who dies.
44	* Lampshaded in ''Film/{{Freaky}}'', together with BlackDudeDiesFirst. As Josh and Nyla run down a hallway thinking a SerialKiller is chasing them, Josh yells, "You're black, I'm gay, we are so dead!" Fortunately, they aren't in a classical slasher film, but a modern subversive take on the genre.
45	* ''Film/{{Python}}'': One of the python's first few victims are a lesbian and bisexual couple who suffer some TerrorAtMakeOutPoint.
46	* In ''Film/RabidGrannies'', one of the "granny's" first victim is Lesbian Niece.
47	* DoubleSubverted in ''Film/Scream4'', which discusses the "Horror Movie Rules" in regards to which characters will die first. Robbie, the MetaGuy of the movie, suggests that because of changing double standards in more recent films, gay characters are actually far more likely than straight characters to survive to the end. He tries to invoke this when confronted by the killer, whose wordless reaction is basically [[YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe "Are you for real, dude?"]], and kills him anyway.
48	* In ''Film/StrippedToKill'', Angel, the first victim of the SerialKiller, is a lesbian. [[spoiler:The end of the film reveals that her partner Roxanne had also been murdered by her brother Eric, who had [[KillAndReplace assumed her identity]].]]
49	* The first character to die in ''Film/TheSuckers'' is the lesbian Joanna, who is brutally raped before being murdered.
50	* Gary, one of the TwoferTokenMinority couple in ''Film/WrongTurn2021'' dies way before the main cast even encounters the villains, due to one of their traps.
51	[[/folder]]
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53	[[folder:Literature]]
54	* In ''Literature/{{Armada}}'', Shin and Milo, the only named non-straight characters in the story, are some of the first casualties of the alien invasion. They die just a few hours after [[PreClimaxClimax consummating their relationship]], while trying to [[YouShallNotPass help the other heroes get away]].
55	* Hal Duncan's ''Literature/TheBookOfAllHours'' duology has the gay character Thomas "Puck" Messenger get murdered early on in the first book.
56	* ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': The first onscreen student death (though not the first onscreen death overall) is Carlos Whitrow, the agender fifth-year prefect. After SexMagic user Ophelia Salvadori is [[PowerIncontinence consumed by the spell]], Carlos uses their MagicMusic to stop her rampage and is consumed by the spell themself; they die together.
57	[[/folder]]
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59	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
60	%%* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum'': Wendy is defined as a lesbian early on, however barely makes it past the credits of the first episode before being killed. '''--ZCE'''
61	* ''Series/HemlockGrove'': The very first person to die is a teenage girl who is on her way to a liaison with her (female) teacher (and this is the only thing known for sure about her character.)
62	* In ''Series/KrodMandoonAndTheFlamingSwordOfFire'' General Arcadius dies [[HeroicSacrifice saving the life of the title character]] in the first episode of the show after finding the love of his life and his true nature in prison. However his lover has become a series regular.
63	* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' two-parter, "[[Recap/SupernaturalS02E21AllHellBreaksLoosePartOne All Hell Breaks Loose]]", Sam finds himself as take to a town alongside other people who, like himself, have been chosen by the Yellow-Eyed Demon and given special demon powers by him. Out of these "Special Children", one is Lily, who happens to be lesbian. Lily is also the first of the Chosen Children to bite the dust, and she ends up doing so in such extremely short order that she never gets any real characterization outside being lesbian nor do the audience ever get to see what her special power actually is. To make the example even more egregious, she is even KilledOffScreen, and it is mentioned that she somehow killed her girlfriend with her undisclosed powers.
64	* In the series adaptation of ''Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer'', the first of the group to die is the bisexual Johnny, whose boyfriend is killed shortly before him. Additionally, it’s revealed that [[spoiler: the actual]] Lennon had a sexual encounter with her friend Margot, [[spoiler: and she’s the one the kids ran over in this adaptation of the story]].
65	[[/folder]]
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67	[[folder:Podcasts]]
68	* ''Almost'' was the case with ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives''. Originally, the creators planned for Tim (a bisexual man and, at the time, the only confirmed queer recurring character in the podcast) to die in the season 1 finale, being the first main character to die in the series. However, complications with scheduling lead to a rewrite where instead, Sasha was killed and Tim ended up lasting until the season 3 finale (and by that point, he was no longer the only queer character, with Martin being confirmed as mlm and Jon as asexual).
69	[[/folder]]
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71	[[folder:Roleplay]]
72	* ''Roleplay/AirlockedRoundOne'': While straight ships get killed off too, the same-sex player ships were killed, [[spoiler:both times one at the hands of the other,]] before anything happened to a het ship, [[spoiler:and then it turned out that the NPC gay ship didn't have immunity either.]]
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75	[[folder:Video Games]]
76	* Either the first two or ''three'' first characters to die in ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' are gay. (Discounting the murder that the PlayerCharacter is investigating in the first place.)
77	** The first character shot in the tribunal is Glen, the member of the Hardie Boys who is in a TransparentCloset.
78	** The first character to over the course of the game is René, who dies off-screen between Day 3 and 4 of an old age related heart-attack. ''The Final Cut'' turns it into this with a sidequest that reveals he's spent his whole live closeting and repressing his attraction to Gaston.
79	** Ruby, a lesbian, can also die in between René's death and the tribunal, depending on the player's actions.
80	* In ''VideoGame/TheOrionConspiracy'', Devlin discovers that his dead son Danny was gay. Devlin was surprised, because he and Danny had been so distant from each other that Devlin simply did not have a clue. He also finds out that Kaufmann is gay and that he was Danny's boyfriend. Kaufmann and Devlin get into a shouting match, because Kaufmann thinks Devlin disapproves of the relationship. Devlin, on his part, feels that he would not have held that against Danny. Sadly, Kaufmann is found dead and disemboweled shortly afterwards. Devlin finds out later that Captain Shannon killed Danny and Kaufmann. Why? Because Shannon blames Devlin for the death of Shannon's wife, and so he murdered Danny for revenge. Shannon killed Kaufmann to frame Devlin. Naturally, Shannon is planning to kill Devlin. Despite this reasoning, Danny and Kaufmann are the first characters confirmed dead, and they were both gay, so the trope still stands.
81	* Although not explicitly stated to be gay, Eli Wilkerson from ''VideoGame/StateOfDecay'' is one half of an implied male-on-male couple. After your first encounter with him he catches the Black Fever out of nowhere and dies.
82	* The first named casualty in the hero side of ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus'' is [[TheMentor Caroline Becker]], stated in-universe to be a lesbian. This one also doubles as a case of SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome.
83	[[/folder]]
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85	[[folder:Web Animation]]
86	* There are three homosexual characters in ''Machinima/TacticalNoobs'', all of whom die horribly within seconds of being introduced. The first blasts himself with a rocket launcher. The second two are [[KillItWithFire flame-throwered]] by someone who disagrees with their choice to vote UsefulNotes/BarackObama for president.
87	[[/folder]]
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89	[[folder:Western Animation]]
90	* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'': Shake's short-lived roommate Dirtfoot gets quickly literally buried.
91	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / GayGuyDiesFirst