Line #118 Main/GiveMeLibertyOrGiveMeDeath


1	->''"And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!"''
2	-->-- '''William Wallace''', ''Film/{{Braveheart}}''
3
4	'''This is not about the phrase, so things that are only mentions of it, and variations on it, are not examples.'''
5
6	Basically this is when people are willing to fight to the death for freedom. Sometimes they actually do end up dying for it, but this trope is solely about being willing to die for freedom, regardless of the result. Expect a RousingSpeech or two, or in pessimistic cases GoYeHeroesGoAndDie.
7
8	Can overlap with IDieFree when those fighting for their freedom are on the losing side and they have only that choice left.
9
10	And there are many bloody revolutions in RealLife.
11
12	Compare MartyrdomCulture.
13	----
14	!!Examples:
15
16	[[foldercontrol]]
17
18	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
19	* ''Manga/InuYasha'': [[BrokenBird Kagura]] is enslaved to [[TheCorrupter Naraku]] but is [[{{Determinator}} determined]] to obtain her freedom. [[ImpliedLoveInterest Sesshoumaru]] warns her that her path will lead to her death if she's not careful, but she persists anyway because there is no other alternative for her. Eventually, even though she knows it will cost her life to do so, she [[HeroicSacrifice saves]] [[DesignatedVictim Kohaku]] from being killed by Mouryoumaru and is promptly killed by Naraku. Bittersweet because she realises as she's dying that the only way she could ever gain her freedom [[IDieFree was by dying]], but that it is true freedom. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] later on by Mouryoumaru when he accidentally angers Sesshoumaru's by insulting Kagura's willingness to die for her freedom, an ideal and death he views as worthless.
20	* Older Sister Maid in ''Literature/{{Maoyu}}'', when she had to impersonating Crimson Scholar, and being arrested for being heretical.
21	* ''Manga/OnePiece'': The residents of Cocoyashi Village spent eight years enduring the oppressive rule of Arlong while Nami gathered the funds to buy their freedom. When Arlong arranged to have those funds stolen, the villagers decided to march on Arlong Park and either take their freedom back or die trying.
22	[[/folder]]
23
24	[[folder:Comic Books]]
25	* In ''ComicBook/{{Scion}}'', when the Raven and Heron kingdoms invade the [[SlaveRace Lesser Races]]' Sanctuary island, Exeter makes it clear that he's willing to die defending it, which leads to this speech:
26	-->"We're close to accomplishing the impossible. To making a dream reality. And some dreams are worth fighting for."
27	* Shows up in Part III of ''ComicBook/TheCartoonHistoryOfTheUniverse'', in the bit about the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanj_Rebellion Zanj Rebellion]]. "Zanj" was a term for East African slaves (bought from their native rulers in what is now Kenya and Tanzania) who were employed in southern Iraq's production of sugarcane. They rose in revolt against the Arab, Persian, and Turkish rulers of the Abbasid Caliphate, and (as Gonick notes) fought ferociously for their freedom (primarily because the alternative was death). It's specifically brought up in this panel:
28	-->'''Zanj army:''' LIBERTY OR DEATH!\
29	'''Frightened-looking Arab soldier:''' You lack sophistication, my dear fellow! Have you ever thought of the idea that no man is ever completely free?\
30	'''Zanj soldier:''' But completely dead, yes!
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
34	* Spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'':
35	-->"We'll either die free chickens, or we'll die trying!"\
36	"Are those the only choices?"
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
40	* William Wallace and his fellow Scotsman in ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'', and RealLife.
41	** '''FREEDOM!!!'''
42	* Harriet Tubman in ''Film/{{Harriet}}'', also true to RealLife. She ''leaps off a bridge into a roiling river'' when cornered, rather than be recaptured and enslaved again.
43	-->''"I'm gonna be free or die."''
44	* ''Film/{{Mandalay}}'': Tanya would rather kill her ex-lover and die of Black Fever in the city of Mandalay than return to a brothel and be a sex worker.
45	-->'''Tanya:''' ''(slowly breaking into tears)'' I love you, Tony. I love you more than life. And what did you make of me? "Spot White". I couldn't go back to that. I couldn't. Forgive me.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Literature]]
49	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
50	** Those tiny blue William Wallace stand-ins, the Nac Mac Feegle. "Nae king! Nae Quin! Nae Laird! Nae master! We willna be fooled again!" Then again, they also think they're dead and in warrior paradise, so their views on getting killed are a little unique.
51	** The trope is mocked in ''Literature/{{Night Watch\|Discworld}}'', where zealous revolutionary Reg Shoe shouts at the enemy, "You can take our lives, but you can never take our freedom!" There's a long pause and some mumbling while everyone runs that sentence through their heads again and decides that, yes, it's the stupidest battle cry they've ever heard. [[spoiler:Sure enough, Carcer answers "Wrong!" and shoots him.]] [[spoiler:[[DoubleSubversion Later he comes back as a zombie and spends his unlife campaigning for minority rights.]]]]
52	* ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', with the Brotherhood. [[spoiler:It turns this was set up by the SecretPolice, though, [[XanatosGambit as only Thought Criminals would join such an organization and so the Brotherhood gathers all potential rebels while the loyal Party members ignore it]].]]
53	* Creator/RobertAHeinlein visits this territory many times, particularly in ''Literature/SixthColumn'', ''Literature/ThePuppetMasters'' and "Literature/IfThisGoesOn". In the latter he says:
54	-->''You can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him.''
55	* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/IceCrown'', as Roane reveals what the Psychocrats have done, Nelis concludes that the terrible risks of breaking the MindControlDevice affecting the entire planet is worth it for freedom from their conditioning.
56	* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/{{Catseye\|1961}}'', after their escape, the cat observes they were told they would die if they did, but they are still alive. They agree to stay with Troy after questioning him to discern that he can't actually control them, he can only talk.
57	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' is built on teenagers repeatedly risking their lives to fight alien brain-controlling slugs enslaving humanity. Ax finds this exact phrase in a book of quotes and wonders if the Yeerks would've invaded if they knew humans thought like that. Other species targeted by the Yeerks frequently have a "free or dead" attitude.
58	-->'''Marco:''' You know what it says on the New Hampshire license plates?\
59	'''Visser One:''' Live free or die.\
60	'''Marco:''' [[spoiler:My mother]] walks out of here a free woman, or she dies.
61	* ''The Two-headed Eagle'' by John Biggins. Otto Prohaska saves an Italian patriot from the FiringSquad, only to find him years later, a broken and penniless man in Fiume (now a poverty-stricken and politically divided backwater) while he's been crippled and made an UnPerson under Mussolini's corrupt dictatorship.
62	-->"Before the war," he said, "our slogan here in Fiume was ''[='Give us Italy or death.'=]''" He swallowed at his drink. "And now do you know what we have? Italy ''and'' death."
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
66	* The [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Free]] [[SlaveRace Jaffa]] of ''Series/StargateSG1''. The [[TheBigGuy principal Jaffa character]] is also the TropeNamer for IDieFree.
67	* ''Series/{{Impulse 2018}}'': Dominic, one of the teleporters, would rather [[spoiler:shoot himself and [[MercyKill take his 8-year-old son with him]] than let him be taken by the people who experimented on him.]]
68	* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', when Sam and Dean join Charlie in larping at the end of the episode, Dean legit quotes the ''Braveheart'' speech word for word.
69	-->'''Charlie:''' Is that the speech from---\
70	'''Sam:''' It's the only one he knows.
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Music]]
74	* The song "A Tale They Won't Believe" (they get [[ImAHumanitarian death]]):
75	-->''When we left Macquarie Harbour it was in the pouring rain\
76	None of us quite sure if we would see England again\
77	And some fool muttered 'death or liberty' ...''
78	* "Can You Run" by the Steeldrivers (Music/ChrisStapleton's former band), narrated by a (soon-to-be-former) slave during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar.
79	-->''There's smoke down by the river\
80	Hear the cannon and the drum\
81	Even if I die, I've got to try\
82	Can you run?''
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Video Games]]
86	* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' Anders seems to believe it's better if mages die fighting for their freedom rather than live in the Circle, that for him is nothing more than a GildedCage. [[spoiler:He blows up the Chantry to provoke a war and force mages to rebel or be slaughtered.]]
87	* ''VideoGame/ElohimEternalTheBabelCode'': In the ending, [[spoiler:the Kosmokraters threaten to detonate infernos all over Idin if the party doesn't obey their command to destroy the Transmigrator. Joshwa knows that defying them will likely get him and most of the population killed, but he decides that it's worth it if the alternative is for Idinites to continue being sacrificed in the Kosmokraters' pointless war against the Cainites anyways. Fortunately, the elohim help keep casualties of the explosions to a minimum, and now the Kosmokraters don't have any more infernos to threaten the population with]].
88	* In the backstory of ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'' the kingdom of Ezomyr was forcibly annexed by the Eternal Empire. The Ezomytes were enslaved en mass and the kingdom driven into poverty. When the Purity Rebellion rose up against the excesses of the Empire, the Ezomytes took to the field against the Empire's legions and kept fighting despite hideous casualties (losing three men for each legionnaire they killed) until they won.
89	* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' backstory, St. Alessia, the "Slave Queen", led a uprising of Cyrodiil's native human population against their [[AbusivePrecursors Ayleid]] masters, who had dominated Cyrodiil since time immemorial, for the [[SlaveLiberation freedom of the enslaved humans]] they kept. After risking her life to [[BornIntoSlavery escape slavery herself]], she would ally with the [[HornyVikings Nordic]] Empire, [[TokenHeroicOrc rebel Ayleid lords]], and even [[BargainWithHeaven the gods themselves]] to defeat the Ayleids.
90	* ''VideGame/ZeusMasterOfOlympus'': In the expansion's Greek campaign (where the Greeks fight back against the Atlantean imperialists), the centaurs and Amazons claim this [[spoiler:and are consequently wiped off the map]].
91	* Freedom is the entire theme of ''Stormblood'' in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''. The nations of Doma and Ala Mhigo were invaded and captured by TheEmpire and both nations have resigned to being under their suppressive rulers. It's only when the [[PlayerCharacter Warrior of Light]] and their fellow Scion companions come in to give aid that the peoples of the enslaved nations start to fight back and are willing to sacrifice their lives to regain the freedom they had lost.
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Web Original]]
95	* ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'': L'Manburg plays with this a lot in its War for Independence. At the start of the war, Wilbur, its first leader, declares an equivalent of this during the secession of L'Manburg, stating that its citizen-members would rather die than give in to Dream's [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem corrupt]] rule. Dream, being a ControlFreak who considers the entire server to be his property (in a DivineRightOfKings sort of way), retaliates to this by delivering death to the L'Manburgians' doorstep, manipulating Eret to [[RebelliousRebel betray the nation]] and have everyone else LuredIntoATrap to be outright ''massacred'' in the Final Control Room by Dream and his allies. Wilbur is willing to stand down after the massacre (given [[spoiler:it doubles as his CynicismCatalyst]], it makes sense in hindsight), but Tommy ''isn't'', and plays this trope fully straight by having a DuelToTheDeath against Dream for L'Manburg's independence; while Tommy loses the duel and his second canon life in the process[[note]]Each DSMP character has three canon lives; every Revolution-era L'Manburgian other than Eret lost their first canon life in the Final Control Room massacre[[/note]], he ends up negotiating L'Manburg its independence anyway after trading [[NumberOneDime his Cat and Mellohi discs]], two items Dream wants, for it.[[note]]Wilbur, being Tommy's BigBrotherMentor-figure, initially tried to talk him down from this, believing L'Manburg's freedom and independence to be not worth Tommy's life, but ultimately gives in.[[/note]]
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Webcomics]]
99	* Spoofed in ''Webcomic/DubiousCompany'', where a village revolts against the EvilOverlord, declaring this. After getting [[CurbstompBattle stomped]] by [[MeaningfulName Mary and Sue]], they [[DefeatMeansFriendship renounce]] the revolt as if it never happened. This confuses Tiren to no end.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Real Life]]
103	* Trope name comes from Patrick Henry, a melodramatic patriot in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution.
104	** An interesting subtrope: in that same Revolution, the British government promised freedom to any colonial slave who ran away and joined the loyalist army. Thousands (including a few of Henry's own slaves) did, evidently preferring the risk of death on the battlefield to the certainty of a life in chains if the colonists won independence. When that happened, most of them fled to Canada, where the British allowed them to form Black Loyalist communities, mostly in the province of Nova Scotia.
105	** UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar was an ironic twist on this for the South. They wanted freedom from the North to continue and expand their practice of slavery.
106	** There were also a number of slave revolts, even though the slaves knew there was a high chance they'd be crushed by the militia and executed. One case had the rebellious slaves march while chanting "Freedom or death" explicitly citing this idea.
107	* UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution invoked this repeatedly. The Jacobin motto was "Vivre libre ou mourir" ("Live free or die")/ "La Liberté ou la mort" ("Liberty or Death") and the motto of the National Convention during the ReignOfTerror, "Unité, Indivisibilité de la République; Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité ou la mort".
108	** During the famous instance of the Glorious First of June, where French ships engaged the English so that a vital convoy of food imports reached France, French sailors engaged the English in an action before being crushed. The sailors chose to drown instead of being captured, shouting "Vive la République" with their dying breaths.
109	** Likewise during the French Revolution, their slave run colonies heard some of that fancy Republican rhetoric and decided they wanted in. This led to rebellion in Haiti, the only nation founded by a successful slave rebellion. The National Convention acknowledged the rebellion until UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte destroyed the Republic and reinstated slavery, and captured the great Toussaint Louverture during a peace negotiation. The people of Haiti rose up in rebellion and repelled the French, forcing Napoleon to abandon all of France's New World colonies.
110	** Another instance was that of Louis Delgrès, a Mulatto Revolutionary in Guadeloupe who in 1802 started a slave rebellion against the expeditionary forces sent by Napoleon to bring slavery back to the colonies (after the National Convention had abolished it). Delgrès and his allies, 300 of them, committed mass suicide by igniting stocks of gunpowder rather than surrender. In 1998, Delgres' sacrifice and struggle was recognised and honored by the French Pantheon.
111	* "Freedom or Death!" is the official motto of both Greece and Uruguay.
112	* "Live Free or Die" is the official motto of the state of New Hampshire.
113	* The Natchez nation went to war against French Louisiana in 1729 after being abominably treated in various ways and having their culture mucked up; the chief who touched things off is supposed to have said, "We walk like slaves, which we soon will be... Is not death preferable to slavery?"
114	** They were clever, too--they planned things out well, ''and'' folded over 200 black slaves into their forces after attacking their plantations, and presumably killing their masters.
115	** The French then bribed the Choctaw into killing the Natchez for them. Freaking politics.
116	* UsefulNotes/HarrietTubman, a "conductor" on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Railroad Underground Railroad]] (that smuggled slaves from the American south to freedom in Canada), carried a handgun with her for protection. She once said that when a runaway slave lost heart and wanted to give up and return to the plantation, she pointed the gun at him and said, "You go free or die."
117	* Slaves in Argentina were usually incorporated into the army during the war of independence, and then the civil war, with the chance of being free if they survived the military career. Sometimes this was voluntary, other times (when the threats were higher) it was enforced. Traffic of slaves was abolished in 1813, and the sons of slaves were automatically emancipated. By 1853, the time when slavery was completely abolished, there were so few slaves in the country anyway that the abolition is hardly worth a footnote in the history books of Argentina.
118	* The Romanian anthem is all about fighting for freedom an dying free. It has verses like: "Life in freedom or death!" shout all", and "The motto is Liberty and its goal is holy, \| Better to die in battle, \| In full glory, \| Than to once again be slaves upon our ancient ground!"
119	[[/folder]]

Context Main / GiveMeLibertyOrGiveMeDeath