Line #49 Main/TechnicolorDeath


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4	[[quoteright:280:[[WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/technicolor_death.jpg]]]]
5
6	So the FinalBattle is finally over. The BigBad, a powerful personification from hell and/or a homicidal robot from the future, has been struck a lethal blow and is now done for. How does Hollywood celebrate this climactic moment? Easy, by having the defeated foe then die in a spectacular fashion, with lots of special effects and unusual things happening to him, such as [[MadeOfExplodium explosions]], flashes, gradual disintegration, things melting, etc.
7
8	Note that this is not just dying in a flashy way, this is when the flashiness comes from the death itself, so for instance a character dying by having a bomb inside him is not this trope, as the explosion comes from the bomb and not from the character's death.
9
10	Quite common in video games, especially for {{boss\|Battle}}es--a good death scene is part of the reward for bringing down such an imposing enemy, and frequently StuffBlowingUp makes for a good death scene.
11
12	See also CriticalExistenceFailure for when death is always a sudden thing, LudicrousGibs for gory existence failures. In VideoGames, it can become a {{justifi\|edTrope}}cation for EverythingFades for {{Mook}}s. A supertrope of DisappearsIntoLight.
13
14	!!As this is a {{Death Trope\|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].
15	----
16	!!Examples:
17	[[foldercontrol]]
18	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
19	* The Anti-Spiral King in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' probably takes the cake, dying in seven sequential multicolored galaxy-spanning explosions.
20	* In ''Anime/SailorMoon [=SuperS=]: TheMovie'', the main villain dies in this manner, where it shows her already blob-like face melting and swirling (she's merged with a "black hole" at this point so she looks like a glowing ball with a face on it) and then the whole thing explodes.
21	** All the Monsters of the Week Sailor Moon destroys, with a unique death scene for each type. Also the way Malachite disintegrates when he is stabbed. Neflite too, although he is no longer a villain at this point.
22	** Then Germatoid disintegrates in a flash of light when Sailor Uranus stabs him in the eye.
23	* The Angels of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' virtually all do this, often with technicolor crosses of light.
24	* Lampshaded in ''Manga/FutureDiary'' by Yuno's reaction to the death of The 3rd.
25	-->"Tch, That's it?" [[CasualDangerDialogue stretches]]
26	* The three main villains in the anime adaptation of ''Anime/SoulEater''. While Medusa's disintegration into dark particles and Arachne crumbling into dust (or possibly dead spiders) was elaborate, the BigBad, Asura, takes the cake with rays of light and an explosion of blue light. After Maka defeats him by ''punching him in the face''.
27	* While most destroyed ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' disintegrate or explode into particles, Devimon and Myotismon have somewhat unique death scenes. Devimon slowly disintegrates into red/purple particles from the feet up, and Myotismon, the third time, is destroyed in a flash of light and rainbow shockwave.
28	* In ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'', when Kirby destroys NME, he disintegrates into blue particles in a similar style to Devimon.
29	* In the ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' movies, Janemba is notable for disintegrating into sparkly particles once Gogeta defeats him.
30	* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency'' and its anime adaptation, Esidisi, the Burning King, goes out like this when Joseph finally gets the better of him. His body starts to glow as his flesh burns off his bones and then disintegrates. A [[SubvertedTrope subversion]]: Esidisi didn't actually die in this scene; he used his [[MyBloodRunsHot burning blood]] powers to create a flashy lightshow while his [[BodyHorror brain and nervous system slipped out]] of his body and hid on Joseph's back to sneak into the island's main buildings.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Comic Book]]
34	* At the climax of ''War of the ComickBook/{{Green Lantern}}s'', all the colors of the rainbow shoot from [[BigBad Krona]] as Hal kills him.
35	* ''ComicBook/{{Necronauts}}'': When Fort destroys one of the cultists' sleeping bodies to demonstrate that they're not bluffing about having found their headquarters, the cultist's dream avatar lights up like a Christmas tree.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
39	* The Nightmare King from ''Anime/LittleNemoAdventuresInSlumberland'' had a very colorful death.
40	* In ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'', when Jafar's lamp is destroyed, [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath his skeleton is visible]] while he sparks with electricity, then he explodes into sparkling dust.
41	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'', when Rothbart is killed he explodes into magic light.
42	* Rasputin in ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' (pictured above). When his reliquary is crushed, green light shines from him before his skin melts off leaving a skeleton that disintegrates into dust. Since his reliquary was the seal of the contract between him and the forces of hell, his body and his soul were only an extension of their will through the reliquary and their property, and the moment it was destroyed, the bond was broken and both his body and his soul were claimed by them.
43	* Ruber in ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot''. Green light bursts from his chest and he disintegrates into smoke.
44	* Towards the end of ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheDiamondCastle'', VainSorceress Lydia tries to cast a spell on the protagonists, but it backfires and hits her instead, surrounding her with swirling green sparkles until she disappears in a flash of light. Though she turns out to be NotQuiteDead...
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
48	* ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'': "I'M MELTING!! I'M MELTING!! OH WHAT A WORLD!! WHAT A WORLD!!"
49	* The Nome King in ''Film/ReturnToOz'', who crumbles into a pile of rocks upon eating an egg, which is poisonous to him.
50	* Judge Doom in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' starts melting just like the Wicked Witch of the West upon being sprayed by his own Dip.
51	* The explosive death/destruction of Agent Smith in ''Film/TheMatrix'' and all of his duplicates in ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions''.
52	* Played with in ''Film/GodzillaVsBiollante''. While Biollante doesn't die in the sequence described here, she undergoes a sequence that embodies the trope very well. After being mortally wounded by Godzilla, Biollante converts herself into a cloud of glowing green spores which rises into space, with an image of Erika appearing in the pretty cloud. At the end of the film, Biollante is revealed to have turned into a giant rose that is orbiting the Earth. In a scrapped scene from the film, after Godzilla defeated Biollante in their first battle, the shores of Lake Ashi were to be covered in flowers of many different colours.
53	* ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}''. The Quickening that occurs whenever an Immortal dies causes various sparks, electricity, and destruction to surrounding vicinity. This is particularly notable with the Kurgan, BigBad and the last Immortal to die in the first film, in which a spectacular blue light shines from his headless neck, which then turns red.
54	* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' ([[TheFilmOfTheBook movie version]]).
55	** Although it's right in the prologue of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' rather than the end of the movie, death for Sauron basically means becoming the exploding man.
56	** And his actual death at the end of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing The Return of the King]]'', a shockwave explosion that collapses the foundations of Mordor.
57	** And of course there's the more understated, but no less satisfying, ''im''plosion of [[TheDragon The Witch-King]] near the end of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing The Return of the King]]''.
58	* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'': The T-1000's death occurs as it starts to do things like split into two heads, form into a mouth, and ''invert that mouth'' as it tries to save itself.
59	* ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'': The T-3000 (John Connor converted into a brainwashed cyborg) is disintegrated by a magnetic field and after being killed his remains are extinguished by an explosion.
60	* It's not enough for sunlight to just kill Film/{{Gremlins}}. It has to melt them alive.
61	* ''Film/WarOfTheColossalBeast'' is a literal example. The entire film was shot in black and white EXCEPT for the title character's climactic death.
62	* Voldemort's death in the ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' second movie. His disintegration was original to the film because he just drops dead in the book.
63	* Vampires in ''Film/{{Blade}}'' disintegrate when they are killed. And in the sequel, Reapers get an even more spectacular disintegration with blue light.
64	* Xayide in ''[[Film/TheNeverendingStory The Neverending Story 2: The Next Chapter]]''.
65	* Galactus in ''Film/FantasticFourRiseOfTheSilverSurfer'', explodes in a cosmic shockwave of blue energy.
66	* This also happens with Pendragon in ''Film/JackTheGiantKiller''.
67	* In ''Film/YourHighness'', Leezar is stabbed and disintegrates into flaming particles.
68	* Queen Narissa in ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'', starts on fire when she hits an obstacle in the middle of her DisneyVillainDeath, and on impact with the ground explodes into blue sparkles.
69	* Jonah King in ''Film/DriveAngry'' when he gets hit with the Godkiller is erased from existence in a technicolor flash.
70	* ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'' has every mook's [[YourHeadAsplode head explode]] into colorful fireworks, complete with Pomp and Circumstance playing in the background. It's just as hilarious as it is awesome.
71	* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
72	** ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'': [[TheDragon Algrim]] is destroyed via black hole grenade, imploding into nothingness with a vortex of orange light.
73	** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'': Ronan is destroyed by the power of the purple Infinity Stone, in which glowing cracks appear on him, rays of purple light shine from him, and he explodes.
74	** ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'': Vision destroys Ultron in a flash of light with the power of the Mind Stone.
75	** ''Film/ThorRagnarok'': Surtur is destroyed along with Asgard in a cosmic, blue-tinted explosion that [[SelfDisposingVillain he himself caused]]. (Hela doesn't exactly count because she was killed by the initial stab ''before'' the explosion)
76	* Emperor Palpatine from ''Franchise/StarWars Episode VI: Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', being tossed down a shaft while sending electricity everywhere. When he hits the core, that burst of energy is enough to show us he's gone.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Literature]]
80	* In ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'' the Wicked Witch of the West melts after being thrown a bucket of water, her weakness.
81	* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': The Emperor's explosion upon death in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' is applied to a lot of dark Jedi, such as Joruus C'Baoth in ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy''.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
85	* The Beast in ''Series/{{Angel}}'' season 4 dies this way in "[[Recap/AngelS04E13Salvage Salvage]]", with sunlight exploding out of him after Angelus punctures his rocky hide.
86	* Halfrek's fiery death in the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E5Selfless Selfless]]" is like this, too.
87	* This happens when many demons or warlocks are "vanquished" (destroyed) in ''Series/Charmed1998'', though later seasons replace this with flaming explosions. Notable examples:
88	** Season 4's BigBad, The Seer, explodes in a blue shockwave
89	** Season 7's BigBad, Zankou, glows with a massive orange light before he is vanquished
90	** Season 8's BigBad, The Triad, flash with lights before they explode
91	** Notable monster of the week examples:
92	*** Gabriel Statler glows slightly, turns transparent as if he was made of mirror or water, and explodes in a shower of sparks
93	*** The warlock Nicholas explodes into a purple shockwave with sparks. (He is later resurrected and is permanently re-killed in a similar way, replacing purple with yellow.)
94	*** Inspector Rodriguez is destroyed by his own energy ball (multiple times, including his permanent death), sparking with electricity and exploding into sparks.
95	*** Krell gets a similar death to Rodriguez.
96	*** Shax glows as he spins around and explodes into sparks.
97	*** A Darklighter mook explodes into dark particles.
98	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
99	** Many [[TheNthDoctor regeneration scenes]] are like this, with the obvious difference that the character in question is in a sense dying but simultaneously getting better. They're also unusual in that it's the death of the hero, not the villain. No two regenerations have been shown to be quite alike; mostly it's been a case of how the special effects team wanted to show off at the time.
100	** The revived series has at least tried to depict regenerations more consistently, usually involving the Time Lord's body erupting in golden energy. Ten's [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime regeneration into]] Eleven was particularly violent and wrecked half his console room, either due to the amount of radiation Ten absorbed or how long he spent putting it off (or ''both''). The real answer is, of course, "the production team wanted to make some tweaks to the ship."
101	*** Interestingly, while the Doctor got this violent-looking blowtorch-like effect when the ''incredibly'' insane and murderous recurring villain [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia the Master]] regenerated, the effect was quite peaceful looking with colourful energy smoothly washing over him. (However, it caused him to ''scream in agony'', while none of the Doctor's regenerations ever did that...)
102	* ''Franchise/KamenRider'' generally uses explosions for its monster deaths, like ''Franchise/PowerRangers'', above. Some, however, decide to get fancy, such as the "burst into blue flames, then collapse into dust while a Greek letter hovers over your body" effects from ''Series/KamenRider555''.
103	* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
104	** [[AdaptationalVillainy Peter Pan]] is destroyed in a flash of light halfway through Season 3.
105	** Near the end of Season 6, Hades is stabbed with an Olympian Crystal, is engulfed in blue flames, and turns to dust.
106	* When ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' villains die, they go out with a bang. Sometimes it's such that you'd think the monster's destruction would do more to the city than the monster would have if left alone. ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' in particular went the distance, with all sorts of flashy and colorful effects as the monster staggered around, leading up to the final kaboom (which could consist of two or three explosions.) They haven't looked like ''that'' in a while, even for main villains.
107	** This of course applies to ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' as well, with the champion probably being [[Series/HikariSentaiMaskman Emperor Zeba]] who bleeds red energy, dissolves into green energy, floats up into the sky while forming into a face, and then explodes ''four times.''
108	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
109	** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Adult changelings often transform into desiccated piles of ashes when they die. One notable exception was the Martok changeling in "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E01ApocalypseRising Apocalypse Rising]]," who exploded after being hit by dozens of Klingon disruptor bolts.
110	** The enhanced changelings in the third season of ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' lost the ability to survive in space and freeze solid when exposed to the vacuum of space. This was the fate of Vadic, who was blown out into space by the crew of the ''Titan'', froze solid, then shattered into millions of tiny pieces when her body collided with the hull of her ship the ''Shrike''.
111	* When demons die in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' they explode with red flashing lights. Angels take this to the next level where not only does white light explode from their body but covers the entire room of wherever they're at.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
115	* ''TabletopGame/PsionicsTheNextStageInHumanEvolution'': A victim of the Atomize talent is ripped apart at the atomic level, resulting in a rather brilliant and flashy display. The book even literally compares their atoms being pulled apart and spinning away into the air to fireworks.
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Video Games]]
119	* All {{Final Boss}}es from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' through ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX X]]'' slowly disintegrate, as well as ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics''. Sometimes with flashing.
120	** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' this is integrated into the plot: Monsters are formed by unsent souls, when they're killed these firefly-like souls emanate from their remains. Even then, you get some pretty cool death animations. A notable one that comes to mind is the jellyfish Sinspawn on the trip from Besaid to Kilika. It shudders, gets compressed into an oily black sphere, ''then'' explodes into a cloud of fireflies.
121	** The most over-the-top and spectacular example in the series yet has to be Ultimecia's final defeat from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. First she shudders, then her body releases explosions, then she fires a large laser into the sky from her (lack of a) face, and then countless beams of light erupt out of her body until almost the entire screen has gone white. THEN she explodes. And it's still not over, since Ultimecia's distorting body then gets a slightly disturbing close-up in negative colors and proceeds to disintegrate in a shower of bright light. ''And she survives it.''
122	*** What also makes this example truly outstanding is that it's not even the first time it happened to Ultimecia during the final battle: her previous form exploded in such a spectacular fashion, the light from it envelops the entire screen, and its sparkly remains continue to fly for almost a minute. It can be almost hard to believe that there is [[OneWingedAngel yet another form]] to fight after that.
123	** Challenging that is the likewise over-the-top and long death animation of Yu Yevon. Imagine the Ultimecia example above, but with sheer out-and-out disintegration coming from such a small target. It needs to be seen to be believed.
124	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' has a flying cybernetic ClockPunk engine of destruction as its final boss, created when the BigBad's [[DeityOfHumanOrigin apotheosis]] causes him to spontaneously accumulate debris and machinery from his own battle fortress. Said boss then violently detonates upon his death as the Mist that empowered him is released. In short, not only does he get a TechnicolorDeath, he also gets a Technicolor ''TransformationSequence''. Doctor Cid is a much more somber example, slowly disintegrating into brightly-colored Mist as he has one last sad conversation with Balthier.
125	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has the standard boss death animation. Once the final bit of damage is applied to a boss, the battle freezes for a second, then the screen flashes white like fuses are being blown a couple of times, before flashing one final time and causing the boss to turn different colors, shake, roar, and fade away. ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' uses the same one, looking even more flashy as the bosses have actual animations too.
126	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
127	** Though the FinalBoss doesn't do this, all the bosses and standard enemies in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' explode upon dying into little Twilight fragments. Except strangely the Death Sword miniboss, which has a unique way of dying. When it is defeated, the sword itself explodes like a normal enemy, but the demon wielding the sword transforms into a swarm of insects.
128	** All bosses except the fourth one in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'' turn into gold, disintegrated partially, explode into a column of sand, and then the sand freezes in midair.
129	** And of course, in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', with standard enemies disappearing in puffs of smoke.
130	** Most of the bosses in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' get more unique death scenes. Gohma and Phantom Ganon disintegrate into blue flames, Barinade explodes into pieces and blood, Volvagia starts on fire, turns to a skeleton, and his skull is destroyed in blue flames, Morpha explodes into pieces, and Bongo Bongo turns to static (plain black in the Platform/NintendoGameCube and 3DS versions) and melts. The most spectacular instance of the N64 games is Majora, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', where rays of light shine from him and he disintegrates.
131	** Malladus (who is possessing the other main villain Cole) gets a similar death scene when Link and Zelda stab him in the head in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks''.
132	** Bosses in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' freeze in place, flash multiple colors, have any body parts (that are separate sprites if they have them) explode individually before finally being covered in dozens of explosions.
133	* ''VideoGame/WildArms'':
134	** The [[VideoGame/WildArms1 first game]] has each generic enemy dying by flashing colors and collapsing vertically into a little pool on the ground. Bosses get the more enhanced effect of flashing colors while beams of light shoot around and a big flash.
135	** Most of the bosses in the remake flash shake, and disintegrate, piece-by-piece.
136	* ''Franchise/MegaMan'':
137	** Defeated bosses in the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' series are usually engulfed in a spherical blast that emits beams of light after being defeated. {{Justified\|Trope}} due to them being robots; since Zero's trademark weapon is a sword, it may have compromised their power systems. The radiating beams of light part? Not so much. Also, the attack that depletes their health meter causes much more damage than any other attack (blowing a chunk out of them if it's a charged beam shot, DiagonalCut if it's with the sword), but that's probably another trope.
138	** ''[[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man]]'' and the bosses he fights turn into 8 lights and explode in 8 directions when killed.
139	** ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' bosses recoil in pain and explode for about 10 seconds as the background fades to white and they disappear into the background. ''4'' onwards started adding flashing beams of light to the mix.
140	* Slain bosses in ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' fulfill this in two different ways, first turning black on a background of white noise, then radiating beams of light, and finally vanishing in a white burst.
141	* In the old Platform/ZXSpectrum game ''Chaos'', when a wizard is killed his sprite explodes across the board in all eight directions and all eight colours. And it is ''awesome''.
142	* Bosses in the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' [=RPG=]s tend to explode into glowing stars and lights when they die. In ''Partners in Time'', they flash rainbow colors before doing so, and in both ''Dream Team'' and ''Paper Jam'' the stars they explode into are rainbow, ''after'' rainbow lights shine from them, including all seven Koopalings.
143	** It is also notable that three of the main villains, Elder Princess Shroob, Fawful, and Antasma, explode into purple particles once defeated. Dark Bowser takes an even more spectacular level with a shockwave of light.
144	** And then there's the [[KnightOfCerebus Shadow Queen]] in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', exploding in a shockwave of darkness.
145	* The bosses in ''VideoGame/DecapAttack'' would flash on and off brightly like a strobe light for several seconds as small explosions engulf them before disappearing.
146	* In ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', all bosses once killed freeze in place and emit circular light and electricity from their chest (or the closest thing to it.) {{Subverted\|Trope}} in that you are then treated to a fade out and then a cutscene with a more appropriate death animation, though some still fall into this trope, such as:
147	** Ansem, Xehanort's Heartless, died in a very awesome, spectacular explosion -- subverted in that he's, strangely, fine in the next cutscene. ("fine" in the sense that he's still alive) Then, he dies ''again'', in a shower of light beams... although it is unclear if all of those beams came from Kingdom Hearts, or if some of them were actually caused by his death, as this trope demands.
148	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TznkwCWiwq4 Marluxia]] from ''Chain of Memories'' had an epic disintegration into CherryBlossoms and swirly darkness amidst a background that resembles a darkened sky.
149	** Riku Replica in the same game falls down and emits a pool of darkness as if it was his own blood, then sinks into it.
150	** Any of the major nobodies that die have a downplayed example where upon death their bodies start emitting darkness and light until they slowly disappear.
151	* Each of the Cobras (the team of renegade commandos) in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' explode after being killed. This is played for laughs in some of the Secret Theater scenes.
152	** Volgin in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' ends up defeated by Snake, and ends up being hit by lightning. He then catches on fire, and the bandoliers strung across his chest end up being set off by the flames.
153	* When Shao Kahn of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'' finally dies, he goes up in a spectacular green explosion.
154	* Monsters in ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' tend to dissolve into flowers. Boss monsters can be more spectacular; for instance, the Spider Queen turns into a giant lotus flower in the cutscene following her death. Devil Gates also cause the landscape to bloom when they're destroyed.
155	* The way SHODAN "died" in ''VideoGame/SystemShock2''.
156	* The way bosses died in ''VideoGame/{{Darius}} Gaiden'' and ''G-Darius'' -- streaks of light pour out of them, then BOOM. Averted by earlier games in the series, the bosses would just turn grey and drop off the bottom of the screen.
157	* In most of the games developed by Creator/{{Treasure}} (''VideoGame/DynamiteHeaddy'', ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'', ''VideoGame/MischiefMakers'', what have you), the bosses and even {{Mini Boss}}es tend to explode in incredibly over-the-top ways, whether or not they're robots or have any mechanical components which could logically detonate. Most of these explosions are done with only one explosion sprite that's used like a particle effect, especially in their earlier games.
158	* In ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', normally while mobs simply fall over and vanish in a puff of smoke when killed, the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Ender Dragon]] starts to explode and disintegrate pixel by pixel while shooting out beams of light.
159	* [=GLaDOS=]' death in ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' causes her chamber to explode/implode, blasting everything in there (including Chell) outside.
160	* The original ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' ends with Gordon Freeman shooting out the Nihilanth's brain, killing the creature, and causing portal orbs to spew out of its head in flashes of green and blue electricity, one of which teleports Gordon into the presence of the G-Man.
161	* Bosses in the original ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' would go out with multiple brightly colored, sparkly explosions.
162	* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'', [[EldritchAbomination Giygas]] traumatically dissipates into static as he is destroyed by the human emotion of all the people Ness and his friends have met on their journey, who are praying for their safety. In fact, Giygas' disintegration can be likened to that of a TV with red static turning off.
163	* ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' has Medusa disintegrating into nothing from head to toe after freezing in place, and Hades also disintegrates as the beam from the Final Strike pummels him. Normal enemies vanish in a burst of light and shadow, with most bosses doing so on a larger scale.
164	* Averted when you defeat the final boss of ''VideoGame/StarStealingPrince''. When you deal the final blow, you're suddenly booted out of the fight screen and treated to a scene of the final boss anticlimactically flopping over. The whole process literally lasts about 3-4 seconds. Then again, you don't actually kill the final boss; you just knock him out long enough to make your getaway.
165	* ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'':
166	** In ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman 64}}'', when Artemis is defeated, she is destroyed in an explosion of blue light. When you defeat the final boss, Sirius, he gets the most spectacular death scene in the game: Sparks with electricity, flashes rainbow colors, with orange and blue rays of light, then shatters to pieces.
167	** ''VideoGame/BombermanHero'', all the defeated bosses except the smaller Natia and Evil Bomber (who simply fade away) explode after rays of light shine from them.
168	* ''VideoGame/StarFox'':
169	** Andross, both times he is destroyed, explodes with the force of an atomic bomb.
170	** Likewise, the Aparoid Queen in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'', falls into the core of the Aparoid Homeworld and is vaporized in a flash of blue light, letting out a horrifying synthetic screech as it bursts apart.
171	* A "K.O." in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros.'' series, which is done when a character flies or falls too far off screen causes impressive, flashy beams of explosive lights that go across the screen that originate from the point of death. As of ''Brawl'', a match finished this way causes a slowdown effect that really lets you appreciate the undulating glory of this.
172	** Tabuu gets a similar explosion to Aparoid Queen in ''Brawl''.
173	** Master Hand in the series jets off, falling to the background and constantly exploding, writhing from each explosion, and causing the screen to fade to white. However in ''Smash 4'', he rips apart, with black "swarm" shooting out and reforming into Master Core. Who then has his own version of the standard player death animation, except larger, flashier, and being a beam of darkness and lightning rather than light.
174	* Ares in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'', after he is stabbed, explodes in a nuclear explosion.
175	* Emperor Ing, Ridley, and Dark Samus in the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' series.
176	* In ''VideoGame/SonicRiders'', Babylon Guardian disintegrates into sparks when Sonic defeats him. And in ''Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity'', Master Core: ABIS explodes in a spectacular explosion when Sonic defeats him.
177	* A ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' achievement item called the Bombinomicon has a purely cosmetic effect of making any death suffered by its wearer into a gratuitous explosion, even if they were killed by more mundane, non-explosive means. This means it is possible to clumsily fall from a height and die from the FallingDamage and see your corpse flopped on the ground, only to have it detonate a second later.
178	* Most Battlemech destructions from the various ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' and ''VideoGame/MechCommander'' games are this; doesn't matter if you [[MacrossMissileMassacre drowned them in a swarm of missiles]] or simply [[CherryTapping plinked them with machine guns]]--'Mechs will explode in dramatic fashion when destroyed, occasionally flinging their component parts a good two hundred meters away. Averted in ''Mechwarrior Online'', where most 'Mechs simply collapse on the spot when they are destroyed.
179	* ''VideoGame/BattleClash'' has a series of strangely muffled explosions engulf every remaining limb and piece of an enemy [[AMechByAnyOtherName ST]] upon defeat. On the other hand, its sequel ''Metal Combat'' rewards every K.O. with an utterly satisfying series of explosions (and a much more appropriate sound effect) that causes pieces of the enemy ST to drop off from damage, leaving the remaining torso/core to bounce and stumble along the ground if it was moving when defeated. Then there's usually a final, larger explosion as well! ...Except sometimes you only see a portion of it, because the game uses a First Person view and the enemy ST's torso just exploded from stumbling as you were still moving along. Pretty much every enemy ST explodes this way, even in stages with midair/underwater combat. The Final boss ramps up the pretty, pretty explosions by including ''several'' of them in succession with bright flashes.
180	* All ghosts in ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'' explode dramatically when doused with the special voodoo potion, but [[BigBad LeChuck]] actually rockets into the night sky and explodes like a firework show, allowing the protagonists to have a romantic moment.
181	* ''VideoGame/WorldOfMana'':
182	** ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'' has, as the standard boss death, the enemy becoming colored with a red and yellow palette as if they were on fire, then covered in explosions before the screen flashes completely white and they completely vanish.
183	** ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'' freezes the screen, then shows white flashing followed by and taking it a step further with actual death animations, beams of light emitting from the boss' body, then a surprisingly well-animated screen-covering explosion that nonetheless leaves our heroes unscathed.
184	** ''VideoGame/SwordOfMana'' has the screen shake as larger bosses emit several small explosions and rays of light before detonating in a fiery flash that sweeps across the screen. The final boss has a different death animation, shrinking as he emits green sparks before exploding in a burst of green light as the last of the Mana Tree's power leaves his body. Human-sized bosses just give off yellow sparks upon defeat, but the only one who actually dies this way is Dark Lord.
185	* ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' also features those. As a rule of thumb, if the boss simply disappears, it means it was defeated but not killed.
186	** In the first game, the boss turns golden and then implodes into fragments.
187	** In ''Covenant'', a giant summon circle appears underneath the boss, followed by it quickly disintegrating into rainbow smoke.
188	** ''From the New World'' has two versions: normal bosses die as they did in 'Covenant'' sans the summon circle; bosses from the [[EldritchLocation Window]] melt into crimson goo.
189	[[/folder]]
190
191	[[folder:Western Animation]]
192	* Valtor/Baltor in ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub''. When Bloom extinguishes his flame from within, rays of light shine from him and he explodes in a flash of light.
193	* Tirek in the first ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePony'' movie. When exposed to the Rainbow of Light, he explodes in a flash of light.
194	* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', King Sombra turns to crystal, with rays of light, and shatters to pieces due to the power of the Crystal Heart.
195	** Averted in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 My Little Pony: the Movie]]''. It's worth mentioning since any villain death in a family-friendly show about magical multicolored ponies, especially containing mystical artifacts, is expected to be magical and technicolor, but instead, the Storm King gets [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]], [[DisneyVillainDeath falls off a balcony]], and [[LiterallyShatteredLives shatters to pieces]].
196	* The [[BigBad Big Bad]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcGee'' Season 1, The Chairman, goes down exploding in rainbows and multi-colored flowers while his body disintegrates, leaving behind only his cloak covered in flowers.
197	* [[BigBad Bill Cipher]] in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' begins rapidly glitching out and going through many different forms in a desperate attempt to survive as he's in Stan's mind while it's being erased. When Stan finally finishes him off by punching so hard he shatters into nothing, multicolored lightning explodes out of him as the camera briefly pauses.
198	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TechnicolorDeath