->''I've seen this movie. The black dude dies first.''
-->-- '''Harry Block''', ''{{Evolution}}''

->''It must be racist shark, because out of the four of them, it eats the black man.''
-->-- '''[[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses A British Person]]''' reviewing ''{{Jaws}} III''

For some reason, Fate hates the black man, putting them that much higher on the SortingAlgorithmOfMortality. The [[UncleTomfoolery Comedy Black Man]]? Despised beyond measure.

In the past this was because there were few black leads in big-budget films outside of those that focused specifically on race or used it to make a point. Historical moviemakers were generally writing to white audiences, so it was natural (at least in their opinion) for whites to get more screen time. And if the writers throw in a TokenMinority to give the cast more believable racial balance, who do you think is going to die first, them or the folks who have a bigger role in the script?

This, of course, has led to increasing inversion in recent years, as there have been more black moviegoers with money to spend, leading to more and more prominent black characters and more big-name black actors, none of which are likely to get killed off quietly. Studios have also finally accepted that white audiences are not generally as racist as was once assumed, and do not need to have a white as the protagonist. In other words, if you're gonna go after the black man nowadays, you might want to check the credits to see who's playing him. If it's no one you've actually heard of, they're probably fair game. Tony Todd? Go for it. SamuelLJackson? You can take your chances, but I don't like your odds. Denzel Washington? Bad idea. Will Smith? Run away and hide.

As black actors become more common in significant roles, this trope has found new ways to stay relevant. Often films will take a ScaryBlackMan, turn him into TheBigGuy, and kill him off to [[TheWorfEffect show how strong their monster is]]. In horror films, the afflicted main character might have a sassy BlackBestFriend that gets killed off to show that [[SeriousBusiness this is no laughing matter]].

This became a DeadHorseTrope once black comedians began to reference it in their routines, and comedy movies began to reference, parody, subvert, and lampshade it. Like many aspects of racism that have become less overt over the years, some people [[DeadUnicornTrope refuse to believe that it ever existed]], but these people [[SmallReferencePools probably haven't seen many movies made before 1990]].

Compare BuryYourGays.

This is a DeathTrope, so you'd better turn back now or face the spoilers.
----
!!Played Straight

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]

* Episode 22 of ''CodeGeass R2'' has the introduction of the only black Knight of the Round, Knight of Four Dorothea Ernst. However, she only gets a few seconds of screentime before Suzaku blows her Knightmare out of the sky, ''seconds after the battle starts''.
* Gorobei is the first to die in ''SamuraiSeven.'' This despite the fact that, in the original ''SevenSamurai'' film, the first to die was Heihachi. Gorobei was the only black man among the samurai.
* In ''Berserk'', [[spoiler: Pippen is the first named character to die during the Eclipse.]]
**Uh... [[spoiler: Pippin's]] black? Since when? [[ScaryBlackMan Donovan]], however, gets killed in the first few chapters of the Golden Age arc. [[KarmicDeath He totally deserves it]].
* In ''Mobile Suit Gundam'', the first major character from the White Base crew to die is Ryu Jose when he kamakazied his core fighter to save Amuro.
* The ''{{Halo}} [[ExpandedUniverse Legends]]'' short The Babysitter follows a four-man squad. The one [[strike: black]] AmbiguouslyBrown member doesn't even get a name or dialogue before he dies.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* ''TheMonsterSquad'' - the only character with any lines to die in the movie is a black cop. How does it happen? {{Dracula}} blows him up with dynamite. So at least he'll have a good story for St. Peter.
* ''{{Enter the Dragon}}'' plays it straight. Of the three main protagonists, Williams exists only to show off his fabulous afro and be killed by the Villain first.
* In the 2007 ''{{Transformers}}'' [[TransformersFilmSeries movie]], the only Autobot to die on Earth is Jazz. As a robot, he's technically not black, but his JiveTurkey dialogue and black voice actor make the trope clear.
** Jazz's voice actor even said "Brother always gets it first" after recording Jazz's final dialogue.
** [[YourMileageMayVary Unfortunately, Skidz and Mudflap didn't die at all in the sequel.]] Once again, robots, but the stereotypical portrayal, voices and ''gold teeth'' '''[[BileFascination nearly]]''' made me leave the theater.
* Vin Diesel is the first squad member to be killed in ''SavingPrivateRyan''. It's not clear what race his character is supposed to be, however, as he has an Italian last name. Diesel himself is of mixed Italian and black ancestry.
* Painfully prevalent in the ''{{Stargate}}'' movie. A group of soldiers are attacked and the black guy is the first one to die. The other guys got resurrected by a sarcophagus, which apparently does not work on black people...
** A bunch of white soldiers die in the attack and stay dead. Daniel is the only one who gets resurrected by the sarcophagus, and that's only because he's wearing the Eye of Ra pendant.
* In ''United 93'', between the the two pilots of the aforementioned plane, one is white while the other is black. Give ya three guesses who's the first to get shanked by the hijackers.
* Paul Winfield, is notorious in his SF career for taking the bullet for white guys, including ''twice'' in the StarTrek universe (as Capt. Terrell in ''Wrath of Khan'' and as Dathon in ''Star Trek: the Next Generation''). In ''Damnation Alley'' he gets eaten by killer cockroaches.
**He's also the first person to die in ''Mars Attacks!''
* In ''ResidentEvil: Extinction'', the only black guy was the first to be attacked by a zombie, resulting in an ultimately fatal wound. Of course [[ZombieInfectee he covers it up]] and endangers his fellow zombiepocalypse survivors. Not to mention his black girlfriend managed to sacrifice her own life, and on a bus no less. To top it off, the same character managed to survive all the way through the previous movie, ''Resident Evil: Apocalypse'', despite being a minor character and the EthnicScrappy.
* In ''Virus'', the black crew member appears to die halfway through the movie, but in a surprise twist, comes back at the end armed with a rocket launcher to save the hero and the heroine from the monster. Only to die in the process. This is made all the more irritating because he'd already secured his means of escape from the doomed ship, then went back for the others because of a pang of conscience.
* Happens in the film version of the ''TheShining''. Dick looks like he's going to be a MagicalNegro, then comes to save the day only to die uselessly, just to give a raving Jack Nicholson at least one person to kill. In the book, Dick lives. He gets possessed for a bit, but there's a happy ending where Danny and Wendy are crashing at the new resort Dick works at. It's sort of sweet.
**In the more faithful to the book miniseries he lives and at the end attends Danny's graduation.
* In the movie ''Vertical Limit,'' one of the first two to die on the mountain (in the same avalanche) is actually ''Pakistani.'' Then his brother goes after him. He lasts a bit longer relatively.
* Occurs twice in ''ApocalypseNow'', where the two black members of the boat's crew are the first two to die.
** Blame the source material: In Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," the two people who die are native guides. The book is set in the Congo. In Africa. Middle of the "Dark Continent." Yup.
** Also, to make things worse, the black commander is killed with a fucking spear.
* Apparently ''RoboCop'' is somehow racist considering he aims for the black guy first in the final showdown of the first movie in the series.
** RoboCop probably took him out first so he wouldn't have to hear any more of that horrible, nails-on-a-chalkboard cackling.
* In ''The Edge'', Harold Perrineau is eaten by the bear first.
* Happens twice in the film version of ''TheCrow''. The first of T-Bird's crew who Eric encounters and kills is Tin-Tin, the black knife-wielding guy. Then, near the end of the film when Eric is trying to rescue Sarah, Grange is the first to die when Albrecht guns him down.
* In ''Vantage Point'' this trope is played with: The SPANISH dude is the only major viewpoint hero to die, and pretty much got screwed over by the plot. (Took an IdiotBall thanks to his girlfriend).
* ''Queen of the Damned'' begins with Lestat waking up from his sleep and drinking a black man's blood dry.
* ''Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins'' - and ends [[YouShallNotPass rather unnecessarily]], for Remo's one-armed black mentor. To compare, Wilford Brimley survives - and is still alive!
* The first person to die in ''AlienNation'' is Sykes' original partner, who is shot and killed by a shotgun-wielding crook while he's wearing a BulletProofVest ''and'' crouched behind a car. It turns out the shotgun slugs were armor-piercing.
* In {{Serenity}}, the {{Big Damn Movie}} for {{Firefly}}, Shepherd Book is the first to bite it. He is, of course, black. The crew's other black representative, Zoe, survives. But she's a {{badass}} [[ActionGirl action chick]] anyway...
**It seems like a stretch to include {{Serenity}} here. Shepherd Book isn't the first person to die; Doctor Matnias is killed by the Operative at the beginning of the movie. Shortly after that a Mal [[{{MercyKill}} kills a young man to "save" him from the Reavers]]. Book is the first member of the {{Firefly}} cast to die, but in the movie he's not actually a part of the crew.
** No, Mal outright says to Book before he dies that even though he left Serenity, he's still "part of his crew"
* Surprisingly, the only ''{{Friday The 13th}}'' to actually have a black character die first is the ninth, ''Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday'', where Jason kills Phil the coroner by possessing him. Some might not count this though, since technically Phil only really died when Jason abandoned his body, which he does after claiming quite a few victims.
** Then there's the 2008 remake where the black character actually survives for a long time and before dying, manages to stab Jason in the leg and then run a considerable distance before Jason dramatically throws an axe into his back.
*''3000 Miles to Graceland'' has five Elvis impersonators setting out to rob a casino. The black one dies first.
* In BMovie ''The Killer Shrews'', as seen on ''MST3K'', the white protagonist's black friend/employee/servant/Dixieland jazz musician goes outside to take care of the boat during the storm and gets eaten by the shrews first. When the hero finds out, he seems genuinely angry for a moment. Their next victim is a Mexican, who gets much less mourning.
* In ''RedDawn'', who is the first person the Soviets kill after parachuting onto school grounds? The black history teacher.
* In ''AssignmentOuterSpace'', this is why TheCaptain gets the HeroicSacrifice. (TheMillstone saves the day).
* The Agony Booth recap of ''Hulk'' featured the insight "It's not so much that the black guy dies first, it's that the black guy dies first ''90 minutes into the movie''".
* ''The Dambusters'' manages to combine this with a ShootTheDog moment. Clearly political correctness had not been invented in 1954.
* The oh-so-terrible MST3k movie ''Future Wars'' shows the second to last scene chronologically at the beginning of the movie, just so the lone black guy in the movie can die first.
* In the miniseries adaptation of of {{Stephen King}}'s ''TheLangoliers'', the sole black man in the group of survivors dies first. In the short story, the guy is not mentioned to be black. He wears a RedShirt though.
* In the original PlanetOfTheApes movie, the black member of the three-man group of astronauts is the only one who's killed by the human-hunting gorillas. Of course, later in the movie it turns out that the other white astronaut [[FateWorseThanDeath survived but was lobotomised...]]
** Of course, the white female astronaut was actually the first to die in the movie (she bought it when her suspended animation container on the spaceship malfunctioned).
* Not a dude, but the first member of the team killed in ''Hollow Man'' is the token minority.
* ''{{Scream}} 2''. The first '''two''' characters to bite it are black, both in horrifying ways. Omar Epps (pre-{{House}}), through use of barely audible whispers to draw him close enough to the wall of the toilet to get ''stabbed in the ear'', to Jada Pinkett being stabbed repeatedly in front of [[NightmareFuel hundreds of witnesses who think it's an act]] and even ''encourage'' the killer!
** The black cameraman later points out that "Brothers don't last long in situations like this."
* In ''JurassicPark'' a black guy is eaten by a raptor in the first five minutes. (He only gets one line: ''"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"'')
* In DeepBlueSea, the actual first deaths are of white people; however, of the group of survivors trying to reach the surface Russell Franklin (played by Samuel L. Jackson) dies first. The other black character, Preacher, is [[GenreSavvy well aware of this trope]].
--> '''Preacher:''' I'm done. Black guys never make it out of situations like this, not ever.
** [[spoiler: He lives. One of only two characters who do.]]
* Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation - Instead of a black guy, it's the only Asian guy, Charlie Soda, who dies first during the opening minutes of the movie.
* ''Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer'': It's always the gruff, scary black general that gets killed by the power hungry villain, Doctor Doom.
** The poor actor gets the same shtick as endless incredulous neighbor in ''The Mist''.
* One of the few HorrorTropes played straight in ''{{Feast}}''.
* What, no mention of {{Stealth}} yet? Perhaps because Tropers are too ashamed to admit they saw that movie... But not only does the black dude die first, but he was also the religious character, had a loving wife and children, and I wouldn't have been surprised to learn that he was ten minutes from retirement. Although he might as well have had a target on his forehead, this troper was still staring at the screen in disbelief when they actually killed him off.
* The Nature's-revenge flick ''KingdomOfTheSpiders'' plays it painfully straight as well. The one farm in town owned by a black couple is ground-zero for the imminent taranula invasion. And yes, the husband is the first human to die, after the spiders kill his cattle [[KickTheDog and dog]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* The novel ''Morrigan's Cross'' by Nora Roberts. It's pretty obvious what's going to happen because (a) he is the only black guy, and (b) there's 4 guys and 2 girls and it's a romance novel, so you have to get another girl in the mix somehow.
* Besma Grieve in the ''DoctorWho'' TelevisionTieInNovel ''The Year of Intelligent Tigers''. Particularly galling because the writer seemed quite fond of her, and referred to her as "Black" rather than "black", a possibly more politically correct usage, which rather suggested said writer should have known better.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* The first person to die in the pilot of ''{{Andromeda}}'' is a young black officer named Thompson. He's named after Cronan Thompson, a young black internet personality who was involved in many online arguments with the show's creator, Robert Wolfe. Cronan died of cancer at 19, and Wolfe included Thompson in his pilot as a tribute. Having him die first might seem tasteless, but it would probably have appealed to Cronan's sense of humor.
* In the New Zealand TV3 docu-series [[http://www.tv3.co.nz/VideoBrowseAll/TV3Video/tabid/771/articleID/59535/cat/522/Default.aspx#video Aftershock]], the first person shown to die as a result of the Cook Strait earthquake is a Maori man. That's as black as you can make it in a New Zealand context without lampshading the concept.
* In BBC's Merlin, for some reason, they added black knights to Uther's court. For some bizarre reason, the MonstersOfTheWeek seem to love killing them, and if a knight needs to die to establish the threat, it will be the black dude. Being a Black Knight in Merlin appears to be like being a RedShirt in Star Trek. Heaven help you if you're a black Knight and wearing a red tunic.
** The first major character to be killed in the series was [[spoiler: Tom, who is also black.]]
* In {{Stargate Atlantis}}, although his death is [[NeverFoundTheBody ambiguous]], the first character to leave the main cast is the black Lieutenant Ford.
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Turk in the episode of Scrubs where LaVerne dies. "If this was a horror movie, I'd be afraid I'd be next. They always kill off the black people first." [sic]
* {{Flash Forward}}, in a surprise twist, [[spoiler: Al is the]] first character to die by jumping off a roof to prove that what happens in a Flash Forward isn't necessary the future.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* The first named character to die in ''MetalGearSolid'' was the black DARPA Chief, Donald Anderson. Possibly subverted when it turned out that he was [[LatexPerfection a fair-skinned Hispanic man disguising himself as Anderson]]. And then twisted back around again, because the real Anderson was killed off-screen before Snake's arrival.
** ''MetalGearSolid 2'' is divided into two chapters. In both chapters, the first named person to die is a black man - Scott Dolph in the first and Peter Stillman in the second. It's a small relief, but none of the characters are at all comical.
** Apparently averted in ''MetalGearSolid 3'' when Sigint lived through the end of the game. However, in [=MGS4=], [[spoiler: it's revealed that Sigint was actually Donald Anderson, who was, of course, the first character to die in the very first ''Metal Gear Solid''!]]
** Poor Anderson was also only the second of the [[spoiler:Patriot founders]] to die.
** The first named character to die in ''MetalGear 2'' was Black Color/Black Ninja (depending on the version you are playing), a black South African as well as a likely unintentional CaptainEthnic. Said black South African was also the first ally to "die" in ''MetalGear'', especially egregious since the other members of the Resistance were white South African women.
* In ''{{Fallout}} 3'' the first character to die is the scientist Jonas who was a friend of your character's father. It's his death in fact, that kicks off the main storyline.
* In ''{{Crysis}}'', the two black and one Hispanic teammates get eaten by aliens in the first couple of levels. One of the black teammates [[IGotBetter gets better]], though.
* In ''{{Siren}}: Blood Curse'' The black camera man Sol Jackson is the first to be killed. Then everyone goes back in time because Crazy Cult lady's plan got screwed over. Sol is alive again! ...Until he dies first a second time. That's right, the black guy dies first, goes back in time, then dies first again.
* [[KillEmAll A lot of people]] died in ''DeadSpace'' before the Kellion crew (including player character [[BadassBookworm Isaac Clarke]]) arrived, and he wasn't even the first of the Kellion's crew to die (a pair of redshirts bit it at the start), but Hammond was the first major character to bite it; torn limb from limb by a Brute.
* Captain Chahal is the first crew member to bite it in ''[[ChzoMythos 7 Days a Skeptic]]''. The poor captain was not only black, but also set to retire after this last mission, so yeah; [[{{Retirony}} he never stood a chance]]. ''And'' the player has to dispose of him again after his corpse becomes possessed.
* In ''{{Halo}}'', the first major non-gameplay casualties are the black Sgt. Johnson's [[NumerologicalMotif seven]]-man squad. {{Word of God}} indicates this was originally [[http://forums.bungie.org/halo/archive4.pl?read=82872 intended to stick]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* Webcomic example: In ''{{Erfworld}}'', Lord Manpower the Temporary is killed on page 2, and is black at the time. (Later, he's green, like the rest of the uncroaked.) Technically, though, he was the ''last'' of Stanley's warlords to die. Just the first dead character in the story proper.
** Mentioning that means you need to mention [[spoiler: ''OrderOfTheStick''. TwoWords: Roy and "SPLAT!"]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''[[{{DCAU}} Superman: The Animated Series]]'', episode 'The Hand of Fate'. First demon to spring from the giant hole straight to hell goes straight for the black dude.
* ''Wolverine and the X-Men'': Swat team flees from faceless terror in the middle of a blizzard. Black guy gets dragged off.

!!Lampshaded/Parodied

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* Parodied in the first ''ScaryMovie'': after the ''{{Scream}}'' parody that opens it, a line of reporters discuss the story in front of the school. The last one is from BET (Black Entertainment Television), and the reporter declares that since people are dying, [[GenreSavvy ''they're'' getting out of the area]] - at which point he and his crew jump into their truck and speed off.
** Which was actually based off of a similar occurrence in ''{{Scream}} 2'', where a black guy leaves town after a few bodies pile up. He lives.
** Also, it's discussed fully in another scene, with text to this effect:
-->"The worst thing a brother can do is to party with white people, 'cause you know you're gonna die first. You should all get out of here."
-->"W-what about me?"
-->"Mulattos, too!"
* This trope is [[ConversationalTroping discussed]] in the movie CanadianBacon, making the movie's token black character very nervous about his chances.
* ''UndercoverBrother'''s Conspiracy Brother complains about this trope.
-->"Hey black man, [[JurassicPark turn on the power there's dinosaurs running around]]. Hey black man, look out he's got a gun!"
* The movie ''Canadian Bacon'' features a scene in which this theory is discussed, and various examples are given. It ends with the one black guy looking really nervous. He not only survives, though, he goes on to prove that black athletic superiority extends to hockey, too.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* In ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' season 7, the following exchange occurs after some of the potential slayers (including Rona, who is black) are "killed" in a training exercise:
--> '''Spike:''' Okay, these three are dead. Why?
--> '''Rona:''' 'cause the black chick always dies first.
* Partial parody, In ''PowerRangersLostGalaxy'', the token black could always be found running around screaming, "Why am ''I'' always the decoy!" all while being shot at.
* In an episode of ''MarriedWithChildren'', Al, Jefferson, and Griff join the National Guard and have to quell some kind of riot. They've holed up inside a truck and Jefferson orders Griff to get out and do something (I forget what). Griff flat-out refuses, not wanting to be the one black guy to get killed while the white guys go home to their wives. Al, being Al, replies with "Sounds like we all lose."
* Lampshaded by Turk in the {{Scrubs}} episode "My Long Goodbye"

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* When [[spoiler: Ambrose Chase]] dies in {{Planetary}}, the {{Genre Savvy}} villain comments that "this is science fiction movie. The black guy always dies in the science fiction movie." (They were in a reality-warping field that made reality follow movie cliches, so this was , literally, the reason he died.)

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* Sort of referenced in [[http://www.captainsnes.com/2008/10/24/guest-halloween-special-7/ this]] ''CaptainSNES'' Halloween special, despite several people having died already.
* One of many horror movie cliches parodied in the "KITTEN" arc of ''SluggyFreelance''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* [[http://graphjam.com/2009/07/22/song-chart-memes-life-horror/ This chart on GraphJam]] detailing the life expectancies of horror film characters.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Parodied in an episode of ''SouthPark'', itself a parody of the movie ''TheCore''. In the original, a black scientist dies after engaging a switch deep while in almost direct contact with the Earth's mantle; in the parody, Cartman explicitly picks Chef as "the black man who will sacrifice himself".
** In TheMovie, during the planning for the war with Canada, an old white general puts all the blacks into "Operation Human Shield", so that they'll die in order to protect "Operation Get Behind The Darkies". The black soldiers, led by Chef, are understandably less than impressed:
---> '''Chef:''' Haven't you ever heard of the Emancipation Proclamation?
---> '''Army General:''' I don't listen to hip-hop.
** The trope is then subverted when actual fighting starts - at Chef's command, the black guys jump out of the way and the white battalion is shot to pieces. ("Operation Human Shield my ass!")

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Often [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by the players in ''{{Left 4 Dead}}'': no-one wants to play as Louis because, AsYouKnow, BlackDudeDiesFirst. His optimistic lines like "[[TemptingFate I]] ''[[TemptingFate knew]]'' [[TemptingFate we would make it]]" and "Stay positive, guys, I have a good feeling about this," do not help matters.
** The AI Special Infected tend to go after the closest survivor. They ''seem'' to spawn closest either to Louis, or to ''you''.

!!Subverted/Averted/Inverted

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]

* Averted in Naruto. [[spoiler: Besides Naruto, Killer Bee is the only Jinchurriki left.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Fan Fic ]]

* Hilariously sent up in, of all things, a House FanFic ([[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3582047/1/The_Rampant_Disease The Rampant Disease]]) dealing with a zombie apocalypse at the setting hospital. House (who seems to be getting off on his own GenreSavvy) repeatedly comments that Foreman, being black, is doomed, and at one point Foreman ''himself'' says that he's not going to do anything stupid because he doesn't want to be the Black Dude of the picture. In the end, [[spoiler:Foreman, House and Wilson are the only main cast characters to survive]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* Despite the quote at the of the page, Harry Block does not die at any point in the film ''{{Evolution}}''. Although he is the only main character to come reasonably close to death.
** ... and gets by far more humiliating encounters with the evolving species than other main characters.
* Inverted in ''{{Mindhunters}}'', where the black guy is the mysterious tough newcomer, and near the end it is heavily implied (though not stated) that he is the murderer... and then he gets hit really hard in the back of the head with a fire extinguisher, and the movie seems to end. However, it is then revealed that the black guy WAS NOT the murderer, and just as the REAL murderer is about to finish off the last survivor, the black guy wakes up and saves the day, becoming one of two survivors.
* Subverted in ''TheCore'', where the black guy actually dies ''second to last.'' The white NASA commander dies first.
* Inverted in the direct-to-video monster movie ''Frankenfish'', where none of the ''white'' characters make it to the end.
* In the horror movie ''DeepBlueSea'', LL Cool J's character finds himself in a difficult situation and exclaims "Ooh, I'm done! Brothers never make it out of situations like this! Not ever!". Amusingly, he [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the trope, is the [[UncleTomfoolery Comedy Black Man]], and survives the movie. According to TheOtherWiki his character was scheduled to die, but test audiences liked him so much that they re-shot the ending and allowed him to live. However, the film also plays this one straight, to good effect, by killing off SamuelLJackson in a surprise.
**... which might be considered as [[HoistByHisOwnPetard being killed by one's own creation]].
* In the ''interestingly'' titled ''Thir13en Ghosts'' remake, the maid Maggie inverts this by becoming an Indestructible Black Woman. Despite indulging in an excruciating level of [[UncleTomfoolery stereotypical head-waggling and "Mmmm-HMMMM, girlfriend"]] she manages to walk out of an exploding house full of pissed off ghosts and spinning blades. And then carries on with the same shtick like nothing happened.
* Inverted in ''NightOfTheLivingDead''. The only black guy in the group survives the night, and then gets shot in the morning, after being mistaken for a zombie. Talk about a DownerEnding.
** An alternate (and quite popular) theory is that the rednecks who shot him realized he wasn't a zombie, but were just using the chaos as an opportunity to kill a black guy.
* Very similarly averted in ''ReturnOfTheLivingDead'', where the one black guy (who, notably, is good at boarding up windows and seems claustrophobic, both of which were traits of the above Ben in ''NightOfTheLivingDead'') survives to the end of the film, but then is killed in a nuclear blast along with everyone else.
* The original ''DawnOfTheDead'' also inverts this trope, but takes a somewhat different tack: this time around, the only black guy is one of the two survivors, and he manages to escape with his life. This was changed at the last minute from the original plot ending, where the last two surviving humans in the mall choose to commit suicide. Meanwhile, the 2004 ''Dawn'' remake had two major black characters. One goes crazy when his pregnant wife turns into a zombie, and gets shot. The other survives to the end of the film.
* JohnCarpenter's remake of ''TheThing'' has two black characters, the JiveTurkey chef and ScaryBlackMan Keith David, both of whom make it to the final act. The chef disappears, leaving David and main character Kurt Russell as the final two survivors. In the end, it's assumed that [[KillEmAll they'll both freeze to death anyway]].
**Childs is found frozen to death in the video game sequel by the player character, and is the first dead person you come across. [[spoiler: McReady turns up alive in the game's ending and is the one who rescues you.]]
* Averted in the ''House on Haunted Hill'' remake, not only is the black dude not the first to be killed, but he is the only male to survive.
** Not only averted, but subverted as well, as the movie intentionally makes it look like he's going to be the first to die, and apparently kills him first, only to have him turn up fine, with the one who appeared to die being an illusion by the house, rather than him possessed or something similar.
**But played straight in the sequel ReturnToHouseOnHauntedHill where Warren, a black guy is the first to die.
* Clearly intentionally inverted in ''Film/{{Alien}}'', where the white males are systematically eliminated, and the black guy dies at the same time as a white female. ''Film/{{Alien}}s'' does this as well in the scene where the marines first encounter the aliens.
**''Aliens'' also plays this trope straight, as Frost, the other black soldier, is the first Marine to die (Deitrich, who was the first victim in the encounter, was only...[[FateWorseThanDeath captured.]] Frost probably got the better deal).
**In the third film the black inmate managed to survive until the end until he uses himself as bait to keep the alien in the path of the molten lead...although he sacrificed himself for a white character (Ripley).
**In the fourth film, Christie was the third and last crew member of the ''Betty'' to die, and that was rather far into the film...although, he, too, sacrificed himself (for the Scrappy).
* Averted repeatedly in ''{{Predator}}''. Of all the elite soldiers that accompany Arnie into the jungle, the first to die is the white, bespectacled nerd (at least, compared to the other guys he was...) followed by the hulking mountain of white-macho that was Jesse Ventura. The two black guys make it an appreciable way through the film, until one goes AxCrazy and the other attempts a RedemptionEqualsDeath mission to find him. Also note that the Mohawk guy lasts most of the way through the film, too.
**In ''Predator 2'', the main protagonist was played by Danny Glover, who survives the film. The same cannot be said for two of his colleagues — one white, the other Hispanic — who are killed by the Predator. However, the Jamaican gang leader and some of his mooks are killed by the Predator as well, but not after it kills a bunch of Columbians at the start of the film.
* Inverted to a different cultural equivalent in the Korean monster movie ''The Host''. There is a blonde white American guy who is killed while helping Gang-Du try to save a few people. He dies very well.
* In ''Pitch Black'', Keith David makes it out alive (although his kids get eaten). Vin Diesel, of course, also escapes and goes on to make a series of animated films, video games, and one big-budget movie chronicling his continuing adventures. The cute blonde FinalGirl captain who was actually the film's main character? She almost makes it to the escape ship only to be pulled into two pieces by bat-sharks about 5 minutes before the end of the film.
* Averted in ''SnakesOnAPlane''.The first one killed was a white man,while the first to be killed by the snakes were a guy and a gal who were making out in a restroom, and they were both white. In fact,all of the black characters, counting Neville Flynn(Samuel L. Jackson) naturally, manage to survive at the end of the film.
* In ''Event Horizon'', the [[EthnicScrappy Odious Black Comic Relief]] is actually one of two characters to survive the ordeal. Heroic Black captain Larry Fishburne also almost makes it to the end, but dies in a HeroicSacrifice to get rid of the Event Horizon and stop its reality-warping hijinks.
* Averted (sort of) in ''I Still Know What You Did Last Summer''. While the black guy dies, the black girl is revealed to have survived in the end, having only been knocked out and thought dead by the killer.
* In the film version of ''AngelsAndDemons'', the black Preferiti is the second to die, not the first.
* Alex Cox's 1987 indie neo-western ''Straight to Hell'' features a who's-who cast of oddball actors, musicians, and punks, having been filmed due to the cancellation of a music tour. [[KillEmAll Everyone dies]] except the black man and the women. Knowing Alex Cox, this was far from a coincidence.
* [[TransformersFilmSeries Transformers (2007)]]: Besides Lennox, Epps is the only named human soldier to survive the film. The first one killed is the one with glasses, much like the above ''{{Predator}}'' example. I discern a new trend.
*In Cloverfield the ambiguously brown girl may have been the only one of the main characters to actually survive but her fate in left mysterious.
* Averted in ''[=~Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within~=]'' - the sarg is actually only the first of the Deep Eyes to be wounded.
* Subverted in the 1976 ''{{King Kong}}''; aside from Jack Prescott, black sailor Boan is the sole survivor out of the search party. All the white guys in the group get killed.
* Averted in ''DeepBlueSea'' - SamuelLJackson's character gets killed halfway through the movie and LL Cool J's character survives.
* Subverted in ''Halloween: H20'' - again by LL Cool J (his character is accidentally shot, but it later turns out he gets better). Do you see a pattern here?
** This is addressed in the entry for UncleTomfoolery: there is no stronger PlotArmor available than being played by a rapper.
** LL Cool J has had it written into his contract that any character he plays cannot be killed off, thus [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt removing any possible tension the viewer might have when watching a movie he's billed in]].
* Inverted in pretty much every George Romero zombie movie.
* In the original ''NightOfTheDemons'' the black guy (along with his pal the fat guy) survive.
* In the ''PromNight'' remake the BlackBestFriend survives. His girlfriend isn't so lucky though.
* Averted in ''{{Anaconda}}'', where Ice Cube's character is one of the only ones to survive.
* Hilariously played with in ''KillBill''. Vernita Green dies at the beginning of Vol. 1, but is actually the second to die sequentially since the rest of Vol. 1 is a flashback.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* In [[StargateSG1 Stargate SG-1]], Teal'c, the black guy, is the only member of the titular unit who hasn't died and come back to life yet.
* Subverted in original StarTrek episode ''By Any Other Name''. Two RedShirt crewmen in the landing party, a black man and an asian woman, are converted into polystyrene cubes by the Kelvan leader. One of the cubes is crushed, killing the person it was. The other cube is reconstituted, and up pops a shocked looking black man, alive and well. Captain Kirk then weeps over the dead woman's remains.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Avoided in ''GearsOfWar'', where the black squad member makes it to the end along with the rest of the team. The only squadmate to die is [[spoiler: The [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Korean-analog]] squad leader, whose command role is taken up by the player character afterwards]]. A RedShirt squadmember also dies early on, but apparently he's going to [[spoiler: return for the sequel. [[ItGotBetter Somehow.]] SoYeah.]]
** Well, actually it's his brother. Who is voiced by the same guy. And is exactly the same save the helmet, which is slightly different. [[spoiler: He dies too.]]
* If you ignore Bravo Team's pilot (Edward Dewey or Kevin Dooley, depending whether its the PS1 or GameCube versions you're), then Kenneth J. Sullivan, the sole black member of STARS, is also the first one to be found dead in the Mansion in the original ''ResidentEvil''.
**Similarly, Marvin Branagh from ''ResidentEvil 2'', is the first survivor the player finds at the RPD Precinct and the first one to die. Somewhat averted since he's the only surviving police officer aside from Leon and Chief Irons.
*** Averted in ''Resident Evil 5''. Josh is the only BSAA member to survive the entire game (Excluding Chris and Sheva themselves).
*Uncertain in ''Rama''. The first astronaut we ''see'' die is the one black dude, though Valeryi Borzov (probably neither black nor a dude) has died before the game begins. We later see the corpse of another astronaut who may or may not have died before him.
* Matt in ''Winback''. [[DroppedABridgeOnHim Sniped]] by TheStarscream in the second level.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

*Inverted in ''{{Survival Of The Fittest}}'' with [[ScaryBlackMan Bobby Jacks]], who racked up one of version three's biggest kill counts and survived until quite late on in the game. Also inverted (or possibly subverted) in that so far it's been a ''white'' person who has died first in every game so far.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comic ]]

*''{{Ansem Retort}}'' contains the following parody:
-->'''Zexion''': ''Relax. Everyone knows the black guy dies first. So, until he gets killed, we're safe.''
-->'''Namine''': ''Racism aside, what black guy are you talking about?''
-->'''Zexion''': ''Ooh right. Yeah, we're gonna die. Painfully, too.''
*''OrderOfTheStick'' has only one black character in the titular group. Yep, he's the only one who's died, even though he's the group leader and main character of the series. HeGotBetter.
**Well, for what it's worth, it took him over 400 strips before that happened. And heck, being dead didn't even stop him from being involved in the plot!

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* The Danish CGI film ''{{Journey to Saturn}}'' features the local equivalent, "Middle-Eastern Dude Dies First", but subverted: Jamil Ahmadinejad is shot and looks to be dying, but survives thanks to a PocketProtector in the form of a huge collection of photos of his extended family.
* Averted with JiveTurkey Jazz in the original ''{{Transformers}}'' movie, where he's one of the few older characters that survive the MerchandiseDriven slaughter that wipes out most of the main cast of the earlier seasons of the show.
** [[FunnyAneurysmMoment His voice actor, on the other hand, didn't live past the movie.]]
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