[[DanAndMabsFurryAdventures http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mortality.jpg]]

->'''Panik:''' "Why aren't you dead?!"
->'''Yami:''' "As I explained earlier, I'm the main character. You, however, can just go right ahead and die."
--> -- ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series}}''

So you’re watching a horror show, [[SlasherMovies slasher flic]], or maybe an action show that promises a high body count. In order to prove just how high the stakes are and how willing the show is to be DarkerAndEdgier and scarier, it bravely advertises that TonightSomeoneDies! Not just anyone though, but [[AnyoneCanDie someone on the poster!]]

So who dies? That's a tricky question. Kill the [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt wrong person]], or too early, and you risk angering the viewer. Execs and writers have, through time, trial, and (mostly) error, discovered that killing off "[[RuleOfEmpathy unpopular]]" minorities is safer than popular ones or majorities.

This has led many to notice patterns, a kind of SortingAlgorithmOfMortality, whereby a character's odds of [[HowToKillACharacter gruesome, violent death]] are established relative to the rest of cast. The following is a rough generalization, some movies or shows might mix it up depending on which roles and traits a given character has, but few outright [[SubvertedTrope subvert]] or [[AvertedTrope avert]] it, and when they do [[HesJustHiding it's painful]].

Compare AcceptableTargets. Once killed, see SortingMatrixOfDeadness to see how likely they are to come back. See also RuleOfEmpathy.

To use the SortingAlgorithmOfMortality, simply add the '''Scream Score''' for each applicable row, then divide by as many rows (At this point, 11 or less). Remember: this is a relative score, so you need at least 3 or more characters from the same movie or series to establish a baseline. To keep this page clean, please put speculation on the mortality of a cast in the WildMassGuessing WMG/SortingAlgorithmOfMortality page.

|| border=1
|| '''Likelihood of death''' || '''[[HowToKillACharacter So dead]]''' || || '''Average life expectancy''' || || '''[[HowToCheatDeath Die? Me? Ha!]]''' ||
|| '''[[color:maroon: Scream Score!]]''' || '''5''' || '''4''' || '''3''' || '''2''' || '''1''' ||
|| ''Age'' || OlderAndWiser || [[OpenMindedParent Parent]], [[TeensAreMonsters Clueless teens]] || [[EverybodyIsSingle Single adult]] || [[DawsonCasting Protagonist teens]] || [[InfantImmortality Child]] ||
|| ''Sexual Orientation'' || [[DeathBySex Slut]], [[AnythingThatMoves Bisexual]], Innocent Virgin || [[BuryYourGays Gay]] || [[HeterosexualLifePartners Straight]] || [[HotLibrarian Reluctant]] || [[CelibateHero Celibate]] ||
|| ''LoveInterests by Genre'' || RichBitch, ''[[SlasherMovies Horror Genre]]'' || HookerWithAHeartOfGold, [[TemporaryLoveInterest Temporary]] || [[ShallowLoveInterest Shallow]], ''[[LoveHurts Romance show]]'' || ShrinkingViolet || DistressedDamsel, ''ActionSeries'' ||
|| ''[[{{Characters}} Role]]'' || {{Villain}}, FacelessGoons, RedShirt, TheObiWan || [[IneffectualLoner Loners]], PluckyComicRelief, MauveShirt || TheLancer, HeroOfAnotherStory || TheJorEl || [[ContractualImmortality Hero]], TheScrappy ||
|| ''[[EthnicScrappy Race]]'' || [[BlackDudeDiesFirst Black]], [[TwoferTokenMinority Twofer's]] || [[SouthOfTheBorder Mexican]] || [[FarEast Asian]] || [[NobleSavage Indian/Native American]] || [[MightyWhitey Caucasian]] ''or'' The Same As The Writer ||
|| ''[[BeautyEqualsGoodness Aesthetics]]'' || [[TheGrotesque Ugly]] || [[FatBastard Fat]] || [[HollywoodHomely "Average"]] || [[GoodScarsEvilScars Fashionably Scarred]] || TheCutie ||
|| ''[[CharactersAsDevice Personality]]'' || [[NietzscheWannabe Nihilist]], CrazySurvivalist, [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Innocent]], [[DeathByPragmatism Pragmatic]] || JerkJock, TheDitz || {{Nerd}}, JerkWithAHeartOfGold || TheCaptain || TheMessiah, FriendToAllLivingThings ||
|| ''[[FatalFlaw Flaws]]'' || TooDumbToLive, [[AgentScully Skeptical]], GenreBlind, DirtyCoward, [[DeathByMaterialism Greedy]] || [[BeleagueredChildhoodFriend Fell astray]], TheStoner, ButtMonkey ([[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism gritty]]), [[DeathByMocking Smartass]] || [[BlindWithoutEm Wears Glasses]] || [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Crippling Phobia]] || [[DumbIsGood Mentally Handicapped]] ||
|| ''[[StockAesops "Virtues"]]'' || HolierThanThou, [[CuriosityKilledTheCast Curious]], [[DeathByPragmatism Pragmatic]] || [[EmotionlessGirl Quiet Girls]] and [[GentleGiant Quiet Guys]] || [[TheSmartGuy Smart]], GenreSavvy || ActionGirl || ThePollyanna ||
|| ''[[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman Species]]'' || [[MechaMooks Robots (non-living)]], [[TheUndead Undead]], [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent Snakes]] || [[CatsAreMean Cats]], [[CloningBlues Clones]], MechanicalLifeforms || [[ThouShaltNotKill Human]], HumanAliens || [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Pretty Aliens]] || [[PetTheDog Dogs]] [[DeathByNewberyMedal (except in literature) (or Disney)]] ||
|| ''Occupation'' || [[{{Retirony}} Retiring Law Enforcement Officer]], VillainByDefault, [[FatalFamilyPhoto Happy Family Man]], [[VasquezAlwaysDies Competent secondary female]] || [[GeneralRipper Military Commander]], [[RedshirtArmy Anyone Serving Under Him]], [[FriendlyTarget Hero's friend]] || [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Scientist With Questionable Ethics]], InnocentBystander || AdventurerArchaeologist || SuperHero, [[BusFullOfNuns Nun]] ||

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