General
- Though rare, it is not unheard of for this to happen with Voldemort in Harry Potter fanfic. One such fanfic used a spell to make Voldemort revert back to the boy he was before he became evil (handwaving the fact that in canon, young Mr. Riddle was screwed from the beginning), and then Harry held him and comforted him while the shock of all the terrible things he had done slowly killed him.
Individual Fics
Crossover- A Loud Among Demons (The Loud House & Helluva Boss): In Chapter 9, Lincoln, as much as he doesn’t like Lyle, can't help but feel some level of sympathy for the old man when he sees he's become suicidal. Lincoln also can’t help but feel bad for for C.H.E.R.U.B. when they permanently get kicked out of Heaven for something that they didn't even mean to do.
- The Dresden Fillies (The Dresden Files & My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic): False Masks, the entire Order Triune becomes this. They are sacrificed to a demon by Novel Notion. Considering they spent the whole story trying to kill Harry thinking he was someone who had been dead for 1200 years, endangered many lives, and betrayed the very kingdom they swore to protect, it is karmic. But it becomes tragic when you realize that they had been misled this entire time, they genuinely wanted to protect Equestria, and had been betrayed by one of their own. The way they go is also terrifying: running for their lives as the circle swallows them, with the pegasi who tried to fly away being swat down like flies. Afterwards, all that's left of them is some blood. The horrified reactions of the Mane 6, and even Harry, seal this.
- Hunters of Justice (Justice League & RWBY): Cinder Fall's state after Brainiac captures her is absolutely horrifying, with Brainiac turning her into a test subject to better understand the Maiden powers. By the time Ruby finds her, she's left crying and moaning while Strapped to an Operating Table, and Ruby actually tries to free her out of sympathy before Brainiac forces her to flee.
- Infinity Train: Blossomverse (Infinity Train & Pokémon: The Series):
- Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail: The last that is seen of Grace Monroe is that she is a broken mess, ignored by everyone, her cult gone, everyone she ever loved either killed or left for greener pastures and she ends up Dying Alone, crying and whimpering for everyone to run away from a Serial Killer only begging that she was noticed and loved. Quite a cry far from the haughty, proud, know-it-all cult leader who couldn't give a fuck if a denizen died.
- Infinity Train: Voyage of Wisteria: When Warbler/Grace encounters Simon Laurent soul — which is the young boy who entered the Train wearing socks and sandals traumatized by a Ghom — he's tearfully crying and afraid of Grace leaving him again, before stating how unfair it is that they will never see each other again because of the reincarnation process and how they both messed up on what they were supposed to do on the Train. All they can do is share one last hug before he goes off to the Caboose to be reborn.
- Jaune Arc, Lord of Hunger (Star Wars & RWBY): Amoral and manipulative terrorist or no, Emerald Sustrai's death is pretty sad. Mortally run through by Nihilus on Crocea Mors, she spends her dying breaths desperately crawling towards an unconscious Cinder and trying to reach out to her, believing her mistress to be the only one who ever loved her all the way to the end. It's made all the sadder by the fact that anyone familiar with RWBY canon will know Cinder never reciprocated Emerald's loyalty and only ever saw her as a valuable tool to exploit.
- In Kill or Be Killed, Taeyeon's death. She was only turned to darkness because she wanted to avenge Leeteuk's death, but it grew to the point where she had to be killed by one of her own group members to stop her. Right before she dies, the POV switches to her as she reunites with Leeteuk in the afterlife.
- The Little Pony Legend (The Legend of Korra & My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic): Despite all the horrible things done by them, Korra genuinely mourns the deaths of Tarrlok and his brother, saying that losing her bending was now the 2nd worst thing she experienced today.
- The New Recruit (The Avengers (2012) & Chronicle): The one-shot takes place after the events of Chronicle, with the brunt of the plot being Matt telling Agent Coulson the truth about the Seattle incident. However, when he describes Andrew's Start of Darkness and his death, he doesn't sound satisfied or mad...just guilty that he couldn't help his friend and grieving his loss. It doesn't help that the way Andrew died wasn't an easy way to go.
- In the supercrossover military fanfiction series, The Terminators: Army of Legend, the antagonist of Volume V, Zack Dawson, can be considered this. Even doubly painful considering his relationship with series protagonist Alex Vaughn.
- Trust Doesn't Rust (Jennifer's Body & Supernatural): Disregarded; once Dean Winchester learns about Low Shoulder’s demon deal, which involved the death of the innocent Jennifer Check, he feels that their subsequent murder is justified as the band didn’t even have the nerve to offer up their own souls for a deal.
- Blood Moon: Even after everything, Katara laments the fact that Hama never got to return home with the rest of the surviving waterbenders.
- The Lion King Adventures: The immortal lion cub Shocker is a good example of this. Despite being a truly despicable character, his fate is rather harsh. He is buried alive, and, being immortal, is forced to choke on dirt for all eternity.
- Talen (link
): The titular character is this for Ursula, and easily becomes Head Canon for those wondering how she grew up to become the movie's manipulative, power-hungry witch. (Hint: it involves a Freudian Excuse of Fantastic Racism and an all-too-realistic case of Ain't Too Proud to Beg.)
- Dragon Ball Z Abridged:
- Cell goes out this way, singing a rendition of "My Way" while a Really Dead Montage of his life plays out. He ends up facing death with dignity as he is vaporized.
- In World's Strongest Abridged, The Bouncing Butcher reverts back to Blub Blub, his original, kind personality, the one he had before Kochin reprogrammed him. He cries as he dies and says how it's cold and dark, while Dr. Wheelo and Bulma look on, horrified.
- In the Three Houses fanfic You'll Get No Answers from the Blue Sea Star, Edelgard gets this, though not to the same extent as in the game itself. While she's clearly involved in all the Bad Stuff going down, the narrative questions whether she's a willing and active participant or more of a victim. The truth is ultimately left unclear.
- Fallout: Equestria - Project Horizons (Fallout & My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic): Does this with just about every antagonist, most of whom perform a Heel–Face Turn at some point.
- My Mirror, Sword and Shield (Back to the Future & Code Geass): Suzaku and his family had suffered in the War of Ascension and he acknowledges that Emperor Lelouch was a horrible oppressive ruler. Despite what Lelouch had done, Suzaku believes Lelouch's death was tragic and horrific: Lelouch dying alone and terrified and his corpse torn apart by an angry mob.
Godzilla / King Kong / MonsterVerse
- Abraxas (Hrodvitnon): Although Alan Jonah is just as evil here as he was in Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), with most of his nastier displays from the movie's official novelization incorporated in; it's still easy for the reader to feel a twinge of pity for him, when a scene from Ghidorah's POV after Jonah's Karmic Death reveals that Jonah committed his horrendous experiments partly because he believed they were the key to resurrecting his daughter, whose death drove him to villainy in his backstory.
- The Choices That Make Us: For all of their scores of nauseating pureblood supremacist and Abusive Parents moments, the last days of Walburga and Orion Black are surprisingly sad as they mourn Regulus, reflect on the broken status of their extended family, come to hate the Dark Arts, and even regain a little affection and longing for Sirius that they never manage to convey to their older son.
- Played for laughs in Dudley Dursley Saves the World.All [Harry] could think of when he looked down at his nemesis was "what a way to go".
- Hivefled: Dualscar was a slave-taking Jerkass who tried to have his ex murdered, but it's hard to imagine he did anything that would make him deserve the death he got.
- The Sun Will Come Up And The Seasons Will Change: Despite Nora's monstrous behavior and violent tendencies (trying to kill Mary several times), Mary, Blanca, and Vic are all horrified when she allows herself to fall onto the train tracks and be crushed to death by the wheels. Part of the pain Mary feels comes from knowing that the McDonald family may never know what happened to Nora. Six years later, when Mary meets Nora’s brother Julius, he confesses that even though Nora tried to kill him twice on the same night, he still loves who she was before she met the neo-nazi Xander and is still upset that she was found dead with no answers on how her body got so mutilated.
- Mega Man: Defender of the Human Race: Ballade, who makes a not-quite heroic sacrifice in order to save a little girl trapped where he was ordered to detonate explosives.
- Truth and Consequences: The death of Gabriel Agreste is treated with all the solemnity that a man like him can be given. For all his crimes, Marinette never wanted him dead - put on trial and thrown in prison, yes, but dying an anonymous death as his body slowly disintegrates in the ruins of his own house, with all his plans and goals in ashes? No. He even admits, finally, in the end, that everything that happened was his own fault, trying to comfort Marinette by telling her that every bad thing she did in the story was under his power - a lie she sees through instantly. He gives her a warning not to repeat his mistakes and spends his last few minutes with his son, accepting at last that Adrien is strong enough to take care of himself. The narration tells us that before he died, Gabriel Agreste was finally at peace.
- Dreams About Friendship are Magic: Fake Celestia was disturbingly clingy to Twilight, and tried to keep her in what was pretty much a coma for the rest of her life, but because she goes out sobbing pitifully, begging Twilight to be with her and telling her how much she loves her, it's easy to feel sorry for her.
- The Friend I Couldn't Be: Adagio reveals that stealing was how she and her fellow Sirens fed. Without their gems, they will eventually die since they can't get nutrients from food. Despite her being unrepentant, Sunset feels tremendous pity for Adagio, seeing her reduced to a dying shell of her former self, and more than a bit of guilt for causing it. She is also mad at herself for causing it. Eventually Adagio breaks down sobbing over the fact that her sisters will most likely die alone.
- The Immortal Game: Of all the villain deaths, the only one that earns any audience sympathy is Empyrean. He's only a villain because Titan forces him to, and isn't even all that good at it. His mini-Villainous Breakdown when the Mane Six break into his throne room and strip him of his power is pathetic, and it's hard not to feel sorry for him when Titan shows up, decides he's useless without his powers, and kills him while he begs his father for mercy.
- Pony POV Series:
- Destruction. Despite being literally addicted to destruction, he was also the most sympathetic of all the draconequi, as he hated his addiction and wished he didn't have it at all. His desire in the war with the alicorns was to cause so much destruction he'd finally be rid of it once and for all. Him being killed and eaten by his own brother is extremely tragic.
- Also kind of hard not to feel sorry for the Master in the Dark World, who the Valeyard subjected to the same thing Discord did to the Doctor (namely, being killed repeatedly with him regenerating each time). What's worse, according to Word of God, the Valeyard's claim to keep killing him until he gets a good personality was just an excuse to kill him over and over again.
- Despite spending a thousand years massacring entire families with no remorse, following Discord's orders without protest, and generally being the biggest Jerkass in the Dark World, it's pretty hard not to pity Angry Pie when Twilight gives her a HUGE No-Holds-Barred Beatdown in "Cold Hoof Blues". By the end of the chapter, Angry Pie is crying and begging her foals to forgive her for failing to succeed in her task to bring them back to life. Even the other heroes (whom Angry Pie just tried to kill) are shocked and horrified by Twilight's actions. Thankfully, they manage to talk Twilight down and she ultimately redeems Angry Pie with a reverse Memory Spell (showing her Twilight's memories instead of her own).
- Similarly, it's hard not to feel bad for Dark World Fluttercruel, even after all she's done, when she watches Discord get literally stabbed in the back by Rancor, which she simply cannot comprehend. She ends up crying and pleading with Discord to absorb her to heal himself. It shows that despite all else, she's still a foal who deeply loves her father and doesn't want him to die. What's she like by the end of the final fight with her? A broken little child who by that point knows her actions were wrong but is too driven by her Undying Loyalty to her father to make a Heel–Face Turn.
- Although the main timeline Master is a total asshole who has committed unbelievable atrocities, his final fate is pitiable. His essence is trapped in a fob watch that Minuette feeds to the Blank Wolf, and he spends his final moments begging for his life. In his desperation, he even swears on Entropy's name that if he is spared, he will never hurt anyone again (a promise that cannot be broken, as Entropy will erase anyone who takes her name in vain). Unfortunately for him, Minuette has no idea who Entropy is and does not understand the significance of the promise, so she kills him anyway. The Doctor senses his demise and mourns him.
- The Blank Wolf eventually gains emotions and is able to think for himself. He understands that if he kills Shining Armor, he will ruin the timeline, but no matter how hard he tries, he is unable to fight his programming that orders him to destroy Shining Armor. Shining Armor understands, and sadly gives the Wolf a salute when he finally manages to slay him. The Wolf is eventually reborn as a puppy during the Finale Arc.
- Pony POV Series Recursive Fanfiction Pony POV Series Chaos Verse: The death of Big Bad Nightmare Phobia invokes this. In her final moments, she recovers her lost memories and realizes just how in the wrong she was. Her last act is to reach out to Celestia and Discord longingly before dying. Luna even mourns for her afterwards.
- A Growing Affection: A few:
- Karin gets just enough time to ask Sasuke for a fake show of affection. Sasuke gives her a real kiss, and she dies in the middle of claiming that he really did love her.
- After Gouki commits Suicide by Cop, his last words are to hope that his wife will be able to find happiness in the new world. Word of God says he died without knowing she was pregnant.
- In the fanfic In The Light, Futaba goes to interrogate Masayoshi Shido about his role in her mother's death a year after his change of heart... only to find that he is weak from maltreatment and malnutrition thanks to the Conspiracy. Despite his arrogance and obsession with becoming Prime Minister by any means, Futaba and the other Phantom Thieves all agree he doesn't deserve his fate while the Conspiracy is still active, especially when Futaba learns that Shido didn't order her mother's death or the fake suicide letter, and in part because he is her father.
- Relic Of The Future:
- Though not quite on the same level as the other examples, Hazel's death is still quite a somber affair. In his final moments, he uses his last breaths to express respect towards Jaune, and he wonders hopefully if he'll be reunited with his sister in death. Hazel dies with a smile on his face, and Ozpin thinks that he's never before seen anyone look so happy to meet their death – which, coming from Ozpin, is really saying something.
- The deranged Summer Maiden Omaira's death is as heartbreaking as her life. Having accidentally killed her family with the Maiden powers as soon as she gained them without ever knowing what those powers were, she fled into the Vacuan desert, where she devolved into a murderous hermit and convinced herself that she was a daughter of the gods to numb the pain over her family's deaths. When Omaira sees Raven display her Spring Maiden powers, she thinks that Raven is her divine "true mother" having finally come to take her back, and she rushes towards Raven to be embraced, only for Raven to take the chance to mortally stab Omaira, much to the madwoman's confusion and hurt.
- Salem's final death is also surprisingly solemn. When she realizes that she's finally going to die, she goes from raging, screaming and bargaining for her life to brokenly accepting her fate and begging Jaune to finish her off; signifying just how broken her underlying mentality is from being forced to live so much longer than humans were ever meant to. She also in her dying moments performs a Villain's Dying Grace for the heroes, as a cherry on top. Despite everything Salem has done, one can be forgiven for feeling the urge to tell her they're sorry at the end.
- Ruby and Nora:
- Emerald is only loyal to Cinder because she saved her life in the past. She is uncomfortable with the amount of destruction she is aiding in, but she still remains loyal. Making it all the more heartbreaking when Cinder kills her just for being remorseful.
- The Ring: The Spider was literally the only benevolent Grimm beast, and he got put through Hell. He was manipulated by Little Miss into being her attack dog, and then sold out to Salem to be lobotomized into a mindless Grimm. Ruby and Nora killing it in Little Miss' Gladiator Games is definitely a Mercy Kill. She doesn't know why, but even Nora feels a little bad for the thing.
- The SMG4 fanfic Saiko Rocks ends with the story's antagonists, Original Characters Senbo and Aibo, forcibly separated by their parents as punishment for their actions, which even Saiko thought was too extreme, despite all the pain they caused her. Notably, Senbo and Aibo treat each other nicely throughout the entire story, which Saiko liked about them. The couple share one last goodbye in the final chapter.
- Hostage Situation: Fred Jones was a henchman of Marquis back during the Bad Old Days and is completely unrepentant about what he did back then and continued a life of crime afterwards. On the other hand, by the time he's introduced, he's a crippled old man who's trying to look after his former boss's daughter out of sheer loyalty. His final act is taking Amy to the roof of the hospital so they can watch the sunrise together and he dies crying at the beauty of it after she heals his eyes so he can properly see it for the first time in years. Both Amy, and later Marquis himself, treat his death as a tragedy.
- Young Justice: Darkness Falls: Volcanna in this fic was a lustful fire wielding fury who caused nothing but trouble for the league and team, and had a rather unsettling obsession with Superboy. However, her dying for her comrade Big Barda when they decide to desert the furies was a surprisingly touching moment, and her death was treated not with contempt but with sympathy.
