Died In Your Arms Tonight / Live-Action TV

• The 10th Kingdom: The Evil Queen dies in Virginia's arms after trying to kill her and being hoist on her own petard. As she dies, the memories of her past life come flooding back and she caresses Virginia's cheek whispering "My little girl — I gave away my soul."
• 24: Although they're already dead by the time they find them, both Jack Bauer and Tony Almeida respectively cradle their wives' bodies when they're killed in the first and fifth seasons (in Tony's case he isn't given much time to mourn since he gets caught in an explosion that nearly kills him, too). It's played straighter later on in Season 5 when Tony dies with Jack holding onto him. Of course, in Tony's case, he recovers.
• Altered Carbon: After confronting the villain and damaging her massive hovership so that it starts to fall from the sky, Takeshi chooses not to escape and instead cradles her body because she's his little sister.
• American Horror Story: Coven: Misty Day dies in a sobbing Cordelia's arms after she gets stuck in hell while performing Descensum during the Seven Wonders test. Her body turns into dust in her embrace.
• And Just Like That...: Big dies in Carrie's arms after suffering a heart attack.
• Angel: Fred in Wesley's arms before her soul is consumed by Illyria in "A Hole in the World". In "Not Fade Away", Wesley dies in Illyria's arms while Illyria takes the form of Fred.
  Illyria: Would you like me to lie to you now?
• Arrow: Happens twice in "This Is Your Sword". In the flashback, Akio dies in Tatsu's arms after contracting Shrieve's virus. In the present day storyline, Maseo dies in Tatsu's arms after she stabs him.
  • In Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019), Earth-Prime's Supergirl (at the time Earth-38's) cradles Earth-96's Superman as he dies due to anti-matter leaking from his body.
• Ashes of Love: Su Li dies in Run Yu's arms.
• Ashes to Ashes (2008): Gene Hunt holds Sally (the prostitute from Hyde in 2.1), Supermac and Martin Summers in his arms as they die. This is much more allegorical than what is presented on the surface, because as is revealed in the Grand Finale, Gene Hunt's abilities as a psychopomp include being able to transfer a persons soul to the afterlife by holding the dying person in his arms. In Season 3, the word "soul" is also vaguely whispered when this occurs.
  • However, this can only work if the dying person had a soul, i.e. if they are real as opposed to being collective constructs or creations to help the protagonists with their indvidual journeys. (Which Sally and Mac likely are.)
  • Jim Keats in the same show, who holds both Louise (the undercover police officer) and Viv in his arms. It later emerges that at least in Viv's case, they probably went to hell as Keats was the devil.
    • Gene Hunt also held Viv, however, meaning that Viv might have gone to heaven (as indicated by the accompanied whisper.) However, if Chris's dream later in the series is correct, Viv is indeed in hell.)
      Gene: I'll take him.
      Keats: It's too late, Gene.
      Gene: I'LL TAKE HIM!
• Black Mirror has this in Season 3 episode "Hated in the Nation", where one of the intended victims of a killer hashtag dies in Karin's arms while she and Blue are trying to protect her.
• Blood Ties (2007): Mike dies in Vicki's arms after being shot, but Henry hits the Reset Button on the "Groundhog Day" Loop and he's fine.
• Bonanza: Virtually every episode where a Cartwright has a girlfriend; the girl will end up being shot to death, poisoned or whatever, and the appropriate Cartwright will be there to hold his girlfriend as she whispers her last words before losing consciousness. This even happened to Candy in one episode. This was so common that by the late 1960s, these intended tearjerkers became the legend of Narm.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Subverted Trope; Tara is dead before she hits the floor, but Willow still holds out hope.
• Chuck: In the first part season three finale, Chuck cradles his father Stephen as he dies after being shot by Shaw.
• Cold Case: In "8:03 AM", Miller reopens the cold case of Skill Jones; a young drug dealer who died in her arms when she was working undercover for narcotics.
• Criminal Minds has Strauss dying in the arms of Hotch in the 8th season finale after the Replicator drugged her.
• Coronation Street: Hayley Cropper dies with Roy by her side on their bed. Anna and Carla come in to discover her in Roy's arms.
  • Mike Baldwin died in 2006 in his son Danny's arms.
• CSI: Warrick in Grissom's arms; we later learn Grissom was like a father to him. Grissom goes on to solve Warrick's murder.
• CSI: NY: Stella's mentor/father figure in her arms in Greece after Taking the Bullet for her during a shootout between his brother and Mac.
• A Running Gag in Danger 5 involving Pierre cradling a dying friend or enemy, who'd use their dying breath to pass on the ingredients of a perfect cocktail they'd invented.
• Dark Angel: Max dies in Logan's arms after being shot in the season 1 finale. She gets better.
• Dark Side of the Ring: Chavo Guerrero Jr. reveals in "Benoit: Part One" that this happened to his uncle, Eddie Guerrero. According to Chavo, he found Eddie on his bathroom floor, alive but barely clinging to life. Though Chavo tried to get help, Eddie ultimately passed away in Chavo's arms. Chavo tears up upon recalling it, saying "I haven't been to this place in a long time."
• The Devil Judge: Soo-hyun dies in Ga-on's arms.
• Doctor Who:
  • "New Earth": Lady Cassandra, in the body of her servant Chip, dies in the arms of her own past self.
  • "Last of the Time Lords": The Master dies in the Doctor's arms. He gets better.
  • "The Doctor's Daughter": The title character, Jenny, also dies in the Doctor's arms. In her case, though, it's a Disney Death.
  • "Amy's Choice": In the world in which Amy and Rory are married and have settled down, Rory disintegrates slowly and dramatically in Amy's arms. Only in an alternate dream world, though.
  • At the end of "The Pandorica Opens", Rory is last seen cradling the body of Amy, half-fallen away from him after he accidentally shot her. Don't worry, she gets better too.
  • Again with Rory in "The Curse of the Black Spot", when Amy has to resuscitate a drowning Rory and thinks she failed.
  • In "The Doctor’s Wife", Idris’ human form gives out while being cradled by Rory. But since she’s actually the TARDIS, all her energy and consciousness goes back into the TARDIS itself and normalcy is restored. But the interaction between her and the Doctor in this scene is still quite the Tear Jerker.
  • Also, in the Expanded Universe, his daughter Miranda.
• The Eternal Love: Yi Huai dies in the emperor's arms.
• Greg Parker nearly dies in Ed Lane's arms in the series finale of Flashpoint after being shot multiple times by Mad Bomber Marcus Faber, but the final scene reveals (after teasing the issue a bit) that he survived, albeit with a permanent and career-ending disability.
• Game of Thrones:
  • King Renly Baratheon collapses into Brienne of Tarth's arms after he is stabbed through the heart by a Living Shadow, and she holds him for a moment before he dies. Brienne later tells Catelyn that this was the only time she was ever able to hold him.
  • Subverted with Talisa, as by the time Robb Stark desperately cradles her during the Red Wedding shortly before being killed himself, she is already dead. Visually it's very much like this trope.
  • Jon Snow holds his ex-lover Ygritte as she dies, as in the novels.
  • Jaime tells Bronn that dying in the arms of the woman he loves is how he wants to go.
  • King Joffrey Baratheon's wedding feast happens on a bright morning and everything seems fine until Joffrey's Incurable Cough of Death at which point Jaime and Cersei rush to his side only for him to gasp his final breath in his mother's arms.
  • Pyp dies in Sam's arms in "The Watchers on the Wall" during a battle with Wildlings.
  • Lyanna Stark died in her brother Ned's arms at the end of Robert's Rebellion. She is revealed to have been dying after a complicated birth.
  • Princess Myrcella ends up getting poisoned and collapses and dies in her uncle/father Jaime's arms after they have a first and sweet father-daughter conversation. Jaime can only hold her and helplessly call her name as she succumbs to her death.
  • Lord Ormund Baratheon famously died the arms of his son Steffon in the War of the Ninepenny Kings. Septon Ray doubts the authenticity of this story.
  • In the penultimate episode of the series, Jaime and Cersei Lannister go out this way; trapped in the collapsing crypts underneath the Red Keep, they quietly accept their fate and share a final tender embrace before the roof gives way and they are crushed under tons of rock.
• General and I:
  • Ping Ting dies in Bei Jie's arms. Or so Sima Hong and his retinue think. Turns out she survived.
  • Yao Tian dies in He Xia's arms.
• Goodbye My Princess: Gu Jian dies in Xiao Feng's arms. Later, Xiao Feng dies in Cheng Yin's arms.
• Gotham: Oswald Cobblepot/the Penguin is a textbook Even Evil Has Loved Ones, and all his loved ones seems to go out this way: his mother, his father, his mentor, his most trusted underling, almost his best friend...the poor guy can't seem to catch a break.
• Farscape: One of the two John Crichtons (long story) dies in Aeryn's arms of radiation poisoning.
• Hanna: Erik dies from a bullet wound while Hanna cradles him, begging for him to stay.
• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys: During Gilgamesh's ritual to raise Dahok, he throws the sacrificial dagger at Nebula. Iolaus yells and dives in front of her, taking it in the chest. He dies shortly afterwards in Hercules' arms. He later is possessed and gets better. Also, Iolaus had died twice in Hercules' arms previously.
• Heroes: Nathan Petrelli dies in Peter's arms in the second season (though he gets better); Daphne Millbrook dies in Matt's in the third season. Also, Claire Bennett dies in her mother's arms in one of her many, many deaths in the first season.
• HEX: Thelma is stabbed by Azazel when she tries to save Cassie and falls into her arms. She got better... sort of.
• Los Hombres de Paco:
  • After getting gut-shot on her friggin' wedding day, Silvia spends the rest of the two-hour season finale suffering until she finally dies in the arms of her new wife and her father.
  • Kiki died in Paco's arms and Rita was in Montoya's arms when he died. There wasn't anything the rest of the team could do except sing to the ones dying because cell phone service was cut off by the ones shooting the people at the wedding.
• Horatio Hornblower: Mariette and Horatio flee from Muzillac, trying to reach the strategically very important bridge and the British troop. Revolutionaries' forces advance on the bridge as well. As they run, Horatio holds and supports Mariette because she has hurt her leg. She is then suddenly shot at her back. Horatio is heartbroken, holds her in his arms, caresses her face and keeps cradling her despite the fact that the bridge is under fire.
• In the Heat of the Night: Several. One of the most notable examples came in "Forever Fifteen", an episode where the officers try to arrest a Drunk Driver after he causes a deadly accident involving four teenagers. One of the victims literally dies in Officer Bubba Skinner's arms, just moments after she was extricated from the wreckage of her car.
• Jake and the Fatman: In "Out of Nowhere", Jake's New Old Flame falls into Jake's arms and dies after being shot In the Back by the Perp of the Week.
• In the final episode of Luke Cage (2016) season 2, Luke holds Mariah Stokes as she succumbs to the poisoned lipstick her daughter Tilda had used on her.
• Kamen Rider:
  • Kamen Rider Ryuki: Tezuka was lethally wounded saving Kido in battle. His death wears on Kido probably even more than the other ones and everything he had to watch caused him to snap close to the series' finale.
  • Kamen Rider Wizard: Koyomi died in Haruto's arms after Gremlin rippped the Philosopher's stone out of her in the story's finale. Haruto then went to fight Gremlin and take the Philosopher's Stone/her heart back.
  • Kamen Rider Ex-Aid: Kiriya got a Game Over and vanished as Emu was watching helplessly. This affected Emu deeply and underlined his actions through the whole story. It also left the CR crew to figure out why he had to die.
  • True to its bleakness, Kamen Rider Build has nearly all too many to count. For example:
    • Kasumi died in Ryuga's arms after being turned from Smash back into human. Her death both drives and haunts Ryuga for the whole story.
    • Fu Washio aka Engine Bro's would later die in Ryuga's arms (again)...after taking a blow from Evolt's Black Hole Finish meant for Ryuga.
  • Kamen Rider Zi-O: Sougo held Yuko Kitajima after she was defeated as Another Kiva and then when she was lethally wounded by Ora moment later.
    • For short time it seemed that Sougo and Heure might actually go from mortal enemies to neutral parties, if not allies. Then Ora backstabbed Heure for the last time, leaving Sougo cradling the kid in his arms as he was dying.
• The King's Woman: Gongsun Li dies in Ying Zheng's arms.
• Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger: Kai's second death occurs this way, after he is badly burned during the 2nd destruction of Dora Talos. Losing her son a second time causes Bandora to shed a tear, robbing her of her witch powers.
• Tokumei Sentai Go Busters plays this for laughs in the alternate universe of Bestial Battery Go-Busters, introducing a new character who's The Ace and killing him off within less than two minutes. The death is played as over the top as possible, including this trope.
• Law & Order: Organized Crime: Nova's girlfriend is shot and killed in front of her by rival gang members, dying as Nova holds her.
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Alex "died" in Olivia's arms.
• The Legend of Xiao Chuo:
  • Happens twice in the space of a few minutes. First Liulishou dies in Xi Yin's arms, then Xi Yin dies in Wuguli's arms.
  • A Bo dies in Hu Nian's arms.
• Little House on the Prairie: Several episodes have this happen. The most notable example was Season 7's "Sylvia," where in the final scene where Sylvia pledges her forever love for Albert, he holds her as they have one last kiss... after which she loses consciousness and dies.
• Liv and Maddie: In the season finale of Voltage, Garrison holds a dying Tess in his arms as he becomes the new SkyVolt.
• Lost: Sawyer holds Juliet as she dies in the final season opener.
  • Also, Sayid holds Shannon in his arms after she is mistakenly shot by a paranoid Ana Lucia.
• Lost Love in Times:
  • Mei Ya dies in Qing Chen's arms.
  • Luan Fei dies in Yuan Hao's arms.
• M*A*S*H: The groundbreaking episode "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet," in which Hawkeye's friend (author of a book he was writing under the episode title) dies on the operating table. Hawkeye asks why he weeps for his friend and not the kids who have died before, and Henry rationalizes only this:
  Henry: All I know is what they told me in command school. There are certain rules about a war, and Rule Number One is young men die, and Rule Number Two is doctors can't change Rule Number One.
• Merlin: Merlin has had a fair few people die in his arms. In series two, his girlfriend Freya and father Balinor both ended up dying in his arms. In the show's final episode, The Diamond of the Day Part II, it was Arthur who died in his arms from the wounds inflicted by Mordred. Also in the final episode, Gwaine dies in Percival's arms after being horrifically tortured for Arthur's whereabouts by Morgana.
• Miami Vice: Caitlin is shot as she's walking towards Crockett after a concert. She collapses in his arms before she dies.
• Mi amor el wachimán: Tragic Villain El Duque dies in his mother's arms, slowly bleeding to death.
• In the Midnight Caller episode "Someone to Love," Jack visits his ex-girlfriend Tina Cassidy as she's dying of AIDS in a hospice. He pulls her into his arms before she dies.
• Misfits: Future!Simon dies in Alisha's arms after taking a bullet for her. And then in season three, ALISHA dies in SIMON'S arms. It's that sort of a show.
• Monk: In "Mr. Monk and Mrs. Monk", Monk holds onto a woman who looks just like his late wife as she dies. This sends Monk, who's been finally starting to recover from his phobias after they went overboard after his wife's death, into a horrible relapse.
• Moon Lovers: Ha-jin dies in Wang Jeong's arms.
• Mork & Mindy: In the episode "Mork In Wonderland", Mindy's alternate universe counterpart, Mandy, dies in Mork's arms, telling him that Mindy is a lucky woman.
• Mr. Show: Terry sells Ronnie Dobbs' story to the movies, which features a movie version of Ronnie and Terry. This happens to the movie version of Ronnie Dobbs, as he's held by the movie version of Terry.
• My Country: The New Age: Yeon and Seon-ho both die in Hwi's arms.
• The O.C.: The Season 3 finale "The Graduates": due to a car-crash, Marissa dies in Ryan's arms.
• The Outer Limits (1995): The episode "Corner of the Eye'': Two best friends successfully foil an alien invasion, then one dies of his injuries in the other's arms.
• Once Upon a Time:
  • Sheriff Graham dies in Emma’s arms right after they kiss and he gains some of his Enchanted Forest memories back unbeknown to either of them that Regina has just literally crushed Graham’s heart which she kept in a vault as her prisoner.
  • Season 2 has Cora, Regina’s mother die in Regina’s arms not long after putting Cora’s heart back into her body, which in a flashback showed Cora had removed herself when she was a young woman decades earlier believing that love and other feelings/emotions would make her weak and interfere with her plans for power. She dies because unbeknownst to them Snow White earlier had secretly used a spell that would kill Cora when her heart was returned to her body. With the ability to properly feel emotions now restored, Cora’s final words are telling Regina that [Regina] would have been worth giving up her power quests for all those years ago.
  • Neal dies in Emma's arms after separating from his father along with a very tearful goodbye to both of them.
  • In the midseason finale of Season 5, Hook also dies in Emma's arms after she reluctantly stabs him with Excalibur to stop the Dark Ones.
• Princess Agents: Curly dies in Chu Qiao's arms.
• Princess Silver:
  • Consort Yun died in the Emperor's arms.
  • Long Yue dies in Rong Le's arms.
  • Ning Qian Yi dies in Zhao Yun's arms.
  • The emperor of Northern Lin dies in the arms of his two surviving sons.
• The Princess Wei Young: Wei Young and Zi Yan both die in Xin Er's arms.
• Revenge:
  • In Season 2 Amanda dies in Emily's arms on a sinking life raft in the middle of the ocean after their poignantly named boat, The Amanda, explodes and sinks.
  • In Season 4 Daniel dies in Emily's arms at Grayson Manor after taking two bullets for her. As he dies Emily confesses to him that her initial romance with him wasn't all a lie.
• Revolution: In the season one finale, Nora Clayton dies in Miles Matheson's arms. What really drives it in home is the fact that they were trying to get to a nearby infirmary in an attempt to save her, and she died before they could even get there. Also, you get to see a closeup view of Miles's face, showing that he is very unhappy with her death.
• The Rise of Phoenixes: Zong Chen dies in Nan Yi's arms.
• Robin Hood: Marian dies in Robin's arms at the end of season two, surviving a fatal sword wound just long enough for them to finish their wedding vows.
• Rome: In the series finale, Cleopatra caressses and sits in the lap of the corpse of Mark Antony, just before following him into death.
• Scarlet Heart: Zhang Xiao dies in Yin Ti's arms.
• Scholar Who Walks the Night: Myung Hee dies in Sung Yeol's arms.
• Sharpe: Poor young Perkins dies in Harper's arms, surrounded by the other two supporting members of The Squad, after being gutstabbed (Sharpe's Battle).
• Skins: Chris dies in Cassie's arms.
• Smallville:
  • Kyla dying in Clark's arms played it dead straight. Alicia is already dead when he held her in his arms, he didn't quite hold Evan in his arms, Chloe in "Arrival" didn't manage to die, but the dialogue just before almost have you worried. Chloe in "Labyrinth" also dies in Clark's arms after being shot in the chest. But All Just a Dream. A really horrible one at that.
  • In "Phantom" and the next episode, "Bizarro", Chloe and Lois manages to die in each other's arms, separately. Lois is stabbed, Chloe arrives and weeps over her body, which heals Lois but instead kills Chloe.
  • In "Fracture", Chloe dies (again) in Lionel's arms.
  • In "Odyssey", Clark (almost) dies in Chloe's arms. Extra emotional impact comes from that Green Arrow shot him and Chloe tries and fails to heal him.
  • In "Bride", Jimmy almost dies in Chloe's arms, right after they get married. He died for real in Chloe's arms in "Doomsday", complete with Dying Declaration of Love.
  • In "Injustice", Chloe dies in Clark's arms, but in another twist, it is actually Eva in disguise.
  • In "Kandor", clone Jor-El dies in Clark's arms.
• Spartacus: Blood and Sand: Sura dies in Spartacus's arms.
• Spooks: Fiona dies in the arms of her husband Adam after being shot by her ex-husband who had come Back from the Dead. Her dying wishes that he look after their son Wes made it even sadder.
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Weyoun 6 dies in Odo's arms after activating his termination implant. His Last Request is that Odo, whom his species regards as a god, perform a blessing.
• Star Trek: Picard:
  • In "Stardust City Rag", Icheb dies in Seven of Nine's arms, whom he loves like a mother.
  • In "Nepenthe", Hugh passes away in Elnor's arms, and to mirror the above example, he's another ex-Borg drone who bites the dust in the company of someone he loves; Jonathan Del Arco had portrayed Hugh as being in love with Elnor.
    Del Arco: [...] we shot the death scene last (same day) at that point it was about [Hugh's] love for Elnor and letting go.
  • In "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2", Picard succumbs to his neurodegenerative disorder while he's being held by Raffi, his friend and former second-in-command.
• Supernatural:
  • Sam is stabbed in the back severing his spinal cord as he and Dean are reunited at the end of the penultimate episode of Season 2. Sam dies in his arms, but Dean makes a deal with a demon to bring Sam back. Unusual in that Sam doesn't get a chance to say goodbye or really anything at all — he just gets stabbed in the back, falls down, looks vaguely unfocused and dies. He barely seems to register Dean's presence.
  • At the end of Season 3, Dean dies in Sam's arms. Dean dies in Sam's arms three, no, six times (at least) in "Mystery Spot".
  • Jo dies in her mother's arms. Made even more tearjerkier when Ellen makes a Heroic Sacrifice shortly after. Ellen stayed behind was so that Jo wouldn't die alone, but Ellen still ends up watching her die before she sets off the explosion.
  • In "Bitten", Michael dies in Kate's arms, complete with a Dying Declaration of Love, after being fatally wounded.
  • In "As Time Goes By", Sam and Dean's time-traveling grandfather Henry dies being held by his grandsons after Abaddon mortally wounds.
• Teen Wolf: Allison dies in Scott's arms after being stabbed through the stomach with one of the Oni's swords
• Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms: Xuan Nu dies in Li Jing's arms.
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: This is how Charley Dixon's wife dies, with Charley holding her and sobbing.
• Torchwood: In order of death: Estelle, Tosh, and Ianto in Jack’s arms.
• Touched by an Angel: A few of Andrew's assignments die in his arms, such as in the season five episode, "The Peacemaker".
• Word of Honor: Cao Weining dies in Gu Xiang's arms. Right before their wedding, no less.
• Xena: Warrior Princess: Xena and Gabrielle have each died in the other's arms more than once. They got better.

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