In some kinds of stories,
Character Death doesn't carry much weight. Maybe
resurrection is commonplace or some sort of magical alternate universe
has a spare copy to borrow. Maybe
the format of the show makes any sort of death meaningless and temporary. Maybe for some reason people
never die when they should. Sometimes, even in these stories, a character dies and they
stay dead. No magical return from the dead, no
retcon and no copout. They're dead and they're staying that way.
For a dead character to be considered Killed Off For Real it cannot be simply any death; it must be one that under normal circumstances for the setting and genre could have been reversed, undone or revealed to be some sort of trick. If it's a setting with
All Deaths Final, this never comes into play — remember that permanent death is
Like Reality Unless Noted. Consequently, most realistic or mundane works do not provide examples of this trope.
Note that (theoretically) there might still be
other ways to revert a death, like declaring it
All Just a Dream — see the
First Law of Resurrection.
May lead into
Personal Effects Reveal,
Meaningful Funeral,
To Absent Friends, and
Dead Guy Junior. See also
Tonight Someone Dies,
Not So Small Role,
Really Dead Montage. The
Video Game version would be
Final Death.
Contrast
Disney Death and
Death Is Cheap.
As a Death Trope, all spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.
Examples
