Prepare To Die - Television Tropes & Idioms

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Prepare To Die

The oatmeal was lukewarm, bitch!

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

— Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

"He was big and bent and gray and old, and I looked at him and my blood ran cold, and I said, "My name is Sue. How do you do? Now you gonna die!"

- Johhny Cash, "A Boy Named Sue"

A very common Stock Phrase, usually said by a villain as he's about to fight the hero. It can also be said by the hero if Its Personal.

Other words can be substituted for "die" depending on the situation and the rating level of the work in question. One common variation is "Prepare to be destroyed!"

Surprisingly, nobody explores exactly how you prepare to die. Perhaps you're supposed to do it by borrowing large sums of money and unloading long term stocks. Traditionally, you did it by making peace with God, hence this line's occasional substitutes, "Say your prayers!" or "Prepare to meet your maker!"

Examples

Manga&Anime

Fullmetal Alchemist
Mustang: No need to say anything more, Envy. The first thing I'm gonna incinerate is your tongue.

Film

Road House:
Jimmy: Prepare to die!
Dalton: You are such an asshole.
The rather cheesy 1990 comedy Spaced Invaders shows no mercy:
(sarcastically) "Prepare to die, Earth scum. Prepare to die, Earth scum." I'm gonna make sure they carve that on your tombstone!

Live Action TV

In an episode of Star Trek The Original Series, the Enterprise is confronted by a powerful alien vessel that announces its intention to destroy our heroes, and goes on to say — "we assume you have a deity... or deities," and politely offers to give the Enterprise crew time to make "whatever preparations" they deem necessary. An unusually explicit example of this trope, where the opponent says "prepare to die" and clearly actually means it. And they're all the scarier for that.

Video Games

In Star Control, the Ur-Quan give you a little time to prepare for death.
Kohr-Ah: Make whatever rituals are necessary for your species.
READY! TO DIE
In Ascendancy, whenever you declare war on another species, the option you choose is labelled "We declare war on you. Prepare to die."

Web Comics