History Main / TheDyingWalk

* The final sequence of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' is this, literally for Shepherd and figuratively for the species of the Citadel. Most of their homeworlds, Earth included, are wrecked, their fleets are shattered, their people broken. Shepard climbs into the silent expanse of the Citadel, armor torn to shreds and pain visible in every step. They can't run, roll, or take cover, and their only attack is a shot halfhearted shot from a pistol. In all endings [[spoiler: save one]], Shepherd finishes their business with the Illusive Man, has a short conversation with The Catalyst, and then dies.

* In the ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' anime, [[BadassPreacher Wolfwood]] essentially does this after being shot by his EvilMentor (who was being controlled by [[PlayingWithPuppets the telepathic]] [[TheDragon Dragon]] Legato). He has a short conversation with Vash, walks off alone (Vash doesn't know Wolfwood is injured until he walks off and sees the trail of blood Wolfwood is leaving behind) to a church, where he collapses and pours his heart out to God before dying.
* ''Anime/WolfsRain'':
** [[EvilCounterpart Lord Darcia]] does this at the end of the OVA that concludes the series, as his multiple wounds and [[spoiler:the poison in Cheza's blood]] get to him. In a confused haze, he suddenly breaks off from fighting Kiba and attempting to kill Cheza, and steps into the portal to Paradise, despite knowing that he cannot open it. It kills him instantly, leaving nothing but his MagicEye behind.
** [[spoiler:Kiba also does this, after Cheza's apparent death, having crossed the DespairEventHorizon with her and the rest of his TrueCompanions gone. He limps away from the site of their battle and then collapses, apparently the very last living thing in the world to die.]]
* In the last episode of the ''Manga/DeathNote'' anime, Light does this after being shot several times. He runs out of the warehouse he was in and collapses in another building a short distance away. Ryuk then keeps the promise he made to Light [[CallBack several years earlier]] and writes Light's name in a [[ArtifactOfDoom Death Note]].

* After getting mortally wounded during the final space battle in ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'', Schenkopp congratulates the soldier who got him, then walks up the nearest set of stairs (killing two last soldiers who try to finish him off on the way), and sits at the top so he can die looking down on everybody.
* After Rudeus dies in ''Literature/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'' his soul appears before Hitogami one last time. His soul begins to naturally reduce into mana and his mind and body begin to fade away. After giving Hitogami some parting words, Rudeus walks past him and keeps walking until he disappears.
* In ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'', after a fight with [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Ashitare]], Nuriko is ''badly'' hurt and bleeding. He decides to walk up to the opening of the cave where the [[MacGuffin Shinzaho]] is located and use the last of his SuperStrength to open it. Needless to say, this results in Nuriko hemorrhaging to death.
* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', there's an elderly Stoutland who watches over a Litten and knows that its time is near. Once it becomes clear that Ash will watch over Litten once he's gone, it leaves off to pass away in peace.

* At the end of ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', [[spoiler:after being grievously wounded, Spike staggers his way out of Vicious' headquarters and collapses in front of his henchmen]], though it's played ambiguously enough that he ''could'' survive.

* As with his mythological equivalent, Thor takes nine steps before dying after his battle with a serpent. ''Unlike'' the mythological Thor and with this being a comic book, he's done so twice, against two different serpents.... and returned both times.

* Before the climax of ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest'' the main villain Frank escapes a shootout with his former-parter Morton's hired goons and returns to Morton's train to confront him, only to find Morton dying of wounds he sustained during a run-in with the outlaw Cheyenne. Morton, lying pitifully in the dirt, ignores Frank's arrival and instead desperately crawls over to a nearby mud puddle [[TragicDream representing a stand-in for the Pacific Ocean that he will never be able to reach]].
* Near the end of ''Film/YoungGunsII'', [[MagicalNativeAmerican Magical Half Native American]] Chavez, who was gutshot earlier in the film, suddenly gets up and walks away from the outlaw hideout so he can die alone.
* ''Film/PatGarrettAndBillyTheKid'' has a gunfight scene where Garrett, Sheriff Baker, and Baker's wife/deputy raid the hideout of some outlaws with links to Billy the Kid. After being shot several times in the fight, Baker (who had earlier told about how he was going to sail away on a boat he was building [[{{Retirony}} once he retired]]) walks away from the fight and staggers over to a tiny creek, where he watches the sunset until he dies. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFxwq33rVAs Easily the most famous scene from the movie]], helped by the fact that [[Music/BobDylan Bob Dylan's]] "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (which was composed for the movie) plays in the background.
* BigBad Hatcher from ''Film/TheRundown'', like everyone else, takes the hard way when offered a TheEasyWayOrTheHardWay choice by Beck. At the end of the movie, his empire crumbled and his former slaves surrounding him, Hatcher has a VillainousBreakdown and starts screaming at the crowd until someone in the crowd shoots him. At that point Hatcher suddenly regains his calm, says that now he's ready to do things the easy way, and starts to walk away. He doesn't get far before he collapses and dies.

* In the 1954 film version of ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'', Nemo is shot and mortally wounded setting the bomb to blow up both his secret island base and the forces looking to conquer it and use it for themselves. After navigating the ''Nautilus'' clear of the island, he walks away from the steering wheel, walks back to his cabin (with some help from his crew), and finally collapses in front of the window he used for undersea observation, [[AlasPoorVillain looking out into his beloved ocean one last time]].
* At the end of the biopic ''Film/BabyFaceNelson'', Nelson is shot many times in a standoff with law enforcement agents. In something of an inversion of the common treatment of this trope, instead of walking off to find a place to die, he walks up to the agents and laughs in their face before dying.
* In ''Film/{{Badlands}}'', Kit shoots his friend Cato after he realizes Cato is going to call the cops. Cato, who has taken a shotgun blast that went clean through his gut and out through his back, gets up, staggers back into his shack, and lies down on his bed to die.
* ''Film/TheInformer'': Gypo goes on a veritable dying stroll. After getting shot several times, he manages to stagger down the street into a church, where he confesses to Frankie's mom before collapsing in death.
* The Ancient One in ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'' projects their astral body and leaves their physical body lying on a hospital stretcher so they can admire a thunderstorm and pass on some last advice and encouragement to Strange.
* ''Film/TheKennelMurderCase'': The flashback shows Coe, who doesn't realize he's been stabbed and is bleeding to death, walking unsteadily upstairs to his bedroom. He then goes on to open the windows and is sitting in a chair taking his shoes off when he dies.

* ''Film/DeathLine'': After being fatally wounded in his fight with Alex, the 'Man' crawls away to the room where all of the previous members of the CannibalClan have been laid to rest on bunk beds, so he can die alongside the rest of his clan.
* ''Film/{{Chains}}'': Guglielmo and Emilio are having a GunStruggle behind a closed door. A bystander forces the door open to find Emilio in the doorway. Emilio takes a couple steps before falling down, revealing that he was the one who lost the gun struggle and got shot.

* Near the end of ''Film/SomethingWild'', villain Ray turns and impales himself on a knife held by protagonist Charlie (Creator/JeffDaniels). After a death stare into the camera, he waaalks to the mirror to look at himself one last time before the scene cuts to the aftermath of his demise.
* In ''Film/PansLabyrinth'', the villainous Captain Vidal orders Dr. Ferreiro to treat the injuries of a captive rebel soldier so he can be tortured some more. Ferreiro opts to give the fighter a MercyKill via lethal overdose instead. Vidal outs him as TheMole at this point by comparing a vial in Ferreiro's bag to an identical vial from a rebel medical supply cache, and knowing that Vidal is going to kill him, Ferreiro gives the fascist thug a final TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and then calmly takes his bag and walks outside into the rain... and gets shot in the back by Vidal. Ferreiro manages to take a few more steps away from Vidal and the torture shack before he drops to the ground.
-->'''Dr. Ferreiro:''' To obey -- just like that -- for obedience's sake... without questioning... That is something only men like you can do, Captain.
* ''Film/{{Delicatessen}}'': Clapet throws the Australian (a double-bladed knife that behaves like a boomerang) at Louison but misses. The blade returns, lodging in the middle of Clapet's forehead. Clapet staggers for some moments before asking those in the room if there's something there. No one says anything, but they bring Clapet some wine, which he drinks, then slumps over dead.

* In the ''Literature/WarriorCatsTheNewProphecy'' book ''[[Recap/WarriorCatsSunset Sunset]]'', Brambleclaw stabs his half-brother Hawkfrost in the throat with a stake from a trap. Hawkfrost, despite struggling to breathe and speak, gets up, stumbles toward Brambleclaw to [[YouFool call him a fool]], and then, for some reason, turns around and walks toward the lake, collapsing at its shore. His blood mingles with the water to complete the prophecy "Blood will spill blood and the lake will run red".

* ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'': In ''Tehanu'', Tenar helps her old friend Aihal (Ogion the Silent) walk from his deathbed to the meadow where he wants to die.

* ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'' has the "grey-faced soldiers," trying to make it back to their hometowns before they die of the mortal wounds they keep hidden between their tightly-buttoned uniforms. Polly's quest started when a party of them stopped at her family's inn. One handed her a letter from her brother Paul, and then "with very little fuss, died." The incident put her into a state of perpetual TranquilFury at her country's spendthrift approach to human life.

* The climax of ''Series/The10thKingdom'' has Virginia confronting the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Evil Queen]], and during the struggle, she manages to scratch [[MasterPoisoner the Queen]] with the Queen's own poisoned hairpin. The Queen stares at the wound for a bit, then turns around and walks away, falling to her knees after (at most) half a dozen steps.
* At the end of ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'''s fourth season, retired HitmanWithAHeart Richard Harrow is called on to perform OneLastJob, despite the fact that he's given up violence because of the terrible toll it's taking on his psychological well-being. He botches it, is shot in the middle of a HeroicBSOD, and staggers away to the spot he and his girlfriend Julia spent their first night together under the boardwalk, where he dies alone.

* Many productions of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' have Mercutio doing this either as he's saying his DyingCurse or just afterward. This includes the [[Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet 1996 movie version]], where Mercutio storms away after his curse, and shoves Romeo off when Romeo tries to catch up to Mercutio. He collapses soon afterward.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', when Takaya fatally shoots [[spoiler:Shinjiro]], the victim's last action is to get up and walk away like a badass before collapsing and dying of internal injuries.

* ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'', "To My Child". In a bad ending, Makoto ends up committing to Kotonoha, but in the process abandons Sekai, who goes missing for six months and then resurfaces [[WomanScorned to stab Makoto to death]]. Even while badly wounded, Makoto expresses relief that Sekai is okay and then notices that she's pregnant with his child and is grateful that she plans to take care of it. Sekai runs off, and Makoto is left to wander down the beach rambling about Kotonoha and Sekai until he finally bleeds out.

* A ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' episode, "Heat Wave", features a non-lethal example. When the Planeteers are having trouble getting through [[MadScientist Dr. Blight's]] force field, Ma-Ti contacts Gaia to ask for help. Gaia then reveals she needs it herself, walks a few steps, and collapses. She comes to shortly after, though.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'', after the liberation of Venus, some members of LaResistance turn villainous and plan to kill any and all Neosapiens they come across, including [[TokenEnemyMinority Marsala and any other Neos serving in Exo Fleet]]. Marsala's squadmate Nara recruits her brother James, the former head of the Venus Resistance, to save Marsala from his captors. James infiltrates the group and is wounded just as [[MeleeATrois a three-way battle]] between the anti-Neo group, Neo guerrillas, and Able Squad breaks out. James manages to carry an unconscious Marsala out of there and is so focused on getting Marsala to safety that he completely ignores the battle and Nara telling him he can stop. Finally, he collapses and dies away from the battle site.
* Bold's death in ''WesternAnimation/TheAnimalsOfFarthingWood'' is a real TearJerker. After making a long and grueling journey back to White Deer Park with his fox mate Whisper so their cubs can be born in the safety of the sanctuary, Bold collapses outside the park boundary. Knowing he's going to die, Bold waits until Whisper has gone to find food for him, [[DistractedFromDeath and then painfully limps away so she won't find him when he dies]].

* ''VideoGame/HyperLightDrifter'': The Drifter [[CoupDeGraceCutscene eradicates]] the BigBad with a SwordPlant, then slumps to the floor, leaving his LaserBlade driven into its body. As it dies, the AdvancedAncientAcropolis starts to [[LoadBearingBoss collapse]]. You get up and walk out of the BossRoom, but the Drifter is clearly not going to get far. You are heavily wounded and leave a shocking TrailOfBlood. You cannot heal, dash, or attack, and trying will only cause the Drifter to cough and stagger unsteadily. In what is implicitly a DyingDream, the Drifter wanders to a familiar statue, sits beneath it, succumbs to his wounds, and is buried beneath the falling rubble. TheHeroDies, but they seem to accept it.

* ''VideoGame/HyperLightDrifter'': In the BittersweetEnding, your PlayerCharacter stands in the BossRoom after defeating the [[BigBad Immortal Cell]]. You can walk out the way you came, but the Drifter is heavily wounded and leaves a shocking TrailOfBlood where they go. The AdvancedAncientAcropolis starts collapsing as soon as [[LoadBearingBoss you slay the boss]], and the Drifter is not clearly going to make it back to the elevator (if it still works). Your abilities to heal and [[VideoGameDashing dash]] are gone: instead of doing either, the Drifter only coughs and staggers. In what is implicitly a DyingDream, the Drifter wanders to a familiar statue, sits beneath it, succumbs to their wounds, and is buried beneath the falling rubble. TheHeroDies, but they seem to accept it peacefully.

* In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' book Sunset, Brambleclaw stabs his half-brother Hawkfrost in the throat with a stake from a trap. Hawkfrost, despite struggling to breathe and speak, gets up, stumbles toward Brambleclaw to [[YouFool call him a fool]], and then, for some reason, turns around and walks toward the lake, collapsing at its shore. His blood mingles with the water to complete the prophecy "Blood will spill blood and the lake will run red".
* Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire:
** As described in the PageQuote, from Literature/FireAndBlood, Laena Velaryon was ill after an extremely difficult childbirth. After being delirious and bedridden for several days, she suddenly got up and attempted to reach [[DragonRider her dragon Vhagar]], but collapsed on the way and died there. Her husband then carried her corpse back to bed.

* In ''Literature/{{Tehanu}}'', Tenar helps her old friend Aihal (Ogion the Silent) walk from his deathbed to the meadow where he wants to die.