History BetterToDieThanBeKilled / AnimeAndManga

* In both the manga and anime of ''Manga/AkameGaKill'', [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking General]] [[SocialDarwinist Esdeath]], after being fatally injured by Akame's [[PoisonedWeapons Murasame]], chooses to [[LiterallyShatteredLives freeze herself solid and shatter her body into nothing]] rather than let the poison finish her off, as she would rather die by her own terms. The only difference between the two media is that [[TogetherInDeath she froze Tatsumi's corpse alongside herself]] in the anime, while in the manga [[SparedByTheAdaptation he was still alive]]. Failing to gain his affection was a failure she bemoaned as her only regret, just before ending her own life.

* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'': {{Downplayed|Trope}} as the BigBad doesn't actually actually kill himself when captured and he was to be taken to prison rather than killed. He uses [[MindRape his powers]] to warp his mind so he's basically in a vegetative state and [[FateWorseThanDeath may as well be dead]]; and when he is killed [[VigilanteMan by]] [[KnightTemplar Lunatic]], he's completely unaware of it.

** Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, is an inversion. He was dying from an incurable illness, but rather than go out with a whimper from it, he chose to surrender himself to the Marines. They executed him, but Roger got the last laugh by sparking a new age of piracy with his FamousLastWords.

* In both the manga and anime of ''Manga/AkameGaKill'', [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking General]] [[SocialDarwinist Esdeath]], [[spoiler: after being fatally injured by Akame's [[PoisonedWeapons Murasame]], chooses to [[LiterallyShatteredLives freeze herself solid and shatter her body into nothing]] rather than let the poison finish her off, as she would rather die by her own terms. The only difference between the two media is that [[TogetherInDeath she froze Tatsumi's corpse alongside herself]] in the anime, while in the manga [[SparedByTheAdaptation he was still alive]]. Failing to gain his affection was a failure she bemoaned as her only regret, just before ending her own life.]]

* Late in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', the people of [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Chang Wufei's]] home colony decide it would be better to self-destruct their decrepit colony than to give in to the rapidly-expanding Alliance. This has a massive impact on Wufei, being the origin of the idealized concept of justice that became his own personal NeverLiveItDown, as well as setting up his FaceHeelTurn in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWingEndlessWaltz''. [[spoiler:It is also the reason he switches back; Heero's pleas during their final duel causes him to realize that helping Dekim and Mariemaia will lead to a repeat of the same tragedies.]]

* Akagi Shigeru in ''Manga/{{Ten}}'' (the series to which ''Anime/{{Akagi}}'' is a prequel) chooses to go through medically-assisted suicide rather than have his mind deteriorate due to Alzheimer's. The fact that he was never afraid to face death makes it easier to digest... the fact that his mind was the greatest weapon he ever had and the fact that he was only in his early fifties doesn't.

* In ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'', Ansbach bites a [[CyanidePill poison capsule]] rather than be taken alive after attempting to assassinate Reinhard, and succeeding in killing Kircheis, during his fake surrender.
** Also earlier in the story, two nobles are given the option to commit suicide by poison rather than be officially executed. Both refuse, and ultimately have the poison forced down.

* Subverted at the end of the Nazi arc in ''Manga/BlackLagoon.'' [[BaldBlackLeaderGuy Dutch]] gives the leader of the Brown-shirt group one of [[ActionGirl Revy's]] guns to shoot himself with. He almost does it, until he points the gun at Dutch, and pulls the trigger, [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets only to find the gun to be empty]]. Revy and Dutch then turn him into Swiss cheese. What makes this scene truly hilarious (in a RefugeInAudacity kind of way) is how they have a ''bet'' on what he's going to do beforehand, their comments implying they've done this sort of thing before. (Both of them went for "black"; Dutch himself noting that "white" isn't much of a bet in this case).

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'':

* In ''LightNovel/RollOverAndDie'', this scenario was used to begin the protagonist Flum's journey. After being betrayed and sold into slavery, the slave merchant realizes that Flum has no value as a slave. He throws her into a prison along with other slaves he deems to be worthless. Afterwards, he releases three ghouls to eat them while giving the slaves the chance to pick up a cursed weapon that would most likely kill them if they touch it. Flum decides to take her chances because she would rather die by her own choice rather than let the ghouls eat her. It is then that she finds out hat her supposedly useless affinity Reversal, allows her to use cursed weapons which allow her to turn the tables and kill the ghouls along with the slave merchant.

* In ''Anime/MaiOtome'', when faced with an angry mob out for revenge against Queen Mashiro for losing their kingdom, Aoi, one of her aides, chooses to throw herself off the face of a cliff to avoid risking Mashiro's life by revealing her location. Aoi manages to survive the fall, but not without suffering severe injuries.
* Inverted with Zest in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers''. Rather than let his body give out from CloneDegeneration, he instead chooses trigger a SuicideByCop by attacking [[LadyOfWar Signum]] so he can die in honorable combat.

* In the wolf arc of ''Manga/GingaNagareboshiGin'', Shuga skewers himself on a bamboo to avoid losing to Akame.
* Several examples in ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Dr. Hiruluk in ''Manga/OnePiece'' chooses to do this for a number of reasons: First, he was [[IncurableCoughofDeath dying of an unknown disease]]. Chopper, in an attempt to cure him, accidentally poisons him. Finally, he had walked into an [[SchmuckBait obvious trap]] laid by King Wapol to catch the only remaining free doctors on his island. Rather than be captured, and to avoid letting Chopper live with the guilt of killing his father, [[TearJerker he chose to kill himself.]]
** The people of Fishman Island invoke this when Hody Jones is moments away from killing King Neptune. They beg for Straw Hat Luffy to hurry up and destroy Fishman Island as Madame Shyarly predicted since they would rather let their home be destroyed than see it twisted under Hody's reign.

* ''Manga/OutlawStar'': Before dying by falling into a star, Hilda bites on a capsule that explodes.
* Happens in the third volume and OVA of ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', where Alucard does what he does best. The last man standing turns his gun on himself rather than face him. Alucard looks disgusted afterward. Indeed, Alucard holds human life in such high regard that he feels that for someone to kill themself rather than die in combat makes them more of a dog than a human ([[{{Hypocrite}} though considering]] [[AndIMustScream the fate that awaits those who get killed by him]] [[{{Hypocrite}} he's really not one to talk]]) The fact that Seras (while still human) kept fighting against a vampire in spite of the insurmountable odds is what made Alucard consider her worthy of immortality in the first place.
* Rika Furude from ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' chooses to stab herself repeatedly in the head rather than be tortured to death by Shion, whom she stares in the face the whole way through. She gets better. Note that she only did this in ''Meakashi-hen''. In ''Watanagashi-hen'', Shion tortured and killed her like she did to Satoko; Rika knew Shion would torture her and chose the 'easy' way out.
* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'':
** Shin [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TckUHouRbvY hurls himself off of a building]] rather than succumb to Kenshiro's attack after their final battle. In the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 FightingGame, Shin actually has this as a self-inflicted [[FinishingMove Fatal KO]] that can be used if he's losing, complete with the same dialogue. Considering though that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8zx9qxCSvM it has the same musical accompaniment as a regular Fatal KO]]...
** In the Raoh Den OVA, Souther does this for pretty much the same reasons as Shin.
** Raoh himself also choses to commit suicide by striking his own vital-points in an impressive pyrotechnics display after being defeated by Ken in the final battle. "I am RAOH! I need no assistance to return to the heavens!"
* Akagi Shigeru in ''Manga/{{Ten}}'' (the series to which ''Anime/{{Akagi}}'' is a prequel) chooses to go through medically-assisted suicide rather than have his mind deteriorate due to Alzheimer's. The fact that he was never afraid to face death makes it easier to digest... the fact that his mind was the greatest weapon he ever had and the fact that he was only in his early fifties doesn't.

* This is what [[LadyOfWar Haman Kahn]] from Neo Zeon does in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'' after losing her last battle against the hero [[HotBlooded Judau Ashta]].

* This is the ultimate fate of Envy in the manga of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. He kills himself to avoid being killed by lowly humans, and also because [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath he can't cope with being pitied by them]].
* In ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'', Seishiro kills himself by deliberately [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice thrusting his hand through Subaru's chest]], aware that Subaru's twin sister Hokuto (who he previously killed by the same method) had cast a spell on him that would instantly reverse their positions if he ever tried to kill Subaru (who is unaware of the spell and ''wants'' to die at Seishro's hand). Kamui explains later that he would rather die than be killed by the one he loved, and that Seishiro had the luxury [[ThanatosGambit of being able to choose how to die]], whereas the rest of the world would not have that choice.

* Played with in ''Manga/AngelDensetsu''. Kuroda and his flunkies got so freaked out about what Kitano might do to them for letting Takehisa get hurt that they rushed headlong to fight the guys who hurt Takehisa, and they won.
* Kisame in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' kills himself via his own summoned shark to keep from being interrogated any more than he already was.
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Shishio's aidé Houji Sadoshima killed himself when it became clear that he wasn't going to get his day in the limelight to speechify about his ideals. He gave himself an ImpromptuTracheotomy, then used his last bits of life to [[DyingMomentOfAwesome write his last will with his own blood on the nearest wall.]]
* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'''s third timeline, upon realizing the AwfulTruth after fighting Sayaka's witch form, Mami suffers a mental breakdown and resolves that it's better if she and the other girls all die before they can turn into witches. She shoots Kyoko and is about to kill Homura when Madoka kills her.
* Late in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', the people of [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Chang Wufei's]] home colony decide it would be better to self-destruct their decrepit colony than to give in to the rapidly-expanding Alliance. This has a massive impact on Wufei, being the origin of the idealized concept of justice that became his own personal NeverLiveItDown, as well as setting up his FaceHeelTurn in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWingEndlessWaltz''. [[spoiler:It is also the reason he switches back; Heero's pleas during their final duel causes him to realize that helping Dekim and Mariemaia will lead to a repeat of the same tragedies.]]

* One soldier in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' resorts to [[AteHisGun eating his gun]] when his unit's compound is surrounded by Titans. Considering the [[EatenAlive horrible fate]] awaiting humans in situations like this, this is very understandable.
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', of course, uses the rape variant, with Casca prepared to bite off her own tongue when she is cornered by some Tudor mercenaries.
* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'': {{Downplayed|Trope}} as the BigBad doesn't actually actually kill himself when captured and he was to be taken to prison rather than killed. He uses [[MindRape his powers]] to warp his mind so he's basically in a vegetative state and [[FateWorseThanDeath may as well be dead]]; and when he is killed [[VigilanteMan by]] [[KnightTemplar Lunatic]], he's completely unaware of it.
* Subverted in ''LightNovel/{{Campione}}''. Duke Voban has Mariya kidnapped to be his slave. Having once been his slave four years ago, she says she refuses to go through that again and threatens to kill herself. Voban comments it would be pointless, because [[{{Necromancer}} he can just bring her back as a zombie like he does to his defeated foes]], so she quickly aborts that plan. She is rescued by the heroes.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' uses this on occasion, but most notably in the second part: Straizo is hanging from Joseph's hand and being interrogated about Mexico. Straizo, a Hamon user who became a vampire, begins to breathe in the pattern that generates Hamon. Since Hamon is fatal to vampires, this is suicide for him, but he'd rather die of his own volition than grow old (why he became a vampire to start with) or be killed by Joseph.
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ''.
** Subverted. After Goku goes Super Saiyan, Freeza claims that he'd rather die by his own hands than a Saiyan's -- and then fires at the planet, gloating that he can survive in a vacuum. As it turns out, he holds back too much power for fear of killing himself, [[MagicCountdown delaying]] the final explosion.
** Inverted as [[BloodKnight Goku prefers to be killed in battle]] rather than dying via a heart disease.
** Played straight with Cell, after Gohan [[CurbStompBattle utterly wrecks his shit]] as a Super Saiyan 2, hits the SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum button and decides he'd rather kill himself and blow up the planet than let Gohan kill him. It fails due to [[HeroicSacrifice Goku teleporting himself and Cell away to blow up on Kaio's planet]]...but even Cell's surprised when he not only survives but regenerates [[CameBackStrong even stronger than before.]]
* ''Anime/KillLaKill'': After Ryuko defeats BigBad Ragyo Kiryuin in the ultimate battle above Earth, she asks her to come back to Honnouji as a daughter would (since, [[ItWasHisSled you know]], she's actually her mother). In response, Ragyo [[IncrediblyLamePun kill-la-kills]] herself by ''tearing her own heart out'' and ''crushing it'' in order to negate her defeat and also to spread the remaining Life Fiber spores into the void of space.
* In ''Anime/SpacePatrolLuluco'''s episode [[FakeCrossover based on]] the above, [[EmotionEater Kill ** Killian]] chooses to set himself on fire with his already-flaming hands rather than fight the Space Patrol. The fire apparently destroys the whole planet, since it was made of [[AppliedPhlebotinum Life Fibers]].
* In both the manga and anime of ''Manga/AkameGaKill'', [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking General]] [[SocialDarwinist Esdeath]], [[spoiler: after being fatally injured by Akame's [[PoisonedWeapons Murasame]], chooses to [[LiterallyShatteredLives freeze herself solid and shatter her body into nothing]] rather than let the poison finish her off, as she would rather die by her own terms. The only difference between the two media is that [[TogetherInDeath she froze Tatsumi's corpse alongside herself]] in the anime, while in the manga [[SparedByTheAdaptation he was still alive]]. Failing to gain his affection was a failure she bemoaned as her only regret, just before ending her own life.]]
* In ''LightNovel/KinosJourney'', Kino happens upon the corpse of a traveler in an area inhabited by herds of man-eating sheep. She sees his car stopped at the edge of a cliff, and notices that he'd broken his shin and was unable to walk anymore. She then notices a persuader (i.e. handgun) in his hand, and while she doesn't say her conclusion out loud, the implication is clear.

* ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'': An inversion is what triggers Shio Sakaki's backstory conflict with Akira Hongo. In their youth, they had a mutual friend named Hajime Suzuki. When they were set to be recruited by YAMI, they put them to the test by having them fight to the death amongst each other. Suzuki accepted because he wanted to die as a fighter by his friends' hands rather than succumb to his heart illness. Sakaki didn't want to do it, so Hongo did it himself.

* In both the manga and anime of ''Manga/AkameGaKill'', [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking General]] [[SocialDarwinist Esdeath]], [[spoiler: after being fatally injured by Akame's [[PoisonedWeapons Murasame]], chooses to [[LiterallyShatteredLives freeze herself solid and shatter her body into nothing]] rather than let the poison finish her off, as she would rather die by her own terms. The only difference between the two media is that [[TogetherInDeath she froze Tatsumi's corpse alongside herself]] in the anime, while in the manga [[SparedByTheAdaptation he was still alive]]. Failing to gain his affection was a failure she bemoaned as her only regret, just before ending her own life.]]]]

* In both the manga and anime of ''Manga/AkameGaKill'', [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking General]] [[SocialDarwinist Esdeath]], after being fatally injured by Akame's [[PoisonedWeapons Murasame]], chooses to [[LiterallyShatteredLives freeze herself solid and shatter her body into nothing]] rather than let the poison finish her off, as she would rather die by her own terms. The only difference between the two media is that [[TogetherInDeath she froze Tatsumi's corpse alongside herself]] in the anime while in the manga [[SparedByTheAdaptation he was still alive]], a failure she bemoaned as her only regret before finishing herself off.

* Late in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', the people of [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Chang Wufei's]] home colony decide it would be better to self-destruct their decrepit colony than to give in to the rapidly-expanding Alliance. This has a massive impact on Wufei, being the origin of the idealized concept of justice that became his own personal NeverLiveItDown, as well as setting up his FaceHeelTurn in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWingEndlessWaltz''. [[spoiler: and also the reason he switches back; Heero's pleas during their final duel causes him to realize that by helping the antagonists will lead to a repeat of the same tragedies.]]

* Subverted in ''LightNovel/{{Campione}}''. Duke Voban has Mariya kidnapped to be his slave. Having once been his slave four years ago, she says she refuses to go through that again and threatens to kill herself. Voban comments it would be pointless, because he can just bring her back as a zombie like he does to his defeated foes, so she quickly aborts that plan. She is rescued by the heroes.

* Akagi Shigeru in ''Anime/{{Ten}}'' (the series to which ''Anime/{{Akagi}}'' is a prequel) chooses to go through medically-assisted suicide rather than have his mind deteriorate due to Alzheimer's. The fact that he was never afraid to face death makes it easier to digest... the fact that his mind was the greatest weapon he ever had and the fact that he was only in his early fifties doesn't.

* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Shishio's aidé Houji Sadoshima killed himself when it became clear that he wasn't going to get his day in the limelight to speechify about his ideals. He gave himself an ImpromptyTracheotomy, then used his last bits of life to [[DyingMomentOfAwesome write his last will with his own blood on the nearest wall.]]

* Subverted and played straight in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''.
** After Goku goes Super Saiyan, Freeza claims that he'd rather die by his own hands than a Saiyan's -- and then fires at the planet, gloating that he can survive in a vacuum. As it turns out, he holds back too much power for fear of killing himself, [[MagicCountdown delaying]] the final explosion.
** Cell, after Gohan [[CurbStompBattle utterly wrecks his shit]] as a Super Saiyan 2, hits the SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum button and decides he'd rather kill himself and blow up the planet than let Gohan kill him. It fails due to [[HeroicSacrifice Goku teleporting himself and Cell away to blow up on Kaio's planet]]...but even Cell's surprised when he not only survives but regenerates [[CameBackStrong even stronger than before.]]

** Cell, after Gohan [[CurbStompBattle utterly wrecks his shit]] as a Super Saiyan 2, hits the SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum button and decides he'd rather kill himself and blow up the planet than let Gohan kill him. It fails due to [[HeroicSacrifice Goku teleporting himself and Cell away to blow up on King Kai's planet]]...but even Cell's surprised when he not only survives but regenerates [[CameBackStrong even stronger than before.]]

* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar''

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan''

** Shin hurls himself off of a building rather than succumb to Kenshiro's attack after their final battle. In the first ''Raoh Den'' movie, Souther follows suit. In the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 FightingGame, Shin actually has this as a self-inflicted [[FinishingMove Fatal KO]] that can be used if he's losing, complete with the same dialogue. Considering though that [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8zx9qxCSvM it has the same musical accompaniment as a regular Fatal KO]]...

* In ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'', Seishiro kills himself by deliberately [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice thrusting his hand through Subaru's chest]], aware that Subaru's twin sister Hokuto (who he previously killed by the same method) had cast a spell on him that would instantly reverse their positions if he ever tried to kill Subaru (who is unaware of the spell and ''wants'' to die at Seishro's hand). Kamui explains later that he would rather die than be killed by the one he loved, and that Seishiro had the luxury of being able to choose how to die, whereas the rest of the world would not have that choice.

* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Shishio's aidé Houji Sadoshima killed himself when it became clear that he wasn't going to get his day in the limelight to speechify about his ideals.

** Cell, after Gohan [[CurbStompBattle utterly wrecks his shit]] as a Super Saiyan 2, hits the SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum button and decides he'd rather kill himself and blow up the planet than let Gohan kill him. It fails due to [[HeroicSacrifice Goku teleporting himself and Cell away to blow up on King Kai's planet]]...but even Cell's surprised when he not only survives but CameBackStrong.

* Happens in the third volume and OVA of ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', where Alucard does what he does best. The last man standing turns his gun on himself rather than face him. Alucard looks disgusted afterward. Indeed, Alucard holds human life in such high regard that he feels that for someone to kill themself rather than die in combat makes them more of a dog than a human ([[{{Hypocrite}} though considering]] [[AndIMustScream the fate that awaits those who get killed by him]] [[{{Hypocrite}} he's really not one to talk]])The fact that Seras (while still human) kept fighting against a vampire in spite of the insurmountable odds is what made Alucard consider her worthy of immortality in the first place.

* In ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'', Seishiro kills himself by deliberately [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice thrusting his hand through Subaru's chest]], aware that Subaru's twin sister Hokuto (who he previously killed by the same method) had cast a spell on him that would instantly reverse their positions if he ever tried to kill Subaru (who is unaware of the spell and ''wants'' to die at Seishro's hand). Kamui explains later that he would rather die be killed by the one he loved than by an enemy, and that Seishiro had the luxury of being able to choose how to die, whereas the rest of the world would not have that choice.

* In both the manga and anime of ''Manga/AkameGaKill'', [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking General]] [[SocialDarwinist Esdeath]], after being fatally injured by Akame's [[PoisonedWeapons Murasame]], chooses to [[LiterallyShatteredLives freeze herself solid and shatter her body into nothing]] rather than let the poison finish her off, as she would rather die by her own terms. The only difference between the two media is that [[TogetherInDeath she froze Tatsumi's corpse alongside herself]] in the anime while in the manga he was still alive, a failure she bemoaned as her only regret before finishing herself off.