History BetterToDieThanBeKilled / Literature

%%* [[KillEmAll Every single surviving human being on Earth]] in ''Literature/OnTheBeach''.

* In the ''[[Literature/TheQueensThief Queen's Thief]]'' series, Eugenides is unable to kill himself, but he asks his father to strangle him rather than survive in the Queen of Attolia's prison; Justified, as she cut off his hand the last time he was prisoner there. The attempt is prevented. On another occasion, he refuses to jump off a cliff because he's chained to two innocent men, both of whom are willing to die with him, who will be able to survive and see their families again.

* It is said in Book II of ''Literature/TheFaeireQueene'' that the British queen Bunduca killed herself rather than be captured by the Romans. The author praises her for this murder by comparing her to women from ancient history and Myth/ClassicalMythology like Semiramis, Hypsiphil, and Tomyris.

* Averted in the Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold book ''Literature/{{Memory}}'', where the villain is denied the opportunity for suicide after he's caught.
* In the Creator/RobertEHoward poem "The Gold and the Grey," the Cimbri women kill themselves with daggers in order to avoid being enslaved by the Romans ("The Cimbri yield no virgin-slaves to glut the lords of Rome!"). One of them kills her rapist and then kills herself.
* Fernand shoots himself in the head in ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', having had his treacherous past exposed.
* Subverted in the Creator/EvelynWaugh novel ''Decline and Fall'' where one character, Grimes, who is an example of TheBarnum tells of "landing in the soup" (an UnusualEuphemism for being caught engaged in homosexual conduct) during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and being placed in a room and given a loaded revolver and some whiskey to settle his nerves, so that a court martial could be avoided and the official story would be that he [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch died in combat]]. After debating this course of action, he decides he would rather live and is found roaring drunk when his fellow soldiers re-enter the room.
* Generally averted with ''Literature/SpaceMarineBattles'', as Space Marines believe that going down fighting is the only fate worthy a Space Marine. However, one example plays it straight, as one character realizes that FateWorseThanDeath awaits him and commits suicide by taking rebreather off in the middle of poisonous fog.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'':
** ''The Eye of the World'', Perrin, Egwene, and Elyas are being pursued by an immense flock of demonically-possessed ravens, and suspect they can't reach safety in time. When they do escape, Elyas finds Perrin about to throw his axe into a pond, as he was considering killing himself and Egwene with it rather than allow them to be eaten alive. He asks Perrin which death he really thinks she'd have preferred, and Perrin decides to keep the axe.
** Also, in ''The Gathering Storm'' some inhabitants of Hinderstap town try to commit a suicide in order not to become mindless monsters set to kill each other at every sunset. This doesn't work, anyway.
* In ''Literature/WorldWarZ'', there are many of these stories because the book takes place in the aftermath of a ZombieApocalypse. Most notably, a Russian chaplain decides that he and the other religious figures should be the ones "sending them to God" and the resultant religious fervor turns the postwar Russia into a theocracy.
* The last Stanza of Creator/RudyardKipling's "A Young British Soldier".
-->''When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,\\
And the women come out to cut up what remains,\\
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains\\
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.''
* [[KillEmAll Every single surviving human being on Earth]] in ''Literature/OnTheBeach''.

* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel ''The Guns of Tanith'', cornered in the control room with no way to work it, Jagdea takes out poison pills to avoid capture. Bonin doesn't let her, and someone who does know how to work arrives in time.
* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', an unnamed controller scientist decided that he would rather die of Kandrona Starvation (a horrifically painful death) than be killed by Visser Three.

* In the ''Literature/{{Westmark}}'' trilogy, Zara combines this with SuicideByCop. Injured and helpless, facing arrest and interrogation, she deliberately taunts the soldiers arresting her and Theo until one of them kills her.
* In Creator/ArthurCClarke's short story "The Transit of Earth", after his mission is completed the main character faces a slow death marooned on Mars, but ultimately elects to travel to a part of the planet where life has been detected, and allow himself to be consumed by those organisms so his body will remain part of a natural ecosystem.
* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Denethor, insane and sure of defeat in the long run, burns himself to death (and tried to take his son with him) rather than let himself be killed or his corpse fall into the hands of Sauron's forces.
* Father Callahan from ''Literature/TheDarkTower''. Justified in that he was fighting vampires that would turn him if they got to kill him.
* ''[[Literature/CircleOfMagic Street Magic]]'' has the villain poison herself in her room rather than be arrested and humiliated for killing the local police's undercover agents, as well as countless commoners, since there's no chance in hell that her aristocratic family is going to protect her.
* Dayna Jurgens in ''Literature/TheStand''. It comes close for her: she attempted to jump through some glass, but Flagg caught her before she could fall to her death. Thinking quickly, she whipped her head around and sliced her throat on some of the broken glass before he could pull her all the way back in. That he could not foresee or prevent this ''really'' rattles him.
* At the beginning of ''[[Literature/DuelOfSorcery Moongather]]'', Serroi panics and bolts, leaving a severely injured Tayyan behind. It's later revealed that Tayyan cut her own throat rather than be captured.

* In ''[[Literature/LegacyOfTheAldenata Gust Front]]'', Tommy Sunday, Jr, and his future girlfriend make a promise that if one is unable to kill themself, the other will do it for them, instead of leaving them alive for the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Posleen]] to find and [[ImAHumanitarian invite for dinner]].
* In ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed: Renaissance'', Archbishop Salviati chooses suicide to letting Ezio get information on the other conspirators from him.
* The Creator/ChristopherPike novel ''Chain Letter 2'' has an unusual twist on this. Alison decides to shoot herself when she realizes that her boyfriend Tony was going to kill her under the influence of the Caretaker demon. The twist is that Alison's actions were meant to protect ''Tony'': if Tony obeyed the Caretaker and killed her, the Caretaker would be able to take his soul. If Alison was the one who pulled the trigger, however, the Caretaker would be unable to drag Tony off to Hell. Alison's actions triggered a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment for Tony. And Alison got better.
* Jendara's SuicideByCop at the end of ''Literature/GreenRider''. Justifiably: Her way, she gets run through, and dies quickly and relatively painlessly. If she'd been taken alive, her death would have been hideously painful and drawn out over the course of a month.
* In Esther Hautzig's ''The Endless Steppe: A Girl in Exile'', Esther's 85-year-old grandmother Reisa hears that the Nazis are coming to take her to a concentration camp and decides that if it's time for her to die, she wants to die in her own home. Esther says, "It was not suicide; by a supreme act of will, this old woman cheated the Nazis of her death."
* In a ''Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse'' novel, Praetor Tal'aura (the senator from ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'') finds out that a member of an important Romulan family has been plotting behind her back. When captured, he requests to take poison in lieu of a public execution, knowing that the latter will bring great shame to his family. She denies the coward. Later on, she allows a political rival, who was attempting to incite a revolt against her, to drink poison, having respect for the man. Given that Romulans are, essentially, the Roman Empire RecycledInSPACE, this makes sense.
* In ''Literature/{{Krabat}}'', Merten tries to kill himself, after his cousin Michal dies. (It doesn't work.)
* At the end of the book of ''Double Indemnity'' (not the movie), Walter and Phyllis are spotted on board the ship, and rather than face arrest and execution, they commit [[TogetherInDeath mutual suicide]] by jumping overboard.

* One group of human survivors in ''Literature/TheKillingStar'' who are being actively chased by the alien invaders ultimately choose to destroy themselves along with a fair portion of the Sun rather than risk what might happen to them when they're captured.
* ''Literature/TheLastDaysOfKrypton'': A variant occurs when Zod is about to be thrown into the Phantom Zone. Despite how much that fate terrifies him, he chooses to defiantly dive into it himself rather than wait for the guards to push him in.
--> ''He had only one possible option, and Zod vowed to do this on his own terms! Let historians record this ending with awe!''
* In the ''[[Literature/TheQueensThief Queen's Thief]]'' series, Eugenides is unable to kill himself, but he asks his father to strangle him rather than survive in the Queen of Attolia's prison; Justified, as she cut off his hand the last time he was prisoner there. The attempt is prevented. On another occasion, he refuses to jump off a cliff because he's chained to two innocent men, both of whom are willing to die with him, who will be able to survive and see their families again.
* Invoked in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' when Silk is captured by Taur Urgas, facing torture and execution come sunrise. Yarblek mentions having attempted to get close enough to slip him a dagger so he can open a vein.
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': during ''Mockingjay'' all characters in the rebel army are fitted with a "Nightlock" capsule and expected to kill themselves before they are captured and taken in for torture/questioning.
* In ''Literature/EnchantressFromTheStars'' Elana, a 14 years old girl from TheFederation, is captured by colonists from TheEmpire. The colonists intend to bring her to their home planet, where she will be dissected and interrogated (and thanks to their tech, TheEmpire can extract any information they want). Not wanting to end like this, Elana runs towards the imperial rock-chever, intent on being crushed by falling debris. She is rescued JustInTime, and the imperials are so ... [[SuperweaponSurprise amazed]] by the way she is rescued that they withdraw and leave her behind.
* In ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', [[BigGood Albus Dumbledore]] has Severus Snape kill him to prevent Draco Malfoy from doing so and to ingratiate himself (Snape) with [[BigBad Voldemort]]. When Snape protests this plan, Dumbledore points out that he would rather die quickly and painlessly than to fall into the hands of Fenrir Greyback or Bellatrix Lestrange, who [[ColdBloodedTorture like to play with their food]]. It factored in the decision that Dumbledore was already dying because of a curse Voldemort placed on the Horcrux ring.
* ''Literature/TheSagaOfTheJomsvikings'': Just as Sigvaldi is turning to flight from the Battle of Hjorunga Bay, Bui's ship is boarded and Bui gets both his hands cut off at the wrists by Sigmund Brestisson. With his last strength, Bui picks up his two chests of gold with his arm stumps and jumps overboard while calling on his remaining men to do the same.
* One terrorist kills himself in the Literature/PaladinOfShadows book ''A Deeper Blue'' than be taken alive.
* In the ''Literature/DirkPittAdventures'' book ''Sahara'', when it looks like the Malians are about to overrun Fort Foreau, Dirk prepares to kill Eva and the rescued women so the enemy doesn't get to rape them. Fortunately, TheCavalry arrives just in time.
* In ''Literature/TheHost2008'' Melanie and a few other people attempt suicide to prevent being captured and taken over.
* Xanatos does this in the eighth ''Literature/JediApprentice'' book when his crimes are exposed and he's cornered by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. He jumps into one of the acid pools his company created on Telos.
* In ''Literature/TheLostFleet: Beyond the Frontier'' follow-up trilogy, the bear-cows are {{Absolute Xenophobe}}s who view any predator as a natural threat that must be eliminated at all costs and any other fellow herbivore as competition for the same resources who must also be eliminated. Protecting the herd is more important to them than any individual life. During the attempt by TheAlliance SpaceMarines to take the crippled bear-cow superbattleship, thousands of bear-cow crewmembers hurl themselves at the marines without regard. Any of them who are wounded are finished off by their own comrades in order to spare them from being eaten alive by the predators (they assume any predator, including humans, wants to eat them). For the same reason, any bear-cow taken alive will kill itself through a naturally-developed method of stopping higher brain functions rather than be eaten alive. They don't bother talking to anyone to find out ''if'' they will be actually eaten.
* Invoked multiple times in ''Literature/FrostflowerAndThorn''. The death penalty in this world tends to be ''very'' harsh, involving basically being slowly tortured to death, so the main characters are almost as preoccupied with not being captured alive in case of failure as with achieving their goals.
* Appears on a massive scale in [[Creator/RichardMatheson Richard Matheson's]] short story "The Creeping Terror." The city of Los Angeles is [[GeniusLoci revealed to be sentient]], and, as the title implies, slowly grows to take over the entire United States. As it does, it brainwashes everyone it comes into contact with, making them lose their past identities and become shallow, Hollywood-obsessed idiots. When Los Angeles reaches Boston, the ''entire population of the city'' decides to commit mass suicide rather than surrender their free will.
* In the ''Literature/{{Newsflesh}}'' world, most whose job involves facing zombies make it a rule to save a bullet for themselves, rather than be killed or converted by a zombie mob.
* In the ''Literature/ParadoxTrilogy'', when Devi is besieged by xith'cal aboard one of their tribe ships, she counts her ammunition so that she can save her last bullet for herself, as the xith'cal are known practitioners of ToServeMan and shooting herself would be preferable to being eaten. Fortunately, a rescuer arrives to help just as she presses her gun to her head.
* In ''Literature/AwakeInTheNightLand'', people who adventure to the titular Night Land have a CyanidePill in their arms so they can bite it in a hopeless situation, which is to prevent the lovecraftian monsters of the setting from '''[[CapitalLettersAreMagic D]]'''estroying their souls.
* ''Literature/CiaphasCain: The Greater Good'' sees Tau Water Caste and Imperial Navy vessels self-destructing rather than have the biomass of their crews consumed by a tyranid hive fleet. In the latter case it's mentioned there's a recording of a Navy ship's chief engineer triggering the reactor overload sequence moments before being torn apart by tyranid boarders.
* In ''Literature/{{Firefight}}'' [[spoiler: Megan]] shoots themself rather than be [[spoiler: burned alive]]. In addition to being over a lot faster, [[spoiler: fire]] is their weakness, meaning that it is actually considerably more dangerous. By dying to a bullet instead, [[spoiler: her ResurrectiveImmortality is able to trigger, while fire would have killed her permanently.]]

* In ''Literature/HorusHeresy: The Flight of the Eisenstein'' When [[spoiler:Horus bombs Istvaan III]] with the life eater virus, both the dreadnought Huron-Fal and Ullis Temeter, one of the captains of the Death Guard gets infected by the virus. While they both agonize due to the extremely painful effects of the virus, Huron-Fal detonates the core of the giant dreadnought armor, causing an explosion that kills them both.
-->''"This death... This death is ours. We choose it. We deny you your victory."''
* ''Literature/TheHistories'' of Herodotus: After avenging her brother by killing a "a vast number of Egyptians", Queen Nitocris of Egypt suffocates herself in a room full of hot ashes to escape being killed at the hands of her people.
* In the first ''Literature/WingsOfFire'' book, Peril is pitted in a life-or-death battle against a dragon named Horizon. Peril always wins her battles because her scales burn to the touch. Realizing that he can't win and that his death will be slow and painful, Horizon decides to grab hold of Peril and burn himself to death quickly.
* The ''Literature/WarriorCats'' book ''Thunder and Shadow'' features a bonus scene in the Barnes and Noble edition, in which Needlepaw (prior to us meeting her in the series) is picked up and carried off by an owl. She decides she'd rather die by falling (by her own choice) than let it kill and eat her, so she fights until it lets go (and survives the fall).

* ''Literature/TheEnemy''. In the third book in the series, Olivia, cornered by the Collector, throws herself off his balcony, choosing a quick death from falling several storeys over the torture he has inflicted on his previous victims.
* ''Literature/TheHanSoloTrilogy'':
** Moff Sarn Shild kills himself after his failed attack on Nar Shaddaa. Having received word that the Emperor has summoned him back to Coruscant and made it clear he is ''most'' displeased, Sarn figures that anything would be better than facing Palpatine's wrath--and almost certainly a slow and agonizing death. Given just how sadistic Palpatine famously is and that he ''knew'' the Moff was planning to rebel against him,[[labelnote:*]]Though Shild doesn't know this, Palpatine intentionally set him up to fail.[[/labelnote]] it's very likely that Shild was right.
** [[spoiler:After transmitting the plans to Princess Leia's ship, the surviving members of Bria's unit (including Bria herself) all kill themselves by taking poison pills rather than to risk being later captured and tortured into giving up the information by the Empire, then no doubt being killed.]]
* In ''[[Literature/HumanxCommonwealth Bloodhype]]'', when the mysterious black substance they're experimenting on abruptly tears its way out of containment and engulfs several [=AAnn=] technicians, two of the reptilian scientists get trapped in a corridor between security doors. One hastily (and wisely) shoots his companion and then himself, before the black substance - actually a ravenous intergalactic predator, the Vom - can flood the corridor and eat them alive.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheMayors": At the climax, [[spoiler:Prince Regent Wienis turns his blaster on himself and commits suicide rather than allow himself to be subjected to a religious trial for trying to attack the "holy planet" of Terminus, and also because he can't kill a force-shielded Salvor Hardin with the gun either.]]

* In ''Literature/TheHost'' Melanie and a few other people attempt suicide to prevent being captured and taken over.

** He prevents the suicide in ''Literature/TheABCMurders''.

* In ''Literature/WorldWarZ'', there are many of these stories because the book takes place during a ZombieApocalypse. Most notably, a Russian chaplain decides that he and the other religious figures should be the ones "sending them to God" and the resultant religious fervor turns the postwar Russia into a theocracy.

* Appears on a massive scale in [[Creator/RichardMatheson Richard Matheson's]] short story "The Creeping Terror." The city of Los Angeles is [[GeniusLoci revealed to be sentient]], and, as the title implies, slowly grows to take over the entire United States. As it does, it brainwashes everyone it comes into contact with, making them lose their past identities and become shallow, Hollywood-obsessed bimbos. When Los Angeles reaches Boston, the ''entire population of the city'' decides to commit mass suicide rather than surrender their free will.

** Also, in ''[[Literature/TheWheelOfTime The Gathering Storm]]'' some inhabitants of Hinderstap town try to commit a suicide in order not to become mindless monsters set to kill each other at every sunset. This doesn't work, anyway.

** In the same book, [[SmugSnake President Fey'lya]] goes from SleazyPolitician to DoomedMoralVictor by [[TakingYouWithMe suicide-nuking]] a couple of divisions of the ScaryDogmaticAliens who're coming to arrest, and/or torture-maim-kill him. [[DyingMomentOfAwesome While receiving their colonel behind his own desk in his own office, no less.]]

* In a ''Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse'' novel, Praetor Tal'aura (the senator from ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'') finds out that a member of an important Romulan family has been plotting behind her back. When captured, he requests to take poison in lieu of a public execution, knowing that the latter will bring great shame to his family. She denies the coward. Later on, she allows a political rival, who was attempting to incite a revolt against her, to drink poison, having respect for the man. Given that Romulans are, essentially, The Roman Empire RecycledInSPACE, this makes sense.

* In ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', [[BigGood Albus Dumbledore]] has Severus Snape kill him to prevent Draco Malfoy from doing so and to ingratiate himself (Snape) with [[BigBad Voldemort]]. When Snape protests to this plan, Dumbledore points out that he would rather die quickly and painlessly than to fall into the hands of Fenrir Greyback or Bellatrix Lestrange, who [[ColdBloodedTorture like to play with their food]]. It factored in the decision that Dumbledore was already dying because of a curse Voldemort placed on the Horcrux ring.

* In ''Literature/{{Firefight}}'' [[spoiler: Megan]] shoots themself rather than be [[spoiler: burned alive]]. In addition to being over a lot faster, [[spoiler: fire]] is their weakness, meaning that it is actually considerably more dangerous. By dying to a bullet instead, [[her ResurrectiveImmortality is able to trigger, while fire would have killed her permanently.]]

* In ''Literature/{{Firefight}}'' [[spoiler: Megan]] shoots herself in the head with a remote trigger mechanism rather than be burned alive. In addition to being over a lot faster, [[spoiler: fire is her weakness; burning would negate her ResurrectiveImmortality and actually kill her.]]

* ''Literature/TheSagaOfTheJomsvikings'': Just as Sigvaldi is turning to flight from the Battle of Hjorung Bay, Bui's ship is boarded and Bui gets both his hands cut off at the wrists by Sigmund Brestisson. With his last strength, Bui picks up his two chests of gold with his arm stumps and jumps overboard while calling on his remaining men to do the same.

* ''Literature/TheSagaOfTheJomsvikings'': When the Jomsviking captain Bui is wounded beyond recovery in the naval Battle of Hjorunga Bay, he jumps overboard to his death.

* In ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', [[BigGood Albus Dumbledore]] has Severus Snape kill him to prevent Draco Malfoy from doing so and to ingratiate himself (Snape) with [[BigBad Voldemort]]. When Snape protests to this plan, Dumbledore points out that he would rather die quickly and painlessly than to fall into the hands of Fenrir Greyback or Bellatrix Lestrange, who [[ColdBloodedTorture like to play with their food]].

* In the Literature/NUMASeries book ''Sahara'', when it looks like the Malians are about to overrun Fort Foreau, Dirk prepares to kill Eva and the rescued women so the enemy doesn't get to rape them. Fortunately, TheCavalry arrives just in time.

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', an unnamed controller scientist decided that he would rather die of Kandrona Starvation than be killed by Visser Three.

-->''"This death...This death is ours. We choose it. We deny you your victory."''