History Main / DefiantToTheEnd

* Creator/FranciscoDeGoya: His [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:El_Tres_de_Mayo,_by_Francisco_de_Goya,_from_Prado_thin_black_margin.jpg famous paiting]] ''Art/TheThirdOfMay1808'' certainly has elements of it, as well as a certain martyrism. And the pose of the man to be shot? DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything?

!!Warning: As this is often a DeathTrope, expect spoilers.

** “[[HeroicSacrifice Cadia stands”]]

Someone has been captured and defeated. What do they do, cooperate with their captor or [[AintTooProudToBeg beg to be spared?]]

A trope commonly associated with people characterised by [[{{Determinator}} unending determination and resistance]]. Compare HannibalLecture, where the one in the powerless position interrogates their interrogator, HeroicSpirit, IShallTauntYou, DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu, YouCannotKillAnIdea. A LastStand is a military version of this trope, where the heroes and maybe a friendly army will fight against the enemy in a battle they know they can't win. VillainousValor is a similar trope, but with the villain being defiant to the end while SoreLoser is arguably a much less pleasant version of this. The polar opposite of AintTooProudToBeg and VillainsWantMercy. Contrast with ScrewYourUltimatum, where the defiance comes before the fight and where the outcome is still in doubt. See also DefiantStoneThrow, DoNotGoGentle, DyingCurse, and DyingDeclarationOfHate. And, if it really is the end for the character, it may be capped with a FacingTheBulletsOneLiner.

** Eventually she was locked up and isolated. But even then, she refused conversion, [[HonorBeforeReason even when other Jewish leaders were begging her to convert]], but she was beheaded as an apostate. The Muslims themselves were also hesitant to kill her and gave her several chances too - the governor allegedly instructed the executor to strike her lightly first in hopes that seeing her own blood would frighten her into accepting conversion. She earned the nickname "The Righteous Sol".

* In ''WebVideo/{{AFK}}'', Steven, when he is about to be [[spoiler: executed by the Devil's Cheerleaders on Clint's orders. When asked if he has any last words, Steven responds by calmly directing a stream of expletives at Clint.]] This is also counts as a [[spoiler: FacingTheBulletsOneLiner]].

* ''WebVideo/PiratesSMP'': After being taken captive by the Hooded Figures for HumanSacrifice on Day 125, [[spoiler:Bek]] spends their time at Iris' palace killing their two captors and attempting to kill [[BigBad Iris]] on sight before [[DoNotTaughtCthulhu being killed themself]].

* In ''{{WebVideo/AFK}}'', Steven, when he is about to be [[spoiler: executed by the Devil's Cheerleaders on Clint's orders. When asked if he has any last words, Steven responds by calmly directing a stream of expletives at Clint.]] This is also counts as a [[spoiler: FacingTheBulletsOneLiner]].

* In ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'' ''Entry #67,'' [[spoiler:Alex]] finds himself lying on the ground, tied to a chair and on the business end of a RoaringRampageOfRevenge from [[spoiler:Masky]]. Once the beating ends, [[spoiler:Hoody pulls out Alex's gun and points it at his face. Alex replies with a DeathGlare from the pits of Hell itself]].

Someone has been captured and incapacitated. What do they do, cooperate with their captor or [[AintTooProudToBeg beg to be spared?]]

* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSDfxde8fSg this animation]] by Psychic Pebbles, a nerd types the umpteenth "[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim arrow to the knee]]" joke into a Website/YouTube comment, and the Dragonborn pops out of his monitor, [[{{Irony}} kneecaps him]], and [[SuperScream Fus Ro Dah]]s him, then tells him in [[CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon explicit detail]] how he will kill him if he ever types that joke in again. When the Dragonborn asks the nerd at the end, "Do you understand, ''YOU PUTRID FUCKING '''CUNT'''''?!?", what's the first thing the nerd says? "I used to be a putrid fucking cunt... BUT THEN I TOOK AN ARROW TO [[KilledMidSentence THE--]]"

* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSDfxde8fSg this animation]] by Psychic Pebbles, a nerd types the umpteenth "[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim arrow to the knee]]" joke into a Website/YouTube comment, and the Dragonborn pops out of his monitor, [[{{Irony}} kneecaps him]], and [[MakeMeWannaShout Fus Ro Dah]]s him, then tells him in [[CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon explicit detail]] how he will kill him if he ever types that joke in again. When the Dragonborn asks the nerd at the end, "Do you understand, ''YOU PUTRID FUCKING '''CUNT'''''?!?", what's the first thing the nerd says? "I used to be a putrid fucking cunt... BUT THEN I TOOK AN ARROW TO [[KilledMidSentence THE--]]"

* Subverted during the Russia-Ukraine War of 2022; upon being ordered to surrender by the Russian warship ''Moskva'' during the opening hours of the 2022 Invasion of Ukraine, the defenders of Snake Island replied , "Russian warship, Go [[PrecisionFStrike fuck]] yourself!" The island was captured and the soldiers of Snake Island were initially reported dead but were later found to be alive as [=POWs=].
** Sadly, also played straight in the same war. One harrowing video shows an unarmed Ukrainian POW, captured by the Russians, smoking in the forest at gunpoint. He then looks at his captors, inhales the smoke for the last time and exclaims "Slava Ukraini" (Glory to Ukraine)... after which he gets brutally gunned down.

This can be an important part of the end for the DoomedMoralVictor: if you can't die fighting, you can at least die verbally sparring. Or, [[AntiHero failing that]], die [[YourMom insulting]] [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas the villain's mother]] or [[SpitefulSpit spitting in his face]]. They may be down, and they may be out, but they'll still lose with dignity.

* During the final days of WorldWarI, the Ottoman Empire was visibly on the ropes, but the Turks never forgot that they were a conquering people with a glorious history. The Turkish commander of the city of Aleppo responded to a British demand for surrender as follows: "The commander of the Ottoman garrison of Aleppo does not find it necessary to reply to your note."

** During the Night of the Long Knives, a 1934 Nazi purge to eliminate those viewed as obstacles of the new regime, SA leader Ernst Röhm was given the opportunity to kill himself in custody. His response was to declare that if Hitler wanted him dead, he could do it himself. After he said this, his guards left, and when they returned, they saw him standing in his cell with his bare chest puffed out.