History Main / DieLaughing

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': After Jessie ends up being incapable of restraining her amusement of Haunter's antics when the platform she and the rest of Team Rocket were on and lets go, Meowth comments while she is laughing that she's going to die laughing. Knowing these characters, they survive, albeit at the end of the episode, they [[TakenForGranite are encased in cement]].

* Franchise/{{Batman}}:
** Joker venom is the villain's most iconic weapon, starting with the very first Batman vs. ComicBook/TheJoker story. Victims die laughing with huge unnatural smiles on their faces.

* On ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie'', a man dies this way after several HOURS of nonstop laughter. It turns out, after you have been laughing nonstop for about 20 minutes, you literally cannot stop laughing. Eventually, he dies of a heart attack.
* The Cowboy Android in the self-titled episode of Series/TheAquabatsSuperShow.
* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' has [[spoiler: Lalo Salamanca]] going out in this fashion, probably because he was amused by [[spoiler: Gus Fring's]] literal shot in the dark.

* In the Season 3 finale of ''Series/{{Lucifer|2016}}'', [[spoiler:Cain gives this as he is killed by Lucifer after seeing his devil face return, meaning he has become as bad as him.]]

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. "Plato's Stepchildren" has the crew captured by the usual omnipotent aliens, who try to break their wills by telepathically forcing them through various humiliating actions. This includes making Spock laugh, which [=McCoy=] says will kill him if it goes on too long.

* Inversion: the laughter in the ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' cartoon "It Hurts Only When Theyaughs" ws initiated by Olive, who makes Popeye and Brutus laugh while she's doing the dishes. Had either of them died, it wouldn't have been from laughing but from the fact they were [[PutTheLaughterInSlaughter beating the hell out of each other doing so.]]

* Inversion: the laughter in the ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' cartoon "It Hurts Only When Theyaughs" ws initiated by Olive, who makes Popeye and Brutus laugh while she's doing the dishes. Had either of them died, it wouldn't have been from laughing but from the fact they were [[PutTheLaughterInaughtef beatng the hell out of each other doing so.]]

* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'': All but one of the weasels die laughing and become ghosts, just like Judge Doom warned them they would. (It is implied that this was a family ailment, as it also happened to their "idiot cousins", as Doom described them.)

* In ''WebAnimation/FinalFantasyVIIMachinabridged'', Biggs gives Cloud a message for Jessie (he thought her voice was hot [[spoiler:because it sounded like she was blowing him]]), which he gives her; she does this when she hears it (she found it funny [[spoiler:that he thought his dick was that big]]). Cloud laughs along with her, only to realize that she's gone before long.
** This is how Hojo goes out after Vincent sics Chaos on him in his Helletic form, dying the way he lived: an abominable mad man.

* Cornell Woolrich's story "The Screaming Laugh" has this. [[spoiler: Turns out you ''can'' kill someone by * In one of Cordwainer Smith's novels, at the age of 16 children are tested. If they pass, they are free to live out their lives. If they fail, they can be "regressed", apparently physically as well as mentally, up to three times, at the discretion of the testers. Individuals who fail the test and the testers decline to regress, or who fail for the fourth time, are sent into a room with other failed individuals where they laugh themselves to death.

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' has [[spoiler: Lalo Salamanca]] going out in this fashion, probably because he was amused by [[spoiler: Gus Fring's]] literal shot in the dark.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', if you're leveled up enough (or willing to pull an ISurrenderSuckers) to OneHitKill the WakeUpCallBoss, they'll die this way.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "''Scott Tenorman Must Die''", Kenny laughed himself to death after seeing Cartman's video. Like ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'', Kenny's spirit came out of his body, still laughing (shown in later broadcasts).

* In ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeDawnOfTheDinosaurs'', this is the fate of any who breathes in the gas in the Chasm of Death, though the furry heroes are saved by Ellie before they actually, you know, [[NeverSayDie die]].

* In ''Machinima/FinalFantasyVIIMachinabridged'', Biggs gives Cloud a message for Jessie (he thought her voice was hot [[spoiler:because it sounded like she was blowing him]]), which he gives her; she does this when she hears it (she found it funny [[spoiler:that he thought his dick was that big]]). Cloud laughs along with her, only to realize that she's gone before long.

* Legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker died young, suffering from a lot of health issues, which led to him dying laughing while watching a juggling act on television.

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' has [[spoiler: Lalo Salamanca]] going out in this fashion, probably because he was amused by [spoiler: Gus Fring's]] literal shot in the dark.

* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': The Peckster was a MonsterOfTheWeek that could easily be taken as WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker UpToEleven. [[TheHyena He spends the entirety of his fight]] [[LaughingMad laughing like mad]], so of course he gives one last laugh when the Megazord finishes him off.

* Laughing gas was used as a weapon in ''Film/TheRadiolandMurders''.

* Joker venom is non-fatal in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''[[labelnote:*]]The creators of the series used The Joker's laughing gas a lot, explaining they had to fall back on something since the censors wouldn't let him shoot anyone. When they saw how the gas instead either left the victims frozen in place or laughing non-stop with their faces twisted into sick, frightening grins, they admitted, "Yeah, that's actually ''[[FateWorseThanDeath worse]]''."[[/labelnote]], but in both ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' and the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' three-parter "World's Finest", the Joker finds his own [[JokerImmunity supposedly certain]] death to be uproariously funny. Ironically, he doesn't laugh at all when he met his true end in the flashback in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'', leading to his last words:

* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Rena dies laughing in the BigBad's face during one arc.

* ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganronpaAnother2'': According to Monocrow, [[EvilTwin Kanade Otonokoji]] died laughing as she was hanged to death.
* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' EP 4, during "The Sweet World of Witches" segment, Rosa laughs as MARIA repeatedly kills her.

* In ''Literature/TheUnderlandChronicles'', a certain type of carnivorous plant in the Vineyard of Eyes emits a [[ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin euphoric gas]] that makes you laugh at ''everything'', rendering you helpless to the attacking vines.
TickleTorture.]]

* The Joker laughs hysterically when the title character of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' prevents his escaping a massive explosion. He survives, thanks to JokerImmunity, but at the moment it didn't seem like he had any means to get out alive. That's because ''that'' one was TakingYouWithMe ComedicSociopathy.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AChristmasCarol2009'', the Ghost of Christmas Present [[spoiler: dies by dissolving into a skeleton as midnight strikes. He continues to laugh when he is a skeleton, but dies quickly after.]]

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* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'':
** [[spoiler:Jougan and Balinbow]] make a HeroicSacrifice to save Gimmy and Darry, then they die laughing in the face of death... and take out an Anti-Spiral fleet with their death.
** [[spoiler:Kittan]] dies laughing about his new found Spiral power.
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Rena dies laughing in the BigBad's face during one arc.
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': When Shishio spontaneously combusts from his extreme body temperature, he dies, burning in flames, laughing to the end.
* In ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', the Captain dies laughing (which Seras described "like a child") when he is killed by Pip.

* After [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Jessie]] ends up being incapable of restraining her amusement of Haunter's antics when the platform she and the rest of Team Rocket were on and lets go, Meowth comments while she is laughing that she's going to die laughing. Knowing these characters, they survive, albeit at the end of the episode, they [[TakenForGranite are encased in cement]].
* [[StarterVillain Devimon]] in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'', after mocking what he thought was Angemon's SenselessSacrifice, manages one last EvilLaugh before he's gone.
* "The Ghosts of Golden Time" from ''Manga/VoicesInTheDark'' is about a pair of dreadfully unfunny comedians who somehow get their audiences to roll in the aisles with laughter. When challenged by competition or those who know their secret, they keep their victims laughing until they die.

* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'': Although his face can't be seen because of his helmet, Mu La Flaga laughs during his HeroicSacrifice at the end of ''Gundam SEED'' [[spoiler:(although it turns out in ''Gundam SEED Destiny'' to have been a DisneyDeath)]].

* In ''Manga/AliveTheFinalEvolution'', victims of the 'suicide virus' gleefully kill themselves, sometimes relenting long enough to do something important to them or encourage others to do the same. Those who are infected with the virus but have yet to succumb to it, and witness the suicides aren't sure whether to be terrified or be jealous.
* In ''Anime/ExcelSaga'', an unnamed old lady in episode 4 dies this way, sharing a laugh with Sumiyoshi before abruptly falling face down on the table.

* In ''ComicBook/SinCity'', when Marv learns that his foe is Cardinal Roark, he realizes that it's going to kill him, whether he takes down Roark or not. Marv decides to press on: "Hell, dying will be nothing. I'll die laughing if I know I've done this one thing right." [[spoiler:And so he does.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeDawnOfTheDinosaurs'', this is the fate of any who breathes in the gas in the Chasm of Death, though the furry heroes are saved by Ellie before they actually, you know, [[NeverSayDie die]].
-->'''Ellie:''' They're just laughing. What's so bad about that?\\
'''Buck:''' ''(pointing at dinosaur skeletons)'' They ''died'' laughing!
* In ''WesternAnimation/AChristmasCarol2009'', the Ghost of Christmas Present [[spoiler: dies by dissolving into a skeleton as midnight strikes. He continues to laugh when he is a skeleton, but dies quickly after.]]

* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'': All but one of the weasels die laughing and become ghosts, just like Judge Doom warned them they would. (It is implied that this was a family ailment, as it also happened to their "idiot cousins", as Doom described them.)
-->'''Smart Ass:''' Stop that laughin'! You know what happens when you can't stop laughin'?! [hits Psycho and Greasy with a plunger and then throws it at Stupid] One of these days, you're gonna ''die'' laughin'.
** And of course, one final warning by Judge Doom, which itself ''[[NiceJobFixingItVillain inspires]]'' the method Eddie uses to finish the weasels off:
--->'''Judge Doom:''' ONE OF THESE DAYS, YOU IDIOTS ARE GONNA LAUGH YOURSELVES TO DEATH!
* Laughing gas was used as a weapon in ''Film/TheRadiolandMurders''.
* In ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', Vizzini drinks poisoned wine and then laughs maniacally, [[PoisonedChaliceSwitcheroo thinking he'd outsmarted Westley]]. [[KilledMidSentence He literally keels over mid-laugh]].
* In ''Film/MaryPoppins'', the grumpy old banker Mr. Dawes Sr. dies laughing [[LateToThePunchline when he finally gets Mr. Banks' joke]].

* El Guapo in the ''Film/ThreeAmigos''; after being tricked by the locals and fatally injured, he takes advantage of the heroes' nonchalance and shoots one of them [[EvilIsPetty in the foot]]. "That was a good trick too. Hahaha....."

* In ''Film/{{Predator}}'', the mortally wounded alien, rather than die from bleeding out, sets a suicide bomb and begins laughing maniacally.
* Jack Vincennes does this in ''Film/LAConfidential'', after using his carefully chosen last words to set up a trap for the man who killed him.

* John Geiger laughs after his plane crashes onto an oil tanker before exploding in the climax of ''Film/Speed2CruiseControl''.
* ''Film/TheAceOfHearts'': Farallone is part of a terrorist group, which has decided to kill Forrest and Lilith, defectors from the group. Farallone, determined to save Lilith, sneaks a bomb into his lap and activates it. While the bomb is ticking down the men of the brotherhood draw cards to see who will kill Farallone and Lilith. Farallone gets the job. He bursts out laughing, and he's still cackling with glee when the bomb goes off and kills all of them.
* ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'' has fugitive arms dealer Ulysses Klaue betrayed and fatally shot by his partner in crime Erik Stevens, who [[FakeNationality reveals himself to be a Wakandan]]. Klaue, ever the GigglingVillain, dies chortling over his own mistake.
--> '''Klaue''': [[{{Touche}} Ah, and to think I saw you as some crazy American...]]
* In ''Film/TheDeathOfStalin'', UsefulNotes/JosephStalin himself [[ActuallyPrettyFunny laughs heartily]] at a note accusing him of terrible crimes, then suddenly keels over of a stroke.
* ''Film/DonnieDarko'' dies at the end while laughing hysterically, presumably out of relief that he has fulfilled his role as the Living Receiver.

* In ''Film/DoctorSleep'', Snakebite Andi cackles psychotically after [[spoiler: forcing Billy to kill himself]] while she [[spoiler: disintegrates to death.]]

* The werewolf Gmork in ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'' is starving to death. Atreyu finds him and the two have a long winding conversation, neither realizing that they should be trying to kill each other. When Atreyu tells Gmork who he is, the werewolf laughs hauntingly and dies.
* In ''Literature/OliverAndTheSeawigs'', [[spoiler:the Thurlstone gets tickled from the inside, causing him to laugh so hard his body crumbles]].

* Prak, near the end of ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', tells "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" about the entire universe, and drives everyone who hears it mad. Prak himself dies after several days of uncontrollable laughter upon meeting Arthur Dent: he apparently found the "truth" about Arthur fatally hilarious.
* In ''Literature/{{Holes}}'', Katherine "Kissin' Kate" Barlow was found by her old enemy Charles "Trout" Walker, [[ImpoverishedPatrician who had become destitute]] when a drought gripped the lake town his family owned. He and his wife Linda try to torture Kate for information on where she hid her loot, as she'd robbed several banks during her tenure as an outlaw and they're very desperate. Before they can do anything to her, however, a Yellow Spotted Lizard bites her on the ankle, which is an automatic death sentence. As "there was nothing more they could do to her now", Trout and Linda demand the answer before she dies and Kate simply tells them to "start digging" and dies laughing at them.

* In ''Literature/TheUnderlandChronicles'', a certain type of carnivorous plant in the Vineyard of Eyes emits a [[ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin euphoric gas]] that makes you laugh at ''everything'', rendering you helpless to the attacking vines.

* ''Literature/HobsonsIsland'' has a pack of bio-weapon monkeys brought to the island that do this to people who touch them. [[spoiler:Everyone on the island falls victim to them. Only one guy survives.]] He goes insane, as it happened it the middle of his comedy show and he believes that he is responsible.
* Near the end of ''[[Literature/GarrettPI Cold Copper Tears]]'', Morley throws a stolen potion at one of the armored attackers. After a moment's exposure, the attacker starts laughing too much to fight; Crask takes the opportunity to kill him, only to start giggling himself from secondary exposure to the potion.

* At the end of the first chapter of ''Literature/BrothersOfTheSnake'', one of the dark eldar raiders killed by Priad and Antoni on Baal Solock has the last laugh after realising that [[spoiler: the plan to lure a WAAAGH! using an Ork relic will succeed, despite the entire raiding party being wiped out.]]
* Cornell Woolrich's story "The Screaming Laugh" has this. [[spoiler: Turns out you ''can'' kill someone by TickleTorture.]]
* In one of Cordwainer Smith's novels, at the age of 16 children are tested. If they pass, they are free to live out their lives. If they fail, they can be "regressed", apparently physically as well as mentally, up to three times, at the discretion of the testers. Individuals who fail the test and the testers decline to regress, or who fail for the fourth time, are sent into a room with other failed individuals where they laugh themselves to death.

* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'': This is the fate of whoever reads or hears the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gpjk_MaCGM Funniest Joke In The World,]] so lethal that it was translated into German and used as a weapon in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* On ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie'', a man dies this way after several HOURS of nonstop laughter. It turns out, after you have been laughing nonstop for about 20 minutes, you literally cannot stop laughing. Eventually, he dies of a heart attack.
* The Cowboy Android in the self-titled episode of Series/TheAquabatsSuperShow.
* Akumaro in ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger''. As he was already a HellSeeker, his reaction to being ''vertically bisected'' by a skyscraper-sized {{BFS}} is to laugh with delight at the pain.

* The Body-Of-The-Week in one episode of ''Series/SixFeetUnder'' is a teenage girl who dies laughing. She and her friends have a slumber party and play a phone prank. They're laughing about it when the girl falls backwards off the bed and hits the floor head-first, dying instantly. Rico, the restorative artist, can't get the goofy grin off her face, and he scoffs: "I wish I knew what the fuck was so funny."
* In Episode 5 of ''Series/Loki2021'', [[spoiler:Classic Loki]], having exhausted all his power trying to help Loki and Sylvie, bellows out a loud, defiant laugh moments before he gets devoured by [[spoiler:Alioth]].

* ''VideoGame/SilentHill4'': Jasper laughing hysterically as he burns alive, glad to have met "the Devil", followed by carving 17/21 into his own chest with a candlestick right before he dies.
* Father Grigori does this in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' if you allow him to be killed.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', [[spoiler:while Ghirahim is violently converted back to his master Demise's sword, he laughs maniacally, then falls limp when Demise pulls his sword out of Ghirahim's body. It's debatable whether this is an actual "death", but it meets most qualifications.]]
** [[spoiler:His master, Demise, also laughed as he disappears as he cursed Link and Zelda that his incarnation of his hatred return and cause problems in the future]]

* Another Joker example is in ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', where an alternate universe version of the Joker dies laughing as [[TheBadGuyWins he]] [[PayEvilUntoEvil gets]] [[FallenHero exactly]] [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis what]] [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope he]] [[BewareTheSuperman wanted]].
* Boc in ''VideoGame/JediKnightDarkForcesII'' is already a loony who laughs all the time, so it's only fitting that he'll keep on laughing until he chokes when you strike him down.
* In one of the cut endings of ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', this is how [[spoiler: Atton dies, after fighting a futile battle against Darth Sion.]] The audio still exists in the game file, and it may be... [[TearJerker worth listening to.]]

* [[spoiler:Sebastian [=LaCroix=]]] in ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' dies laughing in the Anarch and Independent endings [[spoiler:if you hand him the sarcophagus key]]. The absurdity of the situation and the last-minute knowledge that he's been the UnwittingPawn probably had something to do with it. To clarify, he dies laughing because [[spoiler: he thought the sarcophagus had the corpse of an ancient vampire in it whose powers he could then steal, but it turns out that instead it's been rigged with explosives. Explosives that are ''about to go off in his face''.]]

* Completing ''Real Bout'' ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' as either of the Bogard brothers (Terry or Andy) has them inadvertently [[DisneyVillainDeath knock Geese Howard off the balcony of his tower]]. He refuses their attempt to SaveTheVillain and goes out laughing in their face as he plummets towards the pavement.
* The FinalBoss of ''Gunhound EX'' goes out like this.
* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'': The Ancestor implies this about the Jester whenever you recruit one.
-->'''Ancestor:''' He will be laughing still, at the end.

* ''Videogame/NeverwinterNights'': The [[AxCrazy Manic Psychotic]] voiceset, who's already LaughingMad as it is. Surprisingly enough, it takes the usually hilariously hammy screaming into slightly creepy territory.
* The way to deal with the final boss in ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory4'' -- tell him The Ultimate Joke and knock him off the ledge with rock/dagger/spell while he is laughing.
* In ''VideoGame/Persona3'', [[spoiler:Shuji Ikutsuki]] keeps laughing as he bleeds out from a bullet to the gut, and even manages to croak out one final chuckle before toppling off the edge of the Gekkoukan High observatory.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': Zelos, if you kill him. When you strike the final blow in the boss battle, he laughs and keeps chuckling all through his dying cutscene. Considering he's a DeathSeeker, it makes a lot of horrible sense.
[[/folder]]

* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' EP 4, during "The Sweet World of Witches" segment, Rosa laughs as MARIA repeatedly kills her.
* [[spoiler: Tony Redwood's]] final moments in ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'', [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled when he decides to throw himself off the stairway]] [[DisneyVillainDeath to his death]].

* Nutty from ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' usually laughs insanely as he dies.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' episode "A Party For Tarzan", Henchman 21 recalls when a previous archenemy of The Monarch suddenly died of ''happiness'' right in front of him. 21 also mentions that this also happened to two teenagers, who also died of "happiness" after they managed to get a high score on an arcade game.

* Joker venom is non-fatal in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''[[labelnote:*]]The creators of the series used The Joker's laughing gas a lot, explaining they had to fall back on something since the censors wouldn't let him shoot anyone. When they saw how the gas instead either left the victims frozen in place or laughing non-stop with their faces twisted into sick, frightening grins, they admitted, "Yeah, that's actually ''[[FateWorseThanDeath worse]]''."[[/labelnote]], but in both ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' and the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' three-parter "World's Finest", the Joker finds his own [[JokerImmunity supposedly certain]] death to be uproariously funny. Ironically, he doesn't laugh at all when he met his true end in the flashback in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'', leading to his last words:
--> ''That's not funny. That's not...''
* "Die Laughing" was the title of a ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' episode. In it, Baron Greenback sends the leaders of the world into fits of laughter with a gas treated with a laugh-inducing micro-organism.

Compare DyingSmirk, GoOutWithASmile and ComfortTheDying. Contrast LaughThemselvesSick, which doesn't (usually) involve any actual injury.

* In ''WesternAnimation/IceAge3DawnOfTheDinosaurs'', this is the fate of any who breathes in the gas in the Chasm of Death, though the furry heroes are saved by Ellie before they actually, you know, [[NeverSayDie die]].

* In ''Webcomic/TheKamics'' this was a side effect of using the [[http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_KAMics/4806540/ Swiss Army Sword.]]