History Main / LastGraspAtLife

* ComicBook/TheJoker in Tim Burton's ''Film/{{Batman}}'', as he sinks into the AcidPool.

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* Deadpool went out this way when Weapon X restored his failing healing factor, but added a kill switch. Deadpool melted into a pool of goo, except for his hand which was busy flipping everyone the bird.

* The ''Terminator'' scene gets parodied in Lobo comics - while sinking in quick drying cement, Lobo (modified into a robocopesque cyborg at that time) uses his last gesture to give everyone a finger.

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* Two examples in ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'':
** After Jafar traps Jasmine in a giant hourglass, her hand is the last thing to disappear under the sand. {{Subverted}} in that Aladdin immediately breaks open the hourglass and rescues her afterwards.
** Jafar's hand is the last thing to disappear into the lamp, reaching out to take Iago with him. Because if you're going to spend eternity in an oil lamp, you want Gilbert Gottfried in there with you.
* In ''WesternAnimation/FlushedAway'', when Rita's boat, the Jammy Dodger, sinks in a whirlpool, the last thing she sees is its mechanical arm giving a farewell salute.

* SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker in Tim Burton's ''Film/{{Batman}}'', as he sinks into the AcidPool.

* TheStinger of ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' shows Dark Samus' hand reach out of the remains of the titular Metroid Prime. And [[EyesDoNotBelongThere the eye on the back of her hand]] [[EyeOpen opens.]]

* Blood Elf males in VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft perform this for the last frame of their death animation.

** After Jafar traps Jasmine in a giant hourglass, her hand is the last thing to disappear under the sand. {{Subverted}} in that Aladdin immediately breaks open the hourglass and rescues her.

* In ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'', Jafar's hand is the last thing to disappear into the lamp, reaching out to take Iago with him. Because if you're going to spend eternity in an oil lamp, you want Gilbert Gottfried in there with you.

* Used in at least one film rendition of SherlockHolmes's famous story Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles, which takes place in an English moor ''infamous'' for its swamps.
* In [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles TeenageMutant Ninja Turtles II Secret of the Ooze]], Shredder begins the film by reaching his hand out from a pile of garbage. At the end he thrusts his hand out from the ruins of the dock that had just collapsed on him, only to die.

* In [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles TeenageMutant Ninja Turtles II Secret of the Ooze]], Shredder begins the film by reaching his hand out from a pile of garbage. At the end he thrusts his hand out from the ruins of a dock, only to die.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' animation [S]GAME OVER, his hand desperately reaching out is the we see of [[spoiler:Karkat]] as he sinks/is thrown into a LavaPit.

* In Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick, Haley re-kills Crystal by dropping her into a pool of lava, and her reaching hand is the last thing to sink beneath the surface.

* In ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End of Evangelion]]'', [[spoiler: Asuka]] [[GraspTheSun reaches for the sun]] just before [[spoiler:Unit-02 is brutally impaled by the Mass Production Eva Series. [[KudzuPlot Whether or not she actually dies, though, is a little more subjective...]]]]

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* In OrderOfTheStick, Haley re-kills Crystal by dropping her into a pool of lava, and her reaching hand is the last thing to sink beneath the surface.

* In ''EndOfEvangelion'', [[spoiler: Asuka]] reaches for the sun just before [[spoiler: Unit-02 is brutally impaled by the Mass Production Eva Series. [[KudzuPlot Whether or not she actually dies, though, is a little more subjective...]]]]

* This is (supposedly) the origin of the phrase "grasping at straws". It comes from the idea that a drowning person would (if they have no means of rescue and can't swim) try to pull themselves back to the surface by grabbing straws floating on it. A related trope is the old belief that [[HollywoodDrowning a drowning person]] would manage to resurface [[RuleOfThree three times]] before finally succumbing. Hence "going down for the third time" as a way of saying this was the end. Old BugsBunny cartoons would often have a hand coming up from the water displaying 1, 2, 3 on its fingers before going down for the last time.

* This is (supposedly) the origin of the phrase "grasping at straws". It comes from the idea that a drowning person would (if they have no means of rescue and can't swim) try to pull themselves back to the surface by grabbing straws floating on it. A related trope is the old belief that [[HollywoodDrowning a drowning person would manage to resurface three times]] before finally succumbing. Hence "going down for the third time" as a way of saying this was the end. Old BugsBunny cartoons would often have a hand coming up from the water displaying 1, 2, 3 on its fingers before going down for the last time.

* Cyrus Temple in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' dies by falling in a chemical vat, his hand comes up with a controller to launch a nuke on NYC but his plan has been hindered by the boss of the saints.

This is generally, but not exclusively, reserved for villains. It's also by no means a guarantee they've been KilledOffForReal - possibly the hand clawing at life is a symbol of the kind of HeroicWillpower that can bring you BackFromTheDead. The shot is often shown in reverse when someone [[RiseFromYourGrave digs out of their own grave]].

* Subverted in ''{{Franchise/Terminator}} 2'', as Arnie signs off being lowered into the crucible with the thumbs-up taught to him by Connor.

* The last we see of Film/DrNo in the titular James Bond movie is his RobotHand trying to grasp a metal support beam as he drowns in the cooling tank of a nuclear reactor.

* This happens in ''MegaManX Command Mission'' in Chapter 7, when Ferham knocks X into a pit of quicksand. Massimo and Zero both feebly try to get him out, even when X has been completely dragged in and Massimo is close to being dragged in. Ferham continues to whip Zero's back while taunting him until he finally loses footing and falls into the quicksand as well, with his hand being all that is visible as he gets pulled in. [[spoiler:Partially averted, however, in that all of them survive.]]