History Main / NearDeathExperience

* In ''Fanfic/MischiefInMusutafuAndOtherSuchTales'', when Katsuki Bakugou is captured by the Slime Villain, neither Izuku nor All Might arrive to save him, so he ends up chocked by the villain for far, ''far'' longer. Death Arms onlymanages to save him after tapping into hysterical strength, and Katsuki ends up hospitalized. This, along with the news that Izuku did not make it home the day after he told him to jump off a roof (he didn't, he was dissociating for a few hours), makes him have a JerkassRealization and he TookALevelInKindness afterwards.

'''As this is a DeathTrope, expect unmarked spoilers!'''

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonMonsterX San and Vivienne Graham]] seem to have one, before Mothra revives them during their encounter in Chapter 7, similar to Madison's in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019''. [[spoiler:Darker yet, it's suggested that San has an NDE after his head is ripped off of Vivienne and almost SwallowedWhole before an electric jolt from Vivienne restores his head to consciousness]].

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': The film hints that [[Characters/MonsterVerseMadisonRussell Madison Russell]] has one when she's [[spoiler:buried under debris while hiding in her house's bathtub]]. The film {{novelization}} outright confirms it, stating that Madison saw [[spoiler:a vision of Mothra in her NDE and hinting that the real Mothra's intervention via PsychicLink is responsible for resuscitating her]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': [[spoiler: In Season 1 Finale, [[Characters/AmphibiaSashaWaybright Sasha Waybright]] let herself fall from the crumbling tower, so she wouldn’t drag Anne with her. Fortunately, Grime manages to catch her in mid fall and saves her life at the last moment.]]

** In the episode "Death Lives", Peter ends up struck by lightning, which knocks him out into a spirit form and immediately encountering [[TheGrimReaper Death]], though it's quickly established that he's merely experiencing one of these, though according to Death, [[YourDaysAreNumbered he will die for real shortly after his wife divorces him some time in the future]]. As Peter's presently in the middle of a marital crisis, he takes the opportunity to do some soul-searching with Death to figure out how to salvage their relationship.
** The three-episode story arc, "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story", [[EnfantTerrible Stewie]] ends up in one after one of his schemes goes wrong and he's crushed by a lifeguard chair, explicitly ending up in {{Hell}} for his troubles before he snaps back awake. After facing struggles in trying to be good to avoid such a fate again, several shenanigans lead to him to encountering [[MyFutureSelfAndMe his future self]], who as a result of the extended trauma of the incident [[FutureLoser turned him into an unambitious loser living a safe, but uneventful life]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Bart has one in "Bart Gets Hit by a Car" when he [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin gets hit by a car.]] In a weird variation, he goes to Hell, and ''the Devil'' is the one who tells him ItIsNotYourTime, saying he isn't supposed to be here until the Yankees win the World Series, which he claimed wouldn't happen for 100 years. (Of course, [[HilariousInHindsight it actually happened in 1996...]] Call customer support, Old Nick.)
* Mr. Krabs experiences one in ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' for the episode "Born Again Krabs". When the restaurant folds due to Krabs refusing to sell any new food until an old and moldy Krabby Patty is given (and naturally, no one will eat it), he [[TooDumbToLive eats it himself]] and winds up in the hospital. The "Near Death" part comes from the Flying Dutchman stopping by to claim his soul for being a cheapskate, so Krabs promises to change his ways. Then he goes too far the other way and has a very violent SnapBack that causes the Dutchman to come back for his due.

* ''Manga/DragonQuestTheAdventureOfDai'' has a borderline example - Dai doesn't almost die, but he does dream of his dead parents with the usual tropes of happy and peaceful afterlife environment, but choosing to go back to fulfill his responsibilities.

* In ''Manga/BlackClover'', it's stated that intense wishes or determination can grant power in a crisis. This is seen with characters learning new spells representative of their CharacterDevelopment in dangerous situations. Gauche gains the power to duplicate others when he learns to trust Asta when they fight the transformed Baro; Noelle learns the offensive Sea Dragon's Roar when she and her friends are threatened by Vetto; an angry Charmy manifests her power to eat magic when she's nearly killed by Lira, after he rejected her offering of food.

--> '''Olive:''' Otto...we nearly drowned a minute ago. It was terrifying. I thought for sure we were going to die. Do you realize that?
--> '''Otto:''' Yeah, I do. I was scared, too. I almost panicked and couldn't hardly focus. It was all I could do to think to use the Freeze-Ray-inator. If I hadn't...

--> '''Olive:''' Oscar...I almost died. Again.
--> '''Oscar:''' ''[thinking] Really? She didn't tell me this. [normal]'' W-what happened?
--> '''Olive:''' The last thing on my to-do list yesterday was to go skydiving. But I skipped the part where I should've put on a parachute. If Otto hadn't gotten the jetpack and came after me...I would've fallen to my death...

->Calling all comas,
->Prisoner on the loose
->Description:
->A spitting image of me
->Except for a heart-shaped hole where the hope runs out
->[[UsefulNotes/{{Defibrillators}} Shock me awake]]
->Tear me apart
->Pinned like a note in a hospital gown
->Prison of sleep
->Deepened now
->A rabbit hole never to be found
->Again

->[[AndIMustScream I can hear everything around me and feel as though I'm trying to shout out but nothing is coming out.]] They say when you die your hearing is the last thing to go and that's been my experience. [[SubvertedTrope There is definitely no bright light.]] [[CessationOfExistence Everything just goes black.]]

* ''Series/TheFall'': Spector appears to undergo one after being shot.

%% * Big Bob Pataki, ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', "Big Bob's Crisis", which plays out as a FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome.
* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'':
** In "[[Recap/RockosModernLifeS1E11PowerTripToHeckAndBack To Heck and Back]]", Heffer has one after choking on a chicken bone, where he is sent to Heck for gluttony, and Peaches shows him a montage of the times his gluttony hurt his family and friends, especially Rocko.
** Rocko's ''car'' has one of these in "Manic Mechanic", complete with encountering the Grim Tow Truck and meeting St. Peterbilt at the Pearly Garage Door.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Bart has one in "Bart Gets Hit by a Car" when he [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin gets hit by a car.]] In a weird variation, he goes to Hell, and ''the Devil'' is the one who tells him ItIsNotYourTime, saying he isn't supposed to be here until the Yankees win the World Series, which he claimed wouldn't happen for 100 years. (Of course, [[HilariousInHindsight it actually happened in 1996...]] Call customer support, Old Nick.)

* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall:'' Greg's dream adventure in [[FluffyCloudHeaven Cloud City]] as [[SnowMeansDeath the temperatures slowly drop]] in "Babes in the Woods" can be read as an in-story example of this trope; more vitally, [[spoiler: Wirt and Greg are drowning in real-time, making the entire series a near-death experience]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Dilbert}}'' animated series has an entire episode revolving around this. Dilbert gets hit in the head in a gas station parking lot and winds up seeing the afterlife, which, much to his chagrin, turns out to be an office cubicle in the middle of a white void. He receives a second head injury near the climax of the episode, where he finds that ''Wally'' is now in a cubicle next to his (in accordance with the beliefs of the Wallyites, a cult who had established a religion based on Wally due to a series of events during the episode).

** What's especially notable about this is that many users of the powerful disassociative anaesthetic report experiences that are almost ''exactly the same'' as those of [[=NDEs=]], further suggesting that this may be simply a common type of hallucination. For this reason, ketamine use has been referred to as 'voluntary death'.

* In the 4th novel of ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', [[spoiler:Kyon experiences this]]. In his own words: "Damn it, [[ThisIsGonnaSuck I'm about to die]]."

* A woman named Sara Brautigam [[UpToEleven suffered]] ''[[UpToEleven thirty-six]]'' [[UpToEleven in one single year]], due to a rare heart condition called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. She described the experience of 'dying' and being revived..pretty [[TheNothingAfterDeath differently]] to many other witnesses:
->[[AndIMustScream I can hear everything around me and feel as though I'm trying to shout out but nothing is coming out.]] They say when you die your hearing is the last thing to go and that's been my experience. [[SubvertedTrope There is definitely no bright light.]][[CessationOfExistence Everything just goes black.]]

* [[Music/Kyuss Josh]] [[Music/QueensOfTheStoneAge Homme]] suffered one of these in 2010; his heart stopped and he was effectively 'dead' for several minutes. Unlike many N.D.E.s, it's clear from how he talks about it that this was ''[[NightmareFuel not]]'' [[NightmareFuel a pleasant experience for him]]. The traumatic nature of this event, and its mental after effects, was a heavy influence on the band's next album, ''[[DarkerAndEdgier ...Like Clockwork]]'', particularly the [[TearJerker harrowing]] final song, ''I Appear Missing'':

* [[Music/Kyuss Josh]] [[Music/QueensOfTheStoneAge Homme]] suffered one of these in 2010; his heart stopped and he was effectively 'dead' for several minutes. Unlike many NDEs, it's clear from how he talks about it that this was ''[NightmareFuel not]]'' [[NightmareFuel a pleasant experience for him]]. The traumatic nature of this event, and its mental after effects, was a heavy influence on the band's next album, ''[[DarkerAndEdgier ...Like Clockwork]]'', particularly the [[TearJerker harrowing]] final song, ''I Appear Missing'':

* [[Music/Kyuss Josh]] [[Music/QueensOfTheStoneAge Homme]] suffered one of these in 2010; his heart stopped and he was effectively 'dead' for several minutes. Unlike many NDEs, it's clear from how he talks about it that this was [[NightmareFuel ''not'' a pleasant experience for him]]. The traumatic nature of this event, and its mental after effects, was a heavy influence on the band's next album, ''[[DarkerAndEdgier ...Like Clockwork]]'', particularly the [[TearJerker harrowing]] final song, ''I Appear Missing'':

-[[UsefulNotes/{{Defibrillators}}]]
Shock me awake]]

* [[Music/Kyuss Josh]] [[Music/QueensOfTheStoneAge Homme]] suffered one of these in 2010; his heart stopped and he was effectively 'dead' for several minutes. Unlike many NDEs, it's clear from how he talks about it that this was [[NightmareFuel''not'' a pleasant experience for him]]. The traumatic nature of this event, and its mental after effects, was a heavy influence on the band's next album, [[DarkerAndEdgier''...Like Clockwork'']], particularly the [[TearJerker harrowing]] final song, ''I Appear Missing'':

->[[UsefulNotes/{{Defriberellators Shock me awake]]

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': [[TwoBeingsOneBody San and Vivienne Graham]] seem to have one, before Mothra revives them during their encounter in Chapter 7, similar to Madison's in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019''. [[spoiler:Darker yet, it's suggested that San has an NDE after his head is ripped off of Vivienne and almost SwallowedWhole before an electric jolt from Vivienne restores his head to consciousness]].

* Tony Stark has a few of these across the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse''. First in ''Film/IronMan1'' which puts the shrapnel in his bloodstream, necessitating implanting the ARC Reactor that allows him to become Iron Man. Then again in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' when [[spoiler:he flies through the wormhole that the Chitauri are pouring out of with the nuclear warhead that Fury’s superiors launched at New York, almost suffocating before freefalling back through the portal. Fortunately Hulk caught him on the other side.]]

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': The film hints that [[Characters/MonsterVerseFamilies Madison Russell]] has one when she's [[spoiler:buried under debris while hiding in her house's bathtub]]. The film {{novelization}} outright confirms it, stating that Madison saw [[spoiler:a vision of Mothra in her NDE and hinting that the real Mothra's intervention via PsychicLink is responsible for resuscitating her]].

* The main character in ''Film/{{Fearless|1993}}'' survives a plane crash which radically changes his outlook on life.
* In the climax of ''Film/{{Pi}}'', Max experiences his greatest migraine attack so far. As he goes mad from the pain, he suddenly finds himself in a white void and recites the numerical designation of God's name which [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow he was never supposed to discover]]. His neighbor begs him to come back and comforts him in her arms when he is resuscitated. [[spoiler:Then it turns out that he was hallucinating all of it and is truly alone.]]