History Main / SoundOnlyDeath

* ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'' has a scene start with a closed door, gunshots, sword sounds, screams, mayhem...and then Violet comes through the door alone.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Black box recordings recovered from aircraft crash sites often capture the moment of impact and sounds from within the cockpit as this occurs, making them very disturbing to listen to.
* This must happen to 911 (999) operators from time to time.
** Ditto for those working on Suicide Prevention Hotlines.
* Audio has been released of at least one victim of 9/11 who was speaking to 911 when one of the WTC towers he was in collapsed.
* The final transmission of the space shuttle Columbia was cut off in the middle of a word beginning with "bu..." Challenger exploded a second after its commander said "Go with throttle up" but it's unclear whether any sounds from the cockpit were transmitted. It's long been rumoured that black box recordings exist of at least Challenger.
* One of the most disturbing live-TV examples occurred in July 2007 when a TV helicopter covering a police chase in Phoenix collided with another. Viewers heard the reporter in the chopper reacting to something unseen by viewers who then heard the sound of impact and then the man screaming as the transmission quickly cut way back to the studio.
* Environmentalist and grizzly bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell was killed (along with his girlfriend) by one of the very bears he swore to protect in 2003. When park rangers discovered his ruined campsite, they found his video camera, which had managed to record audio of the fatal attack. Creator/WernerHerzog himself was horrified by it when he listened to said audio while filming his Treadwell documentary ''Film/GrizzlyMan'', and recommended strongly that it be destroyed.
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* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'': We don't actually see Bambi's mother getting killed by the hunter. We just hear a gunshot after Bambi runs away, and later his father tells him that his mother "can't be with him anymore". Interestingly, the hunter himself is never shown in the film either.

** In ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeTheMeltdown'', Fast Tony's glyptodon lackey Stu is swimming underwater, breathing through a reed sticking up through the surface like a snorkel, when one of the two defrosted predators pulls him down to his doom. We see the 'snorkel' disappear and hear a pained/frightened scream, then [[NothingIsScarier silence]] for a few moments ... until his completely empty shell resurfaces. It's a surprisingly dark moment for an otherwise LighterAndSofter sequel.

** In ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeTheMeltdown'', Fast Tony's glyptodon lackey Stu is swimming underwater, breathing through a reed sticking up through the surface like a snorkel, when one of the two defrosted predators pulls him down to his doom. We see the 'snorkel' disappear and hear a pained/frightened scream, then [[silence NothingIsScarier]] for a few moments ... until his completely empty shell resurfaces. It's a surprisingly dark moment for an otherwise [[LighterAndSofter]] sequel.

* Both in- and out-of universe in ''Fanfic/FairyTalesAndHokum'', as Jonathan (the point of view character) and Tom are trapped on either side of a wall as pygmy mummies attack Tom and the two Mooks he's with. [[spoiler:It's subverted in Tom's case, as he manages to get away, but we never hear about the other two again.]]

* Lambert's death in the first ''Film/{{Alien}}'' movie as she gets violated by the Alien, heard over the wirecam by Ripley.

* ''Film/JurassicPark'' -- The goat eaten by the T-rex, the hacker eaten by the Dilophosaurus and, most notably, ''anything'' eaten by the Velociraptors, and for good reason- '' they are all eaten alive''.

* In the second season of ''Series/{{Jericho}}'', one episode has Bonnie fighting off a bunch of Ravenwood goons with a shotgun. We see most of the gun battle, but when Goetz walks into the house, perspective cuts to Mimi, who is in the storage closet, slowly bleeding from a gunshot wound. We here three shots- one from Goetz's gun, which we see go through the wall a strike a shelf, one from Bonnie's shotgun, and another from Goetz, which doesn't hit the wall. Cue Mimi's stunned look as she realizes that Goetz had the last shot. We don't find out that Bonnie is dead until the very end of that episode, and we never actually see her get shot.

* ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'' has a scene star with a closed door, gunshots, sword sounds, screams, mayhem...and then Violet comes through the door alone.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. Cally's death in "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS4E1Rescue Rescue]]" is only shown by StuffBlowingUp and her crying out Blake's name. This was because Jan Chappell had decided to leave the series; she rejected the idea of a final episode portraying her death and only agreed to voice record her FamousLastWords.

* ''Film/TheArtOfWar'' (2000). Shaw's partner dies this way, shot over the radio as Shaw attempts to run down an assassin. [[spoiler: He's TheMole FakingTheDead, and in fact, turns out to be the assassin Shaw was chasing.]]]

* ''Film/TheArtOfWar'' (2000). Shaw's partner dies this way, shot over the radio as Shaw attempts to run down an assassin. He's TheMole FakingTheDead, and in fact, turns out to be the assassin Shaw was chasing.

* ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'': Edwina being slain for food once she stops laying eggs. We see Mrs. Tweedy ([[ShadowDiscretionShot in silhouette) priming and then raising her axe, but then cut away to the other chickens; the muted "thunk" of the blade's chop says it all.

* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'': At the climax, Manny knocks the evil saber Soto to a rock wall, the impact knocking loose sharp icicles. We see Soto's final moments as he [[OhCrap looks up in horror at the icicles coming loose and falling toward him]], then we cut to his hench-sabers cringing as a sickening stabbing sound is heard.
* ''Film/OliverAndCompany'': Unlike Roscoe, [=DeSoto=] isn't actually seen being electrocuted. He falls off the car and we hear him yelping and being electrocuted.

* After the [[FreezeFrameEnding frame freezes]] on the titular heroes of ''Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid'' as they run out of their hiding place, guns blazing away from either hand as they confront ''legions'' of [[BolivianCavalryEnding Bolivian cavalry]], the sound continues, with the cavalry's voluminous gunfire quickly fading away into the end credits.

'''As a DeathTrope, all spoilers will be unmarked. You have been warned.'''

* Archie's ''Comicbook/SonicTheHedgehog'' has one in the milestone issue #225; Sonic and Sally infiltrate the newly-built Death Egg Mark II, where they are then immediately confronted by Silver Sonic Mark II. Sonic decides to fight. However, Sally runs down a corridor to trace Eggman's intercom signal, where she encounters a giant gun turret that pops out of the wall. Sonic, while still fighting Silver Sonic, hears 3 sickening loud blasts (Possibly made worse by the art detailing in the onomatopoeia of the blasts.) from outside the corridor. The only thing we see afterwards of Sally is her shattered goggles and a silhouette on the floor of her lifeless hand, as Mobius reboots itself. She's not dead...but then gets roboticized.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'', as Jesse approaches the Director's Office, a gunshot rings out from within. She rushes inside to find Trench's corpse and a gun next to his hand.

->'''Jessica:''' I didn't see it. I heard them. [[TheSwarm Hordes of them.]]

->'''Jessica:''' [[TheyLookLikeUsNow Children.]] [[KillerRobot Davids.]] I heard them streaming into the bunker above us. I heard the soldiers screaming, and then it got very, very quiet. Nothing, except the smell of death.

* ''Series/{{Angel}}''. [[VampireHunter Holtz]] taking out an entire Wolfram & Hart spec ops team in "Quickening", presumably to obfuscate the FridgeLogic of a single BadassNormal with a sword killing a [[NoOneCouldHaveSurvivedThat dozen men with automatic weapons who have him surrounded]].

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. Cally's death at the start of Season 4 is only shown by StuffBlowingUp and her crying out Blake's name. This was because Jan Chappell had decided to leave the series; she rejected the idea of a final episode portraying her death and only agreed to voice record her FamousLastWords.