History Main / TalkingDownTheSuicidal

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': In "[[Recap/CriminalMindsS16E1JustGettingStarted Just Getting Started]]" Rossi talks Chrissy out of killing herself when she's distraught over having, she thinks, [[ItsAllMyFault gotten her family killed inadvertently]] by sharing his grief about losing his wife.

* At the end of ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'', Ichiban and Ryo Aoki have a final confrontation at [[spoiler:the coin lockers where their lives began]] where after lamenting how all the power he chased meant nothing in the end Aoki points a gun to his head. Ichiban goes from angrily yelling about how Aoki was surrounded by those who cared for him [[spoiler:himself being one of them]] to openly weeping as he pleads to the man to not go through with it. [[spoiler:He succeeds and Aoki decides to turn himself in for his crimes only to be assassinated by a disillusioned lackey]].

* ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'': When Max spots [[spoiler:Kate]] about to jump from the top of the school building, she's already overused her TimeRewindMechanic too much and can only freeze time to get her up to the ledge. From there, her rewind power stops working temporarily, so Max has only one shot to talk her out of killing herself. Max has to say the right things and accurately remember details about Kate's life to convince her. Having been supportive of Kate in previous interactions makes the task easier.

** PlayedWith in ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsIII.'' Player characters attempting suicide ''can'' be talked down by the desperate pleas of their family & loved ones, often causing even hardened players to think twice on going through with it, but they could simply be stopped in the middle of the act by a guard or servant, [[SuicideIsShameful costing them a level of Fame.]]
* Sadly averted in the fourth ''VideoGame/DaymareTown'' game. The player can talk to a character perched on the edge of a cliff, but you have no way of talking him out of it, and he vanishes later in the game.

* Max, the main character in ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'', tries to [[spoiler:talk down Kate from jumping off the dorm building]] at the end of episode 2. Her success is dependent on the player making the right choices, and, in this case, there are no do-overs.

* ''LightNovel/BeyondTheBoundary'' starts with Akihito spotting [[{{Meganekko}} Mirai]] on the edge of the school roof, seemingly about to jump off, and dashing up to talk her out of it (read: rant about [[{{Fetish}} how much he loves glasses]]). Could be a subversion as it's unknown whether she actually intended to jump off, but in the end, she comes away from the ledge...and then ''stabs Akihito''. Luckily for him, he's immortal.

* ''Anime/WelcomeToTheNHK'':

** [[spoiler: Also happens again near the end, when Satou talks Misaki down from jumping off a cliff. Subverted when he then jumps himself.]]

'''Sophia:''' We're not in this life for peace!\\

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Phoebe talks down an unlucky man who plans on killing himself due to feeling unappreciated and ignored by his co-workers.

* Angela does this to Jack in the ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' episode "[[Recap/BoyMeetsWorldS5E17AndThenThereWasShawn And Then There Was Shawn]]". After Eric and Feffy are killed, Jack believes he will be unable to afford the rent on their apartment and will face the prospect of being evicted that he tries to jump out of the second-floor library window. Angela stops him in time and reminds him that Shawn is still his roommate and they can still afford the rent. However, before Angela and Jack can go back inside, they are pushed out of the window by the killer, who is immediately confronted by Cory, Topanga, and Shawn. Luckily, it was AllJustADream.

** PlayedWith in ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings3.'' Player characters attempting suicide ''can'' be talked down by the desperate pleas of their family & loved ones, often causing even hardened players to think twice on going through with it, but they could simply be stopped in the middle of the act by a guard or servant, [[SuicideIsShameful costing them a level of Fame.]]

* In the Wiki/SCPFoundation short story [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/life-saver "Life Saver"]], a MysteriousStranger talks the narrator off the edge of a roof by the simple expedient of promising to do unspeakable things to [[AndYourLittleDogToo everyone the narrator cares about]] if they commit suicide.

* Angela does this to Jack in the ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' episode "[[Recap/BoyMeetsWorldS5E17AndThenThereWasShawn And Then There Was Shawn]]". After Eric and Feffy are killed, Jack believes he will be unable to afford the rent on their apartment and will face the prospect of being evicted that he tries to jump out of the second-floor library window. Angela stops him in time and reminds him that Shawn is still his roommate and they can still afford the rent. However, before Angela and Jack can go back inside, they are pushed out of the window by the killer, who is immediately confronted by Cory, Topanga, and Shawn.

* Inverted in ''Film/CanadianBacon'', with Creator/JohnCandy and Rhea Pearlman openly encouraging folks to jump off UsefulNotes/NiagaraFalls to collect a reward on washed-up bodies.

This is actually one of the best ways to deal with someone known to be suicidal, because the very act of someone they know stopping them might make them reconsider their reasons for wanting to commit suicide in the first place. In such cases, it's likely best to ''avoid'' using cliches such as that they "[[WorthLivingFor have so much to live for]]" or they are "[[SuicideIsShameful selfish or are taking the easy way out]]." You don't have to go all out and plead with them. Just being there for them to talk to, listening to them, and encouraging them to talk to others can make all the difference.

* ''LightNovel/BeyondTheBoundary'' starts with Akihito spotting [[{{Meganekko}} Mirai]] on the edge of the school roof, seemingly about to jump off, and dashing up to talk her out of it (read: rant about [[{{Fetish}} how much he loves glasses]]). Could be a subversion as it's unknown whether she actually intended to jump off, but in the end she comes away from the ledge...and then ''stabs Akihito''. Luckily for him, he's immortal.

* In Creator/{{Natsuneko}}'s one-shot manga ''Rooftop Miracle'', two girls independently try to commit a suicide by jumping off a tall building, for the exact same reason no less as both had been swindled by the same person, but end up talking each other out of it.

** Happens when Misaki (with others' help) convinces an entire suicide club (which Satou joined) to abort their plans. [[spoiler:In a particularly dark twist, Satou is not genuinely suicidal and just wound up roped into the pact with everyone else. As each member of the group realizes they have something to live for, it causes Satou to realize how empty and sad his own life is, and by the end the now-hopeful members of the pact are having to physically stop him from jumping.]]

* Creator/{{Otto}}, in one of his occasional [[SelfDeprecation self-deprecating]] jokes, recounted how he was about to jump to his death and a priest was supposed to talk him out of it... but after the priest recognized Otto, he encouraged him instead.

* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} once dragged a would-be teenage jumper on a night of crazy adventure. He ends it by taking her to the emergency room, having already texted them that she would be walking in for help. Wade tells her that he doesn't think she's crazy, and that she just needs some help. He's self-aware (and self-loathing) enough to realize that ''he'' can't truly help her, but the people at the emergency room can. Watch a dub [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fqfQljAX_8 here]].

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': Parodied when Dredd is called in to talk down an obese man who threatens to jump off a roof. Through a megaphone he shouts that he's got more than enough criminals to deal with, and threatens to shoot the guy off the building because suicide is illegal.
* Subverted towards the end of the "Marvel Knights" run of ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'': Kevin, who's been contemptuous of Detective Soap for most of the series (and honestly, you can't really blame him) gets angry at Soap for choosing ''his'' bathroom to blow his brains out, encouraging him to by all means to rid the world of his presence, but somewhere else. This finally sends Soap over the edge, and he grows a spine for all of a few hours, culminating in his attempting to arrest Frank. Frank [[spoiler:convinces him to go away, and Soap ends up finding gainful employment as a pornstar.]]
* In ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'' #156, Tim stops a would be jumper by deducing enough about him to make him curious about what Robin has to say and then sitting with him and talking to him convincing him that [[YouAreNotAlone he is not alone]]. It's then heavily implied that Tim is experiencing suicidal thoughts or at least really needs to talk to someone about [[TraumaCongaLine all the losses]] in his own life so he calls [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick]] and the issue ends with a set of numbers for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

* An ''interesting'' variant happens when ''ComicBook/TheSpectre'' confronts a couple of teenagers who plan to kill themselves like their idol, a rockstar, did. Rather than offering some encouraging and comforting words, The Spectre shows them the soul of their beloved idol in hell, sent there for the sin of taking his own life. Seeing their idol express regret for committing suicide and experiencing the fate they'll recieve should they continue with what they're doing convinces the kids not to kill themselves.

* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': In chapter 5 [[spoiler:Asuka swallows a bunch of sleeping pills. Shinji tries to talk her out of it but he reaches her too late to stop her. Later as she sleeps she dreams with reuniting with her deceased mother, but her daughter Teri visits her dreams and stops Asuka, reminding her that she needs her.]]

* ''Manga/Evangelion303'': In chapter 12 Shinji found [[spoiler:Asuka]] when she was about to commit suicide. Firstly he tried to talk her out of it with the usual lines ("Please, don't do this"), but when he realized that she was prepared to resist his pleas, he decided [[spoiler:[[BatmanGambit to deceive her into allowing him get close enough to pry her gun away her]]. It worked.]]
* Subverted in ''Fanfic/LastLight''. Rainbow Dash and Rarity try to do this when they see Sunset Shimmer near the railing of a several story parking garage. It doesn't work so Rainbow tries to race up and grab her, but she's not fast enough to stop her from falling.

* ''Film/AccidentalHero'': At the climax John is on a ledge and preparing to jump but Rubeus goes out on the ledge and talks him down. Naturally (given the plot of the film) the media think that John talked Rubeus down, not the other way around.

* ''Film/CampXRay'': Ali puts a shiv to his throat in the conclusion, despairing over the fact that he'll never be free, and this is his only way out. Cole tries to talk him out of it, but eventually allows him to kill himself if he chooses. [[spoiler: He doesn't.]]

* In ''Film/CrocodileDundee II'', Mick Dundee sees a would-be jumper on a ledge so he goes up to the floor, goes out on the opposite side of the building and acts like he's just taking a stroll when he comes around the corner the jumper is on. As the jumper is near the edge, Mick asks him if he could please step aside and let him pass. When the man tells him he's going to jump, Mick takes a look down, like he never heard of the concept, and remarks, "You'd kill yourself, mate." Eventually, Mick talks him down.

* In ''Film/DrDolittle'', the tiger Jake is suffering from chronic headaches, nausea and double vision. He heads to the top of Coit Tower, prepared to end it all, but Dr. Dolittle is summoned to try to talk him down from it.[[note]]The film's conceit is that any animal can talk to other animals, but Dr. Dolittle is the only human who can talk to them and the only individual in this case who can help.[[/note]] At first it doesn't go so well, as he comes up empty when the tiger asks him to name any famous tigers and the dog Lucky's suggestion of "Tony the cereal tiger" (of Frosted Flakes fame) is decidedly unhelpful. Then he recalls the song "Eye of the Tiger" and how it inspired Rocky in ''Film/RockyIII'', but his awful off-key rendition of the song causes Jake to say that he's jumping. Finally, he simply says that he's a doctor and he might be able to help and if not, the tiger can eat both him and Lucky, and this finally convinces Jake.

* ''Film/TheLedge'': The ledge of the title involves a man standing there threatening to jump. A cop is there trying to talk him out of it, and during their conversation it's revealed [[HowWeGotHere how he got to that point]].

* ''Film/MeetJohnDoe'': A newspaper reporter writes that a homeless man has told her that he will kill himself at midnight New Year's Day to protest society, then she hires a man to play the part. After their arrangement is exposed by a corrupt businessman worried about the effectiveness of their crusade, he decides to actually do it; she talks him down.

* In ''Film/PayItForward'', a woman is about to jump from a bridge but is eventually being talked out off it by a man passing by.
* In ''Film/StopOrMyMomWillShoot'', Joe has to convince a man not to jump from a window ledge. His overbearing mother Tutti is in the amassed crowd, showing everyone his baby photos. Joe grows frustrated with his mother and yells at her to stop, to which the suicidal man responds that he shouldn't talk to his mother that way. In an odd turn of events, the crowd then believes that ''Joe'' is going to jump, and try shouting things at him to convince him not to.

* ''Film/TheYoungRebel'': In one scene, Gen Lai, a good cop, pursues a purse snatcher to a cliff, where the thief, revealed to be a desperate man, threatens that he will jump off (the drop leading to a railway track) and kill himself, since his life means nothing to him anyways. Gen instead coaxed the thief to turn himself in, telling him how much he will suffer if the railway didn't kill him then, and he's better off in prison where he can apply for a fair parole. It works, the thief climbed back to the railing's other side and raises his hands to be handcuffed.

* In ''Literature/{{Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}}'', [[spoiler:although he doesn't act on it, when Snape and Dumbledore talk after Lily Potter's death, Snape makes the much forgotten remark "I wish... I wish I were dead...". Dumbledore quickly shoots this down by saying in a harsh tone "And what use would that be to anyone?"]]

* ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': Nanao Hibiya arrives at [[WizardingSchool Kimberly Magic Academy]] in a state of low-level shock, having been rescued by a Western mage from a battlefield in her homeland where she was about to die in a LastStand and brought to the Union to become a mage. After she deeply connects with main character Oliver Horn in a sparring match and he rejects her request for a DuelToTheDeath,[[note]]One of the tenets of her sword style is to "Enjoy not the sword of vengeance, but the sword of mutual love"--meaning to find joy in a DuelToTheDeath with a WorthyOpponent.[[/note]] she becomes depressed and begins looking for a place to die in battle. Oliver and the others stage an impromptu intervention after this becomes apparent and get her to agree that from now on she will only draw her sword with the intent of surviving, and to try to find healthier ways to relate to Oliver.
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Literature/TheTruth''. William encounters a man threatening to jump off of a building and climbs up to talk him down (while bystanders are telling him he should've chosen a different building to jump from!) In the end,William find out the man frequently threatens to jump until the Watch show up and [[BegoneBribe offer him money]]. And he's a steeplejack, making his claim that climbing up is the hard part a little questionable. And ''he'' ends up saving William, who falls from the building.

* ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'': Benny is a passing minister who tries to talk down a jumper, until he finds out that the jumper is [[SeriousBusiness a fan of an opposing football team]]. "Well, flaming well jump then!"

* Angela does this to Jack in the ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' episode "[[Recap/BoyMeetsWorldS5E17AndThenThereWasShawn And Then There Was Shawn]]". After Eric and Feffy are killed, Jack believes he will be unable to afford the rent on their apartment and will face the prospect of being evicted that he tries to jump out of the second floor library window. Angela stops him in time and reminds him that Shawn is still his roommate and they can still afford the rent. However, before Angela and Jack can go back inside, they are pushed out of the window by the killer, who is immediately confronted by Cory, Topanga and Shawn.

* ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'': June has to do this with Janine as she's climbed up on the edge of a bridge holding her baby and threatening to jump, after the child had been taken away. [[spoiler: June gets Janine to give her the baby, but after this she jumps anyway. She survives however.]]

* In ''Series/{{Healer}}'', heroine Chae Young Shin does this in the second episode, to a woman who is being abused. Young Shin admits she knows exactly what the woman is going through, because she's been there too...when she was seven years old.
* The title character from ''Series/{{Hooperman}}'' does this with props (specifically a watermelon) in the pilot episode. While he talks the would-be jumper out of jumping, he brings up the finality of death and demonstrates by throwing the watermelon to the street below. In a later episode, he tries this again. However, he decides against taking the watermelon out of the bag when the jumper says he can't stand the sight of them.

* ''Series/TheLWord'': In Season 6 Alice must talk down Marie, a homeless girl who sent a heartrending letter about her brother's homophobic letter. Alice read it on her show, and Marie is threatening to jump off a roof, feeling depressed over her loss. Tasha points out Alice is not a psychologist and really shouldn't be handling this. Alice manages to talk her down anyway though.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'', Colonel Potter encounters a soldier that had extensive facial injuries and wanted to kill himself because he feared that all of his loved ones would reject him. Potter does his best to convince the soldier otherwise, but to little avail. Eventually, he catches the soldier trying to use some of the camp's anesthetic gas to kill himself, and Potter feigns outrage before trying to "assist" the soldier with the deed. The soldier panics and tries to flee, proving Potter's point that he had not truly lost his will to live.

* ''Series/TheMentalist'' has Jane taking an [[SuicideAsComedy interesting]] approach to talking a woman out of jumping from a bridge. He tells her that if she's gonna jump, "make sure to dive, head first" because from that height, she would only suffer "massive internal injuries." She responds by clutching onto a support beam in horror.

-->'''Michael''': Everything’s wrong. The stress of my modern office, has caused me to go into a depression.\\

** Kevin spots an inflated bounce house in the next carpark, and Pam and Jim realise Michael is actually going to "kill himself, pretending to kill himself." Pam and Jim then have to try convince Michael to jump, both because he will not survive the fall, and because he is suddenly having thoughts of dissatisfaction and disappointment around his life.

** In the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Original Series]]'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E6TheDoomsdayMachine The Doomsday Machine]]" both Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock try to talk Commmodore Matt Decker [[HeroicSuicide from ramming the shuttlecraft he's on down the planet killer's throat]]. They are unsuccessful but the explosion of the shuttlecraft allows the ''Enterprise'' crew to figure out a means of disabling the planet killer.
** ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]'' had the episode "Eye of the Beholder" where a crewman who was being affected by latent "empathic echo" of a previous suicide, attempts to jump into a plasma stream. Riker tries to talk him out of it, but is unsuccessful.

* ''Series/{{Vera}}'': At the end of "Darkwater", Vera has to do this with the killer, who is planning to throw themselves of an escarpment over guilt for their actions. Vera succeeds, but the killer now finds they are frozen with fear and Vera has to physically drag them back from the edge.

* ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'': "In "Les On a Ledge" newsman Les Nesman threatens to jump off the building after he is banned from a local locker room because he is mistakenly thought to be gay. Friend and salesman Herb Tarlek talks him down.

* "Please Don't Jump (It's Christmas)" by Dallon Weekes (currently of Music/IDontKnowHowButTheyFoundMe, formerly of Music/TheBrobecks and Music/PanicAtTheDisco) is a case of this directed towards those suffering from [[CrappyHolidays seasonal depression]].

* ''VisualNovel/AngelsWithScalyWings'': the protagonist unknowingly does this with [[spoiler:Remy]]. If the player fails to reassure and comfort him about his issues enough, [[DrivenToSuicide he hangs himself]] and lines in his dialog get recontextualized, showing he was contemplating it already. If the player ''does'' comfort him enough, he doesn't take his life and finally reaching a healthier mental place, likely with the player being unaware of this entirely if they didn't get the former outcome on a previous playthrough.

** Harken, a knight of Pherae, infiltrates the Black Fang with the hopes of going against them, hoping he dies in the process as penance for failing to protect Lord Elbert. Hector, Oswin or anyone from House Pherae can talk him out of this and get him to join their side.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', if you have the Colonist background, you get a mission to help out another victim of the slaver raid that Shepard survived, and who is now standing on the docks, threatening to kill herself. Shepard can talk to her to get her to calm down, and get her to take the sedative, so she can get the care she needs.

* Played for humor in ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace''. In the superhero arc, Kingman comes across a jumper and gives an somewhat overly-peppy and sugary speech. The man agrees not to jump if Kingman would stop talking.

* Parodied again in a different Creator/TomSka video, ''Musical Suicide''. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As the name indicated]], it's a duet between Tom and a woman about to jump off a ledge as he begs her not to do it. Unfortunately, she turns out to be someone other than who he though it was and and leaves her to make up her own mind. [[spoiler:She jumps]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': Jayce has prepared a suicide note and taken off his [[MementoMacguffin childhood crystal]] after his life's work has been condemned as too dangerous, he's been banished from the university and his patron will no longer talk to him. Deciding that he can't pretend to live a normal life without trying to [[{{Magitek}} utilize magic]], he prepares to jump from his ruined laboratory. Viktor interrupts, telling Jayce he believes in his vision of Hextech and offering to help him complete it. Viktor's offering to Jayce his childhood crystal and Jayce's acceptance visibly see Jayce deciding to live on. [[spoiler: Jayce unknowingly returns the favor a distraught Viktor, reminding him of their shared dream to make the world a better place after an experiment goes horribly wrong.]]

** Very darkly subverted in the second Christmas special, which parodies ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife''. Charlie is given the mission to get Butthead to kill himself after the duo's antics over the past year has caused so much damage that it causes everyone in town to desperately pray to the Powers That Be to make them go away. It fails, as Butthead is extremely unimpressed with the idyllic Highland that would apparently exist if he had never been born.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' contains a DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything example. In one scene, Korra talks to a scared man who is on top of a bridge. Despite all the similarities to this trope, he's actually not a suicidal man trying to jump. He awakened airbending powers, freaked out, and accidentally got himself stuck on the bridge.

* Parodied to the extreme in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. When Obama wins the 2008 American presidental election, Ike Broflovski, a [=McCain=] supporter, is so devastated that he decides to jump out of the first-story window. The four leads, including his older brother Kyle, come outside to talk him out of jumping out the window. He does, and Kyle then takes him to a hospital. [[spoiler:The part about Ike being suicidal turns out to be a subversion when viewers see him go into the hospital morgue and [[DeathFakedForYou declare all of the politicians involved in the jewel heist to be dead]], revealing that he was privy to this plan and that he jumped out of the window specifically to put himself in the hospital and enable himself to do this.]]
** In the episode where Butters is sent to a [[CureYourGays Christian camp meant to cure him, and other youths]] of their [[UnusualEuphemism "confusion"]], several other attendees [[DrivenToSuicide kill themselves throughout the episode.]] When Butters tells the little boy he befriended that he likes him, the other little boy runs to a nearby bridge so that he can jump off and put an end to his "confusion." When Butters tries to talk him down, a councilor insists that Butters will only make the other boy more confused. Butters lashes out, and says that he only felt confused because people told him he was, and since everyone is made in God's image, then God himself must have been a little bit confused himself when he made him, Butters' friend, and everyone in the camp. The boy comes down, and Butters' parents take him home.
* The first episode of ''WesternAnimation/SmilingFriends'' has the protagonists tasked with convincing a deeply depressed man named Desmond from shooting himself with a gun that he holds to his head the entire episode. The Smiling Friends proceeds to take him around the city on various adventures (including an amusement park) to cheer him up to no avail. Eventually [[spoiler:the crew succeeds in cheering Desmond up when he discovers his calling as an exceptionally brutal pest exterminator]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Angela does this to Jack in the ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' episode "[[Recap/BoyMeetsWorldS5E17AndThenThereWasShawn And Then There Was Shawn]]". After Eric and Feffy are killed, Jack believes he will be unable to afford the rent on their apartment and will face the prospect of being evicted that he tries to jump out of the second floor library window. Angela stops him in time and reminds him that Shawn is still his roommate and they can still afford the rent. However, before Angela and Jack can go back inside, they are pushed out of the window by the killer.

-->'''Martha:''' I want to go. Lydia looked so peaceful.\\

'''Sophia:''' No I'm not. I don't cry.\\

'''Martha:''' What? \\

[[folder:Webcomics]]