History Main / YourDaysAreNumbered

* TheReveal of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', that being that [[spoiler:the Soul Gems borne by each MagicalGirl are darkening over time due to use of their magic and negative emotions like sadness and despair. Though cleansing Soul Gems is possible through the use of the Grief Seeds left by the monsters that they kill, it is only a matter of time before the Gem darkens completely, turning into a Grief Seed and turning the Magical Girl into one of the very monsters that she and the others fight. No Magical Girl can escape this fate, and there's no way to change the rule, well, except one]].
** [[spoiler:In the new world written by [[FanNickname Godoka]], this is softened. The Soul Gems are still prone to overuse and darkness, but the girl who falls victim to it will AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence instead.]]

See also SecretlyDying, LikeYouWereDying, SomeoneHasToDie, TheLastDance, LastDayToLive, IWillOnlySlowYouDown, AlmostDeadGuy, LivingOnBorrowedTime, YouAreAlreadyDead, WhodunnitToMe, and WringEveryLastDropOutOfHim.

* Due to the incredible strain of keeping the family in some sort of order, the heads of the Sohma family in ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' never live past thirty. [[spoiler:That's what, in fact, made Akito's father Akira an IllBoy... and ultimately killed him. Akito shows signs of illness in the anime and that's her FreudianExcuse, but in the manga, her bad health seems to come more from ''deep'' seated psychological problems, courtesy of her ManipulativeBitch [[AbusiveParents mother]]; when she gets better, the signs of illness seem to disappear.]]

* In ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', the siblings from Neo Mexico Gina and Chico Rodriguez already know that IllGirl Gina's SoapOperaDisease is incurable and that she's almost done with her life. Chico becomes the Neo-Mexican fighter not to get a miracle cure, but to bring her to Earth and give her a chance to die peacefully. [[spoiler:Thanks to Domon and Rain, they get it]].

* [[IllGirl Elizabeth aka Beth]] realizes her days are numbered in ''Literature/LittleWomen Part Second'' and spends her last year in a room that her family has turned into a little corner of paradise for her before the inevitable TearJerker death scene.

-->I've just got to get a message to you, hold on, hold on.\\

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Any time someone gets sick (or is born) with a terminal illness, especially when it progresses too far to be treated.
* In fact, this trope applies to ''everyone'', until we discover {{Immortality}}.
* Those involved in networking know that packets have a variable set that is decremented when it hits each point, designed to keep packets from endlessly roaming the Internet like lost souls. What's this value called? Time To Live. It dies at 0, naturally.
[[/folder]]

** The Orphenochs in ''Series/KamenRiderFaiz'' are doomed to short lives, [[spoiler:including the main hero/eponymous Rider, Takumi.]] At the end of the show, the Orphenoch King emerges, who can render them immune to the degradation that will kill them, but the cost is permanently destroying the last shred of their humanity. While Takumi and his allies defeat him, [[spoiler:the King is left comatose, thus there being no resolution to the conflict nor the issue of the Oprhenoch's fated death, no experimentation tried at extending their lives worked, and there were many Orphenochs who opposed such due to the abuses of power present among the race. It is heavily implied Takumi dies in the last scene in the series]].
** During the events of the Kamen Rider #4 netmovies, [[spoiler:it is confirmed that Takumi DID, in fact, die in the last scene of Faiz. This is told to us by the Kaido/the Snake Orphenoch (an old acquaintance of Takumi) who survived as he didn't change into his Orphenoch form for the last decade. This reveal is considered problematic, as Takumi as Faiz has appeared in a few preceding crossover events. However, the last significant one, Kamen Rider Taisen, retconned significant events from Faiz's series and was a near-universally derided. (the writer of the 'hero taisen' films have been criticized as knowing nothing about the franchise he has not himself written) Thus, many take Yongou's events as correcting the timeline after it had been screwed up, as it ends with Faiz's timeline restored to how it was before a lot of these crossovers, and at the very least the movies Kamen Rider Taisen and Super Hero Taisen GP (where Takumi was also present) being stripped from continuity in their entirety. This has been a widely applauded turn of events]].

* In ''FanFic/TheArchmagesLastBow'', Nova Shine is informed that he is dying because [[PowerIncontinence there is too much magical energy in his body, and it's only growing]]. He [[CryLaughing starts laughing, which rapidly turns to sobbing]], and even a few weeks later, he is still completely despondent, from which Star Swirl is able to glean that Nova fears dying and offers him a small, fragile chance at survival.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' starts off with your character (and your companions) getting implanted with illithid tadpoles, which will, unless you can get it out before then (something liable to require fairly powerful magic), transform you into an illithid within a few days, effectively killing you. [[spoiler: It turns out that ''something'' is keeping the transformation at bay, but since none of you have the faintest idea of what that might be, you still have to live under the fear that at any time it could fail and allow the transformation to occur.]]

* In ''Fanfic/BloodTies'', Alphonse has less than a week to live because he doesn't have enough of a soul for his body. Part of his soul is bonded with his brother Edward, but Edward has been assumed dead for two years.

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', after [[PlayerCharacter V]] obtains a brain implant with the VirtualGhost of Johnny Silverhand, it's revealed that it's [[GrandTheftMe overwriting their consciousness with his]] and slowly killing them, more or less. The plot revolves around the two trying to find a way to avoid this. [[spoiler: In the "[[TarotMotifs The Devil]]" ending, [[EvilInc Arasaka]] neuroscientists manage to successfully remove and destroy the biochip, but so much damage has been done to V's nervous system and DNA [[DownerEnding that they have about six months to live]].]]

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' player characters turned into Revenants have this stipulation attached -- once you complete a set goal, the character dies and for the most part [[KilledOffForReal cannot be revived]].

** In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', [[AmazonianBeauty Sakura]] reveals during her Free Time Events that she gained the title of Ultimate Martial Artist after her boyfriend and sensei was diagnosed with a terminal illness and retired. [[spoiler: ''VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls'' reveals that he managed to survive an extra two years despite doctors estimating six months, meaning he [[TheLostLenore outlived Sakura]].]]

* This happens to [[spoiler:Fiora]] in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'' after [[spoiler:Meyneth is killed by Zanza. Since Meyneth served as Fiora's life force after she became a Mechon, her death causes Fiora's body to slowly shut down, meaning she could die at any moment. Thankfully the ending averts this trope, where she's turned back into a human.]]

* In ''VideoGame/Wasteland3'' it's revealed that [[spoiler: ThePatriarch]] was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease with an estimate that he'll be dead within three years.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'': With only a year to live due to solar radiation poisoning, Superman decides to get his last few odds and ends in order, finish off those last few bad guys, finally open up fully to Lois Lane and maybe give Lex Luthor one last thrashing.
** In ''ComicBook/TheLastDaysOfSuperman'', Superman is dying from a very rare illness and has only thirty days left to live. Superman tries to get everything done before his passing, but he becomes too weakened and has to rely on ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes to carry out all his remaining tasks.
** In ''ComicBook/TheFinalDaysOfSuperman'', Superman learns that his body is falling apart and he sets about trying to get everything in order before he passes on.

* This is part of the plot of ''Young Liars''. In the first chapter, the reader learns that [[spoiler:Sadie]], one of the main characters, survives a gunshot wound to the head, but is told by the doctor that sooner or later, she will die due to the bullet slowly migrating through the skull.

* A cicada [[{{youkai}} yo-kai]] in ''Anime/YokaiWatch'' believes he only has a week to live and tries to extend his life. After finding out it's a moot point he tries to make the best of what little time he has left... However, being a yo-kai he is [[DeadAllAlong already dead]] and he just passes out exhausted after his timer is up, because he spent so much time trying to have fun and didn't sleep much.

* This is the basis for ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman''. With only a year to live due to solar radiation poisoning, Superman decides to get his last few odds and ends in order, finish off those last few bad guys, finally open up fully to ComicBook/{{Lois|Lane}} and maybe give ComicBook/LexLuthor one last thrashing.
** Similarly was the storyline ''ComicBook/TheLastDaysOfSuperman'', in which the New 52 Superman learns that his body is falling apart and he sets about trying to get everything in order before he passes on.
* The Franchise/{{Batman}} Dailies once featured a story about a man with 10 days left to live. Oh, and he was getting married when he found out about it.
* The surprisingly good 1 Month 2 Live. A Marvel Comics story set during the ComicBook/HeroicAge company-wide event. An ordinary man is exposed to toxic chemicals a la Daredevil. While he does gain powers, he also gains terminal cancer and the prognosis in the title. The book then becomes the story of the man and his family desperately trying to find a cure.

* Slightly subverted in ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}''. Spider Jerusalem learns that his mind is decaying as a result of a buildup of a certain dangerous nanotechnology in his brain -- the effects are similar to Alzheimer's Disease. He is given an amount of time before he degenerates to a state of helplessness, but instead of wallowing in misery or angst, he takes a moment to feel the fear and grief, then he collects himself and tells his assistants that... well:

* The premise of ''Comicbook/TheWickedAndTheDivine''. Every Ninety years, twelve gods of the Pantheon are reincarnated into the bodies of young people, all of whom will then die in two years. While none of the deaths shown so far have been natural, at one point [[EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity Ananke]] states that the gods' "divinity would consume them soon enough". As of the 455 AD special, it appears she was correct on that score, in a [[BodyHorror gruesomely literal way!]]

* ''VideoGame/RealityMinds'': [[spoiler:Anyone who learns too much about essences is slated to die in a few years through an illness created by Ridgefern, which explains how Refita and Kvena died so young. This includes the protagonists, but after they defeat Ridgefern in the epilogue, he removes essences from the world and the illness that comes with it.]]

* In ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', Rei is hit with an attack by Raoh that would kill him painfully in three days time. While he's able to rescue Mamiya before his deadline, it seems as though Yuda, a fellow Nanto practitioner who held her captive and whom Rei wished to defeat to avenge her honor, would evade him before he died. Thankfully, Toki was able to give Rei one more day with his medical application of Hokuto Shinken.

* In ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'', Eagle Vision is SecretlyDying thanks to his overuse of his country's mentally-powered technology. (The versions differ slightly in that he will become comatose rather than dead in the manga, but it's still effectively the end of his life.) Although he keeps it from his friends, Eagle is well-aware that he doesn't have much time left and takes it as license to be utterly reckless and ruthless in his quest to become Cephiro's new Pillar.

* Ashitaka spends most of ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' with a curse on his arm that is slowly spreading until it will kill him. [[spoiler:When the Forest Spirit gets its head back, Ashitaka, San and the villagers with leprosy are cured]].

** Thors is essentially doomed the moment Floki and the Jomsvikings track him down to Iceland, and knows it. He intentionally cuts down on the crew he takes with him 'to war' to limit any collateral damage in an assassination attempt, and spends his last days trying to impart wisdom to his son and arranging for his family. When the assassins finally come for him, he commits a HeroicSacrifice to save his travelling companions from his own fate knowing he's not escaping alive either way.

* This is the fundamental concept of ''ComicBook/StrikeforceMorituri'', where the heroes gain super-powers (to fight off an AlienInvasion) via a process that kills them inside of a year. Notably highlighted when they are reprimanded for attacking the aliens without authorization; in response, Ruth "Toxyn" Mastorakis administers a poison to her teammates, then explains it as the desperation the Morituri feel every moment they are kept away from active duty.

* Once perpetrated on ''ComicBook/XMan'' -- essentially, there was something in his genes that would lead to his death in the near-future. Creator/WarrenEllis, who wrote subsequent issues of the comic, referred to it as the "Dead At 21 TV Plot Engine" and advocated getting rid of it as fast as possible.

* ''Fanfic/FateRevelationOnline'': The fic starts shortly after the Fifth Holy Grail War. Illya is still alive, but as a homunculus designed solely for the War, she doesn't have much longer. Part of the reason that Shirou lets her drag him into ''Sword Art Online'' (and they are subsequently trapped with everyone else) is because he is willing to indulge her whims since she doesn't have much time left. When Illya discovers a secret she shouldn't, Kayaba himself contacts her and offers to try to extend her lifespan if she works with him. She doesn't really believe he can do it, but she agrees anyway.
* ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10774647/1/Twilight-of-Life Twilight of Life]]'' is about Nonna who learns by a classmate that she will die the next evening at sunset, [[spoiler:and spends her last moments with Katyusha.]]

* The end of the second ''Film/DeathNote'' movie, and the L spinoff movie relies on this. [[spoiler:L managed to ''write his own name in the Death Note'', which gives him exactly 23 days of life but guarantees he can't be killed (even by having his name written in another Death Note) before that. He uses them to keep investigating and working.]]

* ''BlueCastle'' by L.M. Montgomery Valancy Stirling is 29, unloved, and considered a burden by her wealthier relatives. Experiencing chest pains she sneaks off to see the "other doctor" in town that no-one in the family will have anything to do with because he bluntly told one of her wealthier relatives that her illness was caused by self-involvement and to help others. He examines her but runs out mid-exam. The nurse tells Valancy that there has been a horrible accident and the doctor was rushing to attend the injured. A few days later she receives a letter from him giving her less than a year to live. No longer having to worry about being supported by wealthier she rebels first in small ways like back talking, but eventually, she runs off to care for an old classmate that is dying of consumption, after having had a baby out of wedlock. [[spoiler:From there marries the local rogue. When she finds out the letter was a mistake meant for an older woman named Miss Sterling, she fears her husband will think she tricked him on purpose.]]

* In ''Literature/CityOfAshes'', when Clary [[spoiler:destroys Valentine's ship with a single mark]], an awed Valentine says "Mene mene tekel upharsin", in reference to the Biblical quote below. It's given an IronicEcho later in ''City of Glass'', when [[spoiler:Clary engineers the failure of all his plans as well as his own death]]. He's sealed her mouth, so she writes "[[ShutUpHannibal MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN]]" in the sand at his feet.

* The narrator in Jack Ritchie's "For All the Rude People" is diagnosed with a terminal illness which gives him two or three months to live, if he's lucky. He decides to spend his remaining time disposing of everyone who's ever been exceptionally rude to other people.

** The plot gets reused in season seven when Jack is infected by the terrorists' weapon and will die within hours, which means he has to bring the villains to justice from the sidelines (his weakened health could make him a liability on the field) and also try to make peace with himself in the remaining time he has left. [[spoiler:He's the main character, so he gets a last minute save by a miracle cure at the end of the season.]]

** Due to the dangerous nature of their profession, most Slayers aren't expected to live long; in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E12Helpless Helpless]]", it's outright stated that several of them didn't even make it to age 18. Buffy is stated to be the longest-lived Slayer, because unlike the others, she has friends and family that love her and help her, thus actually giving her something to live for.

* From ''Series/FlashForward2009'', Demetri didn't have a flash forward, making him fear that he won't live up until those six months.

** The PatientOfTheWeek in "Autopsy" is a little girl with terminal cancer who has about a year left to live, and then develops a condition that could cut even that short. Because of her age, they make the decision to do a risky procedure in hopes of buying her that year.

** The B-plot of "The C Word" involves a little girl who has a genetic disorder that cuts her life expectency to 20 years.
** In the penultimate episode, [[spoiler:Wilson learns that his cancer is terminal, and that he has a few years to live with treatment, or about five months to live without it. He chooses the latter option, wanting to get the most out of the time he has left rather than stretch it out at the expense of spending all that time sick.]]

* ''Series/PrincessSilver'': Rong Qi was poisoned, and as a result he can't live past the age of twenty-four.

* The WhamLine in "Terrible Things" by Music/MaydayParade has the singers [[PosthumousCharacter currently deceased]] wife telling him about her illness.
-->She said, "Boy, can I tell you a terrible thing?"\\

-->"The minute you're born you start dying,\\

** Literature/TheBible also makes mention of how short and insignificant human life is in comparison to the rest of the universe. Your measly life of 80 odd years, maybe a hundred if you are lucky? It is likened onto a vapor or smoke, one moment it is there and the next it is gone as it is swept away by the wind. God who has existed since the beginning of the creation of the universe sees all of your lives, all of your struggles and all of your triumphs as if they were blinks of his all-seeing eyes, they end in mere moments. The message is clear, it is humbling that an immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing God cares enough about you that he intervenes in our lives and how important it is that we take advantage of the days that are given to us.

* ''Music/{{Tsukiuta}}'''s second stage play Yumemigusa features an alternate scenario in which Arata (in the Sakura version) or You (in the Moon version) is dying of IncurableCoughOfDeath, as that world's version of [[UsefulNotes/TheShinsengumi Okita Souji]]. Arata's reaction is more peaceful - as the [[MoeAnthropomorphism representative]] of [[CherryBlossom sakura season]], he has accepted his fate, seeing death as more mysterious than scary. It is his childhood friend, Aoi, who cannot accept it. You, on the other hand, reacts with anger, as the representative of the hot August sun, and he is the one who kicks off the plot, instead of his partner Yoru.

* ''VideoGame/{{Armello}}'': The [[TheCorruption Rot]]-infested King has nine days to live. You, and the other Heroes, are gunning for the throne by either having the most Prestige when the King finally keels over and dies, or [[KlingonPromotion cutting that number down with a blade]].

*** And in the sequel ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'', Noel knows that when a seeress sees a change to the time-line, it shortens her lifespan. [[spoiler:and then he realises that Serah is seeing the same visions. She eventually decides that saving the future is worth her life]]

** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', [[spoiler:Snake finds out that, due to accelerated aging programmed into his genes from birth, he's got around 6 months left to live. Worse yet, the FOXDIE virus he was injected with at Shadow Moses, 9 years earlier, has started to mutate and will turn him into a walking, pandemic bio-weapon within 'bout 3 months. Good motivation for OneLastJob, huh? And no pesky worrying about an exit-strategy.]].

** Also in OG, as per her origin, Ariel Org of ''Real Robot Regiment'' only has moments to live as a result of being a product of the Idealant Project. Like Glacies/Ventus, in the original game, she decided to live the rest of her life by making the best out of it, and in ''OG'' [[spoiler:fellow ArtificialHuman [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAdvance Lamia Loveless]] is helping to find a way to remove that problem by reverse-engineering herself.]] Also, this trope is the reason why Ariel's 'rival/brother' Duvan Org becomes very power hungry and instead [[GodhoodSeeker tried to achieve godlike power]].

*** There's an odd occurence when it comes to [[spoiler:Asch]]. Going by the character's behavior and some dialogue, it's implied they are on borrowed time as well. But going through the Contamination Effect sidequest, there's also dialogue implying that [[spoiler:Asch wasn't actually close to dying, but had merely misunderstood when Spinoza explained things in a very technical, scientific way]]. Given the nature of the game and that of the ending, the ambiguity is likely intended.

* ''VideoGame/TsukimiPlanet'' has Utarou learning that he has a short amount time left to live. Tsukimi is there to offer him any wish he wanted, including giving him more time.

* Near the beginning of ''VisualNovel/DiesIraeInterviewWithKazikluBey'' it is revealed that Claudia has at most one month left to live and is dying from skin cancer. She treats it as a non issue and just goes about her life as usual best she can. Wilhelm on the other hand decides to try and make the best use of that time in order to make her soul as radiant as he can so that he can kill her during that peak and claim it for his own. [[spoiler:Things end up not working out for him as Caudia ends up having to perform a HeroicSacrifice to save him from her own out of control Creation Figment]].

** The Servants. Their reason to materialize in the human plane is solely to participate in the Holy Grail Wars; after that, they effectively 'die'. [[spoiler:By a matter of fact, they are summoned specifically to ''die'', their energy of an heroic-spirit is needed to fuel the Holy Grail. Though various means exist for a Servant to cheat "death" and remain after the war's end; Gilgamesh did so after the previous war, and it's possible for Saber and Rider to survive in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' and ''Heaven's Feel'' routes respectively.]]

* Rosof Tions Sarhgress as a Drow in the ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'' universe, should for all intents and purposes be able to live well into his 900's, but his years living outside of drow society have caused him to do something a drow normally never does, ''age''. Now he is very slowly dying of old age, well drow older than him are both younger looking and much healthier.

* The main character of ''Webcomic/NoFuture'', Andrew, has twenty-three years to live before Death inevitably kills him, as despite time being turned back, death is impossible to reverse.

* ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures'': One of the driving questions surrounding Mr. Amazing is why he was rejected for assignment for both the European warfront and the home front based Danger Federation. As a CaptainErsatz of Superman, he's more than powerful enough and very willing, too. The Red Panda initially thinks it's his SmugSuper attitude, but that came about precisely ''because'' of those rejections and he mellows considerably after ALessonInDefeat. The answer lies in this trope. Specifically, the procedure that gave Mr. Amazing his powers only gave him a finite amount ''of'' those powers. Once they were exhausted, he would almost certainly die. In learning this, the Red Panda tries to convince Mr. Amazing to quit superheroics, but he refuses. Having discovered that GoodFeelsGood, Mr. Amazing declares he'd rather live a short life helping people as a superhero than a long life of doing nothing. In the episode "The End of the Beginning", [[spoiler:his powers finally give out in the process of weakening the Nazi ubermensch Tevas enough for the Red Panda to strike the deathblow]].

** Played straight with Herb, as we know he's going to die when we first meet him and it's revealed he has about six months to live. He gets his affairs in order. He asks Sarah Lynn to publish his manuscript after he dies, wanting his legacy to be something other than ''Horsin' Around'' (which she doesn't – not just because she was so high that she forgot, but also because everyone agreed it was horrible). His funeral episode reveals that he actually went into remission, however... The reason he died was because he was tweeting while driving and [[PlayedForLaughs ran into a truck that was full of peanuts, of which he was allergic to]].

* This is a major plotpoint in the ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' film "Bender's Big Score." Lars, despite being in love with Leela, breaks up with her because [[spoiler:he is actually a time paradox-created clone of Fry who went back in time and lived an additional 12 years in the past before returning to the 3000s. After learning from Professor Farnsworth that all the time paradox clones will die in order to correct history]] he ended his relationship because he wanted her to be spared the grief of his eventual death. It comes to pass at the end of the movie when he dies via HeroicSacrifice.

* Those involved in networking know that packets have a variable set that is decremented when it hits each point, designed to keep packets from endlessly roaming the Internets like lost souls. What's this value called? Time To Live. It dies at 0, naturally.