History RedemptionEqualsDeath / LiveActionTV

** Subverted in ''Series/OhsamaSentaiKingOhger'' when [[spoiler:Rcules]], who had been serving the BigBad for many years and done many evil things for him, suddenly pulls a HeelFaceTurn and is seemingly fatally wounded in the ensuing battle. When it seems like he is going to die, the other King-Ohgers show up and declare that they aren't going to allow him to die. In the following episode he is put on trial for his crimes and is sentenced to death, but his sentence is suspended to allow him to atone and because [[CanKillYouStillNeedYou the King-Ohgers still need him alive]]. He ultimately survives to the end of the series and gets a happy ending.

* In the third season finale of ''Series/{{Castle}}'' it is revealed that [[spoiler:Captain Montgomery]] is the [[CorruptCop Third Cop]] who was involved in the organization that killed Beckett's mother. Although he got out of it before Johanna was murdered, it was the accidental discharge of his gun that killed her client and turned her onto the case. He dies defending Beckett and Castle from an assassin, and they agree to cover up his past crimes and give him the honorable death he deserved.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E121InPraiseOfPip In Praise of Pip]]", the alcoholic bookie Max Phillips intends to turn his life around but ends up sacrificing it in order to save his son Pip.

** This was a favourite trope in the old days. A guest character would do something terrible, then redeem themselves by sacrificing their life. Examples include Sara Kingdom (executed her brother under orders, then gives her life to save the galaxy from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan the Daleks' Master Plan]]), Fewsham (a DirtyCoward who aided the Ice Warriors in their plan, then when he realized [[WhatHaveIDone what he had done]] arranged to alert Earth to the Ice Warrior fleet and how to stop them; he gets shot when the Ice Warriors get suspicious at his recapitulation of everything and then notice recording in progress), Galloway in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E3DeathToTheDaleks "Death to the Daleks"]], who blows himself up along with their spacecraft, and Richard Dunbar, a traitorous World Ecology Bureau employee who leaks classified information to villain Harrison Chase for money, later repents and goes inside Chase's estate to try to fix the problem he created, and is killed.

** This was a favourite trope in the old days. A guest character would do something terrible, then redeem themselves by sacrificing their life. Examples include Sara Kingdom (executed her brother under orders, then gives her life to save the galaxy from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan the Daleks' Master Plan]]), Fewsham (a DirtyCoward who aided the Ice Warriors in their plan, then when he realized [[WhatHaveIDone what he had done]] arranged to alert Earth to the Ice Warrior fleet and how to stop them; he gets shot when the Ice Warriors get suspicious at his recapitulation of everything and then notice recording in progress), and Galloway in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E3DeathToTheDaleks "Death to the Daleks"]], who blows himself up along with their spacecraft.

** Londo Mollari, as seen in "War Without End, Part 2", sacrifices himself in order to [[spoiler:save the Centauri Republic from the Drakh, freeing Sheridan and Delenn in the process. As {{foreshadow|ing}}ed before, G'Kar does the deed, choking Londo to death as Londo is forced by his Keeper to do the same to G'Kar]].
* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'':

* In ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'' Lauren pulls a BigDamnHeroes, stakes Seth, allowing our cornered heroes to escape, then has Mitchell stake her because she can't take the stress between her conscience and her hunger.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''
** Dr. Elizabeth Dehner in the 2nd pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before". She spends the whole episode campaigning for Gary Mitchell, despite his [[AGodAmI god complex]], and later turns out to have his powers as well. At the end, she turns on Mitchell to save Captain Kirk's life and is mortally wounded by Mitchell's retaliation.
** "Bread and Circuses". In the BackStory Captain Merick saved his life by calling his ship's crew down to the surface so they could be captured by the "Romans" and sentenced to death in the arena. During the episode he steals one of the Enterprise communicators from the "Romans". At the end he uses the communicator to call the Enterprise and allows the landing party to be rescued, but he's stabbed by one of the "Romans" and dies.
** "Patterns of Force". John Gill's attempts to improve the HumanAlien society on Ekos result in a [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]]-like regime obsessed with destroying the peaceful people on the neighboring planet Zeon. Kirk, Gill's student at the Starfleet Academy, finds out that Gill's NumberTwo Melakon has subverted Gill's teachings to his own ends and keeps Gill (the Führer of Ekos) perpetually drugged, so he can rule in Gill's name. [=McCoy=] detoxes Gill, who is horrified to learn the awful truth. Gill goes on the air and declares Melakon traitor as well as cancelling the war with Zeon. Before anyone can react, Melakon grabs a sub-machinengun and fatally wounds Gill before being shot himself. Gill dies in Kirk's arms, telling his former student that he was mistaken, that the non-interference directive was the only way.
** In "The Conscience of the King", a man named Kodos the Executioner is living a quiet life under an assumed identity, trying to forget that he, as governor of a colony, ordered 4,000 people executed because there wasn't enough food for everyone. He was horrified to discover that his daughter, the one thing he had that he thought was untouched by his crimes, had murdered witnesses who could identify him. He subsequently jumps in front of a phaser beam meant for Kirk.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''

* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', we have Sita Jaxa, a Bajoran who was part of the infamous Nova Squadron during "The First Duty". She was ostracized by her peers for her actions though, surprisingly, she was chosen by Picard himself to join the ''Enterprise''-D crew. She's put through a SecretTestOfCharacter to finally overcome her inability to speak up over something wrong and is chosen to participate in a secret mission to help a Cardassian escape Cardassia. Sadly, she is unable to fully escape and her shuttle is shot down with Picard himself commending her, showing that she indeed escaped her failure with Nova Squadron.
* In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' Lon Suder, a convicted murderer who was driven to insane violence by his out-of-control temper, regains his mental health thanks to Tuvok mindmelding with him, and subsequently lives with enormous guilt for his actions. He is the only crew member left onboard the ship when aliens take over. In a [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome stunning display of badassery]], he storms Engineering and kills all 11 intruders before he sabatoges the ship, allowing it to be retaken. However, he is shot in the back during his attack, and dies immediately after completing the sabotage.
* ''Series/StrangerThings''
** [[spoiler:[[TheBully Billy]]]] immediately jumps to protect [[spoiler: Eleven]] from [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination the Mind Flayer]]]] after [[spoiler:[[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight she helps him regain control from it]], by reminding him of his humanity by bringing up memories of his happy childhood]]. He [[HeroicSacrifice gets killed]] for the effort, but manages to [[DelayingAction stall]] it long enough for [[spoiler:Joyce to close the portal, which kills its flesh avatar and saves everyone]]. [[spoiler: His last words to Max?]]
--->'''[[spoiler:Billy]]''': [[DyingAsYourself I'm sorry]].

* In ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' TV series, Merle Dixon. Up until his death he was a racist asshole who even kidnapped Michonne to bring her to be tortured and/or killed in the episode he died. His redemption came when he freed her and drove off to kill The Governor on his own. And he would've done it too if not for a walker jumping him just before he took the shot, allowing The Governor and his men to grab him and kill him (kind of, he becomes a walker and his brother needs to finish him).
* In ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'', the villain Walter Sykes was turned bad by Carlo Collodi's Bracelet that allowed the paraplegic boy to walk again. After [[spoiler:Pete's mom]] had Artie and [=McPherson=] confiscate the bracelet, Sykes became obsessed with it. It's heavily implied that they got to the bracelet too late and that it had already "planted a dark seed" in the boy. Decades later, Sykes is a wealthy man who has managed to recover a number of Artifacts and learn much about the Warehouse. He manages to infiltrate the Warehouse, takes back the bracelet, and leaves an Artifact-enhanced bomb (fueled by his own hate) to destroy the building. After Artie [[spoiler:rewinds time to before the bomb goes off]], Gandhi's shroud is used to take away Sykes's hate, stopping the countdown. Sykes apologizes and dies, implying that there was nothing left in him but hate.

** It almost became the case earlier, in her previous appearances in ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys''. The only thing that allowed her to survive the episode she was originally supposed to die in was her popularity with fans, and the decision to give her her own spin-off show.
** {{Deconstructed}} with one of Xena's [[DisposableLoveInterest Disposable Love Interests]]. After a lifetime of crime, Marcus protects an innocent young girl at the cost of his own life - only to end up punished for all his misdeeds by being sent to Tartarus. Later he reappears to Xena as a ghost and is temporarily given his mortality back again to help stop a serial killer. Though he is given an opportunity to cheat death for a second time, he choses to go ahead and die - but this time, Xena has bargained for a place for him in the Elysian Fields.

** "Patterns of Force". John Gill's attempts to improve the HumanAlien society on Ekos result in a [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]]-like regime obsessed with destroying the peaceful people on the neighboring planet Zeon. Kirk, Gill's student at the Starfleet Academy, finds out that Gill's NumberTwo Melakon has subverted Gill's teachings to his own ends and keeps Gill (the Führer of Ekos) perpetually drugged, so he can rule in Gill's name. [=McCoy=] detoxes Gill, who is horrified to learn the awful truth. Gill goes on the air and declares Melakon traitor as well as cancelling the war with Zeon. Before anyone can react, Melakon grabs a sub-machinengun and fatally wounds Gill before being shot himself.

* In ''Series/{{Stalker}}'' this turns out to be the ultimate fate of the Season 1 recurring antagonist Perry Whitley. For his last couple of episodes he teams up with Beth's old stalker Ray and comes to realize that he is far to extreme for his tastes. As Perry doesn't want to hurt or kill anybody, whilst Ray wants to. Ray eventually kidnaps Beth's friend Tracy to use as a hostage to draw her out. Perry ultimately retaliates and attacks Ray in an attempt to give Tracy the chance to escape. The ensuing fighting and chase ends with Ray ultimately killing Perry.

** Buffy Season 8 has Giles and Faith working together to be the {{poisonous friend}}s for the entire Slayer Organization, redeeming or killing evil Slayers. [[spoiler:Giles dies near the end of Season 8.]]

** In the volume 4 finale, Nathan Petrelli tries to atone for his spearheading of the Government's plan to capture all evolved humans by taking on Sylar alone. Sylar [[DroppedABridgeOnHim finishes him off with a finger flick]]. Then Peter (unaware of his brother's death) [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome manages to completely and utterly pwn Sylar]], and Noah Bennet, Angela Petrelli and Matt Parkman decide to [[ReplacementGoldfish brainwash him into believing he's Nathan.]] [[IdiotPlot The Volume 5 preview shows that it did NOT end as well as they thought.]]

* ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'': It may not be enough to fully redeem him, but Dwayne Carter giving up his life to save Colby in "Trust Metric" is the closest he ever gets in the show to being a decent person. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Carter giving up his own life is the ''only'' way it could be a true redemption due to the fact that Carter has a tendency to exploit his "good" deeds (including a past incident in which he saved Colby's life) for personal gain; had Carter not died in the process, there would always be the question of whether his actions were truly heroic or if he would turn it into yet another means of taking advantage.

* ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'': It may not be enough to fully redeem him, but Dwayne Carter giving up his life to save Colby in "Trust Metric" is the closest he ever gets in the show to being a decent person. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Carter giving up his own life is the ''only'' way it could be a true redemption due to the fact that Carter has a tendency to exploit his "good" deeds (including a past incident in which he saved Colby's life) for personal gain; had Carter not died in the process, there would always be the question of whether his actions were truly heroic or if he had an ulterior motive or was about to exploit his actions after the fact.

* ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'': It may not be enough to fully redeem him, but Dwayne Carter giving up his life to save Colby in "Trust Metric" is the closest he ever gets in the show to being a decent person. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Carter giving up his own life is the ''only'' way it could be a true redemption due to the fact that Carter has a tendency to exploit his "good" deeds (including a past incident in which he saved Colby's life) for personal gain; had Carter not died in the process, there would always be the question of whether his actions were truly heroic or if he had some ulterior motive to benefit himself.

* ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'': It may not be enough to fully redeem him, but Dwayne Carter giving up his life to save Colby in "Trust Metric" is the closest he ever gets in the show to being a decent person. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Carter giving up his own life is the ''only'' way it could be a true redemption due to the fact that Carter has a tendency to exploit his "good" deeds (including a past incident in which he saved Colby's life) for personal gain; his death is the one thing that erases all question of whether he might be doing it with some ulterior motive to benefit himself.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

[[RedemptionEqualsDeath Redemptions equalling death]] on live-action TV.

** In the volume 4 finale, Nathan Petrelli tries to atone for his spearheading of the Government's plan to capture all evolved humans by [[WhatAnIdiot taking on Sylar alone]]. Sylar [[DroppedABridgeOnHim finishes him off with a finger flick]]. Then Peter (unaware of his brother's death) [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome manages to completely and utterly pwn Sylar]], and Noah Bennet, Angela Petrelli and Matt Parkman decide to [[ReplacementGoldfish brainwash him into believing he's Nathan.]] [[IdiotPlot The Volume 5 preview shows that it did NOT end as well as they thought.]]

** Damar leads the Cardassians in a war against the Federation alongside the Dominion and, perhaps more pertinently, murders Tora Ziyal. Eventually though, he realizes the Cardassians' warlike ways are leading them to ruin, and so launches a rebellion, eventually allying himself with the Federation. Unfortunately, his wife and son pay the price; the Dominion finds and executes them. The realization that his past actions make him NotSoDifferent from the people who just murdered his family is instrumental in his character development. He dies leading an assault on the Dominion's headquarters, becoming a martyr to his fellow Cardassians, who succeeding in killing Weyoun and taking the female Changling prisoner.

** [[spoiler:[[TheBully Billy]]]] [[GoThroughMe immediately jumps to protect]] [[spoiler:[[MindOverMatter Eleven]]]] from [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination the Mind Flayer]]]] after [[spoiler:[[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight she helps him regain control from it]], [[UsedToBeASweetKid by reminding him of his humanity by bringing up memories of his happy childhood]]]]. [[spoiler:He]] [[HeroicSacrifice gets killed]] for the effort, but manages to [[DelayingAction stall]] [[spoiler:it]] long enough for [[spoiler:Joyce to close the portal, which kills its flesh avatar and saves everyone]]. [[spoiler:[[FamousLastWords His last words to Max?]]]]

* ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'': It may not be enough to fully redeem him, but Dwayne Carter giving up his life to save Colby in "Trust Metric" is the closest he ever gets in the show to being a decent person. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Carter giving up his own life is the ''only'' way it could be a true redemption due to the fact that Carter has a tendency to exploit his "good" deeds (including a past incident in which he saved Colby's life) for personal gain; his death is the one thing that ensures that this isn't another situation like that.

* ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'': It may not be enough to fully redeem him, but Dwayne Carter giving up his life to save Colby in "Trust Metric" is the closest he ever gets in the show to being a decent person. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Carter has a tendency to exploit his "good" deeds (including a past incident in which he saved Colby's life) for personal gain; giving up his own life is the ''only'' way it could be a true redemption because that eliminates the possibility that he's acting with an ulterior motive.