Line #55 Main/MortalWoundReveal


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4	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mortal_wound_reveal_1_4.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:Victory!\
6	[[labelnote:Really? Click here to see what really happened.]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mortal_wound_reveal_3.png[[/labelnote]]]]
7
8	Usually happens in an action scene—bullets and blades flying every which way—chaos and mayhem dominate. At either a lull in the fighting, or the final victory of one side (usually the heroes), we see one of the characters standing fairly still, looking pale. Then something about the scene changes. Either the camera pans to reveal a gaping hole that really shouldn't be there, or essential parts of the character drop off. They don't have to die instantly, but the wound has to be lethal, and revealed.
9
10	The heroic version tends to be used in works where AnyoneCanDie, and played for tragedy. The villainous version tends to be either a) the loved one of the BigBad, so they go berserk—which usually humanises colder villains, or b) a major villain has been killed, most often TheDragon or the BigBad, bringing that arc to a close, sometimes unexpectedly early. Mooks are too small fry to waste serious stage directions on.
11
12	May arrive after a GoryDiscretionShot, as a sort of {{Subversion}} though this is by no means necessary. More often there's no clue given that anyone on the team that ''thinks'' they won is hurt beforehand. May very well be used in an example of NotQuiteSavedEnough.
13
14	See also GunStruggle, BulletHolesAndRevelations, and DiagonalCut. Some forms of RoboticReveal subvert this trope—the robot, of course, does not die from their 'mortal' wound.
15
16	Compare AlmostDeadGuy, AfterActionHealingDrama, AgonizingStomachWound, BelatedInjuryRealization, ZombieInfectee (where the injured party deliberately hides that they've received a wound, rather than the author/director hiding it from the audience), and GameBreakingInjury (where it's specifically the Hero who receives a significant—though ''not'' necessarily mortal—wound).
17
18	Non-lethal examples will usually go under either SecretStabWound, or if they ''really'' don't fit either of those tropes for some reason, go here as a PlayingWith of some kind, invoking either NoOneCouldSurviveThat, or NoOneShouldSurviveThat. May result in the dying character doing TheDyingWalk. Sometimes foreshadowed by ImColdSoCold.
19
20	!!As this is a {{Death Trope\|s}} and a form of TheReveal, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].
21	----
22	!!Examples:
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
26	* In [[spoiler:Otonashi]]'s flashback sequence in ''Anime/AngelBeats'', [[spoiler:Otonashi]] has just managed to rally and negotiate peace throughout the survivors of the subway cave-in accident and walked off to get a break when he pulls his jacket back, revealing the blood spreading under his skin from the terrible internal injury that eventually kills him.
27	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' has a [[RedemptionEqualsDeath not-so-villainous]] example with Ulquiorra. He's able to get back up and [[spoiler:stop Ichigo's SuperPoweredEvilSide]] after being on the receiving end of a CurbStompBattle, so none of the heroes realize how injured he really is until his remaining wing explodes into ash[[note]]a sign that his HealingFactor wasn't working[[/note]]. Then again, his thoughts also reveal that his organs are not coming back.
28	* Following a lengthy fight, Solomon in ''Anime/BloodPlus'' staggers into a dark alley and rips open a small cut on his clothing. Turns out a small wound with Saya's [[BloodyMurder blood]] was enough to make his body [[TakenForGranite slowly crystallize and crumble]].
29	* PlayedWith in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
30	** Ed fights Kimblee only to be taken by surprise when Kimblee reveals he has a Philosophers Stone, which he uses to collapse the mineshaft serving as their battleground. After the collapse, Ed wakes up on the floor of the mineshaft, suitably pissed off. When he tries to get up, blood pools around him, and the camera pulls back revealing that he's been impaled with a metal bar from the collapsed mine. He actually manages to live--by using his own soul as energy to boost his medical alchemy, saving his life now [[CastFromLifeSpan at the expense of a shortened lifespan.]]
31	** Downplayed with Wrath. After effortless deflecting a SuicideAttack, he gives a shocked expression to realize his enemies manage to impale him in the guts. It's never shown whether this wound itself would be lethal in the long run, but otherwise it crippled Wrath enough that his enemies could start landing hits on him, eventually defeating him.
32	* A tank example in ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer''. During the FinalBattle, [[spoiler:the Hetzer]] manages to execute a plan to destroy the enemy's [[spoiler:Maus tank]], but shortly afterward, it shuts down from the damage it took; the tanks have a system in which if they're hit with sufficient force, or take enough damage, a flag rises and they're out of the game.
33	* ''Anime/{{Macross}}'':
34	** About halfway through the ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' anime, Fokker's plane is hit during a mission. He lands and proceeds to continue his plans for the evening. The fact that he was wounded is only revealed when the maintenance crew finds blood on his pilot seat and the extent of it when he [[GoOutWithASmile silently passes away]] on his girlfriend's couch.
35	** As a ShoutOut, ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'' set up the exact same thing with [[spoiler:Ozma getting hit in a battle and going to Ranka's concert fully knowing he's gonna die]], but him passing out from blood loss alerted his subordinates that something's wrong, saving his life.
36	* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' has a particularly cruel SenselessSacrifice example, where Lichty's Heroic Sacrifice for and reveal of his cyborg nature to Christina Sierra is then followed by the reveal that she'd been pierced by a chunk of shrapnel and he hadn't noticed before he died in her arms. She too dies shortly afterwards, still clutching his body.
37	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' loves to [[InvertedTrope invert]] this trope. A ninja gets filled with shuriken, stabbed, or nailed with a high-powered Jutsu. A few {{reaction shot}}s... and then the predictable reveal that the ninja A. was a Clone, B. used a Substitution Jutsu, or C. the situation was not what it seemed in another way (Genjutsu, Transformation Jutsu, a last-second counter-move mitigated the hit somehow, they have some sort of regenerative or protective power...)
38	* ''Franchise/OnePiece'': One of the first big [[WhamEpisode Whammos]] of the Water 7/[=CP9=] arc was the reveal that the Straw Hat's beloved ship, "Going Merry", had cracked its keel[[note]]the ship equivalent to the human spine[[/note]] during their travels.
39	* Kami-sama in ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}'' apparently doesn't process the fact that he's been shot several times by Sanzo while trying to fight off the rest of the team until Hakkai points out that it's over, prompting the villain to look down and see his robes getting soaked with blood.
40	** ''Saiyuki Gaiden'' pauses a bit at the end of Tenpou's OneManArmy fight right as he [[SingleStrokeBattle slays the last soldier]]... and then ''[[GuttedLikeAFish Tenpou's guts drop to the floor]]''.
41	* In ''Anime/ShinMazinger'', [[spoiler: Kabuto Juuzo]] flies[[note]]via Rocket Punch[[/note]] to Mazinger to teach Kouji how to control it. It's not until the lesson is over that Kouji notices that he is bleeding heavily from a gut wound, though the viewer sees it earlier.
42	* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' arguably subverts this, since it's obvious in a meta sense that [[spoiler:Nicholas Wolfwood]] isn't long for this world [[spoiler:following his confrontation with Church]], but since Vash is too deep into an HeroicBSOD to notice, the direction doesn't make it explicit until their actual death scene.
43	* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' √A uses a bait-and-switch approach to this. Blood dripping is shown repeatedly during a scene, seemingly coming from the heavily wounded Kaneki. But then [[spoiler: Hide collapses, and reveals a stomach wound gushing blood. He dies in Kaneki's arms shortly afterwards, leading to Kaneki's ambiguous SuicideByCop]].
44	* [[spoiler:Tsume]] from ''Anime/WolfsRain'' got seriously injured in a battle. His pose suggested he was deliberately hiding it, but then he looked like he was surprised to see his side ripped open and a huge pool of blood.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Comic Books]]
48	* In one ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes story after Karate Kid fights off a group of muggers the team's precognitive Dream Girl wakes up from a nightmare in which one of the LSH members dies, but she can't remember who. With Karate Kid manning the monitors, the twosome quickly rule out every Legionaire...except him. Suddenly, he passes out and Dream Girl rushes him to the infirmary, where it turns out that he'd been cut badly by one of the muggers, but his strict martial arts discipline had kept him from noticing the pain. It's not said how he and Dream Girl managed to ignore the blood which must have been pouring down his side, soaking his uniform and pooling on the floor, though.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Fanfic]]
52	* In [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/109581/1/i-did-not-want-to-die/i-did-not-want-to-die I Did Not Want To Die,]] the protagonist's wounds are revealed to be lethal once he starts coughing up blood.
53	* In ''[[Fanfic/TheRoadToShalka The End of the World]]'', just to tug our strings, the Doctor finds [[spoiler: his companion Jasmine]] unconscious, starts to freak out, then [[HopeSpot she wakes up]]... and he notices her stab wound. And all he can do is [[PietaPlagiarism cradle her as she dies, muttering empty promises]].
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
57	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'': A soldier who Z is talking to turns out to be [[LosingYourHead missing everything from his neck down]].
58	* In a non-mortal example, ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' discovers she is seriously injured after battling the Hun. The mood dramatically changes as she and her friends realise that she's wounded, and changes again when, in the process of treating her wounds, everyone realizes [[SweetPollyOliver she's a woman]].
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
62	* In ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', Jake's team of defectors has just barely escape by helicopter from Hell's Gate, under a hail of bullets from [[ColonelKilgore Col. Quaritch]] himself. As they cheer, Dr. Grace sees the blood soaking her hand.
63	--> '''Grace:''' [[MajorInjuryUnderreaction This is gonna ruin my whole day.]]
64	* One of the interpretations of the ending to ''Film/BlackSwan''.
65	* In ''Film/BloodDiamond'' Danny has a final confrontation with his [[PrivateMilitaryContractor merc friends]] and doesn't even notice that he's wounded until after the fight is over, he goes to pick something up and pulls up short in pain. It takes him awhile to die, so he manages to first outrun the other mercs for awhile and then is carried by Solomon when he can't run anymore, but he finally insists on Solomon going out without him.
66	* In the final scene of ''Film/ChildrenOfMen'', Kee sees blood on the bottom of the boat and assumes it's her own (she'd given birth a short time earlier), but Theo assures her he'd been shot minutes ago and just paid it no mind in the heat of the situation. He sags soon afterward.
67	* The remake of ''Film/DawnOfTheDead2004'' has [[spoiler:Michael show his bite wound to Ana and tell her he can't get on the boat with them, despite her insistence she can heal him. The last you see of Michael is him putting a gun to his head as the boat leaves.]]
68	* ''Film/TheDeadlyDuo'': Hsiao, the younger of the titular duo, survives a massive fight scene seemingly unharmed. But later on the camera pans downwards - on a spreading pool of blood leaking from the side of his boots, which comes from an AgonizingStomachWound.
69	* ''Film/EnterTheEagles'': After a massive shootout on the streets of Prague, the film's group of protagonists seemingly made it into a passing train unharmed... until one of the characters, Tommy, pulls up his shirt, revealing ''three'' bullet wounds.
70	* ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'' – The {{Narm}}tastic final fight has this happen to TheDragon.
71	* Happens in ''Film/FaceOff'' with Castor Troy's criminal associate Dietrich during Castor's attack on his former hideout. We see him jump into the line of fire just in time to intercept a bullet Castor had intended for his girlfriend Sasha. However, we don't see that it's a mortal wound to the side of the neck until Archer shows up.
72	* During the final battle in ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'', after the duel is interrupted by cannon fire and the smoke clears, [[TheButcher Bill the Butcher]] and Amsterdam sit up. It's revealed that Bill has a shrapnel wound in his gut.
73	* In ''Film/TheGodfatherPartIII'', at the end there is an attempt on Michael's life. Shown are the two gunshots, Michael being hit in the shoulder, and the gunman being killed. As the commotion dies down, the camera cuts to Mary, Michael's daughter. He looks at her, and she looks down to reveal that she has been shot in the chest. She then dies seconds later.
74	* In ''Film/TheHungerGames'', the lethal spear stuck in [[spoiler:Rue]]'s torso is revealed this way.
75	* In ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'', Vasily Borodin is standing in front of the weapons console when the saboteur starts shooting. He slumps down and Ramius rips open the outer part of his uniform, revealing that he had been shot.
76	* In ''Film/{{Inception}}'', after the shootout/car chase in the first level, it's revealed that the only character who didn't escape unscathed was Saito.
77	* ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' franchise:
78	** In ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'', the heroes appear to have escaped through a door just in time to avoid a hail of gunfire from the army of Smiths chasing them. Then The Keymaker turns around to reveal that his torso is riddled with bullet holes.
79	** In ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'', Trinity gets a mortal wound shortly before arriving the core of the Matrix in the real world. Unlike the usual case, this is not a case of BehindTheBlack as Neo himself is blind at that point (and [[spoiler:unlike in the previous film where Neo managed to revive her from a similar wound in the Matrix, she dies for real since this wound is received in the real world]]).
80	* Happens in ''Film/MulhollandFalls'', during Elleroy's [[DeathIsDramatic dramatic]] death sequence.
81	* ''Film/TheNinthConfiguration'' ends with Colonel Kane saving Capt. Cutshaw from [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels a biker gang at a bar]]. Following the brawl, Cutshaw carries the battered Kane back to the asylum wrapped in a blanket, but it isn't until he's alone that Kane [[DeathEqualsRedemption lets the blood-stained knife drop to the floor]] and begins composing a farewell letter. In the film's original ending (and the story on which it was based), Kane palmed the knife and committed suicide, but [[ExecutiveMeddling the studio insisted at the last minute]] on changing a line of dialogue to imply that he was actually stabbed in the chaos. (Some argue this was actually an improvement, since Kane's intended lesson—that humans are capable of selflessness—would be [[BrokenAesop broken]] by suicide.)
82	* Happens in ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest'' with [[spoiler:Cheyenne, after his ambush of the the rail baron's private train]].
83	* Happens to Graham in ''Film/{{Paul}}'' when he gets shotgunned in the chest. He even fails to realise for a moment that he's been shot badly enough to destroy his heart.
84	* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'': A variation. What gets revealed is not the wound itself, as we clearly see Jack shoot Barbossa, but rather the fact that Will has broken the curse and ended Barbossa's immortality.
85	* ''Film/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'': After killing the Hassansin knife thrower in combat, Seso looks down on himself only to see that he had been struck in the chest by four knives. He dies soon after.
86	* Happens in ''Film/TheQuickAndTheDead,'' when two characters face off in a gunfight. Both fire, and one appears fine until he looks down at his shadow and sees light coming through a bullet hole in his chest.
87	* ''Film/ResidentEvil2002'' – The LaserHallway scene has two of these. As the first laser goes by and shears off one commando's fingers, the leader turns to TheMedic asking her to help, but she doesn't respond. They look again, and the camera shows a paper-thin red line appearing through [[OffWithHisHead her neck]] [[DelayedCausality before]] her head falls off. A few seconds later, after a laser grid passes through the leader, he falls apart into chunks of flesh.
88	* ''Film/{{Scream}}'':
89	** In the finale of ''Film/Scream1996'', Sidney stabs Billy in the shoulder with an umbrella, but doesn't cause any apparent wounds. Later, when the two are grappling, he has a gaping hole there, big enough for Sidney to stick her finger in.
90	** Occurs in the opening of ''Film/Scream2'' when the killer, disguised with Phil's jacket, stabs Maureen in the chest.
91	* In the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' parody ''Film/TheVeryStrangeCaseOfTheEndOfCivilisationAsWeKnowIt'', John Cleese as Holmes is shot in the stomach several times with what were ''supposed'' to be blanks as part of a clever gambit. When Watson fesses up that he'd forgotten the switch, Holmes surveys the growing bloodstain on his shirt, and irritably scolds Watson for his bungling.
92	-->'''Holmes''': It'll be nice to be dead... get a few things done. ''(Dies)''
93	* In ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', it is revealed in the middle of the climax that [[spoiler:Judi Dench's M]] is bleeding to death from what seemed to be a {{near miss\|es}}, a wound that proves fatal.
94	* In ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', following an explosion caused by the Green Goblin's bombs, Peter sees to Aunt May, who seems to be alright. It’s here that she gives him the "WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility" speech, and soon begins to weaken. Cue Peter's hands on Aunt May's back, being soaked in blood. She then dies.
95	* In ''Film/StepsTroddenBlack'', Sam thinks Jack is bleeding out after a scuffle with the Space Cat. It turns out to be her blood, and that she's bleeding out from claw marks in her stomach.
96	* ''Film/TristanAndIsolde'': Happens to Tristan near the beginning of the film. His wound initially appears not that serious, but just as we're informed that the weapon was poisoned he collapses, apparently dead. Being the protagonist, [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt he gets better]], but his friends didn't know that.
97	* ''Film/{{Unfaithful}}''. A cuckcolded husband hits his wife's lover over the head with a snow globe. There's a pause as the man just stares at him. . . and then blood begins gushes from his head and he collapses and dies (clearly, the guy hit him hard enough to fracture his skull).
98	* In ''Film/Underworld2003'', as Viktor is kneeling over Michael and about to kill him, Selene picks up Viktor's sword from where he'd dropped it earlier and slices through him with it. At first, it seems like she whiffed badly, as he actually jumps up completely intact and draws daggers from his sleeves in response—but then Selene holds up the blood-covered sword, which is followed by half of Viktor's head falling off.
99	* ''Film/VForVendetta'' has an example, where initially it appears that V has superhuman powers by surviving a barrage of gunfire. After dispatching his foes while they frantically try to reload, he removes a home-made metal plate—riddled with bullet holes and covered in blood—from under his shirt, drops it on the ground, and staggers off. Before the this moment, there's a subtle indication: his raspy, pained voice as he delivers his KirkSummation.
100	* In ''Film/YoungGunsII'', Chavez gets wounded at some point during the fight with Sheriff Garrett and his deputies, but we're not really aware of the wound until he starts acting hurt when they reach safety. Later still, Billy finally catches up to them and Chavez shows him what turns out to be a pretty horrifying stomach wound. Shortly thereafter Chavez [[TheDyingWalk limps out and goes off to die by himself]].
101	[[/folder]]
102
103	[[folder:Literature]]
104	* In Joseph Heller's ''Literature/CatchTwentyTwo'', Yossarian attempts to tend to the small wound of a crew member who was hit by flak on a bombing mission. But when he loosens the crew member's jumpsuit, he finds a huge exit wound, and can do nothing but attempt to comfort the dying man. The non-chronological order of the narrative makes it a bit hard to tell, but this is the experience that pushes him into him into becoming the paranoid, cowardly CloudCuckooLander / OnlySaneMan that defines his character for most of the novel.
105	* In the post apocalyptic book, ''Literature/LastRefuge'', two characters have left the last refuge to travel across a wasteland representing the Hindu Book of the Dead. After tangling with a cannibal and needing to get away as quickly and as far as possible, the wounded person hides his wound so that his friend can get away without slowing them down by trying to give medical aid.
106	* In ''Literature/{{Parellity}}'', we get a nice long description of the gang successfully defeating the last Corsair buggy before we learn that [[spoiler:Doug's been shot]].
107	* ''Literature/TheSagaOfTheGreenlanders'': At the headland of Krossanes, Thorvald and his companions are attacked by a host of vengeful natives in boats who shower them with missiles. Eventually the attackers retire, and Thorvald asks his companions whether anyone of them has been wounded. They reply that they are unhurt; only then does Thorvald reveal he has been pierced by an arrow hitting him under his arm, and that the wound is lethal. He dies shortly after.
108	* In George R.R. Martin's ''Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg'' novella "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms", the Trial of Seven ends in victory for Duncan's side, and Prince Baelor, who fought on Duncan's side, appears to be fine after the battle. Only when Baelor's mangled helmet is removed does everyone discover that Baelor has a fatal (and apparently ghastly) head wound at some point in the fighting and his body been running purely on adrenaline since. Baelor then falls unconscious and dies several days later.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
112	* ''Series/PrincessAgents'': Curly abruptly stops as she and Chu Qiao try to escape the hunt. Chu Qiao looks back to see what's wrong. The camera pans down to show an arrow sticking out of Curly's chest.
113	* The ''Series/BreakingBad'' episode "[[Recap/BreakingBadS4E13FaceOff Face Off]]", Gus walks away from an explosion caused by a bomb, seemingly unhurt. However, the camera pans around as horrified nurses look on, and reveals that most of the right side of his head is burned or missing. He then collapses and dies.
114	* ''Series/TheBoys2019''. In "The Bloody Doors Off", Hughie Campbell is inside a van which gets rolled over several times. Butcher and Annie are relieved when Hughie staggers out with only a minor cut on his forehead...until they see the bloody lump of metal sticking out of his chest.
115	* Happens to Mels in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler Let's Kill Hitler]]" when one of Hitler's stray bullets hits her in the stomach. This leads to the reveal that [[spoiler: she is River and causes her to regenerate into her.]]
116	* ''Series/HoratioHornblower'':
117	** In "The Even Chance", midshipmen Clayton (good guy) and Simpson (bad guy) duel. Hornblower's friend Clayton shoots Simpson and it looks like he has killed him, celebrating with "Got you, bastard!" Next moment shows Clayton with deadly BloodFromTheMouth. His injury from the duel is much more serious than Simpson's injured arm and Clayton dies later that day in an inn.
118	** Archie Kennedy's wound is revealed after the battle over the ship in "Retribution". Although the wounding is shown (he is shot at and sits down abruptly), it isn't until the aftermath that Horatio rips his coat open and sees that he's been shot in the stomach. It takes him quite a long time for the wound to kill him; the wound was mortal largely because of the state of medicine in early 1800's Europe.
119	* In ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'' episode 'A Is For Answers' after the assasin escapes to another rooftop, Aria walks to Ezra as he turns around, it's revealed that one of the bullets hit him in the stomach, though he survives.
120	* In ''Series/TheWestWing'' at the end of Season One/beginning of Season Two, the president and his staff are the targets of shooters. After the shots, Toby attempts to find Josh and comes across him sitting against a wall. At first it seems that Josh is fine, but as Toby walks closer he sees that Josh is holding his stomach over a bullet wound. Being a major character, Josh does survive. This trope is also played fairly straight with the President, another bullet victim noticed after the fact (he also lives).
121	* In an episode of ''Series/WithoutATrace'', Martin and Danny are ambushed by gunmen. Danny jumps out of the car to exchange gunfire with them. Only after everything has calmed down does he realize that Martin hasn't gotten out of the car as well and looks over to see him slumped over, gasping for air, his shirt ''soaked'' with blood, revealing that he's been shot. Subverted in that he lives, but barely.
122	* ''Series/CatchTwentyTwo'': Yossarian is introduced in the first episode climbing out of a burning B-25 completely naked with his face covered in blood. In the finale, we see what happened: the bomber is hit by flak and the EnsignNewbie is wounded. It doesn't appear to be serious... until Yossarian goes to pull him away from the wall, revealing two huge holes in the bomber's hull where the EnsignNewbie's torso had been. Yossarian opens the man's jacket to reveal his entire torso is reduced to hamburger; he dies in Yo-yo's arms moments later.
123	* In the series finale of ''{{Series/Supernatural}}'', Dean and Sam fight a battle against some vampires, and immediately after the vampires are slain, Dean reveals to Sam that he has a spike through his body and he will die.
124	* ''Series/ForeverKnight''
125	** In the final episode, VampireDetective Nick Knight is trying to talk a criminal into handing over his gun, but he fires instead causing Nick to vamp out and kill him. He then turns to see his human partner Tracy Vetter (who knows that vampires exist, but not that Nick is one) staring at him in shock. She then does a WallSlump to reveal the bullet passed through Nick and hit her.
126	** A literal version in "The Human Factor" when Janette is revealed to have become mortal again after she takes a bullet. Nick offers to make her a vampire again to save her life, but she refuses.
127	* In ''Series/TheLastOfUs2023'', several characters like [[spoiler: Tess, Sam, and Riley]] walk out of a fight with [[NotSayingTheZWord infected]] only for it to be revealed afterwards that they got bitten.
128
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Religion]]
132	* In Literature/TheBible, UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} ([[PlayingWithATrope player of many a trope]]), dies ''first'', [[FirstLawOfResurrection comes back three days later]] and ''then'' personally shows off some of the mortal wounds he received during and [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat after his death, including a spear wound through his torso and to his heart]].
133	[[/folder]]
134
135	[[folder:Roleplay]]
136	* In ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'', a fight breaks out in a school hallway between various students. Rhys [[FingerFirearms turns his finger into a gun]] and fires at Daigo, who backs away and lets Carlie take the shot instead. Daigo gloats about them being unable to hurt him, then turns around and discovers that his ally, Devin, was stabbed in the chest with a spear during the scuffle.
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:Theatre]]
140	* ''Theatre/LesMiserables'': When Éponine collapses upon returning to the barricade Marius first notices blood in her hair and then opens the large overcoat she wears to reveal her heavily bloodied shirt.
141	--> '''Marius:''' Eponine, what's wrong? / There's something wet upon your hair / Eponine, you're hurt! / You need some help / Oh, God, it's everywhere!
142	* ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'': Mercutio is stabbed under the arm of Romeo during a confused street brawl. It is often played as this, including in [[Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet Baz Luhrmann's 1996 version]], and [[Film/RomeoAndJuliet1968 Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version]].
143	* In the Encores production of TheMusical of ''Film/GrandHotel'', the Baron holds a bouquet of red roses for most of "Roses at the Station". Near the end, he drops the flowers, revealing the gunshot wound on his crisp white shirt.
144	[[/folder]]
145
146	[[folder:Video Games]]
147	* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'': The ''Triangulum Arc'' in ''[[UpdatedRerelease Record Breaker]]'' starts the third day off with a nightmare of the party having managed to defeat [[TheDreaded Arcturus]], but everyone except for Daichi and Yamato to have died during battle. While the two talk, Daichi turns over and reveals a large, bleeding stomach wound that he's dying from and begs one final promise from Yamato. After he promises, Daichi dies and Yamato wonders how he can fulfill the promise, though, revealing his ''own'' mortal wound. [[spoiler:This is not a nightmare, but a memory of the world's previous cycle, and Yamato was saved by Al Saiduq, before the latter regressed the world again for another chance.]]
148	* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': At the end of Atlantis, Jason abruptly sits down and refuses to enter Olympus with the rest of Chaldea. After the goodbye scene, he reveals he'd been dying since the original Argonauts were killed, and had been using some of Medea's magic to appear fine, but can no longer hold himself up.
149	* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has several shots set up during the suicide mission that are these if the squad member in question dies.
150	* In the intro to ''VideoGame/QuakeIV'', a Marine is shown facing away from the camera, then it pans around to show him [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe missing his lower body]] and [[FacialHorror half his face]].
151	* [[PlayedForLaughs Downplayed for laughs]] in Ken's ending in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII''. He challenges someone named Mel to a fight, then gets hit in a way suggesting that he's been fatally injured. Pan down to reveal that Mel is his pre-teen son... and that Ken had just been punched [[GroinAttack below the belt]].
152	* Downplayed in ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney''. After Naruhodou and Sholmes deduce that [[FatAndSkinny Joan and John Garrideb]] got into a fight and inadvertently started a fire, John stands up to reveal that the other side of his face -- hidden by the way he was facing while seated -- still had a bruise from where Joan slapped him.
153	* In the final episode of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadSeasonOne'', Ben (if he's still alive) will fall into an alleyway after standing on a loose metal balcony. When the survivors come to check on him, they see he survived the fall with only a few scratches...and then it's revealed a balcony rung has impaled him through the midriff and he can't move. This leads to Kenny performing a MercyKill on him when walkers swarm the alley.
154	[[/folder]]
155
156	[[folder:Web Comics]]
157	* Played with in ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'' with a wound that would have been lethal if the characters weren't already in Hell.
158	* ''Webcomic/KarateBears'' rarely lose and [[http://www.karatebears.com/2010/11/sore-losers.html this is why]].
159	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has a particularly extreme example; after [[spoiler: Miko destroys the Gate in Azure City]], causing a massive explosion, she is seen lying on the ground from the chest up, speaking with Soon Kim's ghost. After her highly ironic last words ("I can live with that"), we see that she has been ''[[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe ripped in half at the waist.]]''
160	[[/folder]]
161
162	[[folder:Web Original]]
163	* ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'': Dr. Horrible grins at the sight of Hammer wailing in pain, [[MoodWhiplash then turns to see Penny with a mortal wound in her middle]] from the explosion of the DeathRay.
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder:Western Animation]]
167	* One episode of the last series of ''[[WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk Dragons: Race to the Edge]]'' has Viggo Grimborn during EnemyMine attack with Hiccup on Krogan's base of operation stumbling into scene weakened, and when he turns to the side it is revealed his back is riddled with arrows. It is made clear that he would not live past that day even without performing HeroicSacrifice.
168	* Played with in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short ''WesternAnimation/ACornyConcerto''. Porky Pig and his hunting dog are hunting WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, and after a chipmunk gets ahold of Porky's rifle and shoots it, the three of them stand to the camera with their hands over their chest. Porky and his dog both cautiously check under their hands, and realize they're fine. Bugs peeks under his hand, goes green and collapses. [[spoiler: He's faking, of course.]]
169	* During the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', Luz ends up taking blast of magic from Belos to protect the Collector. At first, it seems like she managed to throw up a spell to shield herself, with foreground elements and camera angles deliberately hiding her hand from view. But when she notices him looking up in horror, she sees that a bit of Belos' MeatMoss managed to get on her fingers, and it quickly spreads to engulf her entire body and [[TheHeroDies kill her]].
170	-->'''Luz:''' Don't worry, I think it... missed me.
171	* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', Dreadwing is shot by Megatron and we get to see a close-up of the gaping hole in his chest.
172	[[/folder]]
173
174	[[folder:Real Life]]
175	* When the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot (triggering WWI), his wife Sophie apparently fainted from shock. This trope happened once they realised she also took a bullet to the abdomen.
176	** Sadly, the same trope applied to the Archduke's aunt, the Empress Elisabeth, sixteen years earlier. When an assassin stabbed her in the chest with a sharpened needle file (while making it look like he stumbled against her), she fell down but quickly regained her feet and was able to proceed to the steamship she was walking to. On board she fainted again, and it was only after her clothing was loosened that the fatal wound was revealed (in fact, the tightly wound corset she wore had compressed the wound and prolonged her life).
177	* The murder of the Duke of Berry played out rather like Elizabeth's case above: the Duke was stabbed in the chest with a stiletto as he came back from the Opera and thought he had only received a punch; he only noticed the knife later.
178	[[/folder]]

Context Main / MortalWoundReveal