A lot of characters have a phrase in media that they are known for saying. They no doubt say it almost all the time. People know these characters by this phrase, and they are aware. So how do these character make sure that people will forever think of them when hearing their catchphrases? They have said phrase be the last thing they say before they die.
When a character's last words ends up being the very thing they have been known to say, it often hits those who cared very hard to the point where they actually start thinking of them when they hear it from somebody else. It's also possible that another character will pick up said phrase as a means to remember them by and ensure that their phrase can live on.
On the other hand, if it is a villain delivering their catchphrase in an attempted Pre-Mortem One-Liner only to be killed upon saying it, expect characters to either see killing them as a way of shutting them up or see their last words as ironic. Alternatively, the villain may be attempting a Taking You with Me when they say their phrase.
May sometimes overlap with Killed Mid-Sentence. If it overlaps with Dying Vocal Change, it's also an Alternate Catchphrase Inflection.
As this is a Death Trope, beware of unmarked spoilers!
Examples:
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- The mascot for the Sega Saturn, Segata Sanshiro, would always say "Sega Saturn shiro!!" which translates to "You must play Sega Saturn!!". Come the final commercial featuring him, he repeats his catchphrase as the rocket he is holding onto explodes.
Anime & Manga
- In Code Geass, Lelouch's Badass Boast is "I am the man who destroys worlds and creates them anew." This is also what he utters as he bleeds out to death in Nunnally's arms at the end of the final episode of season two.
- Cyberpunk: Edgerunners: David often blows off or rejects things with the phrase, "Like I give a shit." As he's lying broken and beaten by Adam Smasher, Adam offers to save his life by turning him into a construct for Arasaka. David blows off the offer with his usual line, letting Adam blow his head off in the end.
- Naruto: Deidara often says "art is an explosion", referring to his exploding clay figures. In his fight against Sasuke, he uses a technique that turns himself into a high yield bomb as his last attempt to spite Sasuke; before he explodes, he goes into a speech, which ends with "because art... Is an explosion!!" Kilometers-wide explosion ensues.
Fan Works
- Oversaturated World: Discussed by Timber, when talking about a catchphrase shared between his mom and sister.
"I've got this," echoed Timber. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if those were my mom's last words."
Films — Animated
- In Frozen II, Olaf says that he likes warm hugs as he's dying in Anna's arms.
- In G.I. Joe: The Movie, Duke is fatally stabbed by Serpentor. Before dying, he says the G.I. Joe battle cry "Yo Joe". However, before the film was released, the scene was re-edited to have Duke go into a coma and later pull out of it.
Films — Live-Action
- Charlie Frost is the radio-host Conspiracy Theorist in 2012 who has the Signing-Off Catchphrase, "Folks, always remember, you heard it first from Charlie," which he repeats just before his death.
- In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Quicksilver often needles Hawkeye with a phrase along the lines of "You didn't see that coming", a taunt about how fast he is in comparison to the non-powered archer. At the very end of the movie, Quicksilver speeds in front of Hawkeye, using his body as a shield between Ultron's turret gun and Hawkeye and a child. Quicksilver's last words are "You didn't see that coming..."
- Avengers: Endgame has a combination of this with Pre-Mortem One-Liner (if only because the attack ensures the speaker will die), as Iron Man responds to Thanos attempting a Badass Fingersnap with "I am inevitable" with one of his own saying "And I... am... Iron Man."
- Five Nights at Freddy's(2023) also happens to have a combination of this trope with Pre-Mortem One-Liner. As the Yellow Rabbit/Springtrap's springlocks fail and impale him every which way, he looks right into the camera, says his famous phrase "I always come back" and puts on the Spring Bonnie helmet.
- GoldenEye: After climbing out from under the ruins of the collapsed lair, Boris shouts "I am invincible!" right before being engulfed in liquid nitrogen.
- Lethal Weapon 2: When Rudd smugly asserts once again that he has "Diplomatic Immunity!" Murtaugh informs him that "It's just been revoked."
- When Bugs Bunny dies in Space Jam: A New Legacy, his final words are "That's all folks," which is what the phrase the Looney Tunes would use at the end of all their cartoons.
- In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock gives Kirk the Vulcan salute and says, "Live long... and prosper," before finishing his Heroic Sacrifice.
- TRON: Legacy: The title character wakes up from his Brainwashed and Crazy, Reforged into a Minion state long enough to shout "I fight for the Users!" and make a suicidal charge at Clu.
Live Action TV
- Stargate-verse: Jaffa routinely declare "I die free" before being executed by their "Gods".
Video Games
- Azure Striker Gunvolt: In many of his in-mission talk with Gunvolt, Asimov (his boss) often ends his messages with saying "good luck", even in the Japanese audio. Later on, after you fight Asimov as the True Final Boss, he ends his Final Speech with "good luck", wishing GV the best for the hardships that he'll face as the consequence for being a powerful Adept.
- Dead Rising 2: Tyrone King frequently says "You gotta be willing to risk it all if you're ever really gonna..." then having other finish for him with "win big". During the final battle against him, he starts to say his catchphrase to Chuck with the intent of having it be a Pre-Mortem One-Liner. However, it instead becomes this when Chuck throws him off into the zombies and finishing the phrase for him.
- Game of Thrones (Telltale): One of your characters has the option to defiantly say the Forrester family's motto of "Iron From Ice!" as their last words before they are executed.
- Metal Gear: Throughout his appearances in the series, Revolver Ocelot lets his opponents know how impressed he is of them by saying "You're pretty good". At the end of the final battle with him in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Ocelot says this very thing to Snake before passing on.
- In episode 4 of Tales from the Borderlands, the mechanic Scooter gets his hand caught on an engine ready to explode that needs to be detached from the ship. Accepting his fate, Scooter gives the rocket a kick while shouting out his business slogan "Catch-a-ride!" before meeting his end.
- In NEO: The World Ends with You, Shoka's catchphrase when saying goodbye to the Wicked Twisters is "Later, losers." On the second run through the final day of the game, Shoka, who has since joined the group, tells Rindo, "Later... loser..." just before being erased.
Web Animation
- In gen:LOCK, Nemesis had the Madness Mantra of "Kill the copy!" when fighting Chase, as Nemesis is the mind of the original Chase after being captured and broken by the Union. When Chase finally kills Nemesis and asks what to do next, Nemesis gives Chase the Subverted Catchphrase, "Kill these copies." to show that he's not the only duplicate Chase will have to fight in the future.
- Final Fantasy VII: Machinabridged: Throughout the series, whenever Cloud apologizes to Aerith she responds by saying, "All is forgiven." At the Forgotten City, upon stopping himself from killing her and apologizing, Aerith starts to tell him all is forgiven just as Sephiroth impales her.
Western Animation
- A variation in the Phineas and Ferb Multi-Part Episode "Where's Perry Part 2", where the dying words of the evil Candace robot are "You're busted."
- The Powerpuff Girls (1998): In "Twisted Sister", Bunny's last words end up being "Bunny do good!" which had been her catchphrase throughout the episode.
- As Muscle Man is being erased in the finale of Regular Show, he does one last "My mom!" joke. Despite this, the death ends up reversed.
- The most commonly uttered greeting of V.V. Argost, the main villain of The Secret Saturdays, is "greetings and bienvenue." In the Grand Finale "War of the Cryptids", this phrase ends up being one of the last things that Argost says before he seemingly dies in an explosion of matter and anti-matter.
V.V. Argost: Greetings and bienvenue, world! Have I got a show to put on for you! [does an Evil Laugh that quickly turns into a scream of horror as his body disappears in a vortex of matter and antimatter]
- A variant in The Venture Brothers At the end of "All This and Gargantua 2", Jonas Venture Junior (Rusty's twin, whom he ate in the womb), says "Go Team Venture," to Rusty and Dean before he pilots a section of the station with a nuclear core undergoing a meltdown away from the rest of the ship. The phrase is used a lot in the show by a variety of characters (mostly the Venture family and members of the original Team Venture) and highlights JJ's situation where he's viewed as an outsider because he wasn't present until much later.
