"Be it my mask or your blood, red is the last color you'll see."
— Bloodnofsky, The Green Hornet
Standard threat from villains (and occasionally heroes): "The last thing you ever see will be my X", where X is generally either some variety of weapon or simply "face". Perilously close to being discredited these days, unless it's about to get subverted somehow.
When combined with Exact Words, expect someone to lose their eyes, but probably not their life. Is a mildly more sedate version of I'll Kill You!.
Examples:
open/close all folders
Anime And Manga
- Bleach: "You better not forget my name... and hope you don't have to hear it a second time. Grimmjow Jeagerjacques! The next time you hear this name will be your last, Shinigami!"
- Variant in Fullmetal Alchemist. Ax-Crazy Kimbley cheerily recommends always remembering the faces of the people you kill. "After all, they'll always remember you."
Comic Books
- DC: The New Frontier; Played with, as Joe, a Death Seeker trying to avenge his fallen friends, looks at the sky, decides it's the last thing he wants to see, closes his eyes, and kills the T-Rex that murdered his friends by jumping down its throat while holding live grenades.
- Spider-Man: In The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #39, after the Green Goblin captures Spider-Man after uncovering his identity as Peter Parker, the Goblin unmasks himself before his enemy:
"Take a look, Parker...a good long look. It's the last face Spider-Man will ever see! It's the real face of the Green Goblin, the face of Norman Osborn!"
- The Transformers (IDW): In Transformers Spotlight, Blaster swears revenge on Soundwave for brainwashing one of his friends into attacking him.
"And the last voice he hears, will be mine!"
- The Wasp: In one issue of Al Ewing's Wasp (2023) miniseries, Janet Van Dyne informs her longtime nemesis/stalker Whirlwind that he has used up her forebearance and sometime soon, be it in a prison cell, an alley, or what passes for his own home... he will hear a little buzz in his ear canal, moving inward (She's trying to rattle him, and is rather unnerved by how much she means it).
"Aneurysm, they'll say. And so young...."
- X-Men: Wolverine once issued one of these threats to the Blob, telling him to get into the habit of looking over his shoulder, because one day Wolverine will be there. And that he won't be seeing much else after that.
Fan Works
- "Last Rights": Captain Kanril Eleya threatens Jhet'leya that if Athezra Darrod, a slain USS Bajor noncom who has been turned into a Kobali named Q'Taal, wants to rejoin the Bajor's crew and she doesn't let him, the last thing she sees will be a certain Galaxy-class starship.
- Old West: The Badass Boast given by Rattlesnake Jake to Dufayel at the end of their first meeting includes Jake promising that his eyes will be the last thing Dufayel will see.
"Yer damned lucky the Sheriff's so soft. What's the matter, boy? Yer shakin' a little. How's it feel to be so helpless? In the face of death, it don't matter whether yer rich or poor, we all die in the end. Don't you ever forget that, 'cause one day I'm gonna be the one who comes callin' to claim yer soul. Now look into my eyes... I want you to remember them for the rest of yer life. 'Cause next time you see them this close, it'll be the last thing you ever see."
- The Mountain and the Wolf: The narration notes that the last thing Petyr Baelish sees before the Wolf backstabs and cuts his throat is Arya Stark looking down on him and smiling.
Films — Animated
- In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Joker tells Batman that "The last sound you'll hear will be our laughter" and proceeds to do so.
- Moana: In the last chorus of "Shiny", Tamatoa sings, "I'm so shiny! Soak it in 'cause it the last you'll ever see. C'est la vie, mon ami!"
Films — Live-Action
- Variation: In Con Air, Cyrus the Virus taunts Poe by saying the last thing his daughter smells will be "my stinking breath." He uses another slight variation against the plane's pilot:
Cyrus the Virus: And if you say a word about this over the radio, the next wings you see will belong to the flies buzzing over your rotting corpse.
- In King Arthur (2004). Arthur says to the Big Bad "Remember my face. For the next time you see it, it will be the last thing you see on this Earth". When he kills said Big Bad, he even makes a point to hold his head up so his face really is the last thing he sees.
- Variation in Avatar: The Na'vi refer to their world's flying apex predator as "Last Shadow".
- In The Green Hornet: When Chudnofsky becomes Bloodnofsky he gets a red mask and develops this as a Pre-Mortem One-Liner.
"Be it my mask or your blood, red is the last color you'll see."
- Taken: "If you don't get me what I need, the last thing you'll see before I make your children orphans is the bullet I put between her eyes."
- Played with in Smokin' Aces. One of the assassins kills the casino's chief of security, but goes out of his way to kill him painlessly, and comforts him in his dying moments. He tells him to close his eyes so that his face won't be the last thing the guy will ever see, because (switching to Spanish) "Heaven may hold it against you." This compassion is greatly ironic, considering that the assassin in question is known for being a ruthless torturer.
- Variation used in the film of the Biblical story of Samson, when his eyes are put out.
- The Ten Commandments (1956): Bithiah says it to Memnet, when making her swear to keep quiet about Moses.
Bithiah: The day you break that oath will be the last your eyes will ever see.
- And her proclamation comes true. Even though it's Bithiah threatening to kill Memnet should she open her mouth, it's Nefreteri who does so when Memnet spills the beans to her.
- Used literally in Dragonheart when the newly crowned King Einon visits the quarry where the peasants who rebelled two scenes ago have been enslaved. The ringleader of the revolt brags about having killed Einon's father, and Einon says the line and orders him blinded.
- In True Lies, to force Harry to talk, the terrorist puts a knife to Helen's throat and declares "The last thing she'll see is her blood spraying across your face."
- The Avengers: Loki has this in mind.
Loki: I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear! And when he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull!
Literature
- In The Pearls of Lutra, the Big Bad tells Martin that the last thing he'll hear is the Big Bad's name, which he shouts before they begin their fight. As the Big Bad lies dying, Martin comments "So yours wasn't the last name I heard. But here's the last name you'll ever hear. I say it for a friend whose kin you had murdered for a half-dozen pearls. Holt Lutraaaaaa!"
- Brittlestar, a minor character in A Darkling Plain, is killed when a Stalker, standing behind him, gives him a 180 degree Neck Snap. The narration claims that the last thing he sees is his own startled face, reflected in the Stalker's bronze mask.
Live-Action TV
- Angel: Angelus threatens the members of Angel Investigations in "Cavalry":
"The last thing you smell will be each other's blood"
- Dallas: In the final act of the Season 6 cliffhanger, which ends with a huge fire at Southfork. J.R. Ewing is relaxing when an angry Ray Krebs confronts him in the living room (over being indirectly responsible for a hit-and-run accident that nearly killed Mickey Trotter). J.R. remarks that Ray is the last person he wanted to see tonight, after which Ray tells him, "And I'm the last person you'll ever see!" Indeed, Ray might just be the last person J.R. ever sees, after the two get into a huge fight and inadvertently cause a fire that spreads quickly throughout the house; J.R. tries to escape but is quickly overcome by smoke. (Of course, J.R. escapes and – like Ray, who also got out – suffers only minor injuries.)
- Hilariously defied in Firefly. The Dragon is threatening Mal as Mal attempts to explain the (pretty reasonable) terms on which he wants to cancel the crew's deal with the Big Bad. Around the time the guy gets to "...and the last thing you will see is my blade," Mal rolls his eyes, utters a short "Darn," and then kicks him right into the intake of Serenity's engine. Schplercht! The next guy immediately agrees to Mal's terms.
- Babylon 5:
- Commander Ivanova delivers this line to an enemy battle group: "I am Death Incarnate, and the last living thing you are ever gonna see! God sent me."
- In another episode, she described the station's defenses to threatening ships: "You will find their power quite impressive... for a few seconds."
- In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "The Gift", Buffy states that if the plan fails and the world ends, the last thing Dawn will see will be Buffy protecting her.
- In the Lost season 4 finale, Michael tells Desmond and Jin that if the bomb is triggered and they haven't frozen the battery yet, the red light will be the last thing they ever see.
- The tagline of Nikita Season 1:
Nikita: I will hunt down Division, and the last word they'll breathe before the end, will be my name.
- Happens twice in the History Channel's The Bible (2013) miniseries: once when the Philistines capture Samson (and he sees a bribe dumped in his wife's lap), and once when the Babylonian king captures the Israelite king (and the king sees his sons' throats cut). In both cases, the captor then puts out the prisoner's eyes with his thumbs.
- Game of Thrones:
- Cersei makes this threat to Septa Unella, the septa torturing her to make her confess during her imprisonment by the Faith Militant. In the season six finale, Cersei has most of her enemies killed with a wildfire explosion, but has Unella imprisoned in her dungeon. Cersei visits her captive and reminds her of her promised threat. Unella maintains her stoicism, declaring she's prepared to meet the gods. Cersei clarifies that Unella is not going to die for a long time, since she's got an even worse punishment in mind for her: leaving her with Ser Gregor Clegane.
- In the Season Six finale, a maid in the Frey household serves Lord Walder a minced meat pie while he asks where his sons are. She then reveals that his sons had been in the dining room all along (as the pie); while he's in a state of shock she pulls out her blade and pulls off her face, revealing she's actually Arya Stark using Faceless Man magic for a disguise. She then grabs his head so he'll be looking directly at her true face and kills him while saying "The Last thing you'll ever see is a Stark smiling down at you."
- Doctor Who:
- A variation from the episode "World War Three". The Slitheen learn that Mickey and Jackie managed to kill one of their brothers who was hunting them.
Asquith: He's dead. Sip Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen is dead.
Green: I felt it. How could that happen?
Asquith: Somebody must have got lucky.
Green: That's the last piece of luck anyone on this rock will ever have. - This exchange from "The Magician's Apprentice":
Colony Sarff: Where is the Doctor?
Ohila: Where he always is. Right behind you, and one step ahead. Tread carefully when you seek the Doctor, Colony Sarff, or he will be the last thing you find.
- A variation from the episode "World War Three". The Slitheen learn that Mickey and Jackie managed to kill one of their brothers who was hunting them.
- NBC Saturday morning's "One To Grow On" PSAs: The auditory version was used in a segment of this mid-1980s 60-second PSA, wherein a 10-year-old boy was playing in a railroad yard, listening to his Walkman stereo headphones and oblivious to an oncoming train. His friends witness this and frantically try to warn him of the danger; fortunately, the boy sees the train fast coming upon him and he jumps off in time... after which his friends scold him, one of them even remarking that the music he was listening to could well have been "the the last thing you ever heard!"
- CSI: NY: One arc has a serial killer who cuts off his victims' eyelids while they're still alive. Mac and Sid surmise that he does this so his face will be the last thing they see before dying. Once the killer is caught, Mac berates him for it, and the guy admits that it was his motivation.
- In an Unsolved Mysteries segment about the murder of an elderly man, after seeing a sketch of the suspect, the man's son laments the fact that such a terrifying visage was the last thing his father saw.
Music
- "Her Eyes Say Yes" by Hit the Lights uses this trope in a rather creepy fashion.
Theater
- In a non-threatening example, Alexander Hamilton wonders if Aaron Burr, his "first friend - [his] enemy", is the last face he'll ever see. It might be, as it's unclear whether Hamilton was conscious after being shot and for how long - if he was, then the last faces he saw were likely his wife and sister-in-law, and if not, then it was indeed Burr.
Theme Parks
- In the pre-show of The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios, Sideshow Bob says this, stating it will be a brief safety instruction video, which ends up starring Itchy and Scratchy and having their trademark gory violence. Screams from the Simpsons immediately follow.
Video Games
- Hitman: Blood Money: The first mission has the assassin 47 showing a photograph to his target, "Swing King," telling him that his client wants this to be the last thing he sees before 47 kills him.
- In the Dawn of War expansion Soulstorm, the primary commander unit of the Eldar says "I am the last thing you will see." in battle. Constantly.
- In Halo Wars, during the final confrontation between Sergeant Forge and the Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee, the Arbiter lifts Forge up by the head and prepares to skewer him with his energy sword, telling Forge that "My face is the last thing your pathetic eyes will ever see." Forge then stabs him in the neck with his knife before stabbing him with his own sword, thus making it so Forge's face is the last thing he ever sees.
- Duke Nukem 3D: "I'm coming back to town, and the last thing that's gonna go through your mind before you die... is my size-13 boot!"
- Then, upon defeating him, he kicks the Big Bad's one eye out of his head.
- Played with in Fallout: New Vegas - The motto of the NCR 1st Recon, a squad of elite snipers, is "The last thing you never see".
Boone: Pretty accurate, and so were we.
- Dirge, a thug who works as a security guard for the thieves guild in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, tells you his Meaningful Name comes from the fact that if you make him mad, he'll be the last thing you hear.
- When the Demon Hunter in Diablo III swears revenge against Maghda the Witch, they promise that the last thing Magdha sees will be a bolt from their crossbow.
Western Animation
- In The Batman:
- This exchange:
Joker: Clayface! Just the do-gooder I was hoping to see!
Clayface: I'll be the last do-gooder you'll ever see! - Also, this Badass Boast from Bane:
Bane: I am Bane, the last opponent you'll ever face.
- This exchange:
- Jackie Chan Adventures: "I am Hak Foo, the last human you will ever lay eyes upon."
- Spider-Man: The Animated Series proves that this doesn't work against You Fight Like a Cow:
Spider-Man: Did you say 'Hydrant-Man?' The dogs must love you!
Hydro-Man: It's Hydro-Man! And it's the last name you'll ever hear.
Spider-Man: For somebody new to this super-villain gig, you've sure got the cliches down. - Dragons: Race to the Edge: In "Have Dragon Will Travel", Heather is on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Dagur the Deranged for slaughtering her home village. At one point she declares, "I want my face to be the last thing he sees!"
- Total Drama: Said word for word during "Scarlett Fever" after Scarlett, who has been revealed to be Evil All Along, traps Jasmine, Shawn, Sugar and Sky in a room full of Chris robots that she makes attack them.
