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Pre Mortem One Liner / Video Games

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Pre-Mortem One-Liners in video games.

  • Non-lethal variant: the protagonists of the Ace Attorney series will often deliver one of these to the true culprit of the case immediately after proving their guilt and just before their Villainous Breakdown. Usually, these are related specifically to the culprit in some way. For example:
    Phoenix: (to a bomb disposal specialist) Think you can dismantle this conclusive evidence?
    Apollo: (to a stage magician) With no tricks left, I'm afraid your show has been cancelled, permanently.
    Edgeworth: (to a body guard who loves chess) Checkmate.
  • From Arc the Lad, the final words of the title hero, Arc of Touvil, delivered to the Dark One himself, when Arc gives his life to reseal him.
    Arc: Drink from the cup of my pain and anger!
    • The line is especially potent, because in the course of this game the 'Named NPC Death Count' gets into staggering numbers (including one PC), AND the Big Bad just tore the world a new one before you reseal him.
  • Army of Two, when entering overkill mode during play:
    "Welcome to the Tyson Rios show!"
    • And again, just before killing Richard Dalton:
      Salem: "Survey says?"
      Rios: "You're dead."
    • From the 40th Day, the two have several post mortem-one liners, but special mention goes to Salem:
      "TAKE A SEAT!"
  • Assassin's Creed:
  • Nama Yode from Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan delivers a poetic one to a bunch of the Rhino's mooks after she sends Enzo on to stop the Rhino's attack on the palace: "Today, as always, men dance the dance of death."
  • From Batman: Arkham Origins, Bane attempts to kill Batman and says, "May you find the peace in death that you did not have in life." Instead, he gets the response, "I'm not looking for peace," just before Batman stops his heart with electricity. Don't worry, Batman revives him afterwards.
    • At the end of the Red Hood's DLC story in Batman: Arkham Knight, he gets to deliver both Pre-Mortem and Bond One-Liners:
      Black Mask: You don't need to do this. I'll give you money. Drugs! Guns! Weapons! Whatever you want. Please. I'll take a plane. Leave Gotham. Never show my face again. Anywhere you want. I'll go anywhere!
      Red Hood: How about you go to Hell!
      (kicks Black Mask out of the window, letting him fall to his death)
      Red Hood: Say hi to Joker for me.
  • Before shooting Father Balder with her lipstick, Bayonetta has this to say:
    "Don't fuck with a witch!"
  • Bionic Commando (1988), before a-sploding Master D's head:
    Spencer: Your number's up, monster!
  • BlazBlue: Central Fiction ends with Ragna giving a real corker of one:
    "Be devoured by the infinite darkness... Yuuki Terumi."
  • Combine that with Pre-Asskicking One-Liner, because it's done twice in Brain Dead 13:
    • During the dancing moves, while bullets are shooting at Lance, the eyeballs fall out of his pocket, then he gets an idea by picking them up and delivering a Pre-Asskicking One-Liner to Fritz:
      Lance: Hey! Time to punch out!
    • And after shoving Fritz into the jar where Neurosis is, our hero delivers one more badass line before pressing the "flush" button:
      Lance: Hey, guyyys! Game's over.
      • It may be noted that in the Japanese release, Lance simply says, in a bit of a whisper, "Sayonara."
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops II has Harper deliver one of these to Salazar, if Farid didn't kill him prior to Salazar's betrayal.
    Salazar: Today is a difficult day, Section... but tomorrow, we all win.
    Harper: Not you. (BANG)
  • Castlevania
  • Crimson Rafflesia's first scene ends off with the main character saying this.
    Sho: You owe me your life, you said. Then I guess it's fine if I collect my debt now?
  • There's at least one example in Deus Ex. After using Gunther's killphrase and setting off a bomb inside him, JC finishes the conversation with a sarcastic "Sticks and stones..."
  • In almost every main continuity Devil May Cry game, the Big Bad would always be finished off by the main character saying "Jackpot", though the line in question is only optional in Devil May Cry 4. The only exception is Devil May Cry 2 where Dante says "'King'? Yeah, here's your crown..."
  • Regina in the first Dino Crisis to the T. Rex: "End of the line for you, handsome... You're extinct!"
  • EXTRAPOWER: Star Resistance: Galaxystar gives one when he grapples an enemy for his Final Crash attack, just before pumping them with a full blast of laser pistol. Good night!
  • Lulu does this in Final Fantasy X before casting elemental spells if they're one-shot kills.
    • The Death spell has the delightful "Nice knowing you."
    • Everybody except Kimahri has a premortem comment. Similarly, Tidus may deliver a one-liner when using Flee.
  • At the start of a battle in Final Fantasy X-2 (and occasionally before casting spells or using similar special abilities), the girls toss one-liners between themselves, which are context-sensitive depending on the enemy. Clearly the spirit of Woolsey had a hand in them, because there's Shout-Out after Shout Out.
    • And at the end, you get some good ones too, including a Marx Brothers reference:
      Yuna: Duck soup!
      Paine: Duck what?!
  • Final Fantasy XI has Odin and his Zantetsuken speech, complete with Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe with a side of pork.
    Odin: Mine obsidian blade shall split attain the threads of thy future, whilst its crimson fuller shalt channel the lifeblood of thy past. Now wail as thy soul is strewn across the plains of Valhalla!
  • In the Fire Emblem games beginning with Awakening, every playable character (as well as some bosses) has a set of lines they will speak before landing a Critical Hit or activating a skill.
  • In Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator Cassette Guy gets a whole Breaking Speech in after cutting off Scrap Baby's Motive Rant, revealing he had lured all the animatronics to a fake pizzeria in order to burn them all to the ground. The speech ends thus:
    "This ends, for all of us. End Communication."
  • When Lilac defeats Lord Brevon in Freedom Planet:
    Lilac: Nobody. Hurts. MILLA!
  • The Gears of War series is full of these, especially in the second, where if you land a shot with a Torque Bow, your character will comment on their opponent's imminent demise.
    • Sometimes the victim will give an Oh, Crap! instead.
  • God of War's considerably more badass Kratos does these as well, but his best so far is this gem:
    Ares: "I was trying to make you a great warrior!"
    Kratos: "You succeeded."
  • Halo:
    • The Arbiter in Halo 3:
      Truth: I! Am! Truth! The voice of the Covenant!
      Arbiter: And so, you must be silenced.
    • In Halo: Reach, a truly outstanding moment of badassitude- Emile, after manning the mass driver, and giving the Covies hell, has a Phantom drop two Zealots over. What does he do? Well, he manages to shotgun one of them in the face, before being impaled by the others' Energy Sword. Undeterred, he stabs the other Elite in the neck with his signature, pulling off this epic line:
      Emile: I'm ready! How 'bout you?!
  • Hi-Fi RUSH: When Chai goes to deliver a finishing blow to the head of QA-1MIL:
    Chai: You've got a killer track. But every song's gotta end.
  • In Hitman, 47 loves to give these when talking to his victims in disguise, such as saying that particular foods (which he can poison) or views (which he can shove his victim off of) are "to die for" - though of course just how far pre-mortem they are is technically up to the player.
  • Kid Icarus: Uprising: Though it doesn't work as intended, Hades gets points for still getting a pretty cool line out of it after Pit's finally pissed him off for real.
    Hades: You know what, Pitty-Pat? You're looking mighty tasty! Down the HAAAAAAATCH!!
    • Pit gets one of his own two chapters later.
      Pit: I fight for all things living and breathing. I fight for all departed souls still hanging in limbo! But most of all, I fight for Lady Palutena, the goddess of light! And it is in all their names that I will defeat you, Lord of the Underworld! I won't let you desecrate another soul!
      (Final Strike is fully charged; press R to use)
  • In Killer7, Dan delivers one to Curtis after defeating him and before he can give a Final Speech:
    Dan: Trying to die in style? Give me a break, you sick old man!
  • Most end-of-chapter boss fights in Killer is Dead end with a QTE to get Mondo to ready his sword for the killing blow, before declaring "Killer is dead."
  • Killing Floor's Patriarch's "One in the pipe!" commonly ends with rocket launcher-induced death of at least one squad member.
  • Kingdom Hearts
  • Two of the three endings to the Mystery Island Quest in Kingdom of Loathing have Bond One-Liners. The third, and hardest to get (a few small mistakes, and it can become impossible to get) instead have this trope: the player character points out that even with all the shouted accusations, thunder, rain, etc, The Big Wisniewski and The Man have forgotten one little thing in their dramatic final battle: "Explosions. Giant explosions in slow motion.". Said missing element is quickly introduced by the player, courtesy of a pirate flaregun.
  • At the beginning of the endgame to Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, if the Jedi Masters are still alive on Dantooine Kreia caps off her speech to them with one, before draining them and cutting them off from the Force. Having used the Force as a crutch for their whole lives, they are unable to live without it and quickly die.
    Kreia: Do you wish to feel the teachings born of the Mandalorian Wars? Of all wars, of all tragedies that scream across the galaxy? Let me show you - you, who have forever seen the galaxy through the Force. See it through the eyes of the Exile.
  • The Legacy of Kain series features some pretty interesting pre-mortem one-liners, including Kain occasionally shouting at his enemies "Vae Victus!"note 
  • The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV has Rean delivering this towards Ishmelga before he slices him into two.
    Rean: Farewell, Ishmelga. I'm not sure if you even have a soul, but I hope you find your way to Aidios.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening: If you steal from the Town Tool Shop and come back, the shop owner has some very choice words for you before he fries you with lightning:
    Shopkeeper: I wasn't kidding when I said pay! Now, you'll pay the ultimate price!
  • Lollipop Chainsaw: When Juliet is about to finish off Josey, who has video game-based powers.
    Juliet: Looks like you ran out of coins.
  • Mass Effect:
    • Mass Effect has one (probably more, knowing Shepard) in Bring Down the Sky; after doing something morally questionable to catch a bad guy, the bad guy asks Shepard "Who's the real terrorist?" to which Shepard replies, "You. But you're dead." BLAM!
    • Thanks to the interrupt system, Mass Effect 2 features even more opportunities to do this, like telling a ranting krogan "You talk too much" before shooting at the tank of flammable gas he's unwittingly standing over.
    • Another interrupt when facing down a particularly mouthy mook who just so happens to be standing next to a glass window on the upper levels of a skyscraper:
      Mook: [turning away] I got nothin' to say to you...
      [Shephard pushes him out of the window]
      Shepard: How about goodbye?
    • Samara from Mass Effect 2: "Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess." Cue Neck Snap.
    • From Incursion:
      Collector Drone: You are insignificant.
      Aria T'loak: Maybe...
      [Aria shoves a grenade into the Drone's mouth]
      Aria: But you're dead!
      [Aria biotic uppercuts the Drone into a Praetorian. Cue explosion]
    • Shepard gives one to a downed Reaper on Rannoch before calling down Orbital Bombardment.
      Shepard: Tell your friends I'm coming for them.
  • MechWarrior 4: Black Knight: Eric McClair (the protagonist) versus Casey Nolan.
    Nolan: What do you say, buddy? Punch out now, and I'll give you a job... scrubbing toilets!
    McClair: Thanks... I'll pass.
  • Probably one of the most epic uses of this trope ever in Metroid: Other M, added into the climax of Super Metroid in a manner that shows the fury Mother Brain unleashed by killing the baby Metroid in front of Samus.
    Samus: Mother...Time to go! (Fires Omega Beam)
  • Minecraft: Story Mode: When you're about to throw the Formidi-Bomb into the mouth of the Wither Storm, you're given a selection of these to choose from.
  • From the wonderfully Narm-tastic Mortal Kombat 4 endings, we get this from Jax:
    Jarek: Wait, wait! This is brutality! You can't do it!
    Jax: Wrong, Jarek, this is not a brutality...this is a fatality!
    Drops Jarek while he screams something that sounds like "I'MSOGAYEEEHHHH!!!"
  • In Neverwinter Nights 2 Mask of the Betrayer, you get to say one ironically to the former god of death, Myrkul, just before you destroy him for good.
    Myrkul: ...In all you do, you glorify me, spirit-eater... you stoke the embers of my soul.
    PC: And now, I will snuff those embers out. Farewell, Myrkul.
  • No More Heroes is full of these. "It's open mic night in Hell, old man."
    • The most ironic of all has to be the one after Bad Girl's fight, she refuses to lose, so she starts beating Travis up with her bat with his sword through her chest. The last thing Travis says before she dies is "I give up, you win!"
  • The Outer Worlds: If you invest into the right Skill Scores and Perks, companions will launch a special attack on command designed to be a Coup de Grâce while spouting these.
    Vicar Max: I smite thee in the name of the law!
  • The Protagonist of Persona 5 has a simple one for the Final Boss.
    Joker: Begone. [Satanael, Joker's max-level Rage Against the Heavens Persona, headshots the Demiurge.]
    • Each playable character also has one in their All-Out Attack quote, as they say it right before all the opponents turn into Ludicrous Gibs spouting High-Pressure Blood.
  • Planescape: Torment features several of these between the Big Bad and people it ends up killing throughout the game.
    Big Bad: DOES HE REALLY *MATTER* TO YOU?
    Annah: He matters more to me... Than life.
    Big Bad: THEN... *DIE*.
  • Portal 2: "I already fixed it! And you are not coming back!"
    • During the fight, if you let Rick the Adventure Sphere talk long enough, he will eventually ask if you have a "Cool Line" prepared for when you kill Wheatley. After some unsuccessful attempts to think one up himself, he will try to invoke one by asking Chell to get Wheatley to say "You two have been a thorn in my side for long enough!", reminding you to do so as he is plugged in. Once all three cores are plugged in and the final part of the fight starts up, Wheatley's dialogue will have now changed slightly to include Rick's setup line verbatim. Rick then delivers his "Cool Line". It's... a little underwhelming.
      Rick: Yeah? Well this thorn... is about to take you down. Man, that sounded a whole lot better in my head.
  • In [PROTOTYPE]:
  • In The Punisher for the PS2, mooks, upon being "interrogated", will beg for their lives resulting in a flashback for the Punisher. This trope can be played straight or not, depending on the player choice.
    • "I have a family!"
      Punisher: (Kill) Everybody does. (BANG)
      Punisher: (Mercy): Then go back to them.
    • "I'm just a soldier!"
      Punisher: (Kill) That's no excuse. (BANG)
      Punisher: (Mercy) You're in the wrong army.
    • "I ain't ready for a coffin!"
      Punisher: (Kill) No one ever is. (BANG)
      Punisher: (Mercy) It's still waiting for you.
    • "There's gonna be a massacre!"
      Punisher: (Kill) You're right. (BANG)
      Punisher: (Mercy) Don't be a part of it.
  • Red Dead Redemption II: If Arthur Morgan went for the loot in Low Honor mode, after Micah Bell stabs him in a frenzy with a knife:
    Micah: I must say, Arthur... it's been a lotta fun. [performs a Coup de Grâce on Arthur by knifing him In the Back]
  • Resident Evil features them on occasion.
    • In Resident Evil 2, whoever's B scenario you're playing gets one when they finish off Mr. X:
      Leon: Game over.
      Claire: You lose, big guy.
    • In Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, if you go out of your way to finish off Nemesis in the final battle and risk getting killed by the nuke:
      Jill: "You want STARS? I'll give you STARS!"
    • In Resident Evil 0
      Billy: Hey queenie! Feast on this!
    • In Resident Evil 4, all the lines Krauser utters during the Cutscene Boss sequence can become one if you botch the QTE:
      "You catch on quick, as expected. After all, you and I both know where we come from."
      "All for Umbrella's sake... Enough talk. Die, comrade!"
      "Oh, I needed her to buy Saddler's trust in me. Like you, I'm American."
    • In Resident Evil 5:
      Chris: Suck on this, Wesker!
      • Sheva gets quite a few of these. "Burn in hell, you son of a bitch!"
      • Barry Burton, in the DLC "Mercenaries: Reunion" also gets several of these when performing his finishing move, Miranda Rights, several of which are references to the awful localization of the first game, including such gems as "I have this!" and "What is this?" before drawing his signature magnum revolver and executing downed enemies. If the player uses the taunt command just before performing the attack, he'll also yell "What's the matter, outta ammo?" and "Comeon-Comeon!" (as two words, just like that) before performing his coup-de-grace.
  • Scorched Earth has an option for talking tanks, which can have them delivering these just before firing. The lines are stored in a text file, so you can easily go and add your own.
  • Upon defeating Deko in Sin and Punishment: Star Successor:
    Deko: How can this be? You've defied the will of the creators! Your allegiance to that monster will destroy this entire universe!
    Isa: There's only one monster here... And that's you, Deko!
  • At the start of Squigly's story mode in Skullgirls, the Mafia assassin Black Dahlia arrives unexpectedly at Selene Cortinello's birthday party.
    Black Dahlia: Happy birthday, Selene. Time to blow out your candles.
    (Screen cuts to black with sounds of gunshots and screaming)
    Black Dahlia: (Holding a crying Squigly's head to the wall with a gun pressed to her temple) Don't forget to make a wish!
  • Though he doesn't kill him, Darkspine Sonic in Sonic and the Secret Rings tells Djinn Erazor "Your tale is finished, Erazor! Next time, try writing a better story."
  • Roger to the endodroid in Space Quest VI: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier: "Frosta la keister, baby!" Of course, since not only the line but the whole subplot is a Shout-Out to Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the endodroid, like the T-1000, can recover from being frozen and shattered.
  • In Starcraft I, Duran gives one to Stukov...
    Duran: Say goodnight, Stukov.
  • Star Fox Zero has Fox deliver one after defeating Aquarosa:
    Caiman: You beat us AGAIN?! I'm NEVER gonna live this down...
    Fox: You got that right.
    [Aquarosa explodes, presumably killing Caiman.]
  • Star Trek Online gives either Reman character Obisek or the Romulan Player Character captain this line, depending on who you play as, towards Hakeev
    Obisek/Player: This is less than you deserve! [Boom, Headshot!]
  • In general, finishing any boss in the Tales Series with a Hi-Ougi/Mystic Arte can feel very much like doing this.
    • Tales of Symphonia : Kratos' most famous line, mostly for its punctuation: "Feel the pain [stabs the villain] of those inferior beings [stabs, sheathes] as you burn in Hell."
  • Tales from the Borderlands:
    • August delivers one to a guy who owed him money:
    NPC: Please, August! I'll pay! I'll pay, I'll pay, I'll pay!
    August: You are. (BANG)
    • Like the above-mentioned Minecraft: Story Mode by the same company, the game gives you an assortment of these to deliver to Handsome Jack, should you choose to destroy the last place his consciousness resides in.
    Rhys: I win, Jack. It's over.
    • In the first episode, Fiona can give one to Felix, if the player chooses not to warn him about the bomb in the Mystery Box of- er, the briefcase with the money.
    Fiona: Choke on it.
  • Tekken: In Tekken 7's Story Mode, Kazuya and Heihachi engage in one hell of a Final Battle where Kazuya awakens his Devil form to take on Heihachi. Should you win round 1 against Devil Kazuya, however, Kazuya will utter "This will be your burial ground!"In JP, swat away Heihachi into the sky and then take him down, before firing multiple beams from his body, yelling "It's over... NOW DIEEEEE!"In JP. Then Heihachi subverts this by surviving the attack and awakening his true power to fight Devil Kazuya in one Last Dance. It's then averted when, after said final battle, Kazuya merely finishes Heihachi off without one of these, merely letting out a kiai. He does engage in a Bond One-Liner afterwards, though.
  • Tomb Raider has a few, notably at the end of Tomb Raider III, when Willard is telling Lara his plans.
    Lara: Your perception of good timing is... bad.
    • Unfortunately, she fails to kill him at the time, as he throws a table at her.
  • Shiki Tohno from Tsukihime:
    Shiki: You're not scared, are you? The path called death is something you're familiar with. If there's a difference now, it's only one thing - this time, you can't come back.
  • Uncharted is quite fond of these. Nathan Drake gives out epic one-liners to the Big Bad of each game right before their death.
    Drake: (to Navarro) Adios asshole.
    Drake: (to Lazarević) Maybe not...but they do.
    Drake: (to Talbot) Time to end this, you son of a bitch!
    Drake: (to Rafe) You want the treasure Rafe? You can have it.
  • Warcraft III, as Arthas prepares to run Terenas through with his sword:
    Terenas: What is this? What are you doing, my son?
    Arthas: Succeeding you... father.
  • Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine has this little exchange:
    Grimskull: I ain't finished with you yet, Space Marine!
    Titus: But I am finished with you, Ork.
  • There are a few in The Walking Dead (Telltale).
    • There's an attempt at one on Lee near the end of A New Day:
      Larry: You ain't coming with us, you son of a bitch! [punches Lee onto his back while Walkers fill the store]
    • In Starved for Help, a played straight or subverted example, depending on player choices:
      Danny St. John: You see!? You understand now, don't ya?! You can have me! It's how the world works now! Give part of yourself... so others can live! [...] You gotta keep me alive. If you kill me, the meat gets tainted! You can't eat it!
      Lee: You're already tainted!
  • Seether drops a simple, "Goodbye!" on a hapless Hellcat pilot in Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom before dispatching him with his fission cannon.
  • Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus: B.J. Blazkowicz has this to say to his abusive father Rip, who sold out B.J.'s Jewish mother and other "undesirables" to the Nazi regime, right before shooting him dead.
    B.J.: Was a time I was scared of you. Was a time I would piss myself having a gun pointed at my head. You know what I feel right now? Not a god damned thing.
  • World of Warcraft: Subverted in the Lich King fight, when he has taken the time to make this very long speech that all of the players he killed with his Sealed Badass in a Can would stay dead. Sadly, he forgot to kill one NPC, which turns his Evil Plan into a free kill.
  • In The Warriors, the mission "Destroyed" has you fighting against Vergil who had one of the Warriors killed to lure Cleon into a trap. After beating him, Cleon delivers a rather badass one liner before finishing him off.
    Vergil: Fuh—fuck you, copperhead. I'm the boss. You wuz nothin'... you wuz nothin' before me. Nothin'.
    Cleon: Open your eyes motherfucka, you ain't nothin' but ashes. *throws a molotov at him*

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