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    Anime and Manga 

Old Kai: I'll give you the life that's left inside of me, that way you can make your way to Earth.
(Old Kai sacrifices himself and dies, and Goku's halo fades away)
Goku: Thank you, I promise I won't let this go to waste.
Old Kai: (wakes up with a halo) THEN HURRY UP!
Goku: HUH!?
Old Kai: WHAT are you doing!? You're standing there looking like fools when you should be saving the universe!

    Comic Books 

Nova managed to defeat the Sphinx with the help of some heroes from other time periods, and assures me that the Sphinx won't be returning. But how many times have the Avengers said that about Kang, or Ultron, or Dr. Doom?
Captain America, Heroic Age: Super Villains

"Banner'll be back, the good ones always come back. Look at Cap, he's died more times than Kenny on South Park."

Oh, no, you don't! We know how it goes: you take the body, then he's back in a week!

Green Arrow: So, Hal... When're you coming back?
Hal Jordan's Spirit:note  I don't understand.
Green Arrow: Yes, you do. We've been at this too long. When're you really coming back?
Hal Jordan's Spirit: I'm working on it.

Captain America: You have to die, Bucky.
Bucky: Er, no thanks, didn't like it the first couple of times.
Cap: Funny.
Bucky: No, I'm serious, why can't Jim die this time?

You know, if everyone The Punisher killed turns out to be no more dead than anyone else who "dies" in Marvel Comics, he's going to be in BIG trouble one of these days.
Marvel Year In Review 1993

Death has lost its meaning. The doorway between life and death has been cracked open for years. Ever since Superman came back to us. And then Oliver Queen, Hal Jordan, Jason Todd.
Raven, Teen Titans #30

Thus died Thor. For the ninth time that could be remembered. Three days later, he rose again.

Sometimes it seems that in mutant heaven there are no pearly gates, but instead revolving doors.
Professor X, X-Factor #70

The recidivism here [in heaven], it's shocking. I sometimes think me and Bruce Wayne's parents are the only ones with a permanent parking space.
Ted Kord or rather a construct of him with a similar personality, The All-New Atom

Polaris: I saw you die.
Havok: Give me a break, I'm an X-Man. That trick never works.

Death: I meet around a hundred and fifty thousand humans every day. On this planet alone. Not counting cats, birds or goldfish. And you people are always dying of something. It's what you do. Sometimes you get killed by other dead people. Mostly you don't.
Lex Luthor: The dead have come back to life! Several of them!
Death: It happens. In the end, they all come back to me.

"Dying came easy to us. You were never mourned for long because someone nearly always found a way to bring you back. So you could pick up right where you left off."

    Fan Works 

Santa: Junpei I swear to fucking god I’m going to murder you when I next see you in person
Junpei: That's a pretty empty threat considering i've died at least 10 times.

"Welcome to Paradise. Lower your expectations and don't get attached to any of the X-Men up here."

    Film — Live-Action 

Rocket: So... dead brother, huh? That could be annoying.
Thor: Well, he's been dead before. But this time... I think it really might be true.

    Literature 

"Nobody ever really dies in a comic book, not even the bad guy. At least not for long."
Gwen Frost, Mythos Academy: Touch of Frost

It builds the investigator, and the investigator looks, but does not know. It kills the investigator. It builds the investigator, and the investigator looks, but does not know. It kills the investigator. It builds the investigator, and the investigator looks, but does not know and it does not kill the investigator. It is not aware of a change, that a pattern has been broken. The investigator is aware, and it wonders, and because it wonders it looks, and because it looks, the investigator exceeds its boundary conditions and it kills the investigator.
It builds the investigator.
Interlude: The Investigator, The Expanse

Rachel: Marco, I think it's time to get over this fantasy of yours. We are not superheroes. This is not a comic book.
Marco: Yeah, but I really, really want it to be a comic book. See, in a comic book the heroes don't get killed. I mean, okay, they killed Superman that one time, but it was temporary.

Vincent let me keep the gun as we walked through the belly of his facility. What was it to him? Killing him would gain me nothing and killing myself at this precipitous time would also gain me nothing but the irritation of going through puberty again.

    Live-Action TV 

Laurens Bancroft: You've lost comrades, Mr. Kovacs. People you cared for, or loved even. If you'd lived in this time, you could have them all back. So whatever the price is, surely you'd be happy to pay it.
Takeshi Kovacs: Death isn't up to us to give or withhold.
Laurens Bancroft: Oh. You think we should leave it all to God, do you? (laughs) Oh, haven't you heard, Mr. Kovacs? God is dead. We have taken his place.
Altered Carbon, "In a Lonely Place"

Spike: The thing only took over her body. It's the tip of the theological. Trust us. We’re kind of experts.
Gunn: What about her...? If her organs have been liquefied...
Spike: (raises hand) Flash-fried in a pillar of fire saving the world. I got better.
Angel, "Shells"

(slightly annoyed sigh) Am I dead again?
Piper Halliwell, Charmed, "Seven Year Witch"

Rose: And they brought him back to life? They can do that?!
The Doctor: What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene.

Amy: You think you'll just come back to life?!
Rory: When don't I?
Doctor Who, "The Angels Take Manhattan"

Well, Frank's dead again...
Dr. Forrester, Mystery Science Theater 3000

Balinsky: Oh, Dr. Jackson's gonna die when he sees this!
Dixon: What, again?
Stargate SG-1, "Heroes"

You boys die more than anybody I ever met.
Ash, Supernatural

Go ahead, Roy, do it. But I’m going to warn you, when I come back I’m going to be pissed.
Dean Wincehster, Supernatural

Mad Sweeney: Might be no coming back for that one.
Laura: Yeah, no shit. She's dead.
Salim: "Dead" does not seem to be as final as you're implying.

Oliver: He's seen the future. He's seen me die. It's soon, Speedy.
Thea: (beat) And?
Oliver: (annoyed) Take as much time as you need to be upset.
Thea: Ollie, come on. You've cheated death more than any of us have by this point.
Arrow, "Leap of Faith"

    Magazines 

Don't get the wrong idea, though; coming back from the dead isn't a snap. It's a tough narrative trick that requires time travel, a previously-unmentioned clone, a cosmic resurrection, an alternate dimensional rebirth, or an inattentive editor with a drinking problem. But it can be done.

    Music 

My return is a mystery
Thought you had control of me
I'm offended that you're so surprised.
That first defeat was a practice round
But I pulled myself off the ground
And I've already planned your demise.

She said "I had the strangest dream,
I dreamed I killed you again
Don't make me kill you again,
'Cause I couldn't bear to kill you again.
They Might Be Giants, "Ondine"

    Newspaper Comics 

But I stopped reading Ultra-Powerful Guy the ninth or tenth time he died and came back.
Nermal, Garfield #1

    Puppet Shows 

"My tests have proved conclusively you have retained the ability of retrometabolism. A bullet will make you bleed, you will feel the pain, but after a few hours, even a fatal wound will heal completely. Captain Scarlet, you are still virtually indestructible."

    Tabletop Games 

Upon death, the soul immediately departs. Returning that soul to its body is a major hassle.
Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Edition 3.5

    Video Games 

Where's Ra's? If he's dead again, I need you to wake him up.

Yes, I live once more. I'm very hard to kill and really, you did a sloppy job.
Zoltun Kulle, upon returning from the dead (again) in Diablo III

Murder as warning
The assignment is simple enough. A journalist has said too much, and someone wealthy would like him to be murdered. He'll get better, obviously, but it will serve as a lesson.
— Opportunity card in Fallen London

Wounds are becoming troublesome. At 8, they may become fatal. Which would be inconvenient.
Fallen London's completely honest description of the Wounds trait

It isn't too far [to the encampment]. If you freeze to death on the way, it should be simple to turn around.

Ha ha! I died again!
Lynne, Ghost Trick

How many times have you died? I'm actually getting impressed.
The Sniper, Team Fortress 2

Oh, no. Blizzard killed your favorite character. Well, don't fret! Odds are they'll be returning in an expansion or two! Trust me, I know!

Spider-Man: By the way... thanks for bringing me back from the dead. Now I know how Captain America feels. And Jean Grey. And Colossus. And—
Spider-Man 2099: Just don't die again and we'll call it even!

    Web Animation 

Tari: You know, for a kid, you talk about death an awful lot.
Theo: Yeah, I die a lot.

"Well, I'm so used to my entire life disappearing in an instant that it doesn't really affect me anymore."
Bubble, IDFB, "Welcome Back"

Bomby: Black Hole!
Black Hole: Huh? Oh, yeah. Thank- Uh, I mean, you're welcome, for saving your life twice.
Bomby: I don't care about that! You owe me a banana!
Black Hole: I don't owe you anything, I saved your life twice.
Bomby: Life is cheap! Get me a banana!
Black Hole: Alright, alright! I'll find you a banana.
Battle for BFDI, "What Do You Think of Roleplay?"

    Webcomics 

X: Okay, I think we're safe now, Ran. Ran?
(Ran teleports in)
X: Ran, what happened?!
Ran: I didn't make it. Twelve freaking times!

Oh, dear. I seem to have died. This is very inconvenient.
Jacob Deegan, Dominic Deegan

Jerry the Immortal: Dying is going to put me out of commission for a few weeks.
Susan: Dying is usually inconvenient.

The old "bring her family back from the grave" gambit? Have you no shame?
Tarvek to Gil, Girl Genius

We're just going to kill you, and then you'll be fine!
Agatha, Girl Genius

Vole: Hy haff brought hyu de leader ov dose Var Stompers. He iz in need ov medical attention.
Doctor Sun: I will be the judge of that. Where is he?
Vole: (holds up a severed head)
Doctor Sun: Yes. Well. Tricky. But I've seen worse. Let's get him prepped.

Professor Mezzasalma: Mittelmind there has a pulse cannon built-in. It killed him, of course, but her gun did blow up.
Moloch von Zinzer: That... that was very brave.
Professor Mezzasalma: Oh, please. Don't start. He'll be smug enough as it is.
Mittelmind's Minion: Clear!

Moving for me is a multi-annual tradition, much like killing John has become.
Andrew Hussie, regarding one of the few exceptions to Anyone Can Die in Homestuck

IMAGINE WHAT SORT OF MESS THE UNIVERSE WOULD BE IN IF WE KEPT SENDING PEOPLE BACK FROM THE DEAD ON FLIMSY PREMISES.
Head Death, Irregular Webcomic! #1897

Roy: Huh... I always thought the "revolving door afterlife" was just a metaphor...
Bureaucratic Deva: Now, you are an adventurer, so that means you're eligible to earn Frequent Dying Miles every time you stay with us...

It's an interesting thing, death in Science Fiction. With technology so advanced, if the author wants to make sure the reader won't think the character will be brought back to life, the author can't just shoot or dismember the character, the character really needs to be disintegrated.
We won't even TALK about cloning.
Christopher Baldwin, Spacetrawler, "Defining Art"

Blutarch Mann: All I ask is that you—
(beat as Blutarch goes silent)
Engineer: Uh... sir? Is he alright?
Blutarch's Secretary: Give him a moment, dear. He's just dead.
(Blutarch's life support machine shocks him back to life)

Oh gosh I forgot to honor our fallen heroes. In my line of work everyone just comes back in a couple months.

Sarda Oh, I wanted to kill you for the first billion, billion and a half years, but then... it just wasn't enough anymore. Besides, killing you started to lose its novelty after the first few times. [Zaps all the Light Warriors] See? I barely cracked a smile over that one.
Red Mage: I wish he'd stop making incredibly painful points with our corpses.

    Web Original 

Is there anyone on this station who actually gets disturbed or freaked out or overcome with emotion upon seeing their dead spouse/parent suddenly come back to life? Though, I suppose I should take into account that this is the Star Trek universe, where people come back from the dead every other Wednesday.
The Agony Booth, "Shattered Mirror"

In our last episode, Morph made his return to the series, having undergone treatment at Moira MacTaggert's Muir Island facility to recover from... well, death, primarily, but also the far-more-nebulous "being evil." These, I should point out, are two things that are pretty notoriously difficult to cure, but they pulled it off.

Death isn't something to fear anymore in Doctor Who, it is to be laughed at, because it is a state that simply cannot be obtained.

Quickster: Has anyone else here noticed the most popular superheroes never stay dead? It's like they're favored by the gods or something. Remember the last time Alpha Man died, how long did that last?
Eagle: About a month, then he was resurrected by that magic lightning.
Quickster: See, the next time he died, he was cloned back to life, then he was injected with ghost serum, and then a wizard reanimated his body!

Ben Grimm: Doom is back again? Didn't he die the last time we fought him?
Reed Richards: So did you.
Ben Grimm: Eh. Point.

Sigma: Aah! Teddy bears thrown at me! My only weakness!... for now... (falls over, then gets back up after two seconds) Muahahaha! I'm back to get my revenge! (Evil Laugh) So... what was the time?
Zero: Hmm... sorry, not a new record.
Sigma: Ohhh.
Mega Man X: The Maverick Breakdown

You'll want to stay off your feet and drink plenty of liquids, but otherwise, rising from the dead can be handled on an outpatient basis.

Lana Lang saw her own death in bed in "Hourglass." Lana Lang also died in "Crisis" when shot by Adam Knight. Through miraculous time travel, she survived. Lana later died to become a Vampire in "Thirst," only to be brought back to life. Finally, she died in "Reckoning," only to be resurrected. How? You guessed it. Through miraculous time travel. Furthermore, in "Void," she died once off camera (we know) and once on camera (we know) to see her parents, though it is assumed she had done it multiple times and developed a dependence. To be kind, I'll call that three deaths. Then, to be thorough, we saw her die in "Lexmas," in Lex's hallucination/coma. And in "Labyrinth," in Clark's hallucination, she literally bought the farm. But wait! Lana's not done dying yet! In 6x20, "Noir," she died in Jimmy's fantasy world. But she ain't done croaking for drama yet! In 6x22, she flat-out exploded, stealing Chloe's riff! In 7x15, Lana is placed into an IRREVOCABLE COMA!
Neal Bailey, "The Smallville K.O. Count"

"Hey!" you exclaim, "Wasn't Sean Connery killed in the first movie? He can't possibly appear in this one!" Oh, but he can! You just lack the powers of terrible screenwriting!

[I]t's kind of hard to be moved by death on this show, because, all too often, they just don't stick. So instead of feeling sad about Kevin's demise, or even annoyed that it was entirely too contrived in a shameless effort to evoke emotion, I instead wonder how long it will be before he's brought back. If he later proves to be really and truly dead, and not just pining for the fjords, only then will it be bothersome, because he will have been cheated out of a meaningful character death by all the meaningless ones that came before.
Tippi Blevins, Television Without Pity, on Supernatural

Remember when Scully was having a baby despite having no ova? Or when Mulder died? Or that other time Mulder died? Or that other, other time Mulder died?
Jessica Morgan, Television Without Pity, on The X-Files

Starfield: Blurr is about as unambiguously dead as a Transformer can be, IMO.
KrytenKoro: According to Wyatt, in Animated grey = dead, and only grey = dead. Blurr is still alive.
Starfield: Like I said, as unambiguously dead as a Transformer can be. There's always a chance. (Even when they are gray.)
— Two Editors on Transformers Wiki

When your plot establishes magical resurrection, all the stakes and drama immediately collapse. Where's the meaning in self-sacrifice if we can just get resurrected? Oh, the villain was motivated by her dead babies? NEVER MIND! *PBTH!* THEY'RE ALIVE AGAIN, BE MORE CAREFUL THIS TIME! ACTUALLY DON'T! WHO CARES? HERE'S THREE MORE BABIES, FUCK IT! I complain because it undermines the emotional impact, you see, not 'cause I'm psychotic and I want everything to die. (Not just because of that anyway...)
Yahtzee on the ending of Ori and the Blind Forest

So some of you may be wondering, especially in light of everything I've talked about with these events this year: why do I even care when heroes get killed? Why do I get passionate about heroes that are turned evil? Won't it just get undone? Won't they be heroic again? Won't the dead just rise again?
Well, here's the thing: Danny Chase is still dead.
Oh, don't you remember him? He was the telekinetic kid in the
New Teen Titans. Abrasive little brat. Got on the fans', and his fellow team members', nerves. He's my favourite super-hero of all time. He died in 1992, and aside from being turned into a zombie minion once or twice, he has not come back to life in 28 years.
Hal Jordan was a villain for two years, then dead for eight; regardless of his status as the Spectre, still seen as a monster and villain for his actions by most people. The superheroine Ice was dead for 13 years. Cassandra Cain was turned evil, and only got turned back due to
immense fan backlash. Stephanie Brown? Dead for 4 years, only resurrected so soon afterwards due to immense fan backlash. Batman supporting-character Orpheus, on the other hand? Still dead after 16 years. Barry Allen was dead for about 23 years. Dan Garrett, the original Blue Beetle, has been dead for 54 years.
My point, in case it is not clear: sometimes they
don't come back. And if they do, it's only because people demand they come back. And sometimes people are turned evil, and it lasts a looong time, unless people demand it be changed. I joke about this stuff because death only seems to matter if nobody in charge cares about them. And in that case... it doesn't matter.
Will Roy Harper be back? Probably; I'd say he has enough fans in charge. But Hotspot? Gnarrk? Lagoon Boy? Probably not.
That's why I care when DC and Marvel kill their characters: because they don't.
Linkara, deconstructing this trope from a meta perspective as it relates to superhero comics during his review of Heroes in Crisis

Watch these movies catch up to one of comics’ longest running traditions: briefly killing people off to goose sales; where with the single snap of the fingers, Disney erased the box-office potential of Black Panther, Spider-Man, 5/7ths of the Guardians, Doctor Strange, the Winter Soldier, and one third of the Avengers. And if you think these deaths are gonna stick for longer than a movie, I’ve got a copy of The Death of Superman to sell you. I mean it’s still in the original bag, mint condition, with the arm band too! Come on, no one? How about the death of Tony Stark? Death of Captain America? How about Thor? Nick Fury? Hawkeye? Okay, how about a copy of Infinity Gauntlet where the same thing happens, and they all come back just fine?

Chirithy: What bothers you?
Sora: Everyone is flippin’ dead!
Chirithy: You silly billy, this is a Kingdom Hearts game. No one can die.
Sora: Crap, you’re right!
(Smash Cut to Sora and the revived Guardians of Light)
Sora: We are back, baby!

"Luckily, Dragon Ball Z doesn’t have major spoilers, because the dead characters never stay dead and all Goku does is change hair colors."
Alpharad, "I played Jump Force so you don’t have to"

King Kai: Goku could not escape the explosion. Namek is gone... and so is he.
Yamcha: No... Goku, no! (sad music plays) Noooooooo! (falls to his knees and cries)
Tien: (music cuts off) Why do you care? Why do any of you care? Are you forgetting the whole reason that they went to Namek in the first place? Now we have two sets of Dragon Balls.
Yamcha: Well, yeah, but... you make it sound like death has no consequence.
Tien: It really doesn't. We're literally waiting to go back. Hell, this is Chaotzu's second time.
Chaotzu: Next time, I get a free sundae!
Yamcha: Huh.
King Kai: Huh.
Tien: Yeah.

"Really? You're going to use Krillin as a hostage? His death is a day trip for us and a free ice cream sundae for him, go ahead."

    Western Animation 
I've been to your funeral like twenty-five times.

I was determined to save their lives, even though nobody ever really dies. Observe.
Captain Hero, before decapitating himself with a sword and walking back into the room unscathed, Drawn Together

Fry: Take that, Grim Reaper!
Bender: (under his breath) Stupid, ineffective Reaper!
Futurama, "Jurassic Bark"

Batman: Green Arrow was a champion of Justice, but more importantly he was my friend, and no amount of tears will... will... No, you know what, fuck this!
(the crowd gasps)
Batman: Oh, don't act so shocked, you phonies! You know how this works. In a few months some magic amulet will bring him back. Or we'll find some alternate dimension Green Arrow that's exactly like the one we had before! How many of you here have already died? Come on! Put them up!
(everyone raises their hands)
Batman: Exactly! So all due respect to Green Arrow or whoever bites it next, but I'm done with your memorials, your wakes, or flying to your home planets to scatter your fucking ashes! I am done!
(everyone cheers, including Green Arrow, who had been there all this time)

    Real Life 

Nobody ever dies in science fiction.

The coward dies a thousand deaths; the brave man dies but once; the Warrior Princess dies about once a season, to keep in practice.
Kevin Wald

No one in comics stays dead except for Bucky, Jason Todd, and Uncle Ben.
— Comic fan wisdom. Naturally, Bucky and Jason both came back.


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