To-do list:
- Remove on-page examples that don't fit the trope definition for "Everybody Dies" Ending.
- Move wicks from Kill Em All to "Everybody Dies" Ending if they fit, and move them elsewhere or cut them if they don't. Tropes that can be used in place of Kill Em All:
- Characters Dropping Like Flies (numerous characters dying over the course of a work)
- Leave No Survivors (an order from a baddie to kill everyone in this area)
- Leave No Witnesses (kill everyone who witnessed something)
- Anyone Can Die (no Plot Armor for anyone)
- Killer Finale (the Grand Finale of a show kills a main character)
- Omnicidal Maniac
- Dwindling Party (characters in a group die one by one as the story progresses)
- Kill All Humans
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn
- Kill Enemies to Open (video game trope where all enemies must be killed to proceed or get a prize)
- Gotta Kill Them All
- Absolute Xenophobe
- Check Genocide Tropes
- Yoshiyuki Tomino - occasionally tropers have been lazy and stick Kill Em All in place of the creator's name
- Kill Em All wick list
- Kill Them All wick list
Original post
So, Kill Em All is supposed to be an ending trope where every character or almost every character is dead by the end, but is often misused as a Stock Phrase or a character attempting to kill a large number of people. This trope should thus be renamed "Kill Em All Ending" or "Everybody Dies Ending" to make it clear that it is an ending trope.
Now, the wick check found that, when considering just the Correct Use and Misuse categories, they were surprisingly more-or-less even, with the misuse being greater with 5 wicks. Though when the rest is considered, then the correct examples become a minority. So there is still a clear problem here. Another thing I noticed was a pattern- wicks within work namespaces like Literature and Live-Action TV tended to use the trope correctly, while wicks in other namespaces and potholes misused it.
Wicks checked: 85/85
Wick check: Wick Em All
Edited by Tabs on Sep 19th 2022 at 11:24:08 AM
Tabs
Since: Jan, 2001
#27: May 17th 2022 at 3:04:02 PM
The Yoshiyuki Tomino page really liked wicking Kill Em All. I've never seen a trope namer linked so many times in a description.
Plus this fun entry that's three lines long but says zero things about what the trope is about, LOL
- Kill Em All: Enforced Trope - Tomino was seriously depressed when he directed Zeta, which led to ZZ being Lighter and Softer. The last episodes are the incarnation of this trope. Only worse could have been an 'End of the world' Downer Ending, like he did five years prior.
Edited by Tabs on May 21st 2022 at 4:43:33 AM
Malady
(Not-So-Newbie)
#28: Jun 4th 2022 at 7:46:57 PM
Is Kill Em All in its currently final state as a redirect? Because the name / Kill Them All, makes me think of Gotta Kill Them All, and other things, like how Kill Enemies to Open is basically Kill Em All To Exit.
So, I'm thinking it should be a disambig?
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
GastonRabbit
Cake's just a shot away. (he/him)
from Robinson, Illinois, USA
(General of TV Troops)
Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Cake's just a shot away. (he/him)
#29: Jun 4th 2022 at 8:26:25 PM
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I disambiguated it and changed Kill Them All to redirect to it instead of "Everybody Dies" Ending.
Tabs
Since: Jan, 2001
#30: Jul 20th 2022 at 4:41:17 PM
We're at 6500 wicks.
How sweet it is
#31: Jul 24th 2022 at 8:29:27 AM
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
#32: Jul 27th 2022 at 1:35:52 AM
down to 244
How sweet it is
#33: Jul 30th 2022 at 7:21:51 AM
Redirect now at 200.
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
Tabs
Since: Jan, 2001
#34: Aug 3rd 2022 at 4:16:33 PM
Anyone know Shin Megami Tensei IV? Need help rephrasing
- And why does he do that? Because now he's assured his own goal will be met, this being Dagda himself stops being Dadga, and returns to his origins as the unconscious, yet present, force of nature surrounding everyone. It is still sinister that Dadga worked for a Kill Em All objective, but it's weirdly soothing once you realize he did so humans, once recreated, would stop personifying him as a being and know him more as an aspect of nature.
the Retromancer
#35: Aug 3rd 2022 at 4:25:48 PM
Heartwarming.Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse, for reference.
I think replacing Kill Em All with Restart the World is the easiest way to fix it, the point was that you have to turn on your human allies in order to get one of the good endings.
Edited by Amonimus on Aug 3rd 2022 at 2:26:10 PM
TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Tabs
Since: Jan, 2001
#36: Aug 3rd 2022 at 4:59:48 PM
Makes sense. Thanks!
How sweet it is
#37: Aug 11th 2022 at 3:01:53 PM
Redirect is almost done. We're down to double digits there.
Main page has less than 6000 wicks left.
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
How sweet it is
#38: Aug 19th 2022 at 9:54:48 AM
Looks like the redirect's finished.
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
#39: Aug 19th 2022 at 11:57:14 AM
Are we going to have an announcement for dewicking Kill Em All like we did with Nice Hat?
Tabs
Since: Jan, 2001
#40: Aug 19th 2022 at 12:57:47 PM
Nice Hat was announced because it was frequently used and had over 10000 wicks, and the bulletin was made as a sort of test. Not sure if Kill Em All needs the same treatment.
the Retromancer
#41: Aug 19th 2022 at 1:50:29 PM
Kill Em All was only half as bad and dewicking is going smoothly eve without announcement. Plus I've heard 3 bulletins is the limit (pls remind me). I think we should help Nice Hat first before thinking what other TRS need help (all of them).
TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Just stoic wisdom.
#42: Aug 19th 2022 at 1:56:58 PM
To me, 10k wicks sounds like a good bar for whether or not something should be bulletined. As in, only posting a bulletin if there's five-digit wicks. Anything lower is doable without extra assistance.
Vehicle-Based Characterization | Grief-Induced Split | Locker Mail
GastonRabbit
Cake's just a shot away. (he/him)
from Robinson, Illinois, USA
(General of TV Troops)
Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Cake's just a shot away. (he/him)
#43: Aug 19th 2022 at 1:59:02 PM
The page for adding, removing, and editing bulletins says the top three will be displayed on the sidebar, so I'm assuming that technically means that more than three can be added, but only three can be displayed at a time.
Edited by GastonRabbit on Aug 19th 2022 at 3:59:46 AM
You can't always get what you want.
Tabs
Since: Jan, 2001
#44: Aug 19th 2022 at 1:59:03 PM
Yeah, we can post more bulletins, but only the most recent three will appear on the sidebar. ![[nja]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/user_ninja_2074.png "[nja]"){kind=small}
by a second
Kill Em All is doable, I think. Even though dewicking is more of a bummer than dewicking Nice Hat. ![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
Edited by Tabs on Aug 19th 2022 at 1:59:29 AM
How sweet it is
#45: Aug 21st 2022 at 9:44:00 AM
5800 to go.
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
Tabs
Since: Jan, 2001
#46: Aug 23rd 2022 at 1:09:05 PM
Was reminded by Berrenta's Dupe Tropes thread post that Characters Dropping Like Flies exists. That's a good one for catching "lots of characters die over the course of the story" examples.
How sweet it is
#47: Aug 23rd 2022 at 1:12:47 PM
I'll add to the disambig page.
WarJay77
Bonnie's Artistic Cousin
from The Void
(Troper Knight)
Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
Bonnie's Artistic Cousin
#48: Sep 9th 2022 at 11:08:36 PM
Cutlisted the wick check before realizing we may want to preserve it. Letting you know so we can decline it or just paste the contents here.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Idiosyncratic
CelestaPlebs
from Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Since: Aug, 2020
Relationship Status: Abstaining
CelestaPlebs
#49: Sep 10th 2022 at 5:17:37 AM
On this page, we will be doing a wick check for Kill Em All.
Add a title. Stay safe; stay well. Live beyond… memento vivere! Should intermittent vengeance arm again his red right hand to plague us?
I archived it in the Wayback Machine and saved its edit history on my hard drive. I'll also paste it here.
On this page, we will be doing a wick check for Kill Em All.
Why? Kill 'Em All is supposed to be an ending trope where every character or almost every character is dead by the end, but is often misused as a Stock Phrase or a character attempting to kill a large number of people. This trope should thus be renamed "Kill Em All Ending" or "Everybody Dies Ending" to make it clear that it is an ending trope.
Now, the wick check found that, when considering just the Correct Use and Misuse categories, they were surprisingly more-or-less even, with the misuse being greater with 5 wicks. Though when the rest is considered, then the correct examples become a minority. So there is still a clear problem here. Another thing I noticed was a pattern- wicks within work namespaces like Literature and Live-Action TV tended to use the trope correctly, while wicks in other namespaces and potholes misused it.
Wicks checked: 85/85
open/close all folders
Correct Use - Main Cast Dead By End (28/85)
- BetterThanItSounds.Film D: Death Note: The Last Name: As before, but with the addition of two cute babes from a TV station and another cartoon super-being. Nearly everyone dies.
- Literature.The Book Thief: Almost the entire cast in one scene, giving us quite the Downer Ending.
- DiabolusExMachina.Live Action Films: The Devil Inside had a particularly infamous example. The three remaining protagonists, one of whom is possessed by a demon, have escaped the hospital the demon was tearing up in their van. Suddenly, the demon jumps into the body of the driver and forces him to swerve into the path of an oncoming truck, killing all three. The end.
- Creator.Yoshiyuki Tomino: However, Tomino is also known as "Kill Em All Tomino" for a number of series where much of the main cast gets killed during the Grand Finale. Among these series were Zambot 3, Space Runaway Ideon (where his two expies get killed off), Zeta Gundam, Victory Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, and Aura Battler Dunbine.
- Recap.Among Us Logic 15: Everyone ends up zombified or dead.
- VideoGame.Hidden Agenda 2017: It's possible to make it so that just about every major character is in the morgue by the end of the game.
- HappyTreeFriends.Tropes G To Z: Every character, excluding Buddhist Monkey, Panda Mom, and Giggles' Mom has died at least once.
- Additionally, while it is expected for episodes with a smaller cast to kill off all the characters in them, a few episodes starring half a dozen characters or more have ended with everyone dead: “All in Vein”, “Class Act”, “From A to Zoo”, “Home is Where the Hurt Is”, “Idol Curiosity”, “Take a Hike”, "Youtube Live Episode", "Claw", and the Animated Music Video “The Carpal Tunnel of Love”.
- Keep in mind that these episodes aren't the only ones where everyone dies, but the large casts in each episode add layers to their brutality. In fact, “Class Act” is the only episode to kill off every main character except Lammy, who hasn’t been introduced yet. (That includes Splendid and Cro-Marmot)
- VideoGame.Among Us: Played with in that, while the Crewmates need to kill all the Impostors to achieve a victory condition if they can't finish their tasks in time, the Impostors only need to reduce the count of Crewmates to the count of surviving Impostors to win (assuming they don't prevent the Crewmates from fixing the oxygen or reactors), because at that point victory is a mathematical certainty.
- WebAnimation.Dan The Man: Pretty much every established character dies by the time Dan reaches the end of the game, including Dan himself. So it's a good thing he still has one extra life.
- WebVideo.Everyman Hybrid: Has a considerably higher body count than other Slender Man fare. Noted in the description of "Twenty-four months" listing everyone they lost in the last two years.
- Music.Muse: The entire world is nuked at the end of "The Globalist" in the album Drones.
- Podcast.The White Vault: As implied by the Documentarian, the entire repair team is doomed. The horror lies in how each one meets their demise.
- VideoGame.Mizuiro Blood: Nearly every named character is Killed Off for Real in the blog's final updates.
- Film.Cube: Fitting with the series' deep cynicism and the utter lethality of the eponymous mazes, nearly all characters usually die, either by the cubes or by their own hands. The survival rate in the series' entries is, successively, 1:0:2.
- Film.The Descent:
- Everyone who gets a speaking part dies, two of them within the first five minutes. To be fair, there are only eight people in the whole cast. Playing humans, at least.
- That is, until the sequel changed this. Sarah gets it together enough to stagger out of an entrance to the cave, albeit with amnesia about the last two days.
- Anime.Akudama Drive: Brother and Sister are the only surviving main characters, though this is due to their literal immortality more than anything.
- Characters.Bataan: All but Dane are dead by the end of the film, and judging by his surroundings he'll be soon to join them.
- Film.Violent Cop: Azuma's killed, Akari's killed, Kiyohiro's killed, Kiyohiro's gang is killed, Kiyohiro's boss is killed, Iwaki's killed... Only Kikuchi, who takes Iwaki's place as a corrupt cop, is still alive.
- Theatre.The Revengers Tragedy: To an absurd degree. By the end of the show, ten characters have died, with another three being escorted off to be executed for a total of 13 deaths. Of the main cast, only Antonio, Castiza, Gratiana, and the Duchess are still alive. Antonio's wife dies offstage at the start of the play (suicide), then Junior (beheaded), then the Duke (poisoned and/or blood loss), then three nobles (stabbed), then Supervacuo (killed by Ambitioso), then Ambitioso (killed by Spurio), then Spurio (killed by an unnamed henchman of Ambitioso) and then Lussurioso (also stabbed). Ambitioso's henchman, Vindice, and Hippolito are all lead away to "speedy execution" at the end of the play. This list does not include Gloriana, Vindice's lost love who dies before the show starts.
- Series.Still Game: The Bittersweet Ending to the show. The final episode ends with a montage of each of the main characters fading out of frame - flashing forward to the inevitable time in the future when they won't be around anymore but everyday life in Craiglang will go on. The final scene shows the inside of The Clansman with a new set of regulars but with a much older Boabby, the only living character left, behind the bar.
- Film.The Casino: Every named character in the film fails to outlive the credits. Even Luo himself is not spared.
- Film.The Iron Mask: D'Artagnan, all three of the Musketeers, de Rochefort, Richelieu, and Constance all die over the course of the movie. The only main characters still alive at the end are Louis and Phillipe. This is also the only film Douglas Fairbanks ever made where his character dies in the end.
- VideoGame.Even The Ocean: Everyone in Whiteforge is killed to hammer home the Green Aesop: a last minute fix can't save the planet.
- Literature.Left Behind: The character turnover rate is so high that, by them end, only two of the original characters are still alive. One fun thing to do is comparing the Dramatis Personae in front of each book and seeing how many people died in the past volume.
- SparedByTheAdaptation.Live Action Films: In the M. Night Shyamalan film Old, siblings Trent and Maddox are able to escape the Rapid Aging effects of the beach with their lives. In Sandcastle, the graphic novel the film was based off of, no one survives.
- Literature.Kane: In some stories, almost all named characters die and only Kane survives.
- One-Scene Wonder.Theatre: Tiresias from Antigone may be the Ur-Example. He gets exactly one scene near the end of the play, during which time he delivers an incredibly ominous, creepy monologue about the doom that Creon has brought upon Thebes, expertly deconstructs how badly Creon has screwed things up, insults him to his face, and walks offstage suffering no repercussions whatsoever. Not only that, but he's one of the only people still alive at the end.
- WesternAnimation.Zig And Sharko: Played for Laughs. Both episodes with the Crazy Dolphin end with him blowing up the entire island and everyone on it, after which the main characters appear in heaven. Zig can't eat Marina since they're all already dead, which causes everyone else to laugh. Of course, everyone's alive again by the next episode.
Character plans or tries to kill a lot of people (38/85)
- Characters.Tokyo Ghoul Re Humans: (Washuu Clan in General) Furuta executes a purge of the entire clan sans Matsuri in an apparent coup d'etat.
- ContinuitySnarl.Video Games: Mortal Kombat:
- Each character gets his/her own ending, they often intersect, with other character's endings, and are often in direct conflict with other character's endings, showing one character winning a battle in his own ending, but being killed in the same battle by his opponent in his opponent's endings. Background information in the next game says which endings are canon, and which aren't. The official word on the Mortal Kombat: Deception endings are only on Armageddon's website: Basically, Shujinko and Nightwolf's endings worked together to end Onaga. For the Mortal Kombat: Armageddon endings, replace "Background information in the next game" with "Opening cutscene in the next game": Basically, either the backfiring of Taven's plan to Kill Em All empowering everyone instead allowed Shao Kahn to win, or Kahn just flat out won on his own through his sheer power.
- InformedWrongness.Video Games: The "Protocol 10" that the bad guys who run the titular prison in Batman: Arkham City keep counting down to turns out to be a plan to use the excuse of a prison riot to kill all the prison inmates. The game treats it as a given that Batman, and by extension the player, should stop this. But while Kill Em All would normally qualify as a Moral Event Horizon, within the game's universe there don't seem to be a whole lot of alternatives.
- KnightTemplar.Anime And Manga: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's main antagonists are mostly this trope.
- Some fans view the Anti-Spirals as being thoroughly evil examples of the Knight Templar, due to their repeated crossings of the Moral Event Horizon. First, they turned Lordgenome to their side against his will, making him massacre his own people. Second, they turned Nia into their slave, and then tortured her, ripping her apart from the inside. Finally, the reason they tortured her? They were sick of merely oppressing Spiral races, and wanted to Kill Em All.
- HeelFaceRevolvingDoor.Western Animation: Nebula was once a good fairy in the past, but her imprisonment by the Wizards of the Black Circle left her bitter to humans. She was one of the strongest advocators of committing genocide on them.
- Recap.Burn Notice S 2 E 16 Lesser Evil: Victor's initial plan. He wanted to burn the entire organization to the ground after he found out they were behind his family's deaths.
- Quotes.Woobie Destroyer Of Worlds:
Is it okay if I exist? (silence) .... PLEASE CARE ABOUT ME! ... Nobody cares about me... Everyone can just die.
— Shinji Ikari, The End of Evangelion.
- WorldWarII.War In Asia And The Pacific: Even with Japanese air cover, the Allies sink every one of the transport ships and 4 of the destroyers.
- GoodIsNotSoft.Video Games: Joshua Graham AKA The Burned Man in Fallout: New Vegas. He's a Mormon missionary and the former Legate of Caesar's Legion. His in-game karma is good and he's very friendly towards you. The catch? He's sworn to protect the local tribes from the White Legs, a monstrous tribe that massacred his homeplace and has come to Zion Valley to finish the job. Joshua's solution to the problem is massacring the entire tribe, and he's just as brutal as he was in the Legion. Fortunately, he can be talked out of killing the White Legs leader.
- DownerEnding.Theatre: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, though not exactly a happy plot to begin with, has its funny and entertaining moments in its morbidity. However, the ending pretty much takes the cake in what's also a bit of a Kill Em All as Sweeney Todd, after murdering the Beadle and a crazy old woman before finally taking vengeance upon Judge Turpin, threatens and nearly kills his disguised daughter Johanna, then tries to find Toby (to eliminate him as well), realizes that the crazy woman he just killed was actually his wife, then kills Mrs. Lovett (by tossing her into her oven and burning her alive, no less) for not telling him that his wife was alive.
- Film.First Spaceship On Venus: The Venusians' plan. They never got around to it, because of their civilization being exterminated by A Nuclear Error before they could.
- Literature.The Guild Of Specialists: Attempted. The Cotiere of Saint Petersburg's gravity machine would create a vortex that would burrow into the earth's crust, unleashing a volcano that would bury the crew of the Expedient and the Kalaxx in pumice and lava.
- Pinball.The X Files: The trope name flashes constantly during “Blood”, implying that the player is somehow committing mass murder.
- PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny.Real Life: The Reverend Jim Jones founded the "Peoples Temple",note wherein he preached equality among people and famously tried to start an agrarian socialist utopia with his followers in Guyana. He named the colony Jonestown, ran it with an iron fist, slowly went insane, and eventually forced the colony's members to commit ritual suicide.
- Recap.Dragalia Lost Dawn Of Dragalia: Humans Are the Real Monsters: Because Cardinal Lambert was willing to betray everyone to release the Other from his prison only to end up possessed by him, Elysium believes humans are beyond redemption and will just go to his plan of Kill Em All before dealing with The Other.
- Characters.MCU Thanos: It's All About Me: According to the commentary of the directors and writers, the real reason that Thanos wants to kill half the universe is not to save it from an Overpopulation Crisis (which he could easily use the Infinity Gauntlet to do), but out of a selfish desire to prove to himself that his idea to save Titan was right... Hence the massive amount of Insane Troll Logic and Artistic License – Biology it involves and why it ultimately doesn't work come Avengers: Endgame. Upon learning that the Avengers from the future are trying to undo the snap and aren't grateful for his "sacrifice", Past Thanos starts acting more like his comics counterpart and decides to kill everyone because he can't admit that he was wrong.
- Restart the World: Dragon Age: Inquisition: The Big Bad Corypheus, one of the Ancient Tevinter magisters who invaded the Black City and became darkspawn, is trying to cause this in order to restore his homeland to its former glory, the ritual for which is actually interrupted by the player before the game even starts. As it turns out, the other Big Bad, Fen'Harel, who it turns out is actually Solas' true identity, was trying to do the same thing by collapsing the border between the real world and the Fade so he could reshape reality to 1000 years earlier to undo his mistake that condemned the elves to subjugation in the first place. Both plans, by necessity, would result in a massive death toll throughout Thedas.
- LoveRedeems.Video Games: Breath of Fire IV: Averted. The Big Bad, Fou-lu, is beginning to nurse a soft spot for the girl that took care of him when he's injured. The girl, Mami, tried holding off soldiers from the Empire that are hunting Fou-lu just so he can escape, and gets captured herself. She's later used as a Sacrificial Lamb for the Nightmare Fueled Carronade, aimed at Fou-lu himself. Even before the cannon was fired at him, Fou-lu feels compelled to Kill Em All more than ever...
- KnightOfCerebus.Anime And Manga: Majin Buu becomes this in his own saga. What started as a lighthearted tale of Gohan's days in high school while masquerading as a Henshin Hero took a turn for the dark with the appearance of this large, pink, apocalyptic blob. When he turns into Super Buu, he goes on to almost completely snuff out humanity. Then along comes Kid Buu, who destroys the Earth.
- The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: Dragon Quest IV has this happen to Psaro the Manslayer, who starts out thinking Humans Are the Real Monsters due to how they treated his beloved Rose and sets out to ensure she'll never be hurt again... despite her constantly begging and pleading with him to stop. Things only get worse after she's murdered by human thugs, causing him to declare he'll simply Kill Em All. By the time the chosen ones confront him, he's used the perfected Secret of Evolution and completely lost his mind, declaring that all he remembers is his name and his hatred of humankind.
- Characters.Armello: Wishes to do this to all the heroes once the crown is his.
"When I'm King, you'll all be hung."
- Film.Blood Punch: Milton finds out that the only way to break the curse is to kill everyone else.
- Characters.Zap: The GEF killed off his entire race, save himself, Zap, and possibly Efrem. His response? Kill Em All.
- Creator.Elmore Leonard: Less between the Cops and Robbers - although the occasional Dirty Cops may show up - than between the members of any given scheme going down, often between the Anti Villains who just want to get the job done and the villains willing to wipe out everybody without a care.
- JustForFun.Space Heroes: Captain Ryan's modus operandi when confronted by a threat. Even when it's a crew member controlled by an alien.
- VideoGame.Killzone: As for the Helghast, their long-held anger and resentment towards the Vektans made them do atrocious things. When they invaded Vekta, they massacred civilians,(including Sev's family) as well as soldiers!
- Literature.The House Of Night: Raven Mockers are mindless creatures of Darkness and they should all be wiped out. Everybody agrees with the Kill Em All attitude and, as of Burned, around twenty Raven Mockers have been killed. Even the idea of giving them a burial is seen as strange. The only exception is Stevie Rae and when she raises valid points of What Measure Is a Non-Human? and If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him! not only does every character tell her she's wrong but she is suspected of secretly turning over to The Dark Side.
- GunsOfFiction.Machine Guns: This is the primary weapon of Julio "Oso" Vega in Rainbow Six. However, because so many of their operations involve hostage rescue and precision suppression of terrorists, he laments that he never gets to use the gun. It finally comes into play in the final battle, where there are no hostages and all terrorists are fair game, although even then, he only uses the M60 to shoot out a floor's worth of windows and terrify the remaining enemies into surrendering.
- CrapsackWorld.Tabletop Games: While undeniably heroic by 40K standards, the former four are still xenophobic, totalitarian, ruthless fundamentalists who, despite their noble qualities of not casually sacrificing civilians, are still the atypical Space Nazis that the Imperium is infamous for.
- Jerkass.Live Action Films: The antagonists of the Ocean's Eleven trilogy (the first one, Terry Benedict, threatened to - and conceivably could - Kill Em All while the second one, Teloure, sicced Terry on the band of thieves because a friend of the heroes unknowingly insulted his Gentleman Thief mentor) but especially Willy Bank from the third film, who screwed over one of Ocean's friends by taking advantage of his connections, cutting him out of their hotel's partnership, and on top of all that he renamed the hotel after himself.
- Persona4.Tropes O To Z: Violence is the Only Option: Whenever you meet an important character and their Shadow, that person will deny the Shadow being a part of them, and the Shadow will try and kill everyone in sight. The party's attempts to defy this doesn't work either; after they've kicked some ass though, the character faces up to themselves. Well, most of the time anyway. Kanji even realizes that Shadows going berserk is a step necessary to their hosts accepting them.
- Quotes.This Means War:
"Draw the Warlock's blade. The time for mercy is long past."
—Eldar Announcer, Dawn of War II
- Film.Shoot To Kill: Barely averted When Steve's gun drops from his backpack while trying to help a fisherman who's slipped going up the mountain - Steve pushes all the members of the fishing party to their doom - except the guide, as he needs Sarah to get him to the US/Canada border.
- Neutral No Longer: In "The Day of the Doctor", it's revealed that this eventually lead to the War Doctor's grim realisation that there was only one way to end the Time War, which he avoided enacting until he finally left with no other option.
- FinalFantasy.Tropes S To T: Final Fantasy XIII pretty much puts each of its protagonists through one. But the prize goes to Hope Estheim. He was merely on vacation in Bodhum when the active Fal'Cie was discovered and everyone was sent to be purged.
- MoralEventHorizon.Avatar The Last Airbender: The Origins Episode Beginnings introduces Vaatu, the spirit of chaos and all around God of Evil. His moment is when he corrupts Wan's spirit friends into dark spirits and causes a fight between them and Wan's human friends. Wan tries to stop the two forces, but he isn't a full Avatar yet and the strain knocks him out. When he comes to, he finds the valley in flames and Vaatu gloating about how all of Wan's human friends were completely slaughtered.
- DeathByIrony.Anime And Manga: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni's "Eye Opening Arc" ends with local Yandere Shion Sonozaki falling from her apartment building to her death. The irony? She had spent the majority of the arc masquerading as her twin sister Mion so she could frame her for her infamous murder rampage, and she had just finished her grand plan by sneaking out and stabbing Keiichi. While she scales her apartment building to sneak back in, the fall is caused by the holster she is wearing (which is part of her disguise) snagging on the wall. Note this does not happen in "Cotton Drifting", or in the original Visual Novel or Manga adaptation of "Eye Opening".
- Literature.The Mist: Ax-Crazy: Mrs Carmody. She gets more and more bonkers until she tries to have the entire group killed!
- Cloning Blues.Film: The Clone Army in the prequels is (uncharacteristically for the series) a rather dark version of this, essentially millions of men mass-produced and conscripted to fight and die for a war in which they have no stake and no choice as to whether they want to fight (and, thanks to accelerated aging, they're technically Child Soldiers as well). The general impression from the films (and more explicitly stated in various Star Wars Expanded Universe materials such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars) is that the Jedi didn't want to use the clones but against the threat of the Sith they had little choice, and despite the galaxy at large viewing the clones as little better than the droids they were bred to fight, the Jedi almost always viewed them as individuals and encouraged clone troopers to cultivate their own individual personalities and interests. Which serves to make it all the more tragic when Order 66 is enacted.
- Characters.Space Station 13: (Nuclear Operatives) This is their primary goal when being sent to the station. Nobody is safe, especially not anybody tasked with keeping the disk safe.
Unsure/Other (6/85)
- Film.Startrek II The Wrath Of Khan: In the opening Kobayashi Maru sequence, the TOS crew dies, except for Kirk, who is absent and unmentioned. Then a door opens, Kirk walks out of a cloud of light and smoke, everybody picks themselves up, and the viewers realize they've been had. It does end with most of the cast dead, but is only an Unwinnable Training Simulation and fakeOutOpening, so I dunno if it fits since it technically isn't the end of the film.
- FanficRecs.Case Closed: Miracle - in which Conan is retold as a horror story, and absolutely nobody's safe. Seems more like Anyone Can Die from the context.
- Fridge.Zone Of The Enders: In Zone of the Enders: Anubis, despite being supposedly BAHRAM's ace fighter, Ken is shown to be an apparent Faux Action Girl for being unable to pilot her Orbital Frame, Ardjet, without AI assistance. However, in the Anime of the Game Dolores, I, protagonist James Links decides to use his frame without AI. In response, Dolores decides to show all the status screens he needs to be watching at once, at that point James decides to give up. On top of that, just a few minutes prior, Viola practically possessed Ardjet, requiring a purge to get rid of it. The fastest way to definitively clean it is, as any computer user would know, is by formatting the whole drive. So, it's understandable that Ken got a little panicked, since "computer stick" is the only way left to drive her Orbital frame.
- HoYay.Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Homura x Madoka) Homura's backstory: she's been enduring a brutal and depressing "Groundhog Day" Loop, watching her friends die horribly over and over again, all in the hope that she might be able to save Madoka's life. The series takes place in a "Groundhog Day" Loop where most of the characters do die at the end of each loop, but this is averted in the series itself as some of the cast do make it to the end.
- Series.The Goes Wrong Show: "The Lodge" ends this way, but in true Goes Wrong fashion, it's not actually supposed to — the mother character is forced to kill her daughter because the police officer can't get through the front door, which has been bolted from the inside. The police officer goes on acting as if the girl is still alive. Hilarity Ensues.
- Fanfic.The Capitol Games: Ninety-five percent of the main characters are doomed by default. Seems like it would be an example, but as this is a Dead Fic, it doesn't actually fit as there is no ending to speak of, Kill Em All Ending or otherwise.
ZCEs (12/85)
- Characters.Pilot: Fantastic Racism: Mike is extremely distrustful of robots, ever since the Bub & Chucks Incident. However, Jerry doesn't seem to count as a robot in his mind.
- LetsPlay.Marriland: Let's just say Marilland's decision to take his Elite Four-winning team to Kanto may not have been such a good idea...
- Roleplay.Suburban Senshi: If Ignis hadn’t revived The Corruptor, then the Subsennerss wouldn’t have needed to defeat him which wouldn’t have brought Hazel Ninegate to the Hotel and well…the people of Viridan III would be much more happier right now.
- WebAnimation.How To Kill A Mockingbird: Surprising, no?
- Funny.Is This A Zombie: Original Eu conversing with imaginary Eu(s) in Of The Dead.
- Literature.Eden Green: Trope-Name Only ZCE
- TabletopGame.Illuminati: The secondary win condition of the Cult of Cthulhu.
- StarWarsTheOldRepublic.Tropes H To P: Revan's plan for the Empire.
- CainAndAbel.Anime And Manga: The sisters Harulu and Karala from Space Runaway Ideon are an archetypal example: the older, more socially awkward but decisive Harulu grows jealous of the dreamy, honest but romantically successful Karala and shoots her to death (during the Kill Em All), only realizing her true reasons afterwards. Probably correct use, knowing Ideon, but the wick does not make that clear.
- Characters.The Tudors: (Henry VIII) If you rebel against him, you will pay dearly for it...
- Grey-and-Gray Morality.Webcomics: Homestuck has the conflict between Prospit and Derse, the conflict that drives the "game" of Sburb. Prospit is fighting so that Sburb can perform its intended purpose, creating new universes, while Derse is fighting to destroy Skaia, which would stop Sburb from destroying innocent worlds and races to propagate itself. In-Universe the players of Sburb are intended to side with Prospit and thus continue the game but it's made clear to the reader that both sides of the conflict are mostly good people. Indeed, late in the Kids session, the two armies end up making peace under the unified goal of overthrowing the Black King though this doesn't end well due to Bec Noir...
- Futurama.Tropes I To N: Every short story in the Christmas special ends like this.
- Podcast.The Once And Future Nerd: Adult Fear: Quite a few. From Ardel's monstrous treatment of Arlene since they were children, to how a lot of the country is run, to General Traft's Kill Em All method of social motivation, and the idea of being young teens being thrust into a world where people kill left, right, and center while having no training or immunization.
Tabs
Since: Jan, 2001
#50: Sep 14th 2022 at 11:11:36 PM
Under 5400.
Trope Repair Shop:
KillEmAll
9th May '22 11:51:13 AM
Crown Description:
Consensus was to rename Kill Em All due to misuse. What should its new name be?
Total posts: 89
I added a to-do list to the opening post and pinned it. The OP's original contents have been moved to a folder.
You can't always get what you want.