Bonnie's Artistic Cousin
Of course death is a trope; it's wildly impactful for a narrative to kill off a character. That's a choice that always impacts where a story goes as well as how audiences respond to it.
Also this was a supertrope made to try and get people to stop misusing Killed Off for Real.
Edited by WarJay77 on Jan 1st 2024 at 9:23:07 AM
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Death Is Dramatic isn't weight placed on someone's death, it's the proportion of spectacle to character importance.
the Retromancer
It's a narrative element, but as Omnipresent Tropes its context is just its presence. With is kind of an issue becuase a lot of examples are just "he DIES by the end of the story". There are so many subtropes, I wouldn't be against putting it on No Straight Examples, Please!.
Edited by Amonimus on Jan 20th 2024 at 9:32:13 PM
TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Bonnie's Artistic Cousin
I've always wondered why it has examples at all, except for the whole "moving Killed Off for Real" misuse thing.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Captain of USS Bajor
Character Death was created as the omnipresent supertrope for the Death Tropes index, as a consequence of massive misuse of Killed Off for Real to mean "character dies" (it's supposed to refer to permadeath in a setting where Death Is Cheap). If you see it wicked someplace on the wiki, there's probably a more specific Death Trope that it can be replaced with.
I'd even vote for it being an Definition-Only Page for exactly that reason.
![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
Then just nuke it as a Zero-Context Example.
Edited by StarSword on Jan 20th 2024 at 4:36:33 AM
Bonnie's Artistic Cousin
Though whenever I see it it literally is just "X dies" and if I don't know the work I can't replace it with that sort of context.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Can shapeshift (probably)
I've actually gone back and forth on whether I should make a wick check for this trope, because on one hand it's not really misused (even in the context of Only Mostly Dead or Disney Death, surprisingly), but it's prone to ZCE's and a lot of examples violate spoiler markup by having both Character Death itself and the example spoiler-tagged.
It not being def-only is pretty odd. The description mentions it doesn't even require spoiler-tagging, so I can only assume it was made NOPE with the intention that posthumous characters (whose death often accentuates their legacy when it's shown in different contexts) could have a trope focusing on the specific circumstances involved in their deaths. Plot-Triggering Death and The Lost Lenore seem to cover that angle, though, so I don't get the purpose of it not being exampleless at all.
Edited by Coachpill on Jan 20th 2024 at 2:51:06 PM
Silver and gold, silver and gold
Captain of USS Bajor
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I double checked and it is listed on No On-Page Examples. Likely the ZCE problem is just a holdover from a lazy wick-cleaning when it was originally split from Killed Off for Real: ZCE wicks to the latter just got changed over without further investigation, kind of like what happened with Five-Man Band and The Team.
If you want to do a wick check, I might even suggest just fully redirecting it to Death Tropes as a solution and moving most of the article to Analysis.Death Tropes or Analysis.Death Is Dramatic.
My bad, I didn't notice the mention of NOPE because it was abbreviated instead of spelled out.
Edited by StarSword on Jan 21st 2024 at 9:50:19 AM
the Retromancer
The above post says it's made NOPE, so not sure why double-checking is emphasized. The above post argues for making it Def-Only as well.
Bonnie's Artistic Cousin
But like, in what way is "Bob dies" actually a ZCE for this trope? The entire trope is "a character dies". That's the context.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
the Retromancer
Then it's Chairs because it's stating the obvious and doesn't have anything to work with. As Def-Only, the page would be able to still talk about technicalities why a character may be "written off" this way.
Edited by Amonimus on Jan 21st 2024 at 11:53:36 PM
TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Bonnie's Artistic Cousin
I mean, I already argued for it to be an exampleless supertrope. I'm not disputing that the examples are poor, but calling it a context issue is entirely missing the point of what the trope even is.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
If anyone wants to do a wick check, here's a list of 100 random examples I quickly grabbed with my wick check tool
:
# Characters/{{Dallas}}: Thrown out of a hotel window.
# Characters/{{Torchwood}}: Famously died in Jack's arms after being poisoned by the 456 in Children of Earth.
# Characters/{{Vampirella}}: He is the first character to be killed off in the climactic battle of the original Vengeance of Vampirella series.
# Characters/{{Walker}}: Her death kicks off the plot of the series, and has traumatized her family.
# Characters/AmericanHorrorStoryMurderHouse: Hayden, Fiona, and Dallas hang him from the ceiling.
# Characters/AssassinsCreedHistoricalAssassins: Dies from getting shot twice by William Stoughton.
# Characters/AssassinsCreedTheTemplars: Dies in the final issue of Uprising when he's hit by a falling girder after Juno blasts the roof of the Phoenix Project base hidden in the Australian desert.
# Characters/BatmanNightwalker: He's shot by the police moments after turning on his sister.
# Characters/DanganRonpaFuzzyMemoriesHopesPeakStaff: He is left locked inside a small room with barely any air and no food, presumably leading to his eventual death via dehydration and starvation.
# Characters/DateAReLiveTakamiyaHousehold: Dies at the end of the Date AST Re:Strike arc, having slowly fused back into Yoshino since Kurumi's arc.
# Characters/DeltoranRoyalFamily: Endon is killed by Fallow near the end of Return to Del.
# Characters/DGrayManExorcistGenerals: He's killed by the Noah.
# Characters/DGrayManOtherBlackOrderMembers: He gets turned into a skull and dies shortly thereafter.
# Characters/DoctorWhoOtherSupportingCast: Hit by a car and uploaded to the Nethersphere in "Dark Water".
# Characters/DumbingOfAgeNonStudents: Lester blows his brains out after his failed attempt to kidnap Amber.
# Characters/EpicSevenRitania: He's killed during the war against the Archdemon.
# Characters/FableTheJourney: Katlan succumbs to his wounds after his tribe is massacred by a horde of Balverines. It's implied he prevents Gabriel healing him so that he can die alongside his tribe.
# Characters/FriendshipIsMagicMajorVillains: As far as "death" goes for the series at least. In the Season 9 finale, Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow are deemed irredeemable, and are subjected to the harshest PG punishment possible: Being turned to stone, presumably for eternity.
# Characters/GameOfThronesTelltaleHouseForrester: Killed during the Red Wedding, only about five minutes into the first episode.
# Characters/GameOfThronesTelltaleHouseWhitehill: He can be beheaded by Rodrik if the player chooses to go after him instead of Gryff in Episode 6, or poisoned by Asher if the player opts for it instead of the ambush plan.
# Characters/GearsOfWarCoalitionOfOrderedGovernments: Just one chapter after you re-encounter him in 3, he dies from severe wounds sustained following the Lambent Leviathan explosion, but not before telling Marcus where his father is.
# Characters/GundamBuildDiversReRise: He, along with everyone else in Seguri, were annihilated by Alus's Kill Sat in Episode 12.
# Characters/HowToGetAwayWithMurder: Revealed to be the body under the sheet in 3.09. Curiously, he died before the house fire.
# Characters/HungerGamesSimulationLoreTributes: In Reboot Season 91, she dies of a meal of explodium. As she swallows her meal, it violently explodes in her stomach, scattering her innards throughout her camp.
# Characters/IzettaTheLastWitchThePrincipalityOfEylstadtAndAlliedNations: Dies at the end of Episode 6.
# Characters/KillSixBillionDemonsThrone: Courtesy of 6 Juggernaut. Angels reincarnate after they die, but their memories are often hazy, unclear, or incomplete.
# Characters/LegoBatmanHeroes: Not Nelson, but someone who wore the Helmet of Fate was eaten by Killer Croc before the events of Beyond Gotham.
# Characters/LostLockesFlashbackCharacters: Helen dies off-screen from a brain aneurysm.
# Characters/LostOthers: After the attack on the beach fails and Tom is left as the only survivor, he surrenders. Sawyer doesn't accept his surrender, shooting him directly in the chest. Tom has only enough time to look accusingly at Sawyer before dying.
# Characters/MagicKingdomOfLandover: In Witches' Brew
# Characters/MCUCitizens: He's killed by Grant Ward in what's apparently a fit of rage. However, it's later revealed that he actually did it in order to help maintain Garrett's cover.
# Characters/MCUSHIELDLeadership: In the Framework, he gives his life to help a kid escape from a collapsing building, which causes his death in the real world.
# Characters/Numb3rs: Dies in Trust Metric by Carter in an effort to save Colby.
# Characters/OmamoriHimari: Though it only took two (one for his physical body and another for his spiritual body) for him to finally be killed.
# Characters/OrphanBlackProjectCastor: Crippled by Helena and allowed to die of his illness.
# Characters/OrphanBlackTheNeolutionists: Helena puts an arrow in Frank's throat for trying to forcibly implant a maggot-bot into Alison.
# Characters/PersonOfInterestDecimaTechnologies: Courtesy of Sameen Shaw, during her real escape.
# Characters/RedQueen: His Offscreen Moment of Awesome eventually results in him being handed over to the Lakelanders as part of a trade and drowned.
# Characters/SkibidiToiletSeries: He finally meets his end in Episode 67 after the Titan Cinemaman smashes and slices his equipment before burning him alive.Subverted in Episode 67 (Part 4). It turns out the Scientist Toilet Cinemaman killed was just a mech, and the real Scientist escaped unharmed.
# Characters/SpiderManGoblins: He was indirectly killed by Jason Macendale, and his death actually stuck too... at least, until 2019, when he was resurrected as Demagoblin.
# Characters/StarWarsDeathStarCrew: He receives the order from Tarkin to fire on Yavin base right before the station explodes.
# Characters/SuccessionLoganRoy: Dies abruptly in the early half of Season 4.
# Characters/TerminatorResistance: Regardless of the player's decisions, he is killed when Skynet invades Baron's Resistance base.
# Characters/TheCraft: After Nancy uses magic to give him a fatal heart attack.
# Characters/TheEpicOfGilgamesh: Gilgamesh kills the bull, then dismembers it and throws its flesh at Ishtar.
# Characters/TheFreshman: He passes away near the end of Book 2.
# Characters/TheTexasChainsawMassacre: Accidentally blown up with a grenade by Drayton in the second film and gets his head bashed in the original cut of the third film.
# Characters/TheWalkingDead2010AbrahamsGroup: He is the first victim of Negan and Lucille in Season 7.
# Characters/TheWirePoliceCommanders: The character and the actor died of cancer during Season 4. They receive an In Memoriam wake at Kavanaugh's Pub.
# Characters/TigerAndBunnyEnemies: It's safe to say he didn't survive being sent careening off the top of the tallest building in the city. Hero Tv Fan 2 also confirms his death.
# Characters/Titanic1997: The second half of the film chronicles her slow descent to the bottom of the ocean.
# Characters/TwentyFourChina: After hounding Jack for Days 4, 5, 6 and 9, Cheng finally meets his end when Jack decapitates him.
# Characters/TwentyFourOpenCell: Cheng Zhi shoots him in the head.
# Characters/TwentyFourRussia: Gredenko dies from blood loss after losing his arm.
# Characters/UnderNightInBirthLaterAdditions: Is presumably killed by Wagner in her Arcade story.
# Characters/VikingsNorsemen: Ivar kills him rather abruptly in Season 5 with an axe to the face. His death had been hinted at for a while, but it looked like it was to come from disease or his immense old age.
# Characters/XMenFilmSeriesMystique: In Dark Phoenix, an out-of-control Jean accidentally blasts Raven away, fatally impaling her.
# Characters/YandereHighSchool: When he tried to confront Yuki as she was going on a killing spree, he gets stabbed and is drowned in the boy's locker room.
# ComicBook/TrialOfTheAmazons: Hippolyta in the opening one-shot.
# DarthWiki/CrappyTropeDefinitionsTropes: A character dies. Despite what you might think from "for real", this applies under all circumstances, even if deaths in the setting are already always permanent, and regardless of whether or not they might have been faking it. Bonus points for adding this trope immediately after the character dies, and they come back to life later — that makes it a subversion, and everyone knows subverted tropes are the coolest kind.
# Fanfic/ABreachOfTrust: Mogami kills Haruki when he figures out that Mogami is possessing Tetsuo. Notably the fic's first (human) Character Death.
# Fanfic/AfterThatFatefulNight: Silent Brook, Cherry Jubilee, and Blueblood so far. Some ponies from Ponyville were killed in a griffon attack, but the extent of the damage hasn't been revealed yet.
# Fanfic/TheGodsAwaken: The Bat Queen is killed by Nyarlathotep when she tried to defend her fellow palismans and the tree from him.
# Funny/ProtonJonGameClearing: Jon starts off by beating a crappy Where's Waldo game that he wasn't planning on beating on stream. After beating the game, Jon gets interrupted by the reveal of a new challenge group, Game Sharks. The reveal video ends with the death of Medz set to the tune of Lonely Man.
# Literature/MarcusDidiusFalco: Anacrites and Geminus in Nemesis, and Famia in Two For The Lions. In the Albia series, it's revealed that Lentullus, Larius and Gaius died during the Time Skip.
# Memes/GameOfThrones: Joffrey gets all choked up at weddings. And choking puns in general.
# NightmareFuel/TheOne: Now imagine being Gabe's wife TK in this movie. Your husband is accused of going on a killing spree and by the time you discover the person doing it is actually a doppelgänger it is too late.
# Recap/AttackOnTitanS4E27Retrospective: Theo Magath and Keith Shadis die in the end of the episode.
# Recap/FamilyGuyS16E10BoyDogMeetsGirlDog: Joe's Mom.
# Recap/GrimmS6E12ZerstorerShrugged: Everyone in the precinct, including Hank and Wu, are killed by Zerstörer. Only Nick is left, for reasons that are unclear.
# Recap/KamenRiderGeatsEp1DawnFInvitationToBeARider: Takeshi bites it after taking an attack head-on from a Fortress.
# Recap/KingdomHeartsIIMission16BeastsCastle2: Xaldin is killed at the episode's end, leaving only six members of Organization XIII left.
# Recap/MoonKnight2022S1E5Asylum: Steven falls into the sands of the Duat to an apparent Character Death, and Marc is destined for the afterlife in the Field of Reeds. Taweret, despite being the goddess of rebirth, states that she cannot return Marc and Steven to life in their body, as they were shot and dying, and they cannot heal without Khonshu's powers. Khonshu, meanwhile, is still a Sealed Good in a Can in a tiny statuette deep in a secret location accessible only to the Ennead and their avatars, while Ammit has been freed and Harrow and her cult are merrily judging souls in large numbers just as they had planned. Marc is left completely reliant on outside help in the material world — presumably Layla — to return to life and to actually do anything about the Near-Villain Victory that is already in motion.
# Recap/OnceUponATimeS1E10715AM: Just last episode, Regina discovered through the Magic Mirror that Snow White is invoked"cavorting with dwarves." This episode, we find out "when that happened" and the very solemn and saddening reasons behind it.
# Recap/SmallvilleS03E09Asylum: Ian kills Van after Van manages to get a piece of Kryptonite to use against Clark. Ian himself is later betrayed by Eric and tossed aside into a wall, presumably killing him.
# Recap/SonsOfAnarchyS4E11: Herman Kozik buys it courtesy of a Lobos Sonora landmine.
# Recap/SupernaturalS14E19JackInTheBox: Castiel kills Dumah to end her brutal reign over Heaven and Earth.
# Recap/TheHardyBoys2020Season1E1WelcomeToYourLife: Laura Hardy is killed off before the halfway point of the episode in a brutal car crash, becoming a Missing Mom to her two sons and The Lost Lenore to her husband.
# Recap/TheWalkingDeadS04E05Internment: Caleb Subramanian, three named Red Shirts (Mr. Jacobson, Henry and Noris) and more unnamed ones.
# Recap/TheWalkingDeadS07E13BuryMeHere: Benjamin is killed by Jared, and Richard is strangled to death by Morgan.
# Recap/TheWalkingDeadS08E16Wrath: Morgan kills the Savior Lance after the latter tries to surrender.
# Recap/TheWalkingDeadS10E16ACertainDoom: Beatrice is stabbed and dragged into the horde by a Whisperer. Recurring Hilltop resident Oscar is killed by a knife to the chest from one of the Whisperers. Beta is killed by Negan and Daryl.
# Recap/TowerOfGodTheNameHuntStation2: Chigrinsky gets his head cut off by Hatz. A Regular dies after attacking Kaiser to show off how the station rules works. Some of the station bosses die off. Three of which had already died off-screen during Team Shibisu's hunt for station bosses.Hesse gets killed off by Ran. Marte gets killed off by Endorsi. Yukan gets killed by Alphine's Shadow Fox. Inieta also gets killed off by Ran.
# Recap/TropicalRougePrettyCureEp44: After finally reconciling with Aunete, the Witch of Delays disappears into bubbles and moves on to the afterlife.
# Recap/VikingsS01E09AllChange: Gyda and Siggy's daughter are among of the many victims of the fever outbreak in Kattegat.
# Sandbox/CounterSideCoffinCompanyAllies: He is dead by the end of "End of the Maze". The playable Admin Shieldman (or rather, Shieldmen) is a separate clone from him.
# Sandbox/GameOfThronesEddardStark: He's beheaded on Joffrey's orders after confessing to a false charge of treason in an attempt to save his daughters.
# Sandbox/MCUChronicomAlteredTimelineOriginals: Killed by Ward while trying to deliver Garrett to The Fridge.
# Series/ATodoCorazon: María Cristina, Natalia's mother, ends up dying due to a heart attack.
# Series/GreysAnatomy: one after each Wham Episode (Season 6 finale, Season 8 finale). Typically followed up by at least one Flash Back-centered episode covering How We Got Here.A nested Time Skip occurs in Season 9, with the first episode setting up a Character Death and the second resolving (IE setting up) both that and the Season 8 Cliffhanger. Happens again in Season 10 for the mid-season premiere. This time of only three weeks. "She's Leaving Home" in season 11 features multiple skips and spans nearly an entire year.
# Theatre/KingLear: The first scene of the fourth act confirms the first Character Death.
# TropesThatWillNeverHappen/XMeetsYEntriesTToZ: Word Of Death (An instance where the creator confirms a character's fate)
# VideoGame/BreachArchangelSeries: The Raphael and others can die throughout Book One.
# VideoGame/FireEmblemCodeOfTheBlackKnights: Artemisa is a prepromoted Halberdier whose innate critical bonus allows her to hold on her own against anyone that isn't an axe user or magic user. However, her growths are below average, though thankfully not terrible enough to the point where she can at least become still viable around the mid-game. Unlike Cecil, however, there is no way to prevent her Character Death, thus the player will have to juggle between her leadership star and her base stats while keeping her exp absorption to a mimimum, and make sure that she's unequipped before the end of Chapter 16.
# VideoGame/ProjectZomboid: It is possible to add bleach to certain meals like soups with predictable results.
# VideoGame/ThiefSimulator: After the Lombardis decide to kill the thief with an explosive package (and fail), the thief goes on a quest for vengeance in the third part of the game by breaking into compounds owned by the Lombardis, and eventually blows up their mansion with Vinny inside.
# WesternAnimation/ElenaOfAvalor: Compared to its predecessor series, Elena of Avalor is a lot more plot-focused and delves into more mature and intense subjects (while still being suitable for its Y-rating), and the core friend group are in their late teens rather than being young children. The show makes use out of Character Death (if only mostly in the past), Abusive Parents, Parental Abandonment, Violence Really Is the Answer, and political allegories, things that wouldn't be suitable for Sofia's adventures.
# YMMV/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers: While it doesn't last long, "Stupid Mario 3D World" undoes most of Peach's Flanderization and Bowser's Villain Decay. "If Mario Was In... Anime" does this for Axol, first by acknowledging his change In-Universe, then by having Inkweaver getting repaired at the end of the video, setting him on the path to reclaim his title as the #1 manga artist. If only if he had lasted that long... Following a period where Meggy seemed more impatient with Mario's antics, and at times even irrationally hostile towards him, the Lawsuit Arc and subsequent episodes started focusing more on Meggy's more sweet and genuine Odd Friendship with Mario that helped make her such a beloved character in the first place. This is especially apparent in "POV: You're Mario", where Meggy's newfound understanding and acceptance of Mario's stupidity is taken as a major Catharsis Factor.
# YMMV/TenchiMuyo: Ryoko vs. Ayeka, though it is implied that Ryoko wins in the Tenchi Universe continuity. There is also Sakuya in Tenchi in Tokyo, and the Ryoko and Ayeka fandoms rioted over this (until Sakuya died).
Can shapeshift (probably)
Thanks for compiling this! 
Right off the bat an issue in the wick check is that the circumstances of the death aren't clear at all. For example, Characters/Dallas— who throws this guy out of the window? Did this just happen when the guy's guard was down? Most importantly, who is the guy that got thrown out of the window? This is what I've typically seen function as a ZCE; "X character dies" could be the full context if this was something like Don't Hug Me I'm Scared (where the deaths can be random and totally surreal), but a lot of examples miss the "don't assume a death is self-explanatory" part.
ETA: The Dallas example is another example of the death being the full context, but that goes back to the Posthumous Character thing I mentioned earlier.
Edited by Coachpill on Jan 21st 2024 at 12:20:29 PM
Silver and gold, silver and gold
Bonnie's Artistic Cousin
Again though, who threw someone out a window and why is not necessary context for "someone dies". I agree that example lacks context but that missing context is "did they die". Context unrelated to the actual trope isn't context, it's fluff.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Very Spooky
Exactly. It could use more as an example, but it's not a ZCE, just underdeveloped. I certainly wouldn't call it chairs either; so many tropes are so specified that it's easy to forget that some tropes are Omnipresent Tropes and thus extremely basic in concept (ex. The Protagonist, Happy Ending, Static Character).
I would be fine with making it an exampleless supertrope, but I do have to ask: does Killed Off for Real need TRS? It still seems to be pervasively misused in the context of "character dies" when it's not being a ZCE magnet.
back lol
Bonnie's Artistic Cousin
Killed Off for Real is definitely still a problem child.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Can shapeshift (probably)
Are the context for entries really just meant to be "X character dies"? IDK why the "self-explanatory" thing is in the description then.
E: Incidentally to , there was at least one (kind of) unresolved issue brought up in the KOFR thread by Sep regarding Character Death.
Edited by Coachpill on Jan 21st 2024 at 8:38:37 AM
Silver and gold, silver and gold
Bonnie's Artistic Cousin
I mean, I just can't think of any other relevant context to add. A trope's required context starts and ends at the information required for the Trope to be identified; some tropes by design just don't have much to say. This is the issue that caused us to zap at least one title trope, as for such tropes the context can't go beyond "the work's title".
I think that warning may be trying to prevent the original manifestation of ZCE: Things like "Bob, full stop" or "Alice" with no further info. It was added in 2013, when proper context had lower standards.
Edited by WarJay77 on Jan 21st 2024 at 3:14:49 PM
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
the Retromancer
Not Self-Explanatory is in the description. But it needed to be spelled out is a sign that it's likely not working or needed.
Anyway, I suggest the wick check to be sorted between "has cause of death without extra details", "has details beside cause of death", and "doesn't have enough details about death / ZCE".
Bonnie's Artistic Cousin
Looking at the wicks, I do worry that some may have used potholes instead of just being a flat out example of the trope. Some use context that don't make sense, and one is outright describing Killed Off for Real. Having them stripped bare of formatting can make it unnecessarily confusing as I worry some may be sorted incorrectly based on a misunderstanding.
Edited by WarJay77 on Jan 21st 2024 at 5:16:54 AM
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Can shapeshift (probably)
That, plus all the unnecessary/unkosher spoiler formatting.
I did already collect ten-ish wicks a while ago if it helps to account for those as well, though I'm going to look these ones up anyways.
Silver and gold, silver and gold
Characters die in movies. Certainly more than in real life. Is this enough to move Character Death out of chairsy territory? Mind that we have Death Is Dramatic when there is actual weight put on the loss of life.