Tropescilloscope: The Hero Dies

A protagonist's ultimate sacrifice. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Manchild Eye Scream Film Series The Alcoholic Self-Deprecation Gilligan Cut Darker and Edgier The Cavalry Sealed Evil in a Can N-Word Privileges Product Placement Hell Is That Noise Get Out! Only in It for the Money Villain Opening Scene Kids Are Cruel Never My Fault Villain with Good Publicity Deliberate Values Dissonance Bullying a Dragon Apocalypse How Skewed Priorities Smoking Is Cool Word of God All Girls Want Bad Boys The Un-Reveal Bloodless Carnage The Starscream Determinator War Is Hell Visual Pun She Cleans Up Nicely Male Gaze Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Guns Akimbo Adaptation Name Change Maybe Ever After Martial Arts Movie Establishing Character Moment Shirtless Scene Adaptational Villainy Funny Foreigner Nothing Is Scarier Scenery Porn Oh, Crap! Agony of the Feet Dumb Blonde No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Celebrity Paradox 20 Minutes into the Future Action Survivor Does Not Like Shoes Worthy Opponent Mad Scientist Take That! As Long as It Sounds Foreign Room Full of Crazy The Stoic Improvised Weapon A Minor Kidroduction The Reveal You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Trailers Always Spoil Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Spell My Name with an "S" The Faceless Offscreen Teleportation Stalker with a Crush Better to Die than Be Killed Drowning My Sorrows Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor La Résistance Mugging the Monster Adaptation Expansion Rated M for Manly Sir Swears-a-Lot The Load Madness Mantra Military and Warfare Films Mystery and Detective Films Captain Ersatz Kick the Dog Five-Man Band In the Back Authority Equals Asskicking Karmic Death An Arm and a Leg What the Hell, Hero? Politically Incorrect Villain Creepy Child Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Early-Bird Cameo The Alleged Car Meaningful Echo Deus ex Machina Damsel in Distress It's Personal timeperiod Asshole Victim Reasonable Authority Figure Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Nice Guy Big Bad Duumvirate Mind Screw Your Cheating Heart Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Would Hit a Girl Black Comedy Rape Blood from the Mouth Disproportionate Retribution Names to Run Away from Really Fast Intrepid Reporter Red Herring Kill 'em All Adaptational Badass Jerk Jock Beware the Nice Ones Deadpan Snarker Bald of Evil I Need a Freaking Drink Central Theme Death of a Child Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Costume Porn Unspoken Plan Guarantee Silent Movie Heel Realization Bound and Gagged Humans Are Bastards Twist Ending Flipping the Bird Psychopathic Manchild Rule of Funny From Nobody to Nightmare Thriller Important Haircut Bond One-Liner Tempting Fate Dark and Troubled Past Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Rape as Drama Punch-Clock Villain Handicapped Badass Insane Troll Logic Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Cluster F-Bomb Four-Temperament Ensemble Evil Is Petty Together in Death The Oner Does This Remind You of Anything? Once More, with Clarity! Chase Scene The Dreaded "The Reason You Suck" Speech Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Film Noir Hair-Trigger Temper Parental Abandonment Vomit Discretion Shot Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Annoying Younger Sibling Pragmatic Adaptation Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Woman Scorned Men Are the Expendable Gender Neck Lift Author Appeal "Awesome McCool" Name Silence Is Golden Pre-Mortem One-Liner Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Daylight Horror For Want of a Nail Not So Stoic Berserk Button Documentary Didn't Think This Through Light Is Not Good Rich Bitch Riddle for the Ages "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Adapted Out A.I. Is a Crapshoot Affably Evil Hollywood Darkness Badass Grandpa Historical Hero Upgrade This Is Gonna Suck Artistic License – Biology Mr. Exposition Grey and Gray Morality Taking the Bullet Only a Flesh Wound Race Against the Clock Bottomless Magazines Make It Look Like an Accident Those Two Bad Guys Paper-Thin Disguise Domestic Abuse Mercy Kill Villainous Breakdown Aluminum Christmas Trees Throwing Your Sword Always Works Genre Throwback Villain Ball After the End Epic Movie All Just a Dream Badass Longcoat World of Ham Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Hope Spot Action Girl Large Ham Same Language Dub Humiliation Conga Outrun the Fireball Russian Films Would Hurt a Child He Knows Too Much Slashed Throat Romantic False Lead Broken Pedestal Death Glare Overly Long Gag Improbable Weapon User Irony Ungrateful Bastard Motor Mouth Bury Your Gays Random Events Plot Bloody Hilarious Older Than They Look Redshirt Army Vacation Films An Aesop An Axe to Grind Jitter Cam "Shaggy Dog" Story '80s Hair Heroic BSoD Rule of Symbolism British Films Auto Erotica In Medias Res Too Dumb to Live Superhero Foregone Conclusion Historical Villain Upgrade Peek-a-Boo Corpse Ghost Fiction Plot Hole Cool Car The Hero Villain Song Red Right Hand Brother–Sister Incest Took a Level in Badass Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Red Oni, Blue Oni Precision F-Strike Crazy-Prepared Mama Bear Straight Gay The '70s Grievous Bottley Harm Race Lift Canadian Movies All Men Are Perverts Biopic Dual Wielding Tagline You Killed My Father Not So Different Wounded Gazelle Gambit Chewing the Scenery Beauty Is Never Tarnished Music Stories Artistic License – Geography Manly Tears Reality Ensues Anti-Hero Corrupt Corporate Executive Artistic License – Military The Musical Chekhov's Skill Evil Sounds Deep Mooks One-Man Army Slasher Movie Shout-Out Hero Antagonist Break the Haughty Evil-Detecting Dog I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Guile Hero The Quiet One Meaningful Name Shell-Shocked Veteran Offscreen Moment of Awesome Exactly What It Says on the Tin Karma Houdini Dirty Cop Disney Death Kill It with Fire Fingore Mr. Fanservice Police are Useless Horror Films The Stinger Based on a True Story Brainless Beauty Television Movie Index Eureka Moment Babies Ever After Combat Pragmatist Heel–Face Turn Alpha Bitch How We Got Here Blood Knight Dull Surprise Wicked Cultured Alas, Poor Villain Award-Bait Song Fainting Victoria's Secret Compartment Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Last-Name Basis Canon Foreigner Index of Film Westerns Butt-Monkey May–December Romance Call-Back Properly Paranoid Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Film Noir Index Laughing Mad Whole Plot Reference Be Careful What You Wish For Rule of Three Tap on the Head Narrator Shower Scene Parental Neglect Reality Has No Subtitles Those Wacky Nazis Fatal Flaw Re-Cut No Good Deed Goes Unpunished I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Papa Wolf Contrived Coincidence Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Cat Scare Belligerent Sexual Tension I Did What I Had to Do Only One Name Danny Peary Cult Movies List For the Evulz Department of Redundancy Department Novelization Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other The Bad Guy Wins Bowdlerise Chekhov's Gun Actually Pretty Funny Those Two Guys It Can Think Vitriolic Best Buds Well-Intentioned Extremist Groin Attack Even Evil Has Standards Beard of Evil Death by Adaptation Hoist by His Own Petard More Dakka The Ace Covers Always Lie Reckless Gun Usage Sequel Hook Composite Character Implacable Man Amusing Injuries Love Triangle The Big Guy No-Sell Our Zombies Are Different Scary Black Man Black Best Friend Arch-Enemy Fatal Family Photo Bavarian Fire Drill Black Comedy Double Entendre Immune to Bullets A Date with Rosie Palms Corpsing A Father to His Men One-Word Title Title Drop Stylistic Suck Non-Indicative Name Daddy's Girl Greater-Scope Villain Loads and Loads of Characters Italian Films Closed Circle Here We Go Again! Leave the Camera Running Evil Laugh Comically Missing the Point Kubrick Stare Manipulative Bastard Scare Chord Artistic License – Gun Safety Dwindling Party Badass in a Nice Suit Super Strength Dark Reprise Australian Movies Every Car Is a Pinto Adorkable Anachronic Order Logo Joke Half the Man He Used to Be Pyrrhic Victory Demonic Possession Chiaroscuro Foreshadowing Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Sports Stories The Place Red Shirt Ax-Crazy No OSHA Compliance Real Life Writes the Plot Faking the Dead Broken Bird Naïve Newcomer Pretty in Mink Death Seeker Death by Sex You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Lock and Load Montage Dark Action Girl Face–Heel Turn The Ditz Earn Your Happy Ending Camera Abuse Show Within a Show Frame-Up Flashback Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Soundtrack Dissonance Exact Words Not Quite Dead Not Even Bothering with the Accent Real Life Dramedy Made of Iron Demoted to Extra Easily Forgiven Dies Wide Open Adaptation Dye-Job Our Vampires Are Different Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! It's All About Me Chekhov's Gunman B-Movie Very Loosely Based on a True Story As the Good Book Says... The '80s Shoot the Shaggy Dog Scenery Gorn It Will Never Catch On Dogged Nice Guy Wretched Hive Ass Shove Adaptational Heroism Batman Gambit Your Head A-Splode Jump Scare Drugs Are Bad Science Fiction Films Destination Defenestration From Bad to Worse What You Are in the Dark Evil Brit Improbable Aiming Skills Idiot Ball Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Gratuitous English German Films Big Brother Instinct Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Police Brutality There Is No Kill Like Overkill Christmas Movies Index Bad "Bad Acting" Red Eyes, Take Warning The Smurfette Principle Artistic License – Law Back from the Dead The Ghost Ms. Fanservice The Remake Stepford Smiler Moment Killer Adult Fear Fanservice Author Avatar Rousing Speech Hero of Another Story Aside Glance Disguised in Drag Needs Wiki Magic Love Zombie Stories Antagonist Title Arc Words Disney Villain Death The Brute Evil Counterpart Artistic License – Physics Captain Obvious Heroes Want Redheads Dirty Old Man Mood Whiplash Air-Vent Passageway Slap-Slap-Kiss Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Cain and Abel Nice Hat Gender Flip Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Stuff Blowing Up Action Genre Developing Doomed Characters Pet the Dog Storming the Castle Hong Kong Films True Companions The Film of the Book The Chessmaster Eldritch Abomination Malevolent Masked Men Anyone Can Die Love at First Sight Off-into-the-Distance Ending Facial Horror Card-Carrying Villain Posthumous Character Missing Mom Accidental Murder Henpecked Husband Redemption Equals Death Defrosting Ice Queen Anguished Declaration of Love Crapsack World Decoy Protagonist Never Trust a Trailer Male Frontal Nudity Funny Background Event My Greatest Failure Everyone Has Standards Artistic License – History The '60s Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Loophole Abuse Adaptation Distillation Mythology Gag Sacrificial Lion Soft Glass The Chick Femme Fatale Not So Above It All Depraved Bisexual Dramatic Gun Cock The Bully Cloudcuckoolander Refuge in Audacity The X of Y Extreme Doormat Hypocrite Jerkass Ambiguously Gay Naked People Are Funny Black Dude Dies First Romantic Comedy Suddenly SHOUTING! Dissonant Serenity Empathic Environment In Name Only Enemy Mine Getting Crap Past the Radar As Himself Hypocritical Humor Deconstruction Badass Bookworm Pimped-Out Dress Abusive Parents Big-Bad Ensemble Big "NO!" Noodle Incident Despair Event Horizon Honor Before Reason Jerkass Has a Point Action Prologue Wham Shot Catch-Phrase Say My Name Awesome, but Impractical Eyepatch of Power Toplessness from the Back Adaptational Attractiveness Undying Loyalty Spiteful Spit Crazy Jealous Guy Abhorrent Admirer Truth in Television Imagine Spot Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Sanity Slippage Serial Killer Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Japanese Films Book-Ends Video Credits Reality Is Unrealistic I Have Your Wife Actor Allusion Public Domain Feature Films And the Adventure Continues Hidden Depths Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Bring My Brown Pants Big Fancy House Credits Gag Green-Eyed Monster Coming-of-Age Story Roaring Rampage of Revenge Fourth Date Marriage Up to Eleven Knife Nut Retired Badass O.O.C. Is Serious Business Cowboy Cop Children Are Innocent Retcon Freudian Excuse Works Set in World War II Arranged Marriage Suspiciously Similar Substitute Animal Motifs The Smart Guy Adults Are Useless As You Know Car Fu Small Name, Big Ego Continuity Nod Monumental Damage Dropped a Bridge on Him No Ending Pay Evil unto Evil Unwitting Instigator of Doom Dark Is Not Evil Sinister Minister The Mafia Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Creative Closing Credits Betty and Veronica Beta Couple She's Got Legs Retirony Call-Forward Overprotective Dad Horror Comedy Evil vs. Evil Historical In-Joke Star-Crossed Lovers The '50s I'm a Humanitarian Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Gory Discretion Shot The Mole Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Yandere Only Known by Their Nickname Downer Ending Unreliable Narrator Foil Breaking the Fourth Wall Setting Update Man on Fire Dramatic Irony Alliterative Name Vampire Fiction Crucified Hero Shot Made of Explodium Training Montage Cool Old Guy Laser-Guided Karma Expy Instant Death Bullet Neck Snap Really Gets Around Expository Hairstyle Change Ascended Extra Body Horror Sci-Fi Horror Tranquil Fury Obviously Evil Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Vomit Indiscretion Shot Have a Gay Old Time Catapult Nightmare Badass Normal Break the Cutie Bad Boss Insult Backfire Shipper on Deck Bittersweet Ending Morality Pet Epic Fail Evil Plan Sequel Escalation Spiritual Successor Fan Disservice Revenge A God Am I Evil Is Hammy Protagonist Title Blackmail Early Installment Weirdness MacGuffin Never Found the Body Hooker with a Heart of Gold Eiffel Tower Effect Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Dutch Angle Fire-Forged Friends Country Matters Fantastic Racism Badass Boast Bait-and-Switch Brick Joke Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Token Minority Running Gag Diabolus ex Machina Freeze-Frame Bonus Stealth Pun Took a Level in Jerkass Recycled IN SPACE! Jerk with a Heart of Gold No Antagonist Even Evil Has Loved Ones Hollywood Law One Steve Limit Fanservice Extra Anti-Villain The Hero Dies No Celebrities Were Harmed Almost Kiss Cassandra Truth Fiery Redhead Creator Cameo Shown Their Work Face Death with Dignity Fake Shemp Final Girl Meet Cute Mundane Made Awesome Friend to All Children Armor-Piercing Question Accidental Misnaming Cool Guns And Starring Parental Incest Attempted Rape Eagleland Married to the Job Bland-Name Product Genre Shift "Well Done, Son!" Guy The Dog Bites Back The Stoner The Voiceless Interrupted Suicide Put on a Bus Fate Worse than Death Suspiciously Specific Denial Brutal Honesty Obstructive Bureaucrat The End... Or Is It? Deal with the Devil Bar Brawl The Lancer All for Nothing The Dragon Curb-Stomp Battle Black and Gray Morality Off with His Head! Genre Savvy He Who Fights Monsters Intergenerational Friendship Parental Substitute Death by Irony Calling the Old Man Out Ominous Latin Chanting Advertised Extra Homage Time Skip Casting Gag Good Is Not Nice Take a Third Option The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Faux Affably Evil Ironic Echo Big Applesauce Serious Business Bare Your Midriff The Power of Love Wham Line Totally Radical Pragmatic Villainy Killed Mid-Sentence Character Development Big Damn Heroes No Name Given Psychological Thriller The Lost Lenore Hate Sink Gainax Ending Animated Credits Opening Camp Gay Spanner in the Works Becoming the Mask Spared by the Adaptation Match Cut Meaningful Background Event Darkest Hour Leaning on the Fourth Wall Sexy Discretion Shot Cool Shades Determinator aka: The Determinator Knight Templar And I Must Scream Lighter and Softer Double-Meaning Title Ship Tease Fun with Acronyms Villain Protagonist Curse Cut Short The Vamp Framing Device Translation Convention NO INDOOR VOICE Mighty Whitey Broken Aesop Defiant to the End Famous Last Words Failed a Spot Check Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Fat Bastard Let's Get Dangerous! Unresolved Sexual Tension The '90s Not What It Looks Like Poor Communication Kills Bi the Way Line-of-Sight Name Pretty Little Headshots Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Bloodier and Gorier Left the Background Music On Conspicuous CG Obfuscating Stupidity What Happened to the Mouse? Bolivian Army Ending Driven to Suicide Cruel and Unusual Death Manic Pixie Dream Girl Slasher Smile Playing Gertrude Age Lift Sadistic Choice Insistent Terminology The Cameo Cold-Blooded Torture Blatant Lies Informed Ability Animal Title Index Cool Old Lady Fantasy Films Major Injury Underreaction BFG Anachronism Stew Kick the Son of a Bitch Smug Snake Shut Up, Hannibal! Rewatch Bonus Disappeared Dad Leitmotif Due to the Dead Amoral Attorney Distracted by the Sexy The Atoner Extremely Short Timespan Ripped from the Headlines Sassy Black Woman Cat Fight Stock Footage Deliberately Monochrome Mistaken for Gay Taking You with Me Not Using the "Z" Word Bond Villain Stupidity Gold Digger Historical-Domain Character Unusually Uninteresting Sight Stealth Hi/Bye Heroic Sacrifice folderlabel Unusual Euphemism Mexican Standoff All There in the Manual French Films Dying Moment of Awesome All There in the Script Punny Name Rule of Cool Dressing as the Enemy Lampshade Hanging Gorn The Great Depression Did Not Get the Girl Boom, Headshot! You Have Failed Me Ambiguous Disorder Drives Like Crazy Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Gone Horribly Right Heterosexual Life-Partners Happily Married Psycho for Hire My God, What Have I Done? Drill Sergeant Nasty The Casanova Ambiguous Ending Woman in White Big Eater Big Bad The Sociopath Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Rasputinian Death Market-Based Title Plucky Comic Relief Affectionate Parody Fish out of Water Only Sane Man Wrong Genre Savvy Sole Survivor Bunny-Ears Lawyer My Beloved Smother Dirty Coward Bilingual Bonus