Tropescilloscope: The Hero Dies

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

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