Death Tropes

Basic Information

Death tropes are topical tropes about the many forms that death can take in a story.

List of Death Tropes

• Acquitted Too Late
• A Death In The Limelight
• Alas Poor Scrappy
• Alas Poor Villain
• Alas Poor Yorick
• Almost Dead Guy
• Antagonist In Mourning
• Anyone Can Die
  • Sacrificial Lamb
• Artifact Of Death
• Ascend To A Higher Plane Of Existence
• As Long As There Is Evil
• Back For The Dead
• Back From The Dead
• Balancing Deaths Books
• Battle Royale With Cheese
• Bedsheet Ghost
• Big Sleep
• Black Dude Dies First
• Blood From The Mouth
• Bloody Hilarious
• Bring Out Your Gay Dead
• Burn The Witch
• Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie
• Bus Crash
• Butter Side Down
• Cartwright Curse
• Celestial Bureaucracy
• Cement Shoes
• Chess With Death
• C List Fodder
• Contractual Immortality
• The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much
• The Corpse Stops Here
• Coup De Grace
• Curiosity Killed The Cast
• Dateless Grave
• Dead All Along
• Dead Artists Are Better
• Deader Than Dead
• Dead Guy Junior
• Deadly Euphemism
• Dead Mans Chest
• Dead Serious
• Dead Sidekick
• Death By Cameo
• Death By Childbirth
• Death By Falling Over
• Death By Genre Savviness
• Death By Irony
  • Death By Looking Up
  • Hoist By His Own Petard
  • Karmic Death
    • Disney Villain Death
    • The Killer Becomes The Killed
• Death By Newbery Medal
• Death By Origin Story
• Death By Sex
• Death Is A Sad Thing
• Death Is Cheap
• Death Is Dramatic
• Death Takes A Holiday
• Dies Wide Shut
• Disney Death
  • I Got Better
• Doomed Appointment
• Doom Magnet
• Dropped A Bridge On Him
  • Look Both Ways
• Drop Dead Gorgeous
• Dying Dream
• Empathy Doll Shot
• Everybody Lives
• Everybodys Dead Dave
• Everything Fades
• Explosive Decompression
  • Thrown Out The Airlock
• Faking The Dead
• Family Unfriendly Death
• Fatal Family Photo
• Faux Death
• First Episode Resurrection
• First Law Of Resurrection
• The Fun In Funeral
• Go Into The Light
• Going Down With The Ship
• Good Night Sweet Prince
• Go Out With A Smile
• Gory Discretion Shot
• Grave Humor
• Hes Dead Jim
• He's Just Hiding
• His Name Is
• How Dare You Die On Me
• Informal Eulogy
• I Wished You Were Dead
• Jacob Marley Apparel
• Joker Immunity
• Killed Off For Real
• Kill Em All
• Kill Him Already
• Kiss Of Death
• Klingon Promotion
• The Last Dance
• Left For Dead
• Let Them Die Happy
• Like You Were Dying
• Losing Your Head
• The Living Dead
• Luca Brazzi Sleeps With The Fishes
• Made Of Plasticine
• Mary Kellys Kidney
• Meaningful Funeral
• Mentor Occupational Hazard
• Mistaken For Dying
• Mistaken For Murderer
• Monster Misogyny
• Murder Dot Com
• Murdered In A Phone Booth
• Murderer POV
• My Death Is Just The Beginning
• My Life Flashed Before My Eyes
• Near Death Experience
• Necro Non Sequitur
• Never Found The Body
• Never Got To Say Goodbye
• Never Say Die
• Never Say Goodbye
• Never Suicide
• No Body Left Behind
• No Longer With Us
• No One Could Survive That
• Not Quite Dead
• Not So Invincible After All
• Obi Wan Moment
• Off With His Head
• Our Hero Is Dead
• Out With A Bang
• Partly Cloudy With A Chance Of Death
• Pater Familicide
• Player Punch
• Please Wake Up
• Plotline Death
• The Plot Reaper
• Popsicle Splat
• Posthumous Character
• Posthumous Narration
• Pretty Spry For A Dead Guy
• Rasputinian Death
• Redemption Equals Death
• Red Shirt
  • Mauve Shirt
• Released To Elsewhere
• Retirony
• Rewarded As A Traitor Deserves
• Schrodingers Cat
• The Scourge Of God
• Second Law Of Metafictional Thermodynamics
• Self-Destructive Charge
• Shoot The Shaggy Dog
• Silent Credits
• Snow Means Death
• Staying Alive
• Stripped To The Bone
• Stuffed Into The Fridge
• Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome
• Super Power Meltdown
  • Shape Shifter Swan Song
• Taking The Bullet
• Talking The Monster To Death
• Tears Of Blood
• Time Delayed Death
• Together In Death
• Tonight Someone Dies
• Too Cool To Live
• Too Good For This Sinful Earth
• Touch Of Death
• Waking Up At The Morgue
• Walking Wasteland
• Weekend At Bernies
• We Hardly Knew Ye
• Why Didn't You Kill Him
• Why Dont Ya Just Shoot Him
• Xanatos Funeral
• You Kill It You Bought It
• Your Days Are Numbered
• Your Head A Splode

See Also

• How To Cheat Death
• How To Kill A Character
• Sorting Algorithm Of Deadness
• Sorting Algorithm Of Mortality

• Choosing Death
  • Heroic Sacrifices
• Last Words

Sources

Bibliography

1. TV Tropes Wiki entry

Game and Story Use

• Random killings can get boring over time. Use these tropes to make the deaths in your campaign more memorable.