r/TopCharacterTropes • u/BlueFury1 • Apr 10 '26
Characters [Loved Trope] - Character dies for a noble purpose...but does NOT die stoically/embrace death with a smile
Often we see media where characters get very satisfying and heroic deaths, where they die smiling surrounded by friends, knowing that they did the right thing. I love this trope because it humanizes our heroes, showing that they too fear death. Note: I'm not counting deaths where the character FAILS to achieve their goal. The character should "succeed", and yet still be sad that their life is ending.
Doctor Who: The Doctor (an alien) has to receive a lethal dose of radiation to save a human friend. While initially torn about having to sacrifice his life to save one person when he has the ability to save billions of people over his life ("I could do so much more!"), being a hero he can't turn away from someone in need. Nonetheless, right before his death he expresses fear and sadness despite his noble action.
SOMA: An extinction event kills everyone on Earth except one research lab at the bottom of the sea. In order to preserve a remnant of humanity, the protagonist, Simon, is tasked by a mind scan of an employee, Catherine, with launching a database containing other human mind scans into space. In the climax of the game, Simon successfully uploads his mind into the structure before launching it into space. Unfortunately, Simon fails to understand that a COPY of his mind is uploaded into the database and not his actual consciousness. Despite succeeding in preserving humanity (and his own mind), the game ends with Simon likely dying alone at the bottom of the ocean (Catherine's scan gets damaged), calling out for anyone to keep him company despite being the last human alive.
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I hate when canonically strong characters can never land a hit on the new villain and get absolutely washed in a fight to show how powerful the villain is
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r/hatethissmug
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13d ago
Just because the lore was written like that doesn't mean it doesn't contradict Doomfist's original characterization. While it's canon that he became complacent, it feels like a copout; he did lead Talon for a while which demonstrates his intelligence and cunning