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Exactly What It Says on the Tin. A character who remains alive in a work of fiction dies in the adaptation.

Both a death trope and an adaptation trope, this comes in two variations:

  • More commonly, a character who did not die in the source material is killed off in the adaptation.
  • Alternatively, a character who did get killed at some point in the source material is killed off a lot sooner in the adaptation.

The reasons for doing this vary. Perhaps the crew wanted to surprise everyone, including fans of the source material. Perhaps they personally viewed the unfortunate character as The Scrappy and wanted to get rid of them. Maybe Executive Meddling required this change to be made. Maybe the character in question was a villain, and in grand movie tradition, the villain had to die at the end of the movie, even if he or she was a recurring villain in the source material. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: a character you did not expect to die met their end. Frequently a cause of They Changed It, Now It Sucks and is actually one of the cases where that can be a very valid complaint.

Despite the above hypothetical example being a movie, this trope is hardly limited to book-to-film adaptations, as you'll see in the examples.

Compare with Schrodinger's Cast, where a character's fate is different from the source material, but the source material is still ongoing (which may create the need for a drastic rewrite if the character in question becomes important later on in the source material).

Contrast with Spared by the Adaptation, where a character who died in the source material does not die in the adaptation.

Not to be confused with Doomed by Canon.

As a Death Trope, all Spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.

First type[]

Anime and Manga[]

  • If you consider the main Death Note series as an adaptation of the pilot chapter, then both L and Light are this for their pilot counterparts (Inspector Yamanaka and Taro Kagami, respectively)
    • Taro could also be considered the pilot counterpart for Mikami due to them looking exactly the same. Either way, the trope still applies.
    • Mogi in the second live-action film, in place of Ukita in the manga and anime.
  • In the first part of the Magic Knight Rayearth TV series, Presea chooses to complete the Knights' weapons instead of escaping Ascot's first monster attack. She dies soon after finishing, once the place collapses.
  • In Magic Knight Rayearth 2, the Autozam Commander Eagle Vision survives the Pillar's Trial and goes into deep sleep (but remains aware of his surroundings via Psychic Link,) and it's heavily implied that the new Cephiro will help him make a speedy recovery. In the anime, he battles Nova alongside the Magic Knights and rescues Lantis... and is then killed by Debonair.
    • The OAV is even more cruel. Aside from a Type II regarding Zagato, Lantis and Ascot meet their end. Especially jarring since Ascot was turned into a full-blown bad guy for the OAV.
  • The character Duclis from Slayers has completely different roles in both novels and anime but fall under this trope nonetheless: in the novels, he is the leader of a cult praising the Dark Lord Shabranigdo and is eventually slain by Lina; in the anime he is a friend of the prince Pokota; he attempts a mass murdering spree in the name of his and Pokota's kingdom and is nearly absorbed by a beast, but manages to survive. In the manga adaptation of the anime season he appeared in, though, he is killed by Shabranigdo.
    • In an odd meta-example, minor character Rubia was dead to begin with in the anime and was the subject of an attempted resurrection by her lover. In the original novels, she is still alive and assists Lina and Gourry up until the Mazoku Saygram kills her.
    • Amelia's uncle, Randionel, dies in the middle of the first season of the anime, whereas he dies in the first Slayers Special novel, which is, mind you, the prequel to the regular novel line, so he dies far earlier there.
  • In Fullmetal Alchemist (manga and Brotherhood series), Greed, after being recreated, survives until the last chapter. In the 2003 anime version, he dies a few episodes after his introduction (though he's never recreated at all).
    • Yoki and Doctor Marcoh are both killed by the Homunculus, while they survived in the original and Brotherhood.
    • Selim Bradley is killed by Fuhrer King Bradley/Pride, something especially tragic since in the original, Selim was Pride, the most monstrous of the Homunculi.
    • Scar dies creating a Philosopher's Stone, while in the original he pulled a Heel-Face Turn and got a happy ending.
    • Izumi Curtis dies during the time-skip between the first anime and Conqueror of Shamballa.
  • Tung Fu-Rue in the Fatal Fury anime movies. He dies in the first one after teaching Terry his ultimate technique despite having severe injuries caused by Billy Kane.
  • Chrono Crusade has four:
    • Satella and Fiore die near the end of the anime, but in the manga were merely frozen in crystal and revived in the 1990s.
    • Shader is killed by Father Remington after the battle of the carnival in the anime, but survives the final battle in the manga (and is, in fact, implied to be the one that revived Satella and Fiore).
    • Chrono is a possible example — his fate is left vague in the manga (he returns to Rosette in the end, but there's some debate that he's possibly just a vision or a ghost welcoming Rosette into the afterlife), but he's definitively, absolutely dead in the anime's ending - alongside Rosette.
  • Dominic and Eureka herself in the Eureka Seven manga.
  • Partial example: Straight Cougar's S-Cry-ed fate is ambiguous in the anime (we last seem him sitting in a chair when his limbs appear to go limp), but he quite unambiguously died in the manga adaptation.
  • In the official manga adaptation of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Toji Suzuhara dies after the angel Bardiel takes over his Evangelion and Gendo Ikari forces Unit-01 to crush the cockpit. In the anime, he "merely" loses a leg.
    • Depending on your interpretation of End of Evangelion, he might be a type 2 example!
  • Raikou from Nabari no Ou dies in the anime after his Heel Face Turn. In the manga he still has his Heel Face Turn and comes close to dying once, but ultimately survives.
  • Kurama in Elfen Lied.
  • Shigure in Yu Yu Hakusho lives until the end of the manga, but in the anime, he commits suicide after losing to Kurama.
  • One of the more notable changes in the adaptation of Macross to Robotech was the written-in deaths of the Macross/SDF-1 bridge crew. In the final episode of Macross, Global, Claudia and the Bridge Bunnies survive the final assault on the battle fortress; their Robotech counterparts aren't so lucky.
    • Macross Frontier does this in the movie, with a twist. In the series, there is a scene where Alto goes missing and Sheryl falls into a coma from despair and her illness. Now in the series, they both get better, but in the movie Alto is missing and most likely dead (at least his survival chances are very low) and Sheryl, while healed from her illness, still lies in a coma (though she begins to stir just as the movie ends). There is hope for both (less for the former, more for the latter), but compared to series, this counts as possible death.
      • And in the movie-centered manga Kiss of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, Sheryl is outright killed by Brera. As the scene takes place way before final confrontation, she will most likely end Only Mostly Dead, but still...
  • The anime adaptation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms kills off Diao Chan, who in the novel simply disappears after her role in bringing down Dong Zhuo.
  • Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo kills off Franz d'Epinay, Danglars, and the Count himself, while they all survive in the original novel. Franz's death is particularly noteworthy, as it occurs about 3/4 of the way through the series, and provides the catalyst for Albert to grow up and wise up.
  • At the end of the Ookamikakushi, Kaori defeats Sakaki by throwing both of them off a cliff; in the VN's true end, they both live (Sakaki being defeated by non-lethal means), but it's implied Kaori will eventually die from her illness.
  • In the Mai-Otome manga, Rad, Nagi and Sergay Auguste Taiki die.
  • Noin in Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne dies via Heroic Sacrifice in the anime adaptation, while he survived and stuck around in the original manga.
  • Code Geass: C.C. dies in Code Geass Nightmare of Nunnally, while both Schneizel and Lloyd (who in this version is Schneizel's dragon) die in Suzaku of the Counterattack.
  • In Pokémon Special, Pryce, Maxie, and Archie die when they don't in the original games.
  • Subverted by Tier Harribel in Bleach— the anime initially ended without her being revealed to be alive yet imprisoned by the Vandenreich, and since the second series covers the last arc of the manga closely, said reveal took at the start of the first course. (The manga-based novels explain how she survived: Orihime healed her and her Amazon Brigade)
  • The Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics adaptation of The Six Swans kills off the Princess' father and the Wicked Stepmother. Both of them simply disappear from the original story when the Princes are enchanted and the Princess runs off to break the curse; in this, the Stepmother kills her husband after attacking the kids and from then on takes the role of the original's cruel mother-in-law… and like her, she ends up dying after her villainy is revealed.
  • The animated version of Shin Kyojin no Hoshi kills off Hyuuma and Akiko's father, Ittetsu, in the very last TV episode. Ironically, Akiko gives birth to her and Mitsuru's child almost at the same time.
  • Tekken the Motion Picture kills off Anna Williams (Eaten Alive by a dinosaur), Lee Chaolan (commits suicide in the middle of his Villainous Breakdown) and Jack-2 (pulls an Heroic Sacrifice to save Jane, Lei Wulong and Dr. Bosconovitch)
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Action Girl Kiki Rosita lives to the very end. In the novelization, she's captured and gang-raped by Federation soldiers for being a resistance member, before promptly committing suicide by biting off her tongue and choking to death on her own blood.

Comics[]

  • Dr. Robotnik in Archie Comics Sonic the Hedgehog, although he's a rather odd case: the comics treat Ivo Robotnik and Eggman Robotnik as two separate characters, then Ivo was Killed Off for Real and Eggman took his place. Splitting him into two characters is pretty much the only thing that prevents this from falling under Schrodinger's Cat.

Fan Works[]

  • Kurenai Yuhi in Team 8.
    • Tazuna also bites the dust.
  • Several characters from Animal Crossing are dead in the Pokémon Crossing series:
    • Before the events of Fly Me to the Moon, Team Cottage invaded Fortree City and murdered Leopold when he refused to give them the city's Pokémon
    • Dozer, Flash, and Hank died in a mining accident.
    • Sunny was killed and cannibalized in the Desert Ruins.
    • Rosie killed herself from the stress of the entertainment industry, leading to Chrissy and Francine to retire from music and become Gym Leaders instead.
  • In most Nuzlocke Comics from Pokémon Red and Blue (or the third-gen remakes), Gary's Raticate dies. This is because of a popular fan theory: Raticate's no longer on Gary's team when he asks you about dead Pokemon at Lavender Tower, so it's possible he was there in mourning. The games themselves never quite mention what happened to Raticate, though it's possible Gary just stored it in a PC box to make room for something else.
  • The Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair fanfic A New Island Life has three of the original survivors (Akane Owari, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu and Sonia Nevermind) get killed off before the end, with Chiaki Nanami and Mikan Tsumiki dying earlier than they did in canon.
  • Son of the Sannin:
    • Hiashi Hyuga and Inoichi Yamanaka are both killed during the Uchiha Insurrection.
    • Kabuto Yakushi dies before Shippuden even rolls around.
    • Mizuki is executed off-screen during the 2-year timeskip.
    • Toneri Otsutsuki never makes a Heel Face Turn, and is instead killed by Hinata Hyuga.
    • Tenzo (who never became known as Captain Yamato in this timeline) is killed by Tayuya of the Sound Five during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
    • Choza Akimichi, who was the only member of the original Ino-Shika-Cho trio to make it out of the Fourth Shinobi World War alive, kicks the bucket against Kimimaro Kaguya here.
    • Unlike in canon, Might Guy's Suicide Attack against Madara Uchiha ends up costing him his life.
    • Orochimaru meets his end in battle against Jiraiya and Tsunade, with the latter making sure that he won't come back by sucking out his soul.
    • Black and White Zetsu are both killed by Obito Uchiha after they accidentally reveal the truth behind Rin Nohara's death.
  • A number of My Hero Academia fanfics have alternate universe versions of story arcs from the anime and manga where characters who survived the original arcs die in the alternate universe version.
    • Shadow_Overlord's "New Game Plus" fanfic universe has Izuku Midoriya and Eri both accidentally rewound back to the beginning of the anime/manga (as a result of an accident involving Eri's 'Rewind' Quirk and a Quirk-enhancing drug), but with their memories of what happened before intact. As a result of Izuku's acting on his knowledge of how things went before, several of the previous story arcs play out differently, leading to a different version of the Shie Hassaikai arc in which Sir Nighteye survives the events of the raid and its aftermath, but Nejire Hado is killed, and Kai Chisaki/Overhaul ends up being destroyed by Eri's 'Rewind' Quirk.
    • Later on, in the new version of the Hosu arc, Hero Killer Stain is accidentally killed by Katsuki Bakugo.

Film (Animated)[]

  • Hrothgar in the 2007 Beowulf.
  • Poor Blackavar...
  • Disney Animated Canon:
  • Metallo in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. In the comic version, outside of a mention that he might've been involved in the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne that turned out to be a Red Herring by Lex Luthor to keep Batman away, his subplot didn't have anything to do with the main plot; In the movie version, he was killed by Major Force (under orders from Luthor) to frame Superman.
  • The Sphere in Flatland: the Film, but not in Flatland: the Movie (another adaptation that was, oddly, released the same year).
  • J. Thaddeus Toad in the Disney Theme Parks version of The Wind in the Willows, who apparently dies after being hit by a train during his escape from prison, and actually goes to Hell!
  • In the film Brest Fortress, the narrator in the end says that "Anya Kizhevatova was executed along with all families of the Fortress' defenders." Anya was indeed executed, but most of the families (including other girls Anya's age ) actually survived.
  • Nicodemus in The Secret of NIMH.
  • Adaptations of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth works:
  • In most versions of Transformers, at least a few members of the Thirteen Primes survive the group's fall. In Transformers One, twelve of them died in an ambush and the Sole Survivor dies not long after being recovered, decisively confirming that the group is dead. All thirteen of their spirits later appear to Orion Pax, driving it home.

Film (Live Action)[]

  • Gennaro and Muldoon in Jurassic Park. In the former's case, it may be because he was effectively a Composite Character with someone who did die in the book. Interestingly, Gennaro is mentioned as having Died On A Bus in the The Lost World novel, perhaps to get things more consistent between the novels and films.
  • Dr. Frock in Relic, particularly jarring as he plays a central role in the novel's sequel, Reliquary, as the Big Bad. Greg Lee also dies, despite being based off Kawakita, who survives.
  • Mogi in the live action Death Note movies
  • Bat in the Fist of the North Star movie.
  • Inspector Legrasse in the 2005 silent film adaptation of The Call of Cthulhu
  • Ben in the 2003 version of Willard, whereas in the 1971 movie and the original proposed ending, he kills Willard and survives, injured, but shrugging it off.
  • Cybil in Silent Hill.
  • Everybody except for Bastian and the Empress in The Neverending Story. They get better.
  • Dick Halloran in The Shining. In the novel he takes a beating with a roque club, but makes it out alive with a broken jaw. But in the film, he is killed by an axe to the chest.
  • Captain Dudley Smith in the film version of L.A. Confidential
  • Haldir in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. (In the book, the elves don't even show up at Helm's Deep). Also the Mouth of Sauron, whose fate in the book is unknown.
    • Sauron himself doesn't technically die in the book, as he is said to be "maimed forever" when the ring is destroyed. In the movie, he is destroyed along with it. And how.
  • Brom Bomes in Tim Burton's version of Sleepy Hollow
  • The Joker and the Penguin in Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns, respectively. Two-Face in Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever.
    • Jason Woodrue dies after a brief appearance in Batman and Robin, but all the other heavies survive. The same can't be said for the series.
  • In The Dark Knight Saga, Ra's al Ghul and Two-Face. Joker, ironically survived, as did the Scarecrow.
    • Oddly enough, Carmine Falcone is still alive in this universe while dead in the comics.
  • Venom in the Spider-Man movies.
  • Cyclops dies off screen unglamourously in X Men the Last Stand. The characters who die by adaptation in the X-Men films could probably fill a whole damn page. Lady Deathstrike, Psylocke, Kestrel, Agent Zero, and (apparently) Toad are notable examples.
  • James Bond (all 7 of him...don't ask) in Casino Royale 1967
  • Nina in Nosferatu and its remake
  • Berger in Hair, in a rare film example of death by military draft. He was impersonating The Hero Claude, who dies in the play. More interestingly, the big finale song in both versions is a Dark Reprise about the character's death.
  • Probably the protagonist of Layer Cake. Probably, as he isn't explicitly dead, but likely would be if he didn't get immediate medical treatment.
  • Mike Enslin in the director's cut of Fourteen Oh Eight
  • Jim Halsey and Lt. Esteridge in the 2007 remake of The Hitcher.
  • In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Draco's friend/lackey Goyle is the one to use Fiendfyre and burn himself to death with it, while in the book it was Crabbe. This is because Crabbe's actor got in legal trouble and thus was unable to play in the movie.
    • This happens to several characters, actually: Griphook (massacred along with the rest of the Gringotts staff by Voldemort), Scabior (falls to his doom when the bridge he is standing on blows up), Pius Thicknesse (killed by Voldemort for being annoying), Lavender Brown (fatally attacked by Fenrir Greyback) and Fenrir Greyback (magically defenestrated by Hermione in turn).
  • Arthur in the 2005 movie of Tom Brown's Schooldays.
  • Marie in The Bourne Supremacy.
  • While Mr. Mushnik was spared in The Little Shop of Horrors, he gets eaten by Audrey II in the musical version. Audrey also didn't die in the original film, but did in the musical (but not the musical film.) In looping back, Audrey II's death closed out the end of the original film, but he lives and takes over the world in the musical, only to be killed at the end again in the musical film adaptation, though in this case Seymour survives whereas in the original death, Audrey II's death came at the cost of his own life as well.
  • Jenny and Mama in Forrest Gump
  • Menelaus in Troy is killed by Hector to save Paris near the start of the siege, while in the original Paris is saved by Aphrodite, and Menelaus actually ends up going home with Helen.
    • Don't forget Ajax the Greater.
  • In Resident Evil Apocalypse, a "Capt. Leon Kennedy" is reported to have been killed in a newspaper.
    • Not only was this a throwaway line from a promotional "newsletter" and wasn't even in the movie proper, but it's obviously going to be Ret Conned away when Leon Kennedy finally, finally makes an appearance in Resident Evil: Retribution.
  • Master and Commander kills off Mr. Allen, Joseph Nagle, and Peter Calamey in the final battle; since there isn't a Final Battle in the Aubrey-Maturin books they all seem to live.
  • Meg Ryan's character in City of Angels - the angel's girlfriend in the film Wings of Desire does not die.
  • Ruby in the 2006 remake of The Hills Have Eyes.
  • The gym teacher, renamed Mrs. Collins, in the first movie version of Carrie.
  • Thanks to the Hays Code, Rhonda in The Bad Seed is struck by lightning at the side of a pond. Her mother, on the other hand, survives.
  • While in the Scott Pilgrim comics, Crash and The Boys help out against third-ex Todd Ingram, they get flash-fried by first-ex Matthew Patel in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
  • In the comic version of Road to Perdition, John Looney is merely sent to prison. In the movie, John Rooney is gunned down by Michael Sullivan Sr.
  • Kronsteen in From Russia with Love, although it's possible his literary counterpart was also executed for his plan's failure.
  • Max Brailovsky in 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
  • Helen and Barry both die in I Know What You Did Last Summer, but they survive the book.
  • In Queen of the Damned, Mael and Pandora were both killed, despite being rather important figures in the books (particularly Pandora, who was actually the protagonist of one of the sequels).
  • At the end of My Side of the Mountain, Frightful the hawk gets shot and dies. In the book, she not only lives, but ends up with three sequels focusing on her.
  • LaBoeuf lived through the original novel True Grit, but died pulling Mattie and Cogburn out of the pit in the 1969 movie version. In the 2010 movie version he survives again.
  • Angier in The Prestige; in the book, he actually became immortal.
  • The Ra'zac in Eragon, despite the fact that them surviving is a major plot point in later Inheritance Cycle books.
  • In Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning, it's revealed that Gilbert died while serving as a medical doctor overseas during World War II.
  • Tommy and Warden Norton in The Shawshank Redemption.
  • In Congo, Kahega dies early on, despite being a much more important character in the book, and Bob Driscoll, the survivor from the first expedition the heroes find in a tribal village.
  • Jack Ryan:
    • Vasili Borodin in The Hunt for Red October is shot dead by the saboteur.
    • Patriot Games: Ned Clark, the assasin sent to kill Ryan, is arrested in the book before he can even get to Ryan. In the film, he is shot dead by guards when he attacks Ryan.
      • Kevin O’Donnell dissappeared in the book during the final battle. Here, he is given the fate of Alex Dobbens and is shot by a deranged Miller.
      • Sgt. Bob Highland survives being shot by Sean Miller in the novel, though he has to relearn how to walk. Here, he is not so fortunate.
    • Clear and Present Danger:
      • Dan Murray is killed during the assault on the SUVs, while in the book he was not present and goes on to survive for several more books as a close ally of Ryan.
      • Colonel Felix Cortez is shot by Chavez, rather than handed over to the Cuban government.
      • Ernesto Escobando is killed by Sibo, whilst he was originally handed over to the cartel.
      • Moira Wolfe, who gets a Neck Snap from Cortez.
  • The besiegers in Straw Dogs.
  • The Red King from Alice in Wonderland. It's implied that his wife, the Red Queen (who is the film's Big Bad) killed him prior to the events of the film.
  • Poor old Tufty Thesinger in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
  • Captain Walker in the 1975 adaptation of The Who's Tommy. Also Nora Walker (Tommy's mother) at the end of the film.
  • James "Thunder" Early in Dreamgirls dies of a drug overdose in the film, while he just disappears in the stage show.
  • Kevin's father Franklin is killed by Kevin in We Need to Talk About Kevin. In the novel, Franklin is the one Eva is writing to.
  • Dr. Copper, Bennings, and Norris survive the events of Who Goes There. In The Thing, Bennings is assimilated and set on fire, Norris is replaced by the titular monster and Cooper is killed by said duplicate.
  • Irene Adler in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Although, there's some debate about her status in the canon. She's referred to, at the beginning of the one story she appears in, as "the late Irene Adler", but this could simply allude to the fact that she changes her name.
    • At the very least, the way she dies was invented for the movie.
  • Theo Faron from Children of Men dies of blood loss while waiting for the Tomorrow, while in the book Theo survives and becomes the temporary leader of Britain.
  • Dracula had a few, which is not surprising when the main story been done so many times and they want to spice it up.
    • In Horror of Dracula Harker stakes the vampire bride but the sun goes down before he can get to Dracula himself and is killed and turned, leaving it to Helsing to stake him.
    • In Dan Curtis's version of Dracula, Harker is caught while trying to escape the castle and thrown into the vampire brides' chambers where they make a meal of him. Not surprisingly near the end of the movie when Helsing and Holmwood are tracking Drac through the castle. They find an undead Harker in the same area. He nearly succeeds in trying to bite Helsing but is knocked into a spike pit by Holmwood and killed for real.
    • In the 1977 Universal movie, Mina trades places with Lucy. Becoming Dracula's first victim, being turned into a vampire, and having to be staked by her father (albeit accidental). Helsing also dies during the final battle against Dracula. He uses his final strength to kill him, however.
  • In the 2011 adaptation of The Whisperer In Darkness, Noyes and George Akeley are killed by the Mi-Go - Noyes when the ritual is disrupted, and George when he tries to deliver the Black Stone to Wilmarth on his father's request. Neither character dies in the original short story: George never leaves San Diego, and Noyes is a Karma Houdini.
  • Anita Vanger in The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo becomes a Posthumous Character in both film versions. Her cousin, Harriet, lives under her name in both of them.
  • Danny in Red Dawn is killed, despite being one of the few Wolverines surviving the original.
  • Richard Dees in The Night Flier is shot dead by the police after being driven insane by Dwight, while he survives the original.
  • Kahega and Bob Driscoll in Congo.
  • Ellie in the film adaptation of A Dog's Purpose is shot by a criminal she and her handler Jakob were pursuin, while in the original Jakob was shot, and non-fatally at that.
  • The novel A Walk to Remember ends with Landon's fond recollection of his wedding to the Ill Girl Jamie. The film adaptation makes it plain that she passed away.
  • The Notebook novel ends with Noah and Allie falling asleep together, knowing that he'll have to read her their story again. The film changes by showing that they died the next day.
  • Ellie in the 2019 version of Pet Semetary, thus receiving Adaptational Villainy when she is buried in the Pet Semetary and Comes Back Wrong.
  • The Skywalker bloodline in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. In the world of Star Wars Legends, the Skywalker-Solo lineage lasted for over a hundred years after A New Hope and showed no signs of stopping by the time Legacy ended. In the new canon, Ben Solo's death in The Rise of Skywalker marks the end of the Skywalker line. Though Rey taking the name ensures that their legacy will live on, the biological Skywalkers are dead and gone a mere three decades after Episode IV.
  • The Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    • In the first three phases, many villains; such as Malekith, Ultron, Killmonger; don't make it past their introductory movie.
    • Frigga dies in Thor: The Dark World, pulling a Heroic Sacrifice to save Jane Foster's life.
    • Ronan the Accuser is vaporized by the Power Stone in Guardians of the Galaxy whereas his Earth-616 self lives to be a recurring foe.
    • Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver dies in the climax of Avengers: Age of Ultron whereas his comics self was one of the few characters to never die.
    • Both Odin and Hela in Thor: Ragnarok. The former of old age and the latter dies with Asgard when Surtur destroys it.
    • While Gamora was among Thanos' victims in Infinity Gauntlet, and thus brought back to life at the story's end, in Avengers: Infinity War, she's killed off before the Snap occurs, being sacrificed by Thanos for the Soul Stone and is not brought back to life.
    • Avengers: Endgame:
      • Thanos in the opening act. In the comics, Joker Immunity and Actually a Doombot always keeps him around. In the MCU, he's assuredly Killed Off for Real when Thor beheads him. An Alternate Self of his later follows suit.
      • Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow dies sacrificing herself so Clint can get the Soul Stone.
      • Tony Stark/Iron Man pulls a Heroic Sacrifice to stop Thanos. His funeral is even shown to hammer home that the death is final.
      • In the comics, when an Infinity Gem is destroyed, it reforms. Here, Thanos destroys all six of the Infinity Stones and they're "reduced to atoms".
    • Aunt May is killed by the Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Literature[]

  • Everyone except the protagonist from the book adaptations of the Baldur's Gate games.
  • Chief in the Disney Read-along record/picture book version of The Fox and the Hound (he is simply never seen, heard, or mentioned again after being hit by the train, which implies his death). Interestingly, he died in the original novel as well, making the Disney film the only adaptation where Chief survives.
    • Some tie-in storybooks based on the Disney movies actually changed how the villains are defeated: For example, one out-of-print storybook based on Robin Hood had Prince John, Sir Hiss, and the Sheriff of Nottingham all simply disappear after the castle fire at the end, "and were never seen again" is what the book stated of their fates, implying that they were burned alive in that fire; while some storybooks based on The Lion King had Scar simply die after being thrown off a cliff by Simba, despite in the actual movie Scar survived the fall but is instantly killed by his own hyenas on the way down.
  • Barricade in both the novelization and comic book versions of Transformers. In the movie, he simply disappeared without a trace.
    • In the novelization of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Mirage is killed; in the film, he survives.
      • Skids and Mudlap also appear in the novel, apparently so they could get Rescued From the Scrappy Heap without having to appear in the film. They both get killed by Sentinel Prime, just right after he kills Ironhide.
  • There is actually is a pro-hunting educational book out there called Little Jake And The Three Bears that has the titular Little Jake off one of said bears and Bambi‍'‍s father, because this will totally make kids want to be ethical responsible hunters. As if kids weren't traumatized enough by Bambi's mother's death.

Live-Action Television[]

  • Professor Baehr in the Little Men TV series
  • The Maenad and Calvin Norris in True Blood
  • Bishop Waleran and Walter in the miniseries of The Pillars of the Earth.
  • While Luthor averts this in the movies, all three of his recent live action television incarnations have died. However, after being killed off, Luthor was resurrected in the final episode of Smallville. The incarnation in Supergirl (2015 series) was shot by his sister Lena, then revived by the Monitor at the end of the same episode.
  • Unlike Long in Juken Sentai Gekiranger, Dai Shi and Scorch (who each inherited one of his two non-human forms) from Power Rangers Jungle Fury were not immortal and both were destroyed in the finale. Also, Master Mao dies (his counterpart Xia Fu is The Mentor and RJ's counterpart Gou is a standard Sixth Ranger, not a Master) and Masters Guin, Lope, and Rilla were not found in the afterlife in Gekiranger and in fact became recurring characters! Even having Jarrod and Camille Spared by the Adaptation doesn't prevent this from being a rare Power Rangers series to have more deaths than its Super Sentai counterpart. Naturally, you still don't hear the word.
  • The midseason cliffhanger of season 2 of The Walking Dead reveals that Sophia, who's still around in the comics, had been turned into a Walker sometime during the season.
  • Sgt. James Doakes in Dexter dies at the end of the second season. He lives in the rest of the books, but gives up a couple of extremities and his tongue.
    • Brian is Dexter's serial-killer big brother, and the Big Bad of both the first novel and the TV show's first season. In the books, though, he survives and becomes a recurring minor character. No such luck on the small screen.
    • In the novels, Rita has also managed to survive so far.
  • The Sky 1 adaptation of Treasure Island, having subjected Squire Trelawney to Adaptational Villainy, also gives him a Karmic Death, as his Greed leads him to chase the treasure even when Jim throws it overboard.
  • In the second season of Game of Thrones Irri and Pyat Pree are killed off. Both are still alive in the novels, although Pree hasn't been seen since the second book. This is most likely the case with Xaro Xhoan Daxos, last seen being locked in an impenetrable vault with no means of escape.
  • In the fifth season of Game of Thrones, Barristan Selmy is mortally wounded in battle with the Sons of the Harpy, despite still being very much alive in the books. The fourth season kills off Jojen Reed, and Night's Watch men Pyp and Grenn, all of whom survived those incidents in the books.
  • Oliver Queen in the CW Arrowverse's adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths. In the original comics, he survived the events of the Crisis. However, his seldom-used Earth 2 counterpart was not so fortunate: he briefly appeared just long enough to die.
  • The live-action Netflix adaptation of One Piece does this to at least two characters who survived the East Blue saga in the anime and manga. First is Merry, who dies after being impaled by Kuro (when in the original anime and manga, he was only wounded, and lives to see the Straw Hats sail off in the ship named after him, the Going Merry). The second would be Don Krieg, who dies in his fight with Dracule Mihawk, causing the Arlong pirates to replace him as antagonists for its version of the Baratie arc.

Music[]

  • At least two reimaginings of Peter and The Wolf do this.
    • The Duck in "Weird Al" Yankovic's version. The original Russian folktale and most of its adaptations (including the Disney version) had the Duck survive the fight against the Wolf.
    • The hunters in Neil Torbin's version, Peter and the Werewolf.

Theatre[]

  • Audrey survived The Little Shop of Horrors. Though she was less of a flat character in the Broadway musical, she also died. She was Spared by the Adaptation in the film musical, though.
  • A notable staging of The Merchant of Venice had Shylock stab himself before exiting the court scene.
  • In As You Like It, Orlando comes to Arden with his Old Retainer, Adam, who's elderly, starving and close to death. Searching for food, Orlando stumbles upon the banished Duke Senior, who's feasting with his lords. The Duke, who was a great friend of Orlando's father, immediately sends Orlando to bring Adam to the table and feed him. However, Adam is conspicuously absent for the rest of the play, which has led some directors to imply that he died anyway. The 1996 RSC production went so far as to show a grave covered in flowers. Whether or not Shakespeare actually intended Adam's death, killing him off would be a case of this trope, since As You Like It is itself an adaptation of Thomas Lodge's novella Rosalynde, in which Adam lived to the end.
  • Schaunard, the musician, survives to the end of La Boheme. His counterpart in Rent, Angel Dumott Schunard, does not.

Video Games[]

  • Interesting case with Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. When the game was ported to PS2, the original ending was changed into one where Hanyuu gets Killed Off for Real. Other adaptations used the original ending. Curiously, the author claims that the Play Station 2 ending is the "True" ending while the "normal" ending is the "Good" ending.
    • This is probably because traditional, route-based Visual Novels frequently have two endings to each route (aside from bad ends). The True ending is typically bittersweet, while the Good ending ensures everyone lives happily ever after. It's not to do with one being canon, as the Play Station 2 ending certainly isn't.
  • The Coachman in the video game version of Pinocchio, and ONLY in the video game version. In the movie, he was a Karma Houdini.
  • Speaking of Disney, the Evil Stepmother and Stepsisters in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.
  • In both the Fire Emblem Gaiden manga and novels, Alm's childhood friend Kliff gets killed off. In the first, it's during his and Clair's rescue of Mathilda; in the second, when he goes Taking the Bullet for Silque who, in this continuity, is his long-lost older half-sister.
    • In the game, Deen's survival depends on whether the player wants to recruit him or Sonya. In the manga, he died protecting Sonya and Celica.
    • The Gaiden novels also kill Luthier (his younger sister Delthea kills him while in her Brainwashed and Crazy trance, and only wakes up when he's dead) and Sonya (she pulls a Murder-Suicide with her Archnemesis Dad Jedah).

Web Original[]

  • Captain Ginyu in Dragon Ball Abridged. In the source material, Vegeta considers stepping on him after he ends up in a frog's body, but relents. In the abridged series? "Psyche! Eight for eight!" SQUISH.
    • Icarus, Gohan's pet dragon from the movies / filler, suffers this in the Lord Slug movie. When Slug causes planet-wide winter, Chi-Chi cooks him.
  • Discord invokes this in Scootertrix the Abridged, brainwashing Pinkie into killing her friends by using The Abridged Series style of the show to use fan footage to make Pinkie kill her friends.
  • In The Horrors of Hawin Lake, 1020 was scrapped long, long before Season 1 of Thomas the Tank Engine. In The Railway Series, there's nothing to suggest that he didn't live a long life. And then the blue engine from "The Monster Under the Shed", whose fate was ambiguous in the book, performs a Heroic Sacrifice, ending his life as well.

Western Animation[]

Second type[]

Anime and Manga[]

  • In the Bokurano anime, the order of the main character's deaths were altered and some (such as Koyemeshi) ended up dying well before their original time of death.
  • Gorobei in Samurai Seven
    • It could be argued that Gorobei dies around the same time as in the original movie. The "sooner" part comes here because it was before Heihachi.
  • Chrono Crusade has an additional four characters that fall under this category:
    • In the anime, Steiner (Satella's butler) is killed at the carnival when he tries to protect Azmaria. In the manga we don't see him again after Satella leaves (alone) to go to Pandaemonium, but he's implied to survive the events of the final battle (since he was keeping a photo safe that another character is later seen with). Since the epilogue is set in the 1990s and he was an old man in the 1920s he's obviously dead by then, but we never see him die on screen.
    • The anime version has Rosette die when she's about 16, only a few months after the final battle. The manga epilogue says that Rosette lived until she was 23, about 7 or 8 years after the final battle.
    • In the manga, Viede and Genai survive until the final battle. The anime has both of them killed before Aion rolls out his final plans.
  • Uzume in Sekirei
  • In Macross, Roy Focker dies at the mid-point of the series, just after the Macross reaches Earth. In the film, he dies before the Macross reaches Earth, battling Quamzin Kravesha [1] aboard Vrlitwhai's ship. Also, Hayato, who dies in series just after Roy, is killed off ingloriously near the beginning.

Film (Live Action)[]

  • Gríma Wormtongue and Saruman in the extended cut of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, since the Scouring of the Shire, where they die in the books, was cut. In the theatrical cut, they don't die at all... although they remain locked in a tower and their fate is ambiguous.
  • Agamemnon in the Troy is killed by Briseis during the final battle in the Trojan War, whereas in the original mythology he survives. He returns home, and is murdered by his wife ... thus setting off the events of The Oresteia.
  • Gennaro from the Jurassic Park is arguably an example of Type II as well, as although he has the name of a character who survived in the book, his characterization and role are much closer to Jerkass PR guy Ed Regis, a character "removed" from the film. Said character died in the book as well, but a bit later—after the dinosaurs get out, he's caught off-guard and killed by the baby T-Rex, which was entirely removed from the film version.
    • John Hammond and Ian Malcolm are both killed in the novel. Ian's survival is retconned into the second novel, but Hammond survives only in the films.
  • Norman and Harry Osborn in the Spider-Man films.
  • The Gemini Killer's father in The Exorcist III. Oddly enough, his death in the novel causes the killer to lose his motivation to murder. In the movie, his death does the opposite; The Gemini kills his father and then becomes a serial killer so he can (figuratively) continue to kill his father forever.
  • Boris in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is knocked off in Istanbul instead of after being recalled to Russia. Conversely, Irina survives much longer just so Karla can shoot her in front of Jim Prideaux.
    • Jim Prideaux himself has - well, possibly the opposite of this version of the trope. It's implied at the beginning, and right up to the somewhere around the middle of the film that the shooting during the botched operation in Budapest left him dead. We then find out that he survived, to be tortured and interrogated by the Russians, and eventually returned to England. This is played more as a plot-point than in the book where it's more generally known, not least by the reader that he survived. Smiley discovering the truth of his fate in the film is the first big confirmation of his suspicions of who the mole is.
  • John Barton in Looking for Alibrandi, though not by much. The book death occurs in the second half, while the movie death occurs halfway through.
  • Most adaptations of The Three Musketeers will have the Comte de Rochefort die at some point, though he survived the book and died in its sequel Twenty Years After.
  • In The Amazing Spider-Man 2 this happens to Norman Osborn, who dies offscreen due to his illness.
  • Patriot Games:
    • Sean Miller is, in the novel, arrested by the police and later novels reveal he was given the death sentence after a fair trial. In the film, he is killed when he is impaled on an anchor and incinerated in a boat crash.
    • In the novel Dennis Cooley is killed in the final battle by friendly fire. In the film he is executed when Miller and Kevin O’Donnell realize he is useless.
  • In The Dark Knight Saga Commissioner Gillian Loeb is poisoned by the Joker while still in office, while in the comics he was murdered by the Hangman inBatman: Dark Victory after he was outed from his position as Commissioner.
  • The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy:
    • In Star Wars Legends, Han, Luke, and Leia died sometime after 45 ABY. In canon, the former two died in 34 ABY; in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi respectively; while the latter died in The Rise of Skywalker, set in 35 ABY.
    • Inverted for Emperor Palpatine. In Legends, his final death occurs in 11 ABY. In canon, he manages to last until 35 ABY.

Live Action Television[]

  • Band of Brothers has a Did Not Do the Research case with Albert Blithe, who is shot in the neck and said to have never recovered, and died a few years later. After the episode aired, his relatives revealed that he was actually hit in the shoulder and did recover, going on to serve in Korea and attain the rank of Master Sergeant before dying of peritonitis in 1967.
  • Frank Herbert's Dune: Thufir Hawat, while not explicitly said to have died, is notably absent after the attack on Arrakeen. This is much earlier than in the novel, where dies close to the end.
  • In the second season of Game of Thrones, Ser Rodrik Cassel dies much earlier than he does in the book, at the hands of Theon Greyjoy instead of those of Ramsay Snow.
  • Also in Game of Thrones, the Tickler dies much earlier than he does in the books, killed by Jaqen Hadar by request of Arya Stark. In the books, the Tickler dies later on during a confrontation with Arya and The Hound.

Video Games[]

  • In the Nintendo Wii Golden Eye Wii, Zukovsky is killed less than a minute after Bond meets him, instead of living until The World is Not Enough like he does in the films.

Western Animation[]

  • Commander Zog from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the turtles' Triceraton ally in the original comics is sliced to pieces by the three mutant Shredder clones. In the second cartoon, he is mortally wounded by a stab to the stomach from Shredder and dies in the collapsing lair, taking Shredder with him. And in the 2012 series, he is killed after meeting the Turtles when he pulls a Face Heel Turn
  • Ferro Lad in Legion of Super Heroes was around for only three episodes before his Heroic Sacrifice, staying behind to destroy the Sun-Eater machine. In the comics, he was around for about two years before this event and his character was more fleshed out.
  • Dr. Fate/Kent Nelson in Young Justice. He just can't catch a break!
  • Mysterio in Spider-Man: The Animated Series is killed in an explosion, having chosen to die with Miranda Wilson.
  1. Who himself is an example, as he dies in series during the finale