History Main / AnyoneCanDie

Anyone Can Die is where '''no one''' is exempt from being killed, including pets, children, the elderly, even the main characters ([[TheHeroDies maybe even the hero]])! The SacrificialLamb is often used to establish the writer's willingness to kill off important characters early on. To really be the Anyone Can Die trope, the work must include multiple deaths of named characters, happening at different points in the story. Bonus points if the death is unnecessary and devoid of HeroicSacrifice.

This trope is very helpful in keeping GenreSavvy fans from being SpoiledByTheFormat. In a kid's show, ''of course'' AliceAndBob are going to survive the raging rapids. In a work of this type however, the danger actually becomes dangerous.

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Note that the character needs to be KilledOffForReal or CharacterDeath for the trope to have the desired effect; it does not work if the writers cheat and [[DeathIsCheap bring back the guy later]] (see NotQuiteDead, DisneyDeath, and ClimacticBattleResurrection). As such SuperHero Comic Books as a medium have gained a reputation of "Anyone Can Die... until someone wants to use the character in a later story."

This is TruthInTelevision because immortality does not exist. The [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39236 world death rate]] seems to be holding steady at 100%.

This is TruthInTelevision because immortality does not exist, so [[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease real life examples will be completely unnecessary]]. The [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39236 world death rate]] seems to be holding steady at 100%.

Anyone Can Die is where '''no one''' is exempt from being killed, including the main characters ([[TheHeroDies maybe even the hero]]). The SacrificialLamb is often used to establish the writer's willingness to kill off important characters early on. To really be the Anyone Can Die trope, the work must include multiple deaths of named characters, happening at different points in the story. Bonus points if the death is unnecessary and devoid of HeroicSacrifice.

Most of the time when you finally grasp who the main characters of the story are, you can expect that [[PlotArmor these characters will survive]] through the end of the story. [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope That is not this trope.]]

->''"Once you decide that you're going to have the death of Spock, then how does that affect the other people? Why is it there? I got a lot of stick from a lot of people from the very beginning about the idea of killing Spock. Somebody said, 'You can't kill him'. And I said, 'Sure you can; [[DyingMomentOfAwesome the only question is whether you do it well]]'."''

Anyone Can Die is where '''no one''' is exempt from being killed, including the main characters ([[TheHeroDies maybe even the hero]]). The SacrificialLamb is often used to establish the writer's willingness to kill off important characters early on. To really be the Anyone Can Die trope, the work must include multiple deaths, happening at different points in the story. Bonus points if the death is unnecessary and devoid of HeroicSacrifice.

This is where '''no one''' is exempt from being killed, including the main characters ([[TheHeroDies maybe even the hero]]). The SacrificialLamb is often used to establish the writer's willingness to kill off important characters early on. To really be Anyone Can Die, the work must include multiple deaths, happening at different points in the story. Bonus points if the death is unnecessary and devoid of HeroicSacrifice.

A good way to check if this trope applies is to see if who survives is and important plot point, rather than only how they survive.

Contrast with TonightSomeoneDies, SortingAlgorithmOfMortality and ContractualImmortality. Compare SecondLawOfMetafictionalThermodynamics.

This is TruthInTelevision because immortality does not exist, so [[NoRealLifeExamplesPlease real life examples will be completely unnecessary]]. The [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39236 world death rate]] seems to be holding steady at 100%.

Note that the character needs to be KilledOffForReal for the trope to have the desired effect; it does not work if the writers cheat and [[DeathIsCheap bring back the guy later]] (see NotQuiteDead, DisneyDeath, and ClimacticBattleResurrection). As such SuperHero Comic Books as a medium have gained a reputation of "Anyone Can Die... until someone wants to use the character in a later story."

Note that while character needs to be KilledOffForReal for the trope to have the desired effect; it does not work if the writers cheat and [[DeathIsCheap bring back the guy later]] (see NotQuiteDead, DisneyDeath, and ClimacticBattleResurrection). As such SuperHero Comic Books as a medium have gained a reputation of "Anyone Can Die... until someone wants to use the character in a later story."

* AnyoneCanDie/VideoGames

Most of the time when you finally grasp who the main characters of the story are, you can expect that [[PlotArmor these characters will survive]] through the end of the story. [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope That is]] ''[[WellThisIsNotThatTrope not]]'' [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope this trope.]]

If you have time, please take time to put examples in alphabetical order. This page Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings should help you with that.

When the writers want to impress you with their ruthlessness, they may trumpet that TonightSomeoneDies, then kill off a random second-stringer that nobody much cares about. They might even kill off a major character because his actor was leaving anyway, or because they needed a good cliffhanger to convince people to watch the next season. That is also ''not'' this trope (although it's pretending to be).

This is very common in DarkerAndEdgier works. See also KillEmAll, when everyone ''will'' die. Opposite of NobodyCanDie and PlotArmor, where not even situations that ''should'' kill people manage to. See also DwindlingParty, where the deaths are evenly spaced rather than near the end. Easier to do in works with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

See also KillEmAll, when everyone ''will'' die. Opposite of NobodyCanDie and PlotArmor, where not even situations that ''should'' kill people manage to. See also DwindlingParty, where the deaths are evenly spaced rather than near the end. Easier to do in works with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

This is TruthInTelevision. The [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39236 world death rate]] seems to be holding steady at 100%.

-->-- '''Nicholas Meyer''', Director of ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]''

[[quoteright:339:[[Series/{{Firefly}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/serenity_crew_dead_3798.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:339: The writer has the biggest body count of all.]]

This is TruthInTelevision, at least on [[FightClub a long enough timeline]].

* AnyoneCanDie/RealLife

This is where '''no one''' is exempt from being killed, including the main characters ([[TheHeroDies maybe even the hero]]). The SacrificialLamb is often used to establish the writer's willingness to kill off important characters early on. To really be AnyoneCanDie, the work must include multiple deaths, happening at different points in the story. Bonus points if the death is unnecessary and devoid of HeroicSacrifice.