History Main / DeathSeeker

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/{{Gungrave}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bunji_death.png]]]]

** In the White Scars chapter when a battle brother has done something dishonorable they will become ''Sagyar Mazan''. Where they will be exiled from the chapter, and seek death in battle wash away their sins.

*** The rigidity of Dwarfs' honour codes results in Troll Slayers, unfortunate Dwarfs who have failed at some task or are unable to fulfill an oath, for which death is their only solace. ''However'', it's dishonorable for a Dwarf to just off himself, so they dye their hair, cut it into an intimidating shape, and go into battle unarmored against the biggest, meanest opponent they can find. If they can't find a troll nasty enough to kill them, they graduate to become Giant Slayers, then Dragon Slayers, then Daemon Slayers. In some army lists, the Dwarf player gets almost as many victory points from getting his troops killed by monsters than his opponent does for killing them.

* In [[http://lynxgriffin.tumblr.com/post/145243002663/dogs-of-future-past-masterpost Dogs of Future Past]], an Videogame/{{Undertale}} fanfiction, this is [[spoiler:Chara]]'s true wish: be able to move on, instead of [[spoiler:being stuck with just his consciousness without a body nor a soul]]. Considering that until [[spoiler:Frisk's arrival his consciousness [[FateWorseThanDeath was trapped in his rotting corpse in the ground]], and that without a soul he is unable to feel emotions like he used to, his wish for an end to his misery is quite understandable]]. In the end, [[spoiler:Frisk is able to grant him the rest he so longed for, thanks to their godlike powers. His reaction is one of profound, genuine relief, and his consciousness finally passes on, after a final goodbye to Asriel.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "Salvage", there's an alien golem created from the husks of four aliens that is forced to commit criminal acts. When it breaks free of its mind control, it tries to demolish a nuclear plant. Blue Beetle tries to communicate with it and the golem explains that it feels like it's an abomination and wishes to end the pain by death; thinking that a nuclear explosion will be enough to end its life. Superboy's response to its death plea is "I can relate". It's ambiguous as to whether he's referring to a past death wish or feeling like an abomination, but neither has been confirmed. [[spoiler:The golem finally gets its death wish when an unseen enemy destroys it before Blue Beetle tries to talk it out of death]].

* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': The Clans tend to have a lot of these types. Clan [[DesignerBabies Trueborn]] value youth and innate ability over experience and believe that a warrior is past their prime by the age of 30 if they haven't done something notable enough to earn a [[MeaningfulRename Bloodname]] (which is needed to enter Clan politics and higher command). If an unblooded Trueborn reaches 35, they tend to get transferred to a ''Solahma'' unit where they're expected to act as CannonFodder with outdated weaponry if they're lucky. If they're unlucky, they'll get reassigned to a garrison unit or as military police, or used as target practice for live-fire training by the next generation of warriors. Most warriors [[GlorySeeker are expected to seek a glorious death in battle]] before they reach this point.

Likely to cause a ThreatBackfire to any death threat, for obvious reasons. These characters are, however, prone to RevengeByProxy. See also MilesToGoBeforeISleep and SuicideByAssassin. Some immortal characters who contracted a bad case of WhoWantsToLiveForever may also become Death Seekers if they know of ''one'' hard-to-obtain way for them to get a peaceful death.

* {{DeathSeeker/Film}}

SuperTrope to GloriousDeath. Compare HeavenSeeker, when a heroic death is viewed as a means of being rewarded in the afterlife, and SuicideByCop, where one engineers a scenario where someone else (it doesn't necessarily have to be a cop) will kill them. Contrast ImmortalitySeeker, for those utterly dedicated to ''avoiding'' death. Compare ''and'' contrast NotAfraidToDie, where someone is definitely unafraid of death but isn't actively seeking it out, and WorthLivingFor for something or someone who pulls a Death Seeker out of this mentality.

Compare HeavenSeeker, when a heroic death is viewed as a means of being rewarded in the afterlife, and SuicideByCop, where one engineers a scenario where someone else (it doesn't necessarily have to be a cop) will kill them. Contrast ImmortalitySeeker, for those utterly dedicated to ''avoiding'' death. Compare ''and'' contrast NotAfraidToDie, where someone is definitely unafraid of death but isn't actively seeking it out, and WorthLivingFor for something or someone who pulls a Death Seeker out of this mentality.

* [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Dinobot]] in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', as confirmed by WordOfGod. [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice Wish]] [[DyingMomentOfAwesome granted]]]].

* While not strictly trying to die, Nicola Francesca in ''VisualNovel/PiofioreNoBansho'' makes a set of choices that he believes will lead to his death because he cares more about Dante being free from his family's long-held mission than about being alive. He also gets very upset with the heroine in his own route for covering him from a bullet because he does not believe his life is worth hers.

* From the interactive music project ''Music/{{Milgram}}'', there's Shidou Kirisaki, as shown in his first interrogation by the prison warden Es..

* From the interactive music project ''Music/Milgram'', there's Shidou Kirisaki, as shown in his first interrogation by the prison warden Es..

Without her, eternity is misery.\\

* In [[http://lynxgriffin.tumblr.com/post/145243002663/dogs-of-future-past-masterpost Dogs of Future Past]], an Videogame/{{Undertale}} fanfiction, this is [[spoiler:Chara]]'s true wish: be able to move on, instead of [[spoiler:being stuck with just his consciousness without a body nor a soul]]. Considering that until [[spoiler:Frisk's arrival his consciousness [[FateWorseThanDeath was trapped in his rotting corpse in the ground]], and that without a soul he is unable to feel emotions like he used to, his wish for an end to his misery is quite understandable]]. In the end, [[spoiler:Frisk is able to grant him the rest he so longed for, thanks to their godlike powers. His reaction is one of profound, genuine relief, and his consciousness finally passes on, after a final goodbye to Asriel.]]
* Basically everyone in ''Webcomic/GoneWithTheBlastwave'' except Crosshairs has spent long enough in the post-apocalyptic urban warzone that death would at least be a change of scenery, but for the most part not ''quite'' long enough to do it to themselves (although there is a little [[SuicideAsComedy suicide played as very dark comedy]]). At one point Pyro's ''only'' objection to being used as an ActionBomb was that the explosion of his fuel tank wouldn't be big enough to hit all the enemies.
-->'''[[OnlySaneMan West]]:''' Am I the only one here without a death wish?\\
'''Crosshairs:''' [[BluntYes Yes.]]
* ''Webcomic/ImTheGrimReaper'': Chase is hinted to be one when Scarlet returns his gun after apologizing for using it. He reveals that there was only one bullet anyway. [[spoiler: Later confirmed after Scarlet takes a bullet for him, he admits that the reason there was only one bullet was that he figured “one shot would do it.”]]

* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': The Clans tend to have a lot of these types. Clan [[DesignerBabies Trueborn]] value youth and innate ability over experience and believe that a warrior is past their prime by the age of 30 if they haven't done something notable enough to earn a [[MeaningfulRename Bloodname]] (which is needed to enter Clan politics and higher command). If an unblooded Trueborn reaches 30, they tend to get transferred to a ''Solahma'' unit where they're expected to act as cannon fodder with outdated weaponry if they're lucky. If they're unlucky, they'll get used as target practice for live-fire training by the next generation of warriors. Most warriors are expected to seek a glorious death in battle before they reach this point.

** The Death Korps of Krieg are Imperial Guard regiments from the world of the same name whose world rebelled against the Imperium and only was brought back after hundreds of years of nuclear and trench warfare. They specialize in defensive battles, sieges, and wars of attrition, and have no regard for casualties because they see their deaths as a way of atonement for their world committing treason against the Imperium hundreds of years earlier.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': Atropus, the moon-sized, undead remnants of the universe's creator, has long since given up on the hope that it might return to its original state of being, and now mostly hopes for the only thing that can grant it release from its torment -- the final cessation of its existence. Most of its followers follow suit, as they tend to be beings who despise their own existence or no longer see worth in life and hope to simply take down as many others as they with them when they go.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'': Erandis d'Vol, half-dragon lich, is the last survivor of the line of Vol and one of the mid-level {{Big Bad}}s in the setting. One possible interpretation suggested by [[WordOfGod Keith Baker]] is that she's gone insane and only seeks to join her family in death. Unfortunately, her phylactery was hidden and enchanted by her mother, so that any time she dies she's resurrected somewhere random. Even ''she'' can't kill herself permanently.

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyBattle'':
** Count Mordred the Damned is a Chaos Champion who is cursed to [[BodyHorror forever constantly mutate]] within his armour and will always be brought BackFromTheDead by the Chaos Gods if he should fall in battle. As such, he doesn't have much of a chance of ever finding real rest in death, [[WhoWantsToLiveForever but it's what he hopes for against all hope]].
** Troll Slayers:
*** The rigidity of Dwarfs' honour codes results in Troll Slayers, unfortunate Dwarfs who have failed at some task or are unable to fulfill an oath, for which death is their only solace. ''However'', it's dishonorable for a Dwarf to just off himself, so they dye their hair, cut it into an intimidating shape, and go into battle unarmored against the biggest, meanest opponent they can find. If they can't find a troll nasty enough to kill them, they graduate to become Giant Slayers, then Dragon Slayers, then Daemon Slayers. In some army lists, the Dwarf player gets almost as many victory points from getting his troops killed by monsters than his opponent does for killing them.
*** The ''Literature/GotrekAndFelix'' novels, in particular, tell the story of Felix Jaeger, a young poet who finds himself honor-bound to accompany a Slayer and record his heroic doom. Unfortunately for Felix, Gotrek Grunnisson just happens to be the worst Slayer in history, on account of him being the most badass Dwarf, if not being, on the planet. He has killed everything from incarnations of rage and blood to dragons the length of football fields. Even if anything ''could'' kill Gotrek, Felix has no illusions about the fact that it would kill him soon after. [[spoiler: The closest Gotrek gets is at the end of ''Slayer'', during the End Times, when he meets the God of Slayers Grimnir who easily slaughters him... before resurrecting Gotrek so he can replace Grimnir as the God of Slayers. This ends up not sticking as Gotrek resurrects in the mortal realms in ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'', setting out to find Felix and perhaps ''finally'' find something capable of killing him for good.]]
*** Troll Slayers are a player career path in ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'', though after advancing through the Giant and Daemon Slayer stages their only exit career is "Glorious Death," so a note advises players to "think it over carefully" before picking the class. The class evades GameBreaker status because anyone playing a slayer is expected to act like one; you are supposed to pick fights even when the odds aren't good, sleep deprivation, mental instability, and rampant alcoholism is the best way to spend your downtime, and armour is for people without a death wish (i.e. people who are not you). Your impressive combat prowess is there to make the party want to hang out with you anyway. Their only non-combat abilities are limited to "resistance to getting drunk" and "scaring people," so the only thing a Slayer is good for outside of a fight is ''starting'' one.
** Flagellants are citizens of the Empire who've become unhinged by the game's apocalyptic atmosphere, gathering into warbands and tagging along with the army in hopes of saving the world by dying in the most painful way possible.

** The non-canon Chapter the [[http://www.fightingtigersofveda.com/ Fighting Tigers of Veda]] have a similar system with the Grey Tigers, complete with a [[http://www.fightingtigersofveda.com/GT1.html short story]] about the redemption of Sudra Patel.

** ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar II: Chaos Rising'' does a particularly good job of representing this. Chaos Dreadnoughts repeatedly beg the player to let them die (when their dialogue is even intelligible). When a Chaos Dreadnought dies, the announcer informs the player, "One of your Dreadnoughts has escaped in death."

* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'':
** One of the example villains in the old edition of ''Supers'' was a disgraced sumo wrestler who couldn't commit seppuku due to his NighInvulnerability. Thus, he sought out other supers to goad them into killing him. His sympathetic backstory, and his history of tracking down and defeating violent supers make him more of an AntiVillain.
** There's also a [[PointBuildSystem disadvantage]] called 'On The Edge', which basically allows you to play your character as a Death Seeker. It makes you passively suicidal. You won't off ''yourself'', but if you're, say, [[CurbStompBattle facing down an entire biker gang while armed with a toothbrush]]...
* ''TabletopGame/{{Chrononauts}}: Lost Identities'' features Isaac, a playable character who prevents various tragedies, including his own death at Columbine. One of his win conditions includes allowing the massacre to happen, so Isaac can let himself die.
* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': The Clans tend to have a lot of these types. Clan [[DesignerBabies Trueborn]] value youth and innate ability over experience and believe that a warrior is past their prime by the age of 30 if they haven't done something notable enough to earn a [[MeaningfulRename Bloodname]] (which is needed to enter Clan politics and higher command). If an unblooded Trueborn reaches 30, they tend to get transferred to a ''Solahma'' unit where they're expected to act as cannon fodder with outdated weaponry if they're lucky. If they're unlucky, they'll get used as target practice for live-fire training by the next generation of warriors. Most warriors are expected to seek a glorious death in battle before they reach this point.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': The Neverborn are a variant. As Primordials, they [[CompleteImmortality could not die]], so when [[BeyondTheImpossible the Exalted killed them anyway]], they ended up trapped between life and death, stuck in excruciating agony. Now they work to tear down Creation in hopes that this will allow them to finally ''cease''.
* ''TabletopGame/OneNightUltimateWerewolf'':
** The Tanner hates his job, his life, and his village and only wins if he gets killed.
** The Apprentice Tanner from Bonus Pack 2 normally tries to help the Tanner get killed but becomes a Death Seeker if none of the other players are a Tanner.
** The Synthetic Alien from ''One Night Ultimate Alien'' is like an evil version of the Tanner in that he only wins if he gets killed, but is on the Alien team.
** The Mad Scientist from ''One Night Ultimate Super Villains'' also wants to get caught, but the game app says he gets captured instead of killed. The mechanics are the same as the Tanner, though.
*** The Intern acts similarly to the Apprentice Tanner in that she's trying to help the Mad Scientist get caught. If none of the other players are a Mad Scientist, her mission is to get caught.

* Music/{{Nightwish}}:

* Basically everyone in ''Webcomic/GoneWithTheBlastwave'' except Crosshairs has spent long enough in the post-apocalyptic urban warzone that death would at least be a change of scenery, but for the most part not ''quite'' long enough to do it to themselves. At one point Pyro's ''only'' objection to being used as an ActionBomb was that the explosion of his fuel tank wouldn't be big enough to hit all the enemies.

** An early episode featured a Norseman who was cursed with eternal life by the BigBad. He set himself up behind an elaborate death course to weed out anyone who had no chance of ever defeating him, and waited for someone to bring him death. As in the Colbey example, he had to fight all-out to get the afterlife he desired... but Jack did manage to beat him.