History Main / DeathbedConfession

[[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease Avoid real-life examples]]. Many celebrities have accumulated any number of myths and rumors of Deathbed Confessions. Putting words in someone's mouth is always more popular after they can't deny the statement.[[noreallife]]

Avoid real-life examples. Many celebrities have accumulated any number of myths and rumors of Deathbed Confessions. Putting words in someone's mouth is always more popular after they can't deny the statement.

-->-- ''Theatre/RichardII'' by Creator/WilliamShakespeare, Act II, Scene i.

[[caption-width-right:350:The Girlfriend's [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=1836&v=8R1seFA7hpg&feature=youtu.be final confession]] to the player character "You".[[note]] Just for your information, the one who is lying on the bed is The Girlfriend. Don't worry, [[UnexplainedRecovery she gets better in the sequel]].[[/note]]]]]]

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', right after Olenna Tyrell poisoned herself on Jaime's orders, she confesses to Jaime [[spoiler:that ''she'' was the one to poison Joffrey, Cersei and Jaime's [[BrotherSisterIncest son/nephew]], and demanded that Jaime tells Cersei she confessed.]] Fans quickly declared this a DyingMomentOfAwesome.

Overlaps considerably with FamousLastWords and FinalSpeech. Differs from a FacingTheBulletsOneLiner in that the latter is generally spoken under duress, while this occurs in a (relatively) peaceful setting. The subverted version is usually a NotSoFinalConfession (the character erroneously thinks he's dying but remains very much alive to deal with the aftermath of the confession). Sometimes the person witnessing the deathbed confession will lie to others about what was said. This is a PostMortemConversion.

* ''Film/OldScores'': In this UsefulNotes/NewZealand[=/=]UsefulNotes/{{Wales}}[=-=]produced {{dramedy}} film, a rugby match in 1966 between Wales and New Zealand is won by Wales in a controversial manner. The rugby touch judge confesses on his deathbed that he made an error that decided the original match in favour of Wales. As a result, a rematch is agreed, using the very same players from 25 years earlier. Both [[HilarityEnsues hilarity]] and [[RealityEnsues drama]] ensue.

* One of the only [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness genuinely serious moments in]] WesternAnimation/Archer is through one of these. Archer's old friend, who he trusted and thought of as a brother, lays dying after a tree's fallen and crushed him, this being after Luke confesses to Archer that he's in love with him and wants him to leave the agency so they can run away together. Luke begs Archer to hear his dying confession, to which Archer reluctantly agrees, already feeling betrayed by Luke's scheme to abscond with him to the mountains. Luke tells him that one night, after they had been partying, Archer passed out on the hotel bed, and Luke [[DoubleStandardRapeMaleOnMale raped him while he was unconscious.]] Archer screams in anguish, and the final scene is him, Lana, and Cyril in the car driving home; it's completely, unnervingly silent, Lana and Cyril look horrified, and Archer just looks like he's [[HeroicBSOD miles away mentally]] before asking Lana to turn on the radio. It's one of the rare moments in the show that you're absolutely sure contains ''nothing'' to laugh at.

* One of the only [[OOCIsSerious genuinely serious moments in]] WesternAnimation/Archer is through one of these. Archer's old friend, who he trusted and thought of as a brother, lays dying after a tree's fallen and crushed him, this being after Luke confesses to Archer that he's in love with him and wants him to leave the agency so they can run away together. Luke begs Archer to hear his dying confession, to which Archer reluctantly agrees, already feeling betrayed by Luke's scheme to abscond with him to the mountains. Luke tells him that one night, after they had been partying, Archer passed out on the hotel bed, and Luke [[DoubleStandardRapeMaleOnMale raped him while he was unconscious.]] Archer screams in anguish, and the final scene is him, Lana, and Cyril in the car driving home; it's completely, unnervingly silent, Lana and Cyril look horrified, and Archer just looks quietly despondent before asking Lana to turn on the radio. It's one of the rare moments in the show that you're absolutely sure contains ''nothing'' to laugh at.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': As you would expect given their tendencies for deceit and paranoia, the Cardassian people have an entire ritual devoted to this known as the ''Shri-tal''. A Cardassian near death will tell all of their closely-held secrets to a family member, so that those secrets may be used against their enemies. [[spoiler:It was also used by Enabran Tain and Garak to openly acknowledge their secret father/son relationship for the first time in Garak's life - Tain's confession? He was proud of [[WellDoneSonGuy Garak]], after all. Prior to this, Tain tells Garak he has none of the usual secrets to share, because he'd already killed all of his enemies on Cardassia and lacks any useful secrets about the Dominion due to being captured by them before the war began.]]

* ''Film/OldScores'': In this UsefulNotes/NewZealand[=/=]UsefulNotes/{{Wales}}[=-=]produced {{dramedy}} film, a rugby match in 1966 between Wales and New Zealand is won by Wales in a controversial manner. The rugby touch judge confesses on his deathbed that he made an error that decided the original match in favour of Wales. As a result, a rematch is agreed, using the very same players from 25 years earlier. Both [[HilarityEnsues hilarity]] and [[RealityEnsues drama]] ensue.* ''Franchise/StarWars Episode VI: Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'': Just before he dies, Yoda tells Luke that he must confront Darth Vader before he can become a Jedi and that there is another Skywalker.

* ''Series/ColdCase'': Right before Felix Spyczyk died, he confessed to a murder he committed in 1929. His grandson recorded the confession, but didn't tell anyone until years later, when the murder victim's great-granddaughter tried to found out what happened.

* In ''Series/Daredevil2015'', FBI agent Ray Nadeem betrays Fisk and knows he's going to be murdered for it, so he records a video message on his phone confessing all the ways the FBI was in Fisk's back pocket, then hides the phone and [[FaceDeathWithDignity waits for Bullseye to show up and kill him]]. When the heroes find the phone and the message on it, Karen thinks a dead man can't help their case against Fisk, but Foggy reveals that a recorded deathbed confessional ''is'' admissible in court; someone who spills out their sins because they truly believe they're about to die is extremely unlikely to lie.

* ''Fanfic/OneDayAtATime'': In the first chapter, PeggySue protagonist Jason Todd makes an implicit one to his adoptive son Terry [=McGinnis=] by giving him complete access to the Bat-Computer. Every single secret in the Bat-Family is now in Terry's possession -- including Project WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]
* [[spoiler: Kriem]] from ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' gives one to [[spoiler: Barnaby]] before committing suicide by [[spoiler: cutting off her own life support]].
* [[spoiler: Nicole]] from ''Manga/RoseOfVersailles'' explains the truth of [[spoiler: Rosalie]]'s origins as she lays dying [[spoiler: after being hit by a carriage.]] For even more irony, it turns out that [[spoiler:the woman who was in said carriage... was Rosalie's birth mom.]]

[[folder:Comics]]

-->“No wonder deathbed confessions get their own category on tv tropes,” Willow muttered.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''{{Film/Interstellar}}''. As he's dying, Professor Brand admits to Murph that [[spoiler:Plan A (find a means of controlling gravity so Mankind can be moved en masse to another planet) was a MotivationalLie, and that Plan B (send astronauts with a human seed bank to establish humanity anew) was always the intent of the mission. Murph is devastated by the news, thinking (incorrectly) that her father (the pilot of the mission) deliberately abandoned her to die on a doomed Earth.]]

[[folder:Humor]]

[[folder:Mythology And Religion]]

[[folder: Web Original]]
* Super Kami Guru tries making one of these when he thinks he's dying in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' confessing that [[spoiler: he had instigated the genocide of the albino Namekians to cover up the fact that ''he'' had drunk the entire water supply.]] Then it turns out he wasn't dying after all. [[KarmicDeath The Namekians soon change that.]]
[[/folder]]

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Gridlock", The Face of Boe tells the Doctor "You Are Not Alone" [[spoiler: in reference to The Master still existing trillions of years into the future as Professor [[FunWithAcronyms Yana]]]].

* ''Series/{{Oz}}''.

* ''Film/JudgeDredd'': After Judge Fargo is mortally wounded, he confesses to the title character that both Dredd and Rico were genetically engineered and are actually brothers (of a sort).
* ''Franchise/StarWars Episode VI: Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'': Just before he dies, Yoda tells Luke that he must confront Darth Vader before he can become a Jedi and that there is another Skywalker.
* In ''Film/AugustRush'', as he's dying, Lyla's father confesses that [[spoiler:the son [[FakingTheDead she'd thought had died]] in utero was really alive, and he'd secretly given the child up for adoption so Lyla could continue her career as an esteemed musician. [[JerkAss WOW.]]]]

* In Creator/{{Disney}}'s version of ''Film/{{The Three Musketeers|1993}}'', Milady de Winter tells Athos what she knows about the assassination plot against the King moments before her execution. While the information she shared was not about herself, it was symbolic in her bringing her soul clean and becoming the woman she was when married to Athos.

* In the UsefulNotes/NewZealand[=/=]UsefulNotes/{{Wales}}[=-=]produced {{dramedy}} film ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102581/ Old Scores]]'', a rugby match in 1966 between Wales and New Zealand is won by Wales in a controversial manner. The rugby touch judge confesses on his deathbed that he made an error that decided the original match in favour of Wales. As a result, a rematch is agreed, using the very same players from 25 years earlier. Both [[HilarityEnsues hilarity]] and [[RealityEnsues drama]] ensue.

* ''Film/{{Interstellar}}''. As he's dying, Professor Brand admits to Murph that [[spoiler:Plan A (find a means of controlling gravity so Mankind can be moved en masse to another planet) was a MotivationalLie, and that Plan B (send astronauts with a human seed bank to establish humanity anew) was always the intent of the mission. Murph is devastated by the news, thinking (incorrectly) that her father (the pilot of the mission) deliberately abandoned her to die on a doomed Earth.]]

* The entirety of Edgar Alan Poe's "Literature/TheCaskOfAmontillado" was one of these.
* In a somewhat bitter example, in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', Olban, dying in the series's major battle, confesses to his father Brand that he had once tried to assassinate King Belgarion. Brand [[IHaveNoSon disowns him on the spot]] and walks out.
* In ''Literature/OliverTwist'', [[spoiler: Old Sally]] tells [[spoiler: Mrs. Corney]] that she [[spoiler: stole some jewelry (namely, a locket and a ring) from Oliver's mother, Agnes Fleeming, right after she fell victim to DeathByChildbirth. Sally dies begging Mrs. Corney to give the jewels to Oliver; she instead gives them to his half-brother Edward aka Monks, who throws them to the Thames river.]]

* In ''Literature/TheSecretOfPlatform13,'' Nanny Brown writes her grandson, Ben, a letter while she's in the hospital, which the nurses give him after she dies. It reveals her part in [[RichBitch Mrs. Trottle]]'s kidnapping plot, [[spoiler:and that Ben, rather than Raymond, was the kidnapped child, and thus the real Prince]].
* Played with in ''Literature/BlackMan''. Marsalis and Ertekin exchange confessions as the latter is on her deathbed, but it's played as a trust moment between the two of them rather than guilt.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', [[DeconstructorFleet as it does with many tropes]], plays with this one. With Hoster Tully dying slowly, his maester has given him milk of the poppy to help with the pain. With relatively little to do, Catelyn has taken to spending time with him, even though he's delirious. One of the things he repeats is "tansy", and apologies. Knowing tansy is a flower smallfolk sometimes name their daughters for, Catelyn assumes he must be remembering some common girl he had an affair with but had to break the heart of. It's not until she remembers that tansy is also a key ingredient in moon tea (basically a drink to induce an abortion) that she realizes he must have [[spoiler:forced Lysa to take moon tea so she wouldn't birth a bastard. But even she doesn't realize it was Petyr's child and it was lamenting the lost child of her beloved that would motivate Lysa to murder Jon Arryn and help Petyr start the War of Five Kings.]]
* ''Literature/{{Inversions}}''. Guard commander Adlain is dying of an agonising disease and begs his adopted son Oelph to MercyKill him, confessing that he killed his parents and adopted him out of guilt. Oelph refuses to believe his beloved protector is telling the truth, because if that were true he would have let him die in agony instead of giving him the poison he asked for.

Overlaps considerably with FamousLastWords and FinalSpeech. Differs from a FacingTheBulletsOneLiner in that the latter is generally spoken under duress, while this occurs in a (relatively) peaceful setting. The subverted version is usually a NotSoFinalConfession (the character erroneously thinks he's dying but remains very much alive to deal with the aftermath of the confession).

* An episode of ''Series/LawAndOrder'' begins with a mugging that leads to a shootout that ends with a deathbed confession to a murder. Fontana, who convicted someone of the crime, doesn't take it well.

* Happens in Logan's final episode on ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent''. A priest takes a deathbed confession from a man who admits he committed a murder for which another man was convicted. Unfortunately for the investigation, the priest can't tell Logan any of the details, which makes it considerably more difficult.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': As you would expect given their tendencies for deceit and paranoia, the Cardassian people have an entire ritual devoted to this known as the ''Shri-tal''. A Cardassian near death will tell all of their closely-held secrets to a family member, so that those secrets may be used against their enemies. [[spoiler:It was also used by Enabran Tain and Garak to openly acknowledge their secret father/son relationship for the first time in Garak's life - Tain's confession? He was proud of [[WellDoneSonGuy Garak]], after all.]]