History Main / DyingCurse

* After he accidentally gets into the middle of the ongoing Montague-Capulet feud and is fatally wounded by Tybalt, Mercutio in ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' curses both families up and down. He also makes an IncrediblyLamePun or two in the process.

* The Master of Knights Templar [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_de_Molay Jacques de Molay]] was burned alive in March 1314 and cursed the engineers of his chapter's demise -- [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_IV_of_France King Philip IV of France]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Clement_V Pope Clement V]] -- from his pyre, reportedly saying he'd meet them both in God's presence before the year was out, and cursing Philip's house. Sure enough, Clement died ''the next month'', and Philip died that November--and his three sons all died cruel deaths and did not leave surviving male issue. (''Literature/TheAccursedKings'', mentioned above, is a fictionalized retelling of this history.)

* Sarah Good was one of the victims of the [[BurnTheWitch Salem Witch Trials]]. Before she was hanged, Minister Nicholas Noyes gave her one last chance to confess. She replied, "You are a liar. I am no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you take away my life, God will give you blood to drink." Years later, Noyes suffered from an internal hemorrhage and choked to death on his own blood.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin'', Red Rackham curses Sir Francis Haddock as he sinks with the blown-up ''Unicorn'' declaring, "{{We will meet again}}, Haddock! In another time! In another ''life!''" [[spoiler:The BigBad of the movie turns out to be Rackham's descendant, just as Captain Haddock is to Sir Francis (it's implied reincarnation is also involved).]]

* Feyd Rautha Harkonnen receives one of these in ''Literature/{{Dune}}''. After killing a combat slave in the arena, his opponent’s final words are “One day one of us will get you.” Given that this fighter is not just a slave, but one of the soldiers from the army of the Harkonnen’s blood enemies, the Atreides, this may be prophetic. #

{{Subtrope}} of FamousLastWords. Sometimes the last step in being DefiantToTheEnd. With a little pre-planning, it can be a ThanatosGambit or MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin'', Red Rackham curses Sir Francis Haddock as he sinks with the blown-up ''Unicorn'' declaring, "{{We will meet again}}, Haddock! In another time! In another ''life!''" [[spoiler:The BigBad of the movie turns out to be Rackham's descendent, just as Captain Haddock is to Sir Francis (it's implied reincarnation is also involved).]]

->[[DefiantToTheEnd Mi go haunt you for the rest of yuh days]]. You go eat, but yuh won't taste. Yuh go sleep, but you won't rest! ''[[PyrrhicVillainy Everyting yuh love, yuh go lose!]]'' Yuh hear mi? YUH HEAR MI? '' '''YUH HEAR MI?!''' ''

* Feyd Rautha Harkonnen receives one of these in ''Literature/Dune''. After killing a combat slave in the arena, his opponent’s final words are “One day one of us will get you.” Given that this fighter is not just a slave, but one of the soldiers from the army of the Harkonnen’s blood enemies, the Atreides, this may be prophetic. #

* Feyd Rautha Harkonnen receives one of these in ''Literature/Dune''. After killing a combat slave in the arena, his opponent’s final words are “One day one of us will get you.” Given that this fighter is not just a slave, but one of the soldiers from the army of the Harkonnen’s blood enemies, the Atreides, this may be prophetic.

* Joe of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' says while he has never killed anyone as a police officer(at the time), one inmate did cursed his name just before being executed.

* The Summoning Dark in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Thud}}'' A demon of vengeance summoned by a dwarf mine sign scrawled by a dying miner, it attempts to possess Samuel Vimes as its instrument for getting revenge on the dwarfs responsible for the death of the miner... which [[HeroicWillpower proved to be its first mistake]].

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', a Death Curse is an actual ability of wizards. When a wizard knows they're about to die, they'll use their last seconds to CastFromHitPoints in an attempt to [[TakingYouWithMe take down the enemy with them]]. One CombatPragmatist notes that the best way to avoid a Death Curse is to kill a wizard with a supersonic sniper rifle so that they wizard doesn't get a chance to react.

* A legend is related in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'' - people murdered the son of a {{Necromancer}} and challenged her [[{{Necromantic}} to raise him]]; instead she spent the remainder of her life warning them not to disrespect the dead, and cursed them before dying herself. Their descendents don't seem to take the legend seriously, but they [[DueToTheDead treat the dead with great formality]] and, when [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies appear]], are quick to say that it's the curse responding to some offworlders poking about through graves.

* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Heretic}} Heretic 2]]'' it turns out that D'Sparil, the BigBad of the first game, used his dying breath to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpyQmtRvCVc curse Corvus to wander some hellish dimension]] when he stepped though the portal out of the villain's lair, rather than going home. It also seems to have caused Corvus to have to fight though some DLC for the first game as well.

-->''"For all [[spoiler:Aghartans]]... Let there be light!"''

** In '''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', Kohga throws one on Link before he's crushed to death with his own spiked ball. [[SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration It integrates into the game]] as his underlings being more likely to disguise as travelers in the overworld.

* The Summoning Dark in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Thud}}'' A demon of vengeance summoned by a dwarf mine sign scrawled by a dying miner, it attempted to possess Samuel Vimes as its instrument for getting revenge on the dwarfs responsible for the death of the miner... which [[HeroicWillpower proved to be its first mistake]].

** And given what happens later in the book, seems it worked.
** In-universe, many people in the Seven Kingdoms like to scare themselves silly with tales involving this to explain why [[HauntedCastle Harrenhal]] is such a [[{{Curse}} dangerous place to stay]]. And, it's not like the [[HighTurnOverRate history of the place]] doesn't give them plenty of possible deaths to point at, from the apocryphal blood of the innocent supposedly used in the mortar to the known and recorded deaths (with possible embroidered curses/ last words added on top) that have happened in and around it... choices, choices.

* In the ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode "The Coming of Shadows", the Centauri Emperor's efforts at reconciliation with the Narn are ruined by the machinations of Londo Mollari and Lord Refa. Just before the Emperor dies, he says a few last words to Londo. Londo falsely tells everyone else that the Emperor had endorsed the launching of a war against the Narns... but privately admits to Refa that the Emperor ''really'' said that Londo and Refa were both damned. About a year later, Refa is beaten to death by a mob of Narns... and, compared to Londo's eventual fate, he got off lightly.

** And before his transformation into Ganon and the aforementioned quote, the human Ganondorf uses his "last breath" to bring the house down on Link... [[CollapsingLair literally]].

* Feyd Rautha Harkonnen receives one of these in Litersture/Dune. After killing a combat slave in the arena, his opponent’s final words are “One day one of us will get you.” Given that this fighter is not just a slave, but one of the soldiers from the army of the Harkonnen’s blood enemies, the Atreides, this may be prophetic.

* At the end of ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'', Paptimus Scirocco dies after being rammed by the Zeta Gundam. As he goes, he screams "I won't die alone... I'll drag your soul to Hell with me... Kamille Bidan!" Since both characters are Newtypes with strong PsychicPowers, this sends Kamille into a practically vegetative state, [[spoiler: though he recovers some time later]].

* In the third ''Literature/InheritanceCyle'' book, Eragon refuses to parley with the last, dying Ra'zac, telling it that the information it gave isn't enough to be of value. It curses him, saying "May you leave Alagaësia and never return!" This chills him, since it had previously been predicted that he would leave Alagaësia forever, and indeed, at the end of the series it becomes true.

Compare DyingDeclarationOfHate, which is a venting of anger without any (expected or actual) supernatural consequences.