History Main / FaceDeathWithDespair

->''"..T-This wasn't supposed to happen! This is wrong! This is wrong! O-O-O-Open the door! Please! I'm begging you! Help me! Please, get me out of here! Get me out of here! A-Ah... Oh my God, oh my God, there's no time left...! A...Aahh... Aaahhhh... Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaht--!"''

!!Examples

** [[KnightTemplar Seryu]] breaks down more noticeably as she lays [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe blown in half]], right before her TakingYouWithMe towards Mine. She starts sobbing noticeably loud when she sees her Imperial Arm and dog, Koro, is mortally damaged and can no longer regenerate, and that [[DyingAlone they're both going to die alone in the middle of nowhere.]]

* ''Anime/CrossAnge'': Poor, ''poor'' [[RedShirt Miranda Campbell]]. [[CruelAndUnusualDeath Her last minutes of life are not pretty]], so it's easy to see why she'd go out screaming and crying. Not only does she watch her friend Coco [[SurprisinglySuddenDeath so suddenly]] die [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe in brutal fashion]], but she then gets knocked off her [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Paramail]] and caught in the jaws of a ravenous [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent DRAGON]], as several more come to [[EatenAlive eat her alive.]] All she can do is scream for [[FallenPrincess Ange]] -- who is [[DirtyCoward attempting to leave Arzenal]] because [[IRejectYourReality she doesn't think]] she's a [[AntiMagic Norma]] -- to come and save her before the [=DRAGONs=] [[DevouredByTheHorde tear her limb from limb]]. There are even TearsOfFear shown in Miranda's eyes as she falls, right before the [=DRAGONs=] get her. Ange sees Miranda's horrible death as well, and then the [=DRAGONs=] attack ''her,'' sending her into a hysteric panic as she tries to get away from the man-eating beasts, not wanting to share the same fate.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', it is the certified behavior of most demons in the series with zero sympathetic traits as they are about to die, some of the most vicious demons did have a final moment of clarity where they retract to a more fragile or self-reflecting state, earning a moment of pity from Tanjiro Kamado who does offer his final sympathy as the dying demon can no longer hurt anyone else as they pass on; those who don't act that way, however, die cursing everything in their vicinity and aren't given a shred of pity, notorious examples include: the Big Brother Spider Demon. Enmu, the Lower Rank 1. Gyokko, the Upper Rank 5. The biggest of all, of course, is [[spoiler: Muzan Kibutsuji himself, the leader and progenitor of all demons dies by the end of the series throwing what can only be described as a child tantrum, begging Tanjiro not to leave him alone, the absolute monster who ruined countless lives was reduced to such a state]].

--> '''[[spoiler:Jack Slash]]:''' [[AintTooProudToBeg No. You wouldn't. You can't.]]
* Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf: Most of the Wolf's victims do not go gently at all, especially as he's just delivered a brutal CurbStompBattle (the Mountain (twice) and Littlefinger) or is torturing them to death (Ramsay and Euron). The few exceptions actually earn his respect and a swift death (commending one Lannister soldier for spitting on him, telling him he's a better warrior than the Mountain, and notably not taking his skull as a trophy after decapitating him).

* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': When Beast grabs Gaston by the throat and threatens to drop him, the hunter immediately freaks out and clings to Beast's paw, begging for his life. Later, when he falls from the tower after [[UngratefulBastard backstabbing Beast]], Gaston goes down squirming and screaming his lungs out, his eyes showing skulls in his pupils if one pauses the screen at the right moment.

* ''Film/DjangoUnchained'': {{Invoked}} by Django in the final act when he confronts Stephen after he kills the remaining members of the Candie organization. Stephen tries to FaceDeathWithDignity as the last member standing, but Django [[{{Kneecapping}} blows away his kneecaps]] and leaves him [[VillainousBreakdown screaming in agony and uselessly swearing Django will suffer for this]] as [[StuffBlowingUp the dynamite Django set in the Candieland manor goes off]].

--->'''Jigsaw''': Most people are so ungrateful to be alive... but not you. Not anymore. ''[Walks out the bathroom's door as Adam screams incoherently]'' [[PreMortemOneLiner Game over!]] ''[shuts the door]''\\
'''Adam''': DON'T! DON'T! [[BigNo NOOO!]] ''[more incoherent screaming]''

* ''[[Series/TheTwilightZone1959 The Twilight Zone]]'': "The Obsolete Man." Romney Wordsworth is sentenced to death for being obsolete, but invites the Chancellor who sentenced him to participate in his execution. Wordsworth locks the door, and announces there is a bomb that will kill both of them. Wordsworth [[FaceDeathWithDignity calmly accepts his fate]] and reads his Bible, while the Chancellor pathetically begs for his life. Wordsworth lets the Chancellor go at the last second. The Chancellor is himself found obsolete by the tribunal, and is beaten to death by its members.

-->''My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?''

--> "''Aaaahhhh!!! I don't wanna...''"

** Played with in the final execution. [[BigBad Junko Enoshima]], after failing to convince the survivors to vote for Makoto and stay in Hope's Peak Academy, decides to execute herself so that she can feel the "despair of death"... except that her brain is so warped that despair causes her what can be observed as absolute joy and glee, and faces the execution with a constant maniacal grin on her face, which only vanishes moments before her end.

* In ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'', this is played for laughs as Vegeta is finishing off Android 19. After Vegeta pulls off the clown bot's arms, he again asks, "Do you feel fear, android?" Unlike the previous response, 19 panics and replies in a deadpan robotic voice, "No. Please. Get away from me." Vegeta's response? "All I needed to hear."

* ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'': At the end of ''Part 2'', [[BigBad Lord Voldemort]] is killed by his own Killing Curse spell when it rebounds after his final Horcrux is destroyed. But unlike in the novel, where he instantly drops dread, Voldemort lives long enough to see his body disintegrating into dust and his final emotion is one of pure fear and agony as [[ImmortalsFearDeath he realizes his worst fear coming to life]].

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': [[Characters/StarWarsEmperorPalpatine Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine]], the BigBad of the Skywalker Saga, is usually calm and collected in his grand scheme to rule the galaxy and crush opposition to his rule with sadistic glee. But being a Sith Lord who [[ImmortalitySeeker hungers for immortality]] and believes that becoming one with the Force is a CessationOfExistence, he genuinely fears death and unlike his many apprentices who all face DeathWithDignity, he ends up screaming in terror when he's about to die in both ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' and ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': In Season 3, [[BigBad Emperor Belos/Philip Wittebane]] faces the prospect of dying as his decaying body is falling apart and he is nowhere close to completing [[FinalSolution his goal of wiping out the witches of the Boiling Isles]]. He is genuinely afraid of death because he knows deep down [[KinslayingIsASpecialKindOfEvil he is guilty of murdering his brother]], Caleb, and the many Grimwalkers and doesn't want to die without performing a "[[BlackAndWhiteInsanity heroic]]" deed to override his sins. After he's defeated by Luz in the GrandFinale, Belos ends up melting in the boiling rain and the former Emperor ends up begging Luz to save him, claiming that they are both humans and are better than the "evil" witches. He ends up getting an OhCrap moment when he sees those "evil" witches ready to stomp him into paste.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Once [[Characters/GravityFallsBillCipher Bill Cipher]] realizes that Stan is pulling a HeroicSacrifice in order to [[TakingYouWithMe ensure he's erased]], Bill begins frantically begging Stan to call the whole thing off, offering him anything he wants. Stan, who had watched Bill torment his family several times before, doesn't budge.

** In season 4, Joffrey begins coughing after drinking wine on his wedding day. Upon realizing that the wine he drank from has been poisoned, he panics as he begins to choke, vomit, and bleed horrendously before he finally dies with his last expression being that of pure terror.

** In season 6, Ramsay looses to Jon Snow in the Battle of Bastards where he's given to Sansa Stark to decide his fate. Sansa decides to have Ramsay's hounds devour him as punishment for the atrocities that he's committed. Though initially confident that his hounds won't eat him, he breaks down and spends his last moments terrified before hounds decide to eat him.

** In Season 7, Lord Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish gets exposed as the one who betrayed Ned Stark which kickstarted the War of the Five Kings. During the trial, he kneels down and begs Sansa Stark to spare him because he loves her. Sansa, who had been his pawn for most of the series, refuses and lets her sister, Arya, execute him.
** Cersei does not handles herself any better, either: when Dany decides to finally embrace the Targaryen madness (because of Cersei's machinations) and orders her troops [[TakeNoPrisoners kill everybody on King's Landing]], Cersei spends the whole sequence on a big state of OhCrap that only deepens when she tries to escape and discovers the palace's escape tunnel caved in. She spends her last seconds before the ceiling falls on her and flattens her holding on to her brother, all while she cries and whines how she doesn't want to die.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Once [[BigBad Bill Cipher]] realizes that Stan is pulling a HeroicSacrifice in order to [[TakingYouWithMe ensure he's erased]], Bill begins frantically begging Stan to call the whole thing off, offering him anything he wants. Stan, who had watched Bill torment his family several times before, doesn't budge.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Tirek and Cozy Glow cower in despair as they are TakenForGranite by Celestia, Luna and Discord. [[DefiantToTheEnd Chrysalis, on the other hand, still tries to run to attack her enemies before being frozen forever in that position.]]

** In season 4, Joffrey begins coughing after drinking wine on his wedding day. Upon realizing that the wine he drank from has been poisoned, he panics as he begins choke, vomit, and bleed horrendously before he finally dies with his last expression being that of pure terror.

** Cersei does not handles herself any better, either: when Dany decides to finally embrace the Targaryen madness (because of Cersei's machinations) and orders her troops [[TakeNoPrisoners kill everybody on King's Landing]], Cersei spends the whole sequence on a big state of OhCrap that only deepens when she tries to escape and discovers the palace's escape tunnel caved in. She spends her last seconds before the ceiling falls on her and flattens her holding on to her brother.

* In episode 15 of ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater'', after Nemo [[ColdEquation orders the lower decks to be closed]] due to DeadlyGas being present, during ten minutes, Ensign Fait is first stating the mission should go on and then, in his final seconds, ''[[NightmareFuel screams and agonizes]]''.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Tirek and Cozy Glow cower in despair as they are TakenForGranite by Celestia, Luna and Discord. [[DefiantToTheEnd Chrysalis, on other hand, still tries to run to attack her enemies before being frozen forever in that position.]]

** Subverted in the season 3 finale when Gus orders his hitmen to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness kill Walter and dispose of his corpse at the superlab]]. Mike and Victor think this is a straight example as Walter completely loses his cool at the prospect of his own death, begging to be spared and [[OfferingAnotherInYourStead offering them Jesse]], who is also on their hit list. It's only when Walter calls Jesse that it turns out to be a ploy to [[spoiler:eliminate their replacement cook]].

* ''Series/TheSopranos'': Adriana, who has been revealed to be a rat, spends her last moments before being executed in the middle of the Pine Warrens dragging herself away from her executioner and repeatedly moaning out a pitiful "no!".

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', it is the certified behavior of most demons in the series with zero sympathetic traits as they are about to die, some of the most vicious demons did have a final moment of clarity where they retract to a more fragile or self-reflecting state, earning a moment of pity from Tanjiro Kamado who does offer his final sympathy as the dying demon can no longer hurt anyone else as they pass on; those who don't act that way, however, die cursing everything in their vicinity and aren't given a shred of pity, notorious examples inclue: the Big Brother Spider Demon. Enmu, the Lower Rank 1. Gyokko, the Upper Rank 5. The biggest of all, of course, is [[spoiler:Muzan Kibutsuji himself, the leader and progenitor of all demons dies by the end of the series throwing what can only be described as a child tantrum, begging Tanjiro not to leave him alone, the absolute monster who ruined countless lives was reduced to such a state]].

* The last twist of the knife regarding Akemi's death in ''Manga/{{Saikano}}'' (moreso in the anime than the manga) is that Shuji did his utmost to let her GoOutWithASmile [[LetThemDieHappy by holding her in his arms in response to her]] DyingDeclarationOfLove, only for her to be overcome by the fear of her imminent death and break down hysterically crying and sobbing about not wanting to die, before suddenly violently retching up blood and going limp. It drives home that there's nothing pretty or peaceful about death in this series.

* A variation is seen in ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride''. At the very end, after Lord Barkis, who tricked Emily, the titular corpse bride, into stealing her family's jewels and eloping with him so that [[TheBlueBeard he could kill and rob her]] is defeated, [[KnowWhenToFoldEm he decides to walk away from Victoria]], his recent ImpoverishedPatrician wife (whom he likely would've killed once he received his dowry, or in a fit or rage since her father couldn't afford it), as well as Victor and Emily's wedding, the residents of the Land of the Dead want to punish him, but [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Elder Gutknecht]] holds them back saying that as they're in the Land of the Living, they need to follow their rules. When Barkis gives [[IShallTauntYou a sarcastic wedding toast that lambasts Emily]], he drinks the poison wine meant for Victor and dies, Gutknecht realizes that the rules of the dead now apply to Barkis as well, and tells the others "[[DoWithhimAsYouwill he's all yours]]." As the crowd of the Dead slowly approach Barkis, he screams in a panic and desperately tries to open the door behind him to escape, which is eventually opened by the group of dead spirits that drag him off to a gruesome FateWorseThanDeath.
* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': When Beast grabs Gaston by the throat and threatens to drop him, the hunter immediately freaks out and clings on Beast's paw, begging for his life. Later, when he falls from the tower after [[UngratefulBastard backstabbing Beast]], Gaston goes down squirming and screaming his lungs out, his eyes showing skulls in his pupils if one pauses the screen at the right moment.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney'': In his final moments, Frollo fails to kill Quasimodo and Esmeralda and loses his balance when the gargoyle he previously damaged began to break down due to being unable to hold the judge's weight, with the judge screaming in horror as he hallucinates the gargoyle coming to live with a devilish glare to drag the judge to hell as both fall to the molten lava below.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'': After Kent orders the ship ''Nautilus'' to launch a nuke at the Giant, the General Rogard makes him see that, since the Giant is standing in the middle of the town - where they are, too - both of them, the rest of the army and innocent citizens are going to die because of his idiocy. Freaking out, Kent steals a jeep to drive away, but is stopped by a contemptuous Giant and held at gunpoint by the entire army.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': In his last moments, Scar calls the hyenas his "friends" as he hadn't tossed all the blame on them shortly before and they didn't hear him. The hyenas, of course, won't buy that and jump over Scar as he cowers, begs and tries to make excuses for his betrayal. However the shadows show that he does at least go down fighting.

** When Thanos takes Gamora to Vormir to get the Soul Stone, the Red Skull says that in order to get it, whoever seeks it must sacrifice the person they love most. Thanos sheds tears upon hearing this, and Gamora, who was abused by Thanos most her life, [[IShallTauntYou laughs at the revelation that he will never posses]] the stone [[AllForNothing since he didn't love anyone]], only for Red Skull that he cries not because he can't have the stone, but what he must do to get it, and [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes Thanos softly tells Gamora: "I'm sorry little one."]] As he sadly drags her to the edge of the cliff, she tries freeing herself and begs him not to do throw her off by desperately crying out: "this is isn't love, This isn't love!"
** Once Peter Parker realizes that he's being turned to dust by Thanos's snap, he starts crying, embraces Tony Stark and pleads, "I don't want to go. Please, Mr. Stark, I don't want to go." Considering he's a 16-year-old kid, this is a perfectly understandable reaction.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', it is the certifified behavior of most demons in the series with zero sympathetic traits as they are about to die, some of the most vicious demons did have a final moment of clarity where they retract to a more fragile or self-reflecting state, earning a moment of pity from Tanjiro Kamado who does offer his final sympathy as the dying demon can no longer hurt anyone else as they pass on; those who don't act that way, however, die cursing everything in their vicinity and aren't given a shred of pity, notorious examples inclue: the Big Brother Spider Demon. Enmu, the Lower Rank 1. Gyokko, the Upper Rank 5. The biggest of all, of course, is [[spoiler:Muzan Kibutsuji himself, the leader and progenitor of all demons dies by the end of the series throwing what can only be described as a child tantrum, begging Tanjiro not to leave him alone, the absolute monster who ruined countless lives was reduced to such a state]].