History Main / FateWorseThanDeath

** In In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheMagicOfPegasus'', Wenlock has a liking for doing this to his victims. He [[spoiler: turns his [[BalefulPolymorph wives into pigs]] once they bore him, [[BalefulPolymorph turns Brietta into a pegasus]] for refusing to marry him, turns Brietta's parents and the rest of the villagers to stone when her younger sister Annika refuses to marry him, and traps Ferris in the latter's welcome mat, then steps on the trader on his way out]].

** In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAsRapunzel'', BigBad Gothel puts a curse on the tower that if anyone with a lying heart is in it, they can never leave. Rapunzel does not have a lying heart, but Gothel does, so when Gothel is [[spoiler: tricked into entering the portal to Rapunzel's tower she is trapped there forever]].
** In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieofSwanLake'', Rothbart is turned into [[spoiler: the cuckoo bird in a cuckoo clock]].
** In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInTheTwelveDancingPrincesses'', TheVillain Rowena tries to [[spoiler: curse Genevieve into "dancing forever and ever" with a magical wish-granting flower. Unfortunately for her, Genevieve uses the fan [[DramaticIrony Rowena gave her]] to blow the spell dust back at Rowena instead. As shown by what happens to her henchman, even someone else physically trying to stop Rowena from dancing can't break the spell]].

** In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAsRapunzel'', BigBad Gothel puts a curse on the tower that if anyone with a lying heart is in it, they can never leave. Rapunzel has never lied, but Gothel has, so when Gothel is [[spoiler: tricked into entering the portal to Rapunzel's tower she is trapped there forever]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInTheTwelveDancingPrincesses'', TheVillain Rowena tries to [[spoiler: curse Genevieve into "dancing forever and ever" with a magical wish-granting flower. Unfortunately for her, Genevieve uses the fan [[DramaticIrony Rowena gave her]] to blow the spell dust back at Rowena instead. As shown by what happens to her henchman, even someone else physically trying to stop Rowena from dancing can't break the spell]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInTheTwelveDancingPrincesses'', TheVillain Rowena tries to curse Genevieve into "dancing forever and ever" with a magical wish-granting flower. Unfortunately for her, Genevieve uses the fan [[DramaticIrony Rowena gave her]] to blow the spell dust back at Rowena instead. As shown by what happens to her henchman, even someone else physically trying to stop Rowena from dancing can't break the spell.

** That's the basis of Jafar's EvilPlan, he states that: "It's not enough that we simply destroy Aladdin. After all, there are things so much worse than death." [[spoiler: It's sure is: Aladdin not only learns that he will be executed, but Jasmine, the love of his life, ordered it. Then, a few seconds before the execution, Aladdin realizes that the one who ordered it was actually Jafar in disguise. Aladdin nearly died not only knowing that his enemy had returned, but having no idea what the latter did with Jasmine, or what he will do to her afterwards.]]

Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease. It should also be noted that DoNotTryThisAtHome applies in full in this case. While reality can often suck ''a lot'', using this trope as an excuse for suicide (or simply choosing death when given a choice) is nearly always a wrong answer. And that is not even mentioning using MercyKill as an excuse for choosing death for ''someone else'' against their will.

* Lampshaded with Colin Hunt in Season 7 of ''Machinima/ArbyNTheChief''. Being part of an evil clan alongside sadist [[BigBad Eugene]] and psychopath [[TheBrute Tyler]], Colin is revealed to be [[PaedoHunt a pedophile]]. Also by the season's end, [[spoiler:Eugene commits suicide and Tyler is shot and killed by a cop]]. Colin is still alive, but thanks to Arbiter and Master Chief's intervention is now rotting in prison for a LONG TIME.

* Hopper 006 in the ''[[Machinima/SodorTheEarlyYears Sodor: The Modern Years]]'' episode "Endgame" is turned into a waste metal truck, as punishment for inciting the trucks on the Little Western Brachline to act up.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', the boys who end up on PleasureIsland end up being [[spoiler: [[BalefulPolymorph permanently transformed into donkeys through their drugged beer and cigars]] [[DisproportionateRetribution whenever they act up.]] The majority of them are then shipped out to the harshest of conditions to work as slave labor while the few that can still talk are dealt an unspeakable, unseen fate, [[FridgeHorror although you must wonder how much sentience the "lucky" few still possess and how much longer it will last...]]]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'':

[[folder:Audio Play]]

--> '''Jase:''' Okay, Question 18: "What is your most terrible memory?"\\

[[folder: LetsPlay]]
* Jim Jum from ''LetsPlay/SkyblockButEvery30SecondsARandomItemSpawns''. Sentenced to hang for eternity in the sky. [[spoiler: Made worse for the fact he's hanging for a crime he [[MiscarriageOfJustice did not commit]] and when Wilbur tries to free him he dies an UndignifiedDeath.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other]]

-->-- '''Count Magnus Lee''', ''Anime/VampireHunterD''

* Lampshaded with Colin Hunt in Season 7 of ''Machinima/ArbyNTheChief''. Being part of an evil clan alongside Sadist [[BigBad Eugene]] and Psychopath [[TheBrute Tyler]], Colin is revealed to be a Pedophile. Also by the season's end, [[spoiler:Eugene commits suicide and Tyler is shot and killed by a cop]]. Colin is still alive, but thanks to Arbiter and Master Chief's intervention is now rotting in prison for a LONG TIME.
-->'''Arbiter:''' Not sure how long Colin will be imprisoned for, but due to the fact that he's a white, introverted software nerd and a kid fucker, he'll likely be targeted by his inmates for rape and sold as a cell bitch for a pack of smokes.

Compare CruelMercy, EmptyShell, ToThePain, ThePunishment, {{Room 101}}, TailorMadePrison, and CoolAndUnusualPunishment. For [[UpToEleven extreme]] examples of this trope, see AndIMustScream. Not to be confused with AFeteWorseThanDeath, though the two can occasionally overlap.

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Think death is the cruelest fate? Think again. There are several things much worse: [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]], [[TheThreeCertaintiesInLife taxes]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and tofu]], to name but a few. And more often than not, some unfortunate soul will experience it. Originally, this phrase was used to mean the [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape]] of virgins in Gibbon's 1781 work ''Decline and Fall of the [[AncientRome Roman Empire]]'', but now there's [[MindRape even]] [[AndIMustScream worse]] [[TransformationHorror than]] that.

-->--'''Count Magnus Lee''', ''Anime/VampireHunterD''

The more fantastic the particular setting, the more creative villains (and sometimes heroes) usually get with this trope. If the victim is immortal, this fate may even ''[[WhoWantsToLiveForever replace]]'' death, which might suck royally. For characters who welcome dying (for example, to become martyrs and be posthumously considered heroes), one could invent a lot of ways to prevent their dream from coming true (and sometimes, just for added cruelty, kill them anyway). That is not to mention the tortures so horrible that death seems a mercy and a long-awaited release: {{Mercy Kill}}ings are common when heroes find anyone in this state. If the character can only beg for assisted suicide, ICannotSelfTerminate occurs; if they can act on their own, they are often DrivenToSuicide. Indeed, since all involve choosing death over a given fate, the characters often conclude that dying is preferable to ''that'' fate. Contrast CruelAndUnusualDeath, for when the victim instead gets a gruesome death that sucks beyond telling.

[[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease Do not list the real life examples here]]. It should also be noted that DoNotTryThisAtHome applies in full in this case. While reality can often suck ''a lot'', using this trope as an excuse for suicide (or simply choosing death when given a choice) is nearly always a wrong answer. And that is not even mentioning using MercyKill as an excuse for choosing death for ''someone else'' against their will.

Compare CruelMercy, EmptyShell, ToThePain, ThePunishment, {{Room 101}}, TailorMadePrison, and CoolAndUnusualPunishment. For [[UpToEleven extreme]] examples of this trope, see AndIMustScream. JustForFun/NotToBeConfusedWith AFeteWorseThanDeath, though the two can occasionally overlap.

[[folder: LetsPlay]]
* Jim Jum from ''LetsPlay/SkyblockButEvery30SecondsARandomItemSpawns''. Sentenced to hang for eternity in the sky. [[spoiler: Made worse for the fact he's hanging for a crime he [[MiscarriageOfJustice did not commit]] and when Wilbur tries to free him he dies an UndignifiedDeath.]]
[[/folder]]

* The novelty song "The Thing" is about a man who finds a box containing unidentified contents and being stuck with it for the rest of his life because everyone he shows it to turn him away in disgust, including a shopkeeper he tried to sell the box to, his own wife and [[EvenBeggarsWontChooseIt a hobo asking for a handout]]. In the last verse, it is shown that not even death will allow the man to be rid of the box, as St. Peter refuses to allow him into Heaven and orders him to take the box with him to Hell just because he had the box in his possession.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': After [[spoiler:Dr. Facilier]] fails to stop Tiana from destroying his blood talisman, his [[EldritchAbomination "friends"]] arrive to claim their debt by dragging him into their realm, something he is clearly ''very'' terrified of. While otherwise karmic considering he was planning this fate for all New Orleans just to save himself, it's still for all intent a man being dragged to hell for ''a mistake he made''.

** In ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'', [[spoiler:Lotso winds up tied to the front of a garbage truck by a truck driver who had a Lots o'-Huggin'-Bear as a kid, with other, decayed toys strapped to the truck to show Lotso what's ultimately in store for him]]. The previous {{Big Bad}}s, [[EnfantTerrible Sid]] and [[WellIntentionedExtremist Stinky Pete]], received [[HumiliationConga crushing defeats]] but ultimately wound up better off, but this guy was so [[KnightOfCerebus extra evil]] that he was given this fate instead.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'':
** [[spoiler:Prince Hans]] has a somewhat pitiable appearance in "WesternAnimation/FrozenFever". For his attempted murder of Anna and Elsa in Arendelle, his family penalized him to forced labor, which includes shoveling horse manure. From the brief look at his condition in the Southern Isles, he's in a bleak and unfriendly environment, with the stables alone looking dark and uninviting.

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%% Please start a new thread if you'd like to suggest an image.

* What happens to the surviving humans after the human/machine war in ''[[Anime/TheAnimatrix The Second Renaissance]]''. The machines, starved of sunlight, decide to use mankind as an energy source. Citizens and soldiers alike are utterly powerless as machines first experiment and mutilate their bodies, then plug them violently into power plants where they remain stuck in agony ''for the rest of their lives''.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'':
** For toys it is a terrible fate to be forgotten by children, left alone and abandoned without no one to love them. Even getting shelved, like what happened to Woody and Wheezy in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'', is almost as bad.
** Worse is to be tossed into the garbage, as Stinky Pete says, "spending eternity rotting in some landfill." Conscious the entire time, until finally all your plastic parts degrade into a puddle of goo.
** In ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'', [[spoiler:Lotso winds up tied to the front of a garbage truck by a truck driver who had a Lots o'-Huggin'-Bear as a kid, with other, decayed toys strapped to the truck to show Lotso what's ultimately in store for him]]. The previous {{Big Bad}}s, [[EnfantTerrible Sid]] and [[WellIntentionedExtremist Stinky Pete]], received [[HumiliationConga crushing defeats]] but ultimately wound up better off, but this guy was so [[KnightOfCerebus extra evil]] that he was given this fate instead.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'', the boys who end up on PleasureIsland end up being [[spoiler: [[BalefulPolymorph permanently transformed into donkeys through their drugged beer and cigars]] [[DisproportionateRetribution whenever they act up.]] The majority of them are then shipped out to the harshest of conditions to work as slave labor while the few that can still talk are dealt an unspeakable, unseen fate, [[FridgeHorror although you must wonder how much sentience the "lucky" few still possess and how much longer it will last...]]]]
* Discussed [[spoiler: but ultimately averted]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' by [[BigBad Lord Farquaad]], who upon Fiona's true form being revealed, had his guards seize her and Shrek. He then said that while Shrek would be tortured, namely [[AnArmAndALeg drawn and quartered]] and that he'd ''beg'' for death to save him, she would be given [[SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere the same fate]] she had already endured at the beginning of the film.

* This is almost definitely the fate of [[spoiler: the Tallest after going through the titular Florpus]] in ''[[WesternAnimation/InvaderZimEnterTheFlorpus Enter the Florpus]]''. The last time we see them, they're stuck in or passing through a hellish-looking dimension surrounded by flames and screaming. Even if they make it out to the other side, who knows how long that would take?

* ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman'': [[spoiler:This is the sad fate of Judge Hopkins and the members of his jury after convicting Agatha to death. Agatha placed a curse upon all seven of them, turning them into zombies. Thus, they spend five hundred years suffering with the knowledge of their mistake. Fortunately, Norman is able to understand them and helps to end the curse, freeing them and allowing them to properly pass on to the afterlife- though Hopkins isn’t too pleased about what awaits him.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'', [[spoiler:Lord Barkis]] suffers this when he unwittingly drinks the poisoned wine meant for Victor at the latter's wedding and dies. With him no longer living, the dead swarm him and drag him off to an unseen, but certainly unpleasant fate.
* In the Red Robin path in ''WesternAnimation/DCShowcaseBatmanDeathInTheFamily'', [[spoiler:if the viewer has Two-Face's coin come up scarred side, Harvey will let Jason live once Jason tells Harv to kill him already, figuring killing Jason would be mercy and that letting Jason live with the guilt of his actions and failure will be worse.]]
* Hades ultimately is given this at the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}''. After Hercules rescues Megara's soul from The River Styx, he punches the god into the river himself. Being a god, of course, he ''can't'' die, but the last shot of him fighting a losing battle against both the waters' current and the many vengeful, undead souls that drag him further underneath as his minions Pain and Panic watch on, too frightened of him and his wrath to fish him out.

* Fates Worse than Death are disturbingly common in ''VisualNovel/SayaNoUta''. The protagonist, Fuminori, is unable to see the world as anything other than [[EvilIsVisceral a mess of infected-looking flesh]] and so finds himself trying to figure out a painless way to die before meeting the eponymous Saya. [[spoiler:While all of the series' characters other than Saya end up insane, suicidal, or some combination of the two depending on the ending, Yoh Tsukuba is probably the most notable example. While simply seeing Saya can drive most people completely insane, Yoh is mutilated and tortured by her until, over the course of twenty hours, she becomes one of the same species that Saya belongs to. By the time Koji accidentally kills her, it's very clear that death is what she wants]].

* One of the antagonists of ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'', despite being (likely) the worst character in the game, survives, while the ones that weren't as bad as [[spoiler: him]] were brutally killed. It turns out that [[spoiler: Akane's plan was to have him be exposed publicly for his crimes, something that he, Ace, deems A Fate Worse Than Death.]]

* Lampshaded with Colin Hunt in Season 7 of ''Machinima/ArbyNTheChief''. Being part of an evil clan alongside Sadist [[BigBad Eugene]] and Psychopath [[TheBrute Tyler]], Colin is revealed to be a Pedophile. Also by the season's end, [[spoiler:Eugene commits suicide and Tyler is shot and killed by a cop]]. Colin is still alive, but thanks to Arbiter and Master Chief's intervention is now rotting in prison for a LONG TIME.
-->'''Arbiter:''' Not sure how long Colin will be imprisoned for, but due to the fact that he's a white, introverted software nerd and a kid fucker, he'll likely be targeted by his inmates for rape and sold as a cell bitch for a pack of smokes.

->''"When i'm through with you, you will beg me to allow you to die."''