History Main / GoIntoTheLight

* Parodied in a ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode, where when Chris is near death Peter idiotically tells him to head straight for the light while Lois quickly tells him to do the opposite.
* Spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/GodTheDevilAndBob'' when Bob asks God to bring back his deceased father by not telling him to go into the light. God then rants about how he's sick of the "light thing" since it was his porch light. "You leave it on ''once'' and suddenly it's part of the whole death ritual!"
* Played with in a Halloween episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', the one where Homer ends up in the 3D space. Lovejoy tells him to go into the light, and we hear the sound of Homer being electrocuted and screaming in pain.
** [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E19DogofDeath in an earlier episode,]] the Simpson's dog "Santa's Little Helper" is injured and hears a far off voice. It gets...slightly silly after a bit.
-->'''Voice''': Come, my child. Come into the light. Come on. Come on now! That's a good boy! Come on!
* In the episode ''Porno For Pyro'' of ''WesternAnimation/MissionHill'', Kevin has one of these experiences when he almost dies in the store fire he accidentally started while trying to dispose of some pornography. The angelic woman he meets on the other side says that in the light its "like Yale University". She is seen reading from a book first, and Yale is Kevins dream college, so its most likely meant to be an optimal experience for the departed. However, Kevin is resuscitated in the hospital before he has passed into the light.
* Downplayed in ''WesternAnimation/PinkyElmyraAndTheBrain''. A RunningGag on the show is Brain using a combination of a lamp and a mirror to create a light on the wall. He tells Elmyra it's a portal and tempts her to go into it, and when she does, she hits the wall so hard it knocks her unconscious.
* When Beavis dies in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'', he ascends into Heaven in a tunnel of light amidsts an angelic choir. His reaction?
--> '''Beavis''': This music sucks!
** Of course, it turns out to be a dream he's having after smashing himself unconscious against a wall.
* Jimmy from ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' delivered this gem once:
-->"There's a bright light, Sarah...someone's calling me...[[NonSequiturThud ooh, cookies!]]"
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', Batman uses astral projection to work with Deadman when the spirits of his parents invite him into the afterlife in a bright light. Batman refuses since he still has work to do. By the end of the episode, Deadman finally gets to see the light, but also refuses in favor of finding his killer.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', during an episode that takes place in a BadFuture, where [[spoiler: Broadway]] has been [[EyeScream blinded]] for years, and is fatally wounded during a battle. As Goliath comforts [[DiedInYourArmsTonight him in his arms]], and tells him the sun will rise soon, and he will be able to heal. [[spoiler: Broadway]] mistakes the light for the sun as he dies, this {{Tearjerker}} moment happens.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', in the episode "Benderama", when Bender seemingly dies, a voice, supposedly the God Entity from "Godfellas", tells hims to walk toward the light.
-->'''Bender''': Aw, man, do I really hafta walk?!
** Also, in "Attack of the Killer App", when the Planet Express crew waits in line for a long time, Professor Farnsworth sees some light and he says, "Oh, no, the light! I guess I'm off to Hell!"

* In ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'', Adora falls down a fissure and tells Bow and Glimmer that she's going to head towards the light she sees in the tunnel. Bow immediately screams that she shouldn't, but she clarifies that it's a ''literal'' light in the tunnel.

* ''Manga/{{Evangelion 303}}'': [[spoiler:Asuka wanted to do it in chapter 11, but Jessika did not let her, stating that it was not her time yet.]]

* {{Invoked}} in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' Episode 47. Android 16 grabs Imperfect Cell and throws him into the ground so hard it leaves him in a rather deep crater, then begins charging his [[ArmCannon Hell's Flash]] attack.

* ''[[Fanfic/TheSmurfsThatCanonForgot Smurf Village Upturned]]'': Following a harrowing experience that left his glasses completely smashed, Brainy is unable to discern anything at all aside from a bright light growing in front of him. He wonders whether he's supposed to be moving into it or not. The truth of the matter turns out to be no less heartbreaking -- as it turns out, smurfs [[DisappearsIntoLight turn into light]] when dying, and [[spoiler:Papa Smurf]] is passing away right in front of him, when he can't see or properly react to what's happening.
* In ''Fanfic/OlivesLastPartner'', Olive and Oscar both see white light when the close their eyes, just before they accept their fate and drown in orange juice. Otto manages to save them in the nick of time before they go under.

* The premise of the series ''Series/GhostWhisperer'' is OncePerEpisode, Jennifer Love Hewitt helps a ghost get over its issues so that it can Go Into The Light.
* Subverted and toyed with in the TV show ''Series/DeadLikeMe'' where the dead each get their own special send-off to the afterlife, different for each person. It (whether it's a place, a ledge, a person beckoning) looks to the audience and reapers as being made up of lights. Once the dead person enters/joins the lights, the form they took flashes out and the lights scatter and speed off (usually UP).

* The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E23ExtremeMeasures Extreme Measures]]" has Bashir and O'Brien trapped in Sloan's MentalWorld. At one point, thinking they're dying, they see The Light.
* Averted in the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E14Coda Coda]]". After apparently dying in a shuttle crash, a {{Psychopomp}} encourages to give up on death and go into the light. Janeway is suspicious and doesn't go which is just as well, as he's an alien that feeds on LifeEnergy (Janeway being NotQuiteDead). The whole thing was later compared to the Earth parable of "the spider and the fly".
-->'''Janeway:''' Go back to Hell, you coward.
* Mentioned by David Liebe Hart's aliens on an episode of ''Series/TimAndEricAwesomeShowGreatJob''.
* When the protagonists of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' dispatch hostile ghosts (usually with fire) the spirits appear to be in pain before they disappear; however, in the episode "Road Kill," a woman who didn't realize she was dead decides to move on once she is told the truth and performs a classic fade into the light.
** Then in the season finale, [[spoiler: their father, having dragged himself out of hell to save his sons]] also gets a Go Into The Light moment.
* Subverted, of all places, by ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel''. A man has a near death experience...except the light keeps getting further and further away from him. Just before he's revived he turns around to see something so awful behind him that, once he's recovered, he dedicates himself to doing good deeds in an attempt to turn his life around.

* Subverted in Lindsey's backstory in ''Series/FreaksAndGeeks''. She asks her dying grandmother if she sees a light, to which her grandmother replies, "No." This event is the catalyst for Lindsey becoming an atheist and a rebel against society.
* Played completely straight on ''Series/OneLifeToLive'' when Luna died, and during Lucy's NearDeathExperience on ''Series/GeneralHospital''.
* In ''Series/TwinPeaks'', the character [[spoiler: Leland has this moment after he realized that he killed Laura Palmer]]. The character is actually told to go into the light to find peace before death.

* Subverted and discussed on ''Series/CriminalMinds''. Morgan dismisses the typical "bright light and shadowy figures" fantasy by saying that the light is that of an ER operating room, and the figures are doctors, but then [[spoiler: Reid points out that he saw the same thing when he "died" and Tobias Hankel resuscitated him, despite not being in a hospital. Prentiss, on the other hand, coded in an ambulance and experienced darkness and coldness instead of light and warmth.]]

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. When the Black Siren is impersonating her Earth-1 counterpart Laurel Lance, she has to explain how she's NotQuiteDead, so mentions this trope before clarifying that the bright white light was [[Series/LegendsOfTomorrow her sister Sara teleporting her on board the Waverider]] where she was revived using its advanced technology.
* ''Series/GhostsUK'': Subverted when Pat thinks he's [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence moving on]] after coming to terms with the fact that his widow remarried. Then the light goes out and it turns out that it was just an ordinary stage lamp all along. In [[Series/GhostsUS the US remake]] a similar gag is done with the lights on a police car.

* ''Series/ForeverKnight'': A flashback to when Nicholas was brought across showed that after his blood was drained by [=LaCroix=], he saw a veiled woman standing in a glowing doorway. [=LaCroix=] then called on Nicholas to turn away from the light and return to him, while the veiled woman offers him the [[TwoRoadsBeforeYou choice]] of going on to the Afterlife, or returning to Earth to live as a vampire. He chose the latter and ends up regretting it. That week's FlatlinePlotline involved Nicholas recreating his near-death experience to see if the other choice is still an option or if he's eternally damned.
* ''Series/AmazingStories2020'': In "[[Recap/AmazingStories2020TheHeat The Heat]]" Tuka helps DJ pass on into the afterlife at the end.
* ''Series/TheNormShow'': "Norm vs. Death" reveals that Norm has a long-time fear of death. Laurie takes him to a friend of hers that is dying, in the hopes of helping him work through this. When asked about his fear, Norm says his parents told him horror stories about death, such as how the supposed light is just a demon's way of distracting a person before stealing the soul.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': During the musical episode, Buffy is trying to draw what the afterlife was like, since she was dead over the summer break and brought back at the start of the new season. She ends up drawing a white light in the middle of a black darkness because that is all her limited human experience and knowledge can equate it to.

** [[Recap/SimpsonsS3E19DogofDeath in an earlier episode,]] the Simpson's dog "Santa's Little Helper" is injured and hears a far off voice. It gets...slightly silly after a bit.

** In an earlier episode, the Simpson's dog "Santa's Little Helper" is injured and hears a far off voice. It gets...slightly silly after a bit.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'': Parodied in one of [[spoiler:ComicBook/TheJoker]]'s Game Over sequences:
-->"Don't head toward the light, Bruce! It's not fair! They'll never let me in!"

%%* ''Film/Ghost1990''.

* In the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' film, Donkey thinks Shrek is dying from an arrow. As he goes off to get some plants that are supposed to help him, he says, "And if you see a long tunnel, ''stay away from the light''!"

* An episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' has Bashir and O'Brien trapped in Sloane's MentalWorld. At one point, thinking they're dying, they see The Light.

* In a Japanese ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' radio drama, Jessie and James' characters are stuck in space and low on oxygen. As Jessie dies, she notes a pretty light.

* Averted in the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Coda". After apparently dying in a shuttle crash, a {{Psychopomp}} encourages to give up on death and go into the light. Janeway is suspicious and doesn't go which is just as well, as he's an alien that feeds on LifeEnergy (Janeway being NotQuiteDead). The whole thing was later compared to the Earth parable of "the spider and the fly".

* Frequently on ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}''. Except the light is always on the other side of a door. And sometimes, instead of the light, there's just an [[{{Hell}} ominous-looking corridor]].

* ''Series/TheXFiles''. In "Lazurus", the VillainOfTheWeek is shot during a bank robbery only to come back from the dead in someone else's body. Mulder and Scully have a discussion on the trope, and the robber also mentions it when he shoots his [[OutlawCouple lover and partner-in-crime]] after she betrays him.

* ''Series/ForeverKnight''. A flashback to when Nicholas was brought across showed that after his blood was drained by [=LaCroix=], he saw a veiled woman standing in a glowing doorway. [=LaCroix=] then called on Nicholas to turn away from the light and return to him, while the veiled woman offers him the [[TwoRoadsBeforeYou choice]] of going on to the Afterlife, or returning to Earth to live as a vampire. He chose the latter and ends up regretting it. That week's FlatlinePlotline involved Nicholas recreating his near-death experience to see if the other choice is still an option or if he's eternally damned.