History Main / HeroicSuicide

* ''FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' has Pelleas, who partway through the story was crowned king of Daein, pulling one of these. He unwittingly signed a Blood Pact, a curse which, if invoked, will slowly kill a leader's subjects. The one at the reins of this curse is [[CompleteMonster Lekain]], who is using it to strongarm Pelleas into fighting a war. Pelleas eventually learns that a Blood Pact will end if the one bound is killed so... yeah, you know the rest. [[spoiler:Surprise surprise, it didn't work. Pelleas received incomplete information. The way to end a Blood Pact is for either the one bound ''or'' the one in command to die, ''and'' the document itself must be destroyed on top of either of those. Thankfully, you can let Pelleas live in a NewGamePlus.]]

* ''Film/{{Looper}}'': At the end, Joe realizes that his older self's attempts to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong prevent the rise of the Rainmaker]] will instead [[NiceJobBreakingItHero lead to]] his StartOfDarkness. Left with no other way to stop Old!Joe, Young!Joe shoots himself, thus [[{{Retgon}} retgoning]] Old!Joe out of existence and presumably changing the future.

* [[YourMileageMayVary A case could be made]] for the original InspectorJavert in LesMiserables. Part of it is his HeroicBSOD about having his entire worldview shattered in the course of a couple of hours, but another part would be that, if he lived, he would be obliged both by his duty and to some degree by his own conscience to report Jean Valjean to the authorities, an act that he has come to recognise as morally wrong. He is also the only person alive capable of doing so. By killing himself, he makes it possible for Valjean's safety to be almost entirely ensured. On the other hand, it could have just been the worldview-shattering.

* [[YMMV A case could be made]] for the original InspectorJavert in LesMiserables. Part of it is his HeroicBSOD about having his entire worldview shattered in the course of a couple of hours, but another part would be that, if he lived, he would be obliged both by his duty and to some degree by his own conscience to report Jean Valjean to the authorities, an act that he has come to recognise as morally wrong. He is also the only person alive capable of doing so. By killing himself, he makes it possible for Valjean's safety to be almost entirely ensured. On the other hand, it could have just been the worldview-shattering.

* ''PlanescapeTorment'' ends with its immortal protagonist [[KilledOffForReal killing himself permanently]] because every time he "dies" and comes back to life, someone else dies in his place (and the spirits of the people who've died for him stalk and torment him).

* Dawn tries to pull one of these in the fifth season finale of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', when she realises that [[ItMakesSenseInContext a gateway to hell can only be closed if her blood stops flowing]]. She is saved when Buffy realises [[TakeAThirdOption she can achieve the same effect by killing herself in Dawn's place]].

* In ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' Moriarty invokes this [[spoiler: by setting up Sherlock to be "exposed" as a fraud and telling him that if he doesn't commit suicide by jumping off a building, a group of assassins he's hired will kill his friends (Sherlock appears to jump, but he's revealed to still be alive at the very end).]] Also an inversion in that [[spoiler: Moriarty shoots himself to prevent Sherlock from foiling his EvilPlan by forcing him to call the assassins off.]]

* In the IronMan storyline "Execute Program", a villain remotely hijacks all of Tony's various Iron Man suits, causing them to go on a rampage all over the world. Because the suits are controlled through software that's plugged directly into Tony's brain (long story), he realizes that he can deactivate them all by killing himself. Which he does, by using his suit's power source to give himself a massive electric shock (don't worry, [[OnlyMostlyDead he gets better]]).

* Dawn tries to pull one of these in the fifth season finale of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', when she realises that [[ItMakesSenseInContext a gateway to hell can only be closed if her blood stops flowing]]. She is saved when Buffy realises [[TakeAThirdOption she can achieve the same effect by killing herself in Dawn's place]]. Buffy's sacrifice could thus also be thought of as an example.

* On ''{{Angel}}'' Darla (a vampire) stakes herself so that her and Angel's 100% human son can be born.

* In ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' Moriarty invokes this [[spoiler: by setting up Sherlock to be "exposed" as a fraud and telling him that if he doesn't commit suicide by jumping off a building, a group of assassins he's hired will kill his friends (Sherlock appears to jump, but he's revealed to still be alive at the very end).]] Also an inversion in that [[spoiler: Moriarty shoots himself to prevent Sherlock from foiling his EvilPlan by forcing him to call the assassins off.]]
* in {{Series/OnceUponATime}}, Henry invokes this one by grabbing the [[Literature/SnowWhite poisoned apple]] turnover Regina made and gobbling it in front of Emma - both to prove that Regina was lying about the deal they made, and that the storybook curse on the town was 100% real. [[spoiler: Of course, given the universe we're talking about, it's DisneyDeath.]]

* In the ''DoctorWho'' episode "The Waters of Mars", the Doctor changes history to rescue someone doomed to die, which causes him to go totally AGodAmI with megalomania. His rescuee kills herself in order to stop him, after which he snaps out of it.

* in {{Series/OnceUponATime}}, Henry invokes this one by grabbing the [[Literature/SnowWhite poisoned apple]] turnover Regina made and gobbling it in front of Emma - both to prove that Regina was lying about the deal they made, and that the storybook curse on the town was 100% real.

* In ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' Moriarty invokes this [[spoiler: by setting up Sherlock to be "exposed" as a fraud and telling him that if he doesn't commit suicide by jumping off a building, a group of assassins he's hired will kill his friends (Sherlock appears to jump, but he's revealed to still be alive at the very end).]] Also an inversion in that [[spoiler: Moriarty shoots himself to prevent Sherlock from foiling his EvilPlan by forcing him to call the assassins off.]]

This is a specific sub-trope of HeroicSacrifice. The difference is that in most {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s dying is merely an unfortunate by-product of a heroic act. In a Heroic Suicide, '''dying is the goal'''. Or, to put it another way, a HeroicSacrifice engages in lethal activity even though it will get him killed. '''A Heroic Suicide engages in lethal activitiy BECAUSE it will get him killed.'''

* Hartigan from ''SinCity'' kills himself so that no one will hurt Nancy to get at him.

* In ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' Moriaty invokes this [[spoiler: by setting up Sherlock to be "exposed" as a fraud and telling him that if he doesn't commit suicide by jumping off a building, a group of assassins he's hired will kill his friends (Sherlock appears to jump, but he's revealed to still be alive at the very end).]] Also an inversion in that [[spoiler: Moriaty shoots himself to prevent Sherlock from foiling his EvilPlan by forcing him to call the assassins off.]]

'''Examples:'''

* '''Necessity:''' Ask yourself if there's even a theoretical possibility that the character could accomplish their goal ''without'' dying. If there is, it's probably a regular HeroicSacrifice. For example, say you [[PeterPan drink poison intended for someone else]], [[ATaleOfTwoCities trade places with a man on death row]], or [[{{Film/Star Trek}} turn your spaceship into a guided missile]]. None of those qualify, because in each case your death is only a side-effect of what you are doing. The point is to prevent the other person from drinking the poison, buy time for the man to escape, or disable the enemy ship. You would still accomplish these goals even if you discovered you were miraculously immune to poison, received a last-minute pardon, or were beamed off your ship at the moment of impact. This trope only comes into play if the character ''has to'' die to accomplish their goal. Though [[IGotBetter that isn't to say their death will always be permanent]].

* It's actually subverted in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''.

Suicide is generally considered a bad thing. Even when the person committing it [[DrivenToSuicide feels he has no other choice]], it's still far from heroic. In contrast, [[HeroicSacrifice Heroic Sacrifices]] are almost always regarded as noble, and those who perform them are held in high regard. Despite the similarities, these two things rarely overlap.

This is a specific sub-trope of HeroicSacrifice. The difference is that in most [[HeroicSacrifice Heroic Sacrifices]] dying is merely an unfortunate by-product of a heroic act. In a Heroic Suicide, '''dying is the goal'''. Or, to put it another way, a HeroicSacrifice engages in lethal activity even though it will get him killed. '''A Heroic Suicide engages in lethal activitiy BECAUSE it will get him killed.'''

* Ripley falls backward into a smelter to stop the Alien gestating in her from birthing and starting the whole ordeal all over again in ''{{Alien}} 3''

* Dawn tries to pull one of these in the fifth season finale of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', when she realises that [[ItMakesSenseInContext a gateway to hell can only be closed if her blood stops flowing]]. She is saved when Buffy realises [[TakeAThirdOption she can achieve the same effect by killing herself in Dawn's place]]. Buffy's sacrifice could thus also be thought of as an example.

* [[spoiler:Al Gough]] on ''[[{{FlashForward2009}} Flash Forward]]'' learns that in the future an innocent woman will die due to his actions, so he jumps off a building so as to ScrewDestiny so it can never happen.
* It's actually subverted in ''[[{{Sherlock}} %7]]''

This is a specific sub-trope of HeroicSacrifice. The difference is that in most [[HeroicSacrifice Heroic Sacrifices]] dying is merely an unfortunate by-product of a heroic act. In a Heroic Suicide, '''dying is the goal'''. Or, to put it another way, a HeroicSacrifice engages in lethal activity even though it will get him killed. A Heroic Suicide engages in lethal activitiy ''because'' it will get him killed.

* Necessity: Ask yourself if there's even a theoretical possibility that the character could accomplish their goal ''without'' dying. If there is, it's probably a regular HeroicSacrifice. For example, say you [[PeterPan drink poison intended for someone else]], [[ATaleOfTwoCities trade places with a man on death row]], or [[{{Film/Star Trek}} turn your spaceship into a guided missile]]. None of those qualify, because in each case your death is only a side-effect of what you are doing. The point is to prevent the other person from drinking the poison, buy time for the man to escape, or disable the enemy ship. You would still accomplish these goals even if you discovered you were miraculously immune to poison, received a last-minute pardon, or were beamed off your ship at the moment of impact. This trope only comes into play if the character ''has to'' die to accomplish their goal. Though [[IGotBetter that isn't to say their death will always be permanent]].
* Sufficiency: Ask yourself how important the ''circumstances'' are under which the person dies. Do they accomplish their goal just by dying, or does it matter what they were doing when they died? For example, say you get yourself killed diffusing a bomb. In that situation, it's stopping the bomb that makes your actions heroic, not the dying. You couldn't achieve the same goal just by, say, shooting yourself in the head. On the other hand, say you ''[[PersonOfMassDestruction are]]'' [[PersonOfMassDestruction the bomb]]. In that case, it doesn't matter ''how'' you die, as long as you do it quickly. Shooting yourself in the head is fine. So is getting poisoned, stabbed, or decapitated.