History Main / Retirony

* Mary Sherlach, a school psychologist who tried to stop Adam Lanza during the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. [[http://madelineashby.com/?p=1368 This article]] about her even name-checks this trope.

* Played with in ''Film/Apollo13''. In an interview, James Lovell remarks that Apollo 13 will be his third and final mission, planning to close an impressive career with finally walking on the Moon. Instead, his spacecraft blows up halfway to the Moon. Miraculously, he and his crew survive and return to Earth safely, though sadly, he never gets to walk on the Moon.
** Not clear if it was planned ahead of time, but neither of his crewmates, LM pilot Fred Haise, or CM pilot Jack Swigert ever flew another space mission either.

* ''Manga/FireForce'': Played for some dark laughs in the chapters where the army and the Fire Force members are exploring the nether. There's a sequence where, whenever a soldier is confronted by an infernal, it abruptly cuts to a flashback of what the soldier's life was, with typical applications of the trope, followed by their uncerimonious death. It's even {{Double Subver|sion}}ted when one soldier appears to survive because his only happy memories were promising himself to buy a sneaker, just to get killed immediately after. And then, just to stick it to this trope even further, [[spoiler:it's averted completely when the one new character we had gotten to know is killed just as suddenly, without a happy flashback to go along with it]].

** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'': Right before [[spoiler:Narancia]] dies he begins talking about everything the team is going to do once The Boss is defeated. [[spoiler:Wanting to get through high school, being there for Trish, seeing Fugo again, eating some piping hot pizza and getting his life together]]. He dies a few seconds afterward.

* In ''ComicBook/CivilWarII'' #0, UsefulNotes/BarackObama suggests that ComicBook/WarMachine retire and enter a career in politics, arguing that he's not getting any younger and won't be able to be an Avenger forever. War Machine is then killed by ComicBook/{{Thanos}} a short time later, which kicks off the main conflict of the series. Something of an odd case due to ComicBookTime in that James Rhodes debuted as a character in 1979 and was portrayed as a Vietnam vet at the time and has been an Avenger on and off for over 30 years (became Iron Man in 1983) without having aged a day.

* The opening arc of ''ComicBook/DetectiveComicsRebirth'' has [[ComicBook/{{Robin}} Tim Drake]] deciding that he wants to retire from crime fighting so he can attend college and try to live a normal life. He ends up performing a HeroicSacrifice to save hundreds of people, and the story ends with Bruce breaking down after finding Tim's acceptance letter. [[spoiler:Subverted when it later turns out that Tim survived, but is now being held captive by Mr. Oz.]]

-->'''ComicBook/IronFist:''' Focus, Gravity! No one is dying today!\\
'''ComicBook/LukeCage:''' Well, not me! I've got a brand new baby girl to come home to!\\

* ''Assault On Precinct 13'': In both versions of the film ([[[Film/AssaultOnPrecinct131976 1976]] and [[Film/AssaultOnPrecinct132005 2005]]) the events of the plot occur during the eponymous police precinct's final night of operations. TheSiege [[TrashTheSet tears the place apart]].

** In ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} [[spoiler:is shown to have a family most of the Avengers don't know about (aside from ComicBook/BlackWidow who is [[HonoraryUncle Honorary Aunt]])]]. This, and other tropes like him saying he'll live forever, sets him up to die in battle... [[spoiler:then this is subverted when brand new team member ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} dies [[TakingTheBullet taking a bullet]] for him.]]
** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'': [[spoiler:Tony Stark]] ends up married with a child, decides to go on OneLastJob to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong...and ends up KilledOffForReal in the final battle.

* ''Film/OnlyTheBrave'': As they're heading to Yarnell, Eric tells Jesse this will be his last fire season. Then he's one of those caught in the fire [[spoiler:that claims nineteen of his crew in the biggest loss of firefighters since 9/11.]]

* ''Film/SoClose'': [[spoiler:Lynn decides to retire from being an assassin to marry her LoveInterest. Naturally, she's killed shortly after]].

* A variant occurs in the ''Series/Angel}}'' novel ''Haunted''. Phil Baxter is already retired, but he declines an invitation to come out of retirement permanently and join Angel Investigations (preferring to return to his retiree hobbies) right before the climactic fight which he doesn't walk away from.

* ''Series/SWAT2017'': {{Discussed}} and narrowly {{averted}} as Chris is saved while on a mission just after announching she'll be leaving SWAT. She talks about the idea later.

* Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG has what might be not only a subversion but an ''inversion'' with Montoya. He was a former small-time crook involved with a big heist on a multi-million dollar corporation and the one member of the crew who had been planning to go clean when he was done. The heist [[GoneHorriblyWrong was a disaster]] as a result of interference from one Silencia Venemosa and Montoya was one of only two men to escape from the massacre with their lives. Fast forward a few years later to [[ItMakesSenseInContext the actual Dino Attack]], and not only has Montoya successfully gone clean but [[spoiler:his only surviving partner and Silencia herself are killed in the final battle, making him the last surviving participant of the heist.]]

* The ''Anime/CodeGeass'' game for UsefulNotes/NintendoDS parodies this. In one stage, the player sees two {{Mooks}} talking, one saying that when everything is done, he plans on returning to his hometown and getting married. Immediately afterwards, Zero enters and kills him.

* ''Franchise/DeadSpace'': In [[VideoGame/DeadSpace the first game]] you're on the ''USG Ishimura'', a ship that was the first of its kind and is scheduled for decommissioning the following year. All the actual crew [[spoiler:except one survivor, who dies in the second game's first big DLC]] die horrible, sometimes self-inflicted deaths. The ship is left abandoned before finally being brought to another place, [[spoiler:the Sprawl, the main location of ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'']]

* {{Played for Laughs}} with the cabbie in ''Podcast/HeroClub'''s ''It Never Sleeps''. As he drives the main characters to a potential crime scene, he announces they are his last fare after 25 years. He then says he wants to make up for lost time with his wife and 6 kids, and shows a photo. He then mentions he'll need to get his will notarized, as his family gets nothing otherwise. He spends his time parked outside thinking aloud of ways to make the world better, like how to keep plastics out of the ocean and use wind power over coal. When the team chases the monster they find outside, it attacks the cabbie, and his last words are him failing to say his full name and social security number.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has done this quite a few times ([[http://www.simpsoncrazy.com/lists/retirement enough to list on a webpage]]):

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E25NaturalBornKissers Natural Born Kissers]]", a police dog one day from retirement takes a sniff of Homer's clothing and bolts in fear. A SpinningNewspaper that shows up later in the episode mentions as a sidenote that the dog is "barely clinging to life".

* Inverted in the ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTalesOfTheJedi'' episode "The Sith Lord", in which [[spoiler:Yaddle is killed by Count Dooku after she catches him collaborating with Darth Sidious shortly after she steps down from the Jedi Council.]]

* Carroll Spinney died just a few weeks into the broadcast of what he had planned to be his final season of ''Series/SesameStreet''.

** During the ''Series/CrisisOnEarthX'' crossover, Martin Stein is planning to leave [[Series/LegendsOfTomorrow the Legends]] to spend more time with his family after the birth of his grandson. However, he gets fatally shot during the heroes' escape from Earth-X and pulls a HeroicSacrifice breaking his PsychicLink to Jax to save his life before succumbing to his wounds.

* In the ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' episode "11:59", Laurel considers giving up being a vigilante to become the DA, and decides to go on "one last mission" to stop Damian Darhk from escaping prison. She's stabbed by Darhk in the riot, and and dies in the hospital shortly after. Played with, in that while she's in the hospital she decides she ''can't'' give up being the Black Canary as it "makes her feel alive inside".

* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': Hinted at in the episode "Romeo v Juliet: Dawn of Justness", given that Ray is doing "one last mission" before he leaves to marry Nora, as it would tie into the episode's title and central theme. Thankfully [[AvertedTrope averted]], and Ray and Nora survive.

* The 2013 Creator/{{CBC}} movie ''Film/{{Jack|2013}},'' about [[CanadaEh Canadian]] [[UsefulNotes/CanadianPolitics politician]] Jack Layton, emphasizes this aspect of Jack's political career. He never got to spend much time as opposition leader, nor officially declare his political career finished before stepping down from his position as opposition leader, before dying.

* A 60-year-old Japanese man [[http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-37057620081216 was accidentally killed by his coworkers]] at his retirement party.

** In a variation, towards the end of ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', Qui-Gon Jinn intends to train Anakin Skywalker, believing Obi-Wan Kenobi is ready to graduate to Jedi Knight status. Needless to say, Qui-Gon doesn't make it to the end of the movie, and Obi-Wan ends up being Anakin's trainer instead.
** Played straight in Legends sources for one of the pilots in ''Film/ANewHope''. TIE Fighter pilot DS-61-4, better known by his nickname "Dark Curse", was planning on retiring after his next combat. Said next battle was the Battle of Yavin, where he was shot down by Wedge Antilles.

* In the Creator/GarthEnnis UsefulNotes/WorldWarII story ''Happy Valley'', an Australian bomber crew are terrified that this trope will apply when their AcePilot recieves a CareerEndingInjury and they are assigned an EnsignNewbie replacement when they only have three missions to go before their bombing tours end. [[SubvertedTrope All of the veterans survive]], but their young pilot has to make a HeroicSacrifice to get the damaged plane home during their last mission.

* In WebVideo/TheUnluckyTug's GagDub of the ''WesternAnimation/{{TUGS}}'' episode "Munitions", Krak-a-toa screams that he was planning to retire next week as he capsizes while on fire.

[[folder:Films - Animated]]

** In a "What If?" episode depicting life as a video game, General VideoGame/PacMan is leading Earth's defenses against an invading horde of aliens. He mentions his retirement plans and immediately gets shot.
** Spoofed in another episode where Fry becomes a cop and is partnered with [[ThoseTwoGuys recurring robot cop URL]]:

** The first example is the {{Trope Nam|ers}}ing exchange in the page quote from "Homer vs. Dignity". Police chief Clancy Wiggum doesn't have a retirement fund because he and his wife expect this to happen to him. The couple gets upset at a financial planner raising the scenario that Clancy lives to retirement.
** Parodied in a [=McBain=] movie seen in "Saturdays of Thunder", where [=McBain's=] sidekick Scoie talks of his retirement and shows a picture of his boat (christened "Live-4-Ever") seconds before he [[TakingTheBullet interrupts an assassination attempt]] on [=McBain=].
** In "Homer To The Max", Wiggum's police car gets crushed by a tree at a protest rally, one day before the car would be retired.
** In "Natural Born Kissers", a police dog one day from retirement takes a sniff of Homer's clothing and bolts in fear. A SpinningNewspaper that shows up later in the episode mentions as a sidenote that the dog is "barely clinging to life".
** In "Homer and Apu", Homer accidentally smashes a giant novelty hat containing a hidden camera; the hat was one day from retirement. A technical subversion as, despite being thrown to the floor, the camera still functions enough to implicate Apu for selling expired foods.
** In "Marge Simpson In: Screaming Yellow Honkers", the prisoners that Marge frees when she accidentally runs her car into the prison walls are one day away from total rehabilitation.
** "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" opens with a man setting up a sign outside the Springfield Civic Center that reads "Tonight: CHARITY BACHELOR AUCTION // Tomorrow: I RETIRE, YA BASTARDS!". As soon as the man has finished adjusting the exclamation point he loses his footing and falls off the ladder, landing with a loud thud.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Black Friday", Old Cap says that he promised his wife this would be the last Black Friday he worked mall security. He doesn't even make it until Thanksgiving before a crazed shopper kills him.

* Spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'': a Doombot sliced up by White Tiger sputters out "Three days til retirement" before falling apart.
* In the season two finale of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', Wally West announces plans to retire after the current crisis is over, and [[LegacyCharacter offers his Kid Flash title to Bart]] before he [[KilledOffForReal icks the bucket]]. Also [[PlayingWithATrope played with]]--his girlfriend, Artemis, had been planning to retire with him but chooses to rejoin the heroes after his death.

->[[TemptingFate 2 more sentences left on this page, I'll finish just in time for my daughters wedding!]]
->[[OhCrap Wait, what was that gun cocking sound?]]
->'''''[[BangBangBang KABAM]]'''''

** A bounty hunter mentions that the Case of the Week is his last before retirement. Shawn instinctively ducks, then [[LampshadeHanging brings up this trope]]. He does this repeatedly "[[RunningGag throughout the episode]]", to the bounty hunter's increasing frustration.

** A bounty hunter mentions that the Case of the Week is his last before retirement. Shawn instinctively ducks, then [[LampshadeHanging brings up this trope]].

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'' does this with Captain Montgomery. Having announced his intention to retire at the end of the 3rd season's next to last episode (an announcement that's waved off by Beckett), he turns out to be a part of the conspiracy that led to Beckett's mother's murder in the 3rd season's last episode. He was only a rookie at the time and has spent the rest of his career [[TheAtoner atoning for it]], and he's only lying to Beckett to protect his family. He dies killing Hal Lockwood, the man who would kill his family and Beckett, but it's after he was fatally shot by Lockwood.

** Police officer John Perry was filing his retirement papers ''that very morning'' at 1 Police Plaza (located a few blocks from the World Trade Center), when he learned of the attack. He rushed down to the Trade Center…and disappeared, killed when the South Tower collapsed. The only off-duty officer to die that day, Perry's remains were never found.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!

'''Since this is a death trope, there are unmarked spoilers in the examples.'''

'''{{Beat}}'''\\

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Gunther Henry Gunther]] was the last man shot before UsefulNotes/WorldWarI ended.

See also TemptingFate, FatalFamilyPhoto, IfWeGetThroughThis, NothingCanStopUsNow, NothingCanSaveUsNow and ResignationsNotAccepted. Related to YankTheDogsChain. Contrast CrusadingWidow, where the one to die is the cop's family. For the equivalent in material goods, see some variants of ActionInsuranceGag.

* ''Film/ThePinkPanther'' franchise would have reached a more fitting conclusion had Creator/PeterSellers (who played Inspector Clouseau) not perished just before the planned final installment, ''Romance of the Pink Panther'', was to enter production.

* SoapOpera actor John Ingle, who played Edward Quartermaine on ''Series/GeneralHospital'', died shortly after the last scenes that he had filmed were aired. He'd decided to retire only a few months earlier.