History Main / SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome

* King Harold in ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'' has a good example of a non-death HeroicSacrifice, as he throws himself in the path of the Fairy Godmother's wand to save Shrek. The result is that his previous 'happy ending' is removed and he is turned back to the frog he was. But he's still alive at the end of the movie, and his wife doesn't mind his being a frog at all. Unfortunately, within the first act of ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'', King Harold, well, ''[[IncrediblyLamePun croaks]]'' due to frogs having a much shorter lifespan, kicking off the plot of the film.

* King Harold in ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'' has a good example of a non-death HeroicSacrifice, as he throws himself in the path of the Fairy Godmother's wand to save Shrek. The result is that his previous 'happy ending' is removed and he is turned back to the frog he was. But he's still alive at the end of the movie, and his wife doesn't mind his being a frog at all. Unfortunately, within the first act of ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'', King Harold, well, ''[[IncrediblyLamePun croaks]],'' kicking off the plot of the film.

* [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome/LiveActionFilms Film - Live Action]]

!!Examples:

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'':

Compare NotQuiteSavedEnough, DowntimeDowngrade, SequelReset, BackForTheDead (where a long-absent series character is brought back only to get killed off), BusCrash, SequelNonEntity, HappyEndingOverride. Contrast with DoomedByCanon, where a character in a prequel gets killed off because his/her death is necessary for the preceding work's plot.

Compare NotQuiteSavedEnough, DowntimeDowngrade, SequelReset, BackForTheDead (where a long-absent series character is brought back only to get killed off), BusCrash, SequelNonEntity and HappyEndingOverride. Contrast with DoomedByCanon, where a character in a prequel gets killed off because his/her death is necessary for the preceding work's plot.

** Astonage, one of the mechanics who survives ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Gundam ZZ]]'' is killed off in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Char's Counterattack]]'' by a missile that impacts the hanger bay. This is probably because he picked up a love interest sometime before the movie. You didn't honestly think that [[KillEmAll Kill 'em all Tomino]] would let him get away with ''that'' did you?
** And unsurprisingly his love interest dies too. [[LoveHurts That's Tomino for you]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'': Taken UpToEleven when the majority of the main cast of [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers the cartoon]] is killed off in the first act to make way for the film’s new heroes (or rather, its new [[MerchandiseDriven toys]]).

* ''Series/AndJustLikeThat'': [[Series/SexAndTheCity Mr. Big]] unexpectedly died from a heart attack in the first episode of the ''Sex and the City'' revival. This was actually a plot idea [[RefittedForSequel salvaged from what would've been]] the third ''Sex and the City'' movie.

* King Harold in ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'' has a good example of a non-death HeroicSacrifice, as he throws himself in the path of the Fairy Godmother's wand to save Shrek. The result is that his previous 'happy ending' is removed and he is turned back to the frog he was. But he's still alive at the end of the movie, and his wife doesn't mind his being a frog at all. Unfortunately, within the first act of ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'', King Harold, well, croaks no more... thus kicking off the plot of the film.

* Lampshaded in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', in which after helping [[SpoonyBard Elan]] [[TookALevelInBadass Take A Level In Badass]], Julio Scoundrel tells him that to avoid dying, he never wants to see him ever again. However, he does later come to save him after being convinced that the greatest heroes are those who can defy genre conventions.

[[folder: Fan Works]]

Compare NotQuiteSavedEnough, DowntimeDowngrade, SequelReset, BackForTheDead (where a long-absent series character is brought back only to get killed off), BusCrash, SequelNonEntity and HappyEndingOverride. Contrast with DoomedByCanon, where a character in a prequel gets killed off because his or her death is necessary for the preceding work's plot.

Compare NotQuiteSavedEnough, DowntimeDowngrade, SequelReset, BackForTheDead (where a long-absent series character is brought back only to get killed off), BusCrash, SequelNonEntity, HappyEndingOverride. Contrast with DoomedByCanon, where a character in a prequel gets killed off because his or her death is necessary for the preceding work's plot.

** Male BridgeBunny Saegusa, who survived Zeta Gundam alongside Torres is [[RedShirt redshirted]] by [[spoiler: [[HeroKiller Yazan]]]] in the first episode of ZZ.

* ''Manga/UQHolder'' does the offscreen variant: the first chapter opens with a brief montage which both establishes that the series is set about 60 years after ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi''... and also strongly implies that the majority of the cast has passed away during that time. It also goes out of it's way to show Negi's tombstone.[[spoiler: At the very least, we know that ''Negi'' isn't dead yet...]]
* Izumii Curtis of ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' died before the events of the movie, ''[[Anime/FullmetalAlchemistTheConquerorOfShamballa Conqueror of Shamballa]]'', and appears only as a voiceless cameo to [[spoiler:reunite with her son Wrath [[TogetherInDeath as he dies]]]]. The screenwriter and the director wanted to avert this and have her live until some point in the movie where she is given her a dramatic death scene on screen but, due to time constraints, they had to cut this scene. Apparently, Izumi's seiyuu was apologized to for not being able to include her in the movie.

* Done in the anime adaptation of ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry''. At the end of the first season no main character has died for once and everything looks relatively happy. Cut to the first episode of ''Kai'' which is set in present day and has the now adult Rena being the ''only'' survivor of the ''entire town''. [[spoiler:She was sent away for trying to blow up the school and thus she avoided the town gassing that happens every arc]].
* Despite being the daughter of ''Manga/{{Suzuka}}'', the title character of ''Manga/{{Fuuka}}'' eventually gets run over by a truck, in the process showing that Fuuka was actually a DecoyProtagonist, and it's ''another'' [[OneSteveLimit Fuuka]] who's the real female lead. That said, the original Fuuka still casts a large shadow over the rest of the cast even after her death. [[spoiler:That being said, she comes back in chapter 135 - but that was a fakeout as well, as it was just a person who dressed up as her because she admired her. Fuuka is well and truly dead.]]
* ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'' invokes this throughout ''Side:Future'' by putting the old characters in deadly situations. In fact, it might even be Inverted since nearly everyone from previous installments made it out unscathed, [[spoiler:while nearly all the ''[=DR3=]''-only characters died.]]
** The most shocking death of the series was that of one of the franchise's more popular characters, [[spoiler: Kyoko Kirigiri. Or not, as it's revealed at the very end she survived thanks to Seiko's antidote.]]
** Earlier on, the end of the second episode reveals that [[spoiler:Aoi Asahina]] has bought it. [[spoiler:The very next episode reveals that she's okay, and another character just set up [[PrankInjuries a homicide prank]] while she was asleep using well-placed ketchup.]]
** Even [[spoiler:Naegi himself]] comes close to death [[spoiler:by getting hypnotized into suicide, but he came out okay too.]]
* Johnny Joestar, protagonist of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun'', [[spoiler: is revealed to have died in a flashback in [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureJoJolion Part 8]] after a HeroicSacrifice that he made to save his wife and son from a normally uncurable disease.]]
* ''Anime/MegaloBox'': Nanbu is implied to have died during the five-year TimeSkip between the first season and ''Nomad'', with a SpiritAdvisor version of him haunting Nomad. [[spoiler:It's revealed halfway through the season he got incurable cancer and died, causing a breakdown in Team Nowhere. The Nanbu following Joe is a manifestation of his SurvivorsGuilt and inability to move on.]]

* ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'' reveals that [[spoiler:Seymour, the guy who decided to run the original Rorschach's journal at the end of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' was killed. Issue 4 also reveals that the original Silk Spectre has passed on.]]

** In a literal case of a sequel, early on during mini-series "Live Another Day" it's revealed that [[spoiler: Morris O'Brien]] died sometime after the original series in a car accident.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': [[spoiler: Sara Lance/The Canary]] survives all of season two, only to get killed off at the end of the third season premiere. [[spoiler: She comes BackFromTheDead early on in the following season.]]
* ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'' sees [[spoiler: George]] get killed in the fourth season premiere, while [[spoiler: Nina]] turns out to have died in between the third and fourth seasons.

* ''Series/TheFlash2014'', in the season 2 premiere, [[spoiler:Ronnie Raymond aka Firestorm sacrifices himself to stop the singularity created at the end of the first season.]]

* Series/GilmoreGirls had to kill off [[spoiler:Richard]] for the revival, since the actor died between the original and ''A Year In The Life''.
* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'': [[spoiler: Sarah Essen is killed in only the second episode of Season Two.]]

* ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'': [[spoiler: Beverly Katz]] is killed by Hannibal early on in the second season.

* ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'': [[spoiler:Zoe Barnes getting thrown in front of a subway train]] in the second season premiere.

* ''Series/{{Justified}}'': [[spoiler:Sammy Tonin]] is on screen for barely a minute before being killed in the season 5 premiere.

** [[spoiler: Shannon]] was one of the main characters in season 1 only to get shot a few episodes early on in season 2.
** [[spoiler:Mr. Eko]], who was a major character in season 2 but killed off just a few episodes into season 3.
** Season 4 marks the only time no main characters die early on, although several long-running recurring characters ([[spoiler: Danielle, Alex, and Karl]]) all get killed off halfway through the season to make up for it.
** [[spoiler: Charlotte]] is a main cast member in the fourth season and then is killed after only a few episodes of the fifth.
** [[spoiler: Juliet]] was a main character for several seasons only to die in the first episode of the final season. Justified, as she'd already been mortally wounded at the end of the previous season.

* ''Series/{{Skins}}'': After all they have been through in season 3 and 4, in the 7th series, [[spoiler:Naomi dies, and Emily doesn't even know about it until the very end]].

* ''Series/StargateSG1'': Kawalsky, one of the main characters from the previous ''Film/{{Stargate}}'' movie, gets infested by a Goa'uld and is killed when Teal'c administers a PortalCut to his head in the second episode of the ''[=SG1=]'' series. However, the character continues to recur in hallucinations, illusions, and alternate realities, existing only to die again each time. [[spoiler:Except for one time: the alternate-reality Kawalsky in the episode "Point of View" survives.]]

** [[spoiler: Castiel]] winds up getting killed early on during the 7th season. [[spoiler: Subverted later on in the same season when it's revealed that he was later brought back to life.]]

* Lampshaded in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', in which after helping [[SpoonyBard Elan]] [[TookALevelInBadass Take A Level In Badass]], Julio Scoundrel tells him that to avoid dying, he never wants to see him ever again. [[spoiler:However, he does later come to save him after being convinced that the greatest heroes are those who can defy genre conventions.]]

* On ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice,'' [[{{Animorphism}} Garfield]]'s mom Marie was killed in the TimeSkip between seasons. [[AllThereInTheManual The tie-in comic]] reveals it to be a PsychicAssistedSuicide from a vengeful [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Bee]]. Similarly, Tula/Aquagirl joined the team and died between seasons, with her death being the catalyst for another character's FaceHeelTurn. [[spoiler:At least, that was his excuse for joining the villains - he was really a FakeDefector.]]

** Randyll Tarly shows up in only one episode of Season 6 after being mentioned several times since Season 1 and gives a very good impression as Samwell's domineering father who made an impact on his character. Then in the middle of Season 7, he's roasted by Daenerys' dragons. This is justified because Season 7 is shortened to seven episodes.

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'': Glenn Rhee and Abraham Ford are both killed off in the Season 7 premiere; the latter after having been around since the fourth season, the former since the ''first episode of the entire show''.

* In the middle of ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'', [[spoiler: Hiccup's father]] dies as a result of protecting Hiccup from [[spoiler:Toothless, who is {{brainwashed}} by [[BigBad Drago]]'s Alpha Dragon]]. Then, the Viking-styled funeral scene really makes sure that he's truly dead.

* ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'' reveals that [[spoiler:Seymour, the guy who decided to run the original Rorschach's journal at the end of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' was killed. Issue 4 also reveals that the original Silk Spectre as passed on.]]

* ''Anime/MegaloBox'': Nanbu is implied to have died during the five-year TimeSkip between the first season and ''Nomad'', with a SpiritAdvisor version of him haunting Nomad. [[spoiler:It's revealed halfway through the season he got incurable cancer and died, causing a breakdown in Team Nowhere. The Nanbu following Joe is a manifestation of his SurivorsGuilt and inability to move on.]]

* ''Anime/MegaloBox'': Nanbu is implied to have died during the five-year TimeSkip between the first season and ''Nomad'', according to the SpiritAdvisor following him. [[spoiler:It's revealed halfway through the season he got incurable cancer and died, causing a breakdown in Team Nowhere. The Nanbu following Joe is a manifestation of his SurivorsGuilt and inability to move on.]]

* JC, the main supporting character of the 1998 video game ''[=SiN=]'' dies just minutes into its anime sequel counterpart, ''[=SiN=]: The Movie''. He goes through a particularly gruesome transformation and has to be put down by his boss, John Blade. This clears the way for JC's [[{{Rule 63}} younger, hotter sister]] ([[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute whose role and name are identical to her brother's]]) to join Blade's police force.
* ''Manga/UQHolder'' does the offscreen variant: the first chapter opens with a brief montage which both establishes that the series is set about 60 years after ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima''... and also strongly implies that the majority of the cast has passed away during that time. It also goes out of it's way to show Negi's tombstone.[[spoiler: At the very least, we know that ''Negi'' isn't dead yet...]]

* ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' invokes this throughout ''Side:Future'' by putting the old characters in deadly situations. In fact, it might even be Inverted since nearly everyone from previous installments made it out unscathed, [[spoiler:while nearly all the ''[=DR3=]''-only characters died.]]

* The sequel to the ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' fanfic ''FanFic/MoreThanMyFriend'' starts with both Mac's mother and his brother getting into a car accident. This causes Mac to be sent to an orphanage, but eventually CoolBigSis Frankie adopts him.

* King Harold in ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek 2}}'' has a good example of a non-death HeroicSacrifice, as he throws himself in the path of the Fairy Godmother's wand to save Shrek. The result is that his previous 'happy ending' is removed and he is turned back to the frog he was. But he's still alive at the end of the movie, and his wife doesn't mind his being a frog at all. Unfortunately, within the first act of ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'', King Harold, well, croaks no more... thus kicking off the plot of the film.

* At the very beginning of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars 2}}'', we find out that Doc Hudson's medical clinic has been converted into a memorial museum dedicated to him due to [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim the death of actor]] Paul Newman. Also, the trophy Lightning [=McQueen=] won prior to the events of that film is called the "Hudson Hornet Memorial Piston Cup."

* ''Series/{{Dark Matter}}'': The season 2 premiere sees One/Derrick Moss being gunned down by lookalike Jace Corso.

* ''Series/{{House of Cards US}}'': [[spoiler:Zoe Barnes getting thrown in front of a subway train]] in the second season premiere.

* ''Series/{{Law and Order}}'': The actor who played Sgt. Max Greevey left the show after the first season. In the second season opener, Sgt. Greevey is killed execution-style outside his home while getting papers from his car. It is obviously [[FakeShemp not the same actor]]; all we see is his hat and trench coat from the back.