Famous Last Words are very character-defining last words of a character, to the point that they represent the very climax of that character's development, leaving a lasting impression on the other characters and the fans.
This is difficult to write despite being just a few words. Misuse it and it can come off as cheesy. Done perfectly and it can even garner the respect of a fan that hated the character. An affectionate subversion is that a character utters what they expect will be their Famous Last Words — but survives after all.
Compare Sedgwick Speech, where a character gets killed directly after his speech or one-liner, usually in an ironic fashion. See also "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner where a character says a one-liner before knowingly facing death, Pre-Mortem Catchphrase when a character's Catchphrase ends up being their last words and Dying Curse when these words are a curse. See also Dying Declaration of Love and Dying Declaration of Hate. Often a Tear Jerker.
Contrast Lame Last Words, which are last words that are completely innocuous or pathetic—after all, not everybody has the right to famous last words. However, such last words can become famous last words if they are memetic enough.
It should be noted that this doesn't exclusively refer to the sarcastic saying for when someone makes a statement that is very soon proven in a fatal manner to be wrong.
Massive Spoilers Within, so don't go further if you don't want them.
Examples
- Anime & Manga
- Comic Books
- Fan Works
- Films — Animated
- Films — Live-Action
- Literature
- Live-Action TV
- Theatre
- Video Games
- Web Animation
- Webcomics
- Web Original
- Western Animation
- Other Media
- Real Life
