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- All humans will, without exception, eventually die.
- After they die, the place they go is MU. (Nothingness)
- Once dead, they can never come back to life.
- After they die, the place they go is MU. (Nothingness)
- Once dead, they can never come back to life.
— The final three rules of the Death Note
"Dying means to be gone, and what goes is not your pain but your existence itself. But in your mind, you think you'd have a sense of 'nothing' after you die. How can you call that 'nothing'? In other words, you don't even have an idea of what death is really like."
— Izaya Orihara, Durarara!!
Fan Works
"To die is to be held once more in divine darkness, the Mother Darkness from which all Life was born; the body returns to earth as sustenance and the soul forgets, one day returning to Life as something new."
— Mothra's perspective, Abraxas (Hrodvitnon)
"I've seen things in my time, dragon, that would change your mind. Did you know that the soul is destroyed when the body dies? Think about it. There is nothing on the other side. Only the void, and nopony exists in the void."
Spike shook his head. "No. That can't be true."
"I have seen it!" she said, slamming a hoof down like a meteor. "It is null. Zero. We do not rejoin loved ones, there is no heavenly paradise. All living things just wink out, forever. This," she waved a hoof around them, "this is all there is. I was here before Celestia, before Discord, before the Three Tribes even, and I'm never leaving. Do you understand? Never!"
Spike shook his head. "No. That can't be true."
"I have seen it!" she said, slamming a hoof down like a meteor. "It is null. Zero. We do not rejoin loved ones, there is no heavenly paradise. All living things just wink out, forever. This," she waved a hoof around them, "this is all there is. I was here before Celestia, before Discord, before the Three Tribes even, and I'm never leaving. Do you understand? Never!"
— Daylight Burning, Chapter 8: "Storm Tide"
"You asked why Dark Wizards are afraid of death. Pretend, Headmaster, that you really believed in souls. Pretend that anyone could verify the existence of souls at any time, pretend that nobody cried at funerals because they knew their loved ones were still alive. Now can you imagine destroying a soul? Ripping it to shreds so that nothing remains to go on its next great adventure? Can you imagine what a terrible thing that would be, the worst crime that had ever been committed in the history of the universe, which you would do anything to prevent from happening even once? Because that's what Death really is — the annihilation of a soul!"
Film — Live-Action
"Eventually, the universe just throws you away."
— Bob, Defending Your Life
"Human, have you ever been to Hell? I think not. I'd rather not exist than go back to that, and if everyone has to go down with me, so be it!"
— Azrael, Dogma
"You want me to say it, brother? You want me to say I'm afraid? Doesn't that go without saying? When mortals die, their souls go somewhere — there's no place where gods go when they die! There's nothing, just oblivion..."
— Hades, Wrath of the Titans
Literature
"For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun."
OBLIVION, n. The state or condition in which the wicked cease from struggling and the dreary are at rest. Fame's eternal dumping ground.
"Most of the bodies were cactus. Some, he saw with misery and without surprise, were still breathing. They lay discarded: husks, empty bottles. They would drool and piss and shit their last imbecilic days or hours out in this stifling hole, until they died of hunger and thirst and rotted as mindlessly as they had at the end.
They could not be in paradise or Hell, thought Isaac despondently. Their spirits could not roam in spectral form. They had been metabolized. They had been drunk and shat out, converted by vile oneirochymical processes and become fuel for a slake-moth flight."
They could not be in paradise or Hell, thought Isaac despondently. Their spirits could not roam in spectral form. They had been metabolized. They had been drunk and shat out, converted by vile oneirochymical processes and become fuel for a slake-moth flight."
The Chaplain: And do you really live with the thought that when you die, you die and nothing remains?
Meursault: Yes, I said.
Meursault: Yes, I said.
The mind blanks at the glare. Not in remorse
- The good not done, the love not given, time
Torn off unused - nor wretchedly because
An only life can take so long to climb
Clear of its wrong beginnings, and may never;
But at the total emptiness for ever,
The sure extinction that we travel to
And shall be lost in always. Not to be here,
Not to be anywhere,
And soon; nothing more terrible, nothing more true.
- The good not done, the love not given, time
Torn off unused - nor wretchedly because
An only life can take so long to climb
Clear of its wrong beginnings, and may never;
But at the total emptiness for ever,
The sure extinction that we travel to
And shall be lost in always. Not to be here,
Not to be anywhere,
And soon; nothing more terrible, nothing more true.
— Philip Larkin, "Aubade"
"All the worry people expend over not existing after they die, yet nary a one ever seems to spare a moment to worry about not having existed before they were conceived."
— Miles Vorkosigan, "Cryoburn"
Live-Action TV
"Dimwits. We are all Thra - all except you. You do not return to Thra when you perish. What happens to you when your part of the song is done, hm? Never figured that out, did you? Tried, but failed. Maybe nothing is all that waits for you. So make your choice: do we have a deal, or will you sentence one of your own to endless oblivion?"
— Aughra to the Skeksis, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, "The Crystal Calls"
Chidi: We're gonna set up a new kind of door, somewhere peaceful, so that when you feel happy and satisfied and complete and you want to leave the Good Place for good, you can just walk through it, and your time in the universe will end.
Tahani: You don't have to go through it if you don't want to, but you can. And hopefully knowing that you don't have to be here forever will help you feel happier while you are.
Guy: What will happen when we go through it?
Janet: Well, we don't really know, exactly. All we know is it will be peaceful and your journey will be over.
Michael: You led great lives. You earned your place here. So stay here as long as you like. Use the green doors to see and do every single thing you want to see and do. And when you're ready, walk through one last door, and be at peace.
Tahani: You don't have to go through it if you don't want to, but you can. And hopefully knowing that you don't have to be here forever will help you feel happier while you are.
Guy: What will happen when we go through it?
Janet: Well, we don't really know, exactly. All we know is it will be peaceful and your journey will be over.
Michael: You led great lives. You earned your place here. So stay here as long as you like. Use the green doors to see and do every single thing you want to see and do. And when you're ready, walk through one last door, and be at peace.
— The Good Place, "Patty"
Janet: What do you think happens when people walk through the door? It's the only thing in the universe I don't know.
Eleanor: I don't know either. The wave returns to the ocean. What the ocean does with the water after that is anyone's guess.
Eleanor: I don't know either. The wave returns to the ocean. What the ocean does with the water after that is anyone's guess.
"You live, you die, you're done. Good night."
— Roy, Ted Lasso, "No Weddings and a Funeral"
"That's what's going to happen to all of us. Like a hologram, we just disappear into nothing."
— Neelix, Star Trek: Voyager, "Mortal Coil"
Worzel Gummidge: (a sentient scarecrow anticipating being beheaded) What's it like not being a scarecrow no more?
Crow Man: What was it like before you were a scarecrow?
Worzel Gummidge: I don't know, sir; I don't remember.
Crow Man: That's what it's like; it's not remembering.
Crow Man: What was it like before you were a scarecrow?
Worzel Gummidge: I don't know, sir; I don't remember.
Crow Man: That's what it's like; it's not remembering.
— Worzel Gummidge, "The Return of Dafthead"
Sing: six feet deep... that's where I'm going.
Six feet deep... no afterliving.
Six feet deep... yup, it's depressing.
(...)
Sing: in a wooden box... that's where I'm heading.
A wooden box... forever dead in-
A wooden box... no resurrecting.
A wooden box... yep, it's depressing.
(...)
Sing: In A little urn... that's where they put me.
A little urn... all dry and sooty.
A little urn... no life unending.
A little urn... yep, it's depressing.
Six feet deep... no afterliving.
Six feet deep... yup, it's depressing.
(...)
Sing: in a wooden box... that's where I'm heading.
A wooden box... forever dead in-
A wooden box... no resurrecting.
A wooden box... yep, it's depressing.
(...)
Sing: In A little urn... that's where they put me.
A little urn... all dry and sooty.
A little urn... no life unending.
A little urn... yep, it's depressing.
Music
It would be swell
To see some folk burn in hell.
But when they go
It's just as pleasant to know
That the dead only quickly decay.
They don't go about being born and reborn
And rising and falling like souffle.
The dead only quickly decay.
To see some folk burn in hell.
But when they go
It's just as pleasant to know
That the dead only quickly decay.
They don't go about being born and reborn
And rising and falling like souffle.
The dead only quickly decay.
— The Gothic Archies, "The Dead Only Quickly"
Well now I know, I know why we say
That there's a better place that waits beyond the grave, oh, oh
And I know, I know it's not true
There's just no more you
But as long as there's no proof
Then I choose, I choose to believe
That we'll meet in sweet dreams after you're put to sleep
That there's a better place that waits beyond the grave, oh, oh
And I know, I know it's not true
There's just no more you
But as long as there's no proof
Then I choose, I choose to believe
That we'll meet in sweet dreams after you're put to sleep
— Will Wood, "Euthanasia"
Theatre
Guildenstern: Death is... not. Death isn't. You take my meaning. Death is the ultimate negative. Not-being. You can't not be on a boat.
(Beat)
Rosencrantz: I've frequently not been on boats.
Guildenstern: No, no, no — what you've been is not on boats.
(Beat)
Rosencrantz: I've frequently not been on boats.
Guildenstern: No, no, no — what you've been is not on boats.
"For me, there is nothing after the last grimace. If there is something, I will come back to tell you."
— Máximo "Max" Estrella, Luces de bohemia
Video Games
"I know that the elements of my body will return to the Earth. But what of my consciousness? My identity? That is to say -– what of ME? I suspect it will end. That there is no next world. Nor a return to this one. It will simply be done. Forever. Our lives are so brief and unimportant. The cosmos cares nothing for us. For what we've done; Had we wrought evil instead of good. Had I chosen to abuse the Apple instead of seal it away. None of it would have mattered. There is no counting. No reckoning. No final judgement. There is simply silence. And darkness. Utter and absolute..."
— Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Assassin's Creed
Sibrand: No, please. Don't do this.
Altaïr: You are afraid?
Sibrand: Of course I am afraid!
Altaïr: But you'll be safe now, held in the arms of your God.
Sibrand: Have my brothers taught you nothing? I know what waits for me, for all of us.
Altaïr: If not your God, then what?
Sibrand: Nothing. Nothing waits. And that is what I fear....
Altaïr: You do not believe?
Sibrand: How could I, given what I know, what I have seen? Our Treasure was the proof!
Altaïr: Of what?
Sibrand: That this life is all we have....
Altaïr: You are afraid?
Sibrand: Of course I am afraid!
Altaïr: But you'll be safe now, held in the arms of your God.
Sibrand: Have my brothers taught you nothing? I know what waits for me, for all of us.
Altaïr: If not your God, then what?
Sibrand: Nothing. Nothing waits. And that is what I fear....
Altaïr: You do not believe?
Sibrand: How could I, given what I know, what I have seen? Our Treasure was the proof!
Altaïr: Of what?
Sibrand: That this life is all we have....
"Will there been an afterlife, I wonder? Choirs of angels? Or a fiery pit? One unlearns these falsehoods over time, but the child who learnt to fear hell is never really gone. To tell the truth, I think I had enough of afterlives as it is - this one has been pretty purgatorial. Almost fifty years floating in supercooled jelly like some medical specimen, thoughts creeping like rats through cramped silicon corridors of machines trapped behind video screens and camera systems. Never sleeping, never resting, never ceasing to think about the world I no longer belong to. No, if this is a taste of the afterlife, I think simple oblivion will do nicely."
— Jacob Hargreave, Crysis 2
Pit: Stop eating things! It's bad enough that you eat souls!
Hades: But souls are delicious. They're like bacon — they taste good on everything.
Pit: But if you eat them, you completely remove them from existence! They can't move on or... or be reincarnated!
Hades: But souls are delicious. They're like bacon — they taste good on everything.
Pit: But if you eat them, you completely remove them from existence! They can't move on or... or be reincarnated!
"And out of Nothing, you came. And it is into Nothing that you will go."
"Because your body is a shadow of your mind, when your mind dies, your body will vanish. In the normal order of your world death is merely a transition in which your mind is set free. But for victims of the coming Mindkill, there is only oblivion. "
Web Animation
"Your biological processes will break down, and the dynamic pattern that is "you" will stop being dynamic. It will dissolve until there is no "you" left. Some believe that there's a part of us that we can't see or measure, but we have no way to find out, so this life might be it and we might end up dead forever. This is less scary than it sounds, though—if you don't remember the 13.75 billion years that went by before you existed, then the trillions and trillions and trillions of years that come after will pass in no time once you're gone. Close your eyes. Count to one. That's how long forever feels."
Webcomics
"Every unmade character has a limit: a rate of decay. If they are not realised before their inspiration runs out they will, ultimately, cease to exist. This was not their fault - nor is it a mark of bad design; that they came here proves otherwise."
— RGB, The Property of Hate
"When you're five years old and scared of dying, knowing the best you can hope for is a burst of dopamine and some pleasant hallucinations before oblivion isn't very comforting."
— Hannelore, Questionable Content
"Damned souls such as yourself can die in Hell, but are always back to normal the next morning. It's so they can be tortured to death repeatedly. The same is not true for demons, however. For us, death is permanent... and there is no afterlife for demons."
— Sakido, Slightly Damned
Western Animation
BoJack: Is it... terrifying?
Herb: No, I don't think so. It's the way it is you know. Everything must come to an end; the drip finally stops. (sticks his arm into the Black Door)
BoJack: See you on the other side.
Herb: (as the liquid darkness seeps out of the door and starts slowly swallowing him) Oh, BoJack, no... there is no "other side". This is it. (the darkness consumes him completely)
Herb: No, I don't think so. It's the way it is you know. Everything must come to an end; the drip finally stops. (sticks his arm into the Black Door)
BoJack: See you on the other side.
Herb: (as the liquid darkness seeps out of the door and starts slowly swallowing him) Oh, BoJack, no... there is no "other side". This is it. (the darkness consumes him completely)
Miscellaneous
"For me, there is nothing after the last grimace. If there is something, I'll come back to tell you."
— Max Estrella, Bohemian Lights
"Death's central horror is oblivion - the terrifying absolute dying of the light. [...] Death has dominion because it is not only the start of nothing; it's the end of everything."
— Ronald Dworkin, Life's Dominion
"I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear. I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state."
"Death is nothing to us, since while we exist, death is not present, and whenever death is present, we do not exist."
— Epicurus
"For only death annihilates all sense, all becoming, to replace them with non-sense and absolute cessation."
— F. Gonzalez-Cruzzi
"It will happen to all of us, that at some point you get tapped on the shoulder and told, not just that the party’s over, but slightly worse: the party’s going on — but you have to leave. And it’s going on without you."
"A true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death - the huge solace of thinking that for our betrayals, greed, cowardice, murders we are not going to be judged."
— Czesław Miłosz
"Once you are dead, you are nothing."
— Graffiti found in the ruins of Pompeii
"Now if you suppose that there is no consciousness, but a sleep like the sleep of him who is undisturbed even by dreams, death will be an unspeakable gain. Now if death be of such a nature, I say that to die is gain; for eternity is then only a single night."
— Socrates
"Death solves all problems — no man, no problem."
— Attributed to Joseph Stalin
Annihilation has no terrors for me, because I have already tried it before I was born—a hundred million years—and I have suffered more in an hour, in this life, than I remember to have suffered in the whole hundred million years put together.
— Mark Twain's autobiography
