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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|'''Ira:''' Snag it and put it in the bucket.
'''Harry:''' I've seen this movie; [[Trope Namer|the black dude dies first]]. [[Defied Trope|You snag it!]]
|''[[Evolution (film)|Evolution]]'' }}
Pretty self-explanatory trope: in a film which involves a lot of character deaths, it seems like the black actor will inevitably be the first to go.
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In the past this perception was because there were few black leads in big-budget films outside of those that focused specifically on race or used it to make a point. Historical moviemakers were generally writing to white audiences, so it was natural (at least in their opinion) for whites to get more screen time. And if the writers throw in a [[Token Minority]] to give the cast more believable racial balance, who do you think is going to die first, them or the folks who have a bigger role in the script?
A notable subversion of this trope came from the 1971 film ''[[
As black actors became more common in significant roles, this trope found new ways to stay relevant. Films would take a [[Scary Black Man]], turn him into [[The Big Guy]], and kill him off to [[The Worf Effect|show how strong their monster is]]. In horror films, the afflicted main character might have a sassy [[Black Best Friend]] that gets killed off to show that [[Shoo Out the Clowns|this is no laughing matter]]. 80s horror shows were good at this, and film makers had growing backlash against all the exploitation films.
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Compare [[Bury Your Gays]] as well as [[Red Shirt]].
{{noreallife|Real Life is not a movie, and does not conform to movie tropes.}}
{{
{{examples}}
== Anime & Manga ==▼
== Played Straight ==
* Episode 22 of ''[[Code Geass]] R2'' has the introduction of the only black Knight of the Round, Knight of Four Dorothea Ernst. However, she only gets a few seconds of screentime before Suzaku blows her Knightmare out of the sky, ''seconds after the battle starts''.
* Gorobei is the first to die in ''[[Samurai
* In ''[[Berserk]]'', Pippen is the first named character to die during the Eclipse.
* Inverted in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team]]'' with Terry Sanders Jr. Every squad he was in before joining the title MS Team has been completely wiped out [[Survivor Guilt|and he is not happy about it]].
* The ''[[Halo Legends]]'' short "The Babysitter" follows a four-man squad. The one [[Ambiguously Brown]] member doesn't even get a name or dialogue before he dies.
* In ''[[Blood:
* In the ''[[Gunsmith Cats]]'' OVA, the sole black character, Jody, is the only good guy to die, and he dies because he's [[Too Dumb to Live]].
* Out of the 11 students who died during the attack on the Mars base in the first episode of ''[[Blue Comet SPT Layzner]]'', Judo is the both only one who was named and the only one who was black.
* In ''[[Bleach]]'', the black captain dies first. Go figure. Subverted, becuase he is resurrected. Then dies again. Yeah. Though, as a villain, it isn't all that surprising that he dies.
* In one arc of ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'', Sousuke is sent on a mission with five other soldiers to kill [[Axe Crazy|Gauron]]. Out of the group the first to die is the black team captain.
* Averted in ''[[King of Thorn (Manga)|King of Thorn]]''. The black guy (his name is Ron) is one of the toughest members of a group of [[Action Survivor|ActionSurvivors]]. In the manga he lives all the way to the end of of the series. In [[The Movie]] he is the third member of the group to die, being preceded by two white guys.▼
=== Comic Books ===
* In the [[Elseworld]] comic series, ''[[JLA:
* Who is the first character to die in ''[[Midnight Nation]]''? That would be the black guy who tries to clue in heroic detective David Gray about what is ''really'' going on.
* Black Goliath is the first superhero to die in ''[[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]]''. And he wasn't just any black dude, he's a ''giant'' black dude. For the record, perhaps four other people died in that conflict.
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* [[Discussed Trope|Set up]] in ''[[The Expendables]]''' parody, where there is a character known only as (even by that character himself) "Muscly Black Dude Who Dies A Gruesome Death", and whose purpose is only to say "You're totally mad, bro!" and "You said it, dude!". He frequently [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this behaviour, and even explains how a [[Fatal Family Photo|family photo]] is the way they chose to give depth to his character. Eventually [[Averted Trope|averted]], because the first one to die is [[Dolph Lundgren]]'s [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|character]].
=== Film ===
* In ''[[Heat]]'' the first member of the criminal gang to get killed is Donald Breedan, played by Dennis Haybert. Doesn't seem fair, since he'd only been a gang member for mere hours.
* In ''[[RED]]'', Morgan Freeman dies first, then turns up alive, then is the first to die for real.
* In ''[[Aliens]]'' Frost is the first major character to go, and Apone isn't far behind him. The original ''Alien'' averted the trope, with Parker dying second-last.
* Reversed in ''[[
* In ''[[The Island]]'' Starkweather Two Delta provides a major hook to the film in his horrific early death, while the very distinctly African Albert Laurent manages to escape the violent deaths that claim most of his team-mates and make a rather significant [[Heel Face Turn]] at the end.
** As Michael Bay mentions on the commentary track to the DVD, he actually asked the actor Djimon Hounsou something like "How would you like to be the black guy who ''doesn't'' die?"
* ''[[The Monster Squad]]'' - the only character with any lines to die in the movie is a black cop. How does it happen? [[Dracula]] blows him up with dynamite.
* ''[[Halloween Resurrection]]'': Averted, as the only black character (Played by [[Busta Rhymes]]) survives.
* Corporal Eightball in ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]'', sent to do recon, first to be abated.
* In ''[[Gremlins]]'', the black science teacher dies first.
* ''[[Enter the Dragon]]'' plays it straight. Of the three main protagonists, Williams exists only to show off his fabulous afro and be killed by the villain first. However, this did not happen by design. In the original script, Roper died in Williams's place. [[Executive Meddling]] switched their roles around.
* In ''[[Stargate (
* Subverted in ''[[Night of the Demons]]'' in which the [[Uncle Tomfoolery|Comedy Black Man]], apparently a minor character in the beginning, eventually rescues [[Final Girl|The Final Girl]], becomes the hero, and survives the movie.▼
▲* In ''[[Stargate (Film)|Stargate]]'', the black soldier is not even present during the first alien attack, but is still the first one to die. As it happens, the team had split into two groups, and the group without the black soldier came under attack; however, that group was incapacitated by solely non-lethal means, simply knocked out with hard blows to the head. When the other group (With the black guy) returns, the first thing the aliens do is shoot the black guy, and then proceed to start firing wildly at the rest of the soldiers.
* In ''[[United 93]]'', between the two pilots of the aforementioned plane, one is white while the other is black. Give ya three guesses who's the first to get shanked by the hijackers.
* Paul Winfield has had this happen to him in his SF films, including twice in the [[
* In ''[[Resident Evil: Extinction
* In the 90s slasher film ''[[Dr. Giggles]]'' this is almost exaggerated as the first two teens to die are both black. The film also has a black cop who has a much more prominent role. He still dies at the end though.
* In ''[[Virus (Film)|Virus]]'', the black crew member appears to die halfway through the movie, but in a surprise twist, comes back at the end armed with a rocket launcher to save the hero and the heroine from the monster. Only to die in the process.▼
* Happens twice in the film version of ''[[The Crow]]''. The first of T-Bird's crew who Eric encounters and kills is Tin-Tin, the black knife-wielding guy. Then, near the end of the film when Eric is trying to rescue Sarah, Grange is the first to die when Albrecht guns him down.
▲* In ''[[The Edge (Film)|The Edge]]'', Harold Perrineau is eaten by the bear first.
▲* Happens twice in the film version of ''[[The Crow]]''. The first of T-Bird's crew who Eric encounters and kills is Tin-Tin, the black knife-wielding guy. Then, near the end of the film when Eric is trying to rescue Sarah, Grange is the first to die when Albrecht guns him down.
* ''[[Queen of the Damned]]'' begins with Lestat waking up from his sleep and drinking a black man's blood dry.
* The first person to die in ''[[Alien Nation (
* ''[[
* In [[B-Movie]] ''[[The Killer Shrews]]'', as seen on ''[[
* In ''[[Red Dawn]]'', the black history teacher is the first person the Soviets kill after parachuting onto school grounds.
* In ''[[Assignment Outer Space]]'', this is why [[The Captain]] gets the [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. ([[The Millstone]] saves the day).
* The Agony Booth recap of ''[[Hulk (
* In the miniseries adaptation of of [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Langoliers]]'', the sole black man in the group of survivors dies first. (In the original, he wasn't black, though he wore a [[Red Shirt]].)
* Not a dude, but the first member of the team killed in ''[[Hollow Man]]'' is the token minority.
* ''[[Scream (
** The black cameraman later points out that "Brothers don't last long in situations like this."
* In ''[[American Psycho]]'', The first victim the films shows Patrick Bateman killing, is a homeless black man. Of course, it's debatable rather he really did the killing, or if it was just a figment of his imagination - like the other killings in the film.
* In ''[[Deep Blue Sea]]'', the actual first deaths are of white people; however, of the group of survivors trying to reach the surface Russell Franklin (played by [[Samuel L. Jackson]]) dies first. The other black character, Preacher, is [[Genre Savvy|well aware of this trope]].
{{quote|
** He lives. One of only two characters who do.
** Interestingly, this film appeared to be following the modern take, with Samuel L. Jackson being the most prominent actor among the cast. [[Sacrificial Lion|It certainly looked like he was the hero/main character]] right up until his [[Rousing Speech]]. His death is essentially a [[Shocking Swerve]]. Also, Jackson's character's race was not written in the script; anyone could have been cast in the role.
* ''[[Fantastic Four (
* ''[[Wing Commander (
* In ''[[Stealth]]'' not only does the black dude die first, he was the one out to avoid the conflict that lead to it.
* The Nature's-revenge flick ''[[Kingdom of the Spiders]]'' plays it straight as well. The one farm in town owned by a black couple is ground zero for the imminent tarantula invasion. The husband is the first human to die, after the spiders kill his cattle [[Kick the Dog|and dog]].
* The original ''[[Dawn of the Dead (
* Inverted in the direct-to-video monster movie ''[[Frankenfish]]'', where none of the white characters make it to the end.▼
* Inverted in ''[[Night of the Living Dead (Film)|Night of the Living Dead]]''. The only black guy in the group survives the night, and then gets shot in the morning, after being mistaken for a zombie. ▼
▲* The original ''[[Dawn of the Dead (Film)|Dawn of the Dead]]'' also inverts this trope, but takes a somewhat different tack: this time around, the only black guy is one of the two survivors, and he manages to escape with his life. This was changed at the last minute from the original plot ending, where the last two surviving humans in the mall choose to commit suicide. Meanwhile, the 2004 ''Dawn'' [[Dawn of the Dead 2004 (Film)|remake]] had two major black characters. One goes crazy when his pregnant wife turns into a zombie, and gets shot. The other survives to the [[Bolivian Army Ending]].
* In the British/Irish horror movie ''Wilderness'', the only black inmate was the first one to die.
* The first death showed in the ''Saw'' rip-off ''Are You Scared'' was that of a white girl, but when the actual cast of six teenagers was introduced, the obnoxious black guy was the first one to kick the bucket.
* In the 70s picture, ''The Great Santini'', a black dude does die first, but he manages to kill his killer too.
* The heroic party in the ''[[Dungeons
* The [[
** Another SciFi Original, ''Scream of the Banshee'', has the black police officer get killed off first. Otto's actor [[Todd Haberkorn]] [http://twitter.com/#!/ToddHaberkorn/status/51816502881550336 immediately lampshaded this] during the premiere.
** [[Running Gag|And another one]], ''Ice Age 2012'' (not related to ''[[Ice Age]]'' or ''[[
* The cult film ''Straight to Hell'' by Alex Cox averts the trope by leaving only the black guy alive among the film's many male characters.
* Panic in ''[[
* Happened in ''[[Death Wish V the Face of Death]]'' when Tommy O'Shea's goons killed a lesser black worker from the fashion department execution style.
* In ''[[Christine]]'', a black assembly-line worker is the first victim of the titular killer car.
* The first victim in ''[[
* The only black character in ''[[Spider Baby]]'' is killed in the film's intro. Interestingly, from the same director who would later bring us [[Blaxploitation]] classics ''[[Coffy]]'' and ''[[Foxy Brown]]''.
* ''[[The Mutant Chronicles]]'': Both black guys who appear in the film [[Dropped a Bridge
* ''Magma: Earth's Molten Core'' has the [[Jerkass]] mayor die in on coming lava while screaming "NO!" Or was it him getting buried in hot rocks? It's hard to tell.
* In the ''Halloween'' remake, Joe Grizzly is Michael's first "proper" victim after he escapes the [[Bedlam House|mental institution]].
* In ''[[Super 8]]'', when Colonel Nelec's bus is attacked, he tells one of his soldiers to shoot the attacker with a tracking dart while having the driver open the door. Both are black, and both evidently have seen this movie before, because they both immediately give him a look which just screams "Oh, hell no." Predictably, both die.
** Earlier, the movie actually subverted the trope. There was Doctor Woodward, the black man in the [[Almost-Dead Guy]] state after a train crash. You'd think he would die by the time the Air Forces reached him. But nope, the doctor survived the train crash and the capture, then died after the deaths of a sheriff, a shop clerk and a cableman (all white, in that order).
* In ''[[X
** Of course, he may not have been [[Killed Off for Real]], since as Raven says, they "[[Never Found the Body|[couldn't] even bury him]]" and because, well, [[Death Is Cheap|he's a comic book character]].
** It's worth noting that he is ''not'' the first character to die, only the first ''mutant''. We see a friend of the protagonists killed a few minutes before Darwin, and ''dozens'' of CIA agents are killed in one shot by the big bad before Darwin's death.
* In the hip-hop drama ''[[8 Mile]]'', one of B Rabbit's opponents, Lotto, raps during their freestyle battle: "I'll spit a racial slur honkey, sue me/This shit is a horror flick [[Averted Trope|but the black guy doesn't die in this movie]]."
* In ''[[Alien vs. Predator|Alien vs. Predator: Requiem]]'', a group of five high school students (including one black student) is ambushed by an Alien inside the high school. Guess which one the Alien kills first.
* The black character Luther is the first person to die in 1973 film ''[[The Sting]]''.
* In ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'', the two black guys are the first and second members of the boat crew to die.
* Played straight in the beginning of ''[[Jurassic Park]]''. And also in the third movie. Not the first person die, but first on screen.
* A pair of black policemen accidentally fall off a building to their deaths while attempting to pursue a criminal in ''[[The Other Guys]]''.
** Noteworthy in that it's Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, the last people you would expect to die.
* ''[[Dead Air (2009
* This happens twice in ''[[Mortal Kombat (
* This never factored into the ''[[Final Destination]]'' movies until the fifth, [[Inverted Trope|in which the very last scene drops a bridge on the sole surviving cast member, a black guy.]]
* [[Will Smith]] isn't even immune to this trope in a movie he's the lead in. Witness ''[[I Am Legend]]''. Sure, 99% of the population has died by the time the show starts, and various Dark Seekers and animals, but Robert Neville is the first immune [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|human]] to bite it. Admittedly, [[Taking You
**
* ''[[The Bucket List]]'', which is about two men who both realize that they are going to die, has [[Morgan Freeman]]'s character die first at the end.
* Both ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'' movies open with this trope; the rhinoceros characters are consistently played by black voice actors, most prominently [[Michael Clarke Duncan]], and they die (in the first movie, in droves) first.
* In ''[[300
* ''[[
* ''[[State of Play (
* ''[[A Christmas Story]]'': When Ralphie gets his BB gun and fantasizes about shooting the villains, the black guy gets shot first.
* [[Sanctum]] is a sort-of case; the first male character to die (a woman dies earlier) is a New Guinea native, dark-skinned but not African.
* ''[[
* Played straight after the opening scene in ''
* [[John Carpenter]]'s ''[[Ghosts of Mars]]'' has a triple-header: Braddock, the first of the main cast to die, is black, a woman, ''and'' a lesbian.
** His other movie ''[[The Thing]]'' is interesting that beside the main character, the two black characters survive up to the very end, one of them even a [[Red Shirt]].
* Averted in ''[[Attack the Block]]''... [[Ziz Zagging Trope|sort of]]. The first people to die are a pair of white police officers, but the first ''named'' character to die is black, as is every other casualty. All the white characters survive. However, Moses and Biggz both survive and Moses is the one who ultimately saves the day.
* Inverted in [[Independence Day]]. The hero is black and sidekick/comic relief is white. The white guy is the first named character to die in the movie.
* Averted in ''[[Captain America the First Avenger]]''. Out of the military group that fights with Steve Rogers, his white best friend ends up dying first, not the black soldier who was equally in danger during the train scene. ▼
* Averted in ''[[Battleship (Film)|Battleship]]'', surprisingly enough, given that Cora Raikes is not only black, but a [[Vasquez Always Dies|gun toting weapons specialist]] and the only other female lead in this film. ▼
=== Literature ===▼
* In ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'''s fifth book, Beckendorf is the first to die (in a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], but still). On the one hand ''The Last Olympian'' [[A Death in
▲== Literature ==
** Subverted in [[The Film of the Book]]
▲* In ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'''s fifth book, Beckendorf is the first to die (in a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], but still). On the one hand ''The Last Olympian'' [[A Death in The Limelight|was his debut as a major character]] (he had been more of a background figure before). On the other, given Bianca and Zoe in ''The Titan's Curse'', he's not exactly the first major character to die in the series.
▲** Subverted in [[The Film of the Book]]--while Grover stays in the Underworld so the others can leave, he returns by the end of the movie, and appears to have had quite a good time with Persephone.
* The novel ''Morrigan's Cross'' by Nora Roberts. It's pretty obvious what's going to happen because (a) he is the only black guy, and (b) there's 4 guys and 2 girls and it's a romance novel, so you have to get another girl in the mix somehow.
* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''[[
* While on the Subject of Dan Abenett. In [[
* Though not the first death in the series, Ajihad is the first to die in the second book of the ''[[
* [[Discussed]] in ''[[Everworld]]'', as a joke from Christopher to Jalil.
* ''[[In Death]]'': ''Judgment In Death'' has a black cop named Kohli be the first murder victim.
*
=== Live
* A ''[[Star Trek:
** In an alternate timeline of ''[[Star Trek
** There are also examples of black [[Red Shirts]] all throughout the ''Star Trek'' universe who die before their similarly-garbed comrades.
* The first person to die in the pilot of ''[[Andromeda]]'' is a young black officer named Thompson. He's named after Cronan Thompson, a young black internet personality who was involved in many online arguments with the show's creator, Robert Wolfe. Cronan died of cancer at 19, and Wolfe included Thompson in his pilot as a tribute.
** An aversion: Early in the ''[[Star Trek the Original Series (TV)|Star Trek the Original Series]]'' episode “By Any Other Name”, the alien Kelvans reduce two [[Red Shirts]] to blocks: Lieutenant Shea, a black guy, and Yeoman Thompson, a woman. The Kelvan leader crushes one block, killing that crewmember, and restores the other block; Thompson’s the dead one, and Shea is restored to normal. ▼
* In the New Zealand [[TV 3]] docu-series ''Aftershock'', the first person shown to die as a result of the Cook Strait earthquake is a Maori man.
▲* The first person to die in the pilot of ''[[Andromeda]]'' is a young black officer named Thompson. He's named after Cronan Thompson, a young black internet personality who was involved in many online arguments with the show's creator, Robert Wolfe. Cronan died of cancer at 19, and Wolfe included Thompson in his pilot as a tribute.
* In BBC's ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'', they added black knights to Uther's court. The [[Monsters of the Week]] seem to love killing them, and if a knight needs to die to establish the threat, it will be the black dude. Being a Black Knight in Merlin appears to be like being a [[Red Shirt]] in Star Trek. Heaven help you if you're a black Knight and wearing a red tunic.▼
▲* In the New Zealand [[TV 3]] docu-series ''Aftershock'', the first person shown to die as a result of the Cook Strait earthquake is a Maori man.
▲* In BBC's ''[[Merlin (TV)|Merlin]]'', they added black knights to Uther's court. The [[Monsters of the Week]] seem to love killing them, and if a knight needs to die to establish the threat, it will be the black dude. Being a Black Knight in Merlin appears to be like being a [[Red Shirt]] in Star Trek. Heaven help you if you're a black Knight and wearing a red tunic.
** The first major character to be killed in the series was Tom, who is also black.
* Also from the BBC is ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]''. A couple of faceless [[Mooks]] die in the two-part pilot, but the first named character to die (get stabbed in the back, to be precise) is De Fourtnay, the Sheriff's Man-at-Arms. [[
** Brother Tuck was played by David Harewood (black), and was one of the few characters to survive the [[Everybody Dies]] finale of the show.
* In ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', although his death is [[Never Found the Body|ambiguous]], the first character to leave the main cast is the black Lieutenant Ford.
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by Turk in the episode of ''[[Scrubs]]'' where LaVerne dies. "If this was a horror movie, I'd be afraid I'd be next. They always kill off the black people first." [sic]
* ''[[
* In the pilot episode of ''[[The Greatest American Hero]]'', the first person to die is Bill Maxwell's black partner.
* In ''[[Jekyll]]'' Benjamin is Hyde's first (human) kill. After Hyde has tortured, mauled and, um... [[Fate Worse Than Death|done other things]] to people, the first time he actually takes a someone's life is to slice Benjamin's throat for threatening his family.
* The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "The Time of Angels" wipes out two black guys first.
** In Rise of the Cybermen, when the eponymous robots attack Jackie's party, the black President dies first.
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** In the episode "Closing Time", the pre-credits death is that of a black woman, and in the episode proper the [[Scary Black Man]] security guard also bites it.
* Following a number of near-death experiences for various members of the ''[[Ashes to Ashes]]'' team, the first regular character to truly cop it is black desk sergeant [[Sacrificial Lion|Viv James]].
** Technically, given what was revealed in the finale, Viv wasn't the first to die. But he was the only one that ended up in Hell, which is worse.
* ''[[Flashpoint (TV series)|Flashpoint]]'': Of the main cast, the first cast member to die is Louis Young, the SRU's sole black officer.
* In the ''Pro-Life'' episode of the ''[[Masters of Horror]]'' series, the black security guard is the first to die.
* In ''[[The Outer Limits]]'' [[Revival]] episode "The Vaccine", the helpful young black man is the first of the group of survivors to die, when feral dogs attack him outside of the quarantine zone and compromise his environmental suit, exposing him to a lethal virus. Ultimately subverted, when he turns up alive at the end; the survivors lived not because they hadn't been exposed to the virus, but because they were immune.
===
* WWE's "The Nexus" faction is sort of doing this. Barring Daniel Bryan's legit firing, the first two guys officially dumped were black (Darren Young [beaten down and thrown out after losing to Cena] and Michael Tarver [taken out by Cena himself]). Also David Otunga looks to be the next guy to leave.
** Otunga split from the Nexus and formed The Corre which had another black guy Ezekiel Jackson. They were the first to be ejected, though at least Otunga was against their will.
* In a Fatal 4 Way elimination match in 2004, the first diva eliminated was Jazz but more infamously, when champion she was the first to be eliminated in the battle royal Gail Kim debuted in, because [[Tap
=== Video Games ===
* The first named character to die in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' was the black DARPA Chief, Donald Anderson. Subverted when it turned out that he was [[Latex Perfection|an albino disguising himself as Anderson]], and then twisted back around again, because the real Anderson was killed off-screen before Snake's arrival.
** ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'' is divided into two chapters. In both chapters, the first named character to die is a black man - Scott Dolph in the Tanker portion and Peter Stillman in the Plant portion.
** Apparently averted in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'' when Sigint lived through the end of the game. However, in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'', it's revealed that Sigint was actually Donald Anderson, who was, of course, the first character to die in the very first ''Metal Gear Solid''.
** ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' itself averts this, since the only two black characters in the game, Ed and Drebin, both managed to survive.
* In ''[[
** Also, your character's mother at the very beginning, during the birthing sequence. (According to the ingame files, she's African American)
* In ''[[Crysis (
** Oh, that black guy who got better? His name is Prophet, and he dies first in the sequel. Although he did get better...sort of. [[It Makes Sense in Context]].
* In ''[[Siren (
* [[Kill'Em All|A lot of people]] died in ''[[Dead Space (
** In ''[[
* In ''[[Halo]]'', the first major non-gameplay casualties are the black Sgt. Johnson's [[Numerological Motif|seven]]-man squad. [[Word of God]] indicates this was originally [http://forums.bungie.org/halo/archive4.pl?read=82872 intended to stick].
* In ''[[Operation Winback]]'' for the N64, the main story involves tracking down your fellow squad members from whom you were separated. One of the first to be encountered is Matt, the black squad member, who instantly receives a sniper bullet to the face from one of the game's later bosses.
* The early ''[[Resident Evil]]'' games played this straight with the likes of Kenneth J. Sullivan (''[[Resident Evil 1]]''), Marvin Branagh (''[[Resident Evil 2]]''), and Tyrell Patrick (''[[Resident Evil 3: Nemesis]]''). While technically speaking none of them die first, they don't really contribute much in the story other than get killed as soon as they appear. The most egregious example listed is Marvin, who was actually intended to be an important side-character in the canceled first version of ''Resident Evil 2'' (aka ''[[Vaporware|Resident Evil 1.5]]''), but was [[Demoted to Extra]] in the actually released version.
* The first named character to die in ''[[Shin Megami Tensei
* The first member of your squad to die in ''Blacksite: Area 51'' is Mitchell Ambrose, the only black man. He's also introduced by showing you pictures of his family and was also going to ask for leave after this mission.
* In The [[Chzo Mythos]] game ''7 Days a Skeptic'', Barry dies first. The assignment also [[Retirony|happens to be the last before his retirement]], so he never really stood a chance.
** Also in ''Trilby's Notes'', Abed is the first, and only, character to die. Unless you count the prologue and the flashbacks. Not a typical example since this happens near the end of the game.
* In the suicide mission at the end of ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', Jacob Taylor, the only black party member, volunteers for the first task. If you select him for this task, he gets shot in the face with a rocket. Avertable, if the player is [[Genre Savvy]], or if you didn't upgrade the Normandy's weapons, shields, and/or armor (if any of the three are not upgraded, someone else dies, first). The player can also send
* Inverted in ''[[Metroid: Other M]]''. Anthony Higgs is the only member of the federation crew to survive the bottle ship incident.
* Played straight in ''[[
* ''[[In the 1st Degree]]'' has only character die. His name is Zachary Barnes, and he is a black guy shot dead by his white business partner James Tobin. Fortunately, the point of the game is to make sure Tobin goes all the way down for Zack's murder.
* In the ''[[Soldier of Fortune]]'' series, Hawk is the first named sympathetic (player's side) character to die.
* In ''[[Front Mission]] Evolved'', Captain Hamilton is the first major NPC to die after being [[Impaled
=== Web Comics ===
* In ''[[Erfworld]]'', Lord Manpower the Temporary is killed on page 2, and is black at the time. (Later, he's green, like the rest of the uncroaked.) Technically, though, he was the last of Stanley's warlords to die. Just the first dead character in the story proper.
* In ''[[
=== Western Animation ===
* ''[[Superman:
* ''Wolverine and the X-Men'': Swat team flees from faceless terror in the middle of a blizzard. Black guy gets dragged off.
* In the ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' episode ''Dark Heart'', Billy the rock climber gets eaten by the alien first. Given that he's not only black, but ''male'', this overlaps with [[Men Are the Expendable Gender]].
** The ''[[Wonder Woman (
* On ''[[
* In ''Spaced Out'' a black Kratch Industries suit got dissolved by acidic pulp, which security aimed at an escaped experimental organism that had to be taken out at all cost.
* Lampshaded in the DVD extras for ''[[The Incredibles]]''. In the "commentary" for an episode of an in-universe cartoon about Mr. Incredible, Frozone complains when his character is injured... "The black superhero gets it first". When Mr. Incredible reminds him that he had already complained about the show making "him" white, he amends it to "The TAN superhero gets it first!"
* Averted in [[Transformers the Movie|the animated ''Transformers'' movie]] where Jazz is actually one of the few classic Transformers from the G1 franchise to actually survive the film's events. However, due to the death of his actor Scatman Crothers, Jazz mysteriously disappears by the time the third season premiered.▼
== Aversions, Inversions, and Subversions ==
=== Anime and Manga ===
▲* Averted in ''[[
===
▲* Subverted in ''[[Night of the Demons]]'' in which the [[Uncle Tomfoolery|Comedy Black Man]], apparently a minor character in the beginning, eventually rescues [[Final Girl|The Final Girl]], becomes the hero, and survives the movie.
▲* In ''[[
▲* Inverted in the direct-to-video monster movie ''[[Frankenfish]]'', where none of the white characters make it to the end.
▲* Inverted in ''[[
▲* Averted in ''[[Captain America:
▲* Averted in ''[[Battleship (
* Averted in ''[[The Shining]]'' when the only black character leaves the hotel near the beginning of the story. [[Enforced Trope|Enforced]] when he returns to the hotel near the end of the movie - and is the first to die.
=== Live-Action TV ===
▲
=== Western Animation ===
▲* Averted in [[Transformers:
== Lampshaded
=== Comic Books ===
* When Ambrose Chase dies in ''[[Planetary]]'', the [[Genre Savvy]] villain comments that "this is science fiction movie. The black guy always dies in the science fiction movie." (They were in a reality-warping field that made reality follow movie cliches, so this was , literally, the reason he died.)
* Parodied in a comic by [[Johnny the Homicidal Maniac|Jhonen]] [[Invader Zim|Vasquez]] describing the worst movie ever made.
{{quote|
White guy: "AAARGH!! YOU KILLED BLACKY!!" }}
* In Kyle Barker's war comedy ''Special Forces'' the opening splash page of the very first issue is the black squad member's head exploding and the main character actually lampshading this quote in her narration.
=== Fan Works ===
* Explicitly averted and lampshaded in the ''[[Worm]]/[[Luna Varga]]'' crossover ''[[Taylor Varga]]'': [[Genre Savvy]] mercenary Trevino is black, and for that reason refuses to go first into a dark room from which creepy sounds have emanated:
{{quote|I've ''seen'' this movie, I ''know'' what happens to the black guy. Fuck ''that''. Someone else can take point. ''I'll'' cover ''them''.}}
:* [[Played for Laughs]] when the ''second'' mercenary in line then tries to get out of going in first by virtue of being Irish. It doesn't work.
=== Film ===
* ''[[Evolution (
** The guy who said it (Orlando Jones) had actually originally used the line in a ''[[Mad TV]]'' sketch.
* Parodied and defied in the first ''[[Scary Movie]]'': after the ''[[Scream (
** Which was actually based off of a similar occurrence in ''[[Scream (
** Also, it's discussed fully in another scene, with text to this effect:
{{quote|
"W-what about me?"
"Mulattos, too!" }}
** Lampshaded ''again'' in ''[[Scary Movie]] 2'', when it's suggested they split up.
{{quote|
'''Theo:''' She's right, we should stick together.
'''Dwight:''' She's right. Okay.
[points to the white people in the group]
'''Dwight Hartman:''' You three, follow me!
[the three black people are left alone]
'''Shorty:''' Ain't that a bitch.
[the three of them begin to cry]
'''Brenda:''' We gonna die, y'all. }}
* ''[[Undercover Brother]]'''s Conspiracy Brother complains about this trope.
{{quote|
* The movie ''[[Canadian Bacon]]'' features a scene in which this theory is discussed, and various examples are given. It ends with the one black guy looking really nervous. He not only survives, though, he goes on to prove that black athletic superiority extends to hockey, too.
* Lampshaded and subverted in ''[[South Park: Bigger, Longer
{{quote|
* Preacher of ''[[Deep Blue Sea]]'' is well aware of this trope, and records his legacy - the perfect omelet recipe - in anticipation of his death.
* Defied in ''[[Get Out!]]'', where Rod is not only black, he's the comic relief, two traits often viewed as death sentences in horror movies. Not only does he survive, he actually saves the day at the end.
* Deconstructed in ''[[The Babysitter]]'' John is indeed the first character killed, but he's one of the bad guys.
* Enforced in the 2022 horror-comedy movie ''[[The Blackening]]'', where the characters are forced to decide which of them is "the blackest" and thus dies first. Lampshaded in the film's promotional poster, which reads "We Can't All Die First".
=== Jokes ===
* Referenced/invoked in a joke making the rounds circa 2017-8, referencing actor [[Sean Bean]] and his [[Chronically-Killed Actor|history of playing characters that quickly get killed well before the story ends]]: If Sean Bean and a black guy are both in a [[Horror Films|horror movie]], which one dies first? Answer: Sean Bean plays the black guy.
=== Live
* Wayne Brady on an episode of ''[[Whose Line
{{quote|
* In an episode of ''[[Psych]]'' parodying slasher films, Gus refuses to leave the house because "I've seen enough slasher movies to know that when the brother goes off to the woods, he doesn't even sorta come back!" Ironically he not only survives, but is the ONLY person to not only survive a one-on-one fight with the killer. And he also WINS.
* In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' season 7, the following exchange occurs after some of the potential slayers (including Rona, who is black) are "killed" in a training exercise:
{{quote|
'''Rona:''' 'Cause the black chick always gets it first?
* In an episode of ''[[Married...
* Lampshaded by Turk in the ''[[Scrubs]]'' episode "My Long Goodbye"
* A skit on ''[[Fridays]]'' called "The Moral Majority Variety Hour" included a magician who made the only black man in the audience disappear.
* In one rather funny moment on ''[[Smart Guy]]'' Moe and Marcus are sitting down to watch a scary movie. Marcus' girlfriend objects to the violence, Moe says he's only watching it for Jada Pinkett. Marcus and his girlfriend get into an argument about something else, and are suddenly cut off by loud screaming. Moe, oblivious to the argument, moans, "There goes Jada. Black folk always die first."
* During [[
{{quote|
**
* Parodied in ''[[Power Rangers Lost Galaxy|Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy]]'':
{{quote|
=== Newspaper Comics ===
* ''[[The Boondocks]]'', naturally, had to mention this one when [https://www.gocomics.com/boondocks/1999/05/09 Huey writes a letter to George Lucas].
=== Web Comics ===
* In ''[[Bad Guy High]]'' a corrupted Super Dan killed jacob the black member of the team and its lamshaded
* Sort of referenced in [http://www.captainsnes.com/2008/10/24/guest-halloween-special-7/ this] ''[[Captain SNES]]'' Halloween special, despite several people having died already.
* One of many horror movie cliches parodied in the "KITTEN" arc of ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]''.
* Discussed in ''[[Ansem Retort]]'', where Zexion notes that as long as the black dude is alive, the rest of them are safe. Then Namine points out that racism aside, they don't ''have'' a black dude.
{{quote|
=== Web Original ===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100823212951/http://graphjam.com/2009/07/22/song-chart-memes-life-horror/ This chart on GraphJam] detailing the life expectancies of horror film characters.
* In [[Survival of the Fittest|SOTF-TV]], the first character to die is Anthony Rollins, who is, well, black. He actually [[Lampshade Hanging|hangs a lampshade]] on this right before he dies.
{{quote|
* And [http://d.facdn.net/art/drakefenwick/1208912065.drakefenwick_screwed.jpg this] shows even polar bears are subject to this trope.
* [[Tobuscus]] lampshades this in his [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2W32cOTgo8&feature=related literal trailer] of ''[[Shark Night]]'', when the black man Malik is attacked.
** "She can't believe that THAT guy died first."
* The idea is repeatedly and viciously lampshaded in a ''[[SF Debris]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20131017002906/http://blip.tv/sf-debris-opinionated-reviews/tng-where-silence-has-lease-review-4923330 review of the episode] of
{{quote|
** and later. He does the voices of the various cast members to summarize the scene:
{{quote|
'''Riker''': "Oh, no!"
'''Picard''': "Oh, no!"
'''Troi''': "Oh, no!"
'''Data''': "Oh, no!"
'''Black Red-Shirt''': "MOTHER FUCKER!" *dies*
'''Picard''': "Send another red-shirted black fellow to the bridge."
'''Geordi''': *leaves*. }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140322054757/http://weknowmemes.com/2012/01/if-theyre-all-black-then-how-are-we-supposed-to-guess-who-dies-first/ This] poster of ''[[Red Tails]]''.
* ''[[Disventure Camp]]'' plays this straight in Allstars when James is the first boot of the season, though he doesn’t actually die. It’s averted pretty hard in the second season, however.
=== Western Animation ===
* Parodied in an episode of ''[[South Park]]'', itself a parody of the movie ''[[The Core]]''. In the original, a black scientist dies after engaging a switch deep while in almost direct contact with the Earth's mantle; in the parody, Cartman explicitly picks Chef as "the black man who will sacrifice himself". This is subverted, however, as Chef safely makes his way through the crowd of Hippies, does what was asked, and gets back... only for Cartman to keep going on as though Chef had died.
* The episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' with the infamous MENDOOOZZAAAAA! scream features
* The animated series ''[[Funny Face]]'' has the black watermelon as the first and only character to die.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Dead Horse Trope]]
[[Category:Death Tropes]]
[[Category:This Index Is Not an Example]]
[[Category:Race Tropes]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Index of Exact Trope Titles]]
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