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This can be used as vengeance against a recalcitrant actor (see [[Dropped a Bridge on Him]]) or just a dramatic way of writing off a departing one (see [[McLeaned]]), especially on soaps such as ''[[Coronation Street]]'' or ''[[Days of Our Lives]]''. Sometimes [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]; when an actor dies, [[The Character Died with Him|The Character Dies with Him]]. The death is often reinforced by [[Deader Than Dead|presenting it in a spectacularly over-the-top way]] just to drum it into the audience's head that this character is not coming back.
 
Despite what the trope title may suggest, being Killed Off For Real is still no guarantee that a character won't come [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]] far into the future; the [[First Law of Resurrection]] makes sure of that. Creators are gradually replaced over a work's run, and they have different ideas on who should or shouldn't be alive. Even when the same creator sticks around, she can always change her mind later on. And even if such a death occurs in the [[Grand Finale]], they may still be subject to being [[Uncanceled|revived along with the show]].
 
May lead into [[Personal Effects Reveal]], [[Meaningful Funeral]], [[To Absent Friends]], and [[Dead Guy, Junior]]. See also: [[Tonight Someone Dies]], [[Disney Death]], [[Not-So-Small Role]], [[Really Dead Montage]]. For the [[Video Game]] version, see [[Final Death]].
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* ''[[Scream (film)|Scream]]''. The [[Genre Savvy]] heroine makes sure the villain ''stays dead''.
{{quote|'''Randy Meeks:''' Careful. This is the moment when the supposedly-dead killer comes back to life for one last scare.
[''Billy starts to rise, only to receive a [[Boom! Headshot!|headshot]] from Sidney.'']
'''Sidney Prescott:''' Not in my movie. }}
* Captain James T. Kirk in ''[[Star Trek Generations]]''. Let's just say they... [[Dropped a Bridge on Him]].
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* In ''Pretty Little Liars'', anyone who is important to the plot is gonna die soon. Toby committed suicide, Mona was pushed off a cliff, Ian, Jenna, and Courtney were all murdered by Ali. Played with with Ali (Oooh, is she ''really'' dead??)
* In "The Grey Griffins: The Clockwork Chronicles," during the end of the first book, a boy named Robert gets killed, without any chance of coming back, after his spirit's host, a large war robot, is disassembled.
* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' loves this trope: notable characters who died include, but are not limited to, Viserys Targaryen, Eddard Stark, Robb Stark, Robert Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, Joffrey Baratheon, Tywin Lannister, Balon Greyjoy, Khal Drogo, Oberyn Martell, Sir Rodrik Cassell, Maester Aemon, Maester Luwin, Lysa Tully, Beric Dondarrion (finally), and others, with several characters [[Not Quite Dead]] and a few cases of [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]].
* In [[Warrior Cats]], most of the cats who die either end up in StarClan or the Dark Forest, but they're dead all the same and are unable to [[Death Is Cheap|come back to life]], even though some of the dead cats can interact with the living.
** [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] with the leaders, who have nine lives. If they die once, they lose a life, and so on. However, when they lose their last life, [[Played Straight|they still are killed off for real]].
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* Also getting bumped off fairly quickly was Wild Bill Hickock in HBO's ''[[Deadwood]]'', after just four episodes.
** Since the show was based on reality, Hickok in real life never made a comeback either.
* Several title characters were killed off permanently on ''[[St. Elsewhere]]'', including Drs. <s>Kiem</s> Armstrong (suicide) and Caldwell (AIDS). In an interesting subversion the terminally ill Dr. Aushlander, whom the residents had a pool for when he would drop, lasted until the last episode.
** Disgraced doctor Peter White was shot dead by Nurse Shirley Daniels after being found innocent of rape charges (he was guilty, and she knew it).
** Dr. Elliot Axelrod was unexpectedly killed off by a heart attack in the penultimate episode.
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{{quote|--'''Benjamin Linus'''}}
* The majority of the cast of ''[[The Sopranos]]'', including the vast majority of the mafia characters of any prominence. Of the mob-level characters who make the main cast, you can more or less count the number who are still alive by the series' end on ''two hands.''
* In the final episode of ''[[Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future]]'', Jennifer dies when the Power Base self-destructs. Even though there was a fairly blatant angle for her to come [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]] (The very last thing we see of her is Blastarr aiming his digitizer—a device which can save humans to disc for archival—at her), the [[Word of God]] is that not only did she die, but she already had massive internal injuries from the preceding scene that would have killed her even if she hadn't been blown up. Had the series been renewed, much of the following season would have dealt with Captain Power's failure to cope with her death.
* In the period drama ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs]]'', Lady Marjorie Bellamy sails to visit family in America and Canada in April 1912. She's on the Titanic.
* Yes, noone but Marian in ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]''.
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** Yes, the same director who was killed off herself in the fifth season.
** And Mike Franks, too.
* In ''[[Reno 911!]]'' Deputies Garcia, Johnson, and Kimball were killed in the parade float crash.
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'': Eden McCain, Simon Deveaux, Isaac Mendez, Daniel Linderman, D.L. Hawkins, Kaito Nakamura, Niki Sanders, Bob Bishop, Adam Monroe, Elle Bishop, Arthur Petrelli, Benjamin "Knox" Washington, Daphne Millbrook and Nathan Petrelli. All major or significant recurring characters, and all Killed Off for Real.
* Two cases in ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'', Kutner committing suicide in the middle of Season 5, and Amber's death being the focus of the 4th Season Finale.
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** Lt. Ford, Carson Beckett, and Elizabeth Weir on ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]''. Beckett was resurrected via cloning. Ford's fate was left up in the air. Weir was turned into a replicator and left floating in space.
** And now Sgt. Hunter Riley on ''[[Stargate Universe]]''.
** SG-1 has a (somewhat distracting) habit of giving [[Not Quite Dead|recurring villains]] with a bad habit of [[Back Fromfrom the Dead|coming back from the dead]] ambiguous death scenes in which you [[Never Found the Body|never see the body]]. ...in at least two cases, Apophis and Hathor, said villains were actually ''never seen again''.
*** After Apophis is finally killed off, Jack O'Neill even lampshades this tendency, revising his 100% certainty that their four-season opponent was dead down to "99% sure". Then the guy returns in hallucinations and [[Alternate Timeline]]s.
* In ''[[Dexter]]'' Rita, Dexter's wife is killed off for real at the end of season 4. Ironically, in a show about a killer, where minor and major characters are killed off constantly as part of the show's concept, this death is especially poignant and heartbreaking.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' had this happen to a race as part of a retcon.
** [[Late Arrival Spoiler|Horus]] would be an example of this happening to someone who isn't a [[Red Shirt]] and had access to ways of cheating death. He was Killed Off for Real by a psychic attack from the Emperor that ''obliterated his soul''.
** Captain Tycho of the Blood Angels was killed off in the Armageddon worldwide campaign.
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== Videogames ==
* After coming [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]] some 20 times over the course of the ''[[Castlevania]]'' series, Dracula is destroyed for good in the beginning of the game ''Aria of Sorrow''. He tries to reincarnate, but Soma Cruz (the would-be reincarnation) wants nothing to do with it, and thus Dracula stays dead. People argue about to what level Soma is Dracula, but it's kind of a meaningless argument, as the games following it are all set ''before'' ''Aria''.
** And the event in question hasn't been put into a game yet!
* ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' is popular for the sad, emotional death of one of your main party members Aerith, where she is suddenly stabbed right through her back by the main villain Sephiroth. Although there [[Urban Legend of Zelda|are many rumours about resurrecting Aerith in some way created by fans]], the only way to do so is through some cheating device (which invariably messes up your game anyway). May be spoilers but... [[It Was His Sled|surely you've heard of this by now]].
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** In ''[[Phantasy Star|Phantasy Star IV]], Alys Brangwin is hit by, declines from, and permanently dies [[Heroic Sacrifice|due to saving the main protagonist Chaz Ashley]] from the Dark Energy Wave. It is specifically mentioned that healing techniques do nothing to help as her health declines.
* ''[[Tekken]]'' has several cases of this, especially after the time skip and Ogre attacked and absorbed several characters' abilities, with suspicions that he killed them for good. But most characters later were brought back in the latter installments, thereby setting up that the only one Killed Off for Real were Jun Kazama and the original King. Not to worry, they got their successors all right (Asuka and the second King).
** Armor King was another case where at first, he's thought to be Killed Off for Real outside the Ogre interference (Marduk killed him), but he reappeared in ''Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection''. However, his personality is rather different, raising predictions whether Armor King really came [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]], or it's Armor King's successor and the first Armor King was really Killed Off for Real.
*** ''Tekken 6'' reveals that the Armor King who attacked Craig is the brother of the original Armor King; he even used the same outfit and stage name alongside his brother at the same time.
** Kunimitsu was supposedly killed off for real by Yoshimitsu in ''Tekken 2'', although there's no official [[Word of God]].
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* ''[[Steel Battalion]]'' does this WITH THE PLAYER. The game is so determined to present the most realistic mecha combat simulation possible, that there is no way to resume a game after you die; when your mech is close to blowing up, you are given ample chances to eject. If you don't, and your character dies, it ERASES YOUR SAVE.
* Zero, throughout the entire ''[[Mega Man X]]'' series, has been killed and resurrected several times already. However, at the end of the ''[[Mega Man Zero|Zero]]'' series, he is never coming back, with a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] that will last.
* Tassadar, in the original ''[[StarcraftStarCraft]]'', dies to save the galaxy from the original Zerg Overmind. It is completely real, as far as video games go: he gives a stirring speech to those who will live on after him, to remember what was done there that day, which is then followed by the cinematic of him effectively blowing himself up via his awesome psionic abilities, and taking the Overmind with him. In sequel games, the death is so complete that the Protoss change their usual greeting of "An'taro Adun," which effectively means "May Adun protect you," to "An'taro Tassadar." If he were brought back, it would destroy half the ''Starcraft'' canon.
** In the sequel, it seems that Blizzard has managed to do just this without ruining the canon. Tassadar comes back just long enough to warn Zeratul of the impending apocalypse in the capacity that Obi-wan does in ''[[Star Wars]]'', as a sort of Force ghost, or Khala ghost, as it may be.
** Many other characters are also killed, most of them in the Brood Wars expansion and some in official (or authorized) side campaigns. Other than obviously the Overmind (and the new Overmind formed to replace it); these include Raszagal, Gerard DuGalle(suicide), Edmund Duke, Fenix (died, came back, then Killed Off for Real), Aldaris, Alan Schezar, probably Ulrezaj, Atticus Carpenter, Edullon, Jack Frost and EVERY ZERG CEREBRATE. Most of these are unlikely to come back, however it is not impossible as Fenix came back once before dying again, and it turns out Alexei Stukov is definitely [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]]. Even so, the only ones likely to come back are the cerebrates...and probably not the same ones. Other characters also die in other media, such as the novels.
* While a few characters in the ''[[Warcraft]]'' series have cheated death such as Medivh, many others have been Killed Off for Real. King Llane, Blackhand, Gul'dan, Anduin Lothar, Ogrim Doomhammer, King Terenas, Uther the Lightbringer, Grom Hellscream, Tichondrius, Mannoroth, and Archimonde from the RTS games have all died in ways to show that they likely won't be coming back, even with all the resurrection and necromancy present in the series. Llane had his heart ripped out, Blackhand had his head cut off, Gul'dan was torn apart by demons, Lothar and Doomhammer both died on the battlefield (not the same battle), Terenas and Uther were both slain by Arthas with Frostmourne, Hellscream died in a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], Tichondrius was permanently killed by Illidan after Illidan absorbed the Skull of Gul'dan's power, Mannoroth was killed by Hellscream's aforementioned [[Heroic Sacrifice]] (and his ''skeleton'' has been made into a memorial dedicated to Hellscream), and Archimonde was ''disintegrated'' by the released power of the World Tree. And that's not even covering the characters permanently killed by the players in ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. Although Gul'dan's soul "lived on" within his skull.
** In the Wrathgate event of [[World of Warcraft]]'s Wrath of the Lich King expansion, Highlord Bolvar Fordragon and Dranosh Saurfang are killed off for real. With Wrath's new "phasing" technology it's now possible to kill NPCs off for real for any individual player by changing the way they interact with the game world. This happens to a number of NPCs in several quest lines, after which they are never encountered again by that player and other NPCs will refer to them in the past tense. (Although they can still be not-yet-killed from another player's perspective.)
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* The game ''Evil Genius''. If one of your henchmen is defeated 3 times, they're gone for good.
* Most every Roguelike game has this in effect for the player; dying deletes the save for the character, meaning any player death is permanent. Often times in these there are randomized dungeons involved that can very easily lead to player death for something small or impossible to see coming, like a very powerful creature showing up well before the player is ready, or a trap destroying critical pieces of the player's equipment. Slightly subverted in those that have an item (Amulet of Life-Saving in ADOM) that will resurrect the player immediately after death (usually breaking to avoid invulnerability).
* The upcoming [[PlayStationPlay Station 3]] exclusive ''[[Heavy Rain]]'' will feature permanent death, even making it possible to have a standard ending with all of the playable characters dying.
** Funnily enough, two of the characters have [[Plot Armour]] that doesn't come off until endgame. Those two are Ethan - who can be killed by the police or commit suicide - and Shelby - who dies either by getting shoved into a grinder by Jayden, shot by Jayden/Ethan/Lauren or impaled by Madison.
* After being an immortal villain for almost the entire series up until ''[[Resident Evil]] 5'', Albert Wesker turned into a monster and was finally -according to [[Word of God]]- [http://ps3.ign.com/articles/100/1006931p1.html killed for good]. Word of God ''also'' said ''[[Resident Evil]]'' would definitely [[Flip-Flop of God|never come back to the Playstation]], so make of that what you will.
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** Borders on [[Nintendo Hard]] in the ''X-Universe'', because the game can't distinguish between dying because your ship got shot to pieces and dying because the [[Random Number God]] decided to [[Tele Frag|make a cruiser crash into you at a jumpgate]]. (In fairness, that would be really hard to code.)
* {{spoiler|Shandra Jerro}} in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]''.
* Turned into a core game mechanic in ''[[Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume]]''. Activating the titular item [[Super Mode|maxes out a character's stats]], at the cost of [[Deadly Upgrade|having them die permanently at the end of the battle]].
* Several characters die in ''[[Blaz BlueBlazBlue]]'', but due to the [[Groundhog Day Loop]] the game takes place in, no-one ''stays'' dead. There are, however, two exceptions to this: [[SNK Boss|Nu-13]], who dies at the end of ''Calamity Trigger'', and [[The Woobie|Lambda-11]], who performs a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in ''Continuum Shift'''s True Ending. As of the True Ending of ''Continuum Shift'', the [[Groundhog Day Loop]] is broken, so anyone who dies from here on out dies for good. Given the [[Darker and Edgier|tone]] [[Anyone Can Die|establ]][[The Bad Guy Wins|ished]] [[Crapsack World|so]] [[Bittersweet Ending|far]], expect more entries to be added here soon.
* ''[[Arkham City]]'' concludes with the death of The Joker. Yes, even despite having [[Joker Immunity]]. Even Comissioner Gordon is stunned by the news. Mark Hamill has since tweeted that he had a great time playing the Joker, but he won't be doing so anymore.
{{quote|'''Batman''': "You know what's funny? Even after everything you did, I still would have saved you." ]]
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* The character Bush was killed near the end of ''Exploitation Now!'' She started off as a minor character but after [[Cerebus Syndrome]] set became one of the two protagonists.
* ''[[Erfworld]]'' example: After Wanda gets the Arkenpliers and reveals its powers of 'decryption', Parson hopes that she can decrypt Bogroll, since he died in a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. This hope is quickly squashed when Wanda points out that his remains "were rather thoroughly obliterated."
* Angels and demons are told to not have any afterlife in ''[[Slightly Damned]]''. [[Word of God]] says that the character in question was created completely from the dreamer's imagination, no [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]] involved.
* [[Megatokyo|Fred Gallagher]] [[Word of God|confirmed]] the death of Tohya Miho in #1244, a DPD strip:
{{quote|Yes, yes, Miho is no more, I know.}}
** [[Lying Creator|He lied.]] [[He's Just Hiding|She was just hiding.]]
*** [[This Is Unforgivable!|Yurusenai.]]
* Freddy from ''[[Horndog]]'', although he later [[Back Fromfrom the Dead|came back]] [[Rise Fromfrom Your Grave|as a zombie]].
* Kairi was killed off in the first season of ''[[Ansem Retort]]''. [[Word of God]] says if she ever comes back to life, he's officially run out of ideas.
* Dave Kelly was very fond of this trope in his comics. In Purple Pussy he killed off Shelly Squirrel, and all the characters expected she'd come back since this was just a comic. She didn't. And in his other comic, Living In Grey Town, he had so many important characters killed off willy-nilly that he added in a counter for every time a character died. By the end there were only a handful left.
* [[Homestuck]] appears to be fond of this lately, though because of how many ways there are to come back <s> [[Came Back Wrong|wrong]]</s>, it remains to be seen just who all is gone for good. At least Bro has been confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt for now.
** [[It Got Worse]]: The trolls are dying with [[Kill'Em All|alarming frequency]](Though at least one got better.) and both the kid's and troll's guardians are all officially dead. On the other hand, the fairly generous afterlife offered by the dream bubbles means that death is little more than a minor inconvenience. Though it still equates to putting them on a bus for all narrative purposes.
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', where as a general rule [[Death Is Cheap]], Lord Shojo was attempted to be resurrected, but apparently he refused to come back (in [[Dungeons and& Dragons]], resurrection spell only works if the subject is willing to come back). Similarly, Therkla said she wouldn't come back just before she died. Other characters were killed [[Deader Than Dead]], such as Kubota. Miko is a special case: while there is no in-story proof, [[Word of God|the author]] specifically said she won't come back.
** We can now add [[Dark Chick|Tsukiko]] to the list as well—Redcloak just had her own wights kill her and eat her body, and no body means no resurrection.
*** And this came within strips of Redcloak having [[Total Party Kill|completely wiped out]] the Resistance (with the exception of Niu, who escapes).
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[WITCH (animation)|WITCH]]'' killed off quite a few of the lesser villains, such as Tridart and Ember being disposed of by Nerissa when they were no longer needed. In the finale, Tracker is also subsequently impaled and killed.
* Thanks to [[Media Watchdogs]] and the cultural osmosis of [[Back Fromfrom the Dead|a certain comic book trope]], being Killed Off for Real in American children's programming is so rare, it's hard for some to grasp. Jet's fate on ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', despite being tragically obvious, was surrounded by [[He's Just Hiding|speculation]] that he somehow survived. They just don't do that in kids' shows! [http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=40634&type=0 A SciFi.com interview with the program's creators], however, has confirmed this character was indeed Killed Off for Real.
** In the third season, Combustion Man is also Killed Off For Real.
** Yue in the first season finale. An odd one, as the excuse for Jet's death not being shown was that the network wouldn't let them show a kid die onscreen - but Yue's death ''was'' onscreen, and she was the same age. It ''might'' be because Jet's was a violent death, while Yue's looked more like she fell asleep, and she was shown becoming the Moon Spirit immediately after, while Jet was just dead.
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* At the end of the ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'' two-parter "Apokolips Now", after Darkseid's invasion of Earth is thwarted and just before he leaves he murders Superman's friend Metropolis Police Inspector Dan Turpin with his Omega Beams in front of Superman and a crowd of onlookers. Some fans hoped Turpin was just teleported to Apokolips like Kalibak had been after ''he'' got apparently zapped, but it seems he's gone for good.
* ''[[The Boondocks]]'' Season 1: "Granddad's Fight." The karmic fate of life-long, Five-Star [[Magnificent Bastard]] Colonel H. Stinkmeaner, who effectively gets his ass handed to him by Robert Freeman in an ironic [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: Stinkmeaner had beaten up Freeman in an argument over a parking spot, and the entire episode revolves around Huey making him out to be a version of a blind assassin, and Robert training for a rematch. It turns out Stinkmeaner was just a crotchety old man who got lucky. Unfortunately, he's such a temporal [[Jerkass]], absolutely ''nobody'' realizes this until Robert pulverizes him. The beating is so bad, Stinkmeaner ends up stone-cold dead with a solid punch to the face. Feeling remorseful at his grave, Robert prays to God for forgiveness the end of the episode.
** Although dead, Stinkmeaner [[Took a Level Inin Badass|makes one hell of a return]] in Season 2: "Stinkmeaner Strikes Back"- ''literally''. Stinkmeaner has been sent to hell after death, but now proves he can seriously fight back- by pummeling his way through every demon who steps up to challenge him. Satan himself is so marveled at Stinkmeaner's badass exposition, he [[Like a Badass Out of Hell|sends him back to Earth]] to [[Resurrected for a Job|spread ignorance and chaos among the black community]], also giving him the opportunity to seek revenge against the Freeman family. As a ghost, he posesses Tom Dubois and trashes most of his house. After Uncle Rucks and Riley fail miserably at exorcising Stinkmeaner, Ghostface Killah's spirit shows up and clues Huey in to the solution: put Stinkmeaner at peace by having Ruckus spout off about how he hates black people, a hate Stinkmeaner firmly shares with him. Moments later, he's exorcised and sent right back to hell.
** In yet another Stinkmeaner-related episode, death strikes again, this time nailing Bushido Brown, via [[Off with His Head|on-screen decapitation]] during his fight in Season 3: Stinkmeaner 3: The Hateocracy". The Colonel apparently palled around with a group of disgruntled elderly, [[Jerkass|nigh-crazy jerkasses]] who formed the Hateocracy, a gang that wreaked havoc within the walls of a nursing home. The members of the gang show up to [[Curb Stomp Battle|curbstomp]] the Freeman family in what looks like a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]], so the Freemans hire Bushido as their equally jerkass bodyguard, who actually holds off the Hateocracy- until he catches a [[Everything's Better with Spinning|spinning disk of doom to the neck]]. The Freeman family's reaction? A group [[Precision F-Strike|"OH, SHIIIIT!"]].
*** It gets more bizarre when Stinkmeaner's name comes up. Robert tries to reason with the Hateocracy to leave them alone and forget revenge, and they reveal they couldn't care less about the deceased Colonel- [[For the Evulz|they're just ruining lives for the hell of it]]. Luckily, an army of cops shows up in the nick of time to cart off the unruly trio. Taking a jab of his own at his ungrateful cohorts, Stinkmeaner's ghost, who has been narrating on and off throughout the episode, [[Lampshade Hanging|hangs a cynical lampshade on his fate over his old pals]]: He thinks death and hell are ''better'' than being in jail!
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