Our Hero Is Dead/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: An episode ends with a Cliff Hanger and The Hero's apparent death, which turns out to not have actually happened.

  • Straight: After a dramatic duel with the sadistic Eva, Marcy is flung backwards and takes a header off a not-so-convenient cliff. Cue screams from her friends and Eva's Evil Laughter.
  • Exaggerated: Every episode ends with Marcy's apparent death
  • Justified: The show needs ratings. The show is famous for cliff hangers, almost to the point of a running gag.
  • Inverted: A bleak Wham! Episode ends with a Hope Spot.
  • Subverted: Marcy dies for real.
  • Double Subverted: ...But then comes back from the dead thanks to a recently acquired Chekhov's Phoenix Down.
  • Parodied: Marcy has pulled this stunt so many times that the other characters no longer react with any concern.
  • Deconstructed: ???
  • Reconstructed: ???
  • Zig Zagged: ???
  • Averted: The Hero survives.
  • Enforced: "We need to establish Eva's a threat, but we can't kill anyone off... so let's have her defeat Marcy instead and make it look like she killed her."
  • Lampshaded: "Oh, God, they killed Marcy! How could this happen? She's the main character!"
  • Invoked: Losing badly against Eva, Marcy deliberately fakes her death.
  • Defied: Eva refuses to let the credits roll until she's verified whether or not Marcy's actually dead.
  • Discussed: ???
  • Conversed: ???
  • Played For Laughs: ???
  • Played For Drama: Eva seemingly kills Marcy. The rest of the cast is incredibly distraught and they spend the next few episodes trying to cope with Marcy's death. Just when the cast abandons hope, Marcy appears and reveals that she actually survived.

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