View source for Sacrificial Lion

{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Kill the spare."''
|'''Voldemort''', ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (novel)|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]''}}

The '''Sacrificial Lion''' is a sympathetic character who [[Friendly Target|is slated to die]] so that the audience knows that [[Knight of Cerebus|the villain is playing for keeps]], or that [[Matter of Life and Death|the situation really is as dangerous and desperate as it seems]]. The death is ultimately unnecessary in the large scheme of things, but it does provide a shocking twist to the proceedings.

The main distinction between this and a [[Sacrificial Lamb]] is in the presentation of their characters. The [[Sacrificial Lamb]] is a throwaway minor character who is made to be likable just so that the audience feels sad when they die. Their death provides no real change to the plot, only that we know the enemy is [[Dead Serious]].

On the other hand, the Sacrificial Lion might not be central to the plot, but the character isn't throwaway; quite often, in fact, a Sacrificial Lion will be one of the second- or even first-tier characters. Their death usually produces a noticeable [[Wham! Episode|shockwave]] to the story or change the way the rest of the characters behave. Sometimes they die specifically to bump the villain over the [[Moral Event Horizon]]. If their death is key to the story (such as a political assassination), then it ceases to be a "sacrificial" character and becomes plot relevant.

Often found in [[Anyone Can Die]] stories. A [[Mauve Shirt]] is frequently in danger of becoming a '''Sacrificial Lion''', if the writers decide to kill him off for a cheap shock. [[Decoy Protagonist]]s can rapidly become '''Sacrificial Lions''' as well, in which case this also qualifies as a [[Gut Punch]]. This is essentially [[The Worf Effect]] taken right to the hilt. Compare the [[Knight of Cerebus]], who probably killed him. In a video game, his death is likely to be a [[Player Punch]].

May or may not have anything to do with actual [[Messianic Archetype|sacrificial]] [[Chronicles of Narnia|lions]].

{{deathtrope}}

{{examples}}
==  Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Death Note]]'':
** Naomi Misora is probably on the borderline between a Sacrificial Lion and a [[Sacrificial Lamb]]. She starts out as a savvy victim of [[Not Now, Kiddo]]. After the predictable results, she gets her own [[Backstory]], the beginnings of [[Character Development]], and stars in the prequel novel. Her death reveals the series' [[Anyone Can Die]] nature.
** The more straightforward ''Death Note'' example comes later. [[Let Them Die Happy]] has rarely been so tear-jerking.
* The lovable Maes Hughes of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' dies a ways into the series. He was already well underway to unraveling the plot before the main protagonists (and it's not until a good deal later that the protagonists ''and'' the audience discover just ''how'' close Hughes had come to figuring out the villains' scheme) and even manages to get the drop on his assassin.
* Robert "Roy" Device from ''[[Silent Moebius]]''.
* Nuriko of ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'' was killed by an enemy warrior roughly two-thirds of the way through the story. It came as a real shock since Nuriko was a [[Boisterous Bruiser|comic]] but well-developed character, he was extremely popular, and it was the first time a Suzaku warrior had been [[Killed Off for Real]]. His death was also a foretaste of the much bloodier turn the series was about to take, in which [[Kill'Em All|most of the Suzaku and Seiryuu warriors were picked off one by one.]]
** Of course, Nuriko's case was very obviously a case of this, as [[Stupid Sacrifice|his death could have been averted with common sense.]] The only reason he died was for a [[Player Punch]].
* Due to a case of [[Schrödinger's Cat]], the manga version of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Evangelion]]'''s Toji Suzuhara met a much more [[Killed Off for Real|definite]] fate than his anime counterpart shortly past the show's halfway point. He did undergo some character development back as one of [[Those Two Guys]] (mainly through his connection to his [[Dead Little Sister|hospitalized sister]]), but only really became notable after he got [[The Call]]. Of course, even in the anime he still [[Put on a Bus|disappears off the face of the earth after the fact]].
** Of course, by the end of ''[[End of Evangelion]]'', HUMANITY disappeared off the face of the earth by being [[Memetic Mutation|tangified]], so it's pretty clear where he ended up.
* Gesicht, the main character of ''[[Pluto]]'', is murdered three-quarters of the way through. The other robots would count as well.
* Kamina from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''. He started off as a [[Decoy Protagonist]], and his death one third of the way through the show sends the main character into a [[Heroic BSOD]].
** Kittan as well, along with all the minor pilots.
* Leomon in the ''[[Digimon]]'' Franchise. Incidentally, he's an actual lion. This is a recurring in-joke for the meta-series which the directors are entirely aware of. When they were deciding on which digimon would be killed during ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'' they chose Leomon simply because he had been killed before. Other seasons seem to follow suit and at least one Leomon is killed per continuity.
** The deaths of the various Leomon always tend to be one of the series' [[Tear Jerker]]s. [[Break the Cutie|ESPECIALLY]] [[Digimon Tamers|Tamers]].
* Every member of the Band of the Hawk who isn't Guts, Griffith or Casca dies horribly during the final episode of ''[[Berserk]]'' after Griffith makes his [[Deal with the Devil]] and marks everyone for sacrifice to the Godhand. The only other survivor of it all was Rickert, who had the good fortune to not be with the general group when the Eclipse went down.
** Actually, Casca herself can serve as an example. She didn't die, but went through a horrific [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]] ordeal that involved her  {{spoiler|being violently raped to insanity by Griffith in front of Guts when he became a demigod.}} Her fate is suppose to serve as a constant and disturbing reminder to the audience that Griffith is ''not a good guy,'' especially since [[WMG|every explanation]] for the act falls flat on its face and was [[For the Evulz|really unnecessary in the end.]]
* Theresa of the Faint Smile in ''[[Claymore]]''. More a variant of this trope, as we know she's dead from the start, but are shown her story (and thus Clare's backstory) about a third of the way through the main plot, and if the backstory were presented first, the audience would ''never'' see it coming.
** It then happens again later on to show just how out of their league the Claymores are in the Northern campaign, where Rigald takes out Undine, Veronica, Jean, and Flora in rapid succession. Although Veronica was basically a [[Mauve Shirt]], the other three had all gotten fair amounts of character development by this point, and only Jean was able to hang onto life long enough to make her death shift from "shocking" to "tragic."
* ''[[Legend of Galactic Heroes]]'' has two separate instances of this trope. The first is Kircheis, Reinhard's best friend and equal, who takes a bullet for him a quarter of the way through. The second is Yang Wenli, the main character next to Reinhard, who is shot in the leg and dies from blood loss three-quarters of the way through.
* Rei from ''[[Fist of the North Star]]''.
* Richard Brown from ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'', [[Driven to Suicide]] after several chapters/episodes where he appeared to be the main character of the Munich arc.
* ''[[One Piece]]'': Whitebeard, whose death had a huge impact on the whole world, and Ace, whose death had a huge impact on Luffy.
* Pisces Albafica in ''[[Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas]]'', letting us know that [[Anyone Can Die]] and marks the start of [[Dwindling Party|the dwindling of the party]].
* Starscream meets his end this way in ''[[Transformers Armada]]''. After battling with Megatron and trying to convince him that Unicron is the real threat, he finally attacks Unicron himself and is destroyed in one shot. (Of course, considering how much damage he'd taken already, it was hardly a surprise.)
* In ''[[Blood+]]'', George asks to be killed by Saya before Delta 67 could turn him into a monster.
* Lieutenant Blue, the movie's (arguably) [[Good Counterpart]] of General Blue in ''[[Dragon Ball]] Mystic Adventure'' was this. He tried to warn Emperor Chiaotzu about Tao and Shen's treacherous ambitions after somehow stumbling on Ranfan, Chiaotzu's wife, in Shen's bedroom, which got him killed by Tao.
** In the main series we have two Sacrificial Lions in Krillin who dies the first major death in all of ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' and then Future Trunks towards the end of the Cell Saga to show just how [[It Got Worse|bad things got]].
** Bora's death at the hands of Tao also qualify. His first appearance had him being strong enough to take out an entire unit of the Red Ribbon Army long before Goku got there, and was also a noble indian. He ends up impaled by his own spear by Tao.
* Ryu Jose from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'''s death ended up making everyone on the White Base stronger.
* ''[[Bleach]]'': Choujiro Sasakibe. Even in spite of his minor role, his death is not only is violent and bloody, but it plays out as a major, MAJOR [[Wham! Episode]].
* [[Badass Grandpa|Hiruzen]] [[Reasonable Authority Figure|Sarutobi]], the [[Asskicking Equals Authority|Third Hokage]] in [[Naruto]], who went out fighting [[Knight of Cerebus|Orochimaru]], the [[Big Bad]] of Part 1. Even though he goes via [[Heroic Sacrifice]], it still counts as the villain had pushed him into a spot with no alternative, and was the first major "good guy" death (2nd following [[Sacrificial Lamb|Hayate Gekko]]). It also has a huge impact and lasting consequences (specifically, being replaced in his station by [[Cool Old Lady|Tsunade]]). His son Asuma, Team Leader for Team 10 qualifies even moreso, dying partway into Part 2 and embellishing how dangerous Akatsuki members are. Incidentally, in the two anime adaptations both Sarutobi men die in Episode 70.
* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' seemed like an almost light and normal magical girl series until [[Cool Big Sis|Tomoe]] [[Mentor Occupational Hazard|Mami]] literally got her head bitten off.

==  Comic Books ==
* 90% of the secondary civilian characters in ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]''.
* Granch in ''[[Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld]]'' was an ally of the titular protagonist in the first half of the original maxi-series. As the story progresses, he rallies together his siblings for an attack on the [[Big Bad]] Dark Opal (Granch and his siblings were Dark Opal's children, but they were rejected by him due to their deformities, and Opal instead adopted Carnelian to replace them). In the end, all of Granch's siblings are killed, and Granch himself dies in battle against Dark Opal himself. This is at the half-way point of the series.
* Mindfuck, from ''[[Empowered]]'', whose death leaves Sistah Spooky barely this side of catatonic and Emp herself with a heaping dose of survivor's guilt.
* Sally Avril from ''[[Untold Tales of Spider Man]]'', one of Peter Parker's fellow students. She tries to become a vigilante like [[Spider-Man]], but he tries to dissuade her due to the risks. Undaunted, she later dies in an auto accident after recklessly pursuing Spidey to get photographs of him in action.

==  Film ==
* Janet Leigh's character in ''[[Psycho]]'' is a classic example of this, [[Decoy Protagonist|set up to be the main character]], only to be killed horribly early on.
* [[The Obi-Wan|Obi-Wan Kenobi]] plays this role in ''[[Star Wars]] Episode IV''.
** And mirrored by Qui-Gon Jinn in ''Episode I''.
** And used to a similar degree with Mace Windu in ''Episode III.''
* Russel Franklin, [[Samuel L. Jackson]]'s character in ''[[Deep Blue Sea]]''. Most of the first half of the movie is character development for this man. You get to know him. Get to know how adventuresome and noble and kind-hearted but not naive he is. He even gets to give a moving speech about how they'll all get out of there alive if they just pull together! And then [[Incredibly Lame Pun|out of the blue]], a shark eats him.
* From ''[[Serenity]]'':
** Hoban Washburn, pilot extraordinaire, is a perfect example given that the creator of the film admitted he killed the man off just to make the Reavers look even more dangerous and to break the [[Plot Armor|PC Shield]].
** Which makes Shepherd Book's death an example as well, killed to make ''The Operative'' look even more dangerous.
* Snails, the [[Plucky Comic Relief]] from the dubious ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' movie, abruptly turns into a Sacrificial Lion in the middle of the film when they need to show how evil [[The Dragon]] is.
** In the sequel, ''[[Dungeons and Dragons: Wrath of The Dragon God]]'', Dorian the Cleric bites the dust after getting frozen, eaten and then exploded by a White Dragon... interestingly, nearly everyone else in the party gets horribly wounded and maimed in every single scene after that, when having a Cleric would have been nice.
* Benicio del Toro admitted in the DVD commentary that this was his character's purposes in ''[[The Usual Suspects]]''. He also said he added the accent and the behavior, because if he had to die, he at least wanted to be memorable.
* In the 1988 remake of ''[[The Blob]]'' we follow the character of Paul throughout the first half of the movie and we slowly get to know him, but then he's the second person to be consumed by the blob.
* ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street]]'' sets Tina Grey up as a [[Decoy Protagonist]]. Then she dies (messily) and we realize that her best friend is the real main character. The remake does something similar.
* Gabriel, the son of [[Mel Gibson]]'s protagonist character Benjamin Martin in ''[[The Patriot]]'', gets a good amount of screen time and character development establishing him as a secondary protagonist. Then Gabriel's love interest and her family are burned to death when the film's [[Big Bad]] Tavington [[Moral Event Horizon|locks them in a church and sets it on fire]]. Gabriel attempts to get vengeance on Tavington, but is instead stabbed to death by Tavington in the fight. Of course, Tavington ''already'' crossed the [[Moral Event Horizon]] with the church-burning incident, so Gabriel's death basically serves to remind us that it's Mel Gibson's character who's the protagonist, and only ''he'' is allowed to finally kill Tavington at the end. Gabriel's death just gives Benjamin Martin added motivation.
* Dick from ''[[The Shining]]''.
* Rachel Dawes in ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', who suffers character decay compared to the first film as a result.
* Parody movie ''[[Amazon Women on the Moon]]'' has an interesting take on this. An astronaut's character development is alluded to, and is killed about halfway through the movie, but none of this is actually shown due to the film reel being faulty.
* Lt. Hawk in ''[[Star Trek: First Contact]]'', while not getting an extreme amount of screentime he was presented as basically Worf's replacement onboard the Enterprise-E while Worf was stationed at [[Deep Space Nine]].
* [[The Obi-Wan|Morgan Freeman's character]] in ''[[The Sum of All Fears]]'' is one of these.
* Laurie Strode finally meets her death at the hands of Michael at the beginning of ''[[Halloween (film)|Halloween]]: Resurrection''.
* Liam Neeson's Godfrey in ''[[Kingdom of Heaven]]''. Godfrey is wounded about 15 minutes into the film and dies before the 30 minute mark, thus catalyzing his son Balian's new life in the Holy Lands and the main plot of the film. What made Godfrey's death so unexpected was that Liam Neeson was promoted as one of the biggest and most important names in the film.
* The titular lion in ''[[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]]''. He seems to like being this character. [[Messianic Archetype|He recovers]] this time though.
* The movie version of ''[[L.A. Confidential]]'' alternates its focus between the three cops Ed Exley, Bud White, and Jack Vincennes, establishing the characters' different approaches to their duties and their overall personality. Then Jack Vincennes is shot to death in the middle of the third act, letting us know this is a film where [[Anyone Can Die]].
* ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'' has two: [[Defrosting Ice Queen|Dr. Grace Augustine]] and [[Vasquez Always Dies|Trudy Chacon]].
* ''[[28 Days Later|28 Weeks Later]]'' has at least three. Firstly, it looks like [[Robert Carlyle]]'s character, Don, is going to be the main protagonist, since he's the biggest name in the film, and most of the promotional material focused on him. However, he's actually the first person infected by the zombie virus. Then Scarlet, a scientist looking for a cure, and Doyle, a soldier who helps them, are the new protagonists. Doyle performs a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] pretty soon, and Scarlet is killed by, ironically enough, Don, the film's first Sacrificial Lion.
** And the first film has Frank, infected halfway through.
* Franka Potente's character in ''[[The Bourne Identity|The Bourne Supremacy]]'' is [[Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome|killed off almost immediately]] even though she got second billing. Doubly surprising as in the Ludlum novels the Bourne series is (loosely) based on, nothing happens to her character.
* In the 2009 ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' film it establishes early on that the second-in-command is George Kirk, Jim Kirk's father. The ([[One-Scene Wonder|memorable]]) Captain promotes Kirk to captain, implying that he knows full well that he may not make it back alive from the meeting with the Romulan's in the super-powerful ship. Once the ship resumes attacking George Kirk orders an evacuation and stays behind to fight off the Romulans, eventually making [[Ramming Always Works|suicide run]]. Spock's mother, too, is killed when Vulcan is destroyed, both of which reinforce that anything can happen in this timeline.
* The Kid (Leonardo DiCaprio's character) from ''[[The Quick and the Dead]]'' gets so much face time he's one of the films [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]s, but in the end he's gut-shot and left to die in the street simply to show that Harod's so evil he'd kill his own son just to finish a gunfight contest.
* Baragon in ''[[Godzilla|Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack]]'' is the first monster to be summoned to stop Godzilla, and is the first monster to die after being utterly [[Curb Stomp Battle|curb-stomped by Godzilla]].
* ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'', with Mr. Blonde being shot by Mr. Orange. An inversion since he's the good guy, but it's the first death of a main character, and it ups the ante from will Orange get treatment in time and will the cops bust in, to who will survive.
* ''[[Alien|Alien 3]]'': When Ripley first crash lands on the prison planet, she is treated by [[Charles Dance]]'s kindly doctor/former inmate Clemens. As the film progresses, the two form an increasingly close bond and eventually sleep together, implying that Clemens will be a major character and, at the very least, be given a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] towards the end - then the alien appears, and Clemens is one of the first to die.
* ''[[Alien Resurrection]]'': Don't get too attached to [[Michael Wincott]]'s [[Badass]] ship captain - far from being the grizzlier, outlaw counterpart to the second movie's Corporal Hicks as he first appears, he's the first of the smuggler's to get chomped when the aliens escape their holding cells.
* Ironhide is killed by the treacherous Sentinel Prime in ''[[Transformers: Dark of the Moon]]'' (immediately following an awesome [[Mexican Standoff]] scene with the 'Cons) by being shot in the back. He has enough time to ask "Why" before Sentinel sadistically "releases" the soldier from duty. It comes as especially shocking as up until then Sentinel was portrayed as an almost grandfatherly figure and mentor to Optimus.
* Many of the allies and love interests of [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] throughout the series: Quarrel in ''[[Dr. No]]'', Karim Bey in ''[[From Russia with Love]]'', Paula in ''[[Thunderball]]'', Ferrarra in ''[[For Your Eyes Only (film)|For Your Eyes Only]]'', Veejay in ''[[Octopussy]]'', Sir Godfrey Tibbett in ''[[A View to a Kill]]'', etc.
** Happens in the Daniel Craig reboot era as well. Most dramatically in ''No Time To Die'', the final film in the Daniel Craig series. The death of Felix Leiter early on lets the audience know that in this movie, ''no one is safe'' and that anything can happen.
* ''[[The Avengers (film)|The Avengers]]'' has Agent Coulson being impaled by [[Big Bad|Loki]] while trying to keep him away from the console that would drop the caged Thor. He does get his [[Dying Moment of Awesome]] when he fires off his [[BFG]] that he didn't even know what it would do.
* Llewelyn Moss in ''[[No Country for Old Men]]''.

==  Literature ==
* Cedric Diggory, the former [[Trope Namer]] from ''[[Harry Potter]]''. He's introduced a book before, given loads of [[Character Development]], becomes Harry's friend in addition to his rival... and then is rather casually murdered, just to show how evil Voldemort is.
** Mad Eye Moody in the beginning of ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (novel)|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]''. Immediately after his death, the characters comment on how surprising Moody's death is given his seemingly badass and invincible nature. If Mad-Eye can die, anyone's at risk. This is especially ironic because at the time Mad Eye was riding with Mundungus Fletcher, a veritable Mauve shirt.
** Hedwig. Rather distressing given that she had been Harry's faithful pet owl for the ''entire series'' up to that point.
** And, [[Tear Jerker|quite heartbreakingly]], [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Fred Weasley.]] It was his death that led to the climax of Harry going off to face Voldemort on his own to prevent more deaths.
* Susan, in [[Diane Duane]]'s ''[[The Book of Night with Moon]]''. She isn't personally involved in the plot, but the Lone Power [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|dropped a car on her]] in an attempt to push the main character over the [[Despair Event Horizon]]. [[Complete Monster|The Lone Power does this a lot.]]
* In Terry Pratchett's ''[[Night Watch (Discworld)|Night Watch]]'', the main action is kicked off by Carcer's murder of Sergeant Stronginthearm. Stronginthearm was a dwarf who was leading a riot against the trolls and was drafted into the new Watch by Captain Carrot in the second of the Watch novels. Since then, he rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a mainstay of the City Watch, as evidenced by his rank. His death, while not as shocking as that of a first or second tier character, managed to effectively communicate just how dangerous Carcer was, and how the story was about to take a turn for the worse.
** Despite making it to Sergeant, he receives one lone mention in ''[[Jingo]]'' and a few short scenes in ''[[The Fifth Elephant]]''.
** Another Terry Pratchett example in ''[[Men at Arms]]'' with Cuddy.
* Boromir from ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' is a Stealth Sacrificial Lion. He's given as much [[Character Development]] as any of the other members of the Fellowship of the Ring, and then is given a [[Badass]] death to show just how much meaner than normal orcs the Uruk-hai happen to be.
* Dorelei in ''[[Kushiel's Legacy]]''. Perhaps Alcuin and Delaunay qualify as this as well.
* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', Robert Baratheon is a warm-up Sacrificial Lion for the ''real'' Sacrificial Lion, namely Eddard Stark.
* If he didn't come [[Back from the Dead]], Aslan would be a quite literal example in ''[[Chronicles of Narnia|The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe]]''.
** Almost. The definition above says "The death is ultimately unnecessary in the large scheme of things..." Since Aslan is the [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|Narnian version of Jesus,]] his death is ultimately what the larger scheme of things is *about* in that world.
* Most ''[[Redwall]]'' novels have at least one major character dying halfway through or towards the end of every book. ''Salamandastron'' [[Up to Eleven|took it up a notch]] and killed off one of ''the main'' characters.
* In [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Talent And The Hive]]'' novel, ''Damia'', Larak Raven (younger brother and closest relative of the title character) dies when he absorbs the brunt of a psychic attack meant for another. A good amount of the book is spent establishing that Larak his coming into his own as an adult, contrasting the conflicted, unsatisfied life of his sister.
** Partially averted. Larak is openly described as the only T3 rated Talent among his siblings. McCaffrey doesn't kill Primes, just the lesser talents can die. A sub-trope maybe?
* The Ben Elton novel ''Gridlock'' does this to [[Decoy Protagonist]] Geoffrey, creator of the book's [[MacGuffin]].
* Occurs frequently in [[Matthew Reilly]]'s books. Hawkins in ''Contest'', Book in ''Ice Station'', Van Lewin in ''Temple''... Let's just call it [[Once an Episode]].
* ''[[New Jedi Order]]'' pulled a pretty major one in ''Vector Prime'', the first book of the series, with Chewbacca.
* The Druid Allanon gets killed in ''[[Shannara|The Wishsong of Shannara]]'', letting you know that this really is the end of an era.
* When Bigwig in ''[[Watership Down]]'' sets himself up for a toe-to-toe with Woundwort, he fully expects to go out as one of these. It's his last fight, whatever happens, and he knows it. His [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] is to not only ''subvert'' the trope but send Woundwort packing in fear - something that had never happened before and (given what happens shortly thereafter) never happens again.
* In ''[[The Elenium]]'', Kurik gets this treatment. After spending 3 books demonstrating how he is a match for any knight in the series, he gets unceremoniously slaughtered by Adus.

==  Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' loves to point these out. Tom Servo once called out, "Ding-ding-ding--'''VICTIM'''!" at one blatantly obvious Sacrificial Lion in ''[[I Was a Teenage Werewolf]]''. It became a [[Running Gag]] as the teen walked through a desolated path.
* [[Action Girl]] Tasha Yar from ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''. Granted [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|her death]] was a way to shuffle Denise Crosby off the stage, but story-wise she's killed simply to make the [[Monster of the Week]] look even more lethal.
** An element of [[Fridge Brilliance]] kicks in when you remember that that's exactly what all the [[Red Shirts]] died for in the Original Series - the only difference is that this time the audience ''knows'' the [[Red Shirt]] in question.
* Jadzia Dax's death in the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "Tears of the Prophets" is there to make Dukat an even more ominous [[Big Bad]] than he already was, and serves to give Sisko a [[Ten-Minute Retirement]] in [[Cliff Hanger]] form. (Don't worry, [[The Nth Doctor|Dax gets better]]).
** In an [[SF Debris]] review of The Adversary, Chuck references this trope, along with the ubiquitous [[Red Shirt]].
{{quote|Eddington: "You don't get to be a captain wearing a [[Red Shirt|gold uniform]]."
Chuck: "That's because guys in the gold uniforms usually get their salt sucked out to prove the situation's serious." }}
* Season two brings the first of many examples from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' in Jenny Calendar. She's specifically killed to convince the Scooby Gang that Angelus is an actual threat. And Puccini would never be the same again.
** Joss had intended to do something similar with Xander's quickly-forgotten best friend Jesse in [[The Pilot|"Welcome To The Hellmouth"]], but was unable to sneak him into the opening credits for a single episode.
** [[Word of God]] has it that in Season 7, the original plan was that Caleb would kill Xander.
* In the ''Buffy'' [[Spin-Off]] ''[[Angel]]'', [[The Lancer|Doyle]] appears in the first episode, gets some strong characterization and a potential [[Love Interest]], and undergoes some noticeable [[Character Development]]. Then, he pulls a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in the ninth episode [[Real Life Writes the Plot|because of his actor's drug habits.]]. Notably, unlike Jesse in [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|the parent series]], Doyle is [[Defied Trope|''not'']] [[Forgotten Fallen Friend|forgotten]], and even in the fifth and final season, his name and legacy are sore spots for the main characters.
* On ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', Skulls, Racetrack, Kat, Socinus, Crashdown, Jammer, Dualla, and even Cally are all given screen time, character development, and plot points (in some cases, entire storylines and multi-episode story arcs). And then they die just to show how shitty the situation was.
** Some of those are more Mauve Shirts then sacrificial lions.
* ''[[24]]'' is riddled with these, especially in Season 5. Don't get too attached to ''anyone'' in this show; they'll probably be dead by the end of the series.
** To go into further detail, there have only been two main characters who managed to live throughout the show from start to finish:  {{spoiler|Jack and Kim Bauer}}. Everyone else [[Anyone Can Die|died]], [[What Happened to the Mouse?|went missing]], got put in jail, or [[Put on a Bus|disappeared after one season ended]].
* Lieutenant Keffer, hotshot pilot of ''[[Babylon 5]]'', had an entire season of character development and screen time for the fans to get to know him. Then he's killed in the season finale so everyone would know the Shadows are back and ready to rumble. For fun, this was actually a [[Writer Revolt]]: The network insisted on the character.
* ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'':
** Derek Reese gets killed in the penultimate episode of the second season, just to show that the new AI isn't playing around like John Henry and Weaver were.
** Charley Dixon dies the episode before Derek; they are both examples of [[Anyone Can Die]].
** Derek also subverts the trope. Due to time travel, he reappears in the next episode alive and well.
* Damn near everyone in ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''. In particular, John Winchester in "In My Time Of Dying", Hendickson in "Jus In Bello" and Jo and Ellen in "Abandon All Hope". Another possible example is Kubrick is "Fresh Blood", as he seems to be getting set up as another recurring antagonist, only to be killed in his second episode. Not to mention Bella (to remind us what's about to happen to Dean) and Anna (angels can stay dead).
* Boone Carlyle in ''[[Lost]]'' receives a good deal of character development before being the first main character to die, restoring a [[Anyone Can Die]] atmosphere to the show that it had lost after the first few episodes (thanks to the weird [[Disney Death]] of Charlie) and that it has maintained ever since.
* Cardinal Wolsey's banishment from court and subsequent execution in ''[[The Tudors]]'' could arguable be a drawn out version of this trope. The show had taken the time to build up Wolsey and establish him as a major force in the royal court and politics of Europe and billed the actor as a member of the main cast. His downfall helped establish Henry's fickle nature and demonstrate that in <s> this show</s> [[Real Life]] [[Anyone Can Die]].
** Though he [[Suicide, Not Murder|wasn't executed.]]
* Agent Charlie Francis of ''[[Fringe]]''. After getting through the first season relatively unharmed, being established as [[Action Girl|Olivia's]] [[Wing Man]] and one of the major Agents in [[The Men in Black|Fringe Division]], and surviving a M-Preg gone horribly wrong, we all assumed that Charlie had developed [[Plot Armor]] as one of the core characters. [[It Got Worse|Then the writers]] [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|Dropped a]] [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|Shape-Shifting Assassin]] [[Alternate Universe|From The Other World]] [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|On Him]].
** This also happens to William Bell and Alt-Broyles
** And then to [[Tear Jerker|Lincoln.]] A funny, friendly [[Badass]] who adored Fauxlivia, won the hearts of the fangirls and survived getting blown up.
* Another J.J. Abrams' show, [[Alias (TV series)|Alias]], does the same thing. Irony points, the character in ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' who was replaced by an identical assassin was named Francie. Awfully similar to Francis, ain't it?
* Roughly 40% of the guest stars that featured on ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'', in particular Carter and Legrand.
* Varro on ''[[Spartacus: Blood and Sand]]''.
* Pompey Magnus in ''[[Rome]]''. Of course, it wasn't a surprise to anyone who knew their history, but being killed halfway through the first season after the show had been focused entirely on the rivalry between him and Julius Caesar still makes it feel pretty abrupt.
* ''[[Power Rangers Lost Galaxy]]'' did this in the second episode (two-part season premiere) with the character Mike, leaving his brother Leo to take his place as the Red Ranger for the season. While Leo was obviously [[The Hero]] of the story from the beginning, such things never happen in [[Power Rangers]].
** Kendrix's death towards the middle of the season came as quite a shocking conclusion to the ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'' crossover (caused due to the actress being diagnosed with leukemia and needing to leave for treatments).  {{spoiler|Both characters get better.}}
* ''[[Mahou Sentai Magiranger]]'' has [[Action Mom|MagiMother]] fall in battle to [[Black Knight|Wolzard]] at the start of the second episode, leaving her children without her guidance in their battles against Infershia.
* In the fifth season of ''[[Burn Notice]]'', Max. They introduce him, give him strong characterization, show that he's one of the rare, unambiguously good guys, and then they kill the shit out of him. And frame Michael in the process.
** In a villainous example (with a show that likes to keep around [[Joker Immunity|the really cool bad guys]]), Brennan is killed just before the season finale by another bad guy, "Dead" Larry.
* ''[[Boardwalk Empire]]'' plays this trope hard in the second season finale when after seemingly having patched things up Nucky murders Jimmy after two seasons of him as the show's most important character besides Nucky himself.
* ''[[Marvel's Agents of SHIELD]]'' has played this trope a number of times. Season 6 has Davis, a [[Mauve Shirt]] introduced the previous season, have plenty of screen time as he helps Daisy and Jemma in their search for Fitz. Then, later on in the season, he is thrown to his death by Izel, the season's [[Big Bad]].
** Victoria Hand is gunned down halfway through Season One at the moment of Grant Ward's being revealed as [[The Mole]].
* ''[[Game of Thrones]]'': The death of Ned Stark in Episode 9 of Season One let people know this is a show where [[Anyone Can Die]]. It also made it clear just how dangerous Joffrey was, as he deliberately went against the initial agreed upon banishment to have Ned Stark executed to make an example out of him.
** In 'Beyond the Wall', episode 6 of Season Seven, The Night King (leader of the White Walkers) did what no previous enemy of Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons had been able to do when he {{spoiler|threw an ice javelin and killed Viserion, one of Daenerys' three dragons. Later on, the Night King raises Viserion to be part of his undead army}}, making him and the army even more dangerous in the process.
* When ''[[Chicago Fire]]'' returned for Season 8 after the previous season's [[Bolivian Army Cliffhanger|cliffhanger endangering most of the main cast]], Brian “Otis” Zvonecek is fatally injured in an explosion caused by a mattress factory fire, and dies in the hospital after speaking his last words in Russian to his best friend Joe Cruz. [[Word of God]] says this death was to give the series a sense of real danger that it had been lacking in recent years.
* The death of {{spoiler|Oliver Queen}} in [[Arrow|the Arrowverse]]'s ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' crossover wasn't a surprise, as it'd been set up as far back as the previous years' ''Elseworlds'' crossover, and the prophecy of the death played an important role in much of the eighth season of ''Arrow''. What ''was'' surprising is that the death ({{spoiler|Oliver Queen}} succumbs to mortal wounds after a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]) occurred ''not'' in part five of the five-parter, but part one. [[Word of God]] says that this was done to surprise the audience and give them the impression that no one is safe and that anything can happen in the crossover event.

==  Professional Wrestling ==
* Every so often, promotions will give a rookie wrestler a massive push to sell him as a "young, uncannily talented phenom", with a major part of the push involving having the rookie defeat a couple well-established main eventers or former world champions.
** Notable examples include [[The Undertaker]], [[Kevin Nash]], [[Brock Lesnar]], and more recently, [[Sheamus]] and [[Alberto Del Rio]].

==  Video Games ==
* The Cheshire Cat from ''[[American McGee's Alice]]'' fits this trope very nicely, especially since the last bit of info he tries to impart is that the Queen of Hearts and Alice share the same mind.
* Toroko and King from ''[[Cave Story]]''.
* One [[Guest Star Party Member]] in every [[Tales (series)|Tales franchise]] installment with the sole exception of Phantasia.
* ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'':
** [[Meaningful Name|General Leo]].
** As does Emperor Gestahl, who finds out, to his dismay, that [[Eviler Than Thou|someone else]] gets to be the [[Final Boss]]. [[Your Mileage May Vary|He only fits this trope if you think he's a sympathetic character, though.]]
* Tai in ''[[Gears of War]] 2'' fits this mold. Much of the first act is building up his invincible nature and the second act shows how he survived brutal torture by the locust. It breaks him so badly he kills himself. Benjamin Carmine also fits the mold, surviving through the second act and having Marcus and the others noticeably saddened by his death. This is especially noticeable compared to his [[Sacrificial Lamb]] brother Anthony Carmine in the first game, who was killed by a [[Killed Mid-Sentence|random sniper shot]] in the first act.
* Isara from ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]''.
* ''[[Eternal Darkness]]'' is loaded with characters who could at least be considered this. At the very least Anthony is an undeniable Sacrificial Lion, and pretty good cases can also be made for Paul and Roberto - though oddly enough, all of these are among the ''[[Shoot the Shaggy Dog|main characters]]''.
* Rhyme Bito in ''[[The World Ends With You]]''. Given the information of the instruction booklet, it looked like she would spend the whole game as [[The Messiah]].
** 777, Nao and Sota also serve as this, all of them surviving a fair way into the game and having [[Character Development]] before they're offed.
* Subverted in ''[[King's Quest V]]'', in that Cedric has been Graham's sidekick for most of the game only to be struck down by Mordack at the very end, but not hard enough to kill him.
* Lars Halford in ''[[Brutal Legend]]''. He's initially in charge of [[La Résistance]], and about halfway through the game he makes a bold stand against [[Big Bad|Emperor]] [[Complete Monster|Doviculus]], declaring that he will lead the humans to rise up and defeat the [[The Legions of Hell|Tainted Coil]]. Doviculus basically says "Can't let you do that" and [[Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him|fatally stabs Lars where he stands]].
* ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'':
** The original AVALANCHE members, Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse, fill this role. They start off as your initial companions (although not as party members) and are given distinct personalities, but are then promptly killed following a botched attempt to save the Midgar slums.
** Aerith may be a far more definitive version, or possibly [[Plotline Death|fall into another trope]].
* In ''[[Persona 3]]'', Shinjiro Aragaki was killed off to show just how evil Strega is, and to propel the [[Character Development]] of Ken Amada and Akihiko Sanada, both of whom reach a degree of personal resolution and receive upgraded Personas as a result. Given that he's a well-balanced character and that he has his own personal weapon type that you can continue buying until the end of game (quite unlike most temporary guest characters), it can come as a bit of a shock.
* ''[[Guild Wars]]'':
** Kehanni in ''Nightfall'', whose death is the catalyst for General Morgahn's [[Heel Face Turn]].
** To some extent, Rurik in ''Prophecies'', although curiously both he and the dwarves who kill him are forgotten almost immediately thereafter. You finally do end up fighting the dwarves much later in the game, although without mention of them being the guys responsible for Rurik's death.
** And while his popularity with the fans is debatable, Yijo Tahn serves the same role in ''Factions''. He goes through a few starting missions with you and is pretty much Togo's other star student...until he gets sent to help the victims of the plague and ends up as an Afflicted.
* Yoshimo from ''[[Baldur's Gate|Baldur's Gate 2]]''. Mind you, ''you're'' the one who kills him, but showing that he's been an unwilling [[The Mole]] for the [[Big Bad]] all along helps.
* ''[[Fate/stay night]]'':
** <s>Saber</s> All the Servants except Rider in the Heavens Feel route. It's a good thing they added about half a dozen characters to the main lineup for this one or we'd be down to Shirou and Tohsaka and no villain.
** Archer in the Fate route. Though the anime gave him [[Dying Moment of Awesome|his crowning moment here]], in the game it [[Offscreen Moment of Awesome|happened offscreen]].
* The protagonists brother in ''[[Red Faction]]: Guerrilla''. He dies after the tutorial mission, conveniently after you have explained to him you just want to do "honest work" and "are not a terrorist". His death turns you into one. Not by choice.
* ''[[Halo]] 3'':
** Miranda Keyes. This definitely qualifies as a [[Player Punch]] also.
** And, a little later, Sergeant Johnson gets killed, just to remind you of Halo: Combat Evolved and of how annoying 343 Guilty Spark was and then rubbing it in your face when you think he may actually be able to redeem himself.
* ''[[Call of Duty]] 4'':
** Sergeant Paul Jackson. Especially jarring because he is a viewpoint character.
** Ghost and Roach in the Sequel, who die just to prove how much of a [[Complete Monster|bastard]] [[Big Bad|Shepherd]] is.
* Hawk in ''[[Soldier of Fortune]]''. You get to watch the [[Big Bad]] execute him two thirds of the way through the game. Big [[Player Punch]].
* Happens ''repeatedly'' in ''[[Final Fantasy II]]'' (to Josef, Minwu, Richard and Cid), to the point where the GBA [[Enhanced Remake]] (and every other one after it) had a bonus game, ''Dawn Of Souls'', made up entirely of playable characters who had died (and cameos from other non-playable characters who had also died), and now they're fighting on in the next life. In fact, parts of ''FFII'' felt more like a [[Kill'Em All]] in a similar vein to [[Anyone Can Die|death-saturated]] stories like ''[[The Silmarillion]]''.
* Tellah in ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]''. Though his death was probably foreshadowed as an inevitability by the fact that Tellah's stats never go up (and sometimes decline) when he's [[Level Grinding]]. He still manages to [[Take a Level In Badass]] giving his last battle all he's got.
* Galuf in ''[[Final Fantasy V]]''. Though it wasn't as much a ''practical'' loss because, upon his death, all his abilities were instantly transferred to his granddaughter Krile, who continued his role in the party as if nothing had changed. Also, his death was remarkably similar to Tellah's in the previous example.
* Anyone who's played the series knows ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' is an [[Anyone Can Die]] series. However, ''Genealogy Of The Holy War'' gets ''mean'' with this. Upon hitting Chapter 5: Door to Destiny (Fitting name) you see 2 former party members die to a boss that you can't fight, but the real kick is when you clear that chapter—you're treated to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HNE87Taixc the "Battle" of Bahara]—and the death of not 1 character, but the death of damn near the ''entire cast''. [[And Now for Someone Completely Different]]...
* During the Virmire mission in the first ''[[Mass Effect]]'' game, two of your party members become [[Mutually Exclusive Party Members|mutually exclusive]]. There is no way around it, and they'll both insist that you should have saved the other one afterwards. You can also lose Wrex, but that one's avoidable.
** The sequel has your entire original ship, several of its crew, and, best of all, ''you''. Later, your ship is attacked again, and nearly every member of your crew is taken. This time, however, you can rescue them.
** ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', being set in a galactic war, has several instances of this with your own party members, current and past. Your choices throughout all three games can defy some of these cases, however. There is on case of a sacrificial lion that is unavoidable in Thane Krios, one of the deadliest assassins in the galaxy, whose only role in the game is to be killed by Kai Leng after a quick one on one duel, thus demonstrating just how deadly and ruthless he and Cerberus can be.
*** There's also one other choice regarding the Genophage cure where you ''have'' to either martyr Mordin to cure the Krogans or refuse to finish the cure and instead kill Wrex after he becomes enraged at Shepard's betrayal of his trust. Plus, Captain Anderson, who's essentially been Shepard's mentor since the beginning of the original game, dies regardless of his/her actions... it just determines whether he dies quickly or manages to have one final poignant scene with Shepard before his death at the end.
* Briggs the pirate in ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]]''. Killed by the shadow monsters spawned by the Grave Eclipse, during the mission to rescue his son Eoleo (who then joins your party [[You Killed My Father|to avenge him]]).
* Leo from ''[[The Witcher]]''.
* Duncan from ''[[Dragon Age: Origins]]'' is introduced as [[The Obi-Wan]] after you lose everyone else in your Origin, only to be killed off a bit later, before he can even start acting this role.
* In ''[[Blaze Union]]'', we have Siskier in route A, Luciana in route B, and Jenon in route C. Each route also has a few sympathetic enemy characters who serve a similar purpose, at least as far as showing the situation's direness goes.
* Several of the heroes in ''[[Mortal Kombat 9]]'' play a large part of the overall story, only to be [[Killed Off for Real]] near the end to show how truly catastrophic the changes to the timeline has become.
* ''[[Left 4 Dead]]''{{'}}s Bill was one of the playable survivors in the first game. In "The Passing", his corpse can be found slumped up against a generator, his cigarette still in his mouth and his M-16, which you can loot for yourself, in his hands.
** In the DLC campaign [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|"The Sacrifice"]] you can relive his last moments.
* Emma from ''[[The Last Remnant]]'' dies in combat against the Conqueror when he single-handedly invades Athlum and steals their Remnant. The impact of her death is only slightly lessened by [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute|the arrival of her younger daughter Emmy]], who immediately replaces her.
* Almost all of the friendly NPCs in ''[[Dark Souls]]'' end up dying or going hollow, losing their humanity to the curse of the Undead in the ruins of Lordran.
* In one version of ''[[Ao Oni]]'', after evading the titular monster and navigating through its house, Hiroshi eventually reunites with his friends. As they debate whether or not the creature's real or some sort of [[Scooby-Doo Hoax]], Takuro tries to take charge and tells everyone [[This Is No Time to Panic|not to panic]]. Cue the Ao Oni [[Drop in Nemesis|popping up]] and [[Off with His Head|biting his head clean off]], effectively proving it's more than some guy in a suit.

==  Web Comics ==
* In ''[[Slightly Damned]]'', Sakido gets sniped by a demon-slaying arrow just as the story setting moves from Hell to the mortal realm. [[Word of God]] has actually stated that Sakido's entire purpose was to have the readers grow attached to her only to see her cruelly picked off right when she, Rhea and Buwaro were about to [[Earn Your Happy Ending|earn their happy ending]].
* In ''[[Cuanta Vida]]'', Gabry (better known simply as Red) is clever, vivacious, and determined. He's also the lover of Liam (the BLU Sniper) and the guy masterminding the entire escape plan - generally the guy most of the cast is counting on despite his quirkiness. Then, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110802060128/http://tf2.skyscrapersoup.com/?p=166 this happens].
* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', Jade's Dream Self gets killed off by Jack, mostly to show how deathly seriously broken their game is.
** Most recently, Jack's first action after being prototyped with [[Reality Warper|Becquerel]] is to kill [[Worthy Opponent|Bro]], whom he had been fighting with on equal terms before.
** And even later, trolls have begun to die.
*** Not just any trolls. Equius, Eridan and Vriska, certainly the most physically powerful of the trolls, have all been killed. The worst part? They were killed by other trolls. Remember, these characters respectively were able to punch off a high-level ogre's head in one hit, slaughter dozens of powerful angels, and put up a fight against freaking Jack Noir.
* In ''[[Panthera]]'', the Sacrificial Lion (pun not intended) is [http://www.pantheracomic.com/?p=1334 Valeska Köhler] when the [[Big Bad]] demonstrates that this is a [[Matter of Life and Death]].
* In ''[[Fite!]]'', Guz is one of the two main characters and Lucco's [[Heterosexual Life Partner]], and he eventually is killed by a Frogera while Lucco is fighting the [[King Mook]]. Guz is then [[Fusion Dance|absorbed]] by Lucco, and seems to be a [[Spirit Advisor]] to him after he wakes up.
* Pauline, from ''[[Our Little Adventure]]''. Her murderer wasn't the [[Big Bad]], but she was the first non-recoverable casualty in Julie's quest. Julie of course does [[Heroic BSOD|not take it well]], at least until Pauline's funeral which gives Julie and her friends a chance to good bye properly.
* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' makes one out of  {{spoiler|[[The Hero|Roy]]!}}.
** Also done with  {{spoiler|the half-orc female ninja Therkla}}
* Lieutenant Brad from [[Schlock Mercenary]]. Other toughs have died as well, but this guy got a ''lot'' of character development (he starter out as a Corporal..
* In the first arc of ''[[Goblins]]'', a lot of characters die to show that really [[Anyone Can Die]]. Then, for a long time, no major protagonist dies. Later, in book 4, a main character dies on both story arcs: K'seliss and Chief.

==  [[Web Original]] ==
* JJ Sturn of ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' was built up to be one of the most important characters of v4. Then came along [[Who's Laughing Now?|Jimmy Brennan]]...
* Virtually every single one of Sonic and Shadow's friends qualify in [[Super Mario Bros Z]], and it served to show just how much of a ruthless and horrific monster Mecha Sonic became, as well as the bleakness of the situation of fighting against him.
* ''[[Equestria Chronicles]]'': Jon, a developed but secondary character, was killed but the CRG. This utterly changed the playing board.
* In ''[[Gaia Online]]'''s recent/current (began in spring 2010, still active as of spring 2012) deicide story arc, one of the first victims was ''[[Big Bad|Johnny K. Gambino]]'', who up until that point had [[Plot Armor]] that could (and did) bounce a [[World Sundering]] [[Earthshattering Kaboom|Kaboom]].
* Pyrrha Nikos from ''[[RWBY]]'':  beautiful, famous yet humble champion fighter, carrying a torch for [[Country Mouse]] Jaune, recruited by an [[Ancient Tradition]] for a task critical to the survival of Remnant -- and killed in one-on-one combat by a mid-level boss to punctuate the [[Tone Shift]] at the end of Volume 3.  Her death triggers a literal shockwave as well as metaphorical one...

==  Western Animation ==
* If there was any question of just what ''[[Transformers Animated]]'''s Shockwave was made of, it was removed when he ''crushed Blurr into a cube''.
** Cliffjumper in ''[[Transformers Prime]]'', who's killed by Starscream in the ''intro'' of the first episode. Surprisingly, although the set-up puts him in the category of a sacrificial lamb, his death has a significant effect on the Autobots as they come together closer as a team and with their human friends. And it makes them a little sore when confronting the Decepticons later on.
*** A rare villainous version occurs in ''Crossfire'', with Breakdown getting evicerated by Airachnid to show she's cutting ties with the Decepticons.
* Spoofed in ''[[Clone High]]'', in which Ponce d'Leon would appear to be one of these if not for the fact that he's introduced in the same episode that he snuffs it, as well as the amusingly obvious foreshadowing of his death. Both the next-episode preview and the cold open feature the narrator making a big deal of "a clone dies tonight!"
* ''[[The Incredibles]]'' [[What Could Have Been|originally]] planned on having a civilian airplane pilot killed after being shot down to prove that the bad guys were playing for keeps. Fortunately for him, the creators of the film decided that it would take too long to introduce the character for long enough to make the audience care about his death, and the character's role was reduced to simply loaning Helen a plane.
** Watch that scene—right after the main body of the airplane hits the water between the main characters, there's a shot looking down into the depths for a few seconds as the plane sinks. The pilot's hat was originally supposed to be drifting forlornly upwards in that shot, making it look a little pointless without it.
* Another Pixar example would be Rod "Torque" Redline from [[Cars|''Cars 2'']].
* The death of Jet in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' certainly counts. He's killed soon after [[Redemption Equals Death|redeeming himself]], and besides the fact that it came because he helped Aang find Appa again, his death doesn't otherwise benefit the heroes in the least (not like Yue's in the Book One finale). Add to it that he died in "Book Two: Chapter 17" - only three episodes before the (temporary) death of ''Aang himself'' - and it really emphasises the seriousness of the conflict. It almost pushes the series into [[Anyone Can Die]] territory, but not quite.
** Was Jet really killed?
*** [[Lampshade Hanging|You know, it was really unclear.]]
* Master Thundering Rhino from ''[[Kung Fu Panda 2]]'' is killed by Lord Shen's cannon.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Death Tropes]]
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Dead Herring]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Sacrificial Tropes]]