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Sedgwick Speech: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"I'm ashamed of you, dodging that way for simple bullets. They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."''|[[Beam Me Up, Scotty|Said to be]] '''[[Trope Namer|John Sedgwick]]'''{{'}}s [[Famous Last Words]] before being [[Tempting Fate|shot in the head by a sniper]]}}▼
▲{{quote|''"I'm ashamed of you, dodging that way for simple bullets. They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance"''|'''[[Trope Namer|John Sedgwick]]''''s [[Famous Last Words]] before being [[Tempting Fate|shot in the head by a sniper]]}}
A fierce battle is about to ensue. One brave [[Red Shirt]] will step forward and give an uplifting speech, only to be paid for his efforts by getting brutally killed. [[Killed Mid-Sentence|Bonus points if he is killed before he finishes the speech]].
The speech in question will either be an idealistic plea for peace to an implacable enemy, or an attempt to boost morale by emphasizing how the heroes will [[Rousing Speech|never give up, never surrender]], with bonus points if the character in question actually apes Churchill's manner of speech. This can be a chilling [[Kick the Dog]] moment to show just how inhuman the enemy is, a comedic moment to show how ineffective wide-eyed idealism is against violence, or, disturbingly, [[Black Comedy|both]]. Or it could simply be a moment of overconfident gloating on the part of a [[Genre Blindness|genre blind]] villain who hasn't read the [[Evil Overlord List]]
This is often a result of the [[Tempting Fate|Temptation of Fate]].
{{deathtrope}}
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Death Note]]'', Matt is cornered by Takeda's Kira-worshiping bodyguards. He starts telling them why they wouldn't dare shoot him. Cue barrage of bullets.
* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. "It's not like they have tanks." Cue {{spoiler|the Briggs brigade}} deploying [[Tank Goodness]] for one ''hell'' of a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]].
* Subverted in ''[[One Piece]]'' during the war at Marineford. When Coby made a passionate plea to stop the fighting [[Shut Up, Kirk|Admiral Akainu tried to kill him then and there]], only to be stopped by Shanks.
* Russia in ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' doesn't actually die, but comes close when he jumps from a plane with no parachute. Beforehand, he claims he'll be fine because the snow on the ground is soft enough to break his fall. China asks if he's sure, and Russia says "I'm Russian, I know everything about snow!" Too bad he knows nothing about parachuting.
== Comic Books ==
* Happens to [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]] during the Korvac saga, ''[[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]] Under Siege'', and ''Infinity Gauntlet.''
* Used almost verbatim in [[The Losers]] (with "she couldn't hit..." instead of "they couldn't hit...")
== Film ==
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* ''[[The Chronicles of Riddick]]'': A lone dissenter in New Mecca says the Necromonger Warlord is an intolerant conqueror rather than the "enlightened" liberator he presents himself as and... gets his soul ripped out for it. Ouchies.
* Sergeant Farrell in ''[[28 Days Later]]'' says a few reassuring words about how life on Earth goes on and that the end of the human race won't be the end of the world. He gets chained to a radiator and shot. What did you expect?
* [[James Bond|Boris]], ''[[
** Tracy, ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]''. "Anyway, you have given me a wedding present. The best I could have. [[Tempting Fate|A future]]." [[Instant Death Bullet|No she doesn't...]]
* In ''[[The Bourne Supremacy]]'', {{spoiler|Marie's}} last words: "You have a choice". Subverted somewhat because {{spoiler|Bourne does, in fact, take them to heart, and refrains thereafter from killing in cold blood}}.
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* ''[[Tropic Thunder]]'': While they weren't going to a war, but to film a movie about one, the director Damien Cockburn died this way. He stepped into a mine after giving a speech about filming the best war movie of all time.
* Near the end of ''[[Three Amigos]]'', a bunch of El Guapo's men run off. As El Guapo yells at them for being cowards, Jefe says, "Cheer up, El Guapo... you still have me!" Guess who gets shot immediately thereafter.
* ''[[The Cabin in the Woods]]'':
== [[Literature]] ==▼
* ''[[Discworld]]'' series:▼
▲== Literature ==
** ''[[
▲* ''[[Discworld]]'' series
** ''[[Night Watch (Discworld)|Night Watch]]'': Reg Shoe says, "They can take our lives, but they can never take our freedom!" At which point he's shot about seventeen times. Subverted in that Reg keeps going anyway, but his body quits before his mind makes itself up to be a zombie (that happens later). It's specifically noted that [[Braveheart|it was]] possibly [[Take That|the most stupid battle cry]] ever spoken.▼
▲** ''[[Discworld/Guards Guards|Guards Guards]]'': After Ankh-Morpork gets taken over by a dragon, a group of citizens start complaining about the new ruler, and Sergeant Colon tries to rally them. When the dragon shows up in person, one inspired citizen stands defiantly in front of the beast and starts to make an impassioned speech. The dragon burns him to cinders in mid-sentence. So much for "The people united can never be ignited!". Although this is unusual in that the momentum wasn't lost when the dragon incinerated the man. People were already starting to question what, precisely, was being proposed to stop the dragon from just killing them all and moving to a different city if they didn't cooperate.
▲** ''Night Watch'': Reg Shoe says, "They can take our lives, but they can never take our freedom!" At which point he's shot about seventeen times. Subverted in that Reg keeps going anyway, but his body quits before his mind makes itself up to be a zombie (that happens later). It's specifically noted that [[Braveheart|it was]] possibly [[Take That|the most stupid battle cry]] ever spoken.
* In [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s ''[[Vorkosigan Saga|Barrayar]]'', the villain's last words are "You're a Betan, you can't do-". Turns out she can. Later, another character thinks of "the general whose last words were reputed to have been, ''Don't worry, Lieutenant, the enemy can't possibly hit us at this ran--''"
* ''[[Slayers]]'': Kanzeil from the light novel version. His exact last words are "Don't waste your time! I'm more powerful than any of your paltry parlor tricks!" A second later, he gets vaporized. The anime version of Kanzeil is somewhat different, but he still dies with a Sedgwick Speech.
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* A pair of girls in ''[[Battle Royale]]'' attempt to convince everyone to lay down their weapons and refuse to fight any more with the aid of a megaphone, and promptly get slaughtered by the token psychopath who's armed with a sub-machine gun.
▲== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S29/E05 Evolution of the Daleks|Evolution of the Daleks]]", the leader of Hooverville attempts to show the Daleks that they're [[Not So Different]] than him, and gets [[X-Ray Sparks]] through his body for the trouble.
** "Whadda you, Daleks?"
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* One episode of Dad's Army has Jones comparing Mainwaring to an officer he had in World War One who didn't like crouching in the trenches and one night decided to walk on the parapet to show the Germans he was not afraid and to set an example to his men. {{spoiler|He got shot. In a very awkward place. Did a lot of crouching after that.}}
== Web Comics ==
* [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0611.html This] ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' comic proves why you should never [[Tempting Fate|tempt fate]] when Belkar is around. With a healthy dose of [[Killed Mid-Sentence]] on the next page, no less.
== [[Web Original]] ==
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* South Dakota in ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'': "Come on, Wash, what are you going to do, shoo-" Wash: "Yes."
* Yamcha in ''[[Dragon Ball Abridged]]''.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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* In ''[[The Simpsons]]'', a statue of a general is seen with the words "I'll die before I surrender, Tim" engraved on it. Tim is presumed to be the man next to him before he was shot. The more likely explanation is that Tim killed the general, then surrendered.
* ''[[South Park]]'': "Cheeri-o! My name is Pip. I would like to see if you wouldn't mind not smashing our little town to bits."
== [[Real Life]] ==
* The trope is named for John Sedgwick, a Union general in the American Civil War, who, during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, said "I'm ashamed of you, dodging that way for simple bullets. They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!" seconds before being fatally shot by a sniper.
** Sedgwick's words are sometimes recorded as being "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--", implying that he was [[Killed Mid-Sentence]]. This is [[Beam Me Up, Scotty|not accurate]]. It is, however, [[Rule of Funny|much funnier]].
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Last Words]]
▲[[Category:Sedgwick Speech]]
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