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"Death Flags" - MiS - 08-05-2014
What are the most common, cliche death flags you hear in gaming, TV, movies or literature?
Death flags are usually recurrent themes which involve the foreshadowing death of a fictional certain character in many series that a genre savvy audience can spot almost a mile away. Some examples would be:
The Retiring Cop - A policeman (or other person of the workforce) declares his retirement from his job before getting killed on the job a few days before it actually happens.
The Marriage Promise - A soldier (or someone going off to war) promises to marry his beloved. He never returns, and his friend notifies his fiancee about his tragic death.
Redemption Sacrifice - A mind-controlled, corrupt or otherwise traitorous person realizes the consequences of his actions shortly before the world is destroyed, a place is about to explode or "one must be left behind", and volunteers to right his wrongs by sacrificing his own life.
The Unfulfilled Confession - The love interest of the main character (usually unknown to them) pulls them aside before a huge battle and is about to confess something important, but goes against it and decides to tell them what it is after the battle is over. Tragic consequences happen, and the main character either never figures out what they wanted to say, or realizes that they wanted to confess to them.
The Loner who Found a Friend - A withdrawn recluse suffering from relationship problems (usually with finding a friend because of their background, their psychological status, or a power that can kill) finally finds in the end that, before sacrificing himself to save his comrades, the people he was around were the friends he was looking for all along.
So, what are some noticeable recurrent actions or sayings you seem to figure out before a character's demise?
RE: "Death Flags" - Losi - 08-05-2014
What I find in shows is that characters that usually don't get a lot of screen time then unexpectedly get a whole episode to themselves almost always get killed. That happens a lot in Walking Dead, a little annoying imo.
RE: "Death Flags" - Nyx - 08-05-2014
If the top dog of a certain group isn't the main character he will usually end up getting killed
RE: "Death Flags" - Jolly - 08-05-2014
''I couldn't finish my present but I promise I will have it ready for tommorrow!''
Needless to say... there is no tommorrow for that person D:
RE: "Death Flags" - Oni - 08-06-2014
It's a shame that I can't think of any off the top of my head.
RE: "Death Flags" - Purphexyon - 08-06-2014
A delightfully friendly plumber comes over to a house to fix a broken/clogged toilet because apparently the owners of said toilet never bought a plunger or at least never learned how to use one, and then the plumber decides for some reason that his tools just wont do so he then rolls up his sleeve and sticks his hand down into the cloudy water and then into the hole...but nothing happens, so he then realizes that this is obviously a job for his head so he plunges (no pun intended) his head into the toilet only to find...yup, you guessed it... a serial killer was hiding down in there the whole time...same ol' predictable Hollywood garbage am I right guys?
RE: "Death Flags" - MiS - 08-06-2014
Just thought of another one: in a martial arts setting, the teacher of the main character dies as a result from an awry student that he turned away due to loss of self, power-hungriness, and so on.
RE: "Death Flags" - Oni - 08-06-2014
(08-06-2014, 06:58 AM)MiS Wrote: Just thought of another one: in a martial arts setting, the teacher of the main character dies as a result from an awry student that he turned away due to loss of self, power-hungriness, and so on.
Yes. Happened in Kill Bill, even.
RE: "Death Flags" - Eclipse - 08-06-2014
I can't think of any at the moment but usually the deaths that stick with me are the unexpected ones.