Fictional last words
The following is a list of last words attributed to various fictional characters.
See also:
- Fictional last words in animated television series
- Fictional last words in graphic art
- Fictional last words in films
- Fictional last words in animated films
- Fictional last words in internet series
- Fictional last words in literature
- Fictional last words in live-action television series
- Fictional last words in video games
- Fictional last words in webcomics
Characters are listed according to source (i.e. the originating book, television program, etc), then the name of character the quote is attributed to (in case of more than one quote per source). Where quotes come from a series of texts, they are organized in the order of the texts they appeared in (for example, quotes from the first book in the Harry Potter series appear before quotes from the second book, and so on). Where possible, for the purposes of clarification, further explanatory notes have been presented. Additionally, if a character's final words consist of a dialogue with the other characters, the other character's speech may be included for contextual purposes; for example, if one character asks a question that the one who is about to die answers.
Some characters may have more than one "death," in instances such as being resurrected, or existing temporarily as an undead being. In some of those instances, their last words from each "death" may be added if they are significant. Additionally, significant last words from deaths that are merely assumed to have happened or are non-canon are included. Additionally, in instances where there are multiple outcomes, or in media with alternate timelines, the character's last words will be featured.
In songs
edit- I... I did it... for Johnny!
- Who: Debbie
- Source: The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun by Julie Brown.
- Note: Debbie, the homecoming queen, was asked why she went on a shooting rampage at the prom; her answer was unenlightening, as the narrator has no idea who "Johnny" was.
- I'm sick of niggas lyin', I'm sick of bitches hawkin', matter of fact, I'm sick of talkin'.
- Who: Notorious B.I.G.
- Source: "Ready to Die"
- Don't take your guns to town, son, leave your guns at home, Bill. Don't take your guns to town.
- Who: Billy Joe
- Source: Johnny Cash in "Don't Take Your Guns to Town"
- Note: Billy Joe was a cowboy who decided to go to town, his mother asks him not to take his guns, and her phrase haunts him throughout the day. He later at a bar is shot and killed, and mutters his mother's phrase before passing.
- I...am...loved.
- Who: Dying Man
- Source: Relient K "Deathbed"
- Note: As the man is being taken up to heaven by Jesus, he mutters these final words.
- Well, gotta go, I'm almost at the [end of the] bridge now... / Oh shit, I forgot, how'm I supposed to send this shit out?
- Who: Stan
- Source: Stan by Eminem
- Note: After the title character believes that his hero, Eminem, has rejected his messages, the former takes down all of the posters of the latter off the wall of his room, kidnaps his pregnant girlfriend, stuffs her in the trunk of the car, and drives off with her, as he is drunk and on drugs and sending an audiotaped message about why he is driving drunk and angry, hoping that his "hero" will regret the day he "rejected" Stan. At the end, the title character realizes too late that he will be unable to send the tape to Eminem as he drives off the bridge and into the river, killing himself and his girlfriend.
- I guess you'd call it suicide / but I'm too full to spoil my pride.
- Who: Teenager
- Source: Can't Stand Losing You by The Police
- My lifeblood... spills over...
- Who: The Protagonist
- Source: 2112 by Rush
- Note: After having his presentation of the guitar to the Priests of the Temple of Syrinx rejected, the Protagonist realizes that, without these things making life beautiful, life is therefore meaningless. He exiles himself to a cave and, in a soliloquy, he imagines "what my life might be in a world like I have seen", and now considers life under the Federation "cold and empty", with his spirits "low in the depths of despair". He resolves that, in order to "pass into the world of my dream, and know peace at last", he must take his own life. Shortly after, beings known as the Elder Race, who ruled the planet and allowed for creativity and inspiration to flourish, return to take back the planet.
- Every gambler knows / That the secret to survivin' / Is knowin' what to throw away / And knowin' what to keep.
'Cause every hand's a winner / And every hand's a loser / And the best that you can hope for / is to die in your sleep.- Who: The Gambler
- Source: The Gambler, by Don Schlitz (1976)
- Note: The Gambler gives this advice to his fellow rail car passenger, who narrates the song, and in the next verse relates that the gambler then went to sleep, and that "somewhere in the darkness / The gambler he broke even / But in his final words / I found an ace that I could keep".
- My name's O'Hare, I'm one of you. I live here in Thneedville too. The things you say just might be true, It could be time to start anew, and maybe change my point of view; nah, I say let it die! ♫ Let it die, let it die, let it shrivel up an- ♫ c'mon, who's with me, huh?
- Who: Aloysius O'Hare
- Source: Let It Grow by Fletcher Sheridan, Dan Navarro, Edie Lehmann Boddicker, Jenny Slate, Claira Titman, Betty White, Rob Riggle, and Ed Helms.
In videogames
edit- I may actually make it home from this lousy war.
- The last words of a soldier in Call of Duty 2 before being shot.
In musicals
edit- Raise a glass to freedom...
- Who: Alexander Hamilton
- Source: Hamilton
- Un deux trois--
- Who: Philip Hamilton
- Source: Hamilton
- So dark...
- Who: Moritz Stiefel
- Source: Spring Awakening.
- I am not a boy....I'm an animal
- Who: Bat Boy (Edgar)
- Source: Bat Boy the Musical
- Note: Character dies after being stabbed in the back.
- My mind is in darkness. / God, God, I'm sick. I've been used. / And you knew all the time. / God! I'll never ever know why you chose me for your crime... / For your foul, bloody crime! / You have murdered me! / Have murdered me! / Murdered me! / Murdered me! / Murdered me! / Murdered me! / Murdered me! / Murdered--!
- Who: Judas Iscariot
- Source: Jesus Christ Superstar
- Note: Character realizes he did what Jesus wanted him to do (i.e., betray him) despite said character's warning him about what is to come, which turns out to be all planned; in the end, Judas hangs himself after realizing what he'd done.
- My love... is yours eternally... My hand... is nice and warm... I love...
- Who: Mimi
- Source: La Boheme (translated from Italian)
- Note: Character died of tuberculosis in the arms of Radolfo, her love and protagonist of the story.
- Are you satisfied? I've laughed myself to...
- Who: Dr. Orin Scrivello
- Source: Little Shop of Horrors
- Note: Character asphyxiates self with a mask pumping laughing gas. Seymour, who had been afraid to shoot him, chooses to not help him take the stuck mask off, letting him die. Seymour finishes Orin's unfinished sentence by asking, "death?"
- The choice was mine, and mine completely. / I could have any prize that I desired. / I could burn with the splendor of the brightest fire, / Or else... or else I could choose time. / Remember, I was very young then, / And a year was forever and a day. / So what use could fifty, sixty, seventy be? / I saw the lights and I was on my way. / And how I lived, how they shone, / But how soon the lights were gone.
- Who: Eva Perón
- Source: Evita
- Note: Eva sings these words before dying of cancer.
- I'm not sorreeeee...
- Who: Caldwell B. Cladwell
- Source: Urinetown
- Note: Character has been hurled from the roof of a tall building, from which he had previously had people thrown.
- Do you think-a you're smart? / You foolish-a boy, / tomorrow you'll start / in my-a employ. / You under-a-stand? / You like-a my plan?
- Who: Daniel O'Higgins, a.k.a. Adolfo Pirelli
- Source: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
- Note: Character, an employee of Sweeney who remembers his true identity as Benjamin Barker, attempts to blackmail Todd in exchange for silence; Todd slashes his throat with a razor.
- Well, sir, I take that very kindly.
- Who: Beadle Bamford
- Source: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
- Note: Character was responding to an offer of a free shave and pomade in Todd's barbershop; after going upstairs, Todd kills the Beadle.
- Hey...don't I...know you...mister?...
- Who: The Beggar Woman/Lucy Barker
- Source: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
- Note: Character wanders into Todd's barbershop in an attempt to warn him of Mrs. Lovett's evil schemes; fearing that the Beggar Woman will ruin his plans, Todd hurriedly kills her. He later discovers that the Beggar Woman was actually his wife Lucy, who he thought dead, explaining why she recognized him.
- BENJAMIN BARKER?!
- Who: Judge Turpin
- Source: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
- Note: Todd had just revealed his true identity as Benjamin Barker to Judge Turpin in a slow, torturous way; upon realizing the truth, the Judge panics and screams Barker's name as the barber kills him.
- So let's keep living it! / Just keep living it! / Really living it!
- Who: Nellie Lovett
- Source: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
- Note: Character was singing and waltzing with Todd, who had claimed he forgives her for hiding the truth about his wife Lucy's survival in an attempt to win his love; as they dance, Todd steers Mrs. Lovett close to her pie shop's oven and throws her into it, where she burns to death.
- There was a barber and his wife, / and she was beautiful. / A foolish barber and his wife. / She was his reason and his life, / and she was beautiful, / and she was virtuous. / And he was... / naive...
- Who: Sweeney Todd/Benjamin Barker
- Source: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
- Note: Character sings this song, a reprise of one of the musical's very first songs, as he is holding the body of his wife, who he unknowingly killed because he did not know that she was still alive. He is killed by having his throat slashed with his own razor by Tobias Ragg shortly afterward.
- I... think you are a good friend.
- Who: Esmeralda
- Source: Der Glöckner von Notre Dame (The Bellringer of Notre Dame) (translated from German)
- Note: Unlike the Disney film adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which the German theater adapted, Quasimodo arrives too late to save Esmeralda from being burned at the stake, and she barely regains consciousness and has little time to tell him how she feels about him before she dies from smoke inhalation.
- [sung] We can make him tall or we can make him not so tall!
- Who: Israel Swan
- Note: After wandering the Colorado Rockies for days the group asks what they should do and Swan begins to sing "Let's Build a Snowman" for the second time. Fed up with his singing, Bell shoots him in the head.
- He killed Swan. It's only fair.
- Who: James Humphrey (Matt Stone)
- Note: The group discusses who they should kill first and James suggest Bell. Packer returns to the camp and finds Humphrey, Miller and Noon all killed by Bell.
- We can't do it, Packer. We can't even stand up.
- Who: George "California" Noon
- Note: The group discusses who they should kill first and James suggest Bell. Packer returns to the camp and finds Humphrey, Miller and Noon all killed by Bell.
- [sung] That's all we're asking for.
- Who: Frank Miller
- Note: The group discusses who they should kill first and James suggest Bell. Packer returns to the camp and finds Humphrey, Miller and Noon all killed by Bell.
- Hey, you can't do that, jerky!
- Who: Frenchy Cabazon
- Note: After Polly announced that Packer was innocent (and therefore, did not have to be hanged), Frenchie rushed the hanging post out of anger and tried to hang Packer himself. The Ute chief rescues Packer and chops off Frenchie's head.
- And tell Cosette I love her...and I'll see her when I wake...
- Who: Fantine
- Notes: Fantine was dying of Tuberculosis. Her last words, spoken to Jean Valjean, were directed to her daughter.
- And you will keep me safe...and you will keep me close...and rain...will make the flowers...[grow]
- Who: Eponine
- Notes: Eponine, shot, dies in the arms of the man she has always unrequitedly loved, Marius.
- We fight like...like twenty...armies and we...we won't give up...so you'd bet...better run for...for cover...when the pup...grows...[up]
- Who: Gavroche
- Notes: Gavroche, no older than ten, is trying to collect ammunition for the resistance movement when he is shot by the enemy and dies.
- Let others rise to take our place, until the Earth is free!
- Who: Enjolras
- Notes: This is the final speech Enjolras gives to the students before they make their last stand at the barricade (and die).
- I'll escape now from that world...from the world of Jean Valjean...there is nowhere I can go...there is no way to go on!
- Who: Javert
- Notes: Javert ruled his life by a black-and-white sense of good and evil. Once Valjean, a criminal, spares him, his ideal world is shattered. Unable to cope, he hurls himself into the Seine River (and drowns).
- And remember, a truth that once was spoken-to love another person is to see the face of God...
- Who: Jean Valjean
- Notes: Valjean had lived a long, hard life. He finally feels ready to die once Cosette is married. He leaves behind the story of his life, and, escorted by Fantine and Eponine's ghosts, joins the souls of the others who died in Heaven.
- The better to EAT you with, my dear!
- Who: The Wolf
- Notes: Character had disguised himself as Little Red Riding Hood's Grandmother in order to eat the child. Though he succeeded, the Baker happened to be walking by at the time, and slit the Wolf's stomach, killing him.
- I'm not the lad!
- Who: The Narrator
- Notes: Character served as the narrator of the tale. When a fierce giantess appeared in the land, she demanded to find Jack, who had killed her husband. The Witch sacrifices the Narrator to trick the giantess, but she sees through the ruse and drops him; the impact kills him.
- Promise me...you won't let her get Jack. Promise...as I stand here at death's door. Promise. PROMISE!...Jack!...Jack...Jack...
- Who: Jack's Mother
- Notes: The other fairy tale characters were divided on the subject of sacrificing Jack to the giantess. His mother defended him fiercely, and angered the giantess with her cries. Cinderella's Steward struck Jack's Mother over the head with his lance to silence her, and the blow proved fatal.
- And now, because of the way you treated me, I'll never be happy!
- Who: Rapunzel
- Notes: Character, facing severe depression after bearing twins, was screaming at her mother, the Witch. Later, she stumbled upon the giantess and the others; she panicked and ran directly into the monstrous giantess's path. She was crushed beneath her foot.
- Let the moment go...don't forget it for a moment, though./Just remembering you've had an 'an' when you're back to 'or'.../makes the 'or' mean more than it did before.../Now I understand...and it's time to leave the woods!
- Who: The Baker's Wife
- Notes: Character had had a tryst with Cinderella's Prince in the woods. While contemplating the situation, she began to wander around the forest. The giantess arrived nearby, and her mighty steps shook a tree, which fell and crushed the Baker's Wife.
- All right Mother, when?/Lost the beans again!/Punish me the way you did then!/Give me claws and a hunch/just away from this bunch/and the gloom!/and the doom!/and the boom...CRRRRUUNNNNNCHH!
- Character: The Witch
- Notes: Character had listened to Cinderella, Jack, Little Red, and the Baker accuse each other of the giantess's appearance. She revealed that all were responsible, and so scattered the magic beans that had grown into beanstalks. Upon doing so, she disappeared in a puff of smoke.
- Son, son! All is repaired!
- Like father...like son...
- Who: The Mysterious Man
- Notes: First line occurs at the end of Act One, when the breaking of the spell that kept the Baker's Wife childless was broken. In Act Two, he became a spirit, and confronted his son-the Baker-when he tried to leave his own infant son. He told the dangers of running away, and disappeared into the forest forever.
- Thank you. Now justice will be served, and I will leave your kingdom.
- Who: The Giantess
- Notes: Cinderella, Little Red, Jack, and the Baker used their collective experiences to outwit the giantess. Cinderella and Little Red directed her toward Jack's hiding place, while he and the Baker waited with clubs. She fell into their trap and perished.
- At least we aren't makin' any widows, are we?
- Who: Barrett
- Notes: He is the ship's stoker. As others head onto the lifeboats when the ship sinks, he was left behind from rowing the boats and substituted for Sean Farrell. He says this quote to another passenger Charles before the scene they are in cuts. He dies when the ship sinks, although he was actually among the Titanic survivors in real life.
- I declare this ship lost! From now on, it's every man for himself!
- Who: Captain E.J. Smith
- Notes: As the ship is sinking, he issues out this warning as many try to evacuate the ship. He drowns with the ship.
- Mr. Andrews? Shouldn't you be getting a move on? Mr. Andrews?!!
- Who: Bellboy
- Note: Sees Andrews as many are trying to escape from the ship, and asks Andrews if he is going to leave. When Andrews fails to respond, the bellboy leaves him, and eventually dies as the Titanic sinks completely.
- (sung) And I will love you... still!
- Who: Isa and Isador Strauss
- Notes: The two were first class passengers on the Titanic who decided to stay together even if the ship was going to sink. After finishing these lines from the song "Still", it must be noted that they drowned when the ship sunk.
- (sung) Autumn, shall we meet in the autumn? Shall we meet in the autumn?
- Who: Thomas Andrews (the Titanic's builder)
- Notes: As many are trying to escape from the sinking ship, Williams stays behind. He is shocked with the fact that the ship couldn't be able to survive the iceberg, and tries to reconstruct his designs for the ship to find a design that could have prevented the ship from hitting the iceberg. After completing his final song, the musical cuts to the finale, which takes place after those who failed to escape drowned (Andrews included).
- Doctor Hell... I have failed you...
- Who: Baron Ashura
- Source: Mazinkaiser
- Notes: Drawn and quartered by Mazinkaiser's Kaiser Blade while fused to the monster King Hell Gorgon.
Plays
edit- My white plume.
- Who: Cyrano de Bergerac
- Source: Cyrano de Bergerac
- Notes: Roxane asks him to further explain what he meant after he says "For there is one thing I have left, void of smear or stain, and I take it with me despite you." He presumably dies shortly after speaking this line due to the massive open wound on his skull.
- Cyrano has something important to tell you.
- Who: Christian de Neuvillette
- Source: Cyrano de Bergerac
- Notes: Christian was speaking to Roxane, and he learned that she would love him even if he were ugly, because he is so verbose and romantic with his letters. The dramatic irony is that the audience knows that Cyrano is the one with the brilliant mind, and that Cyrano has been writing the letters the entire time. Christian relays this information to Cyrano, and tells him to tell her that it was him she was really in love with. Shortly after speaking this line, he exits and dies amidst gunfire.
Others
edit- Do it!
- Who: Rorschach
- Source: Watchmen
- I'm sorry I couldn't protect you...
- Who: Rei Hino
- Source: Sailor Moon Stars.
- Fire...soul.. (Point-blank range attack to a nigh-invincible foe, killing them both.)
- Who: Rei Hino
- Source: Sailor Moon.
- Sister...
- Who: Yurito Morimiya
- Source: Sola
- Notes: When Aono, Yurito's sister, attempted to kill Matsuri with a katana, Yurito stood in the path of her blade. Yurito is slain and his illusionary form (he was a fake substitute created by Aono through Yaka powers) dissolved back into a sea of papers.
- Who: Yurito Morimiya
- (Steven: So you might as well put that gun down, and surrender!) Never! I'll take this necklace, sell it for a fortune and move wealthfully to another country! (Lady Margeret: Curse you, Stanley Grimes!) There's no such thing as a curse! (clutches heart) Oh! Oh! Oh!
- Who: Stanley Grimes/Dr. Rex Forbes (a character in the fictious play, "Murder Most Foul")
- Source: Play On! (a little-known dramedy play)
- Notes: The "character" is a fictious villain in the play posing as a scientist, who killed an archeologist named Sir Percival, for a necklace known mostly as the Darjeeling Diamond. But when a friend of one of the "characters", Steven Sellers, tips him off, Stanley Grimes is exposed as the murderer. When the police arrives as he holds the people inside the mansion he is in hostage, Grimes starts to have convulsions due to the diamond's curse and dies. Due to there being problems with during the progress on rehearsals (then the play itself) with the dialogue, the death is made even more hilarious with the lines being flubbed, especially near the end of the play, when the "characters" exclaim the curse is from the three different names of the diamond and the "character" Lord Dudley shouts "All of them!" to try to get the play moving along. (Please note that when the word character was in quotation marks, I mean the roles the actual characters, which are the actors, and not the figures like Stanley Grimes or Steven Sellers, played).
- You are no son of mine
- Who: Tywin Lannister
- A Storm of Swords
- Cold.
- Who: Renly Baratheon
- A Clash of Kings
- The woods... the barns... the gas tanks of automobiles... it's spreading everywhere. It's coming this way. About twenty yards to my right-- [abrupt silence]
- Who: Carl Phillips
- Source: The War of the Worlds (1939 radio play)
- Note: It can be inferred that Carl Phillips was burned to death by the alien's heat ray; an announcer later advised that his "charred body" was identified at a Trenton hospital.
- Well Gosh.
- Who: Mayor Wilkins
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Old man... everyone... and Luffy... I know all my life, I've been worthless, and I know that I have this demon's blood flowing through me... but... thank you for loving me!
- Who: Portgas D. Ace
- One Piece
- Note- Character dies in the arms of his brother, Luffy.
- Oh, fu-
- Who: Vampire Willow Rosenberg, returning to her own reality only to be killed within seconds.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Gazpacho soup!
- Who: Arnold Judas Rimmer
- Red Dwarf
See Last words in Batman media
- Captain, look!
- Who: Lieutenant Williams
- Note: Spoken to Maori Madakor a moment before their ship is destroyed by a Trade Federation laser cannon.
- Shields up!
- Who: Maori Madakor
- Note: Said to Lieutenant Williams after he says his last words.
- D'oh!
- Who: Trade Federation droid Army B1 battle droid
- Notes: Force Pushed by Qui-Gon Jinn. Destroyed later. A reference to The Simpsons.
- Impossible! Nothing can get through our shields!
- Who: Daultay Dofine
- Notes: Said aboard the Droid Control Ship, moments before it's brought down by Anakin Skywalker.
- He... is the chosen one. He... will bring balance. Train him...
- Who: Qui-Gon Jinn
- Note: Character is dying of a wound inflicted by Darth Maul. The line is spoken to Obi-Wan Kenobi in reference to Anakin Skywalker.
- Note: In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Qui-Gon Jinn's voice can be heard in the scene of the transition between Anakin killing the Sand People (using the dark side of the Force). He says "Anakin! Anakin! No!".