"Snake? Snake?! SNAAAAAAAAKE!"
When a character is defeated/killed in battle, he usually gives out a final cry or something to indicate that he's a goner. Sometimes, a character's death cry is repeated like an echo, each growing softer than the last. This is done to intensify the death of a character (or it may simply overdramatize
Some examples that are only nominally "death cries" can be found in a few other places
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- One chilling example is when you die in the Metroid Prime series. Samus cries out and the echonote happens as the screen turns to static.
- Both Super Metroid and Metroid: Fusion share the same sound effect - a slightly echoed scream - and the same graphic effect of Samus' suit falling off and Samus dying.
- Other M keeps up the tradition, Samus calling "Adam...!" As she collapses, followed by Adam's voice "Samus, what's going on? Respond! Respo.."[static]
- In the Zelda games, Link is usually silent, but later games do have him grunt or cry out in certain circumstances. In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, he shouts in fear if he falls into a hole, which essentially amounts to "Waaaaauuuuugh!" But in the Goron Mines, if he falls into the boiling lava pits, his death scream is positively chilling.
- Another hilarious example of this trope occurs within Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast with ALL of the characters, who have hilariously ridiculous death screams, especially in the multiplayer. The main character, Kyle Katarn's scream is notable for it's resemblance to a drunkard being strangled while falling over a cliff... Perhaps the most notable death screams in this (or any game for that matter) would go to Star Wars hero and Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and his hilarious long drawn out falling death scream (His scream is so long and drawn out that he can often still be heard screaming even after re-spawning). The voice actors for the entire game seem to have had a ball with the death cries.
- In Bangai-O, the kid heroes and the vast majority of the boss characters do this when they are defeated. Those that don't play a sound effect or a brief musical tune instead (yeah, it's that kind of game).
Beat 'em Up
- In Comic Jumper, Captain Smiley will sometimes cry out "Gotta go back to the checkpoint..." or "You're a loser..." when he gets killed, with an echo added after the last word for dramatic effect.
- Lots of fighting games use this trope, such as Power Stone and Super Street Fighter II.
- World Heroes 2 Jet had a unique twist: some moves (especially throws) were considered as multiple hit. While the death cry would be played just once on the last hit, if that's the first 'hit' of such a throw, you can be treated to up to three additional death cries.
- In Super Smash Bros., characters have two separate death cries. One is a short, abrupt one that is given when the character is knocked off the edge of the screen or into a pit. The second is a long, echoey cry that comes when they're sent flying into the background by being sent off the top. (There is also a grunt that comes if they hit the screen.)
- Soul Series:
- The Apprentice's death cry when knocked out in Soul Calibur 4 is absolutely ridiculous. It probably lasts longer than anything he says throughout the span of the game. And yet it's oddly satisfying to hear.
- Dampierre from the PSP game is the first character in the series to say something when he dies rather than scream, yelling "YOU COWAAAAAARD!" when you ring him out.
- B. Orchid from Killer Instinct 1 and 2 probably had the most orgasmic injury/death cries ever heard.
- M.U.G.E.N gives the option of toggling on or off Death Cry Echoes for each and every character.
- Juri from the updated Street Fighter Four declares "I will have my revenge!"
- Lampshaded in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Whenever Deadpool gets KO'd, he yells "YOU PRESSED THE WRONG BUTTOOOOON!"
- In Tekken, the finishing blow is shown from several different angles, the death cry playing for each one.
- Most of the characters in The King of Fighters say things instead of just scream. Most notable with Iori and Chris, and other characters like Robert yell "shit!" (in Japanese) or mutter some other type of complaint.
"I SHARU RITAAAAN!!"
- Kung Fu Man, the Original Character that comes with M.U.G.E.N, has this.
Hack and Slash
Real Time Strategy
- Dawn of War 2: Tyranid Synapse Creatures (psychic leaders) release a chilling, screen-shaking cry when they die. It also damages their allies, so...
- Delivered by the NAGGAROK after its destruction in Homeworld:Cataclysm, lasting a terrifying thirty seconds. Hand Waved as actually being the voices of all Beast entities dying as the NAGGAROK fails.
Role Playing Game
- Final Fantasy Tactics has different death cries for male, female, monster and zodiac units, modulated mostly by speed and pitch. All of them have some reverberation on them.
- In Persona 4, if the main character is knocked unconscious, Teddie will scream "Senseeeeei!" and Rise will scream "No! Senpaaaaai!"
- Fainting Pokémon give altered, dying-type versions of their cry.
- IN Dark Souls, Artorias of the Abyss lets out an emotionally charged wail of agony when he dies. This can be a Tearjerker for players who play for the story and lore of the game rather than the Player versus Player aspects.
Shoot 'em Up
- G.I. Joe has these for the Joes and most of the game's villains.
- Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter has two for each multi-player soldier when they get killed (there are a total of 5 different "faces" the character can choose from). If killed by a silencer or a grenade, their death cry is extremely louder than normal.
- The Wing Commander games would have both friendly and enemy pilots scream over the radio at you if they were destroyed. Apparently when their ship is breaking up, they only have the presence of mind to hit the communicator and yell "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!", rather than the eject button.
- In WC:Prophecy, some destroyed pilots would wait patiently for scripted comm dialogue to finish, potentially several minutes, before crying out and exploding when the comms were clear.
- Before they coded in the actual dialogue in Wing Commander 2's speech pack, they had placeholder sound files, such as "forming on your wing" or "attacking" in a complete deadpan. Much hilarity ensued the first time the player lost a wingman, who calmly stated, "I'm dead."
- All Metal Gear Solid note games so far use this trope when the hero is killed. It's also used when Emma is killed by the enemy in the second game.
- After the death, a quote similar to the one on top of the page is issued by one of your team members - but it doesn't really apply. It's less of an echo and more someone else repeating the character's name.
- When Snake arrived as a guest in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, this trope was oddly inverted. Snake will still do the Death Cry Echo when knocked into the stratosphere, but Snake being knocked off the sides of the stage is the only time Snake's death cry does not echo.
- It should be noted, that during his taunt (which engages a codec call), the person he's talking to will cry his name if killed during the call. Yes, including Slippy.
- Every character's defeat voiceover is given this effect in Yggdra Union.
Non Video Game Examples
- Most fighter jet and spaceship pilots when being blown up (Star Wars and Independence Day are easy examples).
- Palpatine after getting shafted.
- In William Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, a group of manual laborers is putting on a play (based on the same story as Romeo and Juliet is based on). When the male lead in this play-within-a-play, portrayed by a particularly asinine actor, kills himself, he says "Now die, die, die, die, die."
- End Of The Spear did this as well, when the initial group of missionaries got killed.
- Gurren Lagann subverted this in episode 8: it actually takes Kamina a few minutes to expire after screaming (though his teammates and the viewer immediately assume the worst), giving him the opportunity to get up and pull off one last Moment Of Awesome.
- This happens in the climactic scene in Trading Places. "Turn those machines back on!"
- Common in Toku programs. Sometimes a monster exploding just isn't dramatic enough and this trope comes into play.
- In Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer, the Dark Princess' ship is blown away with her echoing cry of, "No! Not the rainbow, rainbow, rainbow..."
- A chilling non-fiction variant can be heard in a BBC documentary called The Cruel Sea (not to be confused with the Nicholas Montserrat novel or its film adaptation), which reconstructs the loss of the Penlee lifeboat. The lifeboatnote was transmitting to a nearby Coast Guard station when contact was suddenly lost, and the radio operator can be heard calmly repeating their callsign and asking them to please respond for several minutes, not knowing -perhaps suspecting but not wanting to believe- that she had been wrecked with the loss of all hands.