“ | I like to think the last thing that went through his head, other than that bullet, was to wonder how the hell Andy Dufresne ever got the best of him. | „ |
~ Ellis "Red" Redding about Samuel Norton's suicide. |
“ | Boy, this is the end for you! You thought you could beat me, but you can't! (chuckles) I'm going to blow myself up now, and I'm gonna take you with me! Say goodbye to your precious planet! | „ |
~ Cell as he prepares to self-destruct. |
Villains who have either attempted to take their own lives, whether they have succeeded in doing so or been overly eager/bold in the face of death. There can be several different reasons for this including remorse, honor, knowledge of worse fates, despair, a greater cause, insanity, nihilism, taking others with them or even redemption. Some of these villains might even be kamikazes, as they may attempt to bring down someone else with them (such as the hero), whether this means actually killing them or simply doing something such as bringing down their reputation.
Some of these suicidal villains didn't necessarily directly cause their suicides (whether attempted or successful) and were simply eager or bold in the face of death. This includes villains who, when faced with a potentially fatal issue (such as a medical emergency), didn't do anything to save themselves. In some cases, they might have even attempted to make the issue worse.
Examples of successful suicides include Vanessa VanCleef (who was trying to take adventurers down with her), the Master (because of a failed plan), Kratos (his suicide is an example of a redeeming one), Luke Castellan (who redeemed himself in death by taking Kronos with him), the Joker (he snapped his own neck after he was paralyzed, making the police believe that Batman strangled him to death) and Billie227 (their true identity Laura successfully committed suicide after being severely cyberbullied and returned as a vengeful ghost to kill her tormentors).
Examples of failed suicides include Gil Yepes (who tried to kill himself with a shotgun until Jimbo arrives talking with his father, trying his powers and dropping him off to The Killian Foundation), Cell (who tried to blow himself up and take the world with him when defeated by Gohan), the Nostalgia Critic (he attempted suicide several times after watching bad films), Rick Sanchez (who tried to kill himself with a homemade death ray after being dumped by Unity but passed out due to being incredibly drunk before the ray would have killed him), Hyness (who sacrificed himself to revive Void Termina but ends up surviving), Deadpool (who frequently tried to kill himself and finally be with Lady Death yet always failed because of his healing factor), General Lunaris (who tried to kill himself, all life on Earth and his own Moonlander army by ramming his own ship into Earth, only to be stopped by Penumbra), Johan Liebert (who have Kenzo or Anna to shoot him in the head just to kill him but only to survive) and Gaku Yashiro (who tried to kill himself after thinking he killed Satoru and tried to die with him but found he lives).
It is important to note that if the villain does take their own life, it must be ON PURPOSE to qualify as Suicidal. Villains who accidentally kill themselves DO NOT QUALIFY (e.g. Archibald Snatcher, Walter Donovan, Lord Shen, Mr. Jones, General Mandible, Norman Stansfield, William Afton and Colonel Mekum). In addition, villains who fake their own suicides and never really wanted to die do not count either (e.g. Howard Payne, El Macho and Adrian Griffin).
Many of these villains can be tragic as suicide is portrayed extremely seriously or even sympathetically in both fiction and real-life, so it is no doubt that a majority of these villains have suffered such experiences that have twisted them over the edge of taking their own lives.
However, some of these villains can be Pure Evil as they can also take their lives in an extremely fiendishly selfish or malevolent ways, many of which being where they try to take down the heroes with them, only to fail or even take their lives in a cowardly or egotistical way (e.g. Cell, Herrscher of the End, General Lunaris, Art The Clown and many versions of the Joker).
Notes[]
- IMPORTANT: It is to note that even cowards can ALSO qualify for this category. While they cannot be nihilists, cowards can occasionally take their own lives as a way to escape a situation they know they don’t have control over. Regardless, if they take their own life ON PURPOSE, they can still qualify (Samuel Norton is a good example of this).
- Villains who took their own lives CANNOT be Karma Houdinis, even if they took their lives to escape punishment or attempted (Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold and their parodies, Caleb Goldman, Victor Zakhaev, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille and Ragyō Kiryūin) since death to villains is often seen as the ultimate punishment.
All items (3116)
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- William Kent
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- Willie Soke
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- Willy Weasel
- Winifred Sanderson
- Winston
- Winter Soldier (2010 Marvel Animated Universe)
- Wither (Minecraft)
- Withnail
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- Wretched Egg
- Wu Yong
- Wyatt (Repentless Killogy)
- Yachiru Unohana
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- Yarblis Geshkerroth
- Yashiro Nanakase
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- Yatsu
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- Yedida "Alter" Tse'elon
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- Yellow Jaguar
- Yellow Zelkova
- Yeonsangun of Joseon (The Treacherous)
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- Ymir Fritz
- Yo Mika
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- Yodogimi (Nioh)
- Yog
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- Yomi (Sekirei)
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- Yosemite Sam
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- Yu Hojo
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- Yuki Kobayashi
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- Yuko Tanabe
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- Yuri Suvarov
- Yusef Kabira
- Yuto Ijika
- Yuyuko Saigyouji
- Yuzun
- Z (Xenoblade Chronicles)
- Z-one
- Zabuza Momochi
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- Zannin
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- Zasalamel
- Zeke the Plumber
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- Zephyr (One Piece)
- Zeref Dragneel
- Zero (Katana Zero)
- Zero (Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon)
- Ziggy
- Zod (DC Extended Universe)
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- Zor (Sonic the Hedgehog)
- Zorndyke
- Zurab Radiani
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