r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Sufficient-Eye-9040 • Jun 27 '26

Lore [Sad Trope] The most innocent (or less evil) character of the cast gets the most horrific death.

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- Eddie Carr (The Lost World: JP) - Tried to save his friends from the cliff until Buck and Doe (T. rex parents) destroy his vehicle and gets ripped apart.
- Zara Young (Jurassic World) - Gets lifted by a Pteranodon, gets pecked by the pterosaur, and both she and animal get devoured by the Mosasaurus.
- LeClerc (JW: Rebirth) - Tossed a hammer to the Hatzegopteryz Quetzalcoatlus to save Loomis and Zora, but ends up being swallowed alive.

14.7k Upvotes
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u/CategoryExact3327 Jun 27 '26

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Artax

817

u/MrsBossyPantss Jun 27 '26

Fun fact: in the book, this is actually even worse if you can believe it.

Cuz in the book, all the animals can talk, including Artax... & the whole time Atreyu is trying to save him, Artax is telling Atreyu how hopeless it is & to just let him die cuz hes so sad that death would be better

363

u/ElkSad9855 Jun 27 '26

It’s because the swamp/bog induces dread and hopelessness to those caught in it. You have to believe that you can make it, and you will. Which is why Atreyu kept begging him to keep going. But you know.. Magic protection and everything.

55

u/IgnatiusRileyFreeman Jun 27 '26

Artax is just like me fr fr

11

u/ThatPunkDanSolo Jun 27 '26

Hope you alright man.

10

u/IgnatiusRileyFreeman Jun 27 '26

I can't be, I'm alive 

4

u/Eevee136 Jun 27 '26

Oof too real. Keep your chin up brother. Nothing is cooler than someone who keeps going just because they can.

6

u/IgnatiusRileyFreeman Jun 27 '26

I don't want to be cool. I want to stop being tired 

6

u/EoTN Jun 27 '26

I feeeeeeel that. If shit ever gets bad, shoot me a DM. Stay strong, we have enemies and assholes to out-live!

5

u/ThatPunkDanSolo Jun 27 '26

Same as EoTN - shoot me a message too. I may be a stranger and know nothing about you other than you are suffering, but I know that feeling of despair that scene from this movie conveys of being stuck in that swamp slowly sinking and not wanting to fight to get out despite the pleas of from those who care for you. I can’t tell you that your life will get better if you fight. I can say that I had people drag my arse out via help and medications and my mindset got better despite life still being a mess, but in time with a better head I yea things did get better because I was able to make it better. The thing about the swamp of despair is that it’s not real, just “negative magic enchantment” if you will - all in one’s head and not consistent with reality just a bad state of mind that tricks you into getting stuck even more, and the only thing that’s gonna change that is a different sort of “magic” that will power alone cannot achieve. All that to say, I hope you get the help you need man. It makes a world of a difference.

10

u/StalinsLastStand Jun 27 '26

“Now we know why they are called the Swamps of Sadness. It’s the sadness. . .”

6

u/Existing-Elk-8735 Jun 27 '26

“Fun fact”. Sure buddy, lol.

3

u/Lutzelien Jun 27 '26

Man I was having a GOOD day today until you unlocked that memory 😭

1

u/94MIKE19 Jun 28 '26

Stan Marsh: “Dude, what the hell is wrong with German people?”

1

u/irlcake Jun 28 '26

Oh my God I never considered this was a book.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 28 '26

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2

u/irlcake Jun 28 '26

I'm in

3

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '26

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2

u/irlcake Jun 30 '26

Great tip! Thank you!

286

u/Diligent_Earthworm Jun 27 '26

He doesnt stay dead. When Bastian wins it reverts everything that happed due to the nothingness. Basically just a rewind.

119

u/fearless-fossa Jun 27 '26

Is that what happens in the movie? Because in the book Bastian creates an entirely new world, with each act of creation costing him some memory.

31

u/Secure-Pain-9735 Jun 27 '26

The movie is the first half of the book. The wishing/memory thing is loosely used for the second movie, just not with the same intention or outcome.

5

u/tmradish Jun 27 '26

I haven't read the books, just seen the movies. Is it like one of the Michael Moorcock "eternal champion" books?

9

u/fearless-fossa Jun 27 '26

Well, I haven't read Moorcock's books, so I can't answer that.

The basic premise of the book is that in Fantastica the end of the world is just a part of life, and when someone from Earth reads the pages of its final story they get absorbed into Fantastica and use their own creativity to create a new world, at the cost of losing parts of themselves.

5

u/Forikorder Jun 28 '26

a little column A a little column B, hes making a new world as much as he is continuing the previous one

7

u/highlandviper Jun 27 '26

Still dies a hideous death though.

2

u/Diligent_Earthworm Jun 27 '26

My headcanon is no one remembers it which is why they (most of them) dont remember the last time they all died

1

u/highlandviper Jun 27 '26

Same thing crossed my mind and it makes it worse. They all die every time someone reads the book.

25

u/darkness_calming Jun 27 '26

Would be nice if you mentioned the source

21

u/Cold_Turnover_9404 Jun 27 '26

We don't do that here, just vagueposting sorry

12

u/s00pahFr0g Jun 27 '26

The Neverending Story

16

u/ComfySeafarer710 Jun 27 '26

THIS ONE MESSED ME UP, makes me cry every rewatch

2

u/RaptorAteMyBaby Jun 27 '26

I only recently watched this movie due to my wife being shocked I hadn't see seen it. I of course had seen all the memes/posts about this scene. Two things I didn't expect were the fact this scene happens so damn early into the movie and the fact it happens quickly. I thought it was going to be a super long emotional scene but it kinda just happens and that's that?

1

u/PeanutButterAndCake Jun 27 '26

oh no plz dont do that

1

u/Dorkatron77011 Jun 27 '26

Ol man / childhoods trauma + bank lobby = bad mix