Death Cry Echo

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    "Snake? Snake?! SNAAAAAAAAKE!"
    —Metal Gear Solid

    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 it).

    Some examples that are only nominally "death cries" can be found in a few other places.

    Examples of Death Cry Echo include:

    Anime and Manga

    Kamina: Ugh, can't I even rest in peace?

    Film

    • Most fighter jet and spaceship pilots when being blown up (Star Wars and Independence Day are easy examples).
      • Palpatine after getting shafted.
    • This happens in the climactic scene in Trading Places. "Turn those machines back on!"

    Live-Action TV

    • Common in Toku programs. Sometimes a monster exploding just isn't dramatic enough and this trope comes into play.

    Theatre

    • In William Shakespeare's A 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."

    Video Games

    • One chilling example is when you die in the Metroid Prime series. Samus cries out and the echo[1] 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]
    • 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.
      • The Soul Series gets the same where thing, any late hits against a defeated character loop the death cry.
    • All Metal Gear Solid [2] 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.
    • Most Mega Man X games.
    • Castlevania games.
    • 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.)
    • 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."
    • 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. Hearing him yell "YOU COWAAAAAARD!" when you ring him out is so awesome.
    • 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.
    • 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).
    • B. Orchid from Killer Instinct 1 and 2 probably had the most orgasmic injury/death cries ever heard. I'm sure there are some tropers that let her get hurt or lose a match purposely just to hear it.
    • Dawn of War 2: Tyranid Synapse Creatures (psychic leaders) release a chilling, screen-shaking cry when they die. It also damages their allies, so...
    • Every character's defeat voiceover is given this effect in Yggdra Union.
    • The Mooks in No More Heroes, when they vanish explode.
    • M.U.G.E.N gives the option of toggling on or off Death Cry Echoes for each and every character.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • End Of The Spear did this as well, when the initial group of missionaries got killed.
    • In Persona 4, if the main character is knocked unconscious, Teddie will scream "Senseeeeei!" and Rise will scream "No! Senpaaaaai!"
    • 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!!"

    "...AAAAAaaaaaake!"

    1. ↑ (actually more like a reverb)
    2. ↑ but not the MSX Metal Gears, for obvious hardware-limitations reasons
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