| abstract | - In Redemption Equals Death, a villain will make a Heel Face Turn and then is killed off. In this trope, the order is flipped: the Heel Face Turn happens because the villain knows that he is absolutely about to die. Usually, a character who undergoes Death Equals Redemption only lives long enough afterward to say something that shows he is no longer evil to the core, though some get to give a Final Speech, or even undergo a full-blown Freudian Excuse flashback. Occasionally, the character goes through a moment of clarity just prior to death, finally noticing something he has overlooked for the whole story. Occasionally the character realizes just how much being evil has lost him. And sometimes the character is trying to buy himself a way into heaven. Since the character dies shortly after the Heel Face Turn, this change of heart is unlikely to affect the plot much. There are exceptions, of course; occasionally, the dying character's last words can inspire the hero or even give him a vital clue. Rarely (very rarely), they recover; in media where "recovery" is routine, the redemption might not stick much longer than the death. Compare Alas, Poor Villain and Alas, Poor Scrappy, in which the character is at least partially redeemed in the audience's eyes simply through the act of dying even though they stay a villain. Dying as Yourself, Heel Face Door Slam, and Villain's Dying Grace are all sometimes (but not always) sub-tropes. Compare The Last Dance, which is when a character has a longer period before death. Examples of Death Equals Redemption include:
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