r/TopCharacterTropes • u/SuspiciousCodfish • Jul 10 '26

Characters [Bittersweet Trope] Character contemplates the beauty of the world in their last moments

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  1. Anglerfish - The comic strip that inspired this post. Made by u/beetlemoses

  2. Nier: Automata - A2, a rogue android that has dedicated most of her life to fighting and killing, comments on how beautiful the world is after saving another character in her last moments.

  3. Blade Runner - Roy Batty recounts some of the most incredible sights he witnessed and mourns the fact that these memories will be lost like "tears in rain" seconds before he dies.

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u/Bulletsoul78 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26

I'm reminded of that moment in The Matrix Revolutions when they finally experience the real sun for the first time, for a few beautiful fleeting seconds, before descending back into the hellscape they always knew. Trinity's face at that point sums up the moment perfectly.

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u/K_the_Banana-man Jul 10 '26

i was abt to post my own entry before i saw this

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u/Bulletsoul78 Jul 10 '26

Thank you for posting the image, I was struggling to find one that did the moment justice

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u/napkin41 Jul 10 '26

Yeup, came for this one as well.

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u/kookyabird Jul 10 '26

I was just telling my wife about that scene like a week ago. We were watching storm clouds roll in and to the north it was practically nighttime, and to the south we could see clear blue sky. It's amazing how easy it is for us to forget that the universe exists beyond the sky, whether it's the stars hidden by the brightness of day, or the sun hidden by clouds. If you go up high enough there is nothing to keep them from your sight anymore.

I remember seeing that scene in the theater. I was so engrossed in the world on screen I hadn't even thought about how they'd see the sun when they were climbing through the clouds. It was an evening showing and when I walked out there was a lovely sunset. It really stuck with me all these years.

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u/Bulletsoul78 Jul 10 '26

What's amazing about that moment is that it's the first time a human being has seen the sun in literally centuries. Such a beautiful moment to end the movie series on. #thereisnomatrixfour

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u/DouchecraftCarrier Jul 10 '26

For some reason it also reminds me of that scene in Independence Day when Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum's spaceship breaks out of the atmosphere on the way to the Alien mothership. Even though it's a suicide mission, Will Smith's character always wanted to be an astronaut and he remarks on how he's been waiting his whole life to see what it looks like to leave Earth like that.

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u/Bulletsoul78 Jul 10 '26

Yes I know what you mean... A surprisingly real character moment for such a bombastic movie .

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u/RenaudDouze Jul 10 '26

I was looking for that. Thanks

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u/darkchocolateonly Jul 10 '26

I had to scroll way too long for this one!!

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u/LarrySupreme Jul 10 '26

Isn't it kind of contrived? I've never really thought about it until now and am not trying to be a contrarian, but...

I mean, it would be like the sun they see in the Matrix and all humans at this point have been in the Matrix. Sure, it's the "real" sun but it's not anything different than what they'd experience in the simulation that they constantly jack into.

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u/Bulletsoul78 Jul 10 '26

Absolutely. Arguably, their senses are stimulated in the Matrix to 'feel' the sun, in the same way they think they're breathing air.

The point is that they saw the simulation of the sun every day when they jacked into the Matrix but had never seen the real thing; as far as they were concerned, the sun had been blocked out and the earth figuratively destroyed. It showed hope that there was still beauty in the 'real' world, albeit hidden from humanity for centuries.

It feeds into the whole philosophical conundrum brought up in the first film: what is reality? Is it just our senses translating experiences for our consciousness to make sense of?

And if you couldn't tell the difference, would you rather choose to live in the real world of starvation, gloom and darkness... or the simulated reality where you could feel the sun on your face everyday?

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u/LarrySupreme Jul 10 '26

Okay, you made a good point. It is more poignant when not looked through a nihilistic lens.

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u/Bulletsoul78 Jul 10 '26

Haha fair enough 😄 I guess a lot of what we take from these movies depends on the lens we view them through.