10 Movie Characters Who Had To Die To Win

As Nada, the tough as nails and cool as f*** hero of John Carpenter’s cult classic They Live, Rowdy Roddy Piper gives what is easily one of cinema’s most iconic heroic performances. Unfortunately for Nada quintessential heroism comes at a cost, and the character also ends up embodying another beloved trope—the Self-Sacrifice for The Greater Good.

Already out of bubblegum, Nada runs out of asses to kick in the closing scenes of Carpenter’s anti-capitalist satirical masterpiece as he loses his life to take down the aliens among us. His plan succeeds, even giving him a chance to flip the bird at the consumerism-pushing foes as he destroys the signal transmitter which masks their true appearance from unsuspecting humans.

However unlike fellow eighties action icon John McClane there was no way Nada could survive the wounds he sustains throughout the flick, and the character dies as his plan comes together, leaving him time for one last glib grin as he succeeds.

Never mind the fact that the Reagan-inspired aliens would be deliberately misread as an allegory for anti-Semitic conspiracy theories by moronic wannabe-critics for decades to come. Probably just as well Nada isn’t around to kick their asses for that, to be honest.