It's supposed to be a ten-gallon hat, but it appears to have sprung a leak. Starsky: Looks like you just punched your last ticket, amigo. I-I'm sorry, did you just tough-talk a dead body? Oftentimes, when the hero or in some cases the villain has just killed someone, often in a gruesome manner, they do a Bond One-Liner. The classic Bond One-Liner is typically a bad Pun or Obligatory Joke on the manner in which the victim was dispatched.
It can be a snarky response to the now-dead enemy's attempted Pre-Mortem One-Liner , an Ironic Echo of something they said to the hero earlier, or a casual response set up by having the hero interact with a character who wonders aloud why the victim is not present. It often works on the basis that it Crosses the Line Twice , but it may also be a sign that the character who says it has sociopathic tendencies. In general, see Quip to Black for cheesy one-liners right before a cut.
If the one-liner is said before killing, or if the killing blow is struck but the one-liner is said before the victim's consciousness fades, it's a Pre-Mortem One-Liner which, for the record, James Bond says just as often.
It's also possible to combine the two, with separate quips before and after killing the victim. If the character is making smartass quips about their own impending death, then it's a Gallows Humor version of a "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner. The Trope Namer is James Bond , who does this in every single one of his films. The early films were done under the onus of The Hays Code , with these quips being used to downplay the violence; later films simply carried on the tradition.
Ditto Arnold Schwarzenegger , but Bond's have more pun. As this is a Death Trope , unmarked spoilers abound. After he does this, he delivers the following line: Samosa: Hey, I'll give you one tip. Never mess with my tip, okay? Renji reduces him to a pile of ash and comments on how the Superstar finally burned out.
