What is “people die when they are killed?”
This silly quote comes from the anime and manga Fate/Stay Night. The now-infamous line, “People die when they are killed,” comes from a popular Japanese manga and anime from the Fate universe. The line is hilarious because it’s extremely redundant and obvious, while being spoken with an intense seriousness typically reserved for more profound material. What is Fate/Stay Night?* It’s an anime set in the Fate universe. Novels, games, anime, and manga in this universe follow Shirou Emiya, a pedestrian teenager who accidentally enters a fight-to-the-death-style tournament called the Fifth Holy Grail War. In the stories, famous wizards, heroes, and killers from history are revived to compete in this tournament for the famous Holy Grail. The full quote: “Yeah…if I suffer wounds, they won’t heal…Still, I’ve been unconsciously relying too much on my condition. People die if they are killed…That’s the way it should be.”
Is “people die when they are killed” a mistranslation?
Surprisingly, no—it’s a reasonable translation of the Japanese. The original Japanese line is “人は死んだら死ぬんだ” (hito wa shindara shinu nda). Google translates this to, “When a person dies, they die.” Reverso translates this to, “When people die, they die.” Punch the words into DeepL and you’ll get, “People die when they’re dead.” In other words, “people die when they are killed” isn’t a mistranslation. It’s a pretty good approximation of what the original Japanese meant.
The infamous line makes a lot more sense in the context of the show. This line isn’t nearly as funny or absurd if you learn a little bit about the context. The speaker of the line, Shirou, was previously protected by Avalon, a sword that gave him immortality. He’s speaking to Saber, a reincarnated warrior from the Epic of Gilgamesh who is familiar with reincarnation. Basically, the “people die when they are killed” speech is just Shirou explaining how human beings work to a supernatural fighter—they don’t get to normally come back after death…they just die. Reincarnation is a major trope in the Fate universe. Characters are born again, summoned, and reappear with alarming frequency after death, so this speech really highlights what makes Shirou different.
Origin of the “People Die” Meme (& Examples)
The quote became a popular meme template on Danbooru. Danbooru is a popular image board where users can upload basically anything they want. It’s a popular site for anime fans and it’s where the “people die when they are killed” memes first appeared. Here are a few notable (and favorite) examples: The original Danbooru meme. This blast from the past on Yahoo! Answers. The updated Invincible crossover. Thanos gently revises the famous line. This compilation of other redundant Fate lines.
Other Famous (& Silly) Anime Lines Explained
“Did you really think killing me would be enough to make me die?” This absolutely absurd line also makes a little bit more sense in context—the line is spoken by a literal god-being who is actively being a bit goofy—but it’s still hilarious to read on its own. Source: The Misfit of Demon King Academy
“'I’m not scared. Just looking for an entrance to the Mayonnaise Kingdom” This anime, Gintama, is often cited as one of the funniest anime of all time, but this moment really cuts the cake. It’s spoken by Hijikata, a police officer, while wandering a supposedly haunted building. He’s petrified of ghosts, but when someone rattles off a question about his nerves he responds with this ridiculous line about a fictional Mayonnaise Kingdom. Source: Gintama
“Just because you’re correct doesn’t mean that you’re right.” This is from the same anime as the “people die…” line (Fate/Stay Night). Unlike “people die when they are killed,” though, this one actually is a mistranslation. A purer translation of the original Japanese would be something like, “You may have a good point, but that doesn’t make you correct.” Source: Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works
“This is no good. I can’t win if I’m a cabbage.” This infamous line appears in Bobobo-bo bo-bobo, an anime about (wait for it)...bald authoritarians from the future who hunt hair and shave people against their will. This line appears after the titular Bobobo faces Captain Maiteru in combat. The Captain has a Medusa-style ability where looking into their eyes turns the other person into a vegetable. Bobobo is upset when he is turned into a cabbage because…well, cabbage isn’t very good at fighting vegetable Medusas. Or anyone, for that matter. Source: Bobobo-bo bo-bobo
“Just according to keikaku.” This is the rare hilarious anime line where the subtitles do the heavy lifting. Light Yagami (Death Note) says to himself, “Just according to keikaku,” when praising himself for pulling off a perfect murder. What is a “keikaku,” you ask? It’s the Japanese word for “plan.” Hilariously, the subtitle author includes the note, “(Translator’s note: keikaku means plan).” Yep. Instead of using the word “plan” they used the Japanese word in the subtitle and then explained that it meant “plan.” Source: Death Note
“Girls shouldn’t go around swinging invisible swords at people.” Regular swords are totally okay, though. It’s just the invisible swords you’re not allowed to go around swinging if you’re a girl. Good to know! Source: Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works
“I’ll take a potato chip…and eat it!” The line itself isn’t particularly funny in the context of the show (the character is giving a giant monologue about how he’ll fool the police by doing super pedestrian stuff, like eating chips). However, Light delivers the line like it’s the climax of a Shakespeare drama. Seriously, a cymbal crashes while orchestral chants play while he says this. It’s beyond silly. Source: Death Note
“You fiend of a child! A punch to the scrotum is unforgivable!” This one really gets us because it’s the kind of thing you’d never, ever say while being punched in the scrotum. It’s also the kind of thing you’d never say to a five-year-old child, which is when this line is uttered. Source: My Hero Academia
“He’s cleaning our floors, that fiend!” One Piece has a lot of comical moments, but this one is certainly up there. A character from the story, the pirate hunter Zoro, is found by some marines. He is wielding three brooms like they’re weapons, which is when the marines throw out this ridiculous line as though cleaning were a crime. (That said, Zoro does swiftly knock all of them out with the brooms). Source: One Piece
“The toilet bowl will accept anything from me! He’s my ideal partner!” Marie Mjolnir throws this line out while wearing a full wedding dress with her arms wrapped around a toilet that is wearing a bow tie. In other words, no amount of context can rescue this one from its sheer strangeness. Marie just really loves toilets. A toilet will accept anything from her. Get it? Source: Soul Eater
“Why exactly are you working part-time at MgRonald’s, Satan?!” This one is a gem for two reasons. First, the image of Satan working undercover at a fast food joint is just incredible. On top of that, “MgRonald’s?!” They couldn’t come up with a better fake name for a fast food restaurant?! Source: The Devil is a Part-Timer
“My neighboring classmate is a completely normal 8th grader who happens to look like a dog.” There are tons of absolutely silly lines from the anime Shiba Inuko-san, which is where this comes from. The anime is about a student who has a classmate who happens to be a talking dog. It’s just that nobody other than the main character seems capable of noticing. Source: Shiba Inuko-san
“Babies are full of strong, fresh energy. Babies will be our next target.” This Sailor Moon spinoff introduced two alien villains named Alan and Ann. They want to steal the energy from people, which explains why they’d be talking about targeting babies. It’s still exceptionally silly out of context. Source: Sailor Moon
"There are three things I cannot tolerate: cowardice, bad haircuts, and military insurrection, and it is very unfortunate that our friend Vegeta possesses all three of these." Freeza was an iconic villain in DBZ, but he did have a penchant for saying occasionally hilarious things. It’s also funny to hear someone insult Vegeta’s hair, considering how much work he clearly puts into it. Source: Dragon Ball Z
“The Numemon are fighting for me…even though they can’t do anything but throw poop.” The Numemon are a race of slug-like Digimon who happen to be absolutely disgusting. They attack by throwing junk, burping on people, or licking them. If they get really upset, they literally throw poop. In the scene where this quote appears, Mimi sees the gross Numemon standing up for her. She’s touched by the gesture, which makes this even funnier. Source: Digimon: Adventure
"All your base are belong to us." This is arguably the most iconic mistranslation of all time, although it's from a Japanese video game rather than anime. Oddly, it's a game that almost nobody has played. The game developers famously wanted to ship the game to the US but they skimped on paying translators. Thus, what should have been something like, “We have captured your base!” turned into the iconic “All your base are belong to us!”
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