When death looms, people react in wildly different ways. Some freeze, some panic, but history is full of those who chose to stare death straight in the eye. Here are 10 awesome ways brave souls turned their final moments into legendary feats.
Awesome Ways Heroes Defied Death
10 Michel Ney
Michel Ney was one of France’s top marshals during the Napoleonic Wars, earning Napoleon’s nickname “Le Brave des Braves” – the bravest of the brave. After Napoleon escaped from Elba, Ney was tasked with arresting the former emperor, but instead he threw in his lot with the ex‑emperor and fought at Waterloo. Captured after the defeat, Ney faced a firing squad. He didn’t flinch; he even asked for a last request so outrageous that it had to be granted – he wanted to command his own firing squad. The final image of Ney was him ordering his former comrades to fire the very bullets that would end his life.
9 Edward “Teddy” Sheean
During World War II, Australian sailor Edward “Teddy” Sheean was aboard the HMAS Armidale when Japanese Zeroes swooped in. After a torpedo ripped the ship open, Teddy helped his shipmates scramble for life rafts. A shrapnel wound knocked him down, but instead of climbing aboard a raft, he dragged his injured body to an anti‑aircraft gun and kept firing at the planes. Witnesses say tracer rounds flashed from beneath the water as he fought on, likely pulling the trigger even as the sea pulled him under.
8 Saito Musashibo Benkei
Saito Musashibo Benkei, the towering warrior monk of Japan, is remembered for a single, jaw‑dropping last stand. Loyal to his friend Yoshitsune, Benkei vowed to protect him with his life. When Yoshitsune asked Benkei to buy him time to perform seppuku, the monk took on an entire army alone. Wielding a naginata, he sliced through wave after wave of attackers, his two‑meter frame turning the battlefield into a killing zone. Eventually the enemy resorted to a rain of arrows. Benkei stood perfectly still as arrows rained down, his statue‑like poise fooling the attackers into thinking he was still alive until a rider finally knocked his corpse over, revealing that he had died from the arrow wounds.
7 Wladyslaw Raginis
In the 1939 German invasion of Poland, young officer Wladyslaw Raginis found himself with 700 men facing an estimated 42,000 German troops. To boost morale, he swore he would never leave his post alive. After three days of ferocious fighting, the Germans offered him a grim choice: surrender or be pulverised by artillery. Determined to keep his promise, Raginis ordered his men to evacuate, then hurled himself onto a grenade, sealing the bunker entrance and sealing his own fate.
6 Constantine XI Palaiologos
Constantine XI Palaiologos was the last Byzantine emperor, and he chose to go out not as a monarch but as a common soldier. As Constantinople fell, his forces were hopelessly outnumbered. To avoid giving the Ottoman conquerors a royal trophy, Constantine stripped off his imperial robes and led a final charge among his troops. While accounts differ on the exact details of his death, the consensus is that he fell on the battlefield, buried beside the men he fought with.
5 Gurmukh Singh
In 1897, Gurmukh Singh served with the Sikh regiment of the British Indian Army. Along with 20 comrades, he defended the remote Saragarhi post against a massive Afghan force. Outnumbered 500 to one, Singh kept firing his rifle while using a helioscope—a mirror‑like device—to signal nearby forts for reinforcements. After his fellow Sikhs fell, the Afghans grew weary of his relentless shooting and finally burned the tower he occupied. Legends claim Singh felled at least 20 enemies while shouting the Sikh battle cry “Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal.”
4 Jan van Speyk
Jan van Speyk was a Dutch navy lieutenant during Belgium’s fight for independence. When his ship drifted into Belgian waters, the Belgians demanded he lower the Dutch flag and surrender. Speyk, a staunch opponent of Belgian independence, refused. He looked his attackers in the eye, declared he’d rather blow up, and detonated a barrel of gunpowder—some accounts even say he lit a cigar and blew up the vessel. The explosion killed everyone on board, cementing his reputation as a man who would never relinquish his ship.
3 Giles Corey
Giles Corey, an 80‑year‑old farmer in Salem during the witch trials, found himself accused of witchcraft after his wife was charged. When asked to plead, he refused, knowing that a plea would forfeit his property to the town. The magistrates resorted to “pressing”: a heavy board was placed on his chest and stones piled on top. Each time they demanded a plea, Corey simply shouted “More weight!” He endured days of crushing stones before finally succumbing to his injuries, his stubborn defiance turning him into a legend of resistance.
2 Marie Antoinette
When the French queen Marie Antoinette met the guillotine, she chose to go out with a touch of aristocratic grace. Her final words were not a rage‑filled curse but a simple apology to the executioner for stepping on his toe. Even in death, she maintained the poise expected of royalty, offering a brief, courteous note as the blade fell.
1 Benjamin Guggenheim
Benjamin Guggenheim was a first‑class passenger on the Titanic. As the ship sank, he and his valet Victor Giglio first helped women and children into lifeboats. When the crew realized the two men were missing, they reappeared on deck in their finest evening wear, having discarded their life preservers. Guggenheim explained he wanted to go down “like a gentleman,” and he even requested a message be sent to his wife. He spent his final moments sipping brandy, impeccably dressed, as the great liner slipped beneath the waves.