Hanging by a thread

Whumpee is about to fall from somewhere high (cliff, building, bridge...), and they might or might not be saved. Maybe the whumper takes on the opportunity to apply the final blow? Perhaps the whumpee chooses to just let go?

Check the complete Tropes index for more.

If you are unsure if there's any trigger content on any episode/movie (and it's not answered by the descriptions below), consider checking out the "Does the dog die" page for specific triggers, or the Whumpapedia's amazing list for whump compilation by fandoms.

Animes
Akatsuki no Yona


 * Ep 6: Hak keeps himself from falling with a single hand, after a fight on the cliff. And although Yona attempts to help him, both ends up falling. Hak embraces and protects her with his own body.

Kyou Kara Maou


 * Ep 31: After succeeding on taking the key (aka Konrad's arm) and closing the forbidden box, Shibuya Yuuri is hanging by one hand on one of the rifts left by it's destructive power. He refuses to leg go of the arm, and almost falls, but Wolfram grabs his hand.

TV Shows
Doctor Who (2005)


 * 3x06: Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) almost falls from the church tower as a result of the attack from the creature chasing her.

Forever


 * Ep 2: It's night, and Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) goes alone to the bridge a young woman fell from, to investigate. He almost loses his grip while doing so, hanging for a while before recovering.

Kyle XY


 * 2x04: Tom Foss (Nicholas Lea) is working on the climbing wall for Kyle's training, when he loses his grip and almost falls. He hangs by one hand until Kyle shows up to save him.

Merlin


 * 1x04: Merlin was poisoned and Arthur (Bradley James) goes after the one thing that can save him. Inside a cave, Arthur falls into a trap and ends up hanging on a limited stone surface, to fall into a fissure at any moment. He even has to defend himself from (big) attacking spiders.

Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness (Western animation)


 * Ep 4: The zombies attack and pull up part of the passageway, throwing Leon in the air and forcing him to hold for his life on what's left of the "bridge".

Star Trek: Enterprise


 * 1x06: Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) is walking through a very narrow path and slips, hanging on it by one hand.
 * 1x11: Facing the Suliban, Captain Archer almost falls out of the ship through the open hatch and right into space.

Movies
Horizon Line (2020)


 * With the fuel leaking from the plane, Jackson (Alexander Dreymon) ties a rope around his waist and gets out of the plane to try and fix it. Of course that the rope ends up stuck on the wheel and he is left hanging in the air until Sara pulls him back in.

The Aeronauts (2019)


 * Their balloon ends up inside a storm cloud, and trying to get them out of there safely, Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) is almost thrown out, holding for her dear life on the ropes.

Thor (2011)


 * During the final clash between the brothers, Thor destroys the Bifrost bridge and both almost falls from it. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) grabs Loki's (Tom Hiddleston) hand and Odin grabs Thor's leg, but seeing the disappointment on the father's face, Loki lets go and falls.