How do I make a PNG image (or animation) show up when a character dies?

[kyonides]

You'd have to manually add the collapse method to the Sprite_Battler class to make it appear.

Code:

class Sprite_Battler
  alias :last_words_sprt_btlr_up :update
  def update
    last_words_sprt_btlr_up
    reset_last_words
  end

  def reset_last_words
    return unless @last_words and @_collapse_duration == 0
    @last_words = false
    # your Last Words destruction code here
  end

  def collapse
    @last_words = true
    # your Last Words creation code here
     super
  end
end

You gotta know that RPG::Sprite already has a collapse method, BUT not all of your sprites have to show those last words before disappearing. That's why I recommended to add it to Sprite_Battler and call super like I did there to let it apply RPG::Sprite's collapse method's effects accordingly.

The disposal of that custom sprite of yours was a bit tricky, but you can simply alias Sprite_Battler's update method and add your custom code there. You can take a look at my example to get an idea on how to do it.

NOTES

This piece of code assumes you already know how to create sprites and add bitmaps to them.
@last_words is a flag you desperately need to keep track of your Last Words process at all times.