History Main / AfterlifeAntechamber

* The Afterlife in ''LightNovel/AngelBeats'' is in fact an antechamber created for the souls of children who died feeling unfulfilled so that they can leave behind their regrets and fears and move on. People who do so disappear, and it's never made quite clear where they go, but it wouldn't be at all unreasonable to assume that they are going to the "true" afterlife, whatever that may be.

* The Afterlife in ''Anime/AngelBeats'' is in fact an antechamber created for the souls of children who died feeling unfulfilled so that they can leave behind their regrets and fears and move on. People who do so disappear, and it's never made quite clear where they go, but it wouldn't be at all unreasonable to assume that they are going to the "true" afterlife, whatever that may be.

* ''TheTwilightZone''

** In Small Gods, Death tells Vorbis "At the end of the desert you will be judged." When Brutha dies, he hears the same thing and asks Death "At which end?" In reply, Death smiles.

* In ''{{Animorphs}}'', when Rachel dies, she ends up there, and talks to the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Ellimist]] about the events of her life. When she asks what happens next, she is cut off, and the perspective switches to someone else.

* In ''{{Ghost Story}}'', Harry Dresden has just saved the day as a ghost and gets to see his friends before he goes on. Inverted, in that he isn't really dead.

* In ''{{Naruto}}'', [[spoiler:everyone in Konoha]] ends up there because of Pain's onslaught. [[spoiler:We actually see Kakashi there, and his dad's there, too, due to his regrets. Pain's revival ability is able to bring back everyone in this antechamber, but he can't revive Jiraiya because he already passed through.]]
* The Afterlife in ''Anime/AngelBeats'' is in fact an antechamber [[spoiler: created for the souls of children who died feeling unfulfilled so that they can leave behind their regrets and fears and move on. People who do so]] disappear, and it's never made quite clear where they go, but it wouldn't be at all unreasonable to assume that they are going [[spoiler:to the "true" afterlife, whatever that may be.]]

* In, ''The Night Angel Trilogy'' after [[spoiler:Kylar dies for the first time (and every other time)]] he wakes up in an antechamber, with only The Wolf for company.
* In ''{{Animorphs}}'', when [[spoiler:Rachel dies, she ends up there, and talks to the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Ellimist]] about the events of her life. When she asks what happens next, she is cut off, and the perspective switches to someone else.]]
* In ''{{Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}}'', when [[spoiler:Harry dies he ends up in a giant train station. His options are to return or to go "on". "On" is not described.]]
* In ''{{Ghost Story}}'', Harry Dresden has just saved the day as a ghost and gets to see his friends before he goes on. [[spoiler: Inverted, in that he isn't really dead.]]

* In the final season of ''{{Lost}}'', [[spoiler:the ending revealed that the flash-sideways alternate universe was actually this]].

* Near the end of ''[[{{Walkyverse}} It's Walky]]!'', characters killed by the Martians reunite, along with Ruth and [[spoiler:Dina]], in a bizarre void that Ruth insists is Purgatory, and more rational characters a shared sink of severed consciousness before it's claimed by entropy. The technology exists to retrieve the minds of people in this state, but they remember none of it.

* The Afterlife in ''AngelBeats'' is in fact an antechamber [[spoiler: created for the souls of children who died feeling unfulfilled so that they can leave behind their regrets and fears and move on. People who do so]] disappear, and it's never made quite clear where they go, but it wouldn't be at all unreasonable to assume that they are going [[spoiler:to the "true" afterlife, whatever that may be.]]

* ''{{MASH}}'' episode "Follies of the Living - Concerns of the Dead". The ghost of a dead soldier wanders the camp and eventually finds a group of other ghosts traveling along the road to the afterlife. Almost certainly [[strike:a ripoff of]] based on "The Passersby".

* ''Webcomic/OrderOfTheStick'' has this; the Lawful Good afterlife takes the form of a mountain, arranged by altitude in layers of increasingly abstract pleasures. Souls are expected to go to the level they wish, then climb higher as they get bored and seek greater enlightenment. The lower levels are relatively mundane.

* ''{{The Order of the Stick}}'' has this; the Lawful Good afterlife takes the form of a mountain, arranged by altitude in layers of increasingly abstract pleasures. Souls are expected to go to the level they wish, then climb higher as they get bored and seek greater enlightenment. The lower levels are relatively mundane.

* ''BeingHuman'': First you go through a door, then there's a hallway (which is apparently horrible), beyond that there's a few waiting rooms, and then...?

* ''BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', episode "Dawn of the Dead Man!": When you die, you hang around the world of the living, invisible and inaudible, until you are called to GoIntoTheLight. What's beyond the Light is not shown, and it's stated that once you go into the Light, there's no returning.

* ''{{Beetlejuice}}''. The afterlife, being part of the CelestialBureaucracy, has a waiting room where the dead are processed and the waiting time helps them realize that they really are dead.

One way of handling it is to divide the afterlife into sections: this here's the bit you're in immediately after you die, which is somewhat familiar, and over there is the afterlife proper, which we're not going to talk about. The story only concerns itself with the near part of the afterlife; when characters move on to the afterlife proper (often by [[GoIntoTheLight Going Into The Light]], they exit the story.

One way of handling it is to divide the afterlife into sections: this here's the bit you're in immediately after you die, which is somewhat familiar, and over there is the afterlife proper, which we're not going to talk about. The story only concerns itself with the near part of the afterlife; when characters move on to the afterlife proper, they exit the story.

* ''TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' has purgatory, which is a restaurant where everyone eats all their sins. There is one waiter.

* The Afterlife in AngelBeats is in fact an antechamber [[spoiler: created for the souls of children who died feeling unfulfilled so that they can leave behind their regrets and fears and move on. People who do so]] disappear, and it's never made quite clear where they go, but it wouldn't be at all unreasonable to assume that they are going [[to the "true" afterlife, whatever that may be.]]

* In ''{{Animorphs}}'', when [[spoiler:Rachel dies, she ends up there, and talks to the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Ellimist]] about the events of her life, and asks if her life made a difference. When she asks what happens next, she is cut off, and the perspective switches to someone else.]]

* In ''[[Animorphs]]'', when [[spoiler:Rachel dies, she ends up there, and talks to the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Ellimist]] about the events of her life, and asks if her life made a difference. When she asks what happens next, she is cut off, and the perspective switches to someone else.]]

* In, ''The Night Angel Trilogy'' after [[spoiler:Kylar dies for the first time (and every other time)]] he wakes up in an antechamber, with onlt The Wolf for company.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]

[[folder:Manga and Anime]]
* In ''{{Naruto}}'', [[spoiler:everyone in Konoha]] ends up there because of Pain's onslaught. [[spoiler:We actually see Kakashi there, and his dad's there, too, due to his regrets. Pain's revival ability is able to bring back everyone in this antechamber, but he can't revive Jiraiya because he already passed through.]]
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