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* ''Literature/ExperimentalFilm'': After young Hyatt Whitcomb went missing, an empty coffin bearing his name was buried in the family crypt.
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* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': [[spoiler:The protagonist herself]] has to fake her death, complete with a fake funeral. Possessions are buried instead of a body for obvious reasons, though the possessions buried are appropriate in regards to the fact that they all items she no longer has any use for and can't get back without the risk of unnecessarily tipping the wrong people off as to what really happened.
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* [[ImpliedTrope Implied to be done]] in ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk''. In the pilot we see David Banner's already filled in gravesite as they bury his colleague/love interest. After everyone leaves David comes out of hiding and spends some time contemplating his gravestone.
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* [[ImpliedTrope Implied to be done]] in ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk''.''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977''. In the pilot we see David Banner's already filled in gravesite as they bury his colleague/love interest. After everyone leaves David comes out of hiding and spends some time contemplating his gravestone.
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* In ''FanFic/HowTheLightGetsIn'', after [[spoiler:Edie]] is revealed to be the BigBad, Sara and Laurel dig up her grave to get confirmation. The casket contains a (creepily realistic) dummy. Laurel notes this required help from family members and the funeral was closed casket, so why just bury an empty casket? She concludes the DramaQueen tendencies are genetic.
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* A few examples in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': when Hob dies, the Toughs can't find any of his body, so they arrange a cenotaph. (The amorphs, meanwhile, present him with a 'proper' burial, made more poignant by the fact that they'd much rather eat him.) And when Kaff Tagon dies, the [[HeroicSacrifice circumstances of his death]] preclude anything but a symbolic funeral. Of course, this being ''Schlock Mercenary'', TheFunInFuneral happens quite shortly.
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* A few examples in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': when Hob dies, the Tagon's Toughs can't find any of his body, so they arrange a cenotaph. (The amorphs, meanwhile, present him with a 'proper' burial, made more poignant by the fact that they'd much rather eat him.) And when Kaff Tagon dies, the [[HeroicSacrifice circumstances of his death]] preclude anything but a symbolic funeral. Of course, this being ''Schlock Mercenary'', TheFunInFuneral happens quite shortly. In yet another example, the Toughs are hired to ''provide'' a substitute when they're acting as security for King Xinchub's funeral and it turns out his blood contains unknown NanoMachines that the government doesn't want in their soil, so they switch it for a brainless clone [[spoiler: which the Toughs were already planning to do before the blood-nannies came up.]]
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* On ''{{Series/Arrow}}'', both Oliver and his father have gravestones, but no graves, because they were LostAtSea. Oliver has both removed, even though his father really is dead. (Ostensibly to further his bad-boy cover persona, but possibly also because he knows his father has a real grave on Lian Yu). Laurel also tells Oliver they buried an empty coffin at her sister Sara's grave---which then ends up being used when Sara dies for real several seasons later.
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* On ''{{Series/Arrow}}'', both Oliver and his father have gravestones, but no graves, because they were LostAtSea. Oliver has both removed, even though his father really is dead. (Ostensibly to further his bad-boy cover persona, but possibly also because he knows his father has a real grave on Lian Yu). Laurel also tells Oliver they buried an empty coffin at her sister Sara's grave---which then ends up being used when Sara dies for real several seasons later. In the GrandFinale, [[spoiler:Oliver's coffin is once again empty, but only because he died (a second time) in the antimatter universe and his body was never recovered. Anatoly asks if the coffin is empty, and the others confirm that it's full of mementos]].
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'''Chuck:''' You had a coffin? Well what was in it?\\
'''Stan:''' Well everybody put something in. Uh... just a cell phone, a beeper, some pictures. I put in some Elvis [=CDs=].
'''Stan:''' Well everybody put something in. Uh... just a cell phone, a beeper, some pictures. I put in some Elvis [=CDs=].
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'''Chuck:''' You had a coffin? Well Well, what was in it?\\
'''Stan:'''Well Well, everybody put something in. Uh... just a cell phone, a beeper, some pictures. I put in some Elvis [=CDs=].
'''Stan:'''
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* Subverted in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' fanfic "Stop All the Clocks", which at first appears to be about the Fifth Doctor burying the remnants of Adric's badge following the events of "Earthshock". At the end, however, Adric shows up, still very much alive, and it turns out that the Doctor was actually burying his irreparably damaged sonic screwdriver.
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* Subverted in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' fanfic "Stop All the Clocks", which at first appears to be about the Fifth Doctor burying the remnants fragments of Adric's badge following the events of "Earthshock". At the end, however, Adric shows up, still very much alive, and it turns out that the Doctor was actually burying his irreparably damaged sonic screwdriver.
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The "cenotaph" (literal meaning "empty grave" in Greek) is a related concept: a burial site that doesn't actually hold the remains of the deceased, either because they are elsewhere or because there were no remains to bury. For the purpose of this trope examples of that also count, as it's essentially the same concept, a marker and final resting place for a person, despite their body not being there.
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The "cenotaph" (literal meaning "empty grave" in Greek) is a related concept: a burial site that doesn't actually hold the remains of the deceased, either because they are elsewhere or because there were no remains to bury. For the purpose of this trope examples of that also count, as it's essentially the same concept, a marker and final resting place for a person, despite their body not being there.
there. As such, there may be some overlap with ShrineToTheFallen.
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* Subverted in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' fanfic "Stop All the Clocks", which at first appears to be about the Fifth Doctor burying the remnants of Adric's badge following the events of "Earthshock". At the end, however, Adric shows up, still very much alive, and it turns out that the Doctor was actually burying his irreparably damaged sonic screwdriver.
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* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': Has the empty grave variant for a character who died and was buried deep in a ForbiddenZone. Their actual grave marker was put in a place that is much easier to visit.
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* In ''Literature/DoctorSleep'', the True Knot bury keepsakes associated with the deceased, such as an item given by the deceased to a surviving member of the group. Since members of this group dematerialize at death, there is no actual body, so this trope is their best equivalent.
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* ''Serier/{{Highlander}}'' had an episode where a teenage girl pre-Immortal suffered her first death and became an Immortal. Duncan smuggled her out of the morgue, and her adoptive parents bury an empty coffin at her funeral due to "the morgue losing her body".
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* ''Serier/{{Highlander}}'' ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' had an episode where a teenage girl pre-Immortal suffered her first death and became an Immortal. Immortal. Duncan smuggled her out of the morgue, and her adoptive parents bury an empty coffin at her funeral due to "the morgue losing her body".
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addition
* The ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' tie-in novel, "The Element Of Fire" had a flashback in which Connor was a sailor, and apparently died at sea saving another man's life. His spare set of clothes wrapped around a stone were used for a BurialAtSea. When they were tossed overboard, Connor threw them back on the ship, revealing he "wasn't quite dead yet".
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* ''Serier/{{Highlander}}'' had an episode where a teenage girl pre-Immortal suffered her first death and became an Immortal. Duncan smuggled her out of the morgue, and her adoptive parents bury an empty coffin at her funeral due to "the morgue losing her body".
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* This was used in ''Starfighter'', about a widow who was suing a government contractor after her husband, an Air Force test pilot, was killed flying a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. A lawyer tries to accuse her husband of taking drugs. She says there was no trace of drugs in his system. He points out that it was impossible to determine given the 'limited material' available for testing. She demands to know what he means, and is later shown saying in fury to a friend, "I buried his hands!"
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* A few examples in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': when Hob dies, the Toughs can't find any of his body, so they arrange a cenotaph. (The amorphs, meanwhile, present him with a 'proper' burial, made more poignant by the fact that they'd much rather eat him.) And when Kaff Tagon dies, the [[HeroicSacrifice circumstances of his death]] preclude anything but a symbolic funeral. Of course, this being ''Schlock Mercenary'', TheFunInFuneral happens quite shortly.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'' episode "Live Fast, Diane Nguyen", Diane's father's body is stolen from his funeral. The mortician suggests Diane to buy one of their "replacement bodies".
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'' episode "Live "[[Recap/BojackHorsemanS1E05LiveFastDianeNguyen Live Fast, Diane Nguyen", Nguyen]]", Diane's father's body is stolen from his funeral. The mortician suggests Diane to buy one of their "replacement bodies".
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* In ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', when Darkseid was forced to back off from conquering Earth, he got in a parting shot by instantly vaporizing Dan Turpin, who has been acting as TheCommissionerGordon for Superman and leading the human attempts to resist Darkseid. Despite there being nothing of him to bury, he still gets a funeral and a gravestone.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', episode "[[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E25E26ApokolipsNow Apokolips Now]]" when Darkseid was forced to back off from conquering Earth, he got in a parting shot by instantly vaporizing Dan Turpin, who has been acting as TheCommissionerGordon for Superman and leading the human attempts to resist Darkseid. Despite there being nothing of him to bury, he still gets a funeral and a gravestone.
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* In "Fanfic/RemembranceOfTheFallen" and "Fanfic/TheOnlyWayToGo", the memorial cemetery on Goralis and Sobaru Lanstar's grave on Bajor are both composed of cenotaphs because the bodies were incinerated.
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* In "Fanfic/RemembranceOfTheFallen" ''Fanfic/RemembranceOfTheFallen'' and "Fanfic/TheOnlyWayToGo", ''Fanfic/TheOnlyWayToGo'', the memorial cemetery on Goralis and Sobaru Lanstar's grave on Bajor are both composed of cenotaphs because the bodies were incinerated.
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** In the episode "Marge Simpson in Screaming Yellow Honkers", there is a funeral motorcade moving slowly which angers Marge. Reverend Lovejoy informs Marge that there actually isn't a body in the hearse because the deceased in question was "lost at sea" and the casket was just full of bricks.
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** In the episode "Marge "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E15MargeSimpsonInScreamingYellowHonkers Marge Simpson in Screaming Yellow Honkers", Honkers]]", there is a funeral motorcade moving slowly which angers Marge. Reverend Lovejoy informs Marge that there actually isn't a body in the hearse because the deceased in question was "lost at sea" and the casket was just full of bricks.
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!!Examples
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* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Batman is believed to have been killed by a petty crook. After the Joker becomes convinced that Batman really is dead, [[AntagonistInMourning he gives Batman's cowl something]] of a VikingFuneral.
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* In [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE51TheManWhoKilledBatman an episode episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Batman is believed to have been killed by a petty crook. After the Joker becomes convinced that Batman really is dead, [[AntagonistInMourning he gives Batman's cowl something]] of a VikingFuneral.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Hereafter," Superman disappears after being hit with what's supposedly a DisintegratorRay. Everyone but Batman believes him dead, so they hold a funeral for him with the rest of the Justice League (minus Batman) carrying a coffin with the left-behind scraps of his uniform inside.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Hereafter," [[Recap/JusticeLeagueS2E19And20Hereafter "Hereafter"]], Superman disappears after being hit with what's supposedly a DisintegratorRay. Everyone but Batman believes him dead, so they hold a funeral for him with the rest of the Justice League (minus Batman) carrying a coffin with the left-behind scraps of his uniform inside.
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* The ''[[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Doctor Who Short Trips]]'' story "Wake" is set on a funeral planet, where the death customs of many different races are catered for. Following the events of "Earthshock", the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa have come to place Adric's badge in one of what is implied to be an infinite number of alcoves. These alcoves are provided so that those who have no body to bury, cremate or otherwise dispose of may leave a token of remembrance in the form of something that was important to the deceased. It's also mentioned that the First Doctor performed the same ritual post "The Daleks' Master Plan", using Trojan soil for Katarina and a utility belt for Sara Kingdom.
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* The ''[[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Doctor Who Short Trips]]'' story "Wake" is set on a funeral planet, where the death customs of many different races are catered for. Following the events of "Earthshock", the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa have come to place Adric's badge in one of what is implied to be an infinite number of alcoves. These alcoves are provided so that those who have no body to bury, cremate or otherwise dispose of may leave a token of remembrance in the form of something that was important to the deceased. It's also mentioned that the First Doctor performed the same ritual post post- "The Daleks' Master Plan", using Trojan soil for Katarina and a utility belt for Sara Kingdom.
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* The ''[[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Doctor Who Short Trips]]'' story "Wake" is set on a funeral planet, where the death customs of many different races are catered for. Following the events of "Earthshock", the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa have come to place Adric's badge in one of what is implied to be an infinite number of alcoves. These alcoves are provided so that those who have no body to bury, cremate or otherwise dispose of may leave a token of remembrance in the form of something that was important to the deceased. It's also mentioned that the First Doctor performed the same ritual post "The Daleks' Master Plan", using Trojan soil for Katarina and a utility belt for Sara Kingdom.
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->'''Stan:''' Chuck, Kelly had to let you go. You know? She thought you were dead. We buried you. We had a funeral, a coffin, a gravestone, the whole thing.
->'''Chuck:''' You had a coffin? Well what was in it?
->'''Stan:''' Well everybody put something in. Uh... just a cell phone, a beeper, some pictures. I put in some Elvis [=CDs=].
-->--''Film/CastAway''
->'''Chuck:''' You had a coffin? Well what was in it?
->'''Stan:''' Well everybody put something in. Uh... just a cell phone, a beeper, some pictures. I put in some Elvis [=CDs=].
-->--''Film/CastAway''
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->'''Stan:''' Chuck, Kelly had to let you go. You know? She thought you were dead. We buried you. We had a funeral, a coffin, a gravestone, the whole thing.
->'''Chuck:'''thing.\\
'''Chuck:''' You had a coffin? Well what was init?
->'''Stan:'''it?\\
'''Stan:''' Well everybody put something in. Uh... just a cell phone, a beeper, some pictures. I put in some Elvis [=CDs=].
-->--''Film/CastAway''
-->-- ''Film/CastAway''
->'''Chuck:'''
'''Chuck:''' You had a coffin? Well what was in
->'''Stan:'''
'''Stan:''' Well everybody put something in. Uh... just a cell phone, a beeper, some pictures. I put in some Elvis [=CDs=].
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* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', at the end, Superman dies, and his funeral is held in 2 places: one in Metropolis where it's more grandiose (with military-style burying) but the casket is actually empty, while the real body is buried at the funeral in Smallville.
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* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', at the end, Superman dies, and his funeral is held in 2 two places: one in Metropolis where it's more grandiose (with military-style burying) but the casket is actually empty, while the real body is buried at the funeral in Smallville.
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As a death trope there will be spoilers.
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As a death trope there DeathTrope '''there will be spoilers.
spoilers'''.
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[[AC:Comic Books]]
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[[folder: Live Action
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[[folder: Video Games ]]
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[[folder: Western Animation ]]
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[[AC:Real Life]]
* If a soldier is killed in a really devastating explosion then the coffin that gets shipped home for burial will simply contain sandbags, (and, if possible, the soldier's dog tags) in order that it not feel empty.
* If a soldier is killed in a really devastating explosion then the coffin that gets shipped home for burial will simply contain sandbags, (and, if possible, the soldier's dog tags) in order that it not feel empty.
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[[folder: Real Life ]]
* If a soldier is killed in a really devastating explosion then the coffin that gets shipped home for burial will simply contain sandbags, (and, if possible, the soldier's dog tags) in order that it not feel
[[/folder]]
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "The Death of Superman," Superman disappears after being hit with what's supposedly a DisintegratorRay. Everyone but Batman believes him dead, so they hold a funeral for him with the rest of the Justice League (minus Batman) carrying a coffin with the left-behind scraps of his uniform inside.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "The Death of Superman," "Hereafter," Superman disappears after being hit with what's supposedly a DisintegratorRay. Everyone but Batman believes him dead, so they hold a funeral for him with the rest of the Justice League (minus Batman) carrying a coffin with the left-behind scraps of his uniform inside.
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Not A Subversion because being actually dead isn't necessary to be a straight example.
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* ''ComicBook/{{Alix}}'' had a case of this in Alix Senator, where Alix puts up a cenotaph in Enak's memory (he died during Egypt's final battle with Rome), since they NeverFoundTheBody. [[spoiler:Subverted as it later turns out that Enak was alive the whole time, unable to reveal himself due to getting caught in an anti-Roman conspiracy.]]
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* ''ComicBook/{{Alix}}'' had a case of this in Alix Senator, where Alix puts up a cenotaph in Enak's memory (he died during Egypt's final battle with Rome), since they NeverFoundTheBody. [[spoiler:Subverted as it [[spoiler:It later turns out that Enak was alive the whole time, unable to reveal himself due to getting caught in an anti-Roman conspiracy.]]
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' episode "Live Fast, Diane Nguyen", Diane's father's body is stolen from his funeral. The mortician suggests Diane to buy one of their "replacement bodies".
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'' episode "Live Fast, Diane Nguyen", Diane's father's body is stolen from his funeral. The mortician suggests Diane to buy one of their "replacement bodies".
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* In the ''Series/BojackHorseman'' episode "Live Fast, Diane Nguyen", Diane's father's body is stolen from his funeral. The mortician suggests Diane to buy one of their "replacement bodies".
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* In the ''Series/BojackHorseman'' ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' episode "Live Fast, Diane Nguyen", Diane's father's body is stolen from his funeral. The mortician suggests Diane to buy one of their "replacement bodies".
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* In the ''BojackHorseman'' episode "Live Fast, Diane Nguyen", Diane's father's body is stolen from his funeral. The mortician suggests Diane to buy one of their "replacement bodies".
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* In the ''BojackHorseman'' ''Series/BojackHorseman'' episode "Live Fast, Diane Nguyen", Diane's father's body is stolen from his funeral. The mortician suggests Diane to buy one of their "replacement bodies".
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* In ''Film/S1m0ne'', since Simone is virtual, there's no body to bury when Taransky proclaims her dead. The coffin is opened and it reveals a paper cut of Simone being buried.
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Created from YKTTW
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->'''Stan:''' Chuck, Kelly had to let you go. You know? She thought you were dead. We buried you. We had a funeral, a coffin, a gravestone, the whole thing.
->'''Chuck:''' You had a coffin? Well what was in it?
->'''Stan:''' Well everybody put something in. Uh... just a cell phone, a beeper, some pictures. I put in some Elvis [=CDs=].
-->--''Film/CastAway''
Sometimes due to the circumstances of a character's death, burying them (or whatever other appropriate cultural rite) simply isn't an option. Maybe they were reduced to LudicrousGibs and there was NotEnoughToBury, maybe [[NeverFoundTheBody their body was never found]], or they simply [[NoBodyLeftBehind didn't leave a body behind]]. Regardless, their loved ones still need some gesture to honor them and say goodbye, so what do they do? They use a substitute of some sort.
Common variations include burying or burning something important to the dead such as a TragicKeepsake, a uniform, or something along those lines.
The "cenotaph" (literal meaning "empty grave" in Greek) is a related concept: a burial site that doesn't actually hold the remains of the deceased, either because they are elsewhere or because there were no remains to bury. For the purpose of this trope examples of that also count, as it's essentially the same concept, a marker and final resting place for a person, despite their body not being there.
As a death trope there will be spoilers.
----
!!Examples
[[AC:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Alix}}'' had a case of this in Alix Senator, where Alix puts up a cenotaph in Enak's memory (he died during Egypt's final battle with Rome), since they NeverFoundTheBody. [[spoiler:Subverted as it later turns out that Enak was alive the whole time, unable to reveal himself due to getting caught in an anti-Roman conspiracy.]]
[[AC:Fan Works]]
* In "Fanfic/RemembranceOfTheFallen" and "Fanfic/TheOnlyWayToGo", the memorial cemetery on Goralis and Sobaru Lanstar's grave on Bajor are both composed of cenotaphs because the bodies were incinerated.
[[AC:Film]]
* The novelization of ''Film/BatmanBegins'' has Bruce Wayne burying the clothing he wore while training with the League of Shadows because it has some of Ducard[=/=]Ra's al Ghul's blood on it, and that bloodstain is the only thing he has to mark the EvilMentor that was almost a second father to him.
* The Tom Hanks character in ''Film/CastAway'' finds that a funeral had been held for him when he was presumed dead. All sorts of little items or mementos were put in the casket by his friends and family.
* In ''Film/TheOmen'' they dig up Damien's birth mother and there's a dog in the casket. It isn't clear if a substitute burial happened or if the dog ''is'' the mother.
* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', at the end, Superman dies, and his funeral is held in 2 places: one in Metropolis where it's more grandiose (with military-style burying) but the casket is actually empty, while the real body is buried at the funeral in Smallville.
[[AC:Literature]]
* A story linked to ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' called ''Closure, Ltd.'' is about a company that people hire to find their zombified relatives so they can give them a burial. Closure often just finds some zombie that looks vaguely like the person in question. All parties involved understand on some level that this may be the case but it's the gesture that is important.
* Julius Root's funeral in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Opal Deception'' is carried out with an empty casket because he was killed in a bomb blast, and there weren't any remains to be buried.
* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'', Corwin underwent a sudden and longtime disappearance, (even for what is essentially an immortal demigod, it was a long time) and eventually his family created an cenotaph for him. When he finally returns from exile, he's quite amused by it, and somewhat surprisingly he finds he rather likes hanging out there, as it's a quiet, out of the way spot that is good for getting away from family intrigue and politics for a bit. He also admits that he's more fond of pissing on his own "grave" than he really should be.
* In one of the ''Literature/HammersSlammers'' stories it's mentioned that the next-of-kin of many Slammers receive a sealed coffin filled with 70 kilos of sand.
* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'': Mad-Eye Moody is killed by Voldemort, but his body isn't found. However, Harry sees a false eye on Dolores Umbridge's office door that resembles Moody's, and suspects she found and stole it. He thus steals it back and buries it in the forest.
* A variation shows up in Creator/JohnGrisham's ''The Partner'', where the main character buries 4 cinder blocks because he needs the corpse of the guy who died in order to fake his own death.
* ''[[Literature/HonorHarrington Echoes of Honor]]'' opens with one of the two state funerals held for Honor Harrington, both of which used empty coffins because Haven didn't return her body for burial. [[spoiler:Because the execution was all special effects and Haven didn't ''have'' a body to return.]]
[[AC:Live Action TV]]
* In ''Series/TheLeftovers'' one day about 2% of the world's population just suddenly vanishes, with no apparent cause and NoBodyLeftBehind. After a little while a company comes around that will build expensive, lifelike dolls that look like the deceased for a mock burial.
* In the first of many cases in ''Series/StargateSG1'' where Daniel was mistakenly thought to be dead, the team sends a wreath through the stargate during his funeral because the body was believed incinerated.
* [[ImpliedTrope Implied to be done]] in ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk''. In the pilot we see David Banner's already filled in gravesite as they bury his colleague/love interest. After everyone leaves David comes out of hiding and spends some time contemplating his gravestone.
* In ''Series/CriminalMinds'' Emily Prentiss is apparently killed off and buried [[RealLifeWritesThePlot due to real-life budget cuts]]. However, at the next season's opening episode she turns up very much alive, with an explanation that she'd really been shot, but the hospital saved her and the BAU leaders arranged for her funeral to be faked as part of a covert op. (Her coffin was full of sandbags.)
* Once on ''Series/FraggleRock'', Gobo was thought to have been eaten by Sprocket and all his friends found was his hat. Boober suggests burying the hat as a way of remembering him just before Gobo reappears and reveals he's not dead.
* On ''{{Series/Arrow}}'', both Oliver and his father have gravestones, but no graves, because they were LostAtSea. Oliver has both removed, even though his father really is dead. (Ostensibly to further his bad-boy cover persona, but possibly also because he knows his father has a real grave on Lian Yu). Laurel also tells Oliver they buried an empty coffin at her sister Sara's grave---which then ends up being used when Sara dies for real several seasons later.
[[AC:Video Games]]
* Part of the BackStory of Michael in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' is that he decided to [[RetiredOutlaw retire from crime]], became [[TheStoolPigeon an informant for the FIB]], and sold out the gang of bank robbers he was working with. The FIB faked his death in the wake of the shootout they had with his crew, buried another member of the bank robbers in his place, and put him into WitnessProtection.
[[AC:Web Comics]]
* Part of the backstory of Durkon from ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' is that his father died before he was born, pulling a HeroicSacrifice to kill a monster ravaging the area. Since the sacrifice took the form of collapsing a cave on both himself and the rampaging troll, the only part of old dad buried under his funeral marker is a lock of his beard that Durkon's mom had in her keeping.
[[AC:Western Animation]]
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Batman is believed to have been killed by a petty crook. After the Joker becomes convinced that Batman really is dead, [[AntagonistInMourning he gives Batman's cowl something]] of a VikingFuneral.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'' plays with this. Jason Todd is buried after the Joker brutally kills him. However, it turns out that while the body was being prepared for burial, ComicBook/RasAlGhul and the League of Assassins took his body and then replaced it with a wax dummy so that they could bring Jason BackFromTheDead with the Lazarus Pit.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "The Death of Superman," Superman disappears after being hit with what's supposedly a DisintegratorRay. Everyone but Batman believes him dead, so they hold a funeral for him with the rest of the Justice League (minus Batman) carrying a coffin with the left-behind scraps of his uniform inside.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In the episode "Marge Simpson in Screaming Yellow Honkers", there is a funeral motorcade moving slowly which angers Marge. Reverend Lovejoy informs Marge that there actually isn't a body in the hearse because the deceased in question was "lost at sea" and the casket was just full of bricks.
** At the end of the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E2MyMotherTheCarjacker My Mother the Carjacker]]", Homer's mother hijacks a prison bus and escapes from the pursuing police, only for the bus to go off a cliff and end up trapped under a rockslide. The Simpson family are subsequently shown holding a funeral for Mona (losing the coffin in the process), but Homer later reveals that they NeverFoundTheBody and the coffin was filled with the previous week's garbage.
* In the ''BojackHorseman'' episode "Live Fast, Diane Nguyen", Diane's father's body is stolen from his funeral. The mortician suggests Diane to buy one of their "replacement bodies".
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS10E1TheReturnOfChef The Return of Chef]]", the kids are unable to retrieve Chef's body following his death. When the funeral is held, a spatula is in the coffin.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', when Darkseid was forced to back off from conquering Earth, he got in a parting shot by instantly vaporizing Dan Turpin, who has been acting as TheCommissionerGordon for Superman and leading the human attempts to resist Darkseid. Despite there being nothing of him to bury, he still gets a funeral and a gravestone.
* In ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', when Muscle Man's dad dies, his funeral urn contains not his ashes, but the ashes of his trucker's hat. It's never made clear why just his hat was cremated, just that Muscle Man plans to scatter them at the Truckers Hall of Fame.
[[AC:Real Life]]
* If a soldier is killed in a really devastating explosion then the coffin that gets shipped home for burial will simply contain sandbags, (and, if possible, the soldier's dog tags) in order that it not feel empty.
->'''Chuck:''' You had a coffin? Well what was in it?
->'''Stan:''' Well everybody put something in. Uh... just a cell phone, a beeper, some pictures. I put in some Elvis [=CDs=].
-->--''Film/CastAway''
Sometimes due to the circumstances of a character's death, burying them (or whatever other appropriate cultural rite) simply isn't an option. Maybe they were reduced to LudicrousGibs and there was NotEnoughToBury, maybe [[NeverFoundTheBody their body was never found]], or they simply [[NoBodyLeftBehind didn't leave a body behind]]. Regardless, their loved ones still need some gesture to honor them and say goodbye, so what do they do? They use a substitute of some sort.
Common variations include burying or burning something important to the dead such as a TragicKeepsake, a uniform, or something along those lines.
The "cenotaph" (literal meaning "empty grave" in Greek) is a related concept: a burial site that doesn't actually hold the remains of the deceased, either because they are elsewhere or because there were no remains to bury. For the purpose of this trope examples of that also count, as it's essentially the same concept, a marker and final resting place for a person, despite their body not being there.
As a death trope there will be spoilers.
----
!!Examples
[[AC:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Alix}}'' had a case of this in Alix Senator, where Alix puts up a cenotaph in Enak's memory (he died during Egypt's final battle with Rome), since they NeverFoundTheBody. [[spoiler:Subverted as it later turns out that Enak was alive the whole time, unable to reveal himself due to getting caught in an anti-Roman conspiracy.]]
[[AC:Fan Works]]
* In "Fanfic/RemembranceOfTheFallen" and "Fanfic/TheOnlyWayToGo", the memorial cemetery on Goralis and Sobaru Lanstar's grave on Bajor are both composed of cenotaphs because the bodies were incinerated.
[[AC:Film]]
* The novelization of ''Film/BatmanBegins'' has Bruce Wayne burying the clothing he wore while training with the League of Shadows because it has some of Ducard[=/=]Ra's al Ghul's blood on it, and that bloodstain is the only thing he has to mark the EvilMentor that was almost a second father to him.
* The Tom Hanks character in ''Film/CastAway'' finds that a funeral had been held for him when he was presumed dead. All sorts of little items or mementos were put in the casket by his friends and family.
* In ''Film/TheOmen'' they dig up Damien's birth mother and there's a dog in the casket. It isn't clear if a substitute burial happened or if the dog ''is'' the mother.
* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', at the end, Superman dies, and his funeral is held in 2 places: one in Metropolis where it's more grandiose (with military-style burying) but the casket is actually empty, while the real body is buried at the funeral in Smallville.
[[AC:Literature]]
* A story linked to ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' called ''Closure, Ltd.'' is about a company that people hire to find their zombified relatives so they can give them a burial. Closure often just finds some zombie that looks vaguely like the person in question. All parties involved understand on some level that this may be the case but it's the gesture that is important.
* Julius Root's funeral in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Opal Deception'' is carried out with an empty casket because he was killed in a bomb blast, and there weren't any remains to be buried.
* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'', Corwin underwent a sudden and longtime disappearance, (even for what is essentially an immortal demigod, it was a long time) and eventually his family created an cenotaph for him. When he finally returns from exile, he's quite amused by it, and somewhat surprisingly he finds he rather likes hanging out there, as it's a quiet, out of the way spot that is good for getting away from family intrigue and politics for a bit. He also admits that he's more fond of pissing on his own "grave" than he really should be.
* In one of the ''Literature/HammersSlammers'' stories it's mentioned that the next-of-kin of many Slammers receive a sealed coffin filled with 70 kilos of sand.
* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'': Mad-Eye Moody is killed by Voldemort, but his body isn't found. However, Harry sees a false eye on Dolores Umbridge's office door that resembles Moody's, and suspects she found and stole it. He thus steals it back and buries it in the forest.
* A variation shows up in Creator/JohnGrisham's ''The Partner'', where the main character buries 4 cinder blocks because he needs the corpse of the guy who died in order to fake his own death.
* ''[[Literature/HonorHarrington Echoes of Honor]]'' opens with one of the two state funerals held for Honor Harrington, both of which used empty coffins because Haven didn't return her body for burial. [[spoiler:Because the execution was all special effects and Haven didn't ''have'' a body to return.]]
[[AC:Live Action TV]]
* In ''Series/TheLeftovers'' one day about 2% of the world's population just suddenly vanishes, with no apparent cause and NoBodyLeftBehind. After a little while a company comes around that will build expensive, lifelike dolls that look like the deceased for a mock burial.
* In the first of many cases in ''Series/StargateSG1'' where Daniel was mistakenly thought to be dead, the team sends a wreath through the stargate during his funeral because the body was believed incinerated.
* [[ImpliedTrope Implied to be done]] in ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk''. In the pilot we see David Banner's already filled in gravesite as they bury his colleague/love interest. After everyone leaves David comes out of hiding and spends some time contemplating his gravestone.
* In ''Series/CriminalMinds'' Emily Prentiss is apparently killed off and buried [[RealLifeWritesThePlot due to real-life budget cuts]]. However, at the next season's opening episode she turns up very much alive, with an explanation that she'd really been shot, but the hospital saved her and the BAU leaders arranged for her funeral to be faked as part of a covert op. (Her coffin was full of sandbags.)
* Once on ''Series/FraggleRock'', Gobo was thought to have been eaten by Sprocket and all his friends found was his hat. Boober suggests burying the hat as a way of remembering him just before Gobo reappears and reveals he's not dead.
* On ''{{Series/Arrow}}'', both Oliver and his father have gravestones, but no graves, because they were LostAtSea. Oliver has both removed, even though his father really is dead. (Ostensibly to further his bad-boy cover persona, but possibly also because he knows his father has a real grave on Lian Yu). Laurel also tells Oliver they buried an empty coffin at her sister Sara's grave---which then ends up being used when Sara dies for real several seasons later.
[[AC:Video Games]]
* Part of the BackStory of Michael in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' is that he decided to [[RetiredOutlaw retire from crime]], became [[TheStoolPigeon an informant for the FIB]], and sold out the gang of bank robbers he was working with. The FIB faked his death in the wake of the shootout they had with his crew, buried another member of the bank robbers in his place, and put him into WitnessProtection.
[[AC:Web Comics]]
* Part of the backstory of Durkon from ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' is that his father died before he was born, pulling a HeroicSacrifice to kill a monster ravaging the area. Since the sacrifice took the form of collapsing a cave on both himself and the rampaging troll, the only part of old dad buried under his funeral marker is a lock of his beard that Durkon's mom had in her keeping.
[[AC:Western Animation]]
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Batman is believed to have been killed by a petty crook. After the Joker becomes convinced that Batman really is dead, [[AntagonistInMourning he gives Batman's cowl something]] of a VikingFuneral.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'' plays with this. Jason Todd is buried after the Joker brutally kills him. However, it turns out that while the body was being prepared for burial, ComicBook/RasAlGhul and the League of Assassins took his body and then replaced it with a wax dummy so that they could bring Jason BackFromTheDead with the Lazarus Pit.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "The Death of Superman," Superman disappears after being hit with what's supposedly a DisintegratorRay. Everyone but Batman believes him dead, so they hold a funeral for him with the rest of the Justice League (minus Batman) carrying a coffin with the left-behind scraps of his uniform inside.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In the episode "Marge Simpson in Screaming Yellow Honkers", there is a funeral motorcade moving slowly which angers Marge. Reverend Lovejoy informs Marge that there actually isn't a body in the hearse because the deceased in question was "lost at sea" and the casket was just full of bricks.
** At the end of the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E2MyMotherTheCarjacker My Mother the Carjacker]]", Homer's mother hijacks a prison bus and escapes from the pursuing police, only for the bus to go off a cliff and end up trapped under a rockslide. The Simpson family are subsequently shown holding a funeral for Mona (losing the coffin in the process), but Homer later reveals that they NeverFoundTheBody and the coffin was filled with the previous week's garbage.
* In the ''BojackHorseman'' episode "Live Fast, Diane Nguyen", Diane's father's body is stolen from his funeral. The mortician suggests Diane to buy one of their "replacement bodies".
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS10E1TheReturnOfChef The Return of Chef]]", the kids are unable to retrieve Chef's body following his death. When the funeral is held, a spatula is in the coffin.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', when Darkseid was forced to back off from conquering Earth, he got in a parting shot by instantly vaporizing Dan Turpin, who has been acting as TheCommissionerGordon for Superman and leading the human attempts to resist Darkseid. Despite there being nothing of him to bury, he still gets a funeral and a gravestone.
* In ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', when Muscle Man's dad dies, his funeral urn contains not his ashes, but the ashes of his trucker's hat. It's never made clear why just his hat was cremated, just that Muscle Man plans to scatter them at the Truckers Hall of Fame.
[[AC:Real Life]]
* If a soldier is killed in a really devastating explosion then the coffin that gets shipped home for burial will simply contain sandbags, (and, if possible, the soldier's dog tags) in order that it not feel empty.
