History Main / CradleOfLoneliness

* A grisly variant in ''TrueBlood''. After Eric seduces and murders Russell Edgington's lover Talbot, an [[VillainousBreakdown increasingly insane]] Russell goes out and finds a male prostitute who resembles Talbot, puts a stake through his heart, and while the man dies says the heartfelt goodbye that he never got to say to Talbot. At the end, he cuddles with the body of the now dead man.
** Russell also keeps a glass jar filled with Talbot's blood and other bodily remains with him throughout the rest of the season. He can be seen talking to it and carrying it everywhere.

* [[spoiler: Yuki Amano]] of ''MiraiNikki'' should be the poster child of this trope. After becoming [[spoiler: the new God of Space/Time]] he is so crippled by the loss of his beloved that he just sits there staring at the last entry in his diary [[spoiler: Yuno died]] for 10,000 years straight despite [[spoiler:having just inherited god powers]].
* Usagi from ''SailorMoon'' regards [[MementoMacGuffin her music box locket]] this way when Tuxedo Mask is captured and brainwashed by the Dark Kingdom.

* On ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Wes is seen holding Fred's stuffed rabbit as he packs her stuff away after her death.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': After [[spoiler: Jane]]'s death, Jesse can be seen cradling his cell phone, then calling her number just to hear her voice mail, until her line is finally disconnected and he can no longer hear her voice.
* {{Monk}} reveals in one episode that, after his wife died, he couldn't bring himself to throw away -or even move- any of her belongings.

* Robert Palmer's Johnny and Mary: He needs all the world to confirm, that he ain't lonely.
* The song ''Whiskey Lullaby''has this line; ''We found her with her face down in the pillow. Clinging to his picture for dear life.''

* For all that he is a JerkAss to Stimpy, Ren from ''RenAndStimpy'' did this twice in an episode when Stimpy leaves. First he breaks down in tears at the sight of one of Stimpy's hairballs and later in the episode he cradles a bag of kitty litter with Stimpy's face on it.
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* The song ''Whiskey Lullaby''has this line; ''We found her with her face down in the pillow
Clinging to his picture for dear life.''

Sometimes part of a [[SadTimesMontage Sad Times]] or overlaps with a LostLoveMontage, and is likely to be done by a HurtingHero. If a specific item is being held, it may be a TragicKeepsake, especially if it came from a DeadLittleSister.

* Shinn from ''GundamSEEDDestiny'' does it with his [[DeadLittleSister late little sister's]] cellphone.

* [[spoiler: Yuki Amano]] of ''MiraiNikki'' should be the poster child of this trope. After becoming [[spoiler: the new God of Space/Time]] he is so crippled by the loss of his beloved that he just sits there staring at the last entry in his diary [[spoiler: Yuno died]] for 10,000 years straight despite having just inherited god powers.

* An episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' has Marshall away, staying with his mother, and Lily getting lonely to the point of dressing up a pillow in Marshall's clothes. (This may be an ActorAllusion, given that Lily is played by [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Willow's]] [[AlysonHannigan actress]].)

* Film/MayPayne has a scene where Max goes to a storage unit and reveals that he kept everything from the house where his family were murdered, even the papers that his wife had on her desk.

* Dren does this in the movie ''{{Splice}}'' with a cat while her "parents" are away. It's kind of sad and sweet, [[ItGotWorse but]]...

* ''BreakingBad'': After [[spoiler: Jane]]'s death, Jesse can be seen cradling his cell phone, then calling her number just to hear her voice mail, until her line is finally disconnected and he can no longer hear her voice.

* In the ''{{Erfworld}}'' prequel that details Wanda's backstory, after [[spoiler:Wanda's brother Tommy is poisoned and killed by a woman he loved, Wanda manages to [[AnimateDead animate his body]], but despite it being the best work she's done in raising the dead, she realizes that the animated dead isn't the brother that she loved, and never will be. Her first order to it is to hold her while she cries]].

* Yuki Amano of ''MiraiNikki'' should be the poster child of this trope. After becoming [[spoiler: the new God of Space/Time]] he is so crippled by the loss of his beloved that he just sits there staring at the last entry in his diary [[spoiler: Yuno died]] for 10,000 years straight despite having just inherited god powers.

* Near the End of the ''RurouniKenshin'' OVA ''Trust and Betrayal'', Kenshin cradles the body of Tomoe after her death. Later we see Kenshin sitting under a tree with Tomoe's shawl wrapped around him. In a semi-reversal, we see the ghostly image of Tomoe wrapping her arms around him.

* Usagi from ''SailorMoon'' regards her music box locket this way when Tuxedo Mask is captured by the Negaverse.

* Shinn from ''GundamSEEDDestiny'' does it with his [[DeadLittleSister late little sister]]'s cellphone.

* Near the End of the ''RurouniKenshin'' OVA ''Trust and Betrayal'', Kenshin cradles the body of Tomoe after her death. Later we see Kenshin sitting under a tree with Tomoe's shawl wrapped around him. In a semi-reversal, we see the ghostly image of Tomoe wrapping her arms around him.

* In the movie ''HeGotGame'', when the governor lets [[DenzelWashington Denzel Washington's]] character out of jail temporarily so that he can convince his son (a star basketball player) to go to the governor's university, Denzel makes a stop at the cemetary to see and then embrace the grave of his wife, whom he accidentally killed years ago.

* An episode of ''HowIMetYourMother'' has Marshall away, staying with his mother, and Lily getting lonely to the point of dressing up a pillow in Marshall's clothes. (This may be an ActorAllusion, given that Lily is played by [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Willow's]] [[AlysonHannigan actress]].)

* ''BreakingBad'': After [[spoiler: Jane's]] death, Jesse can be seen cradling his cell phone, then calling her number just to hear her voice mail, until her line is finally disconnected and he can no longer hear her voice.

* At the End of the ''RurouniKenshin'' OVA ''Trust and Betrayal'', we see Battousai sitting under a tree with Tomoe's shawl wrapped around him. In a semi-reversal, we see the ghostly image of Tomoe wrapping her arms around him.

A particularly common version is hugging the headstone of somebody who has died.

* At the End of the first Rurouni Kenshin OVA, we see Battousai sitting under a tree with Tomoe's shawl wrapped around him. In a semi-reversal, we see the ghostly image of Tomoe wrapping her arms around him.

* When Tara breaks up with Willow in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' due to Willow's abuse of magic, one sign of Willow's sadness is that she takes a set of Tara's clothes, uses her magic to give them shape and form, and then has it hold her.
* On {{Angel}}, Wes is seen holding Fred's stuffed rabbit as he packs her stuff away after her death.

* When Tara breaks up with Willow in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' due to Willow's abuse of magic, one sign of Willows sadness is that she takes a set of Tara's clothes, uses her magic to give them shape and form, and then has it hold her.

* Similar to the above, a cover from the ''SpiderMan'' Reign storyline had spiderman hugging Mary Jane's tombstone.