History Main / DatelessGrave

* In the Pilot Movie for ''Series/BuckRogersInThe25thCentury'', Buck finds the gravestones of his parents, but doesn't find any dates on them. Dr. Theopolis tells Buck that dates weren't that important as people were dying due to the war in the late 20th century.

* [[NoPunIntended Justified]] in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', wherein Hawkgirl tries to bury Solomon Grundy according to Earth's customs, but only knows that he was "Born on a [[PainfulRhyme Monday]]."

* In ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'', Ben Parker's grave reads "1952-2010". [[spoiler: In the epilogue, May's grave reads "1952-2018".]]

Gravestones in TV and films tend not to have full dates on them, unlike in real life. Presumably this, like so many other tropes, has to do with movies being shown on TV and released on home video. It also helps prevent ContinuitySnarl in cases of ''intentionally'' AmbiguousEra and/or VagueAge.

* Ubiquitous in comics. The Comicbook/XMen have an entire cemetery full of dateless graves. However, it was averted when Jean Grey "died" for the first time -- her original lifespan was 1956 to 1980 (making her 24 when she died the first time), if you were wondering. Granted, it would be awkward to have a bunch of graves with a series of dates written on them for each successive death and return. Also, given the SlidingTimescale Marvel uses, the dates would start getting really confusing.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'' - Ben Parker's grave reads "1952-2010". [[spoiler: In the epilogue, May's grave also averts it.]]

Gravestones in TV and films tend not to have full dates on them, unlike in real life. Presumably this, like so many other tropes, has to do with movies being shown on TV and released on home video.

* Averted in the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' trilogy. George McFly-A's death in the alternate timeline is clearly stated as March 15, 1973 in ''[[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII Part II]]'', and when we see an exact date for Doc Brown's grave in ''[[Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII Part III]]'' (September 7, 1885), trying to avoid that fate drives the entire movie.

This trope also applies to newspapers (on a larger scale).

* While not a proper grave, Terra's statue in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' is the same idea but plays this straight. It's even more notable because her statue in the [[ComicBook/TheNewTeenTitans comics]] featured one of the few times graves ''weren't'' dateless.

* Ubiquitous in comics. The Comicbook/XMen have an entire cemetery full of dateless graves. However, it was averted when Jean Grey "died" for the first time -- her original lifespan was 1956 to 1980 (making her 24 when she died the first time), if you were wondering.
** Granted, it would be awkward to have a bunch of graves with a series of dates written on them for each successive death and return.
** Also, given the SlidingTimescale Marvel uses, the dates would start getting really confusing.

* The 2007 police comedy ''Film/HotFuzz'', especially the Sandford newspaper.
** In fact, the movie's time period ''is'' pinned down. Nicolas asks a clearly under-aged kid in a bar his birthday. The kid says 8th of May 1969, to which Nick replies, "So you're 37?" Which puts the movie in 2006, or early 2007.
*** Unless it was a trick question to trip the kid up...

* Richie Ryan's tombstome on ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' lists how long he lived (22 years) but not the actual dates.
** Of course, part of this may have to do with Richie being an Immortal and him "dying" in a motorcycle race two years before his final, permanent death.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': The grave marker created by Gary Mitchell in "Where No Man has Gone Before".
** The use of Stardates helped hide the time line during the run of the show. Years were attributed to events as the Movies and Sequel Series came out.

** Though the grave does have a year-of-birth and the number of days he lived. However, Agatha's foot is blocking a clear view of the first two digits of the year, thus making the century of that event unreadable.

!!'''As a DeathTrope, all Spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''

----
<<|DeathTropes|>>

[[folder: Comic Books ]]
* Ubiquitous in comics. The {{Comicbook/X-Men}} have an entire cemetery full of dateless graves. However, it was averted when Jean Grey "died" for the first time -- her original lifespan was 1956 to 1980 (making her 24 when she died the first time), if you were wondering.

* Justified in ''{{Comicbook/ClanDestine}}''. Directly after the first arc, in which two relatives died, the two youngest members of the family visit the family cemetery and notice that there are no dates or last names on any of the graves. Their father explains that since the Destines are [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld very long-lived]], they don't put anything that could give away [[TheMasquerade their secret]] on the graves.

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]
* {{Averted|Trope}} in ''Literature/{{Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}}''. For the first time in his life, Harry visits his parents' graves in Godric's Hollow, and the dates on the gravestones are practically the ''only'' place in the whole series where specific years are given. This heightens the emotional impact of the scene considerably. (The only other bit of dating evidence is from ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Chamber of Secrets]]'', on Nearly-Headless Nick's deathday cake, which, appropriately enough, is tombstone-shaped.) We can date the series from 1991-1998.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* {{Series/Sherlock}}'s grave gives only his name. It's a damn classy gravestone, though.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DefendersOfTheEarth'' episode "100 Proof Highway" (a VerySpecialEpisode themed around teenaged alcoholism) Mandrake learns that Kshin has [[ChildrenAreInnocent innocently]] started drinking liquor in imitation of his peers. To show Kshin [[ScareEmStraight what this could lead to]], Mandrake conjures up a vision in which an aged-up Kshin dies in a drink driving accident. The sequence ends with a shot of a gravestone bearing the inscription "Kshin RIP", with no dates given.

* In the third ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel, ''Literature/GravePeril'', Harry is given a PrematurelyMarkedGrave and gravestone by one of his (many) vampire nemeses. The gravestone has no date but reads "Harry Dresden--He died doing the right thing". Harry spends ''Literature/GhostStory'' as an OnlyMostlyDead spirit and uses the grave (still open and dateless, since they NeverFoundTheBody) as a place to hide during the day. As of ''Literature/ColdDays'', he is still alive, the grave is still dateless, and there is still a huge hole in the ground because apparently the city officials were REALLY bribed.

** Though the grave does have a year-of-birth and the number of days he lived. There is just something in the way to keep us from seeing what century that year was in.

* In the third ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel, ''Literature/GravePeril'', Harry is given a PrematurelyMarkedGrave and gravestone by one of his (many) vampire nemeses. The gravestone has no date but reads "Harry Dresden--He died doing the right thing". Harry spends ''Literature/GhostStory'' as an OnlyMostlyDead spirit and uses the grave (still open and dateless, since they NeverFoundTheBody) as a place to hide during the day. As of ''Literature/ColdDays'', he is still alive, the grave still dateless, and there is still a huge hole in the ground because apparently the city officials were REALLY bribed.

* In the third ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel, Harry is given a grave and gravestone by one of his (many) vampire nemeses. The gravestone has no date but reads "Harry Dresden - He died doing the right thing". Harry was shot and killed at the end of the 12th book after calling in every chip to rescue his daughter. This will not be the end of the series, and likely not Harry either.
** Since there was a 13th book (and presumably will be more in the future), the above is a given.
** As of book 14, he is still alive, the grave still dateless, and there is still a huge hole in the ground because apparently the city officials were REALLY bribed.
* Most of the gravestones the protagonists of ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: City of the Dead'' see are etched in a language they can't read. The one that ''does'' have an epigraph in Basic, too, doesn't have a date listed. This may have been because this is a ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' novel; at the time of writing, the only dating system to be established was Before/After the Battle of Yavin. Since the book takes place less than a year ABY, no one would have started using it as a dating system yet.

* Avoided in ''Literature/{{Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}}''. For the first time in his life, Harry visits his parents' graves in Godric's Hollow, and the dates on the gravestones are practically the ''only'' place in the whole series where specific years are given. This heightens the emotional impact of the scene considerably. (The only other bit of dating evidence is from ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Chamber of Secrets]]'', on Nearly-Headless Nick's deathday cake, which, appropriately enough, is tombstone-shaped.) We can date the series from 1991-1998.

* Averted in the ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' trilogy. George McFly-A's death in the alternate timeline is clearly stated as March 15, 1973 in ''Part II'', and when we see an exact date for Doc Brown's grave in ''Part III'' (September 7, 1885), trying to avoid that fate drives the entire movie.

** In a prequel book we see Eugene's grave...[[DeathIsCheap which he's used several times]], with different dates each time. We do not, however, know when he died the [[KillOffForReal final, permanent time]].

* Averted in ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', when we see an exact date for Doc Brown's grave, trying to avoid that fate drives the entire movie.

* Avoided in ''HarryPotter/{{Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows}}''. For the first time in his life, Harry visits his parents' graves in Godric's Hollow, and the dates on the gravestones are practically the ''only'' place in the whole series where specific years are given. This heightens the emotional impact of the scene considerably. (The only other bit of dating evidence is from ''[[HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Chamber of Secrets]]'', on Nearly-Headless Nick's deathday cake, which, appropriately enough, is tombstone-shaped.) We can date the series from 1991-1998.

* In ''{{Smallville}}'', Chloe Sullivan's grave only has her birth and death year. Might be due to the fact that her birthday is a mild ContinuitySnarl.

* Richie Ryan's tombstome on ''Highlander'' lists how long he lived (22 years) but not the actual dates.