History Main / DeathIsSuchAnOddThing

* This is a large part the premise of ''Series/SixFeetUnder''.

* The cracked.com article ''5 Things No One Tells You About Death'' illustrates this pretty well with Felix Clay's description of his own flustered internal debate over what he should wear to the hospital where a friend has just died:

[[folder:fanfic]]
* [[RunningGag Once]] [[,http://www.fimfiction.net/user/kalash93 again, kalash93 has two examples.]]

* Despite having been ConditionedToAcceptHorror, Paul in ''Literature/AllQuietOnTheWesternFront'' isn't able to fully comprehend how the world can still be working and at the same time Kat can be dead.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/iwillstandherewhileyouc_5363.jpg
[[caption-width:350:[[TanzDerVampire Magda]] is having a rather emotionally confusing day.]] A catchall term for the often confused reactions characters may have after losing someone close to them - or [[AntagonistInMourning perhaps even an enemy]].

!!Examples:
[[AC:Anime and Manga]]
* The Tachikoma in ''GhostInTheShell'', as robots whose memories are constantly backuped, are completely unable to comprehend death and are highly fascinated by what they consider the greatest philosophical mystery. Even when facing permanent dismantling or risking the destruction of their backup databases, they are unable to feel fear or sadness, and even seem to get a little giddy about the closest thing they can experience to death.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

* ''TheUsualSuspects'': "It's the strangest thing." Although it's possible that this was [[spoiler: [=MacManus=]'s]] reaction to finding out the TwistEnding.
* [[Film/ApocalypseNow "The horror... the horror..."]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* HarryPotter's reaction to [[spoiler:his godfather Sirius]] dying is a confused kind of anger that he can't even express properly.
** He has a similarly complicated reaction to [[spoiler:Snape's murder.]]

* The KillEmAll ending of TheUnderlandChronicles leaves Gregor in a state of emotional distress about many characters, many of whom were absolute [[{{Jerkass}} jerkasses]] toward him. On a smaller scale, the TrueCompanions have a very confused, not-quite-stunned reaction to the death of Tick in the first book.

--> [[TearJerker Do I walk? Have I feet still? I raise my eyes, I let them move round, and turn myself with them, one circle, one circle, and I stand in the midst. All is as usual. Only the Militiaman Stanislaus Katczinsky has died.]]

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* An early episode of ''MadMen'' opens with the characters hearing about a plane crash. A few minutes later, Pete learns that his ''father'' was on the plane. What stuns him the most? "Everything's exactly the same."
** This is all complicated by the fact that he and several others had been making sick jokes. Also, he hated his father.
* [[TearJerker Anya's speech]] in the ''[[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]]'' episode "The Body": one of the most touching moments from her, where she explains her thought process, coming from immortality to mortality and being unprepared to deal with [[spoiler:Buffy's mother, Joyce,]] being suddenly dead. And how she really doesn't know how to act, and human society makes it taboo to even ''ask'' how to act, so....
-->But I don't understand! I don't understand how this all happens, how we go through this. I mean - I knew her, and then she's... there's just a body, and I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore! It's stupid! It's mortal and stupid! And... and Xander's crying and not talking, and... and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, "Well, [[spoiler:Joyce]] will never have any more fruit punch - ever, and she'll never have eggs, or yawn, or brush her hair, not ever," and no one will explain to me ''why.''
* This is a large part the premise of Series/SixFeetUnder.

[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]
* TanzderVampire is the TropeNamer: this trope shares a (translated) title with a song Magda sings as she vents her unhappiness that a rowdy man who constantly harassed her [[PeacefulInDeath can look peaceful and calm in death]], and her mixed feelings of "good riddance" and suddenly missing him.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* ''ResidentEvil5'' has [[spoiler:Irving]] dying (although I think you could have seen that coming) with the line ''"Dying ain't so bad, but it ain't gonna change nothin'; you're still screwed!"'' Touching.
* In ''[[BrokenSword Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars]]'', when George questions a FrenchJerk road-worker who saw the murder victim before he died, he has nothing but bad things to say about him, but after George tells him the man died he feels bad for everything he said. Lampshaded by George's narration.

[[AC:Web Animation]]
* [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Strong Bad's]] reaction to losing the Compy 386 is more of the incoherent style of speech.

* [[TearJerker Anya's speech]] in the ''[[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]]'' episode "The Body": one of the most touching moments from her, where she explains her thought process, coming from immortality to mortality and being unprepared to deal with [[spoiler:Buffy's mother, Joyce,]] being suddenly dead. And how she really doesn't know how to act, and human society makes it taboo to even ''ask'' how to act, so....

[[caption-width:350:[[TanzDerVampire Magda]] is having a rather emotionally confusing day.]] A catchall term for the often confused reactions characters may have after losing someone close to them - or [[AntagonistInMourning perhaps even an enemy]].

Symptoms include frustrated speech, attempts to explain the sudden emptiness and feelings that nothing is right, and shock that one day a person can be there and the next they're gone. A person in this state tends to either rant or have trouble stringing two sentences together.

[[AC:Film]]

* ''TheUsualSuspects'': "It's the strangest thing." Although it's possible that this was [[spoiler: [=MacManus=]]]'s reaction to finding out the TwistEnding.
* [[ApocalypseNow "The horror... the horror..."]]

[[AC:Literature]]

* This is a large part the premise of SixFeetUnder.

[[AC:Theatre]]
* [[TanzderVampire Tanz der Vampire]] is the TropeNamer: this trope shares a (translated) title with a song Magda sings as she vents her unhappiness that a rowdy man who constantly harassed her [[PeacefulInDeath can look peaceful and calm in death]], and her mixed feelings of "good riddance" and suddenly missing him.

[[AC:Video Games]]

[[AC:Web Original]]
* [[HomestarRunner Strong Bad's]] reaction to losing the Compy 386 is more of the incoherent style of speech.

* Anya's speech in ''[[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]]'': one of the most touching moments from her, where she explains her thought process, coming from immortality to mortality and being unprepared to deal with [[spoiler:Buffy's mother, Joyce,]] being suddenly dead. And how she really doesn't know how to act, and human society makes it taboo to even ''ask'' how to act, so....

* ''ResidentEvil5'' has [[spoiler:Irving]] dying (although I think you could have seen that coming) with the line ''"Dying ain't so bad, but you're still screwed."'' Touching.

* Despite having been ConditionedToAcceptHorror, Paul in AllQuietOnTheWesternFront isn't able to fully comprehend how the world can still be working and at the same time Kat can be dead.

[[caption-width:350:[[TanzDerVampire Magda]] is having a rather emotionally confusing day.]] A catchall term for the often confused reactions characters may have after losing someone close to them- or perhaps even an enemy.

* The KillEmAll ending of TheUnderlandChronicles leaves Gregor in a state of emotional distress about many characters, many of whom were absolute [[{{Jerkass}} jerkasses]] toward him. On a smaller scale, the {{Nakama}} has a very confused, not-quite-stunned reaction to the death of Tick in the first book.

* A mild version shows up in ''[[HowlsMovingCastle Howl's Moving Castle]]'' (the book, not the movie), where Sophie reacts to [[spoiler:Mrs. Pentstemmon's murder]] by first being shocked that the passing was so sudden, and then realizing that "that's how it was, wasn't it? People are alive right up until they die."

----
<<|DeathTropes|>>

* Orlando Bloom said in the commentaries for the extended edition of ''TheLordOfTheRings'' films that what he was trying for, when the camera had its closeup on his face in the OneWomanWail montage after Gandalf fell, was coming to grips with what death was, as an elf whose only experience with it previously had been seeing enemies die in battle.

* ''ResidentEvil 5'' has [[spoiler:Irving]] dying (although I think you could have seen that coming) with the line ''"Dying ain't so bad, but you're still screwed"'', Touching.

* [[TanzderVampire Tanz der Vampire]] is the TropeNamer: this trope shares a (translated) title with a song Magda sings as she vents her unhappiness that a rowdy man who constantly harassed her can look peaceful and calm in death, and her mixed feelings of "good riddance" and suddenly missing him.

A catchall term for the often confused reactions characters may have after losing someone close to them- or perhaps even an enemy.

-->But I don't understand! I don't understand how this all happens, how we go through this. I mean - I knew her, and then she's... there's just a body, and I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore! It's stupid! It's mortal and stupid! And... and Xander's crying and not talking, and... and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, "Well, Joyce will never have any more fruit punch - ever, and she'll never have eggs, or yawn, or brush her hair, not ever," and no one will explain to me ''why.''

-->'''Anya:''' But I don't understand! I don't understand how this all happens, how we go through this. I mean - I knew her, and then she's... there's just a body, and I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore! It's stupid! It's mortal and stupid! And... and Xander's crying and not talking, and... and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, "Well, Joyce will never have any more fruit punch - ever, and she'll never have eggs, or yawn, or brush her hair, not ever," and no one will explain to me why."