History Main / DisposableWoman

* Women in the ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}'' series frequently fall into this trope (if she's not evil, of course, that's [[EvilIsSexy something else]]), but the most blatant is probably Hector's dead fiancee Rosaly from ''Curse of Darkness'', who doesn't even appear onscreen and is purely motivation for his revenge.

** Every bit as bad as Rosaly is Elisabetha, whose death gets all of one mention in the intro to ''Lament of Innocence'' [[spoiler: and motivated Mathias to become a vampire as his revenge against God for her death.]]
** In Eric Lecarde's bio for ''Bloodlines'' is his lover being turned into a vampire, serving as his motivation to kick ass. However, like Elisabetha and Rosaly, we don't actually see her and we only know about her because she was [[AllThereInTheManual mentioned in the manual]].
** Soma's SheIsNotMyGirlfriend in ''Dawn of Sorrow'', [[StuffedIntoTheFridge whose corpse you find crucified inside a locked room in the castle]] near the end. [[spoiler:It turns out the villains were trying to invoke this trope to let Soma's SuperpoweredEvilSide take over, but it's subverted if you resist it as it turns out the villains couldn't get ahold of the real [=McCoy=] and were using a body double.]]

** Richter Belmont's girlfriend, Annette, is an interesting example. It actually is possible to save her, rendering her a mere DistressedDamsel, but she's still quite disposable. The two remakes of ''Rondo of Blood'' (counting the SNES version as a remake) have her become a boss if you don't save her, but it gets absolutely no mention aside from a brief pre-boss cutscene in the most recent one.

* Marla [=McGivers=] is given this role in ''Film/{{Star Trek II|The Wrath of Khan}}''. This served the double purpose of giving Khan a [[ItsPersonal motive for vengeance]] against Kirk and eliminating her character. In the original episode she was introduced in she was not there solely to die, but died offscreen and before the action begins in the movies, and many viewers who may not have seen that episode of TOS Khan's Dead Wife would only be a name and an implication. The meta reason this happened was that Madlyn Rhue was unable to reprise the role [[RealLifeWritesThePlot due due to her suffering from multiple sclerosis]]. [[TheOtherDarrin This usually wouldn't stop Star Trek from using a character]] but Nicholas Meyer thought it would be in bad taste to recast a terminally ill actress.

* Marla [=McGivers=] is given this role in ''Film/{{Star Trek II|The Wrath of Khan}}''. This served the double purpose of giving Khan a [[ItsPersonal motive for vengeance]] against Kirk and eliminating her character. In the original episode she was introduced in she was not there solely to die, but died offscreen and before the action begins in the movies, and many viewers who may not have seen that episode of TOS Khan's Dead Wife would only be a name and an implication. The meta reason this happened was that Madlyn Rhue was unable to reprise the role [[RealLifeWritesThePlotdue due to her suffering from multiple sclerosis]]. [[TheOtherDarrin This usually wouldn't stop Star Trek from using a character]] but Nicholas Meyer thought it would be in bad taste to recast a terminally ill actress.

* Marla [=McGivers=] is given this role in ''Film/{{Star Trek II|The Wrath of Khan}}''. This served the double purpose of giving Khan a [[ItsPersonal motive for vengeance]] against Kirk and eliminating her character, which would have been extraneous to the film's plot.
** There was also the issue of Madlyn Rhue being unable to reprise the role due to her suffering from multiple sclerosis. [[TheOtherDarrin This usually wouldn't stop Star Trek from using a character]] but Nicholas Meyer thought it would be in bad taste to recast a terminally ill actress.
** [=McGivers'=] character was introduced in an episode of the original series. Her purpose was ''not'' solely to be killed later on. However, far as the ''movie'' goes, she's prime Fridge Stuffing, even if her death occurs offscreen and before the action begins; keep in mind that many viewers may not have seen that episode of TOS, and to them Khan's Dead Wife would only be a name and an implication. (Not that her TV appearance was much more enlightened, existing only as the moth to Khaaaaan's flame.)

* Murron in ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'', whose [[KillTheCutie gratuitous scene of execution]] by the king's men (her crime was fighting back ''against her rape'', I might add) was there solely for William Wallace to start his rebellion. Also qualifies as a [[TheLostLenore Lost Lenore][, since he brings her up frequently through the rest of the film.

* Murron in ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'', whose [[KillTheCutie gratuitous scene of execution]] by the king's men (her crime was fighting back ''against her rape'', I might add) was there solely for William Wallace to start his rebellion.
** Actually Murron qualifies equally, if not more so, as a [[TheLostLenore Lost Lenore]]. Because even though her fridging is what motivated Wallace to fight, he ''never'' forgets about her.

A female character, typically the wife, sweetheart or occasionally mother of the protagonist, who is present in the story ''just so that'' she can be either kidnapped by the bad guys, thus [[DistressBall becoming]] a DistressedDamsel, or [[FriendlyTarget find herself]] StuffedIntoTheFridge, [[CrusadingWidower giving the protagonist]] a [[ItsPersonal pretext]] for {{Revenge}}. In a series, she can be frighteningly easily [[ForgottenFallenFriend forgotten]] or [[GirlOfTheWeek replaced]] once her value as a plot device has expired, if she has been previously developed at all. If instead of being conveniently forgotten one or more characters continues to mourn her or think about her, if she appears in ongoing flashbacks or dream sequences, she is not a DisposableWoman, she is a [[TheLostLenore Lost Lenore]] (see below).

* Peter Rasputin ([[ComicBook/{{X-Men}} Colossus]]) broke up with Kitty Pryde because of Zsaji, a Disposable Woman he met in the SecretWars planet and fell hopelessly in love with despite not even speaking her language. Karma then came and kicked his ass in the form of the Juggernaut. Afterwards, Wolverine lectured him on not letting Kitty Pryde down gently.

* In ''Literature/StarCarrier: Earth Strike'', Admiral Alexander Koenig's lover Admiral Karyn Mendelsson gets all of two scenes before being killed offscreen when the Turusch launch an extreme-range kinetic attack on several objects in the Sol System.

** But then played straight with [[spoiler:Shirley Fenette]]; her death sets Lelouch on his RoaringRampageOfRevenge that leads up to his epic GrandFinale.

* ''MazingerZ'': Rumi. She was a maid Dr. Kabuto hired to take care of his orphaned grandsons while he was building [[HumongousMecha Mazinger Z]]. She was cold-bloodly murdered by [[TheDragon Baron]] [[TwoFaced Ashura]] less than five minutes after her first appearance in the first episode. Kouji and Shiro cried when they found the corpse, but she was not mentioned again.

* [[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/opinion/04holmes.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 This New York Times article]] discussing CharlieSheen's proclivities towards [[WouldHitAGirl violence against women]], [[DomesticAbuser including his girlfriends]] and [[DisposableSexWorker prostitutes]], references this trope by name.

* And so does the pilot for ''{{Damages}}'', but because of [[HowWeGotHere the peculiar structure of the show]] we get to actually know him before he's definitely dead and gone.

* Katara and Sokka's mother in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. Probably averted with [[spoiler:Zuko]]'s mother, since it's implied she took actions of her own that were important to the plot, though that part of the backstory isn't related in detail.
** Except [[spoiler:Zuko's mother is "perhaps" still alive, in exile -- or so Firelord Ozai tells him.]]

* Jocelyn Brando's character in ''The Big Heat'' is one of these.

* ''{{Bonanza}}'': Seemingly every episode that introduced a female love interest for the Cartwrights. The girl would invariably harbor a sinister secret or have someone stalking her, with the villain of the week succeeding in his mission to kill the girl.

* An ongoing trend in Film/JamesBond films. Beautiful women would appear for two scenes at least, three at most, before dying, usually after being ploughed by Bond and doing something vague. Often the actresses playing these women would receive star billing in the credits (i.e. "And Lana Wood as Plenty O'Toole"). Examples include Jill and Tilly Masterson in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}''(StuffedIntoTheFridge?), Plenty O'Toole in ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'', Rosie Carver in ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'' and Corinne Dufour in ''Film/{{Moonraker}}''.

Compare TheGwenStacy, DoomedHometown, MenAreTheExpendableGender, and ForgottenFallenFriend.

When it happens to male characters, it's often {{Retirony}} (the hero cop losing his partner, etc.). Tragic death of other family members may need [[ParentalAbandonment another trope]]. Even if they somehow survive one movie, there's still SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome. If this happens often enough with love interests, it can become a CartwrightCurse.

* In ''KamenRider,'' a recurring feature of the ''Franchise/KamenRider'' franchise is that women who become Riders are doomed to die, [[StuffedInTheFridge usually for cheap drama]]. Examples (and aversions):
** ''[[KamenRiderStronger Stronger]]'': Yuriko[=/=]Tackle, the original Disposable Rider Woman. Not considered a Kamen Rider, which remains something of a sticking point among the fandom.
** ''[[KamenRiderAgito Agito]]'': The first Agito was Shouichi's sister, who died pre-series.
** ''[[KamenRiderRyuki Ryuki]]'': Miho[=/=]Femme only appears in the movie ''Episode Final'', where she dies quietly after a battle and is subsequently forgotten.
** ''[[KamenRiderFaiz Faiz]]'': Several women borrow a Rider Gear (only to be [[CurbStompBattle immediately knocked out of morph]]) but the only woman to have one long-term, the original Delta, operated mostly offscreen, only to die just before what would have been her first onscreen battle. Harsh.
** ''[[KamenRiderBlade Blade]]'': Natsumi[=/=]Larc only appears in the movie ''Missing Ace'' and is killed, but in fairness so are her teammates.
** ''[[KamenRiderHibiki Hibiki]]'': Shuki is a [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]] and antagonist, so naturally she dies. (Mind you, this was part of the heavy ReTool to make the series - based on a ShotaroIshinomori {{Toku}} story that wasn't intended to be a KR series - in line with what ThePowersThatBe thought a KR series should be like. Neither this nor any of the other changes went over well.) Akira doesn't become a full Oni, but transforms once (we don't see her Rider form well) and survives the series.
** ''[[KamenRiderKiva Kiva]]'': Yuri, who uses Ixa a time or three in 1986, dies off-camera but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with being a Rider. Her daughter Megumi, who uses Ixa on two brief occasions in 2008, survives the series and moves on to get married in the ending. Neither is the long-term owner of the Ixa armor; like ''Faiz,'' borrowing it from its true male owners is often [[CurbStompBattle a bad idea]], but this time, there's exceptions: TheMovie (Megumi ''still'' just gets beaten up, but Yuri gets to use it well), and the time the male users defeated Rook but allowed the girls to have the final blow.
** ''[[KamenRiderDecade Decade]]'': Natsumi becomes a Rider in the GrandFinale movie and survives the whole series[[note]]Okay, so technically she '''did''' die, well before she became a Rider, but TheHero Tsukasa sacrificed a portion of his life to bring her BackFromTheDead. Fans have joked that she gets to survive because she's already satisfied the death requirement[[/note]]. The series also gives better treatment to some past Riders, allowing Larc ([[OneSteveLimit renamed Haruka]]) to live and upgrading Akira to a full-fledged Rider, Kamen Rider Amaki. Tackle's back, and is ''still'' dead (it's complicated) but she's a much more effective fighter than the original FauxActionGirl.
** ''[[KamenRiderOOO Fourze]]'' actively subverts it. When a movie-only female Rider ''named after Tackle'' arrives, wondering whether she'd survive or not was quite the source of drama; introducing and then killing a female Rider in the movie had happened often, but with ''Decade,'' a female Rider who survives was no longer a contradiction in terms. Will the mysterious Kamen Rider Nadeshiko make it? [[spoiler: No, it's the same old story. She's restored to the primordial ooze she was made from, to be used by the bad guy as a power source and a reason to make the main Rider cry by the plot. Then again, when the main villain is defeated, she survives as pure energy and returns to space.]]

* ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' has a bad track record with its woman-shaped plot devices. They are as follows:

* ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' has a bad track record with its woman-shaped plot devices. They are as follows: Ygraine, whose death begins Uther's reign of terror against all those who practice magic; Freya, whose death provides Merlin with plenty of manpain (and for someone who can fetch Excalibur from the bottom of Lake Avalon); Isolde, whose death motivates Arthur to get back with Guinevere; Kara, whose death spurs Mordred into turning against Arthur and Camelot; an elderly witch who is rescued by Arthur, gives him the episode's PlotCoupon in gratitude, and then promptly dies anyway; and Alice, a non-fatal example, who is Gaius's old girlfriend. She needs Gaius to dispose of the manticore whose thrall she's under and break her out of prison, before she promptly disappears, never to be seen or heard from again.
** In fact, Ygraine's death prior to the start of the show (which begins the ban on magic) and Kara's death in the penultimate episode of the entire series, (which results in Mordred's FaceHeelTurn) means that the show essentially begins and ends with a woman's PlotTriggeringDeath.

[[quoteright:203:[[LoneWolfAndCub http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/disposablewoman.jpg]]]]

* Kanan from ''{{Saiyuki}}'' only showed herself a few brief moments in flashbacks within the series but constantly plays a part to represent Hakkai, hearing him constantly bring up the subject of her whenever referring to his past.