History Main / JudgementOfTheDead

So our hero has died. Will he go to {{Heaven}}, to {{Hell}}, or somewhere else entirely? In this trope, our hero (or his spirit/soul) appears before a judge, who reviews his actions in life to determine where he deserves to end up. Often this is a chance to recap and reflect upon important events and character-defining moments in the story.

'''This is a DeathTrope. Beware of unmarked spoilers!'''

-- ''[[Literature/BookOfRevelation Revelation 20:12]]''[[note]]''The Last Judgement'' (detail) (1904)[[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[Literature/BookOfRevelation Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books.]]"[[note]]''The Last Judgement'' (detail) (1904)[[/note]]]]

Who does the judging can vary -- it can be anyone from {{God}} himself to a GodOfTheDead to the GrimReaper to Saint Peter (the gatekeeper of FluffyCloudHeaven) or any other form of divine lackey. The judge's temperament can fall anywhere from the HangingJudge to TheParagon, but often they are LawfulNeutral, appearing harsh or eerie but devoted to justice. This trope is almost essential to any CelestialBureaucracy.

%% Examples have been alphabetized. Please place your example where it belongs.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1649008194069090300&page=1
%%Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.

[[quoteright:350:[[Creator/ViktorVasnetov https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lastjudgement1.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''The Last Judgement'' (detail) by Creator/ViktorVasnetov (1904)]]

->''"And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books."''
-->-- '''[[Literature/BookOfRevelation Revelation 20:12]]''', ''Literature/TheBible''

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_last_judgment_tv_tropes.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''The Last Judgment'' (1535-41), Creator/MichelangeloBuonarroti, located behind the altar of the Art/SistineChapel, UsefulNotes/VaticanCity]]

Compare ChessWithDeath, where a character's fate is determined by a test of skills or luck rather than a trial of their actions. Contrast ItsAWonderfulPlot and YetAnotherChristmasCarol, which also involve supernatural reflection on a character's life, but seek to make a character change their ways rather than determine their fate in the afterlife.

-->'''Luna''': "They can't be bargained with. They can't be reasoned with. They don't feel pity or remorse or fear. All they do is judge, determining a soul's fate upon its entrance to the afterlife. And their decision is final."

* One episode of ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'' has Brittas dying and being sent up to heaven. He is read a ListOfTransgressions from Saint Peter and is subsequently prevented from going to Heaven. However, Peter then receives word of the HeroicSacrifice he commited beforehand, which allows him in.

* Played For Laughs in ''Series/HorribleHistories'' where one reoccurring sketch called "Stupid Deaths" has Death himself judging the deaths of various people throughout history to determine whether they make it through to the afterlife. However unlike most version of this trope he judges based on how much [[ItAmusedMe the deaths are able to make him laugh]], and if they entertain him enough then he lets them into the afterlife.

* King Yemma is introduced in ''Manga/DragonBallZ'' as the one to judge souls brought to his palace after death. He is a massive horned oni in a business suit who endlessly stamps away on paperwork deeming if souls will go to Heaven or Hell, though some characters like Kami can influence his decisions if the situation is dire enough.

''Series/AccordingToJim'': The SeriesFinale, "Heaven Opposed to Hell" combines this with CourtroomEpisode; After Jim chokes on a shrimp puff, God decides to hold a trial to determine whether Jim gets to go to heaven or hell, with Andy (who loves Jim the most) defending Jim and Dana (who despises Jim the most) and the Devil trying to get him to Hell. [[spoiler: Eventually, God ultimately decides that he doesn't want Jim to go to Heaven, so Jim's family stands up for him and also decide to go to Hell as a happy family. The Devil doesn't want this, so he and God both decide to give Jim a second shot at life.]]

* One episode of ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'' has Brittas dying and being sent up to heaven. He is read a LongListOfTransgressions from Saint Peter and is subsequently prevented from going to Heaven. However, Peter then receives word of the HeroicSacrifice he commited beforehand, which allows him in.

* ''VideoGame/TouhouProject'' bases its afterlife upon a combination of Classical and Buddhist mythology, starting with the departed finding themselves at the shores of the Sanzu River where the local {{shinigami}} [[TheFerryman ferries the departed across the waters]], the distance from the shore of the living to Higan, the other side, depending on variables such as payment done to [[{{Psychopomp}} the ferrywoman]] and who they were in life. Once in Higan, the departed is brought before Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu, the Yama of Paradise, who, using her Rod of Remorse and Cleansed Crystal Mirror, confronts the departed with their past and sins and then passes judgement upon them. She also tends to visit the realm of the living on slow days ([[DeathTakesAHoliday or when her]] [[TheSlacker shinigami ferrywoman is slacking off again]]) and always makes time [[CharacterFilibuster to lecture the living]] [[CompassionateCritic in order to make them improve upon themselves so she won't have to send them to Hell.]]

-->'''St. Peter:''' ...umm, no.

* In the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' campaign setting, Kelemvor, the god of the dead, judges the faithless based on how righteous they are and assigns them to live various locations in the City of the Dead in accordance with their deeds.

* A whippet angel greets unscrupulous Charlie Barkin in ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven''. She consults a tome which contains Charlie's image and a list of his misdeeds. Subverted, as none of this seems to matter, as dogs are inherently good and loyal, thereby attaining heaven by default.

Who does the judging can vary-- it can be anyone from {{God}} himself to the GrimReaper to Saint Peter (the gatekeeper of FluffyCloudHeaven) or any other form of divine lackey. The judge's temperament can fall anywhere from the HangingJudge to TheParagon, but often they are LawfulNeutral, appearing harsh or eerie but devoted to justice. This trope is almost essential to any CelestialBureaucracy.

So our hero has died. Will he go to {{Heaven}}, to {{Hell}}, or somewhere else entirely? In this trope, our hero (or his spirit/soul) appears before a [[TheJudge judge]], who reviews his actions in life to determine where he deserves to end up. Often this is a chance to recap and reflect upon important events and character-defining moments in the story.

* Creator/{{Evilhumour}}'s "PowersThatBe" multiverse, including ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'' and ''Fanfic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'', has the Judge (whose Role, per this trope, is to judge the dead) as one of the Powers, and the only one without an Opposite. Princess Luna, in the second of the Diplomacy-verse stories, says this of them:

** In the companion series within the same continuity, [[AllMythsAreTrue but based on]] Egyptian Mythology, the judgement of Anubis becomes a plot point. Since most of the pantheon has been sealed away for thousands of eons and only recently release the characters are working to restore their stations. To this end they must deliver the feather of truth to the scale at the entrance to the afterlife, but they must maintain total honesty or it becomes too heavy to move.