History Main / OffScreenAfterlife

* In WebVideo/VisionOfEscaflowneAbridged, the deceased Varie describes heaven as what it would be like "if the best orgasm you ever had could last forever." Main character Hitomi finds this description [[VirginityMakesYouStupid less than helpful.]]

* Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'':

* Taken to the extreme in ''Franchise/{{Bionicle}}'', where afterlife is sort of implied to exist (Mata Nui's soul, for example, started drifting off into it before he recovered), but what it is like is never given any details. The writers have their reasons for this: not wanting to touch on iffy subjects, they purposely avoid talking about it.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' this is called "The Pure World" (life is "The Impure World"), and is brought up mostly in reference to Edo Tensei, the jutsu whereby a dead ninja is brought back to life to serve as an enslaved, zombified summon. The last thing any of the ninja remember is the moment of their death, which seems to be part of the "pure" thing. The Pure World may or may not refer to both Heaven and Hell since Zabuza fully expected to arrive in the latter, though in his case thats probably because of DeathEqualsRedemption.
** This could also imply that there is but one afterlife in the Narutoverse, much like Hades or an eternal purgatory.

* In the film ''{{Dogma}}'', the demon Azrael is willing to have the entirety of existence erased in order to avoid having to return to Hell. The DVD has since revealed that Azrael was originally given a much more detailed rant about Hell, and would have proceeded to give Bethany (and the audience) a glimpse of it. However, the sequence was not quite completed, and instead, the following message appears:

A show that wants to portray the existence of an afterlife, but wants to avoid something as banal as FluffyCloudHeaven will often describe the afterlife in purposefully vague terms.

* In ''Film/CheaperByTheDozen'' (the original version), the children (who are presumably Christians, but given their parents' intellectualism they could well be agnostics) mention nothing about Heaven after their father dies in an accident. One of them outright says in voiceover that he doesn't know where his father is, but suspects he can still see the children somehow.

[[AC:{{Radio}}]]
* ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'': In "The Mortal Coil," Whit designs an Imagination Station program that is supposed to be a virtual reality experience of death. It accidentally sends Whit into a coma where he ''really'' ends up on the edge, and we are treated to his experience of Heaven, albeit not nearly as wonderful as the real thing, or so he is told by his dead wife and son. But all we get is a secondhand account of Eugene's virtual experience of Hell: "I've never felt such loneliness or isolation. It was as though I was completely separated from everyone and everything -- completely and thoroughly ''alone''. Non-existent in a dark void of solitude. I was alone, Connie. Utterly alone in a burning blackness, and I've had nothing but nightmares since then..." Whit shelves the program permanently after all this.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* It's not uncommon for people who have had an out-of-body experience to believe they ventured to Heaven, Hell, or some other version of the afterlife (mostly these reflect cultural views-i.e. Christians see Christian-like heavens, Hindus Hindu-like ones, etc.). Obviously, they were the only people who witnessed their experiences. Many also say they're difficult to put into words.

[[AC:{{Television}}]]

* Apparently, this happened to [[{{Azrael}} Jean-Paul Valley]] after he met his end in the final issue of his comic. His last comment before disapearing from the pages of DCComics forever were "It looks just like the earth." And he was ''smiling.''

* In the film ''{{Dogma}}'', the demon Azrael is willing to have the entirety of existence erased in order to avoid having to return to Hell.
** The DVD has since revealed that Azrael was originally given a much more detailed rant about Hell, and would have proceeded to give Bethany (and the audience) a glimpse of it. However, the sequence was not quite completed, and instead, the following message appears:

* In ''CheaperByTheDozen'' (the original version), the children (who are presumably Christians, but given their parents' intellectualism they could well be agnostics) mention nothing about Heaven after their father dies in an accident. One of them outright says in voiceover that he doesn't know where his father is, but suspects he can still see the children somehow.

* The ''QuantumGravity'' series brings the viewpoint character of the time right up to the edge of what some cultures would call the River Styx, and some beings about to cross describe what they ''feel'' is going to happen, but the reader has yet to go that far. They say [[spoiler:that they stop existing. You know how your body is broken down to make soil fertilizer? Like that.]]

* Oh, and that time the [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Pink Galaxy Ranger]] died. She showed up again translucent blabbing about being in "a beautiful place", so move on and find the next Pink Ranger. And then she comes back to life with no explanation in the finale when they find the new colony planet.

* In the ''OuterLimits'' episode "White Light Fever", an old man has been doing everything he can to stave off death, including putting himself ahead of a sweet young woman to have a heart transplant. He remarks during the episode that "death is cold". As he is finally dying, he sees the ghost of the sweet young woman approach him. "Take me with you," he pleads. She tells him this is not possible, and that where she is going, it is always warm. Just before she leaves, she turns to face him, saying, "It's funny. I always thought it was the other way 'round."
* In ''DeadLikeMe'', the viewers never get to see what happens to people's souls after they cross over, and it's never really given much detail. They usually just have some kind of happy vision and then vanish. You only see the souls that stick around, either as [[{{Psychopomp}} Reapers]] or [[spoiler:as Gravelings]].

* In ''PushingDaisies'', after [[spoiler: Chuck's father, Charles Charles,]] gets resurrected, they describe the afterlife as "like flying." Little else is stated in the show, presumably because the rest of the resurrected people weren't dead for very long.

* Taken to the extreme in ''{{Bionicle}}'', where afterlife is sort of implied to exist (Mata Nui's soul, for example, started drifting off into it before he recovered), but what it is like is never given any details. The writers have their reasons for this: not wanting to touch on iffy subjects, they purposely avoid talking about it.

* It's not uncommon for people who have had an out-of-body experience to believe they ventured to Heaven, Hell, or some other version of the afterlife. Obviously, they were the only people who witnessed their experiences.

** This doesn't really make much sense though, considering that [=McCoy=] '''did''' die in Shore Leave, an episode of the Original Series.

* Though not quite ''death,'' the realm of the [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended]] in the StargateVerse is never shown, except for the time it was represented as a restaurant for Daniel's mind to comprehend (which was, appropriately enough, actually the restaurant set from Dead Like Me, see below). No details of what it's like are ever given. Also, even though at least three members of SG-1 have all died and come back (and more than once), they are never asked what it felt like before the resurrection -- the one thing that's not even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]], unlike nearly everything else in the show.

* In Creator/StephenKing's ''TheDeadZone'', when the protagonist falls into a coma, he ends up in a limbo, which is like a corridor with dark chromed steel walls. He eventually comes out of the corridor and returns to life. At the end, when he dies, he returns to the corridor, not knowing if there's something at the end of it.

* In VisionOfEscaflowneAbridged, the deceased Varie describes heaven as what it would be like "if the best orgasm you ever had could last forever." Main character Hitomi finds this description [[VirginityMakesYouStupid less than helpful.]]

* Though not quite ''death,'' the realm of the [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended]] in the StargateVerse is never shown, except for the time it was represented as a restaurant for Daniel's mind to comprehend. No details of what it's like are ever given. Also, even though at least three members of SG-1 have all died and come back (and more than once), they are never asked what it felt like before the resurrection -- the one thing that's not even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]], unlike nearly everything else in the show.

* ''{{Supernatural}}'''s demons are always waxing poetic about it. "It's a prison... made of pain, and bone, and flesh..." and so on.

** This is doesn't really make much sense though, considering that [=McCoy=] '''did''' die in Shore Leave, an episode of the Original Series.

* Cheza and the wolves in ''WolfsRain'' are searching for the entrance to Paradise (Rakuen) on Earth, but none of them knows what it's really like. [[spoiler:And the audience never gets to find out.]]

* In ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Buffy falls into deep despair at being ripped out of Heaven. Angel's time in Hell is so horrific he is driven feral and insane by the time he returns.
** Over on ''{{Angel}}'', Spike's terrified descriptions of slipping into Hell are played utterly seriously.

* In ''Series/PushingDaises'', after [[spoiler: Chuck's father, Charles Charles,]] gets resurrected, they describe the afterlife as "like flying." Little else is stated in the show, presumably because the rest of the resurrected people weren't dead for very long.

* In PushingDaises, after [[spoiler: Chuck's father, Charles Charles,]] gets resurrected, they describe the afterlife as "like flying." Little else is stated in the show, presumably because the rest of the resurrected people weren't dead for very long.

* In ''{{Naruto}}'' this is called "The Pure World" (life is "The Impure World"), and is brought up mostly in reference to Edo Tensei, the jutsu whereby a dead ninja is brought back to life to serve as an enslaved, zombified summon. The last thing any of the ninja remember is the moment of their death, which seems to be part of the "pure" thing. The Pure World may or may not refer to both Heaven and Hell since Zabuza fully expected to arrive in the latter, though in his case thats probably because of DeathEqualsRedemption.

* In StephenKing's ''TheDeadZone'', when the protagonist falls into a coma, he ends up in a limbo, which is like a corridor with dark chromed steel walls. He eventually comes out of the corridor and returns to life. At the end, when he dies, he returns to the corridor, not knowing if there's something at the end of it.

* Oh, and that time the [[PowerRangersLostGalaxy Pink Galaxy Ranger]] died. She showed up again translucent blabbing about being in "a beautiful place", so move on and find the next Pink Ranger. And then she comes back to life with no explanation in the finale when they find the new colony planet.

* In ''{{Lost}}'', [[spoiler:it turns out that the "flash-sideways" universe in the sixth season is the afterlife for the main characters, but in the last episode they go to the ''final'' final afterlife, which seems to be some sort of white light that's bright enough that you can't tell what they're walking into.]]

* {{Discworld}} does this a bit (except in cases of definite reincarnation), though it shows varying amounts of the journey. In ''Mort'', for instance, Death and Mort send off an assassinated king, who slowly vanishes from view while they're still in his castle. "What happened to him?" asks Mort. Death replies, [[AC:Only he knows.]] In later books, such as ''Small Gods'' and ''A Hat Full of Sky'', we're treated to descriptions a vast, silvery desert, which the deceased must cross before reaching their final destination.

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