History Main / TheJourneyThroughDeath

The journey may conclude with an EndingByAscending. If the journey ends with them regaining consciousness, it retroactively becomes AdventuresInComaland.

The journey may conclude with an EndingByAscending. If the journey ends with them regaining consciousness, that is probably AdventuresInComaland.

The journey may conclude with an EndingByAscending.

* ''Film/Ghost1990'': Sam is murdered by his former friend Carl, and through much of the movie he's a ghost who tries to protect his girlfriend Molly from him, and gets help from a medium (Oda Mae). After Carl dies (and is taken to Hell), he bids farewell to Molly and Oda Mae before heading to Heaven.

* ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'': The desert, a vast, flat stretch of sand across which the dead must pass in order to find whatever awaits them at the other end.

* ''{{videoGame/Valheim}}'': The basic premise is that you are a Viking who died in battle, but not yet ready to enter Valhalla. To do this, you must explore the eponymous Valheim and kill the elemental entities known as the Forsaken, at which point you will have proved your worth. But while you are already dead, you can still die, again and again and again.

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

* ''Literature/OldKingdom'': There are Nine Precincts and Nine Gates in Death, and only beyond the Ninth Gate can a dead be at rest. Of course, all manner of monsters and necromancers plague Death, and the Abhorsen's job is to enter Death to fight them.

* The afterlife in ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' works like this. When a soul enters the Land of the Dead, they have to make an arduous four-year journey through forests, oceans, and tundras, all chock-a-block with vicious demons and monsters, to reach the true afterlife of the Land of Eternal Rest. Fortunately, aid comes in the form of the Reapers of the Department of Death, who act as travel agents who help new souls find travel packages to aid them on their journey (paid with the money they were buried with), with the most virtuous souls qualify for the #9 Express, a train the reduces the journey to four minutes.

* The afterlife in ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' works like this. When a soul enters the Land of the Dead, they have to make an arduous three-year journey through forests, oceans, and tundras, all chock-a-block with vicious demons and monsters, to reach the true afterlife of the Land of Eternal Rest. Fortunately, aid comes in the form of the Reapers of the Department of Death, who act as travel agents who help new souls find travel packages to aid them on their journey (paid with the money they were buried with), with the most virtuous souls qualify for the #9 Express, a train the reduces the journey to three minutes.

* The afterlife in ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' works like this. When a soul enters the Land of the Dead, they have to make an arduous three-year journey through forests, oceans, and tundras, all chock-a-block with vicious demons and monsters, to reach the true afterlife of the Ninth Underworld. Fortunately, aid comes in the form of the Reapers of the Department of Death, who act as travel agents who help new souls find travel packages to aid them on their journey (paid with the money they were buried with), with the most virtuous souls qualify for the #9 Express, a train the reduces the journey to three minutes.

* Myth/JapaneseMythology: in most versions of the otherworld, people who die have to cross the gloomy and misty lands of Yomi, the Netherworld, in order to cross the Sanzu-no-Kawa (the local equivalent of [[Myth/GreekMythology River Styx or Acheron]]) and enter the tribunal of King Enma to face the judgdement. Depending on how good/evil you've been in life, the journey across Yomi can either be fast and uneventful or long and perilous, with monstrous Shikome and birds of prey harassing you as you make your way in. Only by reaching Enma's tribunal your soul get a chance to reincarnate and move on, one way or the other.

Contrast ToHellAndBack, which involves both this journey and a return to life. Not to be confused with JourneyToTheSky, which is when a ''living'' character aims to reach the sky.

The purpose of this journey varies: It might aid the deceased in finding closure before passing on; it might serve to wash away any remaining sin; it might simply be that there's space to traverse between one world and the next; or other reasons besides.

It's not uncommon for the setting to reflect either the character or their death in some way.

Depending on the work, the journey may take the character to the Afterlife, or to {{Main/Reincarnation}}. ([[BreadEggsBreadedEggs Or one followed by the other]].)

Also depending on the work, the land through which the character passes may be one of PurgatoryAndLimbo. However, note that not all Purgatories or Limbos fit this plot: some are themselves the destination, or places of holding, and not a place of passage.

Finally depending on the work, the journey may be either literal or metaphorical. (And which is the case will not necessarily be clear.)

Naturally, a character undertaking the journey will be DeadToBeginWith (or near enough).

Might involve a {{Psychopomp}} and/or JudgementOfTheDead at some point.

Contrast ToHellAndBack, which involves both this journey and a return to life.

* One popular fan interpretation of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' (which became especially widespread after ''WebVideo/GameTheory'' made a video about it) is that Link ''dies'' during the opening sequence in the Lost Woods, meaning the remainder of the game, and all of Termina, is nothing but a DyingDream. Each of the game's lands, and the actions of the people there, thus represent a different [[FiveStagesOfGrief stage of grief]]: Clock Town is Denial (the citizens refuse to acknowledge that the Moon is going to fall and destroy them), Woodfall is Anger (the Deku Scrubs are furious at their poisoned swamp and take it out on the innocent monkeys), Snowhead is Bargaining (the Gorons try all manner of deals and schemes to stop the freezing winter that is killing them), Great Bay is Depression (Lulu, and the rest of the Zora, have fallen into an apathetic mourning since the ocean was cursed), and Ikana Canyon is Acceptance (the dead there are brought back to life by Majora's curse, but realize that they ''shouldn't'' be alive and make peace with their fates). Link helping each group move on is actually a form of self-reflective therapy, and by saving the world, he comes to terms with his own death and passes on. While this has been {{Jossed}} by WordOfGod, it remains a hotly-debated topic whenever the game is discussed.

* One episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'', "Dead Run," does a very literal take on this trope. Out of work trucker Johnny Davis takes a new job from a friend, and eventually discovers that his "cargo" are the souls of the newly deceased who are bound for Hell. After talking with some of his passengers, Johnny learns that people are being sent to Hell for minor offenses like draft dodging and non-sins like being gay; he investigates and discovers that the CelestialBureaucracy which judges the dead has become bogged down with red tape and insists on using "time-honored Biblical standards." Johnny decides that he's going to impose a standard of his own and begins taking the time to chat with each passenger, then setting the ones who don't deserve damnation free along the road, so that they can make their own way to Heaven.

* In the aptly-named ''VideoGame/{{Limbo}}'', the protagonist, a small boy, must make his way through the titular shadowy world. The developers deliberately left the details vague--all we know is that he is trying to reach his sister, who is lost somewhere in Limbo--which has prompted [[EpileticTrees endless guessing]] about [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic what meaning]], [[FauxSymbolism if any]], the boy's journey has.

!! Examples

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Series/HotelDelLuna'': The dead must first cross the long bridge across the Samdo River, beneath purple skies and shooting stars. The trip takes 49 days, and over its course the deceased lose all memories of their former lives, rady to sojourn in the other world, then be re-born.

[[/folder]]

* In ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', Dante Alighieri gets lost in a dark forest and, while being guided, undertakes a pilgrimage across the spiritual planes of existence: ''Inferno'' (Hell), where he witnesses the sinful souls who are facing perpetual punishment for their wrongdoings in life; ''Purgatorio'' (Limbo), where the redeemable souls are cleaning up themselves in order to repulse their committed sins and be admitted to God's realm; and ''Paradiso'' (Heaven), where the saintly and redeemed ones rest. The story ends as Dante's soul becomes aligned with God's love. Whether Dante had died, or was travelling through the planes while alive, is left unclear.