History Main / TheMourningAfter

* According to the ''Literature/VitaNuova'', it takes a year after Beatrice's death for [[Creator/DanteAlighieri Dante]] to even think about other women. Even then, one dream about his lost Lenore is enough to make him repent of writing poetry for any other woman and dedicate his life to [[Literature/TheDivineComedy offer her praise never written before]].

* Karen Hayes, Emily’s and Navin’s mother, in ''{{ComicBook/Amulet}}'' stays single, even years after the car accident in which her husband David (Emily’s and Navin’s DisappearedDad) died.
* In the last issue/book of ''ComicBook/{{Circles}}'', as Paulie dies of AIDS and Douglas is left alone, falling into a detached "going through the motions" state. Thankfully, the rest of Kinsey 6 is successful in making his life meaningful again, though Douglas makes it clear that "there will never be another Paulie".
* ComicBook/ElongatedMan's wife dies in ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis2004'', and he spends the rest of his rather short life mourning her.
* Zoe seems to fit this in ''ComicBook/FireflyBrandNewVerse'' as 20 years have passed since Wash died and she never seems to have been with anyone else.
* ''ComicBook/GarfieldHis9Lives'' has Sara, who never plays the piano again after Dianna passes.
* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'':

* ComicBook/ThePunisher never gets over the murder of his wife and children (no matter how many criminals he kills).
* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': The circumstances of Stephanie Brown's death permanently damaged Tim Drake's ability to trust the other Bats, he started closing himself off from his allies, is never seen cooking or skateboarding again, his next two relationships with women he liked and considered pretty were attempts at appearing to have attained some level of normalcy rather than being caused by his attraction to the women in question and he broke them off due to still loving Steph.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', Chase has yet to get over the death of his first girlfriend, Gert, and it's questionable whether he ever will. Even [[ComicBook/RunawaysRainbowRowell bringing her back from the dead]] brings him no comfort, because he's now grown too old to resume their relationship (as the method of her resurrection involved bringing her past self forward in time), and she's moved on to dating Victor.

* The ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' universe provides several examples:

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 (Vol. 1)]]: While every other woman is shown flirting or at least checking boys out Paula has been uninterested in romance since her husband's murder.
* ''Franchise/XMen'': While [[ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} Scott Summers]] isn't quite [[ComicBook/JeanGrey Jean]][[SingleTargetSexuality sexual]], he's come close at times. Although some writers have tried to give him different {{Love Interest}}s, it's been established over and again he will never, ever, get over Jean.

[[caption-width-right:350:Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but what about the [[TheLostLenore biggest absence of all]]?]]

* Later on, Charles III of Spain lost his wife, Maria Amalia of Saxony, in 1760 (after giving him 13 children). He lived on for another 28 years, in which he never remarried, got a mistress, or even a (in modern terms) one-night stand. This in an era where political alliances were still held by marriages and every king (Charles III's father included) routinely went through two, three, or more marriages in his life.

* ''{{Fanfic/Wolfblood}}'': Lambert is still deeply affected by Aiden's death years later and he and Milena accept that he will always love and mourn Aiden even after he has fallen in love with Milena. [[spoier: Then Aiden turns up horrifically injured but alive]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'', Alma had been in love with her husband, Pedro, but the night she gave birth to triplets they had to flee their home and when four horsemen came after the refugees, she had to watch her beloved husband be murdered by the horsemen when he tried to plead for his family and the other refugees. After the miracle that saved the refugees occurred, Alma never married again and wore a mourning shawl as she mourned her husband.

[[Tabletop Games]]

* Booker Dewitt from ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite''. He became a widower almost twenty years earlier and there's no indication given that he's ever been with anyone else since -- when Elizabeth asks what happened to his wife, he curtly responds that she died in childbirth, his grief audible in his voice.

* Godot, aka Diego Armando of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' is one of these -- the game doesn't actually discuss whether he'd have another girlfriend, but his attitude about Mia's death, and the lengths he'd go to "avenge" her make him definitely appear to be one of these. Interestingly enough, both of them might have fitted this trope (while she was alive, he went into a coma, not to wake up until she died) but she was of the more well-adjusted variety if she fits this trope at all.

* ComicBook/ElongatedMan's wife dies in ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'', and he spends the rest of his rather short life mourning her.

* Chip the wasp does this in ''WesternAnimation/Antz'' after his wife Muffy is swatted. When Z decides to follow Cutter back to the Colony (after he picks up Bala), Chip offers to help him get there, coming out of a discarded bottle of scotch, drunk from grief.

* In ''Manga/{{Claudine}}'', Rosemarie never stopped loving and caring for Claudine after his death and the last few panels of the manga show her visiting his grave in the snow.

* ''Literature/TheWindKnowsMyName'': Leticia's third husband loves her and treats her kindly. Sadly, he dies at a young age, leaving Leticia with a young daughter. At his funeral, she swears they will be together forever. Years later, she is uninterested in marrying. ever again.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': Volturi leader Marcus once attempted to escape the coven alongside his wife, Didyme, only to be caught by Aro, who killed Didyme as punishment. Marcus never moved on from her death even after centuries, and became apathetic to anything, aside from his surprise at learning that Bella is willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of Edward, as it reminds him of his love for Didyme. While the films leave this backstory out, it does get a nod in the final film, where Marcus' somber final words ("Finally...") during Alice's vision of the Cullen vs. Volturi battle indicates that he is a DeathSeeker.

* ''Fanfic/ANorthernDragoness'': Jonnel Stark is wed to Daena Tagareyn less than six months after the death of his first wife, and is nowhere near recovered from the trauma of her death (especially since she died of blood poisoning from a miscarriage, for which he blames himself). Jonnel's father is not especially sympathetic, maintaining that the chance to marry a Tagareyn into the Stark line is too priceless to be passed for something as trivial as properly mourning a dead wife.