Line #35 Main/DeathNotification


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10	[[quoteright:286:[[Webcomic/PennyArcade https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gdwookies.png]]]]
11	[[caption-width-right:286:Actually, [[VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed he got a crate and a TIE Fighter Force-dropped on him]] and [[RasputinianDeath got stabbed by an electrified lightsaber]]. But don't tell that to his wife.]]
12
13	->'''Woman:''' And you just... found [her husband's body] there? Lying in the cold? How long had he been there?\
14	'''[[TalkingToThemself Empathy]]:''' If you say 'Two days, maybe', it will be etched in her mind forever.
15	-->-- ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium''
16
17	Whenever a movie shows the folks at home while there is a war going on, you are very likely to see this: a pair of military personnel in dress uniform, approaching the home of the soldier's family. The family will almost always know [[HeDidntMakeIt what this means]].
18
19	It is worth mentioning that this job is ''very'' stressful for those tasked with the duty, as they have to ''constantly'' be the BearerOfBadNews of the worst sort.
20
21	While most common in war movies, it is also a trope tragically familiar to families of firefighters and police officers as well. When the notice is (most commonly) delivered in person, it is closely related to DueToTheDead. It would be disrespectful for the deceased's loved ones to inform them of the death [[LearnedFromTheNews through the news media]] along with the general public, after all. Compare to [[HeDidntMakeIt He Didn't Make It]]. May feature a TragicKeepsake. If the notification is laced with white lies to spare the recipient pain or avoid tainting the deceased's memory, see ThePowerOfLegacy.
22
23	If the notification's delivered by letter, you can expect it to take the form of a white envelope edged in black, with the paper the letter's written on having a similar design.
24
25	In some cases, this takes the form of a telegram, to the point where one will immediately guess the contents of a telegram received by a character in a wartime setting.
26
27	Should not be confused with ''Manga/DeathNote''.
28
29	!!As this is a {{Death Trope\|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].
30	----
31	!!These examples regret to inform you:
32
33	[[foldercontrol]]
34
35	[[folder:Advertising]]
36	* The PSA [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X_XY-vWzKs "Every Three Hours"]] from States United to End Gun Violence shows viewers how an ER doctor prepares to do this. The thoughts that race through her mind during her preparations are based on the New York Times Op-Ed [[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/04/opinion/sunday/how-to-tell-a-mother-her-child-is-dead.html "How to Tell a Mother Her Child is Dead."]]
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
40	* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': The readers aren't shown the actual notifying but before the Survey Corps returns to the Walls, several families of (named) fallen soldiers are shown to be anticipating their return while [[DramaticIrony the audience knows what's to follow soon]]...
41	** At some point, [[spoiler:Hange]] is seen personally notifying [[spoiler:Ilse]]'s family of her death.
42	* ''Manga/IkigamiTheUltimateLimit'' inverts the trope. People are given notification that they ''will'' die in the next 24 hours.
43	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': After [[spoiler:Asuma]] dies on a mission, Shikamaru is the one who delivers the news to their lover, [[spoiler:Kurenai]]. The recipient is shown sinking down to their knees in despair.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Comic Books]]
47	* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': Stephanie Brown receives one in #107 after her father's death in the pages of ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad''.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Fan Works]]
51	* ''Fanfic/AgreementAndDisputation'': A policeman pulls Watson out of the house early due to a carriage accident. Unfortunately, the victim dies despite Watson's best efforts. The doctor insists on going to inform his widow personally rather than allowing a sleek, disinterested policeman to do the job.
52	* ''Fanfic/{{The End of the World\|FernWithy}}'': There are phone booths in the mentoring center for the mentors to call the families of dead tributes and let them know their relatives are dead (although sometimes the families see it live on TV first). Most mentors and district escorts view it as a grim but vital chore. Ausonious Glass finds the process fun and loves to mock the dead tributes to their loved ones.
53	* In ''Fanfic/ThePeaceNotPromised'', Professor [=McGonagall=] has to let Lily know about her father's sudden death, ''while Lily was packing to go home for Christmas holidays and see him''. Remus, having access to the Marauder's Map, knows where she's gone and what it's likely to mean, since a similar thing happened when he lost his mother.
54	* In ''Star Trek TOS'' fanfic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/29285448 Vengeance]]'', Captain Kirk ends up having to write these for [[TheNotLoveInterest Spock]] and [[HeterosexualLifePartners Bones]]. He manages to write the letter to Joanna (Mc Coy's daughter), but nearly breaks down when it comes to writing about Spock's death.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
58	* ''Film/AcrossTheUniverse2007'': Right after Lucy finishes singing about how her boyfriend (in the Army) will be [[TemptingFate coming home to visit soon]] his mother is notified he's dead.
59	* ''Film/BigFish'' has one, when the main character is sent on a suicide mission and doesn't return. We know he's alive, but his wife doesn't. Of course, the son he tells this story to assumes it's another one of his dad's tall tales. [[spoiler:It isn't.]]
60	* The police version is shown in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', as Lt. Gordon's partners are forced to tell his wife about his taking the bullet for the mayor. [[spoiler: That was proven to be a plot to trap the Joker by faking Gordon's death.]]
61	* In ''Film/TheFightingSullivans'', a movie BasedOnATrueStory, Lt. Robinson (Ward Bond) personally delivers to Mrs. Robinson the news that all five of her sons have been killed. In RealLife, it took three men in uniform to report the Sullivans' deaths to their parents two months after the fact.
62	* In ''Film/FirstMan'', the heads of NASA review a press release that has been prepared in the event Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are stranded on the moon with no hope of rescue. TruthInTelevision - you can see the full text of the statement they quote from in the film [[https://watergate.info/1969/07/18/an-undelivered-nixon-speech.html here]].
63	* In ''Film/TheHumanComedy'', Homer is a telegraph messenger boy in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, which means that he sometimes has to deliver death notification telegrams from the War Department. It's a downer, and it's even more of a downer when he has to read the telegram to a Hispanic mother who can't read English.
64	* ''Film/ALeagueOfTheirOwn'': One of the girls gets a telegram telling her that her husband was killed in action. The man delivering the telegram never bothered to find out ''which'' woman on the team was supposed to receive the letter, causing much dread on the teams part. When he says he has to go back to the office and check, Jimmy takes the telegram and throws him out of the clubhouse.
65	* The movie ''Film/TheMessenger2009'' focuses on the men who deliver the notices.
66	* In ''Film/NannyMcPheeAndTheBigBang'', the War Office sends these to the families of deceased soldiers, in the form of a telegram. [[spoiler:Isabel receives one that later proves to be a forgery, in a bid to make her sell the farm.]]
67	* ''Film/RedTails''. The jeep pulls up outside Sofia's home, two officers walk up to Sofia, and [[MomentOfSilence Lucas doesn't even bother giving us any dialogue here]].
68	* At the start of ''Film/TheRightStuff'', the widow of a test pilot is shown cowering in fear from the [[SinisterMinister saturnine black-clad priest]] sent to inform her of her husband's death.
69	* ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'' has a montage early on as Mrs. Ryan receives a series of death notices for all but one of her sons, preceded by a scene showing a typing pool of a few dozen women producing those notices by the thousands.
70	* Sort of in ''Film/SinceYouWentAway''. Anne receives the standard telegram, but it says that her husband Tim is missing in action, and later the HappyEnding has them find out that he's alive. The later telegram informing the family that Jane's fiance Bill was killed in Italy arrives offscreen, with Anne telling Jane after Jane comes home.
71	* Early in ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'', two Vulcans meet Spock at Starbase Yorktown to tell him that [[spoiler:Ambassador Spock]] has died.
72	* ''In Film/SwingKids'' (about teenagers in Hitler's Germany) one of the kids is forced into the Hitler Youth, and is assigned to deliver some small boxes to various people, all of whom scream after he leaves. He decides to open one and discovers a wedding ring and some ash - he'd been delivering the remains of people who had been executed and cremated.
73	* ''Film/TakingChance'': The very beginning of the film does this from the point of view of the military personnel delivering the notice.
74	* The Australian film ''The Telegram Man'' (2018) has the title character delivering telegrams to isolated Outback farms, a job that makes him quite popular as the bearer of news from the outside world...until World War 2 breaks out.
75	* During one of the dogfights in ''Film/TopGun'', Goose cracks a joke about this after Jester "kills" them.
76	-->'''Goose:''' The Defense Department regrets to inform you that your sons are dead because they were ''stupid''.
77	* ''Film/WeWereSoldiers'':
78	** {{Subverted}}, the notices are delivered by a taxi cab driver, implied to be an army veteran himself who ''really'' isn't enjoying the experience. [[ApronMatron Julia Moore]] and Barbara Geoghegan take it upon themselves to deliver the letters themselves, both to save the taxi driver from some of the anguish and out of a sense of responsibility to their neighbors.
79	** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] again [[spoiler:in the film's climax, when a car with two men in uniform stop in front of Julia's house... and one of them is Hal Moore, home from the war]].
80	* In ''Film/{{Yamato}}'', Kamio has to bring the news of [[spoiler:Nishi's]] death to his mother.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Jokes]]
84	* A man gets a knock at the door, and it's a guy with a telegram. The man asks the delivery guy to sing it -- he's never had a singing telegram before. The guy says he doesn't think he can. The man offers $100 to get the telegram in song. This convinces the guy. He clears his throat, reads the telegram and sings "''Your sister, Rose, is dead!''"
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Literature]]
88	* ''Blunted Lance'' by Max Hennessy, the middle book of the Goff Family trilogy. Retired Field Marshall Goff survives various 19th-century wars to see the end of the Great War, only to get a telegram that his son had died of injuries received in the final attack of the war. The shock kills him (fortunately his grandson is still alive to carry on the tradition in book 3).
89	* Since it's set in World War II, ''Literature/Catch22'' has these get sent out. Colonel Cathcart and Lieutenant Colonel Korn being [[LackOfEmpathy the people they are]], they're {{Multiple Choice Form Letter}}s espousing Cathcart's deep personal grief when the recipient's father, husband, brother or son was killed, wounded or declared missing in action.
90	* In Creator/DerekRobinson's black comedies of [=WW1=] and [=WW2=] air combat, the commanding officers of RAF squadrons at least ''try'' to do this appropriately when a pilot is killed. But when the bodies start piling up, one CO gratefully resorts to "fill-in-the-blanks'' form letters provided by his office clerk.
91	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Nobby Nobbs of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is no longer allowed to deliver these after "that bet-you-a-dollar-you're-the-widow-Jackson nonsense." Carrot or Vimes usually handles it. (This is based on an urban legend that's probably as old as this trope.)
92	* Several ''Literature/DoctorWhoMissingAdventures'' novels set during the UNIT era have Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart reflecting that the worst part of the job is writing to the parents of soldiers killed by the MonsterOfTheWeek, and not even being able to tell them what actually ''happened''.
93	* {{Subverted\|Trope}} in Creator/RoaldDahl's autobiographical ''Going Solo'', in which his mother received a telegram while he was serving in World War II and initially thought it was this, but didn't open it until one of her daughters came to be with her. When they actually read it, they found the telegram was not a death notice, but "Regret to advise you, your son wounded and in hospital in Alexandria." The relief was palpable.
94	* In the ''[[Creator/MichaelConnelly Harry Bosch]]'' series, this is a frequent occurrence due to Harry's job as a homicide detective. Harry notes that, despite the hundreds of times that he has done it, it never gets easier and he's never sure that he's doing it right. He also remarks to a new partner that the difficulty of notifying the victim's family is also affected by the fact that they often need to be considered in the pool of suspects until proven otherwise.
95	* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': After one battle in ''By The Sword'', there's a scene where Kerowyn is going down the list of dead Sunbolts and marking the (few) names she needs to "write the letter" for.
96	* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' novel ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'', Ramsay Bolton sends the Night Watch a false message stating Stannis Baratheon is dead to demoralize Stannis's forces. But did Ramsay send it, or did someone else...
97	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
98	** In some [[Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse novels]] Starfleet has a Casualty Notification Office to inform family members when someone is killed in the line of duty. Captain Kirk, though, still feels it appropriate that he should also send a personal letter when one of his crew dies.
99	** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': After Trip Tucker fakes his death in the [[Literature/StarTrekEnterpriseRelaunch novel]] "The Good That Men Do" Trip asks Archer to notify his parents. Trip tells Archer when the best time to call them would be as his parents have health conditions they take medication for. Archer dutifully calls Trip's parents to notify them of Trip's death.
100	* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
101	** ''Literature/XWingSeries'': After Lujayne Forge is killed by Imperials, Wedge Antilles sends a hologram to her family to notify them of her death.
102	** Later, in ''Wraith Squadron'', Wedge is shown to be writing out the notification for the death of [[spoiler:Jesmin Ackbar]], to be delivered to her uncle, a well-known admiral. It takes him most of the night to finish it...but with the task done, [[ItNeverGetsAnyEasier at least he's able to sleep for that last hour]]. The admiral later thanks Wedge for the kind words regarding the pilot.
103	*** Subverted in the second ''Wraith Squadron'' novel, in which Ton Phanan dies and, when Face offers to help Wedge write the notification, he finds ''he's'' the one who'd be receiving it, since Phanan's closest relatives are distant cousins who've never met him.
104	* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' books, Miles realizes his grandfather has died in the night when he is addressed as "Lord Vorkosigan", rather than "Lord Miles", by a grim-faced retainer. Later, while far from home on covert ops, he dreads the day some minor functionary might begin a conversation by addressing him as "Count Vorkosigan, sir?", because that will mean that his beloved father Aral is dead and that Miles was not by his side when it happened. [[spoiler: Exactly that happens at the end of ''Diplomatic Immunity'', and it is exactly as heartbreaking as he feared.]]
105	* The 1952 ''What's It Like Out There'' by Creator/EdmondHamilton was a deconstruction of the heroic SpaceOpera he helped create. The SoleSurvivor of a Mars expedition goes around to the families of his crew but ends up whitewashing the truth about how they died.
106	* ''Why Johnny Can't Speed'' by Creator/AlanDeanFoster opens with a letter from the California Highway Patrol informing the protagonist and his wife that their son was killed disputing a lane change in a future society where road rage is legal. Pops sets forth to get his revenge on the miscreant with his own WeaponizedCar.
107	[[/folder]]
108
109	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
110	* ''Series/ANZACGirls'': [[spoiler:Grace Wilson]], an Australian Army nurse (specifically, a Matron, aka in charge of the whole hospital's nursing staff) serving on the front lines of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, receives a telegram of this sort and her hands start shaking before she even opens it -- [[spoiler:her brother has been killed]]. Reading it only confirms her worst suspicions. Unfortunately, she has a whole convoy of wounded soldiers to treat, and so she [[TryingNotToCry soldiers on]] without [[TheStoic betraying her feelings any further]] until she's safely in her tent and can [[NotSoStoic break down sobbing]].
111	* ''Series/TheBill''. The officers go to inform a man his brother is dead and are surprised when he legs it out the back door instead. Turns out he's involved in criminal activity and assumed they were coming to arrest him.
112	* ''Series/TheCommish''. Two police officers spend the entire day stalling over one of these. When they finally work up the nerve, [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing There Was Much Rejoicing]] from the family of the dear departed, who wasn't well liked.
113	* In the pilot episode for ''Series/{{Defiance}}'', the [=McCawly=] family gets one of these after [[spoiler:Luke is murdered]].
114	* ''Series/TheCrown''
115	** When King George VI dies, Elizabeth is staying at the Treetops Hotel in rural Kenya. 1950s international communications being what they were, palace and government officials (both in London and Nairobi) scramble to find her and inform her before she learns of it from the press. Churchill even tries to get the BBC to delay its announcement until she has been informed. In this case the notification is of importance not only on a personal level, but because her father's death makes Elizabeth the Queen.
116	** Lord Mountbatten is killed by an IRA bomb while Queen Elizabeth is out hunting at Balmoral. On seeing three military Land Rovers driving towards them, she comments, "Oh dear. It's never good when they come in packs like this." [[StiffUpperLip Being the Queen]], she takes the bad tidings with barely a nod.
117	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
118	** In the serial "The Curse of Fenric", Ace's friend Kathleen gets a telegram notifying her of the death of her husband.
119	** In "The Doctor, The Widow, And The Wardrobe", Madge, the widow mentioned in the title, also receives such a telegram. [[spoiler:Because of her messing with time by focusing on her husband, [[EverybodyLives her husband survives as does the plane he was piloting with the whole crew on board]].]]
120	* On ''Series/{{ER}}'', after Gallant has been killed in Iraq, two military police show up at the hospital, looking for his wife, Neela. The minute he lays eyes on them, it's obvious that the desk clerk, a veteran himself, knows what they're going to tell her.
121	* ''Series/FoylesWar''. A telegraph boy has run away from his job after being attacked and abused by a woman he brought a death notice to. A Jewish psychiatrist counsels him that it was NothingPersonal, just her lashing out at the BearerOfBadNews. Feeling good after having helped the boy, the psychiatrist decides to go to the cinema...just in time to catch a newsreel about the recently liberated concentration camps. Fleeing from the cinema, he ends up murdering an escaped German prisoner he encounters.
122	* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', ravens are usually used to send messages throughout the Westeros, and people have said to them "dark wings, dark words" which includes the death of nobles. Winterfell receives a raven informing Ned Starks execution, and everyone in Westeros receives word of [[spoiler: King Joffrey's death]].
123	* ''Series/GeneralHospital''. After one of mobster Sonny Corinthos' bodyguards is killed, he and right-hand man Jason go to inform the man's widow.
124	* In ''Series/LawAndOrderUK'' Matt Devlin shows up at the house of a fellow police officer and friend to tell his wife that they've found his dead body. She initially thinks he's just there casually. But then she sees his face and breaks down, refusing to let him actually say the words.
125	* Variations on this trope turn up from time to time in ''[[Series/{{Mash}} MAS*H]]'', although we don't usually get to see the news delivered.
126	** One episode has Radar writing a heartwrenching letter for Colonel Potter to send to a deceased ambulance driver's folks. Made worse because, before he knew the man was dead, Potter was going to berate him for injuring patients with his careless driving.
127	** When Hawkeye is declared LegallyDead by the army, his father is notified by telegram. Because of other machinations, like his mail being stopped and a visiting politician, Hawkeye couldn't even contact his father to tell him about the mistake.
128	** The episode "Abyssinia Henry" ends with Radar coming into the O.R. to deliver some bad news.
129	** One episode has a young officer ask Colonel Potter for advice on writing a letter to the family of a soldier killed under his command. Potter comments on how many such letters he's written himself and notes that ItNeverGetsAnyEasier.
130	* The DreamSequence[=/=]ImagineSpot in the [[MilestoneCelebration 200th episode]] ("Life Before His Eyes") of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' has Gibbs pose the question "What would have happened if my wife and daughter had not been killed?" The ghost of Mike Franks shows him -- Shannon and Kelly waiting for Gibbs to return home until a cadre of marines appears at their front door...
131	** {{Discussed}} in the episode "Twenty Klicks" between Vance and Ducky when the chopper carrying Gibbs, [=McGee=], IT Kevin, and three RedShirts is shot down.
132	--->'''Vance:''' Family notifications are your wheelhouse, Doctor. Would you mind?\
133	'''Ducky:''' My kingdom for a smaller wheelhouse.
134	** "Blood Brothers" starts with a mother being told that her daughter was killed in action--after she's already lost one son and has another who's dying of leukemia.
135	** Tony is on the receiving end of one in "Family First", though from [=McGee=] and Abby. It resembles very much a military notification detail, and [[GenreSavvy Tony]] simply asks them if it's been confirmed before they can even begin to tell him.
136	* ''Series/NorthernExposure'': In "Slow Dance", Joel has to tell Maggie that [[spoiler:Rick]] has just died and her oblivious comments about her complicated relationship with [[spoiler:Rick]] only make it harder for Joel to spit it out right away. He ends up leading into it with an awkward joke about death notifications.
137	-->'''Joel''': Uh, see, um, this guy goes on a trip, and, uh, he leaves his cat with his friend. Well, he calls his friend and asks how the cat is. Guy says, "The cat is dead." The guy says, "Geez. God, couldn't you break the news to me a little more gently? You know, lead into it-'Your cat crawled up on the roof, there was a loose tile, and he took a little fall.' Like that?" Next month, the guy goes on another trip. Calls his friend and asks how his mom is. Guy says, "Well- She crawled up on the roof and there was a loose tile."\
138	'''Maggie''' ''(smiling)'': Not bad.\
139	'''Joel''': ''(sadly and gently)''[[spoiler:Rick]] crawled up on the roof.\
140	''(Maggie's expression crumbles in realization.)''
141	* In ''Series/QuantumLeap2022'', former Army captain Addison tells Ben the story of when a soldier in her command died, and she had to inform the soldier's mother.
142	-->'''Addison:''' She opened that door and she took one look at me and that Army chaplain and...she knew. And my mind just went blank. My carefully planned-out speech was gone. But in its place, the right words came to me. I told her that her son sacrificed himself for this to be a better world. And that there's nothing more noble than that. And I told her that...I told her that her son was a hero. And that for myself and everybody who knew him, we were forever changed because of how he lived his life with hope and courage. I told her the truth as it came to me from wherever the truth comes from.
143	* In the premiere episode of ''Series/ResidentAlien'', the town doctor Samuel Hodges is found dead, kicking off the plot of the alien who is posing as a doctor being brought into town to conduct the autopsy. When they learn that nobody has informed his wife yet, the ExtremeDoormat mayor Ben Hawthorne is tasked with the job, but doesn't want to. In an EstablishingCharacterMoment of him being the {{Jerkass}} Sheriff Mike Thompson says to give him her number, that he'll do it, that he doesn't give a shit.
144	* In ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' episode "The Death of the Doctor", Sarah Jane Smith gets one of these visits from a UNIT colonel, accompanied by an entourage of armored trucks and gun-toting grunts (seriously, did they think Sarah Jane was going to ''eat'' them or something?). She doesn't believe it for a minute.
145	* ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond'':
146	** After the death of [[spoiler:Nathan West's younger brother Neil]], Nathan is shocked to discover that the notification letter was sent to ''the wrong address''. He ends up writing a letter of his own home to inform [[spoiler: his mother]] himself. It is implied that rather than being hand-delivered, the notices are sent in the mail in "ugly yellow envelopes".
147	** This is seen again in the episode "Never No More": After someone's fighter gets locked with an enemy AceCustom and is sent spiraling into a planet, it is stated in the debriefing that the enemy ace survived. When asked about the friendly pilot, the CO drops a yellow envelope on the table.
148	* The ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' episode "The Forgotten" has Trip being asked to write one for [[RedShirt an engineer]] who died in The Expanse. Trip can't bring himself to do it at first, because every time he starts the letter ends up describing his dead sister Elizabeth.
149	* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E17EyeOfTheBeholder "Eye of the Beholder"]] Captain Picard remarks that over his long Starfleet career he has had to tell many family members that their loved ones have died, but prior to the events of the episode, never from suicide. Picard then tells his officers that he would like to give the deceased officer's parents a reason why their son committed suicide.
150	* ''Series/SueThomasFBEye'': In "[[Recap/SueThomasFBEyeS1E12TheLeak The Leak]]", one of Sue's informants, Malik, goes missing after a raid that the terrorists seem to have known was coming. He insisted he didn't leak any information and seemed fidgety. His mother, who hasn't seen him, begs the FBI to find her son. After Malik's body turns up, Sue and Jack return to the young man's mother to break the unhappy news. She initially thinks they might have found him and begins sobbing when she hears the truth.
151	[[/folder]]
152
153	[[folder:Music]]
154	* The ending of "Sullivan" by Caroline's Spine:
155	-->''It's not hard to reach back to the day\
156	When the war finally came home\
157	Uncle Sam will send you a telegram\
158	So he doesn't have to tell you over the phone\
159	I heard she cracked up\
160	When she found out what the war had cost\
161	And all five of her boys were lost...\
162	[...]\
163	Say goodbye, bye, bye Mrs. Sullivan\
164	Go ahead and cry, cry, cry, cry, cry\
165	We regret to inform you that all of your sons have passed away\
166	All five, five, five, five\
167	So change your blue star to gold''
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Video Games]]
171	* In a late-game sidequest in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'', the player has to do this for the [=NPCs=] in Sanctuary after the death of [[spoiler:Roland]]. It's actually one of the few moments in-game that's not played for laughs.
172	* ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' has a SideQuest that ends in The Detective having to deliver one of these [[spoiler:to the Working Class Woman you may have encountered earlier; you can chance upon her husband's corpse, dead of an accident, during your investigation]]. Whether you succeed or not (it's a fairly difficult Empathy check, made easier the more you've discovered during the investigation), it's one of the most heart-breaking moments of the game both in-universe and out. Even HypercompetentSidekick Kim is of limited help, and comments that he's really bad at handling death notifications.
173	* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' has a SideQuest that involves delivering death notifications to widows. Actually PlayedForLaughs if you ask one of your more flippant teammates do it for you, resulting in quotes like Morrigan's "Your man has died. Get over it." or Oghren's "Good news lady! You're single!"
174	* ''VideoGame/IntoTheBreach'': Sometimes, you'll have a no-win scenario where you either let the Vek damage a building or shove the Vek into said building, damaging it but also wounding or killing the Vek. When you do this with some pilots, such as generic Detritus characters or Camila Vera, they'll sometimes play a line about making sure to inform the families themselves. Archimedes won't inform the families if a mech caused the damage (indeed, he'll often request a press blackout), but if it was a Vek attack, he'll tabulate the casualties' extended families and dispatch condolence letters. Yes, all at once. Yes, before your next turn.
175	* One sidequest in ''VideoGame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning'' has you take over the job of delivering death notifications from a soldier who is drowning himself in booze because he couldn't handle the reactions of the dead soldiers' kin anymore. He considers himself a coward for it.
176	* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', Shepard can deliver a death notification to an asari on the Citadel whose krogan husband died fighting the Reapers. [[spoiler:Only if you helped the two of them get together in the previous game, though.]] It's fairly sad.
177	* In ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesIII'' [[ExpansionPack E2]], Not only Kurt must bring the news[[note]]The task can't be delegated to anyone else, as his squad is a penal legion that's not officially recorded in the military[[/note]] of [[spoiler:Gusurg's]] death to the dead guy's big sister, but he must also explain that [[spoiler:Gusurg died as a traitor to Gallia, having chosen to defect to the invading Empire's Calamity Raven for the sake of a chance for his ostracized people to found their own country. And that Kurt killed Gusurg by his own hands. The big sister face the news solemnly, stating that Gusurg died for what he believed.]] This is the last straw for Kurt's psyche, and Riela and Imca must talk him to his senses. [[DarkerAndEdgier Yeah, it's that kind of story.]]
178	[[/folder]]
179
180	[[folder:Web Comics]]
181	* ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'' #200 had this at one point. It even shows up in the page image for WhatMeasureIsAMook.
182	* ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'', lampshading TheJoysOfTorturingMooks present in ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'', in [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/08/20 this strip.]]
183	* ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' subverts this with "I'm afraid I'm the bearer of some bad news. [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1200#comic Your husband is a hat."]]
184	[[/folder]]
185
186	[[folder:Western Animation]]
187	* [[PlayedForLaughs Lampooned extensively for a gag]] in the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Wife Insurance". Stan gets kidnapped during a mission in Columbia, his wife Francine is met with a man at their front door carrying a pair of boots and an American flag... [[SubvertedTrope who's from Langley Boot and Flag Cleaning]]. [[DoubleSubversion But then she's approached by Bullock, Stan's superior at the CIA, who brings bad news]]: [[NotSoDire his car broke down nearby and needs help for its warranty]]. ''[[SerialEscalation Then]]'' he brings in a priest, who brings further bad news: [[OverlyLongGag he was caught having sex with a man and is being excommunicated]]. Eventually Bullock informs Francine that Stan is MIA, which is still devastating news, but fortunately, he escapes and returns home no worse for wear.
188	* ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'': According to one of the post-episode "Character card" segments the show featured, Avery Butler personally records a message for the family of every Jumptrooper who dies under his command. Given that the homeworlds are occupied, he can't ''deliver'' these messages. [[DueToTheDead He still records them.]]
189	* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "The Honking" begins with Bender getting a letter about his uncle Vladimir dying. The team attend the will reading, which sets off the rest of the plot.
190	-->'''Hermes:''' ...and for Bender... Uh, oh! A black-bordered envelope.\
191	'''Amy:''' Oh, no! Someone you know must have died.\
192	'''Bender:''' I hope it was one of my enemies. Those guys suck.
193	* One shows up in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pingu}}'', of all places. We aren't told the details, obviously, but during "Pingu Delivers the Mail", Pingu and his father deliver a black-edged envelope to one of their customers -- who starts ''crying''.
194	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', a former street punk turned soldier named Armin Tamzarian delivers one of these to the mother of his MIA superior officer, [[spoiler: Seymour Skinner]], in a flashback. It's then subverted when he can't bring himself to tell her and pretends to be her son; he is the man now known as [[spoiler: Principal Skinner.]] Also an example of artistic license, since in the American military, the men who give the notification are traditionally at the same rank as the deceased or higher.
195	* In ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' prodigal general Grune, arriving home from a years-long search for an AncientArtifact, delivers word of his comrade Panthro's loss to mutual friend King Claudus while handing over one of the former's [[TragicKeepsake nunchucks]]. The details are [[MetaphoricallyTrue suspiciously]] vague, not to spare Claudus emotionally, but to hide Grune's betrayal and defection to BigBad Mumm-Ra until their invasion forces are marshalled.
196	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DeathNotification