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| 5 | [[quoteright:349:[[WebAnimation/DorklyOriginals https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dorkly_inevitable_demise_of_love_interest.png]]]] |
| 6 | [[caption-width-right:350:At least she's not ending up in a [[StuffedIntoTheFridge fridge]].]] |
| 7 | |
| 8 | ->''"Needless violence against a woman character who is only significant as an object of a male character's desire? Hot damn, I'm a real comic writer now!"'' |
| 9 | -->-- '''[[Webcomic/EightBitTheater Brian Clevinger]]''', on [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/01/31/episode-1089-special-delivery/ this comic]] |
| 10 | |
| 11 | This character has a familial or romantic relationship with a protagonist, which allows creators to derive heart-wrenching sorrow from her [[KillTheCutie death]]. Thanks to [[MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial "woman" being a unique character trait]], character development is not strictly necessary to get [[IntendedAudienceReaction the audience mourning as well]]... so she typically gets little or none. Losing her is often an IncitingIncident (in both stand-alone and serial works), giving the protagonist a [[ItsPersonal pretext]] for {{Revenge}} against her murderers. In a series, she is easily [[ForgottenFallenFriend forgotten by the characters]], [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse forgotten by the writers]] or even [[GirlOfTheWeek summarily replaced]]. When this happens frequently in a series, the protagonist is suffering from the CartwrightCurse. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | [[Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible Men can and have been treated this way in various stories]], though such cases [[AlwaysFemale are rare]]. More often, MenAreTheExpendableGender, allowing for dozens of comrades-in-arms to die before equating to the same level of personal investment as a single female love interest, not to mention their mother/sister. Expendable characters of any gender are freely used to let a villain [[KickTheDog show off how evil they are]] without damaging any of the [[NominalImportance more important characters]]. The "disposable" character remains defined by her relationship to the protagonist, rather than by her gender. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | For that matter, not all dead female characters are "disposable". Writers can have the characters continue to mourn her long past a {{revenge}} arc, or develop the character in {{Flashback}}s and {{Dream Sequence}}s. Such characters are TheLostLenore. Lenore continues to have a recognised impact on the characters and story after her demise rather than conveniently vanishing from the minds of characters, audience, and creators after having served her function as catalyst. A "disposable" character, on the other hand, had [[WeHardlyKnewYe almost zero characterization before she stopped appearing in the work]]. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Contrast DisposableLoveInterest, where "disposable" means that the character [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome disappeared with no explanation]] or [[PutOnABus left off-screen with minimal explanation]] so creators can introduce a new {{Love Interest|s}}. Contrast DisposableSexWorker and DisposableVagrant, where characters are considered disposable because they are "unclean" and "forgotten" by society as a whole. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Compare TemporaryLoveInterest, where a character has a serious relationship with a character who is quickly written out of the story [[StatusQuoIsGod to preserve the status quo]], and HerHeartWillGoOn, where a {{Love Interest|s}} is killed off to showcase the protagonist specifically dealing with the EmotionalTorque of losing a loved one. See CollateralAngst. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[noreallife]] |
| 22 | ---- |
| 23 | !!Examples: |
| 24 | |
| 25 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 28 | * ''Manga/{{Akira}}'': Kaori dies from Tetsuo's enlarged form in the anime, and is shot to death by The Captain in the manga. |
| 29 | * [[{{Manga/AssassinationClassroom}} Assassination Classroom]] gives us [[spoiler: Aguri Yukimara, a doctor who was assigned to watch over Korosensei when he was captured for research and developed a sort of friendship with him. When he decides to break out of his prison, Aguri ends up being killed in the process. Feeling guilty, Korosensei decides to fulfill her last wish by becoming Class-E's new homeroom teacher]]. |
| 30 | * Sys, Guts's adopted mother from ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'', was the only other person who truly loved Guts, aside from [[LoveInterests Casca]]. However, her only real purpose in the story was to show how much [[AbusiveParents Guts's adopted father]], Gambino, despised Guts for supposedly [[YouShouldHaveDiedInstead being the cause of her death]], and so she is only presented for a few panels until [[spoiler:she died of the plague when Guts is three, and is only mentioned thereafter by Gambino right before Guts [[SelfMadeOrphan killed him in self defense]]]]. |
| 31 | * ''Manga/BlackCat'''s Saya, who, being Train's first real friend, gives Train the reason to want to kill Creed. It is implied that she was also the reason he left Chronos in the first place. |
| 32 | * ''Anime/CodeGeass'': |
| 33 | ** Subverted with [[spoiler:Lelouch's mother Marianne. It looks like her death will be nothing more than a pretext for Lelouch to get revenge on his father, but really she's using another character as her SoulJar and [[EvilPlan has been cooperating with his father from the start]]]]! |
| 34 | ** Played straight with [[spoiler:Shirley's death and Lelouch massacring the entire Geass Order as revenge]], but subverted in the CompilationMovie when [[spoiler: she survives this time, but Lelouch's other reason to kill them was how potentially dangerous they were]]. |
| 35 | * In ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', Annie and Julia die, motivating Spike to kill Vicious and his henchmen. |
| 36 | * Happens at least ''three'' times in ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool''. |
| 37 | ** In the first episode, [[spoiler:Chisa Yukizome]] is the first victim of the killing game in the ''Hope:side'' which is meant to fuel [[spoiler:Munakata's grudge against Naegi and the Remnants he tried to protect]]. Subverted in that [[spoiler:Yukizome]] continues to get characterization in the ''Despair:side'' of the story as one of the main characters and it shows how she became she way she's now at the start of ''Hope:side''. |
| 38 | ** Next would be [[spoiler:Kyoko Kirigiri who "sacrifices" her life in order to protect her love interest Naegi's. It's her death that motivates the boy to face off against Munakata to resolve their conflict. It's somewhat subverted as the final episode shows that Kirigiri was resurrected off-screen thanks to a special medicine]]. |
| 39 | * ''Demon Beast Invasion'' begins with a demon having sex with a woman until she [[OutWithABang explodes]]. |
| 40 | * ''Franchise/{{Devilman}}'': Invoked by Satan, who reveals Akira's secret identity on TV knowing demon hunters would target his LoveInterest Miki. [[spoiler:Seeing her head on a pike predictably drives Akira to slaughter the entire group of demon hunters, which drives him to madness.]] |
| 41 | * ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': Chi-Chi gets turned into an egg by Buu and then gets stepped on by him, which kills her. Her death serves to motivate her son Goten to take the training in the Room of Spirit of Time (aka Hyperbolic Time Chamber) seriously...for only one scene. By the time he and Trunks fight Buu in their fused form as Gotenks, the kids' motivation to take revenge for their dead relatives is completely forgotten for the sake of a very silly and comedic fight, with Gotenks actively holding back to make the fight more exciting. Later on, when Gotenks learns that Buu has eaten the other members of the Dragon Team, including Trunks's mother Bulma, Gotenks gets angry for one moment, but they continue to do the silly and comedic fight again (although this time Gotenks doesn't hold back, since he's already in his strongest form). |
| 42 | * ''Anime/DragonBallGT'': {{Gender Flip}}ped example with Krillin. Being DemotedToExtra, he mostly shows up in just cameos. His first "major" appearance is him getting unceremoniously killed off by Android #17 in front of his wife #18 (which is also the third time he dies in this continuity). While it seems that #18 is killed right after, she later shows up in the final fight to assist Goku and take revenge for her husband. The next arc is about trying to purify the Dragon Balls to revive Krillin and other victims, but this is more treated like an after-thought for most of the arc and he's later revived in the final episode. Notably, #18 doesn't even appear in said arc and we don't see her and Krillin reunite, since the final episode focuses on Goku's departure from the series. |
| 43 | * ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': |
| 44 | ** In Episode 47, Future Trunks watches as his mother, Bulma, is killed by Goku Black, [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment who initially takes the appearance of a ghastly apparition]] or EldritchAbomination, rather than someone in Goku's body. Before revealing to the viewer that the BigBad is someone who looks near identical to Goku, Trunks' girlfriend, Mai, appears to be killed by Black. This is later [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] when she is shown to have survived the blast. Nonetheless, Black serves as Trunks's ArchEnemy throughout this arc. |
| 45 | ** Later played straight again when [[spoiler:Zamasu describes to Goku how Black murdered the future timeline versions of Goten and Chi-Chi]]. This causes Goku to snap like he did during his fight against Freeza on Namek. |
| 46 | * ''[[Manga/Golgo13 Golgo 13: Queen Bee]]'': Duke Togo gives a woman the best sex of her life, and kills her. |
| 47 | * ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'': |
| 48 | ** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]]'' did this rather (in)famously with the "Astray Girls". |
| 49 | ** Done even more infamously with the Shrike Team (and several others) in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]''. Creator/YoshiyukiTomino had pretty much [[CreatorBreakdown hit the bottom of the barrel of his depression]], and ''it shows''. |
| 50 | * Early in the ''Manga/GunsmithCats'' manga, one of Rally's bounties takes a girl hostage. The next time we see her, she has just been raped and is then unceremoniously murdered. After taking the bounty down, nothing more is said. |
| 51 | * ''Manga/{{Freezing}}'': Genetically modified women trained at military academies can be killed for points in combat ranking competitions called carnivals. In the prequel spinoff ''Freezing: First Chronicle'', Chiffon Fairchild massacres over forty genetically modified women at her first carnival, and goes on to be ranked #1. |
| 52 | * In Chapter 0 of ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'', Rika was the childhood friend of the generic protagonist Yuta Okkotsu. She is killed in an accident and ends up becoming a cursed spirit who constantly protects and haunts him. Her death and tragedy are what fuel Yuta's motivation into becoming a strong sorcerer. |
| 53 | ** During the ''Gojo's Past'' Arc, Gojo and Suguru are charged with escorting Riko Amanai, the future vessel of Tengen-sama, and develop a liking to her. [[spoiler:She's killed by Fushiguro who was assigned by the Time Vessel Foundation cult. Her death along with the depraved actions of her assassins would [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility inspire Gojo to take his role as the strongest sorcerer alive more seriously]] while Suguru [[FinalSolution would develop his desire to kill all non-sorcerers]]]]. |
| 54 | * In ''Anime/KillLaKill'', the reason [[NoNonsenseNemesis Tsumugu Kinagase]] is such a grumpy jerkhole is because [[spoiler:his sister was a life fiber researcher who lost her life when one of the experiments went haywire. He blames the life fibers for her death and for tricking her into believing that humans and life fibers could ever coexist]]. |
| 55 | * Azami from ''Manga/LoneWolfAndCub'', the hero's wife and Daigoro's mother. The flashback chapter where we see her death is her sole appearance in the entire manga. |
| 56 | * ''Anime/MazingerZ'': Rumi. She was a maid Dr. Kabuto hired to take care of his orphaned grandsons while he was building [[HumongousMecha Mazinger Z]]. She was cold-bloodly murdered by [[TheDragon Baron]] [[TwoFaced Ashura]] less than five minutes after her first appearance in the first episode. Kouji and Shiro cried when they found the corpse, but she was not mentioned again. A number of adaptations (like ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' or ''Anime/ShinMazinger'') remove the character, flat out. |
| 57 | * Yuki, Akane's friend in ''Anime/PsychoPass'', whose sole purpose is to be [[spoiler:first captured and later killed by Makishima at the halfway point in the series just to reinforce that he can commit horrific atrocities but not have it affect his psycho-pass level]]. |
| 58 | * ''Urotsukidōji: Legend Of The Overfiend'': In the school hallway, a group of schoolgirls are brutally KilledOffscreen. |
| 59 | * In ''Manga/YuGiOh'', Kisara's character boils down to 'quiet, mysterious girl who's powerful, but is killed to motivate Priest Seto'. In the manga, she's randomly attacked in the middle of a conversation and dies, enraging Seto and allowing him to be possessed until the end of the arc. [[Anime/YuGiOh The anime]] has her sacrifice herself to protect Seto and then free him from the darkness before the end of the arc. In the original plan for the arc, her death would have served to motivate an un-brainwashed Seto to rebel against the Pharaoh, fighting a three-way war to avenge her death. |
| 60 | [[/folder]] |
| 61 | |
| 62 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 63 | * ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': |
| 64 | ** ''ComicBook/AntMan'': Henry Pym's first wife, a Hungarian émigrée who was kidnapped and murdered by Soviet agents. |
| 65 | ** In ''Avengers 1959'', four former Nazi agents, Axis Annie, Fraulein Fatale, Madame Mauser and Penny Panzer are taken hostage, no longer engaged in combat, and slaughtered off-panel by ComicBook/{{Sabretooth}} on the order of ComicBook/NickFury, to reassure the audience that Sabretooth is a murderous psychopath. |
| 66 | ** Victoria Bentley, an associate of ComicBook/DoctorStrange, dies in ''Avengers'' #366 when ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} is fighting Bloodwraith. |
| 67 | * In ''Franchise/{{Batman}}: The Widening Gyre'', Silver St. Cloud, established as a love interest of Bruce Wayne, has her throat slit by Onomatopoeia. |
| 68 | * In ''ComicBook/CaptainBritainAndMI13'', a woman trying to join Dracula's cult to be turned to a vampire instead gets her neck snapped so she won't be able to. |
| 69 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Crimson}}'', Alex Elder's girlfriend Julie is murdered in the third issue by the vampires that turned him in order to provoke into seeking revenge against him. |
| 70 | * In Creator/FrankMiller's run on ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'', after establishing a friendship with Matt Murdock, ComicBook/{{Elektra}} dies at the hands of ComicBook/{{Bullseye|MarvelComics}}. |
| 71 | * Taiyan, in the ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' back-up series ''Abslom Daak: Dalek Killer''. |
| 72 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Excalibur}}'', Courtney Ross is killed in ''Excalibur'' #5. ComicBook/CaptainBritain swears revenge in ''Excalibur'' #56. |
| 73 | * One of the most infamous examples is the death of Alexandra [=DeWitt=], the then-girlfriend of Franchise/GreenLantern Kyle Rayner; she was killed by Major Force and [[StuffedIntoTheFridge stuffed into her refrigerator]] for Kyle to find. The backlash was so intense that it led to the formation of the Website/WomenInRefrigerators group to protest specifically against the preponderance of the Disposable Woman trope in superhero comics. Green Lantern writer Ron Marz wrote a letter to the Women In Refrigerators website, attempting to justify the event he wrote that gave WIR its name. He actually tried to use the fact that Kyle Rayner's girlfriend was meant to be the Disposable Woman from the beginning as an excuse! |
| 74 | * In ''ComicBook/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', ComicBook/LoisLane is killed off, upsetting Superman into creating a BadFuture. ComicBook/{{Huntress}} and [[ComicBook/TheQuestion Renee Montoya]] are killed, upsetting ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}. |
| 75 | * In ''ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar'', "Strange Visitor" Sharon Vance is introduced to make a HeroicSacrifice and stop Imperiex. |
| 76 | * Pandora, who appears in ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'', is killed by [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} Dr. Manhattan]] in ''ComicBook/DCRebirth''. |
| 77 | * ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'': |
| 78 | ** The Pride's empire was built upon the yearly sacrifice of young women. And then there's Marianela Mancha, who is horrifically burned to death by ComicBook/{{Ultron}} in order to force Victor Mancha to join the Runaways. |
| 79 | ** In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways 2015}}'' Pixie is killed off in the second issue in order to spur Team Puce into rebelling against their AcademyOfEvil. |
| 80 | * In ''Semantic Lace'', a happy-go-lucky girl is shot in the head. |
| 81 | * In a storyline of ''ComicBook/SheHulk'' volume two, a normal couple gets caught up in matters involving a hostile space alien far from civilisation. The wife gets killed so that after being rescued the husband can get falsely accused of murdering her (because "space aliens killed my wife, and She-Hulk saved me" [[ArbitrarySkepticism didn't convince people]]). |
| 82 | * Goldie in ''ComicBook/SinCity: The Hard Goodbye'' exists to be murdered and start Marv's RoaringRampageOfRevenge. |
| 83 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': |
| 84 | ** A male example from the 1960s: Bennett Brant, Betty's lawyer brother, was introduced and killed in ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManLeeAndDitko'' #11 so that Betty could blame Spider-Man for his death and thus throw a spanner in the works of her romance with Spidey's alter ego Peter Parker. Bennett practically never was mentioned or made an appearance again after that subplot ended, and if it was it was to work out the ContinuitySnarl that developed when Marvel decided that Betty must be around Peter's age. If Bennett behaved as if he was Betty's younger brother, how could he be an attorney when Peter was still in high school? |
| 85 | ** NYPD police captain [=Jean DeWolff=] is killed by Stan Carter. |
| 86 | ** Charlemagne, an intel agent and friend of Wolverine, is introduced in ''Spider-Man Versus Wolverine'' #1. Spider-Man accidentally kills her, leaving him [[TheseHandsHaveKilled deeply upset]]. |
| 87 | ** ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson appeared to die in an exploding airplane in ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManJMichael Straczynski'' vol 2 #13. [[DeathIsCheap She got better pretty quick.]] |
| 88 | ** [[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 Kamala Khan]] dies in ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan2022'' #26 and is used in a way to motivate Peter AND a HeelFaceTurn Norman Osborn. |
| 89 | * "[[Characters/{{Batgirl}} Spoiler]]" Stephanie Brown was tortured by the Black Mask and died from a lack of treatment in ''ComicBook/BatmanWarGames'', but her death was {{retcon}}ned into her being smuggled out of the country for her own safety. |
| 90 | * ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'': |
| 91 | ** Itsu is killed so Logan can have sad memories of her and to introduce her son ComicBook/{{Daken}}. |
| 92 | ** Mariko Yashida was poisoned and killed so Logan could remain guilty and depressed over her death. |
| 93 | * ''ComicBook/XMen'': |
| 94 | ** ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'s wife Magda died in the wilderness, Magda's mother Anya died in a concentration camp during World War II, and [[RuleOfThree Magna's daughter Anya died in a mob fire]]. |
| 95 | ** Birdy, partner of ComicBook/{{Sabretooth}}, was killed by Graydon Creed. |
| 96 | ** [[Characters/XMenMutants Moira MacTaggert]] dies from an attack by ComicBook/{{Mystique}}, and returns in ''ComicBook/ChaosWar''. |
| 97 | ** Aliya "Jenskot" Dayspring dies in ''ComicBook/{{Cable}}'' #1, motivating Cable to look after their son, Tyler. |
| 98 | ** Shard makes a HeroicSacrifice in ''[[ComicBook/{{Bishop}} Bishop the Last X-Man]]'' #14, in order to defeat Fitzroy. |
| 99 | ** Siena Blaze was killed at the Weapon X facility in ''ComicBook/WeaponX2002'' Vol 2 #5. She becomes a zombie in ''ComicBook/{{Necrosha}}'', then dies again. |
| 100 | ** [[Characters/XMen70sMembers Peter Rasputin]] broke up with [[Characters/MarvelComicsKittyPryde Kitty Pryde]] because of Zsaji, a Disposable Woman he met during ''ComicBook/{{Secret Wars|1984}}'' and fell hopelessly in love with despite not even speaking her language. After spending hours together, she ends up sacrificing her life to save the heroes from [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Doctor Doom]]'s attack after he absorbed the Beyonder's power. Karma then came and kicked his ass in the form of the Juggernaut. Afterwards, Wolverine lectured him on not letting Kitty down gently. |
| 101 | ** In ''ComicBook/EndOfGreys'', Elaine Grey, mother of ComicBook/JeanGrey, Phyliss Dennefer, sister of Elaine Grey, Julia Grey and Sara Grey-Bailey, sisters of Jean Grey, Derry Campbell, Mary-Margaret Grey, and Kindra Grey, cousins on Jean's side, and Bekka Wallis, a teacher, are all killed by the Shi'ar Death Commandos. |
| 102 | ** ComicBook/{{Dazzler}} has died in ''ComicBook/XMenEveOfDestruction'', ''[[ComicBook/ExcaliburMarvelComics New Excalibur]]'', and ''ComicBook/AForce''. |
| 103 | ** Holly "Holo" Bright is introduced in ''ComicBook/FirstXMen'' #1, and dies in ''First X-Men'' #5. |
| 104 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'', in issue #2, Wasp is killed by the Blob. |
| 105 | * In Creator/PaulCornell's ''ComicBook/{{Wisdom}}'' mini-series, Maureen Raven is killed to prevent a BadFuture. |
| 106 | [[/folder]] |
| 107 | |
| 108 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 109 | * In the lost ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' comic ''Future of Despair'', [[spoiler:Panne]]'s only in-story role is getting herself killed so her {{Crusading Widow}}er [[spoiler:Henry]] can go {{mangst}}ing around [[spoiler:while [[ParentalNeglect heavily neglecting]] their son Yarne]] [[spoiler:until he himself dies]]. |
| 110 | * Constantly lampshaded in ''Fanfic/FarceOfTheThreeKingdoms.'' [[RunningGag It's the third century, after all.]] |
| 111 | * ''Fanfic/ShowaAndVampire'' was a multi-author fic with four different main heroes. '''Three''' of them had a dead girlfriend in their backstory to give them angst. The one who didn't had dead parents instead. |
| 112 | [[/folder]] |
| 113 | |
| 114 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 115 | * ''Film/ActsOfVengeance2017'': Valera's wife and daughter basically just exist to be murdered, thus causing his vengeance quest. At least they're given some characterization at the beginning (making their deaths hit harder too). |
| 116 | * ''Film/AlexCross'': The only two significant female characters, [[spoiler:Maria and Monica]], are both murdered, which serves as impetus for the men in their lives to seek revenge on the murderer. |
| 117 | * In ''Film/AustinPowersTheSpyWhoShaggedMe'', the disposable women in Film/JamesBond movies are [[ParodiedTrope parodied]]. Vanessa explodes within the first five minutes, inspiring less than a minute of grief before Austin takes off to enjoy the single life again. |
| 118 | * In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', Gamora is sacrificed in exchange for the Soul Stone. In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' Gamora is replaced with a past version of herself, and Black Widow sacrifices herself for the Soul Stone. Margaret "Peggy" Carter's death is mentioned in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', though Steve Rogers spends time with an alternate past timeline version of her. |
| 119 | * Audrey in ''Film/BartonFink'' shows up to sleep with the main character and is then murdered in his bed. Barton is able to dispose of the body without anyone noticing, and Davis is never mentioned again in the movie. |
| 120 | * Zig-zagged in ''Film/TheCreator2023''. Joshua's pregnant wife Maya is killed in the initial raid, which makes him uncaring about the war even when he's needed years later. It's only after learning the possibility that she ''might'' be alive that he agrees to go on the mission. [[spoiler:It was a trap; Maya is the titular creator, the supreme AI known as Nirmata, and the military wanted Joshua involved to lead them to her and finish her off. She's also not exactly ''alive'', but near-death, and Joshua has to shut her down himself so Nirmata can reincarnate, as [[ICannotSelfTerminate the AIs are unable to harm her]]. A simulant with her likeness receives her [[BrainUploading preserved memories]] at the end, and stays with Joshua during his HeroicSacrifice, [[KilledOffForReal dying for real this time]]. Despite her major role in the story, however, she barely gets any screentime, and the most important thing she directly did in the plot is being the mother of [[GooGooGodlike Alpha]]]]. |
| 121 | * Marian fills this role in ''Film/DantesPeak''. Harry's fiancee is a psychotically involved geologist. She's so gonzo for volcanoes Harry has to practically drag her kicking and screaming to leave the site of the eruption because the ''readings'' are so incredible. As they're driving frantically from the area, volcanic rock is falling from the sky. [[spoiler:One punches through the roof and hits Marian in her head. Harry has to look on in horror as she convulses. He reaches for her and she dies in his arms.]] |
| 122 | * In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', Rachel Dawes, the love interest of Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent, is kidnapped by the Joker's goons and is killed in a warehouse explosion. Her death not only impacts Bruce but also [[spoiler: kickstarts Harvey to take revenge on those who wronged him as [[FaceHeelTurn Two-Face]]]]. It's also worth mentioning that Rachel was the ''only'' prominent female character in the movie (and a CanonForeigner on top of that). |
| 123 | * In ''Film/Deadpool2'', Vanessa is killed during a flash-back within five minutes of the film opening, then gets {{lampshade|Hanging}}d during the opening credits. [[spoiler: She gets better.]] |
| 124 | * The family, friends, and love interests of Creator/CharlesBronson's character in the ''Film/DeathWish'' series of movies serve this purpose, and this purpose alone. It starts relatively realistic, showing him to become physically ill after killing his first man. By the later movies, however, he seems to [[AxCrazy positively delight]] in finding creative ways to rid the world of scumbags. [[http://www.laineygossip.com/death-wish-movie-review-starring-bruce-willis/49282 This review]] of [[Film/DeathWish2018 the 2018 remake]] starring Creator/BruceWillis mentions the trope, stating that as in the original film, "women are only in this movie to be harmed so a man can go on an emotional journey." |
| 125 | * In ''Film/DeepRising'', Finnegan's XO Leila is the first of the protagonists to be killed by the creatures. Despite her brief screen time setting her up as one of the most sympathetic cast members, her fate gets barely any mention by her crewmates, least of all the mercs. Finnegan's reaction boils down to one gloomy "I don't think she made it" to her boyfriend Joey, who in turn sheds a tear for her during his following repair job but goes back to his usual snarky self immediately afterwards, [[ForgottenFallenFriend effectively forgetting about her from that moment forth]]. |
| 126 | * In ''Film/TheDeserter'', Capt. Kaleb's wife only appears long enough to die at the hands of the Apache and trigger Kaleb's RoaringRampageOfRevenge. |
| 127 | * A young woman dies in the first scene of ''Film/TheForeigner2017'', which spurs her RetiredBadass father to come out of retirement and track down those responsible. |
| 128 | * ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'': While talking to General Hawk, Cover Girl is stabbed through the back by Zartan, the knife penetrating her ribcage, and less importantly damaging the electronic tablet she held and had asked the General to sign. |
| 129 | * ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}'': |
| 130 | ** Brenda was killed from a lack of UV protection in ''Film/HighlanderIITheQuickening''. She really died in a car crash in ''Film/HighlanderIIITheSorcerer''. Actually, she was run over by Kell in ''Film/HighlanderEndgame''. |
| 131 | ** ''Film/HighlanderEndgame'': Rachel has been maintaining the Nash Antiques store, when a telephone explodes, killing her. |
| 132 | * In ''[[Film/TheHungerGames The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2]]'', Katniss' sister Prim dies, saddening Katniss greatly. |
| 133 | * An ongoing trend in ''Film/JamesBond'' films. Beautiful women would appear for three scenes at most, before dying, usually after being ploughed by Bond and doing something vague. Often the actresses playing these women would receive star billing in the credits (e.g. "And Creator/LanaWood as Plenty O'Toole"). Examples include Jill and Tilly Masterson in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'', Plenty O'Toole in ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'', Rosie Carver in ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'' and Corinne Dufour in ''Film/{{Moonraker}}''. |
| 134 | ** Della Churchill, loving wife of Felix Leiter, is killed less than twenty minutes into ''Film/LicenceToKill'' and Leiter himself fed to a shark. Bond decides ItsPersonal. [[spoiler:Leiter survives and doesn't seem too fazed by the death of his wife.]] |
| 135 | ** When Creator/RoaldDahl was hired to write the screenplay for ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'', he was told that every Bond movie needs three Bond girls: one is pro-Bond and dies; another is anti-Bond but is won over by his charms; and the third, pro-Bond woman is the one he gets to bed at the end of the film. Not every Bond movie has used these exact rules, but Dahl followed the template with Aki, Helga and Kissy ([[AllThereInTheScript unnamed in the movie]]) respectively. |
| 136 | ** The Creator/DanielCraig Bond films have continued this trend. Witness Strawberry Fields (Creator/GemmaArterton) in ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'' and Séverine (Creator/BereniceMarlohe) in ''Film/{{Skyfall}}''. There are {{aver|ted Trope}}sions though, such as Lucia Sciarra (Creator/MonicaBellucci) in ''Film/{{Spectre}}''. |
| 137 | * The first victim in ''Film/{{Jaws}}''. She exists to get torn apart by the shark and provide conflict between Brody and the Mayor over whether or not to close the beach after her body is discovered. |
| 138 | * Another GenderFlip in ''Film/KillBill''- The Bride's fiance Tommy exists only for the titular villain to murder. |
| 139 | * In ''Film/TheLastBoyScout'' Creator/HalleBerry's character Cory is cut down by machine-gun fire in the first third of the film. While her boyfriend, played by Damon Wayans, teams up with Bruce Willis's character to solve her murder, he [[AngstWhatAngst never seems all that broken up about her death]] and the snarky, bantering tone of the rest of the film seems incongruous at best in that light. |
| 140 | * In ''Film/LastTrainFromGunHill'', Morgan's wife gets only a few minutes of screen time as she tries to escape Rick and his friend, and is then raped and murdered by them. |
| 141 | * In ''Film/Lisztomania'', this happenned to Countess Maria and her children, aside from Cosima, when they were comedically blown up during the May revolution while Liszt sings helplessly in his tower. |
| 142 | * ''Film/NocturnalAnimals'': In Edward's book, Laura and India are just there to basically be raped, then murdered so Tony (i.e. his {{expy}}) can go on a quest for justice on their killers. That said, it's done well. |
| 143 | * ''Film/{{Psycho}}'': Marion Crane is killed so the movie can focus on her killer, Norman Bates. |
| 144 | * In ''Film/RamboLastBlood'', Gabriela dies from her injuries, inspiring John's RoaringRampageOfRevenge. |
| 145 | * [[spoiler:Irene Adler]] tragically becomes this in ''Film/SherlockHolmesAGameOfShadows'', being [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome killed off in the first few minutes]] with poison [[VictorianNovelDisease that produces tuberculosis-like symptoms]]. This one stings because she spends most of the first film (and five minutes of the second) being smarter than everyone else in the room, only to walk into such an obvious trap. |
| 146 | * ''Franchise/StarWars'': |
| 147 | ** In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', the handmaiden Cordé is introduced and dies with six others after the explosion of a Naboo cruiser set by the bounty hunter Zam Wesell. Shmi Skywalker dies from being tortured by Tusken Raiders, motivating Anakin's RoaringRampageOfRevenge. |
| 148 | ** In ''Film/RogueOne'', in the opening moments of the film, Galen's wife Lyra Erso is killed by one of Director Krennic's death troopers. Her death is only ''implicitly'' motivational to him, [[spoiler: as he was already a Rebel sympathizer]]. |
| 149 | ** In ''Film/{{Solo}}'', Val dies in an explosion shortly after being introduced, only briefly upsetting Beckett. |
| 150 | * In ''Film/{{Stuber}}'': Creator/KarenGillan's Officer Morris is killed in the first five minutes of the film to spur on Vic Manning ([[Wrestling/{{Batista}} Dave Bautista]])'s [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge vendetta]]. |
| 151 | * ''Film/{{Taken}}'': |
| 152 | ** The first film's whole plot revolves around this; the reason Kim exists is so that she can be kidnapped, giving her father Bryan an excuse to show what a badass he is. Meanwhile, the purpose of Kim's best friend Amanda is to be killed in order to show that the bad guys are monsters and thus how important it is for Bryan to find Kim ASAP. |
| 153 | ** Bryan's ex-wife Lenore, with whom he is still in love, lives until ''Taken 3'', wherein her murder is what sends Bryan on a third and last quest for vengeance. |
| 154 | ** The prequel TV series has Bryan's younger sister Cali, who's killed in the very first episode. |
| 155 | * Gender flipped in ''Film/TankGirl'', when her boyfriend dies in bullet-riddled convulsions during Water & Power's attack. As shocked as she appeared at the time, he just as suddenly becomes a ForgottenFallenFriend. |
| 156 | * ''Film/TheTimeMachine2002'' has an interesting variation in Emma. Alex spent ''four years'' building his time machine to change history and save her from dying. When this fails, he contemplates how he could try a thousand times without success - if he were to save her life, it would lead to a ChickenAndEggParadox. She really does have no further CharacterDevelopment than being destined to die. |
| 157 | * In ''Film/Troll2'', after Joshua saves his family, he walks up the stairs to find his mom has been turned to jelly by the Goblins. |
| 158 | * In ''Film/UniversalSoldierTheReturn'', Luc Deveraux had a partner named Maggie who spends most of the time protecting Luc's daughter Hilary from the maniacal S.E.T.H. and his army of Uni Sols. Unfortunately, Maggie gets killed by S.E.T.H's right-hand man Romeo and revived as a Uni Sol to serve S.E.T.H., much to Luc's grief. Even when Luc managed to free Maggie by destroying S.E.T.H. and a majority of Uni Sols, [[FateWorseThanDeath Maggie finds the idea of living as a Uni Sol to be unbearable]] and [[MercyKill asked Luc to blow up the building with herself and the remaining Uni Sols inside]]. Understanding what Maggie went through, Luc reluctantly obliges, and Maggie accepts her fate perishing in the explosion, taking Romeo and the remaining Uni Sols with her. |
| 159 | * The whole premise of ''Film/{{Upgrade}}'' revolves around Grey Trace, a disabled mechanic who lost his wife to a mugging, embracing a cybernetic A.I. called STEM to grant him the power to track down his wife's killers and bring them to bloody justice. |
| 160 | * In ''Film/VanHelsing'', after Van Helsing's epic battle, Anna Valerious dies due to Van Helsing being exceedingly clumsy at that moment, and Van Helsing feels a deep regret. |
| 161 | * ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'': |
| 162 | ** In ''Film/{{Logan}}'', Gabriela Lopez finds Logan and promptly dies when he leaves for a couple of hours to get ready for the drive. She successfully got Laura to him and left behind her smartphone with an inexplicably well-edited video for exposition, but she isn't mentioned again by Logan, Laura, or the kids she had already led to safety - she just dies once her job of kickstarting the plot is complete. |
| 163 | [[/folder]] |
| 164 | |
| 165 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 166 | * Back in the '20s, the author 'Sapper' admitted that he'd let ''Literature/BulldogDrummond'' marry his girlfriend because he thought she'd make a good kidnapping victim for future adventures. |
| 167 | * Audra, Bill Denbrough's wife, in ''Literature/{{It}}'' has no real importance to the plot except for being kidnapped. |
| 168 | * This trope is OlderThanPrint. In the ''Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae'', or "Lives of the Saints of Britain", which predates the 9th century, warfare breaks out when a [[DamselInDistress lovely maiden]] is kidnapped by King Maelgwn's soldiers. St. Cadog approaches the king and convinces him to repent and recall his army, [[WhatTheHellHero but never asks for the maiden back]], despite her father being an official in Cadog's church. [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse She is never mentioned again]]. |
| 169 | * In the Chinese epic ''Literature/OutlawsOfTheMarsh'', aka ''The Water Margin'', the Outlaws want a WorthyOpponent to stay with them. They kill a whole lot of innocent civilians and make it look like he did it. His wife is executed for being married to the presumed criminal. The husband is outraged and prepares to kill the outlaws, who explain that they only did it so he would be outlawed and have to join them. He is touched by this and agrees. They basically say, "Sorry about your missus, but we know lots of women, we'll give you a new one." [[ValuesDissonance He accepts]]. |
| 170 | * Arguably, Harry's one-time student Kim Delaney in ''[[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Fool Moon]]''. She's killed by a super-powered werewolf midway through the novel, having never been mentioned in the previous book. However, she is mentioned a few times in later books, and her death [[SacrificialLamb serves to teach Harry]] the consequences of PoorCommunicationKills. |
| 171 | * In the first book of the ''Literature/ThousandCultures'' series, Betsy Lovelock is raped and murdered in order to spur a rebellion. |
| 172 | * Nonfiction meta example: "Nur über ihre Leiche"[[note]]"Over her dead body" - not to be confused with the fantasy comedy[[/note]], a study by Elisabeth Bronfen, on dead women as a subject in art. (Obviously, far broader than this trope, but has enough examples listed.) |
| 173 | * [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] in ''Literature/WaxAndWayne''. |
| 174 | ** Initially played straight in [[Literature/TheAlloyOfLaw the first book,]] we are introduced our protagonist [[TheSheriff Waxillium Ladrian]] [[BattleCouple and his wife Lessie]]. Within the very prologue, Lessie is killed when the serial killer they've been chasing takes her hostage and inexplicably blocks the bullet when Wax attempts to ShootTheHostageTaker. This disaster motivates Wax to hang up his badge and return to the city to manage his family's estate, being the sole heir, kickstarting the events of the series. |
| 175 | ** Jump forward to ''Literature/ShadowsOfSelf'', Wax finds himself at odds with Paalm, a rogue [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Kandra]] [[FallenAngel revolting against]] [[PiecesOfGod Harmony]]. In typical noir fashion, she plays [[CriminalMindGames mind games]] with Wax, including taking personal shots at his trauma by occasionally taking on the appearance of Lessie. At the end of the book, when he finally catches Paalm, she commits suicide, [[FateWorseThanDeath preferring to die than to lose control]] to Harmony again. As she dies, though, she reveals she was Lessie [[ConnectedAllAlong all along]]. Harmony fabricated their meeting and relationship in order to develop Wax into the lawman he became. Complications arose when Paalm actually [[InLoveWithTheMark fell in love with him]]. When Harmony needed Wax to return to Elendel, Paalm refused to aid him, seeing how happy Wax was with his adventures in the west. Being able to take control of her, Harmony did it anyway, faking Paalm's death. She grew to resent Harmony because of it, setting out to free Wax from his influence with the help of [[NebulousEvilOrganisation the Set]]. As such, this trope comes out to be [[InvokedTrope invoked]], [[DefiedTrope defied]], and especially [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]]. The entire course of events ends up as a [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall meta commentary]] about disposable women. From the perspective of Paalm, the narrative becomes the story of a woman rising up against the author of the grand narrative, rejecting her role within it after she was forcefully [[StuffedIntoTheFridge fridged]] without consideration or rejection of her own perspective and experience for the sole purpose of developing a loved one's character so that he may get the needed motivation or skills to do what the author needs him to do. |
| 176 | [[/folder]] |
| 177 | |
| 178 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 179 | * This befalls several characters in the ''Series/TwentyFour'' universe, ''especially'' women who have been married to/dated Jack Bauer: |
| 180 | ** Claudia, Jack's ex-girlfriend who lives in Mexico working for the Salazar brothers. As soon as she, her father and Chase Edmunds make plans to escape the Salazar ranch, her life expectancy is measured in minutes, not episodes. She ends up dying off-screen during their escape. |
| 181 | ** Audrey Raines: kidnapped in the ''first episode she appears in''. Rescued several times from perilous situations by Jack until she gets captured and tortured by the Chinese for a year in the sixth season. She's now in an unresponsive coma. [[spoiler:And then she recovers by ''Live Another Day'' only to be shot dead in the finale.]] |
| 182 | * ''Series/{{Bonanza}}'': |
| 183 | ** Seemingly every episode that introduced a female love interest for [[CartwrightCurse the Cartwrights]] worked like this. The girl would invariably harbor a sinister secret or have someone stalking her, with the villain of the week succeeding in his mission to kill the girl. |
| 184 | ** Season 14's two-part episode "Forever": Little Joe makes it to the altar with Alice Harper for all of half an hour's screentime before she and their unborn child are murdered to start Joe's RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the man who ordered their deaths. That episode is pretty much the last we ever hear of either Alice or the baby. |
| 185 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': |
| 186 | ** Male example: Jesse served this purpose for Willow and Xander in the first episode/s of and was [[ForgottenFallenFriend promptly forgotten]]. |
| 187 | ** LGBT example: [[spoiler:Tara's]] death prompts [[spoiler:Willow]] to become the BigBad of season 6. |
| 188 | ** The potentials in season seven: a collection of young females with limited character development, a good number of whom are killed off in brutal ways so that Buffy has something else to angst over. They eventually TookALevelInBadass. |
| 189 | * In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', one of Ramsay Snow's many partners, Tansy, is hunted through the forest and killed by Ramsay's hounds in "The Lion and the Rose" to show the extent of Ramsay's sadism and that of his lover, Myranda. As such, Tansy lacks characterization: that was her first and only appearance. Two of Ramsay's other lovers had been depicted as sharing in his cruelty and psychosis until Ramsay grew bored of them, suggesting that Tansy may have been in a similar position. |
| 190 | * A male example in ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Galadriel's brother is swiftly killed off at the start of the series in order to force Galadriel into a revenge story against Sauron. |
| 191 | * While ''Series/TheHardyBoysNancyDrewMysteries'' tended to avoid this, three episodes stand out and play it straight: |
| 192 | ** "Last Kiss of Summer": We're introduced to Jamie, the love of Joe's life who he's willing to marry & throw over his entire life for — a woman who hasn't been mentioned throughout the entire series to this point — and 10 minutes into the episode, right after the wedding rehearsal where Joe & Jamie pledge vows, Jamie's killed by a random drunk driver, followed by Joe weeping over her bloody body and vowing a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. Jamie is never mentioned again in the series. |
| 193 | ** "Dangerous Waters": Ria Thomas exists only to be kidnapped and rescued twice by the Hardy Boys. |
| 194 | ** "Arson & Old Lace": Nancy Drew became this. We never see her actually working on the case. She exists only as the helpless victim to be rescued by her love interest, Frank Hardy. And after this episode, she disappeared from the series for good, save for a one-line mention in "Campus Terror". |
| 195 | * ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': Ellie Bishop's Season 14 boyfriend Qasim fits this to a T, getting only three episodes spaced several weeks apart--one to establish that they're dating, one to kill him off, and one where she seeks revenge on his behalf, interspersed with flashbacks to tell their story. True to form, he hasn't been mentioned since, and she seems completely over it already, despite the final flashback telling the viewer she would have accepted his proposal had he not died. |
| 196 | * ''Series/NoOrdinaryFamily'' took all of two episodes to give viewers the death of [[spoiler:Detective Cho]], just after said character should've entered an interesting plotline. |
| 197 | * In the BBC's retelling of ''Series/RobinHood'', it is Maid Marian - yes [[OfficialCouple Maid Marian herself]] who is turned into this after she is stabbed to death by Guy of Gisborne. True to the trope, after a brief RoaringRampageOfRevenge, Robin more or less [[AngstWhatAngst moves on]] and acquires [[ReplacementGoldfish two new love interests]] in the course of the third season. They try for an AuthorsSavingThrow at the end of the season in which Robin ultimately dies and gets a TogetherInDeath scene with Marian. |
| 198 | * In ''Film/{{Stargate}}'', Daniel Jackson ends up with a gorgeous human from another planet for a wife. She's also intelligent and feisty, and affects the plot by rallying her people to drive off the alien overlords. However, in the first episode of the series ''Series/StargateSG1'', she gets captured as a host for the BigBad aliens, setting Daniel's motivation as finding a way to rescue her. But over the course of the series he attracts flocks of alien babes, and in the midst of not refusing their attentions he never seems to remember his wedding vows. To make it worse, when the writers finally remember that he ''has'' a wife waiting for him, they spend ''one whole episode'' detailing how he finds her and she dies. Now that his motivation is gone, does Daniel quit the team? [[TenMinuteRetirement For about five minutes.]] |
| 199 | ** To be fair, who in their right mind would want to give up an amazing career studying living offshoots of ancient cultures on other planets, just to go back to a job where EVERY SINGLE PERSON in academia thinks the character is a two-bit hack? |
| 200 | * In the LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek ''Stalked By My Neighbor'', the heroine's husband is killed in a car accident within the first five minutes, freeing her to be pursued by the neighbor in question, as well as a new love interest. |
| 201 | * In ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', Captain Philippa Georgiou is killed early on by T'Kuvma. |
| 202 | * ''Series/TheWheelOfTime2021'': Perrin is given a wife, Laila (very briefly mentioned in the books as his likely future bride). He accidentally kills her the same episode she's introduced to show that his latent wolfbrother ability's coming up and getting him carried away while fighting, after which he can be devastated for it happening. |
| 203 | [[/folder]] |
| 204 | |
| 205 | [[folder:Print Media]] |
| 206 | * [[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/opinion/04holmes.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 This New York Times article]] discussing Creator/CharlieSheen's proclivities towards [[WouldHitAGirl violence against women]], [[DomesticAbuse including his girlfriends]] and [[DisposableSexWorker prostitutes]], references this trope by name. |
| 207 | [[/folder]] |
| 208 | |
| 209 | [[folder:Tabletop Games ]] |
| 210 | * In the ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' [[CardGames collectible card game]], Mirri the catgirl is portrayed as a [[InformedAbility skilled, experienced warrior]] who has a crush on Gerrard, the main character of the arc. Despite her "skill", Mirri loses [[FauxActionGirl every single fight]] she is in and has to be continually rescued by Gerrard. Eventually this gets tiresome and she sacrifices herself just so he won't have to rescue her again. |
| 211 | [[/folder]] |
| 212 | |
| 213 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 214 | * ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': |
| 215 | ** The victim in the very first case of the [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney very first game]], Larry's girlfriend, is an example of this trope: Larry moves on from her ''very'' quickly. Next time we see him, about five months later, he's already dating another woman. |
| 216 | ** Clay Terran in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'' is a male example. Supposedly Apollo's best friend, he's never mentioned in the [[VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney previous game]] at all. In the game itself, he's killed by the game's BigBad before we even see him on screen, driving a conflict between Apollo and the rest of the Wright Anything Agency. Tellingly, he isn't mentioned even once in [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice the next game]], despite Apollo having an even bigger role there. Clay pretty much exists only to temporarily give Apollo some {{angst}}. |
| 217 | * Women in the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series frequently fall into this trope: |
| 218 | ** The most blatant example is probably Hector's fiancee Rosaly from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness'', who doesn't even appear onscreen. Her death is purely motivation for his revenge. This would qualify for TheLostLenore, but his hooking up with Julia - ''the sister of his wife's murderer'' - qualifies her for this trope. You'd think that sort of thing would dredge up unpleasant memories every now and then. |
| 219 | ** Every bit as bad as Rosaly is Elisabetha, whose death gets all of one mention in the intro to ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence''. |
| 220 | ** In Eric Lecarde's bio for ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines'' states that his lover was turned into a vampire, serving as his motivation to kick ass. However, like Elisabetha and Rosaly, we don't actually see her and we only know about her because she was [[AllThereInTheManual mentioned in the manual]]. |
| 221 | * The maids in ''VideoGame/CliveBarkersUndying'' pretty much exist to get killed by Howlers. The male servants seem a bit better at living. The butler survives as well as you do. |
| 222 | * ''VideoGame/DeusEx'': |
| 223 | ** Tiffany Savage (Gary Savage's daughter). She is introduced via Bob Page stating that she was captured by Majestic 12 during an operation to retrieve components for a Universal Constructor, and the next mission has JC attempting to rescue her at a gas station. It's very easy for her to die during this, and it has no real bearing for the rest of the story beyond a couple of alternate lines by Savage (and a potential reward) two missions later. He doesn't even seem too broken up over her death. |
| 224 | * ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'': Duke can find women undergoing a bizarre alien torture process, like the scene in ''Film/AlienS'', and choose to kill them or leave them there. |
| 225 | * ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'': Two girls who had previously given Duke oral stimulation are impregnated by aliens, and can be shot and killed or left to [[DeathByChildbirth die by pregnancy]]. |
| 226 | * In ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', Nate's wife Nora is killed by Conrad Kellogg scarcely minutes into the game, unless the player selects Nora as the PlayerCharacter, in which case Nate is killed instead. In either case, their death has a very minimal impact on the overall plot. |
| 227 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': |
| 228 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'': Tellah's daughter, Anna, pretty much only exists to give Tellah and Edward motivation. Otherwise the game doesn't dwell on her death. |
| 229 | *** For Tellah, her running away with Edward kickstarts his joining the party in the ''first'' place, and her death at the hands of Golbez's forces serves to trigger his RoaringRampageOfRevenge and eventual HeroicSacrifice. ''And'' it leads to one of the most famous of all {{Woolseyism}}s. |
| 230 | --->'''Tellah:''' You spoony Bard! |
| 231 | *** She is more of a LostLenore for Edward, as most of his time with the party is spent moping about her death. However she still primarily serves as a motivating factor in Edward growing a spine. |
| 232 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': Setzer's dead girlfriend Darryl only exists in the story to give him some literal last-minute CharacterDevelopment. This is a similar deal with Locke's girlfriend, the mothers of at least five characters, and Cyan's wife and kid. |
| 233 | * ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar2'': Maria Santiago is killed by her husband Dominic Santiago, who finds her in a prison camp and [[MercyKill does not want her to be tortured further]]. |
| 234 | * CJ's mom in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''. [[PlotTriggeringDeath Her death results in CJ returning to Los Santos for the first time since his brother Brian's death, kicking off the story]]. |
| 235 | * ''ComicBook/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'': Lois Lane is killed, upsetting Superman into creating a BadFuture. |
| 236 | * ''Videogame/LeagueOfLegends'': Originally played straight with Lucian's lore, which saw the character seek revenge against his ArchEnemy Thresh for confining the soul of his barely developed wife, Senna, inside his lantern. Subverted years later, when Senna was turned into a champion of her own and revealed to have been fighting for her life during her years in the lantern, and later become one of the main characters behind a major storyline. |
| 237 | * ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'': In the third game, DamselInDistress Fabiana suffers from this, being rescued in the first chapter only to be recaptured in the second and eventually killed halfway through the game. To add insult to injury, it's barely even considered a karmic strike against her murderer, who Max secretly hopes became a KarmaHoudini in the end. |
| 238 | * The fate of Smith's wife, Helen, in the opening sequence of ''VideoGame/TwoDark''. And her death is the main reason why Smith is searching the disappeared children in Gloomywood. |
| 239 | * This happens to many of the female characters in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption''. For instance, Bonnie [=MacFarlane=]'s quest chain ends with her getting kidnapped, abused and hanged (before she's rescued by lead character John Marston). [[spoiler:Luisa]] dies in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment after you've finished her quest chain (and rescued her from kidnappers/saved her life many times before), several Mexican peasant girls are implied to have been captured/raped/killed during the course of the story, and one poor bank patron in Blackwater is caught solely for the purpose of getting a bullet between the eyes, courtesy of the game's BigBad. Of course, this is partly because the game is a {{Deconstruction}} of Wild West myths (the hero doesn't always save the damsel-in-distress). |
| 240 | * Madeline Taylor in ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune II: Double Helix'' is an only slightly important accomplice who you never really get to know before she [[DroppedABridgeOnHim gets a bridge dropped on her head]]. |
| 241 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' plays this straight at times - one example is Thassarian's mother, who was introduced and killed in the same comic and did little more than beg for her life and provide angst for her son. Though given how often dead characters manage to reappear somehow in this franchise, it's always possible this isn't the last we've seen of her. And it should also be noted that ''Creator/BlizzardEntertainment'' have an unusual ability to characterize characters who aren't present: such as Alleria Windrunner and Turalyon for the expansions before ''Legion''. As the current expansion is headed into the Shadowlands, the realms of death, it's very likely we may learn more about Thassarian's mother even if we don't directly see her. In any case one of the notable things about this game is that this trope is more often averted than played straight. Notable aversions are Keristrasza, Tarecgosa, and Theradras. Although all three are female characters killed almost immediately after being introduced, they all receive more than enough characterization to be remembered by most players years after their deaths. Keristrasza's death falls under the category of NobleSacrifice, a death trope that is usually reserved for male characters. Although Tarecgosa's death serves as a motivation for her brother Kalecgos to seize political power, that also wasn't the only reason for it: she was killed rebelling against the former leader of the Blue Dragons, a worthy cause in itself. Theradras meanwhile is the boss of a dungeon, driven to madness by grief for her lost husband. But we later meet her mother Therazane, and get significantly more information about her and what happened. Theradras' husband though, would definitely qualify for this trope as a rare male example. To be fair, when you have literally thousands of characters across four games and many many ancillary materials: this trope is somewhat inevitable. |
| 242 | * ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'': Fiora dies only one chapter after her introduction at the hands of Metal Face during his [[DoomedHometown raid on Colony 9]], and her death is both the cause of Shulk's initial quest (to get revenge on the Mechon) and a source of angst for him. [[spoiler:Then subverted when she's revealed to have survived her apparent death ReforgedIntoAMinion, and goes on to take a prominent role in the story, even becoming the final party member.]] |
| 243 | [[/folder]] |
| 244 | |
| 245 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 246 | * ''WebAnimation/HowItShouldHaveEnded'': In the video for ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'', the capsule holding Vanessa falls to the ground, crushing her to death. Later, [[ParodiedTrope Wade brings this up at the café]]. |
| 247 | [[/folder]] |
| 248 | |
| 249 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 250 | * Golden Jane from ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'' was introduced, and disposed of, solely to motivate her partner's HeelFaceTurn. |
| 251 | [[/folder]] |
| 252 | |
| 253 | [[folder:Web Video]] |
| 254 | * Linkara discusses this in the ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' review of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheKillingJoke''. He explains that all Barbara Gordon's crippling does, in the broader picture of things, serves to motivate the men in the picture, that the moment and the prologue before it was only meant to give the men reason to go against the villains. He even suggests that the crippling shouldn't even have happened in the animated version as this was just a one-off movie. |
| 255 | [[/folder]] |
| 256 | |
| 257 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 258 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': A common accusation against [[spoiler:Sky's]] death is that she as a character was not properly developed and only existed to give a male [[spoiler:Viktor]] something to angst about. |
| 259 | * ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'' plays this straight, to Reagan's annoyance. Reagan tries to fake her death and get StalkerWithACrush Rafe Masters off her back, but since Rafe is a TuxedoAndMartini, he instead goes on a quest to avenge her by finding her killer, making the problem worse. |
| 260 | * ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' features Mona, [[AlmightyJanitor Skips']] high school sweetheart who was killed during a battle against his hated rival Klorgbane. Additionally, he went by the name 'Walks" but changed it to "Skips" so he'd always remember Mona as the two would skip everywhere together. |
| 261 | [[/folder]] |
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