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| 9 | [[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/forgotten_fallen_friend_3.jpg]]]] |
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| 11 | %%This page's examples section is sorted alphabetically. It would be lovely if you'd maintain this, thanks. |
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| 13 | ->''"Look, Barry, the only way to respectfully honor Frank is to completely forget about him."'' |
| 14 | -->-- '''Carl''', ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty'' |
| 15 | |
| 16 | Heroes often have to be motivated to pick up TheCall, or are simply forced to by chilling events. An all too common way for this to happen is to have their friends and loved ones become {{Friendly Target}}s and suffer DeathByOriginStory to kick start their quest. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | They will [[UnstoppableRage thrash and wail]], swear [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge bloody vengeance]] on their killer and go on a multi-season quest to avenge... who was it again? [[AliceAndBob Bob? Alice?]] |
| 19 | |
| 20 | This trope is about the tendency of a narrative to have heroes forget their fallen friends and loved ones with [[EpiphanyTherapy worrying]] ease. This is both mental and emotional; heroes will rarely reflect on these losses, or even use them in an "AndThisIsFor" speech, and the emotional impact of the loss is rarely ever shown afterward. (And not because [[DontYouDarePityMe they are bottling it up]].) |
| 21 | |
| 22 | This can manifest as a husband avenging his murdered wife who hooks up with the first ActionGirl he meets without the smallest bit of guilt, or an [[ParentalAbandonment orphaned son]] who quickly puts his parents' smoldering remains out of mind to have fun with his new FiveManBand. The hero might even {{easily forgive|n}} the culprit without batting an eye. [[DependingOnTheWriter Depends On The Writer]], especially on a {{Long Runner|s}} where there are often loads of them; if the ''writer'' can't remember a character, there's no chance in hell that the ''characters'' will. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Granted, a character can't be moody and depressed forever, as it would get [[AngstWhatAngst really old, really fast]], but in moderate doses it's actually compelling drama to see them bury their grief and perhaps even forgive (or at least not want to murder) the killer and instead bring them to justice. However, when the dearly departed's loss has all the emotional impact of a RedShirt or DisposableWoman dying, it can nudge uncomfortably outside of the WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief Zone. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | This trope is also useful for killing a SacrificialLamb off in the beginning that the author doesn't want to appear as a main character in the rest of the work, whether to avoid FridgeLogic, or to lessen the burden of the hero on their [[TheHerosJourney Heroic Journey.]] Taken further, the character may be killed off before the story starts and get referenced only in a TroubledBackstoryFlashback. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | In episodic series, this will always happen to RememberTheNewGuy if they die. Just as how they were never mentioned before the episode despite being close friends with one of the main characters, their tragic death will never be mentioned again after the episode. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | Contrast DeadGuyJunior, ToAbsentFriends, HeHadAName and see also DeathByOriginStory. When a character simply goes missing, with their ultimate fate unrevealed (to the other characters ''or'' to the audience,) yet nobody (in the story) seems to care, it's WhatHappenedToTheMouse or ChuckCunninghamSyndrome. When it's the ''villain'' who can't remember... whoever it was he killed that has made TheHero mad at him, it's ButForMeItWasTuesday. Compare PresentAbsence, when this is averted. |
| 31 | ---- |
| 32 | !!Examples: |
| 33 | |
| 34 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 37 | * ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' played with this trope during the Conviction Arc. Guts remembered quite vividly what had happened to his comrades [[spoiler: who were all killed by demons]] during the Eclipse and especially to his lover Casca [[spoiler: who survived, but was [[RapeAsDrama brutalized]] to [[GoMadFromTheRevelation insanity]]]]. He used their fates as his motivation for his RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Griffith, the man who betrayed them, and the Godhand. However, Guts was so embroiled in his hatred and the sadness and grief he suffered that he decided to suffer alone, often forgetting that [[spoiler: he was not the only survivor of the Eclipse and that the only other survivor, Casca, was the one he loved the most, but he left her for two years, not sticking around to help or comfort her through the pain she had suffered (which was considerably worse than what he had been through)]]. [[WhatTheHellHero Godo called Guts out on this]], and Guts realized that [[spoiler: leaving Casca and forgetting about her pain]] was [[MyGreatestFailure his failure]]. |
| 38 | * In the first episode of ''Anime/CrossAnge'', Ange's mother dies trying to protect her when her brother Julio outs her as a norma in public leading her to be sent to Arzenal. Later on, Julio reveals that he had their father executed offscreen for his part in protecting Ange. Neither of these two, nor even the fact he stabbed her in the back, made her life hell, and tried to have her and everyone else on Arzenal killed, come up in episode 13 when she finally turns the tables and is raring to kill him. Just the fact that he destroyed the place considered a living death trap for Norma, because somehow she liked living there. |
| 39 | * Zig-zagged in ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool''. While certain deaths are remembered throughout the series ([[spoiler: the real Chiaki, Chisa, all non-survivors from Class 78]]), nobody mentions or searches for [[spoiler:Ruruka]] after she goes missing during a time-out session. |
| 40 | * Zig-zagged in ''Manga/DeathNote''. [[spoiler:Ukita]] gets killed on live TV, everyone on the investigation team sees it, but it is practically forgotten a few pages later, likely because Souichiro [[CarFu rams an armored car into the TV Station]] to get his hands on the Kira Tapes. However, his death is mentioned a few times in later episodes, as Aizawa feels as though he couldn't face his dead colleague if he gives up on the investigation. |
| 41 | * PlayedWith in ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon''. TheHero Laios is on a quest to save his sister from being killed by the BigBad dragon, but is seemingly [[BigEater more concerned with food]] than her safety and even his own party members mention how off-putting this is. [[spoiler:This ends up being a plot point that comes up repeatedly and serves to create the [[HeroWithBadPublicity misunderstanding of his character that sets up several conflicts in the future]].]] |
| 42 | * ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'': |
| 43 | ** In ''Anime/DigimonDataSquad'' Bancho Leomon pulls a HeroicSacrifice in an attempt to destroy Yggdrasil, it backfires. We never see him become an egg again, so he probably got KilledOffForReal and after all the mentoring and sacrifices he did, even after Yggdrasil is defeated and Spencer is revived, no one ever mentions him again. |
| 44 | ** ''Anime/DigimonAdventureTri'' ends up having the [[Anime/DigimonAdventure 01 cast]] not even mention the [[Anime/DigimonAdventure02 02 cast]] at any moment, even when [[spoiler:one of them has seemingly turned evil [[FaceHeelRevolvingDoor again]] with what is seemingly a [[BrainwashedAndCrazy evil version of his partner]]]]. You'd think that at least ''one of them'', Hikari and Takeru included (as they ''were'' part of the team), would simply ''wonder'' where their friends went. This is [[PlayingWithATrope played with]] later on, as they start to show some concern over Ken at least due to his sudden reappearance as the Kaiser, while the others aren't even mentioned. [[spoiler:When Taichi and Daigo discover them being held in stasis along with the real Gennai, Taichi outright admits they had no idea they had even been captured.]] |
| 45 | * Subverted in ''Manga/FairyTail'', which has had three significant character deaths. Lisanna's death is first mentioned in the Phantom Lord arc, and her siblings are seen going to pray for her near the anniversary of her death about 100 chapters later (not to mention [[spoiler:her coming back]]). Ur's death, which also happened in a back story, plays a large role in Gray's arc, and that she became part of the ocean at the end is actually a significant point ''200'' chapters later. And of course, the death of [[spoiler:Simon]] comes up whenever Jellal (the one who killed [[spoiler:him]]) is playing a large part in whatever is going on, even if it's usually pushed out of mind when Jellal isn't around. |
| 46 | * Weed of ''Anime/GingaDensetsuWeed'' gets over the death of [[spoiler: his mother ''extremely'' fast]]. Weirdly, he mourns more when [[spoiler:John dies,]] even getting emotional to the point of trying to go kill the BigBad all by himself, and he ''didn't even know the guy.'' He just met him literally ''minutes'' before he dies. |
| 47 | * Exaggerated in ''Anime/HighschoolOfTheDead''. The SchoolNurse [[TheDitz Shizuka]] manages to forget about Kazu Ishii while he's in the middle of his HeroicSacrifice. |
| 48 | -->'''Kazu:''' ''[holding off zombies]'' Get out of here!\ |
| 49 | '''Shizuka:''' I'm sorry...what was your name again?\ |
| 50 | '''Kazu:''' ''Are you serious?!'' |
| 51 | * ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': |
| 52 | ** In ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]'', [[spoiler:Caesar Zeppeli]] dies fighting the Pillar Men, and his sacrifice helps motivate Joseph for the rest of the arc. However, come ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'', 50 years later, an older Joseph, joining his grandson on a mission to defeat the immortal vampire that killed his own grandfather, doesn't even mention [[spoiler:Caesar]] once. The closest mention(s) of the events of his younger days was informing Polnareff about how he lost his left hand and gained the five-fingered prosthetic in its place, and briefly re-using an old catchphrase of his when defeating a parasitic Stand. Could be [[HandWave hand-waved]] as it's too painful for him to talk about. |
| 53 | ** Subverted in ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'' with Rohan Kishibe and Reimi Sugimoto. Reimi Sugimoto was Rohan's next-door neighbor and occasional babysitter, and when he was four she died in a HeroicSacrifice to protect him from the SerialKiller [[BigBad Yoshikage Kira]]. When first meeting her [[UnfinishedBusiness ghost]] in the present day Rohan doesn't remember her either due to the trauma or his young age, but after doing research he rediscovers the events of that night and dedicates himself to bringing Kira to justice alongside the others. |
| 54 | ** In ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'', aside from one instance of Anasui being inspired by their sacrifice in order to save Jolyne from Pucci, [[spoiler:[[TokenNonHuman Foo Fighters]]]] is completely forgotten about after they die to Pucci in the manga. {{Averted|Trope}} in the anime adaptation, where they're still prominently featured in [[WolverinePublicity advertising for the final episode batch]], and a scene is [[AdaptationExpansion added]] of Emporio informing Ermes of their death, along with her [[DueToTheDead pouring out a glass of water]] in their name and promising to avenge them. And unlike the manga, [[spoiler:F.F.]] was included in the final shot of the ending along with [[spoiler:the rest of the dead heroes remembered by Emporio in the new universe]]. |
| 55 | * ''Anime/MegaloBox'': Nanbu's former star boxing student, Aragaki went off to war and lost both of his legs in a blast and was presumed dead. When he returned to Megalo city and found Nanbu's gym shuttered, he felt abandoned by the teacher who assumed he was dead and never bothered to confirm it. |
| 56 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Despite being one's lifelong best friend and pledging her support to the other, neither Nagato nor Naruto give a single thought to Konan after she dies. While Nagato had the excuse of having died before her, after he's revived, he still doesn't even ask Naruto about Konan. |
| 57 | * The TV version of ''Manga/NurseAngelRirikaSOS'' breaks out of StatusQuoIsGod with two character deaths - TheMentor Nozomu Kanou and his SacrificialLamb [[TheJeeves butler/chauffeur]] Shion. Kanou's death traumatizes Ririka and continues to have repercussions many episodes later. In contrast, while Seiya is badly shaken up by Shion's death in the immediate aftermath, the guy is never so much as mentioned again in the story. |
| 58 | * ''Anime/ReCreators'' has Mamika trying to reason with the BigBad Military Uniform Princess and, when that doesn't work, she blows herself up in order to stop her ([[SenselessSacrifice to no avail]]). Not only is a huge explosion in the middle of a city [[WeirdnessCensor never brought up]], but the other characters more or less never mention Mamika again and, when it's demonstrated that it is possible to bring dead fictional characters back to life (long story), nobody mentions this possibility in regard to her. This despite the implication that another character became more than friends with her. |
| 59 | * Mentioned in ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena''. In the final episode, [[spoiler:Juri Arisugawa]] tells the other Student Council members about a time in her childhood when a boy drowned saving her sister from a river. Eventually, both [[spoiler:Juri herself]] and her sister forgot the boy's name. |
| 60 | * ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'': Mamoru remembers that the Four Kings of Heaven were knights in his service and the Inner Guardians remember that they and the Kings were lovers in their past lives. When Metalia kills the Kings, the Guardians briefly mourn them and then forget about them and while Mamoru collects their remains to summon their spirits for counsel, he only does it once. |
| 61 | * In the first few episodes of ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'', Yukari Hirai shows Yuji the reality of the world, spurs him to let her enjoy her last days, has her existence consumed, and is never mentioned again. It's {{justified|Trope}} for everyone (Yuji's being the only one that's weird), considering Yukari never disappeared and Shana just took her place, the denizens and flame hazes wouldn't bat an eye at the disappearance of a [[{{Unperson}} torch]], and Yuji wasn't really close to her and he gained a {{Love Interest|s}} in her replacement. |
| 62 | * Chor Tempest loses half its members in the first episode of ''Anime/{{Simoun}}''. Much angst ensues over Amuria and Eri, but the first pair to actually die not only are never mentioned again, they never even get names on-screen. |
| 63 | * In ''Anime/TransformersHeadmasters'', Sixshot kills several of Chromedome's oldest friends in front of him, yet Chromedome is always [[SnapBack back to normal]] by the start of the next episode. The death of Abel, Chromedome's best friend in the galaxy, was particularly egregious, as he mourned him for all of one minute and then went back to playing with Wheelie and Daniel. |
| 64 | * In ''Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce'', Professor Go, the Autobots' human ally, is killed in the second episode of the series when a force of Decepticons lead by the Pretender Blood attack his observatory and destroy it. Despite his son Shuta becoming a Transformer himself (thanks to the titular Masterforce) and having repeated encounters with Blood, Shuta never so much as mentions his father until the Autobot hidden base (built in secret by Professor Go to support the Autobots) is destroyed in episode 33. |
| 65 | * ''Anime/TransformersVictory'': Jan Minakaze doesn't hold any sort of particular grudge for the Decepticon Dinoforce, despite them explicitly destroying the spaceship he and his parents were on. Star Saber responded to the distress signal, but [[YouAreTooLate the ship had been destroyed long before he arrived]], with only one lifepod containing Jan still intact in the debris. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because he was only a baby when it happened, and his hatred is for the Decepticons as a whole rather than anyone in particular (a flashback shows him seething as wounded Autobot soldiers stagger back home). It's unclear if [[HappilyAdopted his adopted father Star Saber]] ever actually ''told'' him the Dinoforce was responsible, though. |
| 66 | [[/folder]] |
| 67 | |
| 68 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 69 | * [[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/appchar.htm The Appendix To The Marvel Universe site]] is ''loaded'' with examples of previously important dead sidekicks, teammates, lovers, friends, and relatives (far too many to list here), complete with heroic tears shed, [[BigNo Big No's no'd]], and vengeance vowed, who were relegated to obscure footnoteitude once the Revolving Door of Writers made its next quarter-turn. No doubt any other comics publisher with more than a single StoryArc's worth of issues under their belts could draw up similar rolls of "Who's that again?"'s recognizable only to the most scholarly of comic geeks. |
| 70 | * During the "Winter Soldier" story arc in ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'', the [[Characters/MarvelComicsBuckyBarnes title villain]] killed Jack Monroe, Cap's former partner Nomad. Though Cap did briefly express anger at Jack's murder, he mostly moved past it pretty quickly. A similar situation happened with another one of Cap's ex-sidekicks, D-Man, who was shot and killed by [[Characters/SHIELDDirectors Sharon Carter]] after being turned BrainwashedAndCrazy. D-Man's death briefly put a strain on the relationship between Sharon and Steve, but they got over it soon enough. And then, because this is a comic book, [[DeathIsCheap D-Man came back to life a few years later anyway]]. |
| 71 | * Jason Todd wasn't mentioned much after his death in ''ComicBook/ADeathInTheFamily'' (unless the story had the Joker as the main villain, in which case Batman almost invariably would briefly angst about the villain killing Jason before moving along with the plot, or an issue of ''ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}}'' where Tim was comparing himself to his predecessor or merely reminiscing about those who previously held the title). Other Batman media didn't even acknowledge his existence. It wasn't until the 2005 ''Under the Red Hood'' miniseries that he became prominent in comics again, and then in 2010 he made his debut in the AnimatedAdaptation, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'' opening the way for other media to [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight feature]] or [[WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010 allude to him]]. |
| 72 | * In the indie comic book ''Webcomic/{{Dreamkeepers}}'', in the first issue the main protagonist Mace is attacked by a monster, and shortly thereafter finds his little sister stand-in Paige literally ripped to pieces and splattered all over the walls. Despite a trauma that would send a hardened Marine into an emotional tailspin, he barely mentions her twice in the entire time since and shrugs off her death like he was made of iron. Take note, the protagonist ''is a thirteen year old orphan.'' [[spoiler:lampshaded at the end of volume two where he wonders if he's a bad person because of it.]] Of course, [[LoveAtFirstSight Lilith]] has proven to be a good distraction for him. |
| 73 | * [[MultipleChoicePast One of]] the elements of ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' villain [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Doctor Doom]]'s {{Backstory}} is that he wants to accumulate enough power to free his mother from [[Characters/MarvelComicsDemons Mephisto]]'s {{Hell}} stand-in. [[DependingOnTheWriter Many writers]] seem to completely ignore this, though it was referenced in the original ''ComicBook/{{Secret Wars|1984}}.'' That is partially because he already did that. Then again, whether or not it happened again depends on the ''writers!'' |
| 74 | * This is one of the ''many'' tropes parodied in Adam Warren's ''ComicBook/{{Gen 13}}'' story "[[HerCodeNameWasMarySue Grunge: The Movie]]": |
| 75 | -->'''TheHero (Grunge):''' For what [[BigBad you]] did, you're gonna ''pay'', big time! (Psst! H-hey... D'you remember exactly ''what'' he did? I kinda ''forgot''...!)\ |
| 76 | '''Shaolin Warrior Nun (Caitlin):''' ''[whispering]'' He wiped out your beloved ''[[DoomedHometown peasant village]]'' and murdered everyone in it, including your beloved bro [[DemotedToExtra Bobby]], remember?\ |
| 77 | '''"[[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Kiddo]]" (Roxy):''' ''[whispering]'' [[BreakingTheFourthWall Perhaps now would be a good time for a nostalgic]] ''{{flashback}}'' or ''{{montage}} sequence'' of happier times, back in your beloved peasant village? |
| 78 | * A meta example occurs in the ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' tie-ins to ''ComicBook/BlackestNight''. The Black Lantern Doctor Light tells the heroic Doctor Light that once he kills her, the superhero community will briefly mourn but quickly forget about her. He then cites several superheroes (such as Triumph) who were all quickly forgotten about by both writers and fans after their deaths. |
| 79 | ** Rather disturbingly, the villainous Light's words prove true in a different way at the end of ''ComicBook/BlackestNight''. When Hawkman and Hawkgirl are both brought to life, Carter Hall is shocked to discover Hawkgirl's not Kendra Saunders, but Shayera Hall having been resurrected in Kendra's place. Carter is thrilled to be reunited with Shayera, but at no point is it ever commented on that Kendra was basically murdered and had her body stolen from her. |
| 80 | * Addressed in ''ComicBook/Robin1993'' where Tim finds Batman's "never looking back policy" annoying. Especially in regards to his fallen girlfriend Stephanie Brown (Spoiler/Robin IV) who didn't even get a memorial in the cave like Jason even if he understands the merit of not wallowing in grief and guilt over fallen friends and loved ones. He likes to take every opportunity to remind Bruce of those who have fallen as his allies--like Jason, Stephanie, Harold and Orpheus--despite Bruce's unwritten rule about never bringing any of them up. |
| 81 | * {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}''; after Victor Mancha learns about the original leader, Alex, he asks Gert why nobody ever seems to mention him. Gert responds that given that Victor is fated to become a supervillain, they don't want him to find out how easily [[TheMole Alex]] duped the rest of the team. |
| 82 | * ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'': |
| 83 | ** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d and discussed in the tie-in to ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''. Pantha, Baby Wildebeest, and Bushido all [[TheWorfEffect end up getting slaughtered to show off how powerful Superboy-Prime is]], and Beast Boy laments that nobody is going to remember them since they were all [[CListFodder fairly obscure]]. And this turned out to be true. [[Characters/SupermanConnerKent Superboy]], a much more popular character, died in the same event and completely overshadowed the other dead Titans. [[FirstLawOfResurrection He was also the only one popular enough to earn a resurrection]]. |
| 84 | ** Comes up more than you'd think since the group has a record-breaking number of dead members. When [[Characters/BatmanJasonTodd Jason Todd]] was restored to life, he was pretty pissed to find out he didn't have a memorial statue in Titan Tower the way many other fallen heroes did. To be fair to the Titans, Jason was never an official member and only joined them for a grand total of TWO missions when they needed extra manpower. |
| 85 | ** During the ''Graduation Day'' crossover with ComicBook/YoungJustice Lillith Clay/Omen dies simply for shocking moment to close out the second issue. Afterwards her funeral happens off panel, with only a few people attending, so we're told, is rarely, if ever brought up, and her death did actually stick for a long time, only to be resurrected in "The Culling" another crossover event, but only as a minor villian that pretty much just an easter egg for Titan fans, she didn't get a proper ressurection until the end of the ComicBook/New52. What makes this example especially egregious is, Donna Troy also died during ''Graduation Day'' has her death treated as a DyingMomentOfAwesome, even though she didn't even kill the Superman robot they were fighting, gets a two page spread for her funeral, with many heroes show up to pay their respects besides the Titans, who apparently didn't want to attend Omen's, has an epilogue making clear she not really dead, is constantly brought with everybody gushing over how amazing she was while also weeping and wailng over her "sacrifice", and gets a mini-series dedicated solely to bringing her back from the dead and into the main canon again. |
| 86 | * In ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', Chromedome gets called on the fact that he tends to forget his former lovers quickly. It turns out that he's using his memnosurgery ability to give himself LaserGuidedAmnesia in order to ''erase all memories of them''. |
| 87 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': The Phil Jiminez run featured Trevor Barnes, who was Diana's love interest for some time. After Jiminez departed, Trevor was killed off, briefly mourned and then never brought up again. |
| 88 | [[/folder]] |
| 89 | |
| 90 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 91 | * In ''Fanfic/ChristianHumberReloaded'', the main character tends to forget about many of the people he's lost, such as his parents, his brother, the little girl who took him in and her father. |
| 92 | * This happens fairly often in ''Fanfic/ThePrayerWarriors'', such as when Literature/{{Percy Jackson|and the Olympians}} converts Chiron to Christianity, only for Chiron to get killed and eaten by the residents of Camp Half-Blood. After avenging Chiron's death by killing Grover (for the third time), and mourning his death in the next chapter, Percy forgets about him until he returns in ''The Evil Gods Part II''. |
| 93 | * Subverted in ''Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'': Not only does {{Literature/Wulfrik}} still remember his friend and mentor Sigvatr by bringing him up in conversation once, he sacrifices three elf slaves over the site of his funeral pyre in the Chaos Dwarf lands to keep him company in the afterlife. |
| 94 | * This is [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] in ''FanFic/CindersAndAshesTheChroniclesOfKamenRiderDante'', as [[Anime/ReCreators Charon]]'s motivation to defeating the Avalon Brigade, to avenge the death of a priestess named Lunala, became forgotten later in his campaign against them. What makes this a deconstruction is how he finds out about this from [[BigBad Altair]] once he [[RefugeeFromTVLand enters the real world]], realizing that his author made him forget about Lunala. It's later brought up that even Celesia, the heroine of his story, forgot who Lunala was. |
| 95 | * In ''[[WebVideo/DeathNoteTheAbridgedSeriesTeamDattebayo Death Note: The Abridged Series]]'' this trope is invoked by L in the very episode in which [[spoiler:Ukita]] died: |
| 96 | -->'''L:''' ''[to Aizawa]'' [[spoiler:Ukita]] died two minutes ago. You need to move on. |
| 97 | * This has [[FandomSpecificPlot/HarryPotter happened so much to Ron]] in fanfic, probably from authors that weren't interested in having him in the story, that it was noted in Rugi and Gwena's ''[[https://web.archive.org/web/20150513010239/http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=656&chapno=1 Tough Guide to Harry Potter]]'' that killing Ron off "provides an opportunity for tragedy, weeping, and little need to mention him afterwards." |
| 98 | * {{Defied|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries''. As one of the main themes is 'there are no background characters', any death is treated very seriously and has long lasting effects on the other characters in intentional defiance of this trope. Most notably, [[spoiler:Starlight's]] death in the G2 Apocalypse causing Patch to spend most of her life in denial over it and [[spoiler:Sunset and Ranger's]] deaths in the Shining Armor arc are continually brought up, grieved, and referenced even a few seasons later. A scene in the Wedding Arc even has the latter two's grave be visited by their surviving friends before they head off to the FinalBattle of the arc. |
| 99 | * {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/SummerDaysAndEveningFlames'' to great effect to show Gilda's CharacterDevelopment. She watches Officer Sunset, who she considered at best a friendly acquaintance, die from an arrow right in front of her. However, she starts to show SurvivorsGuilt when considering Gilda was the intended target, and attends Sunset's funeral for closure. |
| 100 | * ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12879916/1/ The Longest Road]]'' has Pikachu reuniting with his dying mother, whom he mourns after she passes. The event is barely acknowledged (by the narration, not the characters) in the next chapter, and not even mentioned or alluded to afterwards. |
| 101 | [[/folder]] |
| 102 | |
| 103 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 104 | * Early on in ''WesternAnimation/{{Injustice|2021}}'' The Flash is killed when he is exposed to Scarecrow’s fear toxin leading him to stumble into one of The Joker’s traps where he is sliced by a buzzsaw. His death goes unmentioned for the rest of the film, probably because moments later all of Metropolis is destroyed when Joker had planted a time bomb in Lois Lane’s heart where upon her death it wipes out the entire city. |
| 105 | * A rare example of this trope being justified in-story: [[spoiler:Bing Bong]] in ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut''. [[spoiler:In a [[HeroicSacrifice heroic sacrifice]] in the Memory Dump, he fades out of existence. From that point on, he's never mentioned again and Riley forgets him permanently.]] |
| 106 | * ''Animation/{{Khumba}}'': Khumba’s mother dies early on, but she is never mentioned again after passing away. |
| 107 | * Littlefoot's mother in ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime''. He mourns for her for a good deal of the first film, but only mentions her a grand total of three times during the following twelve sequels, one of which is just a passing reference. Presumably the writers were uncomfortable about bringing up such a dark topic in a kid's series, but it does give us the slightly worrying possibility that Littlefoot is in serious denial or something. |
| 108 | * Duffel the original pilot for the journey in ''WesternAnimation/StrangeWorld'' is the only member of the crew to die, he is eaten by an energy pterodactyl and is not acknowledged afterwards. |
| 109 | * All of the Autobots who died during the events of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie'' who are not [[spoiler:Optimus Prime]], are hardly acknowledged when they are killed during the Decepticon’s attack on the shuttle and the Battle of Autobot City. |
| 110 | [[/folder]] |
| 111 | |
| 112 | [[folder:Films — Live-Action]] |
| 113 | * Taken [[ExaggeratedTrope Up to Eleven]] in ''Film/{{Apaches}}'' when every time one of the kids dies in a horrific accident, the others continue playing as if nothing happened. |
| 114 | * At the beginning of ''Film/AustinPowersTheSpyWhoShaggedMe'', Austin's wife Vanessa reveals herself to be a Fembot apropos of nothing and promptly explodes. His boss drops a response of "Yes. We knew all along, sadly," and the matter is never brought up again. |
| 115 | * Inverted in ''Film/BackToTheFuture1''. Marty is obsessed with getting through to Doc Brown that he will be killed by Libyan terrorists at the time Marty goes back in time. |
| 116 | * Played for serious drama in ''Film/{{Bent}}''. By the end of the movie Max has forgotten the names of the people he knew and cared about before entering the camp. |
| 117 | * In the newsreel at the start of ''Film/CitizenKane'', it's revealed that Kane's first ex-wife and their son were killed in a car crash. They are never mentioned in any flashback that takes place after they died. No one ever suggests that among Kane's many personal problems, losing his only child might be among them. |
| 118 | * ''Film/TheCourtJester'': |
| 119 | ** Poor [[spoiler:Fergus]] is never mentioned again after it's revealed that he was tortured to death. |
| 120 | ** On the villain's side, [[spoiler:the king seems to forget about the assassination of his three closest advisors pretty quickly.]] |
| 121 | * ''Film/Emperor2020'': Shields is horrified when his wife is shot during his escape, but afterward, she's forgotten about entirely outside of a brief nightmare Shields has. |
| 122 | * The supporting cast in the ''Franchise/EvilDead'' trilogy all tend to suffer this fate as the hero Ash survives each night and moves from one sequel to the next (each movie begins just a few seconds after the last one's cliffhanger ending), with his dead girlfriend Linda remaining relevant the longest. But the most brazen example is his sister Cheryl from ''Film/TheEvilDead1981'', who was the first one possessed by the demons. Her existence, along with two other friends, was skipped right over by the [[Film/EvilDead2 second movie]]'s opening recap, and a comic book adaptation of the first movie relegated her from his sibling to a friend-of-a-friend whose DemonicPossession merely annoys Ash. The [[Theatre/EvilDeadTheMusical musical's]] version of the story elevates her back to being his sister, mostly so she can spout off lame puns about being his sibling... |
| 123 | -->'''Evil Cheryl''': I'll get you Ash! I'm like a literal Hulk Hogan - I'll get you, brother! |
| 124 | * ''Film/ExorcistIITheHeretic'' seems determined to ignore Father Damien Karas, the hero of ''Film/TheExorcist'' who sacrificed himself to save Regan. The only acknowledgement he gets is a few references to the three people who died in the original. |
| 125 | * In Creator/JohnWoo’s first film, ''Film/HeroesShedNoTears'', The first member of the protagonists’ group gets shot at the beginning while they’re capturing the general. Everyone forgets about him soon after. |
| 126 | * In the ''Literature/PeterPan'' FanSequel film ''Film/{{Hook}}'', the mourning period for Rufio is criminally short. Possibly because the Lost Boys -- and Peter, before he grew up -- don't really seem to comprehend death. |
| 127 | * ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': |
| 128 | ** Despite being a prominent character throughout Phase 1, Phil Coulson is never mentioned by anyone after the events of ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', despite his death being the driving force behind the Avengers uniting at the end. While he was resurrected and was the HeroOfAnotherStory in ''Series/AgentsOfShield'', the Avengers themselves never find that out and assume he is still dead, but never mention Coulson anyway. |
| 129 | ** [[Characters/MCUPietroMaximoff Pietro Maximoff]] dies near the end of ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', and even though his sister [[Characters/MCUWandaMaximoff Wanda]] goes on to feature prominently in the subsequent films, neither she nor any of the other Avengers ever mention him. Although Clint Barton's son Nathaniel does have "[[DeadGuyJunior Pietro]]" as his middle name, so he's not entirely forgotten. Eventually averted as of ''Series/WandaVision'', where Wanda expels Monica Rambeau from the Hex for mentioning Pietro's death, [[spoiler:and Agatha Harkness brainwashes a local Westview resident into acting like Pietro to get under Wanda's skin]]. A flashback in episode 8 set in between ''Age of Ultron'' and ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' establishes that the memories are just too painful for Wanda to deal with most of the time. |
| 130 | --->'''Vision:''' Wanda, I don't presume to know what you're feeling. But I would like to know, should you wish to tell me, should that be of some... comfort to you?\ |
| 131 | '''Wanda Maximoff:''' What makes you think that talking about it would bring me comfort?\ |
| 132 | '''Vision:''' Oh, see, I read that-\ |
| 133 | '''Wanda Maximoff:''' The only thing that would bring me comfort is seeing him again. |
| 134 | ** [[spoiler:Volstagg, Fandral and Hogun]] are all killed by Hela in the first act of ''Film/ThorRagnarok''. Despite being three of Thor's closest friends and having had sizable roles in the [[Film/{{Thor}} previous]] [[Film/ThorTheDarkWorld two]] movies, they aren't mentioned by anybody after their deaths. |
| 135 | ** Despite being the impetus for [[Characters/MarvelComicsPeterParker Spider-Man's]] superhero career, Ben Parker was for all intents and purposes AdaptedOut of the series, with the only evidence of his existence being his old suitcase in ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'' which gets destroyed with no reaction from Peter. |
| 136 | ** In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', after [[spoiler:Loki's]] death Thor cries at his body, keeps mentioning him while talking [[spoiler:to the Guardians, and goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge to avenge him and the Asgardians. Five years later,]] in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' Thor never once mentions [[spoiler:his brother nor pauses to look or talk to Loki's past version when he has the chance]]. |
| 137 | ** In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', despite all the effort the Avengers put into trying to save Vision's life in ''Infinity War'', they don't appear to have made any effort to resurrect him in the subsequent five years by using Shuri's research and experiments, or consider how to revive him when trying to undo Thanos's snap; not even Tony and Bruce, who created him. The only mention he gets is from Wanda, and then not even by name. It's then revealed in ''Series/WandaVision'' that SWORD took possession of Vision's body, and Tyler Hayward has spent the last five years trying to bring him back online for his own agenda; and that Wanda not mentioning Vision by name is because she was bottling an insane amount of grief (especially after finding out that Vision intended for them to move in together to a house in Westview). His death does eventually get acknowledged in the films, as the Midtown High students' [[StylisticSuck poorly-made]] tribute to the fallen Avengers at the start of ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'' (which is set canonically after the events of ''[=WandaVision=]'') includes a picture of Vision. It's also revealed that Vision had written a will to, among other things, specifically prevent being resurrected. |
| 138 | * Bing, Valentine's juggler in ''Film/MirrorMask''. This is lampshaded, and he doesn't even pretend to miss his anonymous violinist for a moment. |
| 139 | * In ''Film/TheMutilator'', Ed Jr. accidentally shoots and kills his mother while fooling around with one of his insane father’s guns when he was a kid, this has no impact on the plot, Ed Jr. never mentions her nor does her death seem to impact or traumatize him. |
| 140 | * UsefulNotes/HenryVIII takes about five seconds to mourn UsefulNotes/{{Jane Seymour|Royalty}}'s DeathByChildbirth in ''Film/ThePrivateLifeOfHenryVIII''. Then he is back to his cheerful BoisterousBruiser self. |
| 141 | * ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018'' has Wade's home being blown up, along with his family and everyone else living in their stack. The explosion is used as a plot device to showcase how far Sorrento is willing to go to stop Wade foiling his plans. The rest of the film just has Wade and his [[FiveManBand allies]] getting on with saving the (virtual) world as if nothing happened. |
| 142 | * ''Film/{{Scream}}'': |
| 143 | ** Tatum Riley is barely referenced in the sequels following her death in [[Film/Scream1996 the first film]], despite being Sidney's best friend and Dewey's younger sister. She has a single mention in ''Film/Scream2'' (much to Dewey's chagrin), Sidney gives a meaningful look upon seeing the bloody garage door on the set of ''Stab 3'' which reenacts Tatum's death in ''Film/Scream3'', and the opening kill scene of ''Film/Scream4'' is stylized after her final moments. |
| 144 | ** Hallie [=McDaniel=], Sidney's friend in college and a Ghostface victim in ''Scream 2'', has an even lesser treatment than Tatum, as she's not mentioned at all in the sequels. |
| 145 | ** Subverted with Derek Feldman, Sidney's boyfriend from college. He's not mentioned in the sequels, but Sidney is still wearing the frat necklace he gave her in ''Scream 3'', and it's implied that Sidney never tries dating another man again because Derek's death is too painful for her. At least until ''Film/Scream2022'', where it's revealed that she has married Mark Kincaid. |
| 146 | * ''Film/StarTrek2009'': All the cadets not assigned to the ''Enterprise'' in the first film and most of Harrison's victims in the second. Starfleet being decimated twice over isn't as important as a handful of named characters' deaths. |
| 147 | * ''Franchise/StarWars'': |
| 148 | ** Luke Skywalker at first [[RefusalOfTheCall Refuses The Call]]. [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive Then stormtroopers kill his uncle Owen and his aunt Beru]], the people who raised him. He then "has nothing more for me here" and goes on to start the adventure, but he barely thinks of them or the old moisture farm. This makes their death a case of DeathByOriginStory as well. |
| 149 | ** Luke's best friend Biggs Darklighter, whom we meet during the initiation to destroy the Death Star, gets killed by Darth Vader during the ensuing battle, and after a very brief moment of mourning he is never mentioned again. The novel ''Literature/HeirToTheJedi'' attempts to mitigate this by having Luke mourn his aunt, uncle and Biggs after the events of the movie. |
| 150 | ** Leia seemingly manages to forget her entire PLANET! Although, one could understand why she might not want to talk about it, and even if she personally did, she's also still a political leader with other people's lives and problems to put before her own. (She ''was'' very terse during her escape from the Death Star, which could be a sign of repressing feelings.) This is also referenced in the Expanded Universe. This was also raised by Creator/CarrieFisher herself in interviews; she points out that no one seems to offer Leia any space to grieve over the loss of her home planet, or acknowledge what happened at all, but Leia is still expected to be sad at Ben Kenobi's death and comfort Luke while he grieves about it. |
| 151 | * ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'': Mocked to hell and back. [[spoiler: Milton the bus driver accompanies the Squad into Jotunheim, and is gunned down when they're ambushed. Polka-Dot Man mourns his death, but Bloodsport casually shrugs it off, having not even realized Milton was still with them. Harley doesn't even know who Milton is, having joined the group after they met him, and later mistakenly assumes that Milton is Bloodsport's real name.]] |
| 152 | * The ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'': |
| 153 | ** ''Film/Transformers2007'': "So sad, [[spoiler: Jazz]] is dead. Oh well, we have new friends!". |
| 154 | ** ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'': [[spoiler: Jetfire]] didn't get so much as a mention after he [[spoiler: rips [[HeroicSacrifice his own spark out]] to give Optimus his parts to fight The Fallen]] and is more or less forgotten after [[spoiler: Optimus kills The Fallen]]. |
| 155 | ** In ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'', [[spoiler: Ironhide is barely even acknowledged as having been killed]]. Even [[spoiler: Que/Wheeljack]] was given a better, albeit brief eulogy by Bumblebee before Bee went back to kicking ass. |
| 156 | ** In ''Film/TransformersTheLastKnight'' is implied that [[spoiler:Sam Witwicky]] has died sometime after ''Dark of the Moon''. Despite this, Bumblebee nor any other of the Autobots seem to be deeply effected by his demise. |
| 157 | ** In ''Film/TransformersRiseOfTheBeasts'', Optimas Primal is momentarily saddened after he's forced to MercyKill Airazer, but other Maximals, the Autobots, and the humans present really don't even react to her death and she isn't meantioned for the rest of the movie. |
| 158 | * ''Film/VisitingHours:'' [[spoiler:Nurse Wexler]] is barely mentioned after her death early on despite being a close friend of Sheila's. |
| 159 | * In ''Film/WingCommander'', |
| 160 | ** The characters deliberately tried to pretend that their comrades who had died never existed. |
| 161 | --->'''Lt. Cmdr. Devereaux:''' "Who in the hell do you think you are? Let me give you a reality check. In all likelihood, you're going to die out here. We're ''all'' going to die out here -- but none of us need to be reminded of that fact. So you die, you never existed. Understand?" |
| 162 | ** Later on, after [[spoiler:Rosie]] dies, Blair tries to do this to Maniac, who immediately tells him that it's a bullshit game. In the next scene, Blair tells the same thing to Devereaux, as if he wasn't just playing the same game. |
| 163 | * ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'': |
| 164 | ** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', nobody comments on [[spoiler:The Man in Black’s death or mourns him despite his benign nature and generous actions]]. |
| 165 | ** In ''Film/TheWolverine'', in Logan's mind, [[Characters/MarvelComicsJeanGrey Jean]] is "all alone" where she is, and wants him to join her... except Logan ''knows'' that she loves [[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Cyclops]], who is ''also'' dead... and Xavier, who, while not her lover, was still a mentor and good friend, [[spoiler: who, as far as Logan knew, was '''also''' dead]]. It's a JustifiedTrope in that [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane if she was an actual ghost]], Logan's guilt could have been keeping her from moving on. And if she wasn't, and merely a manifestation of his guilt, then it's perfectly understandable that she would focus on Logan and play on his secret fear that she couldn't move on for whatever reason. Still, the fact that he views his relationship with Jean as being very clearly romantic makes this trope sting a little. |
| 166 | [[/folder]] |
| 167 | |
| 168 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 169 | * In ''Literature/TwentyYearsAfter'', the heroes spend half the book trying to save Charles I from Cromwell and eventually fail to prevent his execution (the bad guys weren't quite as stupid as they thought). Before the king's death, the musketeers are determined to save him or die trying, since he's such a noble person; afterwards they mourn him for about a chapter. |
| 170 | * ''Literature/ConanTheBarbarian'' never mentions or remembers his lover and partner in crime Belit after she tragically dies along with her crew in ''Literature/QueenOfTheBlackCoast'' even when his career as a pirate is brought up. |
| 171 | * In ''Literature/BarberBlackSheep'', this trope causes conflict between the protagonist and his two siblings after they fail to remember the birthday of their youngest sister who died in infancy. |
| 172 | * Notably avoided in Creator/StephenKing's ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' saga. Roland's defining feature is that he [[{{Determinator}} just keeps going]], but he frequently angsts about all his companions who have died so he could continue his quest, and when [[spoiler:he makes it to the Tower,]] he shouts all the names of his fallen comrades. |
| 173 | * In the web-novel ''Literature/{{Domina}}'', Adam comes to the city to go to college with his friend Dale, and promptly forgets about him. ''Derek'' (who never even met the guy) angsts about it more. Not that Derek is much better; in Simon's introductory chapter, Simon mentions that one of their oldest friends died in a shootout, and no one offers any more sympathy than "Ooh, that sucks." Probably comes from living in a WretchedHive. |
| 174 | * Justified in ''Literature/DragonLance'''s Dragons of Summer Flame: when Chaos' shadow demons kill someone, they erase that person's existence from everyone's memory. |
| 175 | * In ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}'', [[spoiler:Odard Liu]] is one of the nine members of the Quest and travels three thousand miles from one side of the United States to the other, saving his companions' lives and fighting alongside them the whole time. Once there, he makes his last stand protecting his friends' flank, his sword breaking as he kills dozens of enemy fighters, is mortally wounded, and dies in his friends' arms...and then they continue on their way without a moment of mourning and never mention him again. |
| 176 | * In the ''Literature/HIVESeries'', [[spoiler:Lucy Dexter]] is mentioned exactly twice after [[spoiler:her]] death. And both mentions are in the book that immediately follow the event. |
| 177 | * ''Literature/LesMiserables'': After Marius loses all his friends at the barricade, only one paragraph addresses his grief, and even that paragraph is more about confused disbelief than pain. For the most part, he just focuses on healing from his own wounds and on his new life with Cosette; even his closest friend, Courfeyrac, he only references with a simple "He's dead" when asked about him. To be fair, it might be a [[ShellShockedVeteran trauma symptom]] that he can't process the losses enough to properly grieve. |
| 178 | * DoubleSubversion in Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/TheMoonIsAHarshMistress''. Near the beginning of the novel, a two meter tall black guy named [[IronicNickname Shorty]] gets killed by the Warden's guards while helping Mannie and Wyoh escape. Later, while they're lying low in a hotel, Wyoh explains that she hasn't grieved for Shorty yet because she has more urgent things she needs to focus on, and she'll grieve when she gets a chance. Later, Mannie hears her crying in her sleep, presumably about Shorty. He gets mentioned in the novel one more time shortly after that, and never comes up again. |
| 179 | * Justified and subverted, somewhat, in ''Literature/TheProgram''. [[spoiler:James and Sloane's best friend Miller kills himself halfway through Part One, and his death looms over the rest of Part One and the first few chapters of Part Two, constantly discussed and affecting James and Sloane. However, since the Program causes LaserGuidedAmnesia, Sloane and James literally cannot remember Miller by the book's end.]] |
| 180 | * In the first book of ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'', [[spoiler:Francis of Nond]], one of Alanna's friends, dies to the Sweating Sickness, convincing Alanna to use her magic, which she was afraid of, to [[spoiler:save Prince Jonathan's life]], and to train her healing magic. He is never mentioned again. |
| 181 | * In the versions of ''Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs'' in which the first and second Pigs get eaten by the Wolf after he blows down their houses, the third pig never mentions his brothers or apparently learns about their fates. |
| 182 | [[/folder]] |
| 183 | |
| 184 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 185 | * In episode 3 of ''Series/AmericanCrimeStory'': ''Series/ThePeopleVOJSimpson'', Fred Goldman, the father of murder victim Ron Goldman, expressed concern to Marcia Clark that the media are focused on O.J. and Nicole, and that his son would be reduced to "a footnote in his own murder". |
| 186 | * Characters in ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'' tend to have little-to-no reaction to their friends disappearing, presumed dead. Though to be fair, the body count in any given season of ''[=AHS=]'' tends to be so high that most characters know that someone who's suddenly gone missing is unlikely to be coming back [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie in a form they care to recognise]]. |
| 187 | * Invoked in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003''. Apollo complains that he is barely able to remember the pilots that have lost their lives over the course of the series. He makes an effort to remember a few but not all. Starbuck cynically retorts that she doesn't remember ''any'' of them and doesn't bother trying. Later, she averts the trope and shows she was lying before, raising a toast to fallen comrades and listing ''every single one'' until she breaks down in tears and can't continue... |
| 188 | ** Apollo's pregnant fiancée is a played-straight example. He barely thinks about the fact that he left her to be nuked, aside from one episode. |
| 189 | ** [[spoiler:Felix Gaeta]] is never mentioned again after [[spoiler: he and Zarek are executed for the mutiny]]. No one is shown placing a photo on the memorial wall, either, not even [[spoiler: Baltar, who was with him shortly before he was executed]]. |
| 190 | * ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'' has one or two examples as well. Apollo's brother Zac dies in the first episode, and is almost never even mentioned again in later episodes. |
| 191 | * Mitch's mentor is killed in the ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'' PilotMovie, and despite the episode ending with Mitch promising to never forget him, he's pretty much never brought up again after this. Complicating things is the fact that the actor who played the mentor later joined the cast [[YouLookFamiliar as a completely different character]]. |
| 192 | * PlayedForLaughs in ''Series/{{Blackadder}}''. Whenever a character loses the woman they love, their mourning lasts for about five seconds. |
| 193 | --> [[spoiler: "Amy! Oh, Amy! ...What's for breakfast?"]] |
| 194 | * By the second or third episode, Krista in ''Series/BladeTheSeries'' appears to have forgotten completely that [[MagnificentBastard Marcus]] [[EvilBrit van Sciver]] ''put a bullet'' in her brother's head. In fact, her whole motivation in the pilot was to put a silver slug through van Sciver for this. Then she gets turned by him and, a few episodes later, starts sleeping with him, her dead brother forgotten. Yes, she's secretly working for Blade, but that's only because she's not too big on the whole "vampire" thing, even though she's one herself (and van Sciver made sure she couldn't be cured by throwing her off the roof after turning her). |
| 195 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': |
| 196 | ** Xander, Willow and Jesse were set up in the pilot episode as childhood best friends, but once Jesse was KilledOffForReal, no one mentions him again. Sure, he's hardly [[CrapsackWorld the last casualty]] of the series. However, even the ''writers'' seem to have utterly forgotten about him when Season 3's AlternateUniverse WhatIf episode came around and ''no mention was made of his existence.'' [[note]]Granted, Jesse isn't the only casualty from "The Harvest" to get this treatment, but he's the most JustForFun/{{egregious}}. [[DrinkingGame/TVTropes Take a sip.]][[/note]] Jesse's form is also never assumed by The First, who worked really hard to dredge up memories of departed loved ones. According to WordOfGod, his actor Creator/EricBalfour was unavailable and Jesse was planned to come back to [[LampshadeHanging hang a lampshade]] over how his old friends had completely forgotten him. It's not until [[ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer the Season 9 comics]], ''years'' after the show had come to an end, that Jesse gets a mention; when Xander helps Detective Dowling stake his vampirized partner, Xander recalls having to do the same to Jesse, and claims that to this very day, all he can see is the face of his friend, not the monster he became. |
| 197 | ** Buffy's original Watcher, Merrick, killed himself in a HeroicSacrifice to save Buffy from the vampire Lothos shortly before the series began. He's rarely mentioned at all outside of the prequel comics. Ironically, when Faith was introduced in Season 3, her Watcher's death ''did'' have a heavy impact on her... and shortly afterwards is ''also'' never mentioned again. We never even get her name. |
| 198 | ** At the end of Season 1, Cordelia's boyfriend Kevin is killed with other students by a group of vampires. Although there's the implications that Cordelia [[ReallyGetsAround dates lots of guys]], she had a conversation with Willow about how she was genuinely in love with this one, and is affected when she finds his body. She then never mentions him again in this show or its spinoff, ''Series/{{Angel}}''. |
| 199 | ** Season 2 introduces the secondary Slayer Kendra Young. Kendra appears in the "What's My Line?" two-parter before returning to be killed by Drusilla in the first part of the season finale. Her death being pinned on Buffy is one of the factors in the latter leaving Sunnydale at the end of the season and the last time Kendra's name is even mentioned in the entire series is in Season 3's "Faith, Hope & Trick", which introduces her replacement Faith Lehane. |
| 200 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 201 | ** The Doctor's companion Nyssa has her father taken over by the Master in the AssPull ending of ''The Keeper of Traken''. In the following story, ''Logopolis'', the Master destroys Nyssa's planet and she discovers that he has stolen her father's body. After ''Four to Doomsday'', though, she never mentions it ''at all''. She ''does'', however, have a slight moment of shock and outrage in ''Time-Flight'' when she learns that the Master is still alive (having assumed he'd died at Castrovalva). The Doctor even ''says'', "Yes, I'm sorry Nyssa," when she gives her response. |
| 202 | ** Adric makes no direct mention of his brother following the latter's death in ''Full Circle'', the closest he gets being the scene where he tells Romana: "One of my family's died for your lot already." Indeed, the only person to mention Adric's brother by name in any subsequent adventure is the Doctor in ''Time-Flight'', by which time Adric has himself been killed. Apparently, actor Matthew Waterhouse was also upset about this not being brought up at all (his own brother had died by this time). However, there's a subtle hint towards the death for the observant viewers, seen in ''Earthshock'' -- Adric, aware of his impending fate, is holding onto his brother's belt (given to him after Varsh's death) ''like a security blanket'', as though to reassure himself in his final moments. It's not something everyone would pick up (given the belt looks like a thick rope), but [[TearJerker for those that do]] ... Oh, ''[[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap Adric]]''. |
| 203 | ** The Doctor himself is prone to this. If you're not a companion, he'll be very upset to see you die, but probably have forgotten you minutes (or even seconds) after the fact. It's implied this is a coping mechanism for him to deal with the fact that [[DoomMagnet everyone he knows]] [[WhoWantsToLiveForever eventually dies]]. |
| 204 | ** Even when one of the Doctor's companions is permanently killed off, he or she is not exempt from this trope. Adric, for example, is only mentioned directly in a handful of post-''Earthshock'' episodes, the last being Part Four of ''The Caves of Androzani'', where the Doctor whispers Adric's name moments before regenerating into his sixth incarnation. |
| 205 | ** Extreme example in "The Girl in the Fireplace" where the Doctor has an (allegedly passionate) love affair with Mme de Pompadour. By the next episode she's been forgotten, and is never mentioned again. In "Human Nature" he left Martha with instructions but never said what to do if he falls in love, implying he didn't consider it a real possibility though "The Girl in the Fireplace" was just a year ago. If "Deep Breath" is of any indication, [[ButForMeItWasTuesday the Doctor barely remembers the events of the episode]] (although this is more than 1000 years later from his perspective). |
| 206 | * Most of the ''Series/{{ER}}'' characters who have been killed off have met this fate. They might be mentioned for a few episodes after their demise, but then never again. Understandable for the minor characters, but even Mark Greene, who'd been the central figure of the show for 8 seasons, got only a few referrals after his death. |
| 207 | * Near the end of ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', after Crichton [[spoiler:finally gets back to Earth]], an assassin [[spoiler:[[ColdBloodedTorture tortures]] and kills his two best friends]] and is only mentioned once after that, when Scorpius asks his OldMaster about the assassin's species and origin. Though it's clear that Crichton was having a something of a falling-out with said friends over his sharing of alien technologies. It's not even entirely clear that Crichton ever learned they died; the creature attacked his family shortly afterwards and the crew hightailed it off Earth after defeating it. |
| 208 | * ''Series/GameOfThrones'' is normally good at remembering dead characters, even many episodes after their death. A few exceptions include: |
| 209 | ** While Robb and Catelyn are frequently mentioned after the Red Wedding and the surviving Starks and their supporters want to avenge their deaths, as well as the deaths of the other Northern lords killed at the Red Wedding, Talisa -- Robb's pregnant wife -- is never mentioned again. While it's true that many of the people she was friends with are also killed, and {{justified}} for the surviving Starks as they weren't even able to learn who she was, it's still relatively jarring for a major character. The one time a Northern Lord mentions Talisa posthumously, she's referred to as a "foreign whore". |
| 210 | ** Rakharo, Daenerys' bloodrider, is also yet to be mentioned after his death in Season 2. |
| 211 | ** Locke, a good friend of [[{{sadist}} Ramsay Bolton]], had successfully [[TheMole faked friendship]] with Jon Snow and Jon's circle in an attempt to harm or assassinate Jon and his two younger brothers -- Bran and Rickon Stark -- and Locke is never mentioned again after what the Night Watch characters believe to have been a heroic death. It is justified because shortly after they return to Castle Black, they have other problems to deal with, such as Mance's army and the White Walkers. However, some of Jon's other friends die, and he mourns them. Locke also seems to be pretty tight with Ramsay, but after his death is never mentioned by Ramsay again. You'd think Ramsay would at least bring him up to mess with Jon, but nope. |
| 212 | ** Benjen Stark has hardly been mentioned since his disappearance, despite one of main missions of the great ranging being to investigate the disappearing rangers. Jon fails to ask the wildlings about his uncle while gathering information as a FakeDefector but the claim of his uncle's return is used on Jon by the Watch mutineers to lure Jon outside so they can [[spoiler:assassinate him in a mutiny]]. |
| 213 | ** Subverted by Mycah the butcher's boy. While some viewers might only vaguely remember his unjust death in "The Kingsroad," Arya never forgets and his unjust death remains at the center of her hatred for Sandor Clegane. Arya even brings up Mycah during the Hound's trial in "And Now His Watch Is Ended" and the Hound uses it in his attempt to goad her in "The Children." Arya also remembers Lommy's death and takes revenge on his murderer, killing him the same way he killed Lommy. |
| 214 | * ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' is also doing this with [[spoiler:George]]. He was a main character for five seasons, then after the first two episodes of Season 6, has only been mentioned twice. |
| 215 | * ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': Caitlin who? Never heard of any Simone. Yaeko? Charlie? [[spoiler:Possible Lampshade/Subversion of Charlie's death in Season 4]] Who are these people? Conveniently, with Simone dead, there's nobody to cry for Isaac. |
| 216 | ** There’s possible exception of [[strike: Alixander]] [[strike: Alejandro]] Dead Twin: the only people who knew of him on the show are Sylar (his killer) and Molly and Maya, the last two having been PutOnABus. |
| 217 | ** The trope was lampshaded later by Sylar. It went something like this: "What was his name again? Ted...Ted something. Ted... It's on the tip of my tongue." A few moments later... "Sprague! Ted Sprague! That was his name." |
| 218 | ** Matt Parkman reunites with his ex-wife after discovering he has a son, despite her history of infidelity, and apparently forgets all about [[spoiler: his deceased girlfriend Daphne Millbrook]], whose murder nearly led him attempt to exact RevengeByProxy on [[spoiler: the girlfriend of Daphne's killer Emil Danko]] and basically sapped him of the will to live. |
| 219 | * ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' had its share of such problems. While Duncan held rivalries with other Immortals ongoing for centuries, he rarely went after mortals. Regardless of what they did to him or his loved ones. From 1980 to 1993, Duncan's love interest was mortal Tessa Noel. A main character until early in the second season, Tessa was killed by a junkie over some petty change. Duncan never bothers to search for the killer. When Richard Ryan, a student of Duncan, managed to locate the junkie, Duncan refuses to lift a finger against him. Ryan eventually lets the guy go, once convinced the junkie has quit the habit and is now a struggling father. After that Tessa rarely gets mentioned. Similarly, a number of killed lovers or best friends such as Mei-Ling Shen, Brian Cullen or Nefertiri are greatly mourned in the single episode featuring them. Then never mentioned again, even in episodes summarizing the key moments of the character. |
| 220 | ** Actually, the SeriesFinale features a case of ItsAWonderfulPlot in which Duncan finds himself in a world in which he had never existed. WhatIf all characters live miserable lives or are evil, and Duncan wants to undo what has happened. Until he discovers that in this reality Tessa is very much alive. |
| 221 | ** On the same note, several episodes have Duncan trying to get other Immortals to quit their quest of vengeance against mortals. With several of them having some pretty good reasons to seek revenge. Ceirdwyn going after the people who killed her mortal husband, Kamir killing the people who smuggled India's cultural treasures to American museums, Muhammad ibn Kassim targeting the dictator of his country, Katya of Greenhil struggling to avenge the murder of her adoptive daughter, Jacob Galati hunting the people who butchered his wife, William Kingsley wanting to punish whoever killed his wife and those covering for them, Ingrid Henning going after any would-be dictator and hatemonger in hope of preventing a new Holocaust, and Everett Bellian waging war against the rapist of his adoptive daughter. Apparently they should have all forgotten their foes and let go. Somehow, this would seem rather difficult. |
| 222 | * [[spoiler: Archie Kennedy]] dies a heroic death in the ''Series/HoratioHornblower'' episode "Retribution" ... then is never mentioned again for the rest of the series. Similarly, in the first episode, [[spoiler: Clayton]] sacrifices himself to save Horatio's life; Horatio seems to remember him and mourn his death but Archie, his former shipmate, seems to forget him entirely almost immediately. |
| 223 | ** Another Creator/JamieBamber character meets this fate. Matt Devlin of ''Series/LawAndOrderUK'' is gunned down at the end of Season 5, and aside from the follow-up episode which focused on the search for and prosecution of his killer is never mentioned again. Quite glaring considering that he was a surrogate son to his grief-stricken partner Ronnie and in a later episode, when yet another friend of Ronnie's is similarly murdered, no one mentions how similar the two incidents are. The only slight exception is the mention that Ronnie's grandson is named Matthew, obviously in his memory (he was born the day Matt was killed), but even that fails to spark any discussion of him. |
| 224 | * ''Series/KillingEve'': Villanelle's murder of Bill motivated Eve for probably a whole season and is even one interpretation for [[spoiler:stabbing Villanelle at the end of Season 1.]] However, from Season 2 onwards, Bill's death is never mentioned and it never stands in the way of Eve and Villanelle's relationship. |
| 225 | * In a meta version, ''Series/LawAndOrderLA''[='=]s ad campaign about the murder of Rex Winters described it as "an event not seen on Law & Order in twenty years," referring to the murder of Max Greevey during the original ''Series/LawAndOrder'' -- forgetting the murders of both ADA Alex Borgia (also from the original series) and ''[[Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent Criminal Intent]]''[='=]s Capt. Danny Ross between the two events. |
| 226 | * In the pilot of ''Series/Lucifer2016'', the title character witnesses his friend Delilah getting gun down in front of his club. Lucifer then spent the rest of the episode looking for her assassin to get justice for her and meet her therapist Linda who becomes a main character. Neither Lucifer nor Linda mention Delilah ever again afteward. The only mentions she ever gets is in the AlternateRealityEpisode where Lucifer is briefly bitter about the police failing to resolve her case. |
| 227 | * ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': |
| 228 | ** ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'': In season 1, Officer Sullivan, the unlucky rookie police officer who got handcuffed to a column by Matt, and later killed by corrupt ESU officers in Fisk's pocket, isn't acknowledged in any way after his death, and any talk about that incident is instead about the shootings of Detective Blake and two other cops outside the building that were carried out on orders of Fisk. |
| 229 | ** ''Series/{{The Punisher|2017}}'': When Karen Page is introduced in season 1, she looks very sad and lonely, which people coming from ''Series/{{The Defenders|2017}}'' know is because she's mourning Matt Murdock, who was presumed killed in Midland Circle. However, those events are never so much as alluded to outside of Ellison holding a newspaper headlined "Chaos Under The Streets" in Karen's intro episode, or a small shrine in the background when Frank is in Karen's apartment. However, this is averted in Season 2, where Frank ''is'' aware of Matt's survival and of Karen forming Nelson, Murdock & Page at the conclusion of ''Daredevil'' season 3, and briefly inquires after him. |
| 230 | ** ''Series/{{Jessica Jones|2015}}'': Season 2 makes absolutely no mention of the events of ''The Defenders'', and Jessica seems to have completely forgotten about the loss of Matt, who she had grown the closest with during ''The Defenders'', except for an oblique reference to "heroes dying" in an early conversation she has with Trish. The reason for this is that showrunner Melissa Rosenberg had started writing ''Jessica Jones'' season 2 before ''The Defenders'' began its writing process but didn't film it until after ''The Defenders'' had wrapped shooting, which explains why the show feels as if it took place immediately after ''Series/{{Iron Fist|2017}}'' season 1, and ''The Defenders'' never happened. |
| 231 | ** ''Series/{{Luke Cage|2016}}'': Played with in season 2. The events at Midland Circle in which Matt "died" are relevant, but more because of how Misty Knight lost her arm there and is now getting adjusted to her new robotic right arm. There's a subtle reference to Matt, though, as Foggy Nelson appears in one scene and, recalling the costume Matt wore in the first season of ''Daredevil'', suggests Luke wear a mask to maintain some level of anonymity. It later turns out comparing Matt to Luke is something of a BerserkButton to the latter, which Claire finds out the hard way. |
| 232 | ** ''Series/WandaVision'': InUniverse, a flashback in episode 8 shows how the Hex came into existence: Wanda went to SWORD seeking to claim Vision's body simply so she could give him a funeral, if only for her own closure, but Tyler Hayward refused to turn the body over to her because he was using Vision's body for Project Cataract. |
| 233 | --->'''Wanda Maximoff:''' I know you have him.\ |
| 234 | '''SWORD Receptionist:''' I'm sorry. But like I said-\ |
| 235 | '''Wanda Maximoff:''' Please. Please. When I came back, he was gone. And I know he's here. He deserves a funeral, at least. ''I'' deserve it. |
| 236 | *** Some [[https://twitter.com/badpostMaximoff/status/1365673583498956800/photo/2 cut dialogue]] from this scene had Wanda [[LampshadeHanging go on to complain]] about the fact that of all the Avengers who died during the battle with Thanos (Vision, Natasha Romanoff, and Tony Stark), only Tony's death got any sort of public recognition, while Vision's and Natasha's deaths have been seemingly forgotten about completely. |
| 237 | ---->'''Wanda Maximoff:''' I'm sick of everyone acting like Tony Stark is the only person we lost. Like he's the only Avenger there ever was. Too bad, then, if you're Natasha, but at least she was flesh and blood, right? But where are the memorials for Vision? No moving tributes for the synthezoid? |
| 238 | * ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'': |
| 239 | ** A number of Knights of Camelot have died without ever being mentioned again. This includes some relatively famous names, including Sir Pellinore and Sir Bedivere. |
| 240 | ** In one episode, Merlin's childhood friend Will is killed saving Arthur's life, and he hasn't been mentioned since. |
| 241 | ** [[spoiler:Lancelot]] dies ''twice'', first at the beginning of the fourth season, only to be resurrected and killed off again in the ninth episode. Each time he died, no one ever mentioned him again in subsequent episodes -- which was especially strange the second time around given the ramifications of the Arthurian LoveTriangle. Yet instead of referencing him by name, all the other characters only obliquely mention a "betrayal." |
| 242 | * In ''Series/{{Misfits}}'', Curtis' girlfriend Nikki is shot by a mugger after he sold the time travel power to Seth. Curtis mourns her and then learns from Seth that his ability has been sold to an old Jewish man hoping to kill Hitler, leaving Curtis unable to help Nikki. She is never mentioned after that, and two episodes later Curtis gets a new love interest. It becomes egregious later in Season 3 when Seth gives Curtis the power of resurrection in order to bring back his dead girlfriend Shannon, and the latter seems to have forgotten that he also has ''another'' deceased girlfriend. |
| 243 | * Sheriff Graham in ''Series/OnceUponATime'' fits this to a tee. He dies in the seventh episode, is mourned in the eigth, and then never spoken of again, although his incarnation as the Huntsman occasionally appears in Enchanted Forest flashbacks. |
| 244 | * In the fourth episode of ''Series/RobinHood'', [[spoiler: Roy]] is killed off in a RedemptionEqualsDeath moment. Despite John mentioning earlier that he was like a son to him and all of the outlaws mourning him at the end of the episode, he hasn't been mentioned since. |
| 245 | * ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': |
| 246 | ** In the earliest episodes, the "[[MonsterOfTheWeek Freak of the Week]]" would often be a [[RememberTheNewGuy a longtime friend the main cast would've known]] for ''years'' prior to [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity Kryptonite radiation turning them evil.]] More often than not, [[KarmicDeath they'd die.]] The main cast would spend absolutely no time mourning their loss or [[FaceHeelTurn what they had become]] even in the episode where they died. |
| 247 | ** In later years this would extend to {{recurring character}}s and several cases of ''series regulars'' [[spoiler:Whitney Fordman, Jason Teague, Davis Bloome, and Jimmy Olsen]] who'd be KilledOffForReal, might be mourned in the episode they died, and then either never mentioned again or mentioned in only the briefest most casual way for plot purposes. Most JustForFun/{{egregious}} examples are Ryan James and [[EnsembleDarkHorse Alicia]] [[ILetGwenStacyDie Baker]]. |
| 248 | ** Grant Gabriel. Lionel does mourn him. For one episode. [[spoiler:He is a clone of his biological son.]] Which is one more episode than Lois ever mourned for him, [[RomanticFalseLead even though she knew him longer.]] |
| 249 | ** Gina. Granted the only one who'd care would be Lex, and it's ''[[ItsAllAboutMe Lex]]'' were talking about here. Still, you'd think he'd spend at least a moment wondering who the Hell murdered his most loyal and devoted assistant. |
| 250 | ** Season 2, Clark had a [[GirlOfTheWeek passionately romantic attachment]] to this [[MagicalNativeAmerican Native American]] [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent shapeshifter]] with a meaningful bracelet and prophecy saying she was his soul mate, and in the end she tragically dies. Next episode it was like it never happened, except she had been the device for the 'caves' setting to be introduced, and ''those'' stuck around. What was her name, anyway? [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Kyla Willowbrook]]. |
| 251 | ** Downplayed with [[spoiler:Lionel Luthor]], who's mentioned quite a bit after his death. However most of his mentions are of the [[spoiler:evil [[MagnificentBastard bastard]]]] he was at the start of the series and not as the [[spoiler:ally]] he became in the show's second half. |
| 252 | ** Downplayed with Raya, the Kryptonian Clark met in Season 6. She helped Clark escape the Phantom Zone in her debut episode and then returned for one more episode in which she was killed off by the villain of the week. She was mentioned three more times, which is more than any love interest Clark had that wasn't named Lana or Lois. |
| 253 | ** The Season 4 episode "Ageless" has Clark and Lana bond with a metahuman whose condition causes him to rapidly age and release blasts of energy against his will. He dies and is mourned by Clark and Lana who never mention him again. |
| 254 | ** Sheriff Nancy Adams made a number of appearances from Seasons 2 to 5 before being killed off rather unceremoniously and was never mentioned after her death until an alternate version of her appeared in a Season 7 episode. After that, the show went back to ignoring her existence. |
| 255 | * In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', Captain Kirk suffers (in the first episode in which he appears) the loss of a friend he's had for many years, whom he [[ShootTheDog himself was forced to kill.]] Further along in the series, he also suffers the loss of his brother. And yet, the only death that seemed to affect him long term was the death of main, recurring character Spock (which didn't even stick). Although Kirk has had and lost [[GirlOfTheWeek many love interests]] over the course of the show, he doesn't seem all that affected by their passing. (Granted, in at least two cases, he was made to forget that they had ever existed, but one would think he would at least remember and dwell upon Edith Keeler from time to time...) |
| 256 | * This happens in ''Series/StrangerThings'' to [[spoiler:Barb Holland, who, despite being searched for for the majority of the first season by Nancy Wheeler, her eventual death was only mourned for a short moment, and she was never mentioned again]]. This didn't go over well with viewers, for whom Barb had become an EnsembleDarkhorse, so the writers had to address this in season 2. Nancy and Steve visit Barb’s parents regularly and Nancy’s guilt over Barb’s death leads to her breakup with Steve. Nancy leads the charge in getting justice for Barb by exposing the government agency responsible for her death showing that Nancy, at least, has not forgotten about her friend. |
| 257 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': |
| 258 | ** As far as the main characters are concerned, deceased friends are often mentioned and grieved on the show. However, there are a huge number of one-episode characters who watch their family and friends die in horrible ways, are traumatised for the majority of the episode, and then miraculously recover toward the end. One particularly noticeable example is the body-swap episode, where two teenagers are partially responsible for the gruesome death of their best friend, but by the end of the episode are too distracted by their love lives to remember that his body is still lying in his basement. |
| 259 | ** The Winchesters do react this way in one particularly glaring instance regarding [[spoiler:[[LongLostSibling their brother]], Adam]]. Ever since the fifth season finale he's been [[PutOnABusToHell rotting in hell]] [[spoiler:being tortured by Lucifer and Michael]]. Dean only mentioned him once but then seems to have forgotten about him completely. Apparently the Winchesters are perfectly content to leave him in hell for all eternity, [[spoiler:despite their "family comes first" motto and both of them having been traumatized by their own trips to hell]]. |
| 260 | *** This was ''finally'' acknowledged in the 200th episode, in which Sam and Dean assist in a musical adaptation of the in-universe book series based on their lives. In the finale, when the Winchester family sings "Carry On My Wayward Son", Sam fails to recognize a character and asks one girl who he is. She replies "Oh, that's Adam. John Winchester's other kid. He's still trapped in the cage, in Hell. With Lucifer." Sam and Dean immediately look at each other with discomfort. However, when the Cage is brought back in Season 11, Adam is still not alluded in any fashion. |
| 261 | *** He's finally brought back in the final season though, now having agreed to share his body equally with Michael. |
| 262 | ** Played with when it comes to Jessica. Her death motivated Sam to go back to hunting, but after that, her mentions are few and far between. |
| 263 | ** Many of the Winchesters' one-shot hunting friends fall into this. Perhaps the most glaring case was Caleb and Pastor Jim Murphy. They were infrequently mentioned in the first season by Sam and Dean as friends and allies of their father; Jim even knew the family since Sam and Dean were children, and is implied to have looked after them for John on occasion. When Dad went missing, Sam and Dean turned to Caleb and Pastor Jim for help a couple times, calling them (off-screen) to check if John had contacted them and to gain information on a creature they were hunting. Unfortunately, Jim and Caleb were targeted by [[DarkActionGirl the demon Meg]], who murdered them in cold blood to get to the Winchesters. The Winchesters were heartbroken to learn of Jim's death, and hearing Caleb die over the phone pushed John to play into the demons' hands (and arguably launched the events of the following seasons, as Dean [[spoiler:would not have been killed by Azazel if John hadn't been captured, thus John wouldn't have made his deal, which was what eventually caused Dean to make his deal to bring Sam back -- assuming that Sam would have died at all had John still been alive]]). After that episode, however, neither character is never mourned or mentioned again, with Jim's role in Sam and Dean being retroactively reassigned to [[ParentalSubstitute Bobby]] (who debuted the episode immediately after Jim and Caleb's deaths) and Sam and Dean [[EnemyMine allying]] with [[EvilVersusEvil Meg]] -- ''their friends' killer'' -- in the sixth season. |
| 264 | ** To a lesser degree, two more of the Winchesters' friends and allies, Ellen and Jo (with the former implied to be a mother-figure to the boys and the latter an awkward cross between a little sister and a potential love interest), also qualify for this trope with regards to Sam and Dean's alliance with Meg, as they were ''also'' killed by her -- ''only a season before Sam and Dean allied with her''. In the first episode of this alliance, Dean ''did'' make a token protest about how Meg killed the Harvelles (but still, not of poor Jim and Caleb, which would have only strengthened Dean's case had he remembered them), but after that scene, it was not brought up again and due to on-screen chemistry between demon and angel, Meg was eventually portrayed as simply a [[HeroicComedicSociopath quirky]] character [[LoveRedeems in love with Castiel]] and [[ReformedButRejected loyal to the Winchesters despite their "unfair" treatment of her]]. Her murder of their friends -- not to mention her innumerable other crimes -- were ignored to support this characterization. Made all the more irritating when Meg complained about how mean they were to her while Sam and Dean looked guilty, as if they didn't have damn good reason not to like her. |
| 265 | ** [[spoiler:Castiel. After [[DyingDeclarationOfLove confessing his love to Dean]] [[HeroicSacrifice to save him from Billie]] by dragging them both into the Empty, in the last two episodes of the show he barely warrants a mention]]. |
| 266 | * In full effect on ''Series/ToddAndTheBookOfPureEvil''. Aside from the sheer number of classmates and recurring characters killed off unceremoniously, regular character Jenny lost her [[spoiler:long-time best friend]] in the third episode, never to mention her again. True to form, after spending a season trying to [[spoiler:track down her long-lost father]], Jenny seemingly forgets he ever existed after [[spoiler:dear old dad dies after using the Book of Pure Evil (co-incidentally in the following season's third episode)]]. |
| 267 | * Janet York, Kim's best friend in Season 1 of ''Series/TwentyFour'', is murdered by a terrorist pretending to be her father, though she doesn't recognize him anyway. [[IHaveYourWife This reveals that Ira Gaines was also planning to kidnap Teri, not just Kim.]] Teri, who is murdered by [[TheMole Nina Myers]] in the season finale, is mentioned in later seasons and it affects Kim's relationship with her father, but neither she nor anyone else even bring up that her best friend was murdered in the rest of the series. |
| 268 | * ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'': |
| 269 | ** Stefan's "Uncle" Zach dies in the fifth episode. While Stefan mourns him in the episode itself, the character very quickly becomes a footnote in the series' history after [[DeathFakedForYou his death is covered up]] without anyone finding out the truth. He isn't mentioned again until the ''sixth'' season where he is [[spoiler:revealed to have a daughter]]. |
| 270 | ** Subverted with Lexi. Despite only appearing in one episode, she is mentioned by Stefan several times since her death and she appears in almost every season of the show, either in flashbacks or [[spoiler:as a ghost]]. Stefan admits the reason he doesn't talk about her much is that it brings up memories of her death. In the SeriesFinale, [[spoiler:she and Stefan even end up TogetherInDeath ([[LikeBrotherAndSister in a platonic way]])]]. |
| 271 | ** [[spoiler: Anna]] dies at the end of the first season. She is then not mentioned again. In fact some people who started watching in the second season asked why Jeremy was so unfriendly to his uncle, because the fact that he [[spoiler: murdered his girlfriend never comes up]]. What makes this more bizarre is that a season later [[spoiler: Anna returns as a ghost. After she passes on, Elena attributes Jeremy's downward spiral to Bonnie breaking up with him, apparently forgetting they broke up because he was still in love Anna who, as far as Jeremy knows, is still trapped totally alone in the ghost world, unwilling or unable to appear to him again]]. Not that this is the only death where the dead person is quickly not mentioned again, but it's made particularly obvious because it happens ''twice'' to the same character. |
| 272 | [[/folder]] |
| 273 | |
| 274 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 275 | * Poppy's death midway through Series 1 of ''Radio/BleakExpectations'' is met with a typically Victorian melodramatic reaction: her siblings and friends are inconsolable with grief (as are the people listening to the story several decades later). But despite dying in the climactic scene of an episode, she's never mentioned once for the rest of the series, and even her parents don't think to ask where she is after her conspicuous absence during their reunion with their other two children. Other than a single, brief mention ''three series later'', her name never comes up again once she's dead. Of course, the show being what it is, this is probably an example of this trope being subtly PlayedForLaughs. |
| 276 | [[/folder]] |
| 277 | |
| 278 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 279 | * ''Theatre/LesMiserables'': Eponine gets her drawn-out dramatic death scene in Marius' arms. As soon as she drops, he's back to mooning over Cosette, and Eponine is never mentioned again.[[note]]In earlier versions of the show, he does mention her when the Thenardiers confront him at his wedding, but these lines were cut when the show's run time was reduced in the late 1990s. They can still be heard on the Complete Symphonic Recording.[[/note]] Even in his GriefSong "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," about the deaths of all his friends at the barricades, he only sings about his fellow student revolutionaries, not Éponine. |
| 280 | * ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'': Romeo is heartbroken about his friend Mercutio's death...at least during the scene where Mercutio actually died. After Romeo kills Tybalt to avenge him, Mercutio is pretty much forgotten. Romeo expresses far more [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone grief]] over Tybalt's death than Mercutio's. |
| 281 | * In ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'', [[spoiler:Cedric]] dies at the end of the first act. Nobody cares enough to mention it after the first five minutes of Act Two. His {{sickeningly sweetheart|s}} Cho Chang cries for a minute, but then Neville Longbottom pantses Draco and she says, "That made me feel better." About her dead boyfriend. |
| 282 | [[/folder]] |
| 283 | |
| 284 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 285 | * In ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'', it ''might'' seem like Tiz quickly gets over his DoomedHometown and [[DeathByOriginStory dead brother]], [[AvertedTrope but it's actually brought up multiple times over the course of the game]]. In Chapter 3, he can't get any sleep due to nightmares about it. Later, he meets Egil, a kid who reminds him of his brother, and does everything to help him. Eventually, Tiz resolves his problems by bringing Egil to Caldisla, where he safely takes over Tiz' duties. [[spoiler:Until the GroundhogDayLoop, where Egil is absent, yet hometown is still destroyed. Tiz realizes the great chasm can never be averted, then finds that he died in place of Til at that point. In the next loop, he actually meets Til... but nobody survived in the subsequent loops. It's even worse when Tiz finds out that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero he and his party were the ones destroying the village]] in each new world.]] Yeah, this game isn't kind to him. |
| 286 | * While the ''VideoGame/CriminalCase'' series tends to avert this regarding the deaths of its main characters, its secondary characters usually don't get such luck, as they generally never get brought up again after meeting their demise. |
| 287 | ** ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseGrimsborough'' has [[spoiler:Rachel Priest]] and [[spoiler:Madison Springer]], with both of them being prominent characters and major allies during the arcs they appear in (Financial Center and University, respectively) and even driving up parts of the plot at times, yet no main character mentions them after their deaths in the climax of each district. The former is especially egregious, as she's established early-on as Jones' potential [[LoveInterests Love Interest]], yet he only mourns for her death during her murder investigation. Afterwards, [[spoiler:Rachel]] is out of his mind for good. |
| 288 | ** ''VideoGame/CriminalCasePacificBay'' has [[spoiler:Colonel Spangler]]. Despite having a rocky start with the police department at the beginning of the game, the Rhine Canyon arc has him eventually developing into their ally ([[TeethClenchedTeamwork as unwitting as it might be]]) and even gaining some sort of mutual respect with one another. Then he dies in the penultimate case of the district, is briefly mentioned in the next one due to his death being a plot point, and never gets brought up again. |
| 289 | ** ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseTheConspiracy'' has [[spoiler:Tony Marconi]]. Just like [[spoiler:Spangler]] above, a good chunk of the game's first half focuses on the police department and him learning to set their differences apart and work together in their quest to bring [[EvilInc DreamLife]] down, to the point [[spoiler:Marconi]] arguably transitions into a full-fledged AntiHero and secondary protagonist... only for him to die at the end of the [[DiscOneFinalDungeon Misty Grove arc]], get a single line of mention at the beginning of the next district, and never have his name spoken by the heroes again. |
| 290 | * ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'': |
| 291 | ** This happens to [[spoiler:Alcatraz, an entire player character. Made even more glaring by the fact that Alcatraz was actually still alive ([[BrainUploading sort of]]) before a series of minor retcons in the third game.]]. |
| 292 | ** Justified with [[spoiler:Gould.]] His fate is left ambiguous, but even if he was provably alive he's not actually relevant to the story thanks to the TimeSkip. |
| 293 | * Defied in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' Makoto promises to remember both [[spoiler:Sayaka and Leon]], even after it turned out that they'd tried to kill each other and frame him for it- the latter killed the former, but failed to get away with it- as well as everyone else who dies, even though Kyoko points out that it's more painful than simply forgetting about them. He takes it ''very'' seriously, and ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' shows him having a nightmare about everyone who'd died in the first game, with the exception of [[spoiler:Junko and Mukuro]], which is understandable since [[spoiler:those two were the prime movers behind both the Tragedy and the killing games, so it's no wonder he doesn't regret their deaths]]. |
| 294 | * ''Videogame/DeepRockGalactic:'' Inverted with [[TheGhost Karl]]. The dwarves remember him very fondly, miss him at many turns and are eager to avenge him every time they head out into the mines and start killing bugs. But the ''player'' never, ever knows who he even was in the first place, not even by memorial pictures or recordings; if it wasn't for the dwarves' rememberances, you wouldn't even know Karl existed. |
| 295 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}}'' and ''[[VideoGame/{{Fallout2}} 2]]'', mostly because none of your potential party members are important to the plot in the least, and because everyone is so inured to the killing. There's not even a single line about, even if the victim was a friend, spouse or loyal dog. |
| 296 | * A very odd example occurs in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', though it's ultimately subverted: [[spoiler: Due to trauma and a compromised mental state, Cloud literally no longer remembers Zack, his friend who [[HeroicSacrifice died for him]] at the end of ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' to keep him out of the hands of Shinra. However, Zack's dying words were to pass on his legacy to Cloud, and it turns out that Cloud internalized that to such an extreme degree that he began to suffer the delusion that he himself was Zack. So while he doesn't remember Zack as a separate entity, Zack's memory is still [[PresentMemory very much present]]]]. |
| 297 | * Exaggerated in chapter 7 of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. Chrom introduces some guy known as the Hierarch who apparently assisted, and [[ParentalSubstitute took care of his elder sister]] in her younger years. Minutes later, the Hierarch says he needs to take care of some personal matters, where we see he gave some info to the enemy, and then [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves gets killed]]. While the player knows the Hierarch is a traitor thanks to their omniscient viewpoint, the characters in the game never find out, and the last they heard just left to take of some personal points. Sure, considering how quickly the Plegians attack they probably assumed he got ambushed and killed by them, but it's still noticeable they don't mention him again. |
| 298 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' has [[spoiler:Ryder, who, [[VitriolicBestBuds in spite of his faults, was still one of CJ's childhood friends.]] Unlike Big Smoke, Ryder is almost entirely ignored after his betrayal, and he gets killed in the middle of the game without so much of a conversation with CJ. When CJ shows genuine remorse for killing Ryder, Cesar tells CJ that Ryder tried to bang Kendl (something that was randomly brought up with no evidence whatsoever), and Ryder is never mentioned after that]]. |
| 299 | * ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' is guilty to doing this to any named NPC you grow attached to. As soon as you finish that part of your personal story, (usually) they're never brought up again. The most well know example, and part people get the most pissed off about, is when [[spoiler:your Order's mentor sacrifices themselves to get you to warn Lion's Arch that Claw Island had fallen. After that they brought up about twice in the next mission and never heard from until the the second-to-last boss]]. |
| 300 | * [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'': [[spoiler:Xion, a being made from Sora's memories, must merge with Sora to complete the restoration of his memories, though it also means that everyone's memories of her will vanish entirely. While she's aware of this, she pulls a HeroicSacrifice to ensure that her friends continue to live safe and sound. However, it's all but outright said at the end of the game and subsequent games in the series such as ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'' that everyone's memories of Xion are still there, even if most of them don't realize it]]. |
| 301 | * ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'': Averted. Kiryu never forgets Nishiki, and in spite of everything that happens between them after the events of [[VideoGame/Yakuza1 the first game]], he will still speak warmly of him as a beloved and missed friend throughout the series. Over a decade, and five games, after Nishiki's death, Kiryu expresses a hope that he can re-unite with Nishiki in the afterlife, such as singing a karaoke song in ''VideoGame/YakuzaKiwami'', ''VideoGame/Yakuza6'', and ''VideoGame/YakuzaKiwami2'' that has him reminiscing about the good times they had in ''VideoGame/Yakuza0''. |
| 302 | * Both ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'' and ''VideoGame/LufiaCurseOfTheSinistrals'' have characters move past [[spoiler:Dekar]]'s HeroicSacrifice rather quickly. Granted, Guy's belief that [[spoiler:Dekar is too dumb to die turns out to be entirely accurate]]. |
| 303 | * Through LaserGuidedAmnesia, the bad ending of ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'' has [[spoiler:the title character]] losing his memories of [[spoiler:Zero]] who just died in the same game. There has been no explicit reason given for why this happened, and can be treated as a ShootTheDog on the part of [[spoiler:Dr. Light, X's creator]]. |
| 304 | * ''VideoGame/MetalGear'': |
| 305 | ** The franchise is usually good about avoiding this, but dropped the ball between ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'''s half-ContinuityReboot by making Snake grieve the deaths of Gray Fox and Big Boss, but completely forget about the deaths of Gustava Heffner and Kyle Schneider, whose deaths were shown to badly affect him in game. (It's possible to infer that Snake's line about not wanting to see any woman die in front of him is supposed to refer to Gustava.) |
| 306 | ** Snake never mentions Master Miller again after his death in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', even though he was supposed to be Snake's mentor and one of his best friends, and to rub salt in the wound [[spoiler:the Miller Snake had been speaking to all game was in fact Liquid posing as him, meaning he never even got to say goodbye]]. Miller's increased prominence in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidV'' makes this stick out even more. |
| 307 | ** Despite being important for the plot of the prologue chapter ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes Ground Zeroes]]'', Chico, who was also an important character in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker Peace Walker]]'', is hit with a downplayed version that skirts around the edge of being played straight in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain''. Despite the plot ''Ground Zeroes'' being all about saving him and Paz, he ends up getting KilledOffscreen at the end of that story, and neither him nor his untimely and very tragic demise is ever mentioned at any point during the plot of ''The Phantom Pain'', even though said death should be at the forefront of many the reasons why Snake is hellbent on revenge against XOF and [[BigBad Skull Face]]. In fact, the only place Chico's fate is disclosed to the player is in a single completely optional cassette tape, and there Snake just more-or-less brushes his death off as a case of TheyKnewTheRisks. |
| 308 | * ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'': Subverted. There's never any real mention of [[spoiler:Rundas, Ghor and Gandrayda after Samus is [[ShootTheDog forced to kill them]]. That is, until the ending cinematic in which Samus silently remembers her fallen comrades while watching the Elysian sunset]]. |
| 309 | * ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'': Subverted. Bishop's murder, while setting off the whole plot, quickly falls by the wayside for most of the game. Aside from one cutscene about two-thirds through the game, it's hardly mentioned again-- until the final boss fight, where it quickly thrusts itself back into the forefront. |
| 310 | * [[spoiler:When the Bunker gets destroyed in Route C]] of ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'', [[spoiler:Operator 6O gets no more mention from anyone after. This is because 2B is the only one of the main three androids who is at all close to her and dies herself not long after. As for the other two, 9S didn't know her on a personal level and A2 has never met her]]. |
| 311 | * ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' averts this with [[spoiler:Shinjiro Aragaki]]. After Akihiko's persona evolves, one of his battle end quotes is [[spoiler:"Did you see that, Shinji?"]] and brings him up sporadically after his death. [[spoiler:He's also listed as being a member of the Nyx Annihilation Team, which isn't even created until almost three months after his death.]] |
| 312 | * ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'': |
| 313 | ** Drastically subverted in three of the games, all of which have the main character losing someone they love early in the game: Alis in the first, Rolf in the second, and Chaz in the fourth. While the technological limitations of the 8-bit ''Phantasy Star'' meant not a lot of cutscenes, no one ever forgets Nero is the reason Alis became a heroine. Alys' death in ''IV'' is not only honored with an actual grave, her left-behind house and belongings in it and her entire ''hometown'' noting her absence, the people closest to her reference her death and the meaning of what she taught while she was alive, ''and'' one of the later [[spoiler:possible]] wise-mentor figures actually ''uses'' her image to manipulate her student. Nei's death hit ''Phantasy Star II'' and its fanbase so hard she became a legacy character whose name or image appears in every Phantasy Star game since then. And ''all of them'' were honored in a cutscene in the fourth game, specifically to remind Chaz of the worth of their cause. |
| 314 | ** Played straight in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIII'': if your third generation character is Sean (son of Ayn and Thea), then he loses his entire family as his chapter of the story begins. He mourns them for about ten minutes, then goes about his business. |
| 315 | * Sadly the case in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' and ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'', as [[spoiler:Arthur Morgan was the only person in the gang who supported John and his family all the way to the end and even gave his life to help them escape in the ending of ''II'', [[RememberTheNewGuy and yet never got a mention in the first game because he wasn't conceptualised back then]]]]. Possibly {{subverted|Trope}} in that [[spoiler:the epilogue for ''II'' suggests that John actually thinks about Arthur all the time, but it is too painful for him to actually talk about him. His wife Abigail cries every time his name gets mentioned as well]]. |
| 316 | * Subverted in ''VideoGame/RudraNoHihou''. Rostam and Huey, Sion's best friends, are killed off on day one. They're immediately forgotten and never mentioned again... or so it seems. Not only do they get a gorgeous optional cutscene all the way at the end of the story [[spoiler:in which they give Sion one of his best weapons]], they also [[spoiler:get used by Surlent as his temporary host bodies for a ''huge'' chunk of the plot]]. |
| 317 | * ''VideoGame/TheSaboteur'' is one of those rare games that don't follow this trope: [[spoiler:Jules]]' death is the entire reason Sean does what he does, and one of his battle cries when shooting Nazis is "That was for [[spoiler:Jules]] you bastards!". Sean regularly mentions [[spoiler:Jules]]' death and his ensuing desire for revenge. |
| 318 | * Happens to a named unique NPC in the course of ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' when [[spoiler: the Brotherhood of Stilwater takes revenge on the Saints disfiguring the Brotherhood's leader with tainted tattoo ink by [[WhatADrag dragging young Saints lieutenant Carlos nearly to death]]. The Boss tries to rescue him, but has to ShootTheDog and give Carlos a MercyKill to free him of his suffering. Especially poignant because previously the Boss treated Carlos like a younger brother]]. Due to the non-linear nature of the game this can happen early or late in the narrative, but it's more jarring early on as the rest of the game takes place without them and no one seems to mention their absence. [[spoiler: Then you can get [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies Zombie Carlos]] as [[SecretCharacter a homie]]. [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight Everybody else]] [[WeirdnessCensor still fails to notice]].]] |
| 319 | * Especially bad in ''VideoGame/SandsOfDestruction'', since the whole reason Kyrie's village doesn't exist any more is because [[WhereIWasBornAndRazed he destroyed it himself]], along with the only family he had ever had. Apart from one passing mention several hours after the fact, he never even reflects on the matter, though it's somewhat implied that he was deep in denial (and when it finally hits him [[spoiler:that he's really the one responsible ''and'' that he can't be rid of these powers, he decides suicide is the best option]]). |
| 320 | ** [[spoiler:Elephas Rex]] eventually becomes one for Rhi'a when his views come into opposition with the Front's new goal. Even though it's established that she highly respects him, after his death she never comments on it again. Of course, given her PsychicPowers, she likely knew how he would die long before it ever happened, and given that she's [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld 300]] in a world of human-length lifespans, [[MayflyDecemberFriendship she's likely seen a lot of death]]. |
| 321 | * [[spoiler:Gamma]] from ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' falls under this category. [[spoiler:After learning to feel emotions, freeing the flickies trapped in his robotic brothers and sisters, and self destructing to release the last one trapped in him...No one remembers him. Most, if they do, would just remember him as some other badnik.]] |
| 322 | * At the end of his arc in ''[[Videogame/StarCraftI StarCraft: Brood War]]'', Raynor makes an impressive speech vowing to hunt down and kill [[MagnificentBastard Kerrigan]] after her final betrayal and murdering of Protoss warrior and [[BashBrothers fellow ass-kicker]], Fenix. Come ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty'', [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse Fenix is not mentioned]] (not even in passing), and Raynor's anger at Kerrigan seems to have subsided into a mixture of terror and [[TheDulcineaEffect confused longing]]. Of course, 4 years have passed (in-game) and ''[=StarCraft=] II'''s story was only a third complete at the time, so this could very well change come the Kerrigan/Zerg-centric ''Heart of the Swarm''. Also, [[spoiler:Zeratul, the one who wants Kerrigan dead more than Raynor, tells him that Kerrigan is vital for the survival of the sector, thus rendering the whole vengeance thing as something... suicidal, to say the least.]] |
| 323 | ** Fenix gets a mention in ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm'' during a cutscene where [[spoiler:Jim discovers Kerrigan has reinfested herself in order to avenge his alleged death. And he almost kills her for it too]]. |
| 324 | * A minor example exists in ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons2014.'' [[spoiler:Edna, your sweet GrannyClassic neighbor,]] dies during your first winter. The entire town turns up for the funeral and seems deeply saddened by it. No one ever mentions her again afterward. |
| 325 | * Many a videogame hero ends up this way. ''VideoGame/{{Tyrian}}'', for example, [[LampshadeHanging hung a lantern on it]] when the hero stopped to reminisce on how the assassination of his best friend was what threw him in the middle of his galactic warzone hell. |
| 326 | -->"Dang. Can't even remember his name now." |
| 327 | ** He actually tries to quit fighting after this. |
| 328 | * ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' is usually good at averting this, although it has fallen into such territory a few times. Specifically with [[spoiler:Chuck]] in Season 1, who is never even ''mentioned'' after Lee finds his body in [[spoiler:the sewers]], and with [[spoiler:Nick and Sarah]] in Episode 4 of Season 2. Both of which are only mentioned very briefly after their respective deaths. To be entirely fair though, [[spoiler:Nick was a determinant character at that point and had already had two possible death scenes and one DisneyDeath and Sarah's death was somewhat overshadowed by Rebecca giving birth literally seconds afterwards]]. |
| 329 | * In ''[[VideoGame/WingCommanderTheKilrathiSaga Wing Commander II]]'', Christopher Blair doesn't dwell on the death of Elizabeth "Shadow" Norwood, his wingman from Caernavon station, much after her death at the end of the Gwynedd missions. She wasn't in the game much in game time, but she was one of the few friends he had since he was blamed for the destruction of the Tiger's Claw. |
| 330 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'', Jr.'s cat, Gaignun, died posthumously but was never mentioned again even in the in-game encyclopedia; even though the cat was the inspiration behind his alias. |
| 331 | [[/folder]] |
| 332 | |
| 333 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 334 | * In ''WebAnimation/SonicForHire'', no matter who gets killed or dies, there is hardly any remorse from everyone in the show that immediately brushes off that particular death. Ironically, [[spoiler:Sonic's]] death ended up triggering world peace the moment he died. |
| 335 | * It's pretty rare in ''WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad'' for anyone to acknowledge the [[TheyKilledKennyAgain many deaths]] that occur over the series. Pretty much the only time they've ever expressed regret is in the first episode, where What's-Her-Face lackadaisically mentions missing So-and-So, but gets her name wrong despite her having died less than thirty seconds ago. |
| 336 | [[/folder]] |
| 337 | |
| 338 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 339 | * In ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty'' [[AIIsACrapshoot Zenith]] is transformed from malfunctioning BigBad to enthusiastic assistant-slash-fashion designer as easily as [[MoralityDial rebooting her in "Safe Mode."]] She's rewarded for trying to repair the damage she caused (and making a spiffy new outfit for one of the characters) with a LogicBomb that fries her brain completely. No one has yet to acknowledge the overall dickishness of this, or the fact that "Good Zenith" is now little more than an ambulate robot corpse. |
| 340 | * [[spoiler:Lars]] of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' dies protecting Agatha and is given a Jäger funeral, with Maxim donating his hat. The next time he's mentioned is when [[spoiler:Agatha meets the other members of the circus again, in England]]. This is about a month later for her, but three years for everyone else — and fourteen years later in real publishing time. |
| 341 | ** The print-novel adaptations do a somewhat better job - Agatha grieves over the death when she's allowed a spare moment, and later tells Tarvek to get out of Castle Heterodyne because she doesn't want anyone else dying for her. |
| 342 | * ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' has this appear to be the case for [[spoiler:Feferi]] and [[spoiler:Nepeta]], who both haven't been mentioned or seen in-universe for a while. |
| 343 | * ''Webcomic/ILoveYoo'': Parodied in Shin-Ae's ImagineSpot. |
| 344 | --> Imaginary!Yeong-Gi: "Fufufu... She fell right into my trap! Now I will follow that cab and find out where she lives so that I can [[WorkOffTheDebt harrass her about paying for my uniform for the rest of her life!]] And also avenge my pal... The german guy... I forgot his name..." |
| 345 | ** Until [[spoiler:Fefetasprite is created, and then dies around 20 pages after her introduction]]. |
| 346 | * ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': The Order of the Scribble seems to regard Kraagor as this. The dwarf barbarian was killed saving the world from a [[EldritchAbomination god-killing supermonster]] and [[DeaderThanDead his soul presumed lost]]. In order to protect the seals they placed on the monster, their mission, and Kraagor's bravery, have been sworn to secrecy, with only a monument in his honor, engraved with "Sacrifice Forgotten," left to honor him. |
| 347 | -->'''Liran:''' Dearest Kraagor... your brave sacrifice will not be forgotten.\ |
| 348 | '''Girard:''' Actually, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what will happen. |
| 349 | * ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' is usually pretty good about this ([[spoiler:Val]] and [[spoiler:Alt-Zoe]] have been referenced a fair bit after their deaths), but this applies in full force to anyone who died during the {{Horror}} parodies "[[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=000626 KITTEN]]" and "[[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=021021 KITTEN II]]." Unless their ghosts come back to haunt their main characters, any friends who fall during those stories seem to be completely forgotten. Well, Dex is [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=000814 remembered a little]]: |
| 350 | -->'''Riff:''' Gee, Zoe! Sorry your boyfriend got eaten by kittens!\ |
| 351 | ''[Riff and Torg snicker]''\ |
| 352 | '''Torg:''' It's funny when ''he'' says it. |
| 353 | * Whenever a character dies in ''Webcomic/{{Sonichu}}'', someone says something to the effect of "I know it's sad, but we have to move on" and everybody goes about their business like nothing even happened. Most likely because the webcomic's author does the same thing. |
| 354 | [[/folder]] |
| 355 | |
| 356 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 357 | * In ''WebVideo/EscapeTheNight'' season three there was [[TheLoad Teala]], a guest who was so useless, the group simply pretends she doesn’t exist. No one bothers to ask what happened to her after she dies, simply ignoring the fact that she existed. She’s only mentioned ONCE after her death, as a TakeThat by one of the other guests in the finale. |
| 358 | * In ''AudioPlay/LeDonjonDeNaheulbeuk'', the protagonists rarely refer to their fallen comrades (but if you tell them their friend died, they'll tell you he was not their friend). In the novel, when the elf dies, even the inner monologues show us that they remember about ''one'' of their fallen friends, while the narrator remember both. It is actually used to lampshade the fact that in Seasons 1 and 2, the characters zig-zagged DeathIsCheap and KilledOffForReal, but after this, any dying protagonist will get better. |
| 359 | * In the final episodes of ''Literature/OmegaGuardians'' second season, three characters end up dying. [[spoiler: Walker, Andy, and Brandon]]. While the former two are mourned and cause at least one character to have a HeroicBSOD, the latter is quickly forgotten by all except his father. |
| 360 | [[/folder]] |
| 361 | |
| 362 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 363 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' a contrived scenario leads to the Smiths to believe Steve and Roger died in a thunderstorm. They spend the whole duration mourning Steve and not saying a single thing about Roger (though they eventually lose track of even the former when they decide to use his college savings and sell his possessions to go on vacations). Lampshaded afterwards. |
| 364 | -->'''Stan:''' Steve! We thought you were dead! ''[the family runs up and hugs Steve]''\ |
| 365 | '''Roger:''' What about me?\ |
| 366 | '''Stan:''' ''[disinterested]'' We thought you were dead too. |
| 367 | * Near the end of ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'' Season 2, Arsenal performs a HeroicSacrifice to [[TakingYouWithMe destroy Ultron once and for all]]. [[Characters/MarvelComicsTonyStark Iron Man]] is devastated at the time, as it was made clear throughout the season he cared a great deal for Arsenal. However, when Ultron returns in Season 3, nobody mentions Arsenal, or the fact that [[SenselessSacrifice his sacrifice turned out to be in vain]]. |
| 368 | * ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'': |
| 369 | ** There must have been dozens of Stasis Pods that were never recovered, but they're rarely mentioned in Season 2 and afterwards. They were all shown to have just dropped out of the sky in the Season 1 finale (or Season 2 opening). Most of them were severely damaged upon impact, while most of them held only blanks (i.e: no sparks). Silverbolt and Quickstrike were two of the lucky ones, while Transmutate showed us how horribly messed up they could have been even if they had made it out alive. |
| 370 | ** While "friend" is pushing the term, no-one on the Predacons seem upset at Scorponok and Terrorsaur's fiery deaths, much less mentions them afterward. Meanwhile, with the Maximals, Tigertron and Airazor are completely forgotten after they [[DroppedABridgeOnHim get teleported off-planet by the Vok]]. |
| 371 | * Played straight in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' when Grandpa Max ''blows himself to nonexistence'' in front of Ben. Ben protests the move beforehand but after the fact he basically says "Let's get on with the mission" and leaves it at that. They visit the effect of Max's death later, but only with Gwen; Ben doesn't seem to care at that point. Then again, [[UnexplainedRecovery Max got better]], so it's ultimately moot. |
| 372 | ** It's arguably worse in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and "Grounded," each of which features one of Max's sons. They don't seem particularly concerned that their father supposedly died -- despite the former episode's events being triggered in part by just that. |
| 373 | * Heavily mocked on ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'' with Ponce de Leon. What makes it more ridiculous is that [[RememberTheNewGuy no one mentioned Poncey]] ''before'' his death either. |
| 374 | * ''WesternAnimation/DefendersOfTheEarth'' has Flash Gordon's wife become a Forgotten Fallen Friend after her death in the opening episode. Though Flash and Rick vow to avenge her (as do Mandrake and Lothar, neither of whom met her while she was alive) she is only mentioned in ''two'' episodes after this. Admittedly she does live on through the Defenders' super-computer, Dynak-X, whose personality core is a crystal containing the life essence of Flash's wife, but even this is not acknowledged after the early episodes. |
| 375 | * Spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' when Captain Hero becomes friends with WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}: after the latter dies of AIDS, Hero wants to mourn him by "winning" the AIDS awareness marathon (that is, [[RefugeInAudacity killing all other participants]]). At the end of the marathon, Hero looks up in the sky, seeing an image of Popeye, and doesn't even recognize him. |
| 376 | -->'''Captain Hero:''' I did it Popeye. I did it for you!\ |
| 377 | ''[Popeye's face appears in the clouds]''\ |
| 378 | '''Captain Hero:''' Who the hell is that asshole? |
| 379 | * ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': |
| 380 | ** Mixed with MotiveDecay: Peter's favorite teacher from Junior High is fired after Peter convinces him to go off his medication. When Lois, running for school board, says she agrees with the firing, Peter vows to run against her in order to get his teacher's job back. Eventually though, Peter's competitiveness dominates the campaign, to the extent that when the teacher is brought up later, Peter doesn't remember him. Interestingly, a post credit sequence implies that the teacher did get his job back, but was then killed by the [[Franchise/RoboCop ED-209]] Hall Monitor droid Peter installed. |
| 381 | ** In "Life of Brian", [[spoiler:the eponymous dog dies. The Griffins buy another dog, Vinnie, and they quickly find peace. Only Stewie is outraged, and he keeps Brian's memory alive by sharing his feelings with Vinnie]]. |
| 382 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Lampshaded in "The Beast with a Billion Backs" after [[ButtMonkey Zoidberg]] gets snatched up into the tentacle-based HiveMind, and Farnsworth mourns him briefly before clarifying that he doesn't miss him that much. |
| 383 | * During a recap of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'' in the finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'', Kovu glosses over the death of his and Vitani's brother Nuka. While they were enemies, he had met the Guard earlier, and is obviously not present in the episode. |
| 384 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/LoonaticsUnleashed'', Ace and Rev supposedly perish in an accident, leading to Lexi to give a RousingSpeech and even shed a tear. It is directed pretty much entirely towards Ace. |
| 385 | * In the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/PacificHeat'', Maddie befriends a stripper named Angie who is murdered by the episode's villain, and she is upset when her teammates can't even be bothered to remember Angie's name. After that episode, Angie is never mentioned again. |
| 386 | * For five seasons, Kenny was ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'''s [[TheyKilledKennyAgain Ever Forgotten Ever Falling Friend]]. |
| 387 | ** Lampshaded in "Cherokee Hair Tampons", where Stan is weeping over the fact that Kyle will die if he doesn't get a new kidney. Kenny, aware of Stan's complete apathy to his own deaths, storms off offended and meets his usual elaborate death just a few steps prior. Stan completely ignores it and continues sobbing over Kyle. |
| 388 | ** Also, when a character's KilledOffForReal (such as Chef, Cartman's Grandma, Ms. Crabtree, etc.), they are often never referred to again after their death episode; people who hadn't seen the respective death episodes could assume these characters [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome just disappeared]]. |
| 389 | ** Parodied in "Kenny Dies", where Kenny dies of a muscular illness (in which he was originally intended to be KilledOffForReal). Unlike previous episodes, [[PlayedForDrama everyone is genuinely devastated and dumbfounded by his death]]. This actually carries on for several episodes, though predictably the boys soon get over it, and even callously use their friend's death to manipulate people. A season later, Kenny returns, to the nonchalance of everyone. |
| 390 | ** Eventually it is revealed that there is a mystical nature to Kenny that induces this. His parents were involved with a Cthulhu-worshipping cult years prior, and have a form of curse upon them; as a result, whenever Kenny dies, his mother gives birth to him again and his parents redress him. Meanwhile, aside from them and Kenny himself, everyone else has their memories of Kenny’s death erased on the spot, even if it happens right in front of them. This causes no end of angst for Kenny himself, who furiously reprimands the others for never once remembering his many agonising deaths. |
| 391 | * ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' has [[spoiler:Terra]], who died in a HeroicSacrifice at the end of Season 2 only to never be mentioned again by [[spoiler:her former teammates]] save early in Season 4 [[spoiler:when Slade shows up alive and well despite having apparently died from [[AMoltenDateWithDeath falling into lava]] as a partial result of said sacrifice]]. At least not until [[spoiler:her sudden return]] in the show's final episode. |
| 392 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'': After the original Blue Morpho's death, Jonas brings him back only to put him to work as a robot butler. When this doesn't work out, he puts him out with the trash. Team Venture seem truly surprised when he reappears in the present, and it seems only Kano kept respecting his memory. |
| 393 | * [[spoiler:Narti]] ultimately falls into this trope in ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender''. After [[spoiler:Lotor kills her for being an UnwittingPawn]], her teammates are visibly upset by this and apparently defect over it... Only, she's never mentioned again in the following seasons, and the rest of her squad [[spoiler:eventually goes back to following Lotor]]. |
| 394 | * Morph's death hits the other characters hard in the 2-part series premiere of ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'', after which he's not mentioned again until the Season 2 premiere ([[spoiler:which reveals he was brought BackFromTheDead]]). |
| 395 | * The team's reaction in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' episode "Failsafe" when all of the Justice League are killed within the first 10 minutes. [[spoiler:Of course, they knew it was only a simulation and not real (at least until the simulation goes OffTheRails).]] |
| 396 | [[/folder]] |
| 397 | |
| 398 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 399 | * This may also be a bit of TruthInTelevision. It doesn't seem that unlikely that a crusade started for one reason may continue on its own momentum. See some people's feelings about the post-9/11 wars, or Website/TheOnion's story in ''Literature/OurDumbCentury'' where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was found alive and UsefulNotes/WorldWarI was called off as a result. |
| 400 | ** The actual [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades Crusades]] began when the UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire asked for Western help against the encroaching Muslim Turks. A little over a century later, the Fourth Crusade attacked and heavily damaged the Empire, and nowadays Turkey still controls Byzantium (Istanbul). |
| 401 | ** Also, there's a pretty good chance that the person whose friend/relative/whoever died could be subconsciously using the crusade as a substitute for their fallen friend, which prevents them from feeling the full impact of the loss, or even thinking of the person at all, even though the bottled up grief will keep them going. Remember that keeping themselves occupied so that it gives them something to do other than mourn is a quite common occurrence among people who have lost loved ones. |
| 402 | [[/folder]] |
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