Line #98 Main/MyGirlBackHome


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6
7	->''O ne'er shall I forget the night,\
8	The stars were bright above me\
9	And gently lent their silvery light\
10	When first she vowed to love me\
11	But now I'm bound to Brighton camp\
12	Kind heaven, then, pray guide me\
13	And send me safely back again,\
14	To the girl I left behind me.''
15	-->-- "The Girl I Left Behind Me" (a traditional departure song of [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships the British Army]])
16
17	In cultures with a tradition of adventuring, there is often a yearly tragedy in which families are temporarily split up because some of the men have to be away [[IntrepidMerchant trading]], or [[ProudWarriorRace fighting]] or [[CattleDrive bringing animals to market]] or the like. This brings in the character known as My Girl Back Home. She is almost AlwaysFemale (hence the title), though a child or an old man would work. The male version of Girls Back Home waiting for female adventurers are only a recent storytelling innovation, as adventuring was mostly masculine work in most cultures and time periods and stories reflected that.
18
19	Girls Back Home tend to be spouses or lovers though anyone with whom the character in question has a close relationship will do. Expect a Girl Back Home to be TheWoobie, though she will likely hide her emotions under a shell of [[StoicWoobie stoicism]], at least until she is [[WhatYouAreInTheDark alone]]. In the meantime, they will always worry about her and feel guilty for leaving. That never persuades him to stay home, of course, because otherwise we won't have a story. Another trait of Girls Back Home is that they often occupy only a small part of the story except in the thoughts of The Hero.
20
21	Also, no matter what happens, if you have a girl back home, '''DON'T''' [[FatalFamilyPhoto show a photo of her]] to anyone!
22
23	Related to IWillWaitForYou and LongDistanceRelationship (although that one is a bit more gender-neutral in who gets left behind). You may have to return abruptly for YouHaveWaitedLongEnough. Compare and contrast DadsOffFightingInTheWar. Aversion (sort of) of BattleCouple.
24
25	----
26	!!Examples:
27
28	[[foldercontrol]]
29
30	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
31	* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
32	** Winry can sometimes be this, though technically she's quite more proactive than the standard.
33	** Gracia was this for Hughes during the war. [[spoiler:He unfortunately never heeded the warnings regarding the FatalFamilyPhoto.]]
34	* Ange Ushiromiya from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' starts out as one of these. She takes a few levels of badass as the series goes on.
35	* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
36	** Kaya could be considered this for Usopp, thanks to all the ShipTease between them.
37	** [[spoiler: Gold D. Roger]] turns out to have had one, whose name was [[spoiler: Portgas D. Rouge.]] [[spoiler: He's executed and she falls victim to DeathByChildbirth some time later, so they go into StarCrossedLovers.]]
38	* Cattleya from ''Manga/RaveMaster'' is this. Especially when Haru quotes her every time he has the chance.
39	* Ryoko is this for Shin, who is serving as a mercenary against his will, in ''Manga/{{Area 88}}''.
40	* Rachel for Balzac from ''Anime/TekkamanBlade'', crosses over with CallToAgriculture and [[spoiler:FatalFamilyPhoto]].
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Comic Books]]
44	* The trope gets Played With in the [=WWI=] serial ''ComicBook/GoldenEyesAndHerHeroBill'', which follows the adventures of American girl "Golden Eyes," her dough-boy sweetheart Bill, and their CanineCompanion Uncle Sam during the first world war. The comic was published concurrently with the end of the war, between 1918 and 1919, showing the interesting ways authors were playing off the trope even a century ago:
45	** PlayedStraight at first with protagonist "Golden Eyes," whose boyfriend Bill enlists in the war effort and leaves her behind to care for his dog and KeepTheHomeFiresBurning. She does at first, selling Liberty Bonds and and knitting socks for the war effort, but the trope gets {{Subverted}} when Golden Eyes joins the Red Cross and ships out to Europe to work as a medic on the frontlines. She and Bill are reunited in France, but as an ambulance driver Golden Eyes winds up in just as much danger as Bill when the Germans [[ShootTheMedicFirst shell her ambulance]], take her captive, and threaten her with public execution for espionage. She even runs nighttime search-and-rescue missions in No Man's Land (under active rocket fire, nonetheless) to recover wounded soldiers. Golden Eyes never quite grows into the role of ActionGirl, but her active participation in the war effort turns the trope entirely on its head.
46	** PlayedStraight (and perhaps {{Exaggerated}}) again at the end of the series, when the joyous occasion of Bill and Golden Eyes' WartimeWedding prompts their fellow American soldiers to think back on the girls they left behind.
47	---> "'Gone Away' flared the trumpets! -- and Bill’s spurred heel jingled on the step of the cab behind his bride -- 'Uncle Sam,' smiling a-tip-toe, clambered in -- the door crashed to -- and Bill’s deserted dough-boys each touched a breast pocket and thought of their own Girls. Back HOME![sic]"
48	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': Pre-Crisis Lex Luthor had a wife called Ardora who lived in planet Lexor, and who barely saw her husband because he spent most time on Earth. In "ComicBook/LuthorUnleashed" Ardora admits she is pained by her situation, but she believes Lex has good reasons to be constantly away.
49	-->'''Nogu:''' ''"Thank you for summoning me so swiftly, Nogu."''\
50	'''Nogu:''' ''"As we have every time an unidentified spacecraft has found its way to Lexor, Ardora. And each time you are besieged with more disappointment and despair when these space-wanderers so rarely turns out to be him! It pains me to see so much of your life spent enduring such prolonged loneliness."''\
51	'''Ardora:''' ''"He visits me as often as he is able, Nogu. I have resigned myself to the fact that partial happiness is far better than none!"''
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Fan Works]]
55	* ''Webcomic/{{Guardian}}'', which explores Lulu's backstory in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', has her boyfriend Chappu cast her in this role when he joins the Crusaders, though she's not especially happy about it.
56	* ''Fanfic/{{Luminosity}}'':
57	** Edward Cullen of all people is a [[GenderInvertedTrope gender-inverted]] example in the first book, as Bella spends a lot of time going off alone for her secret plans as a ProHumanTranshuman RebelLeader. She'd like to simply bring him along, but has to keep things secret until she's laid a ''lot'' more groundwork, since unlike her, he's vulnerable to mind-reading by the Volturi leader Aro. Edward's not too happy about it either, but [[UnderstandingBoyfriend he understands]].
58	** In the second book, Maggie has to leave Gianna at home while she goes to join up with the rebellion, due to the need for someone to [[spoiler:take care of their toddler]].
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
62	* ''Film/TheFightingSeabees'': One of the Seabees frequently mentions his significant other Olga and paints her name on his bulldozer.
63	* In ''Film/{{Midway\|1976}}'' (starring Henry Fonda), when the ships return from battle, a crowd of civilians is gathered at the navy yard. This includes the girlfriends of two of the main characters.
64	* Jack Ryan's wife and daughter in ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober''.
65	* Evelyn in ''Film/PearlHarbor'', for Rafe during the Battle of Britain and for Danny during the Doolittle raid.
66	* Colonel Moore's wife Julie in ''Film/WeWereSoldiers''. Others have girls back home too, but the [[ApronMatron positively regal]] way she keeps the home fires burning for the [[TeamMom whole base]], makes her the best representative of this in the movie.
67	* Male example, George Putnam in ''Amelia''.
68	* Glóin's wife in ''Film/TheHobbit''. He's one of the few married dwarves and carries a miniature of his wife with him at all times.
69	* In the Czech [=WW2=] ''Film/DarkBlueWorld'' (2001), the girl is more attracted to dashing fighter pilot Franta than the station master who serenades outside her window every night. But Franta has to go to England after the occupation of Czechoslovakia; when he returns, he finds she's married the station master and even his dog doesn't recognise him. He faces this stoically, along with his subsequent imprisonment by the Communist authorities [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished for having served in a foreign air force]].
70	* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger''. Colonel Phillips and Agent Peggy Carter are watching propaganda footage of the Howling Commandos in action, and the cameraman focusses on a picture of Peggy that Cap has inside the lid of his compass. Peggy is embarrassed but--it's implied--not exactly displeased.
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Literature]]
74	* ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'': Both of the wives of Horatio. Newlywed Hornblower is actually surprised to find he misses Maria since he married her out of pity, although not in books set later in his life because he dislikes her quite a lot by then. [[spoiler:He does love and miss Barbara, though.]]
75	* ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'':
76	** ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'':
77	*** The Gaffer and Rosie for Sam.
78	*** Both Éowyn and Faramir are this while in the Houses of Healing. It is implied that the strain of being the girl/boy back home for their respective friends is what drew them together in the first place. They wound up happily married by the end of the series.
79	*** Arwen is this for Aragorn.
80	** ''Literature/TheFallOfNumenor'': Deconstructed. Aldarion is Númenor's crown prince, but he loves sailing and exploring new lands above all things, and resents the way his wife Erendis wants to keep him perpetually tied to their homeland and her. For her part, Erendis hates his husband's love for the sea and his years-long absences from home. At the end, their marriage breaks down when Aldarion spends five years overseas and Erendis decides she has gotten sick of being a mariner's wife.
81	* ''Literature/OverTheWineDarkSea'': The father and sister of Sostratos.
82	* Male version: Roland in ''[[Literature/{{Discworld}} Wintersmith]].''
83	* In ''Literature/CaptainsCourageous'', there is a poignant scene in which the Gloucester fishing families gather at a church to listen to the yearly casualty report and several newly widowed women burst out in tears.
84	* The ''Literature/AubreyMaturin'' novel series, being a story of British Navy men, naturally has these for the lead characters - Jack Aubrey, of course, has his wife Sophie, and Stephen Maturin has Diana Villiers and, after Diana's death, Christine Wood.
85	* In ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'', the diminutive [[AllTrollsAreDifferent troll]] Binabik is betrothed to the daughter of the King and Queen of his people, but is forced by his oaths to his master and to the League of the Scroll to embark on long missions in the lands of the big people. Sisqi is not pleased to be kept waiting, but when, upon returning home, he is condemned to death for the apparent betrayal of his duties, she aids in rescuing him and later joins him as an emissary of their people.
86	* Sinead Terekhov, to her husband Aivars, in the Literature/{{Honorverse}} sub-series ''Saganami Island''. The novel ''The Shadow of Saganami'' essentially opens with them facing yet another separation as he is deployed to a distant part of the galaxy.
87	* ''Literature/RallyRoundTheFlagBoys'':
88	-->'''Private Roger Litwhiler:''' How do we convince them that we're miserable?\
89	'''Opie:''' Easiest thang in the world. Tell 'em how lonesome you are for the gal you left back home.\
90	'''Private Ernest J. Hoffman:''' ''[incredulously]'' Tell the ''new'' girl about the ''old'' girl?\
91	'''Opie:''' Why, shore. Then she knows she ain't scratchin' after a prize that nobody else wants.\
92	'''Citizen-soldiers:''' Ah!\
93	'''Private Gustave Morrissette:''' But what if you haven't got a girl back home?\
94	'''Opie:''' Then lie. But lie ''from the hort!''
95	* ''Literature/TheSwordOfSaintFerdinand'': Old soldier Fortún Paja mentions several times that he has a wife waiting for him back in Toledo as he serves in the royal army.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
99	* Theme song for the western ''Series/{{Rawhide}}'': Rawhide's contemplatin', his true love will be waitin', be waitin', at the end of the line.
100	* Mrs. Onedin in ''Series/TheOnedinLine''. Also James Onedin's sister.
101	* Auggie and Annie in ''Series/{{Covert Affairs}}'' have each been this to each other. However, it is usually Auggie who is the Guy Back Home because Auggie is blind and episodes where this is reversed are rare. Sometimes they work together in the field on the same mission but this is also rare; more commonly Auggie is MissionControl.
102	* Penny is this for Desmond in ''Series/{{Lost}}''.
103	* Towards the end of ''[[Series/{{Blackadder}} Blackadder Goes Forth]]'' Captain Darling reveals that he has a girlfriend, Doris, waiting for him back in England. Unfortunately, the final episode sees him reassigned to the front lines to take part in the "Big Push" across No-Man's Land. On arriving in the trenches he reveals he's made a list of things he'd planned to do once the war was over, the last of which is [[Tearjerker/{{Blackadder}} "Marry Doris".]]
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Music]]
107	* "The Girl I Left Behind Me" in numerous Creator/JohnWayne films.
108	* "Lily Marlene"
109	* "Girl At Home," on the extended edition of the RED Album by Music/TaylorSwift. It's talking about how the guy in the song shouldn't pursue her because 'he has a girl at home and everybody knows it'. Interesting inversion in that it's in the perspective of the girl who's being pursued.
110	* The Ulster song "Bonnie Woodgreen":
111	-->''It was way out in Flanders at the back of the line,\
112	We were talking 'bout sweethearts we'd all left behind,\
113	When one Irish soldier says, "I have a queen,"\
114	And she works in John Ross's of Bonnie Woodgreen."''
115	* The Russians have "Katyusha" ("Little Katie"), who waits for her soldier boy. [[FluffyTheTerrible The rocket launcher system of the same name]] was named after the song.
116	* The German army sings a similar manner about "Erika".
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
120	* ''Literature/TheOdyssey'': Penelope waited twenty years for her husband to return.
121	[[/folder]]
122
123	[[folder:Theatre]]
124	* The song "My Girl Back Home" in ''Theatre/SouthPacific''. Possible TropeNamer. The song was cut from the original production, but was used in the film and has been reinstated for the 2008 revival. Ironically the hero was singing that to rationalize cheating on his girl back home.
125	* In ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'', Alexander marries Eliza [[WartimeWedding early in the war]], and she and her unborn child become motivations for him while he's off fighting in the revolution.
126	-->'''Eliza:''' I knew you'd fight until the war was won--\
127	'''Alexander:''' The war's not done--\
128	'''Eliza:''' But you deserve a chance to meet your son
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Video Game]]
132	* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
133	** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEchoesShadowsOfValentia'':
134	*** Lukas has a lover waiting for him, as revealed in his DLC support with Python, although he admits that they might not actually be all that in love with each other, as Lukas doesn't actually miss her too much. His ending never mentions if he got married or not, so whether or not they did stay together is left ambiguous.
135	*** Defied by Tatiana, who tells her boyfriend Zeke that she'd rather use her WhiteMagicianGirl skills in battle than wait for him back home. While Zeke isn't too happy to see her fighting, he understands her reasons and promises to protect her.
136	** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'': Sirius (who is the same person as Zeke in the ''Echoes'' example above) plays this straight, returning to Archanea to fight on Nyna's behalf once more - yet returns to Valentia to reunite with Tatiana once his work is done.
137	* According to [[AllThereInTheManual the bios on the old website]] for ''VideoGame/GhostRecon1'', the Sniper specialist Scott Ibrahim is fond of talking of a girlfriend he has back at home. It's specifically noted, though, that nobody else in the unit has so much as [[FatalFamilyPhoto seen a picture of her]].
138	* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMana'': When she's first mentioned, Qucas describes Elena as being this for Roget. [[spoiler: Unlike most cases though, she's a soldier as well and when we meet her, she tries to kill Roget in revenge for both deserting [[TheEmpire Pedda]] and (albeit unwillingly) killing her younger brother Juhani]].
139	* ''VideoGame/{{Rengoku}}'': During the war, [[spoiler:Beatrice, a machine operator, has fallen in love with Captain Gram, a mercenary]], and waited for him to return. She cries TearsOfJoy [[spoiler:and horror when she notices the prototype-ADAM learning data had his memories inside]].
140	* Marina is this for Ashley in ''VideoGame/WildArms2''. She waits for him in Meria at the local bakery while he's off fighting terrorists and [[spoiler: world devouring universes with ARMS. At the end of the game, it's revealed they've [[BabiesEverAfter started a family together.]]]]
141	[[/folder]]
142
143	[[folder:Real Life]]
144	* In his memoir ''Quartered Safe Out Here'', Creator/GeorgeMacDonaldFraser tells how [[ApronMatron Grandmother McDonald]] on hearing the news of the outbreak of war simply said, "I guess the men will be going away again." Fraser lived in a part of Britain that had long provided soldiery and the people adjusted accordingly.
145	** This was also featured in his ''Literature/McAuslan'' series of short stories, where both sets of grandmothers have experienced waiting for soldiers to return from combat.
146	* Common enough in RealLife for UsefulNotes/{{Mormon\|ism}} girls -- most Mormon men, usually right after high school or college, go on two-year missions. These missions can be in places as diverse as Iowa, Australia, the Czech Republic, or Argentina -- but they are designed to keep the man far away from home. Even if he stays close, he is forbidden to see his girlfriend, so waiting for a missionary is a common event for LDS girls.
147	** Although slowly becoming a {{discredited trope}}, as increasing numbers of women choose to become [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missionary_(LDS_Church) Mormon missionaries]], and the near-universal trend (i.e. not limited to Mormons) of [[http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/12/14/marriage-rate-declines-and-marriage-age-rises/ increasing age at first marriage]].
148	* A very extreme version can be found in UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} spouses. They are often parted for long times and the girl or boy back home often has no idea what is happening. Not to mention they have to give an extraordinary amount of [[ThePowerOfTrust trust]] to someone who is after all a trained deceiver. It causes unusual strain on marriages, but in those cases where it actually [[HappilyMarried does work]], it can be an example of ThePowerOfLove.
149	** In other cases, the trope is averted. If the place they are posted to is relatively safe, they can bring their family with them. After all, "cover" basically means lying about one's job -- the vast majority of agents make absolutely no attempt to hide their ''names'', they merely claim to work for someone ''other'' than the CIA (usually the Department of State, but it can also be [[CovertGroupWithMundaneFront another government agency or even a private company]]).[[note]]Claiming to work for the government is called "official cover", since the agent gets DiplomaticImpunity; claiming to work for a private company is "unofficial" cover and is thus much riskier.[[/note]] So as long as the agent in question does a good job of that, their family isn't at further risk of leak or of being killed (the spouse or Significant Other generally knows, and the kids will just assume, along with everyone else, that Dad/Mom is a diplomat or something).
150	* In the UsefulNotes/FrenchForeignLegion, a photo of "the girl back home" is one of the six personal items a legionnaire is permitted to keep with them during basic training (the others being a cigarette case, a lighter, a toothbrush, a razor, and a French dictionary).
151	[[/folder]]

Context Main / MyGirlBackHome