Line #38 Main/StarsAreSouls


1	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/StarSoulsCoraline_2442.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Post-impressionist {{Heaven}}.]]
3
4	->''"He was trash but now he is eternal, like the stars in the sky... ah my partner!"''
5	-->--'''Biker Xavier''', ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite''
6
7	For thousands of years, man has gazed at the stars and wondered what they are. He made up stories and legends about them. One of those stories was that stars were souls or spirits, watching down upon the Earth.
8
9	This probably has its origins in modern stories in two sources. The first is Myth/GreekMythology, in which many of the constellations were heroes placed there by the gods for their heroic deeds. The second is Creator/{{Plato}}'s ''Cosmology'', which asserted that every soul has a companion star that it returns to upon death, so long as it lived a just life.
10
11	Another common interpretation inverts the original assumption, and instead holds that each star represents a living soul. When a new child is born a new star will appear in the sky and, when the star's associated person dies, it disappears. Some versions blend these two takes by having the star that appears to mark a person's death be, specifically, a falling star than soon vanishes over the horizon.
12
13	This is OlderThanFeudalism. This trope exists because of the logic of its SuperTrope, HeavenAbove, where anything skyward is associated with everything divine. Related to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence and DiedHappilyEverAfter. For cases where someone becomes a constellation or a specific star, see {{Stellification}}. Compare to WindsAreGhosts for another natural phenomenon associated with deceased spirits.
14
15	!!'''As a {{Death Trope\|s}}, all Spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''
16	----
17	!! Examples:
18
19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22	* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'': Each star in the AlienSky above Earth represents a living Contractor, which falls out of the sky when the Contractor dies.
23	* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': Everyone has a representative star, and it goes out when they die.
24	* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'': When [[spoiler:Chara Soon]] dies, a constellation of stars in her body's shape is superimposed over her [[DefeatEqualsExplosion exploding mobile suit]].
25	* ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'': Ai ([[DubNameChange Amber]]) believes she may become a star during her post-death monologue in ''[[Radio/PokemonTheBirthOfMewtwo The Birth of Mewtwo]]'' radio drama.
26	-->'''Dr Fuji''': Ai! Come back!\
27	'''Ai''': Sorry, Papa. I can't go back.\
28	'''Dr Fuji''': [[TearJerker No, I want to get you back! I don't want to be by myself!]]\
29	'''Ai''': It can't be helped. I'm probably going to become a star.
30	* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'':
31	** ''Manga/SailorMoon'': The final scene has Usagi placing her hand over her heart and saying a star was just born (her daughter conceived).
32	** ''Anime/SailorMoon'': TheNineties anime has an episode where a dreamy astronomy teacher references this trope during a show in which he and Taiki are participating. He believes that people become stars when they die. Taiki gets annoyed and says that stars can only be made by living people. Particularly interesting because in ''Sailor Moon'' a senshi's ''Star Seed'' is her essence -- this is what Taiki is referencing in this case. But a senshi can be reborn after death as long as her Star Seed intact, so it's the same thing as a soul.
33	* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'': Greiger seems to become a falling star when he disappears.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
37	* ''Animation/HappyHeroes'': Kalo mentions at the beginning of the "God of War Legend" story arc that he's heard a legend about heroes turning into stars in the sky upon their death, as rays of light and hope, and he wonders to himself if he'll become a star. He actually does perform a HeroicSacrifice at the end of the arc, and Arcas consoles his friend Careful S. afterwards, repeating this same sentiment.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Comic Books]]
41	* ''ComicBook/ManThing'': In one issue, Korrek recounts a story from the mythology of his people that has a man venturing into the sky to pick a star as a gift to his lover. The stars are made of the souls of warriors, so upon bringing the thing down, it turns back into one, who kills the man and steals his woman.
42	* ''ComicBook/MarvelComics2'': In ''Last Hero Standing'', Loki made a last ditch attempt to destroy all the heroes. He was thwarted, but not without heavy casualties, Captain America among them. Allfather Thor honors him by transforming his body into a star whose corona resembles his shield, visible from Earth to all as an enduring symbol of hope.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Fan Works]]
46	* ''Fanfic/The61stAnnualHungerGames'': Combined with {{Stellification}}. After Barley [[spoiler:paints a picture out of mud of the deceased Dagan and Clarisse, two stars that she's never seen before appear in the sky]].
47	* ''Fanfic/CellarSecrets'': Somewhat. Satsuki doesn't say that stars are souls, but alludes to an afterlife by telling Ryuuko that their late father has gone to "where the stars are".
48	* ''[[http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/03/story-circle-of-friends.html The Circle of Friends]]'': Twilight Sparkle's five deceased friends form a circle of five stars in the night sky, with a little empty space for one more star.
49	* ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestriaProjectHorizons'': In the sequel ''Homelands'', the shamanistic zebras regard the stars as particularly dangerous spirits, whom only the most insane and/or evil shamans dare to deal with. There's a tribe of star worshippers, the Starkatteri, shunned and distrusted by the rest, who once tried to to use the star-granted power to TakeOverTheWorld and ended up nearly destroying it.
50	* ''Fanfic/FromBehindBars'': Most animals believe that you become a star upon dying.
51	* ''Fanfic/LostTalesOfFantasia'': Stars are the souls of the children of humans and magical beings, if they were good. If they were bad, they become demons instead.
52	* Creator/TheNamelessDoll: Ariel's death in ''Young & Beautiful'' is signified by stars twinkling.
53	* ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'': The {{Celestial Bod\|y}}ies of the [[TopGod Alicorn Elders]] have stars that are this trope. In the case of the Father, [[GeniusLoci he's]] {{Heaven}} and the stars are the souls of the righteous dead inhabiting him. In the case of Fauna Luster, she's the birthplace of souls and the stars are souls preparing to depart for life.
54	* ''Fanfic/SharingTheNight'': An unusual variant. [[spoiler:When the stars were first formed, many fell to earth and remained embedded within mortal ponies, granting them a tiny sliver of innate magic. Ever since, every pony has been born with a star inside of them, which is the source of their natural magic and vitality. These move on to other ponies after death, and Twilight speculates that reports of people who can recall past lives might be due to some ponies being able to access the memories of those who carried their particular star in earlier times.]]
55	* ''Fanfic/SomeSemblanceOfMeaning'': When [[TheIngenue Vale]] is stargazing and comments about how stars last forever, and [[PrivilegedRival Obsidian]] tells her that they fade and die like people do. She then tells him that, like people, they might go out eventually, but while they live, they're all given an opportunity to shine, and once they die, more stars are born to take their place, so the sky is never dark.
56	* ''Fanfic/TellMeAboutYourAncestors'': [=ShadowClan=] cats believe in the canonical [=StarClan=]. After death, a cat's spirits ascend to live in the stars. Once a cat's name is no longer spoken by any living cat or any [=StarClan=] cat they knew in life, the cat is {{reincarnat\|ion}}ed.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
60	* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': In the films, Toa heroes are represented by Spirit Stars that appear in the sky while their respective Toa is alive and even follow their locations. They can also foretell the coming of a new Toa. When a former Toa dies and their successors complete a certain task, earning the right to be called Toa, their Spirit Star splits into new stars. [[spoiler:Written material later explained these aren't actual stars, just projected beackons coming from [[PhysicalGod Mata Nui]].]]
61	* ''Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon'':
62	** ''Franchise/TheLionKing'':
63	*** ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': Simba says he was taught that the stars are the spirits of the old kings, which gets a confirmation when he later gets a starry vision of his father. Timon, on the other hand, claims that stars are fireflies that got stuck in the sky. Amusingly, Pumbaa proposes the [[GeniusBonus scientifically correct explanation]] ("balls of gas burning billions of miles away") and is brushed off. When Simba tells them what he thinks, they laugh at such an idea.
64	*** ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'': Kiara mentions that Simba told her the above all the time, leading Kovu to wonder if Scar is also up there.
65	** ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'': [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Originally, Pocahontas' mother's spirit was supposed to be represented by a single bright star in the sky]]. However, because the ''Lion King'' team was already using this trope, it was decided that the ''Pocahontas'' crew needed to do something different, hence the motif of [[WindsAreGhosts leaves blowing on the breeze]].
66	** ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': Ray the firefly is in love with the Evening Star, whom he thinks is a lady firefly named Evangeline. When he dies, he becomes a star, and hangs right next to "her" in the sky. [[MythologyGag Meaning Timon was right all along]].
67	* In ''Animation/SonOfTheWhiteHorse'', the White Mare's spirit becomes a star leading his son Treeshaker to his two brothers, then to the gate to the Underworld. Throughout, constellations also symbolize events, objects, creatures and people, and it's implied the protagonists eventually become stars too on a "diamond field" (field of stars) in an "eggshell" (the sky dome). Modern technology and pollution dim the light of said stars, representing the loss of old values.
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
71	* ''Film/{{Dragonheart}}'': Good dragons who die become a star in the Draco constellation. This happens to Draco when he dies.
72	-->'''Draco''': "To the stars Bowen. To the stars."
73	* ''Film/DontEatthePictures'': An Egyptian prince named Sahu is trapped under a spell cast by [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Osiris]], the Egyptian god of the underworld, which [[BarredFromTheAfterlife traps him on Earth]] until he can solve a demon's riddle... which Sahu has been trying to do every night for over four thousand years. When Sahu, with help from Big Bird, correctly answers the riddle, he and his cat rejoin his parents as stars in the sky.
74	* ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'': At the beginning, some angels are talking and the visuals shown are a galaxy and a nebula that flash in synch with their voices. Then Clarence is summoned and a smaller star shoots into view. Clarence is also explained to have died previously, although it's not mentioned whether the other two angels were ever people.
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Literature]]
78	* ''Literature/TheDarkangelTrilogy'': Deceased people become stars in the night sky; when the protagonist frees the darkangel's victims/wives from undeath, they form a new constellation with a gap in it, and she figures they've reserved a space for her when it's her time.
79	* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'': {{Subverted\|Trope}}. Upon ascending into Heaven, it seems as if every human soul ascends to a different Heavenly body, whether it be a star or one of the planets. Our hero finds it odd that somehow the pagan philosophers were right about this, but God's messenger, Beatrice, explains that the souls only appear on different stars and planets to help our hero understand the distinctions between types of saints.
80	* ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'': Stars over Krynn are portals to the plane of Radiance, but each new one is created upon a HeroicSacrifice -- inhabitants of the world being aware of this fact, and [[BittersweetEnding supposedly rejoicing]].
81	* ''Literature/EarthsChildren'': ''The Clan of the Cave Bear'' contains a scene where Creb tells Ayla and Uba that stars are the hearth fires of those who have died and passed on to the world of the spirits. He also says the Clan's totem spirits have their own "fires" and points out the "fires" of the Cave Bear and the Cave Lion.
82	* ''János vitéz'', a Hungarian epic poem by Sándor Petőfi, has a scene where the eponymous János is travelling in the mountains with his comrades in the army at night and they are so high up they can literally reach the stars. János muses to himself, "They say each star is the soul of someone living..." then goes on to say that the WickedStepmother of his LoveInterest should count her blessings János has no way of knowing which star is whose because if he did he would knock it off of the sky, killing her.
83	* ''Literature/TheLittleMatchGirl'': The little girl's grandmother told her falling stars represent someone dying. As she sits in the cold, unable to get warm, afraid to go home since she's sold no matches, the little girl sees a star fall.
84	* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Eärendil doesn't die, but he became a star anyway because the Silmaril on his ship that he uses to sail in the void among the stars shines brightly enough to be seen as one.
85	* ''Literature/OldKingdom'': The [[AfterlifeAntechamber River of Death]] ends beneath the Ninth Gate, a night sky teeming with infinite stars. As the souls of the dead pass on, they rise up, suffused with light, to form a new star.
86	* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': In ''The Titan's Curse'', the goddess Artemis's {{Lancer}} Zoe Nightshade is killed. She is honored with a whole constellation called the Huntress.
87	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': The Dothraki believe that the stars of the spirits of the valiant dead, riding flaming horses across the sky.
88	* ''Literature/TailchasersSong'': At the end, [[spoiler:Viror Whitewind]]'s spirit is freed after [[spoiler:his evil brother Hearteater]] is killed, and he becomes a new star in the sky.
89	* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': When a Clan cat dies they go to [=StarClan=]. (Except the evil ones, who instead go to the Dark Forest.) The Tribe of Rushing Water, which shares a common ancestry with the clans, calls it the Tribe of Endless Hunting.
90	* ''Literature/WestOfEden'': The stone-age people believe the stars to be "tharms" (souls) of dead warriors.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
94	* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'': Baldrick seems to believe that, when George dies ''Blackadder the Third'', a new star appeared in the sky. He [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} also believes]] in a giant pink pixie in the sky.
95	-->'''Baldrick''': "There's a new star in the heavens tonight. Another freckle on the nose of the giant pixie."
96	* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Eärendil, Elrond's father is mentioned in episode 5. Celebrimbor recounts to Elrond that he was there the night his father decided to sail to Valinor and ask for the Valar's help. In a moment of incertitude, Elrond watches the stars where his father is, the the scene transits to his statue in Armenelos.
97	* ''Franchise/UltraSeries''
98	** ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'': When Ultraman is forced to dispose of the [[GentleGiant peaceful]] [[ArtInitiatesLife drawing-based]] kaiju Gabadon to the dismay of its child creators, he instead turns the creature into a constellation so the kids will always be able to see their handiwork in the night sky (not unlike what the Greek gods do).
99	** ''Series/ReturnOfUltraman'': Ultraman Jack turns deceased kaiju into constellations on two different occasions. First time to the undead Stegon when children beg him not to kill the creature as [[NonMaliciousMonster sympathy for its grave being disturbed]]; and second time to Magnedon, a GentleGiant with MagnetismManipulation whom Jack feels bad for killing.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Music]]
103	* Music/JanetJackson has "Together Again", a song about accepting the death of a loved one, whose chorus says that she can see her lost one smiling down as a star in the sky.
104	-->''Everywhere I go\
105	Every smile I see\
106	I know you are there\
107	Smilin' back at me\
108	Dancin' in moonlight\
109	I know you are free\
110	'Cause I can see your star\
111	Shinin' down on me''
112	* Music/LemonDemon: Parodied in ''Jaws'', which states that after a character is killed he becomes a shooting star.
113	-->''but OH MY SHIT!''\
114	''Jaws jumps out, and Quint gets bit!''\
115	''Right in half, like a kit-kat bar!''\
116	''Up in the sky there's a shooting star''\
117	''That's Quint. Up in heaven. He's a star now.''
118	* Music/{{Rammstein}}: "Engel" (Angel) states that good people become angels after death, which are visible in the sky as stars.
119	-->''Who in their lifetime is good on Earth''\
120	''will become an angel after death (...)''\
121	''Once the clouds have gone to sleep''\
122	''you can see us in God's keep''\
123	''we are afraid and alone.''
124	* Music/LinkinPark: “One More Light” uses the inversion.
125	-->''Who cares if one more light goes out?''\
126	''In a sky of a million stars''\
127	''It flickers, flickers''\
128	''Who cares when someone's time runs out?''\
129	''If a moment is all we are''\
130	''We're quicker, quicker''\
131	''Who cares if one more light goes out?''\
132	''Well, I do.''\
133	[[/folder]]
134
135	[[folder:Myth and Legend]]
136	* Myth/ClassicalMythology is rife with this.
137	** Orion was made into a constellation after being killed by Apollo's scorpion (also a constellation).
138	** Perseus and Hercules each got one constellation commemorating their exploits.
139	** Leo is the Nemean Lion. Sometimes there's no reason he's up there, sometimes Hera put him up there.
140	** Cancer is Karkinous, the crab Hera sent to attack Hercules while he was battling the Lernean Hydra. One version of the myth has it that this GiantEnemyCrab was only a minor inconvenience to Hercules, who kicked him so hard that he flew into the sky and that was how it turned into a constellation.
141	** Canis Major and Minor are the hound Laelaps and the Teumessian Fox--the hound could catch any prey and the fox could never be caught. Turning them into constellations was the only way out of the LogicBomb.
142	** Aquarius is Ganymede, Zeus'... cupbearer, among other things. Hera was so not amused by Zeus giving him the job (which was filled by their daughter Hebe beforehand) that Zeus had to turn Ganymede into a constellation to keep him safe.
143	** Depending on the myth, the constellation Auriga is made up of charioteers placed there by the gods in thanks for the invention of the chariot.
144	** Bootes is either the inventor of the wagon placed there in thanks, or Icarus who was murdered when his wine was mistaken for poison and placed there by Dionysus.
145	** Centaurus (or Sagittarius depending on the version) is Chiron, the wisest of the centaurs who surrendered his immortality after being pricked with a poison arrow.
146	** Corvus is Coronis, a lover of Apollo's. When she was unfaithful to him, his twin sister Artemis killed her and Apollo placed her among the stars.
147	** Andromeda and her mother Cassiopeia were put in the sky as constellations for bad-mouthing the gods. How becoming a constellation can be a used as a reward ''and'' a punishment isn't clear -- maybe it depends if the gods draw a flattering picture? Although Cassiopeia was supposed to be sitting in a topsy-turvy throne, hanging upside down ''forever''.
148	** Ursa Major and Minor:
149	*** Ursa Major and Minor were said to be one of Zeus' mistresses and her child. Supposedly Hera ensured the two never dipped below the horizon because she carried a grudge; this predicates on a story that the area where the stars live is hot, and the stars welcome a cool dip in the ocean when they descend below the horizon.
150	*** Another version of Ursa Major and Minor has the mistress being turned into a bear not by Hera, but by ''Artemis'', as said mistress was her hunter raped by Zeus.
151	*** In one version, the child was turned into a bear(cub) when he happened upon his mother (in bear form), in a desperate bid by Zeus to prevent from the mother bear from killing him. [[MamaBear It worked.]]
152	*** In another version, the son of the mistress was found and raised by a human family, growing into a hunter. Zeus turned him into a bear cub to prevent him from hunting his mother, who'd had no problem recognizing her son, but forgot that bears are scary.
153	** The Pliades, who were turned into stars by Zeus to confront Orion, their father (who is also a constellation.) There's also a myth that they were saddened by their father's fate or their siblings' fate, and Zeus turned them into stars.
154	** Gemini, the twins, are Castor and Pollux, (half)twin brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. One was mortal, the other was not. When the mortal one died, his brother either got so depressed that Zeus took pity on them and made sure they were never separated again, or marched down to the Underworld, found his brother there, ''and refused to leave until Zeus made sure they were never separated again.''
155	* The stars Vega and Altair are said to be a pair of lovers separated by a great river (the milky way) in many eastern legends. There's a festival when they meet once a year in China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and possibly other places.
156	%% * {{Heaven}} is sometimes depicted this way.
157	* In Japan, children are commonly told that a deceased person has become a star in the sky. (Rather than mythology this is more akin to the "babies come from storks" explanation.)
158	%% Please name the tribe and describe the customs/specific beliefs involved. * At least one indigenous tribe in North America believed people became stars when they died.
159	* UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}} mocks this idea (which was popular with pagan and Christian beliefs at the time) by suggesting that the [[OurArchonsAreDifferent Archons]] (which typically embody the celestial bodies) eat the souls of the deceased.
160	* Several Myth/AboriginalAustralianMyths suggest that the souls of the dead reside in the sky (the "sky-world"). Some modern interpretations take this as representing the souls as stars.
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
164	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': 4th Edition cast a negative light over this trope: each star in the sky is an aspect of an EldritchAbomination outside the world, peering into reality. The Warlock class (who are not nice people) gain power from those stars, and their magic spells have particularly Lovecraftian flavor. Would anyone want to be watched by those stars?
165	* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': Gods and mortals alike each have their own star which represents their Destiny. When someone dies, their star flickers out. One can affect someone's Destiny by affecting their star, though this is a privilege belonging to the members of Bureau of Destiny (e.g. Sidereals).
166	[[/folder]]
167
168	[[folder:Theater]]
169	* ''Theatre/JosephAndTheAmazingTechnicolorDreamcoat'': Alluded to in the song "One More Angel in Heaven", where Joseph's brothers inform Jacob about Joseph's "death" by saying that there's one more angel in Heaven and one more star in the sky.
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	[[folder:Video Games]]
173	* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': The stars in the represent worlds as a whole and [[TheStarsAreGoingOut disappear from the night sky when that particular world is submerged in darkness]]. ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' has the [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Pride Lands]] as a world, which reaffirms the plot point from the movie that the old rulers of Pride Rock become stars in the sky upon death. This is also shown in ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth by Sleep]]'', when, after Master Xehanort strikes down Master Eraqus in front of a horrified Terra, Yen Sid notes, "Eraqus's star has blinked out." The contradictions can just be chalked up to the worlds running on the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality.
174	* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'': Maxim and his comrade/wife, Selan, kick the bucket at the conclusion. However, the epilogue expands on the events, with Maxim soldiering on even after his party has frittered away and Selan has been killed. He dies from exhaustion after completing his mission, whereupon he sees Selan's spirit and turns into a star. The pair of them float across the [[OverworldNotToScale world map]] and take one last look at their infant son, who seems to sense their presence.
175	* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll'': Discussed. A ringmaster uses this as an euphemism for death for his animal tamer daughter. (In the Japanese version, the ringmaster says the dead are sleeping.) Problem is, the daughter truly believes in this, and in a roundabout way this leads to a murder.
176	* ''VideoGame/TheRevengeOfShinobi'': If you take too long defeating the FinalBoss, your girlfriend gets crushed, and you see her in the sky instead of at your side in the ending cutscene.
177	* ''VideoGame/{{Spiritfarer}}'': Spirits brought to the Everdoor become new constellations.
178	* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', after Ysera, the former Green Dragon Aspect, is slain, the moon goddess Elune herself reaches down, purifies Ysera's soul from the Emerald Nightmare's corruption and places it in the sky as a constellation.
179	* ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'': When you defeat Raphael the Raven, he becomes a constellation.
180	[[/folder]]
181
182	[[folder:Web Original]]
183	* ''WebVideo/PiratesSMP'': In a metaphorical sense, but the association is there; Acho spends most of the series periodically chatting with a character represented by the stars in the night sky, implied [[spoiler:and later confirmed]] to be a deceased loved one. [[spoiler:Graecie and Scott, respectively stars friend and brother, independently continue this tradition in the finale in regard to Acho after stars own passing.]]
184	-->'''[[spoiler:Graecie]]:''' Every night, I'll look up… and I'll see you in the stars… and the freedom of the waves… the bravery of the other pirates… Every day, the moon will bring you to the highest point, and I will… I will see you then.
185	* ''Website/{{Serina}}'': In the religious beliefs of the woolly trunkos, the dead become stars and watch over their living relatives.
186	* ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'': In an ''Extra Punctuation'' entry released after [[Creator/BenCroshaw Yahtzee]] played ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor,'' he relates that he ([[MindControl forcibly]]) made friends with a certain orc named Khosh the Drunk, which he went on many adventures with. When his buddy was killed in a castle raid gone awry, he says that "There was a new star in the sky that night. A little sweaty green one that drank too much."
187	[[/folder]]
188
189	[[folder:Western Animation]]
190	* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'':
191	** At the end of the episode "Shadow of Courage", Courage convinces the shadow of a deceased rich man to become the shadow of a real star (since he can't help it become a showbiz star). The Shadow rises to the sky and it becomes a bright star.
192	** In "[[Recap/CourageTheCowardlyDogS4E49 Last of the Star Makers]]", the mother Star Maker (a giant space squid) dies and turns into a huge carpet of stars.
193	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E9AppleFamilyReunion Apple Family Reunion]]", Applejack's absent parents (heavily implied to be dead) are represented by a pair of shooting stars.
194	[[/folder]]
195
196	[[folder:Real Life]]
197	* Carl Sagan once pointed out, [[DoingInTheWizard from a physics perspective]], that [[http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/144310-the-nitrogen-in-our-dna-the-calcium-in-our-teeth "The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff."]] In other words, stars aren't made of dead people, people [[InvertedTrope are made of dead stars]]. However, some individuals believe that the remains of people who are [[BurialInSpace launched into space]] will eventually become stardust, and maybe even stars again via decomposition.
198	* There exists a fringe scientific hypothesis [[http://www.gregmatloff.com/Edge%20Science%20Matloff-ES29.pdf that the stars are conscious]], called Panpsychism or Stellar Consciousness. This is an alternative to the Dark Matter hypothesis (which is widely accepted by scientists but hasn't been definitively proven) and is one explanation for why stars move around the centers of their galaxies faster than can be accounted for by the gravitational pull of observable matter; they're moving of their own volition, and are in a sense alive. It should be noted, though, that even ''if'' the stars are conscious, they would likely have thoughts and goals that are [[BlueAndOrangeMorality utterly]] [[BizarreAlienPsychology alien]] to humans, making them much closer to {{Eldritch Abomination}}s than this trope.
199	[[/folder]]
200

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