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An antagonist discovers the hero they've opposed for quite a while has apparently met their end, death or otherwise. After all these years, they're gone. It's too good to be true.
Cue a rather bizarre sense of a loss. This may just be the result of the loss of the thing that was a driving motivation in the first place, but occasionally the villain might even seem to genuinely miss him. Luckily, the hero may well turn up alive somewhere else, and the mourning will quickly be dismissed as things return to status quo. Also a common cause of Foe Yay.
Contrast And There Was Much Rejoicing. Sister trope of Victory Is Boring. When the fandom does this to a hated character's death, they mourn Alas Poor Scrappy.
As a Death Trope, all Spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.
Examples
Anime and Manga
- In Lupin III, Inspector Zenigata's obsessive pursuit of Lupin tends to make him very unsettled whenever Lupin is actually caught, although this is always temporary. Zenigata also openly mourned the loss of Lupin when he was thought killed.
- At the beginning of Yu Yu Hakusho, one of the things that convinces the stuck-in-limbo Yuusuke to come back to life is his rival Kuwabara's tearful bellows to 'come back and fight him' at Yuusuke's funeral.
- Although most likely never taught the philosophical and spiritual side of Martial Arts in her training, Triela of Gunslinger Girl solemnly and sadly returned Pinocchio's treasured key-ring to him after slaying him in single combat, paying her final respects to a fellow warrior.
- Viral of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann felt this for a long time after learning that his rival, Kamina, died.
- Nagi in Tenchi Muyo's Universe continuity has something like this in the final episode after Ryoko's apparent death, though she's also noticeably skeptical as they Never Found The Body.
- Technically, they were supposed to be on the same side, but since they spent the majority of their mutual appearances trying to take each other apart, Alucard's visible distress as Father Anderson dies in the Hellsing manga likely qualifies. Justified in that it seemed he'd been hoping for Anderson to be the one who was finally able to kill him.
- In Fullmetal Alchemist, Envy throws a full-on temper tantrum, complete with punching a crater into the floor when he finds out that Dante already "killed" Hohenheim of Light. Obviously, he wanted to do it himself.
- In Legend of Galactic Heroes, most of the top rank officers in the Imperial Army, not to mention the Emperor Reinhard, mourn for Yang Wenli.
- Yang also mourned for Siegfried Kircheis, saying he felt like he'd lost a friend.
- In Death Note, Light feels a profound sense of loss when he finally defeats L. Even going so far as to see an apparition of him in a chair next to him when he is lost in thought.
- I wouldn't call it "a profound sense of loss." I think it's just difficulty acclimating to a climate in which L is not a factor. In any case, the evil grin was a dead giveaway - while Light respects L as an opponent (maybe) killing him was always the goal. God has no regrets.
- There are numerous hints here and there that Light appreciates L on some level - such as when, after L's lying "first friend" speech, Light has to explicitly remind himself that killing L is the right thing to do. Once he regains his memories, he's all about his moment of triumph, and how he's manipulated events so that every step L takes in the investigation leads him to his grave. Then there's the funeral, of course, when Light is so glad to have L out of the way that he actually rolls on his grave. It's a few days after that that Light's moping around the HQ desolate that "there's no challenge with L gone". Remember how heavily he's motivated by boredom; by second arc, he remembers L almost fondly!
- When he goes to face Near and thinks that he's defeated Near's final maneuver, he remarks that Near is "far below L." This indicates that he does respect L on some level.
- In Guyver, Aptom actually watches over the friends of his rival Sho for an entire year, to the point of absorbing/eating other Zoanoids so he'd have a reason to return.
- Recently in One Piece, this trope gets played with in the case of Buggy. After Whitebeard dies, he flees crying (mainly because he's scared witless). His current crew, however, sees his tears as invoking this trope.
- In Transformers Armada, Megatron seems to be genuinely upset when he finally manages to kill Optimus Prime.
- After Cell is defeated in Dragon Ball Z, Vegeta is so distraught at Goku's death, that he vows that he'll never fight again.
Comic Books
- In Superman comics, when Superman returned from his exile in space, Lex Luthor thought "Strange. I must admit, I'm almost glad. Despite the strife ... regardless of the inconveniences ... A world without Superman can be pretty mundane, indeed." On the other hand, when Superman was killed by Doomsday, Lex's grief was entirely due to seeing himself as The Only One Allowed To Defeat Him.
- The Rorschach quote above, spoken as he sees Moloch visit The Comedian's grave at the end of the Watchmen chapter "Absent Friends".
- Subverted in Captain Atom #50: Wade Eiling seemed genuinely sorrowful at Dr. Megala's death, but it soon turned out that he was just upset that Megala's death would trigger the failsafe that would reveal all the dirty secrets of the Captain Atom Project to the American public.
- Deadpool actually bit the bucket a couple times or so in his first series, but the case interested by this trope was when he got liquefied by the Weapon X brass because he did not agree with their company guidelines (read: killing children). In the next issue, at Deadpool's funeral, his absolute sworn eternal archnemesis of doom T-Ray resurrects him with magic. He did it just so he could play Mind Screw with Wade again, but still.
- Civil War: The Confession is entirely about this. The fact that said antagonist was formerly best friends with the dead hero and never intended him to die just makes his victory all the more heartbreakingly Pyrrhic.
- In one of Captain America's earlier 'deaths', his Friendly Enemy Batroc the Leaper bids him a tearful farewell.
Batroc: I will miss you, mon ami.
- In Batman: Going Sane by J.M. DeMatteis, a series of issues of Batman, Batman supposedly dies, and the Joker apparently becomes sane, got cosmetic surgery, and began calling himself Joseph Kerr....
- As he lay on his deathbed, Captain Marvel (not that one, the one that belongs to Marvel) had been disowned by his race, the Kree, as a traitor. But the Skrull, whom he had fought for most of his life, sent a representative to present him with a medal reserved solely for Worthy Opponents of the Skrull.
- Done with historical figures in Sandman.
Augustus Caesar: "... What was it like, Lycius? In the days of the Republic? It was chaos, held at bay by a handful of men: Cicero, for example."
Lycius the Dwarf: "The lawyer? My father told me about him. He was a great man, wasn't he?"
Augustus: "Yes. A fine mind, and an honourable man. The last of the giants."
Lycius: "Cicero... whatever happened to him?"
Augustus: "I had him killed."
Film
- Given a nod in Kill Bill, when Bud and Elle think The Bride is dead. Bud asks Elle, who considered The Bride a personal rival/nemesis, which R she feels: Relief, or Regret.
- More importantly, when Beatrix is weeping in the bathroom after she kills Bill.
- Bill the Butcher in the movie Gangs of New York commemorated the death of his Worthy Opponent "Priest" Vallon every year with a public celebration. At one point he laments that, of all the people he'd killed, Vallon was the only one worth remembering.
- In Grumpy Old Men, the eponymous characters, John and Max, have been bitter antagonists for years. During the course of their biggest fight yet, John suffers a heart attack and nearly dies. A visibly shaken Max goes to see him in the hospital, and when the nurse asks if he's a relative, replies, "He's my best friend."
- Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride has an interesting variation: while Inigo certainly doesn't mourn Rugen, he finds himself somewhat at a loss without his lifelong quest for revenge. Fortunately, Wesley has an ideal solution: "Have you ever considered piracy? You would make an excellent Dread Pirate Roberts." Interesting is that this one is a Protagonist In Mourning.
- In Kagemusha when the death of Shingen Takeda is finally revealed, one of his rivals sings a song of mourning.
- Lampshaded by M. Bison in Street Fighter after learning that Guile was seemingly killed in some random prison escape, claiming that he deserved the honor of going out with a broken spine at Bison's hands.
- Nobody dies, but in the movie Spider-Man 2, Spidey hangs up (actually, throws out) the spandex. Jameson is just beginning to admit that the world is a darker place without him when the costume he had bought and pinned to his wall was swiftly abducted, changing his opinion mid-sentence.
- In X-Men 3 Magneto sincerely grieves over Xavier's death and even cuts his Dragon Pyro's irreverent talk about the deceased abruptly.
Literature
- Happens to Alanna in Tamora Pierce's Tortall Universe the first time she kills Roger. ( He got better, so she had to kill him again, this time for realsies).
- A temporary example in the first Artemis Fowl book when Holly mourns Artemis' "death".
- Commander Root also displays a mild version of this when Mulch Diggums fakes his death.
- In The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy, a Soviet general shows up at the eponymous character's funeral, despite the fact the Cardinal was a traitor and American agent - but he was a national hero after all.
- While the general seems to accept the explanation and stays out of respect, he shows up without knowing the reason, only having been asked by the President of the United States, and as a person connected to the embassy, it would not do for him to decline.
- Several times in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao is respectful of the soldiers he captures and cannot persuade to join his army, forcing him to execute them. He demands their loyalty be recognized and has them buried with full honors.
- In The Book of Dreams, the last book of Jack Vance's Demon Princes series, the last line is Gersten contemplating the fact that he has destroyed all five of the Princes, completing the vengeance he was raised from boyhood to achieve: "I have been deserted by my enemies. Treesong is dead. The affair is over. I am done."
- Stephen Vincent Benet's "Elegy for an Enemy".
- Exit Music, the last Inspector Rebus novel (for now...?) by Ian Rankin. Rebus's arch-nemesis Big Ger Cafferty, the man who has been behind - or at least involved with - practically every criminal plot Rebus has ever investigated, suffers a heart attack at the end of the book. Rebus leaps on him, starts CPR, shouts for medical assistance, and quite disturbingly shouts "Don't die... don't let him die!!"
Live Action TV
- The Dukes of Hazzard did an episode where Roscoe thought the Bo and Luke had drowned. Roscoe, who had spent years as an enemy of the Duke family, was genuinely mourning them as much as their friends and family. The narrator had a line that sums up this trope, "Sometimes losing an enemy can be like losing a friend."
- Stephen Colbert on Fidel Castro's retirement:
Stephen: I'm conflicted here. Sure I'm happy he's gone, [tearing up] but I have spent so much time hating him... that I think I love him.
- Wiseguy. Music industry Big Bad Winston Newquay is genuinely upset over the death of his long-time rival Isaac Twine, though that doesn't stop Newquay carrying out his side of their bet to dance on the grave of the one who dies first.
- A version where the protagonist mourns the antagonist is in Doctor Who, when the Doctor is shaken by and mourns the (apparently permanent) death of the Master. Of course, at that point their relationship pretty much defines Foe Yay.
- Heroic version on The Wire: When Stringer Bell is murdered, McNulty is distraught, as he finally had acquired the evidence to bring him in for good.
- The Trickster would probably mourn if the TV version of The Flash were killed, as evidenced by his scolding his female assistant when she even suggests killing the unconscious speedster. He even threatens her for trying to unmask the Flash, as his antagonistic fixation depends on the hero being some kind of god.
- Both the beginnings of a Heel Face Turn and a Crowning Moment Of Funny in the sixth season of Lost:
Ben Linus: [delivering a eulogy] John Locke was a believer, he was a man of faith. He was a much better man than I will ever be, and I'm very sorry I murdered him.
- Bonus funny points because none of the other characters were aware of that last bit beforehand. Cue some reactions of "wait, what?!?"
- In a period of the show before their relationship became friendlier, Police Captain Leland Stottlemeyer became upset in an episode of Monk when he thought the title character was dead, despite not liking him very much. Humorously, he says "I loved that man", then finds out he's still alive, then says "I hate that man!"
Theatre
- Done brilliantly in the play Amadeus where Salieri is for many years Mozart's Unknown Rival and seeming friend, but works covertly to ruin his life. As Mozart continues to produce great works while losing everything, Salieri ironically ends up becoming the only person who realizes the full extent of Mozart's greatness and thus ultimately mourns him more than anyone else.
Video Games
- In Sonic Adventure 2, Dr. Robotnik utters a respectful farewell to Sonic after he thinks he's killed him.
- Shadow watches Sonic's "death", commenting, "I guess he was just a regular hedgehog after all..." in a slightly disappointed tone.
- In Tales of Vesperia, after helping to orchestrate a long chain of events that involves the death of Don Whitehorse, Yeager proves himself to be a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold when he shows up in Dahngrest with a bouquet of flowers, indicating that while what he did was business, he personally regrets the loss very much and needs time to mourn before returning to his job. At least, as far as the party can figure out.
- On the online game Dragon Fable, Warlic is killed by his apprentice, Natherya. The people of Falconreach hold a funeral in front of a statue of him. Then, his greatest enemy Xan shows up, obviously angry over his death. However, Xan says that HE wanted to be the one to kill him, and is given the idea to bring him back to life just to kill him again. Do the math and guess how that turns out.
- Happens in Worldof Warcraft when you kill Illidan. His last words to Maiev are "You have won...Maiev...But the huntress...is nothing...without the hunt...You...are nothing...without...me..." She agrees.
- Some of a light-side player's dialogue after killing Malak in Knights Of The Old Republic.
Web Comics
Western Animation
Other
- Probably partially Truth In Television, many movies and games involving the mafia show that mobsters go to each other's funerals and provide for each other's families, even if they themselves had been responsible for the death. For examples:
- In Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, Don Salieri is completely depressed after thinking that the main character had succeeded in killing his best friend and adviser, who had betrayed him after his wife and child were kidnapped. In truth Tom (the main character), spared him after saving his family and setting right what his betrayal screwed up.
- However, that didn't stop him from finding out he was still alive, having him killed for real and putting out a hit on Tom for having spared him.
Real Life
- Uesugi Kenshin reportedly cried at the death of his greatest opponent, Takeda Shingen, with whom he had previously fought a lengthy series of battles; at four hundred years old, this is Older Than Steam.
- Fidel Castro felt this way about President Kennedy; when asked about his assassination, Castro said, "What I felt when I heard that news is someone who has an adversary, someone who respects his adversary and all of a sudden, someone else kills his adversary. A boxer in the ring for example, and the adversary is shot to death in the middle of the boxing match."
- Manfred von Richthofen was regarded with the greatest respect by most Allied airmen. When he was eventually shot down and killed in 1918, his aircraft crashed behind allied lines in a sector controlled by the Australian Imperial Force, and he was given a funeral with full military honours by No. 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps.
- Julius Caesar wept at the death of his friend turned rival Pompey the Great, after being presented with his severed head and hand by the Egyptians after Pompey tried to seek sanctuary with them. He believed Pompey deserved a far more dignified end.
- In the HBO series, he actually tracks down the man who killed Pompey (a Roman who had been stationed in Egypt), executes him, and desecrates his body.
- Almost certainly a show put on to make a point: those filthy Egyptians had no business killing Romans. No ulterior motives for that, of course.
- Be fair! Caesar and Pompey had worked together for almost half their lives before they battled it out at Pharsalus; not only that, Caesar's daughter Julia had been happily married to Pompey for five years before her death due to miscarriage. After that close an association, Caesar was certainly in mourning.
- According to at least one illustrated history book, Caesar eventually has a bust-statue of Pompey built, detailing all the heroic deeds that he had done.
- The last chapter ("666") of Hunter S Thompson's Better Than Sex is a meditation on the death of Richard Nixon. He starts by saying that it was Nixon (or rather, his dislike of Nixon) that got him into politics, and "now that he's gone, I feel lonely"... and then ultimately subverts the trope by eviscerating the late president, writing a vitriolic screed that finishes by saying that Nixon "killed the heart of the American dream."
- Erwin Rommel received a moving tribute from Churchill upon his death; it was still the middle of WWII at the time.
- Of course, it should be considered that he died by essentially forced suicide after getting involved in a plot to topple Hitler.
- Regardless, Rommel was a genuinely good man. He outright ignored orders to kill civilians and Jewish soldiers, and any prisoners taken were apparently treated humanely. The man was also absolutely brilliant. Definitely a case of a Worthy Opponent. Hell, George S. Patton, who was probably the craziest sonuvabitch in the whole damned war, admired Rommel's skill and talent, and considered him a genius (which he was). He was a German general, yes, but Rommel deserved a tribute. For all that he was fighting for Germany, he was a good man.
- Exactly the point... Rommel was a German general, not a NAZI general.
- Formula One champions Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna were bitter rivals throughout their careers, even crashing into each other at times to screw each other over. Prost even had a clause in one contract that Senna could not be his teammate, the rivalry was so strong. When Prost retired the second time, they tried to repair their relationship, but sadly Senna died a few months later during the Blackest Weekend. Prost, as it turns out, was one of his pallbearers.
- After the death of Pitt the Younger, his great political rival Charles James Fox said "It feels as if something is missing in the world."
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