History Main / DeathNotification

* In ''Film/FirstMan'', the heads of NASA review a press release that has been prepared in the event Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are stranded on the moon with no hope of rescue. TruthInTelevision - you can see the full text of the statement they quote from in the film [[https://watergate.info/1969/07/20/an-undelivered-nixon-speech.html here]].

* ''Series/TheCrown''. Lord Mountbatten is killed by an IRA bomb while Queen Elizabeth is out hunting. On seeing three military Land Rovers driving towards them, she comments, "Oh dear. It's never good when they come in packs like this." [[StiffUpperLip Being the Queen]], she takes the bad tidings with barely a nod.

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* ''Manga/IkigamiTheUltimateLimit'' inverts the trope. People are given notification that they ''will'' die in the next 24 hours.

** At some point, [[spoiler: Hange]] is seen personally notifying [[spoiler: Ilse]]'s family of her death.

* In ''Star Trek TOS'' fanfic [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/29285448 Vengeance]] Captain Kirk ends up having to write these for [[TheNotLoveInterest Spock]] and [[HeterosexualLifePartners Bones.]] He manages to write the letter to Joanna (Mc Coy's daughter), but nearly breaks down when it comes to writing about Spock's death.
* In ''Fanfic/ThePeaceNotPromised'', Professor [=McGonagall=] has to let Lily know about her father's sudden death, ''while Lily was packing to go home for Christmas holidays and see him''. Remus, having access to the Marauder's Map, knows where she's gone and what it's likely to mean, since a similar thing happened when he lost his mother.

--> '''Goose:''' The Defense Department regrets to inform you that your sons are dead because they were ''stupid''.

** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] again [[spoiler: in the film's climax, when a car with two men in uniform stop in front of Julia's house...and one of them is Hal Moore, home from the war.]]

* The Australian film ''The Telegram Man'' (2018) has the title character delivering telegrams to isolated Outback farms, a job that makes him quite popular as the bearer of news from the outside world...until World War 2 breaks out.

* In Creator/DerekRobinson's black comedies of [=WW1=] and [=WW2=] air combat, the commanding officers of RAF squadrons at least ''try'' to do this appropriately when a pilot is killed. But when the bodies start piling up, one CO gratefully resorts to "fill-in-the-blanks'' form letters provided by his office clerk.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' novel ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'', Ramsay Bolton sends the Night Watch a false message stating Stannis Baratheon is dead to demoralize Stannis's forces. But did Ramsay send it, or did someone else...
* In the [[Creator/MichaelConnelly Harry Bosch]] series, this is a frequent occurrence due to Harry's job as a homicide detective. Harry notes that, despite the hundreds of times that he has done it, it never gets easier and he's never sure that he's doing it right. He also remarks to a new partner that the difficulty of notifying the victim's family is also affected by the fact that they often need to be considered in the pool of suspects until proven otherwise.
* ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar By The Sword]]'': After one battle, there's a scene where Kerowyn is going down the list of dead Sunbolts and marking the (few) names she needs to "write the letter" for.

* Subverted in Creator/RoaldDahl's autobiographical ''Going Solo'', in which his mother received a telegram while he was serving in World War II and initially thought it was this, but didn't open it until one of her daughters came to be with her. When they actually read it, they found the telegram was not a death notice, but "Regret to advise you, your son wounded and in hospital in Alexandria." The relief was palpable.
* Several ''Literature/DoctorWhoMissingAdventures'' novels set during the UNIT era have Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart reflecting that the worst part of the job is writing to the parents of soldiers killed by the MonsterOfTheWeek, and not even being able to tell them what actually ''happened''.
* Since it's set in World War II, ''Literature/Catch22'' has these get sent out. Colonel Cathcart and Lieutenant Colonel Korn being [[LackOfEmpathy the people they are]], they're {{Multiple Choice Form Letter}}s espousing Cathcart's deep personal grief when the recipient's father, husband, brother or son was killed, wounded or declared missing in action.
* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' books, Miles realizes his grandfather has died in the night when he is addressed as "Lord Vorkosigan", rather than "Lord Miles", by a grim-faced retainer. Later, while far from home on covert ops, he dreads the day some minor functionary might begin a conversation by addressing him as "Count Vorkosigan, sir?", because that will mean that his beloved father Aral is dead and that Miles was not by his side when it happened. [[spoiler: Exactly that happens at the end of ''Diplomatic Immunity'', and it is exactly as heartbreaking as he feared.]]

* ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond'':
** After the death of [[spoiler:Nathan West's younger brother Neil]], Nathan is shocked to discover that the notification letter was sent to ''the wrong address''. He ends up writing a letter of his own home to inform [[spoiler: his mother]] himself. It is implied that rather than being hand-delivered, the notices are sent in the mail in "ugly yellow envelopes".
** This is seen again in the episode "Never No More": After someone's fighter gets locked with an enemy AceCustom and is sent spiraling into a planet, it is stated in the debriefing that the enemy ace survived. When asked about the friendly pilot, the CO drops a yellow envelope on the table.
* Sarah Jane Smith gets one of these visits from a UNIT colonel, accompanied by an entourage of armored trucks and gun-toting grunts (seriously, did they think Sarah Jane was going to ''eat'' them or something?), in ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' episode "The Death of the Doctor". She doesn't believe it for a minute.

* The ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' episode "The Forgotten" has Trip being asked to write one for [[RedShirt an engineer]] who died in The Expanse. Trip can't bring himself to do it at first, because every time he starts the letter ends up describing his dead sister Elizabeth.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E17EyeOfTheBeholder "Eye of the Beholder"]] Captain Picard remarks that over his long Starfleet career he has had to tell many family members that their loved ones have died, but prior to the events of the episode, never from suicide. Picard then tells his officers that he would like to give the deceased officer's parents a reason why their son committed suicide.
* In the pilot episode for ''Series/{{Defiance}}'', the [=McCawly=] family gets one of these after [[spoiler:Luke is murdered]].
* On ''Series/{{ER}}'', after Gallant has been killed in Iraq, two military police show up at the hospital, looking for his wife, Neela. The minute he lays eyes on them, it's obvious that the desk clerk, a veteran himself, knows what they're going to tell her.
* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', ravens are usually used to send messages throughout the Westeros, and people have said to them "dark wings, dark words" which includes the death of nobles. Winterfell receives a raven informing Ned Starks execution, and everyone in Westeros receives word of [[spoiler: King Joffrey's death.]].

---> '''Vance:''' Family notifications are your wheelhouse, Doctor. Would you mind?\\

** Tony is on the receiving end of one in "Family First," though from [=McGee=] and Abby. It resembles very much a military notification detail, and [[GenreSavvy Tony]] simply asks them if it's been confirmed before they can even begin to tell him.
* In ''Series/LawAndOrderUK'' Matt Devlin shows up at the house of a fellow police officer and friend to tell his wife that they've found his dead body. She initially thinks he's just there casually. But then she sees his face and breaks down, refusing to let him actually say the words.
* ''Series/ANZACGirls'': [[spoiler:Grace Wilson]], an Australian Army nurse (specifically, a Matron, aka in charge of the whole hospital's nursing staff) serving on the front lines of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, receives a telegram of this sort and her hands start shaking before she even opens it -- [[spoiler:her brother has been killed]]. Reading it only confirms her worst suspicions. Unfortunately, she has a whole convoy of wounded soldiers to treat, and so she [[TryingNotToCry soldiers on]] [[TheStoic without betraying her feelings any further]] until she's safely in her tent and can [[NotSoStoic break down sobbing]].
* ''Series/GeneralHospital''. After one of mobster Sonny Corinthos' bodyguards is killed, he and right-hand man Jason go to inform the man's widow.
* ''Series/TheCommish''. Two police officers spend the entire day stalling over one of these. When they finally work up the nerve [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing There Was Much Rejoicing]] from the family of the dear departed, who wasn't well liked.
* ''Series/TheBill''. The officers go to inform a man his brother is dead and are surprised when he legs it out the back door instead. Turns out he's involved in criminal activity and assumed they were coming to arrest him.
* ''Series/FoylesWar''. A telegraph boy has run away from his job after being attacked and abused by a woman he brought a death notice to. A Jewish psychiatrist counsels him that it was NothingPersonal, just her lashing out at the BearerOfBadNews. Feeling good after having helped the boy, the psychiatrist decides to go to the cinema...just in time to catch a newsreel about the recently liberated concentration camps. Fleeing from the cinema, he ends up murdering an escaped German prisoner he encounters.
* ''Series/NorthernExposure'': In "Slow Dance," Joel has to tell Maggie that [[spoiler:Rick]] has just died and her oblivious comments about her complicated relationship with [[spoiler:Rick]] only make it harder for Joel to spit it out right away. He ends up leading into it with an awkward joke about death notifications.
--> '''Joel''': Uh, see, um, this guy goes on a trip, and, uh, he leaves his cat with his friend. Well, he calls his friend and asks how the cat is. Guy says, "The cat is dead." The guy says, "Geez. God, couldn't you break the news to me a little more gently? You know, lead into it-'Your cat crawled up on the roof, there was a loose tile, and he took a little fall.' Like that?" Next month, the guy goes on another trip. Calls his friend and asks how his mom is. Guy says, "Well- She crawled up on the roof and there was a loose tile."
--> '''Maggie''' ''(smiling)'': Not bad.
--> '''Joel''': ''(sadly and gently)''[[spoiler:Rick]] crawled up on the roof
--> ''Maggie's expression crumbles in realization.''

[...]
-->Say goodbye, bye, bye Mrs. Sullivan\\

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', Shepard can deliver a death notification to an asari on the Citadel whose krogan husband died fighting the Reapers. [[spoiler:Only if you helped the two of them get together in the previous game, though.]] It's fairly sad.
* In a late-game sidequest in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'', the player has to do this for the [=NPCs=] in Sanctuary after the death of [[spoiler:Roland]]. It's actually one of the few moments in-game that's not played for laughs.
* ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' has a SideQuest that ends in The Detective having to deliver one of these [[spoiler:to the Working Class Woman you may have encountered earlier; you can chance upon her husband's corpse, dead of an accident, during your investigation]]. Whether you succeed or not (it's a fairly difficult Empathy check, made easier the more you've discovered during the investigation), it's one of the most heart-breaking moments of the game both in-universe and out. Even HypercompetentSidekick Kim is of limited help, and comments that he's really bad at handling death notifications.
* One sidequest in ''VideoGame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning'' has you take over the job of delivering death notifications from a soldier who is drowning himself in booze because he couldn't handle the reactions of the dead soldiers' kin anymore. He considers himself a coward for it.
* ''VideoGame/IntoTheBreach'': Sometimes, you'll have a no-win scenario where you either let the Vek damage a building or shove the Vek into said building, damaging it but also wounding or killing the Vek. When you do this with some pilots, such as generic Detritus characters or Camila Vera, they'll sometimes play a line about making sure to inform the families themselves. Archimedes won't inform the families if a mech caused the damage (indeed, he'll often request a press blackout), but if it was a Vek attack, he'll tabulate the casualties' extended families and dispatch condolence letters. Yes, all at once. Yes, before your next turn.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', a former street punk turned soldier named Armin Tamzarian delivers one of these to the mother of his MIA superior officer, [[spoiler: Seymour Skinner]], in a flashback. It's then subverted when he can't bring himself to tell her and pretends to be her son; he is the man now known as [[spoiler: Principal Skinner.]] Also an example of artistic license, since in the American military, the men who give the notification are traditionally at the same rank as the deceased or higher.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' prodigal general Grune, arriving home from a years-long search for an AncientArtifact, delivers word of his comrade Panthro's loss to mutual friend King Claudus while handing over one of the former's [[TragicKeepsake nunchucks]]. The details are [[MetaphoricallyTrue suspiciously]] vague, not to spare Claudus emotionally, but to hide Grune's betrayal and defection to BigBad Mumm-Ra until their invasion forces are marshalled.
* One shows up in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pingu}}'', of all places. We aren't told the details, obviously, but during "Pingu Delivers the Mail", Pingu and his father deliver a black-edged envelope to one of their customers -- who starts ''crying''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' prodigal general Grune, arriving home from a years-long search for an AncientArtifact, delivers word of his comrade Panthro's loss to mutual friend King Claudus while handing over one of the former's [[TragicKeepsake nunchucks]]. The details are [[HalfTruth suspiciously]] vague, not to spare Claudus emotionally, but to hide Grune's betrayal and defection to BigBad Mumm-Ra until their invasion forces are marshalled.

Whenever a movie shows the folks at home while there is a war going on, you are very likely to see this: A pair of military personnel in dress uniform, approaching the home of the soldier's family. The family will almost always know [[HeDidntMakeIt what this means.]]

* In ''Film/FirstMan'', the heads of NASA review a press release that has been prepared in the event Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are stranded on the moon with no hope of rescue. TruthInTelevision, as NASA did have such a statement ready just in case the mission went wrong.

* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' books, Miles realizes his grandfather has died in the night when he is addressed as "Lord Vorkosigan", rather than "Lord Miles", by a grim-faced retainer. Later, while far from home on covert ops, he dreads the day some minor functionary might begin a conversation by addressing him as "Count Vorkosigan, sir?", because that will mean that his beloved father Aral is dead. [[spoiler: Exactly that happens at the end of ''Diplomatic Immunity'', and it is exactly as heartbreaking as he feared.]]

Obviously, this is a '''DeathTrope''', and as such there are many spoilers. Be warned.

->'''Woman''': And you just... found [her husband's body] there? Lying in the cold? How long had he been there?
->'''[[TalkingToThemself Empathy]]''': If you say 'Two days, maybe', it will be etched in her mind forever.

* ''Fanfic/TheEndOfTheWorld'': There are phone booths in the mentoring center for the mentors to call the families of dead tributes and let them know their relatives are dead (although sometimes the families see it live on TV first). Most mentors and district escorts view it as a grim but vital chore. Ausonious Glass finds the process fun and loves to mock the dead tributes to their loved ones.

* ''Film/AcrossTheUniverse2007'': Right after Lucy finishes singing about how her boyfriend (in the Army) will be [[TemptingFate coming home to visit soon.]]

* Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse: Apparently Starfleet has a Casualty Notification Office to inform family members when someone is killed in the line of duty. Captain Kirk, though, still feels it appropriate that he should also send a personal letter when one of his crew dies.

** After Lujayne Forge is killed by Imperials, Wedge Antilles sends a hologram to her family to notify them of her death.

* In ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Wraith Squadron]]'', Wedge Antilles is shown to be writing out the notification for the death of [[spoiler:Jesmin Ackbar]], to be delivered to her uncle, a well-known admiral. It takes him most of the night to finish it...but with the task done, [[ItNeverGetsAnyEasier at least he's able to sleep for that last hour]]. The admiral later thanks Wedge for the kind words regarding the pilot.
** Subverted in the second ''Wraith Squadron'' novel, in which Ton Phanan dies and, when Face offers to help Wedge write the notification, he finds ''he's'' the one who'd be receiving it, since Phanan's closest relatives are distant cousins who've never met him.

* In ''Film/NannyMcPhee Returns'', there's one of these, but it's delivered by telegram rather than the two representatives. [[spoiler: It later proves to be a forgery.]]

* ''Why Johnny Can't Speed'' by Creator/AlanDeanFoster opens with a letter from the California Highway Patrol informing the protagonist and his wife that their son was killed disputing a lane change in a future society where road rage is legal. Pops sets forth to get his revenge on the miscreant with his own WeaponizedVehicle.

* Stephanie Brown receives one in ''ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} #107'' after her father's death in the pages of ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad''. [[spoiler:He gets better.]]

[[folder:FanWorks]]
* In Star Trek TOS Fanfic [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/29285448 Vengeance]] Captain Kirk ends up having to write these for [[TheNotLoveInterest Spock]] and [[HeterosexualLifePartners Bones.]] He manages to write the letter to Joanna (Mc Coy's daughter), but nearly breaks down when it comes to writing about Spock's death.

In some cases, this takes the form of a telegram, to the point where one will immediately guess the contents of a telegram recieved by a character in a wartime setting.

* In ''Fanfic/ThePeaceNotPromised'', Professor [=McGonagall=] has to let Lily know about her father's sudden death, ''while Lily was packing to go home for the Christmas holidays and see him''. Remus, having access to the Marauder's Map, knows where she's gone and what it's likely to mean, since a similar thing happened when he lost his mother.

* In the Literature/VorkosiganSaga books, Miles realises his grandfather has died in the night when he is addressed as "Lord Vorkosigan", rather than "Lord Miles", by a grim-faced retainer. Later, while far from home on covert ops, he dreads the day some minor functionary might begin a conversation by addressing him as "Count Vorkosigan, sir?", because that will mean that his beloved father Aral is dead. [[spoiler: Exactly that happens at the end of ''Diplomatic Immunity'', and it is exactly as heartbreaking as he feared.]]

** When Hawkeye is declared LegallyDead by the army, his father is notified by telegram. Because of other machinations, like his mail being stopped and a visiting politician, Hawkeye couldn't even contact his father to tell him the mistake.

[[quoteright:287:[[Webcomic/PennyArcade https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gdwookies.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:287:Actually, [[VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed he got a crate and a TIE Fighter Force-dropped on him]] and [[RasputinianDeath got stabbed by an electrified lightsaber]]. But don't tell that to his wife.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' Prodigal general Grune, arriving home from a years-long search for an AncientArtifact, delivers word of his comrade Panthro's loss to mutual friend King Claudus while handing over one of the former's [[TragicKeepsake nunchucks]]. The details are [[HalfTruth suspiciously]] vague, not to spare Claudus emotionally, but to hide Grune's betrayal and defection to BigBad Mumm-Ra until their invasion forces are marshalled.

-->'''Hermes:''' and for Bender... Uh, oh! A black-bordered envelope.\\