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Dedication

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"Every great joke needs a punchline, and The Wicker Man doesn't disappoint. After Cage meets his screaming, charbroiled death, the film ends and a title slate appears: "For JOHNNY RAMONE." Sure. I don't know why it's there, and I don't want to find out."
Cracked

When a writer or show writer want to thank someone in particular, they can dedicate their work to them. Very frequent in Literature, where it's a tradition; literary dedications usually appear at the beginning of the work. A longer page of acknowledgements usually comes at the end. Films will often have a list of special thanks near the end of the credits, often for friends and family and consultants who contributed to the film.

A specific subtrope is In Memoriam, where a movie or television episode is dedicated to someone connected to the show who recently died, usually in a notice at the end of the show.

Compare Viewers Like You, This Song Goes Out to TV Tropes.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Comic Books 

    Comic Strips 
  • The Maakies book collection Premillennial Maakies is dedicated to "Terry Ross".

    Fan Works 
  • The 50th chapter of Sister Floriana, All Hallows' Eve, includes one for all Christian martyrs, especially those who died in the Spanish Civil War.
  • Retro Chill is dedicated to Calvin and Hobbes' creator Bill Watterson, which makes sense.
  • The writer of Angel of the Bat mentioned in an author's note he removed (but promised he will talk about again later) that one of his dearest friends, his dog, passed away while he was writing the story, and dedicated the rest of it to her memory. A little investigating on his deviantArt page reveals his dog's name was Sadie, a name he subsequently gave to a character who appeared shortly after this announcement.
  • The entire Elemental Chess Trilogy is dedicated to the author's best friend, who was the one who got her into Fullmetal Alchemist in the first place. There are also individual chapters dedicated to other people.
  • Say It Again, the prequel to Say It Thrice, is dedicated to Lady Norbert as thanks for her work as beta reader and maintainer of the tropes page for the series.
  • Peter Chimaeras Digimon Trilogy: DIGIMON 2: RETURN OF DIGIMON is dedicated to Sarah, which is also the name of the girlfriend of Digimon, the main character. It is not made clear who this Sarah is or why she deserves a dedication, but this is to be expected, given the writer.
  • Hellsister Trilogy: "The Apokolips Agenda" arc, which is primarily focused on the New Gods, is dedicated to their creator Jack Kirby:
    This is for JACK KIRBY. The true Source.
  • Dance with the Demons is dedicated to Batman writers O'Neil and Englehart:
    This one's for Denny O'Neil and Steve Englehart, who remembered the Dark, but never forgot the Knight.
  • Kara of Rokyn: The last story arc is dedicated to Superman's creator Jerry Siegel.
    This one's for Jerry Siegel, who created both Kal and Lyla. You won't be forgotten, either, pal.
  • Superman and Man has a dedicatory to to Christopher Reeve:
    And thanks to Christopher Reeve, not for making us believe a guy in a blue suit could fly... But for making us believe.
  • Everybody's Gotta Leave Sometime, a Peanuts one-shot written between Charles Schultz's retirement announcement and death, is dedicated to their creator.
    And, quite obviously, this one's for my favorite cartoonist of the last 40 years. So much for that.
  • FIRE! (DarkMark) is dedicated to the creators who built the Marvel Universe:
    For the following: Stan Lee. Jack Kirby. Steve Ditko. Roy Thomas. Archie Goodwin. And all the others, without whose work we would never have had a Marvel Universe. Nuff said.
  • Maybe the Last Archie Story is dedicated to Archie Comics' main writers and artists:
    For these guys: John Goldwater, Bob Montana, Dan DeCarlo, Bob Bolling...and all the rest, who gave us a character we just won't let die. Thanks a whole bunch.
  • I've Got Your Back, a Splatoon 2 Alternate Universe Fic revolving around Pearl and Marina, begins its first chapter thus:
    This fic is dedicated to my younger self, who kept going even in the darkest hour, and to all the random street performers who've unknowingly impacted my life.

    Films — Animation 
  • Disney's Beauty and the Beast has an especially lovely one to the memory of lyricist Howard Ashman, who died prior to the film's completion:
    To our friend Howard,
    who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul,
    we will be forever grateful.
  • Pixar's Brave had one for Steve Jobs (the co-founder and CEO of Pixar), who died eight months before the film was released:
    To Steve Jobs, our partner, mentor, and friend.
  • In Poland, Kung Fu Panda was dedicated to Joanna Wizmur, who was originally going to direct the Polish dub and only managed to cast the voice actors before passing away due to cancer.
  • The Ukrainian film Mavka: The Forest Song has a dedication to "the unbreakable Ukrainians" in the end credits. It was completed and released during the full scale war of aggression initiated by Russia in the country in 2022.
  • The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is dedicated to Jules Angel, Stephen Hillenburg's mentor when he study at California Institute of the Arts, who died during the film production.
    Stephen Hillenburg: He truly was the most influential artistic person in my life. I consider him my "Art Dad".

    Films — Live-Action 
  • The Air Up There: "This is for Jake," presumably referring to the director's son.
  • Another Round is dedicated to "Ida," the director's daughter, whose anecdotes about drinking as a student were used as inspiration for the film. She died during the filming of the movie at the age of 19, causing the director to change the story considerably.
  • April Showers: "In loving memory of those we lost" followed by a long list of people who died in school shootings (including perpetrators), and ending with "And those who survived."
  • Backstreet Dreams: "This film is dedicated, with much love and appreciation, to NORA O'MALLEY."
  • This beauty from the opening of Batman: The Movie:
    ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: We wish to express our gratitude to the enemies of crime and crusaders against crime throughout the world for their inspirational example. To them, and to lovers of adventure, lovers of pure escapism, lovers of unadulterated entertainment, lovers of the ridiculous and the bizarre — To funlovers everywhere — This picture is respectfully dedicated. If we have overlooked any sizable groups of lovers, we apologize.
    —THE PRODUCERS
  • Ridley Scott dedicated Black Hawk Down to his mother who died while he was on location shooting the film in Morocco. Similarly the book it was based on was dedicated to Mark Bowden's parents.
  • A Boy Called Po: The word "For" appears, followed by a large number of names, presumably the autistic relatives of the filmmakers, followed by the words "1 in 65 children diagnosed with autism," and then "Burt Bacharach dedicates his score to Nikki," his autistic daughter who committed suicide.
  • The Dark Knight was dedicated to Heath Ledger who died shortly after the film was completed and to special effects technician Conway Wickliffe, who died while working on the film.
  • François Truffaut dedicated Day for Night to Lillian and Annabeth Gish.
  • The Great Dictator was dedicated to "The Jews of the world."
  • The Great Escape's dedication simply reads 'For the Fifty.' Cue the sobbing before the movie even begins.
  • The Great Race is dedicated to Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy.
  • Heaven Knows What is dedicated to the memory of Ilya Leontyev, a drug-addicted homeless man who is depicted in the film as the protagonist's on-again off-again abusive boyfriend and true love. The protagonist, who is played by herself in a film based on her life, loves Ilya in spite of his bad behavior. Interestingly, Ilya is portrayed as accidentally burning to death in the film, while he died in real life of a drug overdose shortly after the film was completed.
  • Help!, the 1965 Beatles film, is dedicated to Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine. It's an idiosyncratic film.
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) ended with, "For Douglas".
  • Both John Carter and Brave (mentioned above) were dedicated to Steve Jobs, majority shareholder of Disney and Pixar and mentor to both films' directors and producers.
  • The Killer That Stalked New York, a 1950 film Very Loosely Based on the 1947 New York City smallpox outbreak, is dedicated "To the men and women public health—the first line of defense between mankind and disease."
  • The Libertine was dedicated to Marlon Brando and Hunter S. Thompson, both of whom Johnny Depp (the film's lead actor) had worked with and known well.
  • Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome is dedicated to producer Byron Kennedy, who died in a helicopter crash shortly before the film was made.
  • The Muppet Movie is dedicated to Edgar Bergen, who died shorty after filming his cameo.
  • The Muppet Christmas Carol is dedicated to Muppet creator Jim Henson and Muppeteer Richard Hunt.
  • Nathan's Kingdom: "For you, Amélie and Presley."
  • The Ninth Configuration, when the 1980 film was remastered in 2016 , a memorial for Peter Vincent Galahad Blatty, (the late son of William Peter Blatty), appears after the closing credits. Strangely, the 1971 high tone Lorimar theme plays over it, possibly using the audio from a TV airing.
  • Son of the Stars: "To all the children with special needs and their parents."
  • Pacific Rim is dedicated to Ray Harryhausen and Ishir⁠ō Honda, "the original monster masters."
  • Passion in the Desert is dedicated to all wild mammals.
  • The Plastic Age: "Dedicated to the Youth of the World – whether in cloistered college halls, or in the greater University of Life."
  • The beginning of The Rainbow Experiment has "To Alex, always."
  • Rambo III is dedicated "to the gallant people of Afghanistan". There is an urban legend that it was originally dedicated to the Mujahideen, and that this was changed after the 9/11 attacks, but contemporary reviews such as this one show that it was always dedicated to the Afghan people as a whole.
  • Schindler's List is dedicated to the six million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany in the Holocaust, as stated in the final scene.
  • Sing Street: The film is dedicated "For brothers everywhere" as stated in the closing credits.
  • Kevin Smith has one of these in every film he makes. He always thanks God first.
  • Star Trek:
    • Star Trek IV was dedicated to the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
    • Star Trek VI was dedicated to Gene Roddenberry, who passed away shortly before the film's release.
    • Also dedicated to Gene Roddenberry, the TNG 2-part episode "Unification", the first to air after his death.
    • And Star Trek (2009) was dedicated to Gene and Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the latter of whom had just passed on after completing her final role - the voice of the Enterprise's computer.
    • Star Trek Into Darkness is dedicated to the post-9/11 war veterans. Considering the final act of the movie consists of a giant warship leveling half of San Francisco by crashing into it, while in another location military personnel fall to their death in a burning structure, this was probably done to prevent people from complaining.
    • Star Trek Beyond is dedicated to Leonard Nimoy, who died shortly before the film was made, and Anton Yelchin, who died while it was in post-production.
  • Steps Trodden Black opens with this dedication:
    This film is dedicated to the loving memory of Jairin Brantly,
    He isn't dead or anything, he just moved to Arizona and we miss him.
  • Street Fighter : "For Raul. Vaya con Dios."note 
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze is also dedicated to Jim Henson, who helped design the Turtles for the first film.
  • The Towering Inferno is dedicated to the firefighters of the world.
  • The Wild Child is dedicated to Jean-Pierre Léaud, because François Truffaut found the experience of working with first-time child actor Jean-Pierre Cargol similar to working with Léaud on The 400 Blows.

    Literature 

    Live-Action TV 
  • The third season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is dedicated specially "to the victims [of 9/11] & their families and to the firefighters & police officers who remind us every day with their lives & courage what it truly means to be an American".
  • A July 2013 episode of Chicago Fire was dedicated to the 19 firefighters killed battling a wildfire in Arizona.
  • Star Trek: Enterprise: the pilot episode "Broken Bow" was dedicated to the firefighters that perished on 9/11, and the episode "Stigma" was dedicated to the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
  • Doctor Who:
    • The first episode of the sixth series of is dedicated to Elisabeth Sladen, the actress who played iconic Classic companion Sarah Jane Smith, who had passed away the previous April.
    • And the original UK broadcast of the 1996 TV Movie was dedicated to Jon Pertwee, one of the series' previous lead actors, who had passed away the week before. The American and Canadian broadcasts were not, as they happened before his death.
  • The last episode of Kaamelott is dedicated to French actor Louis de Funès. The final scene uses the music of one of his movies, Jo.
  • Justified does this at the end of the series finale where it is dedicated to the people of Harlan, Kentucky, The men and women of the united marshals service and Elmore Leonard who died 2 years before the shows final season.
    "Take it easy"
  • As the title card of each Decoy episode says, the show is a tribute to the New York Bureau of Policewomen.
  • The eighth season premiere of Friends ends with a dedication "To the people of New York City" as it was the first episode to air after 9/11.

    Music 
  • Roza Rymbaeva dedicated the song "Alia" to Great Patriotic War Kazakh sniper Alia Moldagulova.
  • Rush dedicated one of their albums "To the loving memory of Jackie and Selena." Jackie was the first wife of drummer Neil Peart, and Selena was their daughter; they passed away within two years of each other, Jackie from cancer and Selena in a car accident.
    • They also did a dedication to Neil Armstrong during part of the Clockwork Angels tour.
  • Lawrence Gowan's song Dedication is effectively dedicated to all of his fans, be they living or dead.
  • Heart's song "These Dreams" is dedicated to Nancy Wilson's friend Sharon Hess on the album liner notes who died of leukemia shortly before the album's release.
  • Oasis dedicated their song "Cast No Shadow" to "the genius of Richard Ashcroft."
  • Alban Berg's Violin Concerto has two dedications, the first for Louis Krasner, the second being "dem Andenken eines Engels" ("to the memory of an angel"), referring to Manon Gropius, the late daughter of Walter Gropius and Alma Mahler.
  • Modest Mussorgsky's famous piano cycle, Pictures at an Exhibition, was inspired by a memorial service of his friend, artist/architect Viktor Hartmann, where many of his paintings and designs were displayed.
  • Each of the KISS Solo Albums are dedicated to the other three members of the band at the time of their release.
  • The name and title track of "We Are The Others", the third album by symphonic metal band Delain was dedicated to the memory of Sophie Lancaster.
  • The Downward Spiral has a dedication in the liner notes for Nine Inch Nails touring drummer Jeff Ward, who had poisoned himself via carbon-monoxide in 1993 after struggling with heroin addiction.
  • Christopher Cross's "Think of Laura" is dedicated to Laura Carter, the best friend of the girl he was dating at that time, Paige McNinch. Laura died of a stray bullet when the car she, her parents, and friends rode in was unfortunately caught in the middle of a gang war.
  • Music/Beyonce dedicated her 2022 album, ‘’Renaissance'', to her husband Jay-Z, their three children, and her late Uncle Johnny (who was actually her much older cousin) who died of AIDS complications.

    Radio 
  • Jack Webb dedicated each episode of the radio version of Dragnet to a police officer killed in the line of duty.
    Webb: "This episode is dedicated to [insert name], who on the [insert general time ('morning of','evening of')and date] gave his life so that yours might be a little safer".

    Theatre 
  • Albert Herring is "dedicated to E. M. Forster in admiration."
  • Closer Than Ever:
    • Maltby and Shire dedicated the entire score "to our fathers Richard Maltby, Sr. and Irving Shire and our wives Janet Brenner and Didi Conn."
    • "Back on Base" is the only song with a dedication of its own: "To Bob and Sally." This refers to the Romance on the Set and eventual marriage of its original performers, singer Sally Mayes and bassist Robert Renino.
  • The Little Foxes was dedicated by Lillian Hellman "for Arthur Kober and Louis Kronenberger who have been my good friends."
  • The program for Cirque du Soleil's Alegría has a sarcastic dedication to all those who oppress others; scroll to the bottom of this page to read it.

    Tabletop Games 

    Video Games 

    Web Animation 
  • The Little Painter: Near the beginning of the video, Kenny leaves one for his sons. It says "To my song, May the pursuit of your dreams lead you to true love".
  • Eddsworld: Every episode since creator Edd Gould's death has a dedication to him at the end of the credits.
    "Dedicated to Edd Gould"

    Western Animation 
  • Freakazoid!: "A Matter of Love" parodied these with one normal dedication "to all those who have ever been in love", one to a group of scientists, and one to "Mrs. Ashley Huggbees of Fuller's Earth, AZ" for having a funny last name.
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender has a dedication to Mako, the recently-deceased voice of Iroh, in "Tales of Ba Sing Se".
  • Similar to the Avatar example above, the Green Lantern: The Animated Series episode "Regime Change" was dedicated to Ian Abercrombie, the voice of Ganthet, who passed away before the episode was aired.
  • Justice League: Doom is dedicated to its writer, Dwayne McDuffie, who died shortly after completing the adaptation from the source comic.
  • The first season of The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries was dedicated to Friz Freleng, who directed the original theatrical shorts.
  • The Hey Arnold! episode "Veterans Day" was dedicated to "the veterans who really won the Battle of the Bulge."
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) has a dedication at the end of the special "Mutant Apocalypse" where a drawing of Leo holding a signboard saying 'For Kevin and Peter' which is dedicated to the original creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. This is similar to the dedication picture from the first issue from 1984, which was dedicated to Jack Kirby and Frank Miller.
  • Blue's Clues & You! dedicates each of its episodes to the people behind the original Blue's Clues episode it adapts.
  • The Wonder Pets! episode "Save the Dalmatian" was dedicated to the members of the New York City Fire Department.
  • Molly of Denali has an In-Universe example in "The Funny Face Competition." Molly dedicates her book to Auntie Midge's Uncle Isaac, "the original funny face champion," so that everyone knows he was a very happy man, not at all like what was shown in the previous book he featured in.

Dedicated to all the tireless tropers who made this entry possible. Keep up the good work!

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Ending of "Schindler's List"

Never again.

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