Too Good For This Sinful Earth - Television Tropes & Idioms

But I could have told you, Vincent,

This world was never meant for one

As beautiful as you.

— Don McLean, "Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)"

"The good die young, but pricks live forever!"

— Lewis Black

The good die young, or so authors would have us believe.

An old trope, discredited but far from down and out: if there is a child of extraordinary beauty, goodness and innocence in the story, he or she will invariably die in as Anvilicious a manner as possible. If practical, the death will be slow and lingering (tuberculosis or other disease was a particular favorite in the 19th Century), giving the child a chance to bid farewell to everyone she loved in a long, drawn-out death scene. Sometimes she gets to speak a few last words to hammer in An Aesop relevant to the larger plot at hand. After she's breathed her last, her loss is mourned by all who knew her — in particularly extreme cases even the Big Bad will take a moment to reflect on it — and may serve to re-energize tired or disillusioned heroes to fight on for her cause.

The trope name comes from a frequent comment made at the subsequent funeral, that the poor departed child was too good for this sinful earth, and thus was called home to Heaven by a merciful God.

The child was almost certainly an Ill Girl, and frequently a Waif Prophet.

Often a form of Death By Newbery Medal (a major reason why this trope still lives on and in many people's minds why this trope has yet to be discredited).

The Unfavorite is often the surviving child. Indeed, Parental Favoritism may not even really kick in until the Favorite is dead.

This trope often overlaps with What Measure Is A Non Human, I Just Want To Be Normal, Pinocchio Syndrome, and some variant of Gentle Giant, in characters that are created by Mad Science or even regular science. In this type of story, the artificial creature is too innocent for this sinful Earth, and is at risk of being corrupted by it. Sometimes, instead of dying, the "monster" chooses voluntary exile.

Compare with Dead Little Sister. Littlest Cancer Patient could be considered the modern take of this trope, but with a slight hope of healing and living for the affected kid (and also more likely to be played for comedy). Contrast Like You Would Really Do It.

See Purity Sue for the kind of character who most often gets this treatment. Also see Bring Out Your Gay Dead to see how this is applied to homosexuals.