Basic Trope: The body of a character's loved one is still there, and that's good enough for them!
- Straight: After Alice's brother Bob dies, she keeps his body in the house and continues eating with and having "conversations" with him as though nothing has changed.
- Exaggerated: Alice is the last woman on earth. She arranges the bodies of everyone she knew, from her family to her pets to the mailman, the way they were in life and continues as though they're alive.
- Downplayed: After Bob's death, Alice places various mementos related to Bob around the house (maybe even dolls in his likeness) and starts addressing her Inner Monologues to him.
- Justified:
- Alice has snapped as a result of the trauma and legitimately thinks Bob is alive.
- Alice is actively working toward resurrecting Bob soon and thinks there is a lesser risk of something happening to the body in the meantime if she watches over it... She doesn't want to get used to him being dead, so she acts like he's still alive until she has the means to accomplish her plans.
- Inverted: While Alice's brother Bob is still alive, she starts treating him like he's dead.
- Subverted: Bob has died, and Alice is shown changing the body from pajamas to work clothes... but it turns out Bob's family and friends are preparing a funeral outside; work clothes are more solemn.
- Double Subverted: ... But afterwards, Alice digs the body up and continues to act as though Bob is alive.
- Parodied: Alice treats Bob's corpse like a hand puppet, moving his jaws up and down and speaking "his" lines in a comical voice.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted:
- No character dies in the story.
- Bob passes away, is given a normal funeral, and Alice is shown grieving him in other ways.
- Enforced: The author wants Alice to come across as creepy yet sympathetic.
- Lampshaded: Alice talks with Charlie and Eva and says Bob will be happy tonight; she's making his favorite.Charlie: But isn't Bob...Eva: Not to her.
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: Emperor Evulz holds "Bob" hostage, knowing that Alice will respond as if he were alive.
- Defied: To prevent anyone from keeping his body around, Bob leaves orders that he be cremated.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: You never get to see the insides of Alice's house after Bob's death, but the one time another character comes near, they gag and run away. Alice just shouts "That's so rude to him - apologise to Bob right now!"
- Deconstructed: The body soon starts rotting, and with Alice unwilling to do anything about it, the whole house starts to deteriorate along with her mind. She ends up in the hospital due to illness and the house has to be torn down because nobody would want to live in it anymore.
Nonsense, Mummies at the Dinner Table has never been healthier!
