Posthumous Character / Live-Action TV

• Andor: Clem Andor turns out to have been executed by the Empire years before the story takes place, explaining why he only appears in flashbacks.
• Arrow has quite a lot of these, due to having a whole flashback storyline each season that is told alongside the present-day storyline. A large amount of the characters end up dying before reaching the present day, so all count as this trope. They include (but not limited to): Rebecca Merlyn, Robert Queen, Yao Fei, Edward Fyers, Shado, Anthony Ivo, Akio, Conklin, Baron Reiter, Taiana, and Gregor.
  • Zig-Zagged with Sara Lance. Played straight in season one, then she turns up alive in Season 2, is killed in the first episode of Season 3 to set up the season's main plot, then brought Back from the Dead in Season 4 to move to and eventually headline a spin-off series.
• The A-Team had an old member of their Vietnam unit, Raymond Brenner, who stood by them during their trial and each of the team remember fondly. They return the favor by going after his murderers and freeing his town.
• The Barrier: Two characters prominently featured in the Distant Prologue are dead in the plot's present day. People who knew them are among the protagonists, so they get development via flash-backs and being talked about.
• Too many to count in Battlestar Galactica (2003).
  • The most prominent are Starbuck's parents and President Adar, who died either before or during the miniseries and are all mentioned at several points throughout the show and appear as flashbacks or hallucinations or both. A handful of characters who were killed after several appearances also appear later in flashbacks or hallucinations.
• Leo Strange, Erica's older brother in Being Erica. He died several years before the show takes place.
• Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer was killed off in her second appearance, but as Angel's sire, she continues to appear in flashbacks and dreams. She comes back on Angel and sacrifices herself, but continues to appear in flashbacks after her second death.
• In The City Hunter, Mu Yeol and the other twenty soldiers killed in the first episode. Na Na's parents, who turn out to have been killed by one of the villains.
• In El embarcadero, Óscar's death is what sets the plot in motion, but he's still a central character and appears frequently in flashbacks, with much of the story revolving around unravelling his lies and piecing together who he really was and what really happened.
• Mr. Miyagi of The Karate Kid series passed away seven years prior to the beginning of Cobra Kai, a distant continuation of the classic '80s trilogy. Despite this, his influence continues to play a role in his former student Daniel LaRusso's life and his actions, and Daniel would yearn for his late father figure to be there for him in the flesh during an emotionally troubling time.
• Pretty much the entire premise of Cold Case is based on this, as all the victims are obviously dead from the get-go of any episode, and their story is filled in entirely via the flashbacks of their friends, families, enemies, etc.
• Dark Desire:
  • Brenda dies in the second episode. However, she appears continually afterward in flashbacks.
  • Same goes for Julieta in the second season.
• Mary Alice Young, the narrator of Desperate Housewives, was this a minute into the first episode.
• Harry Morgan in Dexter. Unique because he's actually in the title credits and appears, at the very least, in two-thirds of every season, almost always as a hallucination.
• Doctor Who:
  • "Tooth and Claw": Prince Albert (yes, Queen Victoria's husband) and Sir Robert MacLeish's father. It becomes clear that the two men, who knew each other, predicted that an alien werewolf and its worshippers would attempt a plot to possess Victoria, and arranged for the Koh-i-Noor diamond and Torchwood House to be prepared in a counter-plot.
  • "Fear Her": Chloe Webber's abusive father died a year before the events of the episode, but still has an impact thanks to a supernatural drawing made of him by Chloe and the alien possessing her.
  • Kane's lover Xana in "Dragonfire", who committed suicide rather than get captured.
• A weird example: Margaret from the Dollhouse episode "Haunted". Seen alive but dies during the first scene, then able to Attend Her Own Funeral, in a way, by having her mind imprinted into a Doll. Technically dead and most of what we know about her comes from hearing her loved ones talk about her... despite her (or her memories in someone else, anyway) being the protagonist of the episode.
  • Also arguably the original Dr. Saunders, though it seems the new Dr. Saunders has at least some of his personality.
• The very first episode of British soap EastEnders starts with the body of Reg Cox being discovered in his flat. His murder was thus the very first arc in its Soap Wheel.^note In case you're curious, Nick Cotton did it.
• ER The episode depicting Mark Greene's final days took place after the one in which the ER staff learned of his death. And the final season episode that featured his "return" (as all the original six cast members did) was actually a flashback to his final days at the hospital.
• In the Firefly episode "The Message", Tracey appears dead, and wakes up after his character development has taken place.
• In The Flash (2014), Nora Allen, the mother of Barry Allen, was murdered by the Reverse-Flash 14 years before the events of the pilot episode.
• Fleabag: The title character's best friend and Morality Pet Boo is dead before the series begins, but is frequently seen in flashback.
• Forever:
  • Abigail disappeared decades before the series starts and had died within months if not weeks of leaving Henry but her influence is felt throughout, including being in flashbacks of the majority of the episodes.
  • Nora wasn't a part of Henry's life for nearly as long, but her actions and their consequences had an indelible tragic effect on Henry and deeply ingrained his inability to share his secret.
• Every single episode of The Forgotten has a murder victim's body discovered prior to the opening credits and reveals what this person's life was like via flashbacks. To make it even weirder, each episode is given voice-over narration by said victim.
• John Scott from Fringe, who was killed in the first episode but still became a major character.
• The Fugitive was built around Richard Kimble's attempt to clear himself of the murder of his wife, Helen.
• The premise of Full House is Danny Tanner's wife Pam dies in a car accident so his brother-in-law Jesse and best friend Joey move in to help Danny raise his three young daughters.
• Game of Thrones:
  • Joanna Lannister, Jon Arryn and Tytos Lannister are among the characters mentioned frequently but already dead by the beginning of the series, though Arryn is seen briefly (lying in state) in the pilot episode.
  • Rickard Stark and his son Brandon Stark die prior to the series, with their Cruel and Unusual Death at the hands of the Mad King being what officially kick-started Robert's Rebellion. Rickard finally appears in a Pensieve Flashback in Season 6, where Bran glimpses events from Winterfell's past.
  • Lyanna Stark dies prior to the series, during Robert's Rebellion and Ned mourns her in his spare time. Like Rickard, she finally appears in a Pensieve Flashback in Season 6, where Bran glimpses events from Winterfell's past.
  • Rhaegar Targaryen died near the end of Robert's Rebellion.
  • Jaime killed Aerys "The Mad King" Targaryen at the end of Robert's Rebellion. We finally get a brief glimpse of him in Bran's flashback in Season 6.
  • Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon were killed by Gregor Clegane at the conclusion of Robert's rebellion.
  • In Season 2, Lord Rickard Karstark mentions two of his sons are dead. In Season 3, Robb calls Harrion Karstark by name.
  • Orson Lannister died years ago when he was kicked in the chest by a mule.
  • King Aegon V Targaryen. Outside of Histories and Lore, we only know him through the reminiscences of Maester Aemon, his elder brother who outlived him by nearly fifty years.
  • Aegon I The Conqueror, which is not surprising, since he lived 300 years before the start of the story.
  • Queen Visenya Targaryen is long dead by the time the show takes place.
  • Lord Steffon Baratheon is long-dead by the time the events of the series begin.
• Margaret Kanisky (the Chief's wife) in Gimme a Break! Appears in a flashback in the Season 3 episode "Flashback".
• Harrow: Quinn, the mysterious body pulled up from the river in the first episode and not identified for several episodes thereafter. He only ever appears in photos and in flashbacks.
• Chandra Suresh in Heroes.
• Interview with the Vampire (2022):
  • Magnus, Lestat de Lioncourt's maker, killed himself in 1794, 228 years before the start of the series.
  • Nicolas, Lestat's First Love, died about a century before the first 1910 Flashback scene.
• Samantha Dain from the Ironside episode "The Man Who Believed". Interestingly, although we see photos of her and hear recordings of her voice, she's never shown alive.
• Many episodes of Knight Rider (and similar action/adventure shows of the era) featured such a character, combining with Plot-Triggering Death; usually someone would stumble upon some evidence of malfeasance and get all murdered, and The Hero must come in to investigate, picking up the clues where the victim left off.
• Liar (2017): At the end of season one, Andrew is found murdered. He's still shown through flashbacks after this however.
• Just as Lost has numerous characters, it also has numerous of posthumous characters, including several different types of posthumous characters, each type having its own most triumphant example.
  • The most straightforward type are those characters who were dead before the series even began but have since turned up in Flash Backs. The most triumphant example is Jack's dad, Christian, whose dead body Jack was bringing home on Flight 815, but who turned up in numerous episodes throughout all six seasons, whether in flashbacks, in dreams, as a ghost, or a Dead Person Impersonation.
    • Other such characters would include: Susan Lloyd, Frank Duckett, Essam Tasir, Tom Brennan, Jae Lee, Yemi, Angelo Busoni, Kelvin, Emeka, Edward Burke, Tricia Tanaka, Howard L. Zuckerman, Roger Linus, Horace Goodspeed, Emily Linus, Jonas Whitfield, Isabella, "Mother", and Claudia.
    • Subverted in the case of Kate's mom, Diane. In her first flashback she already has a terminal disease. She then appears in several other flashbacks that all clearly take place sometime before the first one. But in a Flash Forward we discover she's still alive. "The doctors have given me a year to live for the past 4 years."
  • Another unique type are among the Tailies. They would've been alive at the start of the series, but are dead by the time any protagonist meets the Tailies. Such as Goodwin Tailie, who debuted as a corpse, then went on to guest star in 4 episodes after that, each one in a flashback taking place earlier than the one before it. The only other dead Tailies named are Donald and Nathan.
  • Then there are those characters who died soon after their debuts only to appear in more episodes after they died than they ever did while they were alive. The most famous example is Ethan Rom, killed in his fourth episode, then appeared in eight more episodes after that. Other examples include:
    • U.S. Marshal Edward Mars (killed in his third episode, appeared in six more after that).
    • Leslie Arzt (killed in his third episode, appeared in four more later).
    • And the most triumphant example, Jacob, killed in the very first episode he was played by a professional actor. The actor went on to play Jacob in five more episodes.
  • Beginning with the first Flash Forward in the third Season Finale, we had plenty of characters who were still alive in the main timeline but were dead by the time of the flashforwards. And since the first flashforward shown is actually one of the last in chronology, this would also include people who were killed in the ffs. The most triumphant example is John Locke, whose body is in a closed coffin in that third season finale. It's not till the fourth season finale that the coffin is opened, revealing it's Locke, and not till midway through the fifth season are we shown how he ended up there.
    • Other characters who died during this period include: Diane of the Others, Greta, Bonnie, Ryan Price, Tom Friendly, Mikhail, Charlie, Naomi, George Minktowski, Regina, Karl, Rousseau, Alex, Ray, Captain Gault, Omar, Keamy, Michael, Neil, apparently every single remaining survivor of Flight 815 who was neither a main character nor an abducted Tailie, Charlotte, Nadia, Ishmail Bakir, Mr. Avellino, Elsa, Helen, and Abaddon. So yeah, a few people died during this period. Just a few.
  • During the fifth season, the Losties traveled back in time, meeting characters we already knew were dead by the present. The most triumphant example is Stuart Radzinsky, a character we had heard about as having committed sucide but whom we'd never seen till now. Other examples include Rousseau and her entire expedition, and members of the Dharma Initiative, many of whom will be killed in the Purge, and Phil, a DI member who ends up dying long before the Purge, as a direct result of the Losties' actions.
  • And finally, there's the flash-sideways where the most triumphant example is everybody. The flash-sideways is the afterlife and "takes place" after everyone shown in it has died.
• The Masters of Horror episode "Imprint" begins with the prostitute informing Christopher that the girl he's been looking for, Komomo, recently died. The rest of it is spent with the prostitute telling him of Komomo's final weeks and her own life story.
• Midnight Sun (2016):
  • Rutger Burlin is murdered in the pilot, though his influence nonetheless continues over the series, and we learn much more about him.
  • Evelina never actually appears living, as she's dead when the series starts (however she's present as a ghost or hallucination of her brother's). Her life and death turn out to be key in the plot.
• Trudy Monk in Monk.
  • To a smaller extent (and more prominently in the novels), Mitch, Natalie's husband.
• The Murders: Kate's father was also a cop, killed on duty two years before the series starts. He's still mentioned frequently, and Kate gets respect from other cops when they learn she's his daughter. She's clearly still struggling to deal with her loss, and discusses his death with her psychiatrist.
• NUMB3RS: Margaret Eppes, Alan's wife, and Don and Charlie's Mother, died of cancer sometime before the series began and is mentioned throughout the series and appears in Charlie and Alan's dreams ^note It is left ambiguous whether or not it was a dream or if she was a ghost in the second season finale.
• Once Upon a Time contains several characters who were killed in the fairy-tale world, long before the events of the pilot, that none the less have a strong impact on the actions of the present-day characters. Probably the two most important are Henry, the Evil Queen's father, and Daniel, the stable boy with whom the Queen was in love before she married Snow White's father.
• The opening scene of the first episode of Orphan Black is the suicide of Elizabeth Childs. The plot kicks off after Sarah Manning, who is startled to find Beth was her exact duplicate, assumes her identity, and finds that she and Beth were only two of a series of clones. She also discovers that Beth was a cop, with a Dark and Troubled Past.
• Person of Interest
  • Nathan Ingram was Finch's best friend and business partner. Together they built the Machine but disagrees about what to do about the Irrelevant list. Nathan wanted to save the people on the list and became an amateur vigilante. When Finch tried to stop him, Nathan tried exposing the existence of the Machine to the public and the government killed him to keep him silent. When the series starts Finch is trying to atone for failing Nathan by continuing Nathan's work of saving the Irrelevant people.
  • Jessica Arndt was Reese's ex-girlfriend who broke up with him after he rejoined the army after 9/11. She got married but her husband was violently abusive. Desperate, she called Reese and asked him to help in getting away from her husband. Reese wanted to rush to her side but was called away on an important mission where he was betrayed by his superiors and left for dead. When he finally returned to the U.S. he discovered that Jessica died in an apparent car accident. He quickly discovered that she was actually murdered by her husband. Reese got revenge on the husband, but then reached a Despair Event Horizon and pretty much gave up until Finch recruits him at the start of the series. The guilt from not being able to save Jessica is a major reason for why Reese joins Finch in his mission to save the Irrelevant people. A flashback reveals that Jessica was actually one of the Irrelevant people Finch was unable to save.
• Chairman Cha's brother and Ji Heon's brother in Protect the Boss.
• The drama Providence had the main character's mother die in the first episode. She continually appears to her daughter as a type of muse.
• Raising Dion: Dion's father, Mark Warren, died prior to the events of the series but is seen in several flashbacks.
• Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). The clue's in the title. It doesn't stop him solving crimes.
• Jimmy Keefe, and many others, in Rescue Me.
• Sanctuary: Nigel Griffin the only member of the Five who is dead from the beginning, but he appears frequently in the flashbacks. James Watson soon joins him.
• Terry Crowley on The Shield. Terry was killed by Vic Mackey in the first episode of the series, but remained in the dialogue for every season and appeared in flashbacks.
• Nathaniel Fisher, Sr. in Six Feet Under dies in the pilot episode, and throughout the series continues to interact with his family, along with the occasional Body of the Week. It's left ambiguous whether he is an actual ghost or just in their heads (unless you consider Word of God to be canon; in which case, they're figments of the imagination or represent inner thoughts).
• John Teller in Sons of Anarchy is heard only in voice-over through his journal.
• In The Sopranos, "Johnny Boy" Soprano (a.k.a. Tony's father) plays an important role in several characters' backstories and appears in numerous flashbacks, but has already been dead for years by the time the series begins. Richie Aprile, while alive at the beginning, dies of cancer after a few episodes and only a few minutes of screen time, but continues to be talked about by his friends, family, and associates throughout the series.
• Star Trek:
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation:
    • Dr Crusher's husband and Wesley's father, Jack Crusher, who'd served under Captain Picard aboard the USS Stargazer before he died in the line of duty. He appears in a recording in the episode "Family".
    • Deanna Troi's father, Ian Troi. A vision of him appears in "Dark Page". Also appearing as a vision in the same episode, Deanna's sister who was killed when she was a baby and was subsequently kept secret by her mother.
    • Mogh, father of Worf and Kurn, and his mate were killed in a Romulan attack on Khitomer. Despite being raised by humans, Worf still calls himself "Son of Mogh" and defends his family honor when Mogh is held responsible for the attack.
    • "A Matter of Perspective" starts when a Space Station explodes, killing the lead scientist aboard. For the ensuing investigation, the scientist is recreated as a hologram so everyone can watch a holo-account of his final days.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
    • Jennifer Sisko, who is found dead by her husband Ben in the first few minutes of the series. Notably, her mirror universe counterpart is still alive but dies herself in the second episode she appeared while saving the life of the ‘real’ Jennifer’s son Jake.
    • Curzon, host of the Dax symbiont before Jadzia. He is seen briefly in a flashback scene in the pilot and later appears in the episode "Facets" when he temporarily possesses Odo.
    • All of Dax's past hosts are this as well. While she for some reason never seems to mention Lela, all of the others get multiple mentions throughout the series (usually by Dax herself).
  • Star Trek: Voyager: "Latent Image" has Ahni Jetal, a low-level officer that died during a incident when the Doctor had to choose between saving Harry Kim's life or hers. They both had equal chances of survival, however, he saved Harry, not out of medical reasoning, but because he was his friend, and his programming wasn't able to square with his decision, which initially led Janeway to delete the Doctor's memories of this incident before deciding to restore those memories, giving him the opportunity to make peace with himself.
• Mary Winchester, the mother of the boys on Supernatural is murdered in the pilot, in a flashback to when Dean was four and Sam was an infant. Between other flashbacks, Time Travel, the afterlife, and Eve impersonating her, Mary's presence on the show rivals her widower John.
• Kyle Reese in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is mentioned frequently (as all the main characters knew/loved/are related to him except Cameron) and appears as a hallucination in one (incredibly weird) episode.
• George & Marion Kerby and Neil in Topper. They are ghosts, though.
• Trinkets: Elodie's mother is already dead when the series begins. However, she's shown in flashbacks, and her loss affects things greatly.
• The Twilight Zone (1959): In "Young Man's Fancy", Henrietta Walker died one year before her son Alex's marriage to Virginia Lane wedding, but her presence pervades both her house and their lives. She eventually returns as a ghost.
• Laura Palmer, Twin Peaks.
• Veronica Mars: Lilly Kane, the rich teenage girl whose murder starts the main Myth Arc of season 1, is already dead by the first episode and only seen through flashbacks afterwards.
• The Umbrella Academy (2019): An interesting example is with Ben Hargreeves, who is deceased, but is still a relevant character thanks to his brother Klaus’s ability to commune with ghosts. The circumstances behind his death are purposely never elaborated on, with Viktor only referring to it as “The Jennifer Incident”, which apparently involved a woman of that name.
• Why Women Kill: At the beginning of "I Was Just Wondering What Makes Dames Like You So Deadly", for each era we hear from a dead relative close to the protagonists.
  • Beth Ann and Robs' daughter Emily talks about how she knows her mother is unhappy but Rob doesn't know because she smiles all the time, and she fears her mother will do something terrible.
  • Tommy's father and Naomi's late husband talks about how unpleasant Naomi is and how she needs to lay off of Tommy because he's a grown man now. He hopes his son will push back against Naomi's smothering.
  • Jade's foster mother talks about how she hadn't seen her horrible death coming and that Eli will meet a horrifying end at the hands of Jade.
• Whenever the Victim of the Week in Without a Trace, turns up dead, their appearances in flashbacks make them this.
• The X-Files: Max Fenig in the 2-part episode "Tempus Fugit" and "Max". Max appears alive in an earlier episode, but is found dead in the teaser of "Tempus Fugit." The 2-parter consists of the agents' attempts to reconstruct the events that led to his death, and he appears alive in a series of flashbacks.
• You're Only Young Twice (1971) has Cuthbert Fogarty, a former resident of Twilight Lodge who passed before Armitage moved in. Armitage tries to distract himself from the fact that he is stuck in an old folk's home in "Home Sweet Homicide" by investigating the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death.

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