Mentor. A Tour official who will be at your service until halfway through the Tour, at which point you will unaccountably lose him. ... He will reappear, smugger and bossier than ever, near the end of the Tour, just when you thought you were doing rather well on your own.
"The mentor figure dying is all part of the hero's journey, my dear."
— Gordon Edgeley, Skulduggery Pleasant
He could not let anybody else stand between him and Voldemort; he must abandon forever the illusion he ought to have lost at the age of one, that the shelter of a parent’s arms meant that nothing could hurt him. There was no waking from his nightmare, no comforting whisper in the dark that he was safe really, that it was all in his imagination; the last and greatest of his protectors had died, and he was more alone than he had ever been before.
"Harry... you must realize that if you choose this man as your teacher and your friend, your first mentor, then one way or another you will lose him, and the manner in which you lose him may or may not allow you to ever get him back."
— Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, chapter 20
"In the stories my people tell—the old ones, the ones that matter—the hero loses her mentor. She lives, grieves, and moves on to save the world."
"I don't think Tony would have done what he did if he didn't know you were going to be here after he was gone."
— Happy Hogan to Peter Parker, Spider-Man: Far From Home
Writer #1: Sir Gavin buddy, how's it going?
Sir Gavin: Not good. I've been doing some research and I'm very concerned about this movie!
Writer #3: Can we help you with something?
Sir Gavin: Yes, you can promise not to kill me.
(all the writers laugh nervously before quickly hiding their scripts)
Sir Gavin: So... you promise not to kill me?
Writer #2: Gavin. You are a main character, buddy.
Sir Gavin: Yes, but mentor characters like me always die. There's Qui-Gon Jinn, Captain Pike, Aslan-
Writer #3: But we made you an awesome fighter like Obi-Wan or Sirius Black-
Writer #1: Or Yoda.
Sir Gavin: Okay, you know all those people are dead, right?
Writer #2: Gavin, calm down, okay? Mentors are tough.
Sir Gavin: Really? Because they all seem to die very wussy deaths! Like falling off a cliff after the Balrog let go, or contracting magical arm cancer and then committing "Snape-Assisted Suicide"!
Writer #1: Is there any way you'll trust us?
Sir Gavin: Yes, you can let me help with the story. (walks over to the whiteboard)
(all the writers panic)
Writer #2: Oh no no no no! No!
Sir Gavin: (gasps) You guys are storyboarding my death?!
Writer #1: NO! No, we're not! (laughs nervously)
(Gavin rips off a piece of paper concealing a frame depicting his funeral)
Writer #1: (defeated) Yes we are.
Sir Gavin: Not good. I've been doing some research and I'm very concerned about this movie!
Writer #3: Can we help you with something?
Sir Gavin: Yes, you can promise not to kill me.
(all the writers laugh nervously before quickly hiding their scripts)
Sir Gavin: So... you promise not to kill me?
Writer #2: Gavin. You are a main character, buddy.
Sir Gavin: Yes, but mentor characters like me always die. There's Qui-Gon Jinn, Captain Pike, Aslan-
Writer #3: But we made you an awesome fighter like Obi-Wan or Sirius Black-
Writer #1: Or Yoda.
Sir Gavin: Okay, you know all those people are dead, right?
Writer #2: Gavin, calm down, okay? Mentors are tough.
Sir Gavin: Really? Because they all seem to die very wussy deaths! Like falling off a cliff after the Balrog let go, or contracting magical arm cancer and then committing "Snape-Assisted Suicide"!
Writer #1: Is there any way you'll trust us?
Sir Gavin: Yes, you can let me help with the story. (walks over to the whiteboard)
(all the writers panic)
Writer #2: Oh no no no no! No!
Sir Gavin: (gasps) You guys are storyboarding my death?!
Writer #1: NO! No, we're not! (laughs nervously)
(Gavin rips off a piece of paper concealing a frame depicting his funeral)
Writer #1: (defeated) Yes we are.
— Studio C (Disney Plans Hero's Death)
"Mentors die like it's going out of style! The only deadlier professions in fiction are "night watchman in a government facility", "street tough in a biker bar" and "mom."
— Red, Overly Sarcastic Productions (Trope Talk: Mentors
, 8:07)
, 8:07)Tarquin: Frankly, I'm surprised you agreed to show up. Our past differences aside, you of all people should be able to see the shape of this.
Julio: Oh, sure—the wise old mentor who trained the hero always gets killed in these stories. That's why I told him to get bent. It was his second Sending that eventually convinced me.
Elan, in flashback: The hero of any story can defy danger—but only a special hero can defy stories themselves. And wouldn't that make a cool story anyway?
Julio: And you know me, Tarkie—I just love to fly in the face of tradition!
Julio: Oh, sure—the wise old mentor who trained the hero always gets killed in these stories. That's why I told him to get bent. It was his second Sending that eventually convinced me.
Elan, in flashback: The hero of any story can defy danger—but only a special hero can defy stories themselves. And wouldn't that make a cool story anyway?
Julio: And you know me, Tarkie—I just love to fly in the face of tradition!
— Julio Scoundrel, defying story conventions in The Order of the Stick
