History Main / AuthorExistenceFailure

[[.redirect:DiedDuringProduction]]

[[redirect:DiedDuringProduction]]

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1546340430072116400
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
%%
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skeleton_writing.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:He only got around to the bare bones of the next story.]]
%%
%% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion here:
%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900
%%

->''"Chaucer's ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'' was expected to clock in at anywhere between 100 and 120 chapters. Unfortunately, the dude only managed to finish 24 tales before he suffered an insurmountable and permanent state of writer's block commonly known as death."''
-->-- ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18539_7-lost-bodies-work-that-would-have-changed-everything_p2.html "7 Lost Bodies of Work (That Would Have Changed Everything)"]]

A {{Fandom}}'s worst nightmare: A creator dies before completing their work, leaving it {{orphaned|Series}}.

If readers are lucky, the author had enough warning or foresight to keep notes on their plans for the rest of the series or at least fill someone else in on the most relevant plot points, so that [[PosthumousCollaboration their work can be continued by another author]], or [[OutlivedItsCreator possibly even several]]. This may result in the series JumpingTheShark if [[OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight the replacement isn't very good]], but at least you have closure. Worse would be if the series just isn't popular enough to justify going through the effort to find a new author, leaving fans to wonder WhatCouldHaveBeen.

This can also happen with individuals who play a major role in creating a group work; for instance, actors or directors. In any case, it gets to be pretty sad that so many people lose their jobs because of one person's death, but if the work was good enough it's likely that those who worked on it won't have too much trouble finding another job.

If the author is still alive but decides to quit, they're preventing a FranchiseZombie.

Please note that this trope applies when a creator (writer, director, etc.) ceases work on a project, not a participant (actor, well... mostly actors) unless they had significant input.

Also note that since all creators are mortal, this is not merely [[Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs when creators die]], it's when they die with works still in progress.

This might result in TheCharacterDiedWithHim (where the show goes on without the character a dead actor portrayed), ActorExistenceLimbo (where a character previously with a voice role does not have a voice in future episodes) or FakeShemp (where there is an attempt to disguise the absent actor).

Not to be confused with DeathOfTheAuthor (a criticism trope), ApocalypticLog or CreatorKiller (where the author merely falls from grace and loses their reputation).

See also FatalMethodActing (when this happens during part of the production) and PosthumousCredit (when someone gets credited on a work after their death).

!!Examples:
[[index]]
* [[AuthorExistenceFailure/FilmLiveAction Film - Live Action]]
* [[AuthorExistenceFailure/LiveActionTV Live-Action TV]]
* [[AuthorExistenceFailure/{{Literature}} Literature]]
* [[AuthorExistenceFailure/{{Music}} Music]]
* [[AuthorExistenceFailure/WesternAnimation Western Animation]]
[[/index]]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* When Creator/OsamuTezuka died, he left his life's work ''Manga/{{Phoenix}}'' unfinished, which he had great plans for. Had he stayed alive to finish it, [[HyperlinkStory the separate stories of each time period in each volume would eventually converge at a central point]], the "present", and tying all the loose ends of the Phoenix's story together.
* Happened the same with the other great mangaka legend, Creator/ShotaroIshinomori, who left his most famous manga ''Manga/Cyborg009'' unfinished, taking a long hiatus and promising to create an end for it exactly in the year 2000... But he died early in 1998. Fortunately, in 2012, Shogakukan announced the story would reach a proper conclusion based on Ishinomori's original concept notes, sketches, and a novel draft. It was illustrated by Masato Hayase and Sugar Sato and written by Ishinomori's eldest son Jo. Unfortunately, the finished product resulted in a ''huge'' BrokenBase over liberties that Ishinomori's son had taken with his father's storyline.
* Noboru Yamaguchi spent the rest of his life working to avert this trope by attempting to finish ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'' as fast as possible while also undergoing treatment for cancer. Though he sadly passed away on April 4, 2013 (which was a cruel twist of fate due to the fact he was about to conclude the novel series), he ended up succeeding from beyond the grave when it was announced in June 2015 that the series will finally see its completion after all, ending a years-long limbo.
* Ken Ishikawa, the creator of ''Manga/GetterRobo''. Though he did leave some notes behind, they were apparently only for Getter Robo Hien - a prequel. The cliffhanger ending of ''Getter Robo Āḥ'', the latest series chronologically, has yet to be resolved.
* The director of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam The 08th MS Team]]'', Takeyuki Kanda, died while the OVA was still being produced. One effect of that was that it took over three years to finish it, making it the longest-running single ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' production until ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Gundam Unicorn]]'', except the long-running period for that has been planned from the start.
* And a decade and a half later, Umanosuke Iida, aka the guy who took over for Kanda... died while working on another series, ''Anime/TowaNoQuon''.
* ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'''s author Sunao Yoshida died in 2004 and the story was finished some while later by other writers. The manga managed to stay long until April 2018 with 21 volumes. Yoshida was also the original story creator for ''Anime/NeppuKairikuBushiRoad'', which didn't get picked up until 2013, a whole decade after it was first announced.
* Creator/KaoruTada's manga, ''Manga/ItazuraNaKiss'' was left incomplete when she passed away in 1999 after a tragic accident. Luckily, she had the ending semi-planned out, and it was used for the anime adaptation in 2008.
* Perhaps not a total Existence Failure, but what happened to mangaka Kyoko Okazaki certainly comes close: in 1996, she was hit by a drunk driver before completing the last few chapters of her BodyHorror-esque cosmetic surgery drama ''Manga/HelterSkelter''. The resulting accident [[AndIMustScream left her quadriplegic and mute]]. The manga was finished in 2004, by her former assistant [[Manga/SugarSugarRune Moyoco Anno]] (yup, the wife of Creator/HideakiAnno), working from Okazaki's storyboards and with her consultation, albeit on a {{Cliffhanger}}. Poor Mrs. Okazaki's rehabilitation continues to this day.
* Takahiro Yamato of ''LightNovel/KazeNoStigma'' died in 2009 before his work was finished.
* Yoshito Usui of ''Anime/CrayonShinChan''. Tragically killed in a hiking accident in September 2009. The anime (which mostly uses original stories not found in the manga anyway) was put on hiatus for a few weeks after his death, but it was later announced it would continue. It is confirmed Usui’s longtime team of assistant manga artists will carry on the manga.
** With the exception of Creator/KeijiFujiwara, who retired from his role as Hiroshi Nohara nearly four years before he lost his battle with cancer, several voice actors from the anime died during the show's run.
*** Creator/KanetoShiozawa, the voice of Buriburizaemon, died of injuries sustained in a fall over the Golden Week holiday in 2000. This lead to the character being [[TheVoiceless unvoiced]] for 16 years, when Creator/HiroshiKamiya was brought in as his voice actor.
*** Ginzo Matsuo, who voiced Ginnosuke Nohara, died in 2001. After his passing, Creator/YuichiNagashima took over.
*** Creator/SayuriYamauchi, who voiced Nanako, died in 2012. Creator/ShizukaIto took on the role the following year.
*** Creator/RokuroNaya, who voiced Enchou-sensei, died in 2014, Junpei Morita took over a year later after the former's passing.
* Keiko Tobe, the mangaka of ''Manga/WithTheLight'', died of an unspecified illness in late January 2010, leaving the manga unfinished.
* Creator/SatoshiKon suddenly died while making a film called ''The Dream Machine'', which he described as aimed at a younger audience but accessible for his older fans, with a cast made entirely of robots. Kon learned that he had a late-stage pancreatic cancer in April 2010, but initially didn't tell anyone because he didn't want to disturb them -- cancers are still something of a taboo in Japan. He later regretted this decision and verbosely apologized to everyone in his farewell note (he ended it with an apology for "leaving while everyone else was still working") after his producer Masao Maruyama promised to him to finish the movie. Sadly, the film is now stuck in DevelopmentHell.
* ''LightNovel/{{MM}}'''s author Akinari Matsuo passed away without warning on April 18, 2011, shortly after publishing the 10th novel, which ends on a Cliffhanger. The phrasing of the letter, which does not mention accident nor illness, suggests suicide.
* Similarly, fellow seiyuu Creator/TomokoKawakami spoke to Creator/KunihikoIkuhara to see if they'd [[Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena work together again]] in his latest series, ''Anime/{{Penguindrum}}''. Sadly, Kawakami succumbed to ovarian cancer in 2011.
* ''Manga/BarefootGen'' was discontinued in 2009 due to author Keiji Nakazawa developing cataracts and vision problems, and he died of cancer just three years later.
* ''Anime/{{Despera}}'' went to DevelopmentHell due to the director Ryutaro Nakamura's health issues and later death in June 2013. Later on, however, series artist Yoshitoshi [=Abe=] announced they had found a new director, though who it is is currently unknown and no other news has been released.
* [[Manga/InuXBokuSS Cocoa Fujiwara]] passed away on March 31, 2015, of an unspecified illness while working on another series.
* The afterword for the second ''LightNovel/PocketMonstersTheAnimation'' novel included a note saying "ToBeContinued in Volume 3," but no third volume was released, and with Creator/TakeshiShudo dying in 2010, it's certain it never will be.
* The upcoming ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed'' movie is likely to be placed on indefinite hold, if not cancelled outright, following GS/GSD head writer Chiaki Morosawa's death from an aortic dissection in February 2016.
* Tomohiro Matsu, the writer of ''LightNovel/ListenToMeGirlsIAmYourFather'' and ''LightNovel/MayoiNekoOverrun'', [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-05-03/mayoi-neko-overrun-listen-to-me-girls-i-am-your-father-novelist-tomohiro-matsu-passes-away-at-43/.101728 passed away at the age of 43]], leaving two of his other works, ''Hatena Illusion'' and ''Elsa of the Mysterious Island'' unfinished.
* Yuki Shinkiba, the author of ''Manga/ShindereShoujoToKodokuNaShinigami'', had to put the manga on hiatus in 2013 due to her bad health. She passed away in 2015 before she could retake it.
* The author of ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'', Daisuke Sato, passed away at age 52 due to ischemic heart disease, severely lowering its chances of returning from its extended hiatus. Illustrator Shoji Sato maintains that, while not impossible, continuation has become more difficult in light of the former's passing.
* ''Anime/TheRoseOfVersailles'' anime's director Tadao Nagahama died after producing 18 episodes, so Creator/OsamuDezaki took over for the remaining ones.
* Creator/AyaHisakawa replaced Creator/HiromiTsuru as Bulma after ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', following the latter's death from heart problems on November 16, 2017. In addition, Creator/ReiSakuma and Creator/MinaTominaga, [[TalkingToHimself who also play Butterko and Rollpanna respectively, on the show in question]], took over her other famous role, which was Dokin-chan on ''Franchise/{{Anpanman}}'' (Sakuma temporarily voiced her in the 2017 Christmas special, and Tominaga would later fully take over for future productions following the special).
** Averted with Jam Ojisan's voice actor Hiroshi Masuoka, who retired on August 5, 2019, six months before he passed away of rectal cancer and was replaced by Creator/KoichiYamadera, who yet again [[TalkingToHimself plays a pre-existing character on the show, Cheese]].
* Creator/StudioWanpack closed at the end of February 2018 following the death of founder Koji Yamada two months earlier.
* ''Modest Heroes'' clocks in at just under an hour because Creator/IsaoTakahata was going to do a segment for the film, but he died before production could get underway.
* In August 2018, Momoko Sakura, the creator of ''Manga/ChibiMarukoChan'', died of breast cancer while the anime adaptation of said manga was still on the air. But unlike the ''Shin-chan'' and ''Sazae-san'' examples, Momoko had little involvement in the anime after 1996 (which was when the original manga ended), only returning to the show to write three MilestoneCelebration episodes. [[labelnote: *]] These were "The Day I Was Born", the show's 1,000th episode that aired in 2012, and "Maruko Sings A Song In The Bath" and "I Love Tama-Chan", the episodes that aired on the day of the show's 25th anniversary in 2015.[[/labelnote]]
* ''Manga/OnePiece'' author Eiichiro Oda, being fully aware of his {{Workaholic}} nature and health issues, has at least one confirmed contingency plan (and some other rumoured ones) for completing the series - or at least telling the story of it - in the event of his death. Specifically, he has the series explicitly listed in his will, requiring that the story be released to readers in some form. His editors are also heavily rumoured to know every detail that is coming for the series and have access to materials for completing it in the event that Oda can't continue it.
* An InUniverse Example, this is actually a major theme of ''Anime/ReCreators'', where two of the main characters (Meteora and Altair) fall under this trope. Their Creators died before they could meet them, with Altair ''herself'' coming into existence due to her Creator's despair and passion upon creating her before she committed suicide, being the very citing incident to spark off the show's events.
* Narrowly subverted by ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita''; the reason the original manga series had such a quick and dirty ending is because Yukito Kishiro became ''very'' ill while writing it, causing him to fear the story would be LeftHanging if he didn't [[WrapItUp give it some kind of ending while he still could]]. Luckily, his health improved and he promptly started a SequelSeries to release all the stuff he couldn't squeeze into the original.
* This happened twice to ''Manga/SazaeSan'': first in 1992 when the creator Machiko Hasegawa died and again with Creator/IchiroNagai, the voice actor for Namihei. While the show continued without Machiko, Namihei is now voiced by Chafurin.
* ''Franchise/PrettyCure'':
** Creator/MiyuMatsuki, the voice of Choppy in ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar'', died in October 2015 of lymphoma that she got as a complication of a chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection. This happened while ''[[Anime/PrettyCureAllStars Pretty Cure All Stars: Minna De Utau Kiseki no Mahou]]'', which featued the cast of all the Pretty Cure series until ''Anime/MahoGirlsPrecure'' including the ''Splash Star'' characters, was still in production. As a result, Cure Bloom was the only ''Splash Star'' character to have a speaking role in the film, and Lulun was the only pre-''Go! Princess'' fairy from the franchise to speak. This event, along with the fact that there were now [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters way too many Cures to give speaking and screen roles to]], led to the ''All Stars'' films from then on featuring only the current team and the two teams before it. The later film ''Anime/HugttoPrettyCure [[Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure Futari Wa Pretty Cure:]] [[Anime/PrettyCureAllStars All Star Memories]]'', which features the ''Splash Star'' characters once again, did not include the fairies from that incarnation, with only Mepple, Mipple, and Mofurun being the three pre-''Hugtto'' fairies with speaking roles.
** Yuuji Yamaguchi passed away [[https://twitter.com/Yuyucow/status/1226295092517974017 while he was working as a storyboarder]] for ''Anime/HealinGoodPrettyCure''.
* Several animators, including the director, who worked on the anime adaptation of ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'' were murdered in a 2019 massacre and arson targeted at their production company, Creator/KyotoAnimation, leaving an announced second season unfinished. This also impacted an anime adaptation of light novel ''20 Seiki Denki Mokuroku'', a new movie based on ''Anime/{{Free}}'' and the second ''LightNovel/VioletEvergarden'' movie. Of these, ''Violet Evergarden'' was able to be completed by a different team, but wound up [[ReleaseDateChange being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down theaters]]. The second season of ''Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid'' has since been given a release date of 2021.
* In 1999, Toei Animation made a game called ''Majokko Daisakusen'', featuring several classic MagicalGirl heroines from the 60's and 70's, and reused every character's original seiyuu. However, the original voice of ''Anime/SallyTheWitch'', Michiko Hirai, had a heart attack in 1984. Her voice actress from the 1989 remake, Creator/YurikoYamamoto, wound up being used instead.
* Gabe Khouth, the voice of Ken Midori in ''Anime/BeybladeBurst'', died in a motorcycle accident just as Season 4 began airing. Some episodes featuring him had to be excised from the English dub of that season as a result.
* Creator/KentaroMiura wrote ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' from 1989 onward more or less continuously, with some increasing ScheduleSlip as the series ran on, before he [[https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210520/p2a/00m/0et/020000c died of an acute aortic dissection on May 6, 2021]]. Despite its long run, the series was still far from a conclusion at his time of death, and its fate is uncertain. Fortunately, the point where he left the manga is at worst bittersweet, what with the manga having stoppped [[spoiler:at the end of Guts' journey to fix Casca's mind, which was ''successful'', though she still has some mental issues from her trauma, she's at a stage where she can safely begin to make a recovery.]] On the other hand, [[spoiler:Griffith and the God Hand are still out there, and will eventually take over the world if not stopped.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Creator/{{Herge}} stipulated in his testament that all his series, ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'', ''ComicStrip/QuickAndFlupke'' and ''ComicBook/JoZetteAndJocko'' were to be discontinued after his death. Although ''[[Recap/TintinTintinAndThePicaros Tintin and the Picaros]]'' is a decent ending to the series (there's nothing "final" about it, but it doesn't leave the reader on a cliffhanger), Creator/{{Herge}} planned to have one more final story. He was still working on a very rough draft of ''Recap/TintinTintinAndAlphArt'' when he died. Unfortunately, he never told anyone exactly how he planned to end it, and the incomplete story ended on a colossal CliffHanger.
* Fellow comic book author Edgar P. Jacobs died while working on the second part of "Professor Sató's Three Formulae", the last volume of his ''ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer'' series. Unlike Hergé, however, he had left plenty of notes and a complete outline of the story, which made it possible for another artist, Bob de Moor, to complete the story three years after Jacobs' death[[note]]The first part was published in 1977, the second completed in 1990; Jacobs died in 1987.[[/note]]. Because he suspected he wouldn't finish "Three Formulae", Jacobs left the copyright of the series relatively open so it would eventually have [[GrandFinale an ending]], (leading to [[ArchEnemy Olrik]] being KilledOffForReal). Which worked, but also led to new ''Blake and Mortimer'' adventures made by two different writer/artist teams. One team actively tries to [[DolledUpInstallment ignore established canon.]] The other team was very good... but one of its members, René Sterne, died while working on the first volume of the dyptich ''The Curse of the Thirty Denarii'', leading to new Author Existence Failure. The volume was eventually finished by Sterne's girlfriend, Chantal de Spiegeleer, and the second part made by another artist.
* Creator/SteveGerber died of complications from pulmonary fibrosis, after plotting the penultimate issue of his ComicBook/DoctorFate story in the ''Countdown to Mystery'' miniseries in his hospital bed. The final issue features four hypothetical endings, written by some of Gerber's friends in the industry.
* Drew Hayes, the author of ''Poison Elves'', had been planning to create new issues of the comic after having had to stop working on it due to his poor health. He died of a heart attack in 2007 before he had a chance to create more than a few sketches for the new stories.
* Archie Goodwin and Walter Simonson had plans for one final ''Manhunter'' story. When Goodwin died before completing the dialogue, Simonson looked at the script and decided it could be done as a "[[NoDialogueEpisode silent story]]" as a tribute to Archie. The story is included in the ''Manhunter'' collected edition.
* Creator/ReneGoscinny died of a sudden heart attack while working on the ComicBook/{{Asterix}} story ''Recap/AsterixInBelgium''. It took a great deal of soul-searching by Albert Uderzo over whether or not to complete it. Uderzo did, and then as a tribute to Goscinny continued their work alone. At a certain point in ''Astérix in Belgium'' it begins to rain and does not stop for the remainder of the story. The rain was added by Uderzo to mark the point in the work where Goscinny left off when he died.
* Mike Wierningo died working on an issue of ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' featuring the ComicBook/FantasticFour, having only drawn seven pages. It was finished by a group of different artists doing a couple of pages each and published a year later, with the proceeds going to charity. Additionally, before he died, he was in the planning stages of a collaboration with Warren Ellis. Ellis refuses to reveal any hints as to what the project was even about.
* Creator/EdwardGorey's death left his last work, "The Izzard Book" (a collection of words beginning with Z, with pictures), poignantly unfinished: The illustrations become increasingly (and randomly) rough and sketchy until there's nothing left. He also died before doing the illustrations to The Admonitory Hippopotamus.
* Creator/CharlesMSchulz at least had the sense to [[WordOfGod declare]] that even if he'd lived forever, some things in ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' would never be concluded. There was, thus, no carefully hidden strip in which Charlie Brown gets the little red-haired girl, or in which Snoopy finished off the Red Baron. Nonetheless, he still only barely avoided this. He died the night before his final strip (written months prior) was released.
* Within the same issue of an ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'' comic, there is a sudden ArtShift. The reason for the abrupt shift into a fairly unpleasant style is because the artist, Edvin Biukovic, had to quit due to health problems, which he later died from.
* ''ComicBook/CerebusTheAardvark'': Although Creator/DaveSim did not die while making Cerebus, he had "planned ahead" (using this term very loosely) in case this happened. He had mentioned in interviews that, if he DID die before completing the series, the series would continue all the way to issue 300, but all subsequent issues would only have the background art (by Sim's colleague Gerhard). There would be no characters nor text/narrative of any kind.
* Marshall Rodgers died in the middle of ''Cap'n Quick and a Foozle'', just as the title characters enter a dimensional vortex. The Captain's last known words: "Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you about this part."
* Willy Vandersteen left very specific instructions behind for the continuation of his ''ComicBook/SuskeEnWiske'' franchise after his death. No character could ever age, or change, no main character may ever be dropped or added, and sex is a taboo, and a number of situations may never be altered (Lambik and Sidonia may never wed). Vandersteen died in 1990, but had given up artistic control of the ''Suske en Wiske'' franchise in 1972; to this day his wishes remain the guiding principles of the comic - though it must be said that his successors have seriously pushed it in almost unrecognizable directions.
* ''ComicBook/GastonLagaffe'' ended after Creator/AndreFranquin's death in 1997.
* Creator/JackKirby started a project called ''Phantom Force'' shortly before he died. Creator/ImageComics published the first two issues, with many of their top artists (Todd [=McFarlane=], Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, Jerry Ordway, Jim Valentino and Keith Giffen, among others) inking Kirby's pages. The story arc was finished by Kirby collaborator Greg Theakston.
* Dudley Watkins died at his drawing board in 1969. As a result, several notable strips from Creator/DCThomson's weekly anthology comics needed new artists immediately. An incomplete ''[[ComicBook/TheBeano Biffo the Bear]]'' strip was completed by David Sutherland, who took over as its artist from then on. ''[[ComicBook/TheDandy Desperate Dan]]'' became a reprint, so hard was it to find a suitable replacement (Ken Harrison eventually took over in 1983). ''ComicBook/TheBeezer''[='=]s cover star Ginger and ''ComicBook/TheTopper''[='=]s cover star Mickey the Monkey both also had to be taken on by other artists. Biffo and Mickey were removed from the covers a few years later.
* Narrowly averted by [[FrancoBelgianComics French]] comic writer/artist Fred. After a 27 year hiatus, he published his coda to ''ComicBook/{{Philemon}}'' before dying two months later.
* ''ComicBook/RicHochet'': Co-creator Tibet passed away in 2010. Similar to ''Tintin and Alph-Art'', the album has been released in an incomplete state. Duchâteau is still around, but a reboot entitled ''The New Adventures of Ric Hochet'' was made in 2015 with new writers.
* The Marvel parody series What-The has an in-universe example: The super-crossover-all-in-multibrawl-megaevent leads to the author "keeling over by a heart attack. [[SpoofAesop Moral: Team-books kill.]]"
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Franchise/WonderWoman creator William Moulton Marston died of cancer in 1947, and despite working under a pen name which he shared with Joye Murchison on the comic DC did not keep Murchison on as writer, and instead replaced him with Creator/RobertKanigher who had a very different take on the Amazon princess and the rest of the cast, and placed everyone he didn't put on a bus in far more traditional gender roles.
* Chilean screenwriter and cartoonist Marco Rauch, founder of the publisher Mythica Ediciones, passed away in April 2020, leaving many projects on hold, such as the third - and final - volume of the epic fantasy comic Cronicas de Myhtica, as well as new volumes of of his most successful work, ''Zombies en la Moneda'', and a possible spin-off called ''Zombies in the White House''.
* German illustrator and comic artist, Harald Siepermann ([[https://haraldsiepermann.com/2018/02/18/alfred-j-kwak-comic-book-31st-anniversary/ responsible for the character designs]] in the ''WesternAnimation/AlfredJKwak'' franchise alongside [[https://www.lambiek.net/artists/s/siepermann_harald.htm finalizing Alfred's design]]) passed away from cancer on February 8th, 2013 after a long period of illness. Gijs van der Lelijk took over as the [[https://hermanvanveen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/omslag_ajk_en_de_sneeuwvlok.jpg main illustrator for the "Alfred J Kwak" franchise beginning in 2016.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* Bil Keane of ''ComicStrip/TheFamilyCircus'' died of heart failure in 2011. His son Jeff Keane is [[OutlivedItsCreator continuing it]], having assisted Bil with it in his final years.
* The newspaper comic ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' could be seen as either an example of the trope or a narrow aversion of it. While creator Charles M. Schulz died the day before the final Sunday strip was published, he was aware of his failing health and had planned to conclude the strip precisely where it actually ended.
* ''ComicStrip/KrazyKat'' was created during an era when cartoonists had virtually no creative control over their work. So when creator George Herriman died during the comic's run, it was expected that the strip would be passed to a new artist by the newspaper. But in a-then unprecedented move, the publisher ended the strip with Herriman's death. It turned out that they had tried to find a replacement in the event of the author's passing, but they could never find a cartoonist who could replicate Herriman's one-of-a-kind style.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Jucika}}'''s creator Pál Pusztai died of heart failure a day after his magazine had published what turned out to be his last comic, in September 1970. A poem collection about the comic also went unreleased out of respect -- at least until someone finally published it in 2009.
* Elzie Segar wrote and drew ''Thimble Theater'', which you know as ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'', along with his other strip ''Sappo'', until near the end of his life in 1938. He'd started giving the work to assistants, but still handled the storylines. He was drafting a comeback for the wildly popular Sea Hag when leukemia complicated by liver failure caught up with him and killed him. He was 46.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Redeye}}'' ran from 1967 until the death of Mel Casson in 2008 after the series originally averted this trope following the death of the series original creator, Gordon Bess.
* ''You Can With Beakman and Jax'', the inspiration for ''Series/BeakmansWorld'', ended its' run after Jok Church died of a heart attack.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1253959/ALEO ALEO]], a fanfic writer for ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' and ''Series/Numb3rs'', was killed after being struck by a bus, which leaves any new story she would have written for either fandom to never happen and her brother left her profile up so that her work can still be appreciated.
* [[https://fanfiction.net/u/2062884/ Larry Huss]], notorious for his ''Literature/HarryPotter'' and ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'' fanfictions, passed away from cancer in January 2016. His son and editor/prereader/beta/etc. of his fanfic, Nathan Huss, announced that his unfinished stories would remain as such.
* [[https://fanfiction.net/u/2615262/ SoulSonicResonace25]], well-known for his ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'' crossover stories, was shot dead in 2015. His brother [=KingSora3=] has announced since that [[PosthumousCollaboration he has taken over his account and continued some of his stories]], including unpublished ones, while rewriting others and leaving some up to adoption.
* [[Tropers/{{Durandall}} Brian Randall]], a noted fanfiction author, committed suicide in 2014, leaving [[http://soulriders.net/brian/fanfic/incomplete/ three fics]] incomplete, including ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero''.
* Cody Scheetz, a prominent writer on the Deadfrontier forums, died in a gun accident halfway through writing the second novel of the Biohazard Nation series. In addition to the story never being resolved, plans to pitch the series for dead tree publication were abandoned since he'd expressed wishes not to publish until he'd had the chance to revamp his earlier writing.
* A noted AU, [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4038638/1/Parlor-Tricks Parlor Tricks]], in the ''[[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' fandom, is a retelling of Aang's storyline in a 1920s 'verse. It was cut short just around the time the Earth King equivalent was introduced. The author, Lyralocke, died somewhat unexpectedly of heart problems.
* Ghost, the artist behind [[http://artofthepony-blog.tumblr.com/ Art Of The Pony]], passed away in 2013 due to an undisclosed illness. As if that wasn't sad enough, [[http://artofthepony-blog.tumblr.com/image/59825795468 this heart-crushingly appropriate image]] was the last thing she posted to her blog.
* Jim Bader, also known as Shadowmane, the author of fanfics such as ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11144592/1/Lum-Sum-Purple Lum Sum Purple]]'' (a ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf - Manga/UruseiYatsura'' crossover where Shampoo is the one who opposes Lum in the tag game and ends up [[AccidentalMarriage accidentally married]] to her), died on November 17, 2014. While [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/6460847/The-Altered-Destinies this author]] has posted his fanfictions onto their Fanfiction.Net account, they have no intention of continuing them.
* While nothing happened to the author, we do get a meta version; the ''Series/{{Glee}}'' fic ''Sister Directions'' was deleted after the death of Christina Grimmie, whom the author [[HypotheticalCasting had cast]] as main character Freya. To make matters worse, a new chapter had been scheduled for the same night the singer was murdered.
* [[http://simbamarasa.deviantart.com/gallery/2312350 TLKIII:Shadows]]: The story was left on right on a cliffhanger back in 2010 when the IllGirl artist passed away. According to [[http://lilymud.net/showthread.php?t=53831&page=2 this]], she passed due to heart failure brought on by a cold.
* The third volume of ''Fanfic/TheQueenWhoFellToEarth'' is unlikely to ever be finished, as the author announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2016 and then stopped updating. Apparently, he passed on in April that year.
* The original version of ''Fanfic/AGlassOfWine'' by Dale Carson, also known as [=94saturn=], remains unfinished due to Carson's death in mid-2009 following complications with diabetes.
* Author becuzitswrong - [[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Author-7859/becuzitswrong.htm tthfanfic]] - [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/members/becuzitswrong.297744/ spacebattles]] - [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1405180/becuzitswrong fanfiction dot net]], passed away in 2016[[note]]shortly after improvements to his health led him to invoke ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated[[/note]], leaving behind a handful of finished stories and a large body of well-reviewed unfinished works including ''Fanfic/MemoriesOfIron'' and ''[[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-14121/becuzitswrong+Life+s+Ending+Life+s+Beginning.htm Life's Ending, Life's Beginning]]''.
* Jordan Williams, known as Loyal among the brony fandom, wrote the story ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/63121/archmage Archmage]]'', as well as its three sequels ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/190542/archmage-square-one Square One]], [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/252755/archmage-ascendancy Ascendancy]]'', and ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/110722/archmage-beyond-the-crystal-mirror Beyond the Crystal Mirror]]'', but was never able to complete them before he took his own life in mid-2017.
* The ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fic author [[https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maerynn/pseuds/Maerynn Maerynn]] died in a car accident in February 2018, leaving a number of fics incomplete. However, they were mostly collaborations, and as of November 2018, one of them, ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/10901358 Under Lock and Key ]]'', was [[PosthumousCollaboration completed by the other author based on her notes]].
* Spoofed in ''Fanfic/{{PRIMARCHS}}'', where the [[AC: Emperor of Mankind!]] obliterates the writer at the keyboard for back-chatting him. He gets better.
* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/352534/Arsinoe-de-Blassenville Arsinoe de Blassenville]], author of several ''Franchise/DragonAge'' and ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' fics, succumbed to cancer in 2016. Most of her works (including ''Fanfic/VictoryAtOstagar'') were completed before her death, but she did leave an unfinished collection of ''Dragon Age'' short stories, ''Dragonsteeth.''
* [=MythrilMoth=], author of many, ''many'' fics for ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' and a number of other series, [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/856403/in-memory-of-my-brother passed away in his sleep]] due to health complications on May 6, 2019. His friend Zef has since announced that he himself will be finishing [=MythrilMoth=]'s story ''Fanfic/PersonaEG'', and that the other stories are open to adoption, but any continuation will require his personal approval.
* Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn has taken a proactive stance regarding this possibility for its thousands of members. Among the tools available to fic writers on the site is the option to appoint their "[[https://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq#specialized_faq fannish next-of-kin]]" - another author on the site who will be permitted to assume control of the writer's account and works in the event of their death. Both parties must agree to the 'inheritance' ahead of time.
* [[https://m.fanfiction.net/u/7639306/Master-Mr-B Master Mr B]], writer of ''[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11843446/1/Animal-Crossing-Adventures Animal Crossing Adventures]]'' and ''[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12594666/1/Friendship-is-Magic-The-Seventh-Element Friendship is Magic: The Seventh Element]]'', which are fanfiction of ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewLeaf'' and ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' respectively, apparently died due to heart failure, as revealed by a user named [=Glaicerglass0415=] in the review page of ''Animal Crossing Adventures''. This ultimately left both stories in an unfinished state, with ''Animal Crossing Adventures'' stuck on the second part of the ''Turnabout Crossing'' arc and ''Friendship is Magic: The Seventh Element'' stuck on chapter 167. In the case of ''Animal Crossing Adventures'', according to [=Glacierglass0415=], before Master Mr B’s passing, he had considered doing an entire reboot of the story due to ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons'' being announced, and had given [=Glacierglass0415=] the okay to make fan made arcs that, should they be good enough, would make it into the reboot. As such, [=Glacierglass0415=] has since made plans to include two fan made arcs to the Animal Crossing story that take place after the unfinished ''Turnabout Crossing'' arc, which are ''Tom Nook at The Ocean'', (consisting of a whopping 8 parts) and ''Animal Town in Autumn'', (a 3 part arc) and then said while they can’t say they will be close to or at all to Master Mr B’s writing, they did state that the two arcs will tell a story that reflects loss, especially the ''Animal Town in Autumn'' arc.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films — Animation]]
* Creator/WaltDisney. However, contrary to certain urban legends, he did not cryogenically (or otherwise) preserve any part of his body and did not tell his employees exactly what to do after he left. In fact, the only project where a valid case could be made that he guided his employees following his passing was in the completion of a film he had planned based on A.A. Milne's ''Winnie the Pooh'' books; this culminated in the release of the complete feature, ''WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'', in 1977 - over a decade after his passing. (This is why his name, and not that of his eponymous company, appears on the featurettes which went into full production following his death, save for one last featurette made in 1983 which still had his name instead of the company's on the closing title, and the complete feature.) The last Disney film made entirely during his lifetime was 1967's ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967''.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'' features Slinky Dog, formerly voiced by Jim "Ernest" Varney, who died in 2000. Varney's friend Blake Clark supplied Slinky's voice for the third film and [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory4 the fourth film]], since it was felt that Slinky was too important to [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim disappear offscreen]].
** During the last months of his life, Jim Varney was playing Cookie in ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire''. According to those who worked with him, he signed on ''knowing'' he wouldn't live to see the finished film. The only scene Varney didn't get to record lines for was his goodbye to Milo, with Steve Barr filling in for him, instead. The film is dedicated to Varney.
* Creator/DonRickles had signed on to reprise his role as Mr. Potato Head in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory4'', only to die suddenly in 2017 before getting to record any lines. As Mr. Potato Head is a major character in the series, he either had to be recast or removed entirely, neither of which was desirable as Pixar felt Rickles' personality was inseparable from the character. Ultimately, with the blessing of Rickles' estate, director Josh Cooley [[https://ew.com/movies/2019/03/28/toy-story-4-potato-head/ decided]] [[TakeAThirdOption to go through years of unreleased recordings]] [[FakeShemp of Rickles playing the character]], much like how the late Creator/PaulNewman "reprised" his role as Doc Hudson in ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'' almost a decade after his death, to construct a new performance for Mr. Potato Head in honor of Rickles.
* Lyricist Howard Ashman died of AIDS in the middle of the production of ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', leaving Tim Rice to supply lyrics to "One Jump Ahead" and "A Whole New World". He was later called on for the ScreenToStageAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' for the same reason.
* Creator/MelBlanc passed away during production of ''WesternAnimation/JetsonsTheMovie''. While he had finished the majority of his role as Mr. Spacely, some lines had to be filled in by [[TheOtherMarty Jeff Bergman]]. Allegedly, George O'Hanlon was a somewhat poignant close call, finishing his final line moments before passing away in the recording studio; however, a handful of lines were still filled in by Bergman in the final film.
* In 2016, ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2'' was announced, with the film later being released in 2018. But Creator/ElizabethPena, who played Mirage in [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles the first film]], passed away in 2014. Mirage does not return in any form in the sequel.
* The character Doc Hudson was completely absent in ''WesternAnimation/Cars2'' out of respect for his voice actor Creator/PaulNewman, who passed away from lung cancer in 2008. This didn't stop Paul from posthumously reprising his role in ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'' via archival dialogue that was recorded during production of the first film.
* Creator/ChrisFarley was starring as the eponymous character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' when he died in December 1997. WordOfGod said the movie was 85% finished at the time he died. Farley's ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' castmate Creator/MikeMyers stepped in as Shrek, and this soon led to the story being dramatically changed. Farley's Shrek [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch didn't want to follow the path of his fellow ogres]], whereas Myers's Shrek [[PunchClockHero simply wanted to fulfill a deal he made]] with [[BigBad Lord Farquaad]]. It was not until August of 2015 that Farley's performance as Shrek came to light, [[https://youtu.be/9zYT5hQR4Q4 with his take for the campfire scene]].
* Four months before the American VHS release of ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService'', Phil Hartman, who played Jiji, was murdered in his home. Said release of the film ends with a dedication to Hartman.
* Eight months before the release of ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', Creator/MaryWickes died as the result of battling four different health conditions. Her final lines were recorded by Creator/JaneWithers.
* Creator/JudithBarsi, who starred in ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' and ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'', was murdered by her father before the release of either film. While Ducky, her character in the former film, has had two other voice actors since then, Anne-Marie did not appear in ''All Dogs Go To Heaven 2'' as a result of her death.
* Lisa Michaelson, the voice of Satsuki in the original Streamline dub of ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'', died in a car crash three years before the dub saw a theatrical release.
* Audrey Wells was hired to write the screenplay for the Creator/{{Netflix}} film ''WesternAnimation/OverTheMoon'' in September 2017, but died the next year. Thus, ''Over the Moon'' is her last film. It was later scheduled for release in Fall 2020.
* In 2000, "Blame Canada" from ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'' was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. As per Oscars tradition, the song was to be performed by its original performer, Creator/MaryKayBergman, but she had been DrivenToSuicide four months before the ceremony, so her close friend Creator/RobinWilliams performed it instead.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIIArielsBeginning'' was put into development not long after Buddy Hackett, who voiced Scuttle, died after suffering a stroke. Creator/MauriceLaMarche replaced him for that movie.
* ''Franchise/TheLionKing'':
** Sarabi's voice actress, Madge Sinclar, lost her battle with leukemia a year after the film's release. This resulted in her not being seen on-screen in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride''. Alfre Woodard voiced her in the live-action remake.
** Robert Gulliaume (voice of Rafiki) died two years before the remake of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing2019 The Lion King]]'' was released and two years after ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'' came out. John Kani replaced him in the former and Creator/KharyPayton replaced him in the latter. This might also affect the aforementioned reboot of ''Timon and Pumbaa'', as he had his own segment on the show.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheCroods'': Barely avoided by Gran; two months after the second film's release, her voice actress, Cloris Leachman passed away, dampening any prospects of a third film.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gamebooks]]
* Joe Dever, the author of the ''Literature/LoneWolf'' series, passed away in 2016 due to illness, leaving the series with three books left. His son Ben announced that his family will work on the final three books.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mathematics]]
* The solution of UsefulNotes/FermatsLastTheorem stymied mathematicians for over 300 years and was finally solved using mathematics unavailable during Fermat's own time. Famously, Pierre de Fermat noted that he already had a proof for it, which the margin was too small to contain. That the eventual proof involved mathematical principles that wouldn't be codified until the 20th century casts some doubt on this claim.
* In May 2015, American mathematician John Forbes Nash, whose life was dramatized in ''Film/ABeautifulMind'', [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3103618/Had-Beautiful-Mind-just-finest-work-Mathematician-Nash-told-friends-devised-equation-replace-Einstein-s-famous-theory-just-DAYS-died-car-crash.html had told a friend that he was working on an equation]] that he believed could replace UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein's Theory of Relativity. Sadly, Nash and his wife Alicia were killed in an auto accident a couple of days later as they were coming back from Norway, where he had gone to receive the Abel Prize.
* [[https://www.sciencealert.com/stephen-hawking-submitted-a-paper-on-parallel-universes-just-before-he-died?perpetual=yes&limitstart=1 Two weeks before his death in March 2018]], Creator/StephenHawking co-authored a paper, "A Smooth Exit from Eternal Inflation", which theorizes how to search for parallel universes. If proof is ever found, it would have likely earned Hawking a Nobel Prize nomination but unfortunately, the prize cannot be awarded posthumously.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* [[Creator/TheCynicalBrit John "TotalBiscuit" Bain]] passed away on May 24, 2018, following a four-year battle with bowel cancer. Prior to his death, he announced that his hosting duties for the ''Podcast/TheCoOptionalPodcast'' would be passed to his wife, Genna, when he died, though most of the rest of the series on his channel have most likely died with him.
* ''Website/AnimeNewsNetwork's'' ''Podcast/{{ANNCast}}'' was immediately canceled after the death of its creator and ANN's editor-in-chief Zac Bertschy, with its last episode being a recorded memorial service by his friends and colleagues.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* WWE superstar Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand appeared with his partner Joe "Animal" Laurinatis on the May 17, 2003 ''WWE RAW'' and despite his history of severe drug and alcohol abuse, performed exceptionally well, as he had finally gotten completely clean. According to those who knew him, Hegstrand had dedicated himself to staying drug-free for the rest of his life; unfortunately, his years of drug abuse had taken such a physical toll on his body that he died of a heart attack six months later. He, unlike many drug addicts and alcoholics, managed to live up to hope - [[ExactWords he remained clean for the rest of his life]].
* Wrestling/EddieGuerrero. Having become a born-again Christian and cleaned up from his pill-popping days, Eddie was set to participate in the upcoming RAW vs. [=SmackDown=] ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries'' match and -- according to Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon, who may have been emotionally compromised at the time -- win the World Heavyweight Championship. Unfortunately, the weekend after he qualified for the aforementioned ''Survivor Series'' match, Eddie died of an unexpected heart attack at the age of 38, all those years of drug abuse having finally caught up to him.
* Wrestling/ChrisBenoit. His death was just as tragic as his best friend Eddie's, [[PaterFamilicide for all the wrong reasons]]. If he hadn't died, he would've won the ECW Championship and worked a program with Wrestling/CMPunk.
* [[Wrestling/LukeHarper Brodie Lee]]. He was brought in to elevate the floundering stable Wrestling/TheDarkOrder and by all measures did just that. His last match in [[Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling AEW]] had him lose the TNT Championship to Wrestling/CodyRhodes in a Dog Collar match and then taking time off TV to recover from injuries, with more stories to tell after before suffering from a lung disease and never recovering.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* Brice Armstrong, who played Miss Etta in ''Series/BarneyAndFriends'', died in January 2020 of natural causes, while a ContinuityReboot, as well as another movie, were still in development. It is unknown if she and fellow puppet character Scooter will be in either of these productions due to this or if they'll appear with new voices, as the original show had an odd tendency to replace the characters who aren't Barney and the other three dinosaurs (Baby Bop, B.J. and Riff) every few years due to the FleetingDemographicRule.
* Creator/ShariLewis died of uterine cancer and pneumonia while ''Series/CharlieHorseMusicPizza'' was still in production. As a result, the show became a ShortRunner with only 23 episodes in the can.
* ''Series/FraggleRock'':
** Doc's counterpart "The Captain" in the UK adaptation of the show was only featured in the first two seasons of the show because of Fulton [=MacKay=]'s unfortunate death. The Captain's nephew, P.K. ("Principal Keeper"), took over the lighthouse in season 3 as a result.
** The series received a surprise short-form revival in 2020 called ''Fraggle Rock: Rock On!'' for Creator/AppleTVPlus. However, Gerard Parkes, who played Doc, died in 2014, so he doesn't appear in the series proper. Shortly thereafter, an actual new Fraggle series was announced for the same platform, so it remains to be seen how this new series will address Parkes' passing.
*** Subverted at least in regards to Jerry Nelson's character Gobo, who had already been passed on to John Tartaglia several years prior. Less certain is how it would affect Nelson's other characters on the show (including Pa Gorg and Marjory the Trash Heap), as well as characters played by Richard Hunt (most notably Junior Gorg and many minor characters) and Jim Henson (Cantus the Minstrel and Convincing John).
* Philip D. Garcia, who wore Binyah Binyah's costume in the show ''Series/GullahGullahIsland'', was killed in a car crash in January 1997, before production on the fourth and final season, as well as the short-lived ''Binyah Binyah!'', began. Justin Campbell took over the role as a result.
* Puppet example: Several Muppets that returned in ''Muppets Now'' had to be rebuilt since their original puppets got destroyed or deteriorated several years prior.
* ''Series/SesameStreet'':
** Ever-so-narrowly averted by Creator/JimHenson: while he filmed his last segments for ''Sesame Street'' a year before his passing, he had many other projects that never got off the ground (or took a long time in doing so) after he died in 1990, most notably the selling of the Muppet characters to Disney, which wouldn't go through until 2004. Puppeteer Steve Whitmire [[TheOtherDarrin took over as Kermit]] almost immediately and - after the character spent three years as TheVoiceless - began performing Ernie as well in 1993.
*** Henson's passing also ended plans for a "Pig of the '90s" multi-media campaign that would've used a storyline about Miss Piggy breaking up with Kermit as a way to drum up interest about all the other planned Muppet projects going on at the same time.
** Also averted with Jerry Nelson, who passed in 2012. Due to fading health, his Muppet involvement had mostly been reduced to voicing his characters on ''Sesame Street'', with other puppeteers having taken over the majority of his characters prior to his death. Afterwards, Matt Vogel took over the characters that Jerry was still voicing, including the Count.
** Unfortunately played straight with Richard Hunt, whose 1992 passing resulted in many of his characters (including most, if not all, of his ''Sesame'' characters) being retired or reduced to bit parts for many years.
*** For a specific example, Music/NatalieCole was set to appear on the show singing her cover of "Unforgettable" alongside Hunt's character Forgetful Jones, but the original taping date had to be rescheduled, and in between the original date and the planned rescheduled date, Hunt passed away.
** Another aversion was Carroll Spinney, who retired a year before his death, though several segments he recorded would not air until afterwards[[note]]however, the last episode he was involved in had his vocals dubbed over with Matt Vogel, possibly because Carroll's age was very much showing through his voice at that point[[/note]]. The first new episode to air after his passing featured an InMemoriam tag at the end that said, "Thank you for bringing so much life to Big Bird and Oscar. We'll miss you, Carroll."
*** This trope almost happened to Spinney 33 years before his actual death. In 1986, he was invited to go on the ill-fated ''Challenger'' mission as a civilian passenger. However, he rejected the offer, and social studies teacher Christa [=McAuliffe=] was chosen instead.
** Joe Raposo, one of the show's most famous songwriters, died on February 5, 1989 of lymphoma. New songs that he had written for this show appeared until 1990, with one nabbing him a posthumous Emmy.
*** Joe also wrote several songs for ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'', including its theme song; that show aired its' second episode on the day he died. He only wrote songs for the first season, with Margaret Jones writing songs that appeared later in the show's run.
** Perhaps the most famous example of this trope was Will Lee, who played Mr. Hooper during the show's first decade. He was ill with cancer during his later years on the show, and passed away from it in 1982. The cast decided to make an episode in response to his death, which became one of ''Sesame Street''[='=]s signature moments.
** Jeff Moss died of cancer in 1998; he wrote his last song, "You and You and Me", the day of his death. The song was filmed in January 1999. Several other songs written by Moss, some of them written years before his passing, were also later taped posthumously (such as "Pigeons, Cookies, and Trash").
** Michael Jeter, who played Mr. Noodle's brother, suffered a fatal seizure in 2003, while the ''Series/ElmosWorld'' segments were still in production. The character would not return to the segments until 2017, when ''Elmo's World'' itself was rebooted.
** There was a discussion about bringing Alaina Reed back to play Olivia in the mid-'00s, but the plans fell through, and Reed would pass away from cancer in 2009.
** Subverted with Northern Calloway as David; while Calloway himself passed away in 1990, he had already been forced to retire from the role following a series of increasingly erratic misbehavior on-set, and following his passing David was unceremoniously removed from the series.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* In 2014, Focus on the Family sought to put on a radio production of ''{{Literature/Pinocchio}}'', [[CastingGag and thought it would be an excellent idea]] to bring Dick Jones, who voiced the title character in the 1940 Disney version, out of retirement - this time to voice Geppetto. When contacted, Jones, despite having been retired for decades, was enthusiastic about the idea. Unfortunately, their follow-up call just a few weeks later revealed that Jones had passed during the intervening period.
* After the 2016 death of radio DJ Charlie Tuna, his show ''The 70's'' was placed into reruns and renamed ''The Best of the '70s''.
* When Radio/PaulHarvey died in 2009, his syndicated radio shows ''Paul Harvey's News & Comment'' and ''The Rest of the Story'' were given to Gil Gross and Doug Limerick, respectively. They held their posts for only three weeks before the shows were canned entirely.
* Phil Stone co-created the Radio/RoyDMercer prank call character for his morning radio show on KMOD-FM in Tulsa, and the character was voiced by his co-host, Brent Douglas. For nearly 15 years, they released many of the Roy D. Mercer calls on CD as well. One month after the show ended in 2012, Stone died of heart disease.
* ''The Big Broadcast'', a package of old-time radio shows on WAMU in UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC, had a similar example to ''Peanuts'' above when host Ed Walker found out he had cancer and was forced to retire, dying just ''hours'' after his final show aired.
* When Kenneth Horne died suddenly in 1969, the 5th series of Radio/RoundTheHorne was cancelled, the scripts being adapted into a Kenneth Williams vehicle called 'Stop Messing About'. Horne had a heart attack at the podium of an awards dinner on 14 February, and the first episode had been planned for 16 March.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'': Directly invoked when [[spoiler: both [[LiteralSplitPersonality Build and Split]], the two main characters of TwinBuilder, are killed following their Shatter. As there is no one left to tell the story, it just... stops. The Update Terminal used to transcribe the game displays an error message, searching for another candidate to tell the tale. As luck would have it, it turns out there's someone else who can do the job -- [[Webcomic/{{Homestuck}} Doc Scratch]], another First Guardian. He proceeds to remake the game in his image, forcing the players into a SideQuest.]]
* ''Roleplay/TheGunganCouncil'' has had two confirmed deaths of writers: Skelosh Delaroch and Raven Darkness.
* The author of the online short story ''[[Roleplay/DarwinsSoldiers Gamer]]'' died after only updating it twice. One of his friends worked on [[VideoGame/Gamer2 a video game continuation]] on and off for four years, and finally completed it in 2017.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sports]]
* [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball New York Yankees]] catcher and team captain Thurman Munson died in the middle of the 1979 baseball season when he crashed his Cessna Citation private jet during a landing at the Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio. The day after Munson's death, the Yankees played their scheduled game against the Baltimore Orioles, a game Munson was supposed to play in. The team held an on-field pre-game memorial ceremony to their late captain and retired his jersey number the same day. The Yankees have never reassigned Munson's locker in the team clubhouse, even to this day (When the Yankees moved to a new stadium across the street from their old one in 2008, they moved Munson's locker ''in one piece'' and installed it in their new museum).
* Cleveland Indians' shortstop Ray Chapman was beaned by a spitball in-game and died early the next morning. The Indians wore armbands for the remainder of the 1920 season in his memory, and they eventually won the World Series that year.
* Chuck Hughes of the [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Detroit Lions]] is infamous for being the only NFL player to die on field during a game. On October 24, 1971, as the Lions were facing the Chicago Bears, Hughes was playing when he suddenly collapsed, dying from heart failure. Since then, no Lions player has worn Hughes' number (#85) without permission from his family.
* Jochen Rindt won the 1970 UsefulNotes/FormulaOne Drivers' Championship in spite of having died in the Italian Grand Prix practice session, with four races before the end of the season. He's the only driver to win the championship posthumously.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Creator/GaryGygax left many unfinished projects behind for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', including his oft-promised but never delivered Castle Greyhawk dungeon complex.
* Carl Sargent, a popular module writer for Creator/{{TSR}}, disappeared suddenly in the late '90s, leaving many D&D fans wondering what happened. According to a fellow module writer and friend of his, Sean K. Reynolds, the truth is that he was involved in a car wreck in 1997 and has been unable to write due to the severity of his injuries.
* In 1995, Nigel Findley, game designer and novelist who wrote for ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', and other [=RPGs=], died suddenly of a heart attack at age 35. His work introduced many key metaplot elements (e.g. bug spirits) to the ''Shadowrun'' game setting, which later authors expanded upon.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* Jonathan Larson, the creator of the RockOpera ''Theatre/{{RENT}}'', died the night before opening night of an aortic aneurysm, caused by an undiagnosed case of Marfan syndrome. Mourning his death, the cast performed half of the show sitting down before the high energy of the Act 1 closer, "La Vie Boheme," caused them to continue the show as usual, minus costumes.
* Late in his life, Creator/EugeneONeill began work on two massive drama cycles: ''A Tale of Possessors Self-Dispossessed'', which was supposed to have as many as eleven plays, and ''By Way of Obit'', which would consist of eight one-act monologue plays. He only managed to complete one play in each cycle, ''A Touch of the Poet'' from the former (the fifth play out of the projected eleven) and ''Hughie'' from the latter, before illness prevented further writing (though he did supervise the 1946 premiere of ''The Iceman Cometh''). All the incomplete plays were destroyed, with the exception of ''More Stately Mansions'' (the sequel to ''A Touch of the Poet''), which survived in draft form.
* After ''[[Literature/CryTheBelovedCountry Lost in the Stars]]'', Maxwell Anderson and Kurt Weill began work on a musical adaptation of ''Literature/AdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn''. Weill died, and the project was aborted, leaving behind five songs.
* Music/HenryMancini died while working on new songs for the ScreenToStageAdaptation of ''Film/VictorVictoria'', so Frank Wildhorn was brought in to write the additional songs with Leslie Bricusse.
* The death of John Latouche while working on the musical ''Literature/{{Candide}}'' with Music/LeonardBernstein is one major reason the show ended up having so many lyricists. Bernstein himself, librettist Creator/LillianHellman and Creator/DorothyParker all contributed a little, but finally, Richard Wilbur became the principal lyricist and rewrote many of the Latouche songs.
* In April 2017, a stage adaptation of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' had to be scrubbed after an acrobat who was a key part of the staff died in a freak accident.
* Sam Williams, alias Smerdyakov Karamazov of Theatre/TheFlyingKaramazovBrothers, died of a sudden heart attack while on the job with the Seattle Metro Transit, just weeks before he was to have performed with fellow FKB Paul Magid, alias Dmitri Karamazov, in a fundraising event. [[DyingMomentOfAwesome Just before carking it over the Alaskan Way Viaduct, he had the foresight to slow down the bus he was driving and signal for the passengers to take over, so that they could guide the bus to safety as he faded away.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Noboru Sugimura, the head story writer for Capcom's ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' franchise from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', died from a heart-related condition in 2005 after several attempts to write a sequel to ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'' failed. To honour his work on the series, Capcom's writing team decided to leave the story on a cliffhanger and not refer to groups like H.C.F., which were entirely his creation. The cliffhanger, which saw [[spoiler:Wesker assemble an army intent on destroying Umbrella and selling its assets to terrorists]], was somewhat resolved in Wesker's favour in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'', through the circumstances themselves were left vague.
* Creator/GunpeiYokoi, producer of ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' and developer of the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, the ubiquitous D-Pad, and infamous UsefulNotes/VirtualBoy, died in a traffic accident while working on Bandai's handheld competitor, the UsefulNotes/WonderSwan.
* The ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' series was supposed to have one more game to tie up all the loose ends. However, the departure of series writer Amy Hennig for VideoGame/{{uncharted}} waters and the death of Creator/TonyJay, one of the major voice actors, means that the series is now in limbo. Not only did Hennig leave, but two of the other main writers (out of a group of four, with Hennig being the lead and most well known) also left the company as well. The fourth? He passed away.
* The death of lead developer Brian Wood of Relic may leave the fate of ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' in limbo as well as the company itself.
* Florian Husky, the creator of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWar'' and one of the founders of [=72dpiarmy=], committed suicide before progress of the game was ever finalized. While others working on the project tried their best to keep it alive, development has officially ceased, with only a single bug release update left that has yet to show.
* A sequel to ''VideoGame/{{Illbleed}}'' was going to be developed, but the death of the president of Climax Graphics, makers of the series, stopped all plans for it.
* Tragedy struck for the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' franchise when Tsuyoshi Takishita, the 37-year-old voice actor who'd famously voiced the character Sima Yi for ''every'' installment -- seven main games plus side games, spanning over a decade -- succumbed to injuries from a bad fall on his way home less than two weeks after the release of ''Shinsangokumusou 7'' (''Dynasty Warriors 8'').
* Creator/CrypticStudios video artist and ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' Foundry author Mark "[=h2orat=]" Valentine died of cancer over the second weekend of September 2013. This left his Foundry mission series "The Rising Phoenix" with NoEnding, the first mission having ended on a cliffhanger.
* In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', the original voice actor for the character of Nasus, Eugene [=McDaniels=], had passed away in 2011. The announcement in 2013 that the character would receive a visual upgrade[[note]]Where a character's model, animations, artwork, and/or voiceovers change in order to maintain a high standard of quality across all champions[[/note]] was met with some backlash due to the plans to [[TheOtherDarrin recast the actor]] of a now-beloved voiceover, but thankfully his replacement, Jonathan Adams, proved himself to be a worthy successor for the character.
* Reuben Kee was working on making a [[VideoGame/{{Metroid}} Samus Aran]] for ''VideoGame/{{MUGEN}}'' before his boating accident.
* ''Mechaspyder'' is a cute, fairly-popular 3D Flash browser game where you are a spider and you jump on squares to get to the gold square. The game ended with a note indicating a sequel in the works. Unfortunately, the game's creator, Richard Barron, died in a car accident before work would be started on the sequel.
* ''VideoGame/{{MULE}}'' was a classic of early computer gaming. Its creator Danielle Bunten was working on an online version when she died in 1998, and the game has sadly been officially out of print ever since.
* The co-creator of the UsefulNotes/OculusRift (a VR headset designed primarily with gaming in mind), Andrew Scott Reisse, was run over by gangbangers escaping law enforcement in the spring of 2013. This event helped soften up the sale of the company to Website/{{Facebook}} several months later, leading many on the internet to wonder if the technology's future will continue to remain as bright as initially promised.
* The death of Creator/UnshoIshizuka also affected ''VideoGame/NewPokemonSnap'', the sequel to the original ''VideoGame/PokemonSnap'' (a game where he reprised Professor Oak from the anime). While the anime [[TheOtherDarrin recast]] Oak to another actor, ''New Pokemon Snap'' chose instead to [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim not mention Oak at all]] out of respect.
* Creator/{{Nintendo}} president Creator/SatoruIwata, who was also the executive producer of nearly all of the company's titles since taking the position, died due to complications with a bile duct growth in 2015 while the company was in transition: in addition to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch being in development, the company was beginning to make mobile games as well as start plans for television, movies, and theme parks. ''VideoGame/StarFoxZero'' has a dedication to him, while ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' has an NPC based on the late president and ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon'' has [[http://web.archive.org/web/20190216233411/https://kotaku.com/ultra-sun-and-moon-shouts-out-the-time-iwata-helped-sav-1820765359 a tribute to him]] as an EasterEgg. The Switch itself had an Easter Egg tribute for a time: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGN6QXv7sfs If you happened to make the "directly to you" gesture with the Joy-Cons on July 11 (the date of his passing), ''NES Golf'', one of Iwata's first games, would start.]] Sadly, it was removed from later updates.
* Creator/DaisukeGori, the Japanese voice actor for Pigma, General Pepper, and Andross in ''VideoGame/StarFox64'', who also [[RoleReprise reprised his role]] as Pigma in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'', committed suicide in early 2010, which necessitated a [[TheOtherDarrin complete recast]] for future ''Star Fox'' games, starting with ''64 3D''.
* With Creator/YukoMizutani succumbing to breast cancer on May 17, 2016, it's unknown who will be the replacement of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' character Excellen Browning's voice following the release of ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration The Moon Dwellers]]''. Knowing Banpresto, however, it might not be such a problem as they would simply re-use her pre-recorded lines (as they have kept using recorded voices of Creator/HirotakaSuzuoki to voice [[Anime/Daitarn3 Banjo Haran]] long after his death), but it might come at the cost of Excellen having lesser prominence compared to before, something that has been happened since probably ''2nd Original Generations''.
* The planned sequel to ''VideoGame/{{Blasto}}'' was cancelled due to the aforementioned Phil Hartman's murder two months after the first game's release.
* Roger Morash, former programmer for Harmonix, was working on an indie puzzle game titled ''Shard'' when he and his wife suddenly passed away in January 2017 from carbon monoxide poisoning.
* Regarding ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', Gunter's Japanese voice actor Creator/RokuroNaya passed away from cancer in November 2014, seven months before Fates' Japanese release. He did manage to record all of Gunter's lines before his death, and they were used accordingly.
* Narrowly averted by Creator/RobinSachs, who passed away shortly before the release of the final piece of content for the original ''Franchise/MassEffect'' trilogy, ''Citadel'', where he voiced the gruff old mercenary Zaeed Massani since ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''. Sachs had actually managed to finish recording all of his lines before his death, and the entire DLC was later [[InMemoriam dedicated to his memory]].
* [=TheJudge=]/Felix, the creator of ''VideoGame/HOME2013'', died in a car crash in March of 2017. It makes the fight with his AuthorAvatar [[HarsherInHindsight a little harder to stomach]].
* The chances of ''VideoGame/{{Toonstruck}}'' getting its planned sequel are looking difficult in light of the deaths of King Hugh and Fingers' respective voice actors Creator/DavidOgdenStiers and Creator/DomDeLuise.
* Master Xehanort, the [[spoiler:assumed]] BigBad of the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series, became an infamous case of losing voice actors. His Japanese actor Creator/ChikaoOhtsuka died of heart failure in January 2015, first English actor Creator/LeonardNimoy died of lung cancer in February 2015, while second actor Creator/RutgerHauer died from an unspecified illness in July 2019.
* Michael Lin, the lead developer of the ''VideoGame/ChaosCode'' series published by FK Digital, passed away of illness in December 2017. His brother Mickey, the series producer and long time co-developer, had continued development of ''Chaos Code Next'' in his stead until February 2020 (only a month after the game was announced to the public) when FK Digital announced that the game was cancelled.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/{{Eddsworld}}'' creator Edd Gould died after a long fight with cancer in March 25th, 2012. [[OutlivedItsCreator However, his friends are continuing the series]].
* ''VideoGame/GarrysMod'' machinima maker Colin Wyckoff (a.k.a [[https://www.youtube.com/user/kitty0706 kitty0706]]), famous for series like ''Machinima/MomentsWithHeavy'', ''Machinima/TeamFabulous2'', ''Machinima/MassDefect'', and ''WebVideo/ElliotGoesToSchool'', passed away from leukemia on January 25, 2015.
* On 1st February, 2015, Creator/MontyOum unexpectedly passed away after experiencing a violent allergic reaction during a medical procedure. He was the animator for Creator/RoosterTeeth, creator of ''WebAnimation/{{Haloid}}'', ''WebAnimation/DeadFantasy'' and ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''. Monty had discussed the plot of ''[=RWBY=]'' extensively enough for the show to continue (and his brother took over the role of Lie Ren), but ''Dead Fantasy'' will never be updated.
* Subverted with ''WebAnimation/BrawlOfTheObjects'': before the last 2 episodes were uploaded, creator [=Anko6theAnimator=] was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma; fearing that he would die before finishing the show caused the penultimate episode to be [[ChristmasRushed rushed]]. However, he was given the all-clear on May 5, 2016, allowing for the GrandFinale to be normal length.
* ''WebAnimation/TimberWolf'', Creator/ChuckJones's final creation, was cut short after his death in 2002.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Joe D'Angelo, creator of webcomic ''[[http://piratecove.jb.org/Archives.html Pirate's Cove]]'', decided to avert this trope and created an "[[http://piratecovecomic.blogspot.com/2007/08/august-16th-2007-death-of-pirate-cove.html ending]]" that would be revealed if he died prematurely.
* Similar to the above, the writer of ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'' and ''Webcomic/LeastICouldDo'' has mentioned keeping a special script which should resolve things, and his notes on future plots, in a safe in the event that he passes away before his comics finish. Either the artist has the combination, or one of their wives do.
* Every so often, ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}'''s Fred Gallagher will poke fun at his sometimes-glacial update pace, and [[http://www.megatokyo.com/strip/874 on one occasion]] kinda hinted at this trope.
* Scott Kuehner passed away in January of 2009, leaving the world of ''[[http://www.lookwhatibroughthome.com Look What I Brought Home]]'' with a bunch of unanswered questions. Now we'll never know what happens with Bess or Kunky.
* ''[[http://captainn.net/main.html N-Fans: The Series]]'' began to flounder in 2007, when creator Webster Swenson passed away unexpectedly from diabetes complications. The people who inspired the other characters made a few attempts to revive the series and keep it going in his memory, but the entire website has stagnated since early 2008; the one exception is the forums, which managed to remain active until 2015.
* Angel "Inqy" Yates of ''Wicked Alchemy'' wrote on her Website/LiveJournal about her declining health not long before her sudden death in the summer of 2009. In addition to the webcomic, she also had a slice-of-life comic strip, ''Onna Chance'', and a pirate avatar game. Sadly, ''Onna Chance'' and her original site Mutedfaith are both down, more than a year after her death.
* ''Bad Bunny'': After doing a reprint of a classic set of strips for Pennsic, it looked like the author Wolfie was going to get back to the original strip's storyline of pants too tight (this is a strip where the mundane becomes insanely funny). Unfortunately, Wolfie - real name W. Michael Dooley - contracted [=H1N1=], and died aged 41 in December 2009.
* Tom Siddell, of ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', has joked that due to his strip buffer, if he were to keel over and die this instant, we'd still get about three months' worth of strips.
* The creator of ''Just Another Webcomic'' passed away after coming out of a coma. He was only nine pages into the third volume of his work, which he was unable to continue after the coma because he had lost a lot of sensation in his drawing arm.
* It's a common joke among the ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' fandom that no one will notice when Howard Tayler dies, due to his ''perfect'' update schedule.[[note]]The comic has gone its entire nearly 14-year run with new strips every day. Once, the day's strip was late by several hours. Because the server's power supply had exploded with enough force to destroy three walls.[[/note]] At the end of the universe, there will be a few scattered neutrinos, some clumps of exotic matter, and ''Schlock Mercenary'', still updating every 24 hours without fail.
* In October of 2012, [=DrunkDuck=] featured ''[[http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Adventures_of_Wristance/ The Adventures of Wristance]]'' on its front page. Unfortunately, however, creator Distance Erin Larkins was unable to enjoy the attention, as she had committed suicide mere days before the featuring.
* The future of ''Webcomic/SugarBits'' remains to be seen since the passing of the comic's writer Dondi "[=DMajorBoss=]" Bethea, who lost his life to cancer on May 6th, 2013.
* In early December of 2016, Bryan Spiegler, creator of ''Webcomic/{{Middleways}}'' died of a heart attack. His wife has claimed the story will continue, but she does not have access to all his art and notes.
* Albert Temple, aka Gene Catlow of ''Webcomic/GeneCatlow'', was found dead of natural causes in his apartment on March 9, 2017. The comic is planned to be concluded based upon his remaining notes.
* ''Webcomic/FlutteringFeelings'' was cut short because of the artist's cancer diagnosis in 2016. In 2018 she passed away.
* Tanabata Usagi, artist for several webcomics like ''Webcomic/DangerZoneOne'', ''Iguality'', and ''My Inflatable Girlfriend'', passed away in May of 2021. While she was only an artist-for-hire on ''Danger'', the latter two comics, being personal projects of her own, will sadly remain unfinished.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* Creator/DougWalker's parents, Barney and Sandra, made regular appearances as themselves on WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic - in case of the latter, till she passed away in 2016. The ending of The Critic's Nutcracker review is dedicated to her.
* On January 23rd, 2014, Creator/JewWario of ''WebVideo/YouCanPlayThis'' committed suicide, as confirmed by his wife on Facebook. This did not, however, end up affecting a collaboration he'd been doing with WebVideo/ThatDudeInTheSuede and [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] on reviewing the ''Film/{{Pokemon}}'' movies, as he'd already planned on leaving the group at the beginning of the ''Anime/Pokemon4Ever'' review, and had already recorded his exit before his death. The scene was left in the video along with an explanation of the circumstances. He also left the [=FamiKamen=] Rider film unfinished; ''Film/FarewellFamiKamenRider'' would later be finished. (While [=MarzGurl=] later regretted finishing it after finding out about his history as a sexual predator, she kept the video up out of respect for everyone else that worked on it.)
* [=YouTuber=] Corey La Barrie posted a video called "Deleting this video in 24 hours" on his birthday in 2020. That night, he was killed by his drunk driving friend. The video is still up, however.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other]]
* Louis Zamperini was named the Grand Marshal for the 2015 Rose Parade. However, Zamperini died a few months beforehand. The Rose Parade committee still kept his status, and he became the first posthumous grand marshal since Jackie Robinson in 1999.
[[/folder]]

* Creator/KentaroMiura wrote ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' from 1989 onward more or less continuously, with some increasing ScheduleSlip as the series ran on, before he [[https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210520/p2a/00m/0et/020000c died of an acute aortic dissection on May 6, 2021]]. Despite its long run, the series was still far from a conclusion at his time of death, and its fate is uncertain.

* Creator/KentaroMiura [[https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20210520/p2a/00m/0et/020000c died of an acute aortic dissection on May 6, 2021]], leaving his most famous work, ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', incomplete and its future uncertain.

* Creator/KentaroMiura died of an acute aortic dissection on May 6, 2021, leaving his most famous work, ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', incomplete and its future uncertain.

* Fellow comic book author Edgar P. Jacobs died while working on the second part of "Professor Sató's Three Formulae", the last volume of his ''ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer'' series. Unlike Hergé, however, he had left plenty of notes and a complete outline of the story, which made it possible for another artist, Bob de Moor, to complete the story three years after Jacobs' death[[note]]The first part was published in 1977, the second completed in 1990; Jacobs died in 1987.[[note]]. Because he suspected he wouldn't finish "Three Formulae", Jacobs left the copyright of the series relatively open so it would eventually have [[GrandFinale an ending]], (leading to [[ArchEnemy Olrik]] being KilledOffForReal). Which worked, but also led to new ''Blake and Mortimer'' adventures made by two different writer/artist teams. One team actively tries to [[DolledUpInstallment ignore established canon.]] The other team was very good... but one of its members, René Sterne, died while working on the first volume of the dyptich ''The Curse of the Thirty Denarii'', leading to new Author Existence Failure. The volume was eventually finished by Sterne's girlfriend, Chantal de Spiegeleer, and the second part made by another artist.

* Creator/KentaroMiura died of an acute aortic dissection in May of 2021, leaving his most famous work, ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', incomplete.

* ''LightNovel/{{MM}}'''s author Akinari Matsuo passed away without warning on April 18, 2011. The phrasing of the letter, which does not mention accident nor illness, suggests suicide.
* Creator/YasuoYamada, most recognizable as the voice of ''Anime/LupinIII'', died of a brain hemorrhage in 1995, a month before the release of ''Anime/FarewellToNostradamus'', the movie that would mark the series' return to the big screen in ten years. Fortunately, his will stated that, if he were to pass away, the baton should be passed to Kanichi Kurita (a popular comedian and impersonator), [[TheOtherDarrin who voices Lupin]] from that movie onwards. In honor of Yamada, a message was placed at the end of the film's credits: "To Yasuo Yamada, Eternal Lupin the Third: Thank you!".

* In a foreign dub example, Brazilian voice actor Antonio Akira, known for playing Dragon Ryuhou in the local dub of ''Anime/SaintSeiyaOmega'', succumbed to meningitis in July 26th, 2015. This, along with the passing of veteran voice actress Maralisi Tartarine, who played Ophiuchus Shaina, has currently left the state of the second season's dub up in the air.
** The dub resumed in 2016, with Fred Mascarenhas replacing Akira and Patricia Scalvi replacing Tartarine.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Due to the death of Japanese voice actor Creator/UnshoIshizuka from esophageal cancer on August 13, 2018, at the time it was unknown what will be the fate for Professor Oak in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, as well as three characters he was voicing in ''Sun & Moon'' (Samson Oak, Kiawe's Charizard, and Sophocles' Charjabug). Eventually, it was announced that Professor Oak and Samson Oak will live on with a new voice actor, with Creator/KenyuHoriuchi (who voiced Cedric Juniper in ''Best Wishes'') taking over the role starting from [=SM091=], and in [=SM106=], Toru Sakurai took over as Charizard while Creator/YujiUeda (the voice of Brock) took over for Charjabug upon its evolution to Vikavolt in that episode. Pokemon he's voiced far earlier, such as Onix/Steelix and Gyarados, may still use archived recording footage due to how long he's voiced them.
** A similar situation happened in 2006 when Giovanni's voice actor, Creator/HirotakaSuzuoki, passed away. Fans thought the passing would be an excuse to write Team Rocket out, but they were ultimately kept (likely due to their popularity with Japanese audiences), and Creator/KentaMiyake replaced Suzuoki as Giovanni's voice when ''Diamond & Pearl'' started.
** Diana Pérez, the longtime Spanish dub voice of Jessie, died of renal failure during production on ''Pokémon Journeys''; a successor is yet to be announced.

* Ginzo Matsuo, the voice of Oyajide from ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'', died a day before episode 29 of ''Mo~tto!'' aired. His role would be replaced by Nobuaki Kanemitsu.

* Creator/KirbyMorrow, the voice of Miroku in ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'', died suddenly in Vancouver on November 18, 2020, less than two weeks after the English dub premiere of ''Anime/YashahimePrincessHalfDemon'', which had him reprising his role. In February 2021, it was announced that Creator/IanJamesCorlett would take on his role for future episodes.

* Narrowly avoided in regards to Worldmaker, the author of ''Fanfic/OriginStory''. Shortly after his last full chapter was published, the writer was involved in a near-fatal accident. He spent two weeks in a coma and then spent further weeks learning to use his arms and legs again. Nearly two months after the accident, he finally posted a short note to his fans letting them know what happened and that, as soon as he has the time and energy, will be continuing his stories.

* In 2016, ''WesternAnimation/{{Incredibles 2}}'' was announced, with the film later being released in 2018. But Creator/ElizabethPena, who played Mirage in [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles the first film]], passed away in 2014. Mirage does not return in any form in the sequel.

* The ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' video game adaptation for the UsefulNotes/NintendoWii was released one day after announcer Charlie O'Donnell's death.

* Aversion: Paul Gadzikowski of ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'' planned to synthesise the many Arthurian legends into an overarching story to be told in "real time" over the twenty-five years of Arthur's reign, and stated on several occasions that he kept detailed notes about the rest of the story in case he passed away before the comic was due to finish. However, this ended up being a non-issue when he brought the strip to an early end on January 6, 2014, in order to concentrate on his family's health.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* If any authors on Website/WritingDotCom pass away, the website will then turn the author's portfolio white with a picture of a feather to honor their memory.
[[/folder]]

* [[WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}} Jim Sterling]] ''narrowly'' averted this in March 2015, when they had a severe allergic reaction, went to the hospital, fell into shock and would have died had they not been treated in time. They note this in the episode "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb4n4jwTDUM Bloodborne Is Where Survival Horror Lives On]]".
* [=VortexxyGaming=] made videos on ''Zelda'' fan theories and {{analysis|Channel}} videos. After her peers noticed that she had suddenly stopped making videos, it was discovered that she had died in an accident not soon after her [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEk8RcXhr6g last video]] was posted in 2016.
* Creator of ''WebVideo/ReactionAndReview'' and former owner of Creator/WingerDingerProductions Emer Prevost had been experiencing health issues starting around October 2016, which eventually culminated in a combination of sepsis and hernia which had first emerged in July 2017 and, after surgery complications, took his life on August 6, 2017.
* Reaction-video maker WebVideo/{{Etika}} began suffering a mental breakdown in April 2019. In June of that same year he posed a cryptic video; he disappeared from public view on the 23rd, and on the 25th of that month, he was found floating in a river in New York, having killed himself. His channel had been deleted due to posting lewd content at the start of the breakdown, but now it seems unlikely anything he did will be restored.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/user/UmikaSayoji UmikaSayoji]], one of the {{fanvid}}ders behind ''WebVideo/OurTapes'', died in 2016.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/user/Vappyvap88 Vappyvap88]], a PromotedFanboy of WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}}, passed away from complications of COVID-19 on April 22nd, 2020.

* [=YouTuber=] Nicole Thea suddenly died on July 11th, 2020, while [[ImperiledInPregnancy pregnant with her first child]]. Her unborn son died with her. According to her family and her boyfriend (who was also the father of her child), the last videos she made before her death were pre-scheduled to be uploaded onto her channel.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5t8u4kpE0WvLxkPWIp8n-g ApolloLegend]], a [=YouTuber=] who specialized in exposing faked speedruns, committed suicide on December 30th, 2020.

* Philip D. Garcia, who wore Binyah Binyah's costume in the show ''Series/GullahGullahIsland'', was killed in a car crash in 1996, before production on the fourth and final season, as well as the short-lived ''Binyah Binyah!'', began. Justin Campbell took over the role as a result.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3043801/1/A-Glass-of-Wine A Glass of Wine]]'' by Dale Carson, also known as [=94saturn=], remains unfinished due to Carson's death in mid-2009 following complications with diabetes.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/user/Vappyvap88 Vappyvap88]], an AscendedFan of WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}}, passed away from complications of COVID-19 on April 22nd, 2020.

** Creator/DisneyPlus announced a revival of ''WesternAnimation/TimonAndPumbaa'' in 2020. However, should Timon's Uncle Max, who was played in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf'' by Creator/JerryStiller, appear in this new series, he'd have to be recast, as Stiller's passing came just a few months after the series was greenlit.

** Ever-so-narrowly averted by Creator/JimHenson: while he filmed his last segments for ''Sesame Street'' a year before his passing, he had many other projects that never got off the ground (or took a long time in doing so) after he died in 1990, most notably the selling of the Muppet characters to Disney, which wouldn't go through until 2004. Puppeteer Steve Whitmire [[TheOtherDarrin took over as Kermit]] almost immediately and - after the character spent several years as TheVoiceless - began performing Ernie as well in 1993.

* Fellow comic book author Edgar P. Jacobs died while working on the second part of "Professor Sató's Three Formulae", the last volume of his ''ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer'' series. Unlike Hergé, however, he had left plenty of notes and a complete outline of the story, which made it possible for another artist, Bob de Moor, to complete the story... 13 years later. That's a cliffhanger for you. Because he suspected he wouldn't finish "Three Formulae", Jacobs left the copyright of the series relatively open so it would eventually have [[GrandFinale an ending]], (leading to [[ArchEnemy Olrik]] being KilledOffForReal). Which worked, but also led to new ''Blake and Mortimer'' adventures made by two different writer/artist teams. One team actively tries to [[DolledUpInstallment ignore established canon.]] The other team was very good... but one of its members, René Sterne, died while working on the new volume "The Curse of the Thirty Denarii", leading to new Author Existence Failure. The volume was eventually finished by Sterne's girlfriend, Chantal de Spiegeleer.

* Cryptic Studios video artist and ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' Foundry author Mark "[=h2orat=]" Valentine died of cancer over the second weekend of September 2013. This left his Foundry mission series "The Rising Phoenix" with NoEnding, the first mission having ended on a cliffhanger.

* ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' was cancelled following Lynne Thigpen's sudden death of a cerebral hemorrhage. As her character Luna played a key role in the show's EveryEpisodeEnding, the cast felt too distraught to continue the show without her, causing the show to end production after "This Is Your Life, Bear".

[[folder:Arts]]
* In March 2014, 24 aspiring Chinese artists were at an exhibition in Malaysia. Their return fight, [=MH370=], was the last flight they would ever have. [=MH370=] and all her crew and passengers went missing and has yet to be found[[note]]As of September 2015, remains of the aircraft have been found and matched to 370, confirming that it went down with no known survivors.[[/note]].
[[/folder]]