History Main / DeathByDespair

* In ''Fanfic/DestinysKiss'', the unnamed woman who becomes the Blue Fairy died soon after her aging father did.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5374656/1/Fly_Fly_Little_Wing Fly, Fly, Little Wing, Fly]]'': [[spoiler: 4's]] death, after [[spoiler: 3 was killed by the Cat Beast]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' fic ''Fanfic/TheVow'', this happens to Lord Shen's parents when there isn't any more news of the son they had to banish for committing mass murder being alive somewhere.

** Homer's mother Mona returns in "Mona Leaves-a", where she wants to become a part of Homer's life again. Because she has left Homer so many times, he refuses and says he doesn't forgive her. Later that night, after Homer changes his mind and prepares to apologize, Mona dies.

** Despair is a status effect in ''VideoGame/Persona5''. Anyone who's inflicted with it will be unable to act and lose SP for three rounds, then automatically die on the third round. This makes curing it quickly rather important if a party member gets hit by it. During days when the Flu Season status is active, enemies in Mementos may randomly start the battle afflicted with it, even [[BonusBoss The Reaper]].

* Myth/ClassicalMythology: In the story of Queen Niobe, the titular hubristic fool claims that she is greater than Leto, mother of Artemis and Apollo, because she has 14 children, 7 children and 7 boys, while Leto only had two. [[TemptingFate All of them are instantly struck down by celestial arrows on the spot.]] Niobe is so full of grief that she flees to a mountaintop and weeps until she [[TakenForGranite turns to stone]], and [[NotQuiteDead then some]]. A real-life rock formation exists on Mount Sipylus, near modern-day Manisa in Turkey, where she reigned, that looks similar to the face of a woman protruding from the rock. [[AluminumChristmasTrees This rock does indeed "weep" when it rains on Mount Sipylus]], thanks to its porous limestone composition.

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' the stress of his people being slaughtered by [[BigBad Frieza]] and co. causes this to happen to the Grand Elder of Planet Namek. To be fair, he was ''extremely'' old and had been dying slowly for quite a while, so it amounted to dying a matter of minutes before he would have died 'naturally'. It nonetheless becomes a critical plot point because Planet Namek's Dragon Balls disappear when he dies. Luckily, when Kami and Popo use Earth's Dragon Balls to resurrect everyone Frieza's forces murdered, this brings back the Elder for the amount of time his life was shortened by...
* Tomoya Okazaki of ''VisualNovel/{{CLANNAD}} ~After Story~''. When his daughter, his new reason to live after Nagisa's [[DeathByChildbirth death]], dies in his arms, he collapses in the snow, presumably dead from a broken heart. But he gets better. [[GainaxEnding Really]].

* Kaede Fuyou from ''VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}'' was close to this as a young girl, after her mother's death in an accident. Rin had to lie to her by putting the blame on himself so she'd recover the will to live.

* Literally occurs in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' in the new world in the endings, a Magical Girl's magic is somewhat based on her level of hope. So if they run out of magic (or hope) they die, and it's speculated that they might [[AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascend to Goddess!Madoka's Plane of Existence]]. This is a step up from the original timeline, where they turn into the very {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that they fight.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' it is heavily implied that Tidus' mother died this way after Jecht vanished and that this is one of many reasons that Tidus hates his father so much.

** Despair is a status effect in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}''. Anyone who's inflicted with it will be unable to act and lose SP for three rounds, then automatically die on the third round. This makes curing it quickly rather important if a party member gets hit by it. During days when the Flu Season status is active, enemies in Mementos may randomly start the battle afflicted with it, even [[BonusBoss The Reaper]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Ib}}'' herself, during the final scene of the 'Welcome to the World of Guertena' ending, after soaring over the DespairEventHorizon, she seems awfully still...

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* At the very end of ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', your defendant is in hospital while you establish the verdict. Get a Not Guilty verdict, and she lives. They vote Guilty or the jury is hung, and she dies before court reconvenes.
* ''VisualNovel/CorpseParty'' features [[TheCorruption The Darkening]], which takes over a person completely when they lose all hope. While they don't technically die, they're made into mindless slaves of [[spoiler: the StringyHairedGhostGirl,]] and can never leave [[DarkWorld Heavenly Host]], so it's as good as death for them. Notably, this is arguably a ''better'' option than dying, as death causes your spirit to feel the pain you felt at death for all eternity.
* In the [[WhatCouldHaveBeen beta]] of ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'' Shizune ends up [[HeroicBSOD horribly depressed]] after Misha's death. She ends up in the hospital due to dehydration and in the BadEnd (which occurs if Hisao leaves the hospital) you learn she removed her IV and she ended up dying of dehydration.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* Padme in ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' suffered this according to the medbot attending her. Watching her husband turn evil and everything she worked for come crashing down around her as she witnesses the rise of a totalitarian government, combined with the stress of an impromptu and messy child birth, was likely too much for her although. It's unclear how much her husband force-choking her had to do with it.

* Elsa of Brabant in ''Lohengrin''. She's tricked by her WickedStepmother into learning her beloved husband Lohengrin's true name and revealing his origins -- which means that he must leave and never return. Once Lohengrin does this and takes off, [[spoiler: releasing Elsa's younger brother from the spell that [[BalefulPolymorph had turned him into a swan in the process]] ]], Elsa's grief and guilt reach a breaking point and she drops dead.

TruthInTelevision, to an extent, in that someone who doesn't care whether he lives or dies may start neglecting his health and slip into a downward spiral leading to death. A mirrored version is also noted in elderly couples in ill health where both will [[NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow seem to stave off terminal conditions]] and endure uncomfortable treatments [[WorthLivingFor for each other]], but "let go" when the other has passed. Also, there is a phenomenon known as "Broken Heart Syndrome" (or, [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness to use the technical name]], "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takotsubo_cardiomyopathy Takotsubo cardiomyopathy]]") where sudden, excessive stress can weaken the cardiac muscle, which can lead to heart attacks and acute heart failure. It's rare, but not impossible. That said, '''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease We really don't need a mess of gushing and "Poor X!" gossip.'''

* In series two of ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', [[IllGirl Lavinia develops]] [[UsefulNotes/TheSpanishFlu Spanish flu]] before her wedding to Matthew, forcing them to cancel. While Matthew thinks she is in bed, she witnesses him and Mary kiss, with Matthew explaining that Violet asked him to marry Mary. Lavinia [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy tries to convince him to go back to Mary]], but then her condition inexplicably worsens and [[DeathOfTheHypotenuse she dies suddenly]], leading Matthew to conclude that she died of a broken heart because she believed he did not love her.

* ''Film/{{Incendies}}'': It's implied that this is the cause of Nawal's death, after a life of being a {{determinator}}. Her daughter suddenly finds her catatonic, and she dies soon afterwards. Her will refers to a mysterious "broken promise" and asks to be given a pauper's unmarked grave until her promise can be upheld by her children. At the end of the film, we discover what drove her into sudden despair -- namely, the discovery that [[spoiler:her long-lost son and the man who raped and tortured her in prison were one and the same]].

* ''Film/{{Incendies}}'': It's implied that this is the cause of Nawal's death, after a life of being a {{determinator}}. Her daughter suddenly finds her catatonic, and she dies soon afterwards. Her will refers to a mysterious "broken promise" and asks to be given a pauper's unmarked grave until her promise can be upheld by her children. At the end of the film, we discover what drove her into sudden despair.

* The iconic story of ''Wild Animals I Have Known'', "Lobo, The King of Currumpaw", ends with Lobo captured and his mate dead. A few hours later, he dies despite no one touching him and without a mark on his body.

* In ''[[Fanfic/{{Destiny}} Destiny's Kiss]]'', the unnamed woman who becomes the Blue Fairy died soon after her aging father did.

* This is what took Chef Gusteau in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' after getting his rating shot down to four stars by Anton Ego. This may come across as an overreaction on his part to much of the audience, but keep in mind that high cuisine is highly competitive. Anything less than the maximum rating will ''destroy'' a fancy restaurant. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Loiseau See the story of Bernard Loiseau]].

* Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium: Not a few cases in Creator/JRRTolkien's Middle-earth (''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', etc.), both Elven and Human. Specifically notable as a way of death for the immortal Elves. Elven spirits are noted to have a much greater influence over their physical bodies, so if they have the appropriate willpower and determination they can live and pull through almost anything; however it also works the other way round - if they lose their hope and will to live, their bodies just give out. In ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' there almost seems to be a tradition for the men to be killed and their wives dying of despair shortly afterward; this happening to Rian, Gloredhel, and Lúthien (although Lúthien's case is [[BackFromTheDead a little unique]]).

* Satsuki's death of leukemia in ''Sunshine'' is implied in part to be this after Ryuuko had died in the previous story, ''Raindrops''. The story was even tagged as such.
* [[spoiler: 4's]] death in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5374656/1/Fly_Fly_Little_Wing Fly, Fly, Little Wing, Fly]]'', after [[spoiler: 3 was killed by the Cat Beast]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' fic ''Fanfic/TheVow'', this happens to Lord Shen's parents when there isn't any more news of the son they had to banish for committing mass murder being alive somewhere.
* ''Fanfic/TheBridge'': Queen Amatheia's daughters were taken away by invaders and enslaved. After Amatheia used powerful magic to set up The Shroud to prevent future invasions, she passed away from both her exhaustion and her depression over the loss of her daughters.

* ''Fanfic/GhostsOfEvangelion'': [[spoiler:Shinji's]] heart simply gives out less than three days following the passing of [[spoiler:Asuka]]. They'd been inseparable for over sixty years by then, and people that knew them were not surprised he couldn't go on without her.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Handmaid}}'' Cecily believes this is how her mother [[spoiler:Anne Boleyn]] died, as she lost both the woman she loved and the man she came to care for in quick succession a year before.

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': A denizen by the name of the Curry Prince/Clockwork Prince turns out to be [[spoiler:a reincarnated Soma from ''Manga/BlackButler'', who go onto the Train after the death of Agni. He ended up dying in his sleep, cradling Agni's urn.]]

[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
* Betta of ''Literature/{{Pintosmalto}}'' predicts she will suffer this fate if her abducted husband doesn't answer her for the third and final night. Fortunately for her, he does.
[[/folder]]

* Evelyn in ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2'' implies that this was how her mother died after her husband, Evelyn’s father, was killed by criminals.

* ''Film/{{Incendies}}'': It's implied that this is the cause of Nawal's death, after a life of being a {{determinator}}. Her daughter suddenly finds her catatonic, and she dies soon afterwards. Her will refers to a mysterious "broken promise" and asks to be given a pauper's unmarked grave until her promise can be upheld by her children. At the end of the film, we discover what drove her into sudden despair.
* In the novel ''David Copperfield'', David's mother Clara dies giving birth to Murdstone's child. In the film any reference to her being pregnant is dropped, and she simply dies from despair caused by Murdstone's mental cruelty and ill treatment.

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': Katniss attempts this during her confinement after [[spoiler: Prim's death and her subsequent assassination of Coin.]] [[SubvertedTrope It doesn't work.]]
* Milly in ''The Wings of the Dove'' is ill throughout the book but eventually dies due to a broken heart.
* In Anne Mcaffrey's ''[[Literature/DragonridersOfPern Dragonflight]]'', we learn that, when a rider dies, his/her dragon goes Between (a bitter cold, blackness through which dragons teleport), never to return. Also, dragon riders whose dragons die can become this.
* In ''Literature/WithATangledSkein'', we see this is apparently the reason people die after Atropos cuts their life's thread.
* In the novel ''Literature/ThePaintedVeil'' by W. Somerset Maugham, after Walter dies of cholera, Kitty says that he really died of a broken heart.

* In Creator/MadameDAulnoy's FairyTale ''Literature/TheYellowDwarf'', Toutebelle dies of a broken heart after the titular villain murders her fiance.
* In Sir Creator/ArthurConanDoyle's ''A Physiologist's Wife'', the eponymous physiologist dies of this in the end, much to the disbelief of those examining the body.
* After the dog Old Dan dies of injuries in ''Literature/WhereTheRedFernGrows'', his companion Little Ann gradually wastes away (her owner literally has to pry her jaws open to force her to eat something) and joins him in death.
* In ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' some people are so traumatized by the [[ZombieApocalypse horrors]] and hopelessness sometimes just go to sleep... and never wake up.
* The eponymous Phantom dies of a broken heart in ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera.''
* Zhuge Liang in ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' has the ability to ''cause'' this. Several other people die of this naturally as well.
* Not a few cases in Creator/JRRTolkien's Middle-earth legendarium (''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', etc.), both Elven and Human. Specifically notable as a way of death for the immortal Elves. Elven spirits are noted to have a much greater influence over their physical bodies, so if they have the appropriate willpower and determination they can live and pull through almost anything; however it also works the other way round - if they lose their hope and will to live, their bodies just give out. In ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' there almost seems to be a tradition for the men to be killed and their wives dying of despair shortly afterward; this happening to Rian, Gloredhel, and Lúthien (although Lúthien's case is [[BackFromTheDead a little unique]]).

* In ''More Literature/ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark'', the story ''Cold As Clay'' involved this, when a farmhand "wastes away" after his employer moves his daughter in order to keep the two apart. The daughter is never told about this, however, which is why she isn't surprised when the farmhand arrives at her door to take her home... some time ''after'' his death.
* ''Literature/LesMiserables''
** Fantine dies when Javert barges into her hospital room to arrest Jean Valjean – she was already near death from [[IncurableCoughOfDeath tuberculosis]], and because Valjean was her only hope of ever reuniting with her daughter Cosette, the horror of his arrest kills her.
** In the end, Jean Valjean dies like this after he is separated from Cosette, whom he's raised as his adopted daughter. Since Cosette is the novel's symbol of hope, it makes sense that both of her parents die when they think they'll never see her again – though unlike Fantine, Valjean at least gets to see her in his last moments.
* Iseult of ''Literature/TristanAndIseult'' fame doesn't live long past Tristan's death.
* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' people who lose the ability to [[FunctionalMagic channel]] do this as well as Warders with dead Aes Sedai who aren't killed trying to avenge them. Warders who outlive their bonded Aes Sedai and can't avenge their deaths (if the Aes Sedai wasn't killed by someone, or died in an accident, or someone else gets there first, etc.) more become {{Death Seeker}}s By Despair -- they'll continuously throw themselves at Shadowspawn and dangerous problems until they finally get killed.
* Catherine Earnshaw-Linton of ''Literature/WutheringHeights'' -- although the literal cause is premature childbirth while suffering from BrainFever, her despair is what causes those two things. Nellie Dean personally believes Heathcliff died of this too and was not DrivenToSuicide -- she sees his refusal to eat or sleep for days as a "result" of his illness rather than a cause.
* In ''Literature/AmericanGods'', a funeral director observes that an elderly man whose wife just dies will most likely be dead himself in about eight months. In his experience, elderly women who lose their husbands are usually able to live on, but elderly men can't handle it and will stop taking care of themselves and lose the will to live.

* Happens to the Aboriginal boy in ''Walkabout''. He believes the girl's fear of him is because she's seen the spirit of Death on him (in fact, she's just afraid because she's been taught Aboriginals are savages and never actually met one before). Because he thinks death is coming for him, he then more or less wills himself to die. More precisely, he catches the flu from the girl's brother but has neither the inherited resistance nor the will to fight it. (The movie is more explicitly DeathByDespair: he hangs himself after the failure of his courtship dance.)
* Occurs at the end of ''Literature/ThePigman'', where the eponymous character (having suffered a very ''long'' series of sad events) has a heart attack and dies after finding out that his best friend Bobo died.

* In ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'', General Macarthur's wife Leslie died of a broken heart after her lover, Arthur Richmond, falls victim to her husband's UriahGambit in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Macarthur himself loses the will to live and so [[spoiler:is easy prey for the murderer]] (it helps that was did feel quite guilty over the whole thing, unlike most of the characters).
* ''Literature/AnnaKarenina'' subverts this, along with [[{{Deconstruction}} along with many other common tropes of romance novels]]. Anna does go into a period of fever and delusion when her adultery is exposed, but when her husband manages to forgive her and her lover, she recovers. In a further subversion, however, she and her lover are both so ashamed by his magnanimity in contrast to their own behaviour that the latter (unsuccessfully) attempts suicide, and the former still can't bear to be in her husband's presence. She later commits suicide for real, when she realises that even though she got what she wanted, her life still wasn't the fairytale romance she anticipated.

* Ford's father died from despair over the fact he [Ford] never learnt to say his real name in ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''. Like everything else in the series, it's PlayedForLaughs.

* Common in the works of Creator/VCAndrews, notably Cathy in the ''Literature/FlowersInTheAttic'' series, who dies of a broken heart after Chris is killed in a car accident like their father. In the Literature/LandrySeries, Gabrielle's DeathByChildbirth is suggested to have happened because of her despair at having to give up another of her children.
* The iconic story of ''Wild Animals I Have Known'', "Lobo, The King of Currumpaw", ends with Lobo captured and his mate dead. A few hours later, he dies despite no one touching him and without a mark on his body.
-->A lion shorn of his strength, an eagle robbed of his freedom, or a dove bereft of his mate, all die, it is said, of a broken heart; and who will aver that this grim bandit could bear the three-fold brunt, heart-whole? This only I know, that when the morning dawned, he was lying there still in his position of calm repose, his body unwounded, but his spirit was gone—the old kingwolf was dead.
* Happens to Zilpah in ''Literature/TheRedTent'', after she witnesses Jacob destroying and urinating on the last of her household idols. She becomes both physically and mentally ill for a few hours or days, then just up and dies. It was said that [[LiterallyShatteredLives her body broke into many pieces]].
* ''Literature/WolfHall''
** Implied to be the cause of Cardinal Wolsey's sudden decline and death. After an extended and humiliating fall from Henry VIII's favor, he was exiled to York. Being ordered back on the way there with charges of treason and probable execution was the final shock that finished him.
** When one of Anne's "lovers" claims he might die of this, Cromwell reflects bitterly that it's not that easy--''he'' wanted to die after the deaths of his wife, his daughters, and Wolsey, but his body kept on breathing anyway because "God takes your heart of flesh and replaces it with a heart of stone."
* ''Literature/TheSagaOfTheFaroeIslanders'': When top villain Thrand hears that his nephews Sigurd, Thord and Gaut have all been killed in the FinalBattle, he dies of grief. According to the internal timeline, he must be beyond 80 years of age at the time.
* ''[[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas The Saga of Gunnlaug Wormtongue]]'' (implied): After Helga's husband Hrafn and her former fiancé Gunnlaug have killed each other in single combat, she marries another man, Thorkel, "although she did not really love him", but she cannot stop thinking about Gunnlaug ("She could never get Gunnlaug out of her mind, even though he was dead.") Though Helga has several children with Thorkel, her "greatest pleasure" is to a unfold a magnificent English cloak which Gunnlaug gave her as a present at her wedding with Hrafn (implying that he had intended it to be his present for his ''own'' wedding with Helga), and then just look at it "for a long time". One evening, when Helga is sick from disease, she lies in the main room with her head in Thorkel's lap, she has the cloak brought to her and spreads it out. After sitting up and looking at it for a while, she drops back dead into Thorkel's arms.
* Michael Henchard, the title character of ''Literature/TheMayorOfCasterbridge'', leaves the town where he was once mayor and a successful businessman for the last time after his stepdaughter Elizabeth-Jane rebukes him for lying to her about her true paternity, then lying to her real father, Richard Newson, about whether or not she was still alive. He loses the will to live and lingers on for a few weeks in an abandoned house found for him by a former employee before dying alone and miserable. His last wishes are for a LonelyFuneral and for everyone to forget him.

* In ''Literature/TheColdMoons'', particularly grief-stricken badgers are known to die of a "death-wish". They long to be with their recently deceased loved one so much that they eventually die of unknown causes. It's not starvation or illness and no healer can help them. After [[spoiler:Eldon's]] HeroicSacrifice, the badgers have to help [[spoiler:his adopted son Titan]] from dying of the wish of death.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/BlindAlley": The unnamed aliens were rescued from a dying planet, and are now kept in a gilded prison, with every necessity provided for them with no effort. When Antyok is assigned a job that is effectively their warden, he realizes that they have collectively given up on life because they have lost all agency. They cannot meaningfully affect their future as long as they are tied to humanity. So Antyok subtly arranges things to allow [[GreatEscape the aliens to escape to an entirely different galaxy]] without getting into trouble himself.
* ''The Bronze Horseman'' by Paullina Simons. An elderly man tells Tatiana how he spent hours trying to repair a faulty generator, with the [[SecretPolice NKVD]] standing over him ready to execute him for 'sabotage' if he didn't. He succeeds, but asks if it isn't bad enough with starvation and the Nazis trying to kill them. Tatiana finds him dead the next day.

* ''Literature/DaystarAndShadow'': Robin's mother Marge withered away and died after being forced to abandon him in the desert, saying life had no meaning for her. His father worked himself to death over the loss of Marge, Robin, and their other son Gregory, who was killed by a fireworm.
* "Literature/TalmaGordon":
** Jeannette dies a year after the murder trial, the stress having taken its toll on her.
** Isabel died after birthing her third child. [[spoiler:Captain Gordon's raving accusations upon seeing the child's appearance were apparently too much for her after the stress of childbirth -- she fell into convulsions and died soon after.]]
** Near the end, [[spoiler:Talma comes close to this; her emotional suffering causes her health to fail rapidly.]]

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' gnomes who become too bored/depressed suffer from the bleaching, which, in addition to turning their skin and hair white (hence the name) drains their mental abilities until they die. Some gnomes survive [[HopeSpot but are known as "bleachlings" and are still distrusted and seen as freaks by other gnomes.]]
** Also in ''Pathfinder'', characters may follow Sifkesh, the [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Demon Lord]] of despair and suicide. To her Demoniacs and Exalted, one of the abilities she grants is Mass Suicide, allowing the caster to compel a group of people to commit ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, noting that "if no method of suicide is available for one who succumbs to this effect, the victim simply dies outright of sadness." Likewise, her Sentinels can cause a creature's body to "lose the drive to maintain life", which makes "its body’s life-sustaining autonomic processes irreparably and lethally shut down" if it fails to resist the ability.

* In ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'', General Macarthur's wife Leslie died of a broken heart after her lover, Arthur Richmond, falls victim to her husband's UriahGambit in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3526 Slick's problem in Hell is the loss of the will to live.]]

* Invoked in ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}''. The {{Lich}} protagonist has a skill called Despair Aura. It has 5 levels of intensity, each inflicting increasingly debilitating StandardStatusEffects. The fifth level [[OneHitKill instantly kills]] those who fail to resist.