History Main / MomentOfSilence

* In the opera ''[[Theatre/{{Woyzeck}} Wozzeck]]'', the orchestra immediately fades to pianissimo when Wozzeck drowns, and for the remainder of the scene produces no sound louder than [[ChirpingCrickets imitation frog croaks]] as the Captain and Doctor quietly react to the sound of a man drowning in dialogue (not even Sprechstimme).

* The musical ''Allegro'' has a silent scene (music but no dialogue or singing) following the death of Joe's mother as Joe, his friend and his father react to the sad news.

* Agent Coulson's death in ''Film/TheAvengers''.

* Several ''Access Hollywood'' episodes end with a silent version of the NBC Universal logo, usually when they announce the death of a celebrity. Examples include Creator/LeonardNimoy and Omar Sharif, and in the case of Music/CelineDion's husband, it features a LonelyPianoPiece.

* Several ''Access Hollywood'' episodes end with a silent version of the NBC Universal logo, usually when they announce the death of a celebrity at the Final 45 section. Examples include Creator/LeonardNimoy and Omar Sharif.

For in-universe moments of silence observed in memory of a deceased character, see DueToTheDead.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' with Igaram

* A variant is found in the final episode of the ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'' anime. Makoto reads a text message that consists only of lots of blank lines and he scolls down to the end where it just says ''"Goodbye"'', and all sound stops for a three second close up of the single word. ''Then'' the tragic music pics up and [[spoiler:he is stabbed to death from behind]].

* The death of [[spoiler:Buffy's mum, Joyce]] in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': the entire episode had very little dialogue and was the only episode in the entire series to contain no music, and so probably qualifies.

* The death of Adric at the end of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Earthshock". Not only was there no sound, instead of the usual closing credits there was just a closeup of Adric's broken badge.

* When major charaters die on ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'' sometimes they go to commercial without the second-indicating beeps. [[spoiler:Edgar Styles]] and [[spoiler:George Mason]] are the only two who come to mind.

*** Meta example: The sequel's strategic treatment of the defeated Joker as if he never existed - so as to not diminish Creator/HeathLedger's [[AuthorExistenceFailure mem]][[TheCharacterDiedWithHim ory]].

*** Meta example: The sequel's treatment of the defeated Joker as if he never existed - so as to not diminish Creator/HeathLedger's [[AuthorExistenceFailure mem]][[TheCharacterDiedWithHim ory]].

*** Meta example: The sequel's treatment of the defeated villain as if he never existed, so as to not diminish Creator/HeathLedger's memory.

* ''One Piece'' with Igaram

* ''EndOfEvangelion'' has this trope at the end of part 1, when Shinji finally decides to enter the battle... [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU6P2tAkntc only to find that he's too late]].

* A minor subversion in ''IAmSam'', where [[spoiler: Sam admits that he is not good enough to raise Lucy alone after the Prosecution berates him into this position. The trope is put into play when Sam is forced to let Lucy go and the only sound is sad music in the background.]]

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has the fatal wounding of Asuma (with OneWomanWail) and the [[DisneyDeath apparent]] death of Hinata and [[KilledOffForReal actual]] death (well, the moment of the [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice fatal]] [[TakingTheBullet blow]]) of [[spoiler:Neji]] with complete silence.

* ''Manga/Naruto'' has the fatal wounding of Asuma (with OneWomanWail) and the [[DisneyDeath apparent]] death of Hinata and [[KilledOffForReal actual]] death (well, the moment of the [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice fatal]] [[TakingTheBullet blow]]) of [[spoiler:Neji]] with complete silence.

* ''Naruto'' has Hinata's "death" and a few others.

* Played with in ''Series/BreakingBad.'' After [[spoiler: Hank]] gets KilledOffForReal, the audio of the episode goes completely muted, but zooms in on Walter White's horrified reaction.

* Played with in ''BreakingBad.'' After [[spoiler: Hank]] gets KilledOffForReal, the audio of the episode goes completely muted, but zooms in on Walter White's horrified reaction.

* ''Anime/Naruto'' has Hinata's "death" and a few others.

** [[spoiler: Kamina]] gets this as well. At the end of the episode, the only animation and sound effects added to the still frames are the rain falling.