History Main / MovingBeyondBereavement

'''WARNING: as this trope concerns character death, unmarked spoilers for major deaths will be included below. You have been warned.'''

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' dealt with this trope when Marshall’s father Marvin died and Marshall struggled to get back from turning into a {{Manchild}} in a few sixth season episodes, and when in the 200th episode, the titular Mother had to let go of her FirstLove, Max, dying suddenly on her 21st birthday. [[spoiler:The final moments of the show also reveal this to be its entire premise; the protagonist Ted Mosby’s wife, the Mother, has been dead for six years by 2030, and Ted, the titular “I”, has been telling to his kids (“Your”) the story of how he met her, which runs from 2005-13 and mentions his ex-girlfriend Robin often, in order to gain their approval to date Robin.]]

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' dealt with this trope when Marshall’s father Marvin died and Marshall struggled to get back from being a {{Manchild}} after a few episodes, and when in the 200th episode, the titular Mother had to let go of her FirstLove, Max, dying suddenly on her 21st birthday. [[spoiler:The final moments of the show also reveal this to be the entire premise of the show; the protagonist Ted Mosby’s wife, the Mother, has been dead for six years by 2030, and Ted, the titular “I”, has been telling to his kids (“Your”) the story of how he met her, which runs from 2005-13 and mentions his ex-girlfriend Robin often, in order to gain their approval to date Robin.]]

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' dealt with this when Marshall’s father Marvin died and Marshall struggled to get back from being a {{Manchild}} after a few episodes. [[spoiler:The final moments of the show also reveal this to be the entire premise of the show; the protagonist Ted Mosby’s wife, the titular Mother, has been dead for six years by 2030, and Ted, the titular “I”, has been telling the story of how he met her, which takes place 25 years earlier and mentions his ex-girlfriend Robin often, in order to gain his kids’ (“Your”) approval to date Robin.]]

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' dealt with this when Marshall’s father Marvin died and Marshall struggled to get back from being a {{Manchild}} after a few episodes. [[spoiler:The final moments of the show also reveal this to be the entire premise of the show; the protagonist Ted Mosby’s wife, the titular Mother, has been dead for six years by 2030, and Ted, the titular “I”, has been telling the story of how he met her , which takes place 25 years earlier and features his ex-girlfriend Robin more often, in order to gain his kids’ (“Your”) approval to date Robin.]]

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' dealt with this when Marshall’s father Marvin died and Marshall struggled to get back from being {{Manchild}} after a few episodes. [[spoiler:The final moments of the show also reveal this to be the entire premise of the show; the protagonist Ted Mosby’s wife, the titular Mother, has been dead for six years by 2030, and Ted, the titular “I”, has been telling the story of how he met her , which takes place 25 years earlier and features his ex-girlfriend Robin more often, in order to gain his kids’ (“Your”) approval to date Robin.]]

** In the first ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' movie, Manny starts out in the film as a cynical loner after the death of his wife and child, but after bonding with Diego, Sid, and Roshan, he's able to grow out of his shell and move on from his former loneliness.

** In the first ''''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' movie, Manny starts out in the film as a cynical loner after the death of his wife and child, but after bonding with Diego, Sid, and Roshan, he's able to grow out of his shell and move on from his former loneliness.

* ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream:'' Gorrister is in mourning for his wife Glynis -- they had a difficult marriage, largely due to him working most of the time, and it finally came to a head when one night, in anger, [[DomesticAbuse he punched her.]] She quickly lost her grasp on reality and had to be committed to an asylum, and upon hearing from his mother in law what sort of state Glynis was in, Gorrister broke down in tears and began to blame himself. Thanks to [[BigBad AM]] wiping out the entirety of humanity except the five survivors and subjecting those few to 109 years of torture, Gorrister has never had the chance to move on and only wants to kill himself, as he attempted to multiple times after Glynis was institutionalized. Gorrister's part in the game involves AM sending him into a psychodrama in which he will supposedly have a chance to kill himself -- though, of course, [[YankTheDogsChain it's just an empty promise]]. However, thanks to sabotage inflicted by the other supercomputers, Gorrister has a chance to learn that her descent into madness was not entirely his fault, call out [[ObnoxiousInLaws his simulated mother in law,]] who exacerbated her illness, bury Glynis' simulated body, and say goodbye; if all the steps are completed perfectly, Gorrister's [[KarmaMeter spiritual barometer]] fills out, his long-dead heart starts to beat again, and he is able to escape the psychodrama -- [[SoreLoser much to AM's annoyance]].

* Most of ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' is devoted to Shiki's blundering attempts to come to terms with the death of her second personality, SHIKI, which occurred as a result of her failed suicide.

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' deals with this trope in the form of Eugeo, Kirito's longtime companion in Underworld for the ''Alicization'' saga. Their intimate bond and Eugeo's tragic demise at the hands of Quinella is part of the reason Kirito is a catatonic mess by the beginning of the second half. Even after finally escaping Underworld, Kirito still had to spend some time grieving for the character and still does so by the ''Moon Cradle'' arc.

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* In "The Final Descent" path of ''VideoGame/NeverendingNightmares'', it's ultimately revealed that the entire dream journey has been Thomas attempting to move on from the death of his daughter, with all the imagery witnessed over the course of the nightmare being in some way related to the sense of guilt, loss, and horror he feels. In the real world, his wife has actually left him, her final letter begging him to move on from the grief and go on living. Though the game ends with him crying over the letter, it's implied that he will eventually be able to recover from the tragedy.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': Season 15 mainly focuses on the Reds and Blues coming to terms with Church's death and that [[KilledOffForReal he's gone for good this time.]]

* Webcomic/SleeplessDomain: Themes of bereavement and trauma recovery are at the story's emotional core. The setting and world are [[MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction a dark take]] on the [[MagicalGirl magical girl genre]], wherein teenage girls with magic powers serve as society's only line of defense against nightly monster attacks. Since in this universe, "magical girl" is basically shorthand for "ChildSoldier," grieving and how to heal from loss are majorly present in the narratives of several characters.
** '''''Undine.''''' Chapter 2's [[FirstEpisodeTwist big disastrous twist]] establishes those themes early on for protagonist Undine when three of her four closest friends and teammates die in battle. Undine takes center stage as protagonist from Chapter 3 onward, at which point it's clear to the audience that grappling with the aftermath of that incident will be her first major arc.
** '''''Tessa.''''' Relegated to supporting character status from Chapter 3 onward, her grief does not get quite the same level of detailed exploration Undine's does; however, it's still abundantly clear that their friends' deaths had just as devastating an effect on her life as it did on Undine's.
** '''''Kokoro.''''' Whereas Undine and Tessa are actively mourning the deaths of people close to them, Kokoro's mother was killed in the line of duty when she was only a few months old. This, of course, prevents her from really being able to grieve the ''memory'' of her mom; however, her father struggled with the loss in ways that had very poignant, formative effects on Kokoro's development as a person.

* ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream:'' Gorrister is in mourning for his wife Glynis -- they had a difficult marriage, largely due to him working most of the time, and it finally came to a head when one night, in anger, [[DomesticAbuse he punched her.]] She quickly lost her grasp on reality and had to be committed to an asylum, and upon hearing from his mother in law what sort of state Glynis was in, Gorrister broke down in tears and began to blame himself. Thanks to [[BigBad AM]] wiping out the entirety of humanity except the five survivors and subjecting those few to 109 years of torture, Gorrister has never had the chance to move on and only wants to kill himself, as he attempted to multiple times after Glynis was institutionalized. Gorrister's part in the game involves AM sending him into a psychodrama in which he will supposedly have a chance to kill himself -- though, of course, [[YankTheDogsChain it's just an empty promise]]. However, thanks to sabotage inflicted by the other supercomputers, Gorrister has a chance to learn that his wife's descent into madness was not entirely his fault, call out [[ObnoxiousInLaws his simulated mother in law,]] who exacerbated Glynis' illness, bury his Glynis' simulated body, and say goodbye; if all the steps are completed perfectly, Gorrister's [[KarmaMeter spiritual barometer]] fills out, his long-dead heart starts to beat again, and he is able to escape the psychodrama -- [[SoreLoser much to AM's annoyance]].

* ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream:'' Gorrister is in mourning for his wife Glynis -- they had a difficult marriage, largely due to him working most of the time, and it finally came to a head when one night, in anger, [[DomesticAbuse he punched her.]] She quickly lost her grasp on reality and had to be committed to an asylum, and upon hearing from his mother in law what sort of state Glynis was in, Gorrister broke down in tears and began to blame himself. Thanks to [[BigBad AM]] wiping out the entirety of humanity except the five survivors and subjecting those few to 109 years of torture, Gorrister has never had the chance to move on and only wants to kill himself, as he attempted to multiple times after Glynis was institutionalized. Gorrister's part in the game involves AM sending him into a psychodrama in which he will supposedly have a chance to kill himself -- though, of course, [[YankTheDogsChain it's just an empty promise]]. However, thanks to sabotage inflicted by the other supercomputers, Gorrister has a chance to learn that his wife's descent into madness was not entirely his fault, call out [[ObnoxiousInLaws his simulated mother in law, who exacerbated Glynis' illness,]], bury his Glynis' simulated body, and say goodbye; if all the steps are completed perfectly, Gorrister's [[KarmaMeter spiritual barometer]] fills out, his long-dead heart starts to beat again, and he is able to escape the psychodrama -- [[SoreLoser much to AM's annoyance]].

* ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream:'' Gorrister is in mourning for his wife Glynia -- they had a difficult marriage, largely due to him working most of the time, and it finally came to a head when one night, in anger, [[DomesticAbuse he punched her.]] She quickly lost her grasp on reality and had to be committed to an asylum, and upon hearing from his mother in law what sort of state Glynis is in, Gorrister broke down in tears and began to blame himself. Thanks to [[BigBad AM]] wiping out the entirety of humanity except the five survivors and subjecting those few to 109 years of torture, Gorrister has never had the chance to move on and only wants to kill himself, as he attempted to multiple times after Glynis was institutionalized. Gorrister's part in the game involves AM sending him into a psychodrama in which he will supposedly have a chance to kill himself -- though, of course, [[YankTheDogsChain it's just an empty promise]]. However, thanks to sabotage inflicted by the other supercomputers, Gorrister has a chance to learn that his wife's descent into madness was not entirely his fault, call out [[ObnoxiousInLaws his simulated mother in law, who exacerbated Glynis' illness,]], bury his wife's simulated body, and say goodbye; if all the steps are completed perfectly, Gorrister's [[KarmaMeter spiritual barometer]] fills out, his long-dead heart starts to beat again, and he is able to escape the psychodrama -- [[SoreLoser much to AM's annoyance]].

* ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream:'' Gorrister is in mourning for his wife, who suffered a breakdown during his work-related absences from home and had to be committed to an asylum -- where she ultimately died during the apocalypse; understandably, he blames himself for what happened to her, and thanks to over 109 years of torture at the hands of [[BigBad AM]], has never had a chance to move on. Gorrister's part in the game involves AM sending him into a psychodrama in which he will supposedly have a chance to kill himself -- though, of course, [[YankTheDogsChain it's just an empty promise]]. However, thanks to sabotage inflicted by the other supercomputers, Gorrister has a chance to learn that his wife's descent into madness was not his fault, bring [[ObnoxiousInLaws the true perpetrator]] to justice, bury his wife's simulated body, and say goodbye; if all the steps are completed perfectly, Gorrister's [[KarmaMeter spiritual barometer]] fills out, his long-dead heart starts to beat again, and he is able to escape the psychodrama -- [[SoreLoser much to AM's annoyance]].

* ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'': One of the central threads is Cloud's guilt over the deaths of Zack and Aerith. At the end, after some nudging from beyond courtesy of Aerith, he is finally able to let it go.

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': A reoccurring theme in the series is not only can you not bring the dead back to life, but that you should never try and learning to live with this fact is the only way to move on. Ed and Al are forced to confront the fact that as powerful as they are, they can't save everyone and they can't reverse the past, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't continue working to help to prevent repeats of those tragedies.
* Most of ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' is devoted to Shiki's blundering attempts to come terms with the death of her second personality, SHIKI, which occurred as a result of her failed suicide.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' has two examples in the same region. Litten has a difficult time moving beyond the death of its Stoutland mentor until it realizes Ash's dedication in staying with it during its grieving, and accepts itself into his team. Mallow is secretly depressed about the [[PartingWordsRegret hurtful final words]] she said to her mother before she died -- after she's able to start accepting it, a Shaymin (implied to be a reincarnation of her mom) appears and stays with her until it's ready to move on by itself like Mallow is ready to.

* ''Animation/AgentAli'': The [[TheLostLenore untimely death]] of Aliya, [[MissingMom Ali's mother]], occurred [[PostHumousCharacter before the series]] and greatly impacted her immediate family. Ali's father became distant and consumed in his work as town pillar, and Ali too became emotionally distant. TheMovie progresses this arc further for both of them: Ali helped Niki, who was Aliya's best friend, believing that he was continuing her heroic legacy by doing so. [[spoiler: Niki turning out to be the TwistVillain made him regret doing so, until his allies motivated him to keep going.]] By the movie's end, Ali convinces his father to help the people living in the slums that he and his mother had aided in the past, and they improve their livelihoods together.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': Carl's character arc involves him moving on from the death of his wife, Ellie. He starts out as a loner who wants to go to Paradise Falls and stay there at all costs to honor his wife's memory; however, after some bonding with Russell and Kevin, he eventually finds Ellie's photo book of their many moments shared in their life which has her writing out that she was satisfied with how their life went. This ultimately helps him finally move on from her death and race to save both Russell and Kevin from [[BigBad Charles Muntz]].

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': Both Mark and Emma Russell have been hit by this following the PlotTriggeringDeath of their son Andrew five years ago which ultimately led to their divorce, with their surviving daughter Madison being pretty much the only member of their family who's dealt with the loss in a remotely healthy way. Despite having had five years to try and pull himself back together, Mark still acts as if Andrew died only five months ago; he's fled to the Colorado mountains to work as a wildlife photographer and be as far away as possible from anything that reminds him of his problems, and he's still nursing a bitter grudge against Godzilla (and to a lesser extent [[TragicBigot all Titans]]) over the loss, although as the film goes on and as Mark eventually finds VengeanceFeelsEmpty, he learns to let go of his anger. Emma outwardly projects a MaskOfSanity, but she became a {{Workaholic}} in her Titan research committed to finding out why her son died, and [[spoiler:even worse than Mark, she came to the conclusion that the Titans had to be set loose on humanity to cull the human race in GaiasVengeance as an InsaneTrollLogic way of ensuring her son's death wasn't "in vain", and also because she (whether she knows it or not) blames the human race for causing her son's death by triggering Godzilla and the [=MUTOs'=] awakening in the first place. Once Emma's arrogance in her actions unleashes an even worse apocalypse than the manmade extinction event she was trying to prevent, and it furthermore leads to the surviving child she still has heroically placing herself in mortal danger, Emma ultimately makes a RedemptionEqualsDeath to save her daughter's life]].

* ''Film/RushHour2'' reveals that Lee's father was killed while working on a smuggling case. While the culprit was never caught, it was suspected that his partner, who is now a Triad boss, was the killer. The case is very personal for Lee and opens up some emotional wounds that he hasn't dealt with. In the film's climax [[spoiler:Tan does indeed confess to having murdered Lee's father]]. In the end Lee gives his father's badge to Carter saying that he can finally "let it go".

* In the ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' novel ''The Ellimist Chronicles'', Toomin becomes [[LastOfHisKind the last Ketran in the universe]] when their refugee ships crash on an ocean world; among the casualties is his wife, Aguella. Worse still, he and the dead Ketrans then become a prisoners of [[HiveMind Father]], with Toomin being forced to entertain the monstrous being through games -- his only reward being a [[LotusEaterMachine pleasant illusion]] where his loved ones are still alive. Grieving for the loss of his friends and loved ones, Toomin can only half-heartedly play along, losing for years on end. But when Father challenges him to a game of music, Toomin finds himself [[CopeByCreating using his own grief and loneliness as inspiration]] to create something [[CreativeSterility Father cannot match]], and is able to defeat his opponent; gaining the inspiration to fight back, he begins winning through creativity and seizes control of the hive mind, absorbing all of Father's knowledge before finally destroying him. In the process, he disconnects Aguella and the other victims of Father from the network, granting them peace at last, allowing Toomin to move on from his grief -- and take the first steps in his transformation into [[BigGood the Ellimist]].

* Nico Di Angelo's CharacterArc in the ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians: Battle of the Labyrith'' revolves around accepting his twin sister's death and how it wasn't Percy's fault. By the end of the book, he and Percy end on good terms, while Nico goes to look for more information about his family. For added irony, Nico is the son of Hades, the god of death.

* In ''Swashbuckler'' by James Moloney, Peter [=McNeil=] spends his days pretending to be an Errol Flynn-like hero, perpetually bewildering his friends, enemies, teachers, and protagonist Anton. Throughout the story, though, Peter claims to be pitted against a dragon, and it's not until the end of the novel that we finally discover what the dragon actually is: his father is [[TheTopicOfCancer dying of cancer]], and Peter is trying to cope with his grief by [[CopeByPretending becoming the Swashbuckler]], essentially distancing himself from the tragedy by reimagining his dad's cancer-ravaged body as a "dragon." After some encouragement and play-acting from Anton, Peter goes to confront the the dragon in the hospital, allowing him to say goodbye to his father before he finally passes away.

** Henry, who is immortal, met Abigail at the end of World War II, and they were together for forty years, raising an adopted son Abe together. By 1984 the difference in their apparent ages has become a real problem, especially for Abigail, now 64, while Henry still looks 34. She leaves him, according to a letter just for a short time, so she can think about what to do next, but they never hear from her again. Henry sinks into a deep depression, convinced something must have happened to her but unable to find her, telling Abe he doesn't want to live without her but he can't die, either. Abe pulls him out of it, but Henry isn't able to move on and let himself care about anyone else. (As they never actually divorced, Henry doesn't even know if he's still married or a widower.) [[spoiler: Eventually they discover that Abigail ''had'' written a letter, asking Henry to join her at a remote farmhouse where they could be together the rest of her days; they also discover she died before she could send it, killing herself to protect Henry from psychopathic fellow immortal Adam. Once he knows Abigail is dead, and he's dealt with Adam, Henry is able to find closure and may be ready to open up to Jo.]]

* Throughout ''Series/Maniac2018'', [[{{Tsundere}} Annie Landsberg]] is struggling with the death of her little sister Ellie, having spent their last day together [[PartingWordsRegret hurting her feelings]] before accidentally causing their car to crash. By the first episode, she's taking experimental drugs that allow her to relive [[YourWorstMemory her worst memory]] so she can see Ellie again, until low supplies force her to participate in an experiment designed to resolve past emotional trauma. During the next few episodes, she experiences several illusory scenarios built around her guilt and self-loathing, until she finds herself escorting a sickly elf princess to a healing lake -- and the "princess" just happens to be Ellie. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, the GRTA sabotages the experiment by roping Annie into a bargain in which she gets to stay with Ellie forever in exchange for becoming one of the possessive computer's permanent entourage. It takes the assistance of [[ShrinkingViolet Owen Milgrim]]'s ImaginaryFriend to save them and put the two test subjects back on track.]] The end result is that Annie finally has a chance to apologize to Ellie and share a heartfelt goodbye before the simulation ends; when she awakes, she's able to make amends with her surviving family, kick her drug habit, and [[spoiler: rescue Owen from the mental hospital.]]
* Patrick Jane, ''Series/TheMentalist,'' said some unflattering things about serial killer Red John on live TV, and Red John subsequently killed and mutilated his wife and young daughter to punish him. Patrick suffered a breakdown, institutionalized for six months, and afterward dedicated his life to catching Red John and [[PayEvilUntoEvil doing to him what he did to Jane's family]]. Jane was unable to move on, partly due to guilt, partly to shutting out everything but his revenge, and partly out of fear that anyone else he became involved with would become a target for Red John. He turned down a gorgeous potential threesome by stating "I'm married" even five years after their deaths. Only after finally getting his revenge on Red John was Patrick able to move on and develop a relationship with Teresa Lisbon.

** The ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E5TheBonding The Bonding]]" has an archeologist die to a landmine while on a routine expedition, and the crew try to break the news to her son. Worf feels especially bad because it was so senseless a death (all the other mines they found had been deactivated). An alien EnergyBeing appears as the boy's mother and says she'll take him down to the surface where he can live happily; the crew object because sad as dying is, it's a part of life, while living in a LotusEaterMachine wouldn't do a still-growing kid any good. The episode ends with the alien conceding the point, and the boy performing a Klingon ritual with Worf.

** In one case, Nolan Stross killed his wife and child while under the influence of a Marker shard, and as a result, sees his dead family taunting him from beyond the grave. Unable to confront his own guilt, his denial drives him to become dangerously obsessed with the "Steps" instituted at [[BedlamHouse Titan Medical Centre]], until at the absolute nadir of his insanity, Stross is attacking Isaac with a screwdriver, screaming that he has to "face her for me" and "tell her I didn't mean to do it." [[spoiler: This confrontation ends with Stross having his screwdriver driven back into his skull.]]
** In another case, [[TheHero Isaac Clarke]] is haunted by the death of his girlfriend back in the first game, and spends most of the narrative haunted by [[ImaginaryEnemy an illusory version of Nicole]]. Worse still, the hallucination only becomes more aggressive as the game continues, sneering at his efforts to survive the crisis and mocking his inability to move on. Close to the finale, she confronts Isaac one last time and demands to know why he can't let her go: failing the quicktime event will result in Isaac denying her existence -- then [[YourMindMakesItReal having his neck snapped]]; however, if you succeed, Isaac finally confesses that without Nicole, he has nothing left. With this, he finally reaches step four -- Acceptance -- and his symptoms abate.

* ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream:'' Gorrister is in mourning for his wife, who suffered a breakdown during his work-related absences from home and had to be committed to an asylum -- where she ultimately died during the apocalypse; understandably, he blames himself for what happened to her, and thanks to over 109 years of torture at the hands of [[BigBad AM]], has never had a chance to move on. Gorrister's part in the game involves AM sending him into a psychodrama in which he will supposedly have a chance to kill himself -- though, of course, [[YankTheDogsChain it's just an empty promise]]. However, thanks to sabotage inflicted by the other supercomputers, Gorrister has a chance to learn that his wife's descent into madness was not his fault, bring [[ObnoxiousInLaws the true perpetrator]] to justice, bury his wife's simulated body and say goodbye; if all the steps are completed perfectly, Gorrister's [[KarmaMeter spiritual barometer]] fills out, his long-dead heart starts to beat again, and he is able to escape the psychodrama -- [[SoreLoser much to AM's annoyance]].
* ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'': Harley Quinn's character arc revolves around her getting over ''ComicBook/TheJoker'''s death in order to become a true heroine. By the time [[VideoGame/Injustice2 the sequel]] rolls around, she has come to accept that he was an irredeemable monster, and refuses to be associated with him.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'': Joel has been grieving for the loss of his daughter, Sarah, for ''20 years'' before he meets Ellie. Though he initially tried to keep her at arm's length, he eventually grows to love her as a daughter and move on from Sarah's death. This development is shown through him rejecting an old picture of Sarah and him when Tommy offers, but later tearfully accepting and thanking Ellie when she reveals she stole it to give it to him.

* The bulk of ''VideoGame/LayersOfFear'' concerns [[MadArtist the Artist]]'s efforts to overcome his grief over a multitude of tragedies concluding with the suicide of his wife. Consumed by depression, alcoholism and terrifying hallucinations, the Artist is now trying to move on by creating a portrait of his wife as she was before her disfigurement, confronting all the troubling memories and nightmares he's acquired along the way. [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness The composition may or may not involve the use of human remains]]. There are three possible endings to this quest:

* In "The Final Descent" path of ''VideoGame/NeverendingNightmares'', it's ultimately revealed that the entire dream journey has been Thomas attempting to move on from the death of his daughter, with all the imagery witnessed over the course of the nightmare being in some way related to the sense of guilt, loss and horror he feels. In the real world, his wife has actually left him, her final letter begging him to move on from the grief and go on living. Though the game ends with him crying over the letter, it's implied that he will eventually be able to recover from the tragedy.

* Comparatively early in ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'', Miles Morales' father is killed in a suicide-bombing arranged by the Demons, leaving Miles grieving for a good chunk of the story that follows. It takes a while -- plus a pep-talk from Spider-Man -- but he's eventually able to channel his grief into working for F.E.A.S.T. and move on with his life -- to the point that when he discovers that [[spoiler: Martin Li, the founder of F.E.A.S.T. was behind the attack]], he opts not to leave the organization in a quest for revenge, instead choosing to stay and help the homeless.

* In Book 1 of ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'', Amelia Hughes has taken control of the Infinity Train for the past thirty years in an attempt to recreate her life with her deceased fiance Alrick. It takes Tulip telling her that there's no way to bring him back and that the two have to move on from the chances in her life before she decides to move on and atone for her crimes.
* In the [[Recap/TheMidnightGospelS1E8MouseOfSilver final episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/TheMidnightGospel'', Clancy meets his mother in the universe simulator, where it's revealed that she's dying of cancer -- finally explaining why he's spent the show so far avoiding reality and panicking whenever the rest of his family reach out to him. Over the course of their time together, Clancy is forced to confront all the issues he didn't want to face as he and his mother discuss life and spirituality, experiencing [[FountainOfYouth physical regression]], RapidAging, death and even rebirth, until the two of them AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence and become planets. In the finale, Clancy's mother is drawn into a black hole, facing death serenely as she bids Clancy farewell; Clancy is emotionally overwhelmed, but he is ultimately able to continue his adventures with a clear heart.

* ''Animation/EjenAli'': The [[TheLostLenore untimely death]] of Aliya, [[MissingMom Ali's mother]], occurred [[PostHumousCharacter before the series]] and greatly impacted her immediate family. Ali's father became distant and consumed in his work as town pillar, and Ali too became emotionally distant. TheMovie progresses this arc further for both of them: Ali helped Niki, who was Aliya's best friend, believing that he was continuing her heroic legacy by doing so. [[spoiler: Niki turning out to be the TwistVillain made him regret doing so, until his allies motivated him to keep going.]] By the movie's end, Ali convinces his father to help the people living in the slums that he and his mother had aided in the past, and they improve their livelihoods together.

* In ''Anime/Belle2021'', a major part of Suzu's character arc is her coming to terms with her mother's death, which isn't easy since it deeply affected her to the point that even attempting to sing is a TraumaButton for her at first (as her mother was the one who encouraged her love of music). Suzu's later determination to help Kei and his brother and protect them from their abusive father gives her a new perspective on the circumstances surrounding her mother's death, which allows her to finally accept it and move on.