History Main / TheLostLenore

** In the sequel, Tsukiyama has spent nearly two years in an AngstComa and become DelicateAndSickly as a result of his grief over Kaneki's apparent death. One of the major plotlines of the sequel has involved his MuggleBestFriend, Chie Hori, attempting to prove to him that Kaneki is still alive. Meanwhile, his [[PoisonousFriend Poisonous Servant]] considers secretly murdering Kaneki to be the best way to help his ailing master.

* By the end of ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'', [[spoiler:David]] becomes this for [[spoiler:Lucy]]. Even though his HeroicSacrifice gave her the opportunity [[spoiler:to go to the moon, it becomes crystal clear that Lucy's dream wasn't to literally go to the moon but rather to live with David.]] She is unable to get over his sacrifice and she is shown hallucinating his presence by the series end.

* [[spoiler:Allison]] from ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', whose death many years before the series begins arguably is indirectly responsible for everything that happens in it, as it royally screws up her boyfriend/husband, who goes on to become [[spoiler:the Director of Project Freelancer]], which proceeds to get deep into Crazyland. Mostly in [[spoiler:the Director's]] efforts to get his beloved [[spoiler:Allison]] back.

* GenderInvertedTrope in ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain:'' Aldrick, the husband of original Amelia. Her grief over his death is what got her onto the Train. [[spoiler:She then decided that the Train could recreate her old life with Aldrick, and took over when the original Conductor refused.]]

The Lost Lenore, a.k.a. the Dead Love Interest -- not parent, not sibling, not offspring, ''love interest''. One of TheOldestOnesInTheBook, named for the famous deceased in Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's "Literature/TheRaven". In short, the three defining criteria are:

* ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'': Julia, the deceased wife of Magnus Burnsides. Magnus ''never'' stops mourning her and is [[SingleTargetSexuality completely uninterested in romance with anyone else]]. She also acts as his MoralityChainFromBeyondTheGrave; trying to honor her memory and be someone she'd be proud of is what motivates Magnus to keep being a hero even after losing everything. [[spoiler:His [[EarnYourHappyEnding happy ending]] is dying of old age and finally being [[TogetherInDeath reunited with her]].]]

* Creator/KatyPerry's music video, "TheOneThatGotAway", has the male character (portayed by Creator/DiegoLuna), be this to the woman, with the realization that she partly caused his death which still haunts her into her old age.

* In ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'', Betty Ross becomes this to her husband Bruce Banner until she's BackFromTheDead. There's also Jarella and Caiera.

* In ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'', [[Characters/MarvelComicsGammaMutates Betty Ross]] becomes this to her husband [[Characters/IncredibleHulkBruceBanner Bruce Banner]] until she's BackFromTheDead. There's also Jarella and Caiera.

* ''Anime/FenaPiratePrincess'' has Helena des Armoises, who is this to Abel Bluefield; she and Abel were in love but in order to fulfill her destiny, Helena had to seduce Abel's father, who was the king of England, in order to give birth to Fena and she was later executed for deserting the king. Abel has since been obsessed with somehow being with her again and it motivates his every action, [[spoiler: which eventually ended in his death]].

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', Ruka Rengoku’s death heavily impacted the Rengoku household: her husband Shinjuro lost all his will to continue being the Flame Hashira, coupled with him losing faith in his swordsmanship abilities after reading on the Sun Breathing capabilities; and thus the eldest son Kyojuro tryed to shoulder the weight of his family all by himself on succeeding his father as the Flame Hashira.

* ''FenaPiratePrincess'' has Helena des Armoises, who is this to Abel Bluefield; she and Abel were in love but in order to fulfill her destiny, Helena had to seduce Abel's father, who was the king of England, in order to give birth to Fena and she was later executed for deserting the king. Abel has since been obsessed with somehow being with her again and it motivates his every action, [[spoiler: which eventually ended in his death]].

* In ''ComicBook/{{Aria}}'', the titular heroine doesn't realize that she has fallen in love with Uthar in "Les Chevaliers d'Aquarius" until he has passed away. But even then, she can't name the feeling she's experiencing at the thought of never seeing him again.

* An enigmatic individual by the name of "Sook" was allegedly this to Truman Capote. His last words were "It's me, Buddy." Apparently, "Buddy" was Sook's nickname for him.

* In ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', the slow loss of his beloved Nora drove Dr. Victor Fries to become the obsessed, callous [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart2 Mr. Freeze]]. Bonus points for [[MeaningfulName "Nora" and "Lenore" being related derivations of "Eleanor."]]

* ''Anime/ZombieLandSaga:'' [[spoiler:Yugiri and her lover [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaTheLivingAndOthers Kiichi]] manage to ''both'' be this to each other. Yugiri was killed via execution [[HeroicSacrifice saving Kiichi]] from being captured [[TheScapegoat for crimes he didn't commit]]. Over a century later when Kiichi is long dead, she's revived as a zombie, and misses him dearly]].

* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', Chase never truly got over Gert's death, and even once attempted to make a deal with the [[BigBad Gibborim]] to try and get her back. Gender-flipped in [[ComicBook/RainbowRowellsRunaways the 2017 series]]; modern Chase went back in time and pulled Gert out of the last minutes before her death. So they're reunited, except that the age difference between them is now at least four years. In the years since he's come to terms with losing her, but from Gert's perspective, the Chase Stein that she knew and loved is dead. She hasn't been taking it well.

** Inverted in ''Comicbook/SpiderGwen'' where it's '''Peter Parker''' who becomes Gwen's Lost Lenore.
** In ''Comicbook/SpiderManReign'', Spidey is obsessed with the memory of his dead wife [[Characters/MarvelComicsMaryJaneWatson Mary Jane]]. Here the way his perception of her changes over the course of the story ([[spoiler:in the final issue she becomes a source of strength for him, encouraging him to carry on his work, putting off their reunion in the hereafter]]) is an important subplot.

* In ''FanFic/DespairsLastResort'', Chiyo Ueda reveals that [[spoiler: a friend from her childhood who she was in love with died from a terminal illness]]. It continues to affect her.

* Martel to Envy in the ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' fanfiction [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7986051/1/The_Seven_Names_of_Envy_Angevin The Seven Names of Envy Angevin]]. The story is still ongoing, but it's been hinted that [[spoiler:there's even more to her death than we (or Envy) know]].

* In ''FanFic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'', Mr. Black's wife, Tonya Coupe-Barton, is this for him. She was killed in Dr. Wily's very first attack, and he built a shrine to her in memoriam--and vowed revenge on Wily.

* ''FanFic/WalkingInCircles'': [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Evelyn]]'s first love Anselm is this for her. His demise is one of the first major key factors for her decision of actually trying to change the status quo and escape from the Circle, and much later, for her to [[spoiler: support the plan of taking down the Veil]] with her SecondLove Solas.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' fanfic [[Fanfic/TheMasksWeWearTeenTitans The Masks We Wear]] Mary Grayson is this for a resurrected John Grayson.

* In the direct-to-video prequel of ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIIArielsBeginning'', [[MissingMom Ariel's mother Queen Athena is killed]] when she is run over by a pirate ship. Her husband King Triton is so distraught at her death that he bans music from the kingdom because it reminds him of his late wife, and develops a severe distrust of humans that will be in full force by the time the first movie starts.

* "The One You Really Love" from Music/TheMagneticFields' ''69 Love Songs'' seems at first like it's just a case of the protagonist's love interest being into somebody else (enough that ''{{Skins}}'' could play the verse out of context for a similar situation). The second verse reveals it's actually that they're unable to move on from a ''dead'' lover. The last line of the song swaps out the title lyric for "the corpse you really love."

* "Tsui no Hate" from [[Music/AkikoShikata Akiko Shikata's]] Greek mythology album ''Istoria ~Kalliope~" is about Orpheus's deep grief over failing to bring Eurydice back from the underworld.
* Much of [[Music/{{Tristania}} Tristania's]] first album is made of this trope, and it's not subtle about it, either: from the album title, ''Widow's Weeds'', to one song being named ''My Lost Lenore''.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Queen Tara in ''WesternAnimation/{{Epic}}''.

** ComicBook/{{Mockingbird}} was also one for ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} after her apparent death in ''ComicBook/WestCoastAvengers'' # 100 (it was actually a Skrull and she came back at the end of ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion''). Her death led to him leaving the Avengers, spiralling into a deep depression and living in the middle of nowhere, hunting animals to eat. He eventually returned to civilisation after an old mentor helped him to realise that Bobbi wouldn't have wanted him to live that way. Her death still lingered with him, though, and his ideal life in House of M involved being in a relationship with her.
* In Franchise/{{Batman}}, the slow loss of his beloved Nora drove Dr. Victor Fries to become the obsessed, callous [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart2 Mr. Freeze]]. Bonus points for [[MeaningfulName "Nora" and "Lenore" being related derivations of "Eleanor."]]

* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'': The {{Trope Namer|s}} for StuffedIntoTheFridge, Alex [=DeWitt=], is this for Kyle Rayner. Of all the women Kyle has loved and lost in his life since then ([[CartwrightCurse and there are quite a number of them]]), they all inevitably had to live with being in her shadow. Kyle's entire motivation for being a hero is to live up to the man Alex thought he could be, though it's obvious he would give it all up in a heartbeat if it meant he could have her back. [[spoiler:''ComicBook/WrathOfTheFirstLantern'' had him admit it outright. Volthoom showed him a multitude of different realities to replace the current one, and offered to make one of them real for Kyle; he chose the one where Alex was alive, and made it clear that was the only deciding factor -- he even stated that he didn't care about what happened to him as long as she was alright.]]
* In ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'', [[Characters/MarvelComicsGammaMutates Betty Ross]] becomes this to her husband [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]] until she's BackFromTheDead. There's also Jarella and Caiera.

* Some writers like to use [[Characters/SpiderManLoveInterests Gwen Stacy]] this way for Franchise/SpiderMan, even though he actually got over her death fairly soon in the 1970s.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: [[Characters/WonderWomanAllies Steve Trevor]] died and a mourning Wondy gave up her powers and fought as a street-level fighter while missing him. This was her "Mod Phase" which only lasted three years, then Steve's corpse was possessed by Eros, before "dying" again, and then his memories were used to override the memories of a Steve from another universe who was brought in as a gift to Diana.

* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' story ''ComicBook/TheGreatPhantomPeril'', Jackson Porter's wife, Kathleen, passed away fifteen years ago, and Faora Hu-Ul exploited his grief and loneliness by posing as Kathleen's ghost to trick him into moving next to Clark Kent and stealing an alien relic from his apartment. As ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} points out, Mr. Porter was taken advantage of so easily because he feels incredibly ''lonely''.

* In ''Fanfic/AForceOfFour'', [[Characters/SupermanLoisLane Lois Lane]] has to come to terms with her husband Franchise/{{Superman}}'s death, at the same time [[ComicBook/PowerGirl other]] [[ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica heroes]] have to protect Earth from old Superman's enemies who decide to take advantage of his absence to destroy his adoptive world.

* Ironically, while the TropeNamer is a main character in ''WebVideo/EdgarAllanPoesMurderMysteryDinnerParty'', as a [[WightInAWeddingDress ghost]], ''her'' lover Guy de Vere became this for her when he killed himself after her death, and was unable to be brought back as a ghost like she was. While she is DeadpanSnarker who is generally [[AngstWhatAngst blasé about her own death]], she is clearly affected by the fact that she caused his suicide.

** In the sequel, Tsukiyama has spent nearly two years in an AngstComa and become an IllBoy as a result of his grief over Kaneki's apparent death. One of the major plotlines of the sequel has involved his MuggleBestFriend, Chie Hori, attempting to prove to him that Kaneki is still alive. Meanwhile, his [[PoisonousFriend Poisonous Servant]] considers secretly murdering Kaneki to be the best way to help his ailing master.

* ''VisualNovel/MysticMessenger'': Rika, the founder of the RFA, is dearly missed by all the other members after she was supposedly DrivenToSuicide according to V (the cops NeverFoundTheBody and V has been suspiciously dodgy about talking about her death) but the ones most affected by this are her cousin Yoosung and her boyfriend V. The former still has not gotten over her death and tends to bring her up the most, and on [[RomanceGame his route]] he repeatedly compares the heroine to her and asks her to be his new Rika -- the goal of the route being to help him move on. He also repeatedly blames V for Rika's death and tends to antagonize him. V, meanwhile, has grown so distant from the rest of the RFA that he barely shows up in chats, and when he does he only speaks vaguely. He also tends to blame himself for her death. [[spoiler:Completely subverted once you start Another Route -- not only is she still alive but she, [[TheDogWasTheMastermind of all people]], is the one running [[{{Cult}} Mint Eye]]. Yoosung has no idea, but V is fully aware and blames himself for not only encouraging her SanitySlippage by ignoring her rapidly spiraling mental health and pleas for help by sexualizing her trauma and telling her that he would "save" her singlehandedly, but also for [[FakingTheDead telling everyone she had killed herself]] rather than admitting he let her abscond to the mountains to start Mint Eye once she had become truly delusional and since then hasn't done anything substantial to help either Rika regain her sense of reality or the cultists living there.]]