Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis... Lat.
"Requiem" is an interesting choice for a title. A requiem is a song to honor the dead or to be played at a funeral, so placing it in a title automatically implies that something is not going to go well - a Bittersweet Ending or Downer Ending is quite likely, and if not the rest of it will probably be a Tear Jerker. However, it's used rather a lot for a number of reasons. The term adds a certain note of class and grandeur to the work, as well as advertising True Art because True Art Is Angsty. It may be part of a Word Salad Title or a very meaningful one, depending. Compare The Last Title.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- The anime Requiem from the Darkness (which is also a case of Completely Different Title; it's titled Hundred Stories in Japan).
- In-story example: Code Geass has the Zero Requiem. You guess how cheerful that is.
- A recurring piece of sad background music is titled "Requiem" on the Princess Mononoke soundtrack.
- Another Anime example is "Requiem (Rakuen)" by Yoko Kanno on the Wolf's Rain soundtrack.
- The final (and longest) track on the AKIRA soundtrack is also called "Requiem," a very solemn theme to the Bittersweet Ending of the anime.
- YuYu Hakusho: Sensui and Itsuki's duet is called Eien no Requiem ("Eternal Requiem") It's definitely on the Bittersweet Ending side of the scale, because they both die. It can be heard here.
- The Rurouni Kenshin Non-Serial Movie Ishin Shishi No Requiem (Requiem for the Soldiers of the Isshin Movement, more or less).
- The Phantom of Inferno anime is called Requiem of the Phantom.
- An In-Universe example from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind, having a Stand be struck with the Requiem Arrow allows them to turn into a Requiem Stand. This allows Silver Chariot and Gold Experience to become Chariot Requiem and Gold Expedience Requiem, with Chariot Requiem being designed after the mysterious visitor who provided Mozart with the finishing pieces to his "Requiem" composition.
Comic Books
- Artemis: Requiem.
- Silver Surfer: Requiem.
- Ultimate Marvel also had a series of Requiem specials tying into their Ultimatum event.
- Requiem Vampire Knight. Doubles as a Protagonist Title for Requiem (known as Heinrich in his human life).
- Final Crisis: Requiem was a tie-in one-shot that showed there was more to the Martian Manhunter's Comic Book Death than shown in FC proper. A lot more.
Fan Works
- Aot No Requiem is a fan-made webcomic exploring an alternate ending for the manga Attack on Titan.
- Pokémon Master: Chapter 12 is titled "Requiems".
- Spacedust And Chaos: A Requiem, a Neon Genesis Evangelion fic that attempts to out-Mind Screw its source material.
Film
- Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
- Battle Royale II: Requiem
- Requiem for a Dream. Yes, Downer Ending.
Literature
- The Robert A. Heinlein short story "Requiem" is about D.D. Harriman's attempt to fulfill his dream of landing on the Moon. He succeeds, but dies soon after landing.
- Jorge Luis Borges' Deutsches Requiem.
- Edmond Hamilton has a story called Requiem about Earth's death being made into a TV show.
- L.A. Requiem, the eighth book in Robert Crais's Elvis Cole series.
- Dragons of Requiem, which draws on the Latin Mass for the Dead as Theme Naming for many of its characters (e.g. Dies Irae, Lacrimosa, Agnus Dei) and places (e.g. Confutatis, Osanna).
Live Action TV
- The 50's television drama Requiem for a Heavyweight, written by Rod Serling.
- M*A*S*H: The Boxing Episode, "Requiem For A Lightweight," is a reference to Requiem for a Heavyweight.
- The West Wing episode "Requiem" is about the funeral of Leo McGarry.
- Star Trek: The Original Series had an episode called "Requiem For Methuselah".
- The X-Files season seven finale was called "Requiem". Likely for the fact that it was supposed to be the series finale, and for the fact that it takes place in the same place the pilot did, and involves a Bittersweet Ending.
- NCIS season five episode "Requiem" reveals more about agent Gibbs' background, including his dead first wife and daughter.
Music
- Trading Yesterday's song "Love Song Requiem".
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem, of course.
- Benjamin Britten's "Sinfonia da Requiem." Though not a vocal work, its three movements take titles from the Requiem mass.
- Epica's Requiem for the Indifferent (both the name of the album and one of its songs)
- Das Berliner Requiem, a morbid secular cantata by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill.
- From the Trans-Siberian Orchestra comes "Requiem (The Fifth)" on Beethoven's Last Night.
Tabletop Games
Theatre
- In Death of a Salesman, the Lonely Funeral epilogue scene is titled "Requiem."
Video Games
- The second Bleach DS game, subtitled in English as Dark Souls (not to confuse with that one), is subtitled in Japan as "The Black-Clothed Flickering Requiem". Surprisingly, the English name is significantly more relevant to the plot.
- One song in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is called the Requiem of Spirit. The fact that it represents the area that Ganondorf comes from can be seen as appropriate.
- Requiem: Avenging Angel was an obscure FPS released in 1999.
- Eternal Darkness is subtitled "Sanity's Requiem."
- There's a piece of music from When They Cry Kai titled "Requiem for the Disaster".
- The final level in Hitman: Blood Money is titled "Requiem," and it does indeed take place at a solemn event, 47's funeral... until he gets up and massacres everyone present.
- In Nightmare in the Dark, the fifth and last stage is titled "Requiem."
- Robinson's Requiem
- The thirteenth entry in the Dark Parables series is called Requiem for the Forgotten Shadow.
- In Medal of Honor: Vanguard, the last mission of Operation Neptune is called 'Requiem', it is also the mission where Sergeant Magnusson is killed.
Visual Novels
- Requiem for the disaster in Higurashi: When They Cry plays during the extermination of the villagers, with the Big Bad rejoicing during the whole song for a full dollop of Mood Dissonance.
- The seventh installment of Umineko: When They Cry is titled Requiem of the golden witch. This is fitting, since it refers to Piece!Beatrice's "funeral" and who "killed" her.
Webcomics
- The Phoenix Requiem by Sarah Ellerton. So far a number of people have been killed by a mysterious illness.
Requiescat in pace. Amen.Lat.
