Forgotten Fallen Friend: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

They will [[Unstoppable Rage|thrash and wail]], swear [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|bloody]] [[Revenge|vengeance]] on their killer and go on a multi-season quest to avenge... who was it again? [[Alice and Bob|Bob? Alice?]]

Granted, a character can't be moody and depressed forever, it would get [[Angst? What Angst?|really old, really fast]], but in moderate doses it's actually compelling drama to see them bury their grief and perhaps even forgive (or at least not want to murder) the killer and instead bring them to justice. However, when the dearly departed's loss has all the emotional impact of a [[Red Shirt]] or [[Disposable Woman]] dying, it can nudge uncomfortably outside of the [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]] Zone.

 

 

In episodic series, this will always happen to [[Remember the New Guy?]] if they die. Just as how they were never mentioned before the episode despite being close friends with one of the main characters, their tragic death will never be mentioned again after the episode.

 

 

* In ''[[Transformers Headmasters]]'', Sixshot kills several of Chromedome's oldest friends in front of him, yet Chromedome is always [[Snap Back|back to normal]] by the start of the next episode. The death of Abel, Chromedome's best friend in the galaxy, was particularly egregious, as he mourned him for all of one minute and then went back to playing with Wheelie and Daniel.

* Averted in ''[[Gurren Lagann]]''. It takes Simon around two and a half episodes (instead of the usual "one mopey episode and then never mention him again) to recover from {{spoiler|Kamina's death,}} and the event is never forgotten, affecting the entire rest of the series.

* ''[[Outlaw Star]]'': {{spoiler|Hilda}} dies towards the end of the fourth episode. The crew wax reminiscent about {{spoiler|her}} for a few minutes at the start of the fifth episode, then {{spoiler|she's}} mentioned again only a handful of times.

* Played literally at one point in ''[[Naruto]]''. While fighting against Gaara, Naruto can't remember what exactly he's fighting for. Namely, he had forgotten the life lesson taught to him by Haku and the boy himself, a person whose death he had wept over not a few months prior.

** Averted with Kakashi and Obito. Kakashi often visits Obito's grave, such as during the Third Hokage's funeral and near the end of Part I of the manga. {{spoiler|When Kakashi dies (he gets better)}}, he thinks about Obito as well as Rin, whose fate was more ambiguous.

* Notably averted in the manga of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', where the death of {{spoiler|Nina after being transformed into a chimera}} in Chapter 6 receives a [[Call Back]] in the ''last chapter''.

** There is also the death of {{spoiler|Maes Hughes}}, which is a HUGE driving motivation for Roy and is thus prevalent throughout the plot.

* Chor Tempest loses half its members in the first episode of ''[[Simoun]]''. Much angst ensues over Amuria and Eri, but the first pair to actually die not only are never mentioned again, they never even get names on-screen.

* In the first few episodes of ''[[Shakugan no Shana]]'', Yukari Hirai shows Yuji the reality of the world, spurs him to let her enjoy her last days, has her existence consumed, and is never mentioned again.

* Averted in the second season of [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]: {{spoiler|after the [[Time Skip]], Feldt styles her hair exactly like Christina's as a tribute to her late friend, and Sumeragi Lee Noriega spends most of the four-year gap drunk and mourning the dead crew members of the first Ptolemaios.}}

** This is pretty regularly averted in the entire ''Gundam'' series, for that matter - in the original ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'', for instance, Amuro gets angry at a Federation officer after they finally reach Jaburo since all they can do for the dead Ryu is give him a posthumous two-rank promotion. He also meets and apologizes to another lieutenant who had been engaged to Matilda Ajan, who died around the same time as Ryu, and much later {{spoiler|the death of Lalah is what drives him to truly hate Char for the rest of the series}}.

* Subverted in ''[[Fairy Tail]]'', which has had three significant character deaths. Lisanna's death is first mentioned in the Phantom Lord arc, and her sibling are seen going to pray for her near the aniversary of her death about 100 chapters later (not to mention {{spoiler|her coming back}}) Ur's death, which also happened in a back story, plays a large roll in Gray's arc, and that she became part of the ocean at the end is actually a significant point ''200'' chapters later despite not being mentioned once before then. And of course, the death of {{spoiler|Simon}} comes up whenever Jellal is playing a large part in whatever is going on, even if it's usually pushed out of mind when Jellal isn't around.

 

 

** Averted, at least, by Warpath of X-Force fame. The only times he ever joins a team are when he's looking for revenge. Of course, he's lost a ''lot'' of people to the mutant wars, probably more than anyone else, but he's never forgotten his brother or his mother. In fact, he still has yet to forgive Xavier completely for Thunderbird's death, and he chased the man who killed his mother and slaughtered his ''entire tribe'' until the guy died. And even that wasn't good enough, so he followed him down to hell to beat on him one more time. And it's looking like {{spoiler|Warpath is going to be the one who manages to kill Selene, an immortal psychic vampire who killed the original Hellions off and is using big brother Thunderbird as a zombie.}}

* This is one of the ''many'' tropes parodied in Adam Warren's ''[[Gen 13]]'' story "[[Her Codename Was Mary Sue|Grunge: The Movie]]":

'''"[[Unlucky Childhood Friend|Kiddo]]" (Roxy):''' (whispering) [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|Perhaps now would be a good time for a nostalgic]] ''[[Flash Back]]'' or ''[[Montage]] sequence'' of happier times, back in your beloved peasant village? }}

* In the indie comic book ''[[Dreamkeepers]]'', in the first issue the main protagonist Mace is attacked by a monster, and shortly thereafter finds his little sister stand-in literally ripped to pieces and splattered all over the walls. Despite a trauma that would send a hardened Marine into an emotional tailspin, he barely mentions her twice in the entire time since and shrugs off her death like he was made of iron. Take note, the protagonist ''is a thirteen year old orphan.'' {{spoiler|lampshaded at the end of volume two where he wonders if he's a bad person because of it.}} Of course, [[Love At First Sight|Lilith]] has proven to be a good distraction for him.

 

 

* Anyone who [[Die for Our Ship]] will be swiftly forgotten.

 

 

== Film ==

** ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' lampshades this in one of its Star Wars skits, as Luke's cheering and flying away from the exploding Death Star at the end of ''A New Hope'':

** Also in ''A New Hope'' Luke's best friend Biggs Darklighter whom we meet during the initiation to destroy the Death Star gets killed by Darth Vader during the ensuing battle and after a very brief moment of mourning he is never mentioned again, however in the Expanded Universe he gets mentioned quite a few times and we meet some of his family members.

* The 2007 [[Transformers Film Series|Transformers]] series. "So sad, {{spoiler|Jazz}} is dead. Oh well, we have new friends!".

** At least they said something for {{spoiler|Jazz}}. {{spoiler|Jetfire}} didn't get so much as a mention after he {{spoiler|rips [[Heroic Sacrifice|his own spark out]] to give Optimus his parts to fight The Fallen}} and is more or less forgotten after {{spoiler|Optimus kills The Fallen}}.

*** To be fair, {{spoiler|the movie ends within the space of five minutes after this is over, and Prime knew Jetfire for all of ten seconds anyway.}}

** [[Robot Chicken]] lampshades this one too.

** In Dark of the Moon, {{spoiler|Ironhide is barely even acknowledged as having been killed.}} Even {{spoiler|Que/Wheeljack}} was given a better, albeit brief eulogy by Bumblebee before Bee went back to kicking ass.

* In the ''[[Peter Pan]]'' [[Fan Sequel]] film ''[[Hook]]'', the mourning period for Rufio is criminally short.

*** In the original book, Lost Boys come and go all the time, either getting killed off by pirates or leaving Neverland. There's one ambiguous line about them being 'culled' when they get too old. Either way, Peter tends to forget about friend and foe alike after they die or otherwise leave. Unlike most of the examples on this page, however, it IS noted by both the narrator and by Wendy (on the one occasion where Peter actually remembers to bring her to Neverland again before she [[Growing Up Sucks|grows up and can't go there anymore]]. Also all Lost Boys who die are almost instantly forgotten, "Neverland makes you forget."

* Somewhat averted in ''[[The Bourne Ultimatum]]'' when Nikki's efforts to get closer to Bourne largely go unanswered because he is still mourning Marie.

* Bing, Valentine's juggler in ''[[Mirror Mask]]''. This is lampshaded, and he doesn't even pretend to miss his anonymous violinist for a moment.

* At the beginning of the second ''[[Austin Powers]]'' movie, Austin's wife Vanessa reveals herself to be a Fembot apropos of nothing and promptly explodes. His boss drops a line like "Sadly, yes, we knew it all the time" and the matter is never brought up again.

** Don't forget the ''[[Crowning Moment of Funny|hilarious]]'' line right after she explodes:

* In the ''[[Wing Commander (film)|Wing Commander]]'' film, the characters deliberately tried to pretend that their comrades who had died never existed.

** Later one, after {{spoiler|Rosie}} dies, Blair tries to do this to Maniac, who immediately tells him that it's a bullshit game. In the next scene, Blair tells the same thing to Devereaux, as if he wasn't just playing the same game.

* Played for serious drama in [[Bent]]. By the end of the movie Max has forgotten the names of the people he knew and cared about before entering the camp.

 

== Literature ==

* Notably avoided in Stephen King's ''[[Dark Tower]]'' saga. Roland's defining feature is that he [[Determinator|just keeps going]], but he frequently angsts about all his companions who have died so he could continue his quest, and when {{spoiler|he makes it to the Tower,}} he shouts all the names of his fallen comrades.

* In ''[[The Three Musketeers (novel)|Twenty Years After]]'', the heroes spend half the book trying to save Charles I from Cromwell and eventually fail to prevent his execution (the bad guys weren't quite as stupid as they thought.) Before the king's death, the musketeers are determined to save him or die trying, since he's such a noble person; afterwards they mourn him for about a chapter.

*** There were plans to have this entire phenomenon dramatically lampshaded in "Conversations With Dead People," which would have seen The First taking Jesse's form and angrily accuse Xander of forgetting about him. Some combination of Eric Balfor being unavailable and the episode already having too much story led the writers to scarp this plotline. Instead, it became the only episode without Xander in it at all.

*** It's probably safe to say that Xander's hatred of vampires - always noticeably stronger than that of the other characters, as seen by his relentless dislike of Angel and Spike during even their ''good'' periods - can be attributed to his statement in Episode 2 (after he and Buffy found that Jesse's been killed and turned):

'''Xander''': (*kicks trash can in library*) I don't like vampires. I'm gonna take a stand and say that they're not good. }}

** One could argue that Xander's super-hatred of vampires (never trusting "good guys" Angel, Spike, etc.) stems from Jesse. Or it could be hots-for-Buffy stuff. Or both.

** Buffy's original Watcher, Merrick, killed himself in a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to save Buffy from the vampire Lothos shortly before the series began. He's rarely mentioned at all outside of the prequel comics. Ironically, when Faith was introduced in season 3, her Watcher's death ''did'' have a heavy impact on her.

* Averted on ''[[Angel]]'' however with the death of {{spoiler|Doyle}}. He is mentioned sporadically throughout the remainder of the series as a fallen comrade and friend. One villain in the last season even earns a special beatdown from Angel when he sort of tries to use {{spoiler|Doyle}}'s identity as a cover.

** [[Averted Trope|Averted]] with the death of {{spoiler|recurring villain the Hooded Leader}} at the hands of {{spoiler|his own son, Atticus Murphy}}, who spends the next season {{spoiler|carting around his dad's head believing it's talking to him}}. Said character is also one of the few to react with any emotion to the murder of one of the Crowley High student body, {{spoiler|granted the student in question was a Satan Worshiper and prospective cult member, and the desperately lonely Atticus mistakenly believed they'd already become Best Friends Forever}}.

* [[Star Trek: The Original Series|Captain Kirk]] suffers (in the first episode in which he appears,) the loss of a friend he's had for many years, whom he [[Shoot the Dog|himself was forced to kill.]] Further along in the series, he also suffers the loss of his brother. And yet, the only death that seemed to affect him long term was the death of main, recurring character Spock (which didn't even stick.) Although Kirk has had and lost [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|many love interests]] over the course of the show, he doesn't seem all that affected by their passing. (Granted, in at least two cases, he was made to forget that they had ever existed, but one would think he would at least remember and dwell upon Edith Keeler from time to time...)

*** Especially considering his [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] when he thought she died in the first season, where he even gave up his [[Technical Pacifist]] status to massacre a group of guards that have his group surrounded.

* Played for laughs in ''[[Blackadder]]''. Whenever a character loses the woman they love, their mourning lasts for about five seconds.

* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the Doctor's companion Nyssa had her father taken over by the Master in the [[Shocking Swerve]] ending of ''The Keeper of Traken''. In the following story, ''Logopolis'', the Doctor met Tegan, whose aunt the Master killed. Subsequently, {{spoiler|the Master destroys Nyssa's planet and she discovers that he has stolen her father's body.}} After ''Four to Doomsday'', though, Nyssa never mentions it ''at all''.

** Nyssa ''does'', however, have a slight moment of shock and outrage in ''Time-Flight'' when she learns that the Master is there (having assumed he'd died at Castrovalva). The Doctor even ''says'', "Yes, I'm sorry Nyssa," when she gives her response.

** Likewise, Adric made no direct mention of his brother following the latter's death in ''Full Circle'', the closest he got being the scene where he told Romana: "One of my family's died for your lot already." Indeed, the only person to mention Adric's brother by name in any subsequent adventure is the Doctor in ''Time-Flight'', by which time Adric has himself been killed.

** The Doctor himself is prone to this. If you're not a companion, he'll be very upset to see you die, but probably have forgotten you minutes (or even seconds) after the fact. It's implied this is a coping mechanism for him to deal with the fact that [[Doom Magnet|everyone he knows]] [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|eventually dies]].

** Extreme example in "The Girl in the Fireplace" where the Doctor has an (allegedly passionate) love affair with Mme de Pompadour. By the next episode she's been forgotten, and is never mentioned again. In "Human Nature" he left Martha with instructions but never said what to do if he falls in love, implying he didn't consider it a real possibility though "The Girl in the Fireplace" was just a year ago.

*** It wasn't really that much of a "love affair" - the Doctor clearly cared about Madame de Pompadour, and she him, but they only kissed ''once'', and really only spent about an hour or two in each others' company throughout the course of the episode - several minutes of which was when she was still a little girl. It's implied that she may have shown the Doctor some mental naked pictures or something when he looked at her memories, but that's about it. It's not terribly strange that she's not mentioned again, as the Doctor would have little reason to bring her up, especially to later companions who didn't even meet her, and as he's already experienced massive amount of loss in his life, his wanting to move on makes perfect sense. The Doctor may not have considered falling in love in "Human Nature" because a) he had other things on his mind and was on a time crunch, b) they were only going to be on Earth for three months, which isn't very long, particularly in romantic terms, and c) he doesn't often get romantically involved with anyone, let alone humans whom he knows are going to die long before he does, so he probably didn't consider the fact that John Smith, as a human among other humans, would naturally see love as a normal life possibility.

* Persistently and conspicuously averted in the second season of ''[[Sanctuary]]''. Following {{spoiler|Ashley's [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}, Magnus is shown grieving in nearly every episode, with her attempts to cope driving the plot in some instances.

** Also, {{spoiler|Clara Griffin}} is mentioned several times by Will but only when it is absolutely necessary (such as telling his new girlfriend about his exes).

** Apollo's pregnant fiancée is a played-straight example. He barely thinks about the fact that he left her to be nuked, aside from one episode.

** Arguably, [[The Woobie|Peter Laird]] though people could be forgiven due to the fact that he dies at the start of a mutiny that takes the lives of over a hundred other people including the entire Quorum.

** {{spoiler|Felix Gaeta}} is never mentioned again after {{spoiler|he and Zarek are executed for the mutiny}}. No one is shown placing a photo on the memorial wall, either, not even {{spoiler|Baltar, who was with him shortly before he was executed}}.

*** To be fair, {{spoiler|Gaeta}} had just co-lead a mutiny, so no one was feeling too charitable towards him. And {{spoiler|Baltar}}'s a self-absorbed jerk, so he hardly counts.

** Averted in the new series, where Zac died much earlier and plays a significant part in several subplots.

* Handled oddly in ''[[The Wire]]''. It seems as though {{spoiler|Wallace}} has been pretty well forgotten by Poot and Bodie after season one, but the mention of his name in season four provokes Bodie into panicked alarm.

** Also soundly averted in the case of {{spoiler|Brandon}}; Omar's [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] lasts two and a half seasons, and he never forgets who it is that he's trying to avenge. He does pick up a new boyfriend, Dante, in the two years afterwards but [[Fridge Brilliance|he splits with Dante at the same time as he finally gets closure]] for {{spoiler|Brandon}}, meaning he can put it all behind him and enter his next relationship unencumbered.

* ''[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander]]'' had its share of such problems. While Duncan held rivalries with other Immortals ongoing for centuries, he rarely went after mortals. Regardless of what they did to him or his loved ones. From 1980 to 1993, Duncan's love interest was mortal Tessa Noel. A main character until early in the second season, Tessa was killed by a junkie over some petty change. Duncan never bothers to search for the killer. When Richard Ryan, a student of Duncan, managed to locate the junkie, Duncan refuses to lift a finger against him. Ryan eventually lets the guy go, once convinced the junkie has quit the habit and is now a struggling father. After that Tessa rarely gets mentioned. Similarly, a number of killed lovers or best friends such as Mei-Ling Shen, Brian Cullen or Nefertiri are greatly mourned in the single episode featuring them. Then never mentioned again, even in episodes summarizing the key moments of the character.

** Actually, the [[Series Finale]] features a case of [[It's a Wonderful Plot]] in which Duncan finds himself in a world in which he had never existed. [[For Want of a Nail]] all characters live miserable lives or are evil, and Duncan wants to undo what has happened. Until he discovers that in this reality Tessa is very much alive.

== Video Games ==

* Many a videogame hero ends up this way. ''[[Tyrian]]'', for example, [[Lampshade Hanging|hung a lantern on it]] when the hero stopped to reminisce on how the assassination of his best friend was what threw him in the middle of his galactic warzone hell.

** He actually tries to quit fighting after this.

* Averted in ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]''. Lloyd never forgets the destruction of his city and Genis never forgets Marble's sacrifice. Mostly off-screen, Yuan is fighting in the name of {{spoiler|Martel for ''four thousand years.''}}

** In the third game, there is a memorial wall on the ''Normandy'', which has the name of anyone who died while serving on the ship. You see it every time you get off the elevator on one of the decks. It even gets updated if more of your comrades die over the course of the game.

** Hell, a side quest in the second game has you spend time looking for 20-something dogtags in the wreckage of the original ''Normandy'' for any crewmember who didn't make it out alive and leave a memorial dedicated to the ship and her crew. A very moving mission for anyone who played the first game and really got into the game.

* ''[[Fallout]]'' 1 and 2, mostly because none of your potential party members are important to the plot in the least, and because everyone is so inured to the killing. There's not even a single line about, even if the victim was a friend, spouse or loyal dog. Lampshaded in one fanfic where the female protagonist shows her utter contempt for the slimy Myron - after he's gunned down by an enemy, she just rifles through his stuff and leaves his corpse to the scavengers.

* Subverted ''hard'' in ''[[Rudra no Hihou]]''. Rostam and Huey, Sion's best friends, are killed off on day one. They're immediately forgotten and never mentioned again... or so it seems. Not only do they get a gorgeous optional cutscene all the way at the end of the story {{spoiler|in which they give Sion one of his best weapons}}, they also {{spoiler|get used by Surlent as his temporary host bodies for a ''huge'' chunk of the plot}}.

** Played straight in ''[[Phantasy Star III]]'': in one possible story path, the protagonist loses his entire family, mourns them for about ten minutes, then goes about his business.

* In ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]] II'', Christopher Blair doesn't dwell on the death of Elizabeth "Shadow" Norwood, his wingman from Caernavon station, much after her death at the end of the Gwynedd missions. She wasn't in the game much in game time, but she was one of the few friends he had since he was blamed for the destruction of the Tiger's Claw.

* Happens to a named unique NPC in the course of ''[[Saints Row]] 2'' when {{spoiler|the Brotherhood of Stilwater takes revenge on the Saints disfiguring the Brotherhood's leader with tainted tattoo ink by [[What a Drag|dragging young Saints lieutenant Carlos nearly to death]]. The Boss tries to rescue him, but has to [[Shoot the Dog]] and give Carlos a [[Mercy Kill]] to free him of his suffering. Especially poignant because previously the Boss treated Carlos like a younger brother.}} Due to the nonlinear nature of the game this can happen early or late in the narrative, but it's a more jarring early on as the rest of the game takes place without them and no one seems to mention their absence. {{spoiler|Then you can get [[Everything's Deader with Zombies|Zombie Carlos]] as [[Secret Character|a homie]]. [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight|No one else]] [[Weirdness Censor|still seems to notice]].}}

** Averted in ''The Third'', wherein {{spoiler|Johnny Gat's}} death is an important point for quite a bit of the game: Shaundi is visibly affected for at least the entirety of the first act, the whole point of said act is to take revenge on the Syndicate for it (specifically the part of it directly controlled by the man who did it), and the second act is kick-started by {{spoiler|the Luchadores interrupting Gat's funeral procession. And then, when you beat the game, one of your rewards is [[Running Gag|the ability to bring Gat back as a zombie.]]}}

 

 

== Web Comics ==

** Though to be fair, {{spoiler|They can be and ARE [[We Can Rebuild Him|put back together]].}}

** Averted, actually. http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090710

** Followed by: http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100512 and http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100514

** Well, Dex is [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=000814 remembered a little]:

'''Torg:''' It's funny when ''he'' says it. }}

* Whenever a character dies in [[Sonichu]] everyone says something to the effect of "We have to move on." Most likely because the webcomic's author does the same thing.

*** Smellerbee and Longshot reappear in the post-season three comic. Jet is noticeably absent.

*** The whole thing with Zuko not thinking more about Mai's betrayal is understandable; he had a lot on his mind after all. But in the last episode when she comes to visit him he says "They let you out of prison?" in a happy, surprised voice. What. So you mean that after you became the leader of the country, you never bothered to release your girlfriend who also saved your life? What the hell, Zuko.

* In ''[[Beast Wars]]'', there must have been dozens of Stasis Pods that were never recovered, but they're rarely mentioned in Season 2 and afterwards.

** Conversely, in ''[[Beast Machines]]'', Optimus Primal spends [[Wangst|way too long]] mourning the loss of his allies.

* Played straight in ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force|Ben 10 Alien Force]]'' when Grandpa Max ''blows himself to nonexistence'' in front of Ben. Ben protests the move beforehand but after the fact he basically says "Let's get on with the mission" and leaves it at that. They visit the effect of Max's death later, but only with Gwen; Ben doesn't seem to care anymore.

** This troper was under the impression that the writers were trying to show that Littlefoot had moved on somewhat - while he will obviously never forget her, he doesn't have to mourn her for the rest of his life.

*** Or, more likely, the writers of movies 2 and onward had never actually watched the first movie, which would explain a lot of continuity errors.

* [[Transformers Animated|Blackarachnia]] so much it hurts. She's {{spoiler|Optimus' and Sentinel's long lost love interest Elita-1.}} What do they do when she makes a return as the tragic but [[Gorgeous Gorgon]]? {{spoiler|In Optimus' case nothing unless he can't ignore her. Sentinel tries to KILL HER.}} Any wonder she's a bitter, spiteful, and border-line psychotic [[The Vamp|vamp?]]

* Heavily mocked on [[Clone High]] with Ponce de Leon. What makes it more ridiculous is that no one mentioned Poncey ''before'' his death either.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Dead Herring]]

[[Category:Friendship Tropes]]

[[Category:Sadness Tropes]]