Title Requiem
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Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis... [1] |
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"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 other Title Tropes.
Examples of Title Requiem include:
Anime and 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.
- Yu Yu 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.
Comic Books
- Silver Surfer: Requiem.
- Ultimate Marvel also had a series of Requiem specials tying into their Kill'Em All Ultimatum event.
Fan Works
- Spacedust and Chaos: A Requiem, a Neon Genesis Evangelion fic that attempts to out-MindScrew its source material.
Film
- Requiem for a Dream. Yes, Downer Ending.
- Alienversus Predator: Requiem
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.
Live-Action TV
- The 50's television drama Requiem for a Heavyweight, written by Rod Serling.
- 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.
Music
- Trading Yesterday's song "Love Song Requiem".
- Mozart's Requiem, of course.
- Not just Mozart, either. Lots of musicians wrote Requiem Masses; his just happens to be the most famous. That and it was an oddly appropriate name as he died writing it.
- Benjamin Britten's "Sinfonia da Requiem." Though not a vocal work, its three movements take titles from the Requiem mass.
Tabletop Games
Video Games
- The second Bleach DS game, subtitled in English as Dark Souls, 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 the title of an obscure 3DO's FPS released in 1999.
- Eternal Darkness is subtitled "Sanity's Requiem."
- Episode 7 of Umineko no Naku Koro ni is titled "Requiem of the Golden Witch", which is fitting since Bernkastel wrote it and added the funeral of the game piece Beatrice.
- There's a piece of music from When They Cry: Kai entitled "Requiem for the Disaster".
Webcomics
- The Phoenix Requiem by Sarah Ellerton. So far a number of people have been killed by a mysterious illness.
Requiescat in pace. Amen.[2]