Due to the Dead: Difference between revisions

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One mark that distinguishes humans from nonhumans - aside from elephants - is that humans have funeral rites; they regard something as due to the dead and have for a long time. Indeed, since burials leave archaeological evidence, we know that they occurred as long as 300,000 years ago, as a practice among the Neanderthals.

Unsurprisingly, this has been incorporated in art as a trope, as a mark of character, and is [[Older Than ~~Feudalism~~]]. '''Evil''' characters will violate proper treatment of a corpse by mutilating, reanimating, or even eating the dead, though '''Due to the Dead''' is one of the most common [[Even Evil Has Standards|standards villains maintain]]. '''Good''' characters will (rarely!) do the same to a dead [[Complete Monster]] or the like, but usually are marked by their proper respect for the dead, down to even letting [[Revenge]] end when the villain is dead; if they have to destroy bodies to contain a plague, or display it to prove that he is really dead, they will often find it [[Dirty Business]].

Unsurprisingly, this has been incorporated in art as a trope, as a mark of character, and is [[Older Than Dirt]]. '''Evil''' characters will violate proper treatment of a corpse by mutilating, reanimating, or even eating the dead, though '''Due to the Dead''' is one of the most common [[Even Evil Has Standards|standards villains maintain]]. '''Good''' characters will (rarely!) do the same to a dead [[Complete Monster]] or the like, but usually are marked by their proper respect for the dead, down to even letting [[Revenge]] end when the villain is dead; if they have to destroy bodies to contain a plague, or display it to prove that he is really dead, they will often find it [[Dirty Business]].

Even when you put [[The Fun in Funeral]], and [[Hilarity Ensues]], the humor tends to be dark and the characters nasty.