Due to the Dead: Difference between revisions

[[File:Rites_921.jpg|frame|Giving dues: [[Star Trek the Next Generation (TV)|Klingons howling to the afterlife to warn of a warrior's approach]], [[Return of the Jedi|Luke burning Vader's body on a pyre]], [[Six Feet Under|a typical Christian burial service]]]]

{{quote|''And such were the funeral rites of Hector, tamer of horses.''|'''[[Homer]]''', ''[[The Iliad (Literature)|The Iliad]]''}}

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]].

A wide variety of practices are possible, as in [[Real Life]]. Cremation and burial are the most common, but such practices as exposing to the dead to vultures and other unusual methods can be done in fiction as in life. Even slicing up the body -- usually regarded as mutilation and proof of evil -- has been done in [[Real Life]] as a means to free the soul from the body and has featured so in fiction. Preserving parts (usually bones) of the dead can be the mark of a [[Necromancer]] or of respect, depending on how used; see the [[Sub-Trope]] of [[Dead Guy On Display]].

Note that some dead are due more than others. The [[Heroic Sacrifice]] calls for a well-attended funeral, making [[The Hero]] [[Famed in Story]], and perhaps even a monument. Sometimes to mitigate the effect of [[Dying Alone]]; [[What You Are in The Dark]] may threaten that the hero will die unmourned. Conversely, some are due less than most; the [[Complete Monster]], the [[Dirty Coward]], etc. may be dumped in an unmarked grave with minimal ceremony.

On the other hand, some of the living owe the dead more than others. [[Thicker Than Water|Family]] and [[True Companions|friends]] have a duty to carry this out, often through a [[Shrine to The Fallen]]. Strangers who perform such things for the dead are acting out of generosity; a [[Good Shepherd]] may perform such rites. Indeed, some [[Our Ghosts Are Different|ghosts]] manifest in order to properly reward a total stranger who arranged for the burial.

Other ways in which this trope might present itself: closing the eyes of someone who [[Dies Wide Open]]; sorting through the deceased's belongings (may result in [[Personal Effects Reveal]]); responding with [[Manly Tears]] or [[Tender Tears]]; a [[Meaningful Funeral]], when most characters show due respect; a [[Lonely Funeral]], when few; [[Libation for The Dead]]; [[Dead Guy, Junior]]; a [[Morality Chain]] continuing to bind postmortem; people wearing [[The Poppy]]; and [[Never Speak Ill of the Dead]].

* In ''[[Fruits Basket (Anime)|Fruits Basket]]'', Tohru and her friends visit her mother's grave, and find that her grandfather had also come to pay his respects.

* The manga version of ''[[Chrono Crusade (Manga)|Chrono Crusade]]'' shows a crowd of mourners at {{spoiler|Rosette Christopher}}'s grave, and many years later a minor character states that flowers are placed on the grave every year, even though the grave's location wasn't revealed to the public. {{spoiler|[[Tear Jerker|It's implied that Chrono is the one leaving flowers on her grave every year, showing that he still cares for her several decades after her death.]]}}

* In ''[[Full Metal Panic (Anime)|Full Metal Panic]]'', the fact that Sousuke is respectful to the dead becomes a ''huge'' plot point in ''The Second Raid''. It's eventually revealed that the reason for Gauron's [[Stalker With a Crush|obsession]] and [[Love At First Sight]] towards Sousuke stems from having seen the dignified way [[The Stoic|Sousuke]] serenely dragged and threw the corpses of all his fallen enemies into a makeshift burial. There was no compassion or great emotion found in Sousuke's eyes while he was doing that, and his reason for doing it was presumably because of his own internal set of morals.

* In ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]'', {{spoiler|when fighting Ulquiorra for the last time, Ichigo's inner hollow takes him over more completely than ever before and he becomes a mindless killing machine, the only humanity left in him focused singularly on protecting Orihime, to the point of impaling his ally Ishida. Once Ulquiorra is down for the count and Ichigo has clearly won, he doesn't stop like he normally would, but makes a move to start mutilating his helpless enemy. Ishida calls him out on this, essentially telling him this would be a [[Moral Event Horizon|moral event horizon]] if he doesn't stop}}. He stops. Technically, {{spoiler|Ulquiorra}} wasn't dead yet when {{spoiler|Ichigo}} went to carve him up, but the way it was played fits with this trope to the "t."

* At the conclusion of ''[[Saint Seiya (Manga)|Saint Seiya]]'''s Galaxian Wars arc, [[The Phoenix|Phoenix Ikki]] performs a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to [[Redemption Equals Death|redeem his evil deeds]] and save the Bronze Saints [[Taking You With Me|from an even bigger threat]]. Although [[Never Found the Body|he was buried beneath a mountain]], the four remaining Bronzes erect a grave in his honor at that site.

* The Sybillae in ''[[Simoun (Manga)|Simoun]]'' have a special ceremonial Ri Maajon (the Ri Maajon of the Fields) to honor their dead, which requires five Simouns (one less than a full choir, just like the missing man formation IRL). Chor Tempest performs it after {{spoiler|Mamiina's}} death.

* In ''[[Mai-Otome (Anime)|Mai-Otome]]'', there is a shrine to fallen Otome beneath Garderobe. Since an Otome's body dissolves after death, there are no earthly remains but what appears to be a copy of their GEM is inserted into a crystal pillar to serve as their monument. Miss Maria specifically kneels and apologizes to the deceased when a gaggle of aspiring Otome trespass in the shrine.

* Played straight with {{spoiler|L's funeral}} in the ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' anime- at least, until Light is left alone, at which point one of the most disturbing scenes in the series begins.

{{quote| ''[[A Year and A Day|The twelvemonth and a day]] being up,<br />

* ''[[Magic the Gathering]]'' gives us cards like Remember the Fallen, which grant the player either recursion or a bonus for each card in the graveyard. On the evil side, [[Complete Monster|Phyrexian]] cards on these mechanics tend to be flavored as cannibalism or the like.

* Done very well in ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage (Comic Book)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' (original Mirage continuity) Volume 4 with the death of {{spoiler|Splinter from old age}}. His funeral is very simple and his body is laid in a casket, drifted onto a lake and set alight.

* In ''[[Booster Gold]]'', Booster's motive for pulling up his socks was to pay tribute to [[Blue Beetle]]. Later, in a scene where he returned to Blue Beetle's funeral, Booster got up to eulogize him, and was unable to speak. [[Tears of Remorse]] ensued: what sort of friend would be unable to pay his [[Due to The Dead]]?

* The [[Marvel Universe]] has shown that even villains do give people proper. One example has several villains mourning the death of Stilt-Man. Even a few heroes showed up (even [[Spider Man]], who made fun of the guy while alive). There was also another example with [[The Hood]], were he gives a eulogy for a fallen member of his gang, with the other members in attendance.

* The Destine family of ''[[Clan Destine (Comic Book)|Clan Destine]]'' have a private graveyard for the bodies of Adam Destine's parents and children. One issue starts with Adam and the twins visiting the grave of Florence, who was really Rory and Pandora's sister but posed as their grandmother (it's complicated). Special mention goes to the family Black Sheep, Vincent, who despite evil deeds of an unknown nature was still laid to rest in the family cemetery in the proper way (complete with an extremely weird statue as part of the grave marker, courtesy of his younger sister Samantha).

* In [[The Brothers Grimm (Creator)|The Brothers Grimm]]'s "[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/47junipertree.html The Juniper Tree]" and [[Joseph Jacobs (Creator)|Joseph Jacobs]]'s "[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/hanselgretel/stories/rosetree.html The Rose Tree]", when the stepmother kills the stepchild, the little half-sibling refused to eat the dish she makes of it, and buries the bones.

* In ''[[White Devil of the Moon (Fanfic)|The White Devil Of The Moon]]'', during the heroines' expedition to the moon the present-day Sailor Mars builds a gigantic funeral pyre for the dead of the Moon Kingdom.

* In ''[[9 (Animation)|Nine]]'', before the remaining [[Punk Punk|Stitchpunks]] go after {{spoiler|The Seamstress, to get 7 and 8}}, they give {{spoiler|2}} a water burial, sending {{spoiler|him}} off on a raft. Then, at the end of the film {{spoiler|the survivors, 9, 7, and 3 + 4 build and light a funeral pyre for the deceased Stitchpunks}}.

* ''[[The Magnificent Seven (Film)|The Magnificent Seven]]'' opens with a traveling salesmen arguing with the town undertaker over the burial of a Native American who died in the street: the salesman is willing to pay for the burial, but no one is willing to drive the hearse up to Boot Hill because a "certain element" in the town objects to having a non-white buried there and is threatening violence. The matter is resolved when Chris and Vin, the first two of the eponymous seven, volunteer to drive the hearse and engage in a brief gunfight with a group of racists who try to stop them from entering the cemetery. The villagers then approach them to ask for help, for men who do that are men who will help them.

* In Norse legends, Skald or Scef [[Moses in The Bulrushes|drifted ashore as a child]] and became king. When he died many years later, his people sent back to sea on a ship laden with treasure -- described as not less than he had been sent with.

* In [[JRR Tolkien (Creator)|JRR Tolkien]]'s Middle-earth, people generally try to give the dead as adequate a funeral as possible with the means at hand, be it a burial, a cairn, or something else, and bemoan the fact if the dead had to go unburied. In ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]'', having no other options, they put {{spoiler|Boromir's}} body in a boat and send it down a waterfall, as the river would keep the orcs from it.

** It's made very clear that in the eyes of Men, Orcs do ''not'' merit [[Due to The Dead]]: at one point the characters encounter a battlefield where the victorious Rohirrim have piled the vanquished Orcs' bodies up and burned them, leaving an Orc's severed head on a spike. (It's interesting to compare this to Tolkien's depiction of the siege at Minas Tirith, where the bombarding of the fortress with severed ''human'' heads is portrayed in very emotive terms as a particularly horrifying and barbaric act.)

*** And Orcs don't practise [[Due to The Dead]] either; as well as the example cited above, one reason why Saruman fails to beguile Theoden in the chapter "The Voice of Saruman" is that the King is irate about the mistreatment of doorwarden Hama's corpse in the Helm's Deep battle.

** In ''[[The Silmarillion (Literature)|The Silmarillion]]'' heroes like Tùrin Turambar are given great burial mounds. In "The Akallabêth" Númenórëans start to build great tombs for their dead after their decline and fall to pride.

* In [[Ben Counter]]'s ''[[Grey Knights (Literature)|Grey Knights]]'', Alaric gets permission to go where {{spoiler|Ligeia}} died in order to say a prayer commending her soul to the Emperor.

* In Nick Kyme's ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' novel ''[[Salamanders (Literature)|Salamander]]'', Tsu'gan fights fiercely to protect his dead captain's body; the next chapter features all his company attending his funeral.

* In [[James Swallow]]'s [[Blood Angels (Literature)|Blood Angels]] novels, ''Deus Encarmine'' begins on, and ''Deus Sanguinius'' ends on, shrine worlds that the Blood Angels have dedicated to the graves of their dead. In between, Rafen goes to personally pay his respects to the dead {{spoiler|Koris}}; the chaplain permits it, because while he carries out the proper rites, he is aware that many wish to do such for their friends. {{spoiler|Rafen, [[Talking to The Dead]], [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane|has Koris's communicator fall to his hand]]. He uses it, though aware that using a dead man's equipment is forbidden except under the gravest of circumstances; when he confesses to this, his superiors are grave, even though they concede that it was the gravest of circumstances and they must put the question aside until those circumstances are dealt with.}} Later, he goes to the ship to personally write {{spoiler|Koris's}} name in the Book of the Fallen, which is usually done by the Sanguinary Priests, but is sometimes done by [[Fire-Forged Friends|friends]] -- and it's done in their own blood.

* In [[William Shakespeare (Creator)|William Shakespeare]]'s ''[http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-poem-the-phoenix-and-the-turtle.htm The Phoenix and the Turtle]'', many birds are called to the [[Meaningful Funeral]], to show this.

* ''[[Discworld (Literature)|Discworld]]''

** In [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Night Watch|Night Watch]]'', we learn why some bodies in the cemetery are being treated with extra respect. And why they wear lilac. {{spoiler|It was a badge used to distinguish [[Friend or Foe]], originally.}}

** A nonhuman version occurs in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Fifth Elephant|The Fifth Elephant]]'' when Gavin, a [[Big Badass Wolf]] went up against {{spoiler|Angua's brother Ludwig, and died. Gaspode finds his corpse, and has a natural instinct overtake his magic [[Talking Animal]] behaviour}} and howls. The howl carries for miles, and all know.

* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s [[Ultramarines (Literature)|Ultramarines]] novels, Uriel goes to pay his respects before [[Dead Guy On Display|his primarch, Roboute Guilliman in stasis]].

* In [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s ''[[Vorkosigan Saga (Literature)|The Warrior's Apprentice]]'', [[Miles Vorkosigan]] insists on burying {{spoiler|Sergeant Bothari}}'s body in a grave he dug himself. He explains to his mother that {{spoiler|Bothari}} told him that "blood washes away sin," and he feels responsible for the death, so he literally works until his hands bleed.

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[Gaunts Ghosts]] novel ''Sabbat Martyr'', Gaunt insists on a naalwood coffin for {{spoiler|Corbec}}.

* In ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians (Literature)|Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'', they make shrouds for campers who go on quests. They use them too: for the corpses on the pyre, if recovered, and in place of the corpse, if it could not be.

* In [[Ben Counter]]'s ''[[Soul Drinkers (Literature)|Soul Drinkers]]'' novel ''Chapter War'', the Howling Griffins have the names of their dead engraved on the wall and carefully kept illuminated at all times.

* In [[CS Lewis (Creator)|CS Lewis]]'s ''[[The Great Divorce]]'', one damned woman grieved so excessively over her dead son -- keeping everything in his room the same, etc. -- that her husband and daughter revolted. She is convinced that this was merely proper mourning.

* In ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]'', when the Andalites recover {{spoiler|Rachel's}} body, they wrapped it up in a soft cloth as a gesture of respect, before bringing it back for {{spoiler|Cassie and Naomi}} to identify. Compare to Visser Three, who {{spoiler|killed his enemy, Elfangor, by EATING HIM.}}

* In [[Tamora Pierce]]'s [[Tortall Universe]] books, Stormwings are half-human, half-steel-feathered-bird immortals who thrive on fear and carnage. They'll circle over a site where they expect a battle will be, and after it's over, they mix the remains of the dead with their own filth and roll around in it. (A running theme in the books is how this isn't evil, it's just their nature, no matter how distasteful it is to humans. They were ''made'' to make war more horrific.) Most victorious commanders will retrieve their own dead for a decent burial but leave the enemies to the Stormwings. Kel, the protagonist, generally disapproves of this and is careful to dispose of even the enemy dead respectfully, but in ''Lady Knight'', after winning a battle against {{spoiler|a necromancer who murders small children so he can [[Powered By a Forsaken Child|use their souls to bring war machines to life]] and sell them to a militaristic king}}, she lets the Stormwings have him and his men (saying that ''someone'' should get some good out of it).

* In [[CS Lewis (Creator)|CS Lewis]]'s ''[[Till We Have Faces]]'', Orual sets out to find her sacrificed sister's body, for a proper burial.

* In [[John C Wright]]'s ''[[Chronicles of Chaos (Literature)|Orphans of Chaos]]'', Quentin insists on burying bodies properly.

** In ''[[Hermetic Millenium (Literature)|Count to a Trillion]]'', this is the one element of religion that Menelaus admires.

* In [[Homer]]'s ''[[The Iliad (Literature)|The Iliad]]'', Patrocles's funeral -- and Hector's, once Achilles gave it up.

* In [[Robert E Howard]]'s [[Conan the Barbarian]] story "[[Shadows in The Moonlight (Literature)|Shadows in The Moonlight]]", in [[Dreaming of Times Gone By|Olivia's dream]], the [[Physical God]], [[You Are Too Late|arriving too late]] to save his son, retrieves his body.

* Played with mercilessly by [[Brandon Sanderson]] in [[The Stormlight Archive (Literature)|The Stormlight Archive]], the Parshendi are [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|a proud warrior race]] who leave their dead out on the battlefield because they apparently consider it sinful to move them. [[The Hero]] is in a crew that theoretically exists to transport bridges to get the army across chasms (of which there are a lot in the area) but is also [[The Bait]], meant to draw arrow fire away from the real soldiers, and thus not allowed to wear armour because it would make them less tempting targets. Naturally [[The Hero]] is not pleased with this. So, he decides to get a hold of some Parshendi corpses strip the [[Bizarre Alien Biology|natural armour]] off them, and put it on top of regular armour, which [[Berserk Button|really pisses off the Parshendi]] making them even better bait, but also protected from arrows.

* Important in ''[[Malevil]]''. A day after [[World War III]] Colin, Meyssonier, and Peyssou leave the shelter of the castle to investigate their homes and recover their loved ones. They return with the remains of three families that fill a two by one box. Afterwards, they make sure to properly bury the remains of their enemies for both health concerns and to practice better morals and respect than that of brigands. {{spoiler|At the end, Gazel is being pressured not to give Fulbert a Christian burial. Emmanuel intervenes because he doesn't want a modern ''[[Antigone (Theatre)|Antigone]]''}}.

** A Dance with Dragons has {{spoiler|Stannis' army}} lost in the North as winter descends, and some of the men are driven to cannibalism. Even though it is clear to everyone that the cannibals had ''not'' actually killed the men (they were already dead from cold), and that they were literally starving to death themselves, this is considered such an abominable desecration that the cannibals are executed. [[Kill It With Fire|The fact that the method of execution is a horrible one by burning]] brings up rather strikingly the hypocrisy of {{spoiler|Stannis and Melisandre's notions of justice}}.

* In [[John C Wright]]'s ''Count To A Trillion'', Menelaus reads a future without religion, and his only serious objection is how to conduct a proper funeral without someone to say something proper over the grave.

* In Teresa Frohock's ''[[Miserere an Autumn Tale (Literature)|Miserere an Autumn Tale]]'', Rachael and the others make arrangements for Pete's burial.

* In [[Rick Cook]]'s ''[[Limbo System (Literature)|Limbo System]]'', Father Simon prays for a dead Colonist.

* In ''[[Warrior Cats (Literature)|Warrior Cats]]'', a vigil is held overnight for the family and friends of a fallen warrior to say their last goodbyes, and in the morning, the Clan elders bury the body. There have been occasions where enemy warriors have been returned to their own Clans for their Clan to mourn them, and at least one occasion where a rogue was killed, and it was decided that a couple of young warriors would bury the body, no elders need be present.

* The ''[[Star Trek (Franchise)|Star Trek]]'' franchise shows many different funerary customs for the various races.

** One species on ''[[Star Trek Voyager (TV)|Star Trek Voyager]]'' reproduce by reanimating the dead as members of their own race. Harry Kim becomes angry when he discovers they did this to the body of his love interest; her alien "father" is equally angry that they would have just "abandoned" her into space.

** The Romulan comander in "Balance of Terror" orders the dead Centurion's body dumped into space along with a bunch of debris to [[Playing Possum|make it seem that his ship has been destroyed]] -- but he is clearly distressed about it, and [[Talking to The Dead|asks his late friend to forgive him]].

* Subverted in ''[[Robin Hood (TV)|Robin Hood]]'' in which a [[Heel Face Turn|reformed]] Guy of Gisborne is killed in the secret tunnels of Nottingham Castle. The good guys leave his body behind.

* In ''[[Merlin (TV)|Merlin]]'', {{spoiler|Uther's body is dressed in formal royal robes and laid out on a stone next to the tomb of his queen. Arthur holds vigil by his father's body overnight.}}

* In the ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]'' episode "Bushwhacked", the crew encounter a ship that has had its crew and passengers slaughtered by Reavers. Shepherd Book prevails upon Mal to let him perform a funeral for them with this line:

* In the ''[[Chojin Sentai Jetman|Jetman]]'' tribute episode of ''[[Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger (TV)|Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger]]'', the Gokaiger visit Gai Yuuki's grave ([[Back From the Dead|to confirm that he's really gone]]) and find presents left behind by his teammates, including flowers, his favorite liquor, and [[Mythology Gag|an Ako-chan ramen cup]].

* One surviving work of the Roman poet [[Catullus (Creator)|Catullus]] records his journey from Rome to Anatolia to make sacrifices at his brother's grave. The description of how he feels at the tomb are heart-wrenching.

* ''[[Exalted]]'' presents a strong incentive to give proper [[Due to The Dead]], since failure to provide proper rites will usually anger the corpse's Hungry Ghost (one of the person's souls that remains behind to protect the body) and send it on a rampage. In certain areas, it's also possible to encounter a person's [[Our Ghosts Are Different|other ghost]], who will also likely be pissed off if they didn't receive a proper funeral.

* [[Sophocles (Creator)|Sophocles]]:

** In ''[[Antigone (Theatre)|Antigone]]'': before the beginning of the play's action, Eteocles and Polyneices, two brothers leading opposite sides in Thebes' civil war, died fighting each other for the throne. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, has declared that Eteocles will be honored and Polyneices disgraced. The rebel brother's body will not be sanctified by holy rites, and will lie unburied on the battlefield, prey for carrion animals like worms and vultures, the harshest punishment at the time. Antigone and Ismene are the sisters of the dead Polyneices. In the opening of the play, Antigone brings Ismene outside the palace gates late at night for a secret meeting: Antigone wants to bury Polyneices' body, in defiance of Creon's edict. Ismene refuses to help her, fearing the death penalty, but she is unable to dissuade Antigone from going to bury her brother herself. Tragedy ensues.

** Despite being the man Ajax hates most and whom he attempted to torture and kill, Odysseus is determined to convince Agamemnon and Menelaus to allow him burial rites and not carry on their grudge in ''[[Ajax (Theatre)|Ajax]]''. Since the whole incident was proof of what happens when you make the gods angry, it's a rather wise decision on his part.

** In ''[[Electra (Theatre)|Electra]]'', obligations to the dead are omnipresent. Electra refuses to stop mourning her father until he is avenged. Clytemnestra sends grave offerings with Chrysothemis in hopes to appease Agamemnon's spirit. Electra stops her because a false offering would be an even worse slight to her father. Chrysothemis takes locks of their hair instead, only to find Orestes had already done the same, despite the news of his death. Electra immediately begins ritual mourning once she hears her beloved brother has died in a chariot race. Clytemnestra and Aegisthus are not shown to get any "due" after Orestes murders them.

* [[William Shakespeare (Creator)|William Shakespeare]]:

** In ''[[Romeo and Juliet (Theatre)|Romeo and Juliet]]'', Paris goes to visit Juliet's grave. When Romeo comes calling for Juliet, Paris believes that he is coming to do the evil version of this and challenges him to a duel. After losing the duel, Paris's final request is that Romeo lay him alongside Juliet, a request that Romeo honors.

** In ''[[Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre)|Much Ado About Nothing]]'', Claudio goes to mourn at Hero's apparent grave.

** In ''[[Hamlet (Theatre)|Hamlet]]'', the priest is annoyed that Ophelia is getting full funeral rites when she might have been a suicide.

** In ''[[Twelfth Night (Theatre)|Twelfth Night]]'', Olivia is in deep mourning for her brother. The Duke is trying to convince her that a more suitable form would be to perpetuate his family line by marrying and having children. The Jester even calls her a fool for mourning her brother's soul being in Heaven, much to Olivia's shock.

** Oswald in ''[[King Lear (Theatre)|King Lear]]'', after being mortally wounded by Edgar:

If ever thou wilt thrive, [[Due to The Dead|bury my body]];'' }}

** ''[[Julius Caesar (Theatre)|Julius Caesar]]'', after Brutus dies, his enemies, Antony and Octavian agree on giving him a respectful burial.

[[Due to The Dead|With all respect and rites of burial]].<br />

** The ending of ''[[Antony and Cleopatra (Theatre)|Antony and Cleopatra]]'' has Caesar order respectful treatment of the titular characters' corpses after their mutual suicide.

* [[Euripides (Creator)|Euripides]]'s ''[[Alcestis (Theatre)|Alcestis]]'': When Admetus's wife Alcestis dies, and Hercules appears at his home, Admetus tries to hide that he is in mourning for his wife because they considered [[Sacred Hospitality|hospitality sacred]]. When Hercules learns of the death, he is really, really, really shocked to find that his host had hidden this from him and so his behavior has been really bad; he goes [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|to wrestle with]] [[Grim Reaper|Death]] [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|to reclaim her]].

* Used as [[Character Development]] in ''[[Assassin's Creed II (Video Game)|Assassin's Creed II]]''. When Ezio kills his first target after he completes his preliminary Assassin training (his first kill was before that training), he continues to shake the body over and over, shouting that it's not enough that he died (not least because he died unwilling to apologize or even explain his crimes). His uncle and mentor calmly explains that in death all things should be at peace, even those whose only purpose in life was evil. From then on, Ezio usually kills his target with a single stab of the Hidden Blade to their throat, followed by a parting line before almost lovingly saying, "''Requiescat in pace''" ("Rest in Peace"). At the end of the game, {{spoiler|he doesn't kill [[Complete Monster|Rodrigo Borgia]] ([[The Pope|Alexander VI]]), instead telling him that doing so won't bring his father and brothers back. Ezio's happy to leave him with the knowledge that he wasn't the Prophet and that his entire life's work was for naught.}}

* [[Mass Effect (Video Game)|Commander Shepard]] gets some sort of memorial (depending on his/her background) after his/her temporary death, which you get to hear news reports about. You also get to explore the crash site of the original Normandy and place a memorial there, as well as gathering all the dog tags of the fallen crew.

** In ''[[Final Fantasy I (Video Game)|Final Fantasy I]]'', there's a grave in Elfland marked for either "[[Dragon Quest|Erdrick]]" in the original North American release, or "[[The Legend of Zelda (Franchise)|Link]]" in subsequent remakes.

** At the end of ''[[Final Fantasy V (Video Game)|Final Fantasy V]]'', Krile visits the Elder Tree in memory of {{spoiler|her grandfather, Galuf, who died there protecting everyone from Exdeath}}. The flowers then bloom all across the screen and the triumphant theme music roars as the party [[Riding Into the Sunset|rides (or flies) across the world]].

** In ''[[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VI]]'', {{spoiler|General Leo}}, slain while trying to stop the [[Omnicidal Maniac]] [[Monster Clown|clown]] from murdering the Espers, is given a memorial grave in the town of Thamasa.

** In ''[[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VII]]'', Aerith is entombed at the lake just outside the Forgotten Capital, symbolic of her body returning to join the Planet's Lifestream. (Though there is a small bit of [[Fridge Logic]] regarding the depth of that lake.)

** Visiting the blasted ruins of Trabia Garden in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VIII]]'' can be a [[Tear Jerker]] if you take the time to visit the makeshift graveyard, and speak to the NPCs whose friends perished in the attack.

** In ''[[Final Fantasy IX (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IX]]'', Black Mages are typically mindless automatons crafted from the supernatural Mist. Thus, the few that have achieved sentience have no concept of death, only that their friends have "stopped moving." One of them buries his friend in the ground in hopes that he'll wake up soon, and thinks of washing him at the river when he does.

** In ''[[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'', people killed in the midst of tragedy or negative emotions run the risk of becoming Fiends. Therefore, Summoners are entrusted with the task of the Sending --casting their souls to the Farplane to find peaceful rest. [[Tear Jerker|One of the most striking scenes in the game]] involves Yuna performing a Sending for the innocent victims of [[Eldritch Abomination|Sin]]'s rampage on the little town of Kilika.

* In a somewhat odd reversal of this trope ''[[Skies of Arcadia (Video Game)|Skies of Arcadia]]'' has the [[Big Bad]] Galcian killing off [[Worthy Opponent]] Gregorio after the latter performs a [[Heel Face Turn]] to let the heroes escape. Galcian orders the corpse preserved and shipped back to Valua -- their homeland, which he just defected from -- for a proper burial, stating to the soldier responsible that the corpse is more valuable than the man's own life.

* An [[Blue and Orange Morality|odd]] version of this appears in ''[[Dragon Age II (Video Game)|Dragon Age II]]''. The Qunari don't have traditional funeral rites because they believe that once a person dies the body is just a piece of rotting flesh and nothing more -- it isn't that person anymore. They treat the fallen's ''swords'' with much more respect since they believe that their swords are manifestations of their souls. In Act III {{spoiler|after you foil the Qunari invasion}} a Qunari asks you to retrieve several lost Qunari blades so that he may return them to their homeland. Do this without asking for money in return and he thanks you by giving you your own personal Qunari weapon and tells you to treat it as your own soul.

* In ''[[Darwinia (Video Game)|Darwinia]]'', if you see a bunch of Darwinians get killed, chances are pretty good that you'll see a bunch of kites launched as the souls drift upwards off the playing field.

* ''[[Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'': Elan's lament over {{spoiler|Roy}}'s death.

* ''[[Girl Genius (Webcomic)|Girl Genius]]'': Recovering Lars's body. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070209 And -- "So ven hyu bury him, make sure he gots a hat"]

* ''[[Brawl in The Family (Webcomic)|Brawl in The Family]]'' uses this as a gag in ''[http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/?p=223 Stomp]'', as a form of [[Player Punch]]/[[You Bastard]] to anyone who's ever played a [[Super Mario Brothers|Mario]] game.

* ''[[Digger (Webcomic)|Digger]]'', by Ursula Vernon: The Hyena-people eat a portion of the deceased's liver (and possibly other organs) to symbolize that the dead continue on in the memories of the living. How the deceased died, and at who's hands, is also very important - being killed by a member of their own race is practically taboo, and the representative sent to find out who had killed one of their warriors almost has a [[Heroic Breakdown]] when she finds out that the folks who did it were also Hyenas. Resolving this so that the warrior is still considered to have been treated with respect is a major plot point and results in the main character (Digger, a wombat) having to eat a chunk of hyena liver {{spoiler|and getting rather ill afterwards; wombat bodies aren't carnivores, and carnivore liver is fairly toxic anyways.}}

* In ''[[Beast Wars (Animation)|Beast Wars]]'' the Maximals "recycle" Dinobot's body, following the ''Predacon'' funeral traditions. In addition, Optimus, Cheetor, and Silverbolt fly overhead in the "missing man" formation.

* In the ''[[Chrono Crusade (Manga)|Chrono Crusade]]'' manga, when Aion kills Pandaemonium, he cuts off her head and then mercilessly hacks up her body. {{spoiler|However, considering that Pandaemonium is the body of his human mother, Lilith, grafted onto the body of the demon's [[Hive Queen]], Aion views it as "freeing" her, and probably also as revenge for the desecration the demons subjected his mother's body to.}} Also, throughout the series several demons are shown as being cruel, disgusting or evil because of their treatment of the bodies of their human victims.

* The ''[[Berserk (Manga)|Berserk]]'' manga has Wyald establishing his [[Complete Monster|monster credentials]] in a big way by not only {{spoiler|raping and murdering a woman who helped the Hawks as well as the girls in her care}}, but also {{spoiler|[[Dead Guy On Display|carrying their naked, dismembered bodies into battle with the Hawks]]}}.

* In ''[[Thirteen Assassins|13 Assassins]]'', Lord Naritsugu kicks the severed head of his own loyalest subject, who just gave out his life to defend Naritsugu. When the hero calls him out for it, Naritsugu shrugs it off.

* In ''[[Serenity (Film)|Serenity]]'', the crew comes across the village where Book has been living peacefully having been completely slaughtered by The Operative's forces. Mal decides to use the bodies to camouflage Serenity to sneak past the Reavers orbiting the planet Miranda, which (naturally), his crew finds completely disgusting.

* In [[JRR Tolkien (Creator)|JRR Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]'', the siege of Gondor features heads, struck from the dead, being launched into the city via catapult to horrify the defenders.

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[Gaunts Ghosts]] novel ''Ghostmaker'', patrolling Ghosts find one of their number not only dead but mutilated.

* In [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Pyramids|Pyramids]]'', Pteppic is presented the case of a handmaiden who refused to be killed for the last king's funeral. When he asks if it was not voluntary, the priest agreed that yes, it was, and she didn't volunteer.

* In "Sonnet 68" [[William Shakespeare (Creator)|William Shakespeare]] laments the decline from the [[Good Old Ways]]; they did not use to take hair from corpses for wigs.

* During the [[Harry Potter (Literature)|Battle of Hogwarts]], Voldemort tries to make himself into the good guy by pausing the battle, supposedly so the heroes could collect their dead. Really, though, he's just waiting for Harry to come face him---and then proceeds to desecrate Harry's corpse after killing him. {{spoiler|Except that Harry's ''still alive...''}}

* In ''[[The Iliad (Literature)|The Iliad]]'', Achilles secured Hector's body to his chariot after killing him, and circled the city thrice with the corpse in tow. For the era, this was regarded as crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]], and sealed his doom in the eyes of the gods. Now, Achilles is known more for [[Achilles Heel|how he died]] than how he didn't. However, after Priam, Hector's father came to him in person, Achilles regretted his actions, and gave Hector's body to him, so he did eventually have a proper funeral.

* In ''[[The Odyssey (Literature)|The Odyssey]]'', Agamemnon tells Odysseus:

* In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', after killing Jenny Calendar, Angelus takes her body to Giles' apartment and places it in his bed before the latter arrives. Then, Angelus sets up his living room as if for "romantic evening" with champagne, roses, music and a note that says "upstairs." When Giles arrives he believes Jenny, with whom he has just reconciled, is expecting him.

* An episode of ''[[Star Trek Voyager (TV)|Star Trek Voyager]]'' had the crew get caught up in a conflict between two warring nations, at least one of whom brainwashes aliens to serve as grunt troops (in this case, Chakotay). During the brainwashing process, the "nemesis" desecrate fallen soldiers to enhance the brainwashing training.

* [[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Theatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'s victims tend to end up as meat pies at Mrs. Lovett's pieshop.

* [[William Shakespeare (Creator)|William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Hamlet (Theatre)|Hamlet]]'': Queen Gertrude's quick remarriage did not take a proper period of mourning:

* Shakespeare's ''[[Titus Andronicus (Theatre)|Titus Andronicus]]'' avenges the rape and mutilation of his daughter Lavinia by killing Queen Tamora's last two sons, and then, in a nod to the above fairy tales, bakes them into a giant meat pie which he then serves to Tamora before taking his final vengeance upon her.

* The Greek play ''[[Agamemnon (Theatre)|Agamemnon]]'' shows the importance of the fact that bodies of some Greek soldiers were left behind at Troy.

* B.J. Blazkowicz, the protagonist of ''[[Wolfenstein 3D (Video Game)|Wolfenstein 3D]]'', does this with the body of [[Adolf Hitler]] in the finale of Episode 3, "Die Fuhrer Die," kicking his head off his remains and spitting on them.

* The trope was also lampshaded and parodied in ''[[South Park (Animation)|South Park]]'': a shop owner suffering from an influx of evil pets explains how he selected the site of an Indian bural ground for his store, then dug up the bodies, pissed on them, and then reburied them the wrong way up. [[It Makes Sense in Context|He was drunk at the time.]]