View source for Ending Memorial Service

{{trope}}
An end-of-story memorial service given by a support or surviving major character in memory of less fortunate characters. May serve as a handy explanation of what would otherwise be a [[Gainax Ending]] to wrap things up and tell you that no, the heroes are not [[He's Just Hiding|"just hiding"]], or merely an emotive, tragic summative on the sorry affair.

See [[The Hero Dies]] and [[Kill'Em All]] for what may lead to this kind of ending being needed. May be used to prevent a [[Gainax Ending]]. [[Bittersweet Ending|Bittersweet Endings]] are the most common to feature this. See also [[To Absent Friends]], which is closely related.

Note that this is both an [[Ending Trope]] and a [[Death Trope]], so expect major spoilers... especially since the appearance of this trope is an indication that the main character [[The Hero Dies|might have bought it.]] 

So read on at your own risk.
{{examples}}

==  Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' has one, held for {{spoiler|Kamina}}.
* The ''[[Vampire Hunter D]]'' movie Bloodlust ends with Leila's funeral 60 years later.


==  Comic Books ==
* In ''[[All Fall Down]]'',  {{spoiler|Grace delivers one of these for Sophie,}} with strong implications that the heroes and villains will eventually find closure and move on.


==  Film ==
* Occurs in the ending of the classic submarine movie ''[[Run Silent Run Deep]]''.
* ''[[Armageddon]]'' has this.
* Occurs in the ending of ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan]]''.
* Occurs at the end of ''[[Star Wars]]: [[The Phantom Menace]]''
* A Filipino movie called "Utol" ("Brother") ended with the main character attending his friend's funeral. Then he [[Pet the Dog|adopts a puppy on his way home]]. Awww.
* Brief and solemn at the end of ''[[Serenity]]''. No dialog necessary.
* ''[[The Bucket List]]''.


==  Literature ==
* ''[[The Mysteries of Pittsburgh]]'' ends with  {{spoiler|Cleveland's}} funeral and Art reflecting on the summer past and how the various characters have dealt and are dealing with it. 
* The end of ''[[The Wild Boy]]'' is like this, with a memorial service for Ilox and Phlarx.


==  Live Action TV ==
* Season 1 of ''[[Combat Hospital]]'' ends with a memorial being interrupted by new wounded coming in and medical staff leaving to deal with it. 
* ''[[Torchwood: Miracle Day]]'' ends with a funeral for  {{spoiler|Esther}}.
* The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "The Family of Blood" ends with a memorial service attended by Timothy- a young boy for the majority of the two-parter, but now seen nearly a hundred-years later, reflecting on [[World War I]]. 
* Parodied by ''[[Canada's Worst Driver]]'' in its season 7 finale, which gave a funeral to [[The Alleged Car]].
* The ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' two-parter "Heroes" ends with the funeral for {{spoiler|Dr. Frasier}}, where Samantha Carter reads a list of names belonging to people whom the departed has saved.


==  Video Games ==
* At the end of ''[[Halo]] 3'', Earth's commander gives a memorial service in memory of those who died in the final battle, including {{spoiler|Master Chief}}. Subverted in the fact that {{spoiler|Master Chief isn't quite dead yet}}.
* In ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'', Yuna delivers this at a memorial blitzball tournament, reminding everyone of the sacrifices made by certain characters to bring peace to Spira.
* In ''[[Dragon Age]]'', if your [[Player Character|Grey Warden]] sacrificed themselves to stop the Archdemon then you'll get to see their memorial service.
* At the end of ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', {{spoiler|if you lose squadmates on the ''[[Suicide Mission]]'' you will see Shepard standing over a group of coffins, one for each teammate lost. Averted if you work your hardest to [[No One Gets Left Behind|get everyone out alive]]. }}
* ''[[Full Throttle]]'' ends with a memorial service held for [[Cool Old Guy|Malcolm Corley]], who is killed early in the story. The "biker priest" Father Torque reads the elegy.


==  Western Animation ==
* The second episode of ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers|Galaxy Rangers]]'' ends with Eliza being put into stasis. It's not a funeral in the sense she's dead, but she might as well be. Complete with [[Rousing Speech]] by [[Four-Star Badass|Commander Walsh]], [[Perpetual Smiler]] Zozo openly weeping, and Eliza's husband making his [[Heroic Vow]] to restore her to life, no matter what it takes. 
* The ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' episode "Tales of Ba Sing Se" was split into several sub-stories, with most of the major characters getting their own little vignette. Iroh's Tale ending with a [[Tear Jerker|heart crushing]] song about war, while the old-general cried over his son's memorial. To make it worst, it counts as an ''actual'' memorial to Mako, Iroh's voice actor who had just passed away.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Death Tropes]]
[[Category:Funeral Tropes]]
[[Category:Ending Tropes]]
[[Category:Ending Memorial Service]]