Lonely Funeral: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"Eleanor Rigby died in a church

''And was buried along with her name

 

So, you have this character that's important to the story. Maybe a [[Tragic Hero]], or a [[Friendly Target|family member or friend]], [[The Rival]], or a major antagonist. They're [[Killed Off for Real]], and there's a [[Meaningful Funeral|funeral]]. [[Due to the Dead|With three people attending]]. For added pathos, [[It Always Rains At Funerals|it may be raining]]. Seems only the [[True Companions]] care enough to be there.

 

Compare [[Dying Alone]].

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* In ''[[Code Geass]]'', {{spoiler|Suzaku}}'s grave is visited only by the cat Arthur. As some blogger put it, "if the cat is the only person at your grave, you must have really sucked in life." Of course, that scene happened long after the actual funeral and he is [[Not Quite Dead]] but still.

* {{spoiler|Sherry's}} funeral in ''[[Gungrave]]'' was attended only by {{spoiler|Harry}} mostly because all of their friends and family are dead.

 

* In one of the first issues of the modern JSA series, at Wesley Dodds' funeral, Wildcat remarks that when Madam Fatal died, the only people who came were the cast of the local production of ''La Cage aux Folles'' (Madam Fatal was a male actor who fought crime in old-lady drag, and had been all but forgotten). This may have been sparked by the fact that the only people present were JSA, though the topic at the time was mortality in general, and Wildcat was also wondering how, or if, he himself would be remembered.

** And in ''[[Kingdom Come]]'', nobody came to Dodds' funeral at all.

* During the events of the miniseries ''[[52]]'', [[Booster Gold]] appeared to have been killed; no one came to his funeral (even the heroes who carried his coffin were a bunch of [[Super Zeroes]] who were paid to do it.) Turns out he had faked his own death as part of a plan against a villain; whether the funeral was part of that or really represented the regard people had for him is unclear.

** However, in [[Booster Gold]]'s case this trope has special meaning: He needs his time-traveling life to be a [[Stable Time Loop]], which means he ''can't'' be remembered after death, because he knows he wasn't famous in the future. If he had a lonely funeral, it's because he spent his whole life ensuring it'd be that way.

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* In ''[[Charade]]'', there is a funeral scene that is minimally attended, mostly by people making sure the corpse was actually dead.

* Parodied in ''[[I'm Gonna Git You Sucka]]''. A crowd of people show up for Junebug's funeral. When they realize they're at the wrong funeral, they all leave, taking all of the funeral decorations as they go. The only people left are Junebug's immediate family.

** Although after the reboot, Felix Leiter could come as well. But that still makes two.

*** This is interesting to think about, considering they seemed to have dropped the Moneypenny character after Pierce Brosnan was done being Bond. Coincidence?

* In ''[[The Bad and The Beautiful]]'', Jonathan Shields' father had plenty of mourners at his funeral, but only because he willed the last of his money to pay for them to attend.

* ''A Carol Christmas'' had Carol's aunt Marla who had only her niece and her work partner there. Later on, Carol saw her funeral with only her assistant and her friend there.

 

== Literature ==

* {{spoiler|Gatsby's funeral}} from ''[[The Great Gatsby]]''. Used to show how fair-weather all of his friends were. Except {{spoiler|Nick, and the owl-eyed man from the library.}}

* Jim Butcher's'' [[Dresden Files]]'': In ''Turn Coat'', {{spoiler|Morgan}} had no mourners at his funeral, owing to [[Malicious Slander|the story they put out]], but they engaged in [[To Absent Friends]].

* Mercedes Lackey's ''Alta'': {{spoiler|Prince Toreth}}. Given an insultingly extravagant state funeral that not even his own parents attended, only his brother and {{spoiler|the other jousters of his wing}}

* In ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'', Scrooge is shown in the [[Bad Future]] that he will [[Dying Alone|die alone]] and unmourned if he doesn't repent.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* On [[True Blood]], only Sookie and Tara attend {{spoiler|Eggs'}} funeral.

* A less serious example that soon turns to comedy is on [[Chuck]]. Casey pretends to play dead and have a funeral to lure his trio of former teammates out, and agents are supposed to be hidden among the guests attending, but Chuck points out that the only people there are him, Sarah, and the agents.

* The first time Lancelot dies on ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' he gets an elaborate memorial service. The second time (after Morgana brainwashes him into seducing Guinevere and then ordering him to kill himself) Merlin is the only one who attends his [[Viking Funeral]].

 

== Music ==

* "Eleanor Rigby" by [[The Beatles]]. The lonely title character dreams of someday being married, but ultimately dies, her funeral service attended only by the equally lonely Father McKenzie.

 

 

== Theatre ==

* In ''[[Death of a Salesman]]'', Willy Loman's funeral is attended only by his wife, his sons, Charley and Bernard. He wasn't mourned by half as many as the man who inspired him to become a salesman (and was the subject of the [[Title Drop]]).

 

* In ''[[Fable]] 2'', Hammer's adopted father, the head priest of the Temple of Light is killed trying to protect Hammer. You, Hammer, and three monk's attend the funeral. Nobody from the town who's prosperity is given to them by the Monk's holy tree, attends. To make matters worse, the monks depart immediately after the prayer, ignoring Hammer as she calls them out for their callous nature and the callous "business as usual" way the world is treating the death of this man.

* In ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', the ending shows a funeral for {{spoiler|Ramza}} attended by a handful of elderly people, who were merely mourning the extinction of the noble {{spoiler|Beoluve}} family. An example of a [[Hero with Bad Publicity]].

* {{spoiler|The Boss}} from ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]''? The only person who bothered to visit her grave and pay respect to her was Big Boss (Naked Snake). Well, at least he consistently did it, and even during {{spoiler|her final moments, he was there}}. Possibly done to show how shallow the other higher-ups were, and how they didn't really care about her sacrifice. Also, due to the nature of her final mission, she was never even given a proper funeral. She is buried as an anonymous soldier.

 

* In the ''[[Ciem Webcomic Series]]'', Eric and Patty Levens are never shown or depicted. (They are in the books.) Denny and Angie's dual-funeral is attended by Eric, Patty, Candi, and Donte in the books. But only by Candi and Donte in the comic with one minister present. Justified in that too large a gathering of Flippos or Levenses at any event [[Feuding Families|could draw in Hebbleskins like flies]]. Attendance of the public to such an event could also lead to blacklisting; and fear of Arfaas assassinating someone's cousin just because of that someone having sympathy on an already-targeted family is quite strong in a town recently ravaged by doom ships and supervillains. But also played to show that the community in Viron is spiteful and [[All of the Other Reindeer|will do anything]] [[Designated Monkey|to make Candi's life suck]].

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* At the very beginning of ''[[Up (animation)|Up]]'', the now widowed Carl Friedricksen is actually the only mourner attending his late wife Ellie's funeral.

** The funeral is never shown - we see Carl alone with the casket, but that may be intended to underscore how alone he is without Ellie.

 

== Real Life ==

* Sometimes, funerals of very aged people – particularly, those who were not well known within their community – with very few surviving close friends or family who are able to attend (for example, a 100-year-old man who never married or had children, and whose siblings/sibilings-in-law/cousins have all preceded him in death, and was unknown to most outside his circle) will be attended by a very small number of people. This is absolutely not a reflection of how well liked/disliked the decedent may have been, but simply reality: virtually all of the most important people in his/her life (or those who knew him and were sufficiently close to him) have also died, are in poor health or otherwise unable to attend services.

** Conversely, sometimes a very aged person who may have been well known in his community and have many survivors could conceivably still have a large funeral. Again, this is absolutely not necessarily an indication that the centerian who isn't so fortunate to have such a large turnout (i.e., only the number of fingers on one hand is what the number of mourners are) was hated, but simply the fact that the less well-known decedant may have lived a private, anonymous life and was not well known outside his circle of friends and family.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Death Tropes]]

[[Category:Funeral Tropes]]

[[Category:Sadness Tropes]]