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{{quote|''"[[Please Don't Leave Me|Don't leave me here alone... Don't go where I can't follow...]] Wake up... not asleep...'' dead!"
|'''Samwise Gamgee''', ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''}}
When someone dies, and there is a young character for whom this is the first experience with death. They usually say something to the effect of 'wake up' or 'don't do that, when he wakes up...' Usually implies that the character believes or wants to believe the individual, often their father, is only sleeping, when in fact, viewers are very aware they are dead. It's all the more heartbreaking when it's just after the two have escaped from the danger, just when [[Bittersweet Ending|you think everything's going to be okay...]]
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[[Truth in Television]], sadly; most young children have difficulty understanding the finality of death and are terrified and confused when they discover [[Killed Off for Real|people don't wake up sometimes]], which does give a little credence to [[Media Watchdogs]] being cautious about death on television.
The most common outcome of [[And Call Him George]]. Sometimes includes [[How Dare You Die
{{examples|Examples}}▼
{{deathtrope}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* "No, Daddy has a lot of work to do and if they bury him he can't do it when he wakes up!" A particularly [[Tear Jerker|heart wrenching scene]] in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' spoken by {{spoiler|the young daughter of Maes Hughes}} at his funeral.
* In the second-to-last or last chapter of the manga ''[[Absolute Boyfriend]]'', Riiko says this when Night stops working. Like Zoe below, less of being a kid and more he was her emotional anchor. In this case, her first real boyfriend. Also, since he was an artificial human, it was harder to accept his death since he often didn't function the same way as a real man.
* ''[[
{{quote|
* In a flashback in ''[[Madlax]]'', Margaret tries to wake up her mother... after the plane they were on crashed over Gazth-Sonika.
* ''[[
** When Yusuke dies again after being killed by Sensui, Kuwabara rushes over to him and thinks he's faking it too fool him, Hiei and Kurama like he did to Yusuke when Younger Toguro seemingly killed him. He desperately puts his hand over Yusuke's mouth and nose to make him drop the act... [[Tear Jerker|but to his horror Yusuke isn't acting.]]
* Subverted in ''[[Detective Conan]]'' when Heiji and Conan find {{spoiler|Kazuha}} looking exactly like the former corpses in a string of murders they're investigating.
{{quote|
Thankfully, {{spoiler|she was just unconscious because of a stun gun and woke up.}} }}
* ''[[
** Toboe catches a hawk to impress a girl. He puts it in her arms, and becomes confused and starts to poke it when it doesn't move saying, "Wake up" Not realizing it's dead until she says so. And it was the girl's pet hawk.
** It happened to him again in his origin story the old lady who care for him when he was a pup was accidentally killed when he jumped on top of her and accidentally cut off her oxygen, he nudges and pulls at her body then he howls in sorrow, poor kid.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* The dub of [[Digimon Adventure]] double subverts this when Leomon [[Heroic Sacrifice|takes a blast]] to the back for Mimi and falls down. Mimi says this practically verbatim. He wakes up to use his last strength to defeat the bad guy,and then he dies soon afterwards
* The climax of ''[[Pokémon:
* Once again in the ''[[Pokémon: Zoroark
* ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'': {{spoiler|"Nuriko, please... open your eyes... for me?"}}
* ''[[Witchblade (
* ''[[S-Cry-ed]]''
{{quote|
'''Screen cuts to black'''
" Come on, wake up. Kimishima..." }}
* The finale of ''[[Code Geass]]'' has Nunnally doing this in the final [[Tear Jerker]] of the series.
{{quote|
In this case however, the person in question is old enough to understand death and she saw her brother get stabbed through the chest; her reaction is because they were incredibly close (and possibly because [[Parting Words Regret|one of the last things she said to him was "You're a devil!"]] }}
* ''[[
** Alois to Luca in season 2.
* ''[[One Piece]]'': In his flashback in the manga version, Zoro does this when Kuina dies, albeit in a way that's much more angry and hurt. Deeply in denial, he screams at her for abandoning their promise (implied that it's more because he felt she was abandoning HIM). It took an adult man and another boy around his age to hold him back.
* Subverted in ''Jack and the Witch''. After Jack rescues Allegra from the Ice Caves he floats to the surface of the water and appears to be dead. She tells him "Wake up, Jack!" When she realizes he's dead she cries over him and he comes back to life.
* ''[[Bleach]]'' anime episode #178. In a [[Flash Back]] to his mother's death Ichigo remembers that he said "Please wake up, Mommy!"
* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'': Kamina, having risen up what could already almost qualify as a "Please Wake Up" moment already. With blood dripping down his face, he climbs back into the seat of his giant mech, rips off one of said mech's arms, and throws it Simon who is already in a premature [[Heroic BSOD]]. Cue [[Crowning Music of Awesome]], followed by Crowning Speech of Awesome.
{{quote|
Simon: ...if there's a wall in our way, then we smash it down! If there isn't a path then we carve one ourselves!
▲{{quote| Kamina: We Brawlers are sustained by will power! Even when mocked as reckless and crazy...<br />
Both: The magma of our souls burns with a mighty flame! Super Ultra Combining Gurren Lagann! Just who in the Hell do you think we are?!
▲Simon: ...if there's a wall in our way, then we smash it down! If there isn't a path then we carve one ourselves!<br />
▲Both: The magma of our souls burns with a mighty flame! Super Ultra Combining Gurren Lagann! Just who in the Hell do you think we are?!<br />
Kamina: Listen, Simon. Never forget. Believe in yourself. Not in the Simon that I believe in. Not in the Kamina that you believe. Have faith in the Simon who believes in you.
▲[[Curb Stomp Battle]] ensues. Softer speech.<br />
▲Kamina: Listen, Simon. Never forget. Believe in yourself. Not in the Simon that I believe in. Not in the Kamina that you believe. Have faith in the Simon who believes in you.<br />
▲Simon: B...bro? What are you--<br />
▲Kamina: Finishing Move! Giga! Drill! BREEEEEEAAAAAK!<br />
▲Cue [[Stuff Blowing Up]].<br />
▲Kamina: Later... buddy...<br />
Simon: What was that bro? (screen goes black) Bro? }}
* In the ''[[Detective Conan]]'' episode "The Locked Bathroom Murder Case" {{spoiler|the killer turns out to be the victim's sister. After discovering that her sister loved her more than she thought, she has a [[My God, What Have I Done?]] moment and tries in vain to wake her long dead sister.}}
* In ''[[Summer Wars]]'', {{spoiler|the family reacts to Grandma Sakae's death like this. She dies in her sleep, thus when they discover her, everyone crowds around her bed, desperately crying for her to open her eyes.}}
* ''[[
* ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' Anime: "Dante! Wake up, run away! No way you'd die from a little wound like this, right? Please wake up and take down the demons like you always do!... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry!.." "...Open your eyes! I promise not to get mad when you mess up your office! I won't eat your strawberry sundaes anymore!"
== Comic Books ==
* Probably one of the best known examples in a comic is the ''[[Spider-Man]]'' story where Gwen Stacy died. Spider-Man catches her with a web after she's knocked off the Brooklyn Bridge, not knowing she's already dead. When he pulls her up and realizes he's lost her, he initially can't believe it.
{{quote|
== [[Film]] ==
* In ''[[The Abyss]]'',
{{quote|
Trope to Trope combat. It worked, thanks to a heaping helping of [[Worst Aid|The Miraculous Bitchslap of Life]]. }}
* In [[James Cameron|the same director's]] ''[[Avatar (
* The Cameron trifecta comes in ''[[Titanic]]'', where Rose, excited about a lifeboat coming back, tries to wake Jack up...for a full minute...and then breaks down to the point where the boat passed her by...
* In ''[[
{{quote|
* In ''[[The Astronaut Farmer]]'', the family's youngest goes to get her grandpa from the living room for dinner. She comes back, saying "Grandpa won't wake up."
* Tony and Gina in the end of ''[[Scarface]]''. Though Tony's world was crashing down, and he'd just done about a kilo of cocaine.
* Non-verbally done in ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'', where the AT-STs are firing at the Ewoks, and hit a pair dead on...and one of them gets up and starts nudging the other. Considered a [[Narm]] by some viewers, but considering the child-friendly marketing of the Ewoks, also a strong example of [[What Do You Mean
* Subverted in ''[[National Treasure]] 2'': in the prologue, after the Lincoln assassination conspirator kills his father, young Thomas Gates kneels by the body and begs him to "come back", but then immediately afterward cries out that it is unfair.
* One of the last scenes in ''[[
* Parodied in ''[[Italian Spiderman]]'', where Italian Spiderman tries to wake Professor Bernadotti up [[Heroic Sociopath|by punching him]].
* Parodied in ''[[Tropic Thunder]]'' via ''Simple Jack'', the [[Stylistic Suck|deliberately awful]] [[Oscar Bait]] film-within-a-film.
* When Peg asks ''[[Edward Scissorhands]]'' what happened to his father, he replies, "He didn't wake up."
* In ''[[The Mummy Trilogy|The Mummy Returns]]'', Rick has the "come back!" one-sided conversation with {{spoiler|his wife Evy}}. His son is being clutched by his uncle, but they all seem aware except for Rick. {{spoiler|and thanks to the Book of the Dead, it's only temporary anyway. She gets better}}.
* Liz has one of these moments with the red guy himself in ''[[Hellboy II]]: The Golden Army'', including citing various reasons for him to wake up. The one that works: {{spoiler|"You're going to be a father..." At that point, he murmurs, "I... become... father?" and forces himself back alive.}} Liz also has a moment in the comics, when {{spoiler|Abe}} dies; it's not an explicit version of this trope, but the way she shakes his body and keeps calling his name, even after other characters have informed her of his death, implies she was still trying to wake him up.
* The final scenes from ''The Champ'', when {{spoiler|Billy Flynn dies of a heart attack with his son T.J. by his side}}.
* A prolonged version of this in ''[[Steel Magnolias]]'' when M'Lynn Eatonton is trying to rouse Shelby when she's in the hospital after her final diabetic episode. Not long after, [[Tear Jerker|she's taken off life support]].
* [[Monty Python and
* Genuinely tragic moment in ''[[
* [[On Her Majesty's Secret Service
* [[The Princess Bride (
* In ''[[SLC Punk!]]'', Stevo goes downstairs only to find {{spoiler|his best friend, Heroin Bob, dead}}. In a truly heartbreaking scene, he dissolves into a [[Inelegant Blubbering|sobbing mess]] and screams at {{spoiler|Heroin Bob}}.
{{quote|
* Subverted in ''[[I Remember Mama]]''. "Are you still asleep? Y'old sleepy cat. Wake up. S'morning..." {{spoiler|And he does}}! It's beautifully set up. ''[[Tear Jerker|Make him live, Mama. Please.]]''
* Occurs in the film ''[[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah]]'' when {{spoiler|Junior dies}}. Godzilla tries desperately to wake him up, and, when he realizes he's lost {{spoiler|his son}}, he cries.
* Occurs in ''[[The Fall (
* Inverted in ''[[Twenty Eight Days Later|28 Days Later]]'', in which the suicide note left by the hero's parents bids him ''not'' to wake up from his coma to face the [[Zombie Apocalypse]].▼
▲* Occurs in ''[[The Fall (Film)|The Fall]]'', when Alexandria tries to wake up Roy, after {{spoiler|he falls asleep, having taken "sleeping pills" that we later find out are placebos}}.
* In ''[[Independence Day]]'', when {{spoiler|the President's wife, her mother}} dies, {{spoiler|then-8-year-old Mae Whitman's character asks her Dad}} "Is she sleeping now?"
* At the end of ''[[The Room]]'', Mark attempts to wake up Johnny... after the latter shot himself through the mouth.
* ''[[28 Days]]'' has flashbacks of the main character and her sister trying to wake their mother when they find her collapsed in the living room {{spoiler|subverted, as she was just passed out from alcohol, and just when they're getting worried a sharp slap brings her around. However when she really dies, the girls assume it's the same thing, and suggest "slapping her
▲* Inverted in ''[[
* Although Sam's quote from the top of the page is the most famous example, in the extended edition of ''[[Return of the King]]'', Eomer rushing screaming to Eowen's side and shaking her has all of the techniques. It's actually quite effective; Eomer is usually [[The Stoic]], seeing him screaming wordlessly in grief is downright shaking.
== [[Literature]] ==
* Subverted or averted or something in John Ajvide Lindqvist's ''[[Handling
* ''[[Tideland]]'' is a freakish example...
* The child Errand, in the final book of the ''[[Belgariad]]'', with his hand on {{spoiler|Durnik's}} shoulder, shaking him slightly and looking puzzled when he doesn't respond. Errand hadn't learned many words at that point, so it was a silent attempt.
* [[The Bible]] actually has several points where "sleeping" is used as a metaphor for "dead". When Jesus is on the way to the grave of his (recently deceased) friend Lazarus, he tells his disciples that Lazarus is "sleeping" and he is going to "wake him up". (He then raises him from the dead.) He also uses the same metaphor when he raises a young girl from the dead. Also, Paul refers to dead believers as "sleeping in Christ" in one of his letters. There are also several passages of people going to "sleep" with their fathers. This metaphor reflects the Christian belief that death isn't permanent (and also for some, that there is no afterlife, as an afterlife would require consciousness to be aware of it).
* The anti-nuclear poem ''Mother the wardrobe is full of infantrymen'' by Roger McGough ends with "mother don't just lie there, say something please" (said twice).
* Used [[Tear Jerker|somewhat disturbingly]] in the ''[[Redwall]]'' books:
** ''The Bellmaker'': Three young woodlanders are found shipwrecked on an island by the heroes. The younger two children mention that the adult who was on the ship with them is also on the island. The oldest kid eventually reveals to the heroes that the hedgehog had died from a head injury quite some time ago, but he left the body in the tent and told the other two that they had to stay out of the tent because the hedgehog needed to sleep.
** This trope also occurs in ''Mattimeo'', the third (in order of publication) novel in the series, which features a scene where a bankvole child vainly tries to rouse his murdered mother.
** Happens again in ''The Legend of Luke'', with the squirrel Chugger and his granny. This actually reduces an otter to tears.
* [[Older Than Dirt]]: In ''[[The Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', Gilgamesh mourns over his friend Enkidu's body for seven days, dressing the corpse, imploring him to wake up, and refusing to allow a burial until he sees a maggot drop out of Enkidu's nose.
* Appropriately for its mythic style, sleeping is often a metaphor for death in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. As in, "she laid herself to rest on [some hill], and there is her green grave ..." In both novel and film Sam asks Frodo to wake up after Shelob stabs him, but soon gives up and declares him dead. {{spoiler|Of course, he's not.}}
* Harry did this to Ginny in ''[[Harry Potter and
* In the [[Discworld]] novel ''Feet of Clay'', a golem attempts to save a dying priest by inserting words in his mouth.
* Averted in [[Christopher Moore]]'s ''[[
* A harsh variant of this occurs in Katherine Paterson's novel ''[[Flip-Flop Girl
{{quote|
'''Vinnie:''' How dare you say that? How dare you say you're glad your own daddy's dead? You're bad, bad, bad. No wonder Daddy died. Who would want to live with a kid like you?
'''Mason:''' ''(later that evening at the funeral home, looking at his father in the coffin)'' Get up, Daddy. Get up.
'''Vinnie:''' I thought you were glad, Mason. You said so your very own self. Don't say you didn't.
'''Mason:''' ''(pretends not to hear her)'' Get up.
'''Vinnie:''' He's dead, Mason. He's dead, and there's nothing you can say to change that. }}
* Bluepaw (young Bluestar) in the ''[[Warrior Cats|Warriors]]'' book ''Bluestar's Prophecy'' does this when {{spoiler|1=her mother Moonflower is killed by Hawkfrost in the attack on the WindClan camp. The sequence is made even more heartbreaking when Bluepaw must relay the news to her sister Snowpaw.}}
* In ''[[Cirque du Freak]]'' by [[Darren Shan]] when Darren fakes his own death, at his wake his sister Annie is heard screaming for him to "stop playing around and wake up". He's not actually dead but still...
* In ''[[Night Watch]]'' a Dark mage is killed by a rogue Light [[Knight Templar]], when he's enjoying dinner with his human family in a restaurant. This serves as a somewhat educative moment, as the sight of the mage's grieving wife and son trying to wake him up (the magic weapon leaves no traces and he indeed looks asleep) convinces the over-zealos rooky Night Watcher Svetlana that killing Dark Others indiscriminately would indeed bring more harm then good to people.
* The children in ''[[The Blue Lagoon]]'' (book and film) think their adult friend Paddy is taking a nap at the opposite end of the lagoon and row over to wake him, only to find him with his eyes wide open, bugs already at work, and a tiny crab crawls out of his mouth when they turn him over.
▲== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* The ending of ''[[Supernatural]]'''s "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One" had a variation of this trope (in that of course Dean understands death, he just doesn't want his world to come crashing down around him), where Sam is dying in Dean's arms and Dean is in [[Tear Jerker|childlike]] denial;
{{quote|
Another variation for Sam in ''Mystery Spot''. He's been stuck in a [[Groundhog Day Loop]] where he only wakes up after Dean dies every day. {{spoiler|When it's a Wednesday and he believes they've defeated the Trickster, Dean is shot by a mugger (of all the things he could die from) and is dead even before Sam gets there. He says, pitifully, "I'm supposed to wake up" and starts crying but, unfortunately, it's for real this time.}} }}
* Heartbreakingly rendered in ''[[
{{quote|'''Benson:''' Alex? ...Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. ''Someone call an ambulance! Call 911 now!!'' Alex, it's okay, Alex, look at me, it's okay sweetie, stay with me, stay with me, you're going to be okay, Alex, you're going to be okay, do you hear me? You're going to be fine, you're going to be just fine, stay with me... Alex, it's okay... Alex? Alex...?
:It's not okay at all, of course, as the next scene shows Benson's desk, atop which is her badge with a mourning band and a newspaper headline announcing what most of us already guessed. {{spoiler|Then it turns out it
{{quote|{{spoiler|'''Benson:''' [[Tear Jerker|"Your funeral is tomorrow."]]}}}}
* Once again, in ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'', when Xena and Gabrielle are caught in a war zone towards the end of Season One, Gabrielle's head injuries send her to the makeshift infirmary in a temple, where she languishes for some time unconscious before going into a seizure that ends all signs of life. Xena's reaction fills this trope perfectly, as she goes into literally violent denial that she could lose her best friend.
{{quote|
Some time later, after desperately administering ancient Greek CPR while all spectators look on in silent grief, she completely loses it, and, sobbing, pounds on Gabrielle's chest with her fists, screaming, "Don't you leave me! ''Don't'' leave me, ''don't leave me! Wake up! WAKE UP!'' '''WAKE UP!'''" {{spoiler|[[Disney Death|She does.]] Ensue a shower of grateful tears [[Les Yay|and kisses]].}} }}
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer
{{quote|
'''911 Operator''': "... the body's cold?"
'''Buffy''': "No! My ''mom''!"
** "Tara?" And they'd just made up...
* ''[[
** Possibly the only example to replace the sobbing child with a sobbing 900-year-old alien, this was done in "Last of the Time Lords". {{spoiler|The Master lies dying in the Doctor's arms. The Doctor begs him to regenerate; the Master chooses to die instead, accomplishing his final victory by abandoning the Doctor as the last Time Lord in the entire universe. "[[Magnificent Bastard|I win]]."}}
** {{spoiler|Rory to Amy}} in the 2010 series finale ''The Big Bang'':
{{quote|
** {{spoiler|Amy to the Doctor}} in "The Impossible Astronaut", after the latter is shot {{spoiler|mid-regeneration}}.
* ''[[Star Trek:
* "[[Monty Python|No no, sir. It's not dead. It's resting! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue. Beautiful plumage.]]"
** "The plumage don't enter into it. It's bleeding demised."
Line 160 ⟶ 158:
* ''[[Vampire Diaries]]'': Bonnie cries "wake up" towards her presumably-dead grandmother. {{spoiler|And later, Anna does the same after her mother Pearl gets staked by [[Smug Snake|Johnathan Gilbert]]}}.
* Mr. Hooper's death on ''[[Sesame Street]]'', when the adults broke the news to Big Bird. The big yellow guy had drawn beautiful pictures of all the humans, and wanted to give Mr. Hooper's drawing to him, and they gently explained that that he had died. It took some doing to make him understand that his friend wasn't coming back.
{{quote|
[[Tear Jerker|He's not coming back.]] [[Real Life Writes the Plot|And neither is]] [[Critical Existence Failure|the gentleman who played him.]] }}
* ''[[Fraggle Rock]]'': "Mudwell, what are you doing? This is no time to take a nap, I wanna work things out! Come on, Mudwell, wake up! ... [[Tear Jerker|Mudwell?"]]
* To a lesser extent a video clip shown on ''America's Funniest Home Videos'' showed a deer (or a moose, or something similar) trying to mate with a lawn ornament of a deer, which broke into three pieces under its weight. After regaining
* In an episode of ''[[ER]]'', Benton's ex-girlfriend Carla died in a car accident. Upon reaching the hospital, he tried to break the news to their 4-year old son, telling him via sign language (the boy is deaf) that "Mommy went to sleep forever". Not understanding, the boy kept signing back to him, "Then wake her up", until Benton finally signed (and said) "Mommy died".
* In the Season 1 finale of ''[[
* On ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]'', Opie goes through this in one episode when he shoots his slingshot at a bird. When he realizes he killed it, [[My God, What Have I Done?|he starts crying and begs for it to get up and fly away.]]
== [[Music]] ==
* In ''Peter Alsop and Bill Harley in the Hospital'', the two leads play teenagers (or younger) who both end up in the hospital, and discuss many topics on hospital stays and illnesses from a kid's point of view (through song, at that). One of the final songs is ''While I'm Sleeping (I'm Alive)'', which uses two versions of this trope (Rusty, the dog, was "put to sleep" by the vet, while Grandpa "went away" but never said goodbye) and then includes this bit:
{{quote|
''Only makes kids nervous when it's time to go to bed.... }}
* "Lady D'banville" is about a man's lover who dies in bed with him.
{{quote|
''Why do you sleep so still
''Your heart feels like winter
''Our love shall never die
''Our love shall never die }}
* Used briefly in [[Avril Lavigne]]'s song
{{quote|
''I keep asking why.
''And I can't take it
''It wasn't fake it
''It happened you passed by }}
* A somewhat more disturbing version is used in the song "Psycho" by Teddy Thompson (among other artists), where the narrator relates to his mother various incidents where he's had blackouts and people have ended up dead. By the end of the song...
{{quote|
''Mama? Why don't you get up?'' }}
* Frank Kelly Freas' cover for ''News of the World'' by [[Queen]] is a replica of his cover for Tom Godwin's story "The Gulf Between". Even without knowing the context, it's pretty clear that this trope is being invoked.
* [[Tom Paxton]]'s song "Jimmy Newman", about a dying soldier:
{{quote|
''I said you sleep hard but they're shaking their heads''
''Get up Jimmy Newman and show them you heard''
''Jimmy just show them you're sleeping'' }}
* Eminem's song "My Fault," about a guy who convinces a girl to try shrooms, and then watches as she overdoses, ends with this:
{{quote|
* [[Sarah McLachlan]]'s "Hold On" has this in the chorus:
{{quote|
''That you'll be strong tomorrow and we'll see another day. }}
* Blues Traveler's "Pretty Angry" (written by John Popper about the death of a friend):
{{quote|
''Come out, come out, wherever you are.
''The joke is over, open your eyes,
''A heart like yours it never dies.
''And I saw your keys behind the chair,
''I still can see you sitting there.
''It isn't funny, don't fool around,
''You let me go, you let me down. }}
* Babybird's "I didn't want to wake you up"
{{quote|
''I didn't want to wake you up
''The next day, I saw you lying there,
''I didn't want to wake you up
''The next evening, I saw you lying there
''You hadn't moved an inch
''The next day, I saw you lying there,
''I wish that I could wake you up }}
== [[Opera]] ==▼
* Similarly to ''[[King Lear]]'', ''[[La Boheme]]'' concludes with Rodolfo remarking how peacefully his beloved Mimi is sleeping, and wondering why all his friends are staring at him... then it hits him. "MIMIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"▼
* Timur in ''Turandot'', at Liu's death: "Liu! Liu! Wake up!"▼
== [[Radio]] ==
* An American radio PSA from the 2000s against road rage features a mom getting impatient in traffic, a little kid saying "Mommy, Mommy, the light is red!", a car crash sound effect, and the kid saying "Mommy?...Wake up, Mommy!". Somewhat [[Narm]]-inducing due to its poor production value.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* Particularly dark example in the opening fiction to the ''Adamantine Arrow'' [[Sourcebook]] for ''[[
* In the ''[[
== [[Theatre]] ==
* One of the most gut-wrenching scenes in English literature comes at the end of [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[King Lear]]'', when Lear comes onstage with the body of his daughter Cordelia in his arms. Lear's recently recovered from a bout of madness due to Cordelia's care, and when she dies, he wavers between howling in grief and insisting that she's just sleeping:
{{quote|
''I might have saved her; now she's gone for ever!
''Cordelia, Cordelia! stay a little. Ha!
''What is't thou say'st? Her voice was ever soft,
''Gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman. }}
** He dies moments later.
* Inverted in ''Romeo and Juliet'' in which Juliet actually ''is'' just sleeping, but Romeo commits suicide out of despair. In some adaptations (such as [[Romeo + Juliet|the Baz Luhrmann movie]]), she wakes up ''while he's doing this''. Whoops.
** In the ballet version, Romeo shakes Juliet then picks up her "corpse" and dances with her before laying her back down and taking the poison. When Juliet comes to and finds Romeo dead she shakes him, but comes to the conclusion that he's dead much more quickly.
▲=== [[Opera]] ===
▲* Similarly to ''[[King Lear]]'', ''[[La Boheme]]'' concludes with Rodolfo remarking how peacefully his beloved Mimi is sleeping, and wondering why all his friends are staring at him... then it hits him. "MIMIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
▲* Timur in ''Turandot'', at Liu's death: "Liu! Liu! Wake up!"
== [[Video Games]] ==
* In ''[[
* ''[[
* Subverted in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]''. Rafa wants the dead Malak to wake up to watch the sunrise... and that prompts the ''one'' time that {{spoiler|God acts through a Zodiac Stone instead of the Lucavi, resurrecting him}}.
* Also, from ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'', you meet a Black Mage who's just buried his friend after he 'stopped moving'. "I sure hope he wakes up soon. I'm going to wash him off in the pond'. Semi-subversion in that most of the mages look like adults and don't understand death (or much about the world), while Vivi, the one that looks like a little kid, understands exactly what's going on and only avoids calling it death out of politeness. Some of the mages eventually grasp the concept, but continue to use the term anyway.
* Done with a heartbreaking extent in ''[[
* Celes's reaction to Cid's death in ''[[
* When the main character dies in ''[[Persona 3]]'', your [[Mission Control]] will occasionally exclaim "Oh no, please wake up!". In addition, {{spoiler|when the protagonist dies at the end of the main game, it's played as just being very tired and falling asleep. Only in The Answer from the [[Mission Pack Sequel]] is it confirmed that he did, in fact, die. The other characters also thought he was sleeping, and by the time they realized something was wrong, it was too late, and he was dead.}} Except for {{spoiler|Aigis, who, judging by the tone of her voice, [[Tear Jerker|was fully aware that the protagonist was dying.]]}}
* In ''[[.hack
* Aruruu, the loli of ''[[Utawarerumono]]'' goes through this after {{spoiler|her grandmother}} dies early on and may have again when {{spoiler|Teoro dies}}.
* In ''[[The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena]]'', shortly after Jaylor, the resident former
* In ''[[Beyond Good
* Louis' despair over Zoey's death in ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' has a variety of lines, including one that fits the trope perfectly. "God damn it, Zoey! WAKE UP!". Zoey herself will sometimes react this way to Bill's death.
* In [[Metal Gear|any of the ''Metal Gear'' games]], if and when you die, 99% of the time, someone from mission control screams the titular "Snake? Answer me! Snake? [[Say My Name|SNAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!]]"
* In the [[Multiple Endings|Bad Ending]] of Path A in ''[[Rondo of Swords]]'', {{spoiler|Altrius/Serdic}} is tired after a long battle and decides he needs to rest right then and there. This is followed by Marie trying to continue their conversation, calling his name, {{spoiler|"Altrius? ...Altrius?"}} His lack of a response strongly implies that he has kicked the bucket.
* In ''[[Uncharted
* In ''[[Alter Ego (video game)|Alter Ego]]'', this is a possible event. The player owns a goldfish during their early stages of their lives, and the goldfish eventually dies. The player, however, doesn't understand why the goldfish won't go after her food or interact with the player. The player can then decide to either hide the fish's body in their drawer or ask their mom about it. Even if they do the latter and Mom explains the concept of death to them, the player still doesn't seem too fazed about death even after flushing the goldfish down the toilet.
* One of Carter's sermons you can listen to in ''[[Harvest Moon|Harvest Moon: Friends Of Mineral Town]]'', features this trope, in the form of a little boy deciding to save up his pocket money to buy an alarm clock to 'wake up' his mother, after his father tells him that she's '
* One of the many background cries for help in various ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' levels.
* In the canon route of ''[[Blaze Union]]'', this is Eimi's reaction when the party gets together to mourn {{spoiler|Siskier}}. It's a partial subversion, as Eimi is stated in other routes to have seen a lot of death on her [[Walking the Earth|journey to find her brother]] and has a full understanding of
* In ''[[Heavy Rain]]'', this is Shaun's reaction if Ethan dies at the old warehouse.
* In ''[[
* Orta in the fourth ''[[Panzer Dragoon]]'' begs her fallen dragon to open its eyes once they have crashed to the ground from their battle with Abadd. {{spoiler|He doesn't. But that doesn't mean he left her alone.}}
* Tali, in ''[[
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Ian's [[Freudian Excuse]] in ''[[Red All Over]]''.
* [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/02/12/episode-383-spinal-snap/ This] episode of ''[[
{{quote|
[[Beat Panel|*beat*]]
[[Beat Panel|*beat*]]
'''Fighter:'''
[[Beat Panel|*beat*]]
'''Fighter:'''
* Played with in a very disturbing way by
{{quote|
* Done in a similar fashion in [http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/2008/05/im-flying/ this strip] of ''[[Amazing Super Powers]]''.
* An interesting variation in ''[[Walkyverse|It's Walky!]]'' is that it's a genuine, if sentimental appeal: the person in question ''could'' wake up, and does.
* [http://www.wtfcomics.com/archive.html?344_335 A variation] in ''[[WTF Comics]]''. The father has just taken a {{spoiler|nearly}} fatal blow protecting his child. This [http://www.wtfcomics.com/archive.html?344_336 triggers] the kid's [[Unstoppable Rage]]. {{spoiler|He gets better}}.
* Vul'Re to the Mother in ''[http://www.catalyst.spiderforest.com/ Catalyst]'': "Wake up. Please, wake up..."
* In ''[[
** It's really a shock to see him have this reaction, compared to [[Jerkass|how he normally acts.]]
** {{spoiler|JOHN. [[Tear Jerker|RISE UP.]]}}
** In the Squiddles soundtrack...this is played for creepiness in ''The Day The Unicorns Couldn't Play Trailer.'' [After the unicorns disappear] "Mommy? W-where are you, Mommy?...Are you with the unicorns?
** Gets a callback with {{spoiler|[[Heroic BSOD|PLEASE TELL ME THAT'S]] [[Alien Blood|JUST GRUB SAUCE]].}}
* In ''[[Something
* ''[[Strays]]'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20110830134138/http://www.straysonline.com/comic/163.htm A grown man's initial reaction after he killed a woman.] Then, such is his [[
== Web Original ==
* ''[[The Onion]]'' article "[https://web.archive.org/web/20100223081026/http://www.theonion.com/content/news/daddy_put_in_bye_bye_box Daddy Put In Bye Bye Box]". Written as a newspaper article from the child's point of view.
{{quote|
* The ''[[Zero Punctuation]]'' review of ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum]]'' portrays [[Batman]] accidentally pouncing on a cat, who is then surrounded by kittens.
{{quote|
* The old ''[[
* This is Albert Lions' reaction to finding Augustus "Dougal" MacDougal's corpse in ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]''.
{{quote|
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHgIQYvv9kk Parodied in this video.] It seems to be played straight at first, but then comes [[The Stinger]].
* From the ''[[
{{quote|
Dr. ███████: (to himself) Jesus, why did they make me tell it? (to 1073) He, he died. Do you understand what that means?
SCP-1073-2: That happens in the stories. It doesn't happen here. He'll be back. }}
* In [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mUjssn86h4 this YouTube video] a girl is begging her friend to wake up after he is killed in unknown circumstances, but it's all in vain.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* 'Dad, Dad, wake up!'. Pictured Above, Simba says something like this in one of cinema's [[Tear Jerker|most profoundly saddening scenes]], from ''[[The Lion King]]''. Simba was likely aware of what had happened, considering his [[Big No]] when Mufasa fell, so this scene comes more from denial.
{{quote|
* ''[[Once Upon a Forest]]'' had Cornelius sing a SONG with the title of the trope to his niece when she was injured trying to save her parents from the poisonous gas.
* ''[[The Land Before Time]]'' Little Foot's mother. As [[Xkcd
* ''[[South Park]]'':
** The series mocked this trope in "Woodland Critter Christmas" when Stan kills a mountain lion. Turns out [[Monster Is a Mommy]], and the adorable cubs come out and utter the familiar line. Don't worry, she comes [[Back
** Also in ''[[South Park]]'', Cartman tries to revive Kyle in the Imaginationland episode, desperately shouting out to Kyle to live, and going as far to doing CPR on him...so he can make him suck his balls later.
* In one of the stranger ''[[Pinky and The Brain]]'' episodes, the mice are forced to watch scenes like this in an experiment, which gives Brain the idea to make a movie so sad that all the world's leaders will be too depressed to stop him from taking over. One of the scenes is pretty much ''[[The Lion King]]'', but with [[Misplaced Wildlife|tigers]]: "Papa, wake up. You have to wake up Papa!"
Line 324 ⟶ 313:
* Played for laughs in the ''[[Family Guy]]'' Season 5 finale, "Meet The Quagmires", where Peter flashbacks to when his goldfish died and he fed it as it overfilled the bowl, saying "It's okay, Lieutenant Shinysides, you're just sleeping! You'll eat it later!" and starts crying.
* Played devastatingly straight in the episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' entitled "Mona Leaves-a". Homer's mother returns again, and Homer calls her out on her constant abandonment and goes to bed angry. with some wise words from Marge, he decides to apologize, making his mom a card. He goes downstairs, where she's sitting in a chair:
{{quote|
* In the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "Rebirth", Leela is dead and nothing The Professor tries wakes her. Obviously she got better.
{{quote|
* ''[[Justice League]]'': Lex Luthor's [[Kryptonite Ring]] finally gives him terminal cancer. He goes looking for Dr. Ivo, the only person who might be able to cure him. He ends up meeting Dr. Ivo's final creation, A.M.A.Z.O., who is patiently waiting for the Doctor to "wake up." Lex sees an opportunity and asks A.M.A.Z.O. to steal medical supplies (oh and kill the League while you're at it) or he'll "go to sleep and not wake up, just like the Doctor."
* Ralph Bakshi's ''[[Wizards]]'' jams this one, [[They Killed Kenny]], [[Not Dead Yet]], this one again, and [[They Killed Kenny]] ''again'' into one short scene for one of the Evil Wizard's Mooks in the major battle scene when his buddy is shot.
* In Disney's ''[[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|The Jungle Book]]'', Mowgli says this to Baloo when the bear has apparently died fighting Shere Khan. Bagheera begins to try to gently explain this to the boy but, this being [[Disney Death|Disney]], Baloo is of course [[Not Quite Dead]]. Walt Disney himself insisted the bear should live, after a previous [[Tear Jerker]] movie {{spoiler|'''Old Yeller'''}} in which a beloved character died.
* Hilariously subverted in [[Chuck Jones]]' ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' short [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cugri2hBqxA ''A Bear For Punishment''], when Junyer Bear
{{quote|
(Dad's hand comes in from off-screen, yanking Junyer into other room. Sounds of Junyer getting the crapola beaten out of him, followed by him poking his head back thru the door.)
'''Junyer''': Pa is all right now!
(beating continues) }}
* [[Tex Avery]]'s MGM cartoon ''Lonesome Lenny'' has [[Screwy Squirrel]] taken in as a pet for a [[Of Mice and Men|suspiciously familiar]] dog. Both near the start and at the end, he states with a hint of regret, "[[And Call Him George|Ya know, I had a little friend once...but he don't move no more!]]". Each time, he pulled out the body of that "little friend". The first one was a mouse. The second one was Screwy himself. Fittingly enough, this was actually [[Killed Off for Real|the final Screwy Squirrel cartoon]].
* In one of the most (if only) depressing ''[[Rugrats]]'' episodes, Chuckie is in serious denial over the death of his little bug, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STIgBDYeRO0 Melville]. Dang... this episode hurts more to watch than I remembered...
* In an episode of ''[[Arthur]]'', [[Death
* In ''[[Finding Nemo]]'', Nemo fakes being dead in order to get flushed to the ocean, but Darla finds the bag he's faking dead in and proceeds to invoke this trope, shaking the bag and yelling at him to wake up.
* In [[Disney
* ''[[
* Played for laughs in the Al Brodax-produced ''[[Popeye]]'' cartoon
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Grimly humorous example from ''Thinning the Herd'' (which is basically a [[Darwin Awards]] [[Follow the Leader]]): someone died, and was left there for ''months'' because his sons believed he was just resting. (Insert your own ''[[Monty Python]]'' reference here).
* Rachel Nickell was murdered in front of her two-year-old son, Alex; a passerby found him clinging to his mother's blood-soaked body, repeating the words "Wake up, Mummy", with [[Innocent Inaccurate|a piece of paper stuck to her forehead as a bandage]].
* In her autobiography, ''First They Killed My Father'', Cambodian Loung Ung imagines what happened when her mother and younger sister were executed by the Khmer Rouge. In the scenario she creates, her mother is killed first and her sister (who is "too young to understand what has just happened") is killed while vainly trying to make the mother get up. Of course, there is no way of knowing what actually happened in this case.
* Apparently one of the young children in the Donner Party tried to wake up their mother's half eaten corpse.
* Lakotah warrior and holy man Black Elk said he saw a baby trying to nurse from its dead mother at the Wounded Knee massacre.
* Apparently, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaP7STV1aFs this cat]. For that matter, cats do this every day to their owners. They start off with sniffing them, then poke them in the face.
* Anyone who's ever witnessed a relative die in front of them has likely uttered these words or some variation thereof at some point.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131013233613/http://www.chinasmack.com/2010/pictures/shenzhen-son-refuses-to-believe-father-is-dead.html This man from Shenzhen, China, whose father suddenly died.]
* Female chimpanzees have been observed in the wild, carrying their dead infants as if refusing to accept that they have died. In another instance, an older female died of natural causes, and her young son didn't stop returning to try to wake her up until maggots appeared on her carcass.
* Dolphin mothers often behave similarly if their calf is stillborn or dies soon after birth, pushing it to the surface with their noses so it can breathe and carrying it around until decay sets in.
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