Bearer of Bad News: Difference between revisions
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When dealing with villains, may combine with [[You Have Failed Me]], leading to [[Shoot the Messenger]].
When dealing with heroes, there is merely the horrible pain that you know you will inflict. In comic stories, it is often merely your imagination. In dramatic works, it is usually as bad, or worse, than you expect; the
Characters who frequently bring bad news may be blamed for it, and regarded as actively unlucky. [[Talk to the Fist]] is possible with hot-tempered recipients. If you're translating for such a character or a [[Bad Boss]] or [[Big Bad]] type, you might want to try to do a [[Tactful Translation]] in order to avoid the pain. Accusations of [[Malicious Slander]] may also follow.
The [[Herald]] and the [[Almost-Dead Guy]] are often
Often with a preamble of "You'd better sit down..." [[He Didn't Make It]] is one of the [[Death Notification|commonest]], and hardest.
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== [[Film]] ==
* In ''[[A League of Their Own]]'', a [[Obstructive Bureaucrat Western|Union man would have been the bearer]] (of {{spoiler|Betty's husband's death}}), but [[Rules Lawyer|he treats it so disrespectfully
* The premise of ''The Messenger'' (2009), about an American army officer whose job is to inform the relatives of soldiers that their loved ones have died in Iraq.
* The taxi cab driver in ''[[We Were Soldiers]]''. Mrs. Moore is not pleased when he scares her by coming to her door with the telegram, only to ask for directions to another house. He sadly replies that [[Tear Jerker|he didn't want that job, he's just trying to do it.]] <ref>
* This is one of the duties of Robert Sean Leonard's character in ''[[Swing Kids]]'', as part of his Nazi training. Thing is, he doesn't actually ''know'' that he's delivering bad news - he's just delivering boxes. When one of the recipients screams after opening hers, he opens the one he has yet to deliver and sees that {{spoiler|he's bringing Jewish widows - who had been ''unaware that they were widows'' - the ashes of their husbands}}.
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* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[Gaunt's Ghosts]] novel ''Only In Death'', when Ludd and Beltayn had just managed to secure the water they desperately needed, Rawne had had to break the bad news from the battle.
{{quote|''Ludd and Beltayn had been so proud of their achievement. Rawne had taken no pleasure in wiping the smiles off their faces and the triumph out of their hearts.''}}
* In [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Grima Wormtongue dubs Gandalf "Lathspell"—ill
** He's also nicknamed "Stormcrow" due to his reputation for showing up just as things are about to get very bad.
*** Denethor also professes his dislike of Gandalf for the same reasons, though less aggressively
* There's also a true
{{quote|'''Galadriel:''' "Thy coming to us is as the footstep of doom." }}
* In [[James Swallow]]'s [[Warhammer 40000]] [[Horus Heresy]] novel ''The Flight of the Eisenstein'', {{spoiler|Dorn}} [[Talk to the Fist|strikes]] Garro for the news he brought. {{spoiler|Then, as Qruze [[With Due Respect|pointed out]], Dorn had clearly held the blow, which could have killed Garro, because he wanted to hear it all. He listens to the rest, and accuses him of insanity. When Garro accuses him of blindness, he decides to execute him. Only Keller's intervention saves him.}}
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* In [[Wen Spencer]]'s ''Endless Blue'', Mikhail recognizes the bearers of bad news by their expressions. {{spoiler|They confirm that Turk was murdered, rather than dying in an accident.}}
* In [[Ben Counter]]'s [[Warhammer 40000]] novel ''[[Soul Drinkers|Hell-Forged]]'', despite Lygris's [[Frozen Face]], Sarpedon can tell he brought bad news.
* In [[James Swallow]]'s [[Warhammer 40000]] [[Blood Angels]] novel ''Deus Sanguinius'', Mephiston meets Dante in the garden to bring him
** Later, Stele brings Arkio news of why the power plant failed and warns him that it was hard. Arkio is angry that he tries to shelter
* In the [[Discworld]] book ''[[Discworld/Night Watch|Night Watch]]'', Nobby Nobbs is ''never'' allowed to be this, due to what is [[Noodle Incident|only referred to]] as "the "bet you a dollar you're the widow Jackson" nonsense".
** It's not much of a [[Noodle Incident]]; it's quite obvious what happened. Nobby shows up at the door to tell Mrs Jackson that her husband is dead and offers to 'bet you a dollar that you're the widow Jackson'. Ouch.
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* From [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]:
{{quote|Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws. The Hingefreel people of Arkintoofle Minor did try to build spaceships that were powered by bad news but they didn't work particularly well and were so extremely unwelcome whenever they arrived anywhere that there wasn't really any point in being there.}}
* Toward the end of the [[Elenium]] trilogy, Sparhawk dreads having to deliver the news of {{spoiler|his squire Kurik's death to his wife}}. He reaches the house only to find that she already knows, having received the information from another
* In the ballad ''Gorm Grymme'' by the German writer Theodor Fontane, king Gorm of Denmark loves his son Harald dearly and one yule day he tells his vassals that anyone who brought him the news of his son's death would die within an hour. So when Harald is killed in battle, nobody wants to inform the king. Queen Thyra then manages to convey the message to Gorm without words, by taking off her jewelry, dressing in black, lighting twelve candles and covering the great hall and throne with black drapes.
* In Teresa Frohock's ''[[Miserere: An Autumn Tale|Miserere an Autumn Tale]]'', Lindsey's brother dies, but it's several chapters before Raechel, who knows, connects with her. Then she has Lucian do it, since he's her Elder.
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* In [[Antony and Cleopatra]], a messenger has to tell Cleopatra that Antony has remarried. [[Shoot the Messenger|She is not happy]].
** An earlier scene has a messenger that lampshades this trope and foreshadows the beating that Cleopatra would give.
* This is the entire purpose of messengers in classical tragedy. And they're usually [[Spear Carrier
* Watch [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ei_hTwjAo=related this] (from 2:21) for some insight into the role of messengers in Elizabethan theatre. According to Rowan Atkinson.
* Subverted in George Bernard Shaw's ''Caesar and Cleopatra'', where the garrison of a border post receives a bearer of evil tidings with much fuss and honour. A Persian mercenary expresses surprise at this, and his commander explains:
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