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The Lost Lenore: Difference between revisions
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* Everything [[Tragic Villain]] Aki does in ''[[Kamisama Dolls]]'' is to [[Rape and Revenge|avenge her dead lover]], and her death also weighs heavily on his [[Green-Eyed Monster|former friend]] Kyohei.
* Yui Ikari from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. Everything [[Manipulative Bastard|Gendo Ikari]] does stems from her. {{spoiler|Mainly to get her out of Unit-01.}}
* Souichiro, Kyoko's late husband, from ''[[Maison Ikkoku]]''. She was very much in love with him, and an unwillingness to disrespect his memory is the major roadblock for [[Romancing the Widow|Kyoko and Godai's relationship.]]
* Kikyo from ''[[Inuyasha]]''. Her apparent betrayal is a primary source of Inuyasha's initial [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|misanthropy]], and his [[Reincarnation Romance|attraction to Kagome]] initially stems from her [[Doppelganger Replacement Love Interest|resemblance to Kikyo.]] And then she gets [[Damaged Soul|resurrected]] and it becomes a full-blown [[Love Triangle]].
* Casca from ''[[Berserk]]'' is this to Guts, and is an interesting zigzagged case throughout. She did not die, but was nonetheless "lost" via a brutal [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]] ordeal that left her [[Go Mad From the Revelation|psychologically gone,]] making her a Lenore AND an [[The Ophelia|Ophelia.]] Because the story starts [[In Medias Res]], this technically happens before the story begins [[Prolonged Prologue|during a flashback,]] not to mention that even though Casca is not dead, Casca has been insane for most of the series and her insanity has played a bigger role in the course of the story than when she was sane (much to the chagrin of the fanbase), since a) her insanity caused by {{spoiler|Griffith violently raping her in front of Guts}} drove Guts to [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|revenge]] the most, b) the loss of love and affection that Casca provided Guts [[Heartbroken Badass|constantly anguishes him]], and c) the entire drive of the story as of recently is Guts trying to find a cure for Casca's insanity, thus trying to make her "unlost."
* Kye Wol Hyang from [[Shin Angyo Onshi]], who died before the start of the series, but her death was the main reason Munsu was able to fight the big bad, or had the motivation to endure months and years of travel alone, plotting his revenge against Aji Tae. While he didn't stay chaste after her death (A couple of encounters and just at the beginning of the series), he never took another lover {{spoiler|and in the end, he reunited with her in the afterlife}}
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* In ''Powers That Be'', the first book of [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Petaybee]]'' series, the death of Yana's first husband is suggested to be the reason she joined the [[Mega Corp|InterGal's]] military in the first place (which led to the injuries that led her to be shipped to Petaybee, the company's version of a desk job in a podunk town). Her growing feelings for Sean Shongili bring back memories of Husband #1.
* In Hideyuki Kikuchi's ''Invader Summer'', the main character's abiding love for his deceased [[She Is Not My Girlfriend|not-my-girlfriend]] is the only thing which keeps him from falling under the [[More Than Mind Control|spell]] of the titular invader, unlike every other male who sees her.
* Lyanna Stark in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', mourned by her ex-betrothed Robert Baratheon.
** Tysha for Tyrion Lannister.
** On the same note, Joanna for Tywin Lannister. Her [[Death by Childbirth]] is one of the main reasons Tywin hates his son Tyrion so much.
* Another male example is the titular character's deceased husband in Stephen King's ''[[Lisey's Story|Liseys Story]]''.
* Emily in Jodi Picault's ''[[The Pact]]''.
* [[Manfred]] takes this trope [[Up to Eleven]].
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* Laura Palmer in ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' may not have had an explicit love interest, but she was such an object of fascination and mystery to so many characters, and her murder and the investigation thereof so crucial to the plot of the series, that she qualifies for this trope.
* Trudy in ''[[Monk]]''.
* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' has several:
** Mary for all the Winchesters. She's the motivation for much of the first two series and Zachariah tortures her soul ( or an artificial copy of her) because he knows it will upset Sam and Dean.
** Jessica is Sam's Lost Lenore. She appears as a hallucination and in his dreams. Lucifer wears her form the first time he talks to Sam, so that he'll be more convincing ( and possibly for the sake of [[Ho Yay|fanservice]] ).
** Lucifer also tries a similar trick with his first vessel Nick, who had lost his wife in a violent crime.
** And Bobby has his wife, whose death he has never quite gotten over. It's the motivation for everything he's done and if Bobby is getting an episode in the spotlight, chances are fifty-fifty that his wife will appear at some point. Supernatural loves this trope.
* Inverted in a ''[[That Mitchell and Webb Look]]'' sketch involving a parody of the film ''[[Rebecca]]''. The eponymous Rebecca arrives at her new husband's house only to find out he is obsessed with preserving everything in the house for his ''second'' wife.
* Male example - and doubly unique and interesting as he is the Lost Lenore to another male character - Brandon from Season One of ''[[The Wire]]'', whose death continued to have ramifications through subsequent seasons.
* {{spoiler|Tasha Yar}} of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' becomes this for Data, for all he doesn't have feelings. He keeps a hologram of her in his quarters, which becomes a plot point, and becomes friends with her sister {{spoiler|and is hurt when she betrays him}}. Also, {{spoiler|he makes an enemy of her [[It Makes Sense in Context|alternate timeline half-Romulan daughter]], who's appearances serve to remind him of Tasha}}
* Patrick's wife counts in ''[[The Mentalist]].'' Her murder by Red John is what fuels all his actions in the series after.
* Fiona Carter in ''[[Spooks]]''.
* It's implied that [[Doctor Who|the Doctor]] might have at least one of these.
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* And [[Shout-Out|a pretty similar thing]] happens to the main character on ''[[Nikita (TV series)|Nikita]]''. Owen has his own example in Emily.
* John might qualify for Olivia in ''[[Fringe]]''.
* Two from ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'': Freya, Merlin's [[Girl of the Week]] who dies in his arms and becomes the Lady of the Lake, and Queen Igraine, King Uther's wife and Arthur's mother. She's a [[Posthumous Character]] whose death is the result of a [[Balancing Death's Books|spell that allowed to her concieve]], and who kick-started Uther's [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] against magical users, setting up the main conflict of the entire show (that Merlin has to keep his magical abilities a secret).
* Jessica in ''[[Person of Interest]]'' is this for Reese.
** Finch seems to be this with respect to his fiancee Grace--he's still alive, but because he faked his death, she doesn't know this.
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* Farah in ''[[Prince of Persia]]''.
* Mono from ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]''. Bringing her back to life is the entire premise of the plot.
** In [[Castlevania: Lords of Shadow]], Gabriel's wife Marie plays a role almost identical to Mono's, albeit a bit more involved.
* Depending on the player's actions in ''[[Mass Effect]]'', this {{spoiler|ends up happening. Liara, in particular, is affected by Shepard's death--though her character development is partially a facade due to emotional trauma and survivor guilt}}.
* David's wife Laura in the adventure game ''[[Gray Matter]]''.
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== Real Life ==
* [[Trope Codifier|Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe]], the wife of [[Edgar Allan Poe]] and inspiration behind the various Lenore characters he wrote about. She was his thirteen year old cousin whom he married when he was 27, although their marriage was (according to ''some'' biographers) never consummated. Poe was more interested in hearing himself talk than having sex. Nevertheless, when she died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty nine, Poe never quite got over it.
** Poe's mother is perhaps the ur-example...an actress abandoned by Poe's father, she died of (assumed) tuberculosis when Edgar was two or three years old. According to some accounts, when she was found, her toddler son was curled up with her, trying to find comfort from her cooling body. (This was after he'd watched her "die" repeatedly as Juliet on stage, only to see her alive and well in the dressing room afterwards...is it any wonder that love, beauty and death got all mixed up in the poor kid's mind?)
* Princess Diana to Prince Charles although he got better.
* An enigmatic individual by the name of "Sook" was allegedly this to Truman Capote. His last words were "[[Tear Jerker|It's me, Buddy]]." "Buddy" apparently, was Sook's nickname for him.
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[[Category:Unrequited Love Tropes]]
[[Category:The Lost Lenore]]
[[Category:Backstory Tropes]]
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