To Absent Friends: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''The flame of the inn is dim tonight,<br />

''Too many vacant chairs.<br />

''The sun has lost too much of its light,<br />

''Too many songs have taken flight,<br />

''Too many ghosts on the stairs.<br />

''[[Grim Reaper|Charon]], here's to you as man against man,<br />

''I wish I could pick 'em the way you can!''|'''Grantland Rice'''}}

Two or more characters gather to grieve for a dead comrade, without a formalized structure. They reminiscence about the fallen, how much he will be missed -- ormissed—or has been missed.

An actual wake is possible, as the bereaved can talk and drink without a ceremony to go through. Or they may meet somewhere, and talk. (They may not even intend to grieve, but they end up doing so.) A bar is likely, because the wake often involves alcohol -- soalcohol—so often that it generally does not appear only if it is impossible. Expect the dead to be toasted. ([[Drowning My Sorrows]] may convert into this if the drinker bumps into another friend.) Sometimes the drink is poured on the ground as a [[Libation for Thethe Dead]].

Suitable for a [[Bittersweet Ending]] or a [[Downer Ending]], but can happen anywhere in a story -- evenstory—even as a [[Framing Device]] at the very beginning of a work that [[Starts Withwith Their Funeral]]. Remembering the sacrifice may inspire characters to fight on, lest it have been a [[Senseless Sacrifice]].

** And let's not forget Yusuke-the-ghost attending his own wake in the [[Death Byby Origin Story|very first episode.]]

* In ''[[Monster (Animemanga)|Monster]]'', {{spoiler|Grimmer's}} grave gets a visit.

* {{spoiler|Maes Hughes'}} grave in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Mangamanga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]''.

** There is a scene in [[Fullmetal Alchemist (Animeanime)|the 2003 anime adaptation]] where his widow comes to visit the grave, only to discover that someone else has already left flowers. Yes, {{spoiler|Roy Mustang}}, we're looking at you.

* When {{spoiler|Wolfwood}} dies in the ''[[Trigun]]'' manga, he and Vash share a final drink while he goes in what effectively ''is'' his wake. Then, when Livio wakes up from healing the fight damage, Vash has made a vast quantity of spaghetti, and their spaghetti-eating is several symbolic things, including an affirmation of life, a signal of Vash's willingness to accept Livio, and a meal in honor of {{spoiler|Wolfwood}}. It is the saddest spaghetti ever.

** Vash also pours a bottle of whiskey off an observation platform in the anime version of Inepril. Not even clear just who he's honoring, but it's probably the dead in general. He has a lot of them.

{{quote| '''Hob Gadling:''' To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the devil his due.}}

* This trope is the title to Chapter II in ''[[Watchmen (Comic Bookcomics)|Watchmen]]'', showing the funeral of the Comedian and how his attending colleagues remember him.

* ''[[The Flash|]]'': The Rogues]] do this after one of their own is killed. They then have a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|"Rogue's Wake"]]

== Fan FanfictionWorks ==

** Also played straight in ''[[Star Trek: Nemesis]]''.

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[GauntsGaunt's Ghosts]] novel ''Only In Death'' after Gaunt's {{spoiler|apparent}} death, Larkin barges into Rawne's office although Rawne is the commander. They reminesce about their Founding and how few of them are left, whom Gaunt took off Tanith. Larkin proposes toast to "Old Ghosts"; Rawne, to "Staying alive"; and then, in unison, they toast "Ibram Gaunt."

* The [[The Riftwar Cycle|novelisation]] of ''[[Betrayal Atat Krondor]]'' ends with this {{spoiler|in honour of Gorath, complete with a toast.}}

* Occurs in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s [[Discworld]] novel ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Night Watch (Discworld)|Night Watch]]'', where the members of the Revolution gather every year on the twenty-fifth of May to remember their comrades who were killed.

* In William King's [[Warhammer 4000040,000]] [[Space Wolf]] novel ''Ragnar's Claw'', after Ragnar is gravely injured and {{spoiler|Lars}} killed, Ragnar is too ill to attend the funeral. When he is well enough to stand, the other young Space Marine gather, and their first words are "To {{spoiler|Lars}}."

* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s [[Warhammer 4000040,000]] novel ''Storm Of Iron'', {{spoiler|Leonid}} opens [[You Are in Command Now|his first briefing]] by offering a toast to his predecessor.

{{quote| "Here's tae us."<br />

"Wha's like us?"<br />

"Damn few."<br />

{{quote| '''Runt''': "Face cannot drink yet, but we can drink to him."<br />

'''Janson''': "And to Ton Phanan and Castin Donn."<br />

'''Dia''': "And to scars you can peel off whenever you no longer need them."<br />

'''Face''': "And to-"<br />

'''Dia''': "And to friends who don't try to fool you all the time."<br />

** Weber manages a particularly vicious subversion of this in [[Honor Harrington (Literature)|''Echoes of Honor'']], when Honor's Mother's pregnancy has been announced and that therefore Honor's sibling will secede her as Steadholder Harrington. Admiral Yanakov asks to make a toast. One expects this trope to be invoked, and is instead given: {{spoiler|''"Your Grace, My Lords and Ladies, Ladies and Gentlemen all, I give you Steadholder Harrington....''and damnation to the Peeps!''"''}}

* In [[Jim Butcher]]'s ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' novel ''Turn Coat'', {{spoiler|Morgan}} is officially denied a [[Meaningful Funeral]] as part of the coverup. They resort to an impromptu wake instead.

* [[Gentleman Bastard Sequence|Locke Lamora]] practices the Camorri tradition of "pouring a glass to air," setting out a drink for a friend who's gone -- whethergone—whether that means dead, or simply long absent.

* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s "[[Beyond the Black River (Literature)|Beyond the Black River]]", [[Conan the Barbarian]] and the sole survivor of the fort discuss the deaths at the end, particularly Valannus and Balthus.

* The first book of the Invasion cycle in the ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering]]'' books ends with this. The united forces of Dominaria have dealt a mighty defeat to the invading Phyrexians, and there's a massive celebration. But three men sit apart: Urza, {{spoiler|who lost longtime friend Barrin}}, Gerrard, {{spoiler|who lost his love Hanna}}, and Agnate, {{spoiler|who dealt a mercy kill to his 'brother' and comrade Thaddeus}}.

* In a few of hisSpider Robinson's ''[[CallahansCallahan's Crosstime Saloon|Callahans']]'' books, Jake and the gang deliver what they call the "All-Purpose Toast"; "Here's to all those who weren't as lucky."

{{quote| "To the Admiral..." (murmurs of approval) "who commands the men and women of Galactica!" (Apollo takes athe firstthird shot, amidstwith cheers)<br />of approval)

"To theour mensweethearts, husbands, and women of Galacticawives!" (Apollo takesdowns athe secondfourth shot, amidst morethe cheers)<br />of the previous toast. He then waits for the room to settle before delivering the final toast)

{{quote| '''Starbuck:''' To BB, Jo-Jo, Reilly, Beano, Dipper, Flat Top, Chuckles, Jolly, Crashdown, Sheppard, Dash, Flyboy, Stepchild, Puppet, Fireball...(stops, crying)<br />

'''Apollo:''' To all of 'em.<br />

'''Admiral Adama:''' So say we all.<br />

'''Crew:''' So say we all.<br />

'''Starbuck:''' So say we all. }}

* ''[[News Radio]]'' had one of these episodes for Phil Hartman's character [[The Character Died Withwith Him|after Phil's real-life death]]. Despite the attempts of the writers to inject some humor into the scene it fell painfully flat as the cast was barely holding it together.

* ''[[Sesame Street]]''. Mister Hooper. That is all.

* At the end of ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]'' episode "Captain Jack Harkness", Jack and Tosh have a toast "To Captain Jack" in honor of the war hero whose identity Jack appropriated.

* In the final episode of ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'' Sheridan invites his surviving friends to have [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|dinner with him one last time]]. He then invokes the trope by name, and they name absent friends to toast to. Garibaldi names G'Kar, Vir names Londo, Delenn names Lennier, and Dr. Franklin and Ivanova name Marcus.

* ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' has an episode in which they find Scotty persevered in a transporter beam for over seventy years. As the events of the episode wear down on Scotty, he takes a private moment alone in a holodeck simulation of the original Enterprise where he toasts to his now gone comrades.

* In the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space 9]]'' episode 'The Sound of Her Voice', the crew of the Defiant holds a wake for {{spoiler|Lisa Cusak}} which ends with Miles O'Brien making a speech that brings this troper close to tears. Made even more moving by the fact that this is {{spoiler|the very end of the episode before Jadzia's death, arguably the first true main cast kill outside of the films.}}

{{quote| ''The war changed us... pulled us apart... I want my friends in my life, because someday we're going to wake up and we're going to find that someone is missing from this circle. On that day, we're going to mourn, and we shouldn't have to mourn alone.''}}

* The closing in scene of "The Breaking Point" in ''[[Band of Brothers (TV series)|Band of Brothers]]'' has Sgt. Lipton narrating while he and the rest of Easy Company are resting in a church. He begins listing off the casualties they suffered over the course of the Battle of the Bulge and the corresponding soldiers start fading away until the church looks ''far'' emptier than it did before. [[Tear Jerker|It's a particularly heart-rending scene.]]

* In the finale for ''[[Space: Above and Beyond]]'', Wang gives one of these, listing every Wildcard to die during the show's run, ''as part of the [[Battle Cry]] that he gives during his [[Last Stand]] to [[Heroic Sacrifice|cover the escape of the ship carrying the rescued colonists]].

* The Freddie Frinton sketch ''[[Dinner for One (Theatre)|Dinner for One]]'', which is shown every New Year's Eve on German, Austrian and Swiss TV.

{{quote| ''He puts on a suit over his Airborne tatoo''<br />

''And he ties it on one time a year''<br />

''He remembers the fallen as he orders a tall one''<br />

* [[Lunasa]] has a song called "Absent Friends", and it invokes the feeling of this trope rather well. It begins slow and mournful, as a gathering of friends remembering their fallen would be. Midway through, however, the tempo picks up notably, perhaps as a way of saying "Our absent friends wouldn't want us to mourn forever, so lets knock one back, for them!"

* Both named and unnamed characters will participate in a small but significant battle in ''[[Dragon Age]] Origins]]''. The cut scene which follows will vary according to which named characters fell in the battle.

* Commander Shepard can do this in ''[[Mass Effect]] 2]]'' when drinking with Doctor Chakwas. In ''3,'' several characters do this as the body count climbs. Tali actually gets [[Drowning My Sorrows|plastered]] while mourning {{spoiler|Miranda}}, if the latter doesn't survive {{spoiler|Sanctuary}}.

* After the quest "All that Remains" {{spoiler|in which Leandra dies}} in ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', Aveline will ask how Hawke is feeling in her office. After recounting how her own father died, Aveline will offer a drink to Hawke. Hawke can propose a toast to those they have lost.

* The ending cinematic for ''[[Legend of Dragoon]]'' shows Dart placing a mug next to a picture of Lavitz.

* Snap and Crackle on ''[[Family Guy]]'' toast Pop who fell in the [[It Makes Sense in Context|Keebler Elves attack.]]

* In Santa Rosa, atAt the Charles Schultz Museum [httphttps://www.schulzmuseum.org\/ Charles M. Schultz Museum] in Santa Rosa, CA there is a table still set for him at the adjacent Warm Puppy cafe. People are welcome to sit there, and share his favorite space.

* Subverted in an old joke about an Irishman (or other stereotypical hard drinker) who goes to a bar every week and orders a round of three drinks--onedrinks—one for himself and two for his brothers, who are alive but live far away. Each brother does this as a sort of long-distance show of kinship. One day he shows up and orders only two drinks--thedrinks—the bartender, fearing the worst, offers his sympathies but it turns out one of the brothers had just given up drinking.