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{{trope}}
{{quote|''The flame of the inn is dim tonight,
''Too many vacant chairs.
''The sun has lost too much of its light,
''Too many songs have taken flight,
''Too many ghosts on the stairs.
''[[Grim Reaper|Charon]], here's to you as man against man,
''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
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
Soldiers on a mission may start to talk, and lead to this, if they are waiting for something and have lost a comrade. (The situation in which alcohol is least likely to feature. But the [[Military Moonshiner]] may have some.)
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May also feature long after the death (or deaths) as characters remember all their dead and [[Famed in Story|tell stories of them]]. The toast is often "To absent friends". This can overlap with [[Tell Me About My Father]].
Suitable for a [[Bittersweet Ending]] or a [[Downer Ending]], but can happen anywhere in a
Contrast [[Forgotten Fallen Friend]], [[Dead Guy, Junior]].
{{deathtrope}}
{{examples}}
* In ''[[
▲== Anime&Manga ==
▲* In ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' when {{spoiler|the real L, the [[Hero Antagonist]]}} dies, Light laughs on his grave, subverting this trope.
* Raizen's old comrades-in-arms gather at his grave with lots of sake and flowers in ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]].''
** And let's not forget Yusuke-the-ghost attending his own wake in the [[Death
* In ''[[Monster (
* {{spoiler|Maes Hughes'}} grave in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (
** There is a scene in [[Fullmetal Alchemist (
* 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.
* The end of ''[[Guilty Crown]]'' has this for {{spoiler|Hare,}} who died seven episodes earlier. The final episode features the surviving cast sitting together at a table with a cake that says "Happy Birthday {{spoiler|Hare}}" with an empty seat in front of it.
== Comic Books ==
* The focus of the first half of volume ten (appropriately titled the Wake) of ''[[
▲* The focus of the first half of volume ten (appropriately titled the Wake) of ''[[The Sandman (Comic Book)|The Sandman]]''.
** Also invoked in "Season of Mists".
{{quote|
* In ''[[The Mighty Thor]]'', after Skurge the Executioner [[More Hero Than Thou|settles whether he or Thor]] will say [[You Shall Not Pass]] (by knocking out Thor), Skurge asks them to remember him at Asgard. Later, when Thor and Skurge meet in Hel, Skurge asks, and Thor is grieved to have to tell him that crises have kept them too busy to do so.
* This trope is the title to Chapter II in ''[[Watchmen (
* ''[[The Flash
* At the end of ''Nexus: Alien Justice'', Horatio, Sundra, and Judah toast: "To absent friends and those still here. To justice, and home-brewed beer!" Something of a subversion, in that at least two of the friends they're toasting, Dave and GQ, are alive and well, just absent, and then GQ pops right back in just at that moment anyway.
== Fan
* In the ''[[
▲* In [[Chronicles Of The Crusade]], Sheridan, Garibaldi, Ivanova, Delenn, Vir and Franklin play this trope in the prologue.
== Film ==
▲* Played straight in ''[[Star Trek III the Search For Spock]]''.
** Not totally for Spock, as Bones was unable to attend the get-together due to his apparent breakdown a couple scenes before.
** Also played straight in ''[[Star Trek: Nemesis]]''.
* Théoden's heartfelt "Hail to the victorious dead!" speech in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]: Return of the King'', as the Rohirrim remember their fallen brethren after the Battle of Helm's Deep.
* Subverted in ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]''. Frank proposes a toast "to absent friends". Unbeknownst to everyone but Frank (and possibly Riff-Raff and Magenta), the body of the recently slain Eddie is right under the table they're dining on.
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== Literature ==
* Nearly universal in any sort of military fiction
* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[
* The [[The Riftwar Cycle|novelisation]] of ''[[Betrayal
* Happens in the book ''First To Fight'' by David Sherman and Dan Cragg, it pops up throughout the rest of the series as well. To be expected, in a military series.
* Occurs in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s [[Discworld]] novel ''[[
* In William King's [[Warhammer
** In Lee Lightner's ''Wolf's Honour'', Ragnar and {{spoiler|Torin}} talk of {{spoiler|Haegr}} at their last meeting.
* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s [[Warhammer
** Later, alone in his office, he pours himself a glass and drinks "To {{spoiler|Princeps Daekin}}". Captain Eshara joins him, and they exchange condolences over the deaths in their respective forces.
* One of [[George Macdonald Fraser]]'s ''[[McAuslan]]'' stories features an impromptu informal party with the narrator (a young officer) and a handful of his men. They use the old four-part toast to lost friends:
{{quote|
"Wha's like us?"
"Damn few."
"And they're a' deid." }}
* Fairly common amongst [[Star Wars|New Republic]] fighter pilots, especially [[X Wing Series|Rogue and Wraith squadrons]]. Notably, whenever the Wraiths do it, ''somebody'' is obliged to [[Mood Whiplash|make a smartass remark]]. For example, the end of ''Iron Fist'', after Face has been released from the medical ward:
{{quote|
'''Janson''': "And to Ton Phanan and Castin Donn."
'''Dia''': "And to scars you can peel off whenever you no longer need them."
'''Face''': "And to-"
'''Dia''': "And to friends who don't try to fool you all the time."
'''Face''': "Dia, this is Wraith Squadron. You're ''never'' going to have that." }}
* [[John Ringo]] and [[David Weber]] have this as pretty much the toast whenever characters drink. Often the reason why people drink in the first place. Their joint series, [[Prince Roger]] has this in spades.
** Weber manages a particularly vicious subversion of this in [[Honor Harrington
* 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
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s "[[
* The first book of the Invasion cycle in the ''[[Magic:
* In a few of
* In one episode of ''[[M*A*S*H (
▲== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[Battlestar Galactica
{{quote|"To Galactica!" (Apollo takes a first shot amidst cheers)
▲* In one episode of ''[[M*A*S*H (TV)|Mash]]'', Colonel Potter acts oddly. At the end, he reveals that he and some comrades had found some cognac in an abandoned French chateau during [[World War I]], saved the last bottle, and declared that the last survivor would drink a toast to the rest. Potter is now the last survivor, and draws in the MASH staff to hear his story and share the bottle.
"To
▲* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]'' has this trope, like many others, to an art form. It's played quite frequently in the Viper rec room, especially. Apollo's retirement toast is an awesome example of the trope. (involving five shots of a potent drink--quite possibly [[Military Moonshiner|eau de flight deck]]):
"To
▲"To the Admiral..." (murmurs of approval) "who commands the men and women of Galactica!" (Apollo takes the third shot, with cheers of approval)<br />
''(quietly)'': "To absent friends." (The room respectfully falls silent) }}
** I just got goosebumps from reading that... ''and I've never even seen the show''.
** There's a great one in the season two episode "Scar," where Starbuck tries to toast all the deceased pilots by name/callsign. This one is especially moving given that she had earlier claimed that she didn't remember any of their names and didn't care to because they were dead and gone so who cares…
{{quote|
'''Apollo:''' To all of 'em.
'''Admiral Adama:''' So say we all.
'''Crew:''' So say we all.
'''Starbuck:''' So say we all. }}
* ''[[News Radio]]'' had one of these episodes for Phil Hartman's character [[The Character Died
* ''[[Sesame Street]]''. Mister Hooper. That is all.
* ''[[Rescue Me]]'' does this fairly frequently (particularly the transition from [[Drowning My Sorrows]]), especially with respect to the firemen lost on 9/11 (a recurring theme, if not the central one of the show).
* At the end of ''[[
* In the final episode of ''[[
* ''[[The West Wing]]'' episode "Requiem" combines this with the [[Meaningful Funeral]] to provide a heartfelt (and [[Tear Jerker]]) send-off to Leo McGarry and, by extension, his actor John Spencer. Combined very effectively with the [[Meaningful Funeral]] at the beginning of the episode; the funeral is presented so as to mourn Leo's death (and Spencer's), whereas the wake is about celebrating his life and how much his friends loved him.
* ''[[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|
** Done more lightheartedly when Julian and O'Brien come off the holodeck dressed as Spitfire pilots, and raise a pint of bitter "To Clive!"
* 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.]]
* ''[[The Pacific]]'' does this as well in episode 3, with Basilone and Morgan ordering about a dozen different drinks and toasting their dead friend {{spoiler|Rodriguez}}, and even getting into a fight with another patron who makes a tactless comment.
* ''[[CSI New York]]'' has done this twice, first for Aidan Burn near the end of the second season, and then for Jessica Angell at the end of the fifth season.
* 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 ''[[
== Music ==
* [[Country Music]] has many tributes to American veterans; "The Eighth of November" describes the life of a [[Sole Survivor]] from a horrific battle in the [[Vietnam War]]. The last verse deals with [[Shell Shocked Senior|themes of PTSD]] and describes the character's yearly ritual:
{{quote|
''And he ties it on one time a year''
''He remembers the fallen as he orders a tall one''
''And swallows it down with his tears...'' }}
* [[Opeth]] has a song titled "For Absent Friends".
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6kAjM4fGTE Kak zdorovo]" ("How great it is"; often referred to by its entire refrain - "How great it is that we have all gathered here today") by Oleg Mityaev is probably the most popular campfire song in the former USSR. Its third verse is a dedication to the memory of absent friends, perhaps deliberately invoking the third toast tradition mentioned in the Real Life section below.
* [[Turisas]] - "One More"
* [[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!"
* Saxon, a Heavy Metal band, has a song named "To Absent Friends", written in honour of a deceased friend.
* ''Another Irish Drinking Song'' by [[Da Vinci's Notebook]] is about remembering people who died as an excuse to get drunk.
*
== Radio ==
* Garrison Keillor describes one of these on his show, ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]''. The old coots go out for the opening day of duck hunting season. There they are in the blind, and they have a toast for fallen comrades. The guy only gets a few names into the list before he breaks down. The unspoken sentiment is that there are now so many names, and it'd be disrespectful to forget any, so maybe it's time to give up on listing them all.
== Theater ==
* The meal scene in ''[[
* The songs "Drink With Me" and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" in ''[[Les Misérables (
▲* The meal scene in [[Journeys End]] after {{spoiler|Osbourne dies}}. Possibly a subversion in that they're trying to forget about it rather than remember him.
* In Shakespeare's ''[[Macbeth]]'', this trope is subverted as in [[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]. Macbeth proposes a toast to everyone's "general joy" and "to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss; Would he were here!" Unbeknownst to the guests, Banquo has been murdered and his ghost has returned to haunt Macbeth.▼
▲* The songs "Drink With Me" and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" in ''[[Les Misérables (Theatre)|Les Misérables]]'' fall into this trope. In the first, the students at the barricade are toasting each other's impending fate the night before the penultimate battle; in the second, Marius is reminiscing about those who fell at the barricade.
▲* In Shakespeare's [[Macbeth]], this trope is subverted as in [[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]. Macbeth proposes a toast to everyone's "general joy" and "to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss; Would he were here!" Unbeknownst to the guests, Banquo has been murdered and his ghost has returned to haunt Macbeth.
== Video Games ==
* At the end of ''[[Jak and Daxter|Jak II]]'', Samos toasts to the members of the Underground who died in order to help save the city.
* Both named and unnamed characters will participate in a small but significant battle in ''[[Dragon Age
* Commander Shepard can do this in ''[[Mass Effect
** Weirdly Tali does so even if she does survive.
* 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.
▲* Look up Sitting Up With the Dead by Ray Stevens, on You Tube.
== Western Animation ==
* Seen on the ''[[Justice League]]'' animated series, "Hereafter", when {{spoiler|Superman apparently}} died. After the [[Meaningful Funeral]], the League gathers on the Watchtower, laughing and drinking, uh, [[Frothy Mugs of Water|orange juice]], while wearing black armbands and sharing stories. [[Random Events Plot|Then Lobo shows up.]]
* "[[Futurama|Leela]], we may not have much time left so let's spend all of it reminiscing about Bender. He was like a big computer that ran on magic."
* Snap and Crackle on ''[[Family Guy]]'' toast Pop who fell in the [[It Makes Sense in Context|Keebler Elves attack.]]
== Real Life ==
* "
▲* "[[To Absent Friends]]" [http://www.history.navy.mil/library/special/mess_night.htm is a real toast offered at military banquets.] In particular, it is the traditional toast for Sunday night in Commonwealth navies. (And the US Navy, I think.). At some banquets, it is illustrated literally by [http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airforce/a/powmiatable.htm having an empty table set aside and specially decorated in memory of POW/MIA's.]
** At least the Golden Corral restaurant nearest me (don't know if they all do) keeps one small table always decorated thusly, with an explanation posted of each symbolic part of the table. It's touching and refreshing, oddly, all at once, to see such a memorial setting put out in the eye of the general public.
* In Russia, the obligatory third toast, as long as the company drinking contains at least a substantial minority of Army/Navy/Airforce men, both active and retired.
*
== Other ==▼
* 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
** In some versions it was ''him'' who decided to quit drinking.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Death Tropes]]
[[Category:Funeral Tropes]]
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[[Category:Friendship Tropes]]
[[Category:Sadness Tropes]]
▲[[Category:To Absent Friends]]
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