To Absent Friends: Difference between revisions

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 -- 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 The Dead]].

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

* In ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' when {{spoiler|the real L, the [[Hero Antagonist]]}} dies, Light laughs on his grave, subverting this trope.

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

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

** There is a scene in [[Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime)|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.

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

* Played straight in ''[[Star Trek III the Search For Spock]]''.

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[Gaunts 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 At Krondor]]'' ends with this {{spoiler|in honour of Gorath, complete with a toast.}}

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

** 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 [[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 the 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 his [[Callahans 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."

* 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.

* [[News Radio]] had one of these episodes for Phil Hartman's character [[The Character Died With 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.

* 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.

* The closing in scene of "The Breaking Point" in ''[[Band of Brothers (TV)|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.

* 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.

* 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.