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{{trope}}{{featured article}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Tragedy! When the feeling's gone and you can't go on, it's tragedy!"''|'''[[The Bee Gees]]''', ''Tragedy'' ([[Covered Up|or, for younger, British Tropers, Steps]])}}
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As you can guess from the above facetiousness, Tragedy is also as clingy as Irony and as difficult to define and apply. It's not enough to be on [[Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism|the deep cynical end]] and have a [[Twist Ending|Twist]] or [[Downer Ending]] with plenty of [[True Art Is Angsty|artsy angst]] along the way, or have the hero's [[Too Happy to Live|happy home life destroyed]] with a [[Rape as Drama|girlfriend raped]] and [[Dead Little Sister]]; it has to be of an epic scope with inexorable and self-inflicted pain brought about for past sins. And despite all that, it also has to give the viewer closure.
This last one is perhaps the hardest to capture correctly. After all is said and done, the audience should not feel impotent rage, [[Fanon Discontinuity|denial]], confusion or [[Deus Angst Machina|having been cheated]]. They should feel that the ending is a natural outcome to the
'''[[Aristotle]]'s guidelines form the basis of Tragedy, as outlined in ''[[Poetics]]''; here they are much abbreviated:'''
* Have a hero of great status and prosperity (which is why many tragedy main characters are nobles or royalty), who suffers a terrible fall, usually death.
* The fall is brought on by his own [[Fatal Flaw]] and [[What the Hell, Hero?|past mistakes]]. His character should be [[Static Character|consistent and unchanging]] to make his fall inevitable, such as being [[Pride
* The audience has to feel [[Emotional Torque|catharsis]] at his death, an emotional "purging" where the audience should feel relief and cleansing. Whether this catharsis is due to the [[Sadist Show|schadenfreude]], relief at having it better off than the character, or generally releasing pent-up anxiety is debated to this day.
* While you do not ''need'' [[The Reveal]] and reversal of fortune stemming from it, Aristotle considered those tragedies superior to those without it.
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(On the other hand, "tragedy" in Greek times did not need to be soul-crushingly pessimistic and have a [[Downer Ending]]; Aristotle thought the best tragic plot had [[The Reveal]] in time for him to refrain and therefore not have the downfall. In fact, the opposite of a tragedy originally was not a comedy, but rather an epic. Whereas an epic typically unfolds and "opens up" to a world of unknown horrors and delights for the hero to explore, a tragedy "closes down" on the hero, prohibiting him from anything else he may think to try until at the climax of the story he is forced into one all-important decision on which everything good or bad that may follow ultimately hinges. The story of Oedipus is a tragedy in this sense not because its ending is so horrible, but because every hope Oedipus had for escaping his cruel fate was ultimately thwarted, and because everything ultimately hinges on what he decides to do when the [[Awful Truth]] is finally made known to him. Other tragedies from the time might present a better decision to the hero, and might end well if he chooses wisely. [[Have a Gay Old Time|Eventually, however, the meaning of the term shifted]]; such a potentially [[Happy Ending]] precludes a work's being a tragedy nowadays.)
To [[Subverted Trope|subvert]] a tragedy is complex. It's not enough to try for ''[[Grand Guignol]]'' and stuff it up with [[Satire]] and [[
Common tragedies are: Greek Tragedy, Shakespearean Tragedy, and the more recent Bourgeois Tragedy. Tragedy is directly opposed to [[Comedy]].
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** Arguably it's a stronger example of Tragedy in the classical sense than Code Geass; it is the story of the protagonist's rise to power and the simultaneous destruction of all his morals and ethics, culminating in spectacular failure. Lelouch Lamperouge ultimately succeeds in his goal {{spoiler|at the cost of his own life}}; by contrast, {{spoiler|Light Yagami dies in obscurity, the fate of Kira left as a mystery to the world, and while he succeeded at being revered as a deity after his death, the world returns more or less to normal without the fear of Kira keeping everyone in line}}.
*** Light is almost a perfect example of a tragic protagonist - he is trying to do what's right, but is let down by his personality flaws and ends up doing terrible things.
* A lot of the individual [[Story Arc|arcs]] of ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' fit the definition of a tragedy, with the [[Downer Ending
* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' can be seen as a modern anime tragedy. A cast of ...mostly normal characters are brought to the brink of ruin, but they're all so unable to overcome their personal demons and shadows, that they ultimately pay the price for it. Though the actual scale of the price paid is rather...extreme.
* [[Weiss Kreuz]] is a tragedy, set in a world of hell - implied by Hidaka Ken - where [[Complete Monster
* [[Grave of the Fireflies]] is a tragedy written to not only reflect the cruelty of war, but also reflect the author's guilt for not being able to save his own sister from starvation.
* [[Boys Love Genre]] ''[[Ai no Kusabi]]'' has a tragic ending which is either a [[Bittersweet Ending]] or a [[Downer Ending]] depending on the viewer. Regardless, {{spoiler|Riki and Iason died for their forbidden love at the end.}}
== [[Comics]] ==
* Neil Gaiman's ''[[Sandman]]'' was a five-year tragedy, carefully crafted in the Greek tradition of
* [[Alejandro Jodorowsky]]'s seminal ''[[The Metabarons]]''.
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* ''[[Chronicle]]'' fits the tragic mold almost exactly, as it is the protagonist's {{spoiler|hostility and hubris that leads to his downfall and death.}}
* ''[[Chinatown]]'' While technically Neo-Noir ends tragically {{spoiler|it's all Jakes fault, for trying to do the right thing.}}
* The central character of ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' ends up
== [[Literature]] ==
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* Many classical [[Revenge]] stories, such as the above-mentioned ''[[Hamlet]]'', were tragedies. The avenger usually succeeded in destroying the villain responsible for whatever awful crime set him on his vendetta, [[Pyrrhic Victory|but he all too often destroyed himself and/or everything he cared about in the process]]. See also the Nietzschean concept of "[[He Who Fights Monsters]]".
* ''Moira'' is what happens when [[Sound Horizon]] decides that classical Greek tragedy would make for one hell of a [[Symphonic Metal]] [[Rock Opera]].
* ''Hamilton'' weaves tragedy into its own plot. Alexander Hamilton is a gifted and voluminous writer who is almost [[Brutal Honesty|compulsively honest]], wearing his feelings on his sleeve like embroidery, and prefers to act rather than waiting on opportunities. These gifts catapult him into the center of his new nation ... but they also bring about his downfall. In order to clear his name of whispered charges of embezzlement, he decides to "write his way out," creating a lengthy pamphlet where he confesses to his actual sin -- an adulterous affair -- in vivid detail. This sets off a chain of events that includes the destruction of his political career, a lengthy estrangement from his wife and the death of his son in a duel defending Alexander's name. One last bit of honesty, when he calls out Aaron Burr's lack of values in the election of 1800, finally leads to his own death on the same dueling ground.
== Video Games ==
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== Web Original ==
* ''[[
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
* ''[[Princess Tutu]]'' is [[Post Modernism|postmodern in nature]], but none of the characters are familiar with postmodernist conventions, instead believing that they're living through a classic tragedy. Much of the story's conflict comes from characters trying to find ways to fulfill their goals without making the same mistakes that normally doom tragic heroes (or, in a few cases, giving up on goals that would lead to an unhappy ending.)
=== [[Film]] ===
* Tom Stoppard's ''[[Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead]].'' Despite their flashes of [[Genre Savvy]] and occasional (dark) comedy, the ending features a complete lack of awareness on the character's part. The futility of their project is laid bare, they die accomplishing nothing except discover their names (and that's still iffy). The downfall being external (but necessary). The minor status of the ''protagonists'' to "incidental" characters like [[Hamlet]].
=== [[Theater]] ===
* [[Bertolt Brecht|Brecht]]'s ''Mother Courage'', as well as ''Measures Taken''. [[Catharsis]] is withheld in order to demand revolutionary action from the audience.
* ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'' is a low and existential tragedy.
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[[Category:Lit Class Tropes]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Tragedy]]
[[Category:Genres]]
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