History Main / CrusadingWidow

->''"My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the ''true'' emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next."''

* Lady Stoneheart from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', aka. [[spoiler:Catelyn Stark]] after the deaths of her husband and, she believes, her children[[note]]only one of them is actually dead, but she doesn't know that[[/note]], including [[spoiler: her firstborn son being horribly murdered in front of her, before her own death]]. She's later [[spoiler:resurrected]] as a vengeance-crazed [[spoiler:zombie]], dedicated to killing everyone she holds responsible for her loved ones' deaths, which, thanks to the family and allegiance based nature of Westerosi politics, is quite a lot of people.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_I_of_Portugal Peter I of Portugal]] was deeply in love with his wife's lady-in-waiting, noblewoman [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In%C3%AAs_de_Castro Inês de Castro]], while he was still crown prince. They're known as the Romeo and Juliet of Portugal, for good reason. Their love affair didn't sit well in the court -- especially after his wife died and he tried to marry Ines and legitimize their kids -- and resulted in her getting assassinated by other scheming nobles in [[HarmfulToMinors front of their children no less]]. Enraged, Peter found those responsible after ascending to the throne and [[BeatStillMyHeart ripped out their hearts]], saying they had destroyed his so they didn't deserve to have any. As if that wasn't enough, legends say that [[MummiesAtTheDinnerTable he exhumed her body and had her dressed as a queen]] and [[HumiliationConga forced the nobles to kiss her hand]]. It's because of these deeds that he is known as "Peter the Cruel". The coronation story may be apocryphal, but what we do know is that Peter claimed they had been secretly married[[note]]there's no documented evidence proving it[[/note]], officially making her queen. He then had her body taken from its burial place in Coimbra and enshrined in the Royal Monastery in a beautifully carved tomb, not next to his own but ''opposite'' -- facing each other across the gallery. This way, at the Resurrection, when everyone gets re-bodied, the first thing Pedro and Ines will see is each other.
* As the fighting between Russia and the Chechen separatist groups has dragged on, traditional "martyrs" (young, devout Muslim men without histories of sinful behavior) have become harder for the Chechen separatists to find. Thus, the recruiters have increasingly turned to the widows of previous martyrs. Since these women are usually young and have usually been left at home, they're seen as close enough to the ideal of martyrdom that their deaths could be seen as "righteous" or "holy". These women are called ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahidka shahidka]]'' (from the Arabic ''shahid'', or "witness".)

* Two examples from ''Series/{{CSI NY}}'': Mac Taylor (who lost his wife on 9/11) and Don Flack (whose girlfriend was killed when a witness she was helping protect was kidnapped).

* ''[[WebVideo/LifeSMP 3rd Life SMP]]'': Scott was fairly neutral on the server, only tentatively allying with Grian and Scar out of necessity after his relations with Dogwarts soured. However, after Jimmy was KilledOffForReal in the Battle of the Red Desert on Day 7, Scott teams up with the Red Desert faction and goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge to take out as many Dogwarts members as he could. [[spoiler:While this ultimately ends with Scott getting hunted down and killed on Day 8, his series' ending shows the two "Flower Husbands" being TogetherInDeath in the afterlife.]]

* Olga of Kiev made her first mark in the history of the UsefulNotes/KievanRus by delivering a ''massive'' RoaringRampageOfRevenge on the Drevlians for killing her husband, Prince Igor of Kiev (who got greedy in demanding more tributes than he was owed -- the Drevlians retaliated by [[CruelAndUnusualDeath tying him to two bent-down birch trees and letting go, ripping him in half]]). When the Drevlians -- evidently thinking they were in a position of political superiority and ''vastly'' underestimating Olga -- sent delegates to convince her to marry their Prince Mal (''her husband's murderer''), she played along and accepted, inviting him to send matchmakers, escorts, and soldiers alike to her domain in solidarity, only to have them killed horribly (antics include [[BuriedAlive burying messengers alive]], locking them in a bathhouse and [[KillItWithFire setting it on fire]], and inviting thousands of troops to Igor's funeral, and after getting them sufficiently drunk, [[LeaveNoSurvivors having her military slaughter the guests]]. Following them actually going to war, Olga managed to lay siege to their capital of Iskorosten (where Igor was killed) for over a year, eventually negotiating for terms of peace by requesting a tribute of "three pigeons and three sparrows from each house". When the Drevlians complied ([[TemptingFate feeling that it was a small price to pay compared to full-blown massacring]]), Olga used it as basis of a full-blown massacre by [[ActionBomb having her soldiers tie cloth with sulfur to the birds, having them return to their nests, and then using them to ignite the entire capital]]. Olga would spend the rest of her life in a steady and efficient rulership of the region before passing power to her son -- despite immense pressure from the likes of [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Constantine VII]], she would never remarry.

* ''[[WebVideo/LifeSMP 3rd Life SMP]]'': Scott was fairly neutral on the server, only tentatively allying with Grian and Scar out of necessity after his relations with Dogwarts soured. However, after Jimmy was KilledOffForReal in the Battle of the Red Desert on Day 7, Scott teams up with the Red Desert faction and goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge to take out as many Dogwarts members as he could. [[spoiler:While this ultimately ends with Scott getting ultimately hunted down and killed on Day 8, his series' ending shows the two "Flower Husbands" being TogetherInDeath in the afterlife.]]
* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': Orym was married to a fellow Air Ashari guard, Will, who was killed in an attack on the tribe and their leader. Six years later, he is on his current mission to seek revenge for his fallen husband.

* Cole in the first episode of ''{{Series/Tracker}}''. The alien he's initially sent to find is the killer of his wife and daughter.

* ''[[WebVideo/LifeSMP 3rd Life SMP]]'': Scott was fairly neutral on the server, only tentatively allying with Grian and Scar out of necessity after his relations with Dogwarts soured. However, after Jimmy was KilledOffForReal in the Battle of the Red Desert on Day 7, Scott teamed up with the Red Desert faction and goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge to take out as many Dogwarts members as he could. [[spoiler:While this ultimately ends with Scott getting ultimately hunted down and killed on Day 8, his series' ending shows the two "Flower Husbands" being TogetherInDeath in the afterlife.]]

Sometimes the kids actually survive, and need [[{{Protectorate}} to be protected]]. That doesn't necessarily mean that they will in any way [[MoralityChain stop their parent]] from [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge making messes of a whole mess of people]]. There's also the possibility that the child is someone the parent will try to [[TykeBomb mold into a weapon of vengeance,]] either by [[SideKick working with them]] or by [[TakeUpMySword having the child carry on in their stead]]. Of course, he might abandon the child to be raised by someone else entirely, or do the revenging in secret. He may also [[RefusalOfTheCall try to drown his sorrows at first]], only to be "rescued" by a friend who will motivate him with an offer to somehow [[TheAtoner atone]] for his mistake, or catch the culprits. If it's a fantasy or sci-fi setting, a third goal may present itself: [[{{Necromantic}} bringing them back to life.]] This is [[CameBackWrong rarely a good thing]]: his loved ones will probably beg him not to, or he will choose not to resurrect them as part of a FriendOrIdolDecision.

** Deacon, one of game's companions, works with the Railroad because [[spoiler: his late wife, Barbara, was a synth. She was killed by an anti-synth gang, the same gang that Deacon ran with in his youth; [[HeelRealization he realized that he had been horrifically bigoted all along once they actually killed one.]] His old gang eventually found him and killed Barbara for being a synth -- he proceeded to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge slaughter every single one of them.]] He seeks to atone for her death and his former bigotry by helping as many synths as he can.]]

* Homeland Security agent Mark Fallon, who appeared on two episodes of ''Series/{{Castle}}''. His wife was killed on 9/11.

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': PlayedWith. In episode 7 Galadriel finally talks about Celegorn's fate. He went missing sometime during the War of Wrath and now she believes he perished at the hands of the Orcs. After losing him and her brother, she decided to dedicate her whole life killing Orcs and finding Sauron.

* In the Season 5 finale of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', it is revealed that Rick spent most of his life trying (and eventually failing) to hunt down the Rick that killed his wife and daughter. [[spoiler:Season 7 reveals that nearly all of the versions of Rick who were HappilyMarried to their wives became this after the very same Rick who [[AwfulWeddedLife hated his wife]] decided to [[TheBluebeard kill his own Diane Sanchez]] by putting her into '''The Omega Machine''': which also killed ''[[CessationOfExistence EVERY]]'' Diane Sanchez throughout TheMultiverse, just to spite the other Ricks for being happy.]]

* In the Season 5 finale of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', it is revealed that Rick spent most of his life trying (and eventually failing) to hunt down the Rick that killed his wife and daughter. [[spoiler:Season 7 reveals that nearly all of the versions of Rick who were HappilyMarried to their wives became this after the very same Rick who [[AwfullyWeddedLife hated his wife]] decided to [[TheBluebeard kill his own Diane Sanchez]] by putting her into '''The Omega Machine''': which also killed ''[[CessationOfExistence EVERY]]'' Diane Sanchez throughout TheMultiverse, just to spite the other Ricks for being happy.]]