History Main / PosthumousCharacter

* Shelly Webster, Eric's girlfriend from ''Film/TheCrow'', was given this treatment, both in flashbacks and from the other characters - including Eric himself, who came BackFromTheDead in order to avenge them both:

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac's parents, Bright Mac and Pear Butter, who are implied to have died, or at least "[[NeverSayDid not in the world anymore]]", and are only seen in a flashback in the episode "The Perfect Pear".

*** Katara and Sokka's mother is one of these. Princess Ursa (Zuko and Azula's mom) could be considered one of these, even though it's implied she's still alive,[[spoiler:[[ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSearch ..and she was]]]].

*** Katara and Sokka's mother is one of these. Princess Ursa (Zuko and Azula's mom) could be considered one of these, even though it's implied she's still alive.[[spoiler:..and she was]].

[[AC:Dormant/Dead/Unsorted]]

* In ''Fanfic/PokemonMysteryDungeonReflectingBalance'', one of the previous town oracles, Cassandra, is mentioned a few times by one of her descendants, and by [[spoiler: the main villain of the story.]] Her connection to the events of the story is eventually explored in a few chapters focusing on the backstory of the town.

** Although Dr. Serizawa is dead, his memory lingers strongly with Vivienne Graham especially, who is in mourning for most of the story after she learns of his death.
** San's brothers Ichi and Ni are dead following the [[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019 Battle at Boston]], but they're still casting a shadow on both San and Vivienne from beyond the grave: their lifelong abuse of San is one of the core reasons San is the way he is at the story's start, and it was Ichi who [[SwallowedWhole ate Vivienne alive]] during the movie's events which led to San bringing her back as an ArtificialHybrid. [[spoiler:{{Subverted}} once Ghidorah comes BackFromTheDead]].
** Emma Russell and [[BusCrash Admiral Stenz]] are both dead, but they appear in dreams or flashbacks, and the results and consequences of Emma's actions during the movie are present throughout the story.

** [[Characters/MonsterVerseFamilies Andrew Russell]] is the PlotTriggeringDeath of ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019''. His death occurred offscreen five years prior to the movie, turning Mark Russell into an embittered TragicBigot and Emma into a [[spoiler:WellIntentionedExtremist who causes Ghidorah's awakening]].

* Lester Burnham in ''Film/AmericanBeauty'' comes right out and says it at the beginning via narration, making the events of the movie one big FlashBack.

* ''Film/EnterTheVoid'': Oscar and Linda's parents appear rather prominently in multiple flashbacks, but they're both long dead in the present after dying in a car crash.
* ''Film/ForceOfNatureTheDry2'': Aaron's mother Jennifer Falk only appears in the flashbacks to the camping trip the Falk family took to the same area of the mountains decades earlier. [[spoiler:She died at the end of that trip.]]
* Eva in ''Film/FriendOfTheWorld'' is only seen in a flashback HappierHomeMovie [[spoiler:and in a scene that reveals it's not really her.]]

** The title character's mother, [[AllLovingHero Rose Quartz]], [[AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence gave up her physical form]] [[DeathByChildbirth to give birth to him]]. The characters who knew her are all still in various stages of mourning, and [[RebelLeader her]] [[BatmanGrabsAGun actions]] have a large bearing on the plot of the show. Though there's some indications that she's OnlyMostlyDead — specifically, that she somehow [[{{Reincarnation}} still exists inside of]] [[LikeParentLikeChild Steven]]. [[spoiler:[[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E28ChangeYourMind "Change Your Mind"]] reveals, however, that when her gem is separated from Steven's body she's unwilling, or possibly even ''unable'', to resume her original form. As the resulting Gem!Steven says, "She's gone."]]
** Also [[spoiler:[[WalkingSpoiler Pink Diamond]]]]. Again, we mostly know about her from [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes those still mourning her]], and that she was killed by [[spoiler:Rose Quartz]]. Later, it's revealed that [[spoiler:these two are actually the same character; Pink Diamond [[FakingTheDead faked her own death]] and became Rose Quartz]].

* Dr. Jonas Venture, Sr. in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' has been dead for about 20 years before the series begins, but he is still shown through flashbacks, visions, and "safety" films. [[spoiler:Many of these show how Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture's life got so messed up by him despite Venture Sr.'s '50s dad clean-cut image.]]

* Since ''[[WesternAnimation/LEGOStarWarsTheYodaChronicles LEGO Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles'' happens between episodes IV and V, Obi-Wan Kenobi is already dead, though he frequently appears as a ghost to talk with Yoda. Ditto for Qui-Gon Jinn.

* Since ''WesternAnimation/LEGOStarWarsTheYodaChronicles'' happens between episodes IV and V, Obi-Wan Kenobi is already dead, though he frequently appears as a ghost to talk with Yoda. Ditto for Qui-Gon Jinn.

* ''Film/DoctorInTheHouse1954'': Has Mrs. Rivington-Lomax, Grimsdyke's deceased, horrible grandmother who set up his allowance.

* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' has LOTS of these, given the lack of ComicBookTime and the heavy use of flashback stories. To point out only a few examples:

* In ''ComicBook/BlackHammer'', the eponymous superhero died ten years before the start of the narrative. He frequently appears in flashbacks, and the memory of his death weighs heavily on his surviving comrades.
* Natalia Wilford and [[spoiler:Leon Kronski]] in the first ''ComicBook/{{Blacksad}}'' album. The entire plot of said album revolves around Blacksad tracking down Natalia's killer and avenging her death.
* Jen of ''ComicBook/BlackScience'' dies in the first few pages of the first book, but subsequent flashbacks to the lab flesh her character out a bit.

* This type of character is a staple of superhero comics. Examples from Franchise/TheDCU:
** Jor-El, Lara, and most other Kryptonians in the Franchise/{{Superman}} mythos. Jonathan and Martha Kent also fit the trope pre-Crisis.
** ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s parents Zor-El and Allura In-Ze. Supergirl often feels SurvivorGuilt because she survived but her parents didn't.
** Franchise/{{Batman}}'s parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne.
** Abin-Sur, the ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' who bequeathed his ring to Hal Jordan.
** A borderline case: ComicBook/TheFlash when Barry Allen died and his protege Wally "Kid Flash" West took up the mantle. Barry was shown in flashbacks many times over the years, had new stories written entirely about him in his heyday and, because he and Wally are both time travellers, he's popped up in several present-day stories. All this before he finally came back from the dead decades later.
** ComicBook/{{Robin}}[=/=]ComicBook/RedHood Jason Todd's parents, Catherine and Willis Todd, were deceased by the time he ran into Batman Post-Crisis.
** Creator/TangentComics, which had the premise of recycling established names of DC characters for new ones who had little in common with their namesakes, established that Captain Comet and the second Atom died prior to the events of this continuity.
** The Comedian in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', dead on page one. Literally the first thing you see is his blood. Most of the Minutemen, for that matter.
** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Paula von Gunther's husband Gottfried von Gunther was killed in front of her by the Nazis when she refused to work for them, with the threat that her little daughter Gerta would be next if she didn't cave. By the time she and Diana met she'd been working for the Nazis so long she'd gone from numb to enjoying inflicting pain.
** In ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Vol 2]] and [[ComicBook/WonderWoman2006 Vol 3]] Diana's aunt Antiope's long ago defection from the main branch of Amazons, and subsequent death, are very important to the tale as her sister still mourns her loss and as Antiope founded the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall who end up rejoining the Amazons of Themyscira after Wonder Woman comes across them.
** ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'': Antiope is around to watch her niece Diana grow up, but Penthesiliea is brought to the comics from the mythology only to die in antiquity against Greek heroes (though a different set than those who killed her in her famous mythological death) leaving Hippolyta with lingering guilt for having temporarily left the Amazons during the time Penthesiliea was killed.
** ''ComicBook/WonderWomanWarbringer'': Helen died thousands of years ago, but the story of her life is retold and her bloodline is central to the plot. Her spirit also helps out the characters by revealing itself acting out events from her own life.
* The ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'' has NeverSayDie in full effect, but there are a few characters that can be assumed dead from context.

* [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/OQ/OQ04/DisplayOQ04.html?page=8 Bearclaw and Joyleaf]] from ''ComicBook/ElfQuest''.
* Lobster Johnson from ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'', a CaptainErsatz for ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, was a real-life superhero in the 1930s. Even though he died years before Hellboy came to Earth he has pretty regular appearances in the series, both in flashbacks and as a ghost.
* Despite taking place in the DCU ''ComicBook/LabRats'' is decidedly not a superhero comic, even if Superman does show up for an arc. Kris is one of the many Lab Rats who died before the series started and the only one given a name or any background.
* Examples from the ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'':
** ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'''s parents.

** Henry "ComicBook/AntMan" Pym's first wife Marya Trovaya and Janet 'ComicBook/TheWasp' Van Dyne's father Vernon were both introduced and killed off in ''Tales to Astonish'' #44. Marya appeared only in a flashback.
** Franchise/SpiderMan's Uncle Ben. Also his parents, Mary and Richard Parker. Betty Brant's brother Bennett (killed in the issue in which he made his first appearance) and Mary Jane's mother (seen only in flashbacks) also fit the pattern. Additionally, while [[TheLostLenore Gwen Stacy]] was not originally an example, her [[KilledOffForReal long-lasting death]] and continued impact on Peter and his world in spite of it have retroactively made her into one.
** [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark's]] parents.
** ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'s parents (his mother was later retconned to have been alive all along) and ComicBook/{{Elektra}}'s father.
*** In ''ComicBook/DaredevilEndOfDays'' [[spoiler:Daredevil himself]] only shows up in flashbacks after being killed in the opening scene.
** ''ComicBook/RobertEHowardsDarkAgnes'' starts after Howard's original stories instead of retelling them, so Agnes's mentor Guiscard de Clisson (who dies in the stories) is only seen in her dreams and memories.

** From the ComicBook/XMen books: Charles Xavier's father, mother, and stepfather (Juggernaut's father); Cyclops' and Havok's mother Katherine Summers; ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'s wife Magda (mother of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch), first daughter Anya, parents, sister and extended family, and his former lover Isabelle; Banshee's wife Maeve (Siryn's mother); Storm's parents; Nightcrawler's stepbrother Stefan Szardos; Polaris' mother and apparent father, Mr. Dane (some retcons later, it was decided that Magneto was her biological father).
* An odd thing concerning ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' as many characters tend not to mention parents and it's assumed that many of them were dead due to the Robotnik War. Then, after it, they all come out in ''droves'', revealing that they're not really dead.
* In the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe Wolverine was KilledOffForReal in ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}. That did not stop him from starring a miniseries later, ''ComicBook/UltimateWolverine'' (but just in flashbacks).