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Pietà Plagiarism

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Mass media mirrors mother Mary's most macabre moments.

Michelangelo Buonarroti's sculpture depicting The Virgin Mary holding the body of the crucified Christ is the best-known example of one of the most popular poses in art. There is a whole class of artwork, referred to as "pietàs", that depict Mary (usually seated) holding the dead Jesus, going back to at least the early 14th century. It includes two other pieces by Michelangelo himself—one in the Cathedral Museum in Florence and known as the Deposition or Florentine Pietà, the other one in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan and known as the Rondanini Pieta, as well as a third work in the Academia in Florence not generally attributed to Michelangelo today.

This specific pose is often used either following a Heroic Sacrifice or on a comic book cover, in which case it will likely be accompanied by a Tonight, Someone Dies. It's frequently gender-flipped (i.e. the man holding a dead/dying/comatose woman).

May be mixed with Touch of the Monster. Sister Trope to Cradling Your Kill, Cradle of Loneliness, and Died in Your Arms Tonight. See also Background Halo and Sistine Steal for related subliminal symbolism. Compare Messianic Archetype, Madonna Archetype, "Last Supper" Steal and Crucified Hero Shot for other examples of frequently homaged Christ-iconography. See also Crisis Catch And Carry. Subtrope of Art Imitates Art.

Owes its existence to Pop-Cultural Osmosis.

Examples

    open/close all folders 

    Advertising 
  • Kookai used it (here◊ and here◊), to express a "love at first sight post catatonia."
  • Appears in one of the Compare the Meerkat adverts.
  • Taxi Vancouver had David Billings build a sand Pietà, depicting a mother grieving her dead daughter, to raise awareness of drowning and drowning prevention.

    Anime & Manga 
  • The cover art for Volume 13 of Berserk has a bloody Guts, minus a hand and an eye, holding a naked and unconscious Casca like this, in what is presumably the aftermath of Casca being raped by Femto. In the actual manga, both Guts and Casca are too messed up to continue under their own power at the end of the Eclipse, and have to be carried out of the Nexus by the Skull Knight.
  • Tetsuya emerges from a burning building carrying Luna this way in Casshern Sins. Cue music, then the single-handed Curb Stomping of an entire robot army.
  • Code Geass:
    • CC in the first OP. It's self-conscious, given that she seems to be in a church.
    • Suzaku pulls this off absolutely straight with Euphemia...
    • CLAMP have drawn an illustration of Suzaku holding Lelouch. As have the animators for offical art (Warning:MAJOR SPOILERS) Also overlaps with Cradling Your Kill.
    • Another illustration has Lelouch carrying a passed-out Shirley this way.
  • The last we see of Hei in the final episode of Darker than Black Ryuusei no Gemini was him carrying Yin this way. Yin's fate is left unknown.
  • Death Note:
    • The first opening sequence features Naomi Misora◊ cradling (apparently recently killed) fiance Ray Penber about halfway through as just one of countless biblical references.
    • Also, Light Yagami holds L's dead body in this position, while grinning evilly after L dies in his arms.
  • Dr. STONE:
    • When Senku and Taiju revive Yuzuriha, Taiju holds her in his arms in a similar pose. Unlike most versions of the trope, she's actually just woken up from being Taken for Granite, rather than dying.
    • Later on it's played straight, with Taiju holding Senku in his arms just after Tsukasa broke his neck.
  • In Eureka Seven episode 13, Renton carried the unconscious Eureka this way when Nirvash started to move on its own.
  • During the first opening of Fate/Apocrypha we see Assassin of Red holding Shirou Kotomine in the pose while in a church. Subverted when the screen turns red, revealing Shirou on a throne with the Servants of Red surrounding him.
  • Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children used this in promotional artworks, most notably for the front cover of the OST. It shows Cloud and Kadaj◊.
  • Several instances in Fist of the North Star:
    • After the death of Shin, Kenshiro holds him in this position before placing him in his grave.
    • There are two instances where both the carrier and the carry-ee both die: Toki and Ryuga and Kaioh and Hyo, the latter of which is accentuated by being encased in lava from an erupting volcano, effectively petrifying them in that pose forever.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist:
    • Alphonse carries Ed into Winry's house this way.
    • Armstrong holds a dead child like this.
    • Also seen when Riza Hawkeye is dying from having her throat slit. Roy Mustang cradles her Pieta-style, urging her to stay with him, until May Chang performs the alkahestry ritual that saves her life. Once he realizes she's going to live, Mustang scoops her up again the same way, this time pressing his face into her hair.
  • Gundam:
    • There is official art of Heero from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing holding Relena this way. She returns the favor in Endless Waltz, when Heero collapses out of exhaustion when it's all said and done and Relena catches him mid-fall, then cradles him gently to her.
    • In Mobile Fighter G Gundam, this is done with Gundams twice. The first is when the old Shuffle Alliance heal their successors◊ through a Heroic Sacrifice. The second is after the Shining Gundam is destroyed, seen here◊.
    • In Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, after Meer Campbell dies in the arms of Lacus Clyne, her friend and unrequited crush Athrun briefly carried around her dead body as well.
      • And some time before that, Shinn Asuka carried Stellar Louissier's body after she perished in his arms, as tear stream down his face.
  • In Hunter × Hunter, Meruem does this to Komugi after she is grievously injured by Zeno Zoldyck's Dragon Dive, with his Face Framed in Shadow to keep his reaction ambiguous. The roles are reversed when Meruem finally succumbs to radiation poisoning.
  • In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind, Giorno holds an injured Mista that way at the end of the White Album arc. Unlike other examples, the one who dies is their enemy, Ghiaccio.
  • The Legend of Zelda (Akira Himekawa): Used in the Skyward Sword manga, with Hylia holding the just-died Link.
  • Used on the spoileriffic Vol. 6 cover of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Japanese DVD, which has Subaru cradling the seemingly dead body of her older sister Ginga.
  • The Mazinger series:
    • Mazinger Z: Several times in the manga and in the anime series Kouji held Sayaka -or vice versa- in that position, usually when one of them lay unconscious on the ground. Actually the cover of one of the volumes features a grim-looking Kouji holding a fainted Sayaka◊.
    • UFO Robo Grendizer: It happened near from the end, when Rubina got murdered and Duke held her as she died.
  • One chapter of Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro ends with X holding Yako like this. An image of the sculpture is behind them, except Mary and Jesus are wearing bondage masks.
  • In Naruto, while Neji dies in the arms of the title character, a short while later his best friend and rival Lee is seen cradling his corpse while crying for his death.
  • In One Piece, Usopp holds Sanji like this when he thinks he's dead. Turned out he was just checking the wrong side of his chest for a heartbeat.
  • Quite unsurprisingly given the title, the Yuri manga Pieta uses this pose at a climactic moment, with one of the protagonists holding the other after the latter's suicide attempt.
  • Pokémon Adventures:
    • Red holds an unconscious Yellow in this fashion, and to drive the point home, they're both frozen in stone in this position for presumably some time.
    • Wallace briefly holds Steven's dead body in this manner.
  • Ranma ½ several times, but at least twice in a definite parallel: first, a chapter-cover illustration with Ryoga thus cradling an unconscious Akane during an ice-skating battle; second, at the end of the series when Ranma thinks Akane has died.
  • Sailor Moon R does this near the end, when Prince Demande carries his brother Saphir's lifeless body away of the battlefield, after he's killed by Wiseman. This is repeated in the S season, after Super Sailor Moon rescues Sailor Saturn from her last fight with Pharaoh 90 and takes her back to Earth, now as a newborn baby, in her arms.
  • Saint Seiya:
    • When Seiya saves Saori from crows and then catches her before landing◊
    • In the anime, this is also pulled by Hyoga, who carries Shun in his arms after the other almost sacrifices himself for him, holding Hyoga in his own arms and then burning his Cosmo to its limits to literally de-freeze him.
  • The second opening of Soul Eater shows Soul holding Maka in this fashion, like this◊. Never happens in the series, though.
  • Daram holds his girlfriend Harulu like this After the End of Space Runaway Ideon. It is especially poignant since both characters are dead at that time and appear as spirits. Don't ask.
  • Space Warrior Baldios: At the end of the movie, that is how Marin holds Aphrodia as he treads around a desolate beach After the End.
  • At the near-end of the series of Tokyo Mew Mew, used twice with Tart and Pudding and Kish and Ichigo. The former being the dead one in both cases.
  • A slightly more frightening example appears in Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE- in the arc that delves into Kurogane's past. During this part, the character, in a bloody, senseless rage, ends up being shown, his entire face, except for his eyes, totally shadowed, holding his mother's bloody corpse. This goes on for quite some time, with the only other feature being shown being the occasional appearance of his mouth, usually open in a shout or growl. Then finally, the character Tsukiyomi stops him and, in an attempt to calm him, closes his dead mother's eyes, telling him that she should rest. During this whole time, he never once dropped his mother's body.
  • The DVD cover for Anime Legends: Wolf's Rain Complete Collection II depicts (among other things) Kiba holding Cheza in his arms. Which should be impossible, because (in case there's anyone who isn't aware of the show's basic concept) Kiba is actually a wolf and is only projecting the illusion of being human - he doesn't really have arms, and couldn't possibly hold this pose in wolf form - it would look pretty silly too.
    • Turns out this is an actual scene from the show. Presumably he's actually carrying her on his back.
    • In addition, it isn't as though weight would be an issue, seeing as how Cheza is literally a flower. Within the context of the show, it seems significant that she's the only one able to be carried like that by the wolves.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!: Yami pulls this with Yugi after defeating the latter in a duel, the price of which was at least one of their souls, in the episode "Self Destruction (Showdown! The Two Yugis)".
  • In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, Yusei carries Ruka this way after her traumatic and exhausting duel with Professor Frank. (Fortunately, she lives.)
  • YuYu Hakusho:
    • After Toguro kills Genkai, Yusuku holds her in his arms, telling her not to die.
    • Itsuki holds his lover and leader Sensui's body after he dies.

    Arts 
  • The Pietà was already a long-established representation of the sorrowful Virgin Mary by the time Michelangelo started work on his first one. It first arose in Germany, where the form is known as Vesperbild ("vespers image", because it portrays a moment after the crucifixion, around the time of evening prayers on Good Friday), and spread to Italy from there. The oldest surviving Pietàs date back to the early 1300s, over 150 years before Michelangelo was born.
  • Some ancient sculptures and paintings depicting scenes from pre-Christian mythology also have Pietà-like configuration, e. g. Niobe holding the body of one of her children, Eos (Dawn) with that of her son Memnon etc.
  • The painting depicting Ivan the Terrible holding his son after mortally wounding him has him cradling him in this pose.
  • While it lacks the Mary figure, David's Death of Marat has the subject mimicking Jesus' pose. Interestingly, that portrait supposedly was taken from life, er death.
  • An even closer version is this image of the death of Joseph Smith◊, founder of the Mormon Church, from 1851.
  • The Wounded Cavalier◊ (1855) by William Shakespeare Burton depicts a fictional scene from the English Civil War where a Puritan woman comforts a dying enemy Cavalier in this pose.
  • The Vietnam Women's Memorial◊ in Washington, DC is a statue of a nurse and an injured soldier posed this way.
  • W. Eugene Smith's 1971 photograph Tomoko and Mother in the Bath depicts Ryoko Kamimura bathing her daughter, Tomoko. The latter was severely deformed by Minamata disease, a complication of mercury poisoning caused by nearly four decades of improper disposal of industrial waste. Ryoko cradles Tomoko in a manner mirroring Mary grieving the dead Jesus, both highlighting Tomoko's plight and symbolizing that of other victims of Minamata disease.

    Comic Books 
  • All Fall Down: The Ghoul holds Portia this way after rescuing her.
  • Archie Comics: Towards the end of Life With Archie: The Married Life, after Archie's Heroic Sacrifice for gay friend Kevin Keller, both Jughead and Kevin hold Archie's lifeless body in this way while the former cradles it in his lap as the entire crowd weeps and holds each other close.
  • The Avengers: The Avengers Red Zone Part 5 cover◊ features this with Iron Man holding a very dead Captain America. Note that Tony's angst is so great that even the armor is emoting.
  • Batman:
  • Captain America: The Death of Captain America plotline has Steve Rogers taking a bullet and collapsing outside the court, only for him to be cradled by Sharon Carter and a federal agent. (spoilers)◊.
  • Captain Atom: The series probably deserves mention for doing it twice, first on the cover of #8, with Plastique cradling a badly wounded Cap, with bonus points for Cap having a very visible wound in his side, and then inverting that image on the cover of issue #44, with Cap now cradling an unconscious Plastique. (Both are a more direct homage to the Pieta than most comics versions, including the seated posture and the draped legs.)
  • Captain Marvel: The cover of The Death of Captain Marvel is very explicitly based on the Michelangelo work, as the comparison on the main trope page shows.
  • Civil War II: The finale ends with Miles Morales holding a defeated Tony Stark. This stands out as being one of the most blatant copies so far, with the characters in nearly 1-1 positioning as the original sculpture, including hand placement, etc., to the point that it verges on self-parody.
  • Daredevil: In issue #164, Daredevil holds his father in this pose◊.
  • Dark Reign: The comic had a promo poster depicting Thor in Lady Loki's arms.
  • DC Comics Bombshells: Kate Kane (later to become Batwoman) holding the young Jasón Todd after his death in the Spanish Civil War.
  • ElfQuest: For the Marvel reprints, a new series of covers was made. Issue 24◊ also used this pose for Clearbrook and One-Eye.
  • GoBots: The cover to the fifth issue depicts Leader-1 looking upward in despair while holding Cy-Kill's body in his arms.
  • Green Arrow: In the cover of Green Arrow (Rebirth) #36, Black Canary is depicted effortlessly carrying a wounded Green Arrow out of the sea in this way.
  • Guardians of the Galaxy: A cover done for a storyline that never actually came to be.
  • Hellblazer: Issue #217 literally copied the statue.
  • House of M: In the cover for issue #4, Wanda is holding Pietro in a manner similar to the pose.
  • Persepolis: Marjane recounts how she got into the Iranian art school; in the entrance exam, she drew a copy of Pietà, with Mary replaced by a veiled Iranian woman, and Jesus replaced by a martyr.
  • It's a fictional comic book, but the cover of issue 1◊ of Rage: Gay Crusader from Queer as Folk (US).
  • Spider-Man:
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: The comic "Annual 2" features a parody of superhero comics in which Squidward, as the Squishy Knight, holds SpongeBob like this in a spoof of Crisis on Infinite Earths #7.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation: One of the earliest comics had Data cradling Geordi's dead body this way.
  • Suicide Squad: In issue #19 of the 2019 book, Black Mask shoots Deadshot in the head, killing him. As he falls out of a window, the Aerie flies up, catches him, and lowers his body onto the ground in the Pietà pose.
  • Superman:
    • The cover of Crisis on Infinite Earths #7, showing Superman carrying Supergirl's dead body, is one of the best known examples in comic books, and is frequently referenced and/or parodied itself and has generated a deluge of merchandising, effectively making the origin of the trope Older Than They Think for anyone who isn't aware that this cover itself is copying an older work, though it differentiates itself by Supes standing, tears streaming and crying out in grief.
    • The cover art for the 1998 collected edition◊, by George Pérez (who drew the original series) and Alex Ross (of Kingdom Come fame), mirrors the pose with Kal-L, the Earth-2 (and Golden Age) Superman, holding the body of his world's Wonder Woman alongside Earth-1 Superman and Supergirl.
    • In an alternate universe shown in the Fringe their positions were swapped: link◊.
    • Superman did this to Supergirl◊ long before the Crisis in War World. A reviewer made the next quip: "Again with the anticipation. Superman cradling a Supergirl literally at death’s door. All they need now is copious amounts of blood and a sweatband."
    • Kal-L does it again in Infinite Crisis with Lois Lane's body.
    • The final page of Final Crisis #6 has Supes doing it again, this time with Batman's corpse. At this point it seems to be mandatory for Crisis comics.
    • In The Supergirl from Krypton (2004), Superman does it twice: he holds Harbinger's body in his arms after she gets killed while protecting Supergirl. Later on, after knocking his brainwashed cousin out, Superman holds her in his arms.
    • Happens twice in H'el on Earth: Wonder Woman carries Kara in her arms after knocking her out in Supergirl (2011) #17, and Superman carries her cousin to safety when she gets kryptonite-poisoning in Superman #17.
    • In Supergirl (2005) issue #36, during the New Krypton storyline, Supergirl holds her dying father's body while he dies.
    • In Red Daughter of Krypton, villain Worldkiller-1 holds a dying Supergirl in his arms before dumping her in the Sun (a move which was fortunate for her and incredibly dumb of him).
    • In Justice #12, Kara does this to Poison Ivy after knocking her out with a blast of heat vision.
    • And a drawing◊ by Arthur Suydam of DC Zombies has it too, with everyone but Supergirl a zombie, and her with an apple in her mouth.
    • Many Happy Returns provides two examples: Kara is holding Linda in the cover of the second-to-last issue; and at the end of the story, Linda holds a semi-unconscious Kara in her arms.
    • In Supergirl (Rebirth) #3, Cyborg Alura holds Kara's foster mother in her arms.
    • In Supergirl (1972) #2, Linda carries her ill college professor in her arms when she flies to the Fortress of Solitude after he passes out.
    • In Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade, Supergirl carries her friend Lena in her arms when she gets gravely injured.
    • The seventh issue of Infinite Crisis inverts the iconic "Superman carrying Supergirl'' image when Power Girl -Earth-2's Supergirl- holds her cousin's body while Earth-2 Superman dies.
    • In the cover of Supergirl (2011) #20, Power Girl is holding the body of a dying Kara.
    • Last Daughter of Krypton: It happens twice in the same issue. Simon Tycho's mercenary Jacobs carries Supergirl in his arms as getting her out of Tycho's cell and away from a chunk of Kryptonite. Shortly later, Kara is holding him in her arms after his morals have gotten him shot by his boss.
    • In Final Crisis #7, Overman, the Nazi Superman of Earth-X, is shown cradling the body of Overgirl◊, looking closer to the Pieta itself than to Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Multiversity: Mastermen reprises the scene with the Crisis pose.
    • Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom: When Superman collapses after getting hit by a poisoned dart, Supergirl catches him and supports his head on her lap.
    • The Death of Lightning Lad: Saturn Girl cradles Lightning Lad's body as he is dying after being hit by the Zaryan's ship's freezing ray.
    • The Condemned Legionnaires: Supergirl kneels down to hold Satan Girl in her arms as her evil doppelganger dies.
  • Tales of the Jedi: A variant occurs with Ulic cradling the robes of Arca Jeth, who was a Jedi Master and became one with the Force upon death. It's also shown on the cover of that issue.
  • Teen Titans: One of the most notorious examples is from the cover of one of the "Drug Awareness issues", with Speedy holding an unnamed child.
  • Tom Strong: The cover to the 22nd issue depicts Tom carrying the body of an alternate timeline counterpart to his daughter Tesla where his archenemy Paul Saveen is her father, directly riffing Superman carrying Supergirl's body on the cover to issue seven of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
  • The Ultimates: One issue has Thor holding the corpse of Modi, his son.
  • Vampirella: One of the covers for issue #7 (Dynamite Series) shows Sofia Murray in Mary's place and Vampirella herself in Jesus's place.
  • Wizard magazine #179 (Sept. 2006) dedicated two whole pages to showing every comic book cover that used this pose (many of the ones listed here included), tracing it all the way back to Space Adventures #24 from July 1958.
  • X-Men:
    • The cover◊ of Uncanny X-Men #136 (Cyclops holding Dark Phoenix) is equally well known; ironically, it wasn't until the next issue that Phoenix died.
    • The cover of Uncanny X-Men #255 shows Mystique kneeling, holding the body of Destiny in a pietà pose.
    • ''X-Men Annual" #1 (2006) shows Mystique sitting on the ground holding her injured daughter Rogue.
    • X-Treme X-Men #2, where the villain arranges a dead (at the time) Psylocke and bloody-and-broken Beast in a reversal of the Pietà. Might be calling back to the Dark Phoenix cover, as a good portion of the fandom indulges in Shipping where these two are concerned.
    • The cover of Obnoxio the Clown #1 (and only issue, sometimes called Obnoxio the Clown vs. the X-Men) has Obnoxio holding Kitty Pryde's body like this - and cracking a joke.
    • The cover◊ of Wolverine and the X-Men Vol. 2, Issue 11 is one of the more direct references.

    Fan Works 
  • Always Visible: When Pharqraut is killed in front of Galbraith, the inspector holds his friend's corpse in his arms until the orderlies take him away.
  • A fanart has Ezio Auditore from Assassin's Creed II holding a dead Leonardo da Vinci.
  • In A Captive Light a Digimon fanfiction, Kari cradles TK's body after Ken's monsters attack, with the intent of actually killing his hostage. The holding and sobbing last for a good chapter and a half, and reduced more than one reviewer to tears.
  • In The Heart, The Soul, Shinji holds an unconscious Asuka in this fashion when she passes out after enduring Arael's mind rape.
  • It happens in Hellsister Trilogy when Dev-Em carries an unconscious and gravely wounded Supergirl in his arms after her climatic battle with her evil duplicate.
    He peered at the battered Supergirl, held in the grieving Dev-Em's arms.
  • HERZ: Shinji held Gendo in this position as his father died in chapter 10.
  • In chapter 11 of Last Child of Krypton, Shinji sees a vision of another Shinji holding another Asuka this way. The narration notes that they looked like "some Renaissance statue".
    The other had sunk to the ground, holding the broken body of Asuka in her plugsuit, like some renaissance statue.
  • Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail: Goh's pose is described similarly when he finally finds Mew, abused and approaching death. He cradles the Pokemon in his arms, swaddling it in cloth, kneeling or sitting on the ground of the room where he's being held. As Mew is commonly viewed as a Messiah archetype within Fanon, Goh's grief over the possibility of it dying on him (This being his first time face to face with a creature he's spent years trying to find, in tragic circumstances where he expected to feel triumph) is symbolized like so.
  • Memories Born of Fire: In Spock's nightmare, Christine Chapel holds him after he commits suicide.
  • A fan-art for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic specifically recreates the Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 cover with pony characters. Note that, given the little "Z" bubble, Twilight might just be sleeping.
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion: Genocide: When Asuka is dying, Shinji carries her this way. Since both teenagers are inside their Humongous Mecha at the time when it happens, Unit-01 cradles the broken, motionless body of Unit-02.
  • In Prison Island Break, Sonic does this when Manic dies, right outside the prison chapel. It may be written, but the imagery brings reviewers to tears.
  • Happens in Marvel fic Puppet after a battle, with Tony Stark cradling a badly wounded Steve Rogers in his arms. Crosses over to Cradling Your Kill since Tony's Iron Man armor had been hijacked by the bad guys and was used to attack the captain. When Steve passes out, Tony thinks he is dead.
  • In Time Fixers: Nicktoons of the Future, Danny carries his son, Darry, this way after the latter uses his Ghost Rage technique to defeat Dan Phantom and uses up all his energy, nearly dying as a result.
  • In When The Moon Fell In Love With The Sun, Peeta holds Larkspur's body in his arms while she's dying.
  • In With Strings Attached, immediately after the Heart of Evil has been destroyed, the Hunter comes walking through a curtain of rain carrying Paul's naked body (though he isn't dead, and he didn't perform a Heroic Sacrifice; he got drained by wraiths that he overconfidently attacked).

    Films — Animation 

    Films — Live-Action 
  • The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). Peter Parker holding Gwen Stacy after she dies from her fall. That she is hanging from his web puts her body at just the right height for him to start holding her, and then he slowly lowers her to the ground.
  • In the Australian film Animal Kingdom, Pope carries Nicole out of the house like this.
  • In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, this happens to Clark's body after he sacrifices himself to stop Doomsday. Batman retrieves the body and solemnly passes it down to Wonder Woman and Lois Lane. Lois then cradles Clark's body in her lap while Bruce and Diana flank them.
  • The Bodyguard: The eponymous bodyguard carries Whitney Houston's character in this manner.
  • The first example of this in film is, predictably enough, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, as Cesare kidnaps Jane
  • Used at the end of Casino Royale (2006) when Vesper dies and at the end of Skyfall when M dies.
  • Used intentionally in Children of Men, with a refugee mother holding her dead (or at least severely wounded) son. The commentary reveals this was a reference both to Michelangelo's sculpture and a real-life photograph.
  • Cries and Whispers: When a dying—actually, already dead, it's pretty weird—Agnes begs for comfort, Anna cradles her body in a classic Pieta pose.
  • Count Yorga: In the first movie, Bruda, Yorga's servant, carries Erica's limp body down some stairs into his crypt to join his two undead brides after she's been dressed in her new gown.
  • The Dark Crystal, Jen holding Kira after she gets stabbed.
  • Johnny Depp does it in Dark Shadows. The twist is, they're both undead.
  • At the very end of Dogma, Silent Bob and Bethany mimic this, with Bethany playing the role of Christ. Don't worry, she's not dead. And God is right there to fix her up anyway.
  • In Don Juan DeMarco, the pose is enacted when John's father is fatally wounded in a sword duel, and dies in the arms of John's mother.
  • In Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ferris cradles Cameron this way after rescuing him from the bottom of a swimming pool.
  • In Frankenstein (1931), when the father carries the lifeless body of his drowned daughter through the streets of the village.
  • In The Fugitive, Richard Kimble holds his dead (or dying) wife in his arms this way.
  • In Hannibal, the title character carries Clarice this way towards the end.
  • In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Severus Snape cradles Lily Potter's body after finding her dead.
  • The 2005 Bruce Willis film Hostage (based on the novel by Robert Crais) has a scene where Dennis holds the body of his brother Kevin before he is also killed. Other religious imagery appears in the film, with the character of Jennifer made to look like the Madonna more than once.
  • Used blatantly, and intentionally, in the Argentinian film Hombre Mirando al Sudeste (Man Looking Southeast), because one of its many, many possible interpretations is that the character Rantes is what he says he is, The Messiah (or rather, a messiah).
  • The Incredible Hulk carries Betty away from the battle on the college campus.
  • Legends of the Fall: You might expect that the poster of the film depicts Tristan holding his lover Susannah in a passionate embrace, but he's actually carrying the corpse of Isabel Two in this manner.
  • The shot of Sam cradling Frodo on the slopes of Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
  • In Mad Max: Fury Road, Immortan Joe is shown holding the dying body of Angharad, wheezing the raspy approximation of a Death Wail through his open mask, while Rictus angrily fires his BFG in the direction of the retreating War Rig.
    Warboy on bike: Are you alright?
    Immortan Joe: ON, ON!!
  • Parodied in Mr. Bean's Holiday - Bean attempts to earn some money by dancing to music from a CD stall, then the music switches to an opera piece, prompting Bean to stage his own improvised opera, with himself and his new friend in the roles of Mary and Jesus.
  • Scott cradles Mike◊ in My Own Private Idaho - more than once. However, he's only sleeping; he suffers from narcolepsy and it's up to Scott to look after him, and yes, carry him about when he's asleep.
  • None Shall Escape: After Janina has been killed, her mother Marja carries her lifeless body to the church for the funeral service in this manner.
  • There is a scene in Pacific Rim where Raleigh helps lower Mako to the floor while cradling her.
  • Used blatantly and purposely in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, when the dead Christ is removed from the cross. Mary cradles him in Michaelangelo's pose while the camera slowly pulls away.
  • Near the end of Plan 9 from Outer Space, with the undead Inspector Clay carrying Paula.
  • The live-action Martial Arts Movie The Protector ends with the hero and the lead villain falling through a skylight onto the mounted skeleton of the elephant he was supposed to be protecting from poachers; his body ends up cradled in the elephant's tusks.
  • The Jane Howell film of Richard III ends with a reversed Pietà pose: Margaret holding Richard's body with its head cradled in her left arm, laughing.
  • Subverted in Riddick. Riddick is wounded during a Back-to-Back Badasses fight with the scorpian-creatures. His companion (whom Riddick has predicted will cut and run on him) picks him up, apparently to carry him to safety...but then flips his body over to remove the power node from Riddick's back, leaving Riddick behind. He does return however for a Big Damn Gunship rescue, so he was apparently just being pragmatic.
  • In the 2002 American remake of The Ring, when Rachel finds Samara's corpse in the well, she cradles it like Madonna holds Jesus after the crucifixion.
  • In The Rise of Skywalker, Ben Solo holds Rey's dead body like this, before reviving her and dying himself.
  • The last shot of The Roaring Twenties (1939) leaves Eddie dead in Panama's arms after his Heroic Sacrifice.
  • In RoboCop 3, the titular character carries the dying Anne Lewis into a church in this fashion and sets her down on the altar.
  • Used in Robot Monster, as immortalized on the poster◊.
  • Happens in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with Rocky holding Frank-n-Furter. Considering the nature of the movie/play...
  • In Rollo and the Spirit of the Woods, Rolli holds Millie the Elf like this after the latter is crushed under a boulder.
  • In Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Sim does this to her brother after they collapsed from a poisoned dart.
  • Starman carrying Jenny away from an explosion. She gets better.
  • Scotty carrying his dead nephew Ensign Prescott onto the bridge in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
  • Happens in Strange Brew. Pam carries Bob this way after he faints when Brewmeister Smith threatens to kill them.
  • Parodied in the Strangers with Candy movie when Noblet attacks Jerri over the science fair and then collapses backward into the arms of the other students.
  • Superbad, when Seth carries a drunk Evan out of the party.
  • The film version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street has this. The twist is, they're both dead.
  • Parodied in Thank You for Smoking, when kidnappers leave an unconscious Nick in this pose in Abraham Lincoln's lap at the Lincoln Memorial.
  • In Thor: The Dark World, Thor cradles dying Loki in his arms after the latter is stabbed by Kurse. Being The Trickster, Loki fakes his death. Played for Laughs in Thor: Ragnarok, where Loki writes and commissions a stage play in which Asgardian actors reenact this scene from The Dark World In-Universe.
  • Used in Transformers: Dark of the Moon when Optimus holds Sentinel's body, which has been on the moon since The '60s and is locked in stasis due to lack of Energon.
  • Parodied at the end of Wayne's World when Wayne stumbles out of the burning house cradling the dead Garth and shouting "Why, God?! Why?!"
  • In We Were Soldiers, an American helicopter returns to base carrying dead and wounded from an intense ongoing battle during the early stages of The Vietnam War. A large black soldier picks up a dead white soldier and carries him away while weeping.
  • In The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Skinner holds a semi-conscious Mulder in his lap after rescuing him from nearly being killed by the movie's main villain.
  • Erik cradling a wounded Charles on the beach in X-Men: First Class.

    Literature 
  • The Executioner. On the cover of "Day of Mourning" in which Mack Bolan's long-term Love Interest April Rose is killed, Bolan is shown cradling the latter's dead body. And it's raining.
  • Used on the cover of R. L. Stine's Fear Street: Super Chiller book The Dead Lifeguard.
  • Narrowly averted in The Goblin Emperor. When Beshelar throws himself in front of his emperor to protect him from a blade, he ends up wounded and bleeding in the emperor's lap. The wound is not lethal and before the emperor can start to cradle him or something, he gets up and apologizes.
  • In Justina Robson's Living Next Door to the God of Love, the Stuffies' Cathedral has a stained-glass window showing Francine with a "sexy dark chick" in her lap: it's Cadenza Fortitude, the titular God's female version.
  • The Lord of the Rings: When Faramir is wounded, the Prince of Dol Amroth brings him back to Minas Tirith holding him in his arms on the back of his horse.
  • The grown son in Robert Munsch's Love You Forever cradles his ailing mother in this pose, similar to how she cradled him to sleep as a child and as a grown man.
  • In The Tomorrow Series Corrie is seen this way in Kevin's lap after she has been shot. It is even lampshaded when Ellie says she walks into what looks like Jesus's barn.

    Live-Action TV 
  • American Horror Story has this in Coven, with Cordelia holding Misty Day right before the latter crumbles into dust in her arms.
  • The Bible (2013): Appropriately enough, when Jesus is brought down from the cross, it's staged like the classic depiction.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Used at least once, after Drusilla is restored to health and Spike is injured, she holds him in this manner. Also used in "The Puppet Show", when Buffy cradles the Demon Slaying puppet after his death.
    • Also used when Tara dies, with Willow holding her.
  • Chinese Paladin: Used in the finale, with Xiaoyao Bridal Carrying Ling'er as she dies.
  • Dark Angel: In "Pollo Loco", Max holds her "brother" Ben in this manner after he asks her to kill him and she complies.
  • Doctor Who:
    • The scene in "Smith and Jones" where the Doctor carries Martha after she passes out from the lack of oxygen could be seen this way, especially since there was no particular reason she couldn't have stayed where she was besides drama.
    • The Doctor holds the Master in this way in "Last of the Time Lords". Somewhat ruined by his odd squatting pose on the floor, although that was only as narmy as the odd position of his legs while dramatically floating.
    • He did it again with Jenny in "The Doctor's Daughter", complete with that little hug-rocking motion. Once again, a secondary character shot the closest thing to family he had left out of almost nowhere; it was a bit of a callback. Given the way the Doctor tends to feel responsible when people die around him, this almost plays as Cradling Your Kill.
    • Used again in "Asylum of the Daleks", with the Doctor carrying Amy. This has been all over the promotional advertisements for the season.
    • A really striking one in The Teaser to "The Doctor Falls" with Cyber-Bill holding the Doctor's bloody body. The holder is standing in this instance, though.
    • In ads for "Power of the Doctor", Yaz is shown standing with a dying Thirteen in her arms.
  • Hercules: The Legendary Journeys: Done a few times, usually whenever Iolaus dies. (Yes, it happened more than once.) In a commentary, Michael Hurst got his Michelangelo sculptures mixed up and compared it to David.
  • Heroes: Used this twice in season 3 in paintings of the future. One of Matt holding a burned Daphne in a possible-future where Sylar goes nuclear and Noah holding an injured Claire, foreshadowing the eclipse during which the powered people lose their abilities.
  • House: One episode had Cuddy holding a young patient who she'd been granted temporary guardianship of this way in a shower to cool her down due to a fever. Then House came in and sniped at Cuddy about her aspirations of motherhood...
  • Kamen Rider Zi-O: In episode 22, Tsukuyomi holds Geiz in this pose after he kills himself with a Time Burst against Another Ryuga. White Woz shouting "My savior!" drives it home double.
  • Legion: Near the end of "Chapter 22", Charles Xavier cradles his wife Gabrielle across his lap after she falls unconscious, and he sobs when he's unable to awaken her with his Psychic Powers.
  • Merlin (2008): The last episode of the first season plays it straight with Uther holding Arthur. It's ok though, he gets better. Also in the season four trailer, Percival was seen carrying an unconscious Merlin in his arms.
  • The O.C.: Used in, of all places, the first season, with Ryan and Marissa, who had just taken a painkiller overdose washed down with a lot of alcohol in Tijuana. And in a deliberate parallel to the same scene, he carries her the same way in the Season 3 finale, "The Graduates", following a car accident. She's suffered head trauma and he has to carry her away from the burning car. She dies in his arms, and the final shot is him huddled over her body.
  • Power Rangers in Space: Andros holds the body of Karone after Zordon's Heroic Sacrifice to stop the attack on the world. She is revived by Andros' love for her.
  • Revolution: In the first season finale, Miles Matheson is holding Nora Clayton in his arms in exactly this way when she died. He even went down onto his knees when he realized that she died.
  • Seinfeld: Jerry has a bad dream where he ends up in this pose after getting illegal cable and the Cable Police gun him down. Kramer cradles him crying "What have you done to my little CABLE BOY???"
  • Smallville:
    • Clark Kent does it all the time, but most powerfully with Alicia's death. Lana back in X-Ray. Chloe in Dichotic, and the time in Arrival may count. Also Chloe in Abyss.
    • The Season 7 finale had Lex Luthor cradling (Weakened? Paralyzed? Don't really know.) Clark Kent in a similar fashion as the Fortress of Solitude crumbled around them. It's further enforced by the former repeatedly apologizing to him and apparently seeing this event of killing his former-best friend as a great personal sacrifice.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation: Worf carrying Data during the episode "Brothers". Data was only deactivated at the time, though.
  • Supergirl: Supergirl holds Lena Luthor in the pose after catching her in season two.
  • The Tick (2016): When Superman Substitute Superian is feeling unappreciated by humanity, he uses his eye beams to carve Devil's Tower into a sculpture of himself holding a limp human figure, in an effort to remind humans of all he's done for them.
  • Upright Citizens Brigade: Spoofed in one episode in the Camp Kalterman sketch.
  • Veronica Mars: Began and ended its second season with the Pietà; in the first case, Veronica tends to Logan, and in the second, it's reversed.
  • The Walking Dead: In the mid-season 5 finale Daryl carries Beth's body out of the hospital after she is shot.

    Music 
  • The cover art◊ for Electronic Saviors: Volume 2 features a dying male cyborg in a Pieta pose with a female cyborg. The female cyborg is wearing a long cowl, evoking the image of the Virgin Mary.
  • Låpsley's "Falling Short" video.

    Scripts 
  • In Watchmen, the alternate-universe Vietnam War Memorial is a statue of Dr. Manhattan cradling a dead soldier. The script even references the original by name.

    Tabletop Games 
  • A picture on the page explaining the rules for Resonance (that's the accumulation of the wrath of the undead creators of the world to you and me...) in the Exalted 2nd ed Abyssals book. Something of an inversion, however — the character doing the cradling is presumably an Abyssal, and has probably just invited the anger of the Neverborn by attempting to do some good in the world — renegade Abyssals can quite easily hit Messianic status, Dark or otherwise.
  • The card art for Bartolomé del Presidio from Magic: The Gathering invokes this and crosses it over with Cradling Your Kill, as he's a vampire holding the person he just drained of blood. The reference is intentional, as the vampiric culture he's from is meant to evoke the Catholic Church.
    Bartolomé:' Bless this sinner, who sacrificed his blood so that I may live.

    Theatre 
  • The very last pose in Elisabeth. See that show's trope page for an illustration.
  • This photo◊ from a 1918 Metropolitan Opera production of Giuseppe Verdi's La forza del destino shows Don Alvaro holding the dying Leonora in his arms.
  • William Shakespeare example: King Lear carrying Cordelia's body at the end of the play. Well, near the end.
  • The script of the play for Little Shop of Horrors mentions Pieta a few times when discussing how to act Audrey's death and subsequent feeding to the plant.
  • In Matilda's third B-story segment, the Escapologist carries the Acrobat pieta-style after her fatal fall during the "Burning Woman" stunt.
  • In Les Misérables, the image of Marius cradling Eponine's body at the end of the song "A Little Fall of Rain" evokes this trope. Certain stagings also have Valjean carry Marius from the barricades this way, although Marius is still alive.
  • Miss Saigon: Kim holds her cousin Thuy this way after she shoots him (she was protecting her son from him), and is held this way by Chris after she shoots herself in the end.

    Video Games 
  • A pretty clever example occurs in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. In one particular story mission, you are tasked with preventing someone's assassination in the middle of a play, where said person is playing Jesus. Let's just say things take a turn for the bad, so they cut him off the cross, and Ezio picks him up and carries him off. Perfect Pieta pose included.
  • In Batman: Arkham City, done by Batman during the ending after The Joker dies from TITAN poisoning.
    • Made somewhat hilarious by the fact that he seems to have left Talia lying in a pool of her own blood without a second thought.note 
    • This also helps serve as Book Ends to the first image we see in the Catwoman opening - Cain doing the exact same pose with Abel.
    • In the "Season of Infamy" DLC in Batman: Arkham Knight: if you destroy the Lazarus machine, Batman will carry Ra's out in this manner as well. Unlike the Joker, Ra's isn't dead yet, but he will be soon enough.
  • In Blasphemous, the boss Ten Piedad is first seen resting in the arms of a feminine statue in this pose. When it wakes up, it desecrates the statue by ripping its head off and throwing it at you. The lore behind the boss states that it Was Once a Man who became the hideous beast it is now after sleeping in the statue's arms.
  • The cover◊ art◊ for DoDonPachi Daioujou and DoDonPachi Saidaioujou.
  • In Dragon Age II Hawke does this with his/her mother when he/she is too late to save their mother from an insane blood mage who sought to 'reassemble' his late wife.
    • Later in Act 2, Viscount Dumar does this with his son Seamus after the latter is murdered by Petrice in her attempt to incite war with the Qunari.
  • In Fable III, The Hero does this as Walter dies in his/her arms after the final battle.
  • In Far Cry: New Dawn, Joseph Seed carries his bastard son Ethan like this after Ethan dies from injuries given to him by the Captain.
  • Fate/Grand Order:
    • The "Da Vinci and The 7 Counterfeit Heroic Spirits" has a Craft Essence called Empieta, depicting Jeanne d'Arc Alter holding Gilles de Rais as a direct reference to the statue.
    • Thomas Edison does this pose with the American Flag. No seriously, it's his final artwork◊ in the game.
  • Final Fantasy:
    • Kefka of Final Fantasy VI mimics this as one of his final forms, with the "Rest" part of the Statue of the Gods replacing Christ.
      • Notably, in the Japanese version, the female torso and head floating behind Kefka was named "Maria", as in "Mary", as opposed to the western translations in which she was named "Girl" or "Lady" depending on the console version. (Quite obviously to avoid pushing any berserk buttons, although Lady could very well be taken from Madonna note , an appellation for the Virgin Mary.)
      • Quite notably, in the Nintendo Switch and Patch 1.2 versions of Cuphead, during the third phase of Sally Stageplay's battle, the cardboard cutout of her husband (which you've squished via the Falling Chandelier of Doom earlier in her first phase) fights alongside her cardboard cutout, parodying the Pieta part by striking a pose similar to that of the "Rest" part of the Statue of the Gods in Final Fantasy VI. Take a look.
    • Tellah of Final Fantasy IV takes both sides of this trope in the DS remake, holding his daughter Anna as she's just been shot full of Baronian arrows, and then being picked up by Cid after sacrificing his own life to power his uber-doom Meteor spell against Golbez.
    • After Aerith from Final Fantasy VII is stabbed and killed by Sephiroth, Cloud cradles her body like this as he mourns her.
    • An interesting variation from Final Fantasy VIII: Rinoa does this with Squall after she finds him unconscious in the desert after Time Compression, but it's mostly shown from the back - most likely to highlight the wings on the back of her outfit.
      • Also averted in Final Fantasy VIII. Squall carries the unconscious Rinoa piggyback style.
    • Final Fantasy XIII-2: Noel holds Serah in this manner after she succumbs to her seeress powers. Yeul is also seen being held by both Noel and Caius during her many many death scenes in this way.
  • God of War (PS4):
    • Kratos carries Atreus in this matter after Atreus had fallen ill and was near death.
    • There was Freya carrying their son Baldur after Kratos was forced to kill the latter.
  • In Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, depending on your earlier choice, either Drax or Gamora will hold Peter like this after the latter was injured by Hala the Accuser.
  • In Halo: Reach, Carter carries Kat's body this way after she is Killed Mid-Sentence by an Elite sniper.
  • The King of Fighters:
  • The Legend of Zelda:
    • Done twice in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Link holds Colin in this manner after rescuing him from abduction by the Bulblins. Later, when Midna uses the power of the Fused Shadow for the first time and it renders her unconscious, she likewise is held in Link's arms until she wakes.
    • In the second-to-last memory in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Link is badly injured while defending Zelda from a Guardian. While he's on the verge of death, Zelda cries over him while holding him this way before the voice inside the Master Sword tells her to take him to the Shrine of Resurrection, where Link wakes up at the beginning of the game.
  • Mega Man:
  • Snake holding Big Mama in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is an interesting twist, because all the Faux Symbolism up until that point was that Snake was the self-sacrificial, messianic one and Mama was his mother (she even blatantly described Snake's birth as an 'immaculate conception').
  • The cover art of NieR: Automata features 2B holding 9S in this manner. she also holds him in a similar manner after the boss fight in the copied city.
    • After the second boss fight eve holds his brother Adam in this fashion.
  • In the fifth case of the first Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney game, Lana Skye holds her unconscious younger sister Ema in this manner after Ema is attacked by a serial killer.
  • At the end of Pitfall: The Lost Expedition, Harry tries lifting Nicole's body in this manner in his attempt to revive her before setting her down and realizing that he has lost his magical powers the butterfly had given him... or so he thinks. In his Heroic BSoD, he lifts her up again in this manner, thinking he has failed her, before giving her the Magic Kiss of Life, bringing her back to life again.
  • In Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, when the Prince in his Dark Prince form sees his father Sharaman dead after obtaining his sword, he crumples to the floor in his "My God, What Have I Done?" moment and holds his father in this manner, all the while the Dark Prince's voice taunts him on how to save Sharaman's life.
  • Despite being the furthest thing from a messiah imaginable, Alex Mercer in [PROTOTYPE] cradles his sister Dana's unconscious body this way when he rescues her from a kidnapping, before he lifts her effortlessly and tears out of the building to find medical care.
  • The standing Pietà could be found on the Western box art◊ of the origina; Shadow Hearts with Yuri carrying Alice. Shadow Hearts: From The New World mimics this◊ with Johnny and Shania, except that Johnny is smaller than Shania, so in order to not look silly he kneels, and holds her with one hand. Sloppy modelling ruins the pose, as Shania's neck is straight up; she is clearly supporting it herself.
  • When Shin Megami Tensei II was remade for the Playstation, its original poster featured the protagonist being held by the angel Gabriel in this position.◊
  • In Spec Ops: The Line, when you discover the damages done by phosphorus on the civilians, a dead woman is holding her dead burnt daughter, immobilized in a sitting position
  • Marisa's victory pose in Street Fighter 6 has her scoop up her fallen foe in this position.
  • Super Mario Bros.: Someone made a Real Life statue of Peach holding Mario in that pose. From styrofoam. It's titled "Game Over".
  • In Tales of the Abyss, Luke does this for Asch in one of the last scenes of the game. Considering Luke is his clone, the symbolism can get a little weird.

    Visual Novels 
  • Happens twice in the fourth case of The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures. The first time, John Garrideb dramatically falls over, as his wife Joan catches him in this pose. After it's revealed that Joan was the one who (accidentally) assaulted Olive Green, she's the one to fall with John catching him; however, Joan is a lot heavier than John, and he collapses after holding the pose for a few seconds.
  • In Umineko: When They Cry's PS3 remake, Battler is holding Beatrice like this on the cover.

    Web Animation 
  • Volume 2 of RWBY had Ruby and Weiss in this position for the teaser trailer, as a pillar collapses behind them. Fans worried about what this meant, but as it turns out, Rooster Teeth were just hamming it up for the promo. The real reason is much sillier: a Food Fight.
    • Done again in episode 19 of RWBY Chibi after an pillow fight done to the same extreme but instead it is Yang holding Ruby who pretends to die.

    Webcomics 

    Web Original 
  • Chaos Fighters: Chemical Warriors-RAKSA has this near the end, but subverted that the one being hugged was alive and woke up.
  • Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog has one heralding its finale in Act III: Billy carries the lifeless body of Penny to a stretcher as he sings "Everything You Ever" and makes his final transformation to Dr. Horrible.
  • Linkara does this with MarzGurl in Kickassia when she's knocked down by an explosion. Played for Laughs, since the entire time he's doing it, she's protesting that she's fine.

    Western Animation 
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender: A scene from the second season finale is one example that doesn't follow a Heroic Sacrifice, but a poorly timed mistake.
  • Ben 10: Alien Force actually has a shot like this in "What Little Girls Are Made Of", with Kevin holding Ben after he is knocked down in a (brief) conflict with a woman who turns out to be his grandmother. The scene is not dramatic and Ben isn't even unconsious, but he stays in Kevin's arms like that for a good five seconds.
  • Bojack Horseman In Season 4, Episode 6, "Stupid Piece of Shit," we see Bojack holding Sarah Lynn in this pose during his "Stupid Piece of Shit" flashback.
  • Spoofed in the Dexter's Laboratory accompanying short, The Justice Friends, in which Major Glory holds Valhallen in his arms after Valhallen injures himself in an attempt to get a bee out of their apartment. When Valhallen states that he is fine, Major Glory casually tosses him aside.
  • In the Harley Quinn (2019) episode "The Runaway Bridesmaid", Poison Ivy and Kite Man's wedding is raided by the police. When Ivy passes out from knock-out gas, Kite Man carries her body and screams in anguish, parodying Crisis on Infinite Earths #7, until he too succumbs to the gas.
  • Justice League Unlimited:
    • Superman does this to Captain Atom after Superman is forced to beat him unconscious in "Flashpoint".
    • Batman does this with Ace in "Epilogue".
    • Green Lantern does this to Supergirl in "Far from Home".
  • The end of the Looney Tunes cartoon "What's Opera, Doc?".
  • In the Oh Yeah! Cartoons short "The Feelers", this pose is done by having Mo Skito carry Mitzi Moth in his arms during her Disney Death.
  • Recess: In the episode "Prince Randall", Mikey combines this trope with a Skyward Big "NO!" as he holds the unconscious T.J. after the latter is clobbered at the dodgeball wall.
  • In the She-Ra and the Princesses of Power episode "Save The Cat", Adora cradles Catra in this pose as Catra is dying.
  • The Simpsons:
    • In "Worst Episode Ever", the famous "Death of Superman" comic is parodied with Sad Sack.
    • In "The Sweetest Apu", Homer does this with a keg of beer◊ after someone stabs a hole in it during the Civil War reenactment.
      Homer: This was supposed to be a mock battle! MOCK!
    • "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play" features the eponymous couple helping a major league baseball player and his wife patch up their troubled marriage. During Kent Brockman's news report, a file photo is shown depicting a distressed Marge holding a drunken, drooling, beer-hat wearing Homer in the famous position.
  • Superjail!: When the Littlest Cancer Patient dies, one of the prisoners holds her like this.
  • Teen Titans (2003): Robin and Raven, in the episode 'Birthmark,' have this twice - first with Raven holding Robin, then Robin holding Raven.
  • In The Tick, episode "The Tick vs. The Proto-Clown", the American Maid and her on-off-S.O. Die Fledermaus remain behind fighting the Monster of the Week. She later returns to the HQ holding his body in her arms in a classical standing Pietà pose, like this (Sorry, side screenshot). By the way: He had just fainted.
  • Transformers: Animated, Endgame Part 2: Jazz carries Prowl's body after the third Lugnut Supreme blows up.
  • In the last chapter of season one, Bloom from Winx Club carries a defeated and passed-out Icy after a rather intense battle between the two of them.
    • This is matched by the Crucified Hero Shot Bloom got earlier in the season, when Icy and her sisters stole the Dragon's Flame from her. It's matched even further by the fact that said battle happened immediately after Bloom recovered her stolen magic.

    Other 
  • Anakin Skywalker and his dead mother Shmi appear in this pose in a Star Wars Legends trading card, with her as a Force Ghost holding his charred, dying body after his defeat at Obi-Wan's hands-on Mustafar.

    Real Life 
  • Mortally wounded Pres. Lincoln and actress Laura Keene, Ford's Theatre, Washigton, D.C., April 14, 1865.note 
  • Mortally wounded Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and busboy Juan Romero. Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, California, June 5, 1968.
  • World Press Photo picture of the year, 2012.
  • Played to chilling effect with a woman hugging her partner who was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen for being an alleged drug pusher. Front page banner of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Pasay City, Philippines, published July 24, 2016.

 
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