Basic Trope: One half of a couple dies (or leaves), and the survivor is still loyal to them.
- Straight: Alice and Bob are together, but Alice dies of an illness. Bob never finds himself another girl.
- Exaggerated:
- After Alice dies, Bob can't bear the thought of life without her and so commits suicide.
- Bob literally dies of despair, being unable to bear the thought of living without Alice.
- Bob lives on after Alice's death for eons. He never gets himself one girl in all this time.
- Downplayed: After Alice dies, Bob may yearn after other women, but he's celibate.
- Justified:
- Bob still has strong feelings for Alice that he can't shake.
- Bob is a clairvoyant, and he can still see Alice.
- Bob had a case of Single-Target Sexuality. No one else "does it" for him as far as attraction, and he's accepted that.
- Implied: Alice died years ago, and Bob has no interest in dating or remarrying, politely rebuffing any attempts to set him up. He also refers to himself as "married" instead of "widowed."
- Inverted:
- Alice dies, and Bob starts dating his childhood friend Caroline.
- Bob repeatedly sleeps around after Alice's death. Or, he cheated a lot when he was still in a relationship with Alice.
- Subverted:
- Bob starts dating Caroline eventually.
- Bob goes through a string of short-term flings and one-night stands.
- Double Subverted:
- But then realizes he still has feelings for Alice and breaks up with Caroline.
- But he never again has a long-term relationship, and the girls he sleeps with don't mean as much to him as Alice did.
- Parodied: After Alice dies, Bob becomes Emo and develops a Personal Raincloud.
- Zig Zagged: Alice is Bob's childhood sweetheart. Alice dies. Bob mourns. Then Bob eventually overcomes his mourning enough to get in a relationship with Caroline. Then he breaks up with Caroline, claiming it's because of his feelings for Alice. Then it turns out it was just an excuse, and it's really because of his feelings for Dana. Caroline murders Dana. Bob mourns her and vows to never love again. Then he meets a woman who he can't help falling for, who's eventually revealed to be Alice, all grown up, who faked her death just because she hated him so damn much. Bob gets mad as hell, because she ruined his life, and flips a table which falls on her and crushes her to death. Oops. Bob can never love again. Or can he?
- Averted:
- While Bob is hurt over Alice's death, he does get over it.
- Alice doesn't die.
- Enforced:
- Rule of Drama.
- After Alice dies, the creators plan to have Bob become romantically involved with Caroline. However, this leads to a backlash from fans who refuse to accept the idea of Bob being with anyone except Alice. As a result, the creators are forced to abandon the Bob/Caroline relationship, leaving Bob still carrying a torch for Alice.
- Lampshaded: "Now that she's gone, I'll never love again..."
- Invoked: Alice dies, and Bob promises that he will wait until he is reunited with her in death.
- Exploited: The Powers That Be have a Secret Test of Character for Bob: they take away Alice and see how he fares; if he passes the test (by not getting involved with another girl) they will bring Alice Back from the Dead. Otherwise, Bob will be cursed and Alice will still be dead.
- Defied: Bob feels that Alice wouldn't want him to sacrifice his own happiness and starts dating again.
- Discussed: "Poor Bob. I don't think he ever has loved another girl the way he loved Alice, and I don't think he ever will."
- Conversed: "Bob should just move on. I mean, Alice wouldn't mind, right? And even if she would, there's not much she can do about it."
- Deconstructed:
- Bob is wallowing in his grief and that's holding him back and could negatively affect all his relationships.
- Pining for Alice for so long, Bob starts sinking into his depression more and more until he is little more than an Empty Shell. Near the end of his life, he is left to wonder if this wait was worth it.
- Reconstructed:
- Bob eventually finds the strength to move on, from the good memories he has and the knowledge that Alice would want him to be happy.
- Fortunately for Bob, the wait was indeed Worth It.
- Played For Laughs: Alice (something of a Clingy Jealous Girl in life) dies, and drives other girls away from Bob.
Back to The Mourning After
