Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Ghostly Death Reveal

 Ghostly Death Reveal
type
FeatureClass
 Ghostly Death Reveal
label
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal
page
GhostlyDeathReveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal
comment
A kind of offscreen death, primarily in fantasy stories, where the protagonist has some chance encounter with a ghost (either in a vision or while travelling through some kind of ghostly underworld), only to find out that they're the ghost of someone they knew before they left or from earlier in their journey, and whom they believed to be alive until then. They died or were killed while the hero was away, and now they get the news straight from the deceased themselves. Usually allows the deceased to have a few parting words with the protagonist before finally passing on, thus serving to avoid Never Got to Say Goodbye. Sometimes the very shocked and saddened protagonist may go Please, Don't Leave Me as the deceased fades away, if the deceased was someone they were close to.
Note that for this to apply, the character must either be one who was preestablished earlier in the story as alive, or which we could reasonably expect to have been alive earlier in the story. Any random character who died well before the story and shows up as a ghost would not count.
Compare and contrast Posthumous Character, for when a character is considered long dead before the story even starts. Compare Doomed Predecessor where an explorer is introduced alive (or missing) and is later found dead. Also compare Dead All Along, where a character assumed to be alive turns out to be a ghost.
As this is a Death Trope, UNMARKED SPOILERS are below.
 Ghostly Death Reveal
fetched
2023-11-06T22:33:08Z
 Ghostly Death Reveal
parsed
2023-11-06T22:33:08Z
 Ghostly Death Reveal
processingComment
Dropped link to TheHauntingOfHillHouse2018: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Ghostly Death Reveal
processingComment
Dropped link to WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Ghostly Death Reveal
processingComment
Dropped link to iseedeadpeople: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Ghostly Death Reveal
processingUnknown
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
 Ghostly Death Reveal
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_2212773a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_2212773a
comment
Angel: Cordelia Chase had last been seen in a coma in the finale of season 4, but she suddenly returns midway through season 5 to help Angel deal with the return of an old enemy and take a trip down memory lane. At the end, it's revealed she died earlier in the hospital and the Cordelia who assisted him was a ghost sent as a favor by the Big Good.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_2212773a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_2212773a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Angel
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_2212773a
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_261c8d3f
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_261c8d3f
comment
The Simpsons: While Dr. Marvin Monroe was considered dead for a long time before turning up alive in "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife", after that episode he disappeared for another fourteen years (barring a few cameos) before returning as a ghost in "Flanders' Ladder". He hasn't been seen since that episode.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_261c8d3f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_261c8d3f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Simpsons
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_261c8d3f
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_353b7af3
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_353b7af3
comment
Star Trek: Discovery: In "Vaulting Ambition", Stamets encounters his husband, Dr. Culber, while trapped in the mycelial network, and Culber reveals that he was killed in the real world (as seen in the previous episode) and that his spirit now resides within the network. After a tearful goodbye, Stamets escapes the network and returns to the normal universe. Luckily, in season 2 they're able to find a way to resurrect Culber.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_353b7af3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_353b7af3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Star Trek: Discovery
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_353b7af3
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_4b187e74
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_4b187e74
comment
The Odyssey:
Odysseus is surprised to find his mother Anticlea in the Underworld, and we learn that she died of grief or suicide during the many years of his absence.
In the underworld, Odysseus to his distress also finds the ghost of Agamemnon, whom he last saw when the Greeks departed from Troy, and asks him how he met his death. Agamemnon reveals that his wife had remarried while he was gone, and her new husband killed him upon returning home.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_4b187e74
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_4b187e74
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Odyssey
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_4b187e74
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_56d7b49b
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_56d7b49b
comment
Several bad endings in Checkout Time at the Dead-End Hotel, after you chose to pull a Let's Split Up, Gang! in Hotel Morte to find Drew Mortgarth, have you rendezvous with your friends, only to realize they're dead and are now among the hotel's resident ghosts, and they want you to join them. In one of the bad endings, it's your friend's mother who is revealed to be a ghost.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_56d7b49b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_56d7b49b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Checkout Time At the Dead-End Hotel
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_56d7b49b
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5a3dae52
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5a3dae52
comment
Misfits:
In season 2, Nathan meets his half-brother Jamie, and the two of them bond over their mutual hatred of their father... right up until the two of them narrowly avoid getting killed in a fire. After this, Jamie seems curiously eager to get Nathan to reconnect with his dad, and Nathan reluctantly consents to a face-to-face meeting to clear the air; however, when they finally meet up, their father is uncharacteristically sorrowful - and doesn't seem to notice that Jamie is there. Turns out that Jamie didn't escape the fire after all - and Nathan has the power to communicate with the dead.
In another season 2 episode, the team end up getting on the bad side of an aspiring supervillain with the power to psychically control milk. Following a confrontation with said supervillain, we briefly lose track of Kelly and Alisha - up until the former bumps into Nathan, seemingly unharmed. However, this turns out to be Nathan's mediumship at work again: Kelly quickly reveals that she's been murdered and that the supervillain is now holding Alisha hostage; for good measure, we cut to a reveal shot of Kelly's body, having been drowned in milk.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5a3dae52
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5a3dae52
featureConfidence
1.0
 Misfits
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5a3dae52
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5aa392c7
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5aa392c7
comment
Ghost Whisperer:
"Ghost, Interrupted" features a flashback to a younger Melinda visiting her grandmother, who has the same gift as her, in a nursing home. When Melinda asks her how she knows the difference between a ghost and a live person, Mary Ann says she'll be able to feel what a ghost is feeling when she looks at one. Melinda then realizes she can feel what her grandmother is feeling, and runs to her grandmother's room to find her dead.
The two-part season one finale has a plane crashing in Grandview. The audience is at first led to believe that one of the victims of the crash is Andrea's brother, but it turns out Andrea herself died in the crash. The Season 2 premiere is her final appearance on the show.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5aa392c7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5aa392c7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Ghost Whisperer
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5aa392c7
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5c66fff9
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5c66fff9
comment
Neverwinter Nights 2: Depending on your actions, Bishop may fight for neither you nor the Big Bad in the final battle and simply leave the final dungeon before its collapse. Even if he did, you still meet him in a vision of the atheist's afterlife in Mask of the Betrayer. Apparently, his head start getting out was not enough.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5c66fff9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5c66fff9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Neverwinter Nights 2 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5c66fff9
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5f3788b
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5f3788b
comment
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter: Referenced for laughs when Nikaro is temporarily stuck outside his body as an invisible spirit. Unknown to him, Design can see spirits, so she takes one look, drops a bowl of soup, and exclaims, "Storms! Nikaro? Are you dead?" He then hurriedly explains while she tries to act natural in front of the other customers.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5f3788b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5f3788b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_5f3788b
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_6d78a23
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_6d78a23
comment
In Yesterday Upon The Stair, Izuku (and the readers) learn that Tensei Iida didn't survive his encounter with Stain when Izuku comes to class and sees his ghost standing beside his brother.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_6d78a23
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_6d78a23
featureConfidence
1.0
 Yesterday Upon The Stair (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_6d78a23
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_76c6804a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_76c6804a
comment
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin: Early on, Jonathan and Charlotte meet a ghost who calls himself Wind. Later on, though, Wind reveals himself to be the ghost of Eric Lecarde, one of the protagonists of Bloodlines and a friend of Jonathan's father John Morris. In the interim, Eric was killed by Brauner but managed to bind his own spirit to Dracula's Castle.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_76c6804a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_76c6804a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (Video Game)
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_76c6804a
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_7f225484
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_7f225484
comment
In the Elenium, it's eventually explained to Sparhawk that in his absence, Sephrenia and a select group of his fellow Pandion Knights performed a magic ritual to keep the poisoned Queen Ehlana alive at the expense of their own life energy. Every month, one of them will die unless the cure is found, with Sephrenia being the last to go. Neither he nor Sephrenia knows which one will die each month until each knight's ghost appears to inform them of the passing; Sephrenia, who is Really 700 Years Old and has known all of these knights since they were children, takes it extremely hard every time.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_7f225484
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_7f225484
featureConfidence
1.0
 Elenium
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_7f225484
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_8cb260f7
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_8cb260f7
comment
All Assorted Animorphs AUs: At the end of "What if the Animorphs could use magic?", Jake is horrified to discover that his suicide mission to save Ax was for naught when he meets Ax's ghost.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_8cb260f7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_8cb260f7
featureConfidence
1.0
 All Assorted Animorphs AUs (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_8cb260f7
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_8dd4fbe2
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_8dd4fbe2
comment
On Midnight, Texas, Creek leaves town but comes back in a later episode. At the end of that episode, she calls for Manfred to come outside. He does and is very shaken to see she's a ghost.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_8dd4fbe2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_8dd4fbe2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Midnight, Texas
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_8dd4fbe2
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_9f751c35
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_9f751c35
comment
Sally Face: The end of Chapter 2 has Larry's ghost appear to Dr. Enon in the present when he visits the treehouse, while Sally's recollection of the past had yet to reveal that Larry ever died. Chapter 4's events of the past show Sally texting Larry in his final moments before running to the treehouse to confirm the worst, but we never see the body, despite Larry being able to help from the other side.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_9f751c35
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_9f751c35
featureConfidence
1.0
 Sally Face (Video Game)
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_9f751c35
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_a0b2179d
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_a0b2179d
comment
Early in Paranormal HK, you're separated from your friend, Kathy, before encountering a Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl wearing Katy's blue dress, making you realize everyone around you has been taken by supernatural forces. Subverted later on, however - the ghost girl that looks like Kathy is actually a doppelganger, the real Kathy is still alive.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_a0b2179d
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_a0b2179d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Paranormal HK (Video Game)
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_a0b2179d
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c03c2b44
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c03c2b44
comment
In Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Elizabeth Swann finds her father, Governor Swann, among the lost souls in Davy Jones's Locker, despite him being alive before she set off on the journey to revive Jack, revealing that Cutler Beckett really did follow up on his Deadly Euphemism about him.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c03c2b44
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c03c2b44
featureConfidence
1.0
 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c03c2b44
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c2184f42
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c2184f42
comment
Star Wars: Legacy begins 88 years after the chronologically previous work in Star Wars Legends (the novel Star Wars: Crucible). Although Force users can live for centuries, even human ones, Luke Skywalker is revealed to the audience to have died during the Time Skip when he appears to Cade as a Force ghost.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c2184f42
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c2184f42
featureConfidence
1.0
 Star Wars: Legacy (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c2184f42
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c2463c55
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c2463c55
comment
There are several characters in Final Fantasy X who become Unsent (the spirit of a person who wasn't laid to rest by a Summoner who can still interact with the world and doesn't actually look or act any different, but may degenerate into a fiend if left to fester) along the course of the game (Seymour, repeatedly) or were Unsent all along (Auron, Maechen). And then there's Tidus and Jecht, who were more or less sentient physical dreams.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c2463c55
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c2463c55
featureConfidence
1.0
 Final Fantasy X (Video Game)
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c2463c55
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c75d67d
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c75d67d
comment
Variation on Person of Interest: In "The Day The World Went Away" Root takes a bullet for Finch, and is seen going into shock as she's taken to hospital. Later Finch gets a phone call from someone who sounds like Root... but it's then revealed that Root died and The Machine has adopted her voice in tribute.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c75d67d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c75d67d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Person of Interest
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_c75d67d
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_d7694dc7
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_d7694dc7
comment
In The Twisted Tale of Tiki Island, you and your cousin Gina end up being pursued by several Ghost Pirate skeletons. You might lose Gina at one point, and depending on your choices, you end up being trapped by a ghostly skeleton... wearing Gina's swimsuit. You then realize there's no escape, she's dead, and you're next.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_d7694dc7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_d7694dc7
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Twisted Tale of Tiki Island
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_d7694dc7
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_d7943b1b
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_d7943b1b
comment
In The Rescue, the third book of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, Soren the owl has a vision of the scrooms (owl ghosts) of his parents, his first meeting with them since he was stolen from their nest, and learns that they were killed by his brother Kludd shortly after he was stolen.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_d7943b1b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_d7943b1b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Guardians of Ga'Hoole
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_d7943b1b
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_db30cf92
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_db30cf92
comment
Warrior Cats: In the prologue of Darkest Night, Needletail shows up as a ghost to speak to Tree, a cat who she'd met during her life, and he's surprised and asks how she died.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_db30cf92
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_db30cf92
featureConfidence
1.0
 Warrior Cats
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_db30cf92
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_e241df21
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_e241df21
comment
Give Yourself Goosebumps have a few bad endings where this happens.
In The Twisted Tale of Tiki Island, you and your cousin Gina end up being pursued by several Ghost Pirate skeletons. You might lose Gina at one point, and depending on your choices, you end up being trapped by a ghostly skeleton... wearing Gina's swimsuit. You then realize there's no escape, she's dead, and you're next.
Several bad endings in Checkout Time at the Dead-End Hotel, after you chose to pull a Let's Split Up, Gang! in Hotel Morte to find Drew Mortgarth, have you rendezvous with your friends, only to realize they're dead and are now among the hotel's resident ghosts, and they want you to join them. In one of the bad endings, it's your friend's mother who is revealed to be a ghost.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_e241df21
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_e241df21
featureConfidence
1.0
 Give Yourself Goosebumps
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_e241df21
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_e41ea518
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_e41ea518
comment
Subverted for surrealism in pictures for sad children. In one comic, Gary finds his father's ghost in his apartment, then angrily calls his mom to ask why nobody told him his father died. Mom has no idea what he's talking about, and she puts Dad — still very much alive — to talk on the phone with Gary. Yet the ghost is still definitely haunting Gary's place. The characters never figure out how this is happening.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_e41ea518
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_e41ea518
featureConfidence
1.0
 pictures for sad children (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_e41ea518
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_ea4f62db
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_ea4f62db
comment
In the Family Guy episode "Coma Guy", Brenda (Glenn Quagmire's sister) re-appears as a spirit on the boat in Peter's coma, indicating that she died off-screen.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_ea4f62db
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_ea4f62db
featureConfidence
1.0
 Family Guy
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_ea4f62db
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_f1c0a1c6
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_f1c0a1c6
comment
Min spends the entirety of Dragon Pearl searching for her brother Jun... Only to discover that he's been dead for a while when she meets his ghost on the Fourth Colony.
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_f1c0a1c6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Ghostly Death Reveal / int_f1c0a1c6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Dragon Pearl
hasFeature
Ghostly Death Reveal / int_f1c0a1c6

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Ghostly Death Reveal
processingCategory2
Death Tropes
 Ghostly Death Reveal
processingCategory2
Spoilered Rotten
 Ghostly Death Reveal
processingCategory2
Undead Index
 Star Wars: Legacy (Comic Book) / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 All Assorted Animorphs AUs (Fanfic) / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Terrified / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Checkout Time At the Dead-End Hotel / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Guardians of Ga'Hoole / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 The Elenium / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 The Odyssey / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 The Twisted Tale of Tiki Island / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Yumi and the Nightmare Painter / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) (Music) / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Ghost Whisperer / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Midnight, Texas / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Misfits / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Star Trek: Discovery / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 The Haunting of Hill House (2018) / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (Video Game) / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Paranormal HK (Video Game) / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Sally Face (Video Game) / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 Walrusguy (Web Animation) / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal
 pictures for sad children (Webcomic) / int_816bc80a
type
Ghostly Death Reveal