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Post-Mortem Possessions

141 statements
26 feature instances
12 referencing feature instances

Post-Mortem Possessions	type	FeatureClass
Post-Mortem Possessions	label	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions	page	PostMortemPossessions
Post-Mortem Possessions	comment	You know the old saying "can't take it with you"?note An idiom that points to the fact that you can't enjoy your worldly possessions after you die, so try to focus on other important things like friends, family, and learning a new skill. In fiction, that's not always true. Fiction likes to think that in the afterlife, you can enjoy all of your things just as much as you could when you were still alive. When you die and meet people known for their affluence, like King Tut or Napoleon, they're usually portrayed as being just as affluent as they were in life, with their recognizable furniture and artwork and whatever in their Purgatory Penthouses. Various interpretations of Heaven and Hell like to portray the ins and outs as being decorated in gold and precious stones (though whether for decoration or as a twisted form of torture is relative), so the idea that there would be an economy that recognizes Earthly tender is one a lot of people in modern-day Capitalist Earth have latched onto. Souls who find themselves in Warrior Heaven often emphasize how the people who died get to keep their armor, weaponry, and other important accouterments they had on them when they experience an Honorable Warrior's Death. Associated with Jacob Marley Apparel, where a ghost's appearance (and whatever they have in their pockets) are related to how they died. If other people are fair game, this may lead to an Afterlife of Service. Commonly done in Artificial Afterlives meant to replicate creature comforts. Compare/contrast Prenatal Possessions. Compare Coins for the Dead, which are often left with dead bodies under the belief they will carry over to the afterlife. Not to be mistaken for possessing a corpse or Body Surf. As a Death Trope, all spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.
Post-Mortem Possessions	fetched	2024-05-05T22:16:37Z
Post-Mortem Possessions	parsed	2024-05-05T22:16:37Z
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Post-Mortem Possessions	processingComment	Dropped link to UnitsNotToScale: Not an Item - FEATURE
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Post-Mortem Possessions	isPartOf	DBTropes
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_14f9297e	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_14f9297e	comment	The Far Side: One strip depicts a funeral where a variety of material possessions — a piano, a television, a bag of gold clubs, and a dog — are being drawn out the door and into the clouds, while a woman in mourning clothes clutches at them and yells "Aaaaa! It's George! He's taking it with him!"
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_1a8374cb	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_1a8374cb	comment	Charlie the Unicorn: Norwell obtained the ghost of a keyboard by stealing it from a musician that he accidentally scared to death.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_1fc7499e	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_1fc7499e	comment	Reaper Man reveals that it's possible to "kill" an item to briefly manifest it in the spirit realm. Mrs Cake smashes a vase so that One Man Bucket can then break the spirit version over the head of some other spirits crowding him. Death tries to have an Absurdly Sharp Blade killed so that he'll have a weapon to fight against the new Death when his lifetimer runs out — but the blacksmith can't bring himself to melt down such a beautiful piece of equipment, leaving Death empty-handed when the time comes.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_2dd3e031	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_2dd3e031	comment	Wintersmith: Played for Laughs when the dying witch Eumenides Treason orders a ham sandwich for the road. As her spirit leaves with Death, she finds that the sandwich made it across the threshold, but the mustard didn't.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_3b88d68c	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_3b88d68c	comment	The Divine Comedy: In Inferno, this is used as an ironic punishment for those damned to the Fourth Circle of Hell. The miserly (those who hoarded wealth and possessions) and the prodigal (those who squandered them) are forced to lug around massive weights — most often interpreted as massive bags of money or other possessions — for eternity.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_3fbd173e	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_3fbd173e	comment	Freefall: As part of the Day of the Dead celebrations, it's traditional to burn paper replicas of objects (such as money or cars) to send them to those in the afterlife. One robot burns a paper replica of himself, under the belief that it will get him into the afterlife just in case he doesn't have a soul.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_43339b81	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_43339b81	comment	Downplayed on Ghosts, both the British and American versions. Ghosts can have possessions, but only if the item was on their person when they died. Examples include a letter Thomas was to give someone, one of the feathers in Sassappis' headdress, and the candies in Carol's purse. However, if the item leaves their person, it immediately zaps back to them.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_468bebb0	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_468bebb0	comment	Discworld: Men at Arms: It is established that dwarf funeral customs involve burying a weapon in the coffin for the deceased to use to fight whatever dangers they might face in the afterlife. However, when constable Cuddy is killed he is disappointed to find himself unarmed and tells Death that he's supposed to have his burial weapon, only for Death to reply that he normally doesn't meet people after their burial. It is implied, however, that Vimes put the gonne, the quasi-sentient weapon that killed him, in Cuddy's coffin so he would have a truly peerless burial weapon. Reaper Man reveals that it's possible to "kill" an item to briefly manifest it in the spirit realm. Mrs Cake smashes a vase so that One Man Bucket can then break the spirit version over the head of some other spirits crowding him. Death tries to have an Absurdly Sharp Blade killed so that he'll have a weapon to fight against the new Death when his lifetimer runs out — but the blacksmith can't bring himself to melt down such a beautiful piece of equipment, leaving Death empty-handed when the time comes. The Truth: Mr. Tulip places a lot of value on his potato because everything being fine if he has one is the main thing he remembers of his childhood religion and is upset that his partner Mr Pin betrayed him and took it. With some counselling from Death though and after he gives a sincere apology for his wrongdoings in life, he discovers to his great joy that he still has his potato in the afterlife. Wintersmith: Played for Laughs when the dying witch Eumenides Treason orders a ham sandwich for the road. As her spirit leaves with Death, she finds that the sandwich made it across the threshold, but the mustard didn't.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_4c69bb57	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_4c69bb57	comment	Ride the Cyclone: In the original version, Ricky Potts appears in limbo with his crutches, even though he no longer needs them. As soon as he realizes this, however, he tosses them away. Mischa also still has his phone, though he is annoyed he can't access wifi.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_52eb7183	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_52eb7183	comment	Irregular Webcomic!: One character brings digging tools (and horses!) with him into the afterlife so he can try digging his way out. As it turns out, all inanimate objects that ever have or will exist (including robots) go to the afterlife (at least, they do when the entire universe is destroyed all at once).
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_53a0bd32	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_53a0bd32	comment	The Twilight Zone (1959): Played for heartwarming in "One for the Angels". When street vendor Lew Bookman performs a Heroic Sacrifice by distracting Death from taking a child's life to balance his books (the titular sales pitch for the angels), Lew has to go in the kid's stead. Death allows Lew to take his briefcase full of wares to the afterlife and assures him that he earned his place "up there".
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_5755b96a	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_5755b96a	comment	The Order of the Stick: Horace Greenhilt has a copy of the family's ancestral blade in the afterlife. He explains to his grandson Roy that this is because the afterlife in the setting depicts people as their idealized selves, and Horace thinks of himself as a swordsman wielding the special sword. Roy doesn't have his own copy because he still thinks of the sword as his grandfather's, not his own.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_5e150650	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_5e150650	comment	Exalted: All grave goods and sacrifices given to the dead become full-scale versions of themselves in the Underworld. Paper and wooden effigies become luxurious and possibly magical treasures, food items become neverending, and sacrificed animals are restored as loyal and virtually indestructible sources of food, fur, labour, and the like. Consequently, funerals are usually lavish affairs in order to afford the maximum possible post-mortem luxury to the dead, which in turn means that gold, gems, and other treasures and resources are about as common and valuable as rocks in the land of the dead. In fact, the grand funerals given by the Dragon-Blooded to put the ghosts of the slain Solars to rest after the Usurpation actually saved the Underworld, and through that all of Creation. In the wake of the Usurpation, the Neverborn, and their spectre armies arose and tried to overrun the Underworld, but were driven back by the ghosts of the newly dead Solars, who had been interred with their full panoplies of war and retained them as grave goods as a result.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_61ea3049	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_61ea3049	comment	In My Posthumous Adventures, Anna's departed soul wears the same cross that her body does â€” the fact is spelled out when demons order her to take it off and she refuses since it's her beloved mother's gift.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_63230cb	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_63230cb	comment	Discussed in Dragon Ball Z Abridged. Vegeta's spirit appears in Goku's consciousness to give him a Rousing Speech... only for Goku to stop him and ask why he's naked. Vegeta says you don't bring clothes with you after death, but Goku says that he did; he even kept his weighted clothes despite not dying with them on. Vegeta then realized that he got pranked by King Yenma.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_73d7930f	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_73d7930f	comment	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine establishes that the Ferengi afterlife involves using one's worldly goods to bid on the next life, shedding new light on the Ferengi hypercapitalist culture.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_79bf0b84	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_79bf0b84	comment	Slightly Damned: Items that you are buried with can appear with you in the afterlife. It is tradition to bury a person with a coin placed in their ear so they can pay Death to take them across the river so they don't have to swim to their destined afterlife. A person's favorite possessions can also randomly appear with them when they go to the afterlife, which is how Heaven's library has books from the world of the living.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_7bcc597	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_7bcc597	comment	Daffy Duck's Quackbusters: Daffy inherits the fortune of millionaire J.P. Cubish, but Cubish's will stipulates that Daffy can only spend it doing charitable deeds and remaining honest in business. Daffy scoffs at this, saying, "What's he gonna do? He can't take it with him." Unfortunately, it turns out he can, as every time Daffy doesn't abide by Cubish's wishes, a bit of the money disappears into thin air. Eventually, Daffy is left with nothing and is back where he started in the movie, selling stuff on the street; and when he makes a sale, Cubish takes that money as well.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_7c3e0841	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_7c3e0841	comment	The Rivera Family Ancestors in the El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera episode "The Grave Escape" all still possess their mystical super empowering artifacts even as Calacas in the Land of the Dead. The villainous members each have their mech-suits, the heroic ones all possess their own version of the Bronze Boots of Truth (the current Rivera hero — White Pantera — being the current wearer), and the original El Tigre has the current El Tigre's magic belt-buckle.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_8e82c366	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_8e82c366	comment	In The Real Ghostbusters episode "You Can't Take it With You", terminally ill Rich Bastard Mr. Tummell builds a tunneler into the spirit plane to try and send all of his worldly possessions (and some of his servants) into the afterlife so that he can keep all of it for himself. Not only does he find the thought of his possessions being given away abhorrent, but he ignores his scientist's worries about the environmental effects of his device, and the dimensional hole left in the atmosphere unleashes a horde of ghosts on the city. The Ghostbusters reverse the polarity on the machine and fix the damage, with Mr. Tummel, his skyscraper, and the invasion of ghosts being sucked back into the spirit realm. Even better, all of the money and treasures he had sent into the spirit realm was displaced back in the living world when the building is sucked in, leaving Mr. Tummel alone in his home on the other side without his wealth.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_9aac0273	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Post-Mortem Possessions / int_9aac0273	comment	Men at Arms: It is established that dwarf funeral customs involve burying a weapon in the coffin for the deceased to use to fight whatever dangers they might face in the afterlife. However, when constable Cuddy is killed he is disappointed to find himself unarmed and tells Death that he's supposed to have his burial weapon, only for Death to reply that he normally doesn't meet people after their burial. It is implied, however, that Vimes put the gonne, the quasi-sentient weapon that killed him, in Cuddy's coffin so he would have a truly peerless burial weapon.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_9d47a2a2	comment	A Song of Ice and Fire: Dothraki funerary practices for a deceased Khal include putting all his valued possessions on his funerary pyre, as well as sacrificing his horse and his bloodriders (should any of them outlive him). When the pyre is burnt, it's believed that everything and everyone on it would accompany the Khal as he rides across the Night Lands.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_a656a587	comment	The Truth: Mr. Tulip places a lot of value on his potato because everything being fine if he has one is the main thing he remembers of his childhood religion and is upset that his partner Mr Pin betrayed him and took it. With some counselling from Death though and after he gives a sincere apology for his wrongdoings in life, he discovers to his great joy that he still has his potato in the afterlife.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_baf3bcd7	comment	Wraith: The Oblivion: Items that are invested with a significant quantity of emotion and are then destroyed create echoes of themselves known as "relics" in the Shadowlands, the first layer of the Underworld, the level that mirrors the living world. These are the only objects that exist solely in the Shadowlands rather than being a reflection of the living world except for the ghosts themselves. These relics then exist for a length of time determined by how much emotion was invested in them before fading away, so a front door key (important to someone but only really on a practical level) might only last a few months while a treasured childhood toy could be around for years and a cultural icon beloved (or hated, the emotion doesn't need to be positive) by thousands or millions even after being destroyed could be effectively eternal. The usefulness of relics varies, mind you; relic cars are not uncommon but good luck finding any relic petrol.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_ec2531c4	comment	In Coco, during El Dia de los Muertos, the spirits of the dead are able to make ghostly copies of the offerings left on their ofrendas in the Land of the Living. This way, they can bring food and other items they enjoyed in life back to the Land of the Dead.
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Post-Mortem Possessions / int_ef076a36	comment	An episode of Star Trek: Voyager dealt with an alien species that didn't believe in souls; they thought that dead people physically went to the afterlife, and thus provided them with material objects.
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Post-Mortem Possessions	processingCategory2	Death Tropes
Helluva Witch (Fanfic) / int_59feb2c0	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Men at Arms / int_59feb2c0	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
My Posthumous Adventures / int_59feb2c0	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Reaper Man	processingUnknown	Post-Mortem Possessions
The Divine Comedy / int_59feb2c0	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
The Truth	processingUnknown	Post-Mortem Possessions
Wintersmith	processingUnknown	Post-Mortem Possessions
Star Trek: Voyager / int_59feb2c0	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Sex Advice Succubus (Visual Novel) / int_59feb2c0	type	Post-Mortem Possessions
Coco	processingUnknown	Post-Mortem Possessions
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters	processingUnknown	Post-Mortem Possessions

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