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Premature Eulogy
- 151 statements
- 28 feature instances
- 16 referencing feature instances
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Bob, a regular and/or beloved character on the show, has been killed off. In the aftermath of Bob's death, at least one of the other regular characters gives him an emotional, sometimes tear-jerking eulogy. It can be ceremonial (part of an official funeral), a moment of introspection among friends, or even a soliloquy. The eulogy has everything you might expect, praising Bob's deeds and lamenting his untimely end, and so on. The phrase "I wish I had the time to get to know you better" seems to crop up very often. However, as it turns out, Bob isn't dead after all! Later in the same episode/work he'll re-appear, either having been brought Back from the Dead or having survived whatever it was that should've killed him. Why did we waste our time watching a eulogy for a character who isn't dead? The idea is to generate sympathy for the "dead" character and a sense of loss in the viewers, without actually having to give up the character at all. It's useful for a lot of different reasons: Maybe to expose the true feelings that other characters have about Bob, now that they feel there's no need to further hide their true emotions. Maybe they'll reveal more of Bob's backstory. Or maybe the author feels that Bob needs a boost to his popularity among viewers. Whatever the reason, the fact is that Bob isn't really dead, so the point isn't to sum up his exploits and let him go - it's to enhance Bob's appeal through the sincere mourning of his friends, who have no idea that they have no reason to mourn at all. For a true Premature Eulogy, the author must have the clear intention of bringing the "dead" character back within a relatively short timeframe. On TV shows, this will occur either in the same episode or within a few, just long enough to keep the audience believing that the character has been Killed Off for Real. This works best in shows where Anyone Can Die, but can be even more jarring if the death of major characters is not common at all. A Premature Eulogy is almost never played for comical effect, since it's meant to generate sincere viewer sympathy for the "dead" character. A little comedy might be involved as a starting point for the eulogy, but things are supposed to look bleak - a gut-punch to the audience. The exception is when the character was not very sympathetic to begin with and his "friends" are more inclined to express their Last Disrespects after his presumed demise. In some cases, the audience is already informed that the character isn't really dead, having seen them survive whatever event should've killed them. This may trigger various responses from the audience once the Eulogy starts, and runs a high risk of turning it into Narm. Even more so if the Premature Eulogy is a set-up for a Clip Show or Really Dead Montage. Another common gag is for the character to show up alive at their own eulogy, only to meet the response, "Not Now, We're Too Busy Crying Over You." The trope also applies when the subject is in a Convenient Coma and/or on death's door. In this case the Premature Eulogy may even be obvious to the characters themselves. This trope will generally (but not always) follow a Disney Death. Compare and contrast with Informal Eulogy. Occasionally overlaps with Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated and Attending Your Own Funeral. Often an excuse for Character Shilling. |
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Dropped link to BackFromTheDead: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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| Premature Eulogy | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_14f9297e | type |
Premature Eulogy | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_14f9297e | comment |
Implied to have happened in one strip of The Far Side, where a bear rises from a coffin at a funeral: | |
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| The Far Side (Comic Strip) | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_1657af79 | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_1657af79 | comment |
The Mermaid Chronicles: In Secrets of the Deep, Cordelia's surfer friend Trent Summers is "killed" in a "shark attack" during which he was actually forcibly transformed into a selachii, or shark person. The only people who know the truth are Cordelia, Maya, and Wade. At Trent's funeral, his father gives a short eulogy, and many people who knew him tell anecdotes about his life. At the end of the book, most of the selachii gain the ability to walk on land, and Trent is reunited with his family. | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_1657af79 | featureApplicability |
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| The Mermaid Chronicles | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_2250e67e | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_2250e67e | comment |
Star Trek: Enterprise Hoshi gave one for Mayweather after he was "killed" at a strange repair facility where the ship had docked. After the eulogy (actually, almost immediately after) it turned out that the corpse on the sickbay table was a copy of Mayweather, not the man himself. The real Mayweather was rescued shortly thereafter. Tucker also receives one in the very first scene of "Similitude". He's brought back through organ harvesting from a speed-aged clone, at the cost of his life. Turns out the funeral was for Tucker's clone. |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_2250e67e | featureApplicability |
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| Star Trek: Enterprise | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_2e3e7ac2 | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_2e3e7ac2 | comment |
The first part of the Justice League episode "Hereafter" deals with Superman's apparent death and its aftermath. J'onn delivers a public eulogy at the memorial service; Batman gives a private one in front of Superman's memorial after his attempts to confirm that he wasn't really disintegrated come up empty. The episode cliffhanger reveals that Superman is in fact alive, with the second half of the episode revealing that he has been transported to the far future and following his adventures until he returns. | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_2e3e7ac2 | featureApplicability |
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| Justice League | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_2ff195f4 | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_2ff195f4 | comment |
Tom and Huck: The town thinks Tom died in a storm and Tom happens to be viewing the sermon from the church attic. Then the attic floor gives way and Tom falls through the church ceiling, exposing himself in front of the entire congregation. | |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_35bceb50 | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_35bceb50 | comment |
Another Premature Eulogy occurs in the episode "The Most Toys", where Data is presumed to have been killed in an explosion. It is given by Wesley and Geordi, to each other, as they examine Data's quarters. Yet another is given a few scenes later in the same episode, when Picard is reading from a copy of Hamlet that he once gifted to Data: | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_35bceb50 | featureApplicability |
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| Hamlet (Theatre) | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_5ada53ed | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_5ada53ed | comment |
The one for James Bond in You Only Live Twice, delivered by the Royal Navy as he's a member of the RNVR (besides his other job...), quoting 1 Corinthians 15. Divers retrieve the "corpse" and cut open the lining to reveal 007, reporting for duty. | |
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| James Bond | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_6825287d | type |
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A Very Special Episode of A Different World included a version of this when the students were assigned this by their professor (Whoopi Goldberg), one of the eulogies is read by a student, which reveals towards the end that she's in the final stages of AIDS. | |
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| Very Special Episode | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_6ae1d164 | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_6ae1d164 | comment |
There's a variation in Galaxy of Fear. Zak is conscious but paralyzed in the coffin and listening to Pylum eulogize him; he's been put into this state by the villain who intends to turn Zak into an Undead Child, and Pylum knows and is helping. The eulogy is there to feed Zak's horror, and vicariously the readers', at the thought of being Buried Alive. | |
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| Galaxy of Fear | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_6e1d5f36 | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_6e1d5f36 | comment |
Aeryn Sun gets one from Zhaan when she dies at the end of Farscape season 2. Owing to the nature of this show, deaths don't (usually) stick very long anyway. | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_6e1d5f36 | featureApplicability |
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| Farscape | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_73d7930f | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_73d7930f | comment |
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: In an early episode, "The Armageddon Game", an alien government tries to kill Bashir and O'Brien after the two had helped them get rid of some biological weapons. The two escape the attack, but are trapped on the alien planet. The aliens, who do not wish Starfleet to come looking for the two escapees, produce a doctored tape showing O'Brien accidentally triggering some sort of security device which vaporizes both him and Bashir. Cue Premature Eulogies from pretty much everyone on the station, including Quark. In the episode "The Visitor", Jake Sisko recalls his father's funeral, where Major Kira gives a eulogy. Of course, Ben Sisko isn't dead, just frozen in time. He's Back from the Dead by the end of the episode. The episode "Who Mourns for Morn" from season 6 is practically made of this trope. Morn, a decidedly minor character in the series, "dies" in a freak accident and is eulogized by several of the regular characters. A sizeable portion of the episode is dedicated to eulogies and other sympathetic gestures by the show's regulars. By the end of the episode, it turns out he faked his own death. |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_73d7930f | featureApplicability |
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| Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_7d20ef2c | type |
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In the Bloom County Story Arc where Steve Dallas is abducted by aliens, his disappearance lasts long enough for the other characters to hold an informal wake in which they struggle to say anything good about him. They haven't quite finished mourning Steve when he is suddenly beamed back down. | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_7d20ef2c | featureApplicability |
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| Bloom County (Comic Strip) | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_89465e75 | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_89465e75 | comment |
Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Battle of the Labyrinth, everyone at Camp Half-Blood thinks Percy's dead, and they are holding his funeral. Annabeth is reading his eulogy when Percy arrives back at camp, thus overlapping this with Attending Your Own Funeral. | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_89465e75 | featureApplicability |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_8d8157e0 | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_8d8157e0 | comment |
In the third Lexx movie, Kai receives premature eulogies from a grieving Zev ("If you were alive—I'd want you to be the first man—I—") and a perplexed Stan, who's only heard of prepackaged "video benedictions." ("Uh—thanks for not killing us," he offers.) | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_8d8157e0 | featureApplicability |
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| Lexx | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_923dd091 | type |
Premature Eulogy | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_923dd091 | comment |
CollegeHumor once made a parody of The Most Interesting Man in the World called "The Most Oblivious Man In The World". One of his exploits was to deliver a touching eulogy for a man who was still alive. | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_923dd091 | featureApplicability |
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| CollegeHumor | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_99d0c794 | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_99d0c794 | comment |
Bagheera gives one for the unconscious Baloo in The Jungle Book (1967). He actually wakes up during the eulogy and enjoys it so much that when Bagheera is done, he gets up and happily asks him to keep going. Understandably, Bagheera is nearly reduced to Angrish. | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_99d0c794 | featureApplicability |
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| The Jungle Book (1967) | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_9a7088bc | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_9a7088bc | comment |
Star Trek: The Original Series: In "The Tholian Web", Kirk is presumed dead when he is pulled into another universe. We get an official ceremony with about 50 people present and Spock lamenting his friend - as much as a Vulcan would, anyway. McCoy finishes up by giving another short eulogy in Kirk's quarters during the next scene. | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_9a7088bc | featureApplicability |
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| Star Trek: The Original Series | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_a034b2e2 | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_a034b2e2 | comment |
An awful lot of examples will be homages to Tom Sawyer, where Tom showed up for his own funeral. | |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_a183d57f | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_a183d57f | comment |
The Futurama episode "The Sting" works on this premise, with the assumption that Fry died saving Leela. After this occurs, he's given a heartfelt funeral. Despite this being played for laughs (like the amazon saying he gave good "Snu-Snu"), the episode becomes extremely disturbing from that point on. Thankfully, in the end we discover that it was Leela who was almost killed, and is lying in a coma hallucinating about Fry's death. | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_a183d57f | featureApplicability |
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| Futurama | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_a495544e | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_a495544e | comment |
In the opening special of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, The Adventure Begins, Buzz's first partner and best friend dies on a mission. He's given a heartfelt eulogy by Buzz, but in the third part it's revealed that he faked his death and has been on Zurg's payroll. | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_a495544e | featureApplicability |
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| Buzz Lightyear of Star Command | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_ac4b6a62 | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_ac4b6a62 | comment |
Parodied in Questionable Content. After May gets punched by Punchbot, the next strip has Momo giving a eulogy where she wonders why May was even her friend and concludes that she entirely deserved being punched to death by Punchbot. She then looks down at where May's making snow angels and says "There. That is the eulogy I would have given, because you are stupid." | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_ac4b6a62 | featureApplicability |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_b0028436 | type |
Premature Eulogy | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_b0028436 | comment |
Joseph Joestar from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure gets one after his fight with Kars near the end of Battle Tendency, due to exploding the cap off a volcano to shoot the immortal Pillar Man into space. Turns out everyone attending his funeral assumed he was dead because Suzie Q forgot to send the telegram telling them he wasn't. Hilarity Ensues as he chases her around the cemetery berating her for her absent-mindedness. | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_b0028436 | featureApplicability |
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| JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga) | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_d461f757 | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_d461f757 | comment |
Kara Thrace receives a considerably long period of mourning after her presumed death in the third season of Battlestar Galactica - proportional to her central role in the series. Of course, she's not dead. Well, actually, sorta kinda not dead. | |
| Premature Eulogy / int_d461f757 | featureApplicability |
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| Battlestar Galactica (2003) | hasFeature |
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Blanche from The Golden Girls once told a long embellished story about her childhood in which, to get back at her father for something trivial, she faked her death and showed up at her own funeral. Dorothy points out how off-topic it was, dubbing it Blanche: The Miniseries. | |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_ea4f62db | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_ea4f62db | comment |
One is given by Peter when Brian dies in Family Guy. Of course, the show is deliberately playing this trope. | |
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| Family Guy | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_edaa765e | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_edaa765e | comment |
A very short one for Indiana Jones after he falls from a cliff in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. | |
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| Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | hasFeature |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_ef076a36 | type |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_ef076a36 | comment |
Star Trek: Voyager had one for Janeway in the episode "Coda", when she appears to be caught in a time loop that always ends, in one way or another, with her dying (although for once the time travel is an illusion). At one point she becomes detached from her body and attends her own memorial service, with each member of the crew saying what she meant to them. | |
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| Premature Eulogy / int_ff9ab17f | comment |
Star Trek: The Next Generation: When Geordi and Ro are phased out-of-synch with the rest of reality the folks on the Enterprise think they were killed in a transporter accident. A memorial service is held, with eulogies planned but not followed through because, what with one thing and another, they discover the truth of the situation and re-incorporate Geordi & Ro. Another Premature Eulogy occurs in the episode "The Most Toys", where Data is presumed to have been killed in an explosion. It is given by Wesley and Geordi, to each other, as they examine Data's quarters. Yet another is given a few scenes later in the same episode, when Picard is reading from a copy of Hamlet that he once gifted to Data: Played with, for laughs, in the episode "The Schizoid Man", where Dr. Ira Graves gives one to himself. He had implanted his personality into Data prior to the death of his body, and then later gave himself a long-winded eulogy that only he could take seriously - praising his own deeds and personality in his extremely narcissistic manner. This is an extremely rare case of a Premature Eulogy being given to a villain. |
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