Faking the Dead: Difference between revisions

* To gain a temporary advantage in combat - generally considered [[Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty|less than sporting]].

** Unless it's done to fake out your teammates and throw them into an [[Unstoppable Rage]]... then it's heroic.

* To see how his heirs would react.

When the method of faking actually temporarily turns the character into a realistic-seeming corpse, this is [[Faux Death]].

A play on the common turn of phrase "waking the dead." Contrast [[He's Just Hiding]]. Not to be confused with [[Fake Weakness]].

* The title character, in the first series of ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin''.

* ''[[Happy Days]]'': A two-part episode has Fonzie running afoul of a bunch of [[The Family for The Whole Family|comic gangsters]] after he discovers a stash of [[Counterfeit Cash]] inside a hearse he's repairing. He stages his own death and funeral to try and throw them off his trail.

** In the series six finale, {{spoiler|the Doctor himself pulls this off with the assistance of his time machine and a shapeshifting robot.}}

* Being immortal, Captain Jack pulls this off a few times in ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]'' to get the drop on enemies, most noticably on the villain of the first episode.

* Similar to the above ''Hitman'' example, one of the Dark Brotherhood missions in ''The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'' has the player "kill" an NPC with a special poison and revive him later to throw other assassins off his trail.

* The [[Nancy Drew (Video Game)|Nancy Drew]] game ''Lights, Camera, Curses!'' reveals that {{spoiler|a famous actress's}} long-ago death was faked, to ensure that she wouldn't suffer the stigma of {{spoiler|having done such a horrible acting job}}.

* In ''[[Hitman]] Blood Money'', {{spoiler|the Agency sets up a false death for 47 so that he can get close to the mastermind of the [[Contract On the Hitman|plot to kill him]] that drives the main plot of the game. When Diana gives him a kiss, she's administering the antidote for the drug that she used on him (though if you let your life bar go down all the way during the "credits," it's [[Game Over]] for you)}}.

** This also happens to Smith earlier on in the game, in order to sneak him out of rehab.

* Mr Herriman does this in ''[[Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends]]'' during Halloween, in a group prank to get back at Bloo for pranking them all the last Halloweeen.

* When the [[Teen Titans (Animation)|Teen Titans]] are first attacked by the HIVE (Jinx, Mammoth and Gizmo), Robin falls to ominous doom, and the others only find his utility belt. {{spoiler|He resurfaces after his teammates get kicked out of their own home}}.

* In ''[[Johnny Test]]'', Johnny and Dookie get overworked as their alter egos, Johnny X and Super Pooch. Ultimately, the only way to get out of the mess is to convince the town they're dead. They try once on their own, only to fail, so they get Susan and Mary to help them, disguising themselves as alien supervillains and making it look like they've vaporized the two. Susan and Mary actually seem to enjoy this...

* ''[[Top Cat]] and the Beverly Hills Cats'': When it seemed [[Big Bad|Mrs. Vandergelt's butler]] would finally get her fortune, it was revealed she had faked her death.

** Though not usually a crime, [http://wiki.fandomwank.com/index.php/Pseuicide the same term is used when someone on the Internet pretends to die]. They used to arouse suspicion by their ability to still post from the hospital, but nowadays it is possible to get wireless Internet access and not just blog, but make video logs from the hospital, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoCzo9BPlrI&feature=channel_video_title as CTFxC demonstrates]. Depending on the blogging software, it is entirely possible for someone to queue up [[Dead Man Writing|a post to be made automatically in the event they die]].

* [http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/update_suicide_really_is_painl.php Reported by Talking Points Memo].

** A woman in [http://www.kcci.com/news/7541510/detail.html Des Moines] faked her own death to avoid paying traffic tickets. Her scheme fell apart when she got pulled over for yet another traffic offense.

* The police sometimes use this tactic to nab suspects. In one case, a woman hired a contract killer (actually an undercover cop) to kill her husband. The police then faked his death, providing photos and "evidence" in order to fool the wife into incriminating herself.

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:Faking The Dead]]