39,327
edits
Faking the Dead: Difference between revisions
m
Mass update links
(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.FakingTheDead 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.FakingTheDead, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 24:
A play on the common turn of phrase "waking the dead." Contrast [[He's Just Hiding]]. Not to be confused with [[Fake Weakness]].
{{examples
== Anime andManga ==
* In ''[[Jo
* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni]]'' - {{spoiler|Revealed in Minagoroshi-hen that Takano Miyo, the villain mastermind, has been faking her own death for every Hinamizawa to appear as a victim of the curse.}}
** Also happens in {{spoiler|Matsuribayashi-hen, when the [[True Companions]] decide to fake Rika's death so as to make Takano think that her research was wrong and give up on it, thereby saving Rika.}}
Line 52:
* In chapter 487 of ''[[Naruto (Manga)|Naruto]]'', it's revealed that {{spoiler|Kisame faked his death with a Zetsu clone and is ''hiding inside Samehada'' so that he could infiltrate the Cloud Village and capture Killerbee more easily}}. He does note that the plan didn't go entirely without a hitch {{spoiler|since Samehada liked the Hachibi(Eight tails) enough to actually give Killerbee chakra}}. Meaning that, when push comes to shove, {{spoiler|Samehada might have [[Conflicting Loyalty]]}}.
** The most important use of this trope is in case of {{spoiler|Uchiha Madara. Decades ago he barely escaped his battle with the Shodai Hokage alive and was assumed dead. This allowed him to move about as he pleased and manipulate events as needed to suit his [[Evil Plan]]. Or at least that's what was thought until the most recent reveal that he WAS dead. The true question now is who the hell is Tobi}}.
* Quite the [[Sailor Moon (Manga)/Tear Jerker|Tear Jerker]] in ''[[Sailor Moon (Anime)|Sailor Moon]]'' anime-- {{spoiler|One episode revealed Minako's [[Backstory]] as Sailor V. She lived in London with a [[Onee
* In [[Zero no Tsukaima (Light Novel)|Zero no Tsukaima]], {{spoiler|Colbert dies onscreen in season 2. There is no hint that he might be alive until he shows up in season 3, saving the day at the last minute. It turns out his death was faked with magic.}}
* In the two-part ''[[Weiss Kreuz]]'' OVA ''Verbrechen ~ Strafe,'' {{spoiler|Aya and Yoji receive orders to kill Ken and Omi for refusing to complete a mission. Tipped off that the orders are fraudulent, the four stage a vicious battle which apparently ends with the deaths of Omi, Yoji, and Aya, and use it as an opportunity to get the jump on the source of the fake orders.}}
Line 61:
== Comics ==
* In the ''What Ever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?'', [[Superman]] fakes his death by exposure by gold kryptonite (removing his powers), and walking to his death into the frozen Antarctic. In reality, {{spoiler|he only removed his powers, and became Jordan Elliot, a regular working class guy}}.
* In the DCU, the Outsiders led by Nightwing fake their death to be able to work undercover. The stratagem is blown in the One Year Later storyline, and the team then [[Hero With Bad Publicity|has to deal]] with the various consequences for [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|their actions]].
* In an issue of ''[[Batman|Batgirl]]'', Batgirl once fakes the dead to get the villain to trust Robin, who's supposedly taken her down. That includes ''[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|staying still]]'' when Robin [[Shoot Your Mate|shoots her]] on the villain's orders, who's [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]].
* Occasionally pulled by [[Batman]] when he needs to lure a villain into a [[Genre Blind|false sense of security]].
* [[Tintin (Comic Book)]] does this a few times. Once, he goes into a nose-dive while flying so his pursuers think he's been hit.
* [[Iron Man]] once faked his death when he was suffering from nerve disintegration. It was a ploy to get healed. Unfortunately, Rhodey didn't know about it and was pissed off.
* Professor Xavier faked his death so as to counter an alien invasion. A [[Your Days Are Numbered|dying]] shape-shifter named Changeling replaced him as [[Redemption Equals Death|atonement]]. Only Jean, of all his students, knew the truth.
Line 175:
* ''[[Kyle XY]]'', of all shows, recently used this: as part of a [[Batman Gambit]] to get Kyle into Cassidy's trust, {{spoiler|after having Kyle pretend to kill Jessi in self-defense for trying to kill Cassidy (it's complicated), Jessi slows her heartbeat down to two beats a minute. This is enough to fool Cassidy, who checks her pulse and declares her dead. She wakes up a few minutes after Kyle and Cassidy leave, completely unharmed.}}
* ''[[Lost (TV)|Lost]]'': Locke's father fakes his death in order to avoid the wrath of some men from whom he stole money. Locke helps, after the fact.
* A ''[[
* 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.
Line 196:
** And {{spoiler|the Ring director (and some Mooks)}} did it to hide the fact that {{spoiler|Shaw}} had turned traitor, and also to gain some unwitting help from their enemy. This one used squibs, and they were quickly revealed to be alive.
** In the fourth season, one episode has Chuck figuring out the best way to draw out Casey's old team in order to find out more about his missing mother. {{spoiler|The plan in question? To have Casey pretend to be dead, complete with the guy in a catatonic state to add authenticity to the "funeral".}}
* A ''[[
* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''[[My Name Is Earl]]''. Earl had been in a relationship with a [[Naive Everygirl]] after a hookup at a Halloween party. But, when things began to get too serious too fast, Earl faked his own death to avoid hurting her feelings. (Her current boyfriend got the idea from Earl and did it, too.) Later that episode, the woman in question faked her own death to get back at Earl for yelling at her about being an [[Extreme Doormat]]. (Thus marking the point where she becomes more assertive than ever before.)
* Lois of ''[[Lois and Clark]]'' had [[Superman]] freeze her using his superbreath as a ploy to get a villian.
Line 239:
** {{spoiler|[[Magnificent Bastard|Kane]]}} also pulls this off in [[Command and Conquer]] 3; announcing his return by {{spoiler|[[Villainous Breakdown|flipping out and ordering the player to nuke Sydney, Australia]]}}. And at the end of Kane's Wrath, {{spoiler|Nod apparently pulled this off until Kane's [[Gambit Roulette]] finally pays off}}.
* In ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Path of Radiance'', {{spoiler|Oliver}} is presumed dead after battle. In ''Radiant Dawn'', he turns out to have been hiding for three years.
** Ditto {{spoiler|the Black Knight}}, although to be fair, they [[Never Found the Body]]. Still, they [[Dropped a Bridge On Him|dropped a]] [[Precision F
** Actually {{spoiler|Oliver}} really did die. Recruit him then talk to him with Ike and he mentions visiting Death's villa. Somehow he was brought back then hid.
** Earlier in the series, {{spoiler|Prince Zephiel}} is poisoned in an assassination attempt by {{spoiler|his father, King Desmond}}, but survives. He arranges a fake funeral and stabs his would-be murderer to death when {{spoiler|Desmond}} approached the coffin to view the body. The exact details of this incident are revealed in ''[[Fire Emblem Elibe|Fuuin no Tsurugi,]]'' but they are mentioned in the epilogue of ''[[Prequel|Rekka no Ken]]'' suggesting that they happened around that time (15 years after the events of ''Rekka no Ken''; five years before ''Fūin no Tsurugi'').
Line 279:
* In ''[[The Simpsons]]'', Homer has a dummy of himself made and tosses it off a cliff into a river where it falls over a waterfall, has its limbs crushed by rocks, is attacked by beavers, and ultimately is sucked into a turbine while his coworkers watch in horror... in order to get out of an afternoon of community service. "Best 600 bucks I ever spent!"
** What makes the scene hilarious is the [[Comedic Sociopathy]] of it all: rather than thinking to ''help'' Homer, all his co-workers think that all they have to do is say "Oh no! He's hit the rocks!" "Don't worry, those beavers will save him." "Oh no! The beavers are taking his clothes!" No one thinks to, you know, move and ''help'' him.
** Bart ''tried'' something like this, as well, but the [[Blind Without
** The episode "Bart the Fink" has Krusty the Clown faking his death to [[Insurance Fraud|collect on an insurance policy]] after the IRS strips him of his assets.
*** In fact, he faked his death twice in that episode. First to escape his IRS debts and start a new life as "Rory B Bellows" and second to escape his ''new'' life, commenting as he does so that "The life of Rory B Bellows is insured for a surprisingly large amount".
Line 295:
* ''[[The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest]]'': Dr. Zin faked his death to see if his daughters [[Secret Test of Character|were ready to take over his criminal empire]]. {{spoiler|They failed}}.
* In the second season opener of the 90s ''[[Iron Man]]'' cartoon, Tony Stark fakes his death by allowing the Mandarin's flunkies to blow up his private jet.
* Philomena, the Phoenix pet of Princess Celestia does this in an episode of [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]. Unlike most examples, Philomena is just doing it to be a jerk to Fluttershy
Line 332:
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:Faking The Dead]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
| |||