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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|'''[[The Don|Carl Grissom]]:''' ''Jack, listen! Maybe we can cut a deal!''
'''[[The Joker]]:''' ''Jack? Jack is dead, my friend. You can call me... [[The Joker|Joker]]. And as you can see, I'm a lot happier.''
|''[[Batman (film)|Batman]]''}}
'''That Man Is Dead''' is a [[Stock Phrases|Stock Phrase]] uttered by someone who's been [[Becoming the Mask|completely subsumed by their alter ego]]. The idea is that they have completely abandoned their past lives to the point where they wouldn't even recognize themselves. It's almost always a major turning point for the character, though there are a few cases where it merely emphasizes what the audience has already observed.
If a genuine hero utters it (though they generally use one of the variations below), it's because their past life was naive, evil, or selfish, and it's a sign that they've overcome their problems in the beginning and are ready to ascend to the grand finale. If an [[Anti-Hero]] utters it, it's to emphasize their dark (or at least rebellious) nature. If a villain utters it to another villain, it's to show that they're [[Eviler Than Thou]].
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* "Frank's not here... he never was." if the person everyone thought they knew was a mask.
It may be [[Inverted Trope|inverted]] when the character gives up his second identity, and embraces his basic civilian life. The quote then is something like "I'm not Captain Righteous anymore, I'm just Joe".
Compare [[Do Not Call Me "Paul"]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime
* Beelzemon says this about his previous identity as {{spoiler|Impmon}} in ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'' when he encounters the kids for the second time. The dub uses "[[Never Say "Die"|That loser doesn't exist anymore!]]", though.
** More like an alternate ''identity'' rather than an alter ego, but in the original Japanese version of ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'':
{{quote|
'''Daisuke''': Geh, who'd call you that!? Ken, Ken, Ichijouji Ken!
'''Kaiser''': I'm seriously going to kill you. }}
** ''[[Digimon]]'' also has an example that's made sort of [[Narm
*** Then again, Metal Etemon was basically Captain Narm {{spoiler|up until he went and killed Saber Leomon}}.
* Done in a funny/creepy way in the ''[[Excel Saga (
* Happens with the main character in ''[[Argento Soma]]''. Starting as Takuto Kenishiro, in the first episode he has a traumatizing and disfiguring accident, and takes up a false identity to get revenge. Very near the series end, when the rest of the characters learn that, one calls him by his old name; he responds "I am Ryu Soma." (My memory of the circumstances is a bit fuzzy, though.)
* Used at the conclusion of ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'': [[Big Bad|Gauron]] keeps calling Sousuke by his 'old' name, from when he was a child-soldier in the local version of Afghanistan. It eventually DOES make the [[Not So Stoic|otherwise eternally-composed Sousuke crack]]...
* Naraku in ''[[Inuyasha]]'', in regard to his former self, Onigumo.
{{quote|
'''Naraku''': Onigumo... That name brings me such fond memories. }}
* Ryo/Zane in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' when he assumes the "Hell Kaiser" persona in the dub: "The Zane you think you knew is long gone."
* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro
** Likewise Rena does this pre-moving back to Hinamizawa and {{spoiler|Rika does a variation in Rei when she breaks away from Berkenstel}}.
* In the last episode of the first season of ''[[Darker
* In Animerica, {{spoiler|once Kiyone's finally succumbed to his evil side and stabs Lita, he instills fear into her by stating:}}
{{quote|
* In ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'', when Satella confronts {{spoiler|Fiore about being her long-lost sister Florette}}, she gets this in response.
* Late in the anime version of ''[[Prétear]]'', this trope appears when {{spoiler|Sasame}} betrays his side.
{{quote|
* Scar from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' never reveals his true name. Shortly before his death in the first anime, Lust asks him for his name. He responds that the true owner of his body, who had a holy name, died long ago. As he leaves to accept his fate, Lust bids him farewell with "Then goodbye...Scar."
* In the second season of ''[[Princess Tutu]]'', when Ahiru tries to talk to the [[Dark Magical Girl]] using the name she uses when untransformed, she usually responds with something like "I've already told you--there is no {{spoiler|Rue}}!" {{spoiler|When Mytho uses the name "Rue" to call her out of Despair and she responds, it's a sign she's given up on that part of herself.}}
* In ''[[Black Lagoon]]'', Rock ends the first arc by calling out his former boss (who spent most of said arc arranging his demise), stating that Okajima Rokuro is already dead and thus signifying his departure from his [[Salaryman]] position and former life and joining the crew of the Lagoon.
* In the first season of ''[[
{{quote|
'''Man in mummy bandages''': Michael Seebach has vanished from this world. Go and tell that to your masters!
'''Roger Smith''': All right, so, what name you go by?
'''Man in mummy bandages''': By the time being, you can call me [[Nietzsche Wannabe|Schwarzwald]].
'''Roger Smith''': Black Forrest?
'''Man in mummy bandages''': Report this to your masters: You can tell them ([[Evil Laugh]]) that they will never see their darling reporter in this city again! ([[Laughing Mad|Deranged Evil Laugh]]). }}
** And that was even echoed later in chapter 17, "Leviathan"
{{quote|
'''[[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Paradigm Group Executive]]''': Michael Seebach is dead, but the agitator who calls himself Schwarzwald has returned. }}
* If you call [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00
* Subverted in the [[Tenchi Muyo!]] OAV. {{spoiler|Sasami believes that she died after taking a terrible fall when she was a toddler and that Tsunami had to revive her by merging with her lifeless body. Truth is, Sasami ''was'' about to die after said accident, but Tsunami merged with her to heal her injuries and have a body host}}
* A variation occurs early in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
* "D-Boy is no more... there's only [[
* In [[Nabari no Ou]], Yoite claims {{spoiler|that Sora, the name he was known by before being found by Hattori}} never existed.
* [[
* Although he never says the actual quote, an important part of the character of Spike in ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' is that he considers himself already dead, having 'died' during his backstory {{spoiler|when he faked his own death to escape [[The Syndicate]]}} and that his current life is just a 'bad dream' he'll eventually have to wake up from.
* In ''[[Transformers Armada]]'', when Wheeljack arrives on Earth, he tells Hotshot that the bot he knew is dead, and the new Wheeljack is a Decepticon.
* In [[Mahou Sensei Negima]], Nagi claims that {{spoiler|Queen Arika has died on that ravine and the Arika that Nagi is with is just plain ol' Arika.}}
* The Lord of Terror episode of ''[[Ah!
{{quote|
'''LOT!Urd:''' Urd...? She no longer exists, and that name is now forgotten. }}
* The original identity of the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Bleach]]'' "''[[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|never even existed]]''".
* The [[Grand Finale]] of ''[[Code Geass]]'' has {{spoiler|Lelouch}}, after being killed by {{spoiler|"Zero"}}, telling {{spoiler|Suzaku}} that he must go on with his life as {{spoiler|Zero}} because he's been declared dead by everyone.
* Similar to the Negima example above, in [[Loveless]], the two female Zeros [[Schoolgirl Lesbians|Kouya and Yamato]] {{spoiler|forfeit their match against Soubi and Ritsuka, meaning they can't fight anymore. They decide to "die" and call Nagisa to let her know.}}
{{quote|
* Subverted in ''[[
{{quote|
'''Zechs:''' That's right, I was. But, I find that I cannot quietly sleep in my grave while Treize’s spirit is still roaming among us. }}
** In episode 8 of ''[[
{{quote|
* There's a positive example of this at the end of ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]''. Knowing that his fighting prowess is readily fading, Kenshin sends a note to his longtime [[Inspector Javert]] / reluctant ally Saito, offering to take him up on a final duel. Saito tears up the offer, signaling that he's finally ending his grudge, and explains that the man he wanted to kill, the Hitokiri Battousai, no longer exists, and that he has no interest in fighting Himura Kenshin.
* In ''[[Mai-Otome]]'', when Aswad [[Black Knight]] Rad is confronted by Youko and Midori, Youko calls him {{spoiler|"Reito" (the name he used to go by before he was killed and [[We Can Rebuild Him|rebuilt as a cyborg]])}}, prompting him to use this quote.
* Miki of ''[[Fresh Pretty Cure]]'' pulls an inverted quote of how she claims that the villain that Love fought is Eas all along, and that the woman known as Setsuna never existed. Love runs away to prove her wrong.
** Played straight in the next episode:
{{quote|
'''Cure Passion''': I am no longer Eas! }}
* In ''[[Vampire Knight]]'' {{spoiler|Yuuki is revealed to have been a pureblood vampire of the Kuran family all along. When Zero asks whether the human Yuuki still exists somewhere inside of her Yuuki replies that the human Yuuki no longer exists as the Vampire Yuuki 'ate her.'}}
* In the fourth season of [[Bakugan]], {{spoiler|Mag Mel says this about Emperor Barodius when they're revealed to be one and the same.}}
* Legally speaking, ''[[Baccano
== Comic Books ==
* ''[[Watchmen (
** "It was Kovacs who said 'Mother' then, muffled under latex. It was Kovacs who closed his eyes. It was Rorschach who opened them again...[[He Who Fights Monsters|The void breathed hard on my heart, turning its illusions to ice and shattering them.]] Was clear then. Free to scrawl own design on morally blank world. Was Rorschach."
** Dr. Manhattan subtly invokes this trope during his [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]
{{quote|
* Rebis does this in Grant Morrison's ''[[
* In the later ''[[Doom Patrol]]'', the incarnation of the Negative Man insists that he ''is'' Larry, even though he secretly suspects he's just an energy being who happens to have Larry's memories.
* In the climactic volume of ''[[
* [[Marvel Comics]]' ''[[The Punisher]]''. "Frank Castle is dead. I'm the Punisher now", or "Castle died with his family" or some variant has always been one of the character's stock lines.
* During the ''Zero Hour'' [[Crisis Crossover]] in 1994:
{{quote|
'''Hal Jordan''': Not Green Lantern, Arrow. Not anymore. I've taken the name Parallax. }}
** Wonderfully parodied in [[Garth Ennis]]'s ''[[Hitman (Comic Book)|Hitman]]'' where someone tries to talk to Sixpack [[Drunken Master|(his power is being so drunk he thinks he's a super hero)]].
{{quote|
* From ''[[Spider-Man]]'':
{{quote|
'''Venom:''' [Actually ''covers Spider-Man's mouth with his hands.'' It was cooler than it sounds.] "Stop calling us that! We are Venom now!" }}
** At one point, shortly before [[The Clone Saga]], after Spider-Man's parents had been revealed to be fakes and Aunt May had a stroke and went into a coma, Spider-Man tried to kill his Peter Parker persona. He then considered himself The Spider, and claimed to hate Peter Parker when referred to by that name.
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** A technical case: {{spoiler|Usagi meets the son of one of his comrades, who died in the battle that made him a ronin. Inspired by his father's life, the son is training to become a samurai. During a fight with bandits the son is knocked unconscious and is rescued by his father, now a lame begger. The father reveals he's been following his son with pride for years; Usagi wants to reveal this to the son, but the father refuses to let his son see him now, "a parody of [the warrior] he once was."}}
** And again in ''The Patience of the Spider'', in which a general, fleeing a failed rebellion against his Lord, hides in a peasant village. Over the years, he grows to like his life there, so when one of his subordinates returned to tell him the time was right to seek revenge, he sent the messenger away, saying the man he was looking for was "Someone who is no longer alive"
* In a
* Happened to [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Avengers]] member Hank Pym, though in his case, it was a little more complicated, as the person claiming Pym was dead was an ''actual'' separate personality cultivated by his mental breakdown.
* ''[[Fantastic Four]]'' - The Trapster, a long time Frightful Four member used to be called [[Fail O'Suckyname|Paste Pot Pete]]. Call him anything related to that and you'll trigger his [[Berserk Button]].
* Adrian Chase also used a variant of this phrase in his reminiscence in Vigilante#50, feeling as if the bomb that slew his family and triggered his emergence as the Vigilante also slew him. However, Chase partially subverted the usual intent of the phrase, in that he maintained his work as New York district attorney and his dual identity as Adrian Chase during much of his tenure as the Vigilante.
* ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen|League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier]]'':
{{quote|
* Harvey Dent in ''Batman'' nowadays won't respond to his birth name. He insists on being called Two-Face.
** Batman himself is sometimes portrayed as though Bruce Wayne died with his parents and Batman [[Secret Identity Identity|uses his identity as a disguise]].
* Black Mask's "false face" gang: "....the largest organization in the history of Gotham's underworld....common criminals 'slain' and reborn behind masks, each with ''greater power'' and all as members of the ''False Face Society of Gotham''." They wear cheap Halloween masks at first, then switch to more intricate face-coverings after robbing the mask exhibit at the Gotham Museum.
* In ''[[The Darkness]]'', when [[Light Is Not Good|The Angelus]] possesses Lauren Franchetti, at one point, she decides to spare Lauren's daughter Appolonia, but says that is her final act as Appolonia's mother.
* In ''[[Mega Man (
* [[New Warriors|Speedball]]'s [[Grimdark]] transformation after ''[[Civil War]]'' left no cliche unturned, including this one. "Robbie Baldwin is dead. Speedball is dead. Now it's time for Penance."
* In IDW ''[[Transformers]]'' #125, {{spoiler|Optimus Prime "dies"...and Orion Pax is reborn.}}
* Near the end of ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]'', Jesse summons the Saint of Killers using the Saint's mortal remains. When the Saint shows up, he's not impressed and shatters the corpse, saying that the man he was is long dead and what Jesse dug up was just bones and nothing more.
* Inverted in [[
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* In ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2530396/1/Minion
▲* [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2530396/1/Minion This] [[Fantastic Four]] fanfic:
▲{{quote| "Your name? The name I used then is not important anymore. I will let it die."}}
* ''[http://conceptofzero.livejournal.com/12824.html The Queen is Dead]'', a ''[[Homestuck]]'' fanfic. Note the [[Title Drop]].
* In the ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' [[Doujinshi]] "From the New World, With Love", [[The British Empire|Britannia]] mockingly tells America that the England he knew as a child is gone now thanks to him having been so deeply hurt by [[The American Revolution|America's revolution]]. {{spoiler|However, America realizes later on that Britannia was lying and that there is in fact ''no'' [[Split Personality]]; 'Britannia' really IS England. It's kind of hard to explain.}}
* In the ''[[My Little Pony:
{{quote|
'''Applejack''': ''"That don't matter. You'll still always be {{spoiler|Twilight}} to me."'' }}
* In the early parts of ''[[Undocumented Features]]''{{'}} ''Symphony of the Sword'' subseries, when [[Alpha Bitch]] Liza Broadbank sees her life crumble around her, she rebuilds herself from the ground up and takes the name "Elizabeth Shustal".
* In the ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (animation)|How to Train Your Dragon]]''/Real History crossover ''[[A Thing of Dragons]]'', when Snotlout decides to leave Berk to join the [[w:Varangian Guard|Varangian Guard]] in Constantinople, he renames himself "Sigurd Trondsson" as an act of self-aggrandizement. He still thinks of himself as "Snotlout", though, until he is exiled from Berk by Hiccup for giving the Byzantine Empire dragons -- and with the loss of his homeland realizes that all he has now is "Sigurd".
== Film ==
* ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (
* ''[[
* [[Batman]]
** ''[[Batman (
** ''[[
** ''[[Dark Knight Trilogy|Batman Begins]]'': "Crane?" "No. Scarecrow!" A creepier version occurs earlier, when we actually see Crane's mind snap: "Dr. Crane isn't here right now, but if you'd like to make an appointment..."
*** It is implied in the trailer for ''The Dark Knight Rises'' that {{spoiler|Bruce Wayne}} may have given up on his Batman identity {{spoiler|when conversing with an under-critical-condition hospitalized Commissioner Gordon}}.
** Pretty much every version of [[Batman]] will invoke this Trope at some point, between how crazy the villains are and the hero's own tendency towards [[Becoming the Mask]]. In ''[[
* Another heroic example: "Peyton is gone. Call me: ''[[
* ''[[Star Wars]]'':
** In ''[[Star Wars]]: [[Return of the Jedi]]'', after Luke calls Vader by his real name {{spoiler|(Anakin Skywalker)}}, Vader replies, "That name no longer has any meaning for me". However, Vader puts himself in the [[Heel Face Turn|still redeemable]] category when he responds to Luke's continued pleas with a sad, {{spoiler|"It is too late for me, son."}}
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* ''[[A History of Violence]]'', starring Viggo Mortensen and directed by [[David Cronenberg]], takes this trope and beats it into the ground.
** More Cronenberg: ''[[The Fly]]''. "But I think Seth Brundle is disappearing, and I'm [[The Corruption|becoming something else]]. 'Brundlefly'."
* In ''[[
* Maximus quotes it by name in ''[[Gladiator (
* Talked around in ''[[Dragonheart]]''; while Kara doesn't name him, she talks about a knight of great honour. Bowen (the knight in question) replies with "That man died of his wounds long ago."
* Buddy Pine says as much to his former childhood idol, [[The Incredibles|Mr. Incredible]]:
{{quote|
* [[Split Personality|Smeagol/Gollum]] in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.
{{quote|
'''Gollum''': What did you call me? }}
* In ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', when the [[Big Bad]] is revealed to be {{spoiler|Professor James Moriarty, he scoffs at the identification, saying, "Moriarty? The so-called "Napoleon of Crime"? That man died at Reichenbach Falls. He died, and I was reborn!"}}
* Jack/Kyra in ''[[The Chronicles of Riddick]]''.
** Riddick himself before that, in the last lines of ''[[Pitch Black]]'' (after {{spoiler|watching the [[Too Good for This Sinful Earth]] policewoman [[Taking the Bullet|get carried away by the creatures]] while [[No One Gets Left Behind|trying to drag him to the escape ship]]}}):
{{quote|
'''Riddick''': Tell them Riddick's dead. He died somewhere back on that planet. }}
* In ''[[Titanic]]'', where Rose decides to put her high society life behind her. "Dawson. Rose Dawson."
* Part of the backstory to ''[[Captain Clegg]]'', when the title character explains how he [[Faking the Dead|faked his death]] and [[Heel Face Turn|became a better person.]]
{{quote|
* ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'', as the spaceship is set to [[Self-Destruct Mechanism|self-destruct]]:
{{quote|
'''Susan:''' I wouldn't be too sure. And the name... is Ginormica. }}
* In another [[
* ''[[Dr. Zhivago]]'': Strelnikov, the brutal [[Reds
* ''[[The Shining]]'': "Danny isn't here, Mrs. Torrance."
* When Lieutenant John Dunbar of the United States of Army cooly tells his captors and former comrades in ''Lakota'' rather than English that "My name is [[Dances
* In ''[[X-Men (
** ''[[X-Men (
{{quote|
'''Jonathan''': John.
'''Magneto''': What is your ''real'' name?
'''Jonathan''': ... Pyro. }}
* Early in [[The Long Kiss Goodnight]], Sam says that the woman she used to be is gone and she's "kissed her goodnight." Later, when she fully regains her memories and takes on her true identity of Charly, she says offhandedly that Sam is gone for good.
* The first few lines heard in ''[[
Line 194 ⟶ 196:
* At the end of the final ''[[Harry Potter]]'' book, Harry starts calling Voldemort by his Muggle name Tom Riddle, at first to mock him, but later as a [[Last Second Chance]], and this unsurprisingly infuriates Voldemort.
* ''[[Soon I Will Be Invincible]]'': Doctor Impossible says in his narration "I'm Doctor Impossible nearly all the time now." When he meets Lily, she calls him "Jonathan". When they meet again {{spoiler|after he defeats the heroes}} he demands she call him Doctor Impossible.
* Wol in ''[[Star Trek: Klingon Empire]]''. Wol's previous identity was Eral, a noble woman. When she came of age, her parents had Eral betrothed in order to forge an alliance with another house. Eral, however, became pregnant with the child of a servant, whom she loved. She was banished from her house, as her father could not bring himself to kill her (as honor would have dictated). Her lover, however, was executed, and her child taken away. She became Wol, a common soldier, and embraced it. Eral is pretty much dead and gone.
** A case of [[Did Not Do the Research]] by the author, as Klingon philosophy emphasizes fighting to shape one's own destiny. Honour from duty and loyalty is only a factor when a Klingon chooses to join the military to serve the empire.
* '[[The Bartimaeus Trilogy]]'' - Near the end of the second book, Bartimaeus tries to reproach his young master for his slide into a borderline [[Knight Templar]] by saying, "You'll notice I'm calling you John Mandrake now... The boy who was Nathaniel's fading, almost gone." Unfortunately, <s>Nathaniel</s> John Mandrake entirely misses the point.
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* At the end of ''Othello'', the title character replies to the character asking for "this rash and most unfortunate man" with "That's he who was Othello: here I am".
* In ''[[Westmark|The Beggar Queen]]'', the main character, Theo, is asked by the revolutionary leader Florian to make sure that the capital city will accept him as a leader when he returns from a journey. Theo refuses, and Florian says, "I'm not asking you, I'm asking Kestrel," referring to Theo's alias in the previous book. Theo responds with "Kestrel's dead. He died in the war, from the stink of too much blood."
* In ''[[Wicked (
* O. Henry's short story ''A Retrieved Reformation'' uses something like this, although for a [[Heel Face Turn]]. Jimmy Valentine is a [[Gentleman Thief]] who starts the story as a [[Civilian Villain]] and is being pursued by [[Inspector Javert|a detective]]. He creates another identity, Ralph Simpson, initially so he can rob a bank, but then bumps into and falls in love with the daughter of the bank's owner, [[Love Redeems|leading to his reformation]]. At the end, he exposes himself in front of the detective by breaking into a safe in which a little girl had become trapped. He goes to willingly turn himself in, but the detective, seeing he has changed, refers to him as Mr. Simpson and lets him go, pretending not to recognize him.
** But also facing the bank president, his daughter, and all the townsfolk who just watched "Ralph Simpson" pop an unbreakable safe...
Line 206 ⟶ 208:
** [[The Mole|Gara Petothel is dead.]] [[Becoming the Mask|Lara Notsil is dead.]] I will answer to those names, but they are no longer mine. I am [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|Kirney]] [[X Wing Series|Slane]]. I have no life yet. I will make one, [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|or I will die in the attempt.]]
* In Steven Layne's ''This Side of Paradise'' (not the one by F. Scott Fitzgerald), Jack recognizes when {{spoiler|his father}} has become {{spoiler|his split personality Mr. Eden, completely consumed by his Utopia Justifies The Means mindset,}} for good, with the line "{{spoiler|My father}} was gone, and nothing could bring him back."
* Inverted in the ''[[Star Trek:
{{quote|
Picard: Locutus is dead! }}
* Go on. Try calling [[Deepgate Codex|Carnival]] "Rebecca" to her face. We dare you.
* In the ''[[Redwall]]'' novel ''Taggerung'', by the end of the story, the Taggerung doesn't really go by that name much anymore.
* In ''[[The Invisible Man (
* Bubba, in [[The Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries|The Sookie Stackhouse Novels]] hates being called by his real name, Elvis.
* Played with and subverted in [[Stephen King|The Dark Half]] when the main character has a mock photo shoot in front of the grave... Of his alter-ego.
* In [[The Wheel of Time
{{quote|
'''Lanfear''': [[Berserk Button|My name is]] ''Lanfear''! }}
* What Mal'Akh, the villain of Dan Brown's newest book {{spoiler|Zachary Solomon}} does to Simon. {{spoiler|He reveals he is, in fact, Simon's son who was so enraged by his father abandoning him that he feigned death, escaped a Turkish prison and became a tattoo'd Chessmaster [[Magnificent Bastard]] with [[A God Am I|a thing for Godhood]].}}
* ''[[Codex Alera]]'' - In ''First Lord's Fury'', this is how one character ultimately avoids being [[Rewarded
* In ''[[Everworld]]'', the witch Senna Wales abandoned her birth name when her mother left her, using "Senna"(which is a mispronunciation of her real name) as a way of separating herself from the "crying, lost little girl without her mother." She explictly thinks in the ninth book that, "That was all dead and buried now. Had been for a long time. I was me, I was [[Magnificent Bastard|Senna Wales]]."
* ''[[Wicked (
* In ''[[
* He doesn't take a new name, but [[Night|Eliezer]] describes his [[Determinator|spiritual hardening]] in these terms after he watches a cart dump children into a firepit. He's lucky enough to be spared, but ""[T]he student of the Talmud, the child that I was, had been consumed in the flames. There remained only a shape that looked like me."
* In ''[[Zen and
* In ''[[El
* In ''[[Symphony of Ages
* The title character of ''[[The Sheik]]'' did this after spiting his English heritage and disowning his father:
{{quote|
* [[Spell My Name
* Toward the end of [[Ellis Peters]]' ''The Leper of St. Giles'', [[
{{quote|
* Played with and subverted in [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Dark Half]]'' when protagonist Thad (a novelist) has a mock photo shoot in front of his pseudonym George Stark's grave. Stark doesn't stay dead for long.
* ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]'': A variation: Captain Nemo's former persona is so dead, he never reveal who he ''was'' (at least before the [[Sequel]]), and he refers to himself as dead:
{{quote|
* In ''[[Labyrinths
* The narrator of ''Don Quixote, USA'' opens the story with a mild version of this: "Unfortunately I am--or at least was--Arthur Peabody Goodpasture." [[How We Got Here|Then the book explains]] how he was declared to have been murdered, became part of a revolutionary movement, {{spoiler|'''accidentally''' took over the movement, and successfully (again by accident) ousted the dictator}}. In the last chapter, leaving a wreath at a memorial to his supposedly-dead self, he comments about the way he originally was, "He was a fine young man and I miss him, but, Name of God, he was certainly stupid."
== Live
* In ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', Sylar becomes furious when Bennet insists on calling him "Gabriel."
** Inverted in "I Am Become Death", when Future-Sylar insists that Peter call him Gabriel.
*** The name he prefers usually indicates which side of the [[Face Heel Revolving Door]] he's currently on.
* An inversion which keeps the same intent: After turning away from his old life as a petty criminal on ''[[Babylon 5]]'' to take up a new calling, "Jinxo" responds to that nickname by politely but firmly declaring, "Thomas. My name is Thomas."
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'': [[Big Finish]] used this for their season-ending [[Cliff Hanger]] "Neverland". Charley finds the Doctor, who has just barely survived a massive anti-time explosion, but has been transmuted into a quasi-mythological villain, announcing, "I'm not the Doctor; I am become [[Arc Words|Zagreus]]."
** In the novel ''The Face Of The Enemy'' [[The Master (trope)|The Master]] gets to use this on seeing an [[Alternate Universe]] version of himself who never [[Face Heel Turn|turned evil]]: "In our universe, Koschei died, out on the galactic rim. Now there is only the Master."
** In the [[For Want of a Nail|Unbound]] series of audio plays (also by [[Big Finish]]), we have "[[Big Finish Doctor Who
** In the revived series season 3 episode "Utopia", {{spoiler|The Master renounces his old identity as the human Professor Yana by shouting at Chantho "THAT IS NOT MY NAME!"}}
** The series 5 opener: "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
* In an episode of ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'' ("The Grundel"), a young boy named Alec comes under the influence of a Grundel. When pleaded to by his brother, he tells him "Alec doesn't live here anymore!"
* ''[[
{{quote|
'''Simon''': "River-"
'''River''': "River's gone."
'''Early''': "Then who exactly are we talking to?"
'''River''': "Talking to Serenity. And Early? ''[[Creepy Monotone|Serenity is very unhappy]]''." }}
* Dr. Julian Bashir in ''[[Star Trek
{{quote|
** To clarify, Bashir had {{spoiler|been genetically modified by his parents to be smarter, a decision that he had to hide for the rest of his life.}} In this case, he sounded regretful, but Julian was never portrayed as a bad person compared to Jules. He never goes back to his old name.
*** Except in one of the [[Expanded Universe]] novels, in which an alien [[MacGuffin]] undoes {{spoiler|the modification}}.
** Ezri does the same thing when she is confused with Jadzia. However, in this situation, it is entirely justified, as Ezri is a different person, who happens to carry the same symbiont.
** In "Hard Time", Chief O'Brien has the memories of being imprisoned for twenty years implanted in his mind. He can't cope with it, and when Bashir finds him he's pointing a phaser under his chin.
{{quote|
* In ''[[Just Shoot Me]]'', when an old acquaintance of Nina's calls her by her birth name Claire, she explains that "I pushed Claire down a well and shaved eight years off her life."
* In ''[[Skins]]'' Series 4 Episode 7, Effy (proper name Elizabeth), brainwashed by her counsellor, asks Cook "Eff? Who's Eff?"
* In ''[[Buffy]]'', Willow, after going insane and evil, says "Willow doesn't live here anymore."
* Happens in the ''[[
* An early episode of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' has Teal'c [[Kangaroo Court|put on trial]] by the son of someone he killed in the course of [[The Dragon|his old job]]. He's found guilty and [[The Atoner|wants to submit to the execution]], but naturally more Jaffa show up, Teal'c saves the village and so on, leading his accuser to declare he was mistaken and that Teal'c must have killed the man who murdered his father.
* In the crime drama [[Criminal Minds]], there is a character in one episode named Adam with split personalities. His alternate personality is named Amanda, and her job is to protect Adam. In the end of the episode though, she becomes the dominant personality in order to protect him and tells Dr. Spencer Reid that Adma's gone and he'll (Reid) have to wait a long time to get him back.
* On ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon a Time]]'' (in which dwarves take their names from the inscriptions on their pickaxes), the dwarf Dreamy breaks his pickaxe and declares that he is now Grumpy after being forced to break up with his one, true love.
* More often averted than played straight with [[Angel]]; in general, you're more likely to see an emphasis on the fact that while Angel seems to be as much of a good person as any of the other characters, his dark side Angelus is always present and so is the possibility that Angelus would resurface and become dominant. Nor does Angelus have a particularly easy time getting over the unpleasant memories of his times as Angel, or going more than a few episodes without having his soul re-installed.
* ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' has an example in its [[Grand Finale]]. {{spoiler|When Wilson discovers that House faked his death and tells him the consequences of his survival coming to light, House responds by saying he's officially dead and can now pursue a new life.}}
== Music ==
* In the [[Pink Floyd]] [[Rock Opera]] ''[[The Wall]]'', after Pink's [[Freak-Out]] when his wife leaves him, he is forced back on stage to perform - but emerges as a neo-Nazi, and announces his change by claiming to be a new person:
{{quote|
And they sent us along as a surrogate band }}
* The rapper Gemstones uses an interesting version of this on his mixtape, The Testimony of Gemstones.
{{quote|
** What makes it fit the trope is the fact that he released a few songs under the name of Gemini that he wasn't too proud of, as he didn't agree with their themes. As it turns out, he was forced to change his name ''anyway,'' because the name Gemini was already taken.
* [[Nine Inch Nails]]' song, The Becoming, is all about this.
{{quote|
* "Any World (That I'm Welcome To)" by Steely Dan:
{{quote|
I would move to another lifetime
I'd quit my job
Ride the train through the misty night-time
I'll be ready when my feet touch ground
Wherever I come down
And if the folks will have me
Then they'll have me
Any world that I'm welcome to
Is better than the one I come from }}
Line 298 ⟶ 301:
** Which has a double meaning, given that the Undertaker is also known by the nickname "the Deadman".
* Done humorously by Chavo Guerrero when in the summer of 2005 he suddenly denounced his Guerrero heritage and transformed into "Kerwin White," a stereotype of the white, upper-middle-class 1960s American, complete with a sweater vest and a golf club and entrance theme reminiscent of the tunes of [[Frank Sinatra]]. On the night he made his first appearance (on ''Sunday Night Heat''), some people in the audience asked where the hell Chavo was, and "Kerwin" explained that he was out looking for work "with all the other unemployed Hispanics."
== Tabletop Games ==
* An innate part of becoming an Abyssal [[Exalted]]; you must throw your destiny and your birth name into the Void, to be consumed forever, and take on a moniker given to you by your Deathlord. Were you Rose once? Well, now you're Bitter Taste of Blood on Thorns. Oh, and if you ever let someone call you by your old name, you build Resonance, which may [[Walking Wasteland|lash out and kill people close to you]].
** One very, ''very'' important exception: as long as there's a positive Intimacy, [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones|the Abyssal's Lunar mate can always use that name without Resonance]]. [[The Power of Love|Love shatters the rules.]]
== Theatre ==
* Played with in ''[[Man of La Mancha]]''. After Alonso Quijana/Don Quixote dies, Aldonza says:
{{quote|
'''Sancho''': But--
'''Aldonza''': Don Quixote is not dead. Believe, Sancho, believe.
'''Sancho''' (in confused hope): Aldonza?
'''Aldonza''': My name is Dulcinea. }}
== Video Games ==
Line 318:
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 4'': "I am Raiden. Jack is no more." Or "Jack is dead." He eventually is changed back.
** At the very end of the series, {{spoiler|Solid Snake gives up his codename and starts going by David again.}}
* ''[[
* KOS-MOS in the last moments of ''[[
* Lamia Loveless, in ''[[Super Robot Wars]]: [[Original Generation]]'', either the OVA or OG Gaiden, while breaking free from the Bartoll for the first time: "I am... W17... no, I am...! Lamia Loveless...!!"
** Variation: Sanger Zonvolt in ''Alpha Gaiden''. First is "I am Sanger Zonvolt, The Sword Of Magus!!". But one [[Heel Face Turn]] and the next time he says that, it becomes, "I am Sanger Zonvolt, The Sword That Cleaves Evil!!". So, That Title Is Dead.
* Magus in ''[[
** Robo too.
{{quote|
'''Robo''': My name is Robo. }}
* [[Star Ocean|Star Ocean: The Last Hope]]. When Edge challenges him, the Apostle of Creation shrieks {{spoiler|"Faize is gone! Faize is nowhere! You will not address me by that weakling's name!" }}
* Used in [[Knights of the Old Republic]], where you can react with distaste at being called {{spoiler|[[Tomato in
* Used in ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' in regards to {{spoiler|Raven and his previous identity as Captain Schwann}}.
* In the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' games, [[Final Fantasy VIII|Squall Leonhart]] changed his name to Leon [[Shell Shocked Senior|out of shame]] at not being able to prevent his home world from being overrun by [[The Heartless]]. Mildly lampshaded as Yuffie tends to keep using his real name.
{{quote|
'''Leon''': It's ''Leon''. }}
** {{spoiler|Terra-Xehanort}} drops a similar line in the Final Episode of [[Birth By Sleep]]:
{{quote|
* In ''[[
* It's the same name, but the first form of ''[[
* ''[[Boktai
* Jack from ''[[Wild
* In ''[[
* Although he never utters the line in question, Archer from ''[[Fate/stay
** So, "That man isn't dead... ''yet.''"
* In ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]'', playing as a [[Mad Oracle|Malkavian]] allows you to ask {{spoiler|Velvet Velour}} who 'Susan' was. After chewing you out for going inside her head, she states coldly that Susan was a weak woman who died.
Line 349:
* In ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'', Rene C. Corman, a one-time boss, stated, "There is no Bigg. There never ''was'' a Bigg."
* A variant is employed in ''[[Battle Realms]]'', during the confrontation between [[The Hero|Kenji]] and [[Evil Sorcerer|Zymeth]] in the Dragon campaign. Kenji's father was a king and Zymeth was said king's [[Evil Chancellor]] (until Zymeth framed Kenji for killing his father, forced him into exile, had the rest of the family killed and took over most of the kingdom).
{{quote|
'''Kenji:''' Long gone. Where is my father's most trusted advisor?
'''Zymeth:''' ...Also gone. [[Not So Different|Perhaps we've both grown up.]] }}
* ''[[X-Men Legends]] II: Rise of Apocalypse'' has both {{spoiler|Beast and Angel}} saying this upon being brainwashed by Apocalypse.
Line 357:
** ''[[The Force Unleashed]]'': Toward the story's end, the protagonist tells his pilot and love interest (who had only known him by the call-sign "Starkiller" up to this point) his real name [[Heel Face Turn|before turning from his evil ways.]]
* In ''[[Rosenkreuzstilette]]'', Grolla's grandfather and mentor, Raimund Seyfarth, who had passed away four years prior to the game's storyline, was revived by Graf Sepperin as [[The Grim Reaper|a Grim Reaper-like wraith]] and a guardian of his castle bridge. When your character reaches him at the end of Sepperin Stage 3 and recognizes his voice, he states that his name was the name he carried as a mortal but states that said name is of no use to him now.
* Jacob Taylor's loyalty mission in ''[[
{{quote|
* In ''[[Blaze Union]]'', Gulcasa finds his childhood friend Jenon's insistence on calling him by his fake name Garlot extremely upsetting and continually tries to make him stop, to little effect. A similar exchange occurs between Nessiah and Eater in another route, when Eater tries to call Nessiah by his original name "Aries"; Nessiah cuts him off, offended.
== Web Original ==▼
* In the [[Affectionate Parody]] RPG ''[[Jays Journey|Jay's Journey]]'', this is apparently played straight: The heavily-disguised character of Shade has a number of flashbacks focusing on one Tezla Concerto. At one point, Atolla (who knew Tezla) makes the claim that Shade is Tezla, but Shade denies this and says that Tezla is dead. {{spoiler|This is actually a subversion, however; in a hidden scene, it's revealed Tezla ''[[Literal Metaphor|really is]]'' [[Literal Metaphor|dead]]. Shade is Tezla's sister, Tanya.}}▼
* A variation is used in ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' with Bobby Jacks. 'Make it Rob, please,' Oddly, it signifies a [[Heel Face Turn]] rather than the other way around.▼
* [[Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series|"There is no Joey. There is only Steve!"]]▼
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_MqZn7E-mk "Hanzo Hasashi is dead.] My name... Is ''[[Mortal Kombat|Scorpion]]''."▼
== Web Comics ==
* In [[Fans]], Alysin[[Meaningful Name|(note spelling)]] assumed her name when she became a hard-partying Goth with a hidden sadistic streak. Later, after being cured of a rare life-threatening disease and finding true love and a fulfilling life with husband Rikk {{spoiler|[[Polyamory|and their third partner Rumi]],}} she put that part of her life behind her, dropped the Goth wardrobe and persona{{spoiler|(but kept some of her bondage gear in the bedroom for "theraputic" purposes)}}, and is now referred to as simply "Aly".
* Pardodied in [[Narbonic]], when Dave {{spoiler|finally gets laid}}.
{{quote|
* ''[[Dan and
{{quote|
* General Grievous in ''[[Darths and Droids]]'':
{{quote|
'''Grievous''': Irrelevant! [[Mythology Gag|That name no longer has any meaning for me]]. }}
* In ''[[Endstone]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20120702032014/http://endstone.net/2009/04/25/issue-1-page-14/ Cole Montaigne uses it word for word].
▲== Web Original ==
▲* In the [[Affectionate Parody]] RPG ''[[Jays Journey|Jay's Journey]]'', this is apparently played straight: The heavily-disguised character of Shade has a number of flashbacks focusing on one Tezla Concerto. At one point, Atolla (who knew Tezla) makes the claim that Shade is Tezla, but Shade denies this and says that Tezla is dead. {{spoiler|This is actually a subversion, however; in a hidden scene, it's revealed Tezla ''[[Literal Metaphor|really is]]'' [[Literal Metaphor|dead]]. Shade is Tezla's sister, Tanya.}}
▲* A variation is used in ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' with Bobby Jacks. 'Make it Rob, please,' Oddly, it signifies a [[Heel Face Turn]] rather than the other way around.
▲* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_MqZn7E-mk "Hanzo Hasashi is dead.] My name... Is ''[[Mortal Kombat|Scorpion]]''."
== Western Animation ==
* A slight variation: In the grand finale of ''[[Teen Titans (
* ''[[
{{quote|
** {{spoiler|However, this became an aversion in a later episode when Clayface saw the error of his ways and became Ethan Bennett again}}.
* In the final episode of ''[[Spider
** Dr. Octopus has this in his debut episode saying "Dr. Octavius vanished in that explosion and Dr. Octopus was born."
** The Green Goblin goes into this before he goes into another dimension.
{{quote|
'''Green Goblin''': There's no Osborn anymore, Parker. There is only the Green Goblin! }}
** "There is no more Eddy Brock. There is only ''Venom''!"
* In ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'', Electro has developed this as part of his continued departure from sanity.
** And he seems to be getting even worse:
{{quote|
** He's not the only one, either; Sandman, Rhino and Doctor Octopus all get That Man Is Dead moments. Sandman in particular sometimes refers to "Flint Marko" as if he were a separate person, but more as a rhetorical device than anything.
* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' [[The Movie]]: "The hobo you knew as Jojo is no mo'! From here fo'wo' I shall be known as... MOJO JOJO!"
* Antagone in ''[[Frisky Dingo]]'': "Grace Ryan is dead, and now you, Xander Crews, shall join her in... being dead!"
* How [[Transformers|Galvatron]] feels about his previous form Megatron varies from version to version, and he has been known to refer to Megatron in the past tense a time or two.
** Another ''[[Transformers]]'' example, from ''[[
{{quote|
** An earlier ''Beast Machines'' example involved Tankor. After {{spoiler|Rhinox's}} spark was reawakened, he insisted that he still be called Tankor, and was still an enemy of the Maximals. Optimus Primal later held a small memorial service in honour of his old friend.
** Reformatted Transformers tend to take on new names after they change bodies, despite the personality remaining the same. In [[Transformers Energon]] Megatron even insists that Demolishor call Cyclonus "Snowcat" after the change, despite the fact that Snowcat does not actually seem to care.
Line 406 ⟶ 403:
** ''[[Transformers Cybertron]]'' has two examples. After Overhaul is reborn as Leobreaker, he proclaims from atop a cliff, "I have embraced my destiny. I am of Jungle Planet now. I'm Overhaul no more, I am LEOBREAKER!" The second example is after Megatron has upgraded into Galvatron. "Megatron's not here."
** Another example, from ''[[Transformers Animated]]'', when Bumblebee tries to apologize for (unwittingly) getting Wasp (now Waspinator) falsely accused of being a spy:
{{quote|
''(Bumblebee smiles hopefully)''
'''Waspinator:''' ... but ''Waspinator'' NEVER forgive! }}
* Near the end of ''[[Static Shock]]'', with a cure for the metahuman condition being disseminated through the city, the newly depowered (and correspondingly saner) Talon asks Static and Gear to call her Theresa.
* The ''New [[Captain Scarlet]]'' episode "Homecoming" features a particularly grim variant:
{{quote|
* A variation plays off on in this in the [[Grand Finale]] of ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' that finally lets Jack realize that there is no best-friend-from-college-Vlad, there is only a [[Alas, Poor Villain|villainous man who has unfortunately been corrupted by his own hatred]].
{{quote|
'''Jack:''' An old friend, no. You? ''YES!'' }}
* In ''[[X-Men (
{{quote|
Lady Deathstrike: Yuriko no longer exists. I am Lady Deathstrike! }}
* Christopher Reeve in ''[[South Park]]'':
{{quote|
* ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'' has a (slight) variation that makes you wonder what Jack's long-term plans for Christmas were:
{{quote|
'''Jack''': "Not anymore!" * breaks picture* "I feel ''so'' much better now!" }}
* In "Two-Face Part 2" of ''[[Batman: The Animated Series
{{quote|
'''Harvey''': * Looks away from her and pulls away* "My name is Two-Face now..." }}
** "Feat of Clay Part 2" has this with Matt Hagen/Clayface
{{quote|
'''Clayface''': There is no Hagen. It's only me now... Clayface. }}
*** A bit later, when Batman shows Clayface videotapes of his former movie and TV roles and tells him "You can play those parts again," Clayface outright screams: "Matt Hagen is dead! Will you make him stop haunting me?!"
** Riddler get this moment in "What is Reality?"
{{quote|
* In the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "The Late Philip J Fry" has this exchange:
{{quote|
'''Fry:''' That was the old Fry. He's dead now. }}
** He's not kidding either. He landed on the old Fry when the Professor's time machine arrived back in the present (after having gone around the end of the universe and back again). [[It Makes Sense in Context]].
* ''[[Scooby Doo Mystery Inc]]''.:
{{quote|
'''Daphne''': Daphne's gone, call me Crush. }}
** Unfortunately, Fred [[Comically Missing the Point|doesn't get it]].
* ''[[Superman:
{{quote|
'''Livewire''': I'm not Leslie Willis anymore. Meet her replacement... Livewire! }}
* Splinter occasionally has this mindset during the 1987 ''[[
* ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' has this in episode, Operation: S.P.A.C.E.:
{{quote|
'''Cree''': My name is Cree! And you know that I'm not a member of the stupid Babies Next Door anymore. I'm with the adults now. }}
* Played for laughs in one episode of ''[[
{{quote|
'''Jade''': The Captain Black I knew wouldn't do that.
'''Captain Black''': The Captain Black you knew is in permanent vacation. }}
* In [[Metalocalypse]], Leonard Rockstein, aka Doctor Rockso, goes into rehab and claims "the clown is dead". Then he had to host Snakes and Barrels' second reunion show...
* In ''[[
* In one episode of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
* In ''[[
{{quote|
'''Jan:''' No. You're Ant-Man!
'''Hank:''' I'm not, Jan. I haven't been since Ultron, and honestly, probably even before that. }}
** When Hank becomes Yellowjacket later in the series, he goes so far as to {{spoiler|blow up his own laboratory to make it seem like he got murdered, and change his own biosignature}}.
* In ''[[Johnny Quest]]'', Race Bannon had a friend in the military who had a [[Face Heel Turn]] after an accident which he blamed Race for and became [[Meaningful Name|Skyborg]]. After Race invoked the [[Save the Villain]] trope, he had a [[Heel Face Turn]] and, the last time someone called him "Skyborg", he said his name was "Judy Harmon".
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Stock Phrases]]
▲[[Category:That Man Is Dead]]
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