History Main / CelebritySurvivor

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E4TreehouseOfHorrorX "Treehouse of Horror X"]] had humanity evacuating Earth on a pair of space shuttles after the MillenniumBug caused TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. One of them, bound for a colony on Mars, had societal and cultural luminaries like [[Creator/{{Microsoft}} Bill Gates]], UsefulNotes/StephenHawking, Music/PaulMcCartney, UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan, and Michelle Kwan on board, which Lisa (who, together with Marge and Maggie, is allowed on board the shuttle) points out is a sign that they're hoping to build a new civilization with humanity's best and brightest. The other shuttle, which Homer and Bart board, contains all the washed-up or otherwise annoying celebrities. [[TakeThat That one]] gets [[CelebrityCasualty launched straight into the sun.]] Homer decides that he'd rather not spend his last five minutes alive listening to Creator/TomArnold, Creator/PaulyShore, and Creator/RosieODonnell doing an awful song-and-dance routine, so he ejects himself and Bart out of the shuttle, the two of them with relieved smiles on their faces as [[ExplosiveDecompression their heads slowly expand and pop in the vacuum of space]].

A common form of RealPersonFic. For when the celebrities ''don’t'' survive, see CelebritiesHangOutInHeaven.

** An upcoming DLC will feature Creator/NicolasCage AsHimself in the game, in an as-yet-unrevealed capacity.

** [[spoiler:Anika Moorjani was a renowned dancer who was known on Earth as the founder of the holonet's most successful dance channel. Tilda describes her as [[TokenGoodTeammate one of the few decent people]] in Far Zenith.]]

** [[spoiler:Far Zenith, the real villains of ''Forbidden West'', are a colony expedition launched by Earth's elite to the Sirius system to escape the Faro Plague, their members including many societal luminaries, captains of industry, and celebrities. One of them was Verbena Sutter, a [[TheSocialite billionaire heiress]] and "life designer" who, before the apocalypse, was infamous in the tabloids for her many [[DisposableFiance failed engagements]]. When Aloy encounters her, she arrogantly dismisses the "primitive" tribes on Earth and acts like a RichBitch armed with sci-fi weaponry, only to get killed when Sylens' weapon knocks out her shields and leaves her vulnerable to attack by a Tenakth warrior.]]

** Ted Faro counts as this, in a manner similar to the aforementioned Robert House from ''Fallout: New Vegas''. Before the apocalypse, he was known as a trillionaire tech CEO and philanthropist with a public image akin to UsefulNotes/SteveJobs or Elon Musk, seen by many as "the man who saved the world" after his company Faro Automated Solutions designed much of the technology that helped humanity fight back against GlobalWarming in the 2040s (even if much of the credit should have really gone to his top scientist Elisabet Sobeck). Unfortunately, [[spoiler:he was later the man who ''destroyed'' the world thanks to his short-sighted greed causing a RobotWar]]. What's more, [[ItsAllAboutMe his celebrity-sized ego and desire to be loved by the masses]] meant that [[NeverMyFault he refused to admit responsibility for it, to himself more than anyone]], and that fact caused him to make a series of consequential and disastrous decisions that led directly to the CrapsackWorld of the game's present. When [[TheHero Aloy]] learns of his deeds years later, she regards him as one of history's greatest monsters.

* ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'': Several characters, among both the Survivors and the Killers, had been celebrities before they got pulled into [[EldritchLocation the Fog]].

** The ''All-Kill'' DLC has both its Killer, Ji-woon Hak, and its Survivor, Yun-jin Lee. Ji-woon was once part of a [[KoreanPopMusic K-pop]] BoyBand called NO SPIN, but left his bandmates to die after a fire broke out at their recording studio so that he could exploit the tragedy and pursue a solo career. Having gained a taste for blood, he started kidnapping and murdering people, [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming recording their cries of agony]] so he could then [[EvilDiva include them in his songs]]. Yun-jin, meanwhile, was the RecordProducer who discovered Ji-woon, ascended the ladder of fame with him, and eventually figured out that he was a SerialKiller, but said nothing because, having grown up poor, she wasn't willing to give up the good life she now enjoyed. Ji-woon's murderous ways eventually distracted him from his music, and when the executives at Mightee One Entertainment got fed up, he [[BoardToDeath slaughtered them all during a private show]], sparing only Yun-jin for her loyalty to him. It was at this point that the Fog took them both.
** Carmina Mora, aka the Artist, is the Killer introduced in the ''Portrait of a Murder'' DLC. In life, she had been a multidisciplinary artist in Chile renowned as the leader of the Large-Scale Surrealist movement, which eventually attracted the attention of a corporation called the Vack Label who wanted to commission her work. When she did some further digging and found that they were tied to political corruption, she made art attacking them, which led them to have her kidnapped and brutally tortured with the intention of killing her, including cutting off her hands and tongue so she could no longer paint or recite poetry. Only when the Fog claimed her did she escape death.

** Emma Jaunt is a British actress who was [[UsefulNotes/ScreamQueens known for horror movies]] before the ZombieApocalypse. She recently won a "Romero award" for a movie called ''Omen to Kill'' where she played a katana-wielding monster slayer, and in her mansion in Bel Air, one can find hanging on the walls various posters for the Kim Canaveral movies that she starred in, which seem to be TwoFistedTales-style homages to '50s horror B-movies. In real life, she's nowhere near as tough as the characters she plays, presented as a RichBitch who's rude to her Latina housekeeper Andrea and angry that Andrea brought her family to stay in the mansion when she and her husband tried to flee the city, and spends most of the game sulking upstairs in her room while "the help" takes charge downstairs. When Sam B, returning from the first game as a veteran survivor, arrives at the mansion, he's the one who slaps some sense into Emma and tells her that her being famous doesn't mean squat in a sealed-off city overrun by zombies.

** Emma Jaunt is a British actress who was [[UsefulNotes/ScreamQueens known for horror movies]] before the ZombieApocalypse. She recently won a "Romero award" for a movie called ''Omen to Kill'' where she played a katana-wielding monster slayer, and in her mansion in Bel Air, one can find hanging on the walls various posters for the Kim Canaveral movies that she starred in, which seem to be TwoFistedTales-style homages to '50s horror B-movies, and. In real life, she's nowhere near as tough as the characters she plays, presented as a RichBitch who's rude to her Latina housekeeper Andrea and angry that Andrea brought her family to stay in the mansion when she and her husband tried to flee the city, and spends most of the game sulking upstairs in her room while "the help" takes charge downstairs. When Sam B, returning from the first game as a veteran survivor, arrives at the mansion, he's the one who slaps some sense into Emma and tells her that her being famous doesn't mean squat in a sealed-off city overrun by zombies.

** Emma Jaunt is a British actress who was [[UsefulNotes/ScreamQueens known for horror movies]] before the ZombieApocalypse, having recently won a "Romero award" for a movie called ''Omen to Kill'' where she played a katana-wielding monster slayer. In her mansion in Bel Air, one can find hanging on the walls various posters for the Kim Canaveral movies that she starred in, which seem to be TwoFistedTales-style homages to '50s horror B-movies. In real life, she's nowhere near as tough as the characters she plays, presented as a RichBitch who's rude to her Latina housekeeper Andrea and angry that Andrea brought her family to stay in the mansion when she and her husband tried to flee the city, and spends most of the game sulking upstairs in her room while "the help" takes charge downstairs. When Sam B, returning from the first game as a veteran survivor, arrives at the mansion, he's the one who slaps some sense into Emma and tells her that her being famous doesn't mean squat in a sealed-off city overrun by zombies.

** Emma Jaunt is a British actress who was [[UsefulNotes/ScreamQueens known for horror movies]] before the ZombieApocalypse, mentioned as having won a "Romero award" recently. In her mansion in Bel Air, one can find hanging on the walls various posters for the Kim Canaveral movies that she starred in, which (going by the posters' contents) seem to be a mix of TwoFistedTales and homages to '50s horror B-movies. In real life, she's nowhere near as tough as the characters she plays, presented as a RichBitch who's rude to her Latina housekeeper Andrea and angry that Andrea brought her family to stay in the mansion when she and her husband tried to flee the city, even though Andrea's family are the ones doing all the actual work around the house and the ones keeping it safe. When Sam B, returning from the first game as a veteran survivor, arrives at the mansion, he's the one who slaps some sense into Emma and tells her that her being famous doesn't mean squat in a sealed-off city overrun by zombies.
** Emma's husband Robert was also an actor, the two having married for PR purposes. When they tried to escape LA, he wound up being the ZombieInfectee who brought the outbreak onto their plane and forced the military to shoot it down. His first victim aboard the plane was a woman who recognized him and tried to take a selfie with him, only for him to bite her right there.

** Also in Bel Air, you travel through the Goat Pen, a mansion owned by a group of social media influencers in a parody of the real-life Hype House. The notes you find throughout the mansion indicate that they didn't take the outbreak seriously until it was far too late -- one of the first things you find is a whiteboard where one of the residents wrote down a script for an [[YouTuberApologyParody apology video]] telling everyone that [[ApocalypticLog they wish they got out in time instead of treating it as a joke]].

** Curtis Sinclair is a "living legend" of an older actor who causes the PlayerCharacter to freak out upon meeting him. He was hosting a party at his Bel Air mansion when the zombies attacked, and while he may be old and nowhere near as fit as he used to be, he's still handy with a rifle. You also encounter his worthless [[{{Nepotism}} nepo baby]] nephew Tony, who showed up to the party to mooch off his uncle and who Curtis bitterly remarks threw a maid to the zombies in an attempt to escape -- not that it did him much good given that you encounter him as a zombie, one who Curtis openly cheers for you to kill.

* The zombie game ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'' has a rap star named Sam B and a former football player named Logan as two of the playable characters.

** Emma's husband Robert was also an actor, the two having married for PR purposes. When they tried to escape LA, he wound up being the ZombieInfectee who brought down the plane.

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'':
** The Midnight Riders are a badass SouthernRock band who, in the midst of a ZombieApocalypse, refused to cancel their tour until they had to be evacuated from an overrun concert.
-->''"You might've heard about a lot of bands cancelling their tours this week because of all the airports shutting down and the government telling people to stay indoors. To that the Riders say: [[BadassBoast We'll stop touring when we stop breathing.]] What America needs most right now in its time of trial is MUSIC, and that is one thing the Riders are proud to provide."''
** Jimmy Gibbs Jr., former stock car champ, writer, and hero to the South, particularly Ellis and Coach. He doesn't do much surviving -- you ([[MetalSlime sometimes]]) face his zombified corpse at the end of Dead Center -- but the survivors' reaction to him goes along the lines of this trope.

** Luz Palmer, a professional golfer. She kills several zombies with her golf club.

* Several characters in the ''VideoGame/BioShock'' series, such as singer Grace Holloway, artist Sander Cohen, stage magician Suresh Sheti, football star Danny Wilkins, and actress Blanche de Glace. Some of them were famous before coming to Rapture, while others became celebrities after moving there. Rapture was set up as a place of refuge for societal visionaries, including artists who rejected censorship, so it's not surprising why there are a whole bunch of celebrities living down there.

* The zombie game ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'' has a rap star named Sam B and a former football player named Logan as two of the playable characters.
* Zombie-infested VehicularCombat game ''VideoGame/BloodDrive'' has PunkRock frontman Bedlam and [[ProfessionalWrestling wrestler]] Superstar, who've both found new careers in zombie-splattering TV entertainment.
* Two [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies Zombies]] maps from ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' have this as their setup.
** "Call of the Dead": Creator/GeorgeARomero is shooting a zombie movie on location in Siberia starring Creator/RobertEnglund, Creator/DannyTrejo, Creator/MichaelRooker, and Creator/SarahMichelleGellar ([[AsHimself all played by themselves]]). LifeImitatesArt, a real ZombieApocalypse happens, Romero is zombified (and becomes the "King of the Zombies"), and now the four aforementioned actors must fight off wave after wave of the undead.
** "Five": UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, UsefulNotes/FidelCastro, UsefulNotes/RichardNixon, and UsefulNotes/RobertMcNamara fight zombies in UsefulNotes/ThePentagon.

* When the Zin invade in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', they capture the Saints and imprison them instead of [[spoiler: leaving them on Earth when they blow it up.]] The Saints then escape imprisonment and fight back. Not only do the Saints themselves (especially [[PlayerCharacter the Boss]]) count, as [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership their leader was the President of the United States]] and he/she had many "homies" as Cabinet members, but their Vice President is Creator/KeithDavid. And at the end of the game, we find out one of Zinyak's first abductees [[spoiler:(and therefore, one of the people spared from Earth's destruction)]] was none other than [[spoiler:Creator/JaneAusten]].
* StoryBreadcrumbs in ''VideoGame/TheForest'' reveal that the player character is a famous television survivalist in the manner of [[Series/ManVsWild Bear Grylls]], which comes in handy when his plane crashes in the remote, cannibal-infested wilderness.
* In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', Javier García was a professional baseball player before he was banned from the league for betting on himself shortly before the apocalypse.

* Actor[=/=]singer[=/=]TV host John Davidson was the headliner at the Beverly Hills Supper Club in the Northern Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati on May 28, 1977 when a fire broke out while his opening act was onstage. He managed to escape his dressing room mere seconds before the the fire escalated, and helped with the evacuation of the building once he was outside, but 165 people ultimately died in the fire.

* When the Zin invade in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', they capture the Saints and imprison them instead of [[spoiler: leaving them on Earth when they blow it up.]] The Saints then escape imprisonment and fight back. Not only do the Saints themselves (especially [[PlayerCharacter the Boss]]) count, as [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority their leader was the President of the United States]] and he/she had many "homies" as Cabinet members, but their Vice President is Creator/KeithDavid. And at the end of the game, we find out one of Zinyak's first abductees [[spoiler:(and therefore, one of the people spared from Earth's destruction)]] was none other than [[spoiler:Creator/JaneAusten]].

[[folder:Film]]

* Two of the survivors at the end of ''Film/MarsAttacks'' are a former World Heavyweight Champion boxer...and Music/TomJones. The latter case is particularly ironic since up to that point the film had [[KillEmAll gruesomely killed off]] its entire AllStarCast.

* The ''only'' two survivors of a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_South_Carolina_Learjet_60_crash 2008 Learjet crash in South Carolina]] were [[Music/{{Blink182}} Blink 182]] drummer Travis Barker and celebrity [=DJ=] Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein.

* Takahiro Aramaki of the post-apocalyptic manga ''Manga/SevenSeeds'', former Koshien regular pitcher, SoleSurvivor of Team Winter, and [[TheAloner the only human]] not in [[HumanPopsicle cryostasis]] for fifteen years. In a variation, the Ryugyu Shelter -- a base where a larger number of people survived for a time after the asteroid hit the planet -- included several famous entertainers in its population, like IdolSinger Maria Miki, to keep the population of the shelter calm and entertained after they were cut off from the outside world.

* The ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' map "[[VideoGame/NaziZombies Call of the Dead]]" has this as its setup. Creator/GeorgeARomero is shooting a zombie movie on location in Siberia starring Creator/RobertEnglund, Creator/DannyTrejo, Creator/MichaelRooker, and Creator/SarahMichelleGellar ([[AsHimself all played by themselves]]). LifeImitatesArt, a real ZombieApocalypse happens, Romero is zombified (and becomes the "King of the Zombies"), and now the four aforementioned actors must fight off wave after wave of the undead.
** The “Five” map in [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps Black Ops]] makes the survivors UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, UsefulNotes/FidelCastro, UsefulNotes/RichardNixon, and Robert [=McNamara=].

** In ''Off the Record'', Frank West was celebrated for saving the day and breaking the story of the [[VideoGame/DeadRising Willamette Mall Outbreak]], but his FifteenMinutesOfFame dried up and he was forced to compete in ''Terror is Reality'' to make ends meet. During the Fortune City outbreak, a lot of people recognize Frank, but dismiss him as a washed-up D-lister. He quickly proves he's still a zombie-slaying machine.

* ''Film/ThisIsTheEnd'' is about [[Creator/SethRogen a]] [[Creator/JamesFranco bunch]] [[Creator/JayBaruchel of actors]] ([[AllStarCast all of them]] [[AsHimself played by themselves]]) trying to survive [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the apocalypse]] in James Franco's mansion. At one point, Jonah Hill says that help ought to be on their way because they're rich celebrities and that the authorities would make an effort to save them first rather than the plebs below. Creator/EmmaWatson also breaks in and loots the place.

* In ''Film/{{Lavalantula}}'', washed up 90's action star Colton West gets a chance to be a hero for real when a volcano erupts and {{Giant Spider}}s that breathe fire attack his town. Eventually, the crew of his latest movie helps him out.

* Discussed in ''Film/AnnaAndTheApocalypse''; at one point, John and Chris wonder which celebrities are still alive after a ZombieApocalypse has ravaged the world. They decide that Creator/RobertDowneyJr and Music/TaylorSwift should still be alive.

* ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' has lots of fun with this. One of the soldiers that Todd Wainio served with was a former pro wrestler, and another one may or may not have been [[Music/{{REM}} Michael Stipe]]. Roy Elliot is a pre-war film director (a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Creator/StevenSpielberg) who found work shooting propaganda movies for the government, and he mentions Creator/MartinScorsese having survived in New York and filmed the documentary about how that city held out through the ZombieApocalypse. And then, of course, there's [[DeathByMaterialism the celebrity fortress]] [[TooDumbToLive on Long Island...]]

** Ted Faro counts as this, in a manner similar to the aforementioned Robert House from ''Fallout: New Vegas''. Before the apocalypse, he was known as a trillionaire tech CEO and philanthropist with a public image akin to UsefulNotes/SteveJobs or Elon Musk, seen by many as "the man who saved the world" after his company Faro Automated Solutions designed much of the technology that helped humanity fight back against GlobalWarming in the 2040s (even if much of the credit should have really gone to his top scientist Elisabet Sobeck). Unfortunately, [[spoiler:he was later the man who ''destroyed'' the world thanks to his short-sighted greed causing a RobotWar]]. What's more, his celebrity-sized ego and desire to be loved by the masses meant that [[NeverMyFault he refused to admit responsibility for it, to himself more than anyone]], and that fact caused him to make a series of consequential and disastrous decisions that led directly to the CrapsackWorld of the game's present. When [[TheHero Aloy]] learns of his deeds years later, she regards him as one of history's greatest monsters.

* ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}'', the survivors encounter a rifle-toting, disfigured ginger man who claims to be Prince Harry of the British Royal Family. He says that during the mass infection, his bodyguards tried to take him to a bunker away from the capital only only to find the place already overrun with the infected and that the last thing he say before escaping was his [[CrossesTheLineTwice granny Queen Elizabeth biting Prince Charles' bollocks off.]] [[RiddleForTheAges The work never confirms if he's the real deal or not]].