History Main / DeceasedFallGuyGambit

* At the beginning of ''SkiesOfArcadia'', Alfonso attempts to avoid blame for losing to the heroes by killing his vice-captain and claiming that the latter betrayed him. Alfonso's superiors see through the ruse.

* ''MinorityReport'': Used to fool the Precrime murder precognition. Normally, murders cannot be committed because they are predicted by [[{{Seers}} pre-cogs]] and the police stops them before they happen; sometimes, a pre-cog sees images of a murder that's already happened, which is dismissed as a worthless "echo". The villain hires one of the CrazyHomelessPeople to try and (inevitably) get caught killing a woman he wants out of the way so he can do it himself later (reenacting the attempted murder exactly) and pretend that the prediction of ''this'' murder is an echo.

* In ''[[{{Saw}} Saw VI]]'', Detective Mark Hoffman blames the recently deceased [[spoiler: Agent Strahm]] of being the latest Jigsaw killer. [[spoiler: It doesn't work]].

* In FyodorDostoevsky's novel ''{{Demons}}'' [[CharmPerson one of the villains]] [[MoreThanMindControl convinces]] [[ThePhilosopher a character who is undergoing an existential crisis]] to commit suicide and write note in which he claims to be guilty of crimes actually commited by the villains. Some usually suspense FauxlosophicNarration ensues as the characters ponders whether 'tis nobler to be or not to be the fall guy.

* In ''{{Macbeth}}'', the titular character frames two guards for the murder of King Duncan, then kills them

* ''The Shooter': Heavily [[ZigZaggingTrope zigzagged]] in this mid 90s Dolph Lundgren film. (''Hidden Assassin'' in the US). Lundgren is an Intelligence agent working for America. He and his partner start the film by being assigned to secretly capture an infamous female assassin who is suspected of being hired to attack an international treaty convention in Prague. During the course of multiple fights, chases, and escapes she convinces him that she's innocent, and a conspiracy was going to kill her and use her as the fall guy for their plan. She then becomes his LoveInterest. They work together to bring down the conspiracy, but she gets killed along the way, and it turns out that Dolph's partner is involved in the conspiracy, (reluctantly, IIRC) and is the sniper set to attack the convention. After Dolph saves the day, the good guys in his department decide to save his partner's reputation, (and the partner's pension for his wife and children) by pinning the blame on the dead female assassin, and letting the partner officially have died a hero. [[GambitPileup It's]] ''[[ShootTheShaggyDog that]]'' [[BittersweetEnding kind of movie]]. Little wonder that Dolph's last action is to say [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Screw this, I'm outta here]].

->''"I speak without fear of contradiction..." is the opening sentence of the ideal debriefing.''

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* Used by Lelouch in ''CodeGeass''.
** Taken to its extreme at the end of R2, when [[spoiler:he sets ''himself'' up as the ultimate fall guy, and has Suzaku assassinate him to bring world peace.]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

* Used to fool the Precrime murder precognition in ''MinorityReport''. Normally, murders cannot be committed because they are predicted by [[{{Seers}} pre-cogs]] and the police stops them before they happen; sometimes, a pre-cog sees images of a murder that's already happened, which is dismissed as a worthless "echo". The villain hires one of the CrazyHomelessPeople to try and (inevitably) get caught killing a woman he wants out of the way so he can do it himself later (reenacting the attempted murder exactly) and pretend that the prediction of ''this'' murder is an echo.
* The President threatens to do this to the recently deceased former boss and mentor of Jack Ryan in TheMovie of ''ClearAndPresentDanger'' and blame him for the illegal actions the President ordered.
* In [[{{Saw}} Saw VI]], Detective Mark Hoffman blames the recently deceased [[spoiler: Agent Strahm]] of being the latest Jigsaw killer. [[spoiler: It doesn't work]].
* Heavily [[ZigZaggingTrope zigzagged]] in mid 90s Dolph Lundgren film ''The Shooter''. (''Hidden Assassin'' in the US). Lundgren is an Intelligence agent working for America. He and his partner start the film by being assigned to secretly capture an infamous female assassin who is suspected of being hired to attack an international treaty convention in Prague. During the course of multiple fights, chases, and escapes she convinces him that she's innocent, and a conspiracy was going to kill her and use her as the fall guy for their plan. She then becomes his LoveInterest. They work together to bring down the conspiracy, but she gets killed along the way, and it turns out that Dolph's partner is involved in the conspiracy, (reluctantly, IIRC) and is the sniper set to attack the convention. After Dolph saves the day, the good guys in his department decide to save his partner's reputation, (and the partner's pension for his wife and children) by pinning the blame on the dead female assassin, and letting the partner officially have died a hero. [[GambitPileup It's]] ''[[ShootTheShaggyDog that]]'' [[BittersweetEnding kind of movie]]. Little wonder that Dolph's last action is to say [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Screw this, I'm outta here]].
* Used in ''CryWolf''

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* In FyodorDostoevsky's novel ''{{Demons}}'' [[CharmPerson one of the villains]] [[MoreThanMindControl convinces]] [[ThePhilosopher a character who is undergoing an existential crisis]] to commit suicide and write note in which he claims to be guilty of crimes actually commited by the villains. Some usually suspense FauxlosophicNarration ensues as the characters ponders whether 'tis nobler to be or not to be the fall guy.
* A variant occurs in the John Dickson Carr novel ''[[spoiler:The Mad Hatter Mystery]]''; the killer tries to frame [[spoiler:the mad hatter]], knowing that [[spoiler:the dead man is the mad hatter]].
* In ''[[TonyHillerman Hunting Badger]]'', robbers [[spoiler:murder a talk show host and fake a suicide note with a confession]].

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

* TheUsualSuspects. At least [[spoiler:enough for the real Keyser Soze to get away]].
* {{Dexter}} had doubts about the success of framing [[spoiler: Doakes]] as the Bay Harbor Butcher... [[spoiler: at least until he got blown up and wouldn't be around to make a fuss]].

* On NYPDBlue a stick-up man who snitched for Simone told him and Sipowicz that an old unsolved murder had been committed by a notorious killer who was recently deceased. Sipowicz scoffed, pointing out that snitches all over the city had been trying to pin murders on the killer since his death, but the stick-up man knew details of the crime that were consistent with the evidence. It comes full circle at the end of the episode, when the stick-up man has been shot and tells Simone, "Don't let 'em pin no bodies on me. I got no unaccounted-fors," before dying himself.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* Used frequently in ''{{Paranoia}}'', where, quoted above, even the main corebook notes that being the only one alive at the debriefing stops your (self-flattering) story from being contradicted.
** Even The Computer does eventually get suspicious about sole survivors, though, so one suggested alternative is to bribe/blackmail some of your teammates into supporting your story. And in a pinch, you can always just make up a culprit and ask for permission to go hunt them down.

[[AC:Theater]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* At the beginning of SkiesOfArcadia, Alfonso attempts to avoid blame for losing to the heroes by killing his vice-captain and claiming that the latter betrayed him. Alfonso's superiors see through the ruse.

[[AC:{{Visual Novel}}s]]

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* Attempted by SmugSnake Kubota in ''OrderOfTheStick'' [[spoiler:just before Vaarsuvius disintegrates him.]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Some people claim Lee Harvey Oswald was this for the [[JohnFKennedy JFK]] assassination.
* Or John Wilkes Booth, for Abraham Lincoln.
* Not a ''deceased'' fall guy except in really bad circumstances, but children often try to blame pets or imaginary entities for misbehavior. Or rather the results of misbehavior, since if a parent sees them do it, they've got nothing.
** Won't stop them from trying.
* A guy in Illinois murdered his wife and another man and tried to blame it on the dead man. He got away with it until his mistress came forward and helped convict him.

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* Heavily [[ZigZaggingTrope zigzagged]] in mid 90s Dolph Lundgren film ''The Shooter''. (''Hidden Assassin'' in the US). Lundgren is an Intelligence agent working for America. He and his partner start the film by being assigned to secretly capture an infamous female assassin who is suspected of being hired to attack an international treaty convention in Prague. During the course of multiple fights, chases, and escapes she convinces him that she's innocent, and a conspiracy was going to kill her and use her as the fall guy for their plan. She then becomes his LoveInterest. They work together to bring down the conspiracy, but she gets killed along the way, and it turns out that Dolph's partner is involved in the conspiracy, (reluctantly, IIRC) and is the sniper set to attack the convention. After Dolph saves the day, the good guys in his department decide to save his partner's reputation, (and the partner's pension for his wife and children) by pinning the blame on the dead female assassin, and letting the partner officially have died a hero. [[ThirtyGambitPileup It's]] ''[[ShootTheShaggyDog that]]'' [[BittersweetEnding kind of movie]]. Little wonder that Dolph's last action is to say [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Screw this, I'm outta here]].

* In ''NCIS'' Agent [[spoiler:Michelle Lee]] shoots and kills Agent [[spoiler:Langer]] and frames [[spoiler:him]] as the mole revealing secret military information, in order to cover [[spoiler:her]]own guilt.

* Heavily [[ZigZaggingTrope zigzagged]] in mid 90s Dolph Lundgren film ''The Shooter''. (''Hidden Assassin'' in the US). Lundgren is an Intelligence agent working for America. He and his partner start the film by being assigned to secretly capture an infamous female assassin who is suspected of being hired to attack an international treaty convention in Prague. During the course of multiple fights, chases, and escapes she convinces him that she's innocent, and a conspiracy was going to kill her and use her as the fall guy for their plan. She then becomes his LoveInterest. They work together to bring down the conspiracy, but she gets killed along the way, and it turns out that Dolph's partner is involved in the conspiracy, (reluctantly, IIRC) and is the sniper set to attack the convention. After Dolph saves the day, the good guys in his department decide to save his partner's reputation, (and the partner's pension for his wife and children) by pinning the blame on the dead female assassin, and letting the partner officially have died a hero. [[ThirtyXanatosPileup It's]] ''[[ShootTheShaggyDog that]]'' [[BittersweetEnding kind of movie]]. Little wonder that Dolph's last action is to say [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Screw this, I'm outta here]].

* [[spoiler:Quercus Alba]] tries this twice in ''AceAttorney Investigations''. First he tries to blame the smuggling ring solely on [[spoiler:assistant-Bahbalese ambassador and co-conspirator Manny Coachen]]. Later, [[spoiler: he pins Manny's murder on [[TheDragon his dragon]], Shih-na/Callisto Yew.]]

* On ''BurnNotice'', a rival spy posing as Michael Westen steals a lot of money from a druglord, then has to kill an assassin looking for him. Westen's plan to get the druglord off his back is to make the dead assassin look like the real thief.

* This is part of the giant evil scheme in ''MinorityReport''. The villain hires one of the CrazyHomelessPeople to try and (inevitably) get caught killing a woman he wants out of the way so he can do it himself later and pretend it's an echo.

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-->"I speak without fear of contradiction..." is the opening sentence of the ideal debriefing.
-->'''-[[{{Paranoia}} Paranoia XP rulebook]]'''