History Main / DelusionConclusion

* Since the narrator of ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' says that going insane would be a mercy now that the Martians are almost certainly going to win and externinate or enslave humanity, and only after then do the Martians all die from a [[DeusExMachina completely unforeshadowed]] [[WeaksauceWeakness vulnerability to terrestrial bacteria]], a theory has arisen that he actually did go mad and the rest of the book is his hallucination of mankind victorious and safe. This theory is so famous that practically every literary critic who discusses the book brings it up as a possibility, [[TrueArtIsAngsty often claiming that it’s more plausible than what really happens]].

* Some readers of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' theorize the main character may be suffering from schizophrenia or a related mental illness, seeing as Hobbes appears as real for him, but everyone else sees him as a stuffed tiger - plus he has quite the imagination. It's [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane never made clear]] if Hobbes is real or simply Calvin's fantasy, since some aspects are difficult to explain, while series author Creator/BillWatterson has famously refused to clarify one way or another- the closest he's come to doing was in the 20th Anniversary book, where he said that Hobbes is neither a doll that magically comes to life when Calvin is around nor strictly a product of Calvin's overactive imagination.

* Some viewers believe that the fantastical events of ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' are just Charlie Bucket's dream of what it might be like inside Willy Wonka's famous factory. Apparently, the inclusion of magical confectionery was considered too farfetched after spending the first third of the movie on a relatively realistic setting, given that the film did not adapt the [[Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory original novel's]] fantastical elements taking place outside outside the factory, like Prince Pondicherry's chocolate palace. Consequently, Wonka's musical number "Pure Imagination" was believed to be a hidden clue that Charlie -- impoverished, depressed and desperate to make a better life for his family -- dreamed up his discovery of a golden ticket and everything that followed.

** Regardless, it makes sense that Jack wasn't on the passenger or crew manifests in-story because his name wouldn't have been on the ticket. He and Fabrizio won their tickets from would-be passengers in a last-minute card game.

** Regardless, it makes sense that Jack wasn't on the passenger or crew manifests in-story because his name wouldn't have been on the ticket. He and Fabrizio won their tickets from other passengers in a last-minute card game.

* This is a very common fan theory in the ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' fandom. Generally, it takes the idea that Numbuh 1 is actually sick with leukemia or cancer and is dreaming the series as adventures he wants to have with his friends.

* ''Anime/FiveCentimetersPerSecond'': Thanks to the AlienSky-featuring, obviously otherworldly dreams with an Akari-lookalike Takaki has, the ending RapidFireClipShow having "One More Time, One More Chance" playing over it with the lyrics talking about looking for someone that the singer knows won't actually be there, as well as [[spoiler:the Akari that Takaki encounters at the end simply walking away from the railway crossing without waiting to offer so much as a word of acknowledgement to the old friend/former love that he was]], a number of fans have come to the conclusion that [[spoiler:there was no Akari there at all, merely an IdenticalStranger or hallucination.]] The manga adaptation's addition of a few panels of [[spoiler:an illusory young Akari waving goodbye as he's walking away]] immediately afterwards, something that simply couldn't happen in reality, does absolutely nothing to deny this.

* ''Anime/FiveCentimetersPerSecond'': Thanks to the AlienSky-featuring, obviously otherworldly dreams with an Akari-lookalike Takaki has, as well as [[spoiler:the Akari that Takaki encounters at the end simply walking away from the railway crossing without waiting to offer so much as a word of acknowledgement to the old friend/former love that he was]], a number of fans have come to the conclusion that [[spoiler:there was no Akari there at all, merely an IdenticalStranger or hallucination.]] The manga adaptation's addition of a few panels of [[spoiler:an illusory young Akari waving goodbye as he's walking away]] immediately afterwards, something that simply couldn't happen in reality, does absolutely nothing to deny this.

* ''Anime/FiveCentimetersPerSecond'': Thanks to the AlienSky-featuring, obviously otherworldly dreams with an Akari-lookalike Takaki has, as well as [[spoiler:the Akari that Takaki encounters at the end simply walking away from the railway crossing without waiting to offer so much as a word of acknowledgement to the old friend/former love that he was]], a number of fans have come to the conclusion that [[spoiler:there was no Akari there at all, merely an IdenticalStranger or hallucination.]] That the manga shows [[spoiler:an illusory young Akari waving goodbye as he's walking away]] immediately afterwards, something that simply couldn't happen in reality, does absolutely nothing to deny this.

* The author of ''Literature/TheMagicians'' has said part of the reason he wrote the sequels was to disprove those who were convinced that all the magic in the first book was this, and that Quentin killed himself at the end.

* Some fans of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' speculate that Ash Ketchum has been in a coma ever since Pikachu electrocuted him in the first episode, and that every adventure he's experienced since then was AllJustADream -- as "evidenced" by the fact that [[NotAllowedToGrowUp Ash has never been seen to age in the years since then]].

Compare with UnreliableNarrator where any ambiguity or lack of information is intentional and certain parts of the story are generally acknowledged to be true. Contrast with KilledOffForReal, where the author leaves no doubt about a character's mortal state, and both AllJustADream and ThatWasNotADream where the setting actually is (or isn't) an illusion and is absolutely intentionally painted that way, in the end at least.

* Some readers of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' theorize the main character may be suffering from schizophrenia or a related mental illness, seeing as Hobbes appears as real for him, but everyone else sees him as a stuffed tiger - plus he has quite the imagination. It's [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane never made clear]] if Hobbes is real or simply Calvin's fantasy, since some aspects are difficult to explain, while series author Creator/BillWatterson has famously refused to clarify one way or another.

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

* Some fans of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' speculate that Ash Ketchum has been in a coma ever since Pikachu electrocuted him in the first episode, and that every adventure he's experienced since then was AllJustADream - as "evidenced" by the fact that [[NotAllowedToGrowUp Ash has never been seen to age in the years since then]].

* ''{{ComicStrip/Garfield}}''

** It's been speculated that Garfield isn't real and Jon is hallucinating. This theory has been championed by ''Webcomic/GarfieldMinusGarfield,'' a webcomic featuring every character except Jon being removed from the original strips, creating a parallel universe in which Jon is a delusional schizophrenic talking to people only he can see.

[[folder:Films--Live Action]]
* ''Film/TheDescent''
** The sudden introduction of cave-dwelling monsters has resulted in some viewers theorizing that Sarah suffered a psychotic break from the stress of being trapped underground, and is actually killing her friends. The evidence consists of the trauma Sarah suffered in the car crash that killed her husband and daughter, and the fact that she is seen taking pills before leaving the cabin. Admittedly, Sarah ''does'' suffer SanitySlippage, [[spoiler: {{Mercy Kill}}s Beth, and later cripples Juno so she can't escape]], but her friends also encounter the Crawlers long before she rejoins them, so it's a bit of a stretch. The sequel thoroughly {{Josse|d}}s this idea, but it follows on from the ending of the American cut of the film, in which the final twist revealing that [[spoiler:Sarah's escape was AllJustADream, setting up a BolivianArmyEnding,]] is excised. Fans of the film who [[FanonDiscontinuity regard the American ending as non-canon]] usually feel the same about its sequel for following on from such.
** Other viewers go even further and speculate that Sarah was left comatose and fatally wounded in the car crash at the start of the film, and the rest of the story is just a DyingDream that only ends when she finally accepts her fate - as "symbolized" by her [[spoiler: calmly sitting down with a hallucination of her daughter and waiting for the Crawlers to find her]]. Again, the sequel Josses this, but for the reasons listed above, not all fans accept it as canon.
* Some theorists believe that the team's sudden turn of bad fortune in ''Film/GhostbustersII'' is either a DyingDream or an actual journey through purgatory: the theory claims that crossing the streams in the ending of the [[Film/Ghostbusters1984 first movie]] ended up killing the Ghostbusters, forcing them into hellish shared mental experience/afterlife in which they have to go through the same humiliating struggle for credibility they experienced in the first movie. Depending on the theorist, the finale - in which [[BigBad Viggo the Carpathian]]'s [[AnomalousArt portrait]] is replaced by a painting of the Ghostbusters portrayed as saints - is either their escape from purgatory or the happy conclusion to the dream.

* Due to ''Film/Joker2019'' not attempting to differentiate between [[AmbiguousDisorder Arthur]]'s imagination and reality (such as [[spoiler: TheReveal that his relationship with his neighbour Sophie was all in his head]]), some viewers have interpreted many of the later scenes (or even the entire movie) as similarly being a fantasy he dreamed up where [[spoiler: nearly everyone that wronged him is dead and he finally gets the cheering audience he always wanted]]. It certainly fits in with the [[ComicBook/TheJoker Joker]]'s common portrayal of an [[MultipleChoicePast ambiguous and inconsistent backstory]].

* '''Completely inverted''' in some interpretations of ''Film/ShutterIsland.'' [[spoiler: The finale reveals that US Marshall Teddy Daniels is actually a mental patient by the name of Andrew Laeddis, and the trail of conspiracy theories he's been following across the island - from the missing patient to the super-soldier experiments conducted at the lighthouse - are all just part of Laeddis' fantasy. However, even though the film ends with Laeddis finally acknowledging the truth, some viewers believe that the conspiracy theory was real and the Laeddis identity was just a delusion forced on Daniels by his psychiatrists.]]

* Though not the most popular theory, there are a few who claim Jack Dawson from ''Film/Titanic1997'' never actually existed and was merely conceived as a coping mechanism by Rose, who was about to be forced upon an UnwantedSpouse by her family. A prominent justification is how Mr. Lovejoy inexplicably stopped pursuing Jack and Rose once they got to the cargo hold, and how (relatively) unconcerned Rose's family seemed to be with Jack's social rank as a penniless artist, even inviting him to dinner with them. Made HilariousInHindsight when near the end of the interview, Lovett tells Rose that there was no "J. Dawson" on the passenger or crew manifests; WordOfGod claims the name was made up, but by coincidence, there actually was a J. Dawson who died aboard the Titanic.
* Some viewers believe that the fantastical events of ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' are just Charlie Bucket's dream of what it might be like inside Willy Wonka's famous factory. Apparently, the inclusion of magical confectionery was considered too farfetched after spending the first third of the movie on a relatively realistic setting, given that the film did not adapt the [[Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory original novel's]] fantastical elements taking place outside outside the factory, like Prince Pondicherry's chocolate palace. Consequently, Wonka's musical number "Pure Imagination" was believed to be a hidden clue that Charlie - impoverished, depressed and desperate to make a better life for his family - dreamed up his discovery of a golden ticket and everything that followed.
* ''Film/TheWitch'', despite featuring some pretty blatant magical elements, is largely focused on the collapse of an isolated Puritan family due to pride, tainted crops, religious dogma and family tensions, with the supernatural threat remaining [[NothingIsScarier largely unseen]] until the end - and then only following a pretty vicious case of SanitySlippage. As such, one theory suggests that the Witch was just a hallucination brought about by eating the fungus-contaminated crops, especially since ergot poisoning is now a widely-accepted explanation for the paranoia that caused the Salem Witch Trials.

[[folder: Literature]]

* In ''[[Creator/MauriceSendak In The Night Kitchen]]'', the narrator ''says'' that Mickey really did fall out of his clothes and make a plane out of dough and then help make cake, but many have speculated that it was a dream.

[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum'' ends with a flashback to the events of the pilot episode when Lana Winters first visited [[BedlamHouse Briarcliff]], where Sister Jude comments that "you like to dream big" and that the two of them won't meet again. Some viewers took this to mean that everything that happened from that point onward - Lana's incarceration at Briarcliff, her encounter with [[SerialKiller Bloody Face]], the Nazi MadScientist, the possession of Sister Mary Eunice, the alien abductions and Lana's career as a world-famous journalist - was either her deranged imagination or a work of fiction she wrote about it years after the fact. However, subsequent seasons of ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'' joss this theory via tie-in elements, such as Lana being a famous journalist and the villains of the season being confirmed as real.
* Despite the overwhelming evidence for the supernatural in ''Series/TheHauntingOfHillHouse,'' some viewers suggest that the ghosts and other supernatural activity within the house are just hallucinations after all. However, rather than insisting on a diagnosis of mental illness as [[TheScully Steve]] does, some propose that the visions were actually brought about by exposure to the [[FesteringFungus black mold]] infesting the house.
* ''Series/{{Legion}}'' actually kicks off with the main character in a mental hospital as a result of his psychic powers being misdiagnosed as schizophrenia, so it's no surprise that some viewers interpret the [[MindScrew admittedly rather bizarre]] events of the show as being a result of David's mental illness. [[spoiler: In the finale, the [[BigBad Devil With The Yellow Eyes]] traps David and the main characters inside a psychic recreation of the asylum, deliberately muddling things even further.]]
* ''Series/TheMagicians2016'' begins with Quentin Coldwater leaving a mental hospital... so some commentators wondered if Quentin's adventures at [[WizardingSchool Brakebills]] would end with him awakening to find himself still there - especially after he ends up getting plunged into a LotusEaterMachine-like dream of the asylum. Ironically, in [[Literature/TheMagicians the original novels]], Quentin reflects that Brakebills seems too good to be true and fully expects to wake up and find that his time studying magic was just "a fanboy hallucination," though to his relief he's ultimately proved wrong.

* Some detractors of ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite: Burial At Sea'' have argued that the entire experience is just one of Elizabeth's nightmares, a theory somewhat exacerbated by the fact that she spends most of the DLC having actual nightmares, hallucinating her dead father, making [[MoralDissonance extremely questionable decisions]], or encountering things that don't make sense by the rules established within the main game. For good measure, fanfics have actually been made from this perspective: ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13208214/1/After-The-Burial After The Burial]]'' reimagines Elizabeth's experiences as a drug trip experienced during a drunken visit to Rapture.
* David Cage's ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'' was hit '''hard''' with this thanks to the game's rushed development. The story supposedly concerns everyman Lucas Kane being mind-controlled into committing a murder, then gaining superpowers and using them to stop the world-dominating conspiracy that framed him... but because ExecutiveMeddling led to [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere bewildering plot elements]] being hurried into the game with little foreshadowing or explanation, the narrative gradually becomes more and more incoherent - not helped by the fact that [[CloudCuckooLander David Cage]] has a very strange approach to writing characters and dialogue. As a result, many players including LetsPlay/GeekRemix and WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay regard Lucas as a schizophrenic serial-killing pedophile hallucinating the events of the game.

* The ''WebVideo/PlanetDolan'' animation for the parody of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" has Dolan wake up with a tiger in his boat and have crazy adventures. Some people in the comments wonder if it's actually just a hallucination.

* Though mostly restricted to the first three seasons, several ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' theories said that the lone human protagonist Finn only imagined the Land of Ooo, and him being a famous hero in it, due to everything from coma to schizophrenia to a coping mechanism for domestic abuse. It's rather HilariousInHindsight then that the official canon world is a far darker CrapsaccharineWorld [[spoiler: devastated and reborn in eldritch nuclear fire]] and humans [[spoiler: living under Big Brother in a self-imposed exile.]]

* One or two people wonder if ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' episodes [[AprilFoolsPlot centring on Luan going next-level on April Fool's Day]] are just dreams, partly because they worry that Luan is being too mean on those episodes, and partly because they want to explain why [[NotAllowedToGrowUp no one's gotten any older]].

* One fan theory for ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is that Homer [[AdventuresInComaLand is unconscious and dreaming the whole thing]].
** Another popular theory states that the first seasons of the show actually happened--but eventually, Homer dies, and the remainder of the adventures are a DyingDream of him slowly slipping away. The evidence given includes Homer's conversation with God at the end of Season Four's "Homer the Heretic"; when he asks for the meaning of life, God replies that he'll have to wait until he dies, and when Homer whines that he wants to know now, the Almighty replies "You can't wait six months?" Sure enough, six months later, the episode "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show" aired, which features Homer falling into a coma after Bart plays a prank on him. The "Homer is Dead" theory explains that the Simpson patriarch actually dies during this episode. It's commonly used as a justification for the show becoming DenserAndWackier over the years--the early seasons were more grounded in somewhat realistic plots, but as Homer's mind falls away further and further, increasingly bizarre events begin to occur.
[[/folder]]

** The sudden introduction of cave-dwelling monsters has resulted in some viewers theorizing that Sarah suffered a psychotic break from the stress of being trapped underground, and is actually killing her friends. The evidence consists of the trauma Sarah suffered in the car crash that killed her husband and daughter, and the fact that she is seen taking pills before leaving the cabin. Admittedly, Sarah ''does'' suffer SanitySlippage, [[spoiler: {{Mercy Kill}}s Beth and later cripples Juno so she can't escape]], but her friends also encounter the Crawlers long before she rejoins them, so it's a bit of a stretch. The sequel thoroughly josses this idea.
** Other viewers go even further and speculate that Sarah was left comatose and fatally wounded in the car crash at the start of the film, and the rest of the story is just a DyingDream that only ends when she finally accepts her fate - as "symbolized" by her [[spoiler: calmly sitting down with a hallucination of her daughter and waiting for the Crawlers to find her]]. Again, jossed by the sequel.

* Some viewers suggest that ''Series/TheXFiles'' takes place in Mulder's head, providing him a fantasy world in which the conspiracies he believes in are real and he always turns out to be correct.

* When ''[[Literature/JohnnyMaxwellTrilogy Johnny and the Bomb]]'' ended with Kirsty remembering the adventure, some posters on [[Website/{{Usenet}} alt.fan.pratchett]] were taken aback by this unambiguous statement that the weird things that happen to Johnny actually happen, having seen the books as Johnny retreating into fantasy due to his parents' Trying Times. Creator/TerryPratchett pointed out that there was ''always'' evidence Johnny's adventures had actually happened and added "I can't be having with that pernicious rubbish. 'Window' books, they are called: young Sid has big problems at home, so in his dreams he battles a dragon, and this gives him the strength to deal with the problems -- as if imagination and fantasy were some kind of medicines."

* When ''[[Literature/TheJohnnyMaxwellTrilogy Johnny and the Bomb]]'' ended with Kirsty remembering the adventure, some posters on [[{{Usenet}} alt.fan.pratchett]] were taken aback by this unambiguous statement that the weird things that happen to Johnny actually happen, having seen the books as Johnny retreating into fantasy due to his parents' Trying Times. Creator/TerryPractchett pointed out that there was ''always'' evidence the things had actually happened, and added "I can't be having with that pernicious rubbish. 'Window' books, they are called: young Sid has big problems at home, so in his dreams he battles a dragon, and this gives him the strength to deal with the problems -- as if imagination and fantasy were some kind of medicines."

* One prominent ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' [[https://fantheories.fandom.com/wiki/Ed,_Edd_n_Eddy theory ]] claims that the cul-de-sac the children live on is actually a purgatory, and that every child there died sometime after 1900. It was based mostly on the lack of adults seen (though extremely rare, arms and silhouettes of adults were present). Furthermore, the theory was expanded for the movie and claimed that [[spoilers:the theme park where Eddy's brother worked ]] and their journey there was actually a journey into Hell.