History Main / HesJustHiding

Compare UrbanLegendOfZelda, InferredSurvival, FirstLawOfResurrection, ElvisLives, UnexplainedRecovery, OpeningACanOfClones. See also ViewersInMourning. When he really ''is'' just hiding, it's FakingTheDead.

* A disquieting number of people believe that Music/ElvisPresley, [[Music/TheDoors Jim Morrison]], Music/TheNotoriousBIG, Music/TupacShakur, and Music/MichaelJackson actually faked their own deaths. This is so common for Elvis that [[ElvisLives it's a trope unto itself]].

** Hilariously carried on in ''Literature/GoodOmens'' by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, when some bikers in a bar are playing a trivia game and come across the question of when Elvis died. It turns out the one with the control for the game is [[TheGrimReaper Death himself]], one of the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse, who states that he never laid a finger on him. Of course, he never gets any of the answers associated with deaths wrong. It turns out that Elvis is working in a [[BurgerFool Burger Lord]] as a short-order cook.

** Even an episode of ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' showed Elvis as one of Alan Matthews's poker buddies. [[MundaneFantastic No one seemed that impressed.]]

* D.B. Cooper, who stole more than $250,000, before leaping off an airplane, with a parachute. The FBI is still uncertain if he's alive, but since part of the money he stole washed ashore, it's generally assumed that he drowned. Apparently, Agent Cooper of ''Series/TwinPeaks'' is based on him and is partly this trope.

* Many Rastafarians believe that Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia didn't die [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence and returned to Heaven]] until the right time. Or simply that he isn't dead.

* Many, perhaps mostly Nazis, have believed UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler to have been alive long after 1945. Whether anyone ''still'' believes it is a mystery. If he is alive then he's the oldest man alive and is over 120 years old. We might be safe. All depends on how long [[Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic a human brain can keep in a jar]]. [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Or putting his brain in a Great White Shark]].

** In short, Kaufman was such a master of MindScrew that he's still got people confused 25 years later.

** Speaking of dinosaurs, ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'' features a race of humanoid dinosaurs that are evolved descendants of the dinosaurs of the past who turned out to have gone literally underground instead of getting totally wiped out. Why would [[Creator/GrantMorrison the author]] make such a concept? Because [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs they're too cool to just be extinct, of course]]!

** The fandom for ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemistTheConquerorOfShamballa'', the movie sequel to [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]], has an actual ''holiday'' for when Alphons (Heidrich) dies. He gets shot in the back, but we don't see the shot actually hit him. They call it Denial Day, and it's November 8th (or 9th).

* In ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', a common fan reaction to Molly's death. To be fair, he's come back once before...

* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'': Some fans speculate that Dinobot II did, in fact, survive the exploding ship he was trapped in during the series finale and continued to live on earth alone complete with his memories of being the original Dinobot. The evidence to support this comes from the fact that he had Protoform X's spark in its whole form, which could heal injuries and was already shown to be highly difficult to kill given his transmetal body.

** Batman allows everybody to assume that he's dead in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' "The Man Who Killed Batman", so he can follow the two-bit gangster who supposedly kills him back to the central boss of a drug ring.

* There were Nero sightings throughout the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire for about a century after his death, with people believing either that he had somehow survived, or had come back from the Elysian Fields to usher in a new age of imperial greatness.
** And then there were early Christians, who honestly thought Nero was so evil that they expected he was the antichrist and would return from Hell to bring about the Apocalypse. This can partially be explained by the fact that early Christians read a character in the Book of Revelations as referring to him; his death, therefore, put a crimp in their readings of its prophecies.

* Richey James, depressed, self-harming Music/ManicStreetPreachers songwriter, disappeared on 1 February 1995, and his car was found near the Severn Bridge about two weeks later. It was pretty obvious he had killed himself, especially considering his mental health and the fact he never reappeared but was only pronounced dead in November 2008, having been classed as a missing person for the past 13 years. Though considering that he had allegedly bought books on how to disappear, and had withdrawn the maximum possible amounts off of his credit card every day for a week before his car was found, it's not as far fetched an idea as it first appears...

** Some people think he and Saddam Hussein are still alive on free vacation on Island with help from the CIA. Seeing as both bodies have been photographed dead, this is rather stupid, but conspiracy theorists never let facts get in the way of a good time.

* When his beloved youngest daughter Princess Amelia died in 1810, George III went mad with grief, one of his delusions being that she wasn't dead, but merely went to live in an estate in Hannover. The King however was the only person who believed this delusion, everyone else well... there's a reason he's called "The Mad King" (and the American Revolution is only half of it). Parliament forced him to appoint a regent and retire from all royal duties: hence the name for this time period being The Regency. It should be noted, that this is the time period when ''Creator/JaneAusten'''s novels are set. The English gentry took full advantage of there being no King to marry into the old aristocracy (or otherwise win titles for themselves often via the military): something that Kings generally took a dim view of, since it undermined their power.

** It really doesn't help that the ''entire situation'' (apart from the fight itself, funnily enough) is completely ambiguous, with Laughing Bull's description of a warrior dying being applicable to either Spike was previously s ''or'' Vicious, and Spike himself having survived a similar scenario (specifically being, shot, skewered, and jumping off of a four-story building), albeit barely, leaving the entire situation completely valid for either side to make a case.

** It really doesn't help that Spike was previously shown to survive a similar scenario (specifically he was shot, skewered, and jumped off of a four-story building), albeit barely, so fans of his survival have at least some ammunition.
** Watch carefully in the end, you will notice the brightest star disappears, alluding to the {{lampshad|eHanging}}ing of the Indian Chief has stated that means someone has died. Basically confirming that Spike has indeed died.
*** Laughing Bull's description of the warrior who died could just as well refer to Vicious as Spike. Every part of the show's ending is supposed to be heavily ambiguous.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': There are still a great many people (even his ''voice actor'', of all people) who believe that Gaston could still be alive, even after WordOfGod confirmed (well, mostly confirmed, at least, since his voice actor begs to differ) that he did, in fact, perish.

* There are so many premature obituaries that [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] has a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_premature_obituaries long article about them]].

* Death in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' is rare, but on the few occasions that it's happened, the fanbase tends to react this way. In particular, regarding the deaths of Lopez, Alpha!Church, and the original Tex. The arguments for Lopez and Tex are fairly reasonable (Lopez did mention having backups, and it's never explicitly said the original Tex "died" anyway), but the justification for the original Alpha!Church is a little more contrived, especially because his death [[WordOfGod has been confirmed by the creators.]]

* From ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', fans of Spike will swear up and down that the character is just hiding, despite having suffered fatal injuries from a personal nemesis, being surrounded by {{Mooks}} from the Syndicate (while ''in'' the Syndicate Headquarters,) collapsing in a pool of his own blood, and ''the entire series leading up to exactly that climax''.

* The first ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' episode introduced the character Morph, only to kill him off in the first episode. This was supposedly done to prove to the audience that this show had balls. [[FirstLawOfResurrection Apparently, his brief appearance made him popular enough to bring back in the second season]], where it was revealed Mr. Sinister resurrected and brainwashed him.

** Sparda. The {{Narrator}} from the [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 first game]] stated that he died, Arkham in the [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening third game]]'s manga stated that he died, but for some reason, the fans insist that he only "disappeared" (and is likely to return one day), basing it on a misinterpreted line in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'' or Modeus's musing in the [[Anime/DevilMayCryTheAnimatedSeries animated series]]. No one ever bothers to answer the question of just ''what'' Sparda might be doing if he did simply just vanish.

** Similarly, Shaak Ti, another minor Jedi, has a habit of surviving not only situations that ''should'' have killed her, but also two that actually '''did'''. She was filmed dying ''twice'' in ''Revenge of the Sith'', at the hands of both General Greivous and Darth Vader, but both scenes were dropped. She was last seen falling into a Sarlacc pit in ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'', and we ''all'' know NoOneCouldSurviveThat...[[note]]...though what appears to be her Force Ghost can be seen flying away in some versions of the game.[[/note]] She was also supposed to die during [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars the first animated Clone Wars series]], making it '''3''' times she's cheated death.

* ''Film/RoadHouse: Some fans think that [[spoiler:Morgan and O'Connor]] are only knocked unconscious and not killed during the climax. It helps that their fights with Dalton are offscreen.

* Hunter J and her crew from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', by NeverFoundTheBody. Then again, they probably won't, since they all blew up.

* ''Film/AustinPowers'': The second movie ''The Spy Who Shagged Me'' abruptly and nonsensically retcons the first movie’s love interest Vanessa into having been one of Dr. Evil’s Fembots all along in order to write her out of the movie as a GirlOfTheWeek, with the only comment about it after she self-destructs being Basil Exposition saying, "Sadly, we knew all along," and then no one ever bringing it up again for RuleOfFunny. Fans who were attached to Vanessa in the first film who were dissatisfied with how she was killed off also noticed contradictions in her having been a robot the entire time, namely that she had a mother who was Austin’s partner in the Sixties and time the Fembots were first created in the Nineties. Many of these fans speculate that there was a real human Vanessa, but she got replaced by a Fembot duplicate at some point prior to the second movie (which doesn’t exactly bode well for the real Vanessa anyway, but at least does not completely retcon her entire character). The common point at which she is believed to have been replaced is during the climax of the first movie, in the time between Austin going off on his own to confront Dr. Evil after the other Fembots are destroyed and Alotta Fagina showing up with Vanessa held at gunpoint, with the Vanessa she’s holding hostage actually being the Fembot and the real Vanessa’s whereabouts uncertain.

* [[BigBad Gaius]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' is defeated by the player and the last of him we see is him staggering in the ruins of the facility before he gets hit with an explosion. Because TheyNeverFoundTheBody, fans insisted that he survived and was in hiding. Several years and two expansions later, Gaius reappears alive and well and has a new agenda that aligns with the Scions's goals in erradicating the Ascians. Alisae does lampshade how it should have been impossible for Gaius to survive.

* {{Music/Genesis}} drummer John Mayhew vanished somewhere between ''Trespass'' and ''Nursery Cryme'' (he played on the former but had been replaced with Phil Collins by the time of the latter), never even collecting most of his royalty cheques for ''Trespass''. For years rumours circulated that he'd died or fallen extremely ill. He turned up in the 90s, alive and reasonably well, having moved first to Scotland then Australia and taken up carpentry; in the mid-2000's he was actively giving interviews and even put in an appearance drumming with a Genesis tribute band, before returning to keeping a low profile. When his brother went looking for him in 2009, he found out he really ''had'' died earlier that year, of a heart condition.

* ''Film/FridayThe13thPartII'':

* Many fans of ''Series/OurFlagMeansDeath'' think that [[spoiler:Lucius]] survived [[spoiler:being thrown]] overboard in the the season finale.

* Richey James, depressed, self-harming Music/ManicStreetPreachers songwriter, disappeared on 1 February 1995, and his car was found near the Severn Bridge about two weeks later. It was pretty obvious he had killed himself, especially considering his mental health and the fact he never reappeared but was only pronounced dead in November 2008, having been classed as a missing person for the past 13 years. Though cconsidering that he had allegedly bought books on how to disappear, and had withdrawn the maximum possible amounts off of his credit card every day for a week before his car was found, it's not as far fetched an idea as it first appears...

*** There are a lot of fans who think that, given [[spoiler:Thanos' vision of Gamora]], the characters who were [[spoiler:sacrificed to obtain the Soul Gem]] might be in limbo somehow and resurrectable. [[spoiler:This is {{Jossed}} in ''Endgame'', when Hulk reveals that he tried to bring back Natasha, who also sacrificed herself to retrieve the Soul Stone, when he performed his own Snap, but it proved impossible. Even when it was revealed [[Film/BlackWidow2021 Natasha's solo film]] would be sort of a prequel (which indeed, in TheStinger has her "sister"\sucessor Yelena going to Natasha's grave), set before ''Infinity War'', some fans still have hope she is alive or will be revived.]]

** InUniverse: Even days after Midland Circle was demolished to wipe out the Hand, Karen Page fervently believes that Matt must have somehow survived the building crumbling, and sure enough, the episode's last seconds reveal that he did indeed survive and is recovering in a convent, setting up ''Series/Daredevil2015'' season 3 to potentially adapt the comics' ''ComicBook/DaredevilBornAgain'' storyline.
** Out-of-universe: Because Matt survived, many fans have theorized that Elektra may have also survived. Many also believe that Madame Gao survived, and have theorized that she'll be the one to out Matt's identity to Wilson Fisk as a result.

*** On the other hand, fan reactions to the other deaths in the first film got it completely wrong. [[spoiler:Loki - who was assumed to be coming back due to his trickster nature and the DroppedABridgeOnHim aspects of his demise - and Gamora - used by Thanos as the necessary sacrifice to get the Soul Stone - were indeed KilledOffForReal, but given ''Endgame'' is centered around time travel, this means early versions of the characters were 'spared' and brought back into the fold. In her case, it's one from the start of ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' who arrives with Thanos's army in the film's present day. In his case, he escapes with the Tesseract after ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', and [[Series/{{loki2021}} a whole show ensues]] because a TimePolice didn't like seeing such a disruption of history.]]
*** Thoughthe major fan-theory about how Loki faked his death (swapping out his 'corpse' for a random piece of debris) is seemi-canonized in his series- [[spoiler: A Variant, Classic Loki, ''did'' do this, but he ended up Pruned by the Time Variance Authority because the canon/'Sacred' timeline had Loki die for real.]]

* Richey James, depressed, self-harming Music/ManicStreetPreachers songwriter disappeared on the 1st of February 1995, and his car was found near the Severn Bridge. It was pretty obvious he had killed himself, especially considering his mental health and the fact he never reappeared but was only pronounced dead in 2008, having been classed as a missing person for the past 13 years.
** Considering that he had allegedly bought books on how to disappear, and had withdrawn the maximum possible amounts off of his credit card every day for a week before his car was found, it's not as far fetched an idea as it first appears...

** Itachi's death was questioned, despite Madara implicitly stating that his body is lying around somewhere by saying Sasuke could have taken his eyes. Made even worse during the winter break of 2009/2010, when he made a "reappearance" which readers could tell was just genjutsu from a mile away. And then completely finished off when [[spoiler:Kabuto used Impure World Resurrection, which only works on the dead, to briefly bring back zombie-Itachi]].