History Main / MurderSimulators

* In the Creator/SpikeLee film ''Film/InsideMan'', one of the bank robbers finds one of the hostages, a young black boy, sitting inside the bank vault playing his UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable. He borrows the game to try it for himself, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYNUp5rAZJo we see]] that it's a violent, racially-tinged ''GTA'' clone in which the player gets points for stealing cars, selling drugs, and killing people. When the robber asks what the point of the game is, the kid replies "like my man [[Music/FiftyCent Fiddy]] says, get rich or die tryin'", comparing the robber to the game's VillainProtagonist and saying that he's scored a ton of points by knocking over a bank. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even the robber is shocked]], feeling that the game is making the kid think that [[DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster crime is cool]], and he says he's gonna talk to the kid's father about the game he's playing. [[spoiler:This foreshadows the fact that the robbers, while willing to beat people up to quell resistance, have no intention of ''killing'' anybody and in fact plan to rob the bank's president ([[AssholeVictim a Nazi collaborator]]), rather than its customers.]] [[EnforcedTrope Spike Lee added this scene deliberately]] as an {{anvilicious}} complaint about the over-the-top violence in many video games.

* Briefly appears in the Creator/RutgerHauer vehicle ''Film/{{Redline}}'', when a minor character is seen playing one of these in VirtualReality, mowing down bodyguards in a mansion. A short while afterward, the game has him chasing a screaming woman through the same mansion, implying that murder isn't the only thing being simulated.

* Lynda la Plant's drama ''Series/KillerNet'', centred around a murder simulator of the same name. The game was divided into 'stalking', 'execution', 'disposal', and 'evasion'. One of the victim characters of the game, Lybra (Read: CharacterCreation), unknowingly to the three players, worked very similarly to a Manga/DeathNote. The twist: [[spoiler: The character entered as Lybra was murdered before the Manga/DeathNote mechanics of the game could take effect.]]

* ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'':
-->'''Dick''': Obviously, these people have been completely desensitized by all the gratuitous violence they've seen on television and movies. ''[{{beat}}]'' [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall Especially the movies.]]

* A German police investigations show had the game "Killman 4". Which was smuggled into the country and sold as pirated copies on school yards and empty parking lots as if they were drugs.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', the forensic intern (who is also a video game developer) excitedly shows Dexter a game he is working on, a literal murder simulator where you can play as Jack The Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, or the Bay Harbor Butcher (actually Dexter himself, unbeknowst to the intern). Dexter is offended someone would design such a game. It's left ambiguous as to whether Dexter claims offense to [[PlausibleDeniability deny that he himself is a serial killer]], because [[spoiler:his wife Rita]] was killed by another serial killer, or because he's genuinely sickened that somebody would want to imagine to be a killer like him. Maybe all or none of the above reasons.
* An episode of ''Series/{{Engrenages}}'' had a troubled teen go on a gun rampage (with no fatalities) in what initially appeared to be an example of this trope. However, it finally turned out that he was trying to commit SuicideByCop after killing his girlfriend (who he met in an online multiplayer mode of the game and who rejected him when they finally met in offline life).
* In the fourth season episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "Rules of Engagement," Worf is on trial for firing on a Klingon civilian transport which decloaked in front of ''Defiant'' in the middle of a battle. The Klingon prosecutor calls Dax to the witness stand to testify on Worf's character. During the questioning, the prosecutor questions her about a holodeck program Worf played shortly before the escort mission in question. The program puts Worf in the role of one of Klingon culture's greatest heroes, during a battle in which he ordered the slaughter of every inhabitant of a city when he conquered it. Dax is forced to acknowledge Worf gave the order, and is overruled when she attempts to note that it's the only way to ''complete'' the program. The prosecutor then uses this to argue Worf was perfectly able and willing to fire on civilians, and the program is presented by his argument as this trope.

* On 30 July 2013 the 3 murderers responsible for the manga-murder were getting their sentence. Those were Sidi Mohammed Atir, Abdessamad Anzi and Zacharia Benaissa. The victim was their friend Sidi Larbi Ezzoubairi. It was called a "manga-murder" because one of the murderers was a manga-fanatic that wrote down quotes from ''Manga/DeathNote'' on paper, which the police found, after which they were able to arrest the 3 people responsible for the murder. The Belgian media covered it, but since no one was shocked by what was in manga they gave it limited coverage. One could say that their names were more shocking.
* The infamous scientist Dr. Ray Blanchard (whose rather bigoted, but influential, theories were largely responsible for advocating TransEqualsGay approach to UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} individuals for most of the 20th century) came out of relative obscurity in the winter of 2018 to try and endorse a HeteronormativeCrusader's theory that [[https://www.dailydot.com/irl/transphobic-doctor-twitter-anime-makes-people-trans/?fbclid=IwAR1VJCNsTR0rjk5H8sXS-nIHKEUWO640dNbpDFxtX6NtxRaU07Z_zmpyzJ0 anime was making children believe they were transgender]].

* In 1982, a man murdered an elderly couple with the media claiming the film ''Film/HalloweenII1981'' inspired the killing. The guy did watch the movie, but the reason he committed the murder probably had more to do with his being blitzed with a combination of booze, weed, and PCP at the time of the killings.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Miyazaki The Otaku Murderer]], who caused a moral panic against the Otaku subculture. Experts believe that his belief ''[[AxCrazy that he was a rodent]]'' had more to do with it. He allegedly owned {{lolicon|AndShotacon}} pornography, but it's now commonly believed that he didn't own any at all.
* John Hinckley, Jr., the guy who shot UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan, was obsessed with ''Film/TaxiDriver'' (specifically Creator/JodieFoster) and the assassination attempt was a re-enactment of a scene in the movie. It should be noted that Hinckley was completely batshit insane and thought assassinating Reagan would impress Foster, not to mention the scene in question didn't involve [[spoiler:Travis Bickle]] actually shooting his target.
* Several incidences of Russian Roulette games gone wrong have been connected to ''Film/TheDeerHunter''.

* Several high-profile bank and armored car robberies, including the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout North Hollywood shootout]], were allegedly inspired by the robberies depicted in the film ''Film/{{Heat}}'', even though many of the robbers get killed in that sequence.

* British spree killer Daniel Gonzales idolized [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]] (to the extent that he donned a hockey mask before attacking one of his victims) and [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]], who he frequently compared himself to and hoped to become as memorable as.
* The perpetrators of the Hi-Fi murders got the idea to use drain cleaner to try and kill their victims from ''Film/MagnumForce''. It turned out to not be as efficient a murder weapon as the film led had them to believe.
* Ed Sherman murdered his pregnant wife in 1985, and tried to disguise her time of death (which would give him an alibi) by leaving her body in a heavily air conditioned room, an idea that he got from the Creator/{{HBO}} film ''Blackout.''

* Lampshaded and subverted in ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}''. Two torture technicians are about to torture someone using methods inspired by manga. They reference the idea that partaking too much of a medium can make you violent/detached from reality, but then say essentially that the manga isn't to blame- they're just sadistic and would use techniques from television and books if they were given the chance.

%%* Referred to in ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' at one point.

* The game ''VideoGame/{{Hatred}}'' has you playing a violent sociopath out to murder as many people as he can before he dies. It's either a parody of a Murder Simulator, or an actual one. As one can probably guess, the MoralGuardians are all over it.

* Also in Brazil, a teenager who killed his family and then committed suicide had an avatar based on ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'' (which even has a name that doesn't help) on social networks. After some blaming, Ubisoft even released a statement declaring that "murder simulators" are a {{Logical Fallac|ies}}y. There's also the fact the teenager's mother was a cop; [[FridgeLogic the police's declaration on how the boy killed his family, went to school next morning and then killed himself after getting home makes no sense]]; and how it's heavily suspected that corrupt cops killed the boy and his family and used the boy as a scapegoat. [[WretchedHive And since Brazil's media is even more corrupt than its police and government, and the people have no other sources of information than said media]]...

* The thoroughly loathsome white supremacist manifesto ''The Turner Diaries'' by neo-Nazi William Luther Pierce is a rare example of a work of fiction that was intentionally created ''with the intention'' of inspiring mass murders, to the point of including step-by-step instructions on making bombs. Indeed, the Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995 was suspected to have been partially inspired by the book.

Not only is it there the perception that NewMediaAreEvil, but some works attract criticism because of loose association with some contemporary murder or suicide. [[TropeNamer The title comes from]] since-disbarred attorney Jack Thompson's accusation that games like ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' and ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt}}'' turn players evil.

* One [[ShowWithinAShow manga within a manga]] the main protagonists work on in ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'' is Perfect Crime Party, a series about schoolkids committing secret but ultimately harmless "perfect crimes." After getting complaints from parents throughout the series' run about kids reading it and renacting the crimes in the manga, the situation comes to a head when someone reenacts a hypothetical perfect crime (breaking into a bank vault without stealing anything) brought up at the beginning of the manga and MoralGuardians jump on it, causing Takagi to start to doubt the series. It's also brought up that the bank scenario was shot down by the protagonist of PCP as not being in the spirit of the perfect crimes he pulls, since even if the person doesn't steal anything, it would still damage the bank and security company's reputation. [[CriticalResearchFailure Of course, in true media fashion, this is never brought up in the news coverage.]] Said crime copying from their target audience is the main reason the manga would never be allowed to become an anime (thus allowing the story to continue longer), as the magazine couldn't justify allowing an anime made of a manga with so much potential for real life abuse.

* Also used in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' in a Halloween special set in classical times where Bart's watching a fire and laughs when it crackles;
-->'''Marge:''' I don't want you staring at that fire. It's too violent.

* ''Film/NaturalBornKillers'', so much that Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alleged_Natural_Born_Killers_copycat_crimes a whole list]] of crimes allegedly inspired by the film, including the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} massacre (the killers having been huge fans). The {{irony}}, of course, is that the main theme of the film itself concerns how [[IfItBleedsItLeads media sensationalism]] can lead {{Attention Whore}}s to commit violent acts in the name of FifteenMinutesOfFame, with its {{Villain Protagonist}}s being an OutlawCouple whose spree of murder and robbery turns them into celebrities.

* In the weeks following the 2018 Parkland High School shooting, American president Creator/DonaldTrump openly blamed violent video games for the massacre, claiming that they were "shaping young people's thoughts."[[note]]To his credit, he also mentioned violent films[[/note]] This reached a point where he held a conference about the topic with other Republican politicians and video game developers that was visibly skewed in favour of these sentiments, complete with a shock montage of some particularly violent scenes in a few video games, all of which were taken '''''completely out of context''''' to make video games look like merciless murder media. His comments also implied he did not know that games had age restrictions, as he suggested [[OlderThanTheyThink there should be a system]] that prevents young kids from purchasing violent video games. In a rather, shall we say, rare case, Trump's views and actions were met with near-universal condemnation from the general public, to the point where a significant chunk of his supporters turned on him.
** After several mass shootings in early August 2019, one of which was apparently fueled by white supermacist ideology, several members of the political right again took to blaming video games. Again, the internet was ''not'' amused as many saw it as a case of the right downplaying white terrorism [[DoubleStandard while condemning]] foreign terrorism.
** Slightly further to the left, US presidential candidate Joe Biden [[https://www.techspot.com/news/83623-joe-biden-calls-game-developers-little-creeps-who.html called game developers "little creeps" who "come up with games to teach you how to kill people."]]

* A German police investigations show had the game "Killman 4". Which was sold as pirated copies on school yards and empty parking lots as if they were drugs. Did I mention they were also smuggled into the country?

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' was called a rape simulator by Fox News commentator Cooper Lawrence. The sex scene in question, which was shown almost in its entirety during the segment, was not only fully consensual and took place within a relationship (like all but one of the game's sex scenes), but was also more tame than what you would see on [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy The Other Fox's prime time line up]]. Lawrence also screeched that she had never played the game while condemning it: her whole basis over the game was based on one comment from a woman in the studio that it was "like porn". The research on this one was so poorly done that ''Jack Thompson'' called Fox out on it, and it sparked an InternetCounterattack from irritated ''Mass Effect'' fans in the form of bombing Lawrence's latest book's Amazon review score into the basement, on the grounds that having briefly heard about her book and never reading it was information enough to condemn it.

* As a ''Scream'' spoof, this is echoed and further parodied in the first ''Film/ScaryMovie''. When Cindy accuses the killers of becoming homicidal lunatics by watching too much TV, one of them corrects her: it's ''[[ScrewedByTheNetwork cancelling]]'' TV shows that actually made them killers, and he goes on to lament the end of ''Series/TheWayansBros'', an earlier show [[Creator/TheWayansFamily the creators]] were involved in.

* Jim Sterling discussed this idea in an episode of WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}} titled "Desensitized to Violence", and criticized the idea that people are foolish enough to believe there was any correlation in the violence depicted in media (video games in particular) and real-world violence. To prove their point, they showed a video of Budd Dwyer's [[AteHisGun graphic suicide]] during a live television broadcast in 1987, demonstrating that while real-world violence is often more understated, it is more viscerally disturbing than the over-the-top cartoonish violence of pop culture.

* Jim Sterling discussed this idea in an episode of WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}} titled "Desensitized to Violence", and criticized the idea that people are foolish enough to believe there was any correlation in the violence depicted in media (video games in particular) and real-world violence. To prove their point, they showed a video of Budd Dwyer's [[AteHisGunn graphic suicide]] during a live television broadcast in 1987, demonstrating that while real-world violence is often more understated, it is more viscerally disturbing than the over-the-top cartoonish violence of pop culture.

* Creator/FriedrichNietzsche has received his share of blame, notably for motivating Leopold, Loeb, Pekka-Eric Auvinen, and [[GodwinsLaw Adolf Hitler]], who all cherry-picked bits of his philosophy that they liked and ignored the rest. The real Nietzsche would have been appalled by racist demagoguery and blind obedience to the state. It doesn't help that after his death his published work was being filtered through his sister who actually ''was'' an ardent Nazi and edited out the parts that disagreed with her views. This is so pervasive that fictional villains who draw inspiration from TheThemeParkVersion of Nietzsche's philosophy have [[StrawNihilist their own page]].

* Jim Sterling discussed this idea in an episode of WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}} titled "Desensitized to Violence", and criticized the idea that people are foolish enough to believe there was any correlation in the violence depicted in media (video games in particular) and real-world violence. To prove their point, they showed a video of Budd Dwyer's graphic and televised public suicide in 1987, demonstrating that while real-world violence is often more understated, it is more viscerally disturbing than the over-the-top cartoonish violence of pop culture.

* After a 16-year-old boy stabbed his teacher to death, the ''Daily Mail'' blamed the killing on video games such as ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' and the Website/YouTube channel Creator/AchievementHunter, mainly because the boy had a picture on Facebook with an AH shirt.

** Considering that the director, Creator/WesCraven, is a man who made his name with [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984 violent]] [[Film/TheLastHouseOnTheLeft horror]] [[Film/TheHillsHaveEyes1977 movies]], it's hard not to see this as [[TakeThat his response]] to [[YouCanPanicNow fear-mongering]] MoralGuardians.

* There have been multiple instances where people have been discovered to be in possession of their own ''Manga/DeathNote''. They were black books that said Death Note on the front, and had names of people written in them, as if the owner wished death upon them. Of course, that'd look like good reason to question the sanity of college students who are so influenced by a work of fiction that they wish to kill a bunch of people.
** It is even to the point that the franchise is BannedInChina after some Chinese kids and teens were caught using altered ripoff notebooks which resembled Death Notes to make hit lists, which came off as a little rebellious.

* The reason why you can't find the Creator/StephenKing novel ''{{Literature/Rage}}'' in print anymore (it's still available as part of ''The Bachmann Books'' anthology) is because he voluntarily pulled it after several school shooters mentioned it having influenced them to commit the acts.

* Also in Brazil, a teenager who killed his family and then committed suicide had an avatar based on ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'' (which even has a name that doesn't help) on social networks. After some blaming, Ubisoft even released a statement declaring that "murder simulators" are a {{Logical Fallac|ies}}y. There's also the fact the teenager's mother was a cop; [[FridgeLogic the police's declaration on how the boy killed his family, went to school next morning and then killed himself after getting home makes no sense]]; and how it's heavily suspected that corrupt cops killed the boy and his family and used the boy as a scapegoat. [[WretchedHive And since Brazil's media is just as corrupt as its police and government and the people are extremely gullible...]]

-->-- '''Female claimant''', ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne''

MoralGuardians' attempts to blame the ''New'' Media often neglect to note that it's only our [[NostalgiaFilter misty watercolor memories]] that make it seem like murder sprees and school shootings only started happening after the release of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''. In fact, prior to the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre, the deadliest school shooting in US history was the University of Texas at Austin massacre in ''1966'' (and a school ''bombing'' in 1927 was deadlier than either). Also, the rate of violent crime has gone ''down'' since the widespread adoption of video games in the '90s, for reasons that are complex and poorly understood but most likely have more to do with social conditions than with video games. (While [[FalseCause correlation does not prove causation]], ''lack'' of correlation certainly ''disproves'' causation.)

Sometimes, the works are blamed ''before any evidence whatsoever'' of any connection has emerged, and then activists try to sweep the exculpatory evidence under the rug when defenders demonstrate that the criminals didn't even actually use a copy of the work in question. Also, various [[MoralGuardians politicians, media, and clergy]] will sometimes blame any (currently) popular game for violent events, or blame any game that has any connection (however slight and tenuous) to the crime in question (e.g. blaming a JRPG like ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' for a shooting).

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Murder_Simulators_5524.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: As you can see, [[BlatantLies today's society is dangerously immoral]].]]