History Main / PostMortemConversion

* In a season two episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'', Londo claims that the whispered last words of the Emperor of the Centauri was a statement of approval for a military victory (In a totally unprovoked attack on a foreign power that the Emperor was trying to end his nation's diplomatic tensions with) and a request that Mollari and Lord Refa return the Republic to its GloryDays. Right after Mollari and Refa leave [=MedLab=], they have a brief conversation.

* In the backstory of ''FinalFantasyX'', Yuna's father Braska was a rebel who questioned authority and reached out in peace to the Al-Bhed, a people that the theocratic CorruptChurch he belonged to liked to use as a scapegoat, and was cast out of the clergy as a result. When Braska set out on his journey, he mused on what a delightful irony it would be if he, Auron (then a warrior-priest in disgrace for political reasons) and Jecht (seemingly a drunken heretic claiming to be from a city destroyed 1000 years ago) were the ones to defeat [[EldritchAbomination Sin]]. Fast forward to the present, and the Church of Yevon is proclaiming Braska a champion of the Church to be emulated by the faithful while never mentioning the way he challenged the Church. There's even a short scene where Auron stands before a statue of Braska in a temple and comments on the irony.
* Slightly played with in ''LastScenario'', where Alexander, one of the renowned heroes of the previous age, has a tomb erected in his honor in the Empire's capital city (the Empire being the faction Alexander was fighting AGAINST) [[spoiler: for an unjust war which he had turned his back on. There is however a kicker. The tomb is a fake that doesn't even have his body. That is because he was up to that point still alive, although due to being held hostage in a scientist military facility and having his memories mostly sapped by the setting's magical rocks biorites, he still fit the trope as he is generally unable to contest the falsehoods that his name was being used for. ]]

* ''HarkAVagrant'' had a [[http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=204 comic]] poking fun at the myth that CharlesDarwin recanted his theories on his deathbed.

* Creator/GeorgeOrwell. Hoo boy. Since his death in 1950, many people from Right to Left have claimed that 'if Orwell was alive now, he would have been on our side', often [[QuoteMine selectively quoting]] him in the process. Orwell particularly attracts Post Mortem Conversions for two reasons. Firstly, he's a vulnerable target, because his own views were quite complex and often seemingly contradictory (for example, he was a revolutionary Socialist but took a deeply conservative stance on many cultural issues--recall that bit in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' about pints vs. half-litres of beer[[note]]Never mind that a pint and half a litre are almost the same thing: Orwell's preferred Imperial pints are 68 mL more (a double-shot) and American pints are 27 mL less (one shot) than half a litre.[[/note]]) - a point which he [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by calling himself a "Tory anarchist". And secondly, he is a ''heavily'' idolised figure who is almost universally held up as a shining example of BrutalHonesty, making it very attractive to try and Post Mortem Convert him to one's cause.

* During the SecondWorldWar Stalin, for propaganda reasons, admitted [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Nevsky Alexander Nevsky]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin]] into the Communist Party.

* RonaldReagan for Conservative Americans has become a beacon of conservative ideals, despite the fact that he did things during his presidency that run contrary to current conservative ideals, such as raise taxes, and was also a Hollywood actor.
** Similarly, BillClinton has experienced a bit of this for the other side, despite not being dead yet.

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* Creator/GeorgeOrwell. Hoo boy. Since his death in 1950, many people from Right to Left have claimed that 'if Orwell was alive now, he would have been on our side', often [[QuoteMine selectively quoting]] him in the process. Orwell particularly attracts Post Mortem Conversions for two reasons. Firstly, he's a vulnerable target, because his own views were quite complex and often seemingly contradictory (for example, he was a revolutionary Socialist but took a deeply conservative stance on many cultural issues--recall that bit in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' about pints vs. half-litres of beer[[note]]Never mind that a pint and half a litre are almost the same thing: Orwell's preferred Imperial pints are 68 mL more (a few swigs) and American pints are 27 mL less (a sip or two).[[/note]]) - a point which he [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by calling himself a "Tory anarchist". And secondly, he is a ''heavily'' idolised figure who is almost universally held up as a shining example of BrutalHonesty, making it very attractive to try and Post Mortem Convert him to one's cause.

* Creator/GeorgeOrwell. Hoo boy. Since his death in 1950, many people from Right to Left have claimed that 'if Orwell was alive now, he would have been on our side', often [[QuoteMine selectively quoting]] him in the process. Orwell particularly attracts Post Mortem Conversions for two reasons. Firstly, he's a vulnerable target, because his own views were quite complex and often seemingly contradictory (for example, he was a revolutionary Socialist but took a deeply conservative stance on many cultural issues--recall that bit in ''Literature/NinteenEightyFour'' about pints vs. half-litres of beer[[note]]Never mind that a pint and half a litre are almost the same thing: Orwell's preferred Imperial pints are 68 mL more (a few swigs) and American pints are 27 mL less (a sip or two).[[/note]]) - a point which he [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by calling himself a "Tory anarchist". And secondly, he is a ''heavily'' idolised figure who is almost universally held up as a shining example of BrutalHonesty, making it very attractive to try and Post Mortem Convert him to one's cause.

* Creator/GeorgeOrwell. Hoo boy. Since his death in 1950, many people from Right to Left have claimed that 'if Orwell was alive now, he would have been on our side', often [[QuoteMine selectively quoting]] him in the process. Orwell particularly attracts Post Mortem Conversions for two reasons. Firstly, he's a vulnerable target, because his own views were quite complex and often seemingly contradictory (for example, he was a revolutionary Socialist but took a deeply conservative stance on many cultural issues--recall that bit in ''Literature/NinteenEightyFour'' about pints vs. half-litres of beer[[note]]Never mind that a pint and half a litre are almost the same thing[[/note]]) - a point which he [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by calling himself a "Tory anarchist". And secondly, he is a ''heavily'' idolised figure who is almost universally held up as a shining example of BrutalHonesty, making it very attractive to try and Post Mortem Convert him to one's cause.

* Creator/GeorgeOrwell. Hoo boy. Since his death in 1950, many people from Right to Left have claimed that 'if Orwell was alive now, he would have been on our side', often [[QuoteMine selectively quoting]] him in the process. Orwell particularly attracts Post Mortem Conversions for two reasons. Firstly, he's a vulnerable target, because his own views were quite complex and often seemingly contradictory (for example, he was a revolutionary Socialist but took a deeply conservative stance on many cultural issues--recall that bit in ''Literature/NinteenEightyFour'' about pints vs. half-liters of beer[[note]]Never mind that a pint and half a liter are almost the same thing[[/note]]) - a point which he [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by calling himself a "Tory anarchist". And secondly, he is a ''heavily'' idolised figure who is almost universally held up as a shining example of BrutalHonesty, making it very attractive to try and Post Mortem Convert him to one's cause.

* Creator/GeorgeOrwell. Hoo boy. Since his death in 1950, many people from Right to Left have claimed that 'if Orwell was alive now, he would have been on our side', often [[QuoteMine selectively quoting]] him in the process. Orwell particularly attracts Post Mortem Conversions for two reasons. Firstly, he's a vulnerable target, because his own views were quite complex and often seemingly contradictory (for example, he was a revolutionary Socialist but took a deeply conservative stance on many cultural issues) - a point which he [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by calling himself a "Tory anarchist". And secondly, he is a ''heavily'' idolised figure who is almost universally held up as a shining example of BrutalHonesty, making it very attractive to try and Post Mortem Convert him to one's cause.

* Creator/FriedrichNietzsche despised anti-Semitism, nationalism, and (towards the end of his life) Germany (he took to insisting that he was ''Polish'', which is as false as it is hilarious). It is therefore quite natural that ThoseWackyNazis appropriated his notes - heavily edited by his proto-Nazi sister - to make it seem like they had an intellectual program besides hating the Jews ([[LongList and the Roma, and the Poles, and the Russians, and...]]). Unfortunately for the world, [[DichterAndDenker Martin Heidegger]], a student of Nietzsche's thought, believed them....

* Deconstructed in the ''MastersOfHorror'' episode ''Homecoming''. President [[strike: George W. Bush]] InvisiblePresident makes [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor a wish]] in one of his speeches to the nation, wishing for the dead American soldiers of the Iraq war to come back and express how they feel, implying that they would all support him. [[spoiler: Cue the zombies! The dead soldiers are coming back, but they are not here to eat brains. Instead, they are here to vote... for the other guy!]]

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** Not to mention the completely false story that he recanted his theory of evolution on his deathbed, or accepted Christ (like most English people he was raised Christian, but died an agnostic).

* The stonecutters from ''TheSimpsons'' claim that (among others) the signers of The Declaration of Independence [[AndZoidberg and Washington]] were Stonecutters, according to their Secret World History.

** Not to mention the completely false story that he recanted his theory of evolution on his deathbed.

* Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, and participated in a civil war. After that, he was exiled with a lot of the loser faction. Dante became Florence's ButtMonkey ([[NeverAcceptedInHisHometown when his natal city declared an amnesty for all the exiled politicians, he was the only one not included]]). He begged all his life to return to Florence, but he never could. He died in Ravena in 1321. When they realized Dante was [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the greatest modern Italian poet]], Florence came to regret Dante's exile, and made repeated requests for the return of his remains. The custodians of the body at Ravenna refused to comply, at one point going so far as to conceal the bones in a false wall of the monastery. Nevertheless, in 1829, a tomb was built for him in Florence in the basilica of Santa Croce. That tomb has been empty ever since, with Dante's body remaining in Ravenna, far from the city he loved so dearly.

* Casey Sheehan by his mother and virtually the entire anti-war (and anti-capitalist) movement. The younger Sheehan volunteered to serve in the military and fight in Iraq. After he died, his mother began to use him as a symbol for struggle against the [[GeorgeWBush Bush Administration]], as well as for socialist principles, all the while claiming this is what he would have wanted, though his service record would suggest otherwise.

* In a season two episode of ''BabylonFive'', Londo claims that the whispered last words of the Emperor of the Centauri was a statement of approval for a military victory (In a totally unprovoked attack on a foreign power that the Emperor was trying to end his nation's diplomatic tensions with) and a request that Mollari and Lord Refa return the Republic to its GloryDays. Right after Mollari and Refa leave [=MedLab=], they have a brief conversation.
-->'''Refa:''' Out of curiosity, Mollari, what did the old man ''really'' say?
-->'''Mollari:''' You are both damned.

* {{Conservapedia}} is among the many who Post Mortem Convert George Orwell; they have also recently recast MartinLutherKingJr as a conservative.

* Slightly played with in ''LastScenario'', where Alexander, one of the renowned heroes of the previous age, has a tomb erected in his honor in the Empire's capital city [[spoiler: for an unjust war which he had turned his back on. There is however a kicker. The tomb is a fake that doesn't even have his body. That is because he was up to that point still alive, although due to being held hostage in a scientist military facility and having his memories mostly sapped by the setting's magical rocks biorites, he still fit the trope as he is generally unable to contest the falsehoods that his name was being used for. ]]

* Slightly played with in ''LastScenario'', where Alexander, one of the renowned heroes of the previous age, has a tomb erected in his honor in the Empire's capital city [[for an unjust war which he had turned his back on. There is however a kicker. The tomb is a fake that doesn't even have his body. That is because he was up to that point still alive, although due to being held hostage in a scientist military facility and having his memories mostly sapped by the setting's magical rocks biorites, he still fit the trope as he is generally unable to contest the falsehoods that his name was being used for. ]]

* Fringe religious groups often insist that X saw the light and converted on their deathbed.
** In 1995, when Butterfly [=McQueen=] -- Prissy in ''GoneWithTheWind'' -- died in a house fire, a [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist]] neighbor who had proselytized [=McQueen=] (a lifelong atheist) several times reported to the press that as [=McQueen=] was being carried out, she said she was repenting and claiming that she was really a Christian all the time. Other witnesses disputed this claim.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

* FriedrichNietzsche despised anti-Semitism, nationalism, and (towards the end of his life) Germany (he took to insisting that he was ''Polish'', which is as false as it is hilarious). It is therefore quite natural that ThoseWackyNazis appropriated his notes - heavily edited by his proto-Nazi sister - to make it seem like they had an intellectual program besides hating the Jews ([[LongList and the Roma, and the Poles, and the Russians, and...]]). Unfortunately for the world, [[DichterAndDenker Martin Heidegger]], a student of Nietzsche's thought, believed them....

* RonaldReagan for Conservative Americans has become a beacon of conservative ideals, despite the fact that he did things during his presidency that run contrary to current conservative ideals, such as raise taxes, and was also a Hollywood actor.

* RonaldReagan for Conservative Americans. Anything more is probably FlameBait though.
** It's doubtful whether Reagan fits this trope: he was widely seen as being ''extremely'' conservative before, during and after his term of office (more conservative than, say, his Vice-President and successor GeorgeHWBush, or his Republican predecessor Gerald Ford).

After his death, some group he never belonged to - and did not sympathize with - claims him as one of their own. A kind of in-story "MisaimedFandom", if you will. They are bragging about how he was truly one of them, and use his name to encourage others to join them. He's probably spinning in his grave!

In less blatant cases, they are merely [[NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead showing him "respect"]] by politely editing out any unpopular or "inappropriate" thoughts, feelings & loyalties he might have had.

Compare and contrast PostMortemCloset, where the character is merely made more "normal" and average.

* In the Serbian film ''TheUnderground'', a gun-runner during World War 2 becomes a powerful man in the Communist Yugoslavian government by paying poetic tribute to the martyrdom of his former partner Blacky. In reality, they were only in the resistance for the money, their legendary fight with Nazis was over a girl, and Blacky is still alive.

* GeorgeOrwell. Hoo boy. Since his death in 1950, many people from Right to Left have claimed that 'if Orwell was alive now, he would have been on our side', often [[QuoteMine selectively quoting]] him in the process. Orwell particularly attracts Post Mortem Conversions for two reasons. Firstly, he's a vulnerable target, because his own views were quite complex and often seemingly contradictory (for example, he was a revolutionary Socialist but took a deeply conservative stance on many cultural issues) - a point which he [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by calling himself a "Tory anarchist". And secondly, he is a ''heavily'' idolised figure who is almost universally held up as a shining example of BrutalHonesty, making it very attractive to try and Post Mortem Convert him to one's cause.