History Main / ReportsofMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated

When a character who is alive and well has been declared legally dead.

** Don't forget that she fakes her death AGAIN at the end of the episode.
*** Lisa was also presumed death at some point, owing to an activism accindent. She refused to come clean because her "death" was inspiring the people, but finally did when it was twisted by the rich texan guy ([[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep does he have a name?]]) into publicity for his new amusement park.
*** And Bart also once had Millhouse help him fake his death in some cliff.

*** Surely you meant to say that it has all of the disadvantages of murdering a relative (inheriting a bunch of useless crap) but without the satisfaction of being able to actually kill the relative in question? Moreover, it seems kind of silly to pay all that money and then leave someone alive to cause problems for you.

*** Lisa was also presumed death at some point, owing to an activism accindent. She refused to come clean because her "death" was inspiring the people, but finally did when it was twisted by the rich texan guy ([[EverybodyCallsHimBarkeep does he have a name?]]) into publicity for his new amusement park.

* In ''TheSatanicVerses'', by Salman Rushdie, Saladin Chamcha has trouble with red tape and getting his career back in order after being presumed dead in the plane crash.

* In ''TheSatanicVerses'', by Salman Rushdie, Saladin Chamcha has trouble with red tape and getting his career back in order after beiung presumed dead in the plane crash.

* The TropeNamer is Samuel "MarkTwain" Clemens, who gave the trope title as a statement in response to hearing that his obituary had been published in the New York Journal. The Journal had mistakenly reported the death of his cousin, James Ross Clemens, as Twain's own death.
** Even worse, the cousin [[NotQuiteDead wasn't actually dead]], either.
** And to be [[BeamMeUpScotty pedantic]], the original quote was:

[[AC:{{Anime & Manga}}]]

* Although he was never officially declared to be dead, a very popular meme in the late 1960s suggested that PaulMcCartney had died in a car accident around the mid 1960s and was replaced by a lookalike, which really took off in the underground media. The fact that the 'evidence' for this theory largely seemed to stem from a number of obscure and oblique 'references' on {{Beatles}} album covers and in song lyrics suggested that large quantities of drugs being ingested probably had something to do with it, but the rumours bedevilled [=McCartney=] for years no matter how many times he denied them, including a variation on the Mark Twain 'quote' above.

* Although he was never officially declared to be dead, a very popular meme in the late 1960s suggested that [[{{Beatles}} Paul McCartney]] had died in a car accident around the mid 1960s and was replaced by a lookalike, which really took off in the underground media. The fact that the 'evidence' for this theory largely seemed to stem from a number of obscure and oblique 'references' on album covers and in song lyrics suggested that large quantities of drugs being ingested probably had something to do with it, but the rumours bedevilled [=McCartney=] for years no matter how many times he denied them, including a variation on the Mark Twain 'quote' above.

* In ''BatmanBegins'', Bruce Wayne goes on a multi-year incognito journey to find himself, and when he gets back Alfred tells him he's been declared dead. It's mostly played as a throwaway joke, though, and is sorted out between scenes with no lasting complications. Alfred mentions that there have been moves to have him declared legally dead, and Bruce says it's a good thing he left everything to Alfred then.

* In ''BatmanBegins'', Bruce Wayne goes on a multi-year incognito journey to find himself, and when he gets back Alfred tells him he's been declared dead. It's mostly played as a throwaway joke, though, and is sorted out between scenes with no lasting complications. Alfred mentions that there have been moves to have him declared legally dead, and Bruce says it's a good thing he put everything in Alfred's name then.

-->'''Chuck Noland:''' You had a casket? What the hell did you put in it?

"Well, it's supposed so: but, mind you, I don't believe it! The evidence is very weak—mere hear-say. A wandering Jester, with a Dancing-Bear (they found their way into the Palace, one day) has been telling people he comes from Fairyland, and that the Warden died there. I wanted the Vice-Warden to question him, but, most unluckily, he and my Lady were always out walking when the Jester came round. Yes, the Warden's supposed to be dead!" And more tears trickled down the old man's cheeks.''

* The TropeNamer is Samuel "Mark Twain" Clemens, who gave the trope title as a statement in response to hearing that his obituary had been published in the New York Journal. The Journal had mistakenly reported the death of his cousin, James Ross Clemens, as Twain's own death.

* In the aftermath of the [[VelvetRevolution 17th November 1989 demonstration]], a rumor has spread that a student named Martin Šmíd was killed during the event. This turned to be a misinformation; a student of that name was at the demonstration, but left before the police intervention began. He was interviewed in the television, presumably to dispel the rumor...and the transmission started at just the wrong moment when he was saying, referring to the events of the day: "Death touched me." (In case this figure of speech doesn't translate well to English, he meant: "I was horrified.")

"Well, it's supposed so: but, mind you, I don't believe it! The evidence is very weak—mere hear-say. A wandering Jester, with a Dancing-Bear (they found their way into the Palace, one day) has been telling people he comes from Fairyland, and that the Warden died there. I wanted the Vice-Warden to question him, but, most unluckily, he and my Lady were always out walking when the Jester came round. Yes, the Warden's supposed to be dead!" And more tears trickled down the old man's cheeks.''

* In the aftermath of the [[VelvetRevolution 17th November 1989 demonstration]], a rumor has spread that a student named Martin Šmíd was killed during the event. This turned to be a misinformation; a student of that name was at the demonstration, but left before the police intervention began. He was interviewed in the television, presumably to dispel the rumor...and the transmission started at just the wrong moment when he was saying, referring to the events of the day: "Death touched me." (In case this figure of speech doesn't translate well to English, he meant: "I was horrified.")

** The third time also involved the GrimReaper, but he was just there, he didn't harvest. Peter, Cleveland, Joe and Quagmire all get stranded on a deserted island for quite some time, and are declared dead. Peter has to save his marriage since Brian married Lois during that time.

* In ''Babylon5'', John Sheridan was thought to be dead. "I was. I got better."

* In ''{{Babylon5}}'', [[spoiler:John Sheridan]] was thought to be dead. "I was. I got better."

** One wonders if the author of ThePendragonAdventure got the phrase "merchant of death" from that occurrence. Or is it a popular phrase?
*** It's a popular phrase. [[IronMan Tony Stark]] gets called one too.
**** Well, to be fair, since Nobel was called it a good half-century (or more) before it was used in either of those examples, yeah, it's probably a ShoutOut.

* Although he was never officially declared to be dead, a very popular meme in the late 1960s suggested that Paul [=McCartney=] had died in a car accident around the mid 1960s and was replaced by a lookalike, which really took off in the underground media. The fact that the 'evidence' for this theory largely seemed to stem from a number of obscure and oblique 'references' on album covers and in song lyrics suggested that large quantities of drugs being ingested probably had something to do with it, but the rumours bedevilled [=McCartney=] for years no matter how many times he denied them, including a variation on the Mark Twain 'quote' above.

[[AC:{{Videogames}}]]
* ''Escape from MonkeyIsland'' starts with Elaine discovering that because she spent so much time out of the government of her islands, she was declared dead and had to get re-elected.
* In ''MassEffect 2'', Shepard was dead for two years, which leads to trouble when (s)he returns to the Citadel and is picked up by the security scanners as being dead. Fortunately, a [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure friendly C-Sec officer]] changes the records without making him/her jump through all the hoops (s)he would normally have to go through.
** You can also have them keep you out of the system, so to security you don't exist. This may have benefits in the third game, as Cerberus is listed as a terrorist organization, which doesn't normally help people stay out of the eyes of the law, Spectre or not.

[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]
* ''Mickey's April Fools'', has Mickey Mouse pretending to die in front of Mortimer as an April Fools prank. Mickey then gets a letter declaring he's inherited a million dollars, but he can't get it because he's supposed to be dead.
* In one episode of ''HeyArnold'', Dino Spumoni faked his death and had this problem when he realized he couldn't get paid if he was ''dead.''
* [[TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]] did it to escape a day of work. It eventually led to him discovering his long-lost mother.
** Whose ''own'' death had been greatly exaggerated decades previously by Homer's father.
* On ''FamilyGuy'' this happened three times. The first time with Peter, who got out of a hospital bill by writing that he was dead. The rest of the episode involved him making a deal with the GrimReaper. The second time was when they got Quagmire out of a marriage with a psycho woman. Since her last name was also Quagmire by marriage, and she grabbed the GrimReaper's hand (killing herself in the process), it all worked out nicely.
** The third time also involved the GrimReaper, but he was just there, he didn't harvest. Peter, Cleveland, Joe and Quagmire all get stranded on a deserted island for quite some time, and are declared dead. Peter has to save his marriage since Brian married Lois during that time.