History Main / ReportsofMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated

Named after a statement that Mark Twain [[BeamMeUpScotty didn't actually say]], [[http://www.thisdayinquotes.com/2010/06/reports-of-my-death-are-greatly.html kind of]]. The actual quote was from [[http://lh6.ggpht.com/-JKBIkaKJx-s/UZWvlufa-EI/AAAAAAAAb1w/Mtd18rRvDP0/Mark%252520Twain%252520report%252520of%252520my%252520death%252520letter%252520May%25252031%25252C%2525201897%25255B16%25255D.png?imgmax=800 a letter]] he wrote to the New York Journal:

** Everyone but Roy thinks John is dead in "[[http://tbillingsemergencyfanfic.com/miracles.htm A Season for Miracles]]''

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManUnlimited'': the Green Goblin quotes this almost word for word when he shows up in the final episode to assist Spidey and the other heroes against the High Evolutionary and his forces.

* In the midst of a celebrity death epidemic in January 2016 that claimed Music/DavidBowie and Creator/AlanRickman among others, someone made a deeply ridiculous article stating that ''Franchise/TheMuppets''[='=] SelfDemonstrating/{{Animal}} (a fictional character) had died. While the Muppet team has yet to respond to this, [[http://www.snopes.com/muppet-animal-death-hoax/ Snopes was quick to debunk the rumor]].

* "Predictions for the Year 1708", a satire of astrology, written by Creator/JonathanSwift under the name "Isaac Bickerstaff", predicted the death of astrologer and almanac-writer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Partridge_(astrologer) John Partridge]], who had annoyed Swift with a comment about the "infallible" Church of England (effectively [[NotSoDifferentRemark equating]] it with the Roman Catholic Church). On the predicted date, a letter circulated "confirming" Partridge's death and giving him a sarcastic eulogy. Partridge had recurring difficulties convincing people that he was in fact still alive until he finally died for real a few years later.

* In 2008, an internet {{troll}} began circulating reports that voice actor Jerry Jewell had died in a car accident. Jewell remarks on it in the DVD commentary for ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' episode 9, which was being dubbed around that time: "Yes, I died in a car accident. But I had to record. That's what I'm willing to go through to get the job done." Ironic considering the anime in question, and the fact that such things happen to the characters in it [[ImmortalLifeIsCheap regularly]].

* In "VideoGame/ZombiesRun", Runner 3, Simon Lauchlan uses this phrase exactly when Runner 5 leads Runner 4, Jody Marsh, to the believed dead runner to avoid capture by the ministry.

* MistakenForDying: Mistakenly assuming you or someone else is dying.

--> "I wasn't really dead." (Paul to Chris Farley on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'')

* Abe Vigoda, known for his acting roles in ''Film/TheGodfather'' and ''Series/BarneyMiller'', was wrongly reported as dead in 1982 by ''People'' magazine. Vigoda found this amusing, and had a photo published in ''Variety'' of himself sitting up in a coffin reading the mistaken issue of ''People''. In 1987, it happened again after a reporter from Secaucus, New Jersey, mistakenly called him "the late Abe Vigoda", which once again prompted much amusement and what spawned the RunningGag about Vigoda's "dead or alive" status. Today, [[http://www.abevigoda.com abevigoda.com]] provides real-time updates on the status of Abe Vigoda (current status: Abe Vigoda is '''dead''' as of 26th January 2016.) When he died, [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer many news reports had to state that this]] ''[[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer wasn't]]'' [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer a hoax]].

* Creator/TomKenny discussed on Marc Maron's podcast how he was once reported dead, and how he thinks that something like that is more likely to happen to someone like him, who's relatively well known but not super well known like someone like Creator/GeorgeClooney, so it takes longer to debunk. Same thing happened to Rodger Bumpass, although he himself has claimed this to be untrue. The death of Eberhard Prueter, Squidward's ''German'' voice, might cause some confusion for a while.

* Creator/JudiDench was the object of a cruel Internet hoax in October 2015. Stories were circulated on the Internet falsely stating she had died. Most credible news reporters checked and refrained from publishing, but the story still circulated virally. Ms Dench herself has since put out an official statement to the effect that she is still, here and hopes to be present in the world for some time yet.

* In TheNineties, four major Australian broadcasting stations announced the death of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Within an hour they realised it would have been better to have confirmed the story, as they were told in no uncertain terms the 93-year old Queen Mum was still alive. It turns out an Australian working for Creator/{{Sky}} News in London had walked in on a test screening of the QM's obituary, got the wrong end of the stick entirely, and rang home to Brisbane with the "[[GoingForTheBigScoop scoop]]." The local radio station put it out, and... quite a few Australians no longer work in broadcast news.
* Sometime in 2008, Music/MileyCyrus' website was hacked with a message saying that she was killed by a drunk driver. Presumably, she wasn't impressed. (As of 2021, she's still alive and still doing music.)
* One of the more famous examples of this trope was the rumor that John Gilchrist, who played [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Mikey the kid from the famous Life Cereal commercial,]] died from overexposure from carbon monoxide after eating Pop Rocks with Coke. The rumor was debunked and Gilchrist is still with us as of 2012, working as a director of media sales for MSG Network.

* Following the 2011 Japanese earthquake, rumours of ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' creator Creator/SatoshiTajiri dying as a result spread on the internet. [[http://kotaku.com/5781344/pokemon-company-squashes-twitter-rumor-of-creators-death-update These were proven false within days.]]

* On December 13, 2020, many people thought that Creator/DickVanDyke was dead after he began trending on Twitter. Van Dyke responded by saying that no, he's not dead; it's his [[LongLived 95th birthday.]] And the world rejoiced.
* Creator/BettyWhite has been a victim of ''many'' times. In fact, she barely made it to the end of 2021. Strangely, when The Guardian announced her passing, there was no NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer included despite this trope taking effect so many times.
* In a bit of a zig-zag, on November 22, 1963, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, ABC put up a bumper photo of JFK with the byline "1917-1963" twenty minutes before press secretary Malcolm Kilduff made it official and wire services were cleared to announce it. ABC apparently was going on unofficial news spreading through the Dallas Trade Mart and relayed from Eddie Barker of CBS affiliate KRLD. Kennedy had been officially pronounced dead at 1 PM CST, but it appears ABC wanted to jump the gun. NBC was first to make the official announcement at 1:36 CST, CBS made theirs about two minutes later. ABC announced the official AP flash around the time NBC did.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. Lampshaded at the end of "Rumors of Death", in which Avon discovers his LostLenore wasn't tortured to death as he believed, but was actually a DoubleAgent for the SecretPolice.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', after going into self-exile over thinking he was responsible for Mufasa's death, everyone in the Pride Lands believes that Simba is dead. Even Scar assumes this, as the hyenas didn't tell him he got away from them. When [[RightfulKingReturns he returns to take back the Pride Lands]], everyone (barring Nala, who had already found out he was alive) at first thinks he is Mufasa's ghost.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'', Metro Man goes so far as to fake his death before retiring to live alone. He makes a return for the finale in a spiritual sense, as it's actually Megamind using a hologram disguise, and quotes the trope name almost word-for-word:
-->'''Metro Man:''' My death was... greatly exaggerated.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'', this is what Fievel's family believes after he falls off the boat to America. With the exception of his sister, Tania, they don't even want to entertain the idea that he might be alive. Even worse, [[MissedHimByThatMuch they keep missing each other due to random chances]].

* For the first half of ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', Hades believes that Herc had been killed as a baby, due to Pain and Panic lying about it, leaving him to believe that [[NothingCanStopMeNow nothing could stand in the way]] of his plan to take over Mt. Olympus. It's at about the halfway point that Hades learns from Meg's information that Hercules is in fact still alive. Needless to say, he is more than a little upset with Pain and Panic.
-->'''Hades:''' So you "took care of him", huh? "Dead as a doornail". Weren't those your '''''EXACT''''' words?!

* Creator/BettyWhite has been a victim of ''many'' times. As of this writing, she is still alive at 99 years old.

** In "What if Elfangor and Loren raised Tobias?", the official story is that Arbron, Elfangor, and Alloran all died on their mission to the Taxxon planet... even though every Andalite knows that Alloran [[DeathByAdaptation was]] alive and unwell as Visser Three's host.

* It's mentioned a few times in the ''Fanfic/{{Eleutherophobia}}'' series that everyone assumed [[SparedByTheAdaptation Tom]] died after he [[FallingIntoThePlot fell out of the Blade Ship]] at first. In ''THX 1138'', he's is surprised to meet Collette because he thought all the Auxiliary Animorphs were dead. [[https://thejakeformerlyknownasprince.tumblr.com/post/660158398686429184/do-have-any-headcannons-about-the-characters Sol said on Tumblr]] that she decided to resurrect her because it's only implied that she died in canon.

* DisneyDeath: The audience witnesses an apparent death, but the character is still alive. Often overlaps with

* ''Fanfic/{{Eleutherophobia}}'' has a few meta-nods to the fact that Tom was SparedByTheAdaptation:
** Once they leave the military base in ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'', Jake tells Tom that he thought he was dead.
** Tom mentions that there's a hastily-cancelled record of his death on file in D.C. in ''Escape from L.A.''
** In ''THX 1138'', Tom is surprised to meet similarly-spared Collette because he thought all the Auxiliary Animorphs were dead. [[https://thejakeformerlyknownasprince.tumblr.com/post/660158398686429184/do-have-any-headcannons-about-the-characters Sol said on Tumblr]] that she decided to resurrect her because it's only implied that she died in canon.

** In "What if Elfangor and Loren raised Tobias?", the official story is that Arbron, Elfangor, and Alloran all died on their mission to the Taxxon planet... even though every Andalite knows that Alloran is alive and unwell as Visser Three's host.

** In "Back from the Dead", Brittas is presumed to be dead. In reality, he had spent about a week in a chicken coup in Bulgaria, with the mix-up being because someone had stolen his possessions and were wearing them when they were flattened.

* In a bit of a zig-zag, on November 22, 1963, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, ABC put up a bumper photo of JFK with the byline "1926-1963" twenty minutes before press secretary Malcolm Kilduff made it official and wire services were cleared to announce it. ABC apparently was going on unofficial news spreading through the Dallas Trade Mart and relayed from Eddie Barker of CBS affiliate KRLD. Kennedy had been officially pronounced dead at 1 PM CST, but it appears ABC wanted to jump the gun. NBC was first to make the official announcement at 1:36 CST, CBS made theirs about two minutes later. ABC announced the official AP flash around the time NBC did.