History Main / ThisIsAWorkOfFiction

* Parodied to an extent. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul0Mh-8kmXQ A video]] made by [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqhnHz3PDXPT6vAHVuAY7dg "The Mechanic Shark Channel"]] features a disclaimer, which features a long string of Chinese and English texts of [[BannedInChina China's forbidden topics]] in them, including Franchise/WinnieThePooh.

* Ben Hillman's animated short ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3D0AltF4EE Nietzsche Pops]]'', featuring a boy who becomes a [[PuttingOnTheReich world-conquering]] ''übermensch'' after eating a bowl of the titular cereal, combines this trope with faux German, displaying this at the close of the ending credits:

* The in-game description for the Dancing Zombie from ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'' says, "Any resemblance between Dancing Zombie and persons living or dead is purely coincidental." This is probably a joke, since the zombie is obviously [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed based on]] Music/MichaelJackson in his zombie-themed ''Music/{{Thriller}}'' music video. Or at least it was, until the ''real'' Michael Jackson [[FunnyAneurysmMoment died]] a month after the game's release. As a result, the Dancing Zombie was redesigned into a more generic DiscoDan. The disclaimer is still there, though.

** another way it plays with this trope involves The Velvet Room: In previous Persona games, access to The Velvet Room is restricted to only those who have a contract. But you never signed such a contract in game, in the end it turns out you did sign a contract: [[spoiler: the big bad took over the Velvet Room, and]] the "this is a work of fiction" disclaimer that was read to you at the game's start WAS in fact a contract that lets you enter the Velvet Room, and you agreeing to its terms was you signing said contract.

->''[[VideoGame/{{Persona5}} ...I see.]] [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife Everything that happens from here on in is real... Is that your cognition of this?]] [[ButThouMust ...Then unfortunately, I cannot allow you to partake of this website.]] [[http://www.mentalhealth.gov I must ask that you leave...]]''

Sometimes this disclaimer is [[BlatantLies the only part of the movie that's fiction]], especially when [[HistoricalDomainCharacter the real people in question lived long enough ago that they're not going to sue anybody]]. (And sometimes publishers make the mistake of putting it in books openly BasedOnATrueStory; e.g., the [[http://www.nizkor.org/features/denial-of-science/schindler-04.html first printing of the Touchstone paperback edition]] of ''Film/SchindlersList''.) Works BasedOnATrueStory may use a modified disclaimer, acknowledging the historical basis for the work but stating that it doesn't necessarily conform 100% to history.

** Played straight in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'', which uses a normal example when you boot up the game, albeit an unusual one since no previous game or anime entry in the franchise played it straight before. It appears again in the final trial, [[spoiler:by which point [[TrumanShowPlot the message has become quite literal]].]]

* In one chapter of ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'', a note between panels mentions: "The characters in this story are fictional. Any similarities to people living or dead is completely coincidental and quite bizarre."

-->[[invoked]] This is a game where people make up stories about wonderful, terrible, impossible, glorious things. All the characters and events portrayed in this work are fictional and worth celebrating. Any resemblance to real people is purely coincidental or is possibly a MarySue self-insert character. If you feel called out by the playbooks, that's between you and your therapist.

-->''"Ang kuwentong inyong mapapanood ay kathang-isip lamang at kumuha ng inspirasyon mula sa iba’t ibang alamat at mitolohiyang Pilipino. Ito’y hindi tumutukoy o kumakatawan sa kahit anong Indigenous People sa Pilipinas."'' ("The story you're about to watch is a work of fiction and is inspired by Philippine mythology and folk legends. It does not refer to and is not representative of any Indigenous People in the Philippines.")

--->''"Ang mga Bagani ay totoong mandirigma na mula sa kultura ng Indigenous Peoples."'' ("The Bagani are real warriors from the culture of Indigenous Peoples.")

* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' ends with this message. They probably felt the disclaimer was necessary since ''Build'' ends with Sento [[IShouldWriteABookAboutThis having compiled the events of the series into a set of scripts]] and starting to record the OpeningNarration from the first episodes, as if the show we just watched was his resulting account.

* The phrase "...any persons living, dead or undead" is also used by the music video for Music/MichaelJackson's ''Thriller'' (which, like ''An American Werewolf in London'', was directed by John Landis).

* Ben Hillman's animated short ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3D0AltF4EE Nietzsche Pops]]'' combines this trope with faux German, displaying this at the close of the ending credits:

* ''Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie'' combines this with NoAnimalsWereHarmed to get "The story, names, characters and incidents portrayed in this production are real. Some goats, pigs, and sheep were nuked during the original photography of some operations."

* Habitually used verbatim at the start of VideoGame/{{Yakuza}} games (re-)released in the west from VideoGame/Yakuza0 onwards, with a [[https://i.imgur.com/YWH9Pd4.jpg specific form of words used]] as both a ContentWarning, a means of setting the scene for the player and also a legal disclaimer - which is ''very'' necessary given that the games feature numerous people, in a relatively realistic portrayal of the yakuza world, habitually committing many, many violent criminal acts.

* Can be seen at the beginning of both the English and Japanese versions of the ''[[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou]] [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon Kuzunoha]]'' games, perhaps due to the historical([[AlternateHistory ish]]) setting and the use of a few {{Historical Domain Character}}s.
** Almost all the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' games have this disclaimer at the beginning in some form, though they don't use nearly as many historical settings and characters as the ''Devil Summoner'' games do.