History Main / ThisIsAWorkOfFiction

* [[MarvelComics Marvel UK]]'s ''TheRealGhostbusters'' and ''CountDuckula'' comics disclaim any resemblance to persons "living, dead, or undead".

* ''AmericanGods'' has a long version of the disclaimer, including discussion of precisely how real certain locations discussed in the book are, and ending "Furthermore, it goes without saying that all the people, living, dead and otherwise in this story are fictional or used in a fictional context. Only the gods are real."

* ''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius'' by Dave Eggers has the anti-disclaimer:

* As does Eric Powell's ''TheGoon'', published by Dark Horse.

* A novel involving, among other things, ''the author having the Virgin Mary as a house guest'' has - in small print, on the looseleaf - "this novel is a work of fiction". [[OrIsIt Except that Mary and the author explicitly discuss the fact that the author would never be able to publish it as truth...]]

* OccultAcademy ends with this: (translated to English) This programme is a work of fiction. Departed Spirits, Psychic Abilities, Aliens, UMA's, etc., do not exist.

* ''TheThreeStooges'' short "You Nazty Spy" claims that "Any resemblance between the characters in this picture and any persons, living or dead, is a miracle."

* Used at the beginning of ''MetalGearSolid 2'' (and that game alone), because it was written in 1999, depicted terrorist attacks in New York and [[TooSoon was completed in September 2001]].
* Can be seen at the beginning of both the English and Japanese versions of the [[RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou]] [[RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon Kuzunoha]] games, perhaps due to the historical([[AlternateHistory ish]]) setting and the use of a few HistoricalDomainCharacters.

-->"Beavis and Butt-Head are not role models. They're not even human, they're cartoons. Some of the things they do would cause a person to get hurt, expelled, arrested, and possibly deported. To put it another way, don't try this at home."

* The 1969 film ''{{Z}}'', which satirizes the military dictatorship ruling Greece at that time, has this notice: "Any resemblance to actual events, to persons living or dead, is not the result of chance. It is DELIBERATE."

* Tom Siddell uses this Trope's name almost word for word in the annotation for [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=380 this]] GunnerkriggCourt strip. However, the the message here is not "''Although this looks like it could have really happened, it didn't.''", but rather "''[[MST3KMantra I KNOW this is impossible! It's a fantasy story, OK?]]''"

* The opening of the ''MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' episode "Spam" mangles it to "Any similarity between persons living or dead is coincidental."

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

''This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.''

Some form of this disclaimer can be found at the front of nearly every novel out there as well as in the credits of most films and TV episodes. It's an attempt to stave off libel suits; it seems to have been originated as a response to a suit against the makers of the 1932 film ''Rasputin and the Empress'' by a Russian princess who believed one of the characters to have been modeled on her. Think of it as the more professional equivalent of IDoNotOwn (though, as publishing companies and Hollywood studios, unlike fanfic authors, actually have lawyers working for them, it's more likely to carry some amount of legal force).

!!Interesting uses: [[hottip:*:As the disclaimer itself is ubiquitous, only parodies, [[BasedOnATrueStory inversions]], InUniverse examples and the like should be listed.]]

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]
* It's repurposed in ''The Melancholy of HaruhiSuzumiya''; the SOS movie includes a version of it so that Haruhi won't make everything in the movie real.

* ''SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' has a different disclaimer at the end of each episode, always related to the plot of the episode and always a SuspiciouslySpecificDenial.
-->"This programme is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to the real Plan to Turn Humanity Into Livestock, Ozeki or CheGuevara is purely coincidental."
::In the last episode they go so far as to claim that any similarity with their own show is purely coincidental.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* In ''{{Transmetropolitan}}'', Spider Jerusalem starts watching porn based around his persona, preceded by this disclaimer: "This is a work of fiction not intended to represent anyone living, dead or [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial writing a weekly column for a newspaper.]]"
* ''BooksOfMagic III'' has: "This is a work of fiction. All the characters in it, human and otherwise, are imaginary, excepting only certain of [[TheFairFolk the fairy folk]], whom it might be unwise to offend by casting doubts on their existence. Or lack thereof."
* [[MarvelComics Marvel UK]]'s ''TheRealGhostbusters'' and ''CountDuckula'' comics disclaim any resemblance to persons "living, dead, or undead".

[[AC:{{Film}} — Live Action]]

* ''TheThreeStooges'' short "You Nazty Spy" claims that "Any resemblance between the characters in this picture and any persons, living or dead, is a miracle."
* The disclaimer in ''AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon'' notes the fictional status of all characters "living, dead, or ''undead''".
* ''[[FiveHundredDaysOfSummer (500) Days of Summer]]'' begins with the standard disclaimer, and then appends, "[[EspeciallyZoidberg Especially]] [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial you, Jenny Beckman.]] Bitch."
* ''TheGreatDictator'' begins with the notice: "Any resemblance between Hynkel the dictator and the Jewish barber is purely co-incidental".

[[AC:Image Boards]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* ''AmericanGods'' has a long version of the disclaimer, including discussion of precisely how real certain locations discussed in the book are, and ending "Furthermore, it goes without saying that all the people, living, dead and otherwise in this story are fictional or used in a fictional context. Only the gods are real."

** ''Sick Puppy'' has:

* KurtVonnegut had a standard parody of this, as exemplified in ''Bagombo Snuff Box'':
-->As in my other works of fiction: All persons living and dead are purely coincidental, and should not be construed. No names have been changed in order to protect the innocent. Angels protect the innocent as a matter of Heavenly routine.
* ''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius'' by Dave Eggers has the anti-disclaimer:
-->"Any resemblance to persons living or dead should be plainly apparent to them and those who know them, especially if the author has been kind enough to have provided their real names and, in some cases, their phone numbers. All events described herein actually happened, though on occasion the author has taken certain, very small, liberties with chronology, because that is his right as an American."
* EdgarPangborn's [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] novel ''Davy'' has a disclaimer by the author to the effect that:
-->The characters in this book are fictional in a limited sense, i.e. they haven't been born yet.
* ''DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'' claims that it bears no resemblance to any people "...living, dead, or wandering the night in ghostly torment."

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* ''RedDwarf'' has an episode in which an ancient scroll containing this disclaimer for TheBible is unearthed.
* The video case for ''{{Blackadder}}'s [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol Christmas Carol]]'' states that all characters are fictional and any resemblence to any real person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Except the Awful Screeching Woman, who knows ''exactly'' who she is.

* ''TheGoodWife'' had an interesting take on this where a film studio made a movie about a [[TheSocialNetwork Mark Zuckerberg]] [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed substitute]] internet billionaire and got sued for defamation. If they admit that they intentionally made the guy look bad they are guilty of defamation. If they publicly say that the movie was a work of fiction then the movie loses a lot of its appeal since they based their advertising and ProductPlacement on the fact that it is an accurate depiction of actual events.

[[AC:MusicVideos]]
* The phrase "...any persons living, dead or undead" is also used by the music video for ''Thriller'' (which, like ''An American Werewolf in London'', was directed by John Landis).

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Used at the beginning of ''MetalGearSolid 2'' (and that game alone), because it was written in 1999, depicted terrorist attacks in New York and [[TooSoon was completed in September 2001]].

[[AC:WebComics]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''SouthPark'' displays this at the beginning of each episode:
-->"All characters and events in this show—even those based on real people—are entirely fictional. All celebrity voices are impersonated ... [[SelfDeprecation poorly]]. The following program contains coarse language and due to its content it should not be viewed by anyone."

-->"Beavis and Butt-Head are not role models. They're not even human, they're cartoons. Some of the things they do would cause a person to get hurt, expelled, arrested, and possibly deported. To put it another way, don't try this at home."
----

* The opening spiel of ''Dragnet'' parody ''[[SquareOneTV Mathnet]]'':

* ''TheGoodWife'' had an interesting take on this where a film studio made a movie about a [[TheSocialNetwork Mark Zuckerberg]] {{Expy}} internet billionaire and got sued for defamation. If they admit that they intentionally made the guy look bad they are guilty of defamation. If they publicly say that the movie was a work of fiction then the movie loses a lot of its appeal since they based their advertising and ProductPlacement on the fact that it is an accurate depiction of actual events.

This disclaimer is sometimes included even when it's a {{Blatant Lie|s}}, 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 ''[[SchindlersList Schindler's List]]''.) 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.

* In ThePaleKing, DavidFosterWallace points out the paradox of the book being both a memoir and literary fiction in The Author's Foreword.

* The ''{{Star*Drive}}'' novels subtly parody this with the disclaimer ''"All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons '''or aliens''', living or dead, is purely coincidental."''

* The ''[[Star*Drive]]'' novels subtly parody this with the disclaimer ''"All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons '''or aliens''', living or dead, is purely coincidental."''

* ''BooksOfMagic III'' has: "This is a work of fiction. All the characters in it, human and otherwise, are imaginary, excepting only certain of the fairy folk, whom it might be unwise to offend by casting doubts on their existence. Or lack thereof."

-->"Beavis and Butt-Head are not real. They are not role models. They're not even human. They are stupid cartoon people completely made up by this Texas guy whom we hardly even know. Beavis and Butt-Head are dumb, crude, thoughtless, ugly, sexist, self-destructive fools. Some of the things they do would cause a real person to get hurt, expelled, arrested, and possibly deported. But for some reason, the little weinerheads make us laugh. To put it another way: DontTryThisAtHome."