| 1 | [[quoteright:350:[[Film/{{Zombieland}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/billy_murray_dead.png]]]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:Alas, poor Creator/BillMurray.]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | -> '''Jeremy: '''I..I'm sorry! I.. I don't know...w..why I'm... crying...?\ |
| 5 | '''Brooke:''' Well, I do.\ |
| 6 | '''Jeremy:''' Y..You do?\ |
| 7 | '''Brooke:''' And I totally understand! They're saying it was a freak hockey accident.\ |
| 8 | '''Jeremy:''' What are you talking about...?\ |
| 9 | '''Brooke:''' Oh my God...You don't know?! Music/{{Eminem}}'s dead! |
| 10 | -->-- ''Theatre/BeMoreChill'' |
| 11 | |
| 12 | When works of fiction include real people, the general rule is to portray them in a way that does not differ wildly from how they are in |
| 13 | real life. Sometimes writers feel the need to stretch the truth somewhat in order to serve the story they want to tell, especially in works of speculative fiction. One way of doing this is to kill off the still living real person in a clever way. If this occurs in performed media, the person in question might even participate (often to poke fun at themselves). At times, this can also be used as a TakeThat against a public figure that the creators do not like. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Please note that the celebrity portrayed as dying must be alive at the time of the work's release. Contrast with FictionalizedDeathAccount, in which a deceased historical figure is killed off in a way that does not resemble their actual death. See also DeathByCameo, CelebritySurvivor, and CelebritiesHangOutInHeaven. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | This trope is NOT to be confused with a real person faking their own death. You want the RealLife section of FakingTheDead for that. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | !!As this is a {{Death Trope|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]]. |
| 20 | ---- |
| 21 | !!Examples: |
| 22 | |
| 23 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 24 | |
| 25 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 26 | * In ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'', President UsefulNotes/AlGore is killed by aliens during the Fourth World War. He is succeeded by Vice President Mario Cuomo who ends up shooting himself. |
| 27 | * In ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'', President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan is killed by a bomb planted by Kang the Conquerer. |
| 28 | * In ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', President UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush dies of pneumonia. |
| 29 | * In ''ComicBook/OnceAndFuture'', UsefulNotes/BorisJohnson gets his head ripped off on national television by King Arthur after Boris revealed the Holy Grail against Hempleworth's advice. |
| 30 | * ''ComicBook/TheSecretService'' has Creator/MarkHamill appear as a kidnapping victim, only to die when the rescuing agent's parachute doesn't deploy correctly. |
| 31 | * In the 1996 comic book ''ComicBook/{{Warrior}}'', a demon takes over the body of [[Wrestling/UltimateWarrior The Ultimate Warrior]] and goes on a killing spree. Victims include [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Pope John Paul II]], UsefulNotes/NelsonMandela, and UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush. |
| 32 | [[/folder]] |
| 33 | |
| 34 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 35 | * ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10177155/1/Tricksters-and-Gods Tricksters and Gods]]'': Creator/StephenieMeyer is murdered by {{Dracula}}, who exsanguinates her and leaves her drained corpse. |
| 36 | * ''[[https://www.wattpad.com/story/166643479-the-cabin The Cabin]]'': Melanie meets this fate thanks to being processed. Well, Emma had something to say about that, once Melanie's body goes missing. |
| 37 | [[/folder]] |
| 38 | |
| 39 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 40 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' opens with Music/GreenDay performing at Lake Springfield until their barge sinks and they drown into Lake Springfield's toxic waters. It's at their funeral that Grandpa Simpson gets his vision warning about a disaster befalling Springfield involving "Eepa". |
| 41 | * ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'': |
| 42 | ** The film is set roughly in its release year of 1999, where "It's been six weeks since UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein was killed by a pack of wild boars, and the world is still glad to be rid of him." The real Saddam Hussein would be hanged in 2006. |
| 43 | ** Bill Gates is shot to death at one point in the film. |
| 44 | [[/folder]] |
| 45 | |
| 46 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 47 | * ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'' has a brief gag where the Governor of California, unnamed but heavily implied to be Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger given his thick Germanic accent, his references to the {{Action Hero}}es he played in the movies, Jackson calling him "an actor... reading a script", and the fact that he really was Governor of California when the film was made,[[note]]In real life, Schwarzenegger was term-limited out of office in 2011, a year before the film's titular NextSundayAD setting, but Creator/RolandEmmerich and Dean Devlin couldn't resist the joke.[[/note]] is giving a press conference telling people that the worst of the recent earthquakes is over. [[TemptingFate As if on cue]], [[CaliforniaCollapse the Big One]] begins, and the TV in Kate's house shows Arnie's press conference being destroyed by the earthquake just before the TV gets smashed, with it implied that he died in the earthquake. |
| 48 | * ''Film/AnnaAndTheApocalypse'': Music/JustinBieber is explicitly stated to have been turned into a zombie in the film. |
| 49 | * ''Film/{{Casino}}'': Done in a RomanAClef way. Mobster Artie Piscano dies of a heart attack during an FBI raid on his home. His real-life inspiration, Carl [=DeLuna=], was still alive at the time the movie was made. |
| 50 | * ''Film/Deadpool2'' has Deadpool shooting Creator/RyanReynolds in the head to prevent him from making ''Film/GreenLantern2011''. |
| 51 | * ''Film/DeathOfAPresident'' portrays the assassination of then-President George W. Bush. |
| 52 | * ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'': Film critic Creator/LeonardMaltin, who disliked the first ''Film/Gremlins1984'', is shown giving the movie a bad review and is then [[TakeThatCritics mauled to death by Gremlins]]. |
| 53 | * ''Film/HitlerDeadOrAlive'': This 1942 movie has Hitler ironically die from getting shot by an SS officer who fails to recognize him after [[ItMakesSenseInContext his mustache gets shaved off by some American gangsters]]. |
| 54 | * Saddam Hussein is killed off in both ''Film/HotShots'' films, first by a bomb and then by having a piano dropped on him. Hussein was alive and in power when both films were made. |
| 55 | * In ''Film/TheInterview'', Kim Jong-un's helicopter is shot down by Creator/JamesFranco's character, killing him. |
| 56 | * ''Film/{{Jubilee}}'' takes place in an alternate timeline where Queen UsefulNotes/ElizabethII was killed by muggers in the late seventies. The real Queen Elizabeth II lived until 2022. |
| 57 | * In ''Film/MeetTheSpartans'', the This! Is! Sparta! scene parody has a number of real life celebrities knocked down into the well after the Persian emissary, starting with Music/BritneySpears. |
| 58 | * In ''Mega Python vs. Gatoroid'', [[Music/TheMonkees Micky Dolenz]] is eaten by a giant python during a benefit concert. |
| 59 | * In ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet3DreamWarriors'', Freddy Krueger kills Creator/ZsaZsaGabor while she is appearing on a talk show. |
| 60 | * ''Film/PennAndTellerGetKilled'' ends with Teller accidentally shooting Penn dead and then turning the gun on himself. |
| 61 | * In ''Film/PlanetTerror'', Muldoon says he killed UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden (who was alive but in hiding at the time the film was made). |
| 62 | * In ''Film/{{Postal}}'', George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden (still alive at the time) are killed by a nuclear blast, Creator/UweBoll gets shot in the crotch and dies, and Creator/VerneTroyer is "violated to death" by chimpanzees. |
| 63 | * In ''Film/PunkRockHolocaust'', members of multiple bands on the Vans Warped Tour, including Music/SimplePlan, are brutally murdered. |
| 64 | * The short film ''Sam Did It'' features a morgue attendant who is tasked with performing an autopsy on his idol, Creator/AlfredMolina. |
| 65 | * In ''Film/ScaryMovie3'', Simon Cowell is shot to death by rappers when he criticizes their singing. |
| 66 | * ''Film/ScaryMovie4'' opens with Creator/ShaquilleONeal and [[Series/DrPhil Phil McGraw]] trapped in a ''Franchise/{{Saw}}''-style DeathTrap. Phil cuts off his own foot to escape his chains but dies of blood loss, while Shaq is poisoned to death. |
| 67 | * In ''Film/ScaryMovie5'', Creator/CharlieSheen dies when Creator/LindsayLohan hits him with her car. |
| 68 | * In ''Film/SeedOfChucky'', Music/BritneySpears is killed when Chucky runs her off the road. Also, the main plot concerns Chucky and Tiffany trying to transfer their souls into the bodies of Redman and Creator/JenniferTilly (the latter of whom is [[ActingForTwo Tiffany's voice actress]] and subjected to [[AdamWesting many jokes about her real-life career]]) so they can become human again. Redman gets killed, while the ending reveals that Tiffany managed to successfully switch bodies with Jennifer, who died when, trapped in doll form, Chucky hacked her up. Mention is also made of Martha Stewart being put to death. |
| 69 | * ''Film/Sharknado3OhHellNo'' has Jared Fogle and Creator/GeorgeRRMartin both killed by sharks. |
| 70 | * ''Film/Studio666'': Every Music/FooFighters member except Music/DaveGrohl dies during the film. This became HarsherInHindsight when Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins died suddenly only one month after the movie premiered. |
| 71 | * The horror comedy short ''Super Brainy Zombies'' stars a bunch of British YouTubers as themselves, including Creator/TomSka, WebVideo/EmmaBlackery, WebVideo/{{charlieissocoollike}} and WebVideo/{{doddleoddle}}. Many of them get turned into zombies and are subsequently killed by survivors of the zombie apocalypse. Mention is also made of Creator/SandraBullock getting eaten alive. |
| 72 | * ''[[Film/SuperTroopers Super Troopers 2]]'' has Creator/FredSavage killed by a speeding fire truck. |
| 73 | * Plenty of celebrities die in ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice''. Creator/AlecBaldwin gets shot by Kim Jong Il, Creator/SamuelLJackson gets decapitated, Creator/MichaelMoore blows himself up, Creator/MattDamon's neck is snapped, Creator/SusanSarandon falls to her death, Creator/TimRobbins is burnt to death, Creator/GeorgeClooney is blown up by a grenade, etc. Kim Jong Il, who is the BigBad, dies at the end of the movie, but [[{{Reincarnation}} reincarnates]] as a cockroach. |
| 74 | * In ''Film/ThisIsTheEnd'', various celebrities such as Creator/JamesFranco, Creator/SethRogen, Creator/DannyMcBride, Creator/JonahHill, and Creator/MindyKaling are killed off during the Apocalypse. At the end, however, we see that CelebritiesHangOutInHeaven, as the characters who didn't get sent to Hell upon death are treated to a Music/BackstreetBoys concert. |
| 75 | * Auto executive Lee Iacocca is shot during an assassination attempt on Adrian Veidt in 1985 in [[Film/{{Watchmen}} the film version of]] ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''. In real life, Iacocca lived until 2019. |
| 76 | * ''Film/WeirdTheAlYankovicStory'' ends with Music/WeirdAlYankovic getting killed after Music/{{Madonna}} orchestrates an assassination attempt on him at an awards show in 1985. The real-life Weird Al is still very much alive to this day, having co-wrote the script and having a minor role as a different character. |
| 77 | * In ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'', Creator/BillMurray is shot in the chest when he pretends to be a zombie and dies shortly afterwards. Previously in the scene there's an off-screen case, Murray mentions he passed by a zombified Eddie Music/VanHalen. |
| 78 | * ''Film/Zoolander2'': Music/JustinBieber, Music/MileyCyrus, Music/LennyKravitz, Music/DemiLovato, Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/BruceSpringsteen and Music/{{Usher}} all are shot to death by assassins. |
| 79 | [[/folder]] |
| 80 | |
| 81 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 82 | * In ''Literature/ElevenTwentyTwoSixtyThree'', UsefulNotes/BillClinton dies of a heart attack at the 2004 Democratic Convention. |
| 83 | * In Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''Literature/AndTheLastTrumpShallSound'', UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump dies during a second coronavirus outbreak in 2024. |
| 84 | * In John Birmingham's ''Literature/AxisOfTime'' novels, President UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton is martyred by a suicide bomber. |
| 85 | * ''Literature/BeMoreChill'': In the book and its [[Theatre/BeMoreChill musical adaptation]], the SQUIP arranges for Music/{{Eminem}} to die through a freak hockey accident, just so Jeremy can appear upset about it and get sympathy from girls. |
| 86 | * ''Literature/TheDarkTower'': Creator/StephenKing dies at the end of one book in the series, a clear nod to his near fatal accident when he was hit by a vehicle in real life. |
| 87 | * ''Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations'': For the fifteenth anniversary of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose Rose]]", Russell T. Davies wrote an additional chapter to his novelization of the episode which is heavily implied to depict UsefulNotes/BorisJohnson as having been crushed to death by a steel beam as a consequence of said episode in 2005. As a result, the Boris Johnson who became Prime Minister in 2019 is actually an Auton that absorbed his body to become a new entity. |
| 88 | * ''Literature/TheEnemy'' is a series of Young Adult novels set in a world where all adults [[note]]with the exception of the very elderly[[/note]] and older teenagers have turned into zombie-like creatures with an overwhelming urge to kill and eat children. Several real life adult celebrities are mentioned (including Jamie Oliver, Creator/MerylStreep, Music/SouljaBoy and others) and, though their fate is not explicitly stated, it is implied that they are either dead or have joined the ranks of the "sickos" [[note]]an InUniverse term for those affected by the zombie plague[[/note]]. All of them were still alive when the books were written. |
| 89 | * In ''Literature/TheFireman'', radio host Glenn Beck burns up during a broadcast and Creator/JKRowling is mentioned as being gunned down for using her wealth to give refuge to those afflicted with the plague. Martha Quinn (one of the original Creator/{{MTV}} [=VJs=]) is heard over the Internet as a spokesperson for an island where Dragonscale victims can seek safety and medical treatment. By the time Harper learns about the island, it's been shut down and Martha has been dead for some time. |
| 90 | * In "History" by Creator/IsaacAsimov, it is mentioned that UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler died in Madagascar (implied to be in exile after defeat, as later confirmed by the writer). The story was written in 1941. |
| 91 | * In the short story "Mahogany Dreams" by Lyn Nichols contained in the anthology ''Alternate Tyrants'' edited by Mike Resnick, President Ronald Reagan is successfully assassinated by John Hinckley Jr. |
| 92 | * In Gretchen Felker-Martin's novel ''Literature/{{Manhunt}}'', it is mentioned that Creator/JKRowling died in a fire at her mansion sometime prior to the events of the story. |
| 93 | * In ''Literature/TheOnionBookOfKnownKnowledge'', Pete Rose is claimed to have killed himself on national TV out of shame at his infamous gambling scandal. |
| 94 | * Creator/TomClancy's ''Literature/{{Politika}}'' began with the then-still living UsefulNotes/BorisYeltsin dying of a heart attack in 1999. |
| 95 | * In Creator/PoulAnderson's ''Literature/ThePsychotechnicLeague'', UsefulNotes/RichardNixon is killed in a nuclear war. |
| 96 | * In the ''Literature/Timeline191'' book ''Settling Accounts: Drive to the East'', UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter is an 18-year-old sailor in the Confederate States Navy and is killed by an army major in battle. |
| 97 | * In Amelia Wheeler's novelette "We will not allow him to live!", Bill Clinton and Al Gore are both killed by a car bomb. |
| 98 | * ''Literature/WorldWarZ'': |
| 99 | ** Ruben Studdard is killed (alongside his agent) when a grenade detonates in his hand at the celebrity house. |
| 100 | ** Geraldo Rivera is swarmed and killed by zombies at Yonkers. |
| 101 | ** It's heavily implied that Creator/BillMaher, Ann Coulter, and Creator/ParisHilton were all killed in the Long Island celebrity house, though how is not mentioned. |
| 102 | [[/folder]] |
| 103 | |
| 104 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 105 | * In an episode of ''Series/BigWolfOnCampus'', Creator/CoreyFeldman plays himself as a vampire and gets killed with a wooden stake through the heart. |
| 106 | * Sisters Meg and Jennifer Tilly both die in ''Series/{{Chucky}}''. Meg is stabbed to death by Tiffany Valentine and Jennifer (in doll form) gets hit by a truck. Also, Creator/GinaGershon murders Creator/JoePantoliano after discovering that he has been sleeping with Jennifer/Tiffany. |
| 107 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 108 | ** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon Aliens of London]]", the Prime Minister killed by the Slitheen heavily resembles (and is confirmed by WordOfGod as intended to be) UsefulNotes/TonyBlair. |
| 109 | ** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E12ArmyOfGhosts Army of Ghosts]]", real-life TV presenter Alistair Appleton is strangled by a Cyberman live on ''[[ShowWithinAShow Ghostwatch]]'' once the "ghosts" are revealed to be them. |
| 110 | ** The episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords Last of the Time Lords]]" implies that Bill Gates was one of the people the Master had killed. |
| 111 | ** Narrowly subverted in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2023CSTheChurchOnRubyRoad The Church on Ruby Road]]", where a wheelchair-bound Davina [=McCall=] is almost impaled by the top ornament of a falling Christmas tree, before the Doctor (having travelled back in time) pushes her out of the way in the nick of time. |
| 112 | * An episode of ''Series/FishingWithJohn'' had Creator/WillemDafoe dying of starvation. |
| 113 | * ''Series/{{Frontline}}'': The first episode has Brooke interviewing "living legend" [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugly_Dave_Gray Ugly Dave Gray]], who dies offscreen and forces them to turn the segment into an InMemoriam at the last minute. |
| 114 | * ''The Final Cut'', the last in the original ''Series/HouseOfCardsUK'' trilogy, opens with the state funeral of UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher who was still alive at the time. |
| 115 | * The 1976 TV special ''Joys'' (a parody of ''Jaws'') has Creator/BobHope and many of his celebrity friends killed off by a mysterious figure ultimately revealed as Creator/JohnnyCarson. |
| 116 | * This happens twice in season 4 of the Danish series ''Klovn'': |
| 117 | ** At the start of one episode, Jarl Friis-Mikkelsen, a famous Danish TV host/actor/singer who also had a recurring role AsHimself in season 3, suddenly drops dead from a heart attack at a bowling alley. The remainder of the episode is then about the main character and his best friend trying to cover up Jarl's true place of death (at least in Denmark, going bowling in the suburbs is considered a bit of a unsophisticated working-class activity which they think is a bad legacy for a celebrated entertainer). |
| 118 | ** In another episode, Nelson Mandela's death is reported on the radio. The episode aired in 2006, i.e. 7 years before the real Nelson Mandela died. This leads to a CringeComedy scene when the main character is in a taxi with a black driver. After the radio announcement, the driver pulls over to have two minutes of silence for Mandela while the main character (who is obsessed with fairness) desperately tries to make the driver turn off the taximeter as long as the car is holding still, only to be accused of not caring about Mandela and his achievements. |
| 119 | * In ''Series/TheLastManOnEarth'', it is mentioned that President Mike Pence succumbed to the mysterious virus that wiped out most of humanity, as did Music/{{Cher}}. |
| 120 | * Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme made a guest appearance on ''Series/LasVegas'' as himself in which a stunt was sabotaged and he fell to his death. |
| 121 | * Possibly in ''Series/TheLeftovers''. Creator/GaryBusey, and the entire main cast of ''Series/PerfectStrangers'', are among the 1% of the population who Departed. Except Mark Linn-Baker, who survived, but faked his own Departure due to the experience of all his castmates disappearing. If we believe Nora at the end, they actually didn't die, but were mysteriously transported to another world or dimension. This is left ambiguous, though, and the whole world mourns them as if they died. |
| 122 | * In the ''Series/{{Louie}}'' episode "Elevator Part 4" a news report appears about Hurricane Jasmine Forsythe, which destroyed Florida, causing the death of UsefulNotes/LeBronJames (and 12 million other people). |
| 123 | * In 2006, a six-part miniseries of Creator/MontyPython clip shows were released called ''Monty Python's Personal Best''. Each episode had a different wraparound format. The Creator/JohnCleese episode features the actor in makeup that made him look twenty years older than he was, being interviewed. The final gag was Cleese supposedly dying of a heart attack on screen and the interviewer running away. Many viewers thought that Cleese had actually died, but he's still with us. |
| 124 | * In the ''Night of Too Many Stars'' TV special, Creator/SteveBuscemi dies after eating peanuts (to which he is allergic) and being shot by Creator/VincentDOnofrio. Also, Bob Barker dies after fighting Creator/AdamSandler and Sandler dies of the Ebola virus. |
| 125 | * This trope provided the CouchGag for the short lived comedy series ''Series/PoliceSquad''. Each episode had a "special guest star" whose only function was to be killed during the opening credits. The stars so dispatched were Creator/LorneGreene, Creator/GeorgStanfordBrown, Creator/RobertGoulet, Creator/WilliamShatner, Creator/FlorenceHenderson [[note]] Henderson was a last-minute addition: originally the "special guest" of the episode was supposed to be Creator/JohnBelushi, but his real-life death soon after filming his sequence caused the change so as to be DistancedFromCurrentEvents [[/note]]and Creator/WilliamConrad. |
| 126 | * ''{{Series/Primeval}}'': [[Series/SeaMonsters Nigel]] [[Series/PrehistoricPark Marven]] appears in [[Recap/PrimevalS3E4 one episode]], filming a TV segment about an [[PortalToThePast anomaly]], and is eaten by the ''Giganotosaurus'' that emerges from it. |
| 127 | * ''Series/QuantumLeap'': In the original history, [[UsefulNotes/JacquelineKennedy Jackie Kennedy]] was also assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. The episode was made two years prior to her real death. |
| 128 | * A ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch from TheNineties had Music/JohnDenver presenting at the Nobel Prize ceremony, accidentally infecting himself with the Magenta Virus, and dying. The sketch aired some time before his fatal plane crash. |
| 129 | * In the ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' episode "Greatfellas", Ronald Reagan dies while serving as Governor of California in 1998. |
| 130 | * In the ''[[Series/TheTwilightZone1959 Twilight Zone]]'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E36AWorldOfHisOwn A World of His Own]]", Creator/RodSerling appears as himself and becomes another one of Gregory West's victims when Gregory erases him. |
| 131 | * The final scene of ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'' has creator Creator/ChuckLorre crushed to death by a [[PianoDrop falling piano]]. |
| 132 | * The series finale of ''Series/{{Veep}}'' has former President Selina Meyer's funeral interrupted by the news that Creator/TomHanks has died. |
| 133 | * Season 4 of ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows2019'' has Creator/SofiaCoppola and her husband, musician Thomas Mars, eaten by vampires as one of many celebrities lured to Nadja's nightclub by the enigmatic "Celebrity Special" as a special perk for celebrities, not knowing that it actually refers to them as the special for vampires. |
| 134 | [[/folder]] |
| 135 | |
| 136 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 137 | * Fitting his inspiration from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', Music/{{Eminem}} portrays the deaths of numerous living celebrities in his music. Usually at the hands of his murderous alter-ego, Slim Shady. |
| 138 | ** In "Criminal", Slim Shady has Music/DrDre BoundAndGagged and shoots him, which explains why Dre's "dead -- he's locked in my basement!" in "The Real Slim Shady" (earlier on the album, but written after). |
| 139 | ** He's killed off himself numerous times, such as having Slim Shady commit MurderSuicide at the end of ''Encore'' and detailing Eminem's kidnap and murder by a LoonyFan in "Bad Guy". "Castle/Arose" dramatises Eminem's death from an overdose. In "The Adventures Of Moon Man & Slim Shady", he dies of COVID due to inconsiderate people refusing to wear masks. |
| 140 | ** His ''Relapse'' SlasherMovie character does a lot of celebrity murder. Music/BritneySpears and Creator/LindsayLohan get offed by a serial killer in "Same Song And Dance", Ivanka Trump ends up [[PunkInTheTrunk dead in the trunk of his car]] in "Framed", and it's generally assumed that the 'Dakota' who he kills and eats in "Music Box"/"Psycho" is Creator/DakotaFanning. "Oh No" dedicates a whole verse to murdering Perez Hilton (as a TakeThat for his body-shaming of Eminem for [[HollywoodPudgy gaining]], then losing weight), chopping up his body, and finding places to keep the pieces. |
| 141 | ** During his ''The Eminem Show'' tour, Eminem would do a skit where Music/{{Moby}} would get shot on stage by Obie Trice to lead in to "Without Me". |
| 142 | ** The track "Can-i-bitch", [[TakeThatTitForTat made in retaliation]] for the Music/PetShopBoys song "The Night I Fell in Love" (where the narrator, a teenage boy, has a homosexual encounter with a rapper heavily implied to be Eminiem), has Eminem and Dr. Dre run the Pet Shop Boys over. |
| 143 | [[/folder]] |
| 144 | |
| 145 | [[folder:Theme Parks]] |
| 146 | * The version of ''Ride/RevengeOfTheMummy'' at Ride/UniversalStudios Orlando has a FramingDevice of production on the titular film, a fictional sequel to ''Film/TheMummy1999'', being stalked by the real Imhotep due to the use of actual ancient Egyptian artifacts during the production. The ride ends with Creator/BrendanFraser, who had [[AdamWesting acted like a primadonna]] throughout the preshow and refused to wear the Medjai symbol that the crew used to protect themselves from Imhotep's curse, welcoming riders back to the station before [[SuddenlyShouting angrily demanding a coffee]]. Imhotep shows up to hand him one. Brendan accepts, then [[OhCrap notices the shriveled, mummified hand]] that gave him the coffee and starts screaming before a SmashToBlack. |
| 147 | [[/folder]] |
| 148 | |
| 149 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 150 | * ''VideoGame/HighOnLife'' has Creator/JackBlack and Creator/SusanSarandon appearing in a brief cameo before the second phase of the FinalBoss, Garmantuous. When Garmantuous discovers these aren't the two most important people to [[PlayerCharacter the Bounty Hunter]] (as [[LivingWeapon Kenny]] was expecting them to be the Bounty Hunter's parents) despite hearing them being loved by other humans, he has them [[{{Gorn}} blown up messily]]. |
| 151 | * ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'': One Elusive Target is Creator/GaryBusey, whom 47 was hired to assassinate [[DisproportionateRetribution for bailing on a commercial he was appearing in]]. |
| 152 | * ''VideoGame/HongKong97'': UsefulNotes/DengXiaoping (or "[[RougeAnglesOfSatin Tong Shau Ping]]", as the game calls him) is said to have recently died, and the Chinese government converted his body into an "ultimate weapon". He was still alive when the game was released, though in an eerie coincidence, he really ''would'' die in 1997 as the game implies he did. |
| 153 | * In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'', the mayor of Steelport is Creator/BurtReynolds [[AsHimself voicing himself]]. The next-to-last mission has the player chasing down an escaping villain when they get the notification that some of their allies, including Reynolds, are being held hostage at a landmark. If the player continues pursuit of the villain, the hostage taker will destroy the landmark and kill the hostages, again including Reynolds. |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 157 | * ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'': The episode "Music/JustinBieber vs. Music/RebeccaBlack" would have inevitably ended with an example of this, given the premise and rules of the show, but few expected it to happen in such an over-the-top manner. Justin dies when one of Rebecca's ([[KidsDrivingCars underage]]) friends [[CarFu deliberately rams him with a car]], pinning him to a wall. Rebecca was riding in the back of said car and [[TooDumbToLive stood up in lieu of using her seatbelt]], so she was thrown from the wreck with fatal consequences. Music/TheJonasBrothers stumble across the wreck and get killed when the car [[EveryCarIsAPinto blows up]], which also propels the sword Justin was carrying straight into Music/MileyCyrus' forehead, pointy end first. |
| 158 | [[/folder]] |
| 159 | |
| 160 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 161 | * ''Webcomic/TeamFortress2'': In ''Ring of Fired'', Music/TomJones turns out to be the roommate of Merasmus the wizard, and he is promptly killed by Merasmus's old roommate the Soldier. Later, in ''The Naked and the Dead'', Tom Jones is seen in heaven but [[DeaderThanDead God has him killed again]] before the singer can break the Scout's mistaken belief that Tom Jones is his father. |
| 162 | [[/folder]] |
| 163 | |
| 164 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 165 | * ''Literature/TheBidenExpress'': UsefulNotes/DickCheney suffers a fatal heart attack after a heated argument with Newt Gingrich. |
| 166 | * ''WebVideo/TheFinalMinutes'': |
| 167 | ** Music/EdSheeran is explicitly named as one of the casualties of ''The Tiangong Incident'', specifically when parts of Tiangong-1 strike Optus Stadium. |
| 168 | ** Part of ''Zombie Plague'' has Caracol's emergency broadcast identify Colombian singer Carlos Vives as leading a group of hybrid mutants before announcing that the mutated singer will be destroyed as quickly as possible. |
| 169 | * ''Literature/KentuckyFriedPolitics'': |
| 170 | ** Music/EltonJohn and Creator/RobertDowneyJr both succumb to drug overdoses. |
| 171 | ** Creator/DanAykroyd dies in a plane crash. |
| 172 | ** Creator/BillCosby passes away in 2001 after complications from diabetes. |
| 173 | ** Creator/OJSimpson is murdered by his fiancé Nicole Brown. |
| 174 | ** John Hinckley Jr. is one of the first American soldiers killed during the intervention in Uganda. |
| 175 | ** Creator/KevinSorbo suffers a fatal brain aneurysm. |
| 176 | ** Creator/GeorgeRRMartin dies from SARS disease complications in 2005. |
| 177 | * ''Literature/TheLeapfroggedConsoleWars'': |
| 178 | ** Prince Charles and Prince William die in an IRA car bomb on March 1, 1996. |
| 179 | ** George R.R. Martin dies of a heart attack in April 1996. |
| 180 | ** J. K. Rowling also dies as the result of an IRA car bomb. |
| 181 | * ''Literature/NewDealCoalitionRetained'': |
| 182 | ** Creator/JaneFonda winds up being executed for treason after being convicted of aiding the Viet Cong. |
| 183 | ** [[RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman Political campaign manager Alex Jones]] (IOTL a radio host and {{conspiracy theorist}}) ends up killing himself in this story after learning that President Ted Bundy, whom he enthusiastically supported and worked to get elected, was a {{serial killer}}. |
| 184 | * ''Website/TheOnion'': One 2005 article has investigators discover the real Music/MichaelJackson's corpse at Neverland Ranch, leading to the horrifying discovery that he was replaced by... [[HumanoidAbomination something]] in the late 1980s. |
| 185 | * ''Literature/PlayerTwoStart'': Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto is killed in the year 2000 after he's hit by a car while riding his bicycle. Other celebrities killed off include Creator/ShondaRhimes (killed by Chris Chandler, who subsequently committed suicide), Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Creator/NicoleSullivan (were on board American Airlines Flight 11 on 9/11), Creator/AngelinaJolie (killed in the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami), Creator/GordonRamsay (died in a fire at Las Vegas' Caesar's Palace), Creator/HayaoMiyazaki, Creator/NobunagaShimazaki, Creator/RisaTaneda, Creator/KenjiNojima, Creator/KenichiSuzumura, Creator/MaayaSakamoto, Creator/YuuKobayashi, Creator/TakumaTerashima, and Creator/TiteKubo (all died in the Kadokawa Massacre), and Creator/HideoKojima would die of a stroke on August 20, 2020. |
| 186 | [[/folder]] |
| 187 | |
| 188 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 189 | * Website/CollegeHumor: |
| 190 | ** "Chris Brown's Publicist" features a hapless publicist trying to deal with Music/ChrisBrown's antics, including his killing Sisqo, Music/{{Usher}}, and Music/{{Mya}}, all of whom are still alive. |
| 191 | ** "If Things Turned Out Differently" has President Howard Dean dying from avian bird flu. |
| 192 | * ''Funny or Die'': One video parodying a famous scene from ''Film/AmericanPsycho'' has [[Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews Huey Lewis]] murder Weird Al with an axe. |
| 193 | * ''WebVideo/{{Jreg}}'': Parodied in the video "Modern Day Political Satire" where Donald Trump is killed by a Trump-hating comedian's preferred candidate on an in-universe satirical TV show; since the whole video is about mocking lazy, cliched anti-Trump humor, this bit is intended as a shot at the idea that Trump's death would also kill what he represents or is seen to represent. |
| 194 | [[/folder]] |
| 195 | |
| 196 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 197 | * ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': |
| 198 | ** In "[[Recap/AmericanDadS2E5StanOfArabia Stan of Arabia]], Part 1", Stan kills Creator/JayLeno via NeckSnap while the latter is making a quip about Stan's relationship with his wife. |
| 199 | ** In "Lost in Space", Creator/{{Sinbad}} gets killed by aliens. His ghost returns in a ShoutOut to Star Wars. |
| 200 | ** Creator/CubaGoodingJr gets impaled by Francine in "The Adventures of Twill Ongenbone And His Boy Jabari" while in the role of an "angry tribal chief". Stan visits his funeral and returns an Oscar of his Roger bought online. |
| 201 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'' episode "[[Recap/BoJackHorsemanS4E07Underground Underground]]", Creator/ZachBraff is killed and cannibalized during a cave-in at Mr. Peanutbutter's fundraiser. |
| 202 | * ''WesternAnimation/CaptainLaserhawkABloodDragonRemix'' has Wrestling/CodyRhodes be blown up by an ExplosiveLeash implanted into his skull as a warning to the other Warden's Ghosts of what will happen should they step out of line. |
| 203 | * By the very nature of its premise, every episode of ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'' ends with at least one instance of this. |
| 204 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'': Creator/JuliaRoberts briefly shows up at the end of "Cleveland Live" just to be crushed under a falling stage light. |
| 205 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'', Creator/JohnStamos dies after being stabbed in the eye with a crown. |
| 206 | * ''WesternAnimation/CloseEnough'': The episode "The Canine Guy" has Music/WeirdAlYankovic being mauled to death by a bear. |
| 207 | * ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': |
| 208 | ** In "I Never Met the Dead Man", Meg runs over Creator/WilliamShatner and he dies. |
| 209 | ** In "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven", Stewie kills Creator/DeniseCrosby with a laser. |
| 210 | ** Creator/JamesWoods is assassinated in "And Then There Were Fewer", though he is brought back to life in "Tom Tucker: The Man and His Dream". |
| 211 | * ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn'': |
| 212 | ** Creator/HowieMandel is blown up by the Joker in "A High Bar". |
| 213 | ** Creator/BillyBobThornton is mauled to death by Catwoman's pet tiger in "The 83rd Annual Villy Awards". |
| 214 | ** Queen UsefulNotes/ElizabethII is implied to fall to her death after Harley pushes her out of a plane in "Harlivy"; though Harley claims she had a parachute. |
| 215 | ** Both Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are killed while attending [=MalCon=] in "The First Person to Come Back From a Business Conference Without Chlamydia". |
| 216 | * ''[[WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021 Inside Job]]'': In "[[Recap/InsideJobS1E6MyBigFlatEarthWedding My Big Flat Earth Wedding]]", Creator/{{Amazon}}'s founder, Jeff Bezos, is eaten by a {{Kraken|AndLeviathan}}. Later, in "[[Recap/InsideJobS1E9MoleHunt Mole Hunt]]", Creator/OprahWinfrey falls down a bottomless pit. |
| 217 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 218 | ** In the "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E1TreehouseOfHorrorVII Treehouse Of Horror VII]]" segment "Citizen Kang", Homer accidentally sends incumbent president UsefulNotes/BillClinton and his Republican presidential opponent Bob Dole [[ThrownOutTheAirlock out of an airlock into space]]. |
| 219 | ** In the "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E4TreehouseOfHorrorIX Treehouse of Horror IX]]" segment "Starship Poopers", Jerry Springer is strangled to death by the alien Maggie. |
| 220 | ** In the "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E4TreehouseOfHorrorX Treehouse of Horror X]]" segment "Life's A Glitch, Then You Die", the following people are incinerated by the sun: UsefulNotes/RossPerot, Creator/SpikeLee, Dan Quayle, Music/CourtneyLove, UsefulNotes/TonyaHarding, Al Sharpton, Creator/TomArnold, Creator/PaulyShore and Creator/RosieODonnell. |
| 221 | ** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS14E5HelterShelter Helter Shelter]]", after TV ratings for the family's reality show begin to decline when the family stops fighting with one another, the producers send actor David Lander as his character Squiggy from ''Series/LaverneAndShirley'' to stir things up. When that fails to get anybody fighting again, the producers deliberately set out to make the family miserable by relocating the 19th Century house to a river and watching it float downstream and over a waterfall, destroying the house and killing "Squiggy" in the process. |
| 222 | ** The "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS20E4TreehouseOfHorrorXIX Treehouse of Horror XIX]]" segment "How To Get Ahead In Dead-vertising" is built around this, as Homer gets the job of murdering celebrities so they can be used in advertising without their permission. We see three of these murders depicted: He drowns Creator/GeorgeClooney in extra-deep quicksand, then stabs, chokes, and bludgeons Music/{{Prince}} with his own guitar, and hits UsefulNotes/NeilArmstrong with the golf club at the National Air & Space Museum. |
| 223 | * ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' has done this a lot. Justin Bieber was killed by Cthulhu, Rosie O'Donnell was eaten by Cartman's Trapper Keeper, Britney Spears was sacrificed to ensure a good harvest... The list goes on and on. |
| 224 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', the villain [[KillerGorilla King Gorilla]] is serving a life sentence in prison for, to quote fellow villain Phantom Limb, "eviscerating and sodomizing [[Music/MotleyCrue Vince Neil]] on live television". |
| 225 | [[/folder]] |
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