History Main / DidYouDie

* This great little exchange happens towards the end of the 1942 war film ''Flying Tigers'', between Creator/JohnWayne and his copilot aboard a plane loaded with nitroglycerin:

* Similarly, in the Czech film ''Baron Prášil'' (a.k.a. ''Když Burian prášil'') the main protagonist, descendant of Baron Munchhausen, dramatically relates how he was surrounded by bears on a narrow bridge over a chasm:

* Hopalong Cassidy once finished one of his dimwitted sidekick's long-winded stories for him by saying "I know, you died." California's response? "That's right, I died." It takes him a few more seconds to notice his mistake.

* In the Polish comedy ''Kiler'', the main character (who is mistaken by everyone for a notorious contract killer) is interviewed by in prison by a journalist. She asks him about "his" first contract and he starts musing about the (completely made up) circumstances, until she asks him if he succeeded in killing his mark.

* ''Theatre/{{Six}}: At the end of ''Don't Lose Ur Head'', Katherine Howard asks Anne Boleyn if she really died after being beheaded. Anne answers in the affirmative. Then again, none of the queens are actually alive by this point, and the show depicts them as members of a girl band, with their ladies in waiting as back up musicians.

--->'''Lawyer''': Doctor, do you recall the time that you examined the body?
--->'''Witness''': The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
--->'''Lawyer''': And Mr. Smith was dead at this point, correct?
--->'''Witness''': No, he was lying there on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy.

* In the ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'' novel ''Tsalmoth'', Vlad is discussing being transported to other worlds by magic with the Necromancer when she mentions being transported to worlds with oxygen atmospheres. He asks what she did in that situation, and she tells him she died. Vlad then mentions in the narration that he was about to ask how she could be there telling him this if she died when he remembered that he was talking to a necromancer so powerful that she [[SpellMyNameWithAThe spells her name with a "the."]]

* In the ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' Halloween special, the characters are telling scary stories, and the gingerbread man's supposedly "true" story ends with "And then they ate me!" Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs run out screaming "weeeee!" (The Big Bad Wolf sighs that they'll be doing that all the way home.) It's Shrek who asks the gingerbread man, "If they ate you, how are you still here?", making it clear that Gingy made it all up.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' Halloween special, the characters are telling scary stories, and the gingerbread man's supposedly "true" story ends with "And then they ate me!" Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs run out screaming "weeeee!" (The Big Bad Wolf sighs that they'll be doing that all the way home.) It's Shrek who asks the gingerbread man, "If they ate you, how are you still here?"

* A twist occurs in ''Way of the Peaceful Warrior''. [[TheHero Dan]] is visiting [[TricksterMentor Socrates]] in the hospital after the old man had a heart attack and, it seems, did actually [[OnlyMostlyDead die]] and miraculously come back to life. Dan is explaining what happened when [[DeadpanSnarker Soc]] interrupts, "I'm rooting for you. I can't wait to find out [[ForegoneConclusion how it all came out]]."

* The narration starts with Eugene telling an unknown person that this is the story of how he died.

* In "A Minute's Wait", the second segment of Creator/JohnFord's ''Film/TheRisingOfTheMoon'', the engineer begins a drawn-out suspenseful story about a ghost he discovered while exploring in an old castle. The officious station master comes in and says the train is (once again) ready to depart. The barmaid asks "What happened to the ghost? Did he not come back and get you?" The engineer assures her he'll finish the story later, "when there's more congenital company."

* ''VideoGame/Fallout1'': {{Inverted|Trope}}. There's a ghoul character with a lot of war stories who will invariably respond to questions like "How did you survive?" with "Didn't. Got killed! Hehehehehe!"

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': Not outright asked, but definitely alluded to with Rin and Auron's meeting on the Thunder Plains. Rin refers to having assisted Auron with his injuries 10 years ago, but was susprised to find him gone by morning, as "an ordinary man would not have been able to walk." Auron sternly asks him to drop the subject. [[spoiler:Auron left in the morning because he ''did'' die, and became an [[NotUsingTheZWord unsent]].]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout|1}}'': {{Inverted|Trope}}. There's a ghoul character with a lot of war stories who will invariably respond to questions like "How did you survive?" with "Didn't. Got killed! Hehehehehe!"

** Inverted in ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'', as quoted above. If you "kill" Guybrush during the game by not escaping the torture chamber in time, Elaine (whom Guybrush is telling the story to) tells him that can't have happened, since he's obviously not dead.

* Inverted in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'' short "Mater the Greater", when Mater claims that it was ''Lightning [=McQueen=]'' who tried performing a death-defying leap across a canyon...and that he "didn't make it". (And it's Lightning himself he's telling the story to.)

* In ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', the senior bridge officers die in a simulated battle during a training session at Star Fleet Academy. When Admiral Kirk sees Captain Spock immediately after, the first thing he says is "Aren't you dead?" Spock's response: [[FascinatingEyebrow raised eyebrow]]. [[spoiler:[[note]]This scene was intended to throw off spoilers from being leaked to the public[[/note]]]]

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': Tucker explains how some thugs killed his original team and then tried to kill him. Caboose really hopes he stopped them.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'', as quoted above. If you "kill" Guybrush during the game by not escaping the torture chamber in time, Elaine (whom Guybrush is telling the story to) tells him that can't have happened, since he's obviously not dead.

'''Amy:''' [[BalefulPolymorph Rat.]] You?\\

Subtrope of ForegoneConclusion, as they clearly ''did'' live to tell the tale -- except when they had an UnexplainedRecovery. (Other exceptions may involve a FromASingleCell HealingFactor, TheUndead, or coming BackFromTheDead.) May lead to an AskAStupidQuestion situation ("Yes, I did die. I'm not here."). Cases where the storyteller really did die tend towards a DeadAllAlong or DeadToBeginWith [[TheReveal reveal]]. Can also cover cases where a character telling a tall tale that had been believed up to that point breaks his listener's suspension of disbelief by getting carried away and proceeding to describe their own death. Contrast PosthumousNarration and UndeadAuthor.