History Main / ThatManIsDead

* At the end of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', Edgeworth leaves a note in his desk that says "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death". He meant that as in it's a JourneyToFindOneself, to leave his old ways behind, but Phoenix took it [[DrivenToSuicide literally]].

** In the [[ForWantofaNail Unbound]] series of audio plays (also by Creator/BigFinish), we have [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoUnboundE4HeJestsAtScars "He Jests at Scars"]], which is pretty much nothing but this trope.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Fans}}'', Alysin [[MeaningfulName (note spelling)]] assumed her name when she became a hard-partying Goth with a hidden sadistic streak. Later, after being cured of a rare life-threatening disease and finding true love and a fulfilling life with husband Rikk [[spoiler:[[{{polyamory}} and their third partner Rumi]],]] she put that part of her life behind her, dropped the Goth wardrobe and persona [[spoiler:(but kept some of her bondage gear in the bedroom for "therapeutic" purposes)]], and is now referred to as simply "Aly".

---> [[spoiler:'''Lucien:''']] I am sorry, for whatever it's worth, that your friend is gone. [[IronicEcho Whatever part of me they were, is not of me anymore.]]
** Invoked a ''[[RuleOfThree third]]'' time by [[spoiler: Kingsley Tealeaf, the resultant personality after the Nein kill Lucien and try to resurrect Molly; while he has ''some'' of Molly's memories -- enough, at least, to recognize the Nein are people he can trust -- much like Lucien and Molly, Kingsley sees himself as a separate person. In contrast to the loathing Lucien had for Molly, Kingsley is much more amicable to his old selves, and likes to think of Molly as a brother.]]

* A variation is used in ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' with Bobby Jacks. 'Make it Rob, please,' Oddly, it signifies a HeelFaceTurn rather than the other way around.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_MqZn7E-mk "Hanzo Hasashi is dead.]] My name... Is ''[[Franchise/MortalKombat Scorpion]]''."
* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', Taylor slowly subsumes herself into her "Skitter" persona, becoming a ruthless and feared parahuman warlord in control of a major American city, but one that distinctly cared for the individuals under her rule. After [[spoiler:joining the Wards]], she adopts the identity of [[spoiler:Weaver]], a KnightTemplar WellIntentionedExtremist driven to stop the end of the world no matter who she needs to kill, rejecting all bonds and devaluing all her emotional ties. Finally, after [[spoiler:failing to prevent the end of the world but at least saving the multiverse]], she resumes being Taylor again.
* In ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'', this happens to [[spoiler:Arthéon]] from the in-game perspective. At the beginning of the fourth novel and Season 5, the player behind him gets a job controlling the equivalent of a NonPlayerCharacter with human instead of artificial intelligence. The process involved pasting the statistics that the character is supposed to have whitin the game's story on [[spoiler:Arthéon]]'s standard gaming avatar while the player had to start roleplaying to fit his new story role. Since the player had very recently decided to adopt a new attitude towards both his in-game and real life when he got offered his job, he decided to act as if this trope applied to his former game persona. That included informing the other players with whom he used to hang out that "There is no more [full name of the old gaming avatar], there's just [character that I'm roleplaying].".
* Heavily implied with Blake in ''WebVideo/RWBYAbridged'', who insists that she doesn't have a name and only refers to herself as "[[HalfHumanHybrid Cat Girl]]", and soon afterwards reveals her past life as a terrorist, which left her so scared that she questions whether the world she sees is really what's real, or if she's so broken that she doesn't even realize what the world is still like anymore. [[spoiler: Luckily, after a couple episodes, she's already showing signs of getting better and has started letting other people know her real name again.]]

* Almost literally done on the ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP''. Ghostbur insists he's not Wilbur, and often speaks of his living self as if he's a whole separate person. [[spoiler:In fact, if Wilbur is to be believed, Ghostbur has an [[LiteralSplitPersonality entirely separate soul altogether]], as Wilbur apparently saw him [[DeathOfPersonality entering the Afterlife]] as Wilbur himself [[BackFromTheDead was leaving]]. One interpretation suggests that the original Wilbur's soul might have split into two fragments, the personification of the "vulnerabilities" that he severely repressed in his trauma to survive in the CrapsackWorld he lives in (e.g. trust, idealism, and belief in peace and diplomacy to solve conflicts), and the rest being the cultivation of his [[TraumaCongaLine less-than-stellar experiences]] on the SMP.]]

** Invoked by Mollymauk Tealeaf in campaign 2. When the party discovers information on his past, he makes it perfectly clear that he doesn't consider himself the same person as he was before he [[BackFromTheDead dug his way out of his own grave]]. Possibly subverted in that it's unclear whether he's a [[BodySnatcher genuinely different person than before]], or if he just [[AmnesiacHero can't remember anything about his past]].
-->'''Molly:''' Let me make this abundantly clear. My name is Molly. That person is dead and not me. It's just a person who had this body. They abandoned it, it's mine now.
** Invoked a second time by [[spoiler: Lucien when the Mighty Nein catch up with him in Eiselcross.]]. He remembers nothing about his time as [[spoiler: Mollymauk Tealeaf]] and, much like [[spoiler: his previous life]], he feels no connection to who he was before [[spoiler: he was revived]].
--> [[spoiler:'''Lucien:''']] I am sorry, for whatever it's worth, that your friend is gone. [[IronicEcho Whatever part of me they were, is not of me anymore.]]
** Invoked a ''[[RuleOfThree third]]'' time by [[spoiler: Kingsley Tealeaf, the resultant personality after the Nein kill Lucien and try to resurrect Molly; while he has ''some'' of Molly's memories - enough, at least, to recognize the Nein are people he can trust - much like Lucien and Molly, Kingsley sees himself as a separate person, and thinks of Molly as his "brother."]]

* In the past, UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} people would allow the use of their birth names in highly particular circumstances, such as pre-transition history—an acceptance of both past and present self as part of the transition. However, the rise of social media brought with it the rise of "deadnaming," the belief that the birth name is unacceptable to mention in any circumstance, as it is a "dead name." Many newer trans people, particularly those who became trans after 2010, have embraced deadnaming as a concept.

* It's common for UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} people to refer to the names they were at birth as their "dead names"

'''ComicBook/TheJoker:''' Jack? Jack is dead, my friend. You can call me... ''Joker''. And as you can see, I'm a lot happier.

* It's common for UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} people to refer to the names they were.

* It's common for UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} people to refer to the names they were given at birth as their "dead names", given that they represent a lie they were forced to live and [[MaliciousMisnaming continuing to use their dead name]] implies that their fake self is preferable to their true gender, which is a supreme insult.

* In the Music/PinkFloyd RockOpera ''Music/TheWall'', after Pink's FreakOut when his wife leaves him, he is forced back on stage to perform - but emerges as a neo-Nazi, and announces his change by claiming to be a new person:
-->Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel\\

-->''The me that you know, he had some second thoughts\\

That part of me isn't here anymore.''

* Former Music/PinkFloyd frontman Music/SydBarrett refused to answer to "Syd" after leaving the band, preferring his birth name, Roger.

* Music/NineInchNails' song "The Becoming", from ''Music/TheDownwardSpiral'', involves this happening to the album's protagonist.
-->"That part of me, isn't here anymore"

* Music/NineInchNails' song, The Becoming, is all about this.
-->"That part of me/Isn't here anymore"

[[folder: Mythology and Religion]]

* ThatManIsDead/{{Film}}

* Music/GreenDay's ''Music/AmericanIdiot'' follows the main character, Jesus of Suburbia. Jesus develops a split personality named St. Jimmy, who encourages his partying and drug abusing habits. Eventually, Jesus frees himself of this split personality and claims that St. Jimmy killed himself.

* Music/GreenDay's ''Music/AmericanIdiot'' follows the main character, Jesus of Suburbia. Jesus develops a split personality named St. Jimmy, who encourages his partying and drug abusing habits. Eventually, Jesus frees himself of this split personality and claims that St. Jimmy shot killed himself.

* "Frank grew up!" (if the person was only a good guy in his/her childhood)

[[folder:Machinima]]
* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' has Agent Maine getting slowly corrupted by his AI Sigma until he finally snaps and loses his human identity. Even after Sigma and the other AI fragments were killed by an EMP, Maine continues to carry out Sigma's will.
[[/folder]]

* ''WebAnimation/MinilifeTV'': In the Minilife Chronicles episode "The Student and the Master", Master Quoker insists to Abel that the Master Quoker he's been searching for is no longer around due to his transformation.

* In Creator/TennesseeWilliams' ''Summer and Smoke'', when the transformed Alma throws herself at John, she tells him that, "The girl who said 'no' [to his advances], she doesn't exist any more -- she died last summer, suffocated in smoke from something on fire inside her." Unfortunately, it's too late for her, as John has also changed, has gotten engaged to another woman, and is intent on settling down with her.

* In Creator/TennesseeWilliams' ''Summer and Smoke'', when the transformed Alma throws herself at John, she tells him that, "The girl who said 'no' [to his advances], she doesn't exist any more -- she died last summer, suffocated in smoke from something on fire inside her." Unfortunately, it's too late for her, as John has gotten engaged to another woman.

* At the end of ''VideoGame/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', Edgeworth leaves a note in his desk that says "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death". He meant that as in it's a JourneyToFindOneself, to leave his old ways behind, but Phoenix took it [[DrivenToSuicide literally]].

* ''Music/LadyGaga'': Stefanie Joanne Angelina Germinota suffered several tribulations in her childhood, including being bullied for her nose and getting molested. After her music career took off, she used her stage name of Lady Gaga as the common way she would like to be addressed to distance from her childhood, with even her family calling her by her stage name out of respect for her wishes. She has actually stated in interviews that Stefanie Germinota is dead, invoking this trope.

'''ComicBook/TheJoker:''' Jack? Jack is dead, my friend. You can call me... Joker. And as you can see, I'm a lot happier.