Basic Trope: A character has decided to become their alter ego forever and declares the original persona dead.
- Straight: Alice calls Bob by his name, but he says "Bob is dead. Call me Robert."
- Exaggerated:
- Robert not only rejects his old name, but every aspect of his old appearance and personality.
- Robert arranges a funeral for Bob and makes everybody that knew him attend.
- Downplayed: Robert does not outright reject his old name, but he is visibly uncomfortable with being called by it.
- Justified:
- Bob, playing the role of Robert, is Becoming the Mask.
- Robert is Transgender; "Alice" was merely the persona that was attached to the gender he was assigned to at birth, and is not indicative of his true gender.
- Bob took the name "Robert" due to a traumatic experience and it's too painful to remember his old life.
- Bob has suffered brain damage to the point that his personality is fundamentally different than before. So, in a way, Bob really is dead.
- Bob has died at one point, but was revived later on. However, he had a personality change that came with the traumatic experiences from his past life and the simple fact that he was dead. So, in a way, Bob is dead.
- Inverted:
- Bob gets a headmate named Robert, and when he discovers this says that "Robert has been born."
- Bob finally gives up his alter ego and says that "Robert is dead."
- No matter how many times Alice points out how much Bob has changed, Bob insists that he's still the same old Bob.
- Bob was missing and assumed dead, and people insist on it and pretending "Robert" is an Identical Stranger even when Bob is standing there insisting he is alive.
- Subverted:
- Bob really is dead, like Robert has been trying to tell everyone the whole time.
- "Bob? He's taking a long vacation until I can make the streets safe. I'm Robert for now."
- Bob is Faking the Dead and was coaching his accomplice to address him as Robert instead of by his true name.
- Double Subverted: "For now" turns out to be indefinite.
- Parodied:
- Alice upon being given the "that man is dead" line assumes that Robert is Bob's identical twin and is sorry that Bob died.
- Bob mentions that his old name is dead in the middle of a casual conversation that has nothing to do with his identity.
- "Bob is dead. Call me Robert." "Okay, Robert-" "Robert is dead. Call me Ronald." "Ron-" "Ronald is dead. Call me Roland."
- "Aron is dead. Call me Aaron" or other variants involving homophones. The character on the receiving end of this is thoroughly confused.
- Zig Zagged: "Bob is dead", then "Robert is no more", and finally "I was never Bob".
- Averted: Bob stays himself.
- Enforced: The writers want to show just how far gone Bob is, so they have him declare that Bob is dead, and to call him Robert.
- Lampshaded: “Why is it that when someone has an alter ego they consider the original self dead?”
- Invoked: "If he says that Bob is dead, he can't object to me taking Bob's stuff."
- Exploited: Bob tells people that That Man Is Dead to unnerve his enemies, who become convinced that Bob has turned Darker and Edgier.
- Defied: "We can't let him continue down this path, or Bob will be gone and there will be only Robert."
- Discussed: "Just because he's very convincing as Robert, doesn't mean that Bob is gone forever."
- Conversed: "I'm not going to employ cheap theatrics and say that my old self is gone. I've simply grown into Robert."
- Implied: The character stops answering when called Bob.
- Played For Laughs: Bob, after his favorite lunch gets taken off the menu at his favorite restaurant, dons a cape and claims "Bob is dead." Alice completely misses the point and responds incredulously, "No, you're not. You're right there!"
"There Is Only Zuul" is dead. Call me That Man Is Dead.
