History Main / DeadManWriting

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

** In the episode "Sticks and Stones", the first murder victim had warned the murderer that if anything happened to her, a friend would mail a letter to the sheriff explaining everything. The murderer's response was to kill her, and then flood Cabot Cove with poison pen letters filled with false accusations, so the genuine one would be ANeedleInAStackOfNeedles.

Somehow, the message can end up in the hands of its intended recipient even under circumstances that can border on a post-mortem GambitRoulette. The subversion where it winds up in the hands of the villain instead is also common and often happens because the dead person has the IdiotBall. In yet a third possibility, it sometimes does get to the intended recipient--who turns out to be in league with the villain.

* On ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', a dying scientist working with ZFT leaves the team a videotape revealing that Walter's old partner William Bell is the group's backer.
* The letter Bart leaves for Chuck on ''Series/GossipGirl'' (which oddly enough mentions that he's left Chuck Bass Industries, but fails to mention the morality clause).

* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'', episode "Truck Stop": An fatally injured man records a message describing how he came to kill two people. He's partly covering for someone else.
** In the episode "To the Last Will I Grapple With Thee", the murder victim left a videotape claiming that a friend of Jessica's was out to kill him. He actually committed suicide, arranging his death to implicate Jessica's friend, a man whom he blamed for making his life miserable.
* In the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode featuring ''Film/TheAtomicBrain'', when the companion of villainess Mrs. March reads the letter that'll be used to give Nina Mrs. March's fortune, Mike quips "By the time I read this, you'll be dead." Ironically, it's the man who's killed instead.

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** At the tenth season finale, in a tape left by the latest suspect (a devotee of SerialKiller Christopher Pelant), there was one of these by him for Brennan. It talked about him still living on in the digital world, but unlike most instances of these, Brennan closes the video before it could finish.

* At the end of ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' Season 13, Epsilon/Church leaves a recording for his friends just before they face off against Hargrove's forces. However, it's not so much a question of ''if'' he's dead (he erases himself moments after recording it), it's if his friends are alive at the end of the fight to hear the recording.

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* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'':
** During Tali's loyalty mission, she and Shepard find a holovid on the corpse of Tali's father. Tali's quite bitter that the holovid essentially only gives her orders on how to clean up the mess he caused.
** Kasumi's partner leaves a holo-message as well.
** If you romance him, Thane writes a message to be delivered in the event of his death (he has an incurable disease, and expects to die within a year). In the third game, he dies fighting Kai Leng and the message is indeed delivered to Shepard's email.

* Papas'/Pankraz's letter in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV''. When you obtain the Zenithian Sword, he wants you to fulfill his objective to find the legendary hero and your mother.
* As a rule, every NCR soldier in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' must carry a letter to their loved ones, to be read only in the event of their deaths.
** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' has a number of these, such as the note from Sidney's late father found in the Statesman Hotel.
** In ''Honest Hearts'', you find a trail of holotapes left by a survivalist named Randall Clark in the years after the bombs fell, leading up to the day of his death.
* John's letter to Ada in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil''.
* ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreForAnswer'''s Maximilian Thermidor leaves the player this type of message in the ORCA path, stating that, as the sole remaining member of [[LaResistance ORCA]], ItsUpToYou to complete the Closed Plan. If you're playing Hard Mode, you find out [[spoiler: that Thermidor not only isn't dead, but he's actually Otsdarva, one of Omer's lackeys who has been [[MoleInCharge playing you and the rest of ORCA for fools]] the whole time.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Penumbra}}'''s FramingStory involves one of these from the protagonist. To kick off the game's plot, ''he'' gets a letter from his dead father, as well.
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'', Bladewolf plays Jetstream Sam's final message to Raiden to him during the final battle.
* The ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' mission "A Fistful of Gorn". Your contact on Nimbus III, an old Romulan lawman named Law, sends you a note saying he's going after a Gorn pirate gunning for your head. Cue cutscene of the two of them squaring off in a ShowdownAtHighNoon, which [[BattleDiscretionShot cuts away just as the shots ring out.]] [[spoiler:In the next scene, [[SubvertedTrope Law walks up to you and shrugs]], then notes [[LampshadeHanging the awkwardness of leaving a death note for you and then surviving his expceted death]].]]
* The original ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' on NES opens with Ryu's father in a life and death duel. As might be expected, his father is killed in the duel, leaving only a message for Ryu to find containing instructions to go to America and a final condolence from his father.
* ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'': One of the Tundra Patrol bandits, [[MeaningfulName Will]], drops an ECHO recording that turns out to be one of these to his killer (you). In it, Will the Bandit bequeaths his stash to you, since by killing him you proved you're in better need of his guns. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial He also takes a moment to assure you that really, this isn't just a trap to try and kill you out of revenge for killing him.]] He apparently had it programmed with extra recordings to taunt you when you get to the stash and spring the trap, and then grumble "you suck" after you survive the ambush.
* What starts the whole adventure off in ''VideoGame/HeistTheCrimeOfTheCentury''. While attending the funeral of her despised Uncle Henry, the protagonist Elaine receives a posthumous letter from him. It seems Henry was a thief and wants Elaine to follow in his footsteps.
** Once you get into Henry's apartment, there's a voice recording with further instructions.
** There's one final hidden message from Uncle Henry [[spoiler: concealed in the crown jewels, intended to set Elaine on a better path.]]
* In ''[[VideoGame/QuernUndyingThoughts Quern - Undying Thoughts]]'', [[spoiler:the good ending implies this may be the case with Maythorn. The same message plays regardless of which choice you make. However, if you use the red crystal instead of the green crystal, the message starts to break down and gets cut off. This strongly suggests that the voice you hear at the end is a recording and Maythorn is long dead. Also, the calculations to unlock the gateway took centuries and Maythorn left Quern long before they were finished. Given that time is essentially meaningless in Quern, he could have rigged the gateway so that it would bring you there well after his departure.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Hacknet}}'' starts with this trope, where the player receives an email from hacker Bit after installing a cracked OS. The email is a failsafe setup by Bit as he prepares for his inevitable demise as he is hunted down. The player is then given a series of instructions on how to continue Bit’s work, via further emails written before Bit’s death.
* ''VideoGame/HauntedHotel: Death Sentence'' opens with the player character receiving a message from her good friend James, advising her that if she's reading the letter, he's probably dead and he needs her to go to the Holy Mountain Hotel and finish his investigation for him. When she gets there, she finds that (much to his own surprise) he's actually still alive, but he won't stay that way if she doesn't help him finish his case.
** Later in the series, in the installment ''The Evil Inside'', James (who is the player character this time) is searching through the haunted Hotel Valentine for his cousin and her friends. He finds a few letters of this type from some of the friends, who have realized that they're not going to survive and want to leave some kind of farewell. One letter even contains a DyingDeclarationOfLove for one of the others, though he has sadly already died and will never see it.

* Professor Farnsworth leaves a holographic message to his crew after he is taken to the Near Death Star in the ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' episode "A Clone of My Own". He even anticipates a smart remark by Bender and reveals that he recorded over Bender's soap operas.
* ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'': Tony's father does one of these for Tony.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', Chuckie's late mother Melinda left a poem for her son to read when he got older. Unlike most examples, it is a huge TearJerker.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk Dragons: Race to the Edge]]'': at the end of "Family On the Edge", a reformed Dagur left Heather a farewell note, which she found after his HeroicSacrifice to prevent the other riders from falling into Viggo's trap. He advised that Hiccup seek out Viggo's next dragon auction, and admitted that he did not kill their biological father Oswald the Agreeable, that he only let people believe he did so he would not be seen as weak.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends':
** This appeared in ''[[Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy I, Jedi]]'', a novel featuring Corran Horn, whose father, secretly the son of a Jedi, had died years before, and left a holographic message for him. It started with the "My hope is that we're watching this together..." variant, and the thought that they'd be laughing at how young he looked.
** Corran gets to subvert this in the ''Literature/XWingSeries'' -- he and Tycho psyche Wedge out with a fake 'last message' before revealing that they're both fine. Later in the series, it's played straight with the message Phanan wrote while dying and gave to Face.
** Also in the EU, Lorn Pavan recorded a message for his son Jax. Jax had been taken and raised by the Jedi, and one of the last things Lorn did was tell the recording droid to find his son.
* The original novel ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'' has two. The first is written briefly before Hyde takes over Jekyll forever. Hyde is dead by the time the second letter is read, so that moves it out of "technically".
* ''A String Of Pearls'' the original book about ''Literature/SweeneyTodd'', features an example written by someone who discovered that the pies were made from people. Unfortunately, he spent so much time writing about how horrible the secret he'd discovered was, [[TooDumbToLive he ran out of pencil before he could reveal it.]]
* This is subverted in the book ''Literature/TheTimeTravelersWife'', where Henry suggests that it's a bit presumptuous to start such a letter in such a certain way, and suggests that the letter might be read before he has really died.
* Happens a couple of times in Creator/TamoraPierce's ''Literature/TortallUniverse''
** In ''[[Literature/SongOfTheLioness Lioness Rampant]]'', Liam sent the letter to a friend, thinking trouble was likely. If he survived, she was to burn the letter; if he didn't, she was to pass it on to Alanna.
** Before her Ordeal in ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'', Kel tries writing one to her sweetheart Cleon, which consists of one sentence--she loves him and will miss him. She knows the chances she'll need it are low (and she's fine, of course), but the Chamber of the Ordeal ''had'' killed Joren the year before.

* In Garth Nix's ''Literature/ShadesChildren'' the escaped children routinely make these, very much aware that any mission could be their last.

* Used in the Literature/ForgottenRealms short story "The Rose Window." The narrator writes down his findings before confronting the evil behind the window, intending to destroy his message afterward if he's successful. The outcome is hinted at by the story's existence.
* Moiraine from ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' gave Rand one of these, with the knowledge she'd be gone by the time he read it. She also left another letter that said she wasn't dead.
* Name a solve-it-yourself mystery featuring a kidnapping or murder where the victim DOESN'T manage to leave one of these, somehow revealing the identity of the perpetrator in a secret manner. (In one case, not actually a secret, just the murderer's name written in a position that was upside-down to the detectives but right-side-up to the victim.)
* The third book of the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' reveals that Brom has left one for Eragon. Instead of leaving a note, he tells it to Sapphira, who shares the memory via their mental link. This one is unusual in that she is forced via magic to not be allowed to share it with him unless the contents become vital to his safety.
* In Creator/DavidEddings' ''Literature/{{Malloreon}}'', Belgarath and Belgarion find a message written by the BigBad of Literature/TheBelgariad, Torak, that is addressed to Belgarion. It (not entirely typically) starts "If you are reading this, we have already met in battle and you have killed me..." and goes onto explain a few rather important points of the Prophecies that they both serve. It ends with the instruction that Belgarion must be ready to do anything, even kill his own son, rather than allow the Dark Prophecy to be fulfilled. Pretty ominous, considering the Dark Prophecy is the one Torak was serving.
* In ''Mockingjay'', the last book in ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' series, Katniss gets one from Cinna. His sketchbook contains designs for a suit of armor for her to wear into battle and the message "I'm still betting on you."
* In ''Literature/DiplomaticImmunity'' by Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold, Miles records several of these -- to his parents, his brother and cousin, and his unborn children -- when he thinks he's likely to die of exposure to a Cetagandan bioweapon. When he's cured, his wife refuses to erase them, saying that the next time he's in mortal danger, he might not have time to record them again.
* This is the entire plot of ''Literature/ThirteenReasonsWhy'': A girl who killed herself leaves a series of tapes to 13 people. Aside from the protagonist, they're all people whom she blames for her death.
* In Creator/AgathaChristie's novels:
** Subverted ''twice'' in ''Literature/DeathOnTheNile'': The initial written by the murder victim in her own blood is quickly discovered to actually have been written by the murderer (the victim died instantly, leaving no time to write a message), seemingly to throw suspicion on a third party. It later turns out the third party was actively involved in the planning of the murder and the message served to direct suspicion ''away'' from her.
** Played straight in ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone''; the murderer writes a message in a bottle revealing their identity and explaining in detail how and why they murdered everyone and stating how they hoped it was unsolved up until their point of reveal.
** Also played straight in ''Literature/{{Curtain}}'': Literature/HerculePoirot's letter, sent to Captain Hastings four months after the former's death, reveals the identity of the serial killer labeled as "X" (Stephen Norton) and gives a reason why Poirot died, leaving the case seemingly unsolved: he was the one who already solved it by killing Norton in order to stop the string of murders from happening again, and then atoning for the crime by keeping his heart medication out of reach so that [[FaceDeathWithDignity he can have a calm, dignified end with hours to spare]], which gives out a reason why he turned the letter over to authorities in hopes that it could be used as evidence, hidden away for four months.
** There's also a letter to Poirot from the soon-to-be-executed murderer in ''Literature/LordEdgwareDies'', though obviously the main mystery had already been solved by then.
* In ''[[Literature/AuntDimity Aunt Dimity's Death]]'', after Willis Sr. is sure of Lori's identity, he gives Lori two letters, one from Aunt Dimity and one from her mother. Dimity's provides some background on the terms of her will and the reasoning behind it, while Beth's sets Lori a second task to carry out.
* In ''Literature/ShadowOfTheHegemon'', Bean receives two copies of an email following Sister Carlotta's death. Each had to be stopped being sent each day; this method was meant to ensure that Carlotta's death could not prevent Bean learning important information about himself that she already knew, but wasn't yet ready to tell him.

* In the second book of the ''Isaac Asimov's Caliban'' series, the planetary governor is assassinated. Sheriff Kresh, who's investigating the murder, is shocked to be told he was recently made the governor's successor -- and to receive an "in case I'm assassinated" letter from him giving him advice on the political situation and wishing him luck.
* In ''Literature/TheFaultInOurStars'', Hazel and Lidewij track down Augustus' last letter to Van Houten, which turns out not to be the sequel to ''An Imperial Affliction'' but his eulogy for Hazel.
* In ''Literature/TheBabysittersClub'' Mystery #5, Mary Anne reads a letter her mother wrote to her shortly before her death.

* In ''Literature/PromiseAtDawn'', TheNarrator receives these from [[spoiler:his mother, who wrote letters to send to him after she died from her diabetes so as to encourage him to become a grand writer and soldier for LaResistence]].
* In ''Literature/TheMedusaChronicles'' by Creator/StephenBaxter and Creator/AlastairReynolds , the tape [[spoiler: Seth]] gets after [[spoiler: Mo]]'s death begins "If you're listening to this package, it means the I.R.S. finally caught up with me..."

* ''Literature/EyeOfAFly'': In the DistantFinale, Harry writes a letter to his estranged son Ernest as he's dying of multiple organ failure from decades of alcoholism, confessing how he and his gang mugged and murdered a man when he was fifteen. The hospital sends the letter after he dies.

* ''Literature/ShineShineShine'': After the death of Sunny's mother Emma, Sunny finds a letter written by her to Sunny's husband Maxon, to be delivered to Sunny after Emma's death, in which [[spoiler:she admits that she turned Sunny's missionary father Bob over to the authorities, causing his execution, so the two of them could get out of Burma]].

* "By The Time You Read This I Will Be Dead" by Suicide Watch.

* At the end of the second Music/TheProtomen album, when Dr. Light has lost all hope and is waiting for Wily's robot army to arrest him, he finally reads his murdered love's last letter - which (somewhat presciently) tells him not to give up hope and continue fighting.

* Music/DanielAmos's album series ''The Alarma Chronicles'' includes an ongoing story in the liner notes. The final album, ''Music/FearfulSymmetry'', the narrator reveals that he will soon be dead, presumably from old age.

* "P.S. Please" by Music/CliffRichard is a series of letters written by a father to the daughter he'll never see.

* Occurs repeatedly in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' products, including ''The Universal Brotherhood'', ''Awakenings'', ''Threats'', ''Threats 2'', ''Dragons of the Sixth World'' (twice!) and ''Emergence''. Always involves someone trying to publicize information about a dangerous conspiracy, with the conspiracy trying to kill the person to prevent this.

* ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' supplement ''Dark Designs'', adventure "The Eyes of the Blind''. The note Elias Cartwright sends to Jeremiah Ordacre starts "By the time you read this I fear that I shall be dead". Shortly thereafter Elias is killed by being pushed under the wheels of a carriage.

* ''TabletopGame/HollowEarthExpedition'' supplement ''Mysteries of the Hollow Earth''. The journal of Professor Alexander Trader details his exploration of the Hollow Earth. The journal was found abandoned: Professor Trader's fate is unknown. Near the end of the journal it says:
-->If you are reading this, then all is lost for me, and I most certainly have already shuffled off this mortal coil. My life will not have been in vain, however, if this journal makes it to those who can appreciate my discoveries.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''
** Judges Guild supplement ''The Book of Treasure Maps'', adventure "The Lost Temple". The {{PC}}s discover a letter from Valan the Bold to his brother telling the story of how he found the title Lost Temple. Valan writes that he's dying of a fever and that "I fear that soon I shall soon join my comrades in death in this far land." He says that he plans to entrust the letter to his sole surviving companion in the hope that she can deliver it to his brother.
** ''DA1 Adventures in Blackmoor''. The {{PC}} party will find Hepath Nun's suicide note in the Common Room of the Comeback Inn. It tells the story of how Nun's party was trapped inside the Inn and grew desperate in their attempts to escape. The last paragraph starts with the line "That is my tale. I go now to my death." Nearby they find Hepath Nun's body hanging by the neck from a chandelier.

* ''VideoGame/IndependenceWar2: Edge of Chaos'' has one such last will in Lucrecia's Base, stating that the base's vacancy and lack of activity boils down to her being dead and that the finder of the base gets to keep it. It ends up in the hands of her grandson [[PlayerCharacter Cal Johnston]], albeit with guidance from mentor Jefferson Clay, who even in AI construct form was old enough to have known Lucrecia.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'', where Bian Souldark leaves a holo-recording for his daughter, Lune, hidden in her Valsione - along with comprehensive data on secret DC bases, since he apparently predicted that she'd join up with the heroes after they'd killed him, and figured that they might need a hand taking down the remnants of DC. Nice of him, huh?

* ''VideoGame/TheGuardianLegend'' has one of these after you complete the introductory space shooter level when you first enter the labyrinth.

* Your foster father Gorion in ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' leaves one of these kinds of letters for you to pick up late in the game. (He also apparently ''lies''--{{Fanon}} is divided on whether the two stories of your mother can be reconciled--but then he is the mentor.) The whole thing smells of {{Retcon}}. Probably done in order to be able to say that Sarevok and the PC could have exchanged places but for the smallest accident of chance.

* George Crabtree's journal in ''VideoGame/DarkFall: The Journal''.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'':
** During Tali's loyalty mission, she and Shepard find a holovid on the corpse of Tali's father. Tali's quite bitter that the holovid essentially only gives her orders on how to clean up the mess he caused.
** Kasumi's partner leaves a holo-message as well.
** If you romance him, Thane writes a message to be delivered in the event of his death (he has an incurable disease, and expects to die within a year). In the third game, he dies fighting Kai Leng and the message is indeed delivered to Shepard's email.

* The original novel ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'' has two. The first is written briefly before Hyde takes over Jekyll forever. Hyde is dead by the time the second letter is read, so that moves it out of "technically".
* This is subverted in the book ''Literature/TheTimeTravelersWife'', where Henry suggests that it's a bit presumptuous to start such a letter in such a certain way, and suggests that the letter might be read before he has really died.
* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' #34, this is done with not a note, but the stored ''memories and persona'' of Aldrea. Which puts Cassie in the rather unique position of inverting this by saying, "Yes, Aldrea, you are dead."
* Occurs in the short story "Death of a Bachelor" by Arthur Schnitzler. After the man dies, his housekeeper rounds up three men who knew him but have no seeming connection to each other. (It was supposed to be five, but two couldn't make it.) They are given the letter. It begins with "About a quarter of an hour ago I breathed my last", and proceeds to describe in gratuitous detail the affairs that he had with each of their wives.
* The plot of the ''Literature/CutAndRun'' spin-off book, ''Part & Parcel'', is based around this. Eli Sanchez was [[PosthumousCharacter killed off-screen in the first book before the audience ever meets him]], but twelve books later his friends are still dealing with his death. [[TeamMom Nick]] finds a series of letters Sanchez left him containing instructions for their old Force Recon team to go on a road trip, where the team reads his letters periodically.
* ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle'': PlayedWith in ''Literature/TheNameOfTheWind''. Kvothe leaves one of these messages for Bast but survives his mission, to return home to find that Bast found the note earlier than he was supposed to and is pissed off.

* ''A String Of Pearls'' the original book about ''Literature/SweeneyTodd'', features an example written by someone who discovered that the pies were made from people. Unfortunately, he spent so much time writing about how horrible the secret he'd discovered was, [[TooDumbToLive he ran out of pencil before he could reveal it.]]

* This appeared in ''[[Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy I, Jedi]]'', a Franchise/StarWarsLegends novel featuring Corran Horn, whose father, secretly the son of a Jedi, had died years before, and left a holographic message for him. It started with the "My hope is that we're watching this together..." variant, and the thought that they'd be laughing at how young he looked.

* Rachel's letter to Greg in ''Film/MeAndEarlAndTheDyingGirl'' that she [[VoiceoverLetter voices out]] post-mortem in the last scene.
* Used to avert KarmaHoudini in ''Film/TheInternecineProject'' (1974). The villain arranges for several colleagues to kill each other, but the last victim arranges for a message to be sent to the villain if he dies... with the pages impregnated with poison.
* ''Film/TheUnknown'': When Alonzo {{blackmail}}s the doctor into amputating his arms, he warns the doctor that he has left behind a letter that will expose the doctor's crimes should he happen to die on the operating table.

* ''Film/BattlefieldEarth''. Jonnie Tyler receives instruction in the Psychlo language from a hologram of an alien who opens with the chilling statement that not only himself but his entire race has likely been exterminated by the Psychlos.
* ''Film/PromisingYoungWoman'': The ending does this twice. After she's murdered during her quest for vengeance, it turns out Cassie did this as a XanatosGambit. A couple of months later, she sent her final message to [[TheAtoner Jordan]] to tell him that she was murdered by Al with all the evidence of where and when it happened, which leads to the police finding the body. To get justice for Nina, Cassie set up the video of Nina's rape to be sent around to everyone on Al's wedding guest list, meaning that he could no longer deny he'd raped her and that everybody knew.
* ''Film/PleaseMurderMe'' opens with defense lawyer Craig Carlson buying a pistol at a pawn shop and depositing it in his office desk drawer with a file folder. He dictates a message into a tape recorder for district attorney Ray Willis, revealing that he expects to be murdered within an hour, and he [[HowWeGotHere begins to tell his story in extended flashbacks]].
* In ''Film/TheManWhoTurnedToStone'', Cooper--suspecting the rest of the group intends to kill him--tells Dr. Rogers that he has written him a letter with instructions on to find his hidden, which explain everything that is happening. After Cooper disappears, Rogers recieves the letter and finds the diary. When he reads the diary, [[VoiceoverLetter it is narrated in Cooper's voice]].

* The ''Anime/YuGiOh'' anime has one in the Doma filler saga, where Pegasus speaks to the gang as a projection after he has his soul stolen.
* Appeared in ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'', in the episode "Woman Priest", in the classic "The letter ends up in the hands of its designated recipient against all probability" fashion. And, of course, it opened with "If you are reading this, it means that I have been devoured by the Shinma..."

* This is the entire premise of ''Anime/{{Shigofumi}}''.

* In the ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' manga, Nabiki tries to find some way to frame Ranma in retaliation for him destroying her concert ticket. She makes it look like he killed her and wrote the words "Ranma did it" on the floor.

* ''Anime/TheBigO''. In episode 24 Roger Smith receives a letter from Michael Seebach (Schwartzwald), which was to be delivered after his death.
* A character in the ''Manga/DeathNote'' anime plants two of these at once. The first and more detailed is presumably there to cover for the brusque, low-byte-count second.
* In ''Anime/SummerWars'', Granny Sakae leaves a note to the family, urging them to stick together through any hardships. In particular, she goes on at lengths about her estranged, adopted son Wabisuke, telling the family to welcome him back if he ever returns. Ironically, Wabisuke actually returned right before Sakae's death, stormed out after a big fight with her, and indirectly caused her death, since his creation, [[AIIsACrapshoot Love Machine]], messed up her heart monitor. He comes back, grief-stricken, as soon as they finish reading it, and they let him in without any hesitation.

* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'': Before Victor Hilshire departs for what turns out to be his final mission, he leaves a letter with his girlfriend Roberta Guellfi explaining that he'd like to spend the rest of his life with her, [[MartyrWithoutACause but he's committed to his fate]]. There's also a key to a safety deposit box with another letter explaining how he came to be Triela's protector, and revealing he [[NewChildLeftBehind secretly preserved some of Triela's eggs with a hospital]].
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' has an answering machine variation, with Kaji phoning Misato to encourage her to find the truth he can no longer pursue. Misato finds the message after being released from NERV's custody and bursts into tears, knowing it means that Kaji has met his doom.

* At the beginning of both season 1 and 2 of ''Anime/StrikeWitches'', Yoshika gets a letter from her father, who has been long dead before either letter actually reach her.
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', shortly before the TimeSkip, Ymir writes a letter to Christa[=/=]Historia, which Reiner hands over to the Survey Corps after being captured. The letter is Ymir's way of saying goodbye to Historia, and for good reason- at some point between when she wrote it and the first post-TimeSkip scene, Ymir was EatenAlive by Porco Galliard, in order to transfer her Titan powers to him.
* ''Literature/IWantToEatYourPancreas'': The protagonist receives Sakura's SecretDiary, ''Living With Dying'', after her death. In it, he discovers her will, which was written specifically for him to read.

* Peter Cook's character E. L. Wisty once delivered a comic monologue which he claimed would air after his death, giving his posthumous address as somewhere in South Heaven.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', the main characters are snooping around Gert's house and accidentally activate her parents' [[VideoWills holographic will]] when they guess the secret chamber's ([[ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish easy]]) access code.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' comic book ''Explorers on the Moon'', Wolfe leaves a letter stating he has "left the rocket" to conserve oxygen. In the [=BBC's=] radio adaptation, this becomes a message on the logging machine (which didn't exist in the comic) stating "...by the time you listen to this, you will be listening to the voice of a dead man."
* ''ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer'': Mortimer receives a letter from his deceased nemesis Miloch, entrusting him with a functional time machine as a post-mortem conciliatory gesture. In fact, the time machine has been sabotaged.
* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''. Rorschach's last journal entry: "If reading this now, whether I am alive or dead, you will know the truth. Whatever precise nature of this conspiracy, Adrian Veidt responsible. Have done best to make this legible. Believe it paints a disturbing picture. Appreciate your recent support and hope world survives long enough for this to reach you, but tanks are in East Berlin, and writing is on the wall."

* Kate Kane records a goodbye message for her father before every outing as ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}, just in case she is killed while on patrol.
* Astrid Mueller of ''ComicBook/CleanRoom'' made a tape for her right-hand aide Killian to watch in the event of Astrid's death. Given that glimpses of Astrid's knowledge commonly lead to suicides among her followers, it's assumed that the full info dump is even more devastating.

* ''ComicBook/BatmanAndRobinEternal'': Bruce records a holographic message warning Dick about Mother onto a memory stick. Cassandra delivers it to him in the first issue.

* ''[[http://www.thekeep.org/~mike/imbs.html Ill Met by Starlight]]'', a ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' DarkFic. Nabiki to Akane.
* And by the same circle of authors, a hilarious use of the same trope is found in ''[[http://www.thekeep.org/~mike/pastpresent.html Past Present]]'', a fanfic about Ranma reading Genma's memoirs after he passes away from disease.
-->''If you're reading this, boy, either I'm dead or you're more like me than I thought. If it's the latter, turn around very slowly and pray Kasumi goes easy on you.''\\
''Since you're still reading, it looks like I'm dead. Damn.''

* ''FanFic/MyLittleMagesTheNightmaresReturn'': Celestia has a message prepared to be sent to Twilight along with the box containing the Elements of Harmony and instructions on how to use them should she fail to defeat Nightmare Moon herself.
* ''Fanfic/LeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemenTempestRewrite'': Franchise/JamesBond left several tapes for Emma to play after killing him

* In chapter 27 of the ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' fanfic ''Fanfic/BecomingFree'', Elsa and Anna find letters to them written by their mother prior to her death. She wrote them specifically for them to find if she ever died.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' fanfic ''Fanfic/RequiemForALoud'', after their first (and only) meeting, Adrien writes a letter for Lincoln, which is delivered to him by Adrien's mother shortly after his death. In the letter, he encourages Lincoln to make the best of what little time he has left and make sure his sisters will have fond memories of him.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Frenzy}}'', Amy knew she was going to be killed so she wrote a bunch of letters to help Sonic find the murderer and stop him from killing others.
* In ''FanFic/FadedBlue'', before she gave up her physical form to have Steven, the very pregnant Blue Diamond left holographic messages for her son and fellow Diamonds within the database of her spaceship.
* Subverted in ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin''. Hiruzen Sarutobi left a message that was to be read in the event of his death (in fact, it was made so it would only appear if he died), since he thought he would die fighting during the Uchiha Insurrection. Fortunately, he manages to pull through thanks to Itachi's intervention, even though he ''was'' clinically dead for a few minutes.
* ''Fanfic/{{Gutters}}'': Denmark gives Sealand an origami frog that he has written inside and instructs Sealand not to open it until the next morning, by which time Denmark will have died.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''Film/ADeadlySecret'' has the inscriptions to the location of a treasure hoard being carved in the ''interior'' of a coffin board... by the ''fingernails'' of the victim, BuriedAlive.
* ''Film/TaxiDriver'' (1976): A note written by Travis includes "By the time you read this I will be dead."
* ''Film/TheManWithTwoBrains'' has the line "By the time you read this I will be dead."
* ''Film/SerialKiller'': women kidnapped by a serial killer are forced to say "By the time you see this I will be dead." while being videotaped.
* The recent movie ''Film/PSILoveYou'' revolves entirely around this trope.
* ''Film/TheCaineMutiny'' has this, with the main character's father.

* Parodied in ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}''; Lydia tries (and fails) to write one of these.
* In ''Film/IronEagle'', CoolOldGuy Chappy records a RousingSpeech for Doug specifically in case he goes down during their mission. "If anything happens to me, get as high as you can, and play this cassette."
* In ''Film/{{Milk}}'', the narration consists of the title character recording cassette tapes that should be listened to in the event of his assassination.
* ''Film/{{Cthulhu}}'' (2007). The protagonist is told his dead mother left a [[VideoWills video tape]] for him hidden in her house. He instead finds it in plain sight on top of the TV/VCR. On the tape his mother starts to warn him that his life is in danger from the mysterious cult run by his father; she then hears a noise and quickly turns the camera off. The camera is then turned on again by his father, who implores the protagonist to take his rightful place as the leader of his cult. The protagonist is shocked to see his father has blood on his face and hands, implying that he murdered his mother moments before.

* ''Film/BlueThunder'': Frank Murphy's sidekick, Lymangood, gets tortured and eventually killed by the bad guys who want from him the tape containing evidence of their conspiracy. Later, Murphy finds a message left by Lymangood on the flight recorder of the titular BlackHelicopter, revealing the location of the tape.
* ''Film/AmericanHistoryX'' uses this trope to create an extremely powerful ending. Danny, after his murder, narrates the film's ultimate Aesop that hate drags people down and traps them in cycles of never-ending revenge. He's actually reading out the conclusion of the paper he wrote for Principal Sweeney, which he had finished before his death.
* Parodied in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' when King Arthur and his knights read a message regarding Castle Aaaaaaagh. Maybe he was dictating?
* Howard Stark sends one to his son Tony in ''Film/IronMan2'', by way of behind-the-scenes footage of his "City of the Future" Stark Expo speech.
** Tony makes one himself for his family in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' in case anything went wrong with the team's TimeTravel mission, and he didn't make it back. Though this trope was zigzagged as it was only played after Tony made his [[DyingMomentOfAwesome sacrifice play]] at the end of the Battle for Earth, well after surviving their time-travel mission.
* In ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'', Peter Weyland leaves one of these. Subverted when it is revealed that he was travelling with the crew all along.
* In ''Film/TheBlueDahlia'', Johnny takes a picture of his dead son out of a frame, and finds a note from his murdered wife Helen, telling him that if anything happens to her, her boyfriend Eddie Harwood is really named Bauer and is wanted for murder in New Jersey.

* At the end of ''Literature/SafeHaven'' (and the novel it's based on), the hero gives the heroine a letter from his late wife, addressed "To The Woman My Husband Loves". In the box he takes the letter from, we see several others, addressed to her children and her husband himself. Aside from being a very touching PassingTheTorch type of missive, with lines like "I'm so glad he's found you", this is when we get TheReveal that the woman who befriended her upon her arrival to town was [[spoiler: actually the late wife's ghost]].

* The original ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' for the Nintendo opens with Ryu's father in a life and death duel. As might be expected, his father is killed in the duel, leaving only a message for Ryu to find containing instructions to go to America and a final condolence from his father.

** In ''Film/SawIV'', it's revealed that during ''Saw III'', Jigsaw went to an insane length to make sure nobody could find one of the messages until after he's dead: he coats a tape with wax and swallows it. It's only discovered while his body's being autopsied, and it turns out that the message was for his apprentice Hoffman, as a warning that his death won't outright allow him to become his successor without a test.

** ''Film/Saw3D''.

* Jigsaw ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' series leaves multiple messages to different people for his death in ''Film/SawIII'', which are progressively revealed in the following films.

** ''Film/SawV''.
* In ''Film/{{Scream 3}}'', Randy has made a video for Sidney to watch after he dies, warning her about what happens in the last part of a trilogy.

* ''Film/{{Cthulhu}}'' (2007). The protagonist is told his dead mother left a [[VideoWill video tape]] for him hidden in her house. He instead finds it in plain sight on top of the TV/VCR. On the tape his mother starts to warn him that his life is in danger from the mysterious cult run by his father; she then hears a noise and quickly turns the camera off. The camera is then turned on again by his father, who implores the protagonist to take his rightful place as the leader of his cult. The protagonist is shocked to see his father has blood on his face and hands, implying that he murdered his mother moments before.

'''As a DeathTrope, all spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''

* In ''Anime/SummerWars'', Granny Sakae leaves a note to the family, urging them to stick together through any hardships. In particular, she goes on at lengths about her estranged, adopted son Wabisuke, telling the family to welcome him back if he ever returns. Ironically, Wabisuke actually returned right before Sakae's death, stormed out after a big fight with her, [[spoiler:and indirectly caused her death, since his creation, [[AIIsACrapshoot Love Machine]], messed up her heart monitor]]. He comes back, grief-stricken, as soon as they finish reading it, and they let him in without any hesitation.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has a variation. Sabo leaves a note with Ace and Luffy, expressing excitement that he's finally leaving his {{Jerkass}}, neglectful parents and becoming a pirate. He has no idea that a Celestial Dragon is going to blow his raft sky-high, so his note states that "By the time you read this... I will be at sea". He then goes on to say how he can't wait to see his brothers again on the ocean. [[spoiler:Subverted in that he survived the incident thanks to Dragon and ''did'' end up at sea, but as a revolutionary instead of a pirate like he originally intended. Even then, Luffy and Ace both thought he was dead, and the former didn't find out the truth until a dozen years later while the latter died before they could ever meet again.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' fanfic ''Fanfic/RequiemForALoud'', after their first (and only) meeting, Adrien writes a letter for Lincoln which is delivered to him by Adrien’s mother shortly after Adrien’s death. In the letter, he encourages Lincoln to make the best of what little time he has left and make sure his sisters will have fond memories of him.

* In ''Film/SawIV'', Jigsaw goes to an insane length to be sure nobody can find one of his messages until after he's dead: he coats a tape with wax and swallows it. It's only discovered when his body's being autopsied.

* Used to avert KarmaHoudini in ''Film/TheInternecineProject'' (1974). [[spoiler:The villain arranges for several colleagues to kill each other, but the last victim arranges for a message to be sent to the villain if he dies...with the pages impregnated with poison.]]

* ''Film/PromisingYoungWoman'': The ending does this twice. [[spoiler:After she's murdered during her quest for vengeance, it turns out Cassie did this as a XanatosGambit. A couple of months later, she sent her final message to [[TheAtoner Jordan]] to tell him that she was murdered by Al with all the evidence of where and when it happened, which leads to the police finding the body. To get justice for Nina, Cassie set up the video of Nina's rape to be sent around to everyone on Al's wedding guest list, meaning that he could no longer deny he'd raped her and that everybody knew.]]

* In Creator/AgathaChristie novels:

** But played straight in ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone''; the murderer writes a message in a bottle revealing their identity and explaining in detail how and why they murdered everyone and stating how they hoped it was unsolved up until their point of reveal.
** Also played straight in ''Literature/{{Curtain}}'': [[spoiler:Literature/HerculePoirot's letter, sent to Captain Hastings four months after the former's death, reveals the identity of the serial killer labeled as "X" (Stephen Norton) and gives a reason why Poirot died, leaving the case seemingly unsolved: he was the one who already solved it by killing Norton in order to stop the string of murders from happening again, and then atoning for the crime by keeping his heart medication out of reach so that [[FaceDeathWithDignity he can have a calm, dignified end with hours to spare]], which gives out a reason why he turned the letter over to authorities in hopes that it could be used as evidence, hidden away for four months.]]

** In the first book, ''Feed'', Buffy (just got bitten by a zombie and is about to herself become one, which she fully knows) tells Georgia, Shaun, and Rick to look in a particular directory on the file server. They find a video of her [[spoiler:confessing to being part of the conspiracy that led to two nasty zombie outbreaks and will eventually get Georgia killed]].

** In the novella ''San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats'', Elle is trapped in the convention center with no working communications to the outside world and a ZombieApocalypse in progress. She writes an email to her girlfriend on her phone, on the assumption it won't be read until said girlfriend receives Elle's personal effects. When the Internet comes back on, the email gets sent automatically. [[spoiler: Since the convention center gets vaporized not very long after, Elle's originally intended mode of delivery wouldn't have worked anyway. At least her girlfriend got that final love letter.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': Ellie dies in the prologue, but it's only near the end of the movie that Carl realizes that her old scrapbook [[spoiler:was full of pictures from their marriage, plus a message: "Thanks for the adventure - now go have a new one! Love, Ellie"]].

* ''[[WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk Dragons: Race to the Edge]]'': at the end of "Family On the Edge", a reformed Dagur left Heather a farewell note [[spoiler:which she found after his HeroicSacrifice to prevent the other riders from falling into Viggo's trap]]. He advised that Hiccup seek out Viggo's next dragon auction, and [[spoiler:admitted that he did not kill their biological father Oswald the Agreeable, that he only let people believe he did so he would not be seen as weak]].

* In ''VideoGame/WhatRemainsOfEdithFinch, this is how the stories of Molly, Walter, and [[spoiler:Edith]] are told, through a diary they wrote just before they died. Depending on your interpretation, so is Milton's, which is an animated drawing in a flipbook of him leaving, created just before he disappeared.

* ''VideoGame/Hacknet'' starts with this trope, where the player receives an email from hacker Bit after installing a cracked OS. The email is a failsafe setup by Bit as he prepares for his inevitable demise as he is hunted down. The player is then given a series of instructions on how to continue Bit’s work, via further emails written before Bit’s death.

*** In one of the pages of The Administrator's diary it says "If you are in possession of — and reading — this document then I am probably dead."

--->Dear Sarah. The indications are very strong that we will move soon...

* LetsPlay/{{Technoblade}} left one, read by his father after he passed on June 30, 2022.

* LetsPlay/Technoblade left one, read by his father after he passed on June 30, 2022.

* Taken UpToEleven in ''FanFic/DeathNoteEquestria'' -- when Pinky's sense warns her that she is going to die, she writes letters to everypony she ever met.