History Main / FakingTheDead

* Quite the [[TearJerker/SailorMoon Tear Jerker]] in ''Anime/SailorMoon'' anime-- [[spoiler:One episode revealed Minako's BackStory as Sailor V. She lived in London with a [[OneeSama woman she saw as her older sister]] named Katarina and an older man named Alan who she clearly had a crush on for awhile, until one day when she went into a building to investigate a crime as Sailor V. The theif threw a grenade at her, which wrecked the building. Katarina barely escaped with her life, and Minako was alive, still hidden in the rubble, when she saw Katarina embrace Alan and realized those two were more than friends. [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy She left and pretended she had died in the accident so those two would be happy together without her getting in the way.]] [[hottip:* :annoyingly this episode was left out of the North American dub, which would have given a lot more depth to the ditzy character the dub made Mina into.]]]]

* In SonicTheComic this is used by Amy, Tails, Johnny and the Kintobor Computer to stop [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Super Sonic]] trying to kill them, Amy had the Kintobor Computer remotely fly the plane.

* In ''HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', [[spoiler:Harry pretends to be dead after surviving yet another Killing Curse from Voldemort. He pretends to be dead until the height of the battle, during which he leaps into the fray to save Mrs. Weasley from being fried by old Voldie]].

** Rowling is fond of this trope. As early as ''HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', she reveals that Peter Pettigrew was killed in a magical duel with Sirius Black, destroyed so utterly that only a single finger remained. Black was sent to Azkaban for the crime. Except [[spoiler:Pettigrew faked his death in order to frame Black, get him out of the way, and promote his master Voldemort's agenda.]]

** Also happens in [[spoiler: Matsuribayashi-hen, when the TrueCompanions decide to fake Rika's death so as to make Takano think that her research was wrong and give up on it, thereby saving Rika.]]

* Happens in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'', where Enishi is forced to [[spoiler: kidnap Kaoru and fake her death, because Enishi can't bring himself to harm or kill any young woman, due to being traumatized by his beloved sister Tomoe's death.]] Enishi was ''very'' GenreSavvy, though, so [[ThePlan he hatched a plan]] in base to this... and it worked ''horrifyingly well'' on Kenshin. [[spoiler: By making his MadArtist henchman build a flesh mannequin looking ''exactly'' like Kaoru beforehand, kidnapping Kaoru, replacing her with said doll * and* impaling the mannequin to a wall with Enishi's sword before he leaves it for Kenshin to find, he pretty much [[HeroicBSOD destroys Kenshin's will to live]] for quite a while.]]

* In order to forward his plans, Yu Han-Sung, TheChessmaster of ''TowerOfGod'', had to make Baam climb the Tower in secret. So [[spoiler: so he had it seem as if he got killed during the test. It was so convincing that even the assailant thought he died. Unfortunately, [[DeathFakedForYou Baam wasn't let in on this]]]]
* In the ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' manga, [[spoiler: Colonel Mustang helped Maria Ross fake her own death when she was framed for murder.]] It was pretty convincing, too--he created a phony corpse with alchemy and burned it beyond all recognition, then faked the dental evidence to remove any doubt that the body was real. And, in case that didn't work, he asked the doctor in charge (an old friend of his) to overlook the possible mistakes.

* In the BackStory of ''MahouSenseiNegima'', Ala Rubra faked [[spoiler:[[TheHighQueen High Queen]] Arika]]'s execution. It's unknown whether or not she's still alive when the main story begins, though.

* In one episode of ''[[Series/Castle {{Castle}}]]'', a woman fakes the deaths of herself and her young son in a desperate attempt to get away from her husband, who is as [[DomesticAbuse abusive]] as he is [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections well-connected]].

* In one episode of ''Series/Castle'', a woman fakes the deaths of herself and her young son in a desperate attempt to get away from her husband, who is as [[DomesticAbuse abusive]] as he is [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections well-connected]].

* Occasionally pulled by {{Batman}} when he needs to lure a villain into a [[GenreBlind false sense of security]].

* In the PilotMovie for ''JusticeLeague'', J'onn J'onnz telepathically prevents everyone from noticing Batman, leading to the villains (and heroes) not realizing he was there until it was time for him to attack. Of course, being Batman, this was a plot he was used to; see the episode in [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries his own series]] where everyone thinks a minor crook offed him.

* In ''EasyMoney'', [[spoiler: Rodney Dangerfield's mother-in-law fakes her own death to trick him into changing his lifestyle in compliance with the terms of her will]].
* In ''TheQuickAndTheDead'', this is done [[spoiler:by the Lady]] to gain an advantage on Herod, who cannot be beaten in a straight fight by anyone except for Cort, who is handcuffed most of the time and unwilling to kill except to save his own life.
* In ''TheUsualSuspects'', it's part of [[DirtyCop Dean Keaton's]] {{Backstory}} (and one of the reasons Agent Kujan [[InspectorJavert has such a hard on for him]]). He was [[NeverFoundtheBody presumed dead long enough]] to dodge a murder rap. And while he was dead, every witness against him [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident died under suspicious circumstances]].

* ''TheUsualSuspects'' has a subversion. Keaton is a former CorruptCop and legend in the New York underworld for faking his own death to evade arrest. He did nothing of the sort, and has in fact been living and working in the same city, with the same name and face, since the incident in question, and the fact that the police thought he was dead was a clerical error.

* It's part of the profession of the titular pair in ''TheBrothersBloom''. They're con-men.

** Another Coy-and-Vance episode, "The Great Insurance Fraud," has a pair of con artists call Boss on his crooked insurance policies scheme when they stage a phony fatal car accident to collect the $100,000 survivor's payment. The catch is that they swerve the car off the road just as they're driving toward Coy and Vance, and Coy - who was driving the General Lee – is deeply upset because he thinks he caused the accident, where the driver of the other car died after being trapped in his burning car.

* In ''{{Bullitt}}'', the police investigation ultimately uncovers a mobster's plot to fake his own death and escape scot-free. [[spoiler:Johnny Ross embezzles money from TheMafia, then cuts a deal with a senator to [[TheStoolPigeon testify against the Mafia]] in exchange for a pardon and witness protection. Ross then tricks an innocent man into going to San Fransisco in his place, where he's killed by the mob hitmen sent to silence Ross.]]

* Agatha Christie used this trope several times:

* In {{Gintama}}, [[spoiler: Katsura slashed in the beginning of the Benizakura arc and disappears for the rest of the arc, until the final battler when Katsura reveals to have been hiding in an Elizabeth costume.]]

** Actually WordOfGod states that Larry's RunningGag is that in a show where AnyoneCanDie, he doesn't despite how many instants he has gotten into where NoOneCouldSurviveThat. He seems to have been killed by Fiona by an explosion [[spoiler: but a FreezeFrameBonus of a newspaper states two bodies were found where it was specifically mentioned that two guards were killed]].

* In the ''Stargate: Atlantis'' episode The Siege part 3, the expedition allows the Wraith to believe that Atlantis was destroyed via nuke. In reality, the expedition merely cloaked the city after weathering the blast under the city's shield.

* One season of the Glaswegian sitcom ''City Lights'' opened with Willie and Tam at LoveableRogue Chancer's funeral. On their way to the pub, they were joined by Chancer, who was just trying to get out of paying the poll tax.

* In the Novacom arc of ''Adventures in Odyssey'', Connie's friend Robert Mitchel [[spoiler: who is secretly trying to stop the bad guys from taking over the world,]] fakes his death to make sure the bad guys won't actually try to kill him [[spoiler: like they did to another person who found out their plans.]]

* ''Wicked the Musical'', where [[spoiler:Elphaba pretends to melt, but goes down a trapdoor instead to wait for Fiyero... who, by the way, is the Scarecrow. She sings a final refrain with Glinda and vanishes to another land with Fiyero, leaving Glinda to beleive that she [[KilledOffForReal died for real]]. (Glinda did not realize she had back-up on the refrain) As Fiyero says "She can't know. No-one must know." Oh, by the way, before she carries out this charade, she makes Glinda promise to never try and clear her (Elphaba's) name so that Oz will stay peaceful under Glinda's rule and the people won't turn against her.]] ''Whew.''

* To throw the villains off the trail.

* To gain a temporary advantage in combat - generally considered [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty less than sporting]].
** Unless it's done to fake out your teammates and throw them into an UnstoppableRage... then it's heroic.

Often the audience will think the character has been KilledOffForReal. Extra points if a fake crime scene photo or StagedShooting is used. Sometimes a John Doe's remains are substituted and destroyed beyond recognition, or everyone is simply told 'They NeverFoundTheBody.' The person faking his death might [[AttendingYourOwnFuneral attend his own funeral]].

When the method of faking actually temporarily turns the character into a realistic-seeming corpse, this is FauxDeath.

* Briefly in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'': [[spoiler:When Hei was fighting Wei, he intentionally got his own blood on his mask and fell off the edge of a building. Wei smugly headed down to kill Alice and HannibalLecture Kirihara, and was rather unpleasantly surprised when the Black Shinigami [[DynamicEntry smashed in through the window, kicked him in the head]], and electrocuted him half to death through the blood he'd gotten all over the floor.]]