History Main / FakingTheDead

* FakingTheDead: Before his real death in ''Guardian Devil'', faking it was something of a favorite tactic of ComicBook/{{Mysterio}}'s.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

** During ''Battle for the Cowl'' Tim survived the near-fatal injuries Jason gave him by accidentally faking the dead when he slowed his heart rate to slow his blood loss, it meant Jason didn't have a reason to keep trying to kill him when he found his "body".
** During [[ComicBook/BatmanChipZdarsky Chip Zdarsky's run]], [[spoiler: Penguin fakes his death and leaves Gotham so that he can [[RetiredMonster retire from the supervillain lifestyle]]]].
* ''Franchise/TheFlash'' has a field day with this with the infamous ''ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis''. Within the series itself, there's Booster Gold's idea of cloning a dead body of Wally West to fulfill a StableTimeLoop involving the Trinity seeing Wally's corpse. As part of ''ComicBook/TheFlashInfiniteFrontier''[='=]s ''many'' attempts at undoing the damage done by ''[=HiC=]'' (with the first order of business being revealing that the Sanctuary massacre wasn't Wally's fault, by Savitar's attempts to take control of the Speed Force after Reverse Flash put him there and the Speed Force trying to kick him out) was revealing that Gold Beetle did what Booster, Blue Beetle, Batgirl, and Harley ''should've'' done, and did it to most everyone else too (barring Wally, who was already taken care of; Roy, who came during the events of ''ComicBook/DCInfiniteFrontier'' itself back, anyway; and Poison Ivy, who came back during ''[=HiC=]'' itself).

* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'': The Corps believes that Kyle Rayner pulled a HeroicSacrifice to stop Relic at the end of the ''ComicBook/LightsOut'' storyline. In fact, he survived, but what he saw at the Source Wall and what it means for his own White Lantern powers and those of the other Corps means he's not ready to return.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** In ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' [[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Pre-Flashpoint]] story arc ''ComicBook/TheHuntForReactron'', villain Reactron is being trialed when a mob breaks into the court intending to lynch him. Alura takes advantage of the ensuing chaos to fake his death in order to throw him into a cell and interrogate him.
** In ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'' story arc, Franchise/{{Superman}}, Franchise/{{Batman}} and Franchise/WonderWoman stage ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s death so ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}--who had previously kidnapped and brainwashed her--leaves her alone.
** In ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl1982 her second series]]''[='s=] final issue, Supergirl confronts a friend who has been taken over by his evil side. In order to get him snap out of his possession, Supergirl reminds him that he is no killer and then lets him believe he has killed her.
** In ''ComicBook/SupermansPalJimmyOlsen2019'', after someone shoots a decoy of him, Jimmy doesn't dispute the general assumption that he's dead, instead going undercover to find out who was responsible.

** In the Post-Crisis era, ComicBook/LexLuthor had come down with Kryptonite poisoning due to wearing a signet ring with the stone in it. When amputating his hand doesn't work, he fakes his death by setting forth from an experimental aircraft and crashing. Meanwhile, what's left of Luthor's healthy body (down to his eyes, brain and nervous system) is placed in a clone body and he returns disguised as his son.

* ''ComicBook/AmericaVsTheJusticeSociety'': The Wizard admits that he faked his own suicide via an illusion so he could escape from the Justice Society.

* ''Franchise/TheFlash'' has a field day with this with the infamous ''ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis''. Within the series itself, there's Booster Gold's idea of cloning a dead body of Wally West to fulfill a StableTimeStable involving the Trinity seeing Wally's corpse. As part of ''ComicBook/TheFlashInfiniteForntier''[='=]s ''many'' attempts at undoing the damage done by ''[=HiC=]'' (with the first order of business being revealing that the Sanctuary massacre wasn't Wally's fault, by Savitar's attempts to take control of the Speed Force after Reverse Flash put him there and the Speed Force trying to kick him out) was revealing that Gold Beetle did what Booster, Blue Beetle, Batgirl, and Harley ''should've'' done, and did it to most everyone else too (barring Wally, who was already taken care of; Roy, who came during the events of ''ComicBook/DCInfiniteFrontier'' itself back, anyway; and Poison Ivy, who came back during ''[=HiC=]'' itself).

** In the 2001 story "Close Before Striking", it's established that unlike it was pre-''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', Batman's DeadPersonImpersonation of Matches Malone missed one detail -- Matches wasn't actually dead, but he'd faked his death to get away from circumstances he caused[[note]]Matches and his brother Carver accidentally killed a homeless man in one of their insurance scams; Carver's guilt over the whole thing (and Matches's insistence on keeping the whole thing quiet) drove him to commit suicide;Matches's attempt to save face for his brother by making it look like a robbery gone bad instead made it look like to Bats, the GCPD, and pre-Two-Face/still DA Harvey Dent that he tried to squeeze his brother out; and trying to use the corpse of the man he and his brother killed to fake his own death[[/note]], only to die for real when he decides to confront rumors of him being a rat thanks to Bruce's impersonation of him and end up being gunned down by Scarface thanks to Bruce using the "Matches" identity to get info to bust one of his operations.

** Matt once faked his death after it seemed that someone knew his secret identity. He ended up using the dead body of his EvilKnockoff Hellspawn, created during ''ComicBook/InfinityWar'' and was altered by a mutagenic virus.

** Though not usually a crime, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20120323143452/http://wiki.fandomwank.com/index.php/Pseuicide the same term is used when someone on the Internet pretends to die]]. They used to arouse suspicion by their ability to still post from the hospital, but nowadays it is possible to get wireless Internet access and not just blog, but make video logs from the hospital, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoCzo9BPlrI&feature=channel_video_title as CTFxC demonstrates]]. Depending on the blogging software, it is entirely possible for someone to queue up [[DeadManWriting a post to be made automatically in the event they die]].

** Carnage can do this as well, slipping a piece of the symbiote over a dead body to make someone think that he's dead, just so he can slip away or get in and gut someone. Of course, it doesn't work all the time, as it didn't fool Franchise/{{Batman}} when he did it then. Of course, he was aiming for ComicBook/TheJoker.
** Spider-Man himself pulled this stunt on ComicBook/{{Venom}}. Trapped on a deserted island, Peter had no way to beat Venom and used his costume and a dead body and allows Venom to think that the body is Peter and leaves him there to enjoy his time there. When Carnage makes his first appearance, Spidey is forced to reveal the ruse.
** In a version of a planned ending for ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' that was ultimately used for 2009 AlternateContinuity miniseries, its versions of ''Spectacular Spider-Man'' #200 was revealed to be this, Harry Osborn faking his own death so he could prepare for his plans as the BigBad.[[note]]The original proposed version for the canon version was Gaunt would be revealed to be a barely-alive Harry; this ultimately got the ExecutiveVeto by Bob Harras when he took over as Editor-in-Chief at Marvel, causing the ExecutiveMeddling that resulted in ComicBook/NormanOsborn coming back and Gaunt was revealed to be the Robot Master; the 2009-2010 opt just opted for this trope instead, depicted a healthy Harry[[/note]]

** In ''X-Men Noir'', Jean Grey fakes her death by killing Anne-Marie Rankin, cutting off/out any distinguishing facial features, and dyeing her hair. She then assumes her identity by dyeing her own hair. Why? She wanted out of the X-Men, essentially - and to collect her trust fund, of course.

A play on the common turn of phrase "waking the dead". Contrast HesJustHiding Not to be confused with FakeWeakness. See also ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated.

* ''Film/WhiteMenCantJump'' does this in an interesting way. During the film, Billy owes money to some gangsters and a pair of enforcers hound him. At one point, they show him pictures of their past victims who have been killed in some pretty painful-looking ways. [[spoiler: At the end, he manages to pay them off, but they get him to pretend they killed him so they can take a picture of his "corpse" for future use. Naturally this casts doubt on whether the pictures of the other "victims" and what their fates actually were.]]

Often the audience will think the character is genuinely dead. 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]]. Of course, when this happens to main characters in a series, the audience should not be fooled.

* In ''Film/MurdersInTheRueMorgue1971'', Marot faked his suicide and used a deep breathing trick taught to him by Orsini to survive being BuriedAlive.

* Inverted in the alternate ending of ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10902532/ Aftermath]]'', where [[spoiler:Taylor has reincorporated herself in a body made from her insect swarm, and asks Director Piggot to help her fake ''not'' dying, pretending she was just in a deep coma, so that it's easier for her to pick up her life where she left off]].

* In ''Fanfic/TheBoyBehindTheMask'', while Hiccup originally left a note claiming that he ventured off to find a dragon worthy enough to be his first kill, Astrid finds black scales and a spot of Hiccup's blood in the cove and everyone assumes this means he was massacred by a Night Fury.
* The final ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'' story has Jack doing this to fool Thunderstorm and Shadow.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11658183/1/Deadly-Love Deadly Love]]'' Tracey uses fake blood and Draught of Living Death to get Harry's abusive relatives arrested for pedophilia, rape, and murder.

* In ''Fanfic/FlamGush'' this is mixed with MundaneMadeAwesome when [[AlphaBitch Lucilla]] forces [[PersonOfMassDestruction Lina]] and [[TheBigGuy Gourry]] to retreat through use of a single hidden archer and faking her death to sic a mob of untrained peasants on them.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Game Theory|LyricalNanoha}}'', [[spoiler:Precia sets things up to appear as if she and her allies had fallen into Imaginary Space to throw the TSAB off their trail when she had actually found a way to revive Alicia without traveling to Alhazred.]]

* In the ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' fanfic, ''Fanfic/{{Intrepid}}'', Kaiser fakes his death after appearing to kill two teenage heroes as part of a plot.

* Ramon Sosa faked his own death after being informed by his friend Mundo that his wife Lulu had plotted to hire a hitman to kill him and make it look like a carjacking gone wrong. To make his faked death look genuine, police painted on him so that he looked like he was killed from a single headshot, and then sent a photo of his "corpse" to Lulu by a agent who posed as the hitman Mundo "hired". Once her payment to the "hitman" was revealed, police began to fake Ramon's death, and upon Lulu's belated reaction to his "death", the police quickly arrested her. The full story can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkErwzoixKY here]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': Mr. Incredible hides behind the skeleton of Gazerbeam to escape Syndrome's seeker robot -- the robot scans the skeleton, assumes it's him and flies off to report his demise.

** In ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'' story arc, Franchise/{{Superman}}, Franchise/{{Batman}} and Franchise/WonderWoman stage Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'s death so Comicbook/{{Darkseid}}--who had previously kidnapped and brainwashed her--leaves her alone.

** The script was then flipped years later during Creator/MattFraction's run. The Mandarin's machinations had made it virtually impossible for Tony to be Iron Man without government interference, so Rhodey faked his own death as Comicbook/WarMachine so that he could take over as the new Iron Man. Once the whole situation was sorted out, Rhodey went back to the War Machine armor.

* In a ''Comicbook/RadioactiveMan'' story in which Madame Eczema reveals RM's secret identity, RM apparently dies (fooling even Fallout Boy), and then Claude Kane appears in public to counter the revelation. Upon learning the truth, Plasmo the Mystic points out that the whole deception will be rendered pointless when he has to reappear as Radioactive Man.

* ''FanFic/FireEmblemFatesAftermath'': In Chapter 5, Izana shows up and reveals that he faked his death in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' by using magic. He did so to guilt-trip Takumi into helping Corrin.
* In ''FanFic/FlamGush'' this is mixed with MundaneMadeAwesome when [[AlphaBitch Lucilla]] forces [[PersonOfMassDestruction Lina]] and [[TheBigGuy Gourry]] to retreat through use of a single hidden archer and faking her death to sic a mob of untrained peasants on them.

* ''FanFic/TheGodEmpressOfPonykind'': [[spoiler: The Chaos Gods did this as part of a gambit to get rid of the Emperor]].

* In the ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' fanfic, ''FanFic/{{Intrepid}}'', Kaiser fakes his death after appearing to kill two teenage heroes as part of a plot.

* In the ''Manga/DeathNote'' [[AlternateUniverseFic AU]] ''FanFic/NewWorldWithoutEnd'' [[spoiler: Light Yagami does this after his victory so he can live out his life in peace and continue to act as Kira. Light and Mikami added an extra body to the pile at the Yellowbox warehouse (and with help [[RewritingReality from the notebook]] they could ensure that the victim’s faces wouldn't be identifiable through dental records) and [[FieryCoverup torched the warehouse]]. Afterwards Light and Mikami released the name Light Yagami as among the police officers that opposed Kira who were eliminated.]]

* The protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'' accidentally causes Larfleeze, the insane holder of the Orange Central Power Battery, to lose a large number of power rings, resulting in Larfleeze sending out his construct army to hunt the rings down and consume the thief. While it might have been possible for Paul to hide indefinitely, that would probably have resulted in considerable collateral damage if anyone panicked and took a potshot at the army, so instead, he contacts the local Green Lanterns to stage a fight and his own 'death'. This has the added benefit of making Larfleeze think that the Green Lanterns are powerful enough to easily defeat Orange Lanterns, and although he's unhappy with the situation, he does recall the army.