History Main / ScoobyDooHoax

-->'''Amy:''' Jinkies! He Scooby-Dooed us.

* Actually used successfully ''by the heroes'' to see off the villain in ''Literature/{{Matilda}}''. [[spoiler:She uses her telekinesis to convince Trunchbull that the vengeful ghost of her brother is haunting her house, and he tells her to run away and never come back. Miss Honey (his daughter) has the place to herself at last.]]

* In ''Film/TheVillage'', the creatures lurking in the forest were originally a ScoobyDooHoax concocted by the Elders to prevent the younger residents from venturing outside and learning that they're not actually living in colonial times. One of the young villagers co-opts this Hoax to cover up his own psychopathic misdeeds.

Because the existence of a Scooby Doo Hoax tends to remain secret from the audience until the ending and belie earlier assumptions, mere presence on this list can be considered a spoiler.

* The [[KidDetective Bloodhound Gang]] solved a few of these on the science-edutainment show ''[[ThreeTwoOneContact 3-2-1 Contact]]''.

* [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in an episode of CSI, "Check In And Check Out", where a series of unconnected deaths all in the same motel room toss up the concept of the room being haunted only to find that the murders were fueled by a powerful hallucinogen, set up by the motel owner and the man living in the next room.

* In LarryNiven's "Night on Mispec Moor", a mercenary assumes the zombie-like creatures chasing him ''must'' be this trope. [[spoiler: They're TheVirus instead.]]
* ConversationalTroping in the ''ThursdayNext'' book ''The Woman Who Died A Lot'', which reveals that the origin of the trope is ''The Ghost of Pharos'' by {{Aeschylus}}. At least in Thursday's world.

* Fairly common in works of AgathaChristie. The usual plot is that one or more mysterious deaths occur, and people suspect supernatural activity behind it. At the end it turns out that the whole thing is just a cover made by the killer to confuse the cops.

* ''{{Persona 4}}'' is basically modeled after this trope. Heck, even the characters resemble the good ol' Scooby Gang.

* The ''PushingDaisies'' episode "Girth" does this rather more violently, with people being ''killed'', apparently by a ghost. It turns out to be someone who is very much alive.
** Played with in the sense that the murderer [[spoiler: is disguising herself as someone who isn't really dead either]]
* In one episode of ''{{Friends}}'', Joey does not want Monica and Chandler to buy a new house. He meets a young girl, played by Dakota Fanning, and suggests that she tell Chandler a ghost lives in the house so that they will be scared away. Fanning replies, "What are you, like, eight?"

* An episode of ''ICarly'' has the group searching for Bigfoot and seemingly trapping him, only to discover it's a fake and that it's the Bigfoot expert they had on their webshow earlier in the episode creating hype for his new book. Freddie [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this by stating this is a "Scooby Doo Moment".

* One episode of ''GilligansIsland'' had a "ghost" who was haunting the island. He was actually a man trying to either scare them off the island or kill them because he and his cohorts were trying to secure "off-shore oil rights." When he thought the castaways were dead and came back as ghosts to haunt ''him'', he fled the island. Incidentally, the "ghost" was played by Richard Kiel, who played "Jaws" in the James Bond movies ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' and ''Film/{{Moonraker}}''.

*** And later inverted in the episode "Wrath of the [[TheKrampus Krampus]]", when it's revealed that ''Mystery Inc.'' created the monster to distract the real villains and acquire their stolen segments of the season's MacGuffin.

*** And later inverted in the episode "Wrath of the Crampus", when it's revealed that ''Mystery Inc.'' created the monster to distract the real villains and acquire their stolen segments of the season's MacGuffin.

** In a non-criminal example, before Garrett moved in, the Dead Man used his powers to make people think the house on Macunado street was haunted, purely so everyone in the neighborhood would leave him alone.

* Despite stereotypes to the contrary, a large number of the aliens that {{Batman}} fought during the SilverAge (especially in his own books) were actually ordinary crooks dressed up like aliens. In one case, a gang of crooks actually made up an entire planet, built fake alien technology, and pretended to be invading Earth simply to cover up their scheme.
** Though he really ''did'' fight and kill some real vampires in the GoldenAge.
* Variation: {{Superman}} and the Iranian superhero Sirocco once took down an apparent terrorist squad, only for Sirocco to reveal that they are just people who pretend to be terrorists. By scaring people into evacuating places with phony bomb-threats and such, they can rob places at their leisure.

* This Troper is fairly certain that at least one micro-arc story in ''Webcomic/LifeAndDeath'' involved Steve somehow lampshading and/or referencing this. Probably involving a vampire or zombie.

* In the Penny Parker book ''Hoofbeats on the Turnpike'', [[spoiler:Joe Quigley]] dresses up as the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow to spite Matilda Burmaster.

* Played with in the French supernatural thriller ''{{Vidocq}}'': powerful men die one after another from a lightning strike, bursting into flames in the process. It turns out that they were narcissistic perverts with a desire for young virgins. A sophisticated lightning rod mechanism along with a piece of gold in each of the men's hats, and gunpowder dust on their coats resolves that somebody simply wants to make a demonstration of divine retribution on these horrible people. Then it turns out that the killer ''was'' a supernatural creature all along, and used this method to hide his true nature, and the true motivation for the murders.

In the old days, this apparently really worked. Smugglers could scare away intruders by dressing as ghosts. Nowadays, however, this would be a really stupid ploy, as many alleged real life haunted houses and areas of "paranormal activity" are tourist attractions. The criminals wouldn't be able to move for New Agers, [=UFOlogists=], people from shows like ''MythBusters'', James Randi fans, and other rubberneckers. (Not to mention [[YouMeddlingKids meddling kids]].)