Tropescilloscope: Faking the Dead

A character fakes their own death for specific reasons. (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

More Tropes Death Glare Coming-of-Age Story Superhero The Big Guy Sequel Hook Dramedy Crucified Hero Shot Black Comedy Too Dumb to Live Artistic License – Gun Safety Moment Killer The Un-Reveal Chewing the Scenery B-Movie Canadian Movies The Lancer Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Friend to All Children Chase Scene Shout-Out Small Name, Big Ego Stepford Smiler Red Right Hand Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Death by Sex Dark Action Girl Improbable Weapon User Distracted by the Sexy Roaring Rampage of Revenge Gender Flip Overprotective Dad Mooks Not So Above It All Nice Hat Babies Ever After Laser-Guided Karma No OSHA Compliance Mystery and Detective Films Slasher Movie Catch-Phrase Early-Bird Cameo Aside Glance Shell-Shocked Veteran Idiot Ball He Who Fights Monsters Race Against the Clock Leitmotif Instant Death Bullet As Long as It Sounds Foreign Gainax Ending As You Know And I Must Scream Eagleland Room Full of Crazy Well-Intentioned Extremist Department of Redundancy Department It's Personal Horror Comedy Kill 'em All Historical-Domain Character Badass Grandpa Sexy Discretion Shot Bittersweet Ending Driven to Suicide Fingore Took a Level in Jerkass Manic Pixie Dream Girl There Is No Kill Like Overkill Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Berserk Button Wham Shot Rasputinian Death Knight Templar Nothing Is Scarier Adaptational Badass Storming the Castle Those Two Guys Children Are Innocent Big Bad Duumvirate Bottomless Magazines Fatal Family Photo Playing Gertrude Rated M for Manly Honor Before Reason You Killed My Father Determinator aka: The Determinator Back from the Dead The Atoner Alliterative Name Oh, Crap! Half the Man He Used to Be Self-Deprecation Made of Explodium Does This Remind You of Anything? Bi the Way The Starscream Television Movie Index Not What It Looks Like Bunny-Ears Lawyer Fiery Redhead Fanservice Extra Depraved Bisexual Stock Footage Butt-Monkey Call-Back Auto Erotica Artistic License – Military Mama Bear Manipulative Bastard How We Got Here Arch-Enemy Whole Plot Reference Adapted Out Setting Update Death by Irony Suspiciously Similar Substitute Broken Bird Flashback I Have Your Wife Horror Films Tempting Fate Vampire Fiction Meaningful Name Action Girl Super Strength Ambiguous Disorder Accidental Misnaming Married to the Job "Well Done, Son!" Guy Male Gaze Those Two Bad Guys Evil Sounds Deep Evil Laugh Sanity Slippage Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Scenery Porn Dark and Troubled Past Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Handicapped Badass Cool Guns Everyone Has Standards Pimped-Out Dress Dissonant Serenity All There in the Script Same Language Dub A.I. Is a Crapshoot Camp Gay Dark Reprise Hero Antagonist Romantic False Lead Contrived Coincidence Disguised in Drag Parental Neglect Action Prologue Film Noir Real Life Writes the Plot Suddenly SHOUTING! Empathic Environment The Quiet One Random Events Plot Dirty Old Man Dropped a Bridge on Him Title Drop Badass Normal Meet Cute Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Never Found the Body Slap-Slap-Kiss Adaptation Name Change Loophole Abuse Flipping the Bird Dramatic Irony The Remake Improbable Aiming Skills The Hero Dies My Greatest Failure Agony of the Feet Hypocrite Hollywood Darkness Bound and Gagged Training Montage Serious Business Chekhov's Gunman The Vamp Obviously Evil Blackmail Freudian Excuse Didn't Think This Through In Name Only Deal with the Devil Dressing as the Enemy 20 Minutes into the Future Mexican Standoff Sacrificial Lion Jerkass Has a Point Screw This, I'm Outta Here! The Ditz Mundane Made Awesome Expy Actually Pretty Funny Air-Vent Passageway Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Vitriolic Best Buds Zombie Stories Only in It for the Money Cool Old Lady Badass in a Nice Suit Redemption Equals Death Bald of Evil Big Eater Combat Pragmatist Epic Fail Put on a Bus Biopic The Bully Shut Up, Hannibal! Skewed Priorities Hong Kong Films Foil The Smurfette Principle Visual Pun Corrupt Corporate Executive Hate Sink Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Pay Evil unto Evil Mad Scientist Laughing Mad Straight Gay Love Triangle Artistic License – Physics Villainous Breakdown Meaningful Background Event Video Credits Overly Long Gag Retcon An Axe to Grind Heroes Want Redheads An Arm and a Leg Dutch Angle Anyone Can Die In the Back Asshole Victim Take That! Bad "Bad Acting" Dumb Blonde Ms. Fanservice Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Psychological Thriller Important Haircut Author Avatar The '70s Unusually Uninteresting Sight Older Than They Look Bond Villain Stupidity Shown Their Work Demoted to Extra Fantastic Racism Call-Forward Market-Based Title Evil Is Hammy Pre-Mortem One-Liner Cain and Abel Kids Are Cruel Only a Flesh Wound Soundtrack Dissonance Homage Soft Glass Throwing Your Sword Always Works Determinator Spared by the Adaptation Actor Allusion Took a Level in Badass Batman Gambit Girl-on-Girl Is Hot All for Nothing Pet the Dog Yandere And the Adventure Continues Car Fu Humiliation Conga Costume Porn Race Lift Brother–Sister Incest Fake Shemp The Hero Captain Obvious Plot Hole Fantasy Films Pragmatic Adaptation Famous Last Words Animal Motifs Artistic License – Biology Closed Circle Corpsing Only Known by Their Nickname Adaptational Villainy One-Word Title Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Mind Screw Romantic Comedy Match Cut Armor-Piercing Question Woman Scorned Getting Crap Past the Radar Rewatch Bonus Real Life The Place Deadpan Snarker Man on Fire An Aesop Punny Name Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Never Trust a Trailer Mighty Whitey Cowboy Cop All Girls Want Bad Boys Karma Houdini Scare Chord Funny Foreigner Annoying Younger Sibling Worthy Opponent Shoot the Shaggy Dog Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Unreliable Narrator In Medias Res Adults Are Useless Only One Name Refuge in Audacity Genre Throwback Trailers Always Spoil The Cameo Body Horror Together in Death I Need a Freaking Drink Darkest Hour I'm a Humanitarian Badass Longcoat Break the Cutie What the Hell, Hero? timeperiod Running Gag Last-Name Basis Arranged Marriage Genre Shift Action Survivor Historical Hero Upgrade Based on a True Story Big Applesauce Daylight Horror Black Comedy Rape Brainless Beauty Facial Horror Disney Villain Death Earn Your Happy Ending Good Is Not Nice Parental Incest From Nobody to Nightmare Properly Paranoid Make It Look Like an Accident Dirty Coward Mercy Kill Re-Cut Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor The End... Or Is It? Punch-Clock Villain Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Fire-Forged Friends Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Morality Pet Protagonist Title Recycled IN SPACE! Action Genre Even Evil Has Loved Ones Five-Man Band The '80s Adaptation Dye-Job Adorkable Wicked Cultured Badass Boast Our Vampires Are Different The Dog Bites Back "The Reason You Suck" Speech Beard of Evil Betty and Veronica Breaking the Fourth Wall Off-into-the-Distance Ending BFG Artistic License – History Stealth Hi/Bye Cold-Blooded Torture Grey and Gray Morality Get Out! Darker and Edgier It Can Think Red Shirt Military and Warfare Films Double-Meaning Title Say My Name She Cleans Up Nicely The '50s Unresolved Sexual Tension Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Hidden Depths Revenge Up to Eleven Danny Peary Cult Movies List Nice Guy Adaptational Heroism Aluminum Christmas Trees Kill It with Fire Brutal Honesty Bury Your Gays Index of Film Westerns Big Damn Heroes No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Light Is Not Good Rule of Symbolism All Just a Dream Villain Protagonist Creative Closing Credits Ambiguous Ending Card-Carrying Villain '80s Hair Rule of Funny Final Girl Once More, with Clarity! Sassy Black Woman Unusual Euphemism Bowdlerise Ship Tease Shipper on Deck Translation Convention Black Best Friend Villain with Good Publicity Chekhov's Gun Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds The Alleged Car Fat Bastard Anachronic Order Undying Loyalty Names to Run Away from Really Fast Missing Mom Vacation Films Kick the Son of a Bitch Scary Black Man After the End Curse Cut Short Pragmatic Villainy The Mafia Fun with Acronyms Silence Is Golden One Steve Limit Pyrrhic Victory Death of a Child Framing Device The Faceless Jump Scare Hair-Trigger Temper More Dakka The Great Depression The Stoner Psychopathic Manchild Taking the Bullet Maybe Ever After Monumental Damage Rich Bitch A Father to His Men Disney Death Calling the Old Man Out British Films Lock and Load Montage Leave the Camera Running Psycho for Hire Greater-Scope Villain Men Are the Expendable Gender Ironic Echo Deliberate Values Dissonance You Have Failed Me Plucky Comic Relief Karmic Death Book-Ends The Smart Guy Animal Title Index Death by Adaptation Disappeared Dad Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Obstructive Bureaucrat "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Crazy Jealous Guy Non-Indicative Name Anachronism Stew Wounded Gazelle Gambit Kubrick Stare Celebrity Paradox Documentary Anti-Hero Russian Films Composite Character Immune to Bullets Male Frontal Nudity Guns Akimbo The Mole Twist Ending Parental Abandonment The Power of Love Foreshadowing Anguished Declaration of Love Bloodless Carnage Cat Fight Public Domain Feature Films Deus ex Machina Early Installment Weirdness Boom, Headshot! Dying Moment of Awesome Our Zombies Are Different Drugs Are Bad Historical Villain Upgrade It Will Never Catch On Faking the Dead The Ace Accidental Murder Mistaken for Gay Dwindling Party The Casanova Decoy Protagonist Heroic BSoD Only Sane Man Product Placement MacGuffin For Want of a Nail The Cavalry Reality Is Unrealistic Retirony Freeze-Frame Bonus Double Entendre Show Within a Show Fate Worse than Death Off with His Head! Peek-a-Boo Corpse Chiaroscuro Fatal Flaw Retired Badass Taking You with Me Gilligan Cut Big Fancy House Woman in White Hell Is That Noise Continuity Nod German Films Let's Get Dangerous! Wretched Hive For the Evulz Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Posthumous Character Jerkass Line-of-Sight Name Sci-Fi Horror The Voiceless Guile Hero All There in the Manual Smoking Is Cool Bar Brawl What You Are in the Dark Anti-Villain As the Good Book Says... Gone Horribly Right Cool Car Alas, Poor Villain Belligerent Sexual Tension Easily Forgiven Antagonist Title Diabolus ex Machina War Is Hell Hooker with a Heart of Gold Tranquil Fury Adaptation Distillation Spell My Name with an "S" Disproportionate Retribution Broken Pedestal N-Word Privileges Not So Different The Dragon Historical In-Joke Evil Counterpart And Starring Reality Has No Subtitles Stealth Pun Grievous Bottley Harm Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Attempted Rape Never My Fault Offscreen Teleportation Spanner in the Works Villain Song Due to the Dead Black and Gray Morality Bloodier and Gorier Big Bad Irony A Minor Kidroduction Not So Stoic Not Even Bothering with the Accent Red Herring Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Be Careful What You Wish For Vomit Discretion Shot Japanese Films Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Affectionate Parody Curb-Stomp Battle Credits Gag Bitch in Sheep's Clothing The Dreaded Catapult Nightmare Beauty Is Never Tarnished Unwitting Instigator of Doom Casting Gag Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Wham Line Scenery Gorn Dies Wide Open My God, What Have I Done? Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Toplessness from the Back O.O.C. Is Serious Business Alpha Bitch Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Ripped from the Headlines Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Femme Fatale "Shaggy Dog" Story Extremely Short Timespan Rape as Drama Jerk with a Heart of Gold World of Ham Token Minority Shower Scene Covers Always Lie Riddle for the Ages Loads and Loads of Characters Rousing Speech Australian Movies Evil Brit I Did What I Had to Do Blood from the Mouth Improvised Weapon Eyepatch of Power Cassandra Truth Ass Shove Animated Credits Opening Dark Is Not Evil Country Matters Noodle Incident Unspoken Plan Guarantee Gold Digger Developing Doomed Characters Almost Kiss Stalker with a Crush French Films Music Stories Defrosting Ice Queen Love at First Sight No-Sell A God Am I Papa Wolf Character Development Bring My Brown Pants Fanservice Epic Movie Mugging the Monster Big "NO!" Made of Iron Not Quite Dead The X of Y You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Sole Survivor Creator Cameo Heel–Face Turn Mythology Gag Frame-Up Reckless Gun Usage Hero of Another Story Downer Ending Silent Movie She's Got Legs Adaptation Expansion Domestic Abuse Chekhov's Skill Evil vs. Evil Italian Films Intergenerational Friendship Better to Die than Be Killed Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Even Evil Has Standards Apocalypse How Logo Joke Eldritch Abomination Tagline The Lost Lenore Genre Savvy No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Martial Arts Movie Adaptational Attractiveness Star-Crossed Lovers Bilingual Bonus Destination Defenestration Politically Incorrect Villain Blood Knight Every Car Is a Pinto Sequel Escalation Author Appeal Deliberately Monochrome Heel Realization folderlabel It's All About Me Police Brutality The Stinger Stuff Blowing Up Crazy-Prepared Leaning on the Fourth Wall Suspiciously Specific Denial Red Eyes, Take Warning Artistic License – Geography Implacable Man Demonic Possession Bavarian Fire Drill Heroic Sacrifice Police are Useless Beta Couple Extreme Doormat Dirty Cop Slashed Throat Affably Evil Shirtless Scene Drives Like Crazy Insistent Terminology Face–Heel Turn The Chick Sadistic Choice Major Injury Underreaction Award-Bait Song Badass Bookworm Ungrateful Bastard Cat Scare The Musical Break the Haughty Heterosexual Life-Partners Creepy Child Abusive Parents Mr. Fanservice Precision F-Strike Serial Killer Adult Fear Bait-and-Switch Jitter Cam Exact Words Parental Substitute Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Left the Background Music On Your Head A-Splode Humans Are Bastards Establishing Character Moment Meaningful Echo Would Hurt a Child Central Theme No Antagonist Science Fiction Films La Résistance Gory Discretion Shot Death Seeker Bad Boss Groin Attack Mr. Exposition Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Obfuscating Stupidity The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite True Companions Despair Event Horizon Cruel and Unusual Death Reality Ensues Insane Troll Logic Evil Is Petty Naïve Newcomer Really Gets Around Naked People Are Funny Motor Mouth Insult Backfire Killed Mid-Sentence NO INDOOR VOICE Arc Words Needs Wiki Magic Love Large Ham Bland-Name Product Age Lift Bond One-Liner Big-Bad Ensemble Manchild Artistic License – Law Truth in Television Film Noir Index Drill Sergeant Nasty Funny Background Event Deconstruction Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Vomit Indiscretion Shot Canon Foreigner Mood Whiplash Advertised Extra Ax-Crazy Dull Surprise Pretty in Mink Hollywood Law Not Using the "Z" Word Eye Scream Red Oni, Blue Oni Intrepid Reporter Crapsack World Knife Nut Interrupted Suicide Evil Plan Hoist by His Own Petard Beware the Nice Ones Spiteful Spit Poor Communication Kills Cool Old Guy Word of God Becoming the Mask Defiant to the End Hope Spot As Himself Ambiguously Gay Captain Ersatz Stylistic Suck Camera Abuse Green-Eyed Monster Awesome, but Impractical The Brute Film Series The Reveal Exactly What It Says on the Tin Villain Ball A Date with Rosie Palms Novelization The Stoic Would Hit a Girl Spiritual Successor Daddy's Girl Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Face Death with Dignity He Knows Too Much Offscreen Moment of Awesome I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Sealed Evil in a Can Thriller Bullying a Dragon Big Brother Instinct Christmas Movies Index Your Cheating Heart Neck Snap The Alcoholic Enemy Mine Ascended Extra Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Totally Radical Eiffel Tower Effect Authority Equals Asskicking No Celebrities Were Harmed Fainting Jerk Jock Sinister Minister Gratuitous English From Bad to Worse The Load The '90s Victoria's Secret Compartment Fourth Date Marriage Kick the Dog Cluster F-Bomb Abhorrent Admirer Brick Joke Drowning My Sorrows Time Skip Evil-Detecting Dog The '60s Ominous Latin Chanting Expository Hairstyle Change Reasonable Authority Figure Bare Your Midriff Sports Stories Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality What Happened to the Mouse? The Bad Guy Wins Gorn No Ending Smug Snake Sir Swears-a-Lot Ghost Fiction Conspicuous CG Happily Married Outrun the Fireball Villain Opening Scene All Men Are Perverts Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Slasher Smile Foregone Conclusion Rule of Three Henpecked Husband The Chessmaster Failed a Spot Check Have a Gay Old Time Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Cloudcuckoolander Amusing Injuries Pretty Little Headshots The Film of the Book Manly Tears Does Not Like Shoes Eureka Moment May–December Romance Madness Mantra "Awesome McCool" Name Wrong Genre Savvy Rule of Cool Comically Missing the Point Bloody Hilarious Dramatic Gun Cock Very Loosely Based on a True Story One-Man Army Amoral Attorney Neck Lift Imagine Spot Tap on the Head Black Dude Dies First Those Wacky Nazis Take a Third Option Informed Ability Lighter and Softer Cool Shades Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Four-Temperament Ensemble Bolivian Army Ending This Is Gonna Suck The Ghost The Sociopath Blatant Lies Faux Affably Evil The Oner Narrator Dogged Nice Guy No Name Given Paper-Thin Disguise Hypocritical Humor Did Not Get the Girl Fan Disservice Redshirt Army Fish out of Water Broken Aesop Lampshade Hanging Here We Go Again! Works Set in World War II Dual Wielding Malevolent Masked Men Damsel in Distress My Beloved Smother