Tropescilloscope: Faking the Dead

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

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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