History Main / GoodbyeCruelWorld

* In his special ''Life Is Worth Losing'', GeorgeCarlin gives an example of possibly the funniest suicide note ever:

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by [[FlamboyantGay Nathan Mahler]] in ''BloodPlus'', who [[spoiler:willingly allows Saya to "kill" him. [[UnexplainedRecovery He survived and became a news reporter]], implying that only his loyalty to Diva died.]]

* The Manga/DeathNote can control the circumstances of its victims' deaths, so [[KnightTemplar Light]], while testing the limits of this ability, kills several people, controlling them to write "suicide notes" that, combined, contain a [[CriminalMindGames secret message to taunt L]]: "Do you know [[{{Shinigami}} gods of death]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic love apples]]?"

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* [[{{Blink182}} Blink-182's]] "Adam's Song", besides the last verse (where the boy gives up killing himself), is a suicide letter.

* Subverted by Elvis Costello's album "Goodbye Cruel World." While the album definitely feature depression and loneliness as recurring themes, none of the songs actually explicitly deal with suicide. And there isn't a title track either.

* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll'''s fourth case, a good portion of one suspect's motivation revolves around the suicide note of [[spoiler:Celeste Inpax]]. It turns out that she worked for years as a [[spoiler:manager]] in order to get close to the only man who could have found and stolen the missing suicide note. Over the course of the case, Phoenix ends up finding it. It turns out [[spoiler:to be an elaborate forgery. Celeste Inpax either never left a note or it was replaced with a different note.]]
** It's also brought up a couple times that [[spoiler: Miles Edgeworth left behind a note saying "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death" before he disappeared. The final case reveals he's still alive.]]

* A variation of this trope in ''{{The Royal Tenenbaums}}''; after Richie attempts suicide via wristcutting, he tells his family he left them a suicide note. His brother, showing his usual tact, asks "Is it dark?" "'Course it's dark, it's a suicide note."

* In ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents, the Baudelaires find that the spelling errors in a suicide note are [[spoiler: a secret code used by grammar addict Aunt Josephine, giving them her hiding place. ]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In the season 1 ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "I, Robot... You, Jane", the cyber-demon Moloch had a couple of servants in the high school's computer lab, Fritz and Dave. When Dave changed his mind about helping to kill Buffy, Moloch wrote out a fake suicide note for Dave on the computer and Fritz killed Dave.

* In a third season episode of {{Veronica Mars}}, Veronica is given a Criminology assignment of planning 'the perfect murder'. She suggests faking a suicide note from the victim, using a generic phrase such as "Goodbye cruel world", typed on a computer so the note can't be analysed. [[spoiler:Shortly afterwards, the dean of the college is murdered in exactly this way.]]
* ''{{Lost}}'': [[spoiler: Locke's]] suicide note, which is something of a ClingyMacGuffin for Jack, reads, "Dear Jack, I wish you had believed me." Talk about a guilt trip.

* In DanganRonpa, [[spoiler: Sakura Oogami]]'s murder is revealed to in fact be a suicide, after which her friend pulls out the note she found, explaining how [[spoiler: Sakura]] had been driven to despair by the way her only friends were fighting amongst themselves and hating her for [[spoiler: her position as Monokuma's ex-[[TheMole mole]], even though she'd rebelled against him]]. [[spoiler: Turns out that note was a forgery, and her ''real'' note was a much more tender affair explaining how she hoped her death would fulfill her obligations and strike the first blow against the mastermind.]]

-->-- '''Music/PinkFloyd''', "Goodbye Cruel World"

* From ''WelcomeToTheNHK'': [[spoiler:Misaki spends most of the next-to-last episode talking to Satou about suicide notes, and particularly about one famous suicide note where the writer complimented his parents' cooking. She leaves a suicide note of that form on her bed ("The New Year's grated yams were delicious. So to everybody, goodbye."), which is Satou's cue to start looking for her.]]

* Used in ''TheFarSide'' cartoon by Gary Larson, often by animals. In one, two bears happen upon a stuffed bear, which has the words "Goodbye World" taped to itself ("My God! It's Larry! He stuffed himself!") Another one features a spiderweb which reads "Goodbye World" and shows a wee spider... hanging itself...from the bottom.
* A suicide note delivered over the internet is the impetus for the plot of ''{{Kimmie 66}}''.

Not as much TruthInTelevision as some might assume. This trope has led many people to believe that every suicide victim leaves a note, and conversely that if there isn't a note it [[NeverSuicide can't have been suicide]]. An approximate guess is that fewer than one-third of suicide victims in the United States leave notes, and the older the victim is the less likely he or she will leave a note. Whether this is because older people have outlived their families or because younger people have learned from this trope that they 'should' leave a note is unknown, since it's tough to ask a victim of suicide. Younger victims seem more likely to leave a note if a celebrity has done so in the very recent past. In Japan,, this may take the form of a ''zetsumei-shi'', or death poem. It is traditional to compose one right before committing seppuku (so expect to see a lot of these in historical fiction).

->-- '''Music/PinkFloyd''', "Goodbye Cruel World"

* In ''PhoenixWrightAceAttorney, Justice For All'''s fourth case, a good portion of one suspect's motivation revolves around the suicide note of [[spoiler:Celeste Inpax]]. It turns out that she worked for years as a [[spoiler:manager]] in order to get close to the only man who could have found and stolen the missing suicide note. Over the course of the case, Phoenix ends up finding it. It turns out to [[spoiler:be an elaborate forgery. Celeste Inpax never left a note after all.]]

* Played with in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. Uchiha Shisui "left a note behind" after his death but the rest of the Uchiha didn't believe that such a symbol of its strength would actually kill himself. The others suspected [[ChildhoodFriends Itachi]] of [[NeverSuicide foul play]] since anyone with [[EvilEye the Sharingan]] would be able to copy handwriting. Itachi later revealed to Sasuke that he actually did kill his best friend to get the Mangekyou. [[spoiler:It turns out that Shisui actually did write the note. He had been on Itachi's side in the whole stopping-the-Uchiha-coup ordeal.]]

Not as much TruthInTelevision as some might assume. This trope has led many people to believe that every suicide victim leaves a note, and conversely that if there isn't a note it [[NeverSuicide can't have been suicide]]. An approximate guess is that fewer than one-third of suicide victims in the United States leave notes, and the older the victim is the less likely he or she will leave a note. Whether this is because older people have outlived their families or because younger people have learned from this trope that they 'should' leave a note is unknown, since it's tough to ask a victim of suicide. Younger victims seem more likely to leave a note if a celebrity has done so in the very recent past.

* In DanganRonpa, [[spoiler: Sakura Oogami]]'s murder is revealed to in fact be a suicide, after which her friend pulls out the note she found, explaining how [[spoiler: Sakura]] had been driven to despair by the way her only friends were fighting amongst themselves and hating her for [[spoiler: her position as [[CompleteMonster Monokuma]]'s ex-[[TheMole mole]], even though she'd rebelled against him]]. [[spoiler: Turns out that note was a forgery, and her ''real'' note was a much more tender affair explaining how she hoped her death would fulfill her obligations and strike the first blow against the mastermind.]]

* In ''EscapeFromMonkeyIsland'', you can tell Guybrush to jump off a cliff. His response is to walk to the edge of the cliff and say "Goodbye cruel adventure game! ...Eh, forget it."

** Also ''No Surprises''.

* From ''Manga/{{Skyhigh}} - Kino-shita sends a note to each one of the AlphaBitch snobs who bully her telling them that one of them is next, because she will come back to kill.

* In the film ''KindHeartsAndCoronets'', one of these is essential for clearing the protagonist of a murder (ironically, practically the only death in the movie that's not his fault). [[spoiler:Of course, it's only after he's been cleared of the murder he ''didn't'' commit that he realises he's left behind a confession -- intended to be published posthumously -- of those he ''did''.]]

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by [[FlamboyantGay Nathan Mahler]] in BloodPlus, who [[spoiler:willingly allows Saya to "kill" him. [[UnexplainedRecovery He survived and became a news reporter]], implying that only his loyalty to Diva died.]]
* Played with in {{Naruto}}. Uchiha Shisui "left a note behind" after his death but the rest of the Uchiha didn't believe that such a symbol of its strength would actually kill himself. The others suspected [[ChildhoodFriends Itachi]] of [[NeverSuicide foul play]] since anyone with [[EvilEye the Sharingan]] would be able to copy handwriting. Itachi later revealed to Sasuke that he actually did kill his best friend to get the Mangekyou. [[spoiler:It turns out that Shisui actually did write the note. He had been on Itachi's side in the whole stopping-the-Uchiha-coup ordeal.]]

->-- Music/PinkFloyd, ''Goodbye Cruel World''