Basic Trope: A disguised or transformed hero is mistaken for having killed "himself."
- Straight: Bob's True Companions Alice and Charlie encounter him, transformed into a bear, with his clothes at his feet. They assume the bear killed Bob.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob goes through a series of transformations, each time being assumed the killer of the previous form.
- An entire town is transformed into bears, and is assumed to have all been mauled by bears.
- Downplayed: Alice and Charlie hear Bob yell as he transforms, then come across his bear-self trying to get into his cabin. They think the bear is attacking Bob.
- Justified:
- Without prior awareness of magic, it makes more sense that a person would be mauled by a bear rather than being transformed into one.
- The only thing they heard was Bob screaming in pain as he turned into a bear - without context, that could've easily sounded like someone getting killed by a bear.
- 'Bernard' intended for his old identity to be 'murdered', but being witnessed this early made it Go Horribly Right.
- Inverted: A bear that mauls Bob is mistaken as being Bob transformed into a bear.
- Subverted: Charlie and Alice run at Bob as a bear, yelling, "This is for Bob!"...and attack a hunter standing right behind him.
- Double Subverted: The hunter claimed he didn't know who Bob is. Alice and Charlie then attacked the bear, thinking it killed Bob.
- Parodied: An entire town is transformed into bears, and is assumed to be a massacre by a single bear.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: Bob is never transformed or mistaken for anything at all.
- Enforced: The author is deconstructing Faking The Death.
- Lampshaded: "You know, Alice, it wouldn't surprise me if that bear is actually Bob transformed."
- Invoked:
- Wicked Witch Carla turns Bob into a bear, and then runs out of the woods crying about a bear attacking Bob.
- Bob wants to escape his human identity, so he makes it look like he was killed by the bear he actually is.
- Exploited: Carla was going to kill Bob, but when he accidentally transforms himself into a bear, she leaves him alone, thinking his companions will kill him instead.
- Defied: Alice, Bob, and Charlie create a Trust Password to use in case of a sudden transformation.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: "Oh man, I hope Bob can convince his friends of the truth before they decide to kill the bear out of revenge."
- Deconstructed: Alice and Charlie are arrested and charged with animal cruelty.
- Played For Laughs: Bob can talk in his bear form and immediately tells his friends he's a bear. They still insist that he killed Bob.
- Played For Drama: Bob can't fight back; he might hurt Alice and Charlie. When he transforms back, Alice and Charlie are horrified at what they did.
- Implied: A bear is found with Bob's clothes, and Alice and Charlie kill it in revenge without it fighting back. The horrific possibility that Bob was just killed is never brought up again.
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