Warning: this trope by definition contains spoilers.
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Anime and Manga
Shiki: Neku, I don't have any doubts. I wanna come back to life and fufill our dream.
Neku: Um, I'm sorry. That some kinda code?
Shiki: Oh, right. You don't remember that either. The game that we're playing isn't free. And my appearance was the entry fee I paid with. Since I still need a body to play, they gave me Eri's. So, yeah, I don't really look like this.
Neku: What the heck are you saying?
Shiki: The Reapers' Game is an examination to see who's worthy of a second chance at life. I died in an accident.
Neku: Wait... How? When did I...? I'm dead?
Neku: Um, I'm sorry. That some kinda code?
Shiki: Oh, right. You don't remember that either. The game that we're playing isn't free. And my appearance was the entry fee I paid with. Since I still need a body to play, they gave me Eri's. So, yeah, I don't really look like this.
Neku: What the heck are you saying?
Shiki: The Reapers' Game is an examination to see who's worthy of a second chance at life. I died in an accident.
Neku: Wait... How? When did I...? I'm dead?
— The World Ends with You, "Shiki" (English dub)
Giorno, I'm sure your Gold Experience knows more about that than anyone else... that nothing can be done for those whose lives have already ended. By that time, my life... had already ended.
— Bruno Bucciarati, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind
I don't understand... why are you helping that girl? She isn't even human! The problem is, that woman is neither human, or a god. She's nothing but a doll! That body is made of what's left of the real Kodama Himegami!
— Ouken attempts to demoralize Takeru by dropping a bombshell on him, Maken-ki!
Comic Books
Jet: You're dead! I saw them check you and say "Bag 'er, she's dead." You're dead!
Rachel: Obviously I'm not dead, Jet. Look at me.
Jet: You look dead!
Rachel: I'm having a rough night, okay?!
Rachel: Obviously I'm not dead, Jet. Look at me.
Jet: You look dead!
Rachel: I'm having a rough night, okay?!
Aunt Johnny: Nobody falls five stories and feels fine, Rachel. Come here. Stand still and let me look at you. Where's your pulse?
Rachel: What?
Aunt Johnny: You don't have a... wait... there's one pulse...
Rachel: You're not doing it right.
Aunt Johnny: [Hand extended in front of Rachel's mouth] Breathe.
Rachel: I am breathing!
Aunt Johnny: And you don't feel that?
Rachel: Feel what? [Johnny lifts Rachel's hand, showing the pin she had stuck deep in Rachel's finger] Okay, just stop it! There's nothing wrong with me. Get out of here!
Aunt Johnny: Tonight you feel five stories onto a car, Rachel. They had to pry you out of the roof you crushed. The EMTs at the scene found no signs of life and declared you legally dead. But here you are two hours later standing and talking to us, so either Jet and I are sharing a grief-induced illusion or you're not dead. At least, not medically.
Rachel: That's what I'm trying to tell you... wait... what?
Aunt Johnny: But the state you're in is not conducive to life either. You didn't feel the pin for the same reason you didn't feel the fall - your nervous system is in a kind of stasis - your whole body is. Your pulse is down somewhere around six beats a minute, your skin is cool to the touch, your breathing is almost undetectable... and you don't feel any of these changes? So we'll focus on the facts. You're deathly pale but still pink, indicating some, if minimal, circulation. The acute petechial hemorrhaging in your eyes is caused by the blood vessels bursting during the trauma of asphyxiation. The marks on your neck are from strangulation. Rachel, you should not be alive. By all known medical reason, your next breath should be your last.
Rachel: What?
Aunt Johnny: You don't have a... wait... there's one pulse...
Rachel: You're not doing it right.
Aunt Johnny: [Hand extended in front of Rachel's mouth] Breathe.
Rachel: I am breathing!
Aunt Johnny: And you don't feel that?
Rachel: Feel what? [Johnny lifts Rachel's hand, showing the pin she had stuck deep in Rachel's finger] Okay, just stop it! There's nothing wrong with me. Get out of here!
Aunt Johnny: Tonight you feel five stories onto a car, Rachel. They had to pry you out of the roof you crushed. The EMTs at the scene found no signs of life and declared you legally dead. But here you are two hours later standing and talking to us, so either Jet and I are sharing a grief-induced illusion or you're not dead. At least, not medically.
Rachel: That's what I'm trying to tell you... wait... what?
Aunt Johnny: But the state you're in is not conducive to life either. You didn't feel the pin for the same reason you didn't feel the fall - your nervous system is in a kind of stasis - your whole body is. Your pulse is down somewhere around six beats a minute, your skin is cool to the touch, your breathing is almost undetectable... and you don't feel any of these changes? So we'll focus on the facts. You're deathly pale but still pink, indicating some, if minimal, circulation. The acute petechial hemorrhaging in your eyes is caused by the blood vessels bursting during the trauma of asphyxiation. The marks on your neck are from strangulation. Rachel, you should not be alive. By all known medical reason, your next breath should be your last.
Films
"No, it's not Salis. Just his body. I inhabit the body of your late Captain."
— Planet Of The Vampires (a.k.a. Terrore nello spazio).
Literature
Those of you who've seen more than a couple of horror films in the last twenty years will know that it's a staple of ghost films that ghosts are the souls of people who don't know that they are dead. It may come as no surprise that this, like almost everything in films, is completely wrong. Obviously enough, suicides catch on pretty quick, while apparently healthy twenty-five-year-olds who die in their sleep find it a bit more difficult. But not even the healthiest and most youthful cretin could fail to realize what had happen to them in less than half an hour.
— The Golden Age Of Censorship, by Paul Hoffman
Poor bastards. They have no idea. Just walking around like their flight landed safely. They'll even carry on with their normal routines. Sleeping next to their spouse. Driving their cab. Wondering why everyone is so distant.
Live-Action TV
Cool — you're a ghost, and you don't know it.
— Tucker, Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Cordelia: That [phone call] you have to get. Oh... and you're welcome.
Angel: [on the phone] Hello. Yes, I know. She's... but that's impossible. She's standing right— [turns around to find Cordelia gone] I'm sorry. Yeah. When did she die? Did she, um... she never did wake up? I see.
Angel: [on the phone] Hello. Yes, I know. She's... but that's impossible. She's standing right— [turns around to find Cordelia gone] I'm sorry. Yeah. When did she die? Did she, um... she never did wake up? I see.
— Angel, "You're Welcome"
Music
When I walked through the door my wife she lay upon the floor
And with tears her eyes did soar, I did not know why
Then I looked into her hand and I saw the telegram
Said that I was a brave, brave man, but that I was dead
And with tears her eyes did soar, I did not know why
Then I looked into her hand and I saw the telegram
Said that I was a brave, brave man, but that I was dead
— Iron and Wine, "Love Vigilantes"
Video Games
But every time someone tries living in the Malone house, back they come. I guess they don't know he's dead, and so are they.
— Red Knott on the titular ghosts, Nancy Drew: Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake
Rei cannot... stay here. In fact, she can't stay anywhere. The truth is... Rei is dead.
Eveline: You're dead.
Ethan: Dead? I mean, Miranda, she-No, I still have to save Rose!
Eveline: Wrong. It wasn't Miranda, you were always dead.
Ethan: What are you saying?! I can still...
Eveline: See? Miranda didn't kill you...You mean, you didn't think it was weird... No matter how much you got hurt? Remember? Three years ago, the Baker house. You were murdered by Jack. You died there three years ago.
Ethan: Dead? I mean, Miranda, she-No, I still have to save Rose!
Eveline: Wrong. It wasn't Miranda, you were always dead.
Ethan: What are you saying?! I can still...
Eveline: See? Miranda didn't kill you...You mean, you didn't think it was weird... No matter how much you got hurt? Remember? Three years ago, the Baker house. You were murdered by Jack. You died there three years ago.
"I'm afraid there is something for which I must apologize. I am not the true Professor Sada/Turo. I am an artificial intelligence the professor created, imbued with her/his memories and knowledge. In short, I am an AI-powered robot. The real professor passed away during the incident that destroyed Research Station No. 4. The Pokémon was not to be blamed. It was the original professor who failed to accurately judge its full power. I believe the professor wanted nothing more than for the Koraidon/Miraidon to survive and thrive. That is why s/he threw herself/himself in front of your Koraidon/Miraidon in an attempt to protect it."
— Professor Sada/Turo, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
It seems reports of my... survival... were greatly exaggerated. [...] I'm here because you can't accept what you've done. It broke you. You needed someone to blame, so you cast it on me, a dead man.
—Colonel John Konrad, Spec Ops: The Line
Neku Sakuraba: Swear it?
Koki Kariya: On my life. Wait, that doesn't work.
Koki Kariya: On my life. Wait, that doesn't work.
— The World Ends with You throws figurative language for a loop
Shulk: What was I doing? What was the purpose of my life? ...No. I've got it wrong. I was never alive. It was Zanza! All along! I... Everything I did was...
Alvis: ...Do you want to say 'pointless'?
Web Original
Honey, I'm dead and I have been all the time.
Western Animation
Shiro: The thing that attacked you wasn't me. Since my fight with Zarkon, I've been here.
Keith: When you disappeared?
Shiro: Yes. I didn't know where I was, or how much time had passed. My physical form was gone. I existed on another realm. I died, Keith.
Keith: When you disappeared?
Shiro: Yes. I didn't know where I was, or how much time had passed. My physical form was gone. I existed on another realm. I died, Keith.
— Voltron: Legendary Defender, "All Good Things"
