Aiba: "Don't worry, I am positive it would take more than that to kill Kaname Date. I am certain he's at the hot springs district in Atami or some place, spending his time in leisure."
Mizuki: "If he is, I'd go down there and drown him in that boiling water myself."
Mizuki: "If he is, I'd go down there and drown him in that boiling water myself."
"He just fell out the third-story window, plummeting toward certain doom. Of course he'll live!"
— Denth, Warbreaker
The body is the chief witness in every murder. The hiding of the body, nine times out of ten, is the practical problem to be solved.
"Takatora is alive? Noooo! You mean to tell me that in fiction, unless you see a body or the body explodes, it's hard for someone to be really dead? I'm shocked!"
— Meinos Kaen reviewing Kamen Rider Gaim
Helen: You did kill him, I assume?
Mel: I blew up the English department. No bodies were recovered.
Helen: [rolling eyes] Oh well. I suppose it will keep him out of my hair a little while.
Mel: I blew up the English department. No bodies were recovered.
Helen: [rolling eyes] Oh well. I suppose it will keep him out of my hair a little while.
— Narbonic
Commander Thire: There's no sign of [Yoda's] body, sir.
Mas Amedda: Then he is not dead.
Palpatine: Double your search!
Commander Thire: Yes, sir. Right away, sir.
Mas Amedda: Then he is not dead.
Palpatine: Double your search!
Commander Thire: Yes, sir. Right away, sir.
Harley Quinn: Now, you're gonna die and make everything right!
Batman: Except, he'll never believe you did it.
Harley: Huh? Sure, he will...
Batman: How's Joker going to know I'm really gone? All those fish will leave are scraps of bone and cloth. Anyone can fake that. True, you've got my belt, but it's not the same as a body. He'll never buy it.
Batman: Except, he'll never believe you did it.
Harley: Huh? Sure, he will...
Batman: How's Joker going to know I'm really gone? All those fish will leave are scraps of bone and cloth. Anyone can fake that. True, you've got my belt, but it's not the same as a body. He'll never buy it.
— Batman: The Animated Series, "Mad Love"
Walter: Jeeves? You can't be!
The I-Jin of Jeeves: Did I really train you so badly, little Walter? Your beloved mentor went missing in action, and was never seen again. Eventually I was presumed to be dead, but in the absence of evidence, how could you be certain?
Walter: Easily. I killed him.
Jeeves: Ah. That does rather disrupt my calculations.
The I-Jin of Jeeves: Did I really train you so badly, little Walter? Your beloved mentor went missing in action, and was never seen again. Eventually I was presumed to be dead, but in the absence of evidence, how could you be certain?
Walter: Easily. I killed him.
Jeeves: Ah. That does rather disrupt my calculations.
"Maybe you haven't heard - when someone 'dies' in a situation where it's impossible to find the body, in fiction, they're usually alive."
— BigKlingy, discussing this trope
in relation to the Black Knight
in relation to the Black KnightRobo: Jenkins? They don't have him, do they?
Abasi: Dead. An explosion. There was nothing left.
Robo: No body? He's alive.
Abasi: Dead. An explosion. There was nothing left.
Robo: No body? He's alive.
There's not too many actual rules to this game of ours, but one of the big ones is: if there is no corpse, the guy's alive.
—Nick Fury, Ultimate Spider-Man
Elan: Nale! You're alive!
Nale: Of course I'm alive, you moron. What I can't figure out is how you didn't KNOW I was alive the whole time. You're the bard, surely you should have known that when the bad guy dies off-screen, he's not really dead unless you see the body. And half the time, not even then.
Elan: Yeah, but the hero always THINKS the bad guy is dead until he shows up again.
Nale: But... if you know that, then how can you be surprised... Why didn't you realize that you thinking I was dead was... I mean... Gah! I think I'm giving myself a migraine trying to understand the level of wilful ignorance that requires!
Elan: First blood: ELAN!
Nale: Of course I'm alive, you moron. What I can't figure out is how you didn't KNOW I was alive the whole time. You're the bard, surely you should have known that when the bad guy dies off-screen, he's not really dead unless you see the body. And half the time, not even then.
Elan: Yeah, but the hero always THINKS the bad guy is dead until he shows up again.
Nale: But... if you know that, then how can you be surprised... Why didn't you realize that you thinking I was dead was... I mean... Gah! I think I'm giving myself a migraine trying to understand the level of wilful ignorance that requires!
Elan: First blood: ELAN!
Cooler: So, who thinks he's dead?
Sauza: Dead.
Neiz: (Gibberish)note
Doore: That boy's dead as mud!
Cooler: Well, too bad. I sign your paychecks. Search the forest.
But the bodies of the accursed Four had to be found. Nothing less would do. If needed to be, he'd take blood samples from every inch of this field, type them with his own equipment in Latveria, and verify the deaths of Richards, his wife, John Storm, and Benjamin Grimm.
Nothing less would do.
Nothing less would do.
County Sheriff: Marshal, I do not want to tell you how to do your job, but only one person in a million could survive that fall! The guy is fish food!
Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: OK, get a cane pole, go catch the fish that ate him. I wanna see a helicopter come over here, 100 feet off this river—make him aware of these wires...
Marshal Bobby Biggs: Sam, what are you, out of your mind?! He's dead!
Gerard: That ought to make him easy to catch!
"They're not dead until we find them dead. Or part of them, anyway."
—Caleb, Dredd
"Final report: on our return to the site, the shielded unit Cobra Commander used to hide in was... absent."
—Duke, G.I. Joe: Resolute
