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List of assassinations in fiction

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Assassinations have formed a major plot element in works of fiction. This article provides a list of such works.

Assassination is the murder of a prominent person for a motive that is broadly public and political rather than merely personal or financial.

Assassinations in fiction have attracted scholarly attention. In Assassinations and Murder in Modern Italy: Transformations in Society and Culture, Stephen Gundle and Lucia Rinaldi — as well as analyzing Italian assassinations in their historical and cultural contexts — explore films, plays, other forms of fiction, and works of art that have been inspired by the act of assassination. Nick Cullather has discussed "the movie version" of John F. Kennedy's assassination.

This list article preferentially highlights some less familiar cultural works while eschewing run-of-the-mill Ian Fleming or Agatha Christie titles and like Mafia films. The historical—historically–based or historically–inspired—takes precedence over the purely fictional and sensational.

Epic poems

Novels

Alexandre Dumas, père
Bolesław Prus
Anthony Hope
Jack London
John Steinbeck
Pär Lagerkvist

Short stories

Conan Doyle

Plays and operas

Shakespeare
de Vega
Corneille
Schiller
Słowacki
Ibsen
Mankell

Films

Frank Sinatra in Suddenly (1954)
Mark Wahlberg at 2007 Shooter premiere

The list is organized chronologically by year of release, rather than year of production.
Within each year, films based on genuine historical events are listed first, followed by any purely fictional entries.

1890s

1900s

Assassination of President McKinley, 1901
The Duke of Guise, assassinated nobleman

1910s

Judith of Bethulia, heroine, assassin

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

Marlon Brando as Emiliano Zapata, assassinated revolutionary

1960s

  • Jozef Gabčík, c. 1942 Jozef Gabčík, c. 1942
  • Jan Kubiš, c. 1942 Jan Kubiš, c. 1942
Czech SOE agents who eliminated Reinhard Heydrich     
Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat, 1793

1970s

1970–1974

1975–1979

Attempted assassin Robert-François Damiens on trial, 1757
Gabriel Narutowicz, assassinated 1922

1980s

1980–1984

1985–1989

Funeral of Jerzy Popiełuszko, assassinated 1984

1990s

1990–1994

1995–1999

2000s

2000–2002

2003–2005

Aldo Moro before his murder, 1978

2006–2007

Procession for D'Arcy McGee, assassinated 1868

2008–2009

Adham Khan, executed 1562
Assassination of Henry IV, 1610

2010s

Mary Surratt, executed 1865

Assassinated filmmakers

One direct and one indirect victim of terrorism.

Television

  • Playhouse 90 (1956–1960) – The 1958 episode "The Plot To Kill Stalin" involved a plot against Uncle Joe.
  • The Time Tunnel (1966–1967) – The episode "The Death Trap" involves both the 1865 assassination of U.S. President Lincoln and the 1861 conspiracy against him, known as the "Baltimore Plot".
  • Star Trek (1966–1969) – In the episode "Journey to Babel", the Tellarite ambassador is assassinated and an attempt is made on the life of Captain James T. Kirk. In the episode "The Savage Curtain", U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is murdered, but in battle on an alien world.
  • Saturday Night Live (1975–present) – Nightline broadcaster Ted Koppel reports as famous but incomprehensible actor Buckwheat is assassinated on live television, and then Buckwheat's assassin (Murphy again) is assassinated in turn.
  • Red Dwarf (1988–1999) – The episode "Tikka to Ride" features an elaborate plot which takes place in an alternate timeline where JFK survives due to accidental interference by the Red Dwarf crew. After witnessing the negative result of his survival the crew enlist Kennedy to go back in time to carry out the assassination. The plan works: Kennedy shoots his past self and the timeline is restored. Kennedy grimly thanks the gang for the chance to restore himself to his proper place in history, and fades away as a result of the resetting timeline.
  • Quantum Leap (1989–1993) – The episode "Lee Harvey Oswald" concerns the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
  • Babylon 5 (1993–1998) – features several assassinations (meaning the targeted killing of a significant political figure, rather than the many other deaths or murders that occur in the show). One of the earliest assassinations is of Earth's President Santiago, in a spectacular scene showing the explosion of the Presidential Spaceship, Earth Force One. The same episode shows his Vice-President Clark being sworn in. The scene is shot as a replica of the swearing in of LBJ, following the JFK assassination, complete with Santiago's widow posed in the background. Clark's assumption of power begins Earth's slow decline into fascism, and it was discovered his faction arranged the assassination of President Santiago.
  • La Femme Nikita (1997–2001) – a television spy drama, based on the French film Nikita, in which assassins work in a secret government counter-terrorist organization, "Section One". Section One's operatives (assassins) work not for monetary gain nor from ideological devotion, but out of a fear of being cancelled (executed) for sub-standard performance. La Femme Nikita had a run of five seasons and a total of 96 episodes; during its first two seasons, it was the highest-rated drama on American basic cable. Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, who created and produced La Femme Nikita, later went on to create 24.
  • Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000) – Episode 15, "Noshing and Moshing", is set at the time of the assassination attempt on U.S. President Reagan. One character believes that it was the result of a conspiracy organized by Vice-President Bush.
  • The West Wing (1999–2006) – In the first-season finale, in the episode "What Kind of Day Has It Been" there is an assassination attempt on U.S. President Bartlet's personal aide, Charlie Young. It is, however, thwarted by the Secret Service. In the following episodes the assassins are discovered to have been members of an organization called Virginia White Pride, a group of racists and white supremacists. In the third season, President Bartlet orders the assassination of Qumari Defence Minister Abdul Ibn Shareef, after it comes to light that the latter has ordered a group of terrorists to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge and is plotting other terrorist acts.
  • Alias (2001–2006) – Numerous assassinations, real and simulated, take place over the course of Sydney Bristow's odyssey through the underworld of covert intelligence and international organized crime.
  • 24 (2001–2010) – Assassination plots have featured prominently throughout: Season 1 revolves around Counter-Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer's attempts to stop the assassination of Democratic presidential candidate David Palmer. Season 2 ends with the attempted assassination of now-President Palmer. Season 3 involves the assassination by Jack Bauer of his superior Ryan Chappelle at the behest of terrorist Stephen Saunders. Season 4 features an attempt to assassinate U.S. President Keeler by shooting down Air Force One (and subsequently the assassination of the president's son). Season 5's plot begins with a hired killer assassinating former U.S. President David Palmer at the beginning of the first episode, along with the assassination of CTU employee Michelle Dessler. Later in the 13th episode, Christopher Henderson attempts to assassinate Michelle's husband Tony Almeida. Season 6 involves the attempted assassinations of U.S. President Wayne Palmer and former U.S. President Charles Logan. In season 7, the husband of president Allison Taylor is assassinated. In season 8, the president of a fictitious Middle-East country is assassinated; later, after his partner Renee Walker is assassinated, Jack Bauer goes on a killing spree, killing several Russian officials who were members of the conspiracy, and finally targets the Russian president, but his assassination attempt is thwarted by his friend Chloe O'Brien, now acting director of CTU. In 24: Live Another Day, U.S. president James Heller is targeted for assassination.
  • Monk (2002–2009) – The pilot episode centres on the failed assassination of a mayoral candidate, while the first episode of Season 3 involves the murder of the Latvian ambassador in New York City. In Season 3 Episode 12, Monk himself becomes the target of Chinatown hitmen.
  • NCIS (2003–present) – In Season 1, Episode 1 the death of a naval officer aboard Air Force One may represent an assassination attempt on ostensible U.S. President George W. Bush.
  • Veronica Mars (2004–2007) – Roman Emperor Caligula is namechecked by Veronica in Season 2, Episode 39, and two evil principal characters are assassinated in the season finale.
  • Stargate Atlantis (2004–2009) – Several assassination attempts are featured through the series, the most extreme of them being the coup when Ladon Radim assassinates Chief Cowen and his Elite Guard with a hidden nuclear device, taking over as the new Genii leader. On another occasion, the protagonists narrowly protect the 13-year-old Harmony from an attempt on her life ordered by one of her sisters (in order to usurp her position as would-be queen). In yet another incident, Teyla (disguised as a Wraith Queen) and Todd infiltrate a Hive Ship under the guise of negotiations. However, Todd stabs the Queen to death and blames Teyla for it, resulting in her becoming the new Queen.
  • Lost (2004–2010) – In Season 4, former Iraqi Army torturer Sayid Jarrah works as an assassin for the mysterious Ben Linus. In Season 6, Sayid again becomes an assassin, this time for the Smoke Monster.
  • House (2004–2012) – In Season 6 episode "The Tyrant", a hospitalized African dictator avoids one assassination attempt before being murdered by a doctor.
  • Rome (2005–2006) – HBO/BBC/RAI series by Michael Apted et al. on wars, intrigue, and personal and political violence in ancient Rome. Season 1 includes the assassinations of several historical figures, Pompey, Pothinus, and Julius Caesar. Season 2 includes the assassination of Cicero but, unhistorically, omits Caesarion.
  • Heroes (2006–2010) – In the finale of the second volume of Heroes, "Generations", former New York Congressman Nathan Petrelli gives a nationally televised speech to the media in Odessa, Texas, regarding the successful stopping of an outbreak of a deadly virus. About to reveal that he has the ability to fly, he is shot in the chest twice, mid-sentence, by an unknown assassin who quickly leaves the scene. Nathan falls into the arms of his brother, Peter, and uses his last breath to whisper his name.
  • Robin Hood (2006–2009) – The story involves plots against the life of King Richard I of England.
  • Reaper (2007) – President William McKinley's assassin Leon Czolgosz is the demon in "Leon", Episode 6 of the first season.
  • Doctor Who (2005–present) – Series 3 episode 12 "The Sound of Drums" U.S. President Arthur Coleman Winters was killed by UK Prime Minister Harold Saxon (The Master).
  • The Tudors (2007–2010) – There is an assassination attempt against Anne Boleyn on the way to her coronation, in Episode 3 of Season 2.
  • Burn Notice (2007–2013) – This series features several minor assassinations in order to cover up the conspiracy that burned spy Michael Weston investigates as he is attempting to clear his name after he becomes affiliated with it. His narration, in which he acts if he is teaching a class of new spies, also discusses the concept several times.
  • Murdoch Mysteries (2007–present) – The Season 3 episode "The Murdoch Identity" involves a plot against Queen Victoria and her War Secretary in Bristol, England.
  • IRIS (2009) – The South Korean TV series details a black ops agency named the National Security Service or NSS, an agency created by Park Chung-Hee that protected South Korea by operations including assassination. One of its agents, Kim Hyun-Jun, goes rogue after completing his assassination assignment in Hungary after being betrayed by NSS Director Baek San and threatened with assassination himself by his friend and fellow NSS operative Jin Sa-Woo. An arms-dealing terrorist group called IRIS also uses assassination to kill off anyone trying to rout out the group and prevent the Koreas from reuniting under peace talks.
  • Warehouse 13 (2009–2014) – The pilot episode features an attempted assassination of the U.S. president at a Washington museum.
  • The Event (2010–2011) – The story involves a U.S. presidential assassination attempt.
  • Nikita (2010–2013) – An updating of the 1990s series, once again focusing on the exploits of a female assassin and her section.
  • Designated Survivor (2016–present) – A bombing during the State of the Union address successfully assassinates almost the entirety of the United States government, with the protagonist assuming the role of president having been the former administration's designated survivor for the address.
  • Hell on Wheels (2011–2016) – There is an assassination attempt against Brigham Young by his son Phineas in Episode 7 of Season 5.
  • Killing Eve (2018) – Eve Polastri, a desk-bound MI5 officer, begins to track down talented psychopathic assassin Villanelle, while both women become obsessed with each other.

Animation

  • Golgo 13: The Professional – Directed by Osamu Dezaki, the anime is about a professional assassin. Only two anime installments were made
  • Golgo 13 – The TV series details more on Duke Togo's assassination missions
  • Noir – Anime television series that follows two female assassins' search to understand their past
  • Darker than Black – Anime television series about ordinary people inexplicably changed into Contractors with extraordinary abilities who typically become cold-blooded killers
  • Assassination Classroom – Anime television series adapted from a manga by Yūsei Matsui, about junior high students in their school's worst class, tasked with finding a way to assassinate an extremely powerful creature claiming it destroyed 70% of the moon, and will destroy the Earth one year later

Board games

Video games

  • The Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983) – Adventure game focusing on a murder case in Kobe, Japan
  • Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode (1988) and Golgo 13: The Mafat Conspiracy (1990) – two NES games based on the anime/manga
  • Grand Theft Auto series (1997–2013) – features numerous missions which involve assassination
  • Tenchu (1998–2008) – Same as above, the originator of the next-generation ninja subterfuge gaming genre. Released earlier, more story-driven and somewhat less political, assassination is a trademark feature of the series
  • Hitman series (2000–present) – Popular tactical stealth game series which involves the assassination of various targets. There has been over eight games in the series so far.
  • Ragnarok Online (2001) – An MMORPG where the player can choose to become an assassin as a second job class
  • Splinter Cell (2002) – Stealth action game which ends with an assassination of a powerful political leader
  • The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002) – role-playing video game with numerous assassinations and even a guild dedicated to assassinations called the Morag Tong
  • XIII (2003) – about an amnesiac and the assassination of a U.S. President
  • Grand Chase (2003) – Lass, the Thief and the fourth character, is an assassin as a second job using a curved sword called Scimitar
  • JFK Reloaded (2004) – The game's sole objective is to recreate the John F. Kennedy assassination
  • Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines (2004) – Several assignments (some mandatory, some optional) involving assassination are included in this game, and the endgame involves the player deciding whether to assassinate one or both of the game's vampire clan leader antagonists
  • Shinobido (2005) – Heavily stealth-based video game centred around feudal-era Japan and its inhabitants. The protagonist is a ninja, who is given contact killing missions among others, and becomes a politically heavily involved reconnaissance agent, thief and mostly, assassin
  • Total War (2006) – a strategy game series where the player can send assassins against opponents
  • The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006) – role-playing video game in which one may join an assassins' guild, the Dark Brotherhood. Also, the main storyline opens with an emperor being assassinated; the entire game hinges on this event
  • The Godfather: The Game (2006) – the game features several missions with the goal to assassinating high-ranking members of the Five Families, including the Dons
  • Assassin's Creed (2007) – Game in which one plays a member of the Hashshashin sect during the Third Crusade
  • Team Fortress 2 (2007) – features one class, the spy, whose purpose is to assassinate other players. He features a knife among his weaponry that will kill instantly if it is a stab to the back of a character
  • No More Heroes (2007) – The player is an assassin called Travis Touchdown who is the 11th ranked assassin of an organization called the UAA. The game leads the player to fight against the top 10 assassins of the UAA
  • Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) – In two missions, the player plays as a sniper on a failed assassination attempt
  • Star Wars: Force Unleashed (2008) – The four first levels are a mission where the player attempts to assassinate Jedi masters
  • Fable II (2008) – The player can be an assassin
  • Call of Duty: World at War (2008) – In the first level of the Russian campaign, the player participates in the assassination of a Nazi general responsible for Stalingrad atrocities
  • Fallout 3 (2008) – The player is tasked by an organization known as the Brotherhood of Steel to assassinate John Henry Eden, the self-proclaimed President of the United States
  • MadWorld (2009) – The gameplay revolves around how creatively you murder other contestants in a game called "Deathwatch"
  • Assassin's Creed II (2009) – The player assumes the role of a young nobleman-turned-assassin named Ezio Auditore da Firenze. The plot takes place in Renaissance Italy
  • Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (2010) – Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze returns
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) – Operatives Mason and Woods are sent to Cuba to assassinate Fidel Castro, but later find out that he had a lookalike. Another instance is when the player finds out that Mason was a conspirator in the John F. Kennedy assassination at the end of the game
  • Just Cause (video game series) (2006–2018) – United States agent Rico travels to the fictional island-nations of San Esperito, Panau, Medici and Solis to assassinate the regime's corrupt dictators
  • Fallout: New Vegas (2010) – The player can assassinate three major political leaders, then cannibalize them to receive a special in-game bonus, called a Perk
  • Assassin's Creed: Revelations (2011) – Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze returns for the final time
  • Batman: Arkham City (2011) – The secondary mission "Shot in the Dark" involves contract killings. The League of Assassins are also part of the main plot
  • Assassin's Creed III (2012) – A new Assassin arises to the creed
  • Dishonored (2012) – Corvo Attano sets out to assassinate a conspiracy line to restore the rightful Emperess, Emily Kaldwin, on the throne. There are non-lethal alternatives to assassination targets
  • Payday 2 (2013) – the Payday gang assassinates Ernesto Sosa, a fictional drug lord, who had been attacking weapon shipments of 'The Butcher,' an arms smuggler.
  • Grand Theft Auto V (2013) – Franklin, Michael, and Trevor assassinate rival criminal leaders and other targets in both main and side missions of the game's story mode. Players can also take part in assassinations in Grand Theft Auto Online.

See also

Notes

  1. Murders within families are often termed assassinations if the family members are very prominent. This would be true of Roman Empire poisonings, or the 2001 slaughter of the royal family in Nepal. The murder of the well-known actor Phil Hartman by his wife in 1998 does not qualify.
    Is the 1978 murder of actor Bob Crane assassination? No. Is the 1987 murder of singer Peter Tosh by robbers assassination? If the motive is extortion, no. If an author writes a novel proposing a broad conspiracy, then yes. Is the 1948 death of actor Solomon Mikhoels assassination? Yes. It was orchestrated by Stalin.
    King Charles I? No. Executed publicly, after a trial. Tsar Nicholas II? Yes. Executed secretly, with his children, without a trial.
    There will always be a problem with a precise definition and applying that definition to specific cases.
  2. Assassinations and Murder in Modern Italy: Transformations in Society and Culture, edited by Stephen Gundle and Lucia Rinaldi (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007)
  3. Nicholas Cullather, "History, Conspiracy, and the Kennedy Assassination", Retrieving the American Past, edited by Marc Horger, New York, Pearson Custom Publishing, 2005, pp. 301–30
  4. Quo Vadis. Chapter LXX.
  5. Quo Vadis. Chapter LXXI.
  6. Quo Vadis. Epilogue. Mercy killing by Epaphroditus.
  7. London authored pp. 1–121. Fish wrote p. 122-179 based on London's notes (pp. 181–184).
  8. Recipient of the Edgar Award in 1972.
  9. The story's manuscript reads Camorra. Conan Doyle changed the story as published to read Carbonari, a group no longer active at the time.
  10. Recipient of the Evening Standard Award for Best Play in 1961.
  11. Recipient of the Tony Award in 1961.
  12. Recipient of the Tony Award in 1966.
  13. Source: Cousins (q.v.), p. 40.
  14. Director Dudley Murphy was a friend of failed Trotsky assassin and artist David Alfaro Siqueiros. Siqueiros painted a mural inside Murphy's L.A. house which was relocated in 2002 Archived 17 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
  15. Source: 1965 BBC documentary The Epic That Never Was on the making of I, Claudius.
  16. Notable as the first postwar German film, it was made before the formal split of Germany into West Germany and East Germany.
  17. The detective who prevents the assassination of President-elect Lincoln is named "John Kennedy".
  18. The performer portraying the "Sarkhanese" prime minister in the film was a Thai politician who later became Prime Minister.
  19. Prior to the final attack on Trotsky in August 1940, there had been an earlier one in May. This original attack had been carried out, on behalf of Stalin, by Iosif Grigulevich and Vittorio Vidali, NKVD assassins who had probably been involved in the death of POUM leader Andrés Nin in Spain in 1937. (See George Orwell's memoir Homage to Catalonia, a source for Ken Loach's 1995 film Land and Freedom.) In Mexico City, they were joined by David Siqueiros, Mexican Stalinist and renowned mural painter.
    Bullet holes from the first attempt may be seen in Trotsky's bedroom at the Trotsky House Museum in Coyoacán.
    A revolutionary image by Siqueiros, familiar outside of Mexico, appears on the cover of the Rage Against the Machine concert video, The Battle of Mexico City. The image forms part of a large mural in Chapultepec Castle.
  20. FAREWELL, MR. PRESIDENT (1987) - MUBI
  21. Ruth First appears as a minor character in the 2006 film Catch a Fire, about the ANC, where she is portrayed by her daughter, producer Robyn Slovo.
  22. Recipient of the Ariel Award for Best Picture in 1991
  23. Several of the 638 different ways employed by the U.S. to kill Castro, at least according to Cuban Intelligence.
  24. The extended version of Nixon includes a conversation between Pres. Nixon and CIA Director Richard Helms. During the conversation, Salvador Allende is shown; Ngo Dinh Diem, Rafael Trujillo, and Patrice Lumumba are mentioned.
  25. Nixon mentions other important incidents of the era, including the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, and the attempt on George Wallace.
  26. Official site: O Processo dos Távoras Archived 7 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  27. The film mistakenly refers to the assassination of General Dyer following the Amritsar Massacre. In fact, it was Governor O'Dwyer who was murdered, in London in 1940. Dyer had died of natural causes in 1927.
  28. Director Andy Cheng is second unit director and stunt co-ordinator on Twilight, the noirish teen vampire romance.
  29. The Kennedys, Hour Seven.
  30. The Kennedys, Hour Eight.
  31. The Plot To Kill Stalin can be viewed at the Internet Archive.

Sources

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