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.

Contents

Assassination is the murder of a prominent person for a motive that is broadly public and political rather than merely personal or financial. [1]

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. [2] Nick Cullather has discussed "the movie version" of John F. Kennedy's assassination. [3]

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, pere Alexandre Dumas.jpg
Alexandre Dumas, père
Boleslaw Prus Prus 002.jpg
Bolesław Prus
Anthony Hope Anthony HopeHwkns.jpg
Anthony Hope
Jack London JackLondon02.jpeg
Jack London
John Steinbeck JohnSteinbeck crop.JPG
John Steinbeck
Par Lagerkvist Lagerkvist.jpg
Pär Lagerkvist

Short stories

Conan Doyle Conan doyle.jpg
Conan Doyle

Plays and operas

Shakespeare William Shakespeare by John Taylor, edited.jpg
Shakespeare
de Vega LopedeVega.jpg
de Vega
Corneille Pierre Corneille 3.jpg
Corneille
Schiller Friedrich Schiller by Ludovike Simanowiz.jpg
Schiller
Slowacki Juliusz Slowacki by Tytus Byczkowski.PNG
Słowacki
Ibsen Ibsen-Dresden01.jpg
Ibsen
Mankell Henning Mankell 3 2011 Shankbone.jpg
Mankell

Films

Frank Sinatra in Suddenly (1954) Suddenlyimage109.jpg
Frank Sinatra in Suddenly (1954)
Mark Wahlberg at 2007 Shooter premiere Markwahlbergshpr.jpg
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 McKinleyAssassination.jpg
Assassination of President McKinley, 1901
The Duke of Guise, assassinated nobleman Assassinat du duc de guise.jpg
The Duke of Guise, assassinated nobleman

1910s

Judith of Bethulia, heroine, assassin Blanche Sweet in Judith of Bethulia.jpg
Judith of Bethulia, heroine, assassin

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

Marlon Brando as Emiliano Zapata, assassinated revolutionary Viva Zapata movie trailer screenshot (12).jpg
Marlon Brando as Emiliano Zapata, assassinated revolutionary

1960s

Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat, 1793 Death of Marat by David.jpg
Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat, 1793

1970s

1970–1974

1975–1979

Attempted assassin Robert-Francois Damiens on trial, 1757 Robert Francois Damiens before the judges.jpg
Attempted assassin Robert-François Damiens on trial, 1757
Gabriel Narutowicz, assassinated 1922 Narutowicz death.jpg
Gabriel Narutowicz, assassinated 1922

1980s

1980–1984

1985–1989

Funeral of Jerzy Popieluszko, assassinated 1984 Jerzy Popieluszko Funeral - 37.jpg
Funeral of Jerzy Popiełuszko, assassinated 1984

1990s

1990–1994

1995–1999

2000s

2000–2002

2003–2005

Aldo Moro before his murder, 1978 Aldo Moro br.jpg
Aldo Moro before his murder, 1978

2006–2007

Procession for D'Arcy McGee, assassinated 1868 McGee Funeral.jpg
Procession for D'Arcy McGee, assassinated 1868

2008–2009

Adham Khan, executed 1562 Akbar orders punishment of Adham Khan, Akbarnama.jpg
Adham Khan, executed 1562
Assassination of Henry IV, 1610 Assassination of Henry IV by Gaspar Bouttats.jpg
Assassination of Henry IV, 1610

2010s

Mary Surratt, executed 1865 Execution Lincoln assassins.jpg
Mary Surratt, executed 1865

Assassinated filmmakers

One direct and one indirect victim of terrorism.

Television

Animation

Board games

Video games

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 [ permanent dead link ]: 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.
  32. ↑ "Where every major character on 'Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan' left off ahead of season 3". Business Insider. Retrieved 20 May 2025.

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