List of assassinations in fiction

Assassinations have formed a major plot element in various works of fiction and have also attracted scholarly attention. In Assassinations and Murder in Modern Italy: Transformations in Society and Culture, Stephen Gundle and Lucia Rinaldi analyze modern Italian assassinations in their historical and cultural contexts and explore the films, fiction, theatre and art that they have inspired." Nicholas Cullather has discussed "The Movie Version" of John F. Kennedy's assassination.

This article provides a list of fictional stories in which assassination (the murder of a prominent person) features as an important plot element. Passing mentions are omitted from this list.

Bolesław Prus.

Jack London.

File:Robert.ludlum.jpg

Robert Ludlum.

Novels

• Bolesław Prus, Pharaoh (1895)
• Jack London, The Assassination Bureau, Ltd (half-written by London, completed by Robert L. Fish, published 1963). Possibly influenced by a J.M. Barrie novella, Better Dead.
• Geoffrey Household, Rogue Male (1939)
• Richard Condon, The Manchurian Candidate (1959)
• Mario Puzo, The Godfather (1969)
• Frederick Forsyth, The Day of the Jackal (1971)
• Loren Singer, The Parallax View (1972)
• Trevanian, The Eiger Sanction (1972)
• Trevanian, The Loo Sanction (1973)
• Richard Condon, Winter Kills (1974)
• Matthew Eden, The Murder of Lawrence of Arabia, ISBN 0-690-01790-1 (1979)
• Trevanian, Shibumi (1979)
• Robert Ludlum, "The Bourne Identity" (1980)
• Alan Moore, V for Vendetta (1982-1988) Graphic novel featuring numerous assassinations of governmental and quasi-governmental officials by the eponymous character, V.
• J. C. Pollock, Threat Case (1992)
• Tom Clancy, Executive Orders (1996)
• Vince Flynn, Term Limits (1997)
• Vince Flynn, Transfer of Power (1999)
• Lee Child, Without Fail (2002)
• Barry Eisler, Hard Rain (2003)
• Brian Josepher, What the Psychic Saw (2005)
• Thomas A. Taylor, Mortal Shield (April 2008)

Short stories

• Philip K. Dick, The Last of the Masters (1954). Science fiction in which the last dictator on earth is assassinated by anarchists, successfully overthrowing the last government.

Plays

Shakespeare.

• William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3 (1590).
• William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (probably 1599).
• William Shakespeare, Hamlet (between 1600 and summer 1602).
• William Shakespeare, Macbeth (between 1603 and 1606).
• Rolf Hochhuth, Soldiers (1967).
• Eric Schlosser, Americans (1985)
• John Weidman and Stephen Sondheim, Assassins (1990).

Films

Frank Sinatra in Suddenly (1954)

Mark Wahlberg at 2007 Shooter premiere

• Hamlet — from 1900 to 2000, dozens of film versions, in various languages, of the tragedy by William Shakespeare.
• The Assassination of the Duke of Guise — 1908 film on the assassination of a French duke
• Il Ballo in maschera — 1911 film by Ugo Falena based on Verdi's opera, inspired by the assassination of Swedish King Gustav III
• The Birth of a Nation — 1915 film by D.W. Griffith recreates the assassination of President Lincoln in Ford's Theatre
• Macbeth — from 1916 to 2006, a dozen film adaptations of the tragedy by William Shakespeare.
• Rasputin and the Empress — 1932 film starring Lionel Barrymore as the murdered monk, Rasputin
• The Man Who Knew Too Much — 1934 film by Alfred Hitchcock about a British family on holiday in Switzerland who become involved in an assassination plot
• The Prisoner of Shark Island — 1936 film by John Ford about the imprisonment of Dr. Samuel Mudd, following the Lincoln assassination
• Secret Agent — 1936 film by Alfred Hitchcock about a British spy (John Gielgud) sent to assassinate a German agent
• Juarez — 1939 film by William Dieterle about the execution of Mexican Emperor Maximilian by President Juárez
• Foreign Correspondent — 1940 film by Alfred Hitchcock in which a diplomat's decoy is assassinated in Amsterdam.
• Après Mein Kampf mes crimes — 1940 French anti-Nazi propaganda film, depicting the assassinations of Ernst Röhm and Kurt von Schleicher during the Night of the Long Knives, then later Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß
• De Mayerling à Sarajevo — 1940 film by Max Ophüls about the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, precipitating World War I
• Man Hunt — 1941 film, starring Walter Pidgeon and George Sanders, based on Geoffrey Household's 1939 novel, Rogue Male. A British hunter vacationing in the Bavarian Alps near the Berghof, Hitler's home in Berchtesgaden, gets Hitler in his gun sight and ponders whether or not he should shoot him.
• Hangmen Also Die — 1943 film by Fritz Lang about the assassination of Nazi Reinhard Heydrich
• Hitler's Madman — 1943 film by Douglas Sirk about the assassination of Nazi Reinhard Heydrich
• Le Secret de Mayerling — 1949 film by Jacques Dacqmine about the possibility of assassination in the 1889 Mayerling Incident
• Prince of Foxes — 1949 film by Henry King in which an artist and an assassin join forces against Cesare Borgia in the Italian Renaissance
• Julius Caesar — 1950, 1953, 1970 film adaptations of the tragedy by William Shakespeare.
• The Enforcer — 1951 film about the Murder, Inc. group of professional hitmen, starring Humphrey Bogart
• Viva Zapata! — 1952 film by Elia Kazan about the murders of Francisco Madero and Emiliano Zapata
• Suddenly — 1954 film starring Frank Sinatra as a would-be presidential assassin.
• Ernst Thälmann - Führer seiner Klasse — 1955 East German film in which Ernst Thälmann, German Communist Party leader, is murdered in Buchenwald
• Sissi — 1955 film, and sequels, starring Romy Schneider, commemorate Sissi, Queen Empress of Austro-Hungary, although none depict her 1898 assassination
• The Man Who Knew Too Much — 1956 remake by Alfred Hitchcock about an American family on vacation in Morocco who become involved in an assassination plot
• Murder, Inc. — 1960 film about the Murder, Inc. group of professional hitmen, starring Stuart Whitman
• The Manchurian Candidate — 1962 and 2004 film adaptations of the novel by Richard Condon.
• Nine Hours to Rama — 1963 film about the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi
• Becket — 1964 film about the assassination of Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas à Becket in 1170
• Behold a Pale Horse — 1964 film by Fred Zinnemann about a Spanish Civil War grudge between an exiled guerrilla (Gregory Peck) and a policeman (Anthony Quinn)
• Pharaoh — 1966 feature film adapted from the novel by Bolesław Prus.
• The Night of the Generals — 1967 thriller about the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler
• The Price of Power — 1969 spaghetti western depicting a fictionalized assassination of President Garfield, starring Van Johnson
• The Assassination Bureau — 1969 film, based on the novel, The Assassination Bureau, Ltd, by Jack London and Robert L. Fish.
• Z — 1969 film by Costa Gavras
• The Conformist — 1970 film by Bernardo Bertolucci about a fascist assassin sent from Italy to assassinate his former professor in Paris.
• Nicholas and Alexandra — 1971 film about Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his consort, Tsarina Alexandra
• The Godfather — 1972 film based on the novel by Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, involving assassinations among Mafia families; is ranked among the greatest films of all time.
• The Mechanic — 1972 movie about a hitman and his protégé.
• The Assassination of Trotsky — 1972 film by Joseph Losey about the death of Leon Trotsky in Mexico City
• The Day of the Jackal — 1973 film adaptation of the novel by Frederick Forsyth on a plot against Charles de Gaulle
• Executive Action — 1973 film on the conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy
• Scorpio — 1973 film about a French assassin, played by Alain Delon
• The Parallax View — 1974 film adapted from the novel by Loren Singer.
• The Godfather Part II — 1974 film, the second part of the Godfather trilogy, written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola; is ranked among the greatest films of all time.
• Les Ordres — 1974 film by Michel Brault about the reaction of the Canadian government to the assassination of Pierre Laporte in 1970
• Agony: The Life and Death of Rasputin — 1974 Soviet film about the murdered monk, Rasputin
• The Eiger Sanction — 1975 movie from the novel by Trevanian
• I, Claudius — 1976 BBC TV miniseries on political violence in ancient Rome
• The Eagle Has Landed — 1976 film about a German plot to assassinate Winston Churchill
• Taxi Driver — 1976 movie by Martin Scorsese.
• Helter Skelter — 1976 TV movie, starring Steve Railsback, about the Charles Manson Family murders, the Family including Squeaky Fromme, would-be assassin of President Ford
• Foul Play — 1978 comedy-thriller film involving a plot to assassinate the Pope in San Francisco, starring Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn.
• Apocalypse Now — 1979 movie by Francis Ford Coppola, set during the Vietnam War, loosely inspired by Joseph Conrad's The Heart of Darkness, and starring Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen. Sheen's character is sent to assassinate Brando's.
• Winter Kills — 1979 movie adapted from the novel by Richard Condon.
• The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd — 1980 TV movie, starring Dennis Weaver, about the imprisonment of Dr. Samuel Mudd, following the Lincoln assassination
• Death of a Prophet — 1981 film by Woodie King Jr. about the assassination of black nationalist Malcolm X, starring Morgan Freeman
• Blow Out — 1981 movie directed by Brian De Palma, starring John Travolta as a sound engineer who is earwitness to a political assassination.
• The Amateur — 1981 film about a CIA cryptographer (John Savage) who trains as an assassin after the terrorist death of his fiancée
• Gandhi — 1982 film by Richard Attenborough about Mahatma Gandhi
• Under Fire — 1983 film about the Somoza regime in Nicaragua, involving the assassination of a rebel leader
• For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story — 1983 TV movie about assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers
• Sadat — 1983 miniseries about assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, starring Louis Gossett
• Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro — 1983 Indian film directed by Kundan Shah, a dark satirical comedy involving the assassination of a mayor.
• Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil — 1985 TV movie about Nazi Germany, including the Night of the Long Knives
• Dawn — 1985 film by Miklós Jancsó about the murder of a British officer (Michael York) by Israeli terrorists, based on the novel by Elie Wiesel
• The Assault — Oscar-winning 1986 film about the consequences for a Dutch family after the assassination of a Nazi collaborator, based on the novel by Harry Mulisch
• Lady Jane — 1986 film about the execution of English queen Lady Jane Grey
• Cry Freedom — 1987 film by Richard Attenborough about the murder of South African activist Steve Biko
• Mississippi Burning — 1988 film about the murders of Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney
• Romero — 1989 film about the murder of Salvadoran archbishop Óscar Romero
• Murder in Mississippi — 1990 TV movie about the murders of Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney, starring Tom Hulce
• Nikita — 1990 French film directed by Luc Besson concerning Nikita, who is convicted of murder. In prison, she is injected with drugs, simulating death. Officially dead, she is given the choice of either working for the DGSE as an assassin or being killed for real.
• The Godfather Part III — 1990 film, the final part of the Godfather trilogy, written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola.
• The Plot to Kill Hitler — 1990 film about the Stauffenberg plot against Adolf Hitler, starring Brad Davis
• JFK — 1991 film by Oliver Stone
• Edward II — 1991 film by Derek Jarman about King Edward II of England
• Year of the Gun — 1991 film by John Frankenheimer about the death of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro
• Malcolm X — 1992 film by Spike Lee about black nationalist Malcolm X, starring Denzel Washington
• Chekist (Чекист) — 1992 Russian film by Aleksandr Rogozhkin about a secret policeman in Lenin's Cheka who eliminates perceived opponents of the Bolshevik Revolution
• El Mariachi — 1992 film by Robert Rodriguez about an unemployed musician in Mexico who is targetted by hitmen
• Point of No Return — 1993 film directed by John Badham, also known as The Assassin; a remake of Nikita.
• In the Line of Fire — 1993 movie by Wolfgang Petersen about an attempted assassination of an American president; Clint Eastwood plays a Secret Service agent who had been in the detail guarding President Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
• Sniper — 1993 film about a US Marine sniper (Tom Berenger) targetting a drug lord in Panama
• Léon (also known as 'The Professional' and 'Léon: The Professional'; 1994)
• Michael Collins — 1996 film by Neil Jordan about Irish soldier and politician Michael Collins, killed in ambush
• Ghosts of Mississippi — 1996 film by Rob Reiner about the assassin of civil rights leader Medgar Evers
• Grosse Pointe Blank — 1997 comedy starring John Cusack as a depressed professional assassin
• Air Force One — 1997 film starring Harrison Ford, directed by Wolfgang Petersen
• Assassin(s) — 1997 French film by Mathieu Kassovitz about two professional killers, older (Michel Serrault) mentoring younger (Kassovitz)
• The Man Who Knew Too Little — 1997 spoof starring Bill Murray as an American on vacation in England who is mistaken for a hitman involved in an assassination plot
• Lumumba — 2000 film about the overthrow and murder of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba
• The Bourne Identity — 2002 film directed by Doug Liman.
• Interview with the Assassin — 2002 mock documentary written and directed by Neil Burger, purportedly about the "second gunman" at the John F. Kennedy assassination.
• Nothing So Strange — 2002 film, directed by Brian Flemming in the style of an "independent documentary", centering on the fictional assassination of Microsoft's Bill Gates, which occurs before the end of the opening credits; the film resonates with numerous references to the John F. Kennedy assassination.
• Good Morning, Night — 2003 film by Marco Bellocchio about the death of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro
• Helter Skelter — 2004 TV movie, starring Jeremy Davies, about the Charles Manson Family murders, the Family including Squeaky Fromme, would-be assassin of President Ford
• Man on Fire — 2004 film by Tony Scott about a bodyguard and ex-CIA assassin in Mexico (Denzel Washington) whose young charge is kidnapped
• The Matador — 2005 comedy starring Pierce Brosnan as an aging bisexual hitman
• Munich — 2005 film by Steven Spielberg about the hunt for those purportedly involved in the 1972 Munich massacre
• Bobby — 2006 film about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
• Death of a President — 2006 fictional documentary about the assassination of George W. Bush
• The Wind That Shakes the Barley — 2006 film by Ken Loach about violence during the Anglo-Irish War, starring Cillian Murphy
• V for Vendetta — 2006 movie wherein the main character, V, assassinates numerous governmental and quasi-governmental officials in his quest to topple a fascist regime.
• Shooter — 2007 movie by Antoine Fuqua, dealing with an assassination attempt on a U.S. president.
• Hitman (2007 film) — 2007 movie about a genetically engineered assassin known only as "Agent 47."
• The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007).
• Blood on the Moon — 2007 TV movie about the trial of Fenian Patrick J. Whelan for the assassination of Canadian Father of Confederation, D'Arcy McGee
• Vantage Point — 2008 movie about a presidential assassination.
• Valkyrie — 2008 film about the Stauffenberg plot against Adolf Hitler, starring Tom Cruise
• Manhunt — 2009 film, currently in production, about the aftermath of the Lincoln assassination, based on Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, by James L. Swanson

Television

• Rogue Male (1976) — a BBC TV film, starring Peter O'Toole and Alistair Sim, based on Geoffrey Household's 1939 novel, Rogue Male.
• La Femme Nikita (1997–2001) — a television spy drama, based on the French film Nikita, starring Peta Wilson and Roy Dupuis as assassins who 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 canceled (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.
• 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 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.
• 24 (2001–present) — 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 President Keeler by shooting down Air Force One (and subsequently the assassination of the president's son), Season 5's plot is driven by the assassination of former President David Palmer at the beginning of the first episode, along with the assassinations of CTU employees Michelle Dessler and Tony Almeida. Season 6 involves the attempted assassinations of President Wayne Palmer and Former President Charles Logan.
• 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, 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.
• 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.
• Heroes (2006–present) — 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.
• President William McKinley's assassin Leon Czolgosz is the demon in "Leon," episode 6 of the first season of Reaper (2007).

Animation

• Golgo 13 — Directed by Osamu Dezaki, the anime is about a professional assassin. Only two Anime installments were made.
• Noir — Anime TV series that follows two female assassins' search to understand their past.

Board games

• The Plot to Assassinate Hitler (1976) — SPI, one player represents the forces in Nazi Germany opposed to Hitler, while the other player plays the Gestapo

Video games

• Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (1983) — Adventure game focusing on a murder case in Kobe, Japan
• Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode (1988) and Golgo 13: The Mafat Conspiracy (1990) are two NES games based on the Anime/Manga.
• The Grand Theft Auto series (1997–2008) features numerous missions which involve assassinating people.
• Shinobido — Heavily stealth-based video game centered around feudal-era Japan and its inhabitants. The protagonist is a ninja, who is given contact killing missons among others, and becomes a politically heavily involved reconnaissance agent, thief and mostly, assassin.
• 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 tradamark feature of the series.
• Splinter Cell — Stealth action game which ends with an assassination of a powerful political leader.
• Hitman: Codename 47 (2000) — Tactical stealth game which involves the assassination of various targets. It was followed by a number of sequels (see Hitman (series)).
• Ragnarok Online (2001) — An MMORPG where the player can choose to become an assassin as a second job class.
• Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002) — RPG with numerous assassinations and even a guild dedicated to assassinations called the Morag Tong.
• Total War (2006) — a strategy game series where you can send assassins against your foes and their servants.
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006) — RPG 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.
• Assassin's Creed (2007) — Game in which one plays a member of the Hashshashin sect during the Third Crusade.
• Call of Duty 4 (2008) — In two missions, you play as a sniper on a failed assassination attempt.
• Fable II (2008) — This game allows you to be an assassin .

See also

• John F. Kennedy assassination in popular culture
• Politics in fiction
• Political fiction