The Sims 2/Death

Death is the one thing that is inevitable in The Sims 2. This article explains how to prolong your sims' lives so that they can live the fullest in their lives.

Sim Deaths and Cheating Death
When a sim dies by any cause, the Grim Reaper will automatically come to the dead body. If a sim didn't die of old age, then you can plead with the grim reaper to spare the sim's life. The Grim Reaper will then perform a seemingly game of chance. While it may seem like a 50/50 outcome, in fact, the chance of winning is boosted by the relationship to the deceased. If the sim wins, then they live to see another day. If not, then the body is replaced with a tombstone or urn. A sim that died in platinum aspiration will earn a special death marker.

List of Deaths
The following lists ways to die and how their ghosts look.

Death by Disease
If a sim has been sick for ten consecutive days then the sim will die. You may plead with the Grim Reaper to spare the sims life. The ghost of the sim will be green.

Death by Drowning
If a sim is swimming and energy drops too low then the sim will drown. In this case, you won't be able to plead with the grim reaper as he will be floating over the water when he examines the sim. The marker will appear on the edge of the pool. The sim's ghost will be blue and leave puddles on the ground.

Death by Electrocution
When repairing an object with low mechanical, there is a chance the sim might be electrocuted. If their needs drop down too low, then the sim will die. You may also plead with the grim reaper. The ghost of those sims will be yellow and emit sparks. Occasionally, the ghost collapses and emits more electricity.

Death by Fire
If a sim gets too close to a fire then they may get burned by that fire. If their needs drop too low then the sim will die. You can plead with the grim reaper but the fire will most likely still be burning and you could lose another sim to it. These sims' ghosts will be red and emit smoke.

Death by Flies
If there are too many dirty plates and trash piles on a lot then there's a random chance that the flies will turn into a swarm and devour your sim. The sim must also have stepped on one of the dirty objects. You can plead with the grim reaper. Sims that were killed by flies have purple ghosts.

Death by Fright
Sims can literally be scared to death. If a ghost scares a sim and their needs are too low then the sim might die, with the chance increasing the lower the needs are. The grim reaper can be pleaded with. The sim's ghost will be pink.

Death by Old Age
This is the one type of death that's inevitable. You know a sim's time is up when their age bar is completely full. The grim reaper cannot be pleaded with. If a sim dies in platinum aspiration, then the animation will be different. They'll be hula dancers. If not, then the grim reaper will pull a sand timer out of the sim's body. There's only one way to cheat this method of death and that's with the elixir of life aspiration reward. The sim's ghost's will be white.

Death by Satellite
Death by satellite can occur when sims are stargazing or watching clouds. During this time, there's a chance that a satellite will collapse on the sim and kill him or her outright. The grim reaper can be pleaded with. The ghost will be orange. The satellite doesn't have to stay there. It can be sold.

Death by Starvation
This happens whenever hunger reaches rock bottom. When hunger gets closer, it slows down giving more you more time to feed your sims. In other words, you have to want your sims to die of starvation to cause it. If a ghost died of hunger then he or she will continually remove food points from the fridge and be transparent.

Ghosts
Ghosts appear during the night and begin there wanders where the tombstone is. When ghosts appear the haunt plenty of objects and make them plenty of animations. As well ghosts may scare sims to death. The level of haunting depends on several factors.
 * Flowers will wilt
 * TVs will mysteriously turn on
 * Dining chairs will float, even if sims are on them.
 * The microwave will continually open and close its door as well as float
 * The toy xylophone will play on its own
 * Teddy bears heads will rotate and the body will float
 * Lamps will float and sometimes break
 * Tubs may fill with water and get dirty
 * The medical career reward floats
 * Ghosts that died of hunger will haunt more if there's no fridge
 * Ghosts will haunt more if their former spouse remarries
 * Ghosts will haunt more if a new set of sims move in
 * Ghosts with broken tombstones will haunt more

There's only one way to safely get rid of a ghost. Move the tombstone to another lot. Using an Active Sim, click on the tombstone and select "Move this Grave" from the pie-menu. A new menu will appear where you will be prompted to select a new lot for the urn/tombstone. The urn/tombstone will then fade away, and a pop-up will notify you that the ghost and it's tombstone have moved to the new lot.