History HealingFactor / Literature

* In the ''Literature/{{Mermaids}}'' trilogy, one of the early signs that Rani has magic powers is that when she scrapes her hand on a rock, it heals within minutes.

{{Healing Factor}}s in literature.

* In the ''Literature/{{Tempest}}'' trilogy, selkies heal much faster than humans. In ''Tempest Rising'', Kona is hit by lightning twice, leaving a huge burn on his chest, but recovers completely in twenty-four hours.

* The transmortals of ''The Ashtown Burials'' have this, healing fast and apparently without scarring to the point of being impossible to kill, though a lack of any pain-dampening abilities (and the ubiquitous immortal depression) ensures that ImmortalityHurts. The speed of the HealingFactor seems to somewhat depend on the person - Gilgamesh shrugs off a backful of shrapnel almost immediately, while Nolan takes most of a day and night to deal with third-degree burns.

* The [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Creatures]] and to some extent the sentinels of ''Creature Court'' have a blood-based form of this - drinking the blood of a fellow Creature will help heal normal physical damage, and the blood is more potent depending on its owner's power levels. Damage caused by [[KryptoniteFactor skysilver]] requires sentinel blood to heal, and comes at the expense of a temporary loss of powers.

* In Creator/DamonKnight's novella ''Dio'' or ''[[https://books.google.com/books?id=aRiNRcxaeBsC&lpg=PA242&ots=a6hRPprQcq&pg=PA209#v=onepage&f=false The Dying Man]]'', humanity has genetically engineered itself into drop-dead-gorgeous immortality. Regeneration is part of the package -- [[GoodThingYouCanHeal injuries hurt]], and you try to avoid them, but you're okay. It's when the lead character has this fail on him -- along with suddenly losing the ability to [[WeWillAllFlyInTheFuture levitate]], that he knows something's really wrong.

* [[ActionGirl Lu]][[TheHero cy]] from ''Lucy's Blade'' has this, as does anyone who is possessed by [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Lilith]], which means they can't even get sick. But it isn't that super human - a seriously bad wound could still kill them because there is only so much energy Lilith has and is able to pump through a mortal body without killing her friend.

* ''Literature/WildCards'': Some degree of healing seems to be a pretty common power in aces, especially in those with [[SuperStrenght Super Strenght]] or animalistic traits. Notable mentions include:

* The transmortals of ''The Ashtown Burials'' have this, healing fast and apparently without scarring to the point of being impossible to kill, though a lack of any pain-dampening abilities (and the ubiquitous immortal depression) ensures that ImmortalityHurts. The speed of the HealingFactor seems to somewhat depend on the person - the Captain shrugs off a backful of shrapnel almost immediately, while Nolan takes most of a day and night to deal with third-degree burns.

* In ''Literature/{{Adaptation}}'' by Malinda Lo, after her operation Reese's scars disappear faster than they should [[spoiler:because the operation was performed by aliens with accelerated healing trying to "upgrade" human DNA to give humans their abilities]].

* In ''Literature/{{Adaptation}}'' by Malinda Lo, after her operation Reese's scars disappear faster than they should [[spoiler:because the operation was performed by aliens with accelerated healing trying to "upgrade" human DNA to give humans their abilities]].
* The ''shieldwatch'' in ''Literature/AeonLegionLabyrinth'' can roll back time to when its user was not injured. Its main limitation is that if the user's spine or brain is damaged, then they [[LaserGuidedAmnesia will lose their memory]] once restored.
* ''Literature/TheAgeOfTheFive'': [[spoiler:Mirar]], one of the Wilds. He gained immortality through his great knowledge of healing magic. This even allowed him to [[spoiler:survive being crushed under the rubble of a collapsed building, as he used his healing magic to keep his brain and vital organs alive whilst his body repaired itself]].
* In the ''Literature/{{Alterien}}'' series, the Alteriens can regenerate damaged tissue and bone from severe injuries.
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'':
** The Animorphs. Even though they're normal kids, the Andalite morphing technology they've been given is based on DNA. If they're injured while in morph, all they need to do is demorph to human and their injuries will be gone. Likewise, if they're injured while human, they just need to morph and then demorph to have a perfect DNA-based body again. No injury, no matter how serious, will kill them unless it kills them instantly. As long as they're still alive and conscious after the injury, they can recover. If they miss their two hour time limit in morph, all bets are off, because after two hours, ModeLock takes place, and you won't be turning back into a human ''ever'' again.
** In later books, this is the major argument that allows them to recruit kids with permanent injuries, with the kids exulting in mobility they thought they'd never find again.
** The Hork-Bajir can heal extreme wounds very fast, such as when Jara Hamee cuts his own head open, shows his brain to the Animorphs, and is able to close the wound simply by pressing the two sides of his cut flesh together. It's not like he isn't hurt from it, but it was clear that the injury was far from lethal, and a scar forms over the cut in moments.
** Three books had injuries that couldn't be healed by morphing: one due to TimeTravel, another completely unexplained (the book possibly involved MentalTimeTravel), and one with a genetic disease (that remains when the morpher returns to normal) and an Andalite allergic to the morphing process, meaning his missing tail stayed missing.
* The transmortals of ''The Ashtown Burials'' have this, healing fast and apparently without scarring to the point of being impossible to kill, though a lack of any pain-dampening abilities (and the ubiquitous immortal depression) ensures that ImmortalityHurts. The speed of the HealingFactor seems to somewhat depend on the person - the Captain shrugs off a backful of shrapnel almost immediately, while Nolan takes most of a day and night to deal with third-degree burns.
* The high spirits of Adam R. Brown's ''Literature/AstralDawn'' series can quickly recover from psychic wounds inflicted by astral weapons.
* The protagonist of the abominable ''Literature/BaldursGate'' novelisations, Abdel Adrian, gets this in the second book. Due to [[spoiler: his divine blood,]] his injuries will simply heal after a while, even when bits come off. This mainly serves to counterbalance the fact that he kind of sucks at fighting. Also, it increases the {{gorn}} potential by letting him be sliced up too.
* Averted, and possibly inverted, in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', where the gods have ''no'' healing ability whatsoever because they're normally invincible and have no need of it. [[spoiler: Meaning that when the BigBad Torak is badly maimed, his injuries, consisting of horrible burns and a destroyed eye, remain exactly the same as when Torak received them, pain and all, even after thousands of years.]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]]: As the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' are a bit BloodierAndGorier than the TV series, it's much more evident that the Doctor has a certain degree of this ability in the novels than it is on TV. The Doctor regrows a tooth at one point. He walks on a severely broken leg, is severely stabbed, gets shot full of buckshot, has [[HeartTrauma one of his hearts]] [[MadeOfPlasticine ripped out]], [[RealMenGetShot etc.,]] and always gets better with a minimum of fuss and no medical attention.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Wizards have a slight healing factor, which allows them to live for centuries and heal any injury perfectly and without scarring. Harry notes at one point that, given the abuse he's faced over the years, he'd be facing the kind of constant aches and pains a retired football player does if not for his healing factor. They don't heal injuries any faster than a normal human would, though, and any physical trauma that would kill a normal will kill a wizard.
** Best shown when a nasty encounter with a flamethrower in ''Literature/BloodRites'' left Harry's hand char-broiled. He eventually regained use of it, but only after a year or two (several books) of recuperating and physical therapy. Even then, it's going to be a while before it completely heals. In ''Literature/SkinGame'', which takes place ten years later, his hand still looks like melted wax.

* Lanik Mueller from ''Literature/APlanetCalledTreason'' comes from a family who achieved a Healing Factor through generations of genetic modifications. It takes a ''lot'' to kill a Mueller. (They routinely cut off each other's fingers and pry out eyes in childhood squabbles.) Puberty is kind of spectacular in them: In their teenage years, their healing factor gets somewhat out of control and they constantly grow many redundant body parts. Their body stabilizes once they reach maturity... except for the "radical regeneratives" whose healing factor remains out of control permanently. Such poor souls lose all rights and are treated as cattle from which organs are harvested for trade.
** Halfway through the book, Lanik's body is so gruesomely destroyed that the healing factor malfunctions spectacularly and accidentally regenerates his loose innards into a living conjoined twin. When Lanik recovers from feverishness enough to realize what has happened, he cuts off the twin and kills him in panic... [[spoiler:but the twin has the healing factor too, so it regenerates and becomes Lanik's EvilTwin]].

* Anyanwu from Octavia Butler's ''[[Literature/{{Patternist}} Wild Seed'']] is a shapeshifter with an impressive healing factor; she can only be killed by something that would kill her instantly (presumably, decapitation or the like).

* Billy "Carnifex" Ray from the ''Literature/WildCards'' series of novels is a slight subversion; he has one that acts as the biological equivalent of "meatball surgery". It will save his life and restore practical functionality, but repeated injuries have left him somewhat misshapen (e.g. a broken nose healing while still bent out of place).
** Demise has the sort that just keeps bringing him BackFromTheDead.
** The Mechanic's healing factor required him to be in contact with a machine.
** Stuntman's healing factor regrows the damaged tissue violently, leaving him disoriented and very hungry.

* The Dullahans in ''{{LightNovel/Durarara}}'', set in the same world as the above example also appear to regenerate their wounds, though it takes longer for them to heal. It's unclear whether it's possible to wound one badly enough to kill them permanently, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

* Atticus O'Sullivan of the ''Literature/{{Iron Druid|Chronicles}}'' books can regenerate almost any injury ... as long as his bare skin is in contact with soil.

* The title villain from ''Mr. Murder'' by Creator/DeanKoontz has this, though played a lot more realistically than most. He can heal even severe injuries, and much more quickly than a normal person, but he requires a ''lot'' of food to fuel the repairs. And if he doesn't have enough, his body will start [[BodyHorror cannibalizing itself]] to keep the healing going.

* Creator/ElizabethMoon seems to consider this as standard medical technology. Both ''Literature/FamiliasRegnant'' (Kevil Mahoney) and ''Literature/VattasWar'' (Aunt Grace) fully recover missing limbs. Averted in that the technology can repair almost anything short of death (Barin Serrano), but it takes time to fully recover: Aunt Grace's re-grown arm horrified/fascinated her niece and nephew because it started off looking like a child's arm before growing full sized, and Grace had to go through lots of exercise to bring it up to full functionality.