History KilledOffForReal / Literature

* In ''Literature/TheCampHalfBloodSeries'', multiple characters die and don't stay dead- Jason is charmspoken back to life in The Lost Hero by Piper, Nico lived despite being trapped in the jar without food, water, or air for five days, and Percy and Annabeth come back from Tartarus alive but when Jason Grace dies the second time in ''Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo'', he stays dead.

* ''Literature/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids''[='s=] Mandragora-257, who had previously come BackFromTheDead through such methods as creating a new body from himself through alchemy or making a deal with powerful spirits in the Afterlife, is finally killed off for ''good'' at the end of ''The Fall of the Consistency Palatium'': he attempts to put his last contingency (uploading his consciousness into an indestructible crystal) but is unable to do so in time, and is stuck inside his exploding SupervillainLair after it has sealed itself from all other dimension, ''including'' the Afterlife.

* In the ''Literature/CampHalfBlood'' series, multiple characters die and don't stay dead- Jason is charmspoken back to life in The Lost Hero by Piper, Nico lived despite being trapped in the jar without food, water, or air for five days, and Percy and Annabeth come back from Tartarus alive but when Jason Grace dies the second time in ''Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo'', he stays dead.
* In the ''Literature/RedDwarf'' book 'Last Human', Rimmer is fatally shot in the light-bee by the alternate Lister. He manages to survive long enough to get Kryten to infect him with the Oblivion Virus, passing it on to The Rage to save the rest of the crew, killing it and himself in the process.

* In the ''Literature/CampHalfBlood'' series, multiple characters die and don't stay dead- Jason is charmspoken back to life in The Lost Hero by Piper, Nico lived despite being trapped in the jar without food, water, or air for five days, and Percy and Annabeth come back from Tartarus alive but when Jason Grace dies the second time in ''Trials of Apollo'', he stays dead.

* {{Invoked}} in one of the sideplots of ''[[Literature/ThursdayNext Something Rotten]]''. The author of the wildly popular Emperor Zhark sci-fi series has grown so sick of being asked to write Zhark novels (he originally wrote the novels as a parody of bad sci-fi, but it ended up becoming [[MagnumOpusDissonance far more popular than his more serious works]]), that he has decided to end his latest book by having Emperor Zhark publically executed on-page and explicitly spelling out that he is dead, just to make ''absolutely sure'' that nobody can ''ever'' ask him to write more Zhark novels.

* In the ''Literature/CampHalfBlood'' series, multiple characters die and don't stay dead- Jason is charmspoken back to life in The Lost Hero by Piper, Nico lived despite being trapped in the jar without food, water, or air for five days, and Percy and Annabeth [[spoiler: come back from Tartarus alive]] but when Jason Grace dies the second time in ''Trials of Apollo'', he stays dead.
* In the ''Literature/RedDwarf'' book 'Last Human', Rimmer is fatally shot in the light-bee by [[spoiler: the alternate Lister]]. He manages to survive long enough to get Kryten to infect him with the Oblivion Virus, passing it on to The Rage to save the rest of the crew, killing it and himself in the process.

* {{Invoked}} in one of the sideplots of ''[[Literature/ThursdayNext Something Rotten]]''. The author of the wildly popular Emperor Zhark sci-fi series has grown so sick of being asked to write Zhark novels (he originally wrote the novels as a parody of bad sci-fi, but it ended up becoming far more popular than his more serious works), that he has decided to end his latest book by having Emperor Zhark publically executed on-page and explicitly spelling out that he is dead, just to make ''absolutely sure'' that nobody can ''ever'' ask him to write more Zhark novels.

* ''Literature/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids''[='s=] Mandragora-257, who had previously come BackFromTheDead through such methods as creating a new body from himself through alchemy or making a deal with powerful spirits in the Afterlife, is finally killed off for ''good'' at the end of ''The Fall of the Consistency Palatium'': he attempts to put his last contingency (uploading his consciousness into an indestructible crystal) but is unable to do so in time, and is stuck inside his exploding EvilLair after it has sealed itself from all other dimension, ''including'' the Afterlife.

* Commander Root in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' Although he gets a TimeTravel cameo in The Time Paradox.
** Commander Raine Vinyaya also gets it in The Atlantis Complex. Clearly, this is not a good rank for the LEP.
* Firewing While the villain Goth returns from the dead, Shade ascends to the true afterlife.

* In the Camp Half-Blood series, multiple characters die and don't stay dead- Jason is charmspoken back to life in The Lost Hero by Piper, Nico lived despite being trapped in the jar without food, water, or air for five days, and Percy and Annabeth [[spoiler: come back from Tartarus alive]] but when Jason Grace dies the second time in TrialsOfApollo, he stays dead.
* In Literature/WarriorCats, most of the cats who die either end up in [=StarClan=] or the Dark Forest, but they're dead all the same and are unable to [[DeathIsCheap come back to life]], even though some of the dead cats can interact with the living.

* Balefire in Literature/TheWheelOfTime combines this trope with short-term RetGone (the extent of its effects determined by how much power is used). Even the Dark One can't resurrect someone killed by Balefire. However, it can be destabilizing - too much retconning will ''literally'' unravel the "threads" of reality.

%%* [[Literature/{{Dragons}} The Last Dragon Chronicles]]: Liz Pennykettle.

* A meta-example; defied and averted by Creator/TerryPratchett's editor for ''Discworld/MovingPictures''. At the end of the book, he wanted Gaspode and Laddie to stay dead, but his editor urged him to change his decision.

* Most Americans are unaware that Geralt was Killed Off for Real at the end of ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' novel series (mainly because only the first book has been translated from Polish). [[VideoGame/TheWitcher The game]] {{retcon}}ned this to an UnexplainedRecovery.

* Most Americans are unaware that Geralt was Killed Off for Real at the end of ''TheWitcher'' novel series (mainly because only the first book has been translated from Polish). [[VideoGame/TheWitcher The game]] {{retcon}}ned this to an UnexplainedRecovery.

* Lots of characters die in fairly straightforward ways in the ''Harry Potter'' books but the demise of Sirius Black in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' - knocked through a magic portal during a battle with the Death Eaters - left some wriggle room to bring him back. Nope - he's gone for good.
* Kisten Felps dies in ''Literature/TheHollows'' series by Kim Harrison. Also: Matalina, Piscary.
* Erin in the ''Literature/{{Hidden}}'' epilogue, this is confirmed in ''Revealed''.
* In ''Literature/TheKingdomsOfEvil'' a whole bunch of characters die.
** Bloodbyrn's dad.
** Pon.
** The Paladin.
* [[Literature/{{Dragons}} The Last Dragon Chronicles]]: Liz Pennykettle.

* Sisters Grimm, which uses every fairy tale trope possible... Brier Rose, despite True Love's Kiss.
* Literature/TrappedOnDraconica: Kazem and Jenna were killed in the same arc they were introduced and both of them by {{mooks}}.
** In the sequel, ''Literature/LegacyOfTheDragokin'', All the Kthonian Knights, up to and including Kthonia herself, are dead by the end of the book.
* Mason Ashford is killed by the Strigoi Isaiah in ''Literature/{{Frostbite}}''.

* Everyone (that isn't a monster) that dies in ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians''. Luke not dying even though Percy thought he did in ''Titan's Curse'' doesn't really count because Annabeth told him about thirty seconds later that Luke wasn't dead. The only aversion to this is Tyson. Everyone else thinks that Percy dies, too, but since the story is from his perspective so we know otherwise, it doesn't count.

* Everyone that dies in ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians''. Luke not dying even though Percy thought he did in ''Titan's Curse'' doesn't really count because Annabeth told him about thirty seconds later that Luke wasn't dead. The only aversion to this is Tyson. Everyone else thinks that Percy dies, too, but since the story is from his perspective so we know otherwise, it doesn't count.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': The White Council killed Heinrich Kemmler ''six times'' and confirmed it, boot on body, every time. Kemmler, being a necromancer of near-divine power level, was little more than inconvenienced. When he died the seventh time, after the Council disrupted one of his rituals, thinking he could have bounced back a seventh time wasn't implausible at all. However, WordOfGod has it that Kemmler is finally and permanently dead.

* Mason Ashford is killed by a Strigoi in ''Literature/{{Frostbite}}''.

* Cilla in "Literature/IMissYouIMissYou".

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': Due to the very nature of its premise this happens to a ''lot'' of characters in the series. After all, 24 tributes enter the arena and only one can come out alive. Not that characters who aren't tributes are safe. Outside-the-arena deaths include [[spoiler:Cinna, Primrose and Peeta's entire family.]]

* Erin in the ''[[Literature/TheHouseOfNight Hidden]]'' epilogue, this is confirmed in ''Revealed''.

* Mason Ashford is killed by a Strigoi in ''[[Literature/VampireAcademy Frostbite]]''.

* Valentine in ''[[Literature/TheMortalInstruments City of Glass]]''. Thank you, Raziel.

* Kisten Felps dies in ''TheHollows'' series by Kim Harrison. Also: Matalina, Piscary.

* Cilla in "IMissYouIMissYou".

* Firewing [[spoiler: While the villain Goth returns from the dead, Shade ascends to the true afterlife.]]

* [[spoiler:Erin]] in the ''[[Literature/TheHouseOfNight Hidden]]'' epilogue, this is confirmed in ''Revealed''.

* [[Literature/{{Dragons}} The Last Dragon Chronicles]]: [[spoiler:Liz Pennykettle]].

* [[spoiler:Valentine]] in ''[[Literature/TheMortalInstruments City of Glass]]''. [[spoiler:Thank you, Raziel]].

** Also subverted with [[spoiler: Cinderpelt]] who gets reincarnated.
** [[spoiler:Hollyleaf]] returns in ''The Forgotten Warrior'' but was [[BackForTheDead killed off this time]] in ''The Last Hope''.