History Main / BackFromTheDead

This is exceedingly common in American {{superhero}} comic books, to the point that whenever a popular character dies, it's a given that they'll be back within no more than five years. At one time, it was said that "Nobody ever stays dead in comics, except [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Bucky]], [[Franchise/SpiderMan Uncle Ben]] and [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Jason Todd]]." Naturally, since that phrase was coined, [[Characters/MarvelComicsBuckyBarnes Bucky]] and [[Characters/BatmanJasonTodd Jason Todd]] have both been recalled to life.

* ''Film/Struwwelpeter'': Kaspar and Paulinchen, who are confirmed to die in their poems, show up at the end of the film perfectly fine. (Of course, there is the possibility that they may not have actually died at all.)

* The basic plot of ''Film/RoboCop1987'', about a murdered police officer who is resurrected ForScience but [[AmnesiacHero begins to remember who he was]] before he was cyberized.

* ''Film/{{Splatter}}'': Johnny Splatter managed to be revived as some kind of ghoul thanks to some HollywoodVoodoo.
** [[spoiler:He can also do this to Krule.]]

* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', a few prominent villains and heroes have returned to life. The most notable ones are [[OurLichesAreDifferent Drishnek]], [[WellIntentionedExtremist Jemuel]], [[SpoonyBard Leon]] and the [[SiblingTeam Silverbranch brothers]].

%%* ''{{VideoGame/Mega Man|Classic}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Sonic|The Hedgehog}}'' do this in ''Webcomic/TwoEvilScientists''.

** ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'s'' Michael Myers seems to die at the end of every movie, only to come back in the sequels. Whether he is [[Film/{{Halloween 1978}} shot multiple times]], [[Film/HalloweenII1981 set on fire]], [[Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers thrown down a minehole]], etc. He just keeps coming back. Admittedly, this was intentional on the makers' behalf. Not counting the first film, they always made sure to "kill off" Michael just in case one of the movies bombed and didn't warrant a sequel. They didn't count on the franchise's popularity, which ended up spawning eight movies and two remakes.
** Jason Voorhees in ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' was initially killed in the fourth film ''Film/FridayThe13thTheFinalChapter''. The original intention was to have him KilledOffForReal, but the failure of ''Film/FridayThe13thPartVANewBeginning'' ensured his return for ''Film/FridayThe13thPartVIJasonLives''. Jason is killed again in most of the subsequent films, but just kept coming back.
** Freddy Krueger from ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' is killed at the end of most of the movies. He always comes back, due to the dream demons resurrecting him.

* Frollo invokes this to Phoebus in ''[[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'', after the latter was struck down by an arrow and fell into the river earlier for defying his orders.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Commonly occurs with Stevie from ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' in fanfiction, due to the general dissatisfaction with the fact (and the way) that she died.
* ''Fanfic/ACrookedMan'': Johann resurrects the population of Genosha, the deceased members of the X-Men, Happy Hogan, Captain America, and MVP.
* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'':
** Vivienne Graham is revealed to have been [[OnlyMostlyDead only temporarily dead]] after being devoured by Ghidorah. She's preserved and kept alive in a comatose state by San in his severed head, and he [[ForcedTransformation transforms]] and [[BrainUpload fuses with]] her to make them a [[MultipleHeadCase two-headed]] [[TwoBeingsOneBody human-Ghidorah]] ArtificialHybrid {{Kaiju}}.
** It's also revealed that Ghidorah will always come back from death eventually so long as [[FromASingleCell some piece of it remains]] -- [[ArtifactOfDoom San's original Ghidorah-head]] hasn't been disposed of, and [[spoiler:Ghidorah's minds including San's EvilDoppelganger are already active]].
* In the ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4222885/1/All-the-Time-in-the-Universe All the Time in the Universe]]", the identity of the twelfth Cylon is [[spoiler:Billy Keikeya rather than Ellen Tigh; he was brought back to life on the original resurrection ship after his death, but his memory of his Cylon status had been erased and he took ages to remember that he and Tigh, Tyrol and Anders were actually in favour of helping humanity rather than killing them]].
* ''Fanfic/AlternateDestination'': At the beginning, during a storm caused by Zarm, Linka is killed by a fallen tree. Later, Gaia brings her back by tampering with the timeline.
* ''Fanfic/{{Anglerfish}}'': Jason's already back from the dead, and getting better control of the Pit that made his initial return so violent. His family talk him into coming back legally as well.
%%* ''Fanfic/BecauseImNotPopularIllTryToGoOutWithAHero'': Norman comes back. Just as he does in the comics.
* ''Fanfic/BoundDestiniesTrilogy'': In chapter 21 of ''Blood and Spirit'', Link dies after being [[ShockAndAwe fatally electrocuted]] by Veress. However, he only stays dead for a few minutes, as another spell of Majora's corruption brings him back to life in the very next chapter.
* ''Fanfic/MyBravePonyStarfleetMagic'':
** Titan suddenly returns in the "Season 1 finale", [[spoiler: and returns again in "TheMovie"]].
** In ''My Brave Pony: Star Fleet Magic III'', [[spoiler:Fratello's ghost combines with his replacement robot body]].
* ''Fanfic/TheBridge'': The BigBad resurrects King Sombra so that he can wreck havoc in the Crystal Empire. [[spoiler: When he's killed again by Cadence and Xenilla, he's revived again later so that he can [[VillainTeamUp partner up with Chrysalis]] in order to free [[GreaterScopeVillain Grogar]] from his [[SealedEvilInACan imprisonment.]]]]
* ''Fanfic/BtvsSeasonsRewrite'': Early in Season 3, Angel undergoes the Trials as he did in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "The Trial." Here, it's done to [[spoiler:resurrect Jenny Calendar, and he succeeds]].
* ''Fanfic/ButIWroteTheWordsToTheSwanSong'': Even if it took him a long time to come back, Romeo was resurrected at one point off screen and he reunites with Juliet at the end of the story.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has a couple of cases:
** In chapter 45 Doctor Strange brings back Sif, who'd had her heart ripped out and Harry Dresden, who'd used his Death Curse to launch Gravemoss halfway into orbit. He's also implied to have saved/resurrected Coulson.
** Technically Thor, having died as James Potter.
** Harry in chapter 71, resurrected and possessed by the utterly enraged Phoenix Force which promptly goes on an epic rampage. This makes sense when you realise that the White Phoenix of the Crown is Lily Potter.
** Voldemort's spirit regains a physical body a full year [[ForWantOfANail ahead of canon]], courtesy of [[PowerParasite stealing some of Harry's power]] and using [[GrandTheftMe Wormtail's body as spare parts]].
* ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfTime'': Played with.
** Professor Moriarty falls to his death in the Reichenbach Falls but enters a temporal rift instead and does not actually die (no one else knows this for several years). Later, he suffers Character Death, only to show up early in the next season as [[CloningGambit a clone]].
** Beth Lestrade is shot to death but returns to life when the timeline in which her death occurred is retconned to never having happened.
** Literature/SherlockHolmes lives out his natural lifespan and dies of old age... but makes one last effort at being able to reunite with his wife in the future, having his body preserved in burial. Beth has a geneticist rejuvenate his body, restoring Sherlock to life and to his twenties.
* ''FanFic/TheDarkerKnight'' has this happen to damn near every character... except [[Music/MileyCyrus Hannah Montana]].
* In ''Fanfic/{{Game Theory|LyricalNanoha}}'', Precia succeeds in bringing her daughter Alicia back to life.
* In ''Fanfic/GhostsOfEvangelion'' all characters have come back to life after dying during Third Impact.
* In ''Fanfic/TheGreatStarshipBattle'', Chewbacca is killed when the Borg destroy the Millennium Falcon but is later resurrected by the Infinite Improbability Drive.
* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/26682751/chapters/65081434 Happy Accident]]'', after Felicity accidentally kills Black Siren, when Constantine helps Oliver find a Lazarus Pit to bring her back to life, he ends up resurrecting Earth-1 Laurel Lance in her counterpart's body, leaving Laurel feeling bemused to be in a body identical to her own but with such 'anomalies' as extra tattoos and a nose ring.
* Carmen Cole, who was killed in the novel Literature/{{Hottie}} by Jonathan Bernstein, was rebuilt into a {{Cyborg}} in ''FanFic/Hottie3TheBestFanFicInTheWorld''.
* In ''Fanfic/IfWishesWerePonies'', after hearing about Ghosts and accidentally helping Professor Binns go on [[AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence his Last Great Adventure]], the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Cutie Mark Crusaders]] call upon Twilight for information from Equestria regarding Ghosts. Sending over a library book, the CMC, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and the Weasley Family casts a spell that manages to bring Myrtle Warrens aka: "Moaning Myrtle" back to life again.
* In ''Fanfic/JonathanJoestarTheFirstJoJo'', all of the people that had been killed by Dio are revived when he is defeated.
* [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Wildfire]] dies battling the [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths Anti-Monitor]] at the beginning of ''Fanfic/KaraOfRokyn'', but he returns in ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', where he reveals he spent centuries transformed into a cloud of anti-matter floating in space until he was able to find a way to return home.
* In ''FanFic/KingdomHearts3FinalStand'', Master Xehanort is revealed to have revived several characters, such as Vanitas, the Riku Replica, and Master Eraqus, to serve as his {{Soul Jar}}s.
* ''Series/LawAndOrderUK'' fics:
** The story "[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/7712514/1/Happy-New-Year Happy New Year]]" has it turn out that DS Matt Devlin was FakingTheDead, having been whisked off to a remote hospital to recover from his bullet wounds, giving his partner DS Ronnie Brooks and would-be lover Alesha Philips the shock of their lives when he's brought back to testify against his assailant.
** "Declassified" ([[https://archiveofourown.org/works/1029250/chapters/2050010 link]]) has Matt Devlin, shot to death and inexplicably recovering right before Alesha's and Ronnie's eyes. He's forced to admit that he's immortal (it's a {{Crossover}} with ''Series/{{Highlander}}'', and technically with ''Series/HoratioHornblower'', as he admits to them that his real name is Archie Kennedy).
* A few examples in ''Fanfic/TheLionKingAdventures'':
** After his death in ''Friends to the End'', Hago comes back ''four times''. He is resurrected in the stories ''The Return of Hago'', ''Darkness Falls'', ''Tama's Trouble'' and ''Tojo's Tyranny''.
** Scar is resurrected in ''Rebirth''.
** Simba, Nala, Haiba, Zazu, Sarafina and the Interceptor are resurrected after the Writer is killed in ''The End''.
** Averted with beloved characters Tama, Tojo, Mufasa and Sarabi.
* In ''FanFic/TheManWithNoName'', Mal ends up being killed by the BigBad. He's revived by the very same BigBad [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone after a breakdown]], oddly enough.
* ''Fanfic/MariaCampbellOfTheAstralClocktower'': Since the fic takes place in the distant future of ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', this is possible. ''Rare'', but possible. Much is made of a knight's duty going beyond death, and with their loyalty they are the most likely to be able to keep their body and Dark Soul together and resurrect. They're also the most likely to be so horribly mutilated that there's no possibility of resurrection. Having a Light Mage on hand for healing greatly increases the likelihood of a resurrection, but they tend not to hang around battlefields. Either way, it's normal to hang onto a corpse for at least a few days in case it decides to get up eventually.
* ''Fanfic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'': The Stardroids' plan hinges on reviving Sunstar and Luna from the dead. [[spoiler:They succeed with Sunstar in chapter 153.]]
* ''Fanfic/MegaManReawakened'': Both Robert and Bass are this.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11772125/1/Metroid-Kamen-Rider-Generations-Full-Series Metroid: Kamen Rider Generations]]'' is seemingly a mix of FossilRevival or spirits of the past due to the story taking place within ''[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Kamen Rider Ghost]]''
** First has [[Series/KamenRiderGaim Kaito Kumon]]. Later he returns from the afterlife for the second time to challenge [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]].
** [[Series/KamenRiderDrive Chase]] in his character arc, with Gou being overjoyed as a result.
** Later came [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption Gandrayda]] in her character arc, alongside Rundas, and Ghor. Gandrayda eventually returns for the second time thanks to the [[FossilRevival Tutankhamun]] [[TransformationTrinket Eyecon]] and aids Samus, Gou, Mitsuzane, and [[spoiler:[[Series/KamenRiderGhost Alain]].]]
** Like Gandrayda after her, [[spoiler:Ghor is brought back to life by the Edison, Billy the Kid, and Benkei Ghost Eyecons]].
* ''FanFic/MyImmortal'': This happens several times, once memorably when Draco commits suicide by slitting his wrists and [[UnexplainedRecovery then miraculously comes back with no explanation whatsoever]], and again when the author became angry with her real-life friend Raven and killed off her avatar character, Willow [[BreadEggsMilkSquick (And had Professor Lumpkin rape her dead body...)]], only to have her reappear and seem to slip back into Goffik Hogwarts life normally.
* ''Fanfic/MyLittleMagesTheNightmaresReturn'': Celestia is killed by [[BigBad Nightmare Moon]] and [[TheDragon the Grand Master]] in Chapter 4, but the last scene of the chapter has Philomena carry off her body. She reappears alive and well in the final chapter, implying that Philomena somehow revived her.
* ''Fanfic/NedStarkLives'': At the very end, Robb Stark and Ramsay Snow fight to the death during their trial by combat. Robb wins the battle almost handily, but Ramsay still [[CombatPragmatist cheats his way through]] and mortally wounds him before dying afterwards. Fortunately however, because of Robb's warg abilities his soul escapes into his wolf, Grey Wind, and tells Arya (who is also in Nymeria's body) about his situation. So Thoros of Myr, who is also aware of Robb's soul within Grey Wind, takes his body and brings him back to life with the fires of R'hllor. It's tear-jerkingly heartwarming.
* ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'': Asuka got mortally wounded during the final battle, and she died. Before her soul was definitely gone, though, Yui absorbed her and Shinji’s souls into the core of [[HumongousMecha Unit-01]] and kept them in there until they were ready to return to the physical world.
* ''Fanfic/NewTamaran'': Raven had made her own version of the Purple Ray underneath Titans Tower, modified to resurrect her or her friends if they were ever killed.
* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': This is what happens to [[spoiler:Kyril]] in Chapter 32 after [[spoiler:his assassination]] in the previous chapter, thanks to [[spoiler:his ResurrectiveImmortality]]. [[DramaticIrony For the audience, this is not really surprising]], but to Celestine and [[spoiler:Kyril's assassin]], this is an OhCrap moment.
* ''Fanfic/TheNutDealerExpandedUniverse'': Jevil revives Mia Fey to thank Phoenix Wright for helping with his Ultra Eden plan.
* ''Fanfic/TheOldLifeAliveAgain'': The premise of this fanfic is that all the Nobodies that die throughout the event of Days (Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Marluxia, Larxene and especially Xion) are revived, courtesy of [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} Genie]].
* ''Fanfic/TheOopsCycle'': In canon, Mariel (the former Angel of Memory and then Demon Princess of Oblivion) was devoured by Haagenti during his own ascension to Princedom. Here, she is regurgitated during Haagenti's redemption. She ends up being made his first Wordbound (Appreciation) and acts as his NumberTwo.
* ''Fanfic/InfinityCrisis'';
** Obviously everyone who was Snapped is brought back to life in the main fic, but Barry and Wally manage to bring Pietro back even before the Snap is undone, Constantine works with Nebula to restore Gamora to her body from the Soul Stone once the heroes retrieve the Gauntlet, and Shuri and Cyborg are able to reactivate the Vision when the fighting ends.
** ''Tomorrow's Guardians'' reveals that Leonard Snart survived his death but was somehow transferred into the timeline of ''Series/TheOrville''. Later, [[spoiler:Ultron is revealed to have also survived his seeming destruction to escape into this timeline]].
** In ''Distant Cousins'', [[spoiler:Lex Luthor is able to revive General Astra as part of his new agenda]].
* The Pokemon fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Jessica}}'' provides one of the easiest examples. After Cameron apologizes, Jessica is restored to his team, and as his own original Pikachu.
* In the ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' AlternateUniverseFic ''Fanfic/NineteenEightyThreeDoomsdayStories'', it turns out that Hungary came back for both Austria and their daughter despite having died [[AfterTheEnd from the chaos of Doomsday]]. While there's also a nod to the Roman Empire's after-death appearances in canon, it's lampshaded by Austria himself that it's ''not at all'' normal or logical.
* Subverted with Miki in ''Fanfic/PokemonStrangledRed''. Steven uses the power of Missingno to resurrect his deceased Charizard, but it's revealed at the end that she isn't ''really'' alive again.
* Averted for the most part in the ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'', as the one rule that Celestia's brother [[TheGrimReaper Mortis]], [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Concept]] of Death, has is that everyone only lives once, so who's dead stays dead. That said, it's played straight at [[EarnYourHappyEnding the end]] of [[BadFuture Dark World]], where he ignores this rule as a wedding present to Queen Libra (aka [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Alicorn]]!Rarity), allowing her to resurrect everyone who died during Discord's thousand year reign who died as a direct result of his actions or those of his minions (those who died of indirect chaos, old age, or who chose not to come back, were excluded).
* During the FinalBattle of the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeriesChaosVerse'', Discord and Fluttercruel manage to kill BigBad Nightmare Phobia, but then her spirit [[TheAssimilator absorbs]] the Shadows of Oblivion, allowing her to [[OneWingedAngel transform]] into an EldritchAbomination that breaks back into Limbo for round two.
* In the ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'' fic “[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2158132/1/Duty-Honor-an-Always-a-Ranger-series Duty & Honor]]”, as the Rangers are forced to face the threat of Zordon’s brother, Xondar, seeking to kill all Power Rangers to ‘punish’ them for the death of his brother, the Dino Thunder team receive aid in the form of [[spoiler:Zordon himself, who survived his ‘death’ at Andros’s hands due to his time warp allowing his essence to be converted into an energy form through the actions of an ancient order]].
* In ''[[https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-32661/SeaSpectre+Two+For+The+Price+Of+One.htm Two for the Price of One]]'', a chain of events lead to Willow Rosenberg visiting the Vanishing Point to bring Leonard Snart back to life; the timeless nature of Vanishing Point means that, even though his body was blown apart, Snart's cells are frozen in the moment before they actually ''died'', so Willow is able to use DNA samples from the ''Waverider'' medical system to summon Snart's cells and put his body back together.
* ''Fanfic/{{Quicken}}'': The story starts out when [[AntiHero Emma]] is mortally wounded during a brutal fight, gains powers right before dying, and her power brings her back to life… nine months later.
* This is the ''freakin' point'' of ''FanFic/RiseOfTheGaleforces''. [[AllThereInTheManual To make a long story short,]] a '''LOT''' of the late Supers from the Golden Era are [[OurClonesAreIdentical cloned]] by [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} Aperture Science and Technology]] in PeopleJars, but a good number of them are broken out by the Parr family so they can start a new life in the current timeframe of the story.
* Howard and Maria Stark comes back to life in the ''Fanfic/SecondChancesSeries'' and the fic series deal with the aftermath of it.
* Moriarty and Watson in ''Fanfic/SherlockSeason4''.
* In ''Fanfic/SlightlyDamnedWindOfRedemptionAndRebirth'', Sakido, as well as all the other Rebirths are souls of the deceased that have been brought back to life by [[EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity The Master]].
* Chapter 40 of ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'' reveals that Obito Uchiha resurrected [[TheLostLenore Rin Nohara]]. The process granted her [[GreenThumb Wood Release powers]], a HealingFactor capable of regenerating lost limbs and eliminated her need for food (she still requires water to sustain herself, though).
* In ''[[http://fav.me/d4a27sp Super Milestone Wars]]'', Princess Euphelia & Emperor Charles from ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Nia from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' and a whole bunch of deceased villains from different parts of fiction.
* The ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' ''Fanfic/SwordOfTheJediTrilogy'' fanfic has Jacen Solo come back to life in the final book. He dies again, but not before redeeming himself.
* In ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'', Asuka, Misato and Hikari died during the Angel War. Shinji and Rei caused an [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Impact event]] to bring Asuka and Misato back, and then the three pilots revived Hikari.
* The ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/series/23018 Three Kings]]'' fanfic series begins with [[WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated Starscream]] waking up on a distant planet a thousand years after his death in the finale. Prowl follows in his footsteps in the sequel.
* In ''FanFic/TheThreeKingsHunt'', Bakura returns to being alive after more than 5000 years being dead
* In the ''Doctor Who'' fic, ''Time and Space'' by Eureka 2000, Cass is brought back from the dead by the Rani and is placed in a holding cell with Epsilon [[OhCrap who just so happens to be a Gallifreyan]]. They are both very unhappy about this.
--> Epsilon: Oh, for crying out loud!
* In the ''Series/Charmed1998'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6250877/1/Tempus-Fugit Tempus Fugit]]", after Prue is spared her death due to the intervention of a future version of Paige, Andy returns to her life as a Whitelighter, the Cleaners altering the relevant memories to give the impression that Andy has just been away for a couple of years rather than dead so that he can resume his old life.
* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''/''Series/WynonnaEarp'' crossover "Fanfic/ToldThatDevilToTakeYouBack", God/Chuck and Amara don't just stop at bringing Mary Winchester back to life, but also resurrect Emma (Dean's Amazon daughter), Adam Milligan, Amy Pond (Sam's old Kitsune friend), Henry Winchester, Bela Talbot and Charlie Bradbury, Charlie joining Sam and Wynnona in Purgatory while the others end up meeting Dean and (for the most part) joining him in the bunker in Kansas.
* A few characters in ''Fanfic/TwilightSparklesAwesomeAdventure'' come back from the dead over the story:
** Doctor Whooves comes back ''twice'' over the course of the story, neither time with any explanation given whatsoever.
** Enemy Boss Leader comes back in the middle of the story, also with no explanation.
** ADMIRAL Awesome Yonasomun Armageddon comes back in time to be a DeusExMachina during the Final Standoff of Final Fate. This revival is notable as being the only one ever given any HandWave: It turned out that he was a [[Franchise/StarWars Jedi Knight.]]
* ''Fanfic/HeartsOfIce'': [[spoiler:Ranma]] gets killed by Kuei (a kind of Chinese ghosts) while fighting his way to the [[DragonsAreDivine Ancient One]]'s den. Nonetheless, he is taken to the Phoenix's mountain -- located in the realm of the souls' beasts -- by one friend, and the bird lets him use its nest to go back to the mortal plane.
* In ''Fanfic/TheCorniceInTheGround'', Harry is killed after being shot by Richmond Valentine, but he is brought back to life by Eggsy, who has the gift of necromancy.
* In ''Webcomic/KillingGameDeluxe'', everyone who died has somehow been brought back from the dead
* In ''Fanfic/CodexEquus'', there are several ways to do this, but thus far only one which is both permanent and has no downsides:
** During the Final Ragnarok event, the Grand Primevals permit the other four members of Princess Brightglow's '''Franchise/PowerRangers'' team (which were among the many superheroes that came to be in the Second Age) to return to the world of the living for a day to help her in the battle with [[BigBad Ragnarøkkr, the High King of the Shadowed Ones]].
** Mistletoe Dreamer is a talented necromancer and uses it to return from the dead as a evil spirit who can possess others. She ultimately tricks some Alicorn Ascendancy members into making her a false Alicorn body, at which point she murdered them all. She then uses a spell to resurrect villains from across history as a LegionOfDoom. Her spell, however, requires [[HumanSacrifice another living being to be sacrificed]] for each resurrection.
** The one true way thus far to lastingly return from death with no strings attached is [[DeityOfHumanOrigin to ascend to demi-godhood]]. However, one mustn't become a death god, or else they're still tied to the afterlife and not quite alive again.
* ''Fanfic/ASpecialKindOfMagic'': In Chapter 6, it's revealed that Naofumi was one of the victims of the Decimation, so this trope applies to his backstory.
* ''Fanfic/StarTrekPhoenix'': This is a central part in the process of becoming an alicorn -- ponies who ascend to this status do so when they perform immense magical feats that overwhelm them and destroy their bodies, and the actual process of ascension involves essentially willing themselves back to life and creating a new alicorn body in the process. This happened to Celestia in the distant past (raising the sun for their first time burned her body to ash; she returned as an alicorn a day later) and, in the story, [[spoiler:to Sunset, who comes back to life as an alicorn after being vaporized while trying to contain a warp core collapse]].
* The BigBad in ''Fanfic/WarriorsOfTheWorldSoldiersOfFortune'' used to be a MagicKnight megalomaniac who lived more than 500 years ago.
* In ''Fanfic/WhatIf'', Neo initially pulls this off by transferring his essence into the Matrix after Cypher pulled the plug, allowing him to exist as a 'glitch' in the system, but takes it to the next level in ''The Return'' [[spoiler:when he transfers back into his recovered body in the real world]].
* The ''Fanfic/WhatYouAlreadyKnow'' series features Daniel [[spoiler:''apparently'' coming back from the dead (in reality, he was just in an extreme self-induced coma), and later he uses his new healing ability to bring Sam back to life after Anubis tries to kill her]].
* Several times in ''Fanfic/YoungJusticeDarknessFalls''. Ra's Al Gul was mentioned to be resurrected, as well as Jason Todd, Superman and Wally West (though technically he was never dead to begin with).
* Implied to be the case with Dr. Marvin Monroe in ''Fanfic/SoLongFarewellAufWiedersehenADoh''.
[[/folder]]

** In ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'', Clyde briefly resurrects Chef as a Nazi Zombie and sics him on the party as a boss fight.

*** In "The Return of Chef", he is killed in an [[CruelAndUnusualDeath, extremely gruesome way]], but the end of the episode reveals that the [[ChurchOfHappyology Super Adventure Club]] resurrected him as Darth Chef. [[AbortedArc This has yet to be followed up on]].

* ''WebVideo/{{Economy Watch}}'': Happens twice in the series. The first time in the Season 1 Halloween special, "Night of the Economic Dead", David returns from the dead as a zombie thanks to the old videotape being played. The second time in the Season 1 Christmas special, "A Very Hoarder Special", David returns from the dead after being redeemed in the Afterlife.

* ''WebVideo/{{EconomyWatch}}'': Happens twice in the series. The first time in the Season 1 Halloween special, "Night of the Economic Dead", David returns from the dead as a zombie thanks to the old videotape being played. The second time in the Season 1 Christmas special, "A Very Hoarder Special", David returns from the dead after being redeemed in the Afterlife.

* ''WebVideo/{{EconomyWatcb}}'': Happens twice in the series. The first time in the Season 1 Halloween special, "Night of the Economic Dead", David returns from the dead as a zombie thanks to the old videotape being played. The second time in the Season 1 Christmas special, "A Very Hoarder Special", David returns from the dead after being redeemed in the Afterlife.

[[folder:Web Videos]]