History Main / DeathActivatedSuperPower

* In the Chapter Black arc of ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', Yusuke revives, unlocking latent demonic powers, after being killed by the arc big bad.

* ''Film/TheMatrix'':
** The shock of dying in the Matrix is the last stimulus required to awaken Neo's powers.
** Agent Smith's "deletion" at the hands of Neo shortly after his powers as The One awakened was what resulted in his ability to [[MesACrowd duplicate himself]] and [[TheVirus take over Redpills and Bluepills alike]].

* Various monsters in ''{{VideoGame/Diablo}} II'' have devastating "cast upon death" abilities. The player characters can acquire some of those, too, a great aid in retrieving your own body.

* An episode of ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'' deals with UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla attempting to create more vampires by posing as a rehab specialist in Mexico to a bunch of spoiled, rich kids. He uses the cover to inject them with a slow-acting serum that is supposed to gradually turn them into vampires like him (minus the electricity). The process is supposed to take decades, although, being immortal, Tesla can afford to patient. Unfortunately, one of the teens ends up having a car accident and is fatally hurt. The experience triggers the serum early, turning him into a vampire. Realizing this, he gets a gun and proceeds to shoot all of his friends, who visited the rehab clinic, turning them as well. Tesla is rather annoyed by this turn of events, as they were supposed to grow up and inherit the wealth and status of their parents before their vampirism kicked in. A bunch of immature teenagers with superpowers was not what he was aiming for.

** [[spoiler: Luffy's fruit only awakened after he was killed by Kaido inAct 3 of Wano. Not even an hour later, [[BackFromTheDead he returned to life]] and [[CameBackStrong began the battle anew in his newest and greatest form]]: Gear 5, which channels the strength of a being known as "Sun God" Nika.]]

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Wizards can cast a "death curse", which is essentially a powerful CastFromHitpoints curse, on whoever killed them. However, the dying wizard needs to know their target to properly use death curse [[note]]Technically it can be used to target anyone, but if they want to take their attacker down with them...[[/note]]. Because of that, the invention of [[SniperRifle means of killing from extreme long range]] without the wizard knowing makes it much less of a disincentive for normal humans to kill them...

* The ''LetsPlay/AfterlifeSMP'' and ''WebVideo/NewLifeSMP'', sharing a similar premise, [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zag]] this. When a Human character dies, if this isn't their final life, they're rerolled with a new origin and gain the resultant powers and abilities of said origin. This can also be inverted with a super-powered character with a non-Human origin dying and coming back as a Human.

* The ''LetsPlay/AfterlifeSMP'' and ''LetsPlay/NewLifeSMP'', sharing a similar premise, [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zag]] this. When a Human character dies, if this isn't their final life, they're rerolled with a new origin and gain the resultant powers and abilities of said origin. This can also be inverted with a super-powered character with a non-Human origin dying and coming back as a Human.

** In [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Part 6]], Ermes corners the gangster Sports Maxx and forcefully stuffs him in a sewer pipe to drown as revenge for him murdering her sister. However, Sports Maxx uses his last moments to activate his Stand, Limp Bizkit, which revives the taxidermied bird and alligator in his cell as bloodthirsty invisible zombies that attack Ermes. [[spoiler: It also succeeds in reviving Sports Maxx ''himself'', though he's not aware of this until he tries to inject himself with a random prisoner's heroin needle.]]

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

!!'''As a DeathTrope, all Spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''

* The Shakespeare clone in ''Roleplay/DarwinsSoldiers'' was the only Pelvanida test subject who appeared to have no psionic power...until he died and discovered he could live on as a ghost.

** In [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Part 5]], [[BlobMonster Notorious B.I.G.]] is a [[FightingSpirit Stand]] summoned by the death of its user, [[WeHardlyKnewYe Carne]]. This, incidentally, makes it indestructible; to stop the Stand, you have to stop its user, and Notorious B.I.G. no longer ''has'' one.

* ''Fanfic/MoralOfTheStory'': A variation. Laurel Lance awakens the [[SuperScream Canary Cry]] after her metagene is activated by the waters of the Lazarus Pit during her resurrection.