History Main / PullingThemselvesTogether

* ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest6'': The endodroid can pull the same stunt as the T-1000. Just [[http://tmd.alienharmony.com/rw/sq6/1/e.htm don't let it happen around Roger]].

* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'': In ''Great War in the Bizarre World'' episode 35, Darton declares that Jolly be executed, and the wolves make numerous attempts to do so. Each execution fails because Jolly simply pulls together the pieces of his eggshell.

** While Zaktan is a cut above the others (in that he could come back from almost-complete disintegration), really, almost ''any'' character is capable of doing this if their pieces are still intact and they know the secret of how to rebuild themselves, as most beings in this 'verse are mechanical with only some organic tissue. One of the most memorable instances is in the teaser for the planned game that never made it out, showing Onua spill out of his canister in pieces and assemble himself. Had the game been finished we would have gotten to see such a sequence for each of the original six Toa.

* Played for laughs in ''Film/HotShotsPartDeux'', when Saddam Hussein does that in an obvious homage to ''T2'' [[spoiler:and ''Film/TheFly'']].
* In ''Film/TheSpirit'', this is how The Octopus and The Spirit are revealed to be practically immortal.

* Creator/WaltDisney's ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks'': An animated suit of armor is blown apart by a grenade, quickly re-assembles itself and continues attacking. On [=YouTube=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtgcJBXD4sA here, starting at 6:45.]]

* {{Wolfman}} pulls himself back together after being blown apart with dynamite in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' to show that, yes, ''only'' a silver bullet will do the trick.
* In the movie ''Film/JustVisiting'', a medieval knight and his sidekick are accidentally sent to the present time by a cocky/kooky wizard, who goes in after them. In one scene, the wizard's potion goes awry and explodes, tearing him apart (in a non-gory fashion). Just when it seems there is no hope for the displaced knight, behold! -- pieces of the wizard (whose body parts have turned into metal for some reason) crawl towards each other and the wizard puts himself back together!

* In ''Film/GhostRider'', Johnny blasts [[spoiler:Legion]] apart with a Hellfire-powered shotgun. He just pulls himself back together like nothing happened. [[spoiler:It did provide enough of a distraction for Johnny to deliver the finishing blow, though.]]
* Hector does this in ''Film/{{Saturn 3}}''.
* Mentioned, though not seen, in ''Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie''. After the Rangers defeat a dinosaur skeleton, Rocky suggests they leave [=ASAP=] in case he pulls himself together.
* The Film/{{Leprechaun}} does this in the first, fourth, and fifth films.

* ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' can usually reverse any damage to his [[TheUndead necroplasmic body]] at a cost but at a low point, when vivisected by The Curse, he instead [[AnimateBodyParts willed one severed hand]] to aid his [[TheSymbiote living costume]] in breaking out after which the latter promptly and swiftly collected, reattached itself to and reassembled him.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VXcDY1U2PE A few Cadbury adverts]] feature Creme Eggs doing this, however they [[CameBackWrong come back wrong]] and end up as the then-new [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creme_Egg_Twisted Creme Egg Twisted]].

* ''WebVideo/LoadingReadyRun'' plays with this in the video [[http://loadingreadyrun.com/videos/view/227/Pull-Yourself-Together Pull Yourself Together]]. The main character has accidentally been leaving different aspects of his personality at his friends' houses.

* Vampires in ''Fanfic/{{Luminosity}}'' have this. Even if someone tears them apart, unless the flesh is actually kept separate, they will [[PullingThemselvesTogether regroup and regenerate. There's only one surefire way to kill one. [[spoiler:And Bella found a way around ''that''.]]

* Necrons in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' are known to do this, sometimes even reforming after being reduced to molten slag. Their former masters the shattered C'tan are also able to do this, and it would be a ''very'' bad thing for everyone (''especially'' the Necrons) if they succeed.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' the Great Necromancer Nagash did this after his body was chopped into pieces, burned to ashes, taken in several containers far away from each other, and scattered to the winds. The process took over a thousand years though, and his hand, which wasn't burned because it crawled away after being severed, never returned to him.

** Trolls, and anything with regeneration, can reattach body parts, including heads if they have a spare.
** Lebendtod from TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}} don't regenerate, but these undead can remove and re-attach their heads or limbs at will. An anecdote in their 3E monster description tells how a necromancer sent several boxes of loose body parts to a rival's home; [[TrojanHorse once inside]], the parts re-assembled themselves and the lebendtod attacked.
** Some skeletal undead have been depicted with the ability to reassemble themselves, in various D&D editions and ''Dragon'' articles. One type of skeleton, once several are knocked to pieces, even combine their bits into a bigger, more dangerous monster.

* "Pulling X back together" are ArcWords of the ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' and mostly has to do with the Animatronics and souls possesing them in some way. Possibly including the child from ''4'', whom was the first one to be told these words.
* ''Mach Rider'', of [=NES=] fame.
* The protagonist of the freeware game ''Videogame/AndYetItMoves''.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' - The "Reunion", a mysterious signal beckoning those who are injected with Jenova's cells. This is actually how Jenova, an extraterrestrial creature, puts itself back together after being disassembled. The various test subjects Cloud meets throughout the game - mostly homeless men who were driven insane from the lab trials - all assemble at the North Crater, as they carry Jenova's cells. Professor Hojo postulates the "JENOVA Reunion Theory" in his notes.
** The being known as Goldenrod from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesTheCrystalBearers'' is capable of this, as we learn when she and Layle fall from a height. It can be postulated that any Yuke can do it.
* The zombie robots from the game ''VideoGame/MetalArmsGlitchInTheSystem''. Using the tether to bodyjack an enemy robot causes Glitch to have to do this afterwards. [[spoiler:One BossFight also requires you to do this to yourself to escape an impossible situation.]]
* It seems a ''lot'' of [[DemBones skeletal enemies]] do this trick when defeated:
** The Dry Bones in ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros.''
*** The Bony Beetle, if you stomp on it. (However, its regenerating qualities can be exploited for extra lives if they're underwater; as long as you don't touch the floor, the invisible stomp counter won't reset.)
** The Stalfos in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' do this in some of the games. It necessitates either defeating all of them quickly, or blowing up their collapsed bodies with bombs. The Stal enemies in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' only die for real when [[RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain their heads are destroyed]] (which theoretically isn't difficult, since they only have [[OneHitPointWonder 1 HP]]; their tendency to jump around before rejoining the body is what adds a little challenge).
** The skeletons in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2''.
** The red skeletons and red armors from ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}''.
** The Recapitator enemies in ''VideoGame/WarioLand Shake It''. Lucky, considering they throw their head as a boomerang to attack.
** ''VideoGame/UltimaVIII'' skeletons are incredibly fast and powerful, and if you somehow manage to put one down... you've not got long before it's back on its feet at full strength. Options are to throw it in a lake first, or just use a necromantic spell to put it down for good. ''IX'''s much weaker skeletons will also pull themselves together shortly after defeat, though you can prevent this by picking up one of the parts, such as the skull (preventing it from rejoining the group). For added fun, collect a full skeleton then drop the bones in a populated city.
** ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'''s skeletons don't normally do this, but if one ''does'', it means there is a necromancer in the area that is causing it, and you need to [[ShootTheMedicFirst go kill him first]] if you want the skeletons to stay dead when you kill them.
* In ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'', Luigi has to fight Greenies possessing suits of armor in the Treacherous Mansion; in most cases, he has to defeat them by knocking them over, causing the armor to break apart and making the ghost vulnerable. However, in the BossBattle with the Tough Possessor later, it can possess two - and then three - suits of armor at once, and if Luigi knocks only ''one'' down, it will put itself together quickly. To make the Tough Possessor vulnerable, [[spoiler:he has to knock them all down at the same time.]] (Unfortunately, once he manages to do that twice, it possesses one [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever gigantic suit of armor...]]
* With high enough Marksman skill, the Skeletons in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' will shatter, only to come back together as if nothing had happened; in this case it's a (possibly unintentional) side effect of the game using the same animation for paralysis and death.
* Some ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' bosses do this, most notably the BonusBoss Viscidus from Ahn'Qiraj and the water elemental boss from Violet Hold. In both cases, they are NighInvulnerable while in their normal form -- the objective is to shatter them and then kill the pieces.
* Trailers for ''VideoGame/Portal2'' have shown [=GLaDOS=]'s mainframe and the entire Enrichment Center itself repairing and reassembling themselves, presumably years or decades after they were destroyed and overgrown with plantlife.

* For a player example, some of the hazards and enemies in ''VideoGame/LocoRoco'' can split Locoroco up into several pieces. However, a bit of "Noi! Cheburatta roi!" and they're back together in no time.
* ''VideoGame/NeverDead'' is about an immortal demon hunter. The character is often dismembered through enemy attacks, only for him to literally put himself back together.
* The Hunter, a recurring boss from ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' is capable of both of this and regenerating its limbs. It's not as perfect as some of the other examples, though, but the only ways to stop it are [[spoiler:freezing it solid and burning to a crisp with a rocket engine.]]
* In ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest 6'', the endodroid can pull the same stunt as the T-1000. Just [[http://tmd.alienharmony.com/rw/sq6/1/e.htm don't let it happen around Roger]].
* [[CatGirl Ms. Fortune]] from ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}''. Her backstory involves her getting cut up into pieces and having the parts thrown at the bottom of a river. However, as she had swallowed the [[ImmortalityInducer Life Gem]], she survived, and gained the ability to detach and reattach her limbs at will. A central gameplay mechanic is the ability to remove her head and [[PuppetFighter have it act separately from the body]], and her ultimate attack is to shoot out all her limbs like rockets to pull her opponent towards her head and engulf them in a giant blood explosion.
* In ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'', Lance does this in miraculous ways in some scenes whenever he loses a limb, like his hand or [[OffWithHisHead his head]]. Heck, there's even one resurrection scene that has the pieces of his body falling on top of each other and reconnecting him if he dies in the confrontation with Fritz.
* The boss Earthwake can do this in VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam (after it's knocked into the water by Luigi's hammer attack). It also takes itself apart when chasing Giant Luigi across the battle arena or using things like its hammer or forcefield attack. Considering this thing has FloatingLimbs and is made of about twenty seperate buildings, this isn't particularly difficult for it to do.
* In ''VideoGame/MySims Kingdom'', [[SdrawkcabName T.O.B.O.R.]] is strewn across Rocket reef by the explosion of the rocket he was test-piloting. While you have to gather every part to where his head is, once you do so, he pulls himself together in a tornado of assembly, slightly ''better'' for wear, but unwilling to risk being caught in another explosion.
* This is the central gimmick behind ''VideoGame/NeverDead'': The protagonist is immortal and has a HealingFactor but is not immune to having limbs or his head shot off, so you have to eventually collect your missing parts in order to remain useful in combat -- although each part remains functional in the meantime; for instance, amputated arms can still fire the guns they're holding.
* Zac's passive in ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' splits him into four balls of goo on death that each have a quarter of his total health. If they reconnect before his enemies can destroy them, he respawns on the spot with a portion of his health.

* An inanimate object example: in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' you can use your sword to slice wooden signs to pieces, then play Zelda's Lullaby on your ocarina to cause the pieces to float up, reattach themselves, and reconstitute the sign.
** It can be done in later games, as well, by playing the Song of Healing in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' and conducting the Wind God's Aria in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''.
* The [[DemonicSpiders much hated]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Rasklapanje]] from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'' was not only NighInvulnerable, could follow you ''anywhere'', and could pull itself back together in very short order, but it's dismembered torso, legs, and hands could all chase after you independant of one another before they decided to recombine.
* Terminus from ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}'' is an undead stone warrior who shatters into bits when killed, but his ultimate resurrects him on the spot by magically reassembling his parts, allowing him to continue the fight.

* WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant can do this to an amazing degree when [[spoiler:the ending reveals that even after [[HeroicSacrifice being blown up in the atmosphere]] by a ''nuclear explosion'', his countless paperweight-sized pieces can be seen migrating to an unknown location so he can reassemble himself.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'':

** [[TheWormThatWalks Zaktan]] is able to do this. [[spoiler: Which is why the writer could easily {{Retcon}} his apparent "death".]]

* ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheBirthOfJapan'' have a race of living Dogu statues as enemies, the first one which Doraemon defeats with ease by [[HoistByHisOwnPetard reflecting it's hypersonic waves upon itself]] causing it to smash into bits against a rock. But unbeknownst to the gang, those statues are actually futuristic robots from the 23rd Century made of "memory clay", seconds after being smashed, the robot simply reassembles itself together and continues their rampage.

* In ''Spidercide Clone Saga'', Spidercide gains this ability after fully awakening his shapeshifting powers.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', Dr. Manhattan did this after being disintegrated by a lab accident in his origin story, it tooks months and several partial manifestations before he fully reappeared in his present form. He does it again [[spoiler: towards the end, this time within minutes.]]
* ''[[ComicBook/Marvel2099 X-Men 2099]]'' villain Junkpile does a variation. Though he doesn't heal himself with his own body parts, he repairs damage to his body by pulling metal objects to him telekinetically and using them for raw materials to replace broken or damaged body parts.
* Comicbook/ManThing goes through this about once an issue.

* [[NightmareFuel Subverted]] in the Obsidian Age story arc of ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague''. ComicBook/PlasticMan is frozen and shattered into thousands of pieces which lay scattered on the ocean floor far in the past. He is completely aware, yet '''unable''' to pull himself together, and survives in this manner for 3000 years before he is collected and reconstituted by the league in the present time.
* ''ComicBook/RomSpaceknight'': The mutant [[HalfHumanHybrid human/Dire Wraith hybrid]] Jimmy Marks can use his considerable PsychicPowers to reconstitute himself after being reduced to ''molecules''.
* The ''ComicBook/SilverSurfer'' is capable of doing this, [[NighInvulnerable provided there's something capable of cutting him to pieces]].

* In ''ComicBook/{{Cattivik}}'' he'll usually do this to himself after being tore apart or destroyed. In a particular episode this happens twice to some mummies. In both cases, the results of their efforts were laughable to say the least.
* Marvel villain Absorbing Man can shatter if he turns himself into some fragile material, but he can also pull the pieces together.
* Little-known Marvel character [[TerrorInc Terror]] has the ability to replace parts of his body with those of others, including animals. Good thing too, since his body is constantly rotting away. He can secrete a substance akin to an extremely fast-working digestive enzyme from his skin, which makes tearing off body parts even from still-living people easy. An added perk is that he gains access to memories and skills related to the body parts he assimilates: an eye allows him to see what the original person saw, an arm from an artist can help him draw accurate sketches and so on.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: The magic that is reanimating former Amazonian Champion Artemis' vengeful [[DemBones skeleton]] quickly pulls her back together if someone manages to disassemble any of her. The only way to get her to slow down is to steal her sword, which is where the magic reanimating her is focused.
* ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'': After sliced to pieces and put in jars, Hulk is able to will his organs to come back together, consuming a scientist who was trying to threaten him.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* This happens to Helix in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' after Florence gets angry at him and pulls off his limbs/head. Justified as he is a robot.

* Robin finally manages to freeze and shatter Madame Rouge in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''. He barely has enough time to disable the trap before Rouge reforms and captures him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', J'onn gets torn in half by the Annihilator, but turns intangible and reforms himself.
* Both ComicBook/MartianManhunter and ComicBook/PlasticMan can do this in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''.

* Grenader, the [[ActionBomb walking, talking grenade]] and minor threat to the WesternAnimation/SkysurferStrikeForce is able to do this after he blows up.
* An alien criminal in ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlack'' was given powers similar to Grenader above. They eventually caught on to the idea of grabbing his head before it could reattach.
* Eeyore from ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh''. The RunningGag of his tail falling off and having to be reattatched [[TheEeyore is one of the reasons why he's always so upset]].

** Any physical damage suffered by those brought back to life with Impure World Resurrection is reversed by the pieces coming together like an object made of ash crumbling in reverse. Hence the term "[[FanNickname Confetti Zombies]]"

* Nightmarishly invoked in the ''Fanfic/TouhouIbunshu'' series with the Kashoyo, dead fairies exposed to a horrid flame that removed [[ThePowerOfCreation creation]] from them, turning them into ambulatory voids desperate to be filled with ''[[HorrorHunger anything]]''. Patchouli and Koakuma encounter a group when taking a stroll, and the former is so unnerved she uses a spellcard invoking the power of an assault rifle, reducing them to LudicrousGibs... and the whole mass flows together into a lumbering humanoid shape, still intent on eating them. One of Remilia's spellcards is enough to destroy it, inflicting so much damage it's simply unable to keep doing this because of material capacity restrictions, but it's a taxing card, and more and more Kashoyo keep popping up in random parts of Gensokyo...

* Nightmarishly invoked in the ''Fanfic/TouhouIbunshu'' series with the Kashoyo, dead fairies exposed to a horrid flame that removed [[ThePowerOfCreation creation]] from them, turning them into ambulatory voids desperate to be filled with ''[[HorrorHunger anything]]''. Patchouli and Koakuma encounter a group when taking a stroll, and the former is so unnerved she uses a spellcard invoking the power of an assault rifle, reducing them to LudicrousGibs... and the whole mass flows together into a lumbering humanoid shape, still intent on eating them. One of Remilia's spellcards is enough to destroy it, inflicting so much damage it's simply unable to keep doing this because of material capacity restrictions, but it's a taxing card, and the Kashoyo keep popping up in random parts of Gensokyo...

* Nightmarishly invoked in the ''Fanfic/TouhouIbunshu'' series with the Kashoyo, dead fairies exposed to a horrid flame that removed [[ThePowerOfCreation creation]] from them, turning them into ambulatory voids desperate to be filled with ''[[HorrorHunger anything]]''. Patchouli and Koakuma encounter a group when taking a stroll, and the former is so unnerved she uses a spellcard invoking the power of an assault rifle, reducing them to LudicrousGibs... and the whole mass flows together into a lumbering humanoid shape. One of Remilia's spellcards is enough to destroy it, inflicting so much damage it's simply unable to keep doing this because of material capacity restrictions, but it's a taxing card, and the Kashoyo keep popping up in random parts of Gensokyo...

** Cioccolata from the fifth part, ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo Vento Aureo]]'', provides an example in the anime. After we are treated with a [[SarcasmMode lovely]] scene with Cioccolata as a mass of [[{{Squick}} squirming, dismembered]] parts, he uses his surgical knowledge and skill to literally sew his parts back together again.

* This happened to Vince and Larry the Crash Test Dummies a lot in a 1980's safety campaign for the U.S. Department of Transportation.