History Main / UndeathAlwaysEnds

This is an '''(Un)DeathTrope''', so spoilers follow.

[[folder:Anime]]

* Shrouds in ''TabletopGame/{{Anathema}}'' may "live" for a very long time, but eventually their will score ''will'' hit 0 and they'll cease to exist. How quickly this happens depends on the actions of the player.

* Literature/TheBible, of all things, inverts this. Many references to the souls of the damned make have them with corpse-like attributes (i.e. worms going through them) and this will be retained after the Great Resurrection. On the other end, Heaven is very explicitly referred to as both "life after death" and "everlasting", so another big inversion there. Arguably played straight with the saints, who will be resurrected as immortal humans.

* Anyone who is resurrected using the life crystals in ''VideoGame/TheDig'' is generally killed off again very quickly, from the alien wildlife (you can resurrect an alien turtle, but he'll just get eaten or explode seconds later...or if you screwed it up, he'll turn into slime) to major characters like [[spoiler:the Alien Inventor, who kills himself and seals himself inside a crystal after you're done talking to him, and Brink (as well as Maggie, if you choose to resurrect her), although Brink and Maggie's deaths are undone again at the end of the game]].

* The ''Manga/{{Shiki}}'' are undead, but they're also mortal. They can be killed in numerous ways, such as being burned by the sun or by fire, getting their heads chopped off, or by having their hearts staked. Since can only digest blood and nothing else they can also die of starvation if they don't get blood.

* All of the Unsent in ''Videogame/FinalFantasyX'' and its sequel are eventually sent to the afterlife, generally by Yuna, willingly or not.

* [[VideoGame/{{Gungrave}} Beyond the Grave]] is an undead protagonist, has been undead for almost twenty years (though most of that time was spent {{s|ealedBadassInACan}}leeping), and stays undead throughout both games. The animation ends quite differently: [[spoiler:he and Harry perform mutually-assisted suicide after realizing the flaws that led to their downfall]].

* In the ''Blog/BetterBonesAU'', [=SkyClan=] is plagued by rats which are actually the spirits of their dead ancestors that, due to [=SkyClan=] being exiled from the other Clans and their ancestors being thus separated from the other Clan's afterlife of [=StarClan=], cannot fade away like normal spirits. Firestar, Brokenstar and the reconstituted SkyClan are ultimately able to defeat the rats and allow the spirits of cats they once were to rest.

* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic III'': [[spoiler:The end of the campaign does multiple versions, the revived king Gryphonheart kills his original murderer in a darkly humorous cutscene. His soul then leaves his body.]]
* This trope is both played straight and averted in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.
** Named members of the Scourge are exclusively killable targets. At this point, even the Lich King himself has been killed. Kel'Thuzad was killed and arose as a lich in VideoGame/Warcraft3, was defeated in VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft, and then brought back once only to be beaten again, and Anub'Arak has been taken down, presumably for good.

* Averted in ''Film/TheDevilsBackbone'' - although Santi accomplishes his GhostlyGoals, and so does [[spoiler:Dr. Casares]] who died need the end of the film, neither of them are able to pass on and remain stuck at the orphanage while everyone else leaves. It is suggested that souls can't reach heaven because the desert is too hot.
* Zigzagged in ''Film/CrimsonPeak''Creator/GuillermoDelToro's ''other'' ghost movie. It's unclear whether the ghosts of [[spoiler: Thomas' past wives, his mother, and his child]] are still haunting Allerdale Hall at the movie's end, but [[spoiler: Thomas himself]] does indeed cross over. However, the final shot of the movie shows that [[spoiler: Lucille's ghost continues to haunt the house.]]

* Played with in ''Manga/MyLovelyGhostKana''--[[spoiler:Kana is still a ghost at the end of the manga, but her time with [[BoyMeetsGhoul Daikichi]] has made her ''feel'' more alive than ever, which is why she shows no desire or need to leave the world.]]

* Kanoe Yuuko, the titular CuteGhostGirl from ''Manga/DuskMaidenOfAmnesia'', has been "haunting" her school for half a century, but due to GhostAmnesia, doesn't remember why, and is [[AngstWhatAngst surprisingly carefree]] about her situation. When she meets [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Teiichi]], a boy who doesn't realize she's a ghost at first, they have a conversation that leads the two to form the [[JapaneseSchoolClub Paranormal Investigation Club]] to look into the school's various ghost stories and try to figure out the circumstances behind Yuuko's death. [[BoyMeetsGhoul They gradually fall in love.]] [[spoiler: Eventually, they discover the [[BreakTheCutie horrible truth]] behind [[CruelAndUnusualDeath Yuuko's death]] and Teiichi helps her come to terms with it with ThePowerOfLove. Unfortunately, the traumatic memories and dark emotions she had been repressing were anchoring her in the world of the living, and the closure she gains causes her to begin fading away against her will, just as her relationship with Teiichi was getting serious and she finally had a good reason to stay.]]

* The character, [[WhoWantsToLiveForever unhappy]] with [[WhatHaveIBecome his/her undead state]], [[DrivenToSuicide commits suicide]] or [[ICannotSelfTerminate convinces the heroes to slay/vanquish/exorcise him/her]]. (Vampires favor SuicideBySunlight.)
* The character kills himself or herself inadvertently.

* Averted so far in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''. Supporting character Sam became a vampire back in 1998, and he's still a vampire, and still a supporting character. It helps that his attitude is pretty non-confrontational and he's the last surviving member of a vampire clan with a ''really'' obscure KryptoniteFactor.

* The second season of ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy2019'' reintroduces [[PosthumousCharacter Ben Hargreeves]] as a ghost that can only be seen by Klaus. [[spoiler:In the end, he pulls a HeroicSacrifice to ensure that his brothers and sister can return to the present without the risk of the apocalypse.]]

[[folder: Fan Works]]

[[folder: Religion & Mythology]]

* The ''Manga/{{Shiki}}'' are undead, but they're also mortal. They can be killed in numerous ways, such as the sun burning their flash, by fire, thei heads chooped off, and their hearts staked. They can only digest blood and nothing else, they can also die of starvation if they don't get blood.

* Averted in ''Film/TheDevilsBackbone'' - although Santi accomplishes his GhostlyGoals, [[spoiler: Dr. Casares becomes a ghost at the end, and]] stays that way. The DVDCommentary suggests that [[spoiler: Santi himself is still stuck as a ghost, too.]]

This is an '''[[AC:(Un)DeathTrope]]''', so spoilers follow.

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' [[DoubleSubverted double subverted]] this. It was revealed in season 6 that [[spoiler: the whispers heard throughout the show are the tormented souls of people who died on the Island and couldn't move on. In the DVD-only epilogue, however, Ben and Hurley bring Walt back to the Island, and it's heavily implied they plan to use Walt's powers to help the spirits, which include his father, move on.]]

* The''Manga/Shiki'', are undead, but they're also mortal. They can be killed in numerous ways, such as the sun burning their flash, by fire, thei heads chooped off, and their hearts staked. They can only digest blood and nothing else, they can also die of starvation if they don't get blood.

TheUndead are [[LiminalBeing neither dead nor alive]], nor do they last in that state particularly long. For whatever reason, most media showing an undead character with sentience will have said character not be undead by story's end. Sort of like Schrödinger's Zombie, they can only stay in [[LiminalTime an 'inbetween' state]] until observed in a movie.