Line #21 Main/Immortality


1	->''"Immortality is not a gift. Immortality is an achievement, and only those who strive mightily shall possess it."''
2	-->-- '''Edgar Lee Masters'''
3
4	The ability to live forever. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Plain and simple]].
5
6	Yes, it is true that we don't possess this ability on our own (at least not as of yet). People and animals both can and will change as they age, and eventually die at some point.
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8	Eternal life is ingrained in the collective human consciousness, having been present in literature and myths for [[OlderThanDirt as long as they've been around]]. Literally. ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh'' (the oldest heroic epic known to the modern world) is, in large part, about the titular character's search for a way to live forever.
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10	Of course, having been around for so long, Our Immortality Is Different and comes in several flavors. These tropes are not mutually exclusive; there's plenty of room for overlap. For general tropes relating to immortality, see ThisIndexWillLiveForever.
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12	----
13
14	!![[SubTrope Sub-Tropes]]:
15	[[index]]
16	[floatboxright:
17	'''Sub-indexes:'''
18	+ ImmortalityWorks
19	]
20	* '''Prescient Immortality''': A character is immune to getting killed in the first place, whether by the ravages of time, or by physical injury.
21	** '''CompleteImmortality''': Traditionally with both of the below tropes combined, a character simply ''can't'' die, ever.
22	** TheAgeless: Also known as '''Biological Immortality''', describing a character who has eternal youth and never grows old, or cannot die from any complications of old age. But they can still be killed by anything else.
23	** NighInvulnerability: The character is invulnerable to all or [[AchillesHeel almost all]] physical injury, although they tend to have a weakness that keeps them from full qualification as a [[CompleteImmortality completely immortal being]].
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25	* '''Retroactive Immortality''': A character ''can'' die, but won't ''stay'' dead.
26	** BornAgainImmortality: If the character's mind or spirit is transferred to a new-born child, as in traditional {{reincarnation}}.
27	** ResurrectiveImmortality: If the character simply comes back to life uninjured, exactly as they were.
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29	* '''PurposeDrivenImmortality''': Someone who is immortal to complete a purpose; once they're done they becomes mortal (or die instantly). Either because [[{{Determinator}} of their sheer will to live to achieve it]], or someone provided them with immortality in exchange for fulfilling the purpose. Alternatively, they're given immortality as long as they continue to serve a purpose, lest they forfeit their immortality.
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31	* '''Spare Bodies''': Any injury that would be fatal is OnlyAFleshWound for this character: his spirit will come back in another body.
32	** BodyBackupDrive: He has clones/robot bodies to come back into should he die.
33	*** BrainUploading: He mostly exists inside a computer/virtual world. He may be able to manifest himself (or a copy of himself) in the real world by either inhabiting a robot or using a hologram.
34	** GrandTheftMe: The character steals other people's bodies to survive.
35	*** BodySurf: The character does the above frequently.
36	*** FamilialBodySnatcher: A common limitation for body snatchers is making them only able to inhabit a body of their relatives.
37	** FightingAShadow: An effect one might feel from trying to fight someone with spare bodies.
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39	* '''How to become immortal?''' - Methods by which a mortal character can [[ImmortalitySeeker actively cheat death]]. Key word being ''actively''; once the method is stopped or reversed, they either die or become mortal again.
40	** FountainOfYouth: Something that makes a character young again. Can make them effectively immortal if done a lot.
41	** ImmortalityInducer: Use/do this and you're effectively immortal.
42	*** SoulJar: Someone puts their soul into something, usually hidden at a remote place. This makes them immortal, and usually invulnerable, but that very jar becomes the person's weak point.
43	*** HeartDrive: The part of the being's body that houses their consciousness, which ensures their survival even if most of their body is destroyed; the drive, if it's intact can be put into another body to make them alive again. Differs from SoulJar in that HeartDrive must be put in their bodies.
44	*** ElixirOfLife: ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin — a magical liquid or potion that restores lifeforce, health or even youth.
45	*** ImmortalityField: A place where you can become immortal.
46	** LifeDrinker: Someone absorbs the "life force" of another to keep himself alive.
47	** ParasiticImmortality: A character is able to live for much longer than a normal person would by jumping from one body to another.
48	** TouchedByVorlons: That is, someone else grants them immortality. Either it's a one time deal or it has to be done continuously.
49
50	* '''How to undo immortality?'''
51	** MortalityEnsues: An immortal becomes mortal, or a mortal who became immortal gets it reversed.
52	*** ImmortalBreaker: A certain item or weapon that can strip away immortality or outright ignore it.
53	*** NoImmortalInertia: [[NoOntologicalInertia When losing immortality causes]] [[RapidAging someone's true age to instantly catch up to them]].
54	** [[SealedIndexInACan Sealing]]: They are still immortal, but they can't do anything. They're effectively "dead".
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56	* '''Incomplete Immortality''': They are immortal, but with drawbacks.
57	** AgeWithoutYouth: Being eight hundred years old doesn't seem so great when you have the body of a normal human being who's eight hundred years old.
58	** CameBackWrong: You come back alive at the cost of severe physical disfigurement, mental instability, and/or moral corruption.
59	** TheUndead: You're only partly "alive" after you come back from the dead.
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61	* '''Legacy Immortality''': They, body-wise, are totally mortal and won't live forever. Their ''legacy'', however, will.
62	** ImmortalityThroughMemory: The belief that as long as someone remembers them, they can never truly die.
63	** LegacyCharacter: Someone who actively takes the mantle of another (usually famous) person in order to preserve the image of said famous person in the future.
64	** LegacyImmortality: Members of a MasterApprenticeChain deliberately pretend to be the same immortal person to create a legend.
65	** Seeking Fame: One reason for people with "fame" as a goal is to become known to other people even after their death.
66	*** FameThroughInfamy: For some people, infamy is just the same as fame.
67	*** OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Someone doesn't want people to remember the one bad thing that they did, or that happened to them. People remember anyway, much to their chagrin.
68	[[/index]]
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Context Main / Immortality