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13[[quoteright:320:[[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/unexplained_recovery.png]]]]
14->'''Mad Jack:''' Didn't you die a while back?\
15'''Angus Dagnabbit:''' Aye. I got better.\
16'''Mad Jack:''' You were ''dead''! How do you get better from being ''dead'', you Scottish twit?!
17-->-- ''WesternAnimation/MadJackThePirate''
18%% Page quote changed per [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1327331003042025100&page=214#comment-5346 this]] thread.
19
20This trope occurs whenever a character is last seen with a serious injury, a situation that [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat no one could survive]], or was flat-out ''[[OnlyMostlyDead clinically dead]];'' and then is returned [[BackFromTheDead in full health]] with [[HandWave no real explanation]] for their recovery. And DeathIsCheap.
21
22In other words, the only reason the character is still whole and alive is because StatusQuoIsGod and the writers invoked the FirstLawOfResurrection: they just did not want him to [[SortingAlgorithmOfDeadness remain dead]]. Alternately, the writers [[SeriesContinuityError just plain forgot]] the character died/was injured.
23
24Also one of the possibilities in a BolivianArmyEnding or LeftHanging.
25
26Characters will quickly recover from critical injuries due to HollywoodHealing. If returning from the dead is an explicit power of the character, see ResurrectiveImmortality.
27
28Common in comedy involving {{Slapstick}} such as ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'', ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' and Creator/LaurelAndHardy, but is all but guaranteed to be seen as a cheap AssPull by the audience if implemented after a serious dramatic moment, unless it's a DeconstructiveParody e.g. having other characters point out how ridiculous it is for them to make such an Unexplained Recovery. If the work in question features both comedy and drama, expect the characters to make Unexplained Recoveries after being injured in the comedic moments, but not after the serious ones.
29
30Compare SnapBack, StayingAlive, JokerImmunity, MadeOfIron, and GoodThingYouCanHeal. The inversion of InstantIllness.
31
32!!As this is a {{Death Trope|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].
33----
34!!Examples:
35[[index]]
36* UnexplainedRecovery/AnimeAndManga
37* UnexplainedRecovery/ComicBooks
38* [[UnexplainedRecovery/LiveActionFilms Film — Live-Action]]
39* UnexplainedRecovery/{{Literature}}
40* UnexplainedRecovery/LiveActionTV
41* UnexplainedRecovery/VideoGames
42* UnexplainedRecovery/{{Webcomics}}
43* UnexplainedRecovery/WesternAnimation
44[[/index]]
45[[foldercontrol]]
46
47[[folder:Comic Strips]]
48* In ''Fearless Fosdick'', the "comic within the comic" in Al Capp's classic strip ''ComicStrip/LilAbner'', the titular Fosdick (a satirical CaptainErsatz of comic strip detective ComicStrip/DickTracy) would often be ventilated by flying bullets in the course of his adventures, and left resembling a Swiss cheese by the end of an episode. Nevertheless, he always recovered from his "injuries":
49-->'''[[DaChief The Chief]]:''' Fosdick! I thought you were dead!\
50'''Fearless Fosdick:''' Yes, but it didn't prove fatal. Just a mild case.
51* In ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'', Whale, a killer-whale character who was killed off via packaged explosive in 2006, inexplicably returns in a 2008 strip for a baseball game. When Rat confronts [[AuthorAvatar author Stephen Pastis]] about this, Pastis just [[ShrugOfGod casually answers]] that Whale had "undied". Partially subverted in the next day's strip, when Rat takes Whale off their team for being "technically dead". The irony is that the excuse of "[character] undied" is something ''Rat'' first used. He periodically writes a story called "''The Adventures of Angry Bob''", which invariably ends with the protagonist dead (most memorably after being assaulted while expressing happiness via a kazoo: "Many toots-for-joy later..."). To explain how he could write sequels, he started the first one with, "Angry Bob undied." (Goat reacts as one would expect.)
52* ''ComicStrip/ScaryGary'': Given that the bulk of the series almost practically runs on BlackComedy, this happens to the main cast a lot, and a few other characters, although, also because of the nature of the series, their recoveries can at least [[HandWave be chalked up to]] their supernatural nature, or some other reason.
53** Gary frequently, although since he is an undead vampire, the list of things that would kill him for good is pretty small.
54** Owen is sometimes reduced to a pile of ashes and a pair of glasses, but as a ghost, he's already dead, so it doesn’t stick.
55** Travis is sometimes reduced to a skull, but since Leopold seems to enjoy keeping him in a tortured existence as a living head trapped in a jar of formaldahyde, it's unlikely he would let Travis die to avoid a MercyKill.
56** Leopold should have died a few times too, but he seems to be MadeOfIron, and probably has a fix for whatever ails him in his lab.
57** Leopold's parents drive off a cliff (he cut the brakes in their car), but when we next see them, they're fine. Given that Leopold is their kid, and says he grew up near a nuclear waste dump, along with their NonstandardCharacterDesign, they’re not exactly that "normal" to begin with.
58** Possibly Leopold's lab rat (the one often seen riding on his head), although it's not clear if it's the same lab rat, or one of the many rats in his lab.
59[[/folder]]
60
61[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
62* In "Literature/{{Pinocchio}}", the Talking Cricket is killed the first time that he tries to lecture the title character. Later he appears to Pinocchio as a ghost. Then, he is inexplicably alive as one of the doctors whom the Fairy calls. He meets Pinocchio in the last chapter and even tacitly alludes to the fact that Pinocchio killed him, but there's no explanation for why he's alive now.
63* "Literature/LittleOtik": The titular monster eats six persons before being stopped. When its belly gets cut open, all its victims come out of it, alive and unharmed.
64[[/folder]]
65
66[[folder:Fan Works]]
67* In ''Fanfic/AHero'', absolutely no indication at all is given for ''how'' [[Series/DoctorWho Dalek Sec]] managed to come back to life in the world of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. Or how his [[HalfHumanHybrid previous condition]] was negated. Or how he got his [[MiniMecha casing]] back. Sec is as curious about it as us, but won't investigate any further.
68** The Doctor later gives at least some of these answers.
69* In ''Fanfic/ChristianHumberReloaded'', the main character, Vash, tears out Soku's throat in revenge for turning him in to the police. She comes back toward the end of Part 1, apparently wanting revenge against Vash, but he kills her again. His recurring enemies tend to come back to life, but Soku never returns.
70* In the ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' and ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' crossover ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3439783/1/Encounter_At_Dawn Encounter At Dawn]]'' by JA Baker, [[spoiler: Kara Thrace gives this explanation as to how she's not dead anymore after she's de-ascended]].
71* The plot of the ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' fan comic ''Webcomic/GrowthSpurt'' hinges on [[spoiler: Asriel Dreemurr]] not only being restored to normal, but given an inexplicable AgeLift to boot. How either of these happened is never explained.
72* ''Fanfic/HomestuckHigh''; Karkat allegedly kills himself at the end of the first chapter, for no reason. He turns out to be alive, albeit injured, and [[CrackFic inexplicably turns into Tavros]].
73* In ''Fanfic/LightAndDarkTheAdventuresOfDarkYagami'', some of the characters returning to life are explained as being due to the Life Note being able to bring people back to life, but some, such as Blud, come back from being killed with no explanation.
74* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4832242/8/Metroid_IV_Alone_In_The_Stars From a novelization]] of ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'':
75-->'''Samus:''' You're not pissed off because I waxed [Kraid]?\
76'''Ridley:''' Nah. He'll get better.
77* In the infamous ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'', Draco commits suicide by slitting his wrists. But a couple of chapters later "Voldemort had him bondage" like nothing ever happened...
78** Not to mention Willow, who B'loody Mary killed after she was expelled. This was apparently "[[GratuitousJapanese kawai]]", but in the next chapter Willow is alive again with '''no explanation'''.
79* ''Fanfic/MyBravePonyStarfleetMagic'':
80** [[spoiler:Nightmare Moon, who has survived her demise at the end of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E2ElementsofHarmony Elements Of Harmony]], and Titan, after being blown up halfway through the story.]]
81** [[spoiler:Speaking of Titan, turns out he survived getting THROWN INTO THE SUN and becomes the BigBad of The Movie.]]
82* ''{{Webcomic/Nightfall}}'': All the characters are alive again post game, including John's Dad [[spoiler:who unlike everyone else was KilledOffForReal without reappearing in a dream bubble]]. The only exception, so far, are Bec and Jadesprite who're both merged with the current Jade.
83* Played for laughs in John Biles' Infocom / ''Manga/LoveHina'' parody, ''[[http://www.thekeep.org/~wombat/Stories/LoveHina/PSQ.txt Photo Sticker Quest]]'', when The Player finds himself up a mountain, talking to Millard Fillmore:
84-->'''Player:''' >SAY "AREN'T YOU DEAD?"\
85'''Millard Fillmore:''' I got better.
86* Barely averted in ''Fanfic/SherlockSeason4''. [[spoiler: Watson]] dies at the end of Episode 1, but the only explanation we get for his recovery is this:
87-->'''[[spoiler: Watson]]:''' No I survived by hiding in basement.
88* Played for laughs in the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' fic, ''They Just Don't Care Anymore'', where characters are often resurrected with little more than a HandWave.
89-->'''Reflector:''' Thundercracker? Weren't you shot?\
90'''Thundercracker:''' I got better.\
91'''Reflector:''' ...And then [[ThrownOutTheAirlock thrown out into space]]?\
92'''Thundecracker:''' I got better.\
93'''Reflector:''' ...And then [[OneWingedAngel reformatted into Scourge?]]\
94'''Thundercracker:''' Look, what part of "I got better" don't you understand?
95** Note that this ''indeed happened,'' with the characters who became Cyclonus and the Sweeps (Scourge's clone army) appearing later without comment. It has to do with a lot of the production of ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1'' being rushed, so the animators and script writers also aren't always on the same page.
96* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' manages to get away with this trope due to its [[NoFourthWall lack of having a fourth wall]] and RuleOfFunny:
97** Serenity, the younger sister of Joey Wheeler, ends up going blind after her eye surgery turned out to be a failure[[note]]as opposed to the original where she did, in fact, recovered from said operation[[/note]]. Eventually, Serenity ended up regaining her eye sight when "the writers" decided to make her a regular character.
98** In episode 58, Joey [[spoiler:suffers a horrible injury during his duel with Melvin that nearly killed him]]. However, he's shown to be perfectly okay when he reappears at the end of the next episode. When Yami questions this, Joey literally responds by saying, "I just woke up while I was offscreen."
99* ''WebVideo/DragonBallAbridged'' had this happen to an entire ''species'', the Kanassans, who were quite visibly murdered to extinction, but just inexplicably all just... got better one day. Much to the consternation of those around them. Presumably, this is related to their ability to [[NoIndoorVoice SEE THE FUUTUUUUUUURE]].
100* ''WebVideo/SailorMoonAbridged'' has Molly’s Mom as the first MonsterOfTheWeek (with her monstrous appearance hand-waved as alcohol-induced rage) and thus, the first victim of Sailor Moon’s [[FinishingMove Moon Tiara Magic]]. However, she shows up alive and well as soon as the plot calls for her to return.
101[[/folder]]
102
103[[folder:Film — Animation]]
104* ''Anime/DigimonXEvolution'' has [=MetalGarurumon=] X and Dukemon. Dukemon at least has some sort of excuse, as it seems like he planned everything beforehand somehow, but [=MetalGarurumon=] X, after making a HeroicSacrifice and being covered by a literal ocean for an unspecified length of time, came back out with his X-Antibody without any explanation.
105* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' when Kronk and Yzma fall down a chasm while chasing the heroes, only to [[DiabolusExMachina somehow turn up at the palace]]:
106-->'''Kuzco:''' No! It can't be! How did you get back here before us?\
107'''Yzma:''' Uh... um... How ''did'' we, Kronk?\
108'''Kronk:''' Well, ya got me. (''pulls down a diagram of the path they took'') By all accounts, it doesn't make sense.
109* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge1'': Diego's "[[DisneyDeath death]]". He [[TakingTheBullet takes the bullet]] to save his friends from the other sabertooths and seems to succumb to his injuries, but [[DownplayedTrope limpingly]] rejoins his friends at the end. His response?
110-->'''[[DeadpanSnarker Diego]]:''' [[CatsHaveNineLives Nine lives, baby!]]
111* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTheTitanic'', several characters who seemingly died get better by the end, including Camembert and Tentacles, both of whom are explicitly shown to be dead.
112* In ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'', since Creator/{{Disney}} cut out Tinker Bell's resurrection via ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve, her recovery goes unexplained in this version.
113* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfKells'', Aisling rapidly ages and is crushed underneath a wall when she helps Brendan into Crom Cruach's cave. Later on in the movie, we see her again in her wolf form and then briefly in her fey form, but it is never explained how she managed to recover. This is because [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the movie was originally going to be much longer and explain more, but the studio didn't have the funding to do so.]]
114* ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'' Gune, while attacking the Drej with the ''Valkyrie'' after seemingly dying saving Stith from a bomb:
115-->'''Gune:''' I FINISHED MY NAP!
116[[/folder]]
117
118[[folder:Music]]
119* The pirates in Cosmo Jarvis' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dysG12QCdTA Gay Pirates]] walk the plank... and somehow get better. It's not explained, [[RuleOfCool but that doesn't matter]].
120* In Music/TheLonelyIsland song "Like a Boss", the titular boss recounts his typical daily life, which ends in turning into a jet (like a boss), bombing the Russians ([[MemeticMutation like a boss]]), flying into the sun (like a boss), and now he's a dead ([[OverlyLongGag like a boss]]). His performance reviewer expresses incredulity that he can chop his balls off and die every day. The boss just shrugs it off.
121* Creator/MichelleCreber and Creator/BlackGryph0n's "Getting Stronger" starts off with the subject of the song being *offended* that their foe is surprised by their mysterious return.
122[[/folder]]
123
124[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
125* Myth/IrishMythology: In some versions of the tale, towards the end of The Battle of Ventry Fionn Mac Cumhaill collapses after defeating the two greatest warriors in the world and apparently dies. However, mere moments later he sits up, gives his troops a final command to charge, and after victory is achieved goes on to live for many, many years.
126[[/folder]]
127
128[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
129* A staple of wrestling from its earliest days. Several times, one wrestler might be expected to compete in two or three matches a night. For instance, someone might be "severely hurt" in one match and carried out on a stretcher (to sell the injury), only to come out an hour later in full health to compete in a battle royal. During the television era, two wrestlers might compete in a main event-caliber match early at a television taping and sell a bloody brawl, only for one of the wrestlers to come out 25 minutes later and make short work of a jobber, with no evidence that he had even been hurt, much less involved in a match. (This was the case when segments were taped out of order, rather than sequentially, especially before the Internet era.)
130** This was also common when stations aired two programs from the same promotion the same weekend, with one of the shows showing a particular wrestler being "badly injured" (such as to begin a new feud) and the other show depicting him in full health and taking on a jobber. This became confusing to unsophisticated viewers, particularly if the latter example aired after the show where said wrestler was "injured."
131** A blatant example was at the end of the 2000 ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries'' Pay-Per-View, which ended with Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin hijacking a forklift and dumping a car containing Wrestling/TripleH from high up in the air. The next night on ''Raw Is War'', it was revealed that Trips had only suffered "minor injuries" and seven days later, he reappeared on television looking as good as new aside from some medical tape around his ribs.
132* A strange example occurred when Wrestling/JohnCena was supposedly "injured" after getting stabbed by Carlito's bodyguard[[note]]A story made up to explain Cena's absence, as he was filming ''Film/TheMarine''.[[/note]], as Cena then returned a couple of weeks later at Survivor Series without stab wounds whatsoever.
133* On 4/19/10, the Guest Host of RAW Film/MacGruber accidentally blew up [[Wrestling/RonKillings R-Truth.]] Yes, as in he accidentally blew him up with the pyrotechnics. The next night on NXT, Truth was indeed present as if nothing had happened. The weirdest part about all of this? R-Truth is a ''face''; you wouldn't think a face would be the ButtMonkey of elaborate pranks on the part of the guest host.
134* This happens in a lot of storylines involving Wrestling/TheUndertaker. It's somewhat justified by the fact that he's portrayed as a supernatural being. It also seems to apply to the people around him. In 2004, he buried manager Wrestling/PaulBearer alive, filling the tomb with concrete. Bearer returned with no explanation. Justified in the Bearer case: the live audience saw an extended ending to the burial clip, with Bearer surfacing for air and being stretched out of the arena. The following Smackdown he was announced as alive but "gravely injured" to write him out of the storyline. It also helps that said return took place about six years later.
135* A particularly egregious example comes from Wrestling/{{WCW}}, which just seems to go SerialEscalation for pure strangeness, even for wrestling. After a Monster Truck Match on a rooftop for a PPV, Wrestling/HulkHogan and the Giant (now Wrestling/TheBigShow in WWE) have a scuffle at the edge of the roof. And, yup, the Giant takes a tumble over the edge. Hogan's in shock... and then for the main event regular match between the two, on the same night, the Giant comes out without so much as a scratch. Not much in the way of explanation is ever provided, although Wrestling/BobbyHeenan once said that they wanted the Giant to come to the ring with a fish in his tights, to explain that he fell into the river.
136[[/folder]]
137
138[[folder:Radio]]
139* ''Radio/BleakExpectations:'' Through series 1, Aunt Lilly returns from increasingly strange deaths, including being devoured by a pack of squirrels who have explicitly bitten at least one of her limbs off, with no explanation, until the series finale when she's run through with a sword. However, the novelisation implies even ''that'' didn't completely do her in.
140* ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1978'' ended its first radio series with Zaphod, Trillian and Marvin being eaten by a shape-shifted alien. The Christmas special that launched the second series brought back Zaphod and Marvin (and changed Trillian's fate to PutOnABus). Zaphod's first words in the episode were "I've recovered." Marvin had lost an arm shortly before getting eaten; as this was never referenced again, it presumably got better too.
141** Since he was a robot, it was probably replaced. Every other part of his body was replaced at some stage, except of course the terribly painful diodes all down his left side.
142** In episode 13, it was revealed that [[spoiler:Zaphod's adventures on the Frogstar and Brontitall had simply been induced by being extremely drunk. Marvin had, in fact, had his arm welded to his side, thanks to being trapped on a ship as it flew into the nearest star]].
143* The first 2011 run of BBC Radio 4 statistics show ''More or Less'' ended with host Tim Harford falling off the roof of Broadcasting House, in a parody of the death of Nigel Pargetter in ''Radio/TheArchers''. The second run opened with the show now presented by Graham Seed, the actor who played Nigel, only for Harford to return and quickly take back control.
144-->'''Harford:''' I ... got better.\
145'''Seed:''' I see. I wish ''I'' had.
146[[/folder]]
147
148[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
149* ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'': During the storyline in which the heroes defeated the Chairman, Mr. Fixer was killed fighting the Operative, but came back. For more than two years, the most fans got out of the creators was that he ''wasn't'' revived with the Lazarus Vats that the Chairman and the Operative bathe in, because while they rejuvenate, they can't actually bring back someone already dead. (This is consistent with the card game, in which they heal both, but do not revive them if incapacitated.) Eventually, coinciding with the appearance of his Dark Watch Variant GTG finally revealed the secret. Mister Fixer was revived by his old nemesis Zhu Long as a brainwashed minion, before Nightmist was able to restore his mind.
150[[/folder]]
151
152[[folder:Theatre]]
153* In ''Literature/{{Candide}}'', Candide meets Cunegonde, who was earlier apparently killed, and in the duet "You Were Dead, You Know" asks her how she escaped death. She [[ItsALongStory dodges the question]].
154[[/folder]]
155
156[[folder:Web Animation]]
157* In the final chapter of ''WebAnimation/BrokenSaints'', [[spoiler: Raimi and Oran are miraculously alive and well, despite that fact that in the GrandFinale the former was hit with some crazy mind blast thing that threw him across the room and made him unable to move, and the latter had his hand cut off and was later stabbed about ten times with a big ol' knife, with no suggestion that they received immediate medical attention]].
158** One possibility is that [[spoiler: when Shandala reversed the broadcast to positive energy, it manifested in some kind of healing magic that kept Raimi and Oran alive, although even if so, that they survived long enough to be healed is itself a miracle]].
159** And then of course there are the EpilepticTrees: [[spoiler: Raimi and Oran ''aren't'' alive in the final chapter]].
160* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': How Dylan was brought back after his soul was shredded during Death-T, which Keela mentions off-handedly in the flashback in "Tale of the Unworld".
161* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': Not only with Balloon, but also with the groups ''campsite'' in 'The Camping Webisode', which is heavily pointed out by Bill!
162--> '''Bill''': Wow. Despite the fact that everything was burned and broken, we STILL managed to recover all the food to its natural state, fix the tents without stitches or anything, ''and'' repair the flashlights!
163* In the early days of ''WebAnimation/TheFrolloShow'', [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney Frollo]] tended to come back from the dead quite a lot, sometimes through outside help (like a 1-Up Mushroom) and sometimes without any explanation whatsoever. This got better later on. [[spoiler: The third time he died, he made good friends with [[WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} Hades]], who let him out. This specific time was also the only canon death, with the other "deaths" being gags.]]
164* ''Webanimation/HomestarRunner'': Within seconds of his first appearance, Homsar is killed by Strong Bad dropping a large weight on him. Despite this he continued to come back for more bit parts in future animations. Given his nonsensical, borderline RealityWarper nature it's probably not worth questioning how he came back.
165* ''WebAnimation/HTFPlus'': It is revealed in HTF+CC 1 Evil Pinkie Pie killed [[spoiler:Rainbow Dash and comes back as a ghost to get revenge]] but in HTF+FI/RF 1 she is alive somehow.
166* In first season finale of ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', Fabricator General breaks down and explodes mid-word. [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight Nobody seems to notice this]], and he's back in the next shot without as much as a word of explanation, or anything else for that matter.
167** Subverted later in the series however; he has recently been revealed to be utilizing the Proteus Protocol to survive repeated explosions.
168** Though Vulkan being [[ResurrectiveImmortality a Perpetual]] means that his ability to resurrect is explained in-universe, no one in the setting actually knows he's a Perpetual, leading to them being confused, elated, or resigned (in Corvus Corax's case) when he repeatedly keeps coming back to life.
169* Happens several times in ''WebVideo/PotterPuppetPals''. Several people get Avada Kedavra'd (Harry and Ron in "Bothering Snape" and Snape in "Trouble At Hogwarts) and the whole rest of the cast gets blown up by Voldemort in "The Mysterious Ticking Noise", but everyone's always as good as new in the next episode. It remains to be seen whether Gourd!Neville is permanently dead, however.
170* Webanimation/RaceToTheMansionOfTomorrow: Characters often get critically injured, especially AJ and OJ due to being made of glass, but they always seem to be fine right in the very next scene.
171* In one of the (non-canon) endings to ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', Sarge is shot in the head at close range by a sniper rifle. He shows up less than a minute later, and Tucker says "I thought you were dead!" and he responds "I was dead, Doc revived me!" He is then killed again.
172** Flowers mysteriously comes back to life, just in time to die before he can tell Tucker how to fix everything.
173** Season 9's QuirkyMinibossSquad was shown being dispatched in a number of unpleasant ways (being punched into a wall mid-flight, getting catapulted off of a freeway, taking a KillSat shot ''to the face''), but all except for Sharkface return for Season 10.
174** AT least one of the other Mooks is seen with a new metal arm and a desire to get back at the Freelancers for it, so at least they didn't all get out unscathed.
175* ''WebAnimation/SomethingAbout'': The beginning of Something About Super Mario World shows Mario and Luigi relaxing on the beach, even though Mario had sacrificed himself in his previous appearance, Something About Smash Bros World of Light, to defeat Dharkon. When Luigi questions it to Mario, he responds "To answer that, we need to talk about Parallel Universes."
176* In issue 3 of ''WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad'', The Ugly One gets "MSG'd!", destroying her stomach lining and leaving her, if not necessarily dead, limp on the ground with X'd-out eyes. In the next scene she reappears good as new, finally saying "My stomach feels better."
177** The whole idea of Teen Girl Squad is the various Teen Girls dying in wild and creative ways, with each of them returning as good as new in the next episode.
178** Also, Homsar after Strong Bad drops a heavy weight on him in his first appearance. Later {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in a message on Marzipan's answering machine when he mentions being in the hospital after the incident.
179* In ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', episode 9, the Fabricator General hits a fatal error while pronouncing "buttcheeks" and explodes. He is back within 15 seconds.
180* ''WebAnimation/LittleBabyBum'': In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy0Zr_UrFp0 this animated version of Five Little Monkeys Swinging In The Tree]], all five monkeys are eaten by the alligator one by one, and are inexplicably fine in the end, riding on his back.
181* ''WebAnimation/PonyDotMov'': In one of the panel videos, Spike asks why [[spoiler:Rainbow Dash]] is still alive. She explains that [[NoFourthWall the video]] [[NonSerialMovie isn't canon]].
182[[/folder]]
183
184[[folder:Web Original]]
185* ''WebVideo/{{Ask That Guy|WithTheGlasses}}'':
186** WebVideo/BennetTheSage appears out of nowhere after his apparent death at the hands of Ask That Guy, much to his surprise.
187--->'''Ask That Guy:''' Why Sage!... I thought I killed you.\
188'''Sage:''' Oh, I got better.
189** The same thing happens in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' with [[spoiler:[[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] being turned into Dr. Insano, sent after the Nostalgia Critic, and showing up later as Spoony again]]. This might be due to a dropped plot idea wherein [[spoiler:it's really [[HydePlaysJekyll Insano pretending to be Spoony]] to get the jump on the reviewers]].
190* ''WebVideo/BadMovieBeatdown'': Film Brain's ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' review starts with him on to Creator/DougWalker (playing the BadBoss), who tells him his phone [[ThisPageWillSelfDestruct will explode in five seconds]] and it explodes in his hand. He's fine, musing after the titles that [[HandWave his beard saved his face]]. And the rest of him?
191* WebVideo/CallMeKevin: Early into his ''VideoGame/TheSims4'' series, [[VillainProtagonist Jim Pickens]] meets his IdenticalStranger, Dennis Racket, and attempts to murder him to disguise as him and infilitrate his family's BigFancyHouse. Shortly after the murder, Dennis reappears alive and well, to Kevin's confusion, leading to several subsequenent cases of Jim killing Dennis, only for him to keep returning. An attempt to kill Emma, Dennis' wife, also ends with her coming back to life as well. [[NotSoInvincibleAfterAll Both of them eventually hit old age]], [[KilledOffForReal which does seem to be permanent for them]].
192* In ''Film/NoobLeConseilDesTroisFactions'', NonPlayerCharacter [[spoiler:Pironess]] appears alive and well, despite being KilledOffScreen (and just barely so) in one of the last scenes of the webseries to which it's the sequel.
193* Makes-Things in ''WebOriginal/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum''. Over three years after he was found with his heart punched out by a [[Series/StarTrekVoyager macrovirus]] from Myth/PaulBunyan's neck, he returned to the PPC, inexplicably alive and well. To be fair, it was never explicitly stated that he'd died in his death scene, and nobody's really complaining.
194* ''Website/SCPFoundation'':
195** [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-524 SCP-524]] ("Walter") is a rabbit who [[AutoCannibalism regularly eats itself]]. ''All'' of itself, leaving nothing left. Half an hour after it finishes consuming itself, it simply reappears where it last was, whole and unharmed.
196** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-662 SCP-662]] ("Butler's Hand Bell") is a bell that summons a teleporting butler named Mr. Deeds. He can be killed, but his body disappears when nobody is paying attention, and he comes back fully healed the next time someone rings the bell.
197* In ''WebVideo/StacheBros'', characters who are killed in a video come back completely fine in the next one with little to no explanation as to why. {{Subverted}} in the Toadsworth Mansion trilogy, where it's explained that [[spoiler:the characters are brought back to life by a curse placed on the mansion to perpetuate its cycle]].
198* Played with during the Third night of ''Literature/TheTaleOfTheExile''. Aelia, Gaven's guide, has brutally killed. Gaven is mourning her death when a drug-induced hallucination causes him to momentarily forget this fact. At that instant, Aelia appears right next to him. When questioned about her apparent death and reappears, she claims Gaven hallucinated the whole thing. [[spoiler: This causes Gaven to [[PullTheThread realize]] she's been DeadAllAlong.]]
199* PlayedForLaughs in the YouTubePoop [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv3AgmaAohk "The Tragedy of Darth Sand"]]. In the previous short, "The Rise of Darth Sand", Obi-Wan Kenobi finally kills General Grievous by [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill repeating shooting him in his unarmored chest, flash-frying his organs]]. When we meet up with Obi-Wan in this short, Grievous springs back to life, kicking Obi-Wan, declaring "Kenobi! I'm back!"
200* ''WebVideo/BumReviews'': At the end of the ''Paranormal Activity III'' review, Chester A. Bum [[spoiler:gets shot by Teddy Ruxpin for [[ForTheEvulz no real reason]]]]. Come the next review and he's fine.
201* In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmpqGeH01sc&ab_channel=Cacamojadaman YTP the king only wants to kill]]'', King Harkinian kills Link, Gwonam, and Zelda for no reason. Two days later, they all revived with no explanation how.
202[[/folder]]
203
204[[folder:Real Life]]
205* Finnish [[AcePilot fighter ace]] Ahti Laitinen (10 kills) was shot down 17 July 1944 and his Bf 109G went down in flames. He was reported to have been killed in action. Miraculously, he had survived and was taken as a prisoner of war. His family thought he was dead and published his obituary in local newspaper. When Capt. Laitinen returned from captivity 1945, he later added his own obituary on his pilot's scrapbook.
206* Wild Bill Hickock, while grossly exaggerating the odds against him in a fight would answer the breathless question "What happened next, Bill?" with "Why, boys, they killed me!"
207* Creator/MarkTwain's [[BeamMeUpScotty famous "quote"]]: "The report of my death is an exaggeration." (New York Journal, June 2, 1897)
208* Towards the end of the Winter War, UsefulNotes/SimoHayha was shot in the face, supposedly shot the guy who shot him in the face and fell into a coma he woke up from eleven days later.
209** Half of his jaw was blown off by an exploding round. Not only did he get up eleven days later, he demanded to get back to the front, request which was denied by the government due to ''the war ending.'' That's right - [[MemeticBadass Simo Häyhä terrified the Russians so much, they pulled out of Finland when he woke back up.]] He lived on for fifty years after the events, dying of old age.
210** The information of the incident that reached his hometown led people to believe he had actually died. Häyhä had the rare privilege of reading about his own memorial service from the newspaper.
211* Before the Catholic Church declares an event (usually a healing) to be a miracle, a careful investigation is conducted to rule out any natural explanation.
212* During the Battle of the Coral Sea (World War II), the Japanese thought they had fatally damaged the CV ''Yorktown''. After 3 days of repair in Pearl Harbor (and some time while the ship was underway), USS ''Yorktown'' sailed to take part of the Battle of Midway, to be sunk by a submarine following the battle.
213* Accidental example from the US after the loss of USS ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lexington_(CV-2) Lexington]]'', registry CV-2. They introduced USS ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lexington_(CV-16) Lexington]]'', registry CV-16, renamed as such in honor of the first lost ship. The end result was that some Japanese thought ''Lexington'' had mysteriously been restored, until they realized this was a more modern vessel. Amusingly, ''Lexington'' CV-16 would go on to be announced as sunk by the Japanese navy no less than four additional times in the course of the war by Japanese propanda mouthpiece TokyoRose, meaning that anyone who took Rose at her word would have to wonder how this same carrier was inexplicably un-sinking and being sunk each subsequent time.
214[[/folder]]

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