->''My only consolation is that true death comes closer with each dying.''
-->-- '''The Alien Inventor''', ''VideoGame/TheDig''

Let's face it: DeathIsCheap. If you die, there's always some [[AppliedPhlebotinum alien artifact or magic spell or wish-granting being of immense power]] that's ready, willing and able to bring you back. [[CameBackWrong Coming back as a shapeless, soulless horror?]] [[AvertedTrope Never heard of it.]]

Sometimes, though, this nigh-{{immortality}} has other, no less dangerous caveats. If [[ExtraLives the number of times you can come back is limited,]] then you ''will'' eventually run out, and when that happens, [[KilledOffForReal you're as mortal as anyone else.]]

See also LivingOnBorrowedTime, where a character is ''already'' technically dead, but has had their life artificially extended.
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!!Examples:

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[[folder:Anime]]
* Once you use one of the Dragonballs to resurrect someone in ''{{Dragonball}}'', you can't use them to come back again. They eventually [[SubvertedTrope work around it]] by ''getting a bigger dragon''.
** That dragon, on the other hand, can only resurrect one person at a time (though it gives three wishes instead of one) and then has to rest for six months, so they still can't bring back large groups (or entire planets; the first dragon can bring back a theoretically infinite number of people with a single wish, so long as their deaths are reasonably tied together, ie all being killed by the same person or group) more than once and it still has the limitation that it can only resurrect a given person once. The first dragon eventually gets upgraded to two wishes, and the same process "resets" it so that any resurrection that happened before the upgrade can be repeated. Thus, over the course of the series, a given character can be resurrected a maximum of three times.
* In ''{{Naruto}}'', each method of resurrection only seems to work once. Unlike other {{Dangerous Forbidden Technique}}s, these are actually very likely to kill the user.
* In ''{{Inuyasha}}'', Sesshomaru's sword (the one that brings people back to life) can only resurrect a person once. This became an issue when [[spoiler: Rin died again]].
* In ''[[FateStayNight Fate stay/night]]'', Berserker has quite a few lives, [[spoiler: Rin takes one, Archer takes 5, and Saber takes the rest at the same time. Hax.]]
** Also from ''Fate/stay night'', [[spoiler:Shirou runs out of continues when he gives Excalibur's scabbard back to [[KingArthur Saber]], causing him to lose his incredible HealingFactor. He explains this with the line [[MemeticMutation "People die when they are killed"]]. Which, in context, was him expressing the opinion that people ''should'' die when they're killed.]]
* In ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', [[spoiler:[[GodWasMyCopilot Hanyuu]]'s ability to [[GroundhogDayLoop send Rika back in time when she dies]] is each time less effective than the last]], so the second season's final chapter cranks up the drama when it's revealed that there's only one more chance to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong get things right]].
* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', the homunculi do a good job making themselves look invincible (and mostly act as though they were, even Greed who cut himself off from the one way of recharging his stone), but there is a limit on the number of times they can heal themselves before they run out of juice. Good luck burning through it all in one sitting, though. [[spoiler:Unless you're Colonel Mustang and incredibly pissed]]. The ones with the largest number of "continues" were [[spoiler:Father and Hohenheim]], who each started out with ''536,329 souls'', and [[spoiler:Father]] briefly expanded that number to ''over 50 million''. Each uses many of them for purposes other than resurrection, though, as unlike the other homunculi they're capable of performing alchemy (meaning that the stones can be used as a power source as well as a method of revival).
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[[folder:Comic Books]]
* One EC horror comic from the fifties (later adapted into a ''TalesFromTheCrypt'' episode) had a doctor discover that [[CatsHaveNineLives a cat does have nine lives]] thanks to a special gland, and also that he can transfer it into a human. He performs the process on a man, and they then go into show business. Because [[CutLexLuthorACheck that's the only possible use for it.]] The man becomes "Ulric the Undying", and does things like leaping over Niagara Falls and getting the electric chair. For his grand finale (his eighth life) he'll be sealed into a coffin and buried alive for three hours. As he lies there, he reflects on the whole experience... and then [[MandatoryTwistEnding realizes]] that the process of transferring the gland ''killed the cat'', thus that one life had already been spent. Oops.
* We'll see if it sticks, but supposedly this is the case for the ''entire DCU'' in the wake of BlackestNight; according to Dan [=DiDio=], DeathIsCheap, which had been taken to absurd levels in recent years, no longer applies.
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[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/TheCrow'' suffers this in the movie, while his bird is being held by the BigBad's sister. He got better, and then he didn't.
* Slightly related: in the JohnTravolta movie ''Michael'', Michael is using his very last trip to earth.
* For characters in their own games in ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', DeathIsCheap. If they're anywhere else, they die permanently.
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[[folder:Literature]]
* One of the purported uses of the PhilosophersStone is granting eternal life. Many a tale involves the consequences of its destruction; modern examples include ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' and ''HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone''. In the latter, it is revealed that [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Nicholas Flamel]] successfully created the eponymous artifact and has kept himself and his wife alive for over 600 years with it. However, since Voldemort seeks the Stone as a means of resurrecting himself, [[HeroicSacrifice Nicholas Flamel and his wife agree that the Stone must be destroyed, and they accept the consequences of doing so]].
** Another example from HarryPotter would be Voldemort's Horcruxes, a set of {{Soul Jar}}s he created to ensure his immortality. By the end of the seventh book, they've all been destroyed through the efforts of Harry and his friends.
*** Rowling stated that Voldemort ultimately wouldn't have used the Philosopher's stone to maintain his immortality as he would've been dependent on constantly drinking the elixir of life which he'd need the stone to produce, thus having a serious weakness. The horcruxes were a better alternative in his eyes.
** The titular objects from ''HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' can, in theory, allow someone to evade death indefinitely if they have all three. But in the story that speaks of the hallows, all three result in death eventually, though the Invisibility Cloak prolongs life the longest.
*** The novel heavily implies that [[DontFearTheReaper death ain't so bad anyway]] and that it's best greeted as a friend.
* Saash in ''Literature/TheBookOfNightWithMoon'' by DianeDuane is a cat on her ninth life.
* In the Literature/{{Chrestomanci}} series by Creator/DianaWynneJones, several characters have nine lives. Only one story in the series, "Stealer of Souls", deals with an OutOfContinues situation.
* The Cat (an assassin who can transform from cute little tabby into a vicious anthropomorphic killer) in ''Literature/TheLookingGlassWars'' was made with nine lives- by the end of the first book he's been killed eight times, both by the heroes and as punishment for failing his mistress.
* In the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse, one of the motivating reasons for Palpatine trying to possess an infant Anakin Solo is because most of his supply of clone bodies used to resurrect himself were being killed, and those that were remained were tampered with by a traitorous Imperial lieutenant, leaving the clone bodies with rapidly decreasing lifespans. Palpatine is understandably worried about the fact that Anakin Solo is an infant at this point, meaning that even if he succeeded in the plan, he'd be helpless for years.
* The plot (and title) of ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Ninth-Life-Louis-Drax-Novel/dp/1582345171 The Ninth Life of Louis Drax]]'' seems to have some relation with this. Can anyone who's read the novel confirm?
* ''Literature/{{Riverworld}}'': Everyone respawns at a random location whenever they die. One character takes the "Suicide Express" trying to reach his destination (and evade pursuit). He kills himself so many times that he is eventually informed that he's reached the upper bound of lives and is very likely to not come back with each following death.
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[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Assuming the mechanics of regeneration from the classic series are still intact, The Doctor only has a couple of regenerations left before he's KilledOffForReal. The writers have said something to the effect of "we're going to have to think of a way around that," not suggesting what it might be. TheMaster actually did run out during the classic series, but got around it via [[GrandTheftMe body-snatching]]. Of course, given he was resurrected by the Time Lords during the Time War and given a full regeneration cycle, his John Simm incarnation may effectively be his first regeneration. So it is possible that all Time Lords were given a full new regeneration cycle.
** On the spin-off ''TheSarahJaneAdventures'', the Doctor states that he can regenerate 507 times. Of course, this was [[CloudCuckoolander Eleven]] speaking, so it's entirely possibly he was making things up. WordOfGod refuses to confirm either way.
** On a related note, if Jack Harkness really is [[spoiler: the Face of Boe]], then this eventually happens to him. For that matter, it might ''anyway''.
** In the episode "[[ThoseWackyNazis Let's Kill Hitler]]," The Doctor is drugged with a lethal poison, and cannot regenerate to save himself. Fortunately for him, another Time Lord cures him by burning through their remaining regenerations.
* Weyoun of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' is killed more than once, and brought back via cloning. In the final season, during the Dominion War, the place where his clones are created and/or stored is destroyed, and he is killed during the finale. It's stated that this was his last clone. (Do we have to say that the ExpandedUniverse had more turn up the first chance it got?)
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[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]
* In second edition ''DungeonsAndDragons'', your originally-rolled Constitution stat was also the number of times your character could be brought back from the dead. To help you keep track, you lost one point of Con with each death/return.
** In 3rd Edition and 3.5, death costs one of your character levels if you're above first level - it takes away two points of Constitution if you've only got one level to begin with.
* A [[PrometheanTheCreated Promethean]] starts its existence with one free resurrection on its account... assuming it has more than one Azoth dot. Once it dies, all but the one dot burn away and it gets back up, but the next death will finish it. Osirans (and those other Prometheans willing to pay for it) start with a power called Revivification, which lets them expend their own Azoth to bring back fallen Prometheans (at an ever-increasing price), and which sacrifices itself to raise them if they fall rather than expend the "free" revival. It can be repurchased, but once you don't have the experience or Vitriol to rebuy it and have expended your resurrection, assuming you don't have any friends willing to give up their own progress for you, you've run out of continues as a Promethean.
* Recent editions of ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' let you buy more clones when your first six-pack runs out, but they're expensive, and then your genetic template starts suffering copying errors which cost even more to scrub out.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* Sudden Death in most games where it is taken literally.
* ''VideoGame/UnrealTournamentIII'' uses the HandWave of "respawn teleporters" to explain how people can die and return; OutOfContinues, in this context, means your teleporter's out of juice.
* ''EatLeadTheReturnOfMattHazard'' uses this at the end of the first level, where Matt is told that someone hacked the game to erase all his saves, so that when he died, he would die for good.
* The page quote comes from the Alien Inventor from LucasArts' ''VideoGame/TheDig'', who sealed himself away in a pyramid so that future generations who arrived on the planet could revive him (using the very same life crystals he invented) and learn of his grievous errors. Chatting with him reveals that the crystals' effect wears off with each subsequent use, until the crystals fail to resurrect the subject at all. He himself dies mere minutes after each revival, though whether it's due to the crystals failing or his own desires is left unsaid.
* In ''Left4Dead'', going down twice will result in your vision turning greyscale. If you get knocked down again without receiving medical help, you're not getting up.
* It is implied early on that the protagonist of ''ImmortalDefense'' and his fellow path defenders are a case of this: their minds may be immortal and nigh-godlike entities in pathspace, capable of raining destruction upon countless fleets of enemy ships, but destroying their original physical bodies will kill them. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that this is an outright lie. Path defenders exist independently of their bodies: they cannot be killed, period, nor can they ever return to their physical forms. [[BlessedWithSuck This is]] [[CursedWithAwesome not necessarily]] [[FateWorseThanDeath a good]] [[AndIMustScream thing.]]]]
* Face of Mankind, an MMO shooter, has clones for lives. If your character is killed, you're out of clones and have no money, it's PermaDeath.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* After [[spoiler: Heaven]] burned down in ''{{Achewood}}'', [[spoiler:Roast Beef]]'s next death was much less straightforward.
* In a ''CaptainSNES'' [[http://www.captainsnes.com/2005/11/05/501-hidden-price/ episode]], it dawns on ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' that the building where extra lives are made has been blown up to bits.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* The Season 3 finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', when [[spoiler:the Hank & Dean clone slugs are used as cannon fodder]].
** The Season 4 preview shows: [[spoiler:Rusty has already just begun growing another batch.]]
*** NeverTrustATrailer: [[spoiler: That was just a FlashBack to the original clones.]]
* There was a [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Tweety and Sylvester]] cartoon where Sylvester had used up eight of his lives, and if he died again he died for good. Naturally the world was out to kill him at that point.
* In ''DrawnTogether'', Link {{Expy}} Xandir decides to commit suicide and does so... but re-appears with 98 lives instead of 99. He spends the entire episode killing himself until he has only one life left, at which point he decides to continue living.
** In a later episode, Ling-Ling becomes so furious with Xandir that he begins killing him... and keeps on killing him until all of his lives are gone. The words "Game Over" appear and Xandir stays dead. [[spoiler:For [[NegativeContinuity the rest of the episode, at least]].]]
* {{Spawn}} goes to hell when his power ends, but other than that, he can basically regenerate from near-death experiences.
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[[folder:Web Original]]
* Khalid Shamoun from ''[[SurvivalOfTheFittest SOTF: Evolution]]'' has the power of resurrection, with the downside that each resurrection takes longer than the last. In theory, he eventually won't revive at all.
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