History Main / FirstEpisodeResurrection

* ''[[DotHack .hack//tasogare no udewa densetsu]]'' begins with Shugo dying and being given the eponymous Twilight Bracelet by Aura; note, though, that he died in a computer game, not the real world; it's more of a respawning than a resurrection, so it's a bit more believable.

[[quoteright:261:[[SchoolBites http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SchoolBites000.jpg]]]]

* ''Anime/SoulTaker'' does this with a twist. The absolute *first* scene, prior to even the opening credits, has our hero Kyosuke Date killed by his mother in a church for seemingly no reason. The next scene involves a girl we have no knowledge of pulling up out of a coffin in the ground. It's later explained [[spoiler: the trauma of "dying" awakened his powers as an alien.]] The ''actual'' BigBad in the series, [[spoiler: his little sister Runa, went through a similar experience but didn't understand it and freaked out, thinking their mother hated her.]]

* [[{{Marvel 2099}} Ghost Rider 2099]] marginally qualifies. Kenshiro "Zero" Cochrane is dying while connected to the Net, and willing to "upload" his brain patterns as a device to delete information he doesn't want to be collected postmortem. Uber-[=AIs=] catch him instead and rebuild as a robotic anti-hero.

* The eponymous hero of ''WesternAnimation/GerryAndersonsNewCaptainScarlet'' does this in the first episode -- twice. Granted, the first time left him under the control of a malevolent alien force bent on destroying the Earth, but still...
::: And it was the ''second'' time (via [[LightningCanDoAnything an electrical accident]]) that rebooted his human side.

* The eponymous hero of ''WesternAnimation/GerryAndersonsNewCaptainScarlet'' does this in the first episode -- twice. Granted, the first time left him under the control of a malevolent alien force bent on destroying the Earth, but still... And it was the ''second'' time (via [[LightningCanDoAnything an electrical accident]]) that rebooted his human side.

:: And it was the ''second'' time (via [[LightningCanDoAnything an electrical accident]]) that rebooted his human side.

* The eponymous hero of ''WesternAnimation/GerryAndersonsNewCaptainScarlet'' does this in the first episode -- twice. Granted, the first time left him under the control of a malevolent alien force bent on destroying the Earth, but still... And it was the ''second'' time (via [[LightningCanDoAnything an electrical accident]]) that rebooted his human side.

[[caption-width-right:261:Dead, now undead. Problem solved...sorta.]]

--->'''Optimus:''' "So this is what it feels like... to be a hero..."
* The eponymous ''CaptainScarlet'' does this in the first episode- twice. Granted, the first time left him under the control of a malevolent alien force bent on destroying the Earth, but still...
** And it was the ''second'' time (via [[LightningCanDoAnything an electrical accident]]) that rebooted his human side.
* The Rebooted ''{{Futurama}}''

* ''TheSpirit''

** A double subversion in fact, as Alucard first fatally shoots her to kill another vampire, then offers her a choice of either dying or becoming immortal.

* After accidently killing the main characters of ''Ultimate Girls'', UFO Man sacrifices much of his power and energy to resurrect them, which has the side effect of shrinking his body.

* Pretty much everyone who has ever combined with an incarnation of ''{{Ultraman}}'' did so in this manner.

* Shepard dies in a cutscene at the start of ''MassEffect2'', and is reconstructed right after the opening logo.

* [[Anime/MawaruPenguindrum Himari Takakura dies of her weak heart and is revived by a spirit that resides in her penguin hat.]] ItMakesSenseInContext.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning'' starts with you popping up from a pile of corpses fresh from a ressurection well.

Based on ancient archetypes about death and transformation; usually a hero has to go through his darkest hour to get a powerup, but in some series, they cut to this moment right away. Compare SacrificialLamb, DeathByOriginStory. See FirstEpisodeSpoiler for when it is supposed to be a surprise.

* ''Film/TheMatrix''. Foreshadowed earlier in the movie, too (''"...your next life, maybe..."'')

* Subverted in the pilot episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. Jesse, Xander's ''other'' bestest ever friend is captured, killed and turned into a vampire, setting him up as something of a recurring villain character. But then he is (somewhat accidentally) staked by Xander before the end of the opening two parter. He's [[ForgottenFallenFriend promptly never mentioned again.]] Sorry, Jesse.

* Subverted in the pilot episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. Jesse, Xander's ''other'' bestest ever friend is captured, killed and turned into a vampire, setting him up as something of a recurring villain character. But then he is (somewhat accidentally) staked by Xander before the end of the opening two parter. He's promptly never mentioned again. Sorry, Jesse.