History Main / PurposeDrivenImmortality

* In ''Film/TheCrow'' it seems that the same rules apply as in the comics. As long as the titular Crow is alive, the person they brought back is immortal and has a HealingFactor. This becomes a problem when Eric loses his immortality because he's already finished off every member of the gang who previously killed him and his girlfriend, but the crime lord who ordered the murder (and was thus indirectly responsible even if he might be the most culpable) is still breathing, so Eric's soul still can't rest in peace.

* In one of the flashbacks chapters of the first ''{{Literature/Deverry}}'' novel, a young Prince Galrion, who had recently been renamed Nevyn, knelt before the grave of his ex-fiancee and swore that he would not rest until he had set right the mistakes that had led to her death, the death of her brother, and the death of another of her suitors. The gods made him keep that oath - he was around 450 when he finally died. In addition, the PowersThatBe give him a very extended demonstration of ForWantOfANail along the way - as an entire Civil War happens that could have been averted in he and Brangwen had married - requiring him to fix that, too.

** [[TheFairFolk Faeries]] function like this in the Sixth Lostbelt as they neither age nor require sustenance, simply born with a function to fulfill and as long as they stay true to this purpose, they can remain immortal. Faeries that forget their purpose eventually suffer thorough LossOfIdentity since it's core to who they are and will decay into Mors. Faeries that remember their purpose but cannot actively fulfill it will drive themselves mad and mutate into a Nightcall. Unfortunately in certain cases, a faerie's purpose can be any kind of goal and they will stoop to horrifying lows to fulfill like [[spoiler:Aurora, whose purpose is to be the most brilliant and beautiful faerie. This has led to a centuries-long obsession with being admired and has her mastermind the deaths of various characters because she cannot stand them outshining her and capturing the attention of others.]]

You are TheDeterminator. You have a mission in life, and you are going to accomplish it. You don't care how hard it is or who is standing in your way. You're going to do this, even if it takes a thousand ye...

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'': In the FiveEpisodePilot "Treasure of the Golden Suns", the character El Capitan is an elderly Spanish man. He found a golden valley (an expy of El Dorado called the Valley of the Golden Suns) but lost its location, and spent the next 400 years searching for it. He is extremely old and he ''looks'' old, but that won't stop him from keeping himself alive through ''[[TheDeterminator sheer willpower]]'' until he finds the gold he lusts for.

* Sai from ''Manga/HikaruNoGo''. He was a heian {{Go}} player that after [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]] haunted a Go board, possessing first the kid who will become Honinbou Shuusaku and then Hikaru, of the ProtagonistTitle. At first, the characters and the audience believe that this was due to him wanting to play Go even after his death and due to him [[UnfinishedBusiness wanting to achieve the ]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Go_terms Divine Move (a.k.a The Hand of God).]] [[spoiler:Later we find that indeed there was a purpose for him returning as a ghost, but it wasn't his purpose; he was allowed to remain in the land of the living for him to be Hikaru's {{Mentor}}.]]

* Glaeken from ''Literature/TheAdversaryCycle'' and ''Literature/RepairmanJack'' novels lived for thousands of years without aging, so long as he was the Ally's champion. When he [[spoiler:thought that he'd]] destroyed his foe Rasalom in The Tomb, his immortality left him and he began to age normally. GenreSavvy Rasalom had taunted him with the prospect that he might instantly age to dust if this happened, but the Ally wasn't quite so callous as to permit that.

* All the monster girls in ''Galzoo Island'' are cursed by the ''Main/BigBad'' to be unable to die since the ''Main/BigBad'' can't decide whom among the girls he should marry. It's mentioned that the curse will be lifted once the ''Main/BigBad'' has finally married to one of the monster girls which results in the bad ending.

* All the monster girls in ''Galzoo Island'' are cursed by the ''Main/BigBad'' to be unable to die since the ''Main/BigBad'' can't decide whom to marry. It's mentioned that the curse will be lifted once the ''Main/BigBad'' has finally married to one of the monster girls which results in the bad ending.

* All the monster girls in ''Galzoo Island'' are cursed by the ''Main/BigBad'' to be unable to die, until to the point where the ''Main/BigBad'' has finally married to one of the monster girls which results in the bad ending.

* In ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', this acts as JustifiedExtraLives. Undead, like the player character, will inevitably return from death at the last Bonfire they rested at, but this comes at the cost of a little bit of their humanity- both figuratively and the in-game item known as Humanity (which is needed to return to human form after a death). As long as they can maintain a purpose (Solaire seeking a personal sun, Siegmeyer being an adventurer, Andre being a blacksmith, Laurentius looking for Quelana, the player trying to complete the game, et cetera), they can live forever. If not, they'll lose their sanity and turn into mindless Hollows who die permanently when killed- a fate that befalls multiple characters as their quests are progressed. Some of those who ''don't'' are later seen in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls3'', untold ages later, looking just the same as they always have.

* In ''Comicbook/TheCrow'', the revenants resurrected by the title bird are resurrected and given invulnerability until they've avenged their own or their loved ones' deaths. The movies gave them an AchillesHeel in the form of killing the bird in order to make them mortal again, which villains often try to exploit in order to give the climax dramatic tension.
* The [[Comicbook/DoctorStrange Sorcerer Supreme]] is TheAgeless -- partly to give him a decent term of office, partly so that he can study and improve his mastery of the mystic arts without having to worry about getting sick, getting old, or dying. (Of course, he can still be killed...)

* In one of the flashbacks chapters of the first {{Literature/Deverry}} novel, a young Prince Galrion, who had recently been renamed Nevyn, knelt before the grave of his ex-fiancee and swore that he would not rest until he had set right the mistakes that had led to her death, the death of her brother, and the death of another of her suitors. The gods made him keep that oath - he was around 450 when he finally died. In addition, the PowersThatBe give him a very extended demonstration of ForWantOfANail along the way - as an entire Civil War happens that could have been averted in he and Brangwen had married - requiring him to fix that, too.

* In the radio version of ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged at least thinks it's his purpose in life to insult everyone in the universe, and he does get his immortality revoked after insulting the last person on his list (the great prophet Zarquon). Does not apply in the novel (''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything''), where he was made immortal in a random accident and gave himself the task of insulting everyone in the universe because he'd run out of things to do to pass the time.

* In ''Videogame/DawnOfTheDragons'', this was forced upon the premium general Mathias the Masterer. The gods were disappointed in him wasting his vast potential, so they cursed him with an eternal life that would only end after he had mastered ''every skill in existence.''

* ''Videogame/Drakengard3'' reveals that the series' Dragons have the power to reincarnate upon death. They can also sacrifice this power to grant a Wish. In other words, Dragons can live as long as they desire until they find something or someone worth dying for.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' with youkai, ghosts, and pretty much anything supernatural. They need a purpose to exist, so when they lose their purpose they try desperately to find a new purpose before fading away. Especially notable with the ghost Minamitsu, who has to drown people (or at least try to) in order to continue existing, even though she doesn't really have any grudge against her victims.

* In ''VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus'', the BigBad Clockwerk tells that his hatred and desire for revenge on the Cooper family kept him alive for centuries. Gradually replacing all his body parts with mechanics helped, but it's revealed in [[VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves the second game]] the only thing even keeping his mechanical parts going was his Hate Chip: a device that fueled him purely off ThePowerOfHate. With his Hate Chip destroyed, even his mechanics swiftly rust and decompose into nothing.
* In ''VideoGame/SolatoroboRedTheHunter'', [[spoiler:Elh and Béluga were [[WhoWantsToLiveForever "blessed and cursed with"]] immortality so that they could fulfill the purpose of sealing away [[MechanicalAbomination Lares and Lemures]] whenever either one was to reawaken, as the rest of the Paladin Clan were wiped out in the destruction of their homeland. By the time the game starts, the two haven't physically aged in three hundred years. At the climax of the game, however, the two (unintentionally) use up all the energy that made them immortal when they take control of Lares and Lemures and use them to fight the superweapon known as Tartaros. Thankfully, when Tartaros is sent back into its own pocket dimension, Lares and Lemures are permanently sent there as well, meaning that the two's purposes were served regardless.]]

* In ''VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus'', the BigBad Clockwerk tells that his hatred and desire for revenge on the Cooper family kept him alive for centuries. Gradually replacing all his body parts with mechanics helped, but it's revealed the only thing even keeping his mechanical parts going was his Hate Chip: a device that fueled him purely off ThePowerOfHate. With his Hate Chip destroyed, even his mechanics swiftly rust and decompose into nothing.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Gandalf the Grey returns as Gandalf the White because he hasn't yet finished his job of making sure the good guys win.

->'''Agatha Clay:''' How old are you?\\

'''Agatha Clay:''' ...But what has that got to do with your long life?\\

'''Embi:''' Mmmmm--I am not sure, but 130 in the least [...] When I was young and rash, I made a sacred vow to see the world before I died. Frankly, [[DidntThinkThisThrough I didn't know how]] ''[[DidntThinkThisThrough big]]'' [[DidntThinkThisThrough it was at the time.]]\\

'''Embi:''' Mmmmm--I am not sure, but 130 in the least [...] When I was young and rash, I made a sacred vow to see the world before I died. Frankly, I didn't know how ''big'' it was at the time.\\

* In ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', undead characters have ResurrectiveImmortality so long as the First Flame is fading, but having a purpose keeps them from going hollow and losing their minds.

* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', the circus performer Embi made a sacred vow to see the world before he died, [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050225 over 130 years ago]]. He takes his sacred vow [[SeriousBusiness seriously]]. The novelisation hints that this might just be a story on his part, as the members of the circ//us try out their skills and stories on each other. [[spoiler:They are also all Sparks hiding in plain sight so who knows through what science might be extending his life.]]