Line #113 Main/YouCantKillWhatsAlreadyDead


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4	[[quoteright:347:[[Literature/TheZombieSurvivalGuide https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zombie_attack_0.jpg]]]]
5
6	->''"The inability to recognize and avoid pain is what makes the walking dead so formidable. Wounds will not be noticed and, therefore, will not deter an attack. Even if a zombie's body is severely damaged, it will continue to attack until nothing remains."''
7	-->-- ''Literature/TheZombieSurvivalGuide''
8
9	When the dead walk the Earth, many of us will probably just [[RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain aim for the head]] or [[BurnTheUndead burn them]]. However, sometimes that isn't enough. For some undead characters, they gain an odd (but sometimes limited) form of NighInvulnerability, where because they do not actually rely on most of their internal organs anymore, they can take damage that would instantly kill or incapacitate them if they were alive and just keep on coming. They can [[ImmuneToBullets take a shotgun blast to the chest]], get completely dismembered, or even be set on fire and burned into a skeletal crisp, and they will continue to move and try to attack you.
10
11	Unlike traditional NighInvulnerability, the level of durability can be stronger or weaker depending on the work in question. Some interpretations will allow the undead to be slowed down or disabled altogether by removing all of their arms and legs, completely paralyzed by decapitation, or even killed instantly by [[BoomHeadshot a bullet or blow to the head]] as a sort of AchillesHeel. Skeletons, however, tend to get different treatment, often being able to reassemble themselves after being "killed" in the same manner as PullingThemselvesTogether, making this a SuperTrope. An intelligent undead character aware of this status may become a FearlessUndead.
12
13	See also PerpetualMotionMonster. Like this trope, undead characters just seem to generate energy out of nowhere to keep going.
14
15	Contrast DeaderThanDead and UndeathAlwaysEnds.
16
17	----
18	!!Examples:
19
20	[[foldercontrol]]
21
22	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
23	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': This becomes [[WolfMan Komamura's]] tactic against [[HavingABlast Bambietta]] during the final arc: use his clan's DangerousForbiddenTechnique to temporarily become human again in exchange for sacrificing his heart. As a result, his [[SuperMode Bankai]], [[FightingSpirit Kokujou Tengen Myouou]], gains a new form, Dangai Joue, which grants it a body comprised of pure [[{{ki}} reiatsu]] that is invulnerable to physical damage. This gives Komamura the power to tank Bambietta's explosions long enough to defeat her, after which he irreversibly turns into a normal wolf.
24	* ''Anime/DragonBallGT'': While Goku is trapped in Hell during the Super 17 Saga, he finds himself facing off against [[BashBrothers Frieza and Cell]]. While he's more than a match for them without even going Super Saiyan, he soon finds out this trope is in effect when Cell quickly recovers from being vaporized by a Kamehameha, and when Frieza [[PullingThemselvesTogether pulls himself back together]] after being [[HistoryRepeats dismembered by his own energy disc]].
25	-->'''Cell:''' Do you think you won the match, Goku? [[YouFool You fool!]] Here in Hell, our bodies are immortal!\
26	'''Frieza:''' You will never be able to beat me because I'm already dead!
27	* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', Stands usually operate on the logic that if their user dies, they die, and vice-versa. Come ''Vento Aureo'', and we're introduced to Notorious B.I.G., a Stand that activates ''after the user dies.'' The Stand itself is nigh-untouchable, and it's stated to have infinite durability on its stats page. Indeed, it's only "defeated" by sending it into the Bay of Naples, as the sea currents confuse the Stand too much for it to escape.
28	* This was the intention of Thriller Bark in ''Manga/OnePiece''. After his original living crewmates were killed by the Yonko Kaido, Warlord Gecko Moria decided to make an army of the undead. His logic is that zombies FeelNoPain and can't really tire out, so therefore they were superior. Even if the stolen shadows animating the corpses were removed, replacements can be found later on. Indeed, in order to defeat the Special Zombie Oars, the Straw Hats had to completely pulverize his spine, paralyzing it.
29	* ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'': As a [[ChineseVampire jiang-shi]], Ling-Ling Huang is NighInvulnerable and has no fear of life-threatening feats; a RunningGag is that she can casually [[LosingYourHead remove her own head]], and pointing out that she's can't be harmed because she's already dead is her CatchPhrase.
30	-->'''Ling-Ling''': Ahaha, it doesn't matter anyways, because I'm already dead.
31	* In ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'', Calaveras says this when Sailor Venus attacks Petz's ghost. The attack simply goes right through her incorporeal form.
32	* In ''Anime/YuGiOhTheMoviePyramidOfLight'', Joey and Tristan run into this problem when they kick and punch mummies' heads and arms off and they still keep coming.
33	-->'''Tristan:''' These carcasses won't quit! How do you destroy what's already dead!?
34	* Repeatedly played for laughs in ''Anime/ZombielandSaga'', with the girls abusing medication (with a somewhat snarky DontTryThisAtHome disclaimer that points out this trope), placing themselves in physical danger and going without sleep or rest, pointing out that as zombies they're able to get away with this stuff. Just to drive the point home, three of them have been subjected to the same trauma that originally killed them without serious injury.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Comic Books]]
38	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Subverted with Digger. He's both undead and takes extreme amounts of damage over the course of his debut without injury. However, this was actually due to the fact that he had a HealingFactor, as he was reanimated by gamma radiation from nuclear weapons tests near his grave site, and Spidey exploited this fact to kill him in his first appearance.
39	* ''ComicBook/XStatix'': Dead Girl is extremely tough to damage or destroy because her body is a walking corpse.
40	* ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'' is all about this. When the Black Lantern Corps is created, rings reanimate the dead (mostly meta-humans as well alien races) and the carriers gaining a quick regeneration and NighInvulnerability. [[spoiler:Discovered during the series that the only way to kill Black Lanterns are [[AllYourPowersCombined combining all Lantern powers]] or [[LifeEnergy being a]] [[ReviveKillsZombie White Lantern]].]]
41	* ''[[ComicBook/TwoThousandAD 2000 AD]]'':
42	** ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd''
43	*** The Dark Judges are incredibly hard to destroy for this reason. They tend to ignore Lawgiver gunfire completely (unless appropriately severe, like a hundred Judges at a time firing at will) and even incinerating their undead bodies inadvertently causes [[FightingAShadow their spirits to break free]]. One of their {{Catch Phrase}}s is "You cannot kill what does not live!"
44	*** Averted with Sabbat's zombies in the ''Judgement Day'' storyline: "Bullet seems to work." Sabbat himself is a [[PlayedStraight different story]]. Being decapitated merely pisses him off.
45	** ''ComicBook/FiendsOfTheEasternFront'': Constanta and his fellow vampires use their status as living dead to partake in numerous wars in search of prey, since most regular weapons are incapable of harming them or even slowing them down.
46	** Averted completely in the [[VideoGame/ZombieArmyTrilogy Zombie Army]] tie-in strip currently running in the Megazine; the zombies can be taken out by single bullets.
47	* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':
48	** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': In the closing arc the shades of Hades attack Paradise Island and despite the Amazons being demonstrably better fighters they are killed in droves (and then turned into zombies which turn on their still living sisters) because even cutting a shade in half or beheading it with conventional weapons is a minor setback for the things. Diana eventually figures out that [[ReviveKillsZombie turning the purple healing ray on the shades disintegrates them]].
49	** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2006'': Zeus' army of Gargareans cannot be killed by conventional means which makes them horrifically effective at what Zeus raised them to do: slaughter all humans who are part of an army or have taken steps to defend themselves.
50	** ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'': The Duke of Deception's NaziZombies are unaffected by small arms fire and all shown attempts to repel them outside of Wonder Woman's lasso of truth, which causes the spirits possessing the bodies to flee them.
51	* ''ComicBook/SimonDark'': [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]]. Simon is at first the only undead thing in the comic and is effectively immortal, to the point that he is shocked to learn that humans cannot just have their heads stitched back on after being decapitated and recover since his earliest memories are of his own head being reattached. Later it is revealed that Tom was also brought back from the dead and has regenerative abilities but not to Simon's extent and the various unfortunates that were killed and possessed by the cult have differing levels of abuse their bodies can take before they expire.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Fan Works]]
55	* ''FanFic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness Act VI'': In chapter 43, Ling Ling repeatedly brags as such, being a zombie.
56	-->'''Ling Ling''': They cannot kill me no matter how much they so desire, for I am already dead.
57	* ''FanFic/YouSeeThem'':
58	** In ''We See Them'' and beyond, Rose ([[spoiler:the real Kasumi Yoshizawa]]) exploits the fact that, as a ghost, she can take infinitely more punishment than the other Persona-users. Even fatal injuries only result in her disappearing for a few minutes before she regenerates.
59	** In the ''Repaint Your Heart'' story, it's implied that [[spoiler:Luca's ghost]] has been exploiting this as well.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
63	* ''Film/{{Creepshow}}'': Shown in the ''Something To Tide You Over'' segment; after Richard has his wife Becky and her lover Harry buried up to their necks on the beach, leaving them to drown when the tide comes in, they return as completely unkillable revenants who don't even flinch when Richard tries to shoot them. After getting revenge on Richard by burying him the same way he did to them, they return to their watery graves.
64	* ''Film/DeathBecomesHer'': A variation; the main characters are given an immortality serum that restores their bodies to their physical prime, but with one severe drawback - it renders anyone who takes it unable to ever fully die, even when their bodies do. As such, any immortal who dies are stuck inside their own corpses, trying to maintain an increasinly rotting and unusable body. The ending, set 20 years after the climax, has the characters reduced to still-sentient disembodied heads after falling down some stairs.
65	* ''Franchise/EvilDead'': Deadites are ''very'' tough, generally shaking gunshot wounds and loss of limbs. In general, it takes something major, like RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain or outright dismembering the body, to put them down for good; on multiple occasions in ''Series/AshVsEvilDead'', Ash and co. chop up the bodies of slain Deadites to [[MakeSureHesDead make sure they stay down]]. ''Film/EvilDeadRise'' takes this even further, [[spoiler: even the classic dismemberment doesn't stop them, they will figure out a way to keep attacking no matter how many limbs are cut off. Even after the FinalBoss is fed into a wood-chipper, pieces of flesh can still be seen vainly twitching.]]
66	--> '''Ash''': (looking at a "dead" Deadite) It's a trick. Get an axe.
67	* ''Film/SleepyHollow1999'': Lampshaded by Ichabod Crane during the film's climax, when his young ward, Masbeth, asks if he's succeeded in killing the Headless Horseman.
68	-->''[the group watches as the Horseman steps out of the burning windmill, [[ImplacableMan unscathed]]]''\
69	'''Ichabod:''' That's the problem: [[WhamLine he was dead to begin with.]]
70	* ''Film/TheReturnOfTheLivingDead'': Played for laughs when Burt and Ernie think that [[RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain destroying the head]] will take care of the zombie they accidentally resurrected, since that's the way it worked in ''Film/{{Night of the Living Dead\|1968}}''. This just results in a headless zombie chasing after them.
71	-->'''Ernie:''' You mean the movie ''lied''?
72	* ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'': Jason Voorhees was at first a regular human slasher villain (although MadeOfIron), but after his resurrection as a zombie he starts to shrug off nearly all damage inflicted on him. The tenth movie {{hand wave}}s this by explicitly giving him a HealingFactor.
73	* ''Film/TheMummy2017'': ZigzaggedTrope. The mummies in the film raised by Ahmanet are actually far more vulnerable than human mooks, as one might expect from a decaying body. However, they still ignore all pain and [[WhoNeedsTheirWholeBody keep coming after losing one or more limbs]]. Ahmanet herself is much tougher, in no small part thanks to her magic.
74	* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'': As part of the {{curse}} of the Aztec gold, [[BigBad Barbossa]] and his crew are undead skeletons who simply cannot die. During the final showdown, when Jack steals a piece of the gold and becomes cursed himself in order to even the odds, Barbossa remarks that due to the curse, they're effectively in a stalemate, neither able to kill the other:
75	-->'''Barbossa''': So what now, Jack Sparrow? Are we to be two immortals locked in an epic battle until Judgment Day and trumpets sound?
76	* In ''Film/VanHelsing'', the VampireMonarch Dracula can't be killed by conventional means, and requires the [[FurAgainstFang bite of a werewolf]] to put him down for good.
77	-->'''Dracula:''' You can't kill me, Victor. ''[Walks into the point of the sword]'' I'm already dead.
78	* ''Film/{{Dogma}}'' has a variant in Rufus, an Apostle descended (well, dropped) from {{Heaven}} to guide Bethany. As an incarnate soul, earthly sources of damage don't really apply to him.
79	-->'''Bethany:''' ...I would think that the impact with which you hit the asphalt would have liquefied you.\
80	'''Rufus:''' Y'know, death is a worry of the living. The dead, like myself, only worry about decay and necrophiliacs.
81	* ''Film/{{Candyman}}'': Helen tracks down the undead Candyman to his urban lair and attempt to stab him through the neck while he's sleeping. He just pulls it out without issue, and moments later it becomes obvious why: ''most of his upper body is a rotten patchwork swarming with bees''.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Literature]]
85	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
86	** Zombies are much more resilient and stronger than humans, with watchzombie Reg Shoe taking a crossbow bolt through the chest and only complaining of the puncture holes in his armor. They are, however, very vulnerable to fire.
87	** In ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'', Teppic's father notes that the mummification process seems to have made him stronger, due to the extra weight provided by the straw.
88	** Werewolves are apparently considered undead by the narration, with one surviving a fatal bullet wound as the bullet wasn't silver.
89	** In ''Literature/WitchesAbroad'', Baron Saturday isn't just a zombie, he's also channeling the power of the entire swamp, able to shrug off not just physical attacks, but also powerful magic:
90	-->-- [[BigBad Lilith]]: "You fools, this is how you kill a dead man" (throws blast of magic)
91	-->-- Saturday (unharmed): Lady, there ain't no way to kill a dead man.
92	* In ''Literature/TheZombieKnight'', it's almost impossible to kill a [[CameBackStrong reaper servant]] because their brain and body are sustained entirely by their connection to the reaper, with actual life processes strictly optional. Pain can be deferred until a later date, wounds can be casually regenerated, muscles and neurons function regardless of blood supply, and even a headshot won't keep them down for long. The only way to stop one long-term is to kill the reaper, freeze the servant solid, or encapsulate their severed head to block regeneration.
93	* ''Literature/TheZombieSurvivalGuide'': The book mentions that part of the reason why zombies are so dangerous is because their pain receptors have ceased to function, therefore most damage inflicted on them will just be ignored. Only incinerating the body completely will stop a zombie.
94	* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'' has a variant when a {{basilisk\|AndCockatrice}} with a DeadlyGaze is prowling [[WizardingSchool Hogwarts]] but miraculously only manages to Petrify people (which is reversible). The trick here is that your eyes have to directly meet the monster's gaze for it to actually kill you--which did happen once in the backstory. But at the time the book takes place, the only character to look this thing in the eyes is the FriendlyGhost Nearly Headless Nick, who gets Petrified by default because the guy can't exactly die ''again''. The other victims include a student who glimpses the basilisk through Nick's translucent form, another student who sees it through a camera lens (destroying the camera in the process), and a few students (and a cat) who see the creature's reflection.
95	* ''Literature/NightmaresAndDreamscapes'': "Home Delivery", which takes place during the early weeks of a ZombieApocalypse, plays with this trope; the zombies are created by Star Wormwood, a bizarre "satellite" that appeared above Earth's South Pole, which is either covered by, or consists entirerly of alien worms. When these worms infest human corpses, they reanimate, turning them into zombies, meaning they're actually a case of TheWormThatWalks rather than TheUndead. ''Most'' of the zombies die again if you shoot them in the head, but not all of them, and the ones that don't have to be incinerated, as nothing else stops them, even dismembered body parts can still move. In some cases, even the ''ashes'' still twitches, though by that point, they're completely harmless again. It's not entirerly clear why, though implied it might depend on how many worms are inside a zombie.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
99	* Subverted in the second season of ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' after Owen is reanimated. True, blood loss or damage to vital organs can't kill him anymore, but he doesn't heal either and doesn't feel any pain to prevent him accidentally damaging himself. As demonstrated when he accidentally slices his hand open with a scalpel and has to sew it back together. However he can't be ''killed'', which saves the day when faced with TheGrimReaper, whose method of killing people has nothing to do with physical injury.
100	* ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' has Kai who, in addition to being undead, is a {{cyborg}} whose body is "de-carbonized." As long as his supply of [[{{Phlebotinum}} protoblood]] lasts, he is indestructible.
101	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Season 8 reveals that the revived/possibly TechnicallyLivingZombie Ser Gregor Clegane (already a hugely tough BlackKnight in life) is now capable of taking a sword through the gut and a knife to the eye without collapsing (although the eye attack does slow him a bit). [[spoiler:It takes a HeroicSacrifice and falling several stories through a wall and into a sea of dragonfire to end him.]]
102	* The heroes of ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' all get their [[HenshinHero transformations]] from [[VideoGameGenres various game cartridges of different genres]]. One of the villains, Kamen Rider Genm, uses the [[SurvivalHorror Dangerous Zombie]] Gashat, which also grants him the power of undeath, rendering him nigh-invulnerable. This is shown by the [[LifeMeter Rider Gauge]] on his chest constantly being cracked and empty. Any attack thrown at him, including [[FinishingMove finishers]], barely even faze him. [[spoiler: It takes Ex-Aid using the reprogramming ability of his MidSeasonUpgrade to finally get rid of Genm's invincibility and render him vulnerable]].
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
106	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': There are various nigh-invincible undead soldiers, but of course this is subject to GameplayAndStorySegregation, or they would just be a GameBreaker on the tabletop.
107	** Nurglite troops (including Plague Zombies) are inhumanly tough because most of their body is made of dead flesh, rotting tissue or hideous scars, and their wounds are sealed by cancerous growths.
108	** Subverted with 40K's Necrons, who take the role of zombies in the series... but their resilience comes from the fact that they're robots made of regenerating metal and teleport away for repairs.
109	* [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]] in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': Undead are just as susceptible to {{Hit Point\|s}} damage as anyone else, but have around eight times the hitpoints of a typical human. Their lack of bodily functions also makes them immune to {{Critical Hit}}s, [[BackStab sneak attacks]], and other effects that rely on the target's anatomy while granting some form of DamageReduction, making certain weapon categories less efficient.
110	* ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness''[=/=]''TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness'':
111	** In both ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' and ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'', this is the reason for vampires to be ImmuneToBullets (and, starting with ''Blood & Smoke'', MadeOfIron in general). It's not that bullets actually cause less damage to their body than they do with humans, it's just that vampires don't actually ''need'' vital organs; all they actually need is the blood inside, and the supernatural force animating them makes sure said blood doesn't leave their body when they are injured. They are still vulnerable to things like fire or losing limbs, but weapons like bullets will only do superficial damages which they can easily heal.
112	** ''New World of Darkness: Antagonists'' provides rules to design various types of Zombies, including ones who follow this trope. If you use the proper rules, the zombies will be immune even to their classic BoomHeadshot weakness, and keep going until nothing is left of them.
113	* ''TabletopGame/RaptureTheEndOfDays'': The Walking Dead are dead bodies being animated by a demon or satanic cultist. Being dead, they can only be stopped by completing destroying the body, or defeating the controlling entity.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Theatre]]
117	* In ''Theatre/JasperInDeadland'', souls who enter Deadland still have organs, but they don't need them; Gretchen is able to rip her own heart out like it's nothing, and Little Lu threatens his slaves with CessationOfExistence due to the obvious fact that they're already dead.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Video Games]]
121	* In the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' games, the protagonist is [[WhoWantsToLiveForever cursed with a form of]] ResurrectiveImmortality that means that they revert to their undead "[[RevenantZombie Hollow]]" form and teleport to the last [[CheckPoint Bonfire]] they used upon death. They cannot be killed in a way that matters, although [[GameplayAndStorySegregation canonically,]] they'll go insane if it happens too often ([[NintendoHard probably the point where the player chucks the controller through the nearest window]]).
122	* In ''Franchise/DeadSpace'', the Necromorphs are insanely durable and are capable of shrugging off all but the most extensive bodily trauma. This is because they're more or less puppets of the Marker that turned them, directing them to keep killing and spreading its infection until they're physically incapable of doing such, and should one receive extreme injury ([[AnArmAndALeg dismemberment]], [[BurnTheUndead immolation]], [[StuffBlowingUp explosives]] etc), the Marker cuts the juice keeping them going and they go back to being dead. However, while an effective short-term solution it's only a stopgap at best, as even this won't keep them down for long before the Marker brings them back on their feet, sometimes as or [[BodyOfBodies as part of]] an entirely different creature. As a result, destroying their body ''[[FromASingleCell completely and utterly]]'' is the only way to be permanently rid of them.
123	* ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'': Once certain undead enemies take enough damage, their torsos will be severed from their legs and they will crawl towards the player with only their arms.
124	* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': Subverted. Flood Combat Forms can be eliminated with a precise shot to the Infection Form "piloting" the body. When this happens, the Combat Form will fall over as if dead, and a gaping hole will be seen where the Infection Form once was. However, from ''VideoGame/Halo2'' onward, another Infection Form may wander over at any time and take control of the Combat Form again, with the Combat Form having the same amount of health it had before it was "killed." This means that in order to prevent dead Combat Forms from coming back to life in this manner, the player either has to either kill every Infection Form in the room or manually dismember each Combat Form killed by a "headshot" after it hits the ground.
125	* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', Darth Sion is kept alive entirely by the Dark Side of the Force. He has been "killed" many times, leaving his body nothing but a mass of wounds and rotting flesh, but arises each time. [[spoiler:Beating him in the game requires TalkingTheMonsterToDeath.]]
126	* In ''VideoGame/QuakeI'', the zombies will simply get back up after a few seconds if you just shoot them like anything else. The only way to kill them permanently is to turn them into LudicrousGibs by whatever means you can find which will do so (usually grenades or rockets, but environmental hazards can work, too). The manual almost name-drops the trope using YeOldeButcheredEnglish, describing them as "Thou canst not kill that which doth not live. But you can blast it into chunky kibbles."
127	* The zombies in ''VideoGame/{{Nox}}'' get back up at full health if "killed" unless you [[KillItWithFire burn their bodies while they're down]].
128	* Invoked in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'''s expansion, where the Death Knight's AnimateDead spell brings up six invulnerable (meaning they can't even be targeted) corpses to fight for him. In the first game, they weren't invulnerable but they lasted longer.
129	* In ''VideoGame/MetalSlug 3'' and ''4'', the player character can get infected by {{Zombie Puke Attack}}s and turned into a zombie themselves. As a zombie, they're completely immune to most attacks -- not even enemy gunfire, grenades or tank shells will harm them. However, getting hit by zombie puke when they're already a zombie, or certain other attacks (like yeti ice breath or the level boss' attacks) will kill them. This only applies to zombified player characters, enemy zombies do have ''a lot'' of health, but aren't indestructible.
130	* Vamp in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' likes to gloat that he can't be killed because "he's already died once" and "Hell had no vacancies". [[spoiler:However, [[DoingInTheWizard he isn't actually undead]] and painfully learns the hard way that he absolutely ''can'' die in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' when he's injected with something that shuts his nanomachines off...]]
131	* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', The Sorrow is [[PosthumousCharacter long dead,]] but his connection to death means he's not truly gone. As a result, his Boss Fight is unconventional as he has an empty Life Bar (since he's already dead), and the fight is more about you [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment facing the people whose lives you've ended.]]
132	* ''VideoGame/PathfinderKingmaker'': Party member Jaethal is an elf {{revenant\|Zombie}} who serves Urgathoa, goddess of undeath, as an inquisitor. Being undead, she's immune to death effects and ability damage, meaning she's great to bring along to the "Varnhold Vanishing" chapter and can use two pieces of cursed equipment with no ill effects.[[note]]Mechanically, both the [[https://pathfinderkingmaker.fandom.com/wiki/Cloak_of_Sold_Souls Cloak of Sold Souls]] and [[https://pathfinderkingmaker.fandom.com/wiki/Gentle_Persuasion Gentle Persuasion]] reduce the character's Constitution score, but as an undead creature, Jaethal doesn't have one.[[/note]] On the flipside, however, ReviveKillsZombie so she has to be healed using ''inflict wounds'' spells (the devs added potions of them to the game specifically for her in an ObviousRulePatch).
133	* ''VideoGame/PathfinderWrathOfTheRighteous'': {{Dhampir}} {{Player Character}}s are immune to level drain due to their partial vampire ancestry, though there's some GameplayAndStorySegregation this time: Part of AscendedDemon Arueshalae's redemption arc involves her lusting after the PC but refusing to act on it, both out of fear of rejection and of [[OutWithABang killing them in the act because she's a succubus]], but mechanically this is a level drain effect to which the PC should be immune.
134	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros''
135	** You can't kill Cortez in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' as he just keeps coming back with new flashy forms and finally just ends the fight to gloat that nothing you can throw at him will kill a ghost. It leads to one of the game's funnier moments where Mario just politely informs him that all they want is the Crystal Star and asks if they can have it, and Cortez ''just gives it to them'' after brief consideration because "what's one jewel to a guy like him?" Even the flavor text of the Crystal Heart in the status menu tells you it was earned "by not really defeating Cortez".
136	** In earlier ''Super Mario'' games, there are the Dry Bones, [[NightOfTheLivingMooks skeletal versions of Koopa Troopas]] mainly found in towers and castles. These undead Koopas often collapse when attacked, but they soon revive themselves and become normal once again (however there are some methods to permanently defeat them, with attacking them while invincible from using a Star-type item being the most reliable). Dry Bones first appeared in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'', in which sprites of them are edited Koopa Troopa sprites.
137	* In ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'', the Headless, due to [[LosingYourHead having already lost their head]], cannot be decapitated again, resulting in their NighInvulnerability and their [[TheDreaded dreadful presence throughout Ashina]]. Being apparitions, the Headless are almost immune to ordinary swords and pikes. Thankfully, they can be killed by using Divine Confetti, which is imbued with a divine blessing made for driving away apparitions.
138	--> '''Temple Posting''': Turn back if you value your life. You can't behead the headless. Our swords and pikes did nothing.
139	[[/folder]]
140
141	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
142	* Tubal Cain from ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae'' can be ridiculously difficult to put down as he is just a hollow corpse being controlled by the souls in the [[EvilWeapon false lance of Longinus]] that he wields. Chopping off his head or cutting him to pieces will just slow him down a little at most. Even completely disintegrating him will technically not kill him as long as his weapon is still intact, as it will just look for a new host and repeat the process.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Western Animation]]
146	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'':
147	** In "End Times," [[spoiler:Shredder is revived as a zombie by [[DragonsAreDemonic Kavaxas]], and is practically unstoppable; Leo chops off his head and arm, and he just reattaches them both. In the end, he's only killed when he willingly jumps into the portal to the Netherworld, dragging Kavaxas down with him.]]
148	** In "The Curse of Savanti Romero," the Turtles [[spoiler:face off against a cursed mummy, who is unfazed by everything they throw at him. Leo chops his head clean off at one point, and he just plops it back on.]]
149	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
150	** Becomes a recurring theme in a two-part episode when, after the events of [[WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut the movie]], Satan has dumped Saddam Hussein and killed him ([[ItMakesSenseInContext don't ask]]). Of course, since Saddam was already dead and in Hell, he pops up the very next day right as rain, much to Satan's chagrin:
151	--> '''Saddam:''' Hello, Satan! Did you miss me, Buttercup?\
152	'''Satan:''' Saddam?! How?! I killed you!\
153	'''Saddam:''' Yeah, you killed me! So? Where was I gonna go? Detroit?
154	** This culminates in Saddam and Chris, Satan's new boyfriend, repeatedly killing each other because if a dead person in Hell dies they just come back the very next day. When Satan dumps them both, Chris takes it well but Saddam taunts him, saying he won't let him no matter how many times he's killed for it. Satan has him [[DraggedOffToHell Dragged Off To]] ''[[InvertedTrope Heaven]]'' to get rid of him, and since Heaven is full of Mormons it's a HellOfAHeaven.
155	** Parodied in "Make Love, Not Warcraft" where one overpowered {{griefer}} is dominating the title game and going around whacking players to their recognized detriment -- visually represented in person as an obese nerd whose sole focus is the game before him -- and the question about how to stop him is phrased as "How do you kill what has no life?"
156	* The very first ''WesternAnimation/CasperTheFriendlyGhost'' cartoon actually does this. Casper, depressed that all of his attempts to make friends just scare everyone away [[DrivenToSuicide decides to lay down on the railroad tracks when he sees a train coming.]] Of course, the train just passes right through him.
157	* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' has the Bombie. In this iteration, it looks like a massive, undead monster who has lived for eons. Its goal appears to be to hunt down and punish the richest person on the planet, and it will follow this singular drive endlessly. It is magically aware, at all times, where the richest person is, and (excluding Scrooge [=McDuck=]'s containment system) cannot be stopped forever. Through the course of the episode it is dropped from a cliff, falls out of a crashing plane, is hit with numerous satellites, and it shows [[NoSell absolutely no signs of damage]]. It ends up chasing Louie across the ocean in an effort to kill him. [[spoiler:Ultimately, it abandons doing so as it does have one reason it won't kill the richest person: if that person has [[BreakTheHaughty earned humility]] (something that [[DeathByMaterialism cannot be bought]])]].
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Context Main / YouCantKillWhatsAlreadyDead