History Main / DeaderThanDead

** [[spoiler:Odin dies twice, but the first time was under controlled conditions with a noose meant to de-power him, and the second time separated his soul from his body and divine powers, which let Atreus stuff him in a marble. Then Sindri takes a hammer to his SoulJar, killing him permanently.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda3'': Kai is already a spirit, a fact that makes him immune to being directly affected by the Wuxi Finger Hold. However, after Po gets supercharged by his friends and family giving him their chi, he destroys Kai completely.

[[folder: RealLife]]

* The backstory for the ''ComicBook/Marvel1602'' continuity is that, in a {{dystopia}}n future where America is ruled by a despotic [[PresidentEvil President-For-Life]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]] joins an underground resistance movement, fails, and is captured. The President knows that, this being the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, killing an A-list SuperHero has a spectacularly low probability of sticking. So he attempts to remove him from the timeline entirely. Cap winds up being sent over 400 years back in time, thus altering the timeline and ushering in the 'Age of Marvels' during the reign of Queen Elizabeth the First.
* ''ComicBook/ScudTheDisposableAssassin'' featured a werewolf villain that seemed to regenerate from any kind of death, including having the main protagonist punch his way through the back of its head. The werewolf is finally defeated when it is jettisoned into orbit around the moon, where it explodes, reforms, and explodes again in an endless loop.
* The casting of the ''Montesi Formula'' in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse not only destroys every vampire except Hannibal King in the dimension, it makes it impossible for vampires to even exist in the dimension--some brought in from another crumble to nothing as soon as they arrive. The ''Formula'' is dispelled a few years later, since there's always a comic book writer who wants to do a story about Dracula.
* In ''ComicBook/ThoseAnnoyingPostBros'' by Matt Howarth, anything that dies in Bugtown regenerates, though sanity may be slightly reduced. (The crazier Post Brother says "Naw, I've died lots of times." Tactful silence.) In one case, a character is killed in the street and spends several months regenerating and getting run over before an opportunity to get out of traffic. To kill someone for real, you have to get him out of Bugtown somehow.
* In the ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' story ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'', Don Hall (the first Dove of the ComicBook/HawkAndDove duo) is so dead that the zombie-creating Black Lantern rings cannot so much as disturb the dirt around his grave. This is apparently because pacifist Don was "[[PeacefulInDeath at peace]]" when he died, compared to most dead heroes who most assuredly weren't.

* ''X-Men Forever'': Creator/ChrisClaremont has said this is the fate of anyone who gets killed. When Wolverine was killed off in Issue 2, his picture in the recap page was overlaid with a big red "DEAD" for at least 10 issues just to drive the point home. He did reappear, but only in flashbacks from his UsefulNotes/WorldWarII service alongside ComicBook/NickFury. And, he finally got to retcon the original ending for ''X-Men (vol.2) #3'', in which instead of surviving, [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]] and any Acolyte who wasn't Fabian Cortez burn up and die in Earth's atmosphere as Asteroid M disintegrates.
* ''ComicBook/TheGrievousJourneyOfIchabodAzrael'': The titular character is able to kill {{the grim reaper}}s in {{Hell}} or limbo or wherever he is using a massive effort of will; they then get sucked down into what is believed to be a place even worse than Hell. It's implied that he can kill the already dead in a similar manner.
* In the epilogue to ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'', the writers go out of their way to assure everyone that not only is Wolverine really dead, extensive tests have been done to prove that he cannot be cloned, regenerated, or resurrected in any way. This after a RasputinianDeath.
* ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' has the final fate of Darkseid: FIrst he is mortally wounded by his son Orion, so he requires using Dan Turpin as an avatar, which renders him almost completely bound to his throne. Then he is shot y Batman with a Radion bullet, toxic to the New Gods. Then the two Flashes drive the Black Racer, Death itself through Darkseid, which leaves him just a glowing presence, which is finally diluted into nothingness by Superman singing a countervibrational note and finally using a DeusExMachina (Literally) to fix everything he has done, including presumably killing him.
* The original Dr. Robotnik in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' wasn't just killed, he was ''vaporized'' by a weapon designed to lock onto and disintegrate ''the DNA of individual people''. The only way he could return? ''Reality warping via nuclear echidna''. No joke. The revival is only temporary, lasting a month before he dissipates again. Then came the CosmicRetcon, in which Dr. Eggman altered Mobius' reality so much that Dr. Robotnik and Robo-Robotnik, Dr. Eggman's original form were disassembled through time/space and realtered so that Dr. Eggman always existed on Mobius.
* ''ComicBook/EarthX'': In the finale of ''Universe X'', [[DeathTakesAHoliday the embodiment of Death itself was annihilated]]. While this, at first, seemed a victory, it quickly turned sour when many people who had suffered irreparable injuries or incurable diseases found themselves trapped in endless suffering. This was especially to the chagrin of the already-impossible to kill Daredevil, who had made a living out of never dying, no matter what was done to him. Finally, a team of heroes and scientists manage to find Jude, the Entropic Man--and his touch, it is revealed, can end even Daredevil's life, turning him to inert atomic dust.
* ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'': Happens to Phobos. After he broke out of the inescapable prison he had been thrown into, did what he did in the Trials of the Oracle arc and subverted a DisneyVillainDeath in a way that nearly allowed him to steal their powers, the Guardians disintegrated his soul to make sure he didn't return.
* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher2099'' had a villain who claimed that upon his death he would absorb psychic energy he had accumulated in the population of the surrounding city and [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence become a godlike entity]]. Punisher called up his tech guy, and after some research he came upon a hypothesis that a particle accelerator might actually be capable of destroying souls. So the Punisher threw the guy inside one and switched it on. Seems to have worked.
* ''ComicBook/CreatureTech'': Dr. Jameson cheats death via a DealWithTheDevil--he won't enter Hell as long as he has the claw of the demon Hellcat. He dies at the beginning of the comic but persists as a ghost, then finds a way to return as a revenant. At the end, the protagonists kill him off for good by cutting the claw off his dead body, at which point several demons arrive and drag Jameson down to Hell.
* ''ComicBook/DarkEmpire'': Palpatine's spirit is dragged into the Force and trapped there by ''every single Jedi spirit'', making sure that he can ''never'' return, clones or not.
* In ''ComicBook/InfinityCountdown'' #5, [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]]'s soul was removed from Pymtron's body by the Soul Stone. And then his soul ended up getting devoured by a beast within the Soul Stone.

* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': An early ''WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck'' story by Creator/CarlBarks, entitled ''In Ancient Persian'' saw the main antagonist getting turned to dust, and his dust quickly getting mingled with the sand.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: During the Golden Age Paula developed tech to allow herself to be revived after being executed by electrocution, which after her HeelFaceTurn was combined with the Amazonian Purple Healing Ray and could revive most people after death so long as the damage wasn't too extensive and they were brought in soon enough, with only memory loss as a side effect. This meant that people who died around Wonder Woman could usually be quickly brought to Paradise Island and revived, however when [[Characters/WonderWomanAllies Steve Trevor]]'s secretary was disintegrated it was rather clear there was no coming back even though Diana was standing right there.
* The 1982 graphic novel ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfCaptainMarvel'' did this to [[Characters/MarvelComicsMarvels Captain Mar-Vell]]. The fact that [[LifeWillKillYou he died of cancer]] in [[TheTopicOfCancer a story specifically meant to raise awareness of cancer]] means that any attempt to bring him back permanently would come across as incredibly disrespectful, and it has been claimed at a few points that he isn't coming back until a reliable cancer cure is created. A few stories dealing with what would happen if he survived have claimed it would lead to ''much'' worse things happening, and while there have been occasional fakeouts, they're invariably revealed as imposters, zombies, or cases of mistaken identity. In fact in the ''Realms of Kings'' one-shot prelude to ''[[ComicBook/TheThanosImperative The Thanos Imperative]]'', we see the consequences of Mar-Vell being "cured": The Cancerverse.
* ''ComicBook/Zatanna2010'': After finally being caught by his DealWithTheDevil that he had managed to avoid for decades, Benjamin Raymond is only a few minutes away from being dragged down to Hell for eternity. He pleads for Zatanna's help but, as she rightly points out, this is a situation of his own making, and he had earlier tried to substitute ''her'' soul in his place, [[EntitledBastard why should she fight a demon on his behalf]]? He becomes so desperate that, if she will not rescue him, then at least MercyKill him; not just kill him, but rend his soul asunder and remove it forever from existence, since even not existing would be better than what will happen to him if Mammon should be able to claim him. Taking pity on him, Zatanna consents, and transforms him into a soulless, inanimate lump of gold. Luckily, Mammon appreciates the irony of a greedy man being turned into a symbol of {{Greed}}.

** In ComicBook/GhostRider vs. [[Characters/DCComicsLobo Lobo]], Lobo is utterly BarredFromTheAfterlife since he's rampaged through both Heaven and Hell, making his soul unfit to be collected by Death itself. Not so for the Rider as Zarathos pulls his ghost over and gives him the Penance Stare, reducing the Main Man into a RapidFireNo before a BigNo as his soul is finally eaten.

* In ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', Darth Sidious was able to come back from the dead twice through transferring his spirit to clone bodies of himself, but after the destruction of Byss, the force ghost of Jedi Knight Empatojayos Brand bound Sidious' soul to his own and dragged him into the Force, never to return.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'', it's established that demons born from human souls lack CompleteImmortality, though that doesn't mean they'll go down easily. The only known method by which a sinner can die is by angelic weaponry, which has led to a massive overpopulation problem in hell resulting in angels being sent down once a year to kill large numbers of them off.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Unlike most vampires, [[LooksLikeOrlok the Master]] actually left a skeleton behind when he died. In the next episode, his followers attempt to resurrect him, which leads to Buffy smashing it to dust with a sledgehammer. (He does appear in one later episode, but that's [[ForWantOfANail an alternate timeline]]).

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDark/ApokolipWar'', Raven asks Constantine to make her body "more than dead" if Trigon takes control of her. [[spoiler:When Trigon starts to break free, Constantine [[TakeAThirdOption instead removes the gem containing Trigon]].]]

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDark/ApokolipsWar'', Raven asks Constantine to make her body "more than dead" if Trigon takes control of her. [[spoiler:When Trigon starts to break free, Constantine [[TakeAThirdOption instead removes the gem containing Trigon]].]]

* The 1982 graphic novel ''The Death of Captain Marvel'' did this to [[Characters/MarvelComicsMarvels Captain Mar-Vell]]. The fact that [[LifeWillKillYou he died of cancer]] in [[TheTopicOfCancer a story specifically meant to raise awareness of cancer]] means that any attempt to bring him back permanently would come across as incredibly disrespectful, and it has been claimed at a few points that he isn't coming back until a reliable cancer cure is created. A few stories dealing with what would happen if he survived have claimed it would lead to ''much'' worse things happening, and while there have been occasional fakeouts, they're invariably revealed as imposters, zombies, or cases of mistaken identity. In fact in the ''Realms of Kings'' one-shot prelude to ''[[ComicBook/TheThanosImperative The Thanos Imperative]]'', we see the consequences of Mar-Vell being "cured": The Cancerverse.

* Invoked in ''VideoGame/XMenLegendsII'' by Characters/{{Deadpool|WadeWilson}}, who says he wants you "so dead you'd have to be reanimated as a corpse."