History Main / DeaderThanDead

-->-- '''Creator/StephenKing's''' ''{{It}}''

* The [[spoiler: Nibiru Entity]] from ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated, was destroyed so utterly that it was completely erased from existance, present, future ''and'' past. This lead to history being changed so that all the atrocities the creature had orchestrated over the centuries never happened, leaving the gang (and HarlanEllison) as the only ones who still remember the original timeline.

** [[ItGotWorse And then]] during the Russian Revolution, supposedly a group of superstitious peasants dug him up and burned him, just to make sure. [[OhCrap Rasputin then sat up]], probably guaranteeing that his exhumers never slept a single night again either. Note that this does actually have a reasonable explanation; heat causes the corpse's tendons to contract and shrink, which can cause the joints to move. Professional undertakers sever the necessary tendons to prevent this, but since an angry mob would probably not have done this, it's very possible that the months-dead Rasputin could indeed have [[NightmareFuel sat up on his own funeral pyre.]]

* Everything about Rasputin's assassination. Rasputin survives several assassination attempts that SHOULD have killed any man, and then his assassins go for broke and the guy survives...only to actually die after everyone thought he was dead. He was poisoned, shot, clubbed and knifed, probably not in that order. THEN when he was still alive he was roped into a big charpet and thrown into the Moskva River, and found dead 3 days later. His cause of death was hypothermia, i.e. freezing to death. His assasins probably never slept a single night again after that.

* Albert Wesker in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'', after surviving through quite a lot, gets his head decapitated by two rockets while melting inside magma. It took a WordOfGod to convince fans that he was ''REALLY'' dead this time.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', the player can talk Saren into killing himself. Saren shoots himself through the head and falls to the ground. Shepard then sends a party member to shoot him in the head again "to make sure". Saren then gets back up AGAIN through by Sovereign controlling him through his implants trickery and so you have to kill him a third time by destroying the implants.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' this trope is the ''entire purpose'' of the Grey Warden order. Archdemons (corrupted gods who unite the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil darkspawn]] [[TheLegionsOfHell horde]]) body jack the nearest darkspawn upon death, reviving almost instantly. Grey Wardens intentionally introduce a modified version of the darkspawn taint into themselves so that when one of ''them'' takes the final blow, the Archdemon will attempt to posses their bodies rather than a real darkspawn. [[HeroicSacrifice An act that annihilates both the dragon and the Warden's souls.]] Without this, the only way to end a Blight would be to kill every darkspawn in existence.

The actual implementation of a Deader Than Dead varies: Sometimes it's needed to kill more than one component of the target (often its [[OurSoulsAreDifferent soul]] ''and'' its body at the same time). Sometimes it requires following the dead to the afterlife and killing them ''there''. Sometimes it involves [[CruelAndUnusualDeath tons and tons of Maximum Overkill]] that reduces the villain to a [[ChunkySalsaRule fine paste]]. And sometimes some alternative to death (sometimes a "FateWorseThanDeath") has to be found. For demons and the like, the latter often means "sealing" them somewhere, though more often than not, this is just a surefire way to end up with SealedEvilInACan. YourSoulIsMine is an uncommon way of ensuring total death as well--pulling someone's literal life force out of their body and eating or smashing it is a good way to ensure that they're never coming back. On the other hand, if it's a story where resurrection requires a (mostly) intact body, it's simply a matter of making sure the body isn't intact.

** Subverted in ''Recap/DoctorWhoTheCurseOfFatalDeath'' (which was, both a comedy and a tribute); both the Doctor and the Master clarify that no one can regenerate after being slain by "Zektronic Energy", but of course, the Doctor "gets better" anyway. (The Master is shocked: "It's against all the laws of the Universe!", to which the Doctor's companion replies, "Perhaps even the Universe can't stand to live without the Doctor".)

** Similar to Kuboto, [[spoiler:Malack and Nale]] are now Deader Than Dead due to their bodies being destroyed. [[spoiler:Nalack is a vampire and was killed then Nale removed his sun protection spell, burning him to ash. In response, Tarquin kills Nale and Laurin disintegrates the body, she says that if Malack can't be resurrected, nether will his killer.]]

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', the Dragonborn is the only one who can permanently slay Dragons by absorbing their souls upon death which prevents Alduin from resurrecting them in new bodies.

* The ''NinjaScroll'' movie, features a BigBad who can regenerate any part of his body -- even decapitation won't stop him. Jubei therefore has to get creative when defeating him; He eventually does so by coating the villain's body in molten gold and letting the cooled statue sink -- with his still-living body encased inside, presumably forever -- to the bottom of a river.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', the player can talk Saren into killing himself. Saren shoots himself through the head and falls to the ground. Shepard then sends a party member to shoot him in the head again "to make sure". Saren then gets back up AGAIN through by Sovereign controlling him through his implants trickery and so you have to kill him a third time by destroying the implants.
** Also, in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' Shepard comes back from the dead, but during the suicide mission, she/he can die forever.
*** Or by [[DeathBySex having sex with Morinth]].

** Subverted in "TheCurseOfFatalDeath" (which was, both a comedy and a tribute); both the Doctor and the Master clarify that no one can regenerate after being slain by "Zektronic Energy", but of course, the Doctor "gets better" anyway. (The Master is shocked: "It's against all the laws of the Universe!", to which the Doctor's companion replies, "Perhaps even the Universe can't stand to live without the Doctor".)

* The [[spoiler: Nibiru Entity]] from ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated, was destroyed so utterly that it was completely erased from existance, present, future ''and'' past. This lead to history being changed so that all the atrocities the creature had orchestrated over the centuries never happened, leaving the gang as the only ones who still remember the original timeline.

* The BigBad of ''Manga/InuYasha'' had his body obliterated multiple times, but always regenerated before the end of the episode. Actually killing him would have required killing his heart, [[SoulJar stored in another being.]] We never get to see this before the series ends though. The story continued in the manga it was based on and he eventually just absorbs the other being because it tries to betray him.

* The [[spoiler: Nibiru Entity]] from ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated, was destroyed so utterly that it was completely erased from existance, present, future ''and'' past. This lead to history being changed so that all the atrocities the creature had orchestrated over the centuries never happened, leaving the gang as the only one who still remember the original timeline.

The [[spoiler: Nibiru Entity]] from ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated, was destroyed so utterly that it was completely erased from existance, present, future ''and'' past. This lead to history being changed so that all the atrocities the creature had orchestrated over the centuries never happened, leaving the gang as the only one who still remember the original timeline.

** [[RealityEnsues Or they just shot him a few times, the third shot being a fatal head shot, and then made up all the other stuff (which passed from storytelling to actual history) so that Rasputin would seem like an inhuman monster that they were fully justified in killing.]]

* ''[[Manga/DragonBall DragonBall Z]]'':
** The series which cheapened death to the point where the main cast isn't all that concerned when the BigBad starts killing off the majority of the planet's population, since they can just be wished back to life! It's implied that if one dies while already dead, they're really gone, but as this never happens to anyone we can't be sure.[[hottip:*:In fact, in one arc during Z, the Ginyu Force ended up impaled by the needle mountain that, by all rights, should have killed them again, but they didn't die. Cell did as well, although he had [[GoodThingICanHeal regeneration.]] But there is one convention in the series, though: if the BigBad gets killed by a Spirit Bomb (aka Genkidama), you can even bet your TV Tropes admin rights that he's Deader Than Dead.

** Quincies take this one step further than anyone. They don't simply kill hollows, they destroy the soul as well. They are the only beings that are capable of eradicating a soul from existence itself, meaning the soul cannot go on to be reborn into future lives.
** Hollows grow and evolve by eating other Hollows, thus devouring their souls. Technically, they don't die the way they would when a Quincy kills them, they just "merge" with the Hollow that ate them, but for all intents and purposes, they're considered truly dead (as they lose their mind, body and soul) and the merging doesn't allow them to be reborn. Hollows can also devour unsent souls, thus destroying them forever (though their power doesn't grow, it just satisfies their hunger for a short while).

* In ''Literature/TheDeathOfKoshcheiTheDeathless]]'', the prince's horse cracks Koshchei's skull, and the prince finishes him off with a club; then he burns the body and scatters the ashes.

*** False. Hollows grow and evolve by eating other Hollows, thus devouring their souls. Technically, they don't die the way they would when a Quincy kills them, they just "merge" with the Hollow that ate them, but for all intents and purposes, they're considered truly dead (as they lose their mind, body and soul) and the merging doesn't allow them to be reborn. Hollows can also devour unsent souls, thus destroying them forever (though their power doesn't grow, it just satisfies their hunger for a short while). The anime-only Bounts can also eat both unsent and living souls. In fact, it has been noted that a Shinigami's zanpakuto is the ONLY thing that can help souls move on (not counting the natural transformation of unsent souls into Hollows). Bottom line is, the quincies aren't the only beings capable of eradicating a soul, it's quite the opposite - Shinigami are the only beings who AREN'T destroying their enemies when "killing" them.

* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Lelouch [[CrowningMomentofAwesome takes control of GOD]] and orders Him to wipe his parents from existence.
** More specifically, he begs "God" (the collective unconsciousness of mankind) to not take away mankind's future. "God" interpreted this to mean "Get rid of his parents"; since they were in a spiritual realm, this resulted in his parents dissolving from existence within the realm. It still qualified because it managed to remove Lelouch's father from existence: a man who possessed the "Code" and was essentially an immortal being.

* The backstory for the ''{{Marvel 1602}}'' continuity is that, in a {{dystopia}}n future where America is ruled by a despotical President-For-Life, CaptainAmerica joins an underground resistance-movement, fails, and is captured. The president then displays his GenreSavvy side - this being the MarvelUniverse, killing an A-list SuperHero has a spectacularly low probability of sticking. So instead, he attempts to remove him from the timeline entirely. ''After'' shooting him in the head. Instead, 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.
** Which makes the fact that at the end of the graphic novel Cap returns to his proper timeline -- with freaking Nick Fury as back-up -- hilarious.
* ''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 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 uncast a few years later, since somebody always wants to write about Dracula.

* Subverted in another CrowningMomentOfAwesome for ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd''. In the story "Judgement Day", when the judges are facing a horde of zombies:
--> "How can you kill that which is already dead?"
--> [=BLAM=]
--> "Bullet seems to work."
* Don Hall (the first Dove of the Hawk and Dove duo) is so dead that [[BlackestNight the zombie-creating Black Lantern rings]] cannot so much as disturb the dirt around his grave. This is apparently because pacifist Don was "at peace" when he died, compared to most dead heroes who most assuredly weren't.

* ChrisClaremont has said this is the fate of anyone who gets killed in ''X-Men Forever''-- 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 WorldWarII service alongside NickFury.

* In the epilogue to ''{{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.
* The original Dr. Robotnik in ''ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' 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.
* In the finale of Marvel Comics' ''[[EarthX Universe X]]'', the embodiment of Death itself was annihilated. While this, at first, seemed a victory, it quickly turned sour when many people who had suffered irrepairable 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.

* ''[[{{Marvel2099}} Punisher 2099]]'' 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.
* In ''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.

* In ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/43frautrude.html Frau Trude]]'', the little girl goes to a witch's house, where the witch turns her into a block of wood and burns her.

* In ''[[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/117.htm The Death of Koshchei The Deathless]]'', the prince's horse cracks Koshchei's skull, and the prince finishes him off with a club; then he burns the body and scatters the ashes.

* The ghostly killer from ''TheFrighteners'' not only kills humans, ''he can also kill other ghosts.''
** Who, it turns out, just go to whatever afterlife they had been avoiding by being ghosts in the first place.
* In the original ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' movie (1986) and the series, the immortals can regenerate from any mortal wound, and do not age. They can only be killed permanently by cutting off their heads (or presumably if their bodies are burned to ash too quickly for them to regenerate, although this is never explicitly stated in the movie). In fact, they have to die at least once to become aware of and "activate" their immortality, otherwise they'd spend their days as a mortal until they died from old age.

*** Which is decapitation, just via subtraction instead of division.

* Though he's come back from gunshots and knifings the eponymous SerialKiller from ''TheStepfather'' trilogy of films is [[BloodierandGorier messily chewed up by a woodchipper]] in the third installment.

* The film ''The Neverending Story'', the residents of Fantasia are worried about The Nothing. It's an absence... not just a hole. A Nothing. Those pulled into it aren't just dead, they are gone from existence. This made for a Ticking Clock and also Nightmare Fuel for a small child.

* The ''Last Apprentice'' series of novels has the creatures of the Dark be soulless and once destroyed, they can never return. Not sure if the same goes for the Gods, but there was one major example.
** That one major example was The Bane. The Bane was, in this order, worshipped as a God, then trapped behind an iron gate, released from the iron gate, brought back to the iron gate (if he returns to the gate, he can never escape again, so already a FateWorseThanDeath) and to top it all off, the main character impales the poor demon three times with his iron rod before causing the demon to explode and dissappear from existence.

* Played straight in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', in which villains killed by conventional means are reincarnated frustratingly often, as with: Ishamael being resurrected as Moridin, Aginor becoming Osan'gar, Balthamel becoming Aran'gar, and Lanfear becoming Cyndane. In-world, only a weave of balefire will actually prevent resurrection, and that's only because it causes death by {{Retcon}}, not due to any effect on souls or such - the reincarnater can only grab souls of the recently dead and balefire takes someone directly from "alive" to "dead non-recently". Villains who have been killed by balefire are Deader Than Dead, now including Be'lal, balefired by Moiraine Damodred in book 3; Rahvin, balefired by Rand al'Thor in book 5, and Semirhage and Graendal, balefired by Rand in book 12. Only a few villains are Deader Than Dead when killed by other means, such as Osan'gar, killed a second time by Elza Penfell wielding Callandor in book 9, and the Dark One does not give third chances; and Sammael, killed by ''Mashadar'' in Shadar Logoth in book 7, a permanent kill confirmed by the WordOfGod [[note]]WordOfGod would later establish that it's ''possible'' to bring back someone killed by Mashadar, but it's not a very good idea- as Mashadar is a fearsome evil power in its own right that consumes the souls of its victims, had Sammael been resurrected after being eaten by it- well, he'd be ''something'', but [[CameBackWrong he wouldn't be Sammael anymore]][[/note]].
** Also, Asmodean was killed by an unknown assailant (who turned out to be Graendal) at the end of book 5, and the Dark One states in the next book that his death is permanent; it is unknown whether or not he was actually killed with balefire. In book 13, it was revealed that while Graendal escaped Rand's balefile, Aran'gar was unexpectedly present and killed Deader Than Dead by it.
** There is a separate example in the same series. Wolves are sapient and have a special connection to Tel'aran'rhiod, the World of Dreams; they reside there between reincarnations. If a wolf is killed in Tel'aran'rhiod, they are Deader Than Dead, no longer able to run and hunt in Tel'aran'rhiod and never to be reincarnated again. A number of wolves, including Perrin's ObiWan Hopper, are killed in Tel'aran'rhiod by Slayer.