History Main / JokerImmunity

* Megatron from the ''{{Film/Transformers}}'' movies definitely qualifies. Despite dying in nearly half the movies, he always comes back and [[VillainExitStageLeft sometimes simply leaves.]] This has led to criticism of the franchise, as the films are simply [[StrictlyFormula too predictable now.]]

* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', James and Jesse of Team Rocket try something villainous OncePerEpisode and always fail, but they're always back to try again. This in spite of them occasionally being last seen in situations where NoOneCouldSurviveThat, only to be [[SnapBack right back at it next episode]] with no explanation as to how they survived. Over time, their consistent failure to do anything meaningful has led to VillainDecay, so on the rare occasions that Ash actually bothers to tell the authorities about them, they're not considered a priority (at least compared to their more villainous teammates). They're also [[VillainExitStageLeft very adept at escaping custody]]. Their boss Giovanni shares this immortality, surviving Mewtwo's destruction of Team Rocket's headquarters without so much as a scratch in ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'' and [[KarmaHoudini never facing justice at any point in the series]].

* Hao from ''Manga/ShamanKing'' has been defeated and killed in ages past over and over; not only does he keep coming back, but he also retains his knowledge from his previous lives and grows more powerful each time. Even at the end of the series, [[spoiler:after becoming the Shaman King, he's not turned good, but merely been convinced to wait a bit and see how humanity is doing, instead of just killing everyone outright]]. In the 2001 anime, [[spoiler:this is actually averted has Yoh kills him in the end]].

* In [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Egyptian Mythology]], Set is spared the [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge full wrath]] of [[YouKilledMyFather Horus]] when his mother Isis takes pity on him, and he is allowed to flee. Thus, in the Egyptian mythos, evil could be defeated temporarily, but never permanently.

* ''Literature/BlackCompany'' has Soulcatcher, {{chronic backstabb|ingdisorder}}er, who cannot be killed off no matter what the villains try despite being their primary source of grief. Similarly, the Limper can escape or survive punishment from both the good guys ''and'' the bigger villains, [[spoiler:until it stops being funny and he's KilledOffForReal]].
* In Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/TheRollingStones1952'', Hazel Stone is considering killing off the bad guy in a TV Series she created, but realizes unless she also wants the hero to die too (the series ends because the hero no longer has a purpose), you have to bring in Son of Villain, with bad breath as bad as his father and balls of steel to match.

** Lucius [[MeaningfulName the Eternal]] (and most probably other Champions of the Chaos Gods) is effectively immortal, as anyone who kills him ''becomes him'', becoming yet another person [[AndIMustScream trapped within his armor]].

[[quoteright:322:[[Franchise/{{Batman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jokerfall_001_2536.jpg]]]]

* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', James and Jesse of Team Rocket try something villainous OncePerEpisode and always fail, but they're always back to try again. This in spite of them occasionally being last seen in situations where NoOneCouldSurviveThat, only to be [[SnapBack right back at it next episode]] with no explanation as to how they survived. Over time, their consistent failure to do anything meaningful has led to VillainDecay, so on the rare occasions that Ash actually bothers to tell the authorities about them, they're not considered a priority (at least compared to their more villainous teammates). They're also [[VillainExitStageLeft very adept at escaping custody]]. Their boss Giovanni shares this immortality, surviving Mewtwo's destruction of Team Rocket's headquarters without so much as a scratch in ''Mewtwo Strikes Back''.

* Hao from ''Manga/ShamanKing'' has been defeated and killed in ages past over and over; not only does he keep coming back, but he also retains his knowledge from his previous lives and grows more powerful each time. Even at the end of the series, [[spoiler:after becoming the Shaman King, he's not turned good, but merely been convinced to wait a bit and see how humanity is doing, instead of just killing everyone outright]]. In the anime, [[spoiler:this is finally averted has Yoh kills him in the end]].

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', the nation/world/culture/force of Phyrexia has Joker Immunity. It affected the storyline of most of the game's sets and was the unambiguous villain of a dozen of them. When it looked like they were finally defeated for good, [[FromASingleCell one single drop of oil]] on Mirrodin was enough to ultimately turn that world into New Phyrexia. Worse yet, [[ParanoiaFuel any plane Karn has been on is potentially infected]].

* ''Manga/InuYasha'' was infamous for its repeated use of Naraku, who's the only antagonist still causing trouble after several hundred issues, despite half of feudal Japan wanting his head. Author Rumiko Takahashi knew the fans wouldn't believe he would be gone unless he was DeaderThanDead, so [[spoiler:Kagome wishes what was left of his spirit ''out of existence'' along with the Shikon no Tama]].

* ''Anime/{{Monster}}'''s sequel ''Another Monster'' shows that [[spoiler:Johan Liebert]] is still inexplicably active.

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' has an organizational case of this with Laughing Coffin, a gang of [[PlayerKilling player killers]] who show as early as the Aincrad arc. With Sword Art Online shut down, several members escape unscathed and able to torment the heroes. It takes several more arcs and the former brass getting stopped to finally make dents in Laughing Coffin.

* The villain is a real person RippedFromTheHeadlines who isn't dead yet; this is rare nowadays, but you see it often in {{Wartime Cartoon}}s, where the characters fight UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler but can't kill him because he hasn't died yet in RealLife.

** Defied with [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-3922 SCP-3922]], where they killed the Joker in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheKillingJoke'' so thoroughly that it lasted for ''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill three hours]]'', which has lead to other supervillains of Batman's rogues gallery to surrender out of fear. To enforce it even further, they captured Creator/AlanMoore and forced him to say this at gunpoint:

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': Mac's arch nemesis Murdoc appeared to die at the end of every episode he appeared in through methods as absurd as being blown up or falling from a cliff tall enough to have earned the nickname "Widowmaker", but he would always return in a later episode with no explaination for his miraculous survival.
--> ''"MACGYVER!"''
[[/folder]]

* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': Mac's arch nemesis Murdoc appeared to die at the end of every episode he appeared in, but he would always return in a later episode with no explaination for his miraculous survival.

* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': Mac's arch nemesis Murdoc appeared to die at the end of every episode he appeared in, but he would always return in a later episode without ever explaining his miraculous survival.

* ''Series/MacGyver'': Mac's arch nemesis Murdoc appeared to die at the end of every episode he appeared in, but he would always return in a later episode without ever explaining his miraculous survival.

* ''Series/MacGyver'': MacGyver's arch nemesis Murdock appeared to die at the end of every episode he appeared in, but he would always return without ever explaining his miraculous survival.