History Main / RevivalLoophole

* Inverted in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius.'' There are many, many ways to bring the dead back to life in that world. However, in the noble families of Europa, even a short-term death severs all rights of title or inheritance. E.g., if the duke dies, their heir becomes duke, and stays duke, even if the dead person comes back. Similarly, if the eldest child of the count dies, their next-youngest sibling is now the heir, and if the eldest is revived, all they're entitled to is the charity of their family, if that.

* Possibly in ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}''. Dies Horribly is fated to, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin die horribly.]] So he sacrifices himself to a demon where the contract says his soul will die over and over again, believing this to be his ultimate fate. The demon kills Dies, but due to a technicality nobody saw coming, the contract is rendered null and void, the demon gets banished to Hell, and Dies comes back to life. Whether this truly fulfills the prophecy he was named for is unknown at this point, but given [[CrapsackWorld the nature of this world]], even if it does, his chances aren't good.

* In ''Film/FinalDestination 2'', the survivors are told that only "new life" can stop Death coming after them. They take this to mean that they'll be safe if they can stay alive until the pregnant member of the group gives birth to her baby. In fact, it refers to one of the protagonists drowning herself and then being revived.
** The fifth movie adds another twist - you can "swap places" with someone by murdering them. They die in your stead, you get their remaining time. [[spoiler:Just make sure they aren't days away from an aneurysm first.]]

* In ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'', both [[spoiler:Wanda]] and [[spoiler:Jack]] made a promise, [[MagicallyBindingContract enforced by magic]], that they wouldn't reveal a secret of Charlie's that they had stumbled across. However, when [[spoiler:Jack]] is [[NeverSayDie croaked]] and [[TheUndead decrypted]], the contract no longer applies.

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** The fifth movie adds another twist - you can "swap places" with someone by murdering them. They die in your stead, you get their remaining time. [[spoiler: Just make sure they aren't days away from an aneurysm first.]]

* In the ''Film/EvilDead2013'' remake, David attempts this out of desperation when he's the last protagonist left. He knows the only way to break the [[DemonicPossession demon's grip on Mia's soul]] is to kill her, either by immolation, dismemberment, or live burial. He buries her until he's sure her heart has stopped, then digs her up and tries reviving her with an [[{{MacGyvering}} improvised]] [[MagicalDefibrillator defibrillator]]. [[spoiler: She comes back to life, demon-free, but unfortunately, her brief death apparently also qualifies as one of the five deaths necessary for The Abomination to enter our world.]]

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* In ''VideoGame/AtelierTotori'', a seal can only be released by a living sacrifice. [[spoiler: Pamela, as a ghost possessing an artifical body, counts as living but is only mildly inconvienced by death.]] Totori doesn't know this in advance, leading to some of the most hilarious scenes of the game.

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* In ''WapsiSquare'', while the full details are never given, Monica is able to control the golem girls because her heart stopped when she got hit by a bus. The only existing explanation is given [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/yourheartstopped/ here.]]

* Inverted in ''GirlGenius.'' There are many, many ways to bring the dead back to life in that world. However, in the noble families of Europa, even a short-term death severs all rights of title or inheritance. E.g., if the duke dies, their heir becomes duke, and stays duke, even if the dead person comes back. Similarly, if the eldest child of the count dies, their next-youngest sibling is now the heir, and if the eldest is revived, all they're entitled to is the charity of their family, if that.

* In the first book of the ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Herald Spy'' series, the King's Own dies in an accident, which results in his Companion Choosing his successor. Then, barely a minute later, the now former King's Own is resuscitated through CPR, resulting in the first ever case where a King's Own, a job that was quite literally a lifetime appointment, was able to train his successor and step down.

--->-- ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''

* In the ''{{Eureka}}'' episode "Try, Try, Again", Fargo finds himself trapped inside a personal shield device that he can't turn off, and that will eventually expand catastrophically. It's powered off his own personal energy, so the only way they can come up with to turn it off in time is to temporarily "kill" Fargo, turn off the shield, and have a set of {{Magical Defibrillator}}s standing by.
* In the ''{{Dollhouse}}'' episode "The Attic", Echo realizes that the Attic machinery will release her if her heart stops beating.

* ''XenaWarriorPrincess'' had this happen, as the conclusion of a deathmatch had to be well, death, and Xena didn't want to kill her opponent. She was only dead for a little while.

-->'''Giles:''' It doesn't matter how long you were gone, Buffy. You were physically dead, thus causing the activation of the next slayer.
-->'''Kendra:''' She died?
-->'''Buffy:''' Just a little.
--->--''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''

* In the ''EvilDead'' remake, David attempts this out of desperation when he's the last protagonist left. He knows the only way to break the [[DemonicPossession demon's grip on Mia's soul]] is to kill her, either by immolation, dismemberment, or live burial. He buries her until he's sure her heart has stopped, then digs her up and tries reviving her with an [[{{MacGyvering}} improvised]] [[MagicalDefibrillator defibrillator]]. [[spoiler: She comes back to life, demon-free, but unfortunately, her brief death apparently also qualifies as one of the five deaths necessary for The Abomination to enter our world.]]

* This is Blackbeard's plan in ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean: On Stranger Tides''. After hearing a prophecy that says he's going to meet his end at Barbossa's hands, he figures YouCantFightFate and rather than trying to avert or avoid the prophecy, he starts searching for the Fountain of Youth so that he can use it to heal himself after it inevitably does happen. [[spoiler: It ''would'' have worked, had Jack not pulled a PoisonedChaliceSwitcheroo.]]

** In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', Spock must fight Kirk to the death in "Amok Time". [=McCoy=] slips Kirk a neural paralyzer that just simulates death to end the fight.

* There's an episode of ''{{Smallville}}'' where Checkmate is pursuing Tess through an implanted tracking device powered by her body. Chloe stops her heart with a defibrillator to deactivate the device and (eventually) injects her with something to start it again.

* ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'' has Guybrush being given five death cards in his tarot reading. This in addition to the prediction that he will die at Blood Island. He does, repeatedly. Well, at least enough to be buried and declared legally dead. [[spoiler:It's just a really deep sleep, caused by mixing medicine and alcohol.]] Which is [[DoNotTryThisAtHome very clearly pointed out]] as having been lethal if the game didn't run on RuleOfFunny.

* Possibly in ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}''. Dies Horribly is fated to, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin die horribly.]] So he sacrifices himself to a demon where the contract says his soul will die over and over again, believing this to be his ultimate fate. The demon kills Dies, but due to a LoopholeAbuse, the contract is null and void and Dies is brought back. Whether this truly negates his ultimate fate is unknown at this point, but given [[CrapsackWorld the nature of this world]], even if it does, his chances aren't good.

* In the ''EvilDead'' remake, David attempts this out of desperation when he's the last human left. He knows the only way to break the [[DemonicPossession demon's grip on Mia's soul]] is to kill her, either by immolation, dismemberment, or live burial. He buries her until he's sure her heart has stopped, then digs her up and tries reviving her with an [[{{MacGyvering}} improvised]] [[MagicalDefibrillator defibrillator]]. [spoiler: She comes back to life, demon-free, but unfortunately, her brief death apparently also qualifies as one of the five deaths necessary for The Abomination to enter our world.]]

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* Aslan in ''TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' accepts death in the place of Edmund according to the Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time. But he does it with the knowledge that an innocent who voluntarily dies for a traitor will be revived in accordance with the ''Deeper'' Magic from ''before'' the Dawn of Time.

* In one French fairy tale, a king's peasant godson goes to his godfather, being an only heir. Along the way, another man steals his identity him, after forcing him to swear not to speak of it until "three days after his death". Then, the imposter convinces the king to give the true godson some {{Impossible Task}}s, and, once that fails to kill him, simply stabs him in the back. His love finds his body later. She has a potion the guy recovered on one of his adventures, which brings him to life. Three days have passed by then, and the godson had documents confirming his identity all along.

* In the ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' episode "Thirty-Eight Minutes", Sheppard is latched onto by an alien bug that drains his life energy. The only plan he can come up with to save himself is to temporarily stop his heart with a defibrillator, let the bug fall off, and hope that he can be revived after it does.
* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Code of Honor", Tasha Yar has to fight to the death with a local. After she wins, the body of the local is beamed to the ''Enterprise'' where Dr. Crusher is able to counteract the poison that was used in the fight. In a nice touch...Dr. Crusher has to wait a bit for the death to be official.

* There's an episode of ''{{Smallville}}'' where Tess is being persued by Checkmate, who implanted her with a tracking device powered by her body. Chloe stops her heart with a defibrillator to deactivate the device and (eventually) injects her with something to start it again.

** Oswald Danes can't be executed because no-one can die, but because the execution method itself has been fully carried out, he's a free man.