History Main / ReviveKillsZombie

* ''Manga/TimeStopBrave'': Members of the Forces of Darkness are burned by healing spells.

* In one episode of''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', Grim gets sick with an illness and gets taken to an underworld hospital to be healed, but since Grim is a skeleton, he gets turned into a human instead of being cured.

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* In ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'', Priestess deals the first blow to a vampire by casting minor heal on it.

*** The game also has the "Reverse" status, which inflicts this trope on non-zombies (damage heals and healing damages). [[BonusBoss The Esper Ultima]] likes to inflict this on the party, then spam high-level healing magic.

* Apparently, this is an intrinsic property of Ripple in ''Franchise/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. It's LifeEnergy and thus antithetical to undead, especially Dio and his lackeys. [[spoiler:[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood Jonathan Joestar]] defeats Knight Bruford by reversing him to a state of living, ending his undeath.]]

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*** Being a {{Necromancer}} or wearing the [[InfinityPlusOneArmor Bone Mail]] also make you an undead, in short, Revive Kills You and [[RussianReversal Kill Revives You]].

*** There's the [[spoiler: Zombie President]], which transforms into a zombie after a few hits. After it transforms, it can be killed by a single Phoenix Down. [[LuckBasedMission The success rate, however, is quite low, so it actually takes a relatively large number of Phoenix Downs to kill him]]. His human form also allows you to draw Cure from him, strongly nudging you towards killing him with healing magic.

*** One boss uses this exact tactic ''against'' your party, using a Zombie attack on one of your party members followed by Life (which kills Zombies). This can easily be used to your advantage, though: Occasionally he will aim for a party member he did ''not'' Zombify, causing nothing to happen. He might even hit a '''dead''' party member, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain reviving him with full HP]]. A later SequentialBoss [[spoiler: Lady Yunalesca]] also resorts to Zombie effects in her second form [[spoiler: which you ''must'' "suffer" before defeating her, because the first action of her third form is a global death effect which only Zombied party members or party members with Deathproof armor equipped will survive.]]

* During the final battle in ''Manga/FlameOfRecca'', [[BigBad Mori Kouran]], hoping to gain immortality by absorbing [[HealingFactor Yanagi]], is instead destroyed when [[spoiler: Yanagi, turned into one of Recca's flames, uses her healing powers to "heal" the bodies absorbed by Mori by sending them into the afterlife, leaving Mori to wither and die]].

* [[Series/KamenRiderExAid Dangerous Zombie's]] undead powers, as the main characters figure out, are countered by this. Emu uses the reprogramming function of the Maximum Mighty X gashat to refill [[spoiler: Kuroto's]] health bar, which was previously empty and facilitating the undead powers of the form. After that, Parado succeeds in killing him, to Emu's dismay.

* In ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'', white magic (which usually has restorative and invigorating effects) is not only ''very'' effective against undead and necromancers, but potentially lethal to [[DealWithTheDevil infernomancers]]. This is apparently not an inherent feature of the magic itself, but rather because demons (and, by extension, their mortal servants) are vulnerable to ''faith,'' and white magic has a strong association with holiness among Callanians. [[spoiler: For the orcs, who assign little spiritual significance to light or darkness but hold ice to be sacred, ice-based magic is just as effective against demonic foes as white magic is for Callanians.]]

* In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', [[spoiler: [[BigBad Chaos]] has just about torn his way into the dimension in order to turn it into his own hellish playground. The depowered protagonists are helpless and as Chaos goes OneWingedAngel it appears all was doomed... until four healing characters show up and purify Chaos with White Magic]].

* Referenced in a combination of [[https://cad-comic.com/comic/unfinished-business/ this]] ''Webcomic/CtrlAltDel'' strip and [[https://cad-comic.com/comic/bring-it/ the one straight after it]]. Although in this case it may be that Ethan did not intend the trope's meaning. The fact that the arc so far has a heavy tabletop games theme running through it though seems to indicate that he would know about it.%%The date on the first link was June 4, 2010. This may be handy if the URL changes ''again''.

** In [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0446.html strip #446]], a negative energy spell heals Xykon, a lich.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' [[spoiler: Jane's [[TheTrickster Trickster mode's]]]] life powers kill the undead enemies that inhabit her world. Jade suggests they would also kill Rainbow Drinkers ([[OurVampiresAreDifferent Troll vampires]]) like Kanaya. Kanaya thinks Jade doesn't really know a lot about how Rainbow Drinkers work.

* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' has several kinds of potions with beneficial or harmful effects. For every type, you can use it on yourself, or turn it into a splash potion to throw at friends or enemies. Undead mobs are healed by potions of Harming but take damage from from potions of Healing.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' has a peculiar example; the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Choir Bell]] heals the user and allies and does ''not'' damage undead. However, if you attempt to use it on NPCs that are near death it will kill them instead.

* In ''VideoGame/EldenRing'', this is typically [[AvertedTrope averted]], save for one case; the Revenant enemies are imbued with Destined Death, and using a healing spell that can heal allies near one will deal an exceptional amount of damage and open it up for a CriticalHit. This is considered the best strategy for beating them, as they are [[LightningBruiser horrifically fast, hit like a truck, and far more tanky than they would appear to be]].

* On ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime,'' [[OurLichesAreDifferent the Lich]] is hurt by [[spoiler:Guardian blood, which has healing properties. It causes his powers to disappear and flesh to grow over his bones and seemingly "reboot" him into a living, apparently harmless, baby who is later named Sweet P. However, the Lich still lives within Sweet P.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' has a peculiar example; the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Choir Bell]] heals the user and allies and does ''not'' damage undead. But what will happen if we use the bell to heal the near dead [[FauxActionGirl Eileen The Crow]]? [[spoiler:It ''kills'' her.]]

*** The standard cure reversal works, and Life and Full Life both kill undead monsters instantly, while Phoenix Down causes HPToOne to zombies, allowing even Dagger, whose weapons are the weakest, to finish them off. Oddly enough, though, zombification doesn't wear off upon death, making the game hate you during the Iifa Tree level, where your characters keep getting zombified. You can't revive a zombified party member unless you first remove the zombie status with an item -- and Remedy (the cure-all for status effects) doesn't cure zombification or viral infection.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', a particularly notorious enemy not only gets healed by offensive spells, but also by ''basic physical attacks''. The ensuing rage and confusion is usually enough to stop most players from discovering that using even the weaker heals on it drops it pretty quickly -- though it seems obvious now, imagine you're experimenting with all the different elements, deathblows, lethal items, trying to find SOMETHING that can stop this thing... experimentation usually stops short of trying to ''heal'' your foes, especially when the monster's appearance and name don't exactly give away this trait. They also have an HPToOne ability. This monster alone takes its place among the game's other puzzles that collectively make the average gamer feel like a dunce.

** For that matter, garlic. Good for humans. BAD for vampires. It can be used as to ward them off (rubbing into window panes and door knobs, for instance) and also to poison them.

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', a quest involves defeating a monster that is completely invulnerable, but will die when even the weakest healing spell is used on it. Thankfully, this isn't hard to find out, and the game helpfully puts a somewhat-hidden healing scroll in the same room.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' has a peculiar example, the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Choir Bell]] heals the user and allies and does ''not'' damage undeads. But what will happen if we use the bell to heal the near dead [[FauxActionGirl Eileen The Crow]]? [[spoiler: It ''kills'' her.]]
* ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' plays this trope entirely straight, enemies with the Undead type will be damaged by curative spells. Raise and Phoenix Downs kill them instantly but there's a chance they won't work. Not much of a problem if you just command everyone to Brave to the maximum and have them all try to revive the enemy, especially with the Sage's Staff that allows free use of Raise. One boss later in the game is an undead dragon that will restore to full HP when killed, which only means you have to revive it twice, which you're probably already in the process of doing. Less so with the boss of Everlast Tower, he can be damaged by healing spells but he won't be killed by revival spells. Notably, the recovery inversion applies not only to HP and MP, but to BP as well, which are required to perform actions.
* This is actually a plot point in ''VideoGame/BravelyDefaultII''. [[spoiler:In the first half of Chapter 4, Wiswald is beseiged by the undead Arcanist Vigintio, who fancies himself the "Mighty Wight" and plans to raise an army of the undead with the citizens of Wiswald itself his latest intended conscripts. Because he himself is undead thanks to his own arts taking effect after Lady Emma killed him, conventional tactics are much less effective on him; indeed, he absorbs Wind magic as well as [[FireIceLightning all three Black Mage elements]], and most status effects are ineffectual against him. Of course, he also inherited the undead weakness to life magic, and wald ash wood (like the skeleton of [[NiceJobBreakingItVillain Lily's Mona scarecrow]]) is brimming with the stuff, making it an ideal material to make a stake out of. Three life bars later, Elvis jams the stake through Vigintio's chest, both resurrecting him (the stake's supercharged enchantment overpowers his undeadening) and killing him all over again (having a [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome piece of wood shoved through your chest]] will do that to you).]]
* In the 3rd ''Franchise/BreathOfFire'' game, you will occasionally run into a large group of Zombie enemies lead by a "[=ZombieDr=]". Wail on his team for a bit, and the good Doctor will use the game's most powerful full-party healing spell....at which point this trope turns it into one of the most hilarious things to ever happen in a random encounter in [=RPG=] history.

* In ''VideoGame/DiabloII'' Paladin's skill "Holy bolt" heals allies and hurts undead.

** In ''Videogame/DivinityOriginalSinII'', Undead such as Fane are harmed by healing spells and potions (including food) and [[InvertedTrope healed by poison damage]]. However, [[BackFromTheDead Resurrection]] scrolls function normally on them, causing them no harm but returning them to (un)life. For living characters, the Decaying status puts them on a similar situation where every healing effect damages them instead (this includes Undead characters healing from poison).

* In ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' this is typically [[AvertedTrope averted]], save for one case; the Revenant enemies are imbued with Destined Death, and using a healing spell that can heal allies near one will deal an exceptional amount of damage and open it up for a CriticalHit. This is considered the best strategy for beating them, as they are [[LightningBruiser horrifically fast, hit like a truck, and far more tanky than they would appear to be]].

*** And like Final Fantasy V, chucking a Soft at certain 'stone' enemies will kill them instantly - perfect for taking out those Epitaphs (though you don't gain XP using this method).

*** In the original game, this is the reason why the Esper Zalera heals using Holy. The game considers him an undead target that absorbs Holy, so the only way he can heal himself is using that spell. Not the case in the ''Zodiac'' versions as he is no longer considered an undead and no longer absorbs Holy.

*** Usually the game ignores this for gameplay reasons: undead [=PC's=] can be healed and revived just like the living[[labelnote:*]]''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/04/23 ponders the philosophical problems]][[/labelnote]]. However, the spell Holy Shock was turned into a HealingShiv, harming enemies and healing allies. When Death Knights became playable, their version of Death Coil can only heal their own summoned creatures or themselves.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', a particularly notorious enemy not only gets healed by offensive spells, but also by ''basic physical attacks''. The ensuing rage and confusion is usually enough to stop most players from discovering that using even the weaker heals on it drops it pretty quickly--though it seems obvious now, imagine you're experimenting with all the different elements, deathblows, lethal items, trying to find SOMETHING that can stop this thing...experimentation usually stops short of trying to ''heal'' your foes, especially when the monster's appearance and name don't exactly give away this trait. They also have an HPToOne ability. This monster alone takes its place among the game's other puzzles that collectively make the average gamer feel like a dunce.

** The actual ''return from the dead'' spells, however, require material components worth thousands of GP (that are consumed by the casting) take several minutes (a minute being ten combat rounds) to cast, and explicitly state they do not work on undead creatures, at least not if the undead creature hasn't been re-killed already (in which case it turns the undead creature back into who it was when it was alive).
*** In second edition and before, however, it did work on undead creatures, either destroying them or turning them into living creatures depending on exactly what rule you looked at. The description of the mummy in first edition stated specifically that a resurrection spell turns it into a normal fighter. Raise Dead acted as Slay Living for undead. (Yeah, it makes sense) But then, 2nd ed. had the entire concept of "reversible" spells...
*** According 3.5, undead are in fact turned back to normal by the spell ''true resurrection'', which makes for some very interesting RP opportunities and new chars.

** Changed in 4th Edition, wherein healing effects work the same on everybody, and the old "positive energy/negative energy" has been changed to "radiant damage/necrotic damage" . Undead are resistant to necrotic damage and vulnerable to radiant damage, but enough necrotic damage will still destroy undead, and radiant damage hurts the living too. 5th edition brought back the concept of positive and negative energy in flavor text, but the mechanics behind healing spells and radiant and necrotic damage remain the same as 4th Edition, making the concept TheArtifact only useful in defining the nature of undead.

** This is the basis of the [[HealingShiv Arrow of Cure Wounds.]] Hit a living being, it takes damage and gets healed, resulting in a minor damage overall (and possibly someone very pissed at you). Hit an undead masquerading as a living being, and it takes ''massive'' damage.

* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VII'' plays it straight - characters raised as zombies at a dark-aligned temple or with the Reanimate spell take damage instead of being healed by healing spells such as Heal or Power Cure.

* You can learn a spell in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'' that cures vampirism. It also serves as one of the only two ways to keep [[InvincibleMinorMinion red skeletons and axe knights]] from rising from their ashes.

** [[GoodBadBugs An unintentional]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InGIYQpz0pY but still fitting example]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyMysticQuest'' with the FinalBoss, the Dark King. An overflow glitch causes the healing spell Cure to hit the boss for '''absurd''' amounts of damage when cast by the main character. [[note]]It doesn't work with Phoebe because she has a magic stat so high that her spell will overflow ''twice'', from healing to damage and back to healing.[[/note]] However, it's also played straight with the undead Flamerus Rex boss and its later pallete swap, with Cure being referred to as a "zombie attack" when its weakness is displayed to the player.

* ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' plays this trope entirely straight, enemies with the Undead type will be damaged by curative spells. Raise and Phoenix Downs kill them instantly but there's a chance they won't work. Not much of a problem if you just command everyone to Brave to the maximum and have them all try to revive the enemy, especially with the Sage's Staff that allows free use of Raise. One boss later in the game is an undead dragon that will restore to full HP when killed, which only means you have to revive it twice, which you're probably already in the process of doing. Less so with the boss of Everlast Tower, he can be damaged by healing spells but he won't be killed by revival spells. Notably, the recovery inversion applies not only to HP and MP, but to BP as well, which are required to perform actions.

* In effect in ''VideoGame/MapleStory'', where Undead monsters will immediately become Clerics' favourite monsters to grind on, as the Heal skill heals them, heals all nearby party members and ''damage'' any undead monsters in the area. They can just spam the Heal skill on mobs of undead monsters and the only thing they'll ever have to worry about is MP. Not a bad deal.
* In a variation, the easy way to beat the boss fight against [[spoiler:Cyanis]] in ''[[VideoGame/TheBardsTaleTrilogy The Bards Tale III]]'' is to cast cure on him. He's not a zombie, though, just a good man gone mad from grief.
* In the 3rd ''Franchise/BreathOfFire'' game, you will occasionally run into a large group of Zombie enemies lead by a "[=ZombieDr=]". Wail on his team for a bit, and the good Doctor will use the game's most powerful full-party healing spell....at which point this trope turns it into one of the most hilarious things to ever happen in a random encounter in [=RPG=] history.
** In the first dungeon right after [[spoiler:the time skip]], you encounter a Zombie Dragon boss who loves mass status effects and is incredibly annoying. Level-grind Garr to 26 beforehand and cast Kyrie, hilarity ensues.
* As ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' uses the [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D ruleset]], this works as expected. Players mystified by Vampire Priests who unexpectedly die in a flash of white energy might be amused to learn that, when seriously injured, any NPC with standard cleric AI might [[ArtificialStupidity attempt to use healing magic on themselves]], [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled thus committing suicide as undead]]. (Irritatingly, the XP goes away, too.) The part about undead being healed by necrotic energy is also the case, which can be very inconvenient if, for example, you have hired a cleric to follow you around and they've gotten up to learning Harm, which they will cast on the enemy whether or not you want them to.
** In the premium module ''Pirates of the Sword Coast,'' your character becomes undead. After that point healing spells and potions hurt you, and you must instead chug potions of harm to restore your HP. (Mercifully, if you decide to export your undead character into a different module, they'll retain all the undead immunities but can be healed with normal curative magic.)
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' Diamond & Pearl introduced Black Sludge, an item that harms its holder. That is, unless held by a Poison type, which is healed instead.
* ''VideoGame/{{Magicka}}'': most spells cast using the Life element heal the living and deal damage to zombies. Which explains the ability to place [[HealingShiv healing mines]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' has several kinds of potions with beneficial or harmful effects. For every type, you can use it on yourself, or turn it into a splash potion to throw at friends or enemies. Undead mobs are healed by potions of Harming but take damage from from potions of Healing.
* Multipart browser RPG ''VideoGame/{{MARDEK}}'' has a Zombie status effect (which turns your party members into zombies who attack you) and an item, Holy Water, that cures it. Using Holy Water on a pre-existing zombie does nothing. Healing spells, however, do decent damage to undead.
** In one of the more oddly hilarious yet annoying cases of this, Vehrn, an overbearingly religious paladin of YALORT, gets a skill in Chapter 3 called Lay Hands. It heals, and can cure curses and zombification. The catch? ''It deals light damage to a zombified party member Vehrn cures with it.''
* In ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'', any healing magic harms undead creatures. This makes the battle against the GhostShip much easier, as you'll likely have the most powerful healing spells by this point.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' has a variation of this trope; TurnUndead spells are treated as part of the Restoration school alongside healing magic, and characters who master the Restoration school can choose to take the Necromage perk, making all their spells more effective against the undead. Amusingly, characters who turn themselves into vampires and take necromage will find that both their offensive spells are more useful against undead, and buff effects they use on themselves will be more effective.
** The first DLC, ''Dawnguard'', introduces some Sun damage spells, which specifically only damage undead. It's a partial set compared to the Destruction spells (three compared with the Destruction effects of seven [[FireIceLightning each]]), and only specifically harms Undead, but it has a very long afterburn damage (even moreso than fire damage's afterburn), and also is significantly cheaper to cast than Destruction spells. They also allow for (usually) worry-free friendly fire, which is helpful when getting them off hapless city-dwellers in the middle of a vamp attack... with the sole exception when your follower happens to be ''Serana''.
* In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'', Holy Water Urns are described as being a soothing potion, but their use in game is limited to throwing them at any Hollowed or undead enemies, including other players, to damage them by "scalding their skin." However, it has no effect, healing or damaging, to any non-Hollowed creatures.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' has a peculiar example, the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Choir Bell]] heals the user and allies and does ''not'' damage undeads. But what will happen if we use the bell to heal the near dead [[FauxActionGirl Eileen The Crow]]? [[spoiler: It ''kills'' her.]]
* In ''[[Videogame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic Might and Magic: Heroes VI]]'', healing spells with the light element can be used offensively against undead and demons. Since orcs in the setting are [[HalfHumanHybrid part human, part demon]], they can use light magic for healing, but can be harmed if an enemy uses light magic against them.
* In the first ''VideoGame/OgreBattle'', the Cleric and its promoted forms were frail casters whose main spells were dedicated to healing; while they ''could'' attack if placed in the front row, said attack was exceptionally weak and the Cleric [[SquishyWizard was likely to be slaughtered if they were on the front lines]]. When facing against Undead units, however, Clerics suddenly gained the ability to cast their healing spells on their foes for a OneHitKill; early in the game, they would likely be the ''only'' units who could hope to harm Undead, since Undead were immune to ''everything'' but White magic, and the only other white magic spells required rare items, difficult to level up characters, or one-use Tarot cards.
* Pretty standard in ''VideoGame/SepterraCore''. However, if you don't know the trope, the third boss becomes a PuzzleBoss.[[labelnote:details]]You are likely to reach him with level 4-7 party, and Draxx a {{Mook}} from level 20+ areas. A level 8 party stands a chance against him.[[/labelnote]] The healing item that does enough damage cannot be bought at this point yet, but it's pretty hard to miss. Or LevelGrinding is an option.
* Healing magic in ''VideoGame/GuardianHeroes'' harms anything that is weak to "Light" elemental spells, often for the undead enemies like animated skeletons and zombies.
* Zig-zagged in the ''VideoGame/DivineDivinity'' series:
** Zombies in ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSin'' are damaged by healing spells and potions, but [[InvertedTrope poison damage heals them]]. {{Player Character}}s may also acquire the "Zombie" quirk, which effectively [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin makes them a zombie]] and grants them all aforementioned properties.
** In ''Videogame/DivinityOriginalSinII'', Undead such as Fane are harmed by healing spells and potions (including food) and [[InvertedTrope healed by poison damage]]. However, [[BackFromTheDead Resurrection]] scrolls function normally on them, causing them no harm but returning them to (un)life. For living characters, the Decaying status puts them on a similar situation where every healing effect damages them instead (this includes Undead characters healing from poison).
* ''VideoGame/KingsBounty'': In the sequels, some healing spells damage Undead troops.
* ''VideoGame/{{Earthlock}}:'' Ghost type enemies are damaged by healing spells and items. If you use a healing item on them, you have a chance of a CriticalHit.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Spore}}'', the Grox are vulnerable to hospitable planets, which means that their planets can be conquered by terraforming them.
* ''VideoGame/ShantaeAndTheSevenSirens'': Shantae's Refresh Dance has this kind of effect on certain enemies. Bonefish are killed instantly by it, mummies are turned into naked zombies before exploding from DefeatByModesty, while Sickly Silverfish aren't ''killed'' so much as have their sickness cured, turn friendly, and start throwing you gems.
* ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}: Shadow of Chernobyl'' has an oversight which allows you to apply the inverse of this to yourself, in a manner of speaking. The gist of it is that there are artifacts you can attach to your armor to increase your resistance to certain damage types like electricity -- get enough of them with strong enough effects and your resistance to that damage type gets so high it wraps around and applies ''negative'' damage to you when you take that type of damage, even repairing your armor.

* TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}, being based off D&D 3.5, uses the same positive energy/negative energy mechanics for its healing spells, however there are a few modifications:
** A divine spell caster (such as a Cleric) who can channel positive energy, must choose between channeling energy with the intent of healing living creatures, or channeling with the intent to inflict damage on undead. They cannot do both at the same time, even if living allies and undead enemies are all within the channel's effective area.
** Resurrection spells have no effect on active undead, and only the more powerful versions can raise somebody from the dead after they've been turned into an undead creature and then destroyed.
** Some undead creatures, such as the Wight, have a specific weakness to resurrection magic, which can instantly destroy them. Since those spells usually require the caster to touch the target for one to ten minutes, it's not a ''practical'' weakness to exploit.

* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', during the [[{{Filler}} Key of the Starry Skies arc]], one of the members of the Reborn Oracion Seis, while not technically undead, gained his newfound powers by losing his memories, and the simple act of them coming back actually causes him physical pain. To defeat him, [[TheMedic Wendy]] hit him with a healing-spell-enhanced [[BlowYouAway Sky Dragon's Roar]] to cause him to regain all of his memories, freeing him from the Dark Guild's grasp.

* In ''Night on Mispec Moor'' by Creator/LarryNiven, an alien plant reproduces by infecting newly killed corpses and rallying their bodies for one last lurch. On a battlefield an off-worlder is cornered by these plausible zombies. He's in deep trouble until, in desperation, he tries spritzing one with his [[AppliedPhlebotinum pan-spectrum cure spray]].
* ''Literature/LegendOfTheShadowWarriors'': The villain, Voivod the High Lord of Death, War and Chaos, and one of the most frightful Champions of Death, Disease and Decay, can only be defeated by reviving him with the Spear of Doom, turning him from an all-powerful Undead Lord into an old man, joyful to be alive again. Destroying Voivod in combat will only have him resurrecting within ''seconds''.
* Averted in the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' series, where water from a healing spring can patch up damage dealt to undead creatures - fairly useful to the (good guy) Zombie Master, since his zombies don't heal naturally. It can't return them to true life, though, only return them to an intact corpse state.

* In "Literature/RappaccinisDaughter", the daughter of a botanist, Beatrice Rappaccini, grows up in a poisonous garden and, as a result, becomes poisonous herself. A man falls in love with her from afar and, in desperation, gives her an antidote so they can try to live together. Guess what happens...
* In ''The Black Mountains'' by Creator/FredSaberhagen, Som the Dead, a local viceroy of a vicious empire, has made himself immortal and invulnerable by becoming a living dead. Any attacks against him wound the attacker. He is finally destroyed when, mistaking him for someone horribly wounded and gangrenous, Draffut throws a measure of concentrated liquid life force at him.
* For a limited time, the hard copy of Brendan Atkins' online ''Ommatidia'' stories came with a personalised story based on the buyer's prompt. Story 34 of 101 was a fictionalised account of a battle against a boss character called The Weeping Boy, in which the text noted TheComputerIsACheatingBastard with, among other things: "He's undead, but immune to reverse heals!"
* In the third ''Literature/WayOfTheTiger'' book, ''Usurper!'', you are attacked by [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Ringwraith]] [[{{Expy}} expies]], the only way to kill one happens to be scrolls of raise dead. Holy water and other attacks merely drive them off.

* On ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime,'' [[OurLichesAreDifferent the Lich]] is hurt by [[spoiler:Guardian blood, which has healing properties. It causes his powers to disappear and flesh to grow over his bones and seemingly "reboot" him into a living, apparently harmless, baby who is later named Sweet P. However, the Lich still lives within Sweet P.]]

[-[[https://www.deviantart.com/rakkuguy/art/MCBHT-13-14-806425482 Image]] by [[https://www.deviantart.com/rakkuguy RakkuGuy]].]]-]

*** This trope is the basis for one of the main game-breakers, where you can spawn and then repeatedly kill Dustia, an undead rare monster far beyond your combat level, right at the start of the game. This allows a player to level up Vaan to level 40+ in an absurdly short stint and in turn raises all of your eventual allies levels through LeakedExperience.

* On ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime,'' [[OurLichesAreDifferent the Lich]] is hurt by [[spoiler:Guardian blood, which has healing properties. It causes his powers to disappear and flesh to grow over his bones and seemingly "reboot" him into a living, apparently harmless, baby]].

* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', during the [[{{Filler}} Key of the Starry Skies arc]], one of the members of the Reborn Oracion Seis, while not technically undead, gained his newfound powers by losing his memories, and the simple act of them coming back actually causes him physical pain. To defeat him, [[TheMedic Wendy]] hit him with a healing-spell-enhanced [[BlowYouAway Sky Dragon's Roar]] to cause him to regain all of his memories, freeing him from the Dark Guild's grasp.
* In ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'', Priestess deals the first blow to a vampire by casting minor heal on it.