History Main / SlidingScaleOfUndeadRegeneration

-->-- Raziel, about Melchiah and his clan being Type III, ''[[VideoGame/LegacyOfKain Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver]]''

-->''"My brother, Melchiah, was made last, and therefore received the poorest portion of Kain’s gift. Although immortal, his soul could not sustain the flesh, which retained much of its previous human frailty. This weakness, it seemed, was passed on to his offspring. Their fragile skins barely contained the underlying decay."''
---> Raziel, about Melchiah and his clan being Type III, [[VideoGame/LegacyOfKain Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver]]

''"My brother, Melchiah, was made last, and therefore received the poorest portion of Kain’s gift. Although immortal, his soul could not sustain the flesh, which retained much of its previous human frailty. This weakness, it seemed, was passed on to his offspring. Their fragile skins barely contained the underlying decay."''
--> Raziel, about Melchiah and his clan being Type III, [[VideoGame/LegacyOfKain Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver]]

* Zombina, from ''Manga/DailyLifeWithMonsterGirl'', is a type II, which is kind of a problem when you're the suicide unit of a SWAT brigade that deals with extraspecies criminals. Not that she seems to mind, as she'll often riddle ''herself'' with bullets just to hit someone behind her. She "heals" wounds by placing skin grafts over them or simply outright replacing body parts, giving her a patchwork appearance. She has undergone several treatments (including replacing her blood with formaldehyde), so it can also be argued that she's a type I who managed to slow her rotting to the point where it has effectively stopped.

* TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} has undead exhibiting all these types, though it is not made explicit in most cases precisely what condition each type exists under. Zombies are definitely type I, while most Vampires are definitely type IV (though some, such as the Necrarchs, do still decay), the rest seem to vary. The physical remains that make up skeletons seem to persist for thousands of years under the right conditions, but that's more to do with the natural toughness of bone than any magical preservation. In general any healing experienced by undead in Warhammer is the result of Necromantic spells being cast on them, rather than an inbuilt regenerative capacity (with one or two exceptions, most notably Vampires).

* The feral ghouls in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' are irradiated humans, not undead. However, there are some known as "Glowing Ones" who can send out a flash of radiation -- this injures normal humans, but heals any ghouls it touches.

* TYPE I: '''No healing, and progressive rotting'''. Usually the sad lot of {{Zombie| Apocalypse}}s, this set up means that even without human intervention, every zombie will eventually become a moaning pile of bones. In the case of ghouls and Frankensteins, they might delay the decay by [[AppendageAssimilation grafting stolen body parts]] to replace the decayed or damaged ones, which in turn continue to rot.
* TYPE II: '''No healing, but no rotting'''. Much more dangerous for humans, this means that unless dealt with, every zombie is a PerpetualMotionMonster that can last forever in this less-than-glamorous form of {{immortality}}. The {{Mummy}} and his ilk are like this as well. [[InvincibleMinorMinion Skeletons]] and liches have a form of this where they can [[PullingThemselvesTogether reassemble themselves]].
* TYPE III: '''Healing, but progressive rotting'''. Rare, this set up means the undead decays but can repair injury. This is usually the case of the TechnicallyLivingZombie, who is a human that will eventually die, but until then can heal some wounds. There are also [[OurLichesAreDifferent Liches]], who are sentient undead mages- in their case, the further they rot, the more powerful they are. The healing is sometimes conditional; eating something ([[HorrorHunger likely unpleasant]]) heals wounds and counteracts rot.
* TYPE IV: '''Healing, and no rotting'''. The (un){{Holy Grail}} of undead healing. This is usually reserved for the "freshest" and more powerful undead, like [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]]. Provided enough blood, they can [[HealingFactor heal any injury]], [[AntiRegeneration except perhaps]] those made by {{Weaksauce Weakness}}es like [[HolyBurnsEvil holy artifacts]] or [[WeakenedByTheLight sunlight.]] Particularly powerful {{Revenant|Zombie}}s also have this type.

* In ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' the undead that reside in Sigil are Type I. The contracted zombies in the Mortuary are kept going with sutures and embalming fluid for as long as they last, but left alone they just decompose until they're skeletal. One memorable quest involves helping a rapidly decaying zombie with identity crisis - all her identifying features are literally melting off and she can no longer remember her name.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' zombies seem to neither rot nor automatically heal (Type II), but they do tend to lose the occasional body part which needs to be stitched back on, and infestation by mice is a concern. One book mentions them smelling of formaldehyde, which may indicate they use mundane preservation techniques.

** ''Disworld/TheLastHero'' contains a really old zombie: a skeleton.

** ''Discworld/ReaperMan'' implies that freshly-minted zombie Windle Poons ''could'' heal, if he could remember how; zombies no longer have any autonomic processes, and have to "manually" control every aspect of their bodies.

* The Forsaken in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' are Type III - they obviously rot and movement causes the flesh on their joints to peel off, resulting in their iconic look. But they regain health and can heal rapidly by consuming "compatible" flesh.

* TYPE IV: '''Healing, and no rotting'''. The (un){{Holy Grail}} of undead healing. This is usually reserved for the "freshest" and more powerful undead, like [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]]. Provided enough blood, they can [[HealingFactor heal any injury]], except perhaps those made by {{Weaksauce Weakness}}es like [[HolyBurnsEvil holy artifacts]] or [[WeakenedByTheLight sunlight.]] Particularly powerful {{Revenant|Zombie}}s also have this type.

* ''Literature/{{Elantris}}'': The Elantrians become a Type IV after the supernatural catastrophe of the Reod disrupts the BackgroundMagicField that sustains them. Not only do their injuries not heal, they continue to hurt, so the pain of accumulated wear and tear eventually drives them completely catatonic. [[spoiler:Until Raoden fixes things and restores their full powers, that is.]]

* Type III later crossing towards Type I is the usual fate of undead in ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' -- normally, undead are created by (through necromancy or animancy) sticking a soul to a body so it doesn't leave as it should when the body dies. Such undead start out mostly as their pre-death selves (called fampyrs)... but suffer from a hunger for the flesh of sapient beings, which is also the only thing that staves off physical and mental degeneration. Eventually they degenerate far enough to go from vampire analogues to ghoul analogues (darguls, then into guls and finally revenants) before finally ending up as utterly mindless skeletons. There ''are'' some types of undead in terms of magical interaction who do not follow this progression, but most of them are the result of other sorts of soul-meddling (sticking souls in metal bodies, sticking animal souls into soulless but alive human bodies, etc) that don't really look as undead. Liches are a special case -- through obscure soul-trickery involving phylacteries they only get the physical degeneration, not the mental or hunger for flesh, and consequently tend to quickly end up as (self-aware) skeletons.

* TYPE III: '''Healing, but progressive rotting'''. Rare, this set up means the undead decays but can repair injury. This is usually the case of the TechnicallyLivingZombie, who is a human that will eventually die, but until then can heal some wounds. There are also [[OurLichesAreDifferent Liches]], who are sentient undead mages- in their case, the further they rot, the more powerful they are.

* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'''s Murkoph is apparently a type IV with the ability to quickly heal injuries such as a slash to the face. [[MagicKnight Duane]] is a Type I case who's rotted to a near-skeletal state over six years and is held together with braces and wire; the power animating him allows AppendageAssimilation, so he can replace bones that get damaged too badly to function, but he needs magic prostheses to see and speak.

* In ''LightNovel/IsThisAZombie'', Ayumu is a Type II zombie with [[spoiler:Yuu]] doing the healing and as a bonus direct sunlight as his WeaksauceWeakness.

* Vampires in ''Film/VanHelsing'' are Type IV. Unless hit directly in the heart, they can heal from pretty much anything. Mariska takes a few crossbows from Helsing's crossbow, but when she goes to human form the wounds heal instantly. Dracula willingly runs himself through a sword Helsing is holding and hardly feels anything (though does mention losing a finger that didn't heal, possibly due to a holy item that prevented it from doing so) and Aleera gets hit by frozen acid thrown by the heroes, when she recovers, most of her face is [[BodyHorror burnt off]] but quickly regenerates.

* The undead race in ''[[Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures DMFA]]'' are a type IV. [[BigBad Dark Pegasus]] created them with the ability to regenerate by eating living flesh; however, most find it too disgusting so they act like type III. They tend to gradually lose flesh to injuries, but since they're magically animated this is mostly a cosmetic issue. They can also stick severed limbs back in place, and get prosthetic limbs if they lose the originals.

* TYPE II: '''No healing, but no rotting'''. Much more dangerous for humans, this means that unless dealt with, every zombie is a PerpetualMotionMonster that can last forever in this less than glamorous form of {{immortality}}. The {{Mummy}} and his ilk are like this as well. [[InvincibleMinorMinion Skeletons]] and liches have a form of this where they can [[PullingThemselvesTogether reassemble themselves]].

** Hiro Hiyorimi is technically type II. He need Hime to give her her blood (flame in the anime) to stay alive as he was killed at the start of the series saving her from falling steel beams and she returned the favor by making him her Blood Warrior. He can take a good chunk of punishment due to this but can't heal until he gets more blood and there's a limit to how much damage he can take [[spoiler: Though by the end of the series, he gets the flame of the phoenix in him and doesn't need the blood anymore. He can still be hurt and killed, but he's more then trained by that point.]]
** Reiri Kamura falls under Type IV due to being a vampire. She can (and does) lose limps, but they don't really cause much damage to her other then some disability leaving her vulnerable. Once she gets the part back, she can reconnect it no problem with no ill effects.

* Lucy Westenra in ''Victorian Undead II'' is Type IV. In second issue she's hit by Holmes via a flare in the face and the third shows half of it horribly scarred. After feeding on Holmwood, it regenerates her back to normal. So blood is a bit of a component in the healing.

* Yorga's brides in ''[[Film/CountYorga Return of Count Yorga]]'' kinda zig zags it due to not really explaining thing. It's possible they're Type III as, at the start of the movie, we see a few brides with discolored or slightly disfigured skin. Though considering that they were buried before Yorga summoned them. It's possible that the vampirism didn't take hold until that point to stop the decay. Otherwise, it could be straight Type IV as in the climax of the film two cops who encounter them shoot them with their guns point blank. The two brides that get hit flinch a bit and we see blood spurt from the wounds, but they continue to keep coming. Later we see that the wounds have healed.

* Yorga's brides in ''[[Film/CountYorga Return of Count Yorga]]'' are briefly shown to be Type IV. Two cops who encounter them shot them with their guns. The two brides that got hit flinch a bit and we see blood splurt from the wounds, but they continue to keep coming. Later we see that the wounds have healed.
* Vampires in ''Film/VanHelsing'' are Type IV. Unless hit directly in the heart, they can heal from pretty much anything. Mariska takes a few crossbows from Helsing's crossbow, but when she goes to human form the wounds heal instantly. Dracula willingly runs himself through a sword Helsing is holding and hardly feels anything (though does mention losing a finger that didn't heal, possibly due to holy item that prevented it from doing so) and Aleera gets hit by frozen acid by the heroes, when she recovers, most of her face is [[BodyHorror burnt off]] but quickly regenerates.

* Reiri Kamura falls under Type IV due to being a vampire. She can (and does) lose limps, but they don't really cause much damage to her other then some disability leaving her vulnerable. Once she gets the part back, she can reconnect it no problem with no ill effects.

* Undead units in ''{{Gladius}}'' can buy a passive ability that lets them regenerate health (quite useful, as undead summoners need spend their own health to power their spells).