History Main / ThePhoenix

* The titular protagonist of ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'' is often likened to a phoenix, due to his ability to perform miracles and turn the tide of seemingly impossible matches in the direst of moments. The 2018 anime and some videogame adaptations even give the strongest version of his Drive Shoot a phoenix BattleAnimalAura.

** Phoelarches are a race of fiery humanoids whose lives are linked with phoeras, phoenix-like creatures from the Elemental Plane of Fire. When a phoelarch dies, a phoera spontaneously appears in its place to avenge its death.

** In the first edition ''Fiend Folio'', it's stated that phoenixes are based on garbled accounts of reptilian ostrich-like monsters called giant striders bathing in fire. This is immediately contradicted by the subsequent ''Monster Manual II'' introducing actual phoenixes to the game.

** ''Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes'' takes the ElementalEmbodiment seen above and takes it to the extreme with an Elder Elemental called the Phoenix. It's pretty damn intense, powerful enough to rival an ancient red dragon, and desires to see everything burn.
** An earlier Unearthed Arcana for 5th Edition portrayed Phoenixes as more benevolent with the Phoenix Soul origin for Sorcerers— mages with a natural affinity for [[PlayingWithFire pyromancy]] because they or their ancestors were blessed by a Phoenix. How this subclass, if ever officially published, will be reconciled with the more destructive Phoenix seen in ''Mordenkainen’s'' remains to be seen.

* ''VideoGame/RefleX'' has the player's ship, which ''is'' called the Phoenix. [[spoiler:In Area 7, the Phoenix is totaled by ZODIAC Virgo, resulting in the death of the pilot...but then the Phoenix lives up to its name and reawakens as ZODIAC Ophiuchus.]]

* ''TabletopGame/DuelMasters'' has two kinds of [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Phoenix phoenixes]]; your standard fiery birds that can resurrect, and... planet-sized [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] with [[CelestialBody Celestial Bodies]]. (To say nothing of [[https://duelmasters.fandom.com/wiki/Meteorshower_Auroratheater Meteorshower Auroratheater]], a giant, feathered, snake-haired, long-tongued face that runs a theater troupe.) The latter two would count as phoenixes InNameOnly, except it's stated all of these disparate phoenixes are said to all originate from the same source, an entity called the Idea Phoenix.

* ''TabletopGame/DuelMasters'' has some [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Phoenix very strange phoenixes]].

* ''VideoGame/MegaMan'': ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX Mega Man X6]]'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 2'' have the fire-themed bosses Blaze Heatnix and Phoenix Magnion. While they don't have the ability to resurrect on their own, you ''do'' have to fight them again in the BossRush of their respective games, Heatnix was technically brought BackFromTheDead by BigBad Gate in the first place, and one of Magnion's attacks involves summoning [[TheCameo ghostly apparitions]] of past (and probably long dead) ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' villains to attack Zero with. ''VideoGame/MegaMan10'' has a [[DualBoss Dual Miniboss]], Fenix and Suzak, with that theme.

** Ravnica's [[https://scryfall.com/card/grn/91/arclight-phoenix Arclight Phoenix]] is a unique example connected to lightning rather than to flame.

* ''FanFic/TheLegendOfSpyroANewDawn'': Phoenixes were the previous inhabitants of Empress Tyrania's kingdom, whom she drove into extinction; they had ResurrectiveImmortality provided that their body was cremated in a volcano and exposed to sunlight, so Tyrania blocked out the sun over the volcano to prevent them from coming back to life. Siria, their queen, appears as a spirit and acts as Ember's SpiritAdvisor and tells her how to revive the Phoenix race by defeating Tyrania.

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* ''VideoGame/MegaMan'': ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX Mega Man X6]]'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 2'' have the fire-themed bosses Blaze Heatnix and Phoenix Magnion. While they don't have the ability to resurect, you ''do'' have to fight them again in the BossRush of their respective games, and one of Magnion's attacks involves summoning [[TheCameo ghostly apparitions]] of past (and probably long dead) ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' villains to attack Zero with. ''VideoGame/MegaMan10'' has a [[DualBoss Dual Miniboss]], Fenix and Suzak, with that theme. Magnion, however, had a notable attack in which he can briefly summon spirits of Zero's old ''X'' series foes in battle.

* ''TabletopGame/DuelMasters'' has some [[http://duelmasters.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Phoenix very strange phoenixes.]]

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': Phoenixes are a Red creature type depicted both as red-gold eagle-like birds with a fire motif and as birds made of living flame. As expected of the phoenix, they all have some way of coming back from the Graveyard if they're killed. The phoenixes of Theros lay just one egg over the course of their centuries-long lives. As its life comes to a close, the phoenix hurls itself into a volcano; on that same day, the egg hatches into a new phoenix.
* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' has [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Sacred_Phoenix_of_Nephthys Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys.]]

** Phoelarches are a race of fiery humanoids whose lives are linked with Phoeras, phoenix-like creatures from the Elemental Plane of Fire. When a phoelarch dies, a phoera spontaneously appears in its place to avenge its death.
** ''Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes'' takes the ElementalEmbodiment seen above and takes it to the extreme with an Elder Elemental called the Phoenix. It's pretty damn intense, powerful enough to rival an Ancient Red Dragon, and desires to see everything burn.

* In ''ComicBook/WeaponsOfTheGods'', [[spoiler:Nangong Wentian]] was known as this after [[BackFromTheDead getting resurrected]] by transplanting his heart with Phoenix, an axe made from nine feathers of the phoenix and gaining its power.

** ComicBook/JeanGrey, depending on the continuity or even [[{{Retcon}} the writer at the moment in the main continuity]], is either the Phoenix itself (later [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity the Dark Phoenix]]), [[GrandTheftMe possessed by it]], or replaced and impersonated by it at some point. She keeps an equally variable [[TouchedByVorlons connection]] to it from her return onwards. The Phoenix wasn't even originally intended to give her an ability to come BackFromTheDead. Becoming the Phoenix in the ''first'' place was considered her "death and rebirth." None of this helped her overall reputation much, and by now she has become the poster child for DeathIsCheap even by comic book standards, to the point that whenever she's in mortal danger, both readers ''and other characters'' don't really care all that much, though they might be concerned about her occasionally [[CameBackWrong coming back wrong]] with her SuperpoweredEvilSide active. As of 2018, following ''ComicBook/PhoenixResurrection'', she's back and sane, with [[spoiler: the Phoenix having departed after Jean flatly told it to leave her alone.]]

*** One of Jean's other children, Nate Grey -- not quite from the future, instead Cable's counterpart from the ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' -- has never been explicitly a Phoenix host, though it was hinted a few times, with the Phoenix raptor forming around him more than once, and it being bluntly stated from the start that he was as powerful as the Dark Phoenix. Death and rebirth motifs, usually related to the fact that he was slowly dying from PowerDeGeneration, followed him wherever he went, and he ultimately pulled an actual death and rebirth worthy of his mother in ''Dark X-Men''. Twice.

** Various other characters have also been hosts for the Phoenix, but it's always been either an extremely temporary situation or happened in ancient history. Even Franchise/SpiderMan! [[spoiler: But not really. He was using the gadgetry that allowed the robot Rachel of some ''{{Comicbook/Excalibur}}'' impostors to make it ''look'' good. Thus the costume change]]

** The TragicVillain of one of the major arcs of ''Ghosts of the Past'' is the Dark Phoenix, a.k.a. [[spoiler: Harry]], who is, thankfully, talked down in time. It's also revealed that the original Dark Phoenix [[spoiler: a.k.a. Surtur]] ''wasn't'' talked down and ate a galaxy.

* ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'', an InNameOnly AnimatedAdaptation, has a small, young, [[PollyWantsAMicrophone talking]] phoenix with the power to enter a metal objects and become a decoration upon them as a SmallAnnoyingCreature. In one episode it temporarily gets its adult form and becomes massive and powerful, easily carrying Conan on its back. In the sequel series where the firebird is missing, Conan makes an offhand comment saying that he eventually ate it.

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** The Phoenix is an Esper and essential plot point for Loki in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''.

** The [[ComicBook/XMen Phoenix Force]] is [[CompositeCharacter merged]] with [[ComicBook/TheSandman Destruction of the Endless]]. After seventy chapters of hints, Chapter 71 spectacularly and violently confirms that Harry's protection comes from the Phoenix Force, which can act through him when required, while Chapter 78 confirms that Lily [[spoiler: merged with the Phoenix as part of the deal, becoming the White Phoenix of the Crown]]. After that, Harry increasingly uses the phoenix motif in both magical and psychic battles.

* The Vermilion Bird (aka the [[TheFourGods Zhuque or Suzaku]]) of Chinese-Japanese mythology is often mistaken as the "Asian Phoenix" due to the color of its plumage, however in its home countries its not considered a ''fire bird'' so much as a ''bird that uses fire''. Not helping is that it is frequently confused with the aforementioned Fenghuang.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anqa Anqa]] in Arabian Mythology. The oldest myths don't give many details beyond it being a giant female bird (probably a heron or eagle) who attacks her victims during the sunset, but later myths about it adopted many attributes of the phoenix and other mythical birds (such as the ability to resurrect itself).

* Special mention should be given to the Vermilion Bird (aka the [[TheFourGods Zhuque or Suzaku]]) of Chinese-Japanese mythology. Its often mistaken as the "Asian Phoenix" due to the color of its plumage, however in its home countries its not considered a ''fire bird'' so much as a ''bird that uses fire''. Similarly, the Chinese-Japanese mythological bird that is even more often considered the "Asian Phoenix" is the ''fenghuang''/''houou'', despite having even less to do with fire and rebirth. Not helped by the fact that the ''fenghuang'' and ''Zhuque'' are conflated with each other. While it does have some associations with fire and the sun, it's nowhere to the same extent and neither of these birds have anything to do with rebirth.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', phoenixes are powerful and benevolent creatures of great wisdom that resemble enormous birds of prey made of fire. They are able to self-resurrect when slain only once a year, dying permanently if killed again before a full year has passed since their previous death. They have an important role in the worship of the sun goddess Sarenae, whose followers believe them to be sacred to the goddess and that Sarenae created the first phoenixes from {{roc|Birds}}s blessed with her power.