Back for the Dead: Difference between revisions
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Contrast with [[Bus Crash]], in which the actor does not return, and we are told of their off-screen death some seasons later, complete with a failure of their body to appear, at least in an intact state.
A number of reasons may exist for this: perhaps the actor has agreed to return, but insists on being killed to give their character closure. Or perhaps the writers have just grown a pair and decided to do something nasty to the character that they'd previously been afraid to do something irrevocable to. Or it could just be a way to [[Killed Off for Real|kill someone off for real]] with the impact of killing a major character without the plot inconveniences this usually causes. Occasionally it's because they need a character they previously [[Killed Off for Real]] briefly, so they pull an [[Not Quite Dead]] or [[Back
Compare [[Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome]].
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{{examples}}
▲== Anime andManga ==
* In ''[[Super Dimension Century Orguss]]'' Sley, the protagonist Kei's rival in love, is presumably lost in battle about mid way through the series, with it left unknown whether he survived or died. Some time later, Sley reunites with the crew and, within that same episode, performs a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to allow the heroes to get away from the enemy.
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** Ironically, the first "death" was only shown in the beginning of that film. If they hadn't "killed" him to begin with, he wouldn't have been anywhere near to be killed again later. And then the expanded universe immediately resurrected him, putting him in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Next Generation]]'' / ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'' era stories that he couldn't have appeared in if not for his temporary death in ''[[Star Trek Generations]]''. Bringing him back only to kill him actually revived his career and popularity.
*** It should be pointed out that the Kirk "return" novels were written in part by William Shatner himself...
* Dobby in the ''[[Harry Potter (film)|Harry Potter]]'' films. As a result of his role in the fourth, fifth, and sixth books being cut, he appears in the second film and then doesn't show up again until ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
* Pegasus and Yugi's Grandpa in the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh Tenth Anniversary Movie]]''. Good thing that this is a story about time travel.
* Clear Rivers from the original [[Final Destination]] was intended to survive to the third installment, but due to legal issues she appeared in the second movie and was killed off.
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== [[Live
* A famous example is Max Fenig, a fan favorite from an episode of the first season of ''[[The X-Files]]''. After being abducted at the episode's conclusion, he reappeared in the teaser at the beginning of a fourth season episode... as a dead body in the wreckage of an airplane. The rest of the two-parter dealt with reconstructing how this came to pass and dealing with its implications.
** There's also the Cigarette Smoking Man, who was killed off at the end of the seventh season. Two years later he was revealed to still be alive in the series finale, and then proceeded to get blown up by a missile.
* ''[[Star Trek: The
* The character of Carey from ''[[Star Trek:
** The writer of that episode wanted to kill someone off, and was given the choice of Vorik or Carey. He thought Carey would have more impact, since fans would relate to a human more than a Vulcan. Bad choice. He was obviously unaware of how much fans liked Vorik, and of how fans already thought Carey was dead. Furthermore, rumour has it that Carey's odd treatment was because the writers were for a long time confusing him with Lt. Hogan, who had indeed been killed off in Season 2.
* Lieutenant Ford from ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' was almost killed by Wraith and managed to leave hopped up on the Wraith enzyme (a nasty drug) in the season 1 finale. In the season 2 midseason two-parter Ford comes back, and ends up on a Wraith vessel as it explodes.
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* In ''[[Stargate Universe]]'', everyone who was left behind on Eden suddenly showed up with bodies that had been "improved" by [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]]. It turns out that the improvements were only temporary. One by one, each person reverted back to the state they were in when the aliens found them, i.e., dead.
* Charlie DiSalvo from ''[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander]]'' falls into this. Charlie gets sort of [[Put on a Bus]]: he falls in love with a revolutionary and leaves everything to fight for her cause. He returns for one episode, where he describes how they were set up by an immortal arms dealer who intentionally sold them defective weapons and killed his girl. Charlie comes hunting for revenge, but as he doesn't know about immortals and his opponent is one, he winds up dying.
* David Palmer in ''[[24
** The return and subsequent death of Milo Pressman in Season 6 has oft been referenced as an example of this trope, though he did survive for almost the entire season.
** Additionally, the character of Tony Almeida was injured in an explosion that left him in a coma for the first half of season 5. He was brought out of it midway through only to get killed off an episode later. {{spoiler|Although eventually subverted in that he was later revealed to still be alive two seasons later, he was dead for all intents and purposes for the rest of the fifth season.}}
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** This did serve to give her a good send-off, and allow her to work as a [[Mentors|mentor]] one last time.
* Arguably, Bryce Larkin from ''[[Chuck]]''.
** Chuck's father Stephen returned for a couple of late season 3 episodes, before becoming a [[Sacrificial Lamb]] / [[Sacrificial Lion]]
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'': Adam Monroe, former immortal, was [[A Fate Worse Than Death|buried alive]] at the end of season two, but he was let out briefly in the following season apparently for the sole purpose of being [[Killed Off for Real]] in a rather egregious manner. Maybe they were saving him for this. (His death basically created the new [[Big Bad]].)
** A variation happened earlier in season two for DL. The second season starts by skipping months ahead, and we're told that DL is dead, presumably from his gunshot wound in the season one finale. But no, he appears in a flashback only to get killed [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|by some random guy who was hot for his wife.]] The entire exercise seems completely pointless.
** Done with Emile Danko at the beginning of Season 4. As the [[Big Bad]] of Season 3, he survived that season only to be brought back for two episodes for a somewhat contrived reason during Season 4 only to be killed off immediately by the new villains.
* Chloe Richards returned to ''[[Home and Away]]'' in 2005 in the lead up to the show's 4000th episode after leaving in 1999. Meanwhile, promos for the 4000th episode promised that [[Tonight Someone Dies|a beloved character would die]] as a result of events happening in that episode. Who died as a result of that episode's car accident? It was Chloe of course.
* Blake returned in the last episode of ''[[Blake's 7
** Blake's death was apparently a
*** The deaths of the other characters was left deliberately ambiguous so that they could return if the series was extended.
* In ''[[Foyle's War]]'', Milner's estranged wife reappears after an absence of several seasons, and has just enough time for a blazing row with Milner before being found dead in an alley.
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* Keith from ''[[One Tree Hill]]'' leaves after his disastrous wedding. He comes back more well adjusted and marries Karen only to be killed by his brother Dan. At least she has [[Someone to Remember Him By]].
* Joyce Summers, in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''.
{{quote|'''Kristine Sutherland''': I was not around much in the fourth season, which was my choice, and when I let them know that
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has two examples in the new series: Harriet Jones, and Lucy Saxon, who dies in what's basically her only scene in ''The End of Time''. The old series nearly had a example of this, as the Brigadier - a regular during the 60s and 70s who was last seen as a guest star in 1983 - was almost killed off in 1989's ''Battlefield''.
* Alicia in ''[[Smallville]]'' is slightly different from the usual version because she was a one-shot character. In season 3 she was obsessed with Clark, but she was presented as having had a breakdown and being somewhat sympathetic, and some viewers liked her as a love interest for Clark. She was brought back in the next season just to be killed off, permanently ending the possibility of being a love interest.
** Whitney also qualifies: We see him die on-screen [[Not Himself|before the shapeshifter shows up]].
*** If Alicia counts, so do several other characters, including but not restrained to the above mentioned shapeshifter.
* The writing staff of ''[[Amar
* All of the surviving cortexifan kids from ''[[Fringe]]'' were brought back and killed in one episode.
* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' has an odd example. Jo and Ellen Harvelle, two characters from season 2, were let go at the end of the season for budgetary reasons and did not appear in seasons 3 or 4. They were brought back in season 5, and survived their return episode, only for both of them to be killed off in their next appearance.
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* ''[[Boy Meets World]]'' had a [[Yank the Dog's Chain]] example of this. Shawn's father reappears for the first time in about a year and a half and promises that he will stay around this time. He prompty dies from a heart attack.
* In ''[[Farscape]]'', Jool leaves the regular cast four episodes into the fourth season. She reappears (with a rather different [[Jungle Princess]] characterisation) in the [[Wrap It Up]] miniseries "The Peacekeeper Wars", and is fairly rapidly killed along with a whole lot of other people to give the Scarrans an extreme [[Kick the Dog]] moment.
== [[Video Games]] ==
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* In ''[[Illusion of Gaia]]'', Kara's pet pig, Hamlet, gets separated from her early on in the game, namely when Kara decides to [[Rebellious Princess|leave her castle]], but later manages to join up with the party. However, very soon after, the party is captured by cannibals, and are only saved when Hamlet sacrifices himself to be food for the cannibals instead of the party.
* Ortega, the hero's father in ''[[Dragon Quest III]]'' is missing and presumed dead for the bulk of the game. In the very last dungeon, you encounter him fighting one of the penultimate bosses and watch him get killed.
* In ''[[Framcjose The Legend Of Zelda]]'', every time Ganon somehow manages to break the [[Sealed Evil in a Can|seal on his can]] or to come [[Back
** The same happens to Dracula in the ''[[Castlevania]]'' series.
* ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' has Misty Fey: She's an incredibly important character in the backstory then finally appears in the last case of ''Trials and Tribulations''...only to be murdered fifteen minutes later
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* ''[[Marble Hornets]]'' entry 51 combines this with [[Anachronic Order]], jumping back years in the series timeline to reveal the fate of a minor character from the first season. It ain't pretty.
* In ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'', Achyls was a minor character in V1, working as one of the technicians for the terrorists. However, he vanished inexplicably afterwards with no explanation. He returned for V4, and seemed set to have a bigger role from before, then was abruptly killed not long after his redebut.
* Happens to the original Paper in the 200th Strong Bad Email from ''[[Homestar Runner]]''. The Paper actually died in Email 173, and later replaced by the New Paper.▼
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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** In a season 14 episode, Pip, who didn't have any speaking line at all since season 6, came back, only for him to deliver a [[Sedgwick Speech]] and be killed by Mecha-Streisand moments later.
*** According to southparkstudios.com, he may not be entirely gone.
▲* Happens to the original Paper in the 200th Strong Bad Email from ''[[Homestar Runner]]''. The Paper actually died in Email 173, and later replaced by the New Paper.
* ''[[Speed Racer: The Next Generation]]'': In "The Beginning", Speed Jr. and his friends find and restore the long-disappeared Mach 5, but it ends up truly totaled after a vicious race.
* ''[[American Dad]]'' has a whole episode of this.{{context}}
* In the DCAU, Professor Milo was a minor recurring villain on ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]''. He shows up again 13 years later in an episode of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' only for Doomsday to kill him offscreen.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Death Tropes]]
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