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{{trope}}
Winning the [[Superpower Lottery]] is a good thing, right? Well, unless you're [[Blessed
Compare [[My Death Is
When used offensively, this is an example of [[Taking You
{{
{{examples}}
== Anime
* In ''[[
* In the first filler arc of ''[[
**
* ''[[Scrapped Princess]]'': {{spoiler|You remember how they've been trying to kill Pacifica to stop her from becoming "the Poison That Destroys The World"? Turns out the power automatically activates when she dies several hours before it was meant to activate naturally;}} it isn't clear whether she would have had to die to activate the powers under other circumstances or not.
* There are many fans of ''[[Code Geass]]'' who believe that some of the powers in that show work this way, although the show leaves it open to interpretation. In particular, many of the traits that come with being a Code bearer, such as {{spoiler|losing one's Geass}}, immunity to Geass, not aging, and having weird mental connections with certain people, are thought to not activate until the first time someone "dies" after receiving their Code (which makes them immortal).
▲== Comics ==
* In ''[[Watchmen]]'', the "Squid" sent nightmarish images of an alien invasion into the minds of survivors after its death by explosion.
* The aforementioned Resurrection Man from DC Comics has the ability to come back to life with a new power when he's killed.
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* [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin]] discovered his [[Healing Factor]] after he was fatally wounded by his own glider in the battle against Spider-Man in the "''Death of Gwen Stacy''" storyline.
* [[Deadpool]] attempted to defeat cancer with a [[Healing Factor]] that didn't seem to work - until a fatal injury forced it to work at full power.
* The original introduction of Wildfire as Erg-1 in the ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (
* Doomsday from ''[[Superman]]'' was engineered to come back from death stronger, each time improved to resist whatever killed him last time. And then dropped onto a [[Death World]] by its creator. [[Gone Horribly Right|What could]] [[Hoist
* Marvel's [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Great Lakes Avengers]] had Mr. Immortal, whose only superpower was the ability to come back from the dead.
* In ''[[
== [[Fan Fiction]] ==
* In 'Nexus' For Jack to have finished his transformation into a {{spoiler|half-demon}}, he had to die first.
* There are ''several'' ''[[
== Film ==
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* In ''[[The Matrix]]'', the shock of dying in the Matrix is the last stimulus required to awaken Neo's powers.
** The trope technically also applies to Agent Smith as well, as Smith's "deletion" at the hands of Neo shortly after his powers as The One awakened was what resulted in his ability to [[Me's a Crowd|duplicate himself]] and [[The Virus|take over Redpills and Bluepills alike]].
* Seems to be how Selina becomes [[Catwoman]] in ''[[
* This is how the immortality of ''[[
== Literature ==
* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', wizards can cast a "death curse", which is essentially a powerful [[Cast
* In ''[[The Hollows]]'', when a human is first infected with the vampire virus, they gain some benefit but remain alive. Only once they die from some other cause do they become full-on undead and gain the full suite of powers (and the transformation isn't guaranteed unless the virus was passed down from a parent).
* The Draconians from ''[[Dragonlance]]''. If you're lucky, they turn to stone or into a (dead) clone of yourself. Bad things include point-blank explosions, melting in a pool of acid, and a [[Up to Eleven|repeated, magical blast]].
* In the ''[[Ancient Future]]'' trilogy by Traci Harding, immortality is genetic, but the gene must be "activated" by death or other means to be able to pass it on.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* In ''[[Misfits]]'', Nathan's [[Healing Factor]] only works on wounds that kill him.
* Jack Harkness in ''[[
== Tabletop Games ==
* [[Warhammer 40
* D&D has a spell called Contingency, that can do this if you know another spell that would be helpful. Though, the condition for activating the second spell can be just about ''anything''
** There are a number of Epic Destinies who have powers that state: "once per day when you die" as their activation condition. Usually, it involves getting revived.
* There are several ''[[Magic:
** Storyline-wise, Planeswalkers (primarily Pre-[[Cosmic Retcon|Mending]]) sometimes had their sparks activated at the point of death. Examples include [[Manipulative Bastard|Urza]] after the detonation of the [[Fantastic Nuke|Golgothian Sylex]], and [[Dark Is Not Evil|Sorin Markov]] after vampirization by his uncle.
▲== Videogames ==
* In ''[[Doom]]'', the Pain Elemental can spawn a number of Lost Souls when it dies.
* Various monsters in ''[[Diablo]] II'' have devastating "cast upon death" abilities. The player characters can acquire some of those, too, a great aid in retrieving your own body.
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* In ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' there is the Final Attack Materia, which lets you cast the spell/effect of any materia it is linked to... Including The [[Auto Revive|Life Spell or Phoenix Summon]], meaning that as long as you have enough MP, you simply will not die (and with the correct materia combination to draw MP from anything, you are basically immortal).
** The Final Attack materia is limited to five "uses" per battle when fully leveled up, however. Using the combination twice on the same character might work, or it might make him cast the spell twice when dying instead.
* One Cyberware implant available in ''[[Shadowrun]]'' is [[I Love Nuclear Power|a tactical nuclear device implanted in the skull]]. It can be detonated by remote or, of course, [[Taking You
* There is an altar to a god in ''[[Arcanum]]'', that grants you a great power if you bring an offering to it. The catch is, you need to sacrifice ''yourself''. If you do it correctly, you are resurrected.
* ''[[
** There is also the [[Mana]] equivalent in Grudge; If the user of this move is K.O'd immediately after its use, the move that the attacker used for the K.O loses all its PP.
* In ''[[WoW]''], the priest class has a talent technically called Spirit of Redemption, but usually referred to as [[Fan Nickname|Improved Death]]. When the priest is killed, they temporarily become a [[Our Angels Are Different|spirit healer]] which allows casting of all healing spells at no mana cost.
==
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' mentions that this sort of power is hard to predict; even Hereti-Corp scientists don't consider their test subjects expendable enough to test for this.
== Web Original ==
* Professor Ozpin of ''[[RWBY]]'' reveals in episode 3 of Volume 5 that whenever he dies, he reincarnates into an ''existing'' young adult male, and the two eventually merge into a single being.
== Western Animation ==
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[[Category:Superhero Tropes]]
[[Category:Magic and Powers]]
[[Category:
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