Healing Factor: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|'''[[Wolverine]]:''' I've survived five different wars in my lifetime.

 

A character is hard to kill, not because he doesn't get hurt, but because he has the ability to rapidly recover from serious damage. While it depends on how fast he can heal and how much of a [[Chunky Salsa Rule|beating]] his body can take, a character with healing factor will bounce back from severe injuries that other beings can't, often with no scars or medical treatment.

Slightly more plausible than being [[Super Tough]] or [[Nigh Invulnerability|Nigh Invulnerable]], as it is a souped-up version of a power certain real life forms possess. When this ability is powerful enough (such as regenerating from being reduced to almost nothing), it actually becomes a form of [[Nigh Invulnerability]], however. Rarely will a character need to worry about infection, as [[Required Secondary Powers|a super immune system]] is most often packaged in, but they may need to worry about setting broken bones.

 

 

On the down side, extreme regeneration often leads to the character getting targeted by [[The Worf Barrage]] so often, people go "[[Good Thing You Can Heal]]" because their [[Immortal Life Is Cheap]]. Also, regenerators are often more [[Made of Plasticine]] than the rest of the show's cast.

 

{{examples}}

* In ''[[Ichiban Ushiro no Dai Maou]]'', Sai gets an arm chopped off. The stump sprouts a new one, out of blood, which regenerates back to a regular arm in seconds.

* The eponymous warriors of ''[[Claymore]]'' are classified as Offensive or Defensive types based on their youki. Generally speaking, Offensive types can reattach recently severed limbs while Defensive types can grow new ones. As Awakend Ones become more common, this often results in Defensive types aiding the Offensives in [[Pulling Themselves Together]] mid-battle.

* Most of the major characters of ''[[Hellsing]]'', and the Nazi vampire [[Mooks]] that show up later in the manga, have impressive regeneration abilities; Alexander Anderson, for example, can take several headshots in rapid succession and keep fighting. Every single one of them is put to shame by Alucard, though, who ''allows'' himself to be near-liquified at the beginning of several fights just to completely demoralize his opponents before brutally killing them.

** Schrodinger's case is more a ''rejection of state'' than actual healing, of the '[[Retcon|he was never there in the first place]]' variety.

* Deoxys in the seventh ''[[Pokémon]]'' movie is depicted regenerating a vaporized limb. In fact it can [[From a Single Cell|regenerate its entire body as long its crystal core is intact]].

** It's not sure if they're actually unable to re-grow them, it might be a bit more complicated. The one time where an Wu was dismembered without re-attaching it instantly after the fight, the arm was kept in an sealed container. However, that might have been just to keep the arm from moving, after all, Wus can still move their body parts even if they're cut off.

*** When the container shattered and (more important) the seal on it, Yakumos arm instantly started to grow back, informing him something was going wrong. And in the mange, he almost regularly loses his limbs and regows them (often resulting in him losing his combat gloves).

* Abel from ''[[Trinity Blood]]'' has been shown regenerating a lost arm (from the leftover pool of blood) after it was blown off.

* C.C. from ''[[Code Geass]]'', who can recover from fatal injuries (such as a bullet to the brain or heart) in a matter of minutes. A few episodes imply that she might be near Wolverine in terms of regeneration: {{spoiler|Her former partner Mao intended to cut her into pieces so he could ship her to Australia in luggage, and fully expected her to survive. In the season finale, her current partner Lelouch witnesses her tormented memories, including being burned at the stake, the Iron Maiden, and apparently being guillotined. The first season also ends with her trapped at the bottom of the ocean in a [[Humongous Mecha]], meaning she had to purge the cockpit and die at least twice due to pressure and drowning before she floated to the surface; [[Word of God]] confirmed this because there was no way they would get away with showing anything that gruesome on television.}} And for all this, the only mark she bears is a very deliberate-looking scar under her left breast.

** In the [[Audio Commentary]], when the staff and cast discuss C.C.'s powers, voice actress [[Yukana]] jokingly suggests probably the cutest version of a Healing Factor ever: that when C.C. is killed, her body breaks apart into several miniature C.C.s that run together to re-form her original body

* The primary effect of the "Cure virus" in ''[[Ever 17]]'' is to give the infected party a healing factor that makes it impossible for them to be killed.

* In ''[[Slayers]]'', trolls have such fast regeneration abilities that they are nearly impossible to kill. The main character, Lina Inverse, solves this issue by {{spoiler|casting a magic-reversal spell on all the trolls so that even the [[Scratch Damage|tiniest scratch]] results in [[Hoist by His Own Petard|nearly instant death-by-implosion]].}}

** Two seasons later, and we're introduced to the Huckubein, who can regenerate even better than the Wolkenritter. [[Dual-Wielding|Cypha]] proves this by [[Just a Flesh Wound|regrowing an arm]] that Signum cut off. Oh, and they're also [[Made of Iron|pretty darn tough too.]]

** Also there's the fact that after said two seasons the Wolkenritter's Healing Factor has finally faded away.

* In ''[[Dragon Ball]]'', Nameks like Piccolo regenerate as long as their vital organs are intact. Most later villains had this ability, but most have it in even greater strengths, including Cell, Buu, and Meta-Cooler (who can revive from a single piece of themselves), in addition to some of the evil dragons.

** Majin Buu is the living embodiment of this. No matter how badly he is destroyed he can always regenerate as long as any part of him still exists.

'''Jaken:''' 'What's that?! Just whose fault do you think it is that it came to this?! It's solely because {{spoiler|Meidou Zangetsuha was turned over to someone like you}} that Sesshoumaru-sama has...'

'''Inuyasha:''' 'Shut up!' ''Thinks'': 'I know that. {{spoiler|If he'd at least had a weapon,}} Sesshoumaru wouldn't have been wounded to this extent...'

'''Jaken:''' 'Oooh! He closed his wounds with [[Determinator|pure fighting spirit]]! Nothing less from Sesshoumaru-sama!' }}

** Then, there's Naraku. Being cut to bits is only a minor inconvenience to him.

* Both Yukiko and Liselotte Werckmeister from ''11eyes'' share the same immortality with rapid healing factor and undying. It is revealed that the Voidstone is the source of the immortality and separating it from the host will disable that immortality.

* Quon of ''[[Towa no Quon]]'' has this as one of his abilities.

 

== Comic Books ==

* [[Wolverine]] of the ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' is the iconic [[Superhero]] example. This has been subject to extreme [[Power Creep, Power Seep]]; he went from "very tough, but can be killed by a single lucky shot from a [[Humongous Mecha]]" to "survive being at ground zero of a nuke". (He was also once regrown from a single droplet of blood that fell on a powerful [[MacGuffin|Ancient Artifact]] once, but that was more a demonstration of the artifact's power than his own, and [[Or Was It a Dream?|may have been hallucinatory]] anyway).

** Due to the nature of most children's shows, this can't be shown that effectively. The 90's X-Men animated show tries to, but it's best shown on TV in ''[[X-Men: Evolution]]'' when Wolverine is shown to have broken his legs from a helicopter jump, and later on in Season 4 when he falls out a plane.

* [[Lobo]] from [[DC Comics]] has an absurdly over-the-top Healing Factor, as he is partly a Wolverine parody. Plus, neither afterlife wants him.

** Venom and Carnage are also close to immortal, where they can heal from anything but continual and ongoing exposure to high-pitched sounds. Or the Sentry.

* [[The Savage Dragon]] can regrow lost limbs, albeit slowly. One villain actually used this against Dragon by breaking every bone in his body, then stuffing him down a smokestack so he healed all wrong. To fix him, another hero had to break his bones ''again'' to let him heal correctly.

* [[Green Arrow]] II, Connor Hawke, has recently been [[Badass Abnormal|granted]] healing powers by the machinations of [[Mad Scientist|Dr Sivana]] in an issue of ''Green Arrow and Black Canary''.

** Sivana gave him that healing factor using bits of Plastic Man, a character that has survived being turned to stone, shattered, and having the pieces scattered around the ocean floor for over 1,000 years. Yeah, Plastic Man takes this trope to the extreme.

* [[Vandal Savage]] is another DCU example; he got his immortality from a meteor back during the Cro-Magnon era. He possesses a Healing Factor (as well as other powers) that considerably slow his aging process to the point of it being almost nonexistent.

* The Five Archons in ''[[The Secret History (comics)|The Secret History]].'' They can be killed, probably, but they're certainly not easy to kill.

 

== Fan Works ==

* Vampires in ''[[Luminosity]]'' have this. Even if someone tears them apart, unless the flesh is actually kept separate, they will regroup and regenerate. There's only one [[Stealth Pun|surefire]] way to kill one. {{spoiler|And Bella found a way around ''that''.}}

 

== Film ==

** The [[Steampunk|Clock Punk]] robots of ''Hellboy II: The Golden Army'' can repair themselves after being ripped to pieces.

* When ''[[The Iron Giant]]'' gets his arms knocked off by a train, the parts return to him and reattach themselves.

* Brandon Lee's character in ''[[The Crow]]'' seemed to possess this ability. Right to the point of making a very bad religious joke in between successive on-target shotgun blasts. [[Author Existence Failure|Too bad the actor wasn't so endowed.]]

** Dude, too soon.

* In ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', Mina and Dorian actually wonder if they can be killed. They both heal from their wounds in seconds during their fight, prompting Dorian to note, "We'll be at this all day."

 

== Literature ==

* Billy "Carnifex" Ray from the ''[[Wild Cards]]'' series of novels is a slight subversion; he has a Healing Factor that acts as the biological equivalent of "meatball surgery". It will save his life and restore practical functionality, but repeated injuries have left him somewhat misshapen (e.g. a broken nose healing while still bent out of place).

** The Mechanic's Healing Factor required him to be in contact with a machine.

** Stuntman's Healing Factor regrows the damaged tissue violently, leaving him disoriented and very hungry.

* In P.C. Hodgell's ''[[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]]'' series, the Kencyr peoples have impressive healing abilities, although much of it requires ''dwar'' sleep, a hibernation-like mode of deep, restorative sleep which can, for severe injuries, last for weeks. Jame, the protagonist, sleeps for thirteen days after she arrives in Tai-tastigon with severely infected haunt bites (haunts being essentially zombies); her healing astonishes the human healer who tends to her. Kencyr can also regenerate lost teeth, and through ''dwar'' sleep can recuperate from punishing speeds on foot, allowing their armies to cover ground at a sustained rate much faster than human armies can attain.

* Averted, and possibly inverted, in ''[[The Belgariad]]'', where the gods have ''no'' healing ability whatsoever because they're normally invincible and have no need of it. {{spoiler|Meaning that when the [[Big Bad]] Torak is badly maimed, his injuries, consisting of horrible burns and a destroyed eye, remain exactly the same as when Torak received them, pain and all, even after thousands of years.}}

* In Octavia Butler's ''Fledgling'', the [[Our Vampires Are Different|protagonist]] recovers from being caught in a burning building—it's implied that she had severe head injuries and was ''blind'' at the start. At the end of the process, she's fine except for the amnesia, but she needs fresh meat as soon as possible, and is too hungry to notice where it comes from. {{spoiler|It's one of her brother's human friends, who was there trying to find and rescue her.}}

* As the [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]] [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] are a bit [[Bloodier and Gorier]] than the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' TV series, it's much more evident that the Doctor has a certain degree of this ability in the novels than it is on TV. The Doctor regrows a tooth at one point. He walks on a severely broken leg, is severely stabbed, gets shot full of buckshot, has [[Heart Trauma|one of his hearts]] [[Made of Plasticine|ripped out]], [[Real Men Get Shot|etc.,]] and always gets better with a minimum of fuss and no medical attention.

* Corwin, and by extension, the rest of the Amberites and Chaosites in ''[[The Chronicles of Amber]]''. As he says, "I heal faster and better than anyone I know." Notably, this isn't instantaneous, but it is still accelerated compared to normal humans, and is considerably better. At one point, Corwin regenerates his ''eyes'' that were [[Eye Scream|burned out of his head]] with branding irons, even recovering the optic nerves. It takes a few months, but he makes a full recovery. He and Benedict speculate that Benedict, who has lost an arm, will regrow it given enough time.

* The [[Honorverse]] has both quick-heal, which simply massively speeds up normal healing, and regeneration therapies, which can regrow limbs and other things within a matter of weeks, though it simply doesn't work on a sizable percentage of people, including the main character.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** To be fair, {{spoiler|He got it from Ted Sprague, who was shown to have the [[Required Secondary Powers]] to survive it.}}

* [[Our Vampires Are Different|The Wraith]] in ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]''.

** Taken to a disturbing extreme in the series two finale, where he is {{spoiler|trapped in a continual death-resurrection cycle for almost 1900 years after being [[Buried Alive]]}}.

** Taken to yet another disturbing extreme in the ''Children of Earth'' miniseries, where he has {{spoiler|a bomb implanted in his stomach. He regenerates from a few limbs and part of a head to a skeleton to his normal self over the course of the day... and starts regaining consciousness and screaming when his skin has yet to come back. The room he's locked up in is promptly filled with concrete, and he's rescued when the team breaks the concrete block by dropping it into a quarry}}.

** In the 2005 episode "The Christmas Invasion", the Doctor is shown to be able to quickly regrow severed limbs for up to 24 hours after regenerating, using leftover regeneration energy.

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' - Buffy has a lesser healing factor as part of her Slayer powers. She can't regenerate injuries in front of our eyes, but she does recover from serious injury much faster than a normal human (at least if she also gets medical assistance).

* In ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'', [[Robot Girl]] Cameron's epidermal layer heals unusually quickly, to the point that a gaping, deep wound that [[Feel No Pain|had to be stapled closed]] healed to the point that is just looks like a recently patched-up cut the next day.

* ''[[The Collector (TV series)|The Collector]]'': Collectors quickly recover from any wound, with Hellfire spewing out of it in the process. A [[Deal with the Devil|client]] also exhibited it(minus the flames) with fatal wounds; Because of the Devil's obligation to clients, they are protected from death for the duration of their deal, one way or another.

* While The Flash has long had some degree of faster than normal healing (See above in comic books), the 2014 incarnation of ''[[The Flash (TV 2014)|The Flash]]'' gives the character a much stronger one, able to heal a broken back in a week.

 

* The Lernaean Hydra, of Heracles/Hercules fame, was so difficult to kill because for each head the hero would cut off, two would grow in its place. The fact that its blood was also a [[Bloody Murder|deadly poison]] didn't help either. Only when his nephew Iolaos started to cauterize the stumps with his torch could Heracles finally kill the monster; this may be the (or at least one) source for the idea that fire is bad for regenerators.

* Prometheus had his liver torn out every day, and grown back by the next. Over and over again, [[And I Must Scream|for centuries]].

* The Greek gods have this kind of immortality, which includes not aging. According to most writers, they can't die from anything. To add to this, the myths say that Chronos is still alive despite being cut up into tiny pieces and scattered across Eternity. Further, Chronos did the same to HIS father who is also still alive despite that. In fact, Chiron, one of the few GOOD centaurs, ends up needing to have is immortality taken from him somehow since the hydra venom in his body couldn't kill him and just continued giving him horrible, mind-searing pain.

 

** In previous editions, there were particular forms of regeneration that varied from monster to monster. The D&D troll, arguably the most famous example, can quickly regenerate wounds from swords and axes, and by themselves these weapons can't kill them, although they can knock them out temporarily by reducing their hit points to zero. The only thing that ''can'' kill them are fire and acid, which also cause damage that can't be regenerated. Whether you blow them up with a fireball, or knock them out with a weapon and then set them on fire or douse them with acid, you need to burn trolls to kill them if you're using standard tactics. If beat into helplessness, they can then be drowned also if there is water nearby (as there often is as they often inhabit swamps). Trolls being vulnerable to fire is likely originally taken from the novel [[Three Hearts and Three Lions]].

** 4e Lycanthropes (were-creatures) have regeneration instead of damage reduction, it is suppressed by, you guessed it, silver.

** One of the fomori powers in ''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]'' provides this, except that everytime you regrow something, but always with nasty scars and often malignant tumors as well. Being a fomor is completely disgusting, seriously.

* Vampires in both ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' and ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'' can heal about as quickly as Werewolves, but they must expend blood they've ingested to do so, and the strength of their healing factor depends on the damage type. Wounds caused by bashing or gunshots heal faster than wounds from stabbing or slashing weapons. Damage from fire, sunlight or a supernatural source takes even more blood and time to heal.

** Well one of them, their primary [[Planet of Hats|Hat]] is that they are hyper-advanced robots.

** To a lesser degree this applies to the Orks, who are capable of healing from any non-fatal wound quite quickly, and when you consider how "tuff" they are, a fatal blow is difficult. In fact, standard Imperial procedure is, after a battle with Orks, to go around and cut the heads off their bodies with entrenching shovels to make sure they stay dead. About the only non-fatal thing that they can't regenerate on their own is severed limbs and they can still stitch the lost limb, or even someone else's limb, back onto the stump and have it heal together pretty quickly. They can even reattach severed '''heads''' and walk off like nothing happened!

* Lunar Exalts in ''[[Exalted]]'' are stated as being able to recover from terrible injuries at an astounding rate whilst in their warform, if not in battle (they must use separate healing powers for that purpose. They can regenerate lost limbs and internal organs (assuming they aren't dead) at a rate of one such organ or limb ''per hour'', good as new and fully functional.

* Regeneration in ''[[GURPS]]'' ranges from slow enough that people would have to hang out with you for a while to notice it all the way to so fast that you heal your total HP every second.

 

== Video Games ==

{{quote|'''Joe:''' He's a doctor, deals a lot with people in our line of work. You shouldn't need to see him though, Vito, you always [[Lampshade Hanging|seem to heal quick enough]]. [[Hand Wave|Must be your diet]].}}

* In ''[[City of Heroes]]'', the "Regeneration" powerset emulates this.

* The Wood Golems in the ''[[Disgaea]]'' series have this as their passive ability, which regenerates 20% of their HP each turn. They can also pass this onto another unit by becoming a Magichange weapon for them.

* White Mages in ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' have a version of this, when at level 25, they get Auto-Regen, which constantly restores 1 HP every 3 seconds. If they don't get hit after getting hurt and stand still for(At most) an hour, they can go from near-dead to full HP, so this trope does count.

* ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' - The potent-or-not Healing Factors of Dante and Vergil constitute one of the series' more annoying [[Cutscene Power to the Max]] moments.

* Kyouya from ''[[Diabolo]]'', despite his terminal illness, claims to heal in his sleep (and considering after a night's rest some scratches on his face disappeared, this may not have been a bluff).

* ''[[Rogue Squadron]]'': Ships equipped with an astromech droid will gradually regain health as the droid makes repairs. However, if your droid is destroyed you lose this ability.

* An incredibly disgusting version is used by {{spoiler|the Hunter}} in ''[[Dead Space (video game)|Dead Space]]'' who {{spoiler|regrows entire limbs}} while flailing and oozing. Where it gets the extra tissue required is [[Shapeshifter Baggage|unknown.]]

* In ''[[Ghost Trick]]'', {{spoiler|Yomiel has a fragment of the Temsik meteor lodged in his body that constantly restores his body to how it was just before his death.}}

* Fittingly, [[Lizard Folk|shra]] in ''[[The Reconstruction]]'' have very high rates of bodily regeneration, though not to the extent of most Healing Factors. This is [[Deconstruction|deconstructed]] with Skint (who ''does'' have a very potent Healing Factor), who got stabbed in the back with a large sword...and his body healed the wound, ''with the sword still in''. To make things worse, the sword was lodged through his heart, making it impossible to take out without killing him. It also means he can [[24-Hour Armor|never take off his armour]], which must make sleeping pretty difficult, too.

* The ''[[Lost Odyssey]]'' characters have something more like this kind of immortality in actual gameplay; they can be injured and knocked out in battle, but automatically revive after a couple of turns.

* In ''[[Chaos Rings (video game)|Chaos Rings]]'' and ''[[Chaos Rings Omega]]'', the winning [[Battle Couple]] is granted immortality that regenerates any injury short of vital organ removal and special telomeres that [[The Ageless|halt the aging process]]. It comes with a 10,000 year time limit though {{spoiler|just in time for the next Ark Arena}}.

 

== Web Comics ==

* Schlock, from ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', as an amorphous life form, can regenerate from any amount of mass remaining, but as his memories are distributed throughout his body, he loses his mind if he takes enough damage. His eyes are actually separate lifeforms, that grow on trees on his homeworld. Uusually for this trope he needs to regenerate from what's left of his ''own'' mass. If enough of that is lost, he explicitly needs a large outside source of organic material.

** Laz'r'us grade nanites appear to be able to provide this, as witnessed on the two occasions they're called on (for Kevin and General Xinchub).

** K'Z'K also has an amazing healing ability coupled with immortality. At one point Bun-Bun [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/990215 ran him through a meat grinder] and [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/990217 turned him into burgers]. He was up and rampaging again [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/990218 by the next strip].

** Every member of 4U City has a 'snapshot' taken of themselves clear down the the firing of every neuron in the brain that can be used to regenerate them with nanomachines. Too much damage causes them to revert to the state they were in when their snapshot was taken which happens frequently to some (Riff's wife) and less for others (Executives like Rammer).

* Damien from ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' is expressly [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2004-04-26 stated] to have this. Grace and her "brothers" as a shapeshifters presumably has this as well and by extension all Seyunolu and Uryuom have this to a certain extent.

* ''[[Wayward Sons]]'': All Ulympeans and Tytans got this along with their [[Personality Powers]]. Beheading is the only way to kill them now.

** ''[[Alien Dice]]'' gives us Lexx, who has been injected with repair nanites by the ADC so he can play their game and make the corporation wealthy.

* {{spoiler|Justin}} of ''[[Wapsi Square]]'' was revealed to have this power. {{spoiler|Several of his ex-girlfriends [[Good Thing You Can Heal|took advantage of this]] [[Domestic Abuse|for their own amusement.]]}}

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* Veldron of [[Super Stories]] can [[Good Thing You Can Heal|regenerate when very close to death]], causing many to assume that he has this power all the time. He doesn't.

* ''[[Trinton Chronicles]]'' has Xiion who heals at a highly rapid rate which he can do at will for a faster rate of healing or subconciously for a slower but faster-then-normal rate.

* In ''[[Cracked.com]]'':

** Discussed in [http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-bullshit-video-game-healing-methods/ 7 Video Game Healing Methods Least Likely to Actually Work]

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Starscream gets this in ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' from an Allspark fragment in his head.

*** But that was only his spark (soul) which was immortal, he didn't have a body, regenerating or otherwise. Which lead to him floating around like a ghost for quite some time until he could scam himself a new shell (or steal someone else's).

** Transmetal 2s in ''[[Transformers]]: [[Beast Wars]]'' have the ability to heal mild to moderate damage near-instantaneously using energy from their spark. Rampage also has one, as he was created by an experiment to duplicate Starscream's spark.

* [[Darkwing Duck|Bushroots]] Healing Factor is seldom seen, but he completely recovers from being squashed in his first episode and later from being shreddered into small pieces.

* Killface of ''[[Frisky Dingo]]'' has a rather handy healing factor. Metal pipe through the lung? Nah, tend to Simon's scraped arm. Rocket through the chest, and a gaping hole from the explosion? Fixed with a little bedrest. Though his Healing Factor was unable to heal his eyes after he was blinded by AntAgony.

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]