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Immortality/Sandbox: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.|'''Woody Allen'''}}
One of the oldest of human desires is to counteract [[We Are
Of course, having been around for so long, Our Immortality Is Different, and comes in several flavours. These categories are not mutually exclusive; there's plenty of room for overlap.
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* ''[[
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=== TYPE VI: [[Blessed
Doesn't seem to fit [[The Ageless]]:
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* The Nameless One from ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' ({{spoiler|his mortality was stripped from his body}}). Works partly like a Type III (he regenerates) and partly like a Type IV (he can die, but he comes [[Back From the Dead]] a few seconds to a few hours later), with the exception that it can't remove [[Good Scars, Evil Scars|scar tissue]].
* Kakuzu from (again) ''[[Naruto]]'' steals people's hearts and replaces them as they wear out.
* The White and The Voices from "The Age of Five" trilogy by [[Trudi Canavan]] fall into this category, as they have immortality bestowed upon them by their gods.
* ''[[What
* Paradox from ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force
* The [[
* In [[John C. Wright]]'s ''Golden Age'' trilogy, nomenual recordings allow effective immortality. Although it is a major plot point that the heat death of the universe will ensure that this is not actually living ''forever'' -- the most that is possible is until every form of energy in the universe is completely consumed.
=== TYPE VIII: [[Immortality Through Legacy]] ===
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* Doro from Octavia Butler's ''Patternmaster'' novels has no particular resistance to injury or disease, but every time he dies his soul jumps into the body of the nearest person, killing the body's original owner. Even though this is involuntary, [[Bad Powers, Bad People|six thousand years of body-stealing has given him very little regard for human life or human dignity]].
* In Jeff Long's novel ''The Descent'', the leader of the hadals (an ancient race of [[Beneath the Earth|subterranean]] hominids) has this ability, and is apparently so old that he was the original inspiration for the concept of Satan.
* [http://egscomics.com/index.php?arcid=77 Sirleck] of ''[[
* In [[The Skeleton Key]], {{spoiler|an African American couple has been transfering their souls by voodoo magic for 90 years.}}
* In ''[[
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* Any villain of a [[Villain Based Franchise]] (especially a [[Slasher Film]] franchise) will not stay dead no matter how many times he's killed at the end of the previous movie.
* All the [[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Light Warriors]] have/suffer under this, but Black Mage stands out in particular. How so? The author has explicitly stated that every event in the comic is a set-up to Black Mage being hurt, which is to say that no matter what happens, he will continue to exist just to be harmed.
* Rincewind in ''[[
** No, as in "The Colour of Magic" it is openly written that the gods of Discworld, who played their strategic board game (where the board was Discworld itself and their figures were the well known Heroes of Discworld) were controlling these heroes, and basically everything, to such an extent that even Rincewind himself realised by the end of the book that someone or something 'must be keeping them alive'; well played, since the happenings were just the descriptions of the gods Lady and Fate battling the longest in the game. When Rincewind and company literally flies out of the disc of the Discworld it is an established fact that Lady, who was a notorious cheater, succeeded in not letting Fate win over her in the game.
** [[Word of God]] is that Granny Weatherwax, despite being an old woman when we first met her thirty-something books ago, is "probably immortal".
* It can be argued that Norna-Gest from the Old Norse ''[[The Tale of Norna Gest
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* The Status of Immortal in ''[[The Twelve Kingdoms]]'' is a mix of Type II and Type VII: Immortality is given by certain authorities, and once you have it you stop aging and eventually recover of any injuries at the same rate that normal people do (some do have some form of Healing Phlebotinium, though), to the point that you could be completely deprived of food and water and remain living (albeit weakened) for years. However, immortals can die if they are beheaded, and if its Immortality is revoked they return to age normally.
* In ''Eternity Row'' by S.L. Viel, the entire population of a planet develops a nasty case of Type VI, as the result of a dietary deficiency. The titular Eternity Row is the area of a city containing hospitals full of horribly wounded people who cannot die.
* Liches often combine Types V and VII. Their skeletal bodies are quite difficult to destroy, but they use a [[Soul Jar]], known as a phylactery in case of their destruction. They were popularized by [[Dungeons and Dragons]], but have since shown up in the [[
** They also have a slight part of Type I and heavily on Type IV, since they have a very sturdy damage resistance overcome by a mixed combination of damage types in D&D (bludgeon and magic) and if killed they resurrect close to their Phylactery.
*** Demi-liches (at least in 2nd. ed.) can actually be hurt by magic... That is, one or two very particular magic spells.
** Demi-Liches of the D&D also have the Type I at being Nigh-Invulnerable. They have a really high damage resistance, are completely impervious to magic and can fully heal (or mostly, based on DVs) at will.
* [[Keith Richards]] ages at a normal rate, but cannot be killed via conventional methods.
** Who's commonly compared with similarly-aged [[Motorhead
*** Granted, Lemmy's always looked like an old fart, and sounded like one too.
* In Terry Pratchett's ''[[
** Some of the Monks (including Lu-Tze) have the ability of 'circular aging'.
* Alucard from ''[[Hellsing]]''. Being a vampire, he is type V and X; Is immortality takes form of a healing factor, making him a type III and; After {{spoiler|Absorbing Schrödinger's soul}}, he is no longer a type X (as he no longer depends on the souls of his victims) becoming a Type XI instead, as he is now "Everywhere and nowhere".
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* Another [[Real Life]] example: some American Aspen (''Populus tremuloides'') tree stands (groves) are type II immortal. Aspen forms stands of genetically identical trunks with interconnected roots; some trunks die of old age but the stand itself is type II immortal.
** Olive is the same.
* Ganon from ''[[The Legend of Zelda (
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
* Marvel Comics' [[Agents of Atlas
* {{spoiler|The [[Split At Birth]] halves of the Yorae Dragon}} from ''[[Breath of Fire]] IV'' would likely be a Type I had the god in question NOT been split in half via a botched summoning. (In fact, it's {{spoiler|pretty explicitly proven this is the case in the [[Bad End]] when Infini destroys your party.}}) Instead, Fou-lu and Ryu end up as (functionally) Type III {{spoiler|until in the Good End Ryu separates the worlds of gods and mortals and thus they become mortal, or in the Bad End the two merge as the Infini Dragon and thus become Type I}}.
** Fou-lu in particular is arguably a Type III/Type XI in that he is a literal [[God-Emperor]] whom ultimately exhausted himself, went into torpor for 600 years as the Fou Empire's [[King in
** The recently-completed [[Comic Book Adaptation]] pretty much explicitly defines Fou-lu (and by extension, Ryu) as a Type III especially during the Sonne arc.
** The same game (and manga adaptation) also have Deis as a Type IV/Type XI immortal. {{spoiler|She too is the victim of a botched summoning--only in her case, only the spirit but not the body came across.}}
** For that matter, ''all'' Endless can in fact be considered Type VII immortals as well. {{spoiler|It is stated in the game that the Endless are pulled from another world--often ''not'' voluntarily--and in essence are granted immortality by the process of becoming a [[Physical God]] via summoning.}}
* Dr. Bright of the [[
** [[
*** Using a statue that will kill anybody who looks at it. {{spoiler|682 faked being dead and tried to escape.}}
*** Cutting it in half with a laser. {{spoiler|The two parts started moving independently and tried to escape.}}
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{{quote| One would think that putting SCP-682 in the epicenter of an explosion that can cause third-degree burns at a distance of 300 km is a good idea, but as long as there are odds of survival we simply cannot go through with it. Yes, it's a goddamn nuke, but if 682 survives and adapts we'd be boned beyond belief.}}
*** [http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-343 God]. {{spoiler|He couldn't even detect 682's presence, and when informed later that it was SCP-682 they'd tried to get him to destroy, he replied "He's not one of mine. Deal with him yourself."}}
* You can find at least one of the various immortals of the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' in each of the categories. Among others, these include: The Golden Avenger, a [[Flying Brick]] who originally fought crime in the 1940s and stopped aging when he gained his powers, has Perfect Immortality. Master Mist, the immortal sorcerer who now rules Liberia as a benevolent dictator, is Undying. Splatterman is [[Healing Factor|Regenerative]]. Mister Easter is [[Back From the Dead|Resurrective]]. The Black Lion is an [[The Undead|Undead knight]]. Abyss is an example of [[Blessed
* On ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', the Heinous family seems to have some form of immortality, being stand ins for [[Satan]], though it's never clear which. Every member has given themselves a [[Klingon Promotion]] by [[Human Popsicle|freezing the previous one]], rather than [[Self-Made Orphan|killing them outright]], suggesting they are Type II. Adding to this is that Lucius VII seems afraid of dying in some episodes. Lucius looks to by in his early twenties despite [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|being at least four hundred years old]], yet his father looks to be an old man, even in [[Flash Back|flashbacks]]. Since the show takes place in what amounts to [[Hell]], it might be Type V.
** Interestingly, [[Word of God|Edward Kay]] has suggested this for Heloise as well.
* Vampires in ''[[Castlevania]]'', especially Dracula, have a mixture of Type III and Type X. They can drink the blood of mortals to regain strength and youth, but vampires also seems to have the common trait of being able to automatically resurrect. For Dracula himself, it generally takes 100 years or so, but he also is often resurrected by outside forces loyal to him. This is basically why the Belmonts and the other good guys have to kill him over and over again... Well, until 1999, when the good guys finally had the opportunity to kill him off for good, and thanks to Julius Belmont, they succeeded. However, Dracula [[Castlevania Sorrow|still managed to reincarnate, thankfully, as a good guy, this time.]]
* The Nameless One from ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' is a combination of types III and {{spoiler|IV. Whenever he "dies", someone else dies in his place and he comes back a while later.}}
* Immortals from ''[[
** Aberrations on the other hand are magic users who went the type IX or type X route intentionally through magic in order to achieve immortality.
** Magus is a special case in that he is effectively type XI except he is stuck on the spiritual plane and can interact only with immortals and aberrations in a meaningful way although he can amplify the emotions of mortals.
** Notably, according to [[Word of God]], there are no and never will be type Vs in the EGS multiverse.
* {{spoiler|Sephiran/Lehran}} in ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius
* ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'' has all eleven types, and all of them can be purchased on a starting character's [[Point Build System|points budget]]. Admittedly, some of the types are very expensive, and Game masters are encouraged to restrict player characters to the less game breaking types.
* The [[Whateley Universe]] has most of these types. Sara Waite's father Gothmog is a Type I, since he is a true demon and the child of a Great Old One. Fey is believed to be a Type II, and Tennyo and Carmilla are believed to be Type III, even if these are [[Wild Mass Guessing]]. The supervillains Deicide and Deathmaiden have been mentioned, and seem like they would count as Type IV's, but we don't know enough to tell as yet. The New Olympians may be Type XI's since they are physical forms of the classical Greek Gods.
* The [[
** Type III immortality seems the most common, with [[The Hero|Soul Reaver]], [[Big Bad|Morganem]], the insectoid Kherek, [[The Dragon|Maelstrom]], his lover Kathryn and the [[Necromancer]] Kaine Shariven among others all displaying this. And all immortals in the game seem to have a [[Healing Factor]].
** Type V immortality is found amongst the [[Undead]] Dustwalker (and his minions).
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