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{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Kagome in ''[[Inuyasha]]''. Thanks to Time Travel and a little magic, she co-exists with the person she is a reincarnation of.
* Tuxedo Mask and all of the earth's senshi aside from Chibi Moon in ''[[Sailor Moon]]''. In the manga, Sailor Pluto dies in the future, then reincarnates ''backwards in time'' so that her present self can still guard the Time Gate while still helping out.
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* One of the characters in ''[[Yumeria]]'' turns out to be the reincarnation of someone from the ''future'', who came back to {{spoiler|avert [[The End of the World as We Know It]]}}.
* ''[[Gate 7]]'' is a [[Urban Fantasy]] about characters of Sengoku era's reincarnations fighting to find the most powerful Oni of the world.
* The whole point of ''[[That Time I Got Reincarnated as A Slime]]''. A salaryman is murdered and is reborn in a [[High Fantasy]] world as a [[Blob Monster]]. Which it turns out, is [[Came Back Strong|not as bad for him as it sounds.]]
* ''[[The World's Finest Assassin or The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat]]''. The elderly protagonist is a hired gun who is done in by his employers in what is to be his last job, but is saved by a Goddess who gives him two choices: be reincarnated in his own world with no memories, or be reincarnated in another world with all his memories and skills. Given the title, he takes option 2, but there ''is'' a catch here, he must use those skills to slay "The Hero" within 18 years of his new life. This isn't going to be easy - he's not the first one to be given this offer.
* Tanya von Degurechaff, the title [[Villain Protagonist]] from ''[[The Saga of Tanya the Evil]]'' was initially a workaholic salaryman and corporate tycoon in modern day Japan, he was murdered by a co-worker, reincarnated as a girl in a fantasy version of World War I, raised to be a remorseless soldier, all with memories of her previous life intact. Having been roped into a life she never wanted not asked for (yet incredibly good at it), she seeks revenge on the one she holds responsible - [[Rage Against the Heavens| namely, God]].
* {{spoiler| Luffy}} in ''[[One Piece]]'', possibly. {{spoiler| It was revealed in the Wano Country Arc that his ''Gumo Gumo no Me'' Devil Fruit, long thought to be a Paramecia class fruit, was in fact a Mythical Zoan, which bestowed the power of the Sun God upon its user along with the title and powers of [[Messiah| Joy Boy]], the previous user of the fruit. Whether this means Luffy is the true Joy Boy reborn (his true self “awakened” by mastery of the fruits powers) or whether he was simply bestowed with the title of Joy Boy is up for debate.}}
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* [[DC Comics]]: The original (and current)
** Also continually reincarnated is their archenemy Hath-Set, who is the one destined to kill them. Their son Hector was reincarnated once, but has since {{spoiler|followed his own son into [[Sandman|the Dreaming]].}}
* {{spoiler|[[Batman]]}} eventually ends up reincarnated at the end of ''[[Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?]]'' He is eventually reincarnated... as {{spoiler|himself
* Most of the cast of ''[[Camelot 3000]]'' are the reincarnations of characters from Arthurian legend.
* One of the more significant changes in [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IDW|IDW's incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] is the role reincarnation plays in their origin. The turtles that became the TMNT, it turns out, were the reincarnations of four Japanese brothers murdered in ancient Japan. Splinter, who like in the original incarnation is a rat-turned mutant, is the reincarnation of Hamato Yoshi, their father, who before being slain prayed for a chance at revenge on their murderers.
* In ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'', this is Moira MacTaggart’s mutant power; whenever she dies, she is able to reincarnate herself, with her soul entering the body of a woman’s fetus - this allows her to be reborn as that woman's child, and upon reaching age 13 (the average age mutant powers manifest) she recovers all memories of all previous lives. (Her incredible genius in genetics and biology is the result of studying and researching far longer than would be possible in one human life.) She can choose when and where she is reborn, and can do so at any time in the past, meaning that the times she uses this power in present-day continuity, she is reborn in previous decades and takes [[The Slow Path]] to rendezvous with the X-Men, and she has managed to use this power to [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong]] more than once; [[Wolverine]] even ''killed'' her once in one story so she could do just that. There are limits to this, however. According to [[Blind Seer|Destiny]] (not [[The Sandman|this one]]), the number of times she can be reborn is finite; she has “10, maybe 11 lives” (and she is currently on her 10th), and if she were to die before turning 13, she would die for real.
* ''Every'' superhuman being in Marvel whose powers derive from gamma radiation (including [[The Hulk]], [[She-Hulk]], Doc Samson, the Abomination, the Leader, and General Ross) gained their powers due to dying and reincarnation, though most of them do not know it. When a human dies from gamma radiation, their soul is drawn through a metaphysical portal called the Green Door into [[Hell|the Below Place]]. Should they manage to find a second Green Door, they are reincarnated [[Came Back Strong| with a stronger body]], the trip seemingly instantaneous to those in the mortal world, the recipient having no memory of how it happened. [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|The One Below All]] has tried to manipulate this process to use gamma mutates as his [[Unwitting Pawn]]s, with limited success.
* The whole idea of ''[[Garfield: His 9 Lives]]'', where each story is one of nine life cycles of the eponymous feline. In the first story, in prehistoric times, Garfield is crushed by Big Bob (a giant, overly-playful dogasaurus), and seven lives later (his eighth and current life) Garfield meets him again as Odie. "It's like I know Odie from a previous life," he quips, "a ''bad'' one."
== [[Fan Works]] ==
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* In the ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' fanfic ''[[Past Sins]]'', the essence of Nightmare Moon gets reincarnated as a timid filly that Twilight Sparkle adopts and names Nyx. Then things get interesting from there...
* In ''[[Night of the Seance]]'', {{spoiler| [[ABBA|Agnetha]]}} found herself in the intermediate state since she was to be reincarnated due to her violent death. Simon thought such concept wasn't part of Christian system until the French priest and Andy explains there is a passage in the Bible that says else-wise.
** In ''[[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]'' FanFic ''[[Cruising for a Jobbing]]'', Charlotte discovers her opponent, Anna II, happens to {{spoiler| reincarnation of [[ABBA| Agnetha Fältskog]]}}, the woman she made fun of on social media. Charlotte's punishment... {{spoiler| a casket match}}.
* Reincarnation apparently is a thing in ''[[The Teraverse]]'', although not universal or automatic, given one line in the story "Ye Shall Not Die Alone" which suggests that after sufficient time in Heaven, Shar may be offered a chance to return to mortal life.
==
* "Reincarnation" as a plot device is pretty common in the [[Bollywood|Indian]] [[The Otherwoods|Cinema]] industries, to the point of being a cliché. Just note how many indian productions are in the Wikipedia category "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_about_reincarnation Films about reincarnation]"
* In the [[Bollywood]] movie ''[[Om Shanti Om]]'', Om is reincarnated and looks exactly like he did in his previous life — complete with his tattoo becoming some sort of birthmark.
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* In ''[[The Return of Hanuman]]'' is quite different as it doesn't involve death (but quite common in Hinduism), the main protagonist Maruti is the reincarnation of Hanuman.
* A particular version of the trope is used in ''Jupiter Ascending'': the titular Jupiter happens to be genetically identical to the deceased matriarch of a galactic dynasty, and everybody who knows treats this as if the woman actually reincarnated. Given that said galactic dynasty is a [[Big Screwed-Up Family]] with several unsolved issues towards their mother, things doesn't paint well for poor Jupiter.
* Used as an off-joke in ''[[Look Who's Talking]]''; one of the other infants at the hospital when Mikey is born has an East Asian accent (suggesting he is Hindu) saying he didn't expect to be reincarnated so soon. Then he remembers, to his regret, how much he hated childhood...
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* In ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' series, people who become legendary heroes are put on a special track of reincarnation, each life resembling the other and creating its own batch of legends. They hang out in the World of Dreams between lives and are forbidden from interacting with mortals. Everyone else is also reincarnated but are of less central importance to the pattern. The Dragon Reborn is unique in that everyone knows who he is a reincarnation of, when even those who have also lived past lives as great heroes cannot be identified and rarely discover this for themselves.
* [[Creator/Kim Stanley Robinson|Kim Stanley Robinson]]'s epic novel ''[[The Years of Rice and Salt]]'' has the protagonists in a cycle of eternal reincarnation in order to explore 1000 (or more) years worth of history if the black death had killed all of Europe. In line with the original concept the [[True Companions]] play out different roles, relationships and genders (although their names [[Theme Initials|always have the same first letter]]) in different reincarnations.
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* This is the essential theme of Katharine Kerr's long-running ''[[Deverry]]'' series, which feature a "present day" plot along with multiple parallel flashbacks featuring previous incarnations of the same characters. Later books often include a chart to keep track of them all.
* One story by [[Science Fiction]] writer F.M. Busby used Reincarnation, a [[Gender Bender]] and two [[Stable Time Loop]]s to combine [[Truly Single Parent]] with [[Screw Yourself]]: The protagonist is reincarnated twice, first as his wife and later as their daughter. It makes you wonder why she never said anything.
* On ''[[Discworld]]'', you are (possibly) guaranteed reincarnation if you die while possessing a potato, though not necessarily a human incarnation. The abbot of the History Monks also practices reincarnation, and in his second appearance (''[[
** You don't always have to believe in reincarnation for this to happen. Reincarnation just has to believe in ''you''.
* The novel ''[[Avalon High]]'' has its characters be [[High School]] renicarnations of [[King Arthur]], his knights, and his associates.
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* In ''[[An Elegy for the Still-living]]'', Robin claims that he and Francis are reincarnations of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, and that they have died and been reborn countless times throughout the ages, possibly as other fictional characters who fall under some of the same archetypes.
* In ''[[Warrior Cats]]'', Cinderpelt is reincarnated as her own niece, Cinderheart, who was born at the same instant Cinderpelt was killed defending the mother from a badger. She was given a second chance at life because the first time around, she was caught in the villain's trap and injured by a car, preventing her from becoming a warrior. Cinderheart eventually lives [[Past Life Memories]] in her dreams, and realizes who she is.
* In the [[Low Fantasy]] ''Neustria'' trilogy by Leslie Barringer, one of the few explicitly fantastic scenes is the ghost of a young woman appearing to the coven of which she used to be a member -- and she says of the young man she failed to win, "I might not be his woman, but if I watch and wait I may yet be the child of his love." She's going to try to be reborn as [[Squick|the daughter of the man she loves]]
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==▼
▲== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Lois and Clark]]'' had an episode with Superman and Lois Lane as reincarnated lovers (explaining that Superman's soul was from beyond time and distance), and had them time-travel to their past-life bodies to undo an ancient curse.
* It even hits the [[Soap Opera|soap operas]]: one 90's Brazilian soap titled ''A Viagem'', based in spiritist theories, has the [[Official Couple|main couple]] being lovers from their past lives, and they fall in deep love again in their actual incarnation. The little fact that they die midway the story didn't stop their affair, as they encounter each other again in the afterlife by the sheer force of their love, and the finale pointed that they will reincarnate and find each other again.
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* Implied in ''[[Seven Days]]''. One episode had a villain with a birthmark under one eye. He got killed, and the episode ends with a shot of a newborn baby with the same birthmark under his eye.
== [[Music]] ==▼
▲== Music ==
* Ronnie Lane's ''"Stone"'' aka ''"Evolution"'' tells of a different birth (first person) in each verse.
* The song Gonzo sings in ''[[The Muppet Movie]]'', ''"I'm Going To Go Back There Someday"'' can be interpreted as being about reincarnation.
* In [[Dream Theater]]'s ''Metropolis, Pt. 2'' album, the protagonist discovers that {{spoiler|he is the reincarnation of Victoria (the girl he has visions of) and the Hypnotherapist is the reincarnation of Edward, who murdered Victoria.}}
== [[Radio]] ==▼
▲== Radio ==
* Averted in "Fredrickism", a skit by [[Hudson and Landry]] about a [[Scam Religion]]. When asked if Fredrickism believes in reincarnation, founder Freddie Schultz says they don't need to: if you follow all 26 Commandments then you [[Immortality|never die]].
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==▼
▲== Tabletop Games ==
* The Freedom City setting for ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'' has The Scarab, a superhero who was originally the Pharoah Heru-Ra. Like Hawkman, he is destined to be killed by the reincarnation of the priest who killed him the first time, Tan-Aktor, who is currently Overshadow, the setting's Supreme Hydra [[Captain Ersatz]].
* The world of ''[[Exalted]]'' works under a system of reincarnation, with a person's "higher soul" entering into the spin cycle until it's abandoned all memories of its former life. However, the titular Exalted effectively receive another soul at the moment of their Exaltation, and receive flashes of the life the previous bearer led.
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* ''[[Fire Born]]'' actually uses this as a core mechanic, interestingly they do this by making you jump between your current incarnation and your previous ones.
** It is actually stated in the source books of the game that Reincarnation is part of the draconic life cycle
* In the ''[[Planescape]]'' setting, the Godsmen are a group that believes every being in existence is being tested; pass the test, and you [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]], fail and you get reincarnated and try again. (Similar to the concept of Nirvana.) They aren't quite sure what the tests are (like whether they have to be Good, Evil, Lawful, Chaotic, or whether it's something else) but they're trying to figure that out.
* ''[[Ravenloft]]'':
** In the backstory of Strahd von Zarovich, a powerful vampire and the Darklord of Barovia, the curse he endures is punishment for murdering his brother Sergi in order to possess Sergi's bride-to-be, [[World's Most Beautiful Woman| Tania]]. She fled from him, throwing herself off the roof of the highest tower of Castle Ravenloft, her body never found. In the centuries since, as ruler and prisoner of Barovia, Strahd remains obsessed with Tania, certain she still lives, often certain he sees her among his subjects, but never able to gain her. He isn't wrong. Due to the will of the Dark Powers who torment the Darklords endlessly, Tania has been reincarnated many times over the years, in many ways, and every time, she sees Strahd as a vile monster that she must oppose or avoid.
** Later it is stated that every Barovian citizen who has a soul (which is about 10% of the population, not including the Vishanti) is a reincarnation of one of the resident from that same time when Barovia first became part of Ravenloft, the other 90% are soulless beings created by the Demiplane, loyal and emotionless subjects who are there to maintain Strahd's eternal punishment. It seems the souls of the original residents of Barovia can never go to any afterlife, and are instead reincarnated endlessly; the reason for the soulless ones is simple to determine - after many centuries the population has grown, and more children are born than there are souls available.
*** The 5th Edition has expanded this odd phenomenon, making it not unique to Barovia. Assuming a Domain had mortal civilians at all to begin with, they are reincarnated endlessly, with population growth resulting in soulless citizens, their presence endlessly reminding the Darklords of their crimes and failures, causing them to be tormented by their doubt and self-loathing.
== [[Theatre]] ==
* Daisy, the main character of the [[Musical]] ''On A Clear Day You Can See Forever'', is actually the reincarnation of a woman named Melinda Welles, which her therapist discovers when he puts her under hypnosis. Inevitably he falls for Melinda.
* In ''[[Theater/The Adding Machine|The Adding Machine]]'', it's explained by Lieutenant Charles that souls get recycled until they're worn out, because it's not worth making one just to use it once. Zero has been there at least fifty thousand times before, and each time he went back [[It Got Worse|he got worse]].
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Link and Zelda in every ''[[The Legend of Zelda|Legend of Zelda]]'' game are theorized to be reincarnations of the original Link and Zelda from ''[[Skyward Sword]]''. While Zelda is always reincarnated in her own bloodline, Link can be ''anyone'', though somehow he always looks similar to his predecessors. Link and Zelda are always reincarnated at about the same time and they are always the respective bearers of the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom. Even their personalities can vary, but they usually don't. The notable exception is Tetra, who is the ''Wind Waker'' incarnation of Zelda; having been raised by pirates, she's a bossy tomboy. She's still a worthy carrier of the Triforce of Wisdom, since she's just as smart as all past Zeldas.
** In ''[[Skyward Sword]]'', {{spoiler|Zelda is the reincarnation of the Goddess Hylia}}. It also raises the possibility of reincarnation applying to {{spoiler|Link; particularly when we consider what Fi, the spirit of the Master Sword, says to him in the end}}:
{{quote|Fi: {{spoiler|May we meet again in another life.}}}}
:* The Ancient Hero, first mentioned in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild|Breath of the Wild]]'', puts a new spin on this, expanding the idea that Link could be reborn as ''anyone''. Artwork shown in BotW shows this hero fighting Calamity Ganon thousands of years before the events of the present day, and because he is holding the Master Sword, players assumed this was a previous incarnation of Link. In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom|Tears of the Kingdom]]'' Link can gain the Ancient Hero Armor that gives him the appearance of the Ancient Hero - and it is obvious that this is person was a Zonia. It thus seems that Link's multiple lives do not necessarily have to be of the Hyrulean race, and opens a lot of possibilies. Could Link be reborn as one of the other four allied races? Maybe even a [[Distaff Counterpart]] as a Gerudo? Unfortunately, this seems more [[Fanfic Fuel]] that anything else, but it does get one to wonder.
* The ''entire main cast'' in ''[[Tales of Innocence]]''. The main character, Ruca, was a general named Asras on one side of a war in Heaven dedicated to capturing the "Souseiryoku" and reuniting Heaven with Earth. Throughout the entire game, the characters explore the distinction between themselves and their past lives, with a climax in which {{spoiler|Ruca discovers that two of the other playable characters' old identities betrayed Asras, and goes through a fairly explosive [[Heroic BSOD]] before having to reconcile his friends and comrades with the actions of their previous selves. In the end, he decides to go through with Asras' plan, with all of his allies (including some of Asras' old enemies) helping.}}
** The point translates into gameplay, as every reincarnated person can assume their original form through a process called "Awakening", and each main character's Awakening is their [[Limit Break|Hi-Ougi]].
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* Fae and Arasai (an [[Evil Twin]] ''race'') from [[EverQuest II]] ''all'' go through this process, so long as their spirit bud remains intact in-between lives.
* ''[[Disgaea]]'': {{spoiler|Rozalin happens to be having some dreams about a blood-smeared battlefield after her sudden departure from her luxurious mansion. These are actually vivid memories of her past life as the real Overlord Zenon. That life comes back to haunt her more than any reincarnation normally should.}}
** In many [[Nippon Ichi]] games, reincarnation is a vital tool to power up your [[Player
* Reincarnation is a central theme of the ''[[Soul Blazer]]'' trilogy, for the hero and the many creatures he interacts with. [[Soul Blazer|Blazer]] is implied to have been reincarnated many times in the service of The Master (Deathtoll calls him a "creature that suffers eternal transmigration of the soul and cannot die"), and [[Illusion of Gaia|Will]] and his friends reincarnate and meet each other at the end of his journey. [[Terranigma]]'s Ark has reincarnation play out for him in a horribly depressing way. {{spoiler|He is fated to continue the cycle of death and rebirth; resurrecting one world and destroying the other; himself included, each time switching between Light and Dark. It's said that he has done this countless times in countless lives and will continue to do it countless times again.}}
* Souls can be reincarnated in ''[[Afterlife]]'', provided [[Be Careful What You Wish For|they believed in it before they died]]. This is achieved by chucking them through a glowing portal-nexus-thingy situated halfway between heaven and hell, which in turn is accessible by a special soul train.
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* In ''[[Agarest Senki 2]]'', {{spoiler|all three protagonists are the reincarnation of Chaos, leader god of darkness. The reincarnation happens after you play through the prologue of the game but you don't get to find out until the third generation.}}
* ''[[Lufia and The Fortress of Doom|Lufia 1]] & [[Lufia: The Legend Returns|3]]'', the blue haired heroines are both reincarnations of {{spoiler|Erim the Sinistrals of Death}}, and both are in love with the red headed heroes with [[Heroic Lineage|the same blood line]]. Since [[Lufia: The Legend Returns|Lufia 3]] is a sequel, [[Generation Xerox|this means the history repeats itself.]]
* {{spoiler|Either this or [[Ascended to A Higher Plane of Existence]] happens to Asura and the rest of the Shinkoku race when they can no longer live without the source of mantra powering themselves in}} ''[[Asura's Wrath]]'', given the East Asian mythology with [[Schizo-Tech]] theme of the game, . The [[Distant Finale]] shows {{spoiler| a modern-day version of Earth where the Seven Deities have all been reincarnated as mortals.}}
* The Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah in ''[[Star Control]] II'' believe in reincarnation. {{spoiler|This is one way they rationalize their genocide of all other life in the galaxy: any life they take will eventually be reincarnated as a Kohr-Ah, so there's no permanent harm done.}} There's no evidence to show that this is actually the case, however.
* Aleksander and Alison from ''[[My Life in Blue]]'' have been reincarnated together many times over the ages, brutally dying every time.
* ''[[Something*Positive]]'' has {{spoiler|Silas returning as a blond kid after he died and had stayed for some time in hell}}.
== [[Web Original]] ==
▲== Web Originals ==
* Sasha Hunter of ''[[Greek Ninja]]'' is in fact the reincarnation of Eli of Thrace, a mythological hero.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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* The [[Twist Ending]] in this short film "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMKcThzud-A Get Out]"
* Sometimes referenced by Hindu character Apu in episodes of ''[[The Simpsons]]''. In one episode, as he's getting ready to hang himself, he looks at a "reincarnation chart" to see what he'll be in the next life. In a Treehouse of Horror episode parodying ''[[The Most Dangerous Game]]'', he dies but immediately reincarnates as a rabbit.
== Real Life ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Narrative Devices]]
[[Category:Religion Tropes]]
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[[Category:Rebirth and Reincarnation Tropes]]
[[Category:Afterlife Tropes]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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