All The Tropes

Came Back Strong: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Came Back Strong (view source)

Revision as of 00:24, 9 April 2014

454 bytes removed ,  10 years ago
m
Mass update links
VisualWikitext
({{deathtrope}})
m (Mass update links)
Line 6:
[[The Hero]] is fighting [[The Dragon]], or the [[Big Bad]], and finds out he is [[Hopeless Boss Fight|hopelessly outmatched]]. The villain decides to go ahead and [[Just Shoot Him|kill him off]], and it's over. The hero is dead.
 
Or is he? Perhaps he was [[Only Mostly Dead]], or [[Death Is Cheap]]. Or maybe [[The Medic]] was able to bring him back. Either way, he starts to fight again, and reveals that thanks to his defeat, he [[Took a Level In Badass]] and may have access to [[New Powers Asas the Plot Demands|powers that he never had before]].
 
Congratulations, he just [[Came Back Strong]]. It's not a [[Desperation Attack]], [[Heroic Resolve]], or [[One-Winged Angel]], but a permanent increase in one's [[Power Level]]. It could be that dying has opened his mind to new possibilities, he literally [[Training From Hell|trained]] [[Like a Badass Out of Hell|in hell]], he was granted access to new spirit powers, a [[MacGuffin]] is used to help him return and he gains special abilities from it, or maybe his [[DragonballDragon Ball|race just makes him stronger from death]].
 
Contrast [[Came Back Wrong]]. Compare [[Heroic Second Wind]], which is similar to this without the nasty implications of death.
Line 27:
* Phoenix Ikki in ''[[Saint Seiya]]''. Every time he's killed, he gets back twice as strong. Given that he died quite a few times, he's a undisputed powerhouse now.
* In ''[[Bleach]]'', the straightest example would be Ichigo's near death, or hollow, transformation to regain his spirit powers. The normal example of dying and becoming a shinigami or a hollow does not work because you never come back to life, [[Killed Off for Real|you stay dead]].
** Ichigo's [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Hollow]] form is a unique example. Basically, whenever Ichigo is [[Only Mostly Dead]], it tends to take advantage of his weakness by taking control of his body. However, it states on several occasions that if Ichigo's truly dies ''dies'' then something bad will happen (he tends to be very vague on what that is, [[Depending Onon the Writer|depending on the translation]]. After Ulquiorra blasts a hole straight through Ichigo's chest we find out just what that is: the Hollow's powers go ''completely'' insane and neither side has any control over them.
* In ''[[Princess Resurrection]]'', one has to die in order to become an immortal blood warrior.
* Brook from ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]]'' plays this somewhat straight. He died and came back as a skeleton, so, while he isn't explicitly stronger, he is much faster now, a lot harder to kill, and able to do things like run on water or jump distances that are ridiculous even by [[World of Badass|One Piece]] standards.
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Mangamanga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', Ed and Al both nearly die when they try to resurrect their mother. They barely survive and gain the ability to use alchemy without circles, and Al is also a [[Made of Indestructium]] [[Animated Armor]].
* ''[[Code Breaker]]'''s Ogami pulls this trope twice. The first time when he was a child and received the Emperor's flame, and the second when Yuuki kills him and the Emperor allows him access to the next flame for making the [[Secret Test of Character|correct]] [[Take a Third Option|choice]].
* Tsukune Aono from ''[[Rosario to Vampire]]'' combines this trope with [[Came Back Wrong]] via liberal use of vampire blood. Later it's just this trope when he learns to control his [[Super-Powered Evil Side]].
* In ''[[King of Thorn (Manga)|King of Thorn]]'', {{spoiler|Marco Owen}} is killed by Zeus. However, another character sacrifices her life to bring him back, and the new Medusa-enhanced body she gives him has useful new abilities such as a resistance to Zeus's electrical attacks.
* In ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'', every time [[Complete Monster|Myotismon]] is killed, he eventually simply comes back in a more powerful form. {{spoiler|Until the [[Grand Finale]] of ''Adventure 02'', where his ''soul'' is blown up, most likely rendering him [[Deader Than Dead]].}}
* ''[[Inuyasha]]'': {{spoiler|[[Noble Demon|Sesshoumaru]]}} is [[Impaled Withwith Extreme Prejudice]] by {{spoiler|[[Ultimate Evil|Magatsuhi]]}}, leaving [[The Hero|Inuyasha]] to try and [[Badass in Distress|rescue him]]. Inuyasha, however, doesn't have the strength to fight something that {{spoiler|defeated Sesshoumaru so impressively}} and ends up on the verge of suffering the same fate {{spoiler|as his brother. That's when Sesshoumaru [[Chain -Reaction Destruction|breaks]] [[Fantastic Nuke|free]] of Magatsuhi's bonds and [[Came Back Strong|returns]] to the [[Weapon of Mass Destruction|fight]]. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|In style]].}}
* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', {{spoiler|it is later revealed that Negi died from [[Heroic RROD]] after his fight with Dynamis, and came back via [[Black Magic|Magia Erebea]], [[Humanoid Abomination|fusing with it]] in the process.}}
* A few characters in [[Psyren]]
Line 47:
* ''[[Watchmen]]'''s Dr. Manhattan also fulfills this trope, although it's not solely his death that is the catalyst of his powers, but the way he died.
* In the original Thanos stories in the 1970s, this was how Adam Warlock "finally" defeated Thanos.
* In ''[[Invincible (Comic Book)|Invincible]]'', Allen the Alien becomes stronger every time he regenerates from life-threatening wounds. At the beginning of the series, he was barely able to fight the [[Flying Brick|Virtumites one on one]]. Now he's more than a match for one or two of them.
* This is [[Superman]] foe Doomsday's power; whenever he is killed, he is able to come back to life, with an [[Adaptive Ability|added resistance to anything that had ever killed him before.]]
* In volume six of ''[[Scott Pilgrim vs. the World]]'', Scott gets killed by Gideon, gets trapped in limbo, comes back (because of his extra life), and defeats Gideon, thanks to the power of understanding.
Line 53:
* Phoenix from ''[[X-Men]]'', overlapping with [[Came Back Wrong]] - at least until the [[Retcon]] that the "Jean Grey" from the shuttle crash to her death on the moon was an impostor.
** Later, in the Planet X arc, Jean and Wolverine are headed into the sun, and Wolvie kills Jean to spare her the agony of incineration. She soon awakens in full Phoenix mode, reshapes the asteroid into a ship with the power of her mind, and easily returns to Earth. And ''this'' time, she came back right.
* In the ''[[Star Wars Legacy]]'' comics, {{spoiler|[[Big Bad]] Darth Krayt comes back from the dead and is no longer bothered by the crippling Yuuzhan Vong implants while also becoming more formidable and [[Drunk Onon the Dark Side]] than ever. He then attempts to invoke this trope on Cade Skywalker, hoping Cade will have the same reaction with [[The Dark Side]] and finally be his disciple, but it just encourages Cade to embrace the Light Side and kill Krayt}}.
* [[Doctor Strange]], as part of his trials to become Sorcerer Supreme, had to meet Death in combat. When he realized he couldn't defeat or escape Death, he surrendered entirely to it, died, and was restored to life -- now [[The Ageless|functionally immortal]].
Line 71:
** Also occurs to Godzilla himself in ''Godzilla VS Mechagodzilla II'' when {{spoiler|Rodan sacrifices himself to revive Godzilla after Mechagodzilla nearly kils him}}. Godzilla becomes more powerful because of it and gains his most powerful attack-the Spiral Beam, which he uses to utterly obliterate Mechagodzilla.
* {{spoiler|Neo}} of ''[[The Matrix]]'' only gets to awake his spoon-bending powers after being killed by {{spoiler|Agent Smith}} in the first movie.
* [[Robo CopRoboCop]]
 
Line 78:
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Gandalf the Grey dies and comes back as Gandalf the White.
* [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Dead Zone]]'': A man is critically injured in a car accident and is in a coma for five years. When he wakes up, he has psychic powers, including precognition and psychometry.
** ''[[Dreamcatcher (Literature)|Dreamcatcher]]'' by Stephen King (book and film): Jonesy's near-death experience is necessary for him to fight off [[The Greys|Mr. Gray]] — to the point that the heroes' [[Waif Prophet|mentally-retarded messianic spirit guide]] appears to him in a vision [[Chessmaster|to make him]] almost kill himself so as to [[I Need You Stronger|prepare him]] to battle aliens.
* In [[Eoin Colfer]]'s ''[[Series/The Supernaturalist|The Supernaturalist]]'', people who've undergone a near-death experience can see the Parasites - not always permanently, but that's how it is for all the named characters - and are therefore able to fight them. (So can [[Bizarre Baby Boom|Bartoli babies]], but that's beside the point.)
* In the ''[[Magic the Gathering|Magic: The Gathering]]'' novels, a [[A God Am I|Planeswalker]] only has full access to their powers after experiencing extreme physical trauma (sometimes, but not always, death).
** In the game itself, there are cards that do that to both players and creatures. Tuktuk the Explorer does this to himself: A 2/2 for three mana, he's beneath the curve. When he dies, you put a 5/5 token into play called Tuktuk the Returned.
* ''[[A Madness of Angels]]'' by Kate Griffin begins with the protagonist being mysteriously resurrected, possessed (and empowered) by {{spoiler|the "blue electric angels" of telephony}}.
Line 93:
 
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': When Xander resurrects Buffy from her death at the Master's hands, she comes back stronger, knows instinctively where he's going, and is no longer vulnerable to his hypnosis.
* This is basically what happens in ''[[Kamen Rider 555]]'' when someone is killed and revived as an Orphnoch.
* ''[[Kamen Rider Agito]]'' gave us Gills, who died of his powers breaking down his body but was revived by a psychic with healing abilities. The result not only cures him of his degrading body but grants him the power to become [[Super Mode|Exceed Gills]].
* Gentaro Kisaragi, a.k.a. ''[[Kamen Rider Fourze (TV)|Kamen Rider Fourze]]'', is killed in #31 by Kamen Rider Meteor (who made a [[Deal Withwith the Devil]] with the Ares Zodiarts to save his best friend), only for Kengo to use the Cosmic Switch (which they hadn't been able to get to work before that) to revive him, giving him his [[Super Mode]] in the process.
* In ''[[Charmed (TV)|Charmed]],'' when Cole arrives in the underworld, he finds that the souls of demons have their powers eaten by the creatures that live there. He decides to get in on that action, and collects enough powers to return to the land of the living, and with almost ''every'' demonic power there is. Unfortunately, it eventually drove him crazy, and he wanted to die, but couldn't.
 
== [[Mythology And Religion]] ==
* In [[Norse Mythology]], Odin sacrificed himself on Yggdrasil and after he came back to life, he knew magic.
* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: Jesus in [[The Bible (Literature)|the New Testament]].
* In Inuit mythology, Sedna is just an ordinary woman until her father chops off her fingers and throws her into the ocean. She becomes the goddess of the ocean, the most important goddess of the Inuit cosmology because it's only with her on their side that the people can avoid starvation. Her fingers turn into seals.
* In Yoruban mythology and Santeria, Shango. He was an ordinary king until he hanged himself and became one of the most powerful (and popular) Orisha. His salute means "the king is not hanged".
Line 116:
* In [[wikipedia:Brave New World (role-playing game)|Brave New World]] characters gain super powers by undergoing a near-death experience while in mortal danger.
* In the ''[[Pathfinder]]'' tabletop game, being born dead and then coming back to life is one of the possible origins of a sorcerers powers.
* ''[[Geist: The Sin Eaters (Tabletop Game)|Geist: The Sin Eaters]]'': As mortals, Sin-Eaters typically have some sort of connection to fate or the world of the dead (represented by glimpses of ghosts or strange hunches). Once they die, however, a [[Our Ghosts Are Different|geist]] offers them the chance to come back, and when they accept, they gain access to a whole suite of powers.
* In order to become an [[Walking Wasteland|Abyssal]] [[Exalted]], you have to be on the exact verge of death at the time.
* In ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', this is how the Risen Martyr [[Prestige Class]] works. A saintly character is temporarily resurrected after their martyrdom and given extra powers to complete their unfinished task... in theory. In practice the class is terrible <ref>The "Iron Chef" competition, centered around making builds that allow even the worst classes to playable, refuses to run it because is THAT bad</ref>, doesn't give you the choice to pick levels in anything else and the final ability ''kills you again''. Even in the worlds without resurrection it is intend for, its more practical to just make a new character.
* The new "Undying" rule in ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering]]'' leads to creatures that have undying responding to being Doom Bladed by returning from the graveyard with slightly higher power and toughness. Hilariously, if combined with persist (which leads to "came back weaker"), you can get creatures that simply ''never die''.
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
* [[Zettai Hero Kaizou Keikaku|Zettai Hero Project: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman]] has this as one of the core mechanics. Every time you get killed, you lose the items you're carrying and get sent back to level 1, but your basic stats increased depending on your "total level earned", and stats boost you get from level up depends on your basic stats. As [[Spirit Guide|Pirohiko]] says, a hero always comes back from the brink of defeat to save the day!
* ''[[Mega Man X (Video Game)|Mega Man X]]'s'' Zero died the first game, was rebuilt in the interim, and came back with upgraded armor and weapons in the second game. A lesser version occurred with X5 and X6. {{spoiler|He didn't get new armor, and the offensive boost was basically a tweaked [[Arm Cannon]], but he did gain a [[Double Jump]] as a standard ability.}}
* Used in the ''[[Disgaea]]'' games. You level up, then you reincarnate into a new body that starts with better stats. The game more plays with this trope.
* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (Videovideo Gamegame)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2006]]'' features the controversial kiss from Princess Elise that {{spoiler|not only revives Sonic from dead-but-not-really-death but}} transforms him into Super Sonic for the final boss.
* ''[[Blaz Blue]]'': Ragna nearly bled to death after ''[[Big Bad|s]][[Complete Monster|o]][[Magnificent Bastard|m]][[For the Evulz|e]][[Memetic Badass|o]][[Troll|n]][[Faux Affably Evil|e]]'' cut off his arm and burned down his home. Then he was bitten by a vampire {{spoiler|and fused with the corpse of an [[Eldritch Abomination]]}}. This gave him the [[Artifact of Doom|Azure Grimoire]] and Soul Eater powers which turned him into a [[One-Man Army]]. The bad news is that {{spoiler|if he uses them too much, he will ''turn into'' the aforementioned [[Eldritch Abomination]].}}
* Happens in ''[[Jade Empire]]'' when your Spirit Monk is killed by the main villain, then finds the last piece of the [[Amulet of Concentrated Awesome|Dragon Amulet]] while fighting his/her way back from the spirit world.
* Death Knights from the ''[[War CraftWarcraft]]'' series combine this trope with a bit of [[Came Back Wrong]]. Most Death Knights are already powerful Warriors or Paladins to begin with, but when they are raised they are imbued with powers over necromancy and disease, making them the Scourge's most powerful soldiers. This is less evident in [[World of Warcraft]] due to the obvious balance issues making Death Knights more powerful than the other classes would cause, but from a [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|lore standpoint]] it remains true, even though it only translates into a higher starting level.
** In [[World of Warcraft]] Cataclysm's Rage of the Firelands patch, you confront Alysra and defeat her single-handedly in a quest. After you do so, some Druids of the Flame arrive, and revive her as a fire hawk, resulting in her flying off to the Firelands and becoming a much more difficult raid boss that requires 10-25 players to defeat.
** Ingvar the Plunderer in Utgarde Keep combines this with [[Trick Boss]]. After he's reanimated as an undead, his abilities become more powerful. Similarly, the Black Knight goes from being defeated alone in a quest to being a 5-man dungeon boss in Trial of the Champion. The Scourge had a habit of handing out this type of upgrade during their heyday.
* Happens to the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Final Fantasy II (Video Game)|Final Fantasy II]]''. The Emperor comes back to life as a lich king, having taken control of Hell and its legions. In ''Soul of Rebirth'', his good side took over Heaven.
* In ''[[Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IV]]'' this happens to a few bosses. When you kill {{spoiler|the Earth Fiend Scarmiglione, he comes back as a zombie, attacking from behind}} or {{spoiler|Dr. Lugae, he comes back as a cyborg}}.
* This is how you beat {{spoiler|Izanami}} in ''[[Persona 4 (Video Game)|Persona 4]]'', with a little help from [[The Power of Friendship]].
* Before the events of ''[[Tsukihime]]'', Tohno Shiki has the ability to see "things which are hidden". When he is killed and brought back to life, this mutates into the ability to ''see death'', allowing him to cut anything by tracing its "lines of death" or destroy anything by stabbing its "point of death". This manages to be [[Story-Breaker Power|even more overpowered than it sounds]], but Shiki has to wear [[Anti-Magic]] glasses to [[Blessed Withwith Suck|prevent going mad]] (besides the obvious reasons, just looking at a "very immortal" character for too long can cause brain damage).
** Ryougi Shiki in the earlier ''[[Kara noKarano Kyoukai (Literature)|Kara no Kyoukai]]'' gains a stronger version of the same ability when one of her [[Split Personality|two personalities]] dies, leaving a hole to "Origin" in its place. {{spoiler|Effectively her new second personality is the universe itself, and possesses unlimited power}}
* The Nameless One in ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' sometimes regains memories after he dies and comes back, which can translate into more experience points, and hence more power.
* In ''[[Starcraft II (Video Game)|Starcraft II]]'', one mission against a [[Hybrid Monster]] named Maar has him repeatedly assaulting your small base. If you kill him, he keeps coming back, larger, with more hit points and a more powerful attack.
* In ''[[Shin Megami Tensei (Franchise)|Shin Megami Tensei]]: [[Strange Journey]]'', the {{spoiler|Tyrants you defeated in the first four sectors}} come back in new, [[One-Winged Angel|terrifying forms]] in {{spoiler|Sector 6, Fornax}}, but not before declaring a [[It's Personal|personal war]] on ''you'', Captain [[Hello, Insert Name Here]].
** Additionally, {{spoiler|Commander Gore is killed very early into the mission}}. However, the forces of the Schwarzwelt {{spoiler|bring him back as a puppet and an observer, in a type of zombie called Ubergestalt. When he shakes off control, he reveals that not only has he regained his humanity, but he now possesses supernatural abilities and superhuman traits}}.
* In ''[[Ogre Battle]]'' series (and ''[[Tactics Ogre]]'' games from the same universe) it's possible to ressurect your fallen units as undead. They have weakness against enemy clerics, but often much stronger then they was in live. In ''Knight of Lodis'' it's possible to ressurect fallen knight as Angel Knight, one of the best classes in game, who doesn't have weakness to holy.
Line 151:
 
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'', Roy trained with his dead grandpa during his stay in heaven, and learned a new sword technique when he came back.
** Sort of. It doesn't actually count until he takes the feat to actually be able to use the move. And since he probably didn't earn any experience points in heaven, and the resurrection spell results in the loss of a level, he actually came back weaker, but has the potential to become stronger, with a special move to one-shot a level 9+ Cleric.
* In ''[[FreakangelsFreak Angels]]'', all the titular characters have regenerative immortality and sustaining normally fatal injuries expands their already formidable [[Psychic Powers]].
* In ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'', dying upon a Quest Bed ascends players of Sburb to the [[Physical God|God Tiers]], a tier of power beyond the standard levels which grants the player immense power over their elemental aspect, together with conditional immortality. Six characters have done this: {{spoiler|[[The Hero|John]], [[The Smart Guy|Rose]], [[The Lancer|Dave]], [[The Chick|Jade]], [[Munchkin|Vriska]] and [[Emotionless Girl|Aradia]].}}
** {{spoiler|Gamzee too, although [[Monster Clown|that's likely less desirable.]]}}
** {{spoiler|[[Team Mom|Kanaya]]}} mysteriously came back as a [[Our Vampires Are Different|Rainbow Drinker]]. [[The Omniscient|Doc Scratch]] apparently had something to do with it.
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'', the very first antagonist, the Goo, came back as the Omega Goo in the second arc complete with abilities related to the way it was defeated the first time.
* In ''[[Our Little Adventure]]'', Jane came back to help her friends as a ghost. Her ghost powers included some nifty new attacks.
 
== [[Web Original]] ==
* The ''[[DragonballDragon Ball|DBZ]]'' example is played with in Team Four Star's ''[[Dragon Ball Abridged]]'' after Dende first heals Krillin and Gohan.
{{quote| '''Vegeta''': Unlike the runt [Gohan] and I, you don't get a power boost from it.<br />
'''Krillin''': HAX!!! I CALL HAX!!! }}
Line 169:
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Parodied on ''[[South Park]]'' in which Cartman throws himself off a roof in a poorly-planned attempt to fly and wakes up from a coma in the hospital, and the cops who have the ''[[Idiot Ball]]'' believe he has precognition. [[Only Sane Man|Kyle]] later does the same thing at the end of the episode so people will [[Cassandra Truth|believe him]] about the serial killer's identity and Cartman's uselessness. Eerily, the lights flicker violently when Kyle gets frustrated.
* [[Played With]] in the series finale to the original ''[[Transformers Generation One1|Transformers series]]'' when Optimus Prime is [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|brought back to life]] [[In Its Hour of Need]] and promptly rebuilt as a [[Chrome Champion]] to defeat the [[Hate Plague]].
* The season two opener for ''[[Beast Wars (Animation)|Beast Wars]]'' ends with Optimus Primal coming back from the dead, complete with a [[Mid-Season Upgrade]]. He sweeps in and singlehandedly drives off the Predacon army.
* {{spoiler|Octus}} was killed in episode 18 of ''[[Sym -Bionic Titan]]'' and remained that way through episode 19. {{spoiler|Octus is revived in episode 20 by the leader of G3. While he himself hasn't been shown to have become stronger, the Titan gets an upgrade as a result, gaining powerful energy beams and is generally overall stronger. Lance even comments that it's stronger than before.}}
* [[Jerkass|Colonel H. Stinkmeaner]] from ''[[The Boondocks]]'' was just an annoying, foul mouthed old blind guy, who got his ass whooped, and died as a result. Come season 2, we find out he's been spending his time in Hell(Like he'd get into Heaven...) turning himself into a kung fu asskicker. When he get's sent back to Earth, he mops the floor with the Freemans.
** Helps that he could see this time, and he was possessing a young man.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/913747"