Top 17 Anime Characters Who Came Back To Life

(Last Updated On: May 12, 2022)

Anime is without a doubt one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the world. Because of its broad array of characters, engaging narrative, and eye-catching visuals, it appeals to a wide spectrum of viewers.
However, anime sometimes becomes hazardous because its characters put everything on the line, and they’re occasionally driven into circumstances where making the incorrect decision might mean the difference between life and death. Nevertheless, death is frequently the last thing on many characters’ minds.

There are characters who have died in some sad tragedy throughout numerous animated universes, only to return to the living world a few episodes later. Here are ten examples of characters who were killed but given a second chance at life.

So, without further ado, here are the Top 17 Anime Characters Who Came Back To Life.

17. Madara Uchiha – Naruto series

Madara Uchiha is one of the main antagonists of the Naruto manga and anime series. He is the co-founder of the village of Konohagakure (the Village Hidden in the Leaves) and its first Rogue Ninja.

Madara, on the other hand, isn’t intended to be in the same timeframe as Naruto. Madara was a Konoha progenitor who had been dead for a long time, but he had long planned his resurrection through his clan’s offspring. Through pure talent and clan specialization, particularly with the Izanagi jutsu, Madara was able to undo his death at the hands of Hasirama Senju, the first Hokage.

Madara continued his ambitions to achieve peace through his own twisted vision when he “resurrected” himself. As a result, Madara became the de facto villain of Naruto Shippuuden as a result, until he was dethroned by a more powerful, unkillable foe. After resurrecting from the dead, Madara nearly destroyed the entire world (not just Konoha).

16. Negi Springfield – Negima! Magister Negi Magi

Negi Springfield is the main protagonist of the manga/anime Negima! Magister Negi Magi and Negima!. He is a mage in training and the homeroom and English teacher of Class 3-A (formerly 2-A) of Mahora Academy Middle School for girls. He is the leader of Ala Alba. He’s also a Chosen One like Konoka.

Negi realizes that he doesn’t have the time to learn and master the powers of light like his father, so he chooses to pursue the power of darkness instead. Negi is thrown into a coma in order to master an altogether new level of power, forcing him to fight an imaginary version of the vampire witch Evangeline in a death duel. Despite the fact that it is obvious that if he does not vanquish Evangeline soon, his physical body will perish, Negi is slain multiple times during his fight with Evangeline.

When they first meet, she stabs him in the heart and even asks him, “What is the number of times it occurs? 70 years old? “, then dumped him in a pool of his own blood. Sure, he eventually prevailed after so many deaths, but if he had been fighting the real Evangeline, he would have died 100 times more.

15. Yusuke Urameshi – YuYu Hakusho

Another anime protagonist who is immediately killed. Yusuke was the stereotypical anime bad boy in Yu Yu Hakusho. He drinks, gambles, and gets into fights all the time. Surprisingly, Yusuke died after saving a child by pushing him out of the way of an oncoming car, instead of being hit by the vehicle. Yusuke astonished the Spirit World by performing such a selfless act.

They granted him a second chance at life, but only provided he spent it well. Still, something had changed for Yusuke; he could now see demons masquerading as mortals in the real world. As a result, the Spirit World assigned him the title of Spirit Detective and bestowed upon him the power to blast energy from his index finger, a.k.a. the iconic Spirit Gun.

14. Subaru Natsuki – Re:Zero

The protagonist of the anime Re:Zero is Subaru Natsuki. Natsuki is less fortunate than the majority of the other characters in this story, who are resurrected only to return stronger. He usually returns less powerful than before, but more calloused.

When Natsuki dies, he resurrects, or “respawns,” if you will, into a previous time period. That implies he has the power to alter the course of his death and even save some people’s lives. Natsuki respawns at certain checkpoints in the tale or progression, similar to a video game. It all started with a trip to the convenience shop.

13. Krillin – Dragon Ball series

Krillin is a supporting protagonist in the DragonBall series. He’s one of the most powerful and talented martial artists on Earth. He is courageous, faithful, and good-natured.

We might as well include all of the characters from DragonBall series anime because they are constantly killed and resurrected as if they were changing clothing. In fact, Krillin has died at least four times throughout the franchise. He’s just fortunate to have Super Saiyan pals and a formidable wife who will wish him well once all the Dragon Balls have been discovered.

That is why, in addition to his gleaming Shaolin monk helmet, Krillin is rumored to have more than nine lives. In any case, Krillin has learnt to appreciate his beautiful family and live life to the fullest.

12. Issei Hyoudou – High School DxD

Issei Hyoudou is the main male protagonist of High School DxD. He is a third-year high school student at Kuoh Academy in Class 3-B and a member of the school’s “Perverted Trio”, a trio of the most perverted men in the entire student body.

He was introduced as a bad anime character who spent his entire life being a pervert to girls and had no ambitions. He needs to take a hard look at his life. When he was killed in the first episode, he had his chance. Because his body appeared to be carrying a deadly artifact known as “Sacred Gear,” Issei had to be slain by a fallen angel.

He was revived by a demon, to whom he now owes his life, because he was on this list. So she used Issei as a demon pawn in their high school’s secret occult society. Issei’s life as a high school pervert turned out to be a lot easier than he expected, and now he has to learn how to survive in the dog-eat-dog demon world after being transformed into one. From Issei’s perspective, there was a silver lining in the shape of all the ecchi fan service.

11. Sid Barrett – Soul Eater

Sid Barrett is a three star master partner to Mira Naigus, instructor of Death Weapon Meister Academy, and a high-ranking member of the DWMA Central Intelligence Agency.

A terrible witch who wanted to ruin the academy assassinated Sid Barrett. He was revived by the mad scientist Dr. Stein, who converted him into a zombie, a short time later. He even utilized a tombstone to defend himself against Maka and Black Star at the same time, yet he wasn’t reduced to comic book fodder as a result. Sid’s exact procedures for becoming a zombie are never revealed, and it’s sometimes difficult to believe he was previously human.

10. Ichiro Inuyashiki – Inuyashiki

Ichiro Inuyashiki is the eponymous main protagonist of the series Inuyashiki. He is a middle-aged salaryman whose body was rebuilt as an android after he was killed by the UFO, along with Hiro Shishigami. Ichiro lives with his Inuyashiki family.

Ichiro was a senior citizen who realized he didn’t have much time left after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. Ichiro and a young child called Hiro were struck and murdered by a UFO while taking a late-night stroll through the park. Ichiro and Hiro’s bodies were promptly rebuilt by the extraterrestrial pilots using the only resources available on their ship: weaponry.

Even after watching the episode and getting a better grasp of Ichiro’s new body, fans may still be perplexed as to how these aliens were able to reconstruct a mechanical body for him while reawakening his consciousness after utterly obliterating Ichiro’s body.

9. Joseph Joestar – JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Joseph Joestar is the overall deuteragonist of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure franchise.He is the main protagonist in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency, the deuteragonist in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, and a supporting character in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable.

Joseph Joestar, who started out as a smooth-talking wannabe ladies’ guy, went on to become one of the most inventive and devious Joestars of all time. He was always able to pull himself out of sticky situations, so admirers couldn’t believe it when he died from a knife wound to the neck. Some of Dio’s blood was pumped into Joestar’s body in an attempt to resuscitate him, and he was successfully revived.

This didn’t make sense because his body had already lost its color by the time the transfusion was administered, and vampire blood from Dio’s body wouldn’t be suitable for a Hamon user. Wouldn’t that imply that Joseph would become a vampire and that using Hamon would effectively burn the blood that ran through his veins?

8. Ash Ketchum – Pokémon franchise

Ash Ketchum, known as Satoshi in Japan, is a fictional character in the Pokemon franchise owned by Nintendo. He is the protagonist of the Pokemon anime and certain manga series, as well as various merchandise related to the franchise.

Throughout all of the Pokemon films and anime, Ash was confirmed to have died at least three times, but he was resurrected in each of them. He even separated his soul from his body in two of these three deaths (Haunter extracted it in one death). In all three deaths, Ash was revived by Pokemon, especially Mew, Ho-Oh, and Haunter.

Following that, he moved on to capture as many Pokemon as he could and teach them to fight other Pokemon more effectively. Despite Ash’s numerous deaths, they were neither gruesome nor gory in the way that one might expect from a children’s anime.

READ: Top 15 Highest-Grossing Anime/Manga Franchises

7. Freiza – Dragon Ball series

Freiza is one of the main antagonists of Dragon Ball Z and DragonBall Z Kai (along with Vegeta, Cell, and Majin Buu), serving as the unseen overarching antagonist of the Raditz and Saiyan sagas, the main antagonist of the Namek, Frieza, Captain Ginyu, and Trunks sagas.

Like other Dragon Ball characters, Freiza has also died many times in the DragonBall series. Future Trunks chopped Frieza into multiple pieces before blasting the remains to smithereens, killing him for the first time. When the rejuvenated Frieza Force used Earth’s Dragon Balls to wish him back, chunks of his body fell from the sky, leading fans to wonder why Shenron couldn’t just bring Frieza’s entire body back. Frieza’s corpse eventually reattached itself in a sophisticated medical chamber, rendering death, as well as severe mutilation, all but a life event for him.

6. Brook – One Piece

Brook aka Dead Bones later Soul King is the musician of the Straw Hat Pirates and one of the main characters of One Piece. He is a skeleton that the Straw Hats found on board a ghost ship after drifting into the Florian Triangle.

Brook ate the “Revive-Revive Fruit” at some point, and his Devil Fruit activated after he was killed by enemy pirates. His soul returned from the afterlife, but finding his body took a year. Brook was still able to resuscitate, despite the fact that his body had been reduced to a skeleton, leaving admirers with the Straw Hat crew’s eccentric, musically-gifted member.

Brook could not possibly live as a skeleton because the decomposition process would have withered away at some of his bones, and it’s safe to infer that his organs, like his skin, are no longer functional. It doesn’t add up that he’s still walking, talking, and eating.

5. Kakashi Hatake – Naruto series

Kakashi Hatake is a major character of the Naruto franchise and the leader of Team 7 later known as Team Kakashi. He later returns as one of the main supporting characters in the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations anime/manga series.

Kakashi perished during his battle with suffering after overusing Kamui, but was resurrected because Nagato was moved by Naruto’s selflessness. Nagato’s Jutsu for reviving his victims seemed a little too convenient, especially given a significant figure had been murdered during the Konoha invasion. Of course, the remainder of the series would have been incomplete without Kakashi, but Nagato shouldn’t have been able to resuscitate so many people in exchange for his own life, especially since Kakashi died through an overuse of an ability rather than from Pain’s hands.

4. Vegeta – Dragon Ball series

Vegeta is the deuteragonist of the Dragon Ball franchise. He starts as the main antagonist of the Saiyan Saga, but as the story progresses, he becomes one of the heroes of the Z Warriors. He is the prince of the warrior race known as the Saiyans. He also has an on-and-off rivalry with Goku, but they are usually on good terms.

He is killed twice in the course of the anime, and is revived both times. The first is killed by Frieza with a death beam through his chest. He was later wished back with the Dragon Balls. The second is that he blew himself up in an attempt to kill Majin Buu. turned to stone, fell, and shattered to pieces. He was later wished back with Namek’s Dragon Balls.

3. Sakura Kusakabe – Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan

Sakura is a 13-year-old second-year junior high school student whose life changed the day the “Bludgeoning Angel” Dokuro-chan appeared. Since then, his life has become one of gory clubbing and resurrections. This has come about because some time in the future, Sakura is apparently destined to create a technology that stops girls from aging after they reach the age of twelve.

Dokuro, an angel assassin, is sent back in time to prevent this by killing him. She fails to do so because she falls in love with him. Sakura’s life is still in danger because a second angel assassin has been sent back in time to ensure his elimination. Despite her desire to achieve her aim through nonviolent means, Dokuro manages to kill Sakura on a daily basis, breaking him into bloody chunks with her massive spiked club, Excalibolg. Sakura is simply revived by Dokuro with a simple mantra that appears to need no effort on Sakura’s part.

2. Son Goku – Dragonball series

This one is self-evident, and it’s probably the first thing that comes to mind when you read the list’s title. Goku is the most resilient anime character who does not have the ability to resurrect. After Goku held his evil brother Raditz so the Namek could fire a beam that would kill both Super Saiyans, he died at the hands of Piccolo (the good one).

Goku simply enters Super Saiyan heaven with each death, ready to be resurrected with the power of the Dragon Balls. Apart from using Dragon Balls as a plot device, there are several more ways to resurrect Goku.

1. Satoru Mikami – That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime

Satoru Mikami, formerly known as the “Great Demon Lord” Rimuru Tempest, is the main protagonist of “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime”. Rimuru is the creator and ruler of the monster kingdom Tempest of the Jura Forest. He is regarded as one of the strongest Demon Lords among the mighty Eighth Star Demon Lords and is also the only proper Great Demon Lord currently.

Satoru Mikami was a fairly ordinary individual. He had a solid career, a good education, and respectable friends. He bled to death on the street after being stabbed by a passing robber, but was resurrected as a blob of slime in a realm that feels like it belongs in a Final Fantasy game. Satoru eventually obtains legendary power and aspires to become the leader of his own kingdom after being given the name Rimuru by a powerful dragon whom he befriends and absorbs. He doesn’t appear to be in danger of being slain by robbers anytime soon.

READ: Top 16 Best Anime/Manga Like That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime

What is your reaction?

Excited

Happy

In Love

Not Sure

Silly

Sahil Khan

I’m a 19-year-old Indian otaku. I love anime and it is the thing that sustains and refreshes my life. I want more people to know about anime. That's why I write articles about anime. The Dragon Ball series is my favourite anime.