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Codex / Powers / Immortality

body power

Immortality

Also called Agelessness, Eternal Life, Undying

Immortality is exemption from death by ageing. It comes in three structurally different forms — biological, renewable and externalised — and the third is the only one that is reliably destructible, which is why almost every story about defeating an immortal is really a story about finding an external anchor.

38 known users 4 universes 83 sourced feats
How it worksScalingUsersFeatsLimitsCountersRelatedFAQ

How it works

Biological immortality is intrinsic. The body simply does not age, usually because of regeneration or a non-human physiology. It cannot be taken away, but it rarely protects against sufficient trauma.

Renewable immortality is purchased repeatedly. Ra's al Ghul returns via the Lazarus Pit and pays each time in sanity — the cost is the story. Remove access to the source and the character is mortal again.

Externalised immortality moves the life outside the body. Voldemort's horcruxes are the canonical example: he cannot die while they exist, and the entire plot becomes an inventory problem. This is the most narratively useful form, because it converts an unbeatable trait into a checklist.

A fourth kind, rarely handled well, is conceptual immortality — beings like the Spectre who are bound to a role rather than a body, and who persist as long as the concept does.

Immortality is also the power most likely to be written as a curse. Longevity without invulnerability means centuries of injury; longevity without company means isolation. Vandal Savage is dangerous less because he cannot die than because he has had ten thousand years to prepare.

How it scales

  1. Longevity

    Extremely long life, but still killable and still ageing slowly.

  2. Agelessness

    No ageing at all. Death only by violence.

  3. Renewable

    Death is reversible via an external source, at a cost.

  4. Externalised

    Life stored outside the body. Cannot die while the anchor survives.

Who has immortality

Across 4 universes. This list crosses publishers — something no single wiki can do, because every franchise keeps its own separate database.

CharacterUniverseFranchiseFeats
ApocalypseMarvelMarvel Comics4
BladeMarvelMarvel Comics3
DeadpoolMarvelMarvel Comics—
GalactusMarvelMarvel Comics2
Ghost RiderMarvelMarvel Comics3
HulkMarvelMarvel Comics2
MystiqueMarvelMarvel Comics2
Silver SurferMarvelMarvel Comics1
ThanosMarvelMarvel Comics2
WolverineMarvelMarvel Comics—
Black AdamDCDC Comics2
BrainiacDCDC Comics3
DarkseidDCDC Comics2
Floronic ManDCDC Comics2
HawkmanDCDC Comics3
John ConstantineDCDC Comics3
LoboDCDC Comics2
Plastic ManDCDC Comics3
Ra's al GhulDCDC Comics1
Silver BansheeDCDC Comics2
Swamp ThingDCDC Comics2
The SpectreDCDC Comics3
Vandal SavageDCDC Comics4
Wonder WomanDCDC Comics2
DIOAnime & MangaJoJo's Bizarre Adventure2
DenjiAnime & MangaChainsaw Man2
EnvyAnime & MangaFullmetal Alchemist2
FriezaAnime & MangaDragon Ball3
Majin BuuAnime & MangaDragon Ball1
MakimaAnime & MangaChainsaw Man2
Muzan KibutsujiAnime & MangaDemon Slayer3
OrochimaruAnime & MangaNaruto3
Ryomen SukunaAnime & MangaJujutsu Kaisen2
RyukAnime & MangaDeath Note3
Sailor MoonAnime & MangaSailor Moon2
TsunadeAnime & MangaNaruto2
Yusuke UrameshiAnime & MangaYu Yu Hakusho2
Lord VoldemortOther MediaHarry Potter1

The feat ledger

Every entry cites the work it comes from. Feat means it was shown in the work; Statement means a character or narrator said it. Nothing here is a fan estimate unless it is tagged Calc.

Lord Voldemort — Cannot die while his horcruxes exist, converting his immortality into a findable inventory of objects

Feat Harry Potter · Novel canonshown, no figure stated

Ra's al Ghul — Renews his life in the Lazarus Pit, paying each time with a period of violent insanity

Feat Batman Volume 1 #232 (1971) · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Vandal Savage — Immortal since prehistory through meteor radiation; dangerous for accumulated knowledge rather than invulnerability

Statement Green Lantern Volume 1 #10 (1943) · Post-Crisis DC

Apocalypse — Kept alive across millennia by Celestial technology rather than by his own mutation

Statement X-Factor Volume 1 #5 (1986) · Earth-616

The Spectre — Persists as a bound force rather than a body, tied to a host and a mandate

Statement More Fun Comics #52 (1940) · Post-Crisis DC

Hawkman — Dies and reincarnates repeatedly across history rather than avoiding death

Statement Flash Comics · Post-Crisis DC

Wonder Woman — Ages far slower than a human and is written as effectively ageless

Statement Wonder Woman Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Wonder Woman — Survives injuries that would be fatal to a human without lasting harm

Feat Wonder Woman Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Hulk — Returns from death repeatedly, which the series makes its central premise

Statement The Immortal Hulk (2018) · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Hulk — Cannot be permanently killed by conventional means

Statement The Immortal Hulk · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Thanos — Cannot age or die by ordinary means, a gift he treats as a curse

Statement The Infinity Gauntlet · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Thanos — Survives being unmade and returns, which the stories treat as routine

Statement The Infinity Gauntlet · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Darkseid — A New God — ageless, and repeatedly returning after apparent death

Statement Final Crisis · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Darkseid — The Anti-Life Equation is his goal precisely because force alone will not finish it

Statement Final Crisis (2008) · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Majin Buu — Regeneration is stated to make conventional killing impossible

Statement Dragon Ball · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Silver Surfer — Does not age, eat or breathe, sustained entirely by cosmic energy

Statement Silver Surfer Volume 3 · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Apocalypse — Millennia old, sustained by Celestial technology rather than by mutation alone

Statement X-Factor Volume 1 · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Apocalypse — Transfers his consciousness into new bodies to survive death

Feat Uncanny X-Men · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Apocalypse — His survival doctrine is the character's thesis, not a power description

Statement X-Factor Volume 1 · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Lobo — Barred from both heaven and hell, which is written as why he cannot stay dead

Statement The Omega Men · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Lobo — Wounds that would kill any Czarnian close within moments

Feat Justice League Volume 2 · New 52shown, no figure stated

Plastic Man — Survives being shattered into fragments and reassembles

Feat JLA · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Plastic Man — Spends centuries as scattered pieces on the ocean floor and recovers fully

Statement JLA · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Plastic Man — Written as effectively unkillable, which the League treats as a tactical asset

Statement JLA · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Hawkman — Reincarnates repeatedly across eras, which is the character's defining premise

Statement Flash Comics · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Hawkman — Recalls skills from previous lives, which is why he fights like an ancient soldier

Feat Brightest Day · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Mystique — Ages far slower than a human, which is how she predates most of the X-Men

Statement Uncanny X-Men · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Mystique — Longevity is a consequence of the shapeshifting, not a separate mutation

Statement Uncanny X-Men · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Envy — Survives destruction as long as the Philosopher's Stone souls inside remain

Statement Fullmetal Alchemist · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Envy — Dies only once the stone is exhausted, not from any wound

Feat Fullmetal Alchemist · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

The Spectre — A spirit rather than a body, and cannot be killed by physical means

Statement More Fun Comics · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

The Spectre — Persists across eras and hosts without diminishing

Feat Final Crisis · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

DIO — A vampire who does not age and recovers from destruction of most of his body

Feat JoJo: Stardust Crusaders Part 3 · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

DIO — Sunlight is the stated weakness, not injury — which is how he is finally killed

Statement JoJo: Stardust Crusaders Part 3 · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Swamp Thing — Regrows a whole body from any plant matter on Earth after his is destroyed

Feat The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Swamp Thing — He is not a man turned into a plant but a plant that believes it was a man — the reveal that redefined the character

Statement The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 (1984) · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Silver Banshee — Cursed rather than powered — she is undead and does not age

Statement Action Comics · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Silver Banshee — Returns after apparent destruction, since the curse rather than the body carries her

Statement Action Comics · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Floronic Man — A plant elemental who does not age and reforms after destruction

Statement The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Floronic Man — Severing him from the Green is what stops him, not injury

Statement The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Vandal Savage — Immortal since prehistory after exposure to a meteorite

Statement Green Lantern Volume 1 (1943) · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Vandal Savage — Claims to have been numerous historical figures, a claim the stories neither confirm nor deny

Statement JLA · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Vandal Savage — His advantage is accumulated knowledge rather than any combat power

Statement JLA · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Muzan Kibutsuji — Has lived over a thousand years and does not age

Statement Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Muzan Kibutsuji — Sunlight is his only true weakness, which is the whole plot's constraint

Statement Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Muzan Kibutsuji — His entire thousand-year search is for a cure to sunlight, not for power

Statement Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Ryuk — A shinigami who cannot die by human means and does not age

Statement Death Note · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Ryuk — Shinigami die only by extending a human's life, the one stated rule

Statement Death Note · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Ryuk — Sees the name and lifespan of any human on sight — a shinigami trait, not a notebook power

Statement Death Note · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Denji — Dies and returns as a devil-human hybrid, which is the series' opening event

Feat Chainsaw Man (2018) · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Denji — The Chainsaw Devil erases any devil it kills from human memory entirely

Statement Chainsaw Man · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Makima — Damage directed at her is transferred to ordinary people instead

Statement Chainsaw Man · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Makima — Survives repeated apparent deaths because the harm never reaches her

Feat Chainsaw Man · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Frieza — Survives being cut in half and exposed to space

Feat Dragon Ball Z · Anime canonshown, no figure stated

Frieza — Does not need to breathe, stated explicitly as why space does not kill him

Statement Dragon Ball Z · Anime canonfigure stated in the work

Frieza — He never trained before the Golden form, which is stated as his one real limit

Statement Dragon Ball Super · Anime canonfigure stated in the work

Ryomen Sukuna — Could not be killed, so he was split into twenty fingers and sealed instead

Statement Jujutsu Kaisen · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Ryomen Sukuna — The fingers remain potent for a thousand years without decaying

Statement Jujutsu Kaisen · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Yusuke Urameshi — Dies in the first chapter and is returned to life for the job

Feat Yu Yu Hakusho (1990) · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Yusuke Urameshi — Dies a second time and returns as a demon, which changes the power source

Feat Yu Yu Hakusho · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Galactus — Predates the current universe, having survived the previous one

Statement Fantastic Four Volume 1 · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Galactus — Cosmic entities treat him as a necessary balance rather than a criminal

Statement The Infinity Gauntlet · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Black Adam — Thousands of years old, having held the power since antiquity

Statement JLA · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Black Adam — Rules Kahndaq as head of state, so his conflicts are geopolitical

Statement Final Crisis · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Ghost Rider — The spirit of vengeance cannot be permanently destroyed by physical means

Statement Marvel Spotlight · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Ghost Rider — The Stare fails on anyone without guilt, the stated limit

Statement Marvel Spotlight · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Ghost Rider — Returns after the host body is killed, taking a new one

Feat Marvel Spotlight · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Blade — Ages far slower than a human, a dhampir trait

Statement The Tomb of Dracula · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Blade — Sunlight, garlic and silver do not affect him, which is the whole advantage

Statement The Tomb of Dracula · Earth-616figure stated in the work

Blade — Later gains a thirst for blood, which he manages with a serum

Feat The Tomb of Dracula · Earth-616shown, no figure stated

Brainiac — A Coluan intelligence that persists across bodies and centuries

Statement Action Comics · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

Brainiac — Transfers his consciousness into a new body when one is destroyed

Feat Action Comics · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Brainiac — Operates through drones so the body destroyed is rarely the real one

Feat Action Comics · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

John Constantine — Cons three separate demon lords into keeping him alive to avoid ceding his soul

Feat The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

John Constantine — Survives lung cancer by the demon gambit — a con rather than a cure

Statement The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCfigure stated in the work

John Constantine — Manipulates Swamp Thing into acts he would not otherwise commit

Feat The Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 2 · Post-Crisis DCshown, no figure stated

Tsunade — Maintains a youthful appearance by continuous transformation jutsu

Statement Naruto · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Tsunade — The seal's release ages her, which is the stated cost of the healing

Statement Naruto · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Orochimaru — Transfers his consciousness into a new host body every few years

Statement Naruto · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Orochimaru — His goal is learning every jutsu, which requires unlimited time — the motive behind the immortality

Statement Naruto · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Orochimaru — Survives inside Kabuto after his own body is sealed

Feat Naruto · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Sailor Moon — Reincarnated from Princess Serenity of the destroyed Moon Kingdom

Statement Sailor Moon · Manga canonfigure stated in the work

Sailor Moon — Returns after death more than once, tied to the crystal

Feat Sailor Moon · Manga canonshown, no figure stated

Limits

  • Almost no immortality protects against sufficient force; it protects against time.
  • Renewable forms depend on continued access to the source.
  • Externalised forms convert invulnerability into a findable object.
  • Psychological cost is the standard price — Lazarus Pit madness being the clearest example.

Counters

  • Destroying the anchor rather than the body.
  • Sealing or imprisonment when killing is impossible.
  • Power nullification and soul-level attacks.

Questions

What is the difference between immortality and invulnerability?

Immortality means you do not die of age; invulnerability means you cannot be hurt. Most fictional immortals are entirely woundable — Vandal Savage bleeds like anyone else. Characters who have both are rare and usually written as top-tier threats.

Last updated 2026-09-06 · machine-readable version