The information surrounding Jon Snow's alleged death at the end of Game of Thrones Season 5 can be a bit of a headache. Do you think one day teachers will lecture students on how to look for context clues in airport arrivals, acting contracts, and hair lengths? I think it's important to remember that there are several television characters who have returned from the dead, so no matter what there's hope for Jon Snow on Game of Thrones Season 6.
Death should have meaning in storytelling, but a return can be just as meaningful — though George R. R. Martin has publicly stated that he always kind of wished Gandalf had stayed dead in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, sometimes the dead have messages for the living. Sometimes they come back changed, and that's the new conflict. Other stories have pulled this trope off and it works just fine.
Here's a list of characters who have found a loophole and returned from the afterlife. Now, I'm only talking characters who really died and really came back — faked deaths like Sherlock or times that a show wanted us to believe that a living character was dead don't count. Since the Game of Thrones producers have made it clear to us that Jon Snow can indeed be compared to a doornail, I will take them at their word. For now.
1. Phil Coulson
We all saw Agent Coulson get blasted by Loki in The Avengers. He was the reason that the heroes united, the singular person that they were avenging. Then he returned to star in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with the help of some secret scientists and a dash of Kree alien blood. Thankfully, the show didn't take his return lightly, and we've been dealing with the consequences of Nick Fury's choice ever since.
2. Charlotte "Chuck" Charles
The entire premise of Pushing Daisies is that Ned can bring people back from the dead by touching them. Since his gift takes lives away, Charlotte is the only person who he chooses to keep alive.
3. Buffy Summers
Surprisingly few characters were resurrected on Buffy The Vampire Slayer — typically the dead remained dead and the dusted stayed dusted. However, the Buff herself died at the end of Season 1 for about a minute, and found herself six feet under at the end of Season TK only to be brought back by her friends' spell.
4. Spike
If you want to watch a show that has truly stopped caring and may be better for it, watch Season 5 of Angel. After Spike died in the Buffy finale, like for real, he was brought back to life in the final episodes of the spinoff.
5. Mikhail
Okay, this character wasn't the most beloved on Lost but he was essentially the Beric Dondarrian of that universe. He was a villain who killed many characters including Charlie, but his existence became almost a running joke after a few deaths. There were several other characters on Lost who we thought were resurrected, like Christian Shepherd and John Locke, but that turned out not to be the case. Mikhail is the only one with any true power, for some reason.
6. Nathan
At the end of the first season of Misfits, Nathan died... only to learn that he couldn't be killed. He had a super power after all, immortality like Claire the Cheerleader on Heroes, and spent the Season 2 premiere trying to get out of the ground.
7. & 8. Bonnie and Jeremy
Let's be honest, a lot of characters on The Vampire Diaries recover from death, and not just by becoming a vampire — as was the case with these two. Let's face it, Game of Thrones may be realistic in some ways but in all fantasy shows dead almost never means gone.
9. Sara Lance
Based on the trailers for the upcoming CW series Legends of Tomorrow, we can imply that the first Canary from Arrow was resurrected in the Lazaras Pit — as several other characters on Arrow have as well.
Images: WB (screencap); Giphy (2); WiffleGif (5); wolfmanandbilo /Tumblr
