# Immortal Characters in Fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726 "2005-02-24T17:07:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/81 "2005-02-26T05:47:31Z")
Another character from a Zelazny story: Sam in _Lord of Light_. One of the demons “strengthens the flames” of Sam’s soul so that his soul survives the death of his body when he’s killed by the white tigers. Sam then is able to re-incarnate himself in another body. Not truly immortal, but so long as there’s a supply of clones available for reincarnation… ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/82 "2005-02-26T06:09:18Z")
Gotta second [Vandal Savage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandal_Savage), along with the MacLeods. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/83 "2005-02-26T06:18:24Z")
Not any particular character, but Brian Stableford and John Varley are two writers who have written about societies in which basically everyone’s immortal. ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/84 "2005-02-26T07:04:52Z")
Milo Morai from the Horseclans books. Very well fleshed out, as there were something like 18 books (not all of which centered on him, but the first half dozen or so did, and he popped up throughout the others). ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/85 "2005-02-26T18:30:53Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Has anyone mentioned Nathan Brazil from the Well of Souls? \*\*Sean Factotum \*\* did. Those books have one of my favorite tag lines: > [@Jack Chalker](#): > > It was a good day, he told himself, and a good place to be alive, if alive he had to be. But he was still Nathan Brazil, forty billion years out, bound for nowhere with a cargo hold empty of anything at all, even clothes on his back. > Still waiting. > Still caring. > But no longer alone. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/86 "2005-02-26T18:38:00Z")
Er… is my previous post okay? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/87 "2005-02-26T18:50:55Z")
> [@Civil Guy](#): > > Er… is my previous post okay? Sure. At least, I don’t see anything wrong with it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/88 "2005-02-26T20:04:01Z")
> [@MaryEFoo](#): > > Koschei the Deathless. Not fleshed out, but **hinted** at to intense effect. Oooh. Good one. ---
**Author:** ![cj\_finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@cj\_finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cj_finn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/89 "2005-02-27T02:38:06Z")
How about the books by Farmer starting with “To Your Scattered Bodies Go.” Does perpetual reincarnation count? ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/90 "2005-02-27T04:13:30Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned _Highlander_ yet. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/91 "2005-02-27T16:41:05Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > I can’t believe no one has mentioned _Highlander_ yet. RTFOP. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/92 "2005-02-27T21:19:14Z")
In S.M. Stirling’s _Drakon,_ the New Race Draka or _Homo drakensis_ are immortal – that is, they have been gene-engineered to grow and age normally until the age of about 22, then “homeostasis” sets in and they age no further and can live indefinitely. They’re very tough, too, but they’re not actually immortal in the sense of being unkillable or invulnerable to harm. Gwen Ingolfsson (500 years old at the start of the book) notes at one point, “_Drakensis_ are _drakensis’_ main cause of death,” i.e., they fight a lot of duels. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/93 "2005-02-27T21:20:59Z")
In Philip J. Farmer’s _Riverworld_ series, **everybody** is immortal. The same would be true, I guess, of any story set in Hell or Heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/94 "2005-02-28T12:02:31Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > I can’t believe no one has mentioned _Highlander_ yet. I think someone did. But it was only once. In the 1960’s. For 20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/95 "2005-02-28T13:26:16Z")
**Eugene Sue** wrote a huge serialised novel called _The Wandering Jew_. It meanders all over the place but the title character does feature prominently. He was writing in France in the 1840s or so, IIRC. And I’ve forgotten who wrote _Phra the Phoenician_ (early 20th C), who slept for centuries, waking up occasionally, usually at some historically significant time! **Sean McMullen** used a similar idea in _The Centurian’s Empire_ more recently. Don’t think either were actually immortal, just that they slept a lot!! ---
**Author:** ![akira5822](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@akira5822](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akira5822)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/96 "2005-02-28T16:58:25Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Who are some of the best fleshed out immortal (or at least supernaturally longlived) characters in fiction? I’m not that well read in fantasy and sci fi, but my favorites that I have read include: > > Utnapishtim (the flood survivor in Gilgamesh) > > Hob Gadling (from “The Sandman” comics- b. in the 14th century and still going strong) > > Lazarus Long (if a judge wanted to position a statue of his [notebooks](http://www.bobgod.com/writer/lazaruslong.html) in a courthouse or Supreme Court Building or embroidered on his robe I’d have relatively little problem with it) > > Duncan MacLeod (of the Highlander TV series- the movies, not so much) > > Your picks? (And surely there are some immortal women out there) What about Dr. Who?? i think he switched bodies does that count?? ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/98 "2005-02-28T17:35:43Z")
Hmm… don’t recall seeing DC’s \*\*Resurrection Man \*\* yet, but maybe I missed it… Yeah, it’s a dumb name. But he had his own series for a while, and his power is cool. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/99 "2005-02-28T20:21:06Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > In Philip J. Farmer’s _Riverworld_ series, **everybody** is immortal. I can’t agree with everyone in _Riverworld_ being immortal. First of all, everyone there died before the books even started (except for the description of Sir Richard Burton’s death at the beginning of _To Your Scattered Bodies Go_). Then, Burton is told to get off the Suicide Express, because you don’t get a number 667 resurrection. You’re out of luck if you gotta die that many times before reaching the next stage. Plus, the guy that the group is with at the end of the last book says that sometimes a soul (or wah) just disappears after a death. Their theory is that they do go to the next stage and become one with the universe. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/100 "2005-02-28T22:45:20Z")
Although, not exactly fleshed out, there was an interesting story in DC comics about an immortal from Krypton. He had killed one of the beasts on Krypton that smelled horrible and had a horn that could heal any illness. He made a serum and took it that turned him into a human version of the creature (yes, this was pre-crisis) The thing I liked about it was at the end of the story, Krypton explodes and he’s hanging out in the middle of space. I guess he somehow ended up in the Phantom Zone. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726/101 "2005-03-07T10:16:10Z")
> [@Mr. Miskatonic](#): > > Eric dies, but even that’s uncertain. Fiona mentions that none of his wounds should have been fatal, and there was no autopsy. Forgive me for not only bumping this, but sending it into a third page. At any rate, what Fiona was getting at when she pointed this out to Corwin was that the Jewel of Judgement, which Eric was wearing when he died, enhances the wearer’s power by speeding up their metabolism. This is a good thing in the short run, but dangerous if you wear it for too long at a time, which, she speculates, is why superficial wounds killed Eric. I love the dialogue between them (well, the whole chapter, really): “Did Eric give you any cautions to go along with it?” “Well, he was pretty busy dying at the time. That limited our converstation considerably.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-characters-in-fiction/291726.md?page=4)