# Immortal/invulnerable characters you can kill with a nuke?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-invulnerable-characters-you-can-kill-with-a-nuke/500145>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 18, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-invulnerable-characters-you-can-kill-with-a-nuke/500145 "2009-06-18T04:17:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-invulnerable-characters-you-can-kill-with-a-nuke/500145/21 "2009-06-18T16:27:22Z")

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Doesn’t decapitation only kill a Highlander if it’s done by another Highlander? Otherwise, they just magic back into a perfect form, right?

I think the immortal main cast of Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentleman would die in a nuclear blast - because they’re immortal in the “live forever” sense, not invulnerable.

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**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-invulnerable-characters-you-can-kill-with-a-nuke/500145/22 "2009-06-18T16:56:19Z")

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> [@drastic\_quench](#):
>
> Doesn’t decapitation only kill a Highlander if it’s done by another Highlander? Otherwise, they just magic back into a perfect form, right?

They can be killed by mortals or by accidents chopping off their heads, at least as shown in the TV series.

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**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-invulnerable-characters-you-can-kill-with-a-nuke/500145/23 "2009-06-18T18:06:36Z")

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> [@BigT](#):
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> At first I thought it would kill Superman, but now I’m not so sure. Would the radiation repair him, like the sun’s rays do?

Silver Age Superman would shrug off a nuke like bad sneeze, as would the Silver Surfer. Immediately post-Byrne-reboot he would probably have been badly hurt, but he had no intention of finding out. Current Supes could probably take it, though he’d not just shrug it off.

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**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immortal-invulnerable-characters-you-can-kill-with-a-nuke/500145/24 "2009-06-18T19:37:51Z")

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> [@Chimera](#):
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> They can be killed by mortals or by accidents chopping off their heads, at least as shown in the TV series.

Thanks. I didn’t know that. I’ve only seen the first movie and a handful of episodes.

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