Immortality in Fiction - Fictional Immortals

Fictional Immortals

The list is in chronological order for the first appearance of the fictitious character.

• Anton York (Conquest of Life, Thrilling Wonder Stories August 1937 by Eando Binder) Anton York was injected with a chemical formula that would halt his aging until the universe was double its current age. At that point he could presumably produce and drink a second dose, if he so desired. A series of Anton York stories were written which were later collected in the anthology Anton York, Immortal in 1965.
• Robert Hedrock, The Weapon Shops of Isher 1941 and The Weapon Makers 1943 by A. E. van Vogt. A man accidentally becomes immortal, and secretly runs an organization that provides exclusively self-defensive weapons to people and runs a parallel justice system.
• Woodrow Wilson Smith, also known as Lazarus Long, Methuselah's Children 1941 by Robert A. Heinlein. A fairly early 'Howard', Smith becomes the Senior of the Howard families, who are named for Ira Howard (founder of a project to extend the human lifespan). He is mentioned in four other Heinlein novels, most notably Time Enough for Love.
• Vandal Savage (Green Lantern vol. 1 #10, Winter 1943) Caveman Vandar Adg was bathed in the radiation of a mysterious meteorite, granting him intellect and immortality. In subsequent years, he claims to have been or advised dozens of world leaders.
• Immortal Man (Strange Adventures #177, June 1965) Gaining immortality from the same meteorite that granted longevity to Vandal Savage, the Immortal Man instantaneously reincarnates when he dies.
• Conrad Nomikos (…And Call Me Conrad, 1966 by Roger Zelazny. Later expanded to the novel This Immortal).
• Ra's al Ghul (Batman #232, 1971) Ra's maintained an unnaturally long life through the use of natural phenomena known as Lazarus Pits. Other characters given some measure of immortality by the Lazarus Pit include al Ghul's father Sensei, his daughters Talia al Ghul and Nyssa Raatko, and his agent Whisper A'Daire.
• Captain Scarlet (1967), in the British Supermarionation science fiction television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, was turned immortal after undergoing Mysteronization.
• Gilgamesh the immortal (1969), from the Argentine comic of the same name, was an ancient king turned immortal by advanced technology.
• Casca Longinus (Casca: The Eternal Mercenary, 1979) Casca is the Roman soldier who plunges his spear into the side of Jesus on the cross at Golgotha and is cursed to wander the world forever until the two should meet again.
• Wowbagger, the Infinitely Prolonged is an alien from Douglas Adams's Life, the Universe and Everything (1982) who was made immortal by "an unfortunate accident with an irrational particle accelerator, a liquid lunch and a pair of rubber bands". He has devoted his eternal life to the impossible task of insulting everyone in the Universe alphabetically.
• Raoul Lavallière (né Tibalt de Montrefort), in The Dark Side of the Sun (1983), is a 14C former Knight Templar with psychic powers. He can only die when the circumstances of a prophecy are fulfilled; he quickly recovers from other methods of killing him.
• Mister Immortal (Avengers West Coast (Vol. 2) #46, 1989) Mr. Immortal (a.k.a. Craig Hollis) is a mutant (possibly an Omega-level mutant) whose power is (as his name suggests) immortality. He is the leader and founder of the Great Lakes Avengers. Unlike other mutants, who are known as "homo superior", he has evolved beyond death, and become "homo supreme". His apparent destiny: to outlive everyone as the one true immortal until the end of the universe, to be revealed its final secret. Other immortal characters from Marvel Comics include Apocalypse.
• Cazador (1992), from the eponymous Argentine comic, is an immortal, insane assassin.
• Bloodshot (1992), a super-soldier whose nanites keep him functionally immortal.
• The immortal brothers Timewalker, Armstrong, and the Eternal Warrior (1992), from various Valiant Comics series.
• Mister Majestic, Nemesis, Savant, Zealot, Lord Emp, and other members of the Kherubim, an alien race in the 1992 Wildstorm series Wildcats. Their foes are the similarly immortal D'rahn and Daemonite races, among them the Daemonite Helspont.
• Manji (1993), a samurai warrior given immortality in the Dark Horse Comics series Blade of the Immortal.
• Backlash (1993), an Atlantean member of the hero team Stormwatch, in the Wildstorm comics universe.
• Tory Alexander (The Ancient Future, 1996) Through an elixir of sorts given to her by Taliesin, she achieves immortality thanks to the god-like gene in her DNA.
• Mitchell Shelley, the Resurrection Man (Resurrection Man #1, May 1997) Shelley was an unwilling nanotechnology test subject, who gained effective immortality since, although he can be killed, his "death" lasts no longer than a few minutes, whereon he is revived by "tektites" with a different superhuman power. He has similar powers to Immortal Man, whom Shelley was thought to be for a while.
• Tomie, from the eponymous 1999 comic book series, is a Japanese high school student who can be killed, but regenerates her body whenever she dies and returns to life.
• Enoch Root (Cryptonomicon, 1999) Root, an alchemist, possesses an elixir which allows him to resurrect after death.
• The Creeper, from Jeepers Creepers (2001 film) and Jeepers Creepers 2, is an immortal demon who feeds on human beings for twenty-three days, on every twenty-third spring.
• Kane (fantasy) A character of the sword and sorcery genre written by Karl Edward Wagner. Kane is a left-handed man with red hair; cursed by a mad god he wanders the Earth for millennia adventuring.
• Robert Carson/Cormac O'Connor (Forever 2003 by Pete Hamill) Cormac arrived in New York in 1741 as a teenager to avenge the deaths of his Irish family. After allegedly dying while protecting an African shaman, he was subsequently granted immortality as long as he remains on the island of Manhattan.
• Rex Mundi (2003), from the Malibu Comics series of the same name, is a being involved in most of the Ultraverse's important events through history.
• Immortal, from the 2004 Image Comics series Invincible, is the immortal leader of the Guardians of the Globe.
• Invincible Ed, from the eponymous 2004 Dark Horse Comics series of the same name, is a human who receives immortality through the power of "the right."
• Jack Harkness from Doctor Who (2005) and Torchwood, who became immortal after being resurrected by the power of the vortex.
• Trance Gemini from Andromeda the avatar of the Tarn Vedra sun.
• Lo Pan. 800 year old warrior played by James Hong in John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China.
• Adam Monroe/ Takezo Kensei, a character in the popular television series Heroes. Due to his ability to regenerate, he has lived for nearly 400 years, taking part in events such as the Revolutionary War. He has married 10 times, outliving every wife, and has assumed a wide array of different names. Died when his power was stolen.
• John Oldman, the protagonist in the film The Man From Earth. He claims to be a prehistoric caveman who has survived on Earth for 14,000 years. Oldman's name is a pun on the words Old and Man as are other pseudonyms used by him in the past such as John T. Partee of Boston.