23 TV Characters Who Came Back from the Dead

Sometimes a character seems as good as gone. They’ve been declared dead, mourned, and are now part of the “we remember” tribute in the minds TV fans.

There are so many TV deaths that punch us in the gut and refuse to let us go, but sometimes, that gut-wrenching scene gets redacted, and the character finds their way back to the show and audience they love.

Here are 23 TV characters who came back from the dead.

(This list contains spoilers; you have been warned!)

1. Aeryn Sun (Farscape)

It looked like Aeryn Sun was a goner on Farscape Season 2 Episode 22, “Die Me, Dichotomy.” Farscape closed out its second season trying to free John Crichton of a neural chip placed in his head by the series villain, Scorpius. But the neural clone had other ideas.

Taking the sky, John and Aeryn fought against each other in separate spacecraft, until Aeryn was forced to eject. The problem? She ejected over a frozen lake, her harness won’t release, she has nothing to break it, and the jets on the chair were going to melt the ice.

When Aeryn hit the ground, she crashed through the ice and drowned.

After a four-minute funeral it seemed like Aeryn was gone, but on Farscape Season 3 Episode 1, “Season of Death,” Zhaan used the powers of the Delvian Seek to find Aeryn’s soul and bring her back to life, at the cost of her own.

 2. David Clarke (Revenge)

From the very beginning of Revenge, the audience believed that David Clarke was dead. David was convicted of treason as a result of a cover-up orchestrated by Conrad and Victoria Grayson, he went to jail and later died in prison.

When his daughter Amanda learned about what happened, she began training and embarked on a path of revenge, returning to the Hamptons, and her childhood home as Emily Thorne.

By the end of Revenge Season 3, Emily’s cunning plans had sent Conrad to jail and cleared her father’s name. So imagine our surprise when in the final moments of Revenge Season 3 Episode 22, “Execution,” Conrad Grayson is strolling down a dark path and singing when a car pulls up.

Out of the car, steps none other than David Clarke. David Clarke then pulls out a knife and stabs Conrad, getting his own revenge.

3. Quinn Perkins (Scandal)

Quinn Perkins joined the list of resurrected characters when she disappeared just before her wedding to be held captive in Rowan’s basement to punish Olivia for stealing his dinosaur bones and putting him under surveillance. When Olivia refused to return the bones and grant him his freedom, he shot her.

At least that’s what the audience thought. it was eventually revealed on Scandal Season 7 Episode 9, “Good People”, that she wasn’t dead. Instead, Rowan fired a warning shot and had been keeping Quinn safe from Olivia, giving Papa Pope and Quinn got to have cute dance parties with her newborn.

4. Delphine Cormier (Orphan Black)

Orphan Black kept fans in the dark for almost a season regarding Delphine’s faked death! After being shot by a Neolution aligned assailant in a parking garage, things didn’t look good, especially when Orphan Black Season 4 villain Evie Cho confirmed Delphine’s death.

It wasn’t until Crystal Godrich came back into the picture that it became clear that Delphine’s demise was greatly exaggerated. The audience finally saw Delphine in the flesh towards the end of Orphan Black Season 4, before she ultimately reuniting with Cosima in Orphan Black Season 4 Episode 10, “From Dancing Mice to Psychopaths.”

5. Sin Rostro (Jane the Virgin)

Jane the Virgin Season 1 revealed Rafael and Luisa’s stepmother Rose to be the crime lord Sin Rostro before she went into hiding. When the Miami police department decides to fish her out, they use Luisa to fake a car accident. As they’re apprehending Rose, she falls down some stairs and breaks her neck.

Fast forward to Jane and Michael’s wedding at the end of a Jane the Virgin Season 2, when it’s revealed that Michael’s partner is really Rose in a mask. Shortly after shooting Michael, she goes to Luisa and says that they need to leave, before taking off her mask and revealing herself as Rose.

6. Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

You can’t have a list of resurrected characters without mentioning The Chosen One: Buffy Summers.

Buffy first died early in the series when she went to face the Master and was brought back by CPR. She later died again in the Season 5 finale when Glory attempted to open a gate to a hell dimension using her sister Dawn as a key. Buffy sacrificed herself by jumping into the gate so that it would close.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 6 opened with Willow and the Scoobies attempting to bring her back through magic.  It worked, but Buffy woke up in the coffin and had to claw her way out.

The result of the experience is later unpacked in the musical episode Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 6 Episode 7, “Once More with Feeling,” when Buffy sings about being expelled from heaven.

7. Alison DiLaurentis (Pretty Little Liars)

Pretty Little Liars opens on the night that Alison DiLaurentis disappeared from Spencer’s barn. By the time the pilot ends, Alison DiLaurentis has been found dead, under a gazebo.

The show began to sow seeds for Alison’s return during Pretty Little Liars Season 3, with Alison appearing in a Red Coat in the finale. In Pretty Little Liars Season 4, Carla Grunwald confirms that she knew Alison.

Grunwald pulled Alison from the shallow grave, and drove her to the hospital, but when she returned Alison disappeared. Grunwald said that Alison doesn’t want to be found because someone is watching her and she’s afraid to come back.

Alison eventually makes an appearance coming to her friends at the end of Pretty Little Liars Season 4 Episode 13, “Grave New World,” asking if they missed her.

8. H.G. Wells (Warehouse 13)

With Warehouse 13 in jeopardy and not a lot of time, the once villainous H.G. Wells activated a barrier around Pete, Myka, and Artie by diverting some power from the defense barrier. The act left her outside the barrier where she perished in the explosion after muttering the words: “I smell apples.”

Following the Warehouse’s destruction, Artie used Magellan’s astrolabe to go back in time and save the warehouse, and subsequently, H.G. was suspicious about Artie’s knowledge of the erased day, and his partial reveal of her actions.

Although H.G. had no memory of her death in the alternate timeline, she later confronted him after deducing that he used the astrolabe. The astrolabe was later taken out of the Dark Vault and entrusted to H.G. who was told to go into hiding with it, and not to trust anyone.

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