It’s a long-running joke that death is meaningless in comics, as any hero or villain will pop up from the grave within a few months or years after their demise. Both DC and Marvel love to use this trope to spice up storylines and to continue the brands of their most beloved characters. Still, not every hero is so lucky as to come back to life. While it is rare, there have been a select few heroes who have bitten the dust permanently. Sometimes they may temporarily come back as spirits or undead monsters. Still, they never fully recover themselves to become fully-fledged living people again. For these heroes, death is final.
Unlike other heroes who have been resurrected within a couple of months or years, these are the DC and Marvel heroes who have stayed dead for considerably longer periods of time, with no apparent likelihood that they’ll be back anytime soon.
Pandora is the infamous woman from ancient legend who accidentally opened Pandora’s Box and unleashed the Seven Deadly Sins upon the world. For her crime, the mystical Circle of Eternity cursed Pandora to walk the Earth forever with ever-burning scars on her face. Pandora began to operate from the shadows for thousands of years and even had a hand in DC’s New 52 reboot, helping to merge the DC, Wildstorm, and Vertigo universes into a cohesive timeline. She was a major player during the events of Trinity War, which concluded with the Crime Syndicate invading Earth. However, Pandora met a sudden demise in 2016 when the god-like Doctor Manhattan reduced her to ash so that he could freely alter the DC timeline.
Hector Ayala, aka White Tiger, was a street-level martial artist superhero who gained enhanced strength, speed, agility, and senses thanks to the mystical White Tiger Amulet. Although he retired for a time, in 2003, Hector redonned the White Tiger mask to stop a robbery. Unfortunately, the crooks got away, and Hector was blamed for the death of a cop during the robbery. Despite having Daredevil as his lawyer, Hector was found guilty. In a panic, Hector tried to flee but was gunned down by police, never to return. The White Tiger mantle would be passed down to Hector’s niece, Angela del Toro, and later his little sister, Ava Ayala.
The Golden Age hero Ted Knight was the first in a long line of heroes to take up the Starman mantle and wield the Cosmic Rod. Ted was a brilliant scientist who developed the Cosmic Rod, which allowed him to fly, create force fields, fire lasers, and build energy constructs. He used the Cosmic Rod to become a superhero and join the Justice Society. He fought crime for many years until he was killed in 2000 by his old enemy, the Mist. Since Ted’s death, many people have wielded the Cosmic Rod, including his sons, David and Jack Knight. The Rod’s current owner is Courtney Whitmore, aka Stargirl. And although Ted has appeared in stories set in the past, he has never had a proper resurrection.
Jacques DuQuesne was the father figure and mentor to Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye. Jacques was a skilled swordsman and notorious criminal who fought the Avengers and his former protégé several times. Eventually, though, Jacques reformed and joined the Avengers. He sacrificed himself to save his fellow Avenger and love interest, Mantis, from the evil Kang the Conqueror. After his death, Jacques was replaced by a plant-based replica by the alien race known as the Cotati. Jacques would be resurrected several times as an undead warrior and member of the Legion of the Unliving and the Undead Avengers. He would eventually be put to final rest in 2011 after the Chaos War had concluded and all the undead heroes were allowed to return to the afterlife.
Giovanni Zatara was a Golden Age hero and master of the mystic arts. He worked as both a powerful sorcerer and a stage magician during and after World War II. He unfortunately met his end in 1986 when battling the all-powerful entity known as the Great Darkness. Zatara was succeeded by his daughter, who became one of the greatest sorceresses in DC Comics: Zatanna. Even when DC underwent multiple reboots that saw the resurrection of many characters, Zatara has remained a fallen hero, with his daughter firmly taking center stage. Still, even if his body is gone, Zatara has sometimes appeared as a spirit to help guide Zatanna.
Bill Foster, aka Goliath, was a close friend of Hank Pym, aka Ant-Man. Bill recreated the size-altering Pym Particles, giving himself the power to grow to incredible sizes. With this power, Bill became the superhero Black Goliath, before shortening his name to “Goliath.” Bill fought alongside many of Marvel’s heroes, including the Champions and Defenders. During the events of Civil War in 2006, when the government passed a bill forcing all superheroes to reveal their secret identities, Bill joined Captain America’s resistance. When Iron Man unleashed the cyborg clone of Thor dubbed “Ragnarok” to quell the resistance, the cyborg went rogue and murdered Bill with a lightning strike. Bill’s legacy would live on through his nephew, Tom, who took up the Goliath mantle.
Tomar-Re was one of the very first alien Green Lanterns introduced in DC Comics, and he was one of the Corps’ most renowned members. He was Hal Jordan’s mentor and close friend for many years. Tomar-Re was also the Green Lantern who tried and ultimately failed to prevent Krypton’s destruction. Tomar-Re met his unfortunate end during the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986, when the villain Goldface snapped the hero’s neck. With his dying breath, Tormar-Re gave his Green Lantern ring to John Stewart. Tomar-Re also was succeeded by his son, Tomar-Tu. Sadly, Tomar-Tu later went rogue and joined the violent organization known as the Darkstars.
The goddess Brunnhilde was one of Asgard’s finest warriors and the leader of the Valkyrie army, who collect the souls of those who died in battle and bring them to the glorious halls of Valhalla. Brunnhilde is a courageous hero who had been a long-time member of both the Avengers and Defenders. During 2019’s War of the Realms, the Dark Elf Malekith led a war against the Ten Realms. To give the Avengers and armies of Agard a chance to retreat, Brunnhilde and her Valkyries held the line, only for Malekith to slaughter the warrior women. After Brunnhilde’s brutal death, Jane Foster took over her role as the new head of the Valkyries.
Don Hall was the original Dove, who fought crime alongside his brother Hank, aka Hawk. Together, Don and Hank were the avatars of peace and war, respectively, with Don being the more pacifistic member of the duo. The crime-fighting brothers fought alongside many DC heroes, including the Teen Titans. During Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986, Don was killed when he sacrificed his life to save a child from a Shadow Demon, a deadly minion of the Anti-Monitor. Hank was devastated by his brother’s death and became a much more violent and unstable hero. Luckily, Don was succeeded by Dawn Granger, the new Agent of Peace and partner to Hank, who helped to calm the grieving brother’s fiery temper.
Captain Mar-Vell was a Kree superhero and the first to hold the Captain Marvel mantle. He operated for many years as the defender of Earth and a close ally of the Avengers. Despite possessing cosmic power, Mar-Vell developed cancer after exposure to high levels of radiation while fighting Nitro the Exploding Man. The Kree offered a cure to Mar-Vell in exchange for his betraying humanity, but the hero refused and died with dignity in 1982. Mar-Vell has had a few brief resurrections, but only as a mindless and undead puppet. Still, in 2012, he successfully managed to gain enough control over his body to sacrifice himself to defeat the Phoenix Force and hasn’t been seen since.
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