"Immortality is the ultimate curse, disguised as a blessing. Far too many people want it without really thinking about the consequences after they've obtained it. Loneliness. Despair. I've lived long enough to watch everything I know and everyone I loved turn to dust. When it reaches a certain point, you just get tired. You're tired of fighting it, tired of trying to make the best of it. You want to forget. And in the end, you detach yourself from everything."A certain view on the "truth" of immortality
Immortality ( Fushi), also referred to as Eternal Life (, Eien no Inochi) is the state of existence in which an entity can live for infinite length of time without dying. Immortality itself is a broad concept, and there are several different ways to achieve this, and almost all are through magic; the most notorious of which is wishing for immortality through the Dragon Balls.
Immortality is the overarching theme ofFervent Immortal Tales.
Immortality is the ultimate solution to the fear of nearly every being in the universe; various methods used counteract the fleeting nature of their short existence in this dimension. The idea of immortality is ingrained in nearly every species in every planet through every star system in every galaxy at every corner of the universe. And because of this, many beings have searched for, and eventually developed various different methods of immortality. They all share the same base function; giving the person afflicted with it the ability to live forever, however, immortality comes in several different varieties and there are many forms of immortality that come with conditions that need to be met while still alive; lest they lose their immortality and die like any mortal.
It is notable that immortality can be viewed as the ultimate form of cowardice; the concept of 'death' is the primal fear in every living being, and avoiding it is what drives a great many to seek immortality. As such, they are essentially fleeing from what is natural out of their own blind fear. And to some, immortality is viewed not as a blessing, but as a curse. While one person may love the idea of living forever, another may find the prospect terrifying, and it truly is; to live forever is to be alone. When all of creation is gone, all that is left is you, alone, surrounded by nothingness, having achieved your wish.
There are several different types of immortality; some are flawless, some have conditions.
A possessor of Complete Immortality, suffering no wounds despite numerous attacks
The strongest form of immortality; the possessor of this type of immortality simply can't die. This form of immortality comes with eternal youth, an individual with complete immortality is incapable of getting any older than when they received the immortality. The strongest benefit to this immortality, however, is the inability to be wounded; it is as if they are made of diamond, a wound inflicted to their body will either heal, or, won't appear at all. Ripping off limbs is impossible, or they will simply come back, and wounding their vital organs does nothing. While they may still feel pain, there will be no wound to speak of, and this pain may often simply lead to irritation as opposed to something debilitating.
This is the form of immortality most commonly seen as a curse, as once it is gained, death is impossible. The possessor of this form cannot die a natural death, nor can they be killed, and this can lead to gruesome situations in which the immortal can not escape. This is also the form of immortality most commonly sought.
If this immortality was a form of a curse, it can be removed by magic or a Holy RM, thus allowing for a natural or unnatural death.
The Zombie Tattoo, a curse that grants Resurrective Immortality
The second strongest form of immortality; the possessor of this type can die, but they will not stay dead. This immortality has several sub-types, the first being "Born-Again Immortality", wherein, even if the user should die, they will be reborn again in the form of a child, possessing the memories of its past life or lives. This in itself is not reincarnation, not in the truest sense, the soul of the deceased with not possess a new body, the infant body will grow on its own. This is most commonly used by Phoenixes, as well as Namekians in the form of Pokopen, the ability to spit out an egg containing their soul and memories.
The second subset is "Resurrective Immortality", wherein, even if the user should die, they will always return to life and look none the worse for wear. Similar to the "Born-Again Immortality", when a user dies, they are reborn, however, in this case, they will be reborn in nearly the exact same body they had when they died. This is not a form of regeneration, they can be injured the same as any mortal, however, death cannot hold their soul and their body will reform. This form of immortality has its pros and cons; for someone who loves the thrill of battle, it means they will never truly fall and will always be able to fight more, or for a thrill seeker, they can get a higher adrenaline rush than a mortal. However, due to never truly dying, they can be tortured indefinitely without the torturers fear of killing them, and they will feel every bit of the pain. There are several ways to accomplish this form of immortality, including becoming a "fact of the timeline" (i.e. the person has to exist and cannot be killed), or more commonly, "Save Points", a form of immortality used notably by Joan Godiver, where the user "saves" their existence at a certain point in time, and is always reborn when they are killed exactly how they were then they saved themselves; it does count as a form of time manipulation. The Zombie Tattoo grants this form of immortality as well.
The Magia Erebea, a form of Retroactive Immortality that later mimics vampirism
The final subset, and perhaps the strongest, is regeneration from a single cell. So long as literally a "single cell" of this being remains, they will always regenerate, their whole body will restore itself from one remaining cell. This form is often a biological trait found in certain species whose regeneration capacities are large, in other times, it is artificially added to a creature made by science; almost always a form of a monster. Every injury simply regenerates, from lost limbs, to a blown off torso, to a broken neck. So long as one bit of flesh is left undestroyed, they will regenerate into a new body. To kill a possessor of this kind of immortality, they have to entirely disintegrated until nothing remains. There are also several forms of curses that work this way, and some forms of vampirism can regenerate in this manner. Individuals summoned by the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation also gain this form of immortality.
The Magia Erebea works similar to this the first time; the caster has to 'die' and come back before they are granted a form of immortality that works similarly to vampirism.
The third type of immortality with varied types of subsets; the Spare Bodies type of immortality involves the user placing their soul or consciousness into an empty shell, a fresh body for their use. The first form of this is a Body Backup Drive, where the user has multiple bodies in which they can store their soul/consciousness in the events of their death. How this works varies from user to user, sometimes it is automatic, sometimes it requires a marking, or other times, it is done prior to the death manually.
A second variation is the act of body theft, always being the act of one's soul possessing another body. This in itself has some cons, as the possession can either be perfect and indefinite, or it can be flawed and temporary, as seen with the Living Corpse Reincarnation.
Some forms of immortality do not fall under any of the above categories, or rather, they often blend. No one type of immortality ever features just 'eternal life', very rarely at least, and many often have several traits blended to create a unique type of immortality fit for a story setting. It is not uncommon to see a possessor of immortality cursed with eternal life as well as a very strong regenerative factor, or a regenerative factor that attributes to a resurrection.
There are, however, certain types of immortality that do not fall under any above type, the first being a "Soul Jar". Through the use of magic, a user can take a fragment of their own soul, and seal it away in an object. So long as the object remains unharmed, the individual cannot die; however, how close they can come to death depends on the author's choice; some may exist in limbo, some may truly be invulnerable.
The "Life Drinker" requires the user to drain the life energy (spirit energy, ki, etc) from a victim to replenish their own. They remain alive so long as they find victims, and, if such an immortal doesn't feed, they will eventually die. While this form of immortality seems vampiric, it is very rarely seen in actual vampires, who feed on blood.
Biological immortality is another form of immortality where the user is simply immune to a natural death, but can be killed by other means. This form of immortality is best seen in cyborgs, but it can also be seen in people who have drunk the Immortality Elixir.
There are a multitude of ways to achieve immortality:
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Types of Immortality Edit - Ultimate Crossover Wiki