We know what you are thinking because we thought it, too. How could any comic book character be truly unkillable? But listen, we aren’t talking about the "Death of Superman" and his inevitable return here, we mean characters who are literally unable to be killed.

RELATED: 15 Superheroes Who Died (And Actually Stayed Dead)

Be it from who and what they are or a change along the way, there are actually a few folks filling the pages of your comic collection who cannot be killed. There was some intense back-and-forth that went into making this list and no doubt, these choices will stir some controversy. Still, whether you agree or not, here are 15 heroes who are just plain unkillable.

15 DEADPOOL

Deadpool is an interesting subject for this list because of why he can’t be killed. It’s not because you could chop off his head and he would find a way to keep on going or his ability to regenerate from absolutely any injury. No, it’s all due to the love triangle between himself, Thanos, and Mistress Death. In the 2016 miniseries "Deadpool Vs. Thanos," Thanos, ever the paramour of Mistress Death, learned of the romantic relationship between her and Deadpool. As a result, Thanos cursed Deadpool with immortality, making it impossible for him to die and ever be with Death again.

Now, Thanos didn’t sacrifice a chicken or do any weird mumbo jumbo to make it so Deadpool can’t die. Instead, he has promised to prevent his death no matter what occurs. This has effectively rendered him immortal, since it is unlikely Thanos would ever allow Deadpool and Death to be in the same reality togethe. Of course, it's debatable whether this story is in-continuity, but even if it wasn't, Deadpool's mutate ability to regenerate from ridiculous injuries is more than enough to secure his position here.

14 LOBO

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first before the comments ignite in a maelstrom of hellfire: yes, Lobo was killed. We know this and we loved Simon Bisley and Alan Grant’s 1992 four-issue miniseries “Lobo’s Back,” where the Main Man met his fate. That miniseries served not only to entertain fans of the Last Czarnian, but also to show exactly why he cannot be killed. In the books, he dies. Sure. But he did so only to make his way to the afterlife, where he went on a a killing spree in order to force the collective beings of Heaven and Hell to resurrect him. They eventually do, but not as the Main Man right away.

After a couple of attempts ending with Lobo’s resurrection as a woman and a squirrel, he eventually beats up enough Gods to get them to permanently ban him from both sides of the afterlife. The final book closes with a letter indicating this very fact, resulting in a Lobo who cannot, under any circumstances, be killed. Indeed, Lobo has gone on to headline his own series and has defied death at every turn. He could drive his bike through the heart of a star and he would come out alive on the other end because the dead want absolutely nothing to do with him… and who can blame them?

13 PLASTIC MAN

Plastic Man may be a somewhat ridiculous superhero who takes on the role of comic relief in most stories he’s written into, but the strange truth is that he is pretty much invulnerable, immortal and capable of spreading his body to a molecularly impossible level. Other than his obvious ability to stretch himself, reshape his body and alter his density at will, Plastic Man can absorb most attacks and has even been theorized to be able to survive a nuclear bomb.

Unlike his contemporaries, Plastic Man has never been killed off in the comics. He has been stretching through the pages of DC comic books since he first appeared in “Police Comics" #1 back in 1941 and it doesn’t look like anything can stop him. In one story, he was scattered into separate molecules and spread across the ocean floor. When the Justice League gathered enough of his material, he was able to reform and regenerate any missing pieces/molecules. If scattering your molecules across the planet doesn't kill you, nothing will.

12 DR. MANHATTAN

Dr. Manhattan represents a unique type of hero in the Watchmen universe, due to his being the only one with actual superpowers. Unfortunately, he is so overpowered and separated from his former self, he eventually loses his humanity. By the end of “Watchmen,” he disassociates with humanity so much that leaves Earth behind. He has been brought back into the fold during DC's recent "Rebirth" event, but his powers and abilities have presumably remained the same.

Like other cosmically-imbued characters on this list, Dr. Manhattan is practically a god, able to manipulate all forms of matter and energy at his will, creating life or anything else that suits him, including the prevention of his own death, a concept that he has largely grown beyond. As he says to Ozymandias after he attempts to disintegrate him in the book's final act, "Restructuring myself after the subtraction of my intrinsic field was the first trick I learned. [...] Did you think it would kill me? I've walked across the surface of the sun." That may be the bluster of a god, but in this case, it also happens to be true. Given everything we've seen, Dr. Manhattan simply cannot die.

11 MOLECULE MAN

Created by Lee and Kirby in 1963''s "Fantastic Four" #20, the Molecule Man may have begun his career as a villain, but he has since progressed as a reluctant hero / anti-hero in recent years, starting after he found love in the original "Secret Wars" event. Owen Reece's powers are so overwhelmingly overcharged that he has become a pillar of the Marvel multiverse, existing simultaneously and unchanged throughout every reality. Thus, as was shown in the lead-up to Hickman's recent "Secret Wars" homage event, his death would result in that of the universe itself.

During that storyline, Doctor Doom imprisons Molecule Man and uses him to maintain his new godlike powers as God Emperor Doom. When Molecule Man finally stops this and gives the power to Mr. Fantastic, he and his son, Franklin (more on him in a minute) recreate the multiverse and divide Molecule Man so that a portion of him adheres to each reality. Essentially, as long as reality itself exists within the multiverse, so does Molecule Man, making him by his very nature an unkillable entity.

10 THE Q

We are definitely stretching the term hero with the entrance of Q, but bear with us. The Q are not a malevolent species and could not be considered to be evil. They have even helped guide humanity over the course of its existence and have taken particular interest in several important members of the human race. Regardless of their motives or whether or not they can truly be characterized as heroic, they are incredibly powerful and could really only be compared to other omnipotent beings.

There is no known limit to a Q’s power other than when it is self-imposed. So, if a Q chooses to become human (or mortal), then they can indeed perish; however, in their natural state, they are immortal in every sense of the word. In short, a Q has to want to die, and thus will itself into something that can be destroyed. Now, there are reported cases of others in the Q continuum "executing" others of their species, BUT to do so, they must first make sure that the Q in question is rendered mortal, causing a fundamental change in their existential makeup. Thus, we would argue that, as an unchanged member of the Q, death is impossible.

9 WONDER MAN

Yes, we know Wonder Man had been killed off a few times over the years before being resurrected every now and again, but when we are talking about Wonder Man’s inability to be killed, we are referring to his current incarnation. Wonder Man has gone through several changes since his debut in “The Avengers" #9 back in 1964. In recent years, the character has evolved to become a being of pure ionic energy. While he is in this form, he is in both invulnerable and immortal such that he no longer ages. He also no longer requires food, water or air, making him pretty darn hard to kill.

We can thank our understanding of physics to help explain why Wonder Man cannot be killed. Due to the Law of Conservation of Energy, we know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed (thanks, Newton, Bernoulli and Leibniz!). Energy can be transformed from one form into another, but since it cannot be destroyed and Wonder Man is made up entirely of ionic energy… well, you get where we are going with this.

8 DKRTZY RRR

Not only does this Green Lantern possess a power ring and battery to go along with its utterly unpronounceable name, Dkrtzy RRR cannot, in any way, be killed. The reason for this has to do entirely with what Dkrtzy actually is. He is (get this) a sentient mathematical formula. Yes, you read that correctly; someone thought it would be a good idea to create a "living" mathematical proof and give it the powers of a Green Lantern, which are already some of the most powerful characters in the DC universe.

You might be asking yourself how this thing can even be alive, which may inevitably follow with the logic that since it is alive, it can die. But we don’t really see how. Dkrtzy RRR is an abstract concept, one which defies even a standard definition of life; a physical embodiment of an oxymoron, an abstract with physical substance. It exists, and because it is a mathematical proof, it cannot simply cease to exist. In a way, this makes the character one of the most powerful to ever exist.

7 FRANKLIN RICHARDS

Franklin Richards is a lot of things. He’s a mutant, he’s the son of Susan Storm and Reed Richards and he is quite possibly the most powerful being in the Marvel universe. As an Omega Level Mutant, Richards possesses the ability to completely alter reality. He has complete control over the fundamental forces of the universe and even possesses precognitive abilities allowing him to perceive the future. Sure, you could probably bust a cap in his head and call it a day, but would that really kill a being capable of creating existence itself? He would see it coming before you ever got the idea to give it a shot in the first place and might just turn you into a gust of wind or whatever suited him at the time.

Speaking of time, he can travel through it. He is, for all intents and purposes, a god. As you can see in the posted picture, he enjoys hiding under his bedsheets when he should be sleeping and creating a pocket universe. The laws of physics… even reality itself... do not apply to Franklin, and even the idea of killing him is quite simply impossible.

6 THE IMMORTAL

He didn’t just pick his name out of a hat, the character called The Immortal in the “Invincible” universe is exactly what his name implies. Not only can’t he be killed, but he has been alive for a very long time. He was a member of King Arthur’s court, having served as one of his knights, he discovered North America, fought for the Colonists in the American War for Independence, and even helped to run the government when he was President of the United States between 1861-1865 (Yeah, he was Abraham Lincoln). As time passed and superheroes started sprouting up all over the globe, he followed suit, grabbed a cape and some tights and got on board.

When Omni-Man decided to betray Earth and kill a lot of people, his first stop was to kill off the Guardians of the Globe, of which The Immortal was a member. Omni-Man decapitated him and he was buried in a cemetery. So, he died… right? Nope! As soon as his head was reattached (after he was dug up), he sprung back to life and, as you might imagine, he was pretty pissed. He can be stopped for a while if you separate his body parts, but it doesn’t actually kill him as none of the parts will decompose. He will come back again and again.

5 SOLAR: MAN OF THE ATOM

Solar is a somewhat muddled character with several variations making up his origin and story. For this list, we are looking at the Solar created in 1962 for Gold Key Comics by Bob Fujitani, Paul S. Newman and Matt Murphy, and later folded in to the Valiant Universe in the 1990s. The origin for Valiant’s Solar involves Doctor Phil Seleski jumping into a nuclear reactor (which turns out to be a sort of wish-fulfillment machine) and he turns into a being of pure energy. We have already established the nature of a being made of pure energy, so you have your unkillable nature right there.

Of course, comics can be a bit finicky, especially when another company takes over and buys all of the characters to do with as they please. This occurred when Acclaim took over with issue #46. With Acclaim’s new line of Valiant-owned characters, Solar ends up sacrificing his life to stop an alien threat far off in the future. This new twist established the death of Solar, but only by his own hand. He was returned to existence in an Image and Valiant crossover series called “Deathmate,” but this was never adopted into canon. Despite who is publishing the character, due to the nature of his power -- i.e., being comprised of pure energy -- he cannot be killed by any external means.

4 LEEZLE PON

Leezle Pon is another obscure member of the Green Lantern Corps who we argue cannot be killed. Now, we admit that the reasoning behind his inclusion here is pretty tricky; see, Leezle Pon is a Smallpox virus. Being microscopic, yet sentient and capable of wielding a Green Lantern ring, it goes on missions other Lanterns cannot undertake, either physically or biologically. In fact, Pon has played an important role in various Lantern events, such as the Sinestro Corps War, wherein he helped to save Guy Gardner’s life by defeating Sinestro's own sentient virus, Despotellis, who technically also cannot be killed. Why, you ask?

Well, technically, a virus is not a living organism. Viruses defy all standard definitions of life and have been described as “organisms on the edge of life,” but are not considered alive in the traditional sense. In order to replicate, a virus must invade the living cells of another organism, but outside of any such organism, they can lay dormant and inert. Leezle Pon is clearly not dormant nor is it infecting anything, but because of the nature of its existence, it cannot technically be killed, simply because it has never truly been alive. Cheeky, we know.

3 ETERNAL WARRIOR

The Eternal Warrior is aptly named, due to his existence prior to recorded history. He is one of three brothers who are also as ancient as he is (one of whom, incidentally, is Armstrong from Valiant's "Archer & Armstrong" series). He has been a warrior in defense of the Earth for thousands of years and has acquired millennia of military knowledge. Other than being immortal, he also possesses increased strength, agility, incredible durability (which allows him to survive nuclear fallout) and a very, very impressive healing factor. Within the “Valiant” universe he was written into, there is no definable way to kill him in the classic sense. 

As the Eternal Warrior, he is sworn to protect the Geomancers and ensure their survival. These Geomancers have a special bond with the spirit of the Earth and there must be one alive to protect the planet and speak for it at all times. In many ways, he is a force of protection for the spirit of the planet itself and as long as the planet exists, so too will the Eternal Warrior. Because of this, he cannot be killed and won’t die of natural causes, at least as long as the Earth remains.

2 GHOST RIDER

When we are talking about the Ghost Rider, we aren’t just discussing Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch or any of the people who have housed the Spirit of Vengeance in the comics. Instead, we are talking about the spirit itself; an immortal being who acts as a divine balancer to life, death and revenge. Because he is from hell and is controlled (to a certain extent) by Satan (or God, depending on who is writing the character), "death" is not something he can truly experience, at least not in the way humans perceive it. Due to the nature of its need to avenge the wronged and punish the wicked, Ghost Ridercould feasibly be around for as long as the idea of revenge exists in humanity.

There is no way to kill the Spirit of Vengeance that is Ghost Rider. As an immortal creature, he can be hurt by magic and holy relics -- he can even be returned to hell -- but seeing as that’s where he’s from, it’s not much of a death. For Ghost Rider, it’s kind of like going home for a bit. This has happened due to exorcisms that have been performed on a few Ghost Riders over the years, suggesting that he is susceptible to various forms of attacks, but these never result in the spirit’s ultimate demise.

1 SPECTRE

If Ghost Rider is the Devil’s version of the Spirit of Vengeance, the Spectre is most definitely God’s. The Spectre is a supernatural being who, just like Ghost Rider, is bound to the soul of a human. In Spectre’s case, that human’s soul must belong to a dead person, so there are some differences. Within the DC universe, the Spectre is divine, and is likely the most powerful being in the entire universe (other than the fellow he gets his powers from). Spectre is omnipotent and immortal to boot.

His powers include control over reality, inter-dimensional travel, increasing his astral form to infinite size and a lot more powers that don’t make a lick of sense. As the Wrath of God, Spectre is essentially the manifestation of His power, which is saying something. There is no way to kill the Spectre itself, though with a great deal of effort and magic, the host spirit can be destroyed, separated or compromised. When the Spectre finds a new host, it becomes something of a new being, though technically, it is the same entity. In short, though, the Spectre has not been killed off in the comics and really couldn’t be.

What do you think of our list? Can you think of anyone else who would technically be unkillable? Let us know in the comments!