Healing factor

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A healing factor is a term used to describe the ability of some characters in fiction to recover from bodily injuries or disease at a superhuman rate.

The term itself is most commonly applied to comic book characters in the Marvel Universe, although other quickly-regenerating characters exist.

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[edit] Artistic license

The efficiency of a character's healing factor, as with all "powers", varies frequently, depending on the situation and the writer writing it, with, as a story is being told, drama being the key factor.

Broad displays of artistic license have often led to debates among fans of particular comic book characters that have superhuman rates of healing, such as Wolverine, Deadpool, Sabretooth, Hulk, et cetera, as to which comic characters heal faster, or exactly which level their healing factors are.

[edit] Comics

Hulk recovering from having his skin and most of his muscle tissue torn away.
Hulk recovering from having his skin and most of his muscle tissue torn away.

[edit] Marvel Comics

There are numerous characters within the Marvel Universe that possess some form of accelerated healing ability. The source of these "healing factors" ranges from genetic mutation to artificial enhancement to magic. The exact limits of some character's healing powers is often a source of debate among fans since that many of their healing powers have fluctuated in efficiency, due to the practice of artistic license by multiple writers and artists.

Marvel Comics characters known to possess a "healing factor" include:

     

Various types of groups and races heal faster than humans due to a combination of natural biology and mystical energies. These include:

The members of the various groups and races listed above possess their "healing factors" as a result of mystical or cosmic energies and influences that are common to their species. Many members of the various "gods", Eternals, and Elders, are able to heal themselves by purposely channeling the energies of their bodies to heal themselves to exceptional degrees.

However, some individual members of the groups and races mentioned possess near-true immortality, which means that they have completely stopped aging and they can't physically die except under specific circumstances. Some individual "gods" and Eternals can only truly die if a significant portion of their bodily molecules are scattered, thus preventing them from regenerating vital areas of their anatomy essential to survival.

The incarnation of Death itself has banned the Elders of the Universe from entering its realm, which would indicate that the Elders possess true immortality and can't physically die and will regenerate no matter the magnitude of injury or injuries.

Vampires, werewolves, and various other characters listed above cannot impose their will over their healing powers to enhance them. Their "healing factors" are an automated response of their bodies. Also, a number of the characters listed above possess variable degrees of invulnerability in addition to enhanced healing abilities. In many cases, their levels of invulnerability provide considerably higher protection from death than their healing rate.

There are numerous others, however, the individuals and groups mentioned are some of the more well known.

[edit] DC Comics

There are also numerous characters within the DC Universe that possess some form of accelerated healing ability, including:

[edit] Outside of comics

Non-comics characters who can heal rapidly in one manner or another include:

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