A healing factor is the ability of some characters in fiction, most notably comic book characters in the Marvel Universe, to recover from bodily injuries or disease at a superhuman rate.
1 Definition for DC Comics
2.2 Aspects
3 Definition for Malibu Comics
4 Definition for Wildstorm Comics
4.2 Heroes Continuity
4.2.1 Characters
4.2.2 Limits
5 Definition for Image Comics
5.1 Comics
6 Definition for Top Cow Productions
7 Definition for Valiant Comics
8 Definition for Dark Horse Comics
9 Definition for Aspen MLT
10 Definition for Caliber Comics
11 Definition for Dynamite Entertainment
12 Definition for IDW Publishing
13 Definition for Chaos! Comics
Sometimes called a "healing factor", Accelerated Healing is a term used to describe the ability of some characters to recover from bodily injuries or disease at a superhuman rate. It differs from Regeneration because although the character can repair from major tissue damage and even regenerate entire cells it cannot repair separated limbs or torn cells. So knee injuries will heal but if the knee is torn off then Accelerated Healing cannot help.
Other uses of Accelerated Healing include recovery from diseases and illnesses at an accelerated state. These can range from not being affected by colds to healing diseases such as Cancer or HIV in a matter of days.
Amazo[38]
Argus[39]
Bane[40]
Black Lantern Corps using their black rings
Brother Blood (Sebastian Blood IX)
Cicada[40]
Connor Hawke[41]
Creeper[42][43]
Czarnians[44]
Deathstroke[45]
Doomsday[46]
Dove (Both Don Hall and Dawn Granger)
Etrigan the Demon[47]
Flash and anyone else who receives their powers from the Speed Force[48]
General Wade Eiling[49]
Griffin[50]
Hawk[51]
Hawkgirl (All versions due to Nth Metal)[52]
Hawkman (All versions due to Nth Metal)[52]
Hawkwoman (All versions due to Nth Metal)[52]
Hourman[53]
Icon[54]
Indigo Tribe by using their Power ring
Jim Harper (clone)
Killer Croc
Knockout[55]
Kryptonians (Provided they are exposed to or possess a charge of energy from a yellow sun or similar forms of energy)[56]
Lobo[57]
Manhunter (Both Paul Kirk and his clones)[58][59][60]
Martian Manhunter[61]
Misfit[62]
Mon-El[63]
Psycho-Pirate[64]
Orion[65][66][67]
Ryan Kendall
Sasha Bordeaux
Saturnians[68]
Scandal Savage[69]
Shaggy Man[70]
Solomon Grundy[55]
Swamp Thing[71]
Timber Wolf[72]
Tracer[73]
Ungarans
Vandal Savage[74]
Xenusians
A healing factor is a term used to describe the ability to recover from bodily injuries or disease at a superhuman rate.
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 each 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.
The members of the various groups and races listed above possess their "healing factors" as a result of mystical 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 mystical 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. 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 are considerably higher than their healing rate.
There are numerous others, however, the individuals and groups mentioned are some of the more well known.
As every power this one has several aspects which may or may not apply to every character that possesses healing factor. Those include:
Disease Immunity: This provides him/her with highly efficient immune system, which renders them immune against all known diseases and infections.
Foreign Chemical Immunity: This affords the character with virtual immunity to poisons and drugs.
Insulated Weather Adaptation: Their's body is highly resistant to certain elemental extremes such as extreme heat or cold.
Telepathic Resistance: Enables characters to block telepathic attacks.
Slowed Aging: Provides them with an extended lifespan by slowing the effects of the aging process. Characters may be over 100 years old, but retain the appearance and physical condition as if they were in there physical prime of their lives.
Agent Zero[2]
Anais[3]
Angel / Archangel
Baron von Strucker
Blackheart[5]
Bloodlust[6]
Bloodscream
Chitauris
Cassandra Nova
Daken[9]
Elsa Bloodstone[12]
Gamora[13]
Julia Carpenter
Lady Deathstrike
M / Monet St. Croix
Mister Sinister
Morbius, the Living Vampire
Namor the Sub-Mariner[18]
Native[19]
Nina Price
Norman Osborn
Omega Red
Pandemic[21]
Scalphunter
Skaar
Spidercide
Tomi Shishido
Ultra Girl[24]
Ulysses Bloodstone[25]
Underworld[26]
Vampires[27]
Warpath[28]
Werewolf by Night[30]
Wild Thing[32]
Wyre[34]
Various types of groups and races heal faster than humans due to a combination of natural biology and mystical energies. These include:
Asgardian Rock Trolls
Asgardians
Elders of the Universe
Definition for Malibu Comics
Ghoul[36]
NM-E
Sludge[37]
Definition for Wildstorm Comics
Daemonites[75]
Grifter[76]
The High
Midnighter[77]
Voodoo[78]
Heroes Continuity
Rapid cell regeneration (also referred to as "rapid cellular regeneration", "spontaneous regeneration", "tissue regeneration", "epithelial cell regeneration", or simply "regeneration" or "healing") is the ability to regenerate cells at an increased rate, resulting in physical injuries healing in a matter of seconds or minutes.
Claire Bennet is the first character (by episode) to demonstrate this ability and has shown the "regeneration" and "healing" aspects. (Genesis)
Adam Monroe is the earliest character (chronologically) to demonstrate this ability and has shown the "regeneration," "healing," and "anti-aging" aspects (Lizards). He lost the ability when Arthur Petrelli stole it from him (Dying of the Light).
Peter Petrelli absorbed this ability from Claire (Homecoming), but lost it when Arthur Petrelli stole it from him (Dying of the Light). He later replicated it from Claire, but ultimately discarded it in favor of flight from West Rosen. (Let It Bleed)
Sylar has acquired this ability from Claire. (The Second Coming)
Arthur Petrelli has stolen this ability from Adam and Peter. (Dying of the Light)
A future incarnation of Sylar kills Claire and obtains her ability in an alternate timeline. (Five Years Gone)
According to Chandra's journal, a male individual potentially has the ability of "tissue regeneration". (Seven Minutes to Midnight)
This ability does not move displaced parts of the body back into the correct location. After filming the videotape Claire had to manually re-insert her displaced ribs before the flesh on her ribcage would heal (Genesis), and Peter Petrelli had to manually rotate his broken limbs to the correct orientation before it would heal when he used his empathic mimicry to mimic Claire's ability (Homecoming). However, Adam Monroe was able to completely heal from a massive explosion at Whitebeard's camp. Though not able to heal immediately after experiencing the explosion, as evidenced by his charred body in the ruins of the tents (Out of Time). In a similar circumstance Claire survived radioactive explosion twice healing immediately from severe burns after in both instances in the actual timeline as well as in the exposed future. Claire has also shown to be unaffected by Electrocution healing damage with ease.
Typically, Claire's blood does not return to its place in her body when an associated wound heals, although it can if the wound is small and her blood has not spread far from it (the only example being when her brother stapled her hand). She is consistently covered with blood following a serious injury.
As demonstrated for the first time in Lizards, Claire is able to regrow body parts that have been removed. She experimented with this for the first time by cutting off her little toe with a pair of scissors, then watching it grow back with much surprise. In Resistance, Future Claire's arm is blown off by a grenade and she re-grows it.
Claire certainly feels her injuries—she cried out from having a staple put into her hand and winced in pain at other times—but the pain does not incapacitate her in the way it would an ordinary person. She has stated that the pain she feels from injuries diminishes very rapidly (Kindred). However, since having her brain examined by Sylar (The Second Coming), Claire has stated that she no longer feels pain of any kind, although when demonstrating the power to Gretchen, she pretended she did for a second.
Peter has shown that this power has the capability to reverse memory damage caused by the Haitian. However, unlike most instances of the ability's usage, memory damage reversal requires active concentration (Four Months Ago...).
It's revealed that it can also heal nervous system damage. Arthur Petrelli was completely paralyzed and breathing through a tube having suffered permanent damage to his nervous system due to Angela poisoning him. He absorbed Adam Monroe's power, killing Adam, but healing all of the damage done to his body by the poison, reversing his paralysis.
This power also speeds the recovery from inebriation or cancels out its effects all together, as Claire briefly mentioned that her liver tissue is rapidly regenerating ([[Into Asylu]).
While the ability protects an individual from infections and other pathogens, it works independently from one's immune system: when Claire was shot while her ability wasn't working, her immune system was too weak to fight off infections, leading to a system wide critical condition that lead to her death. When her ability started working again, she came back to life. (The Eclipse, Part 2)
Regeneration does not work correctly if a foreign object obstructs the wound. This is especially true of foreign objects lodged in a particular spot in the brain. This limitation is presumably related to the importance of the brain in the nature of evolved humans, as theorized by Chandra Suresh (One Giant Leap). There are many examples of this limitation and knowledge thereof,
After Brody "killed" Claire, she did not begin to regenerate until the coroner removed the tree branch lodged in her brain.
Pete experienced a similar situation with a piece of glass in the back of his head (.07%).
A more graphic example of this is Future Claire's presumed death at the hands of Sylar (Five Years Gone), when Sylar presumably removes her brain after slicing her head open.
However, in The Second Coming, Sylar not only leaves her brain in place, but explains with his new understanding of her powers, apparently through his intuitive aptitude, he claims that he cannot kill her and she could never die.
Angela sent Peter and the Haitian to kill Arthur by shooting him through the back of the head otherwise he could regenerate. Ultimately the bullet Peter fired was telekinetically shoved all the way through Arthur's head by Sylar, presumably completely destroying the spot and killing him permanently. (Our Father)
Claire uses knowledge of this spot in the brain to incapacitate Sylar with a shard of glass (Dual).
Danko and his team also had this knowledge, claiming that a bullet to the spot fired at either Claire or Sylar would kill them (Trust and Blood).
Sylar claimed that this spot was microscopic, requiring one to either be a good shot or have intimate knowledge of where it's located. He also claimed that this spot could be moved, apparently doing so to avoid death by Danko by knife, when hit where the spot should have been. (I Am Sylar)
Despite this limitation, regenerators can expel small objects (such as a bullet) lodged in her body as long as they are not disrupting their brain functions (Company Man, Kindred).
In several episodes it has been stated or shown that an individual with the ability can be permanently killed. It is stated by Adam Monroe that if a person with the power is decapitated or the brain is severally damaged the ability to heal is canceled out and leaving the individual permanently dead (Out of Time)(Truth & Consequences).
In one instance Adam died due to aging rapidly, when his power was taken from him by Arthur. In another instance the power was canceled out by the Haitians ability to negate powers, which resulted in the death of Arthur when Peter went to shoot him in the head, but the bullet was subsequently stopped in mid-air by Sylar, who then allows the bullet to continue on its course, killing Arthur while he is in his momentarily depowered state (Our Father). A similar circumstance is seen when the Future Claire shoots Future Peter in the exposed future in partnership with the Future Haitian, using his ability negation to make sure Peter's abilities won't allow him to escape as well as allowing him to be seriously wounded from the bullet, as he is unable to regenerate (I Am Become Death).
Regenerators are not immune to being frozen (Brother's Keeper). However, should any of their limbs shatter, they will regenerate them as normal.
Adam Monroe lived for centuries without aging significantly. Angela Petrelli confirms that this is an effect of his ability (Cautionary Tales). She tells Matt Parkman that after a certain amount of regeneration, the body simply stops aging. After Arthur Petrelli removed this ability from him, Adam aged rapidly, crumbling to dust within a few seconds, demonstrating that without his power continually repairing age-related damage, he would quickly die.
Adam Monroe was the first to demonstrate that individuals with this ability can heal others by injecting them with their own blood. So far, five characters have been healed this way: Adam's seventh wife Diane (circa 1901), Nathan Petrelli, Noah Bennet, Maya Herrera, and Sylar.
Adam injected a small amount of his blood into Nathan's intravenous drip, causing Nathan to immediately start to heal from his radiation burns (Four Months Ago...). Adam did not show any worry about the possible adverse effects of mixing blood types.
In Out of Time, Bob suggests that Claire's blood could be used to make a new cure for the Shanti virus. Bob informs Claire that her blood could help a lot of people, and proceeds to take some of her blood. Later, Noah Bennet is resurrected using her blood after being shot by Mohinder (Cautionary Tales).
Mohinder Suresh is able to combine Claire's blood with the antibodies from his own to make a cure for the fortified Shanti Virus that Niki contracted (Truth & Consequences). The blood combination not only healed Maya of her gunshot wound, but also cured Sylar of the virus (Powerless).
Unlike Adam, a recipient of Adam's blood cannot halt the aging process indefinitely. Adam's blood cured his wife Diane of tuberculosis, but she still died "peacefully" twenty years later. (The Ten Brides of Takezo Kensei)
According to Noah, the regenerative properties of a blood transfusion would not heal tumors. Because they are living tissue, regeneration would cause them to grow larger. (Tabula Rasa)
There are numerous characters within the Image Comics 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 each 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.
The members of the various groups and races possess their "healing factors" as a result of mystical energies and influences that are common to their species. Many members of the various "gods" are able to heal themselves by purposely channeling the mystical energies of their bodies to heal themselves to exceptional degrees.
However, some individual members of the groups and races 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" 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. or disease at a superhuman rate.
Amy Belcher[79]
Angela and other angels
Gary Hampton
Hellspawn[80]
Malcom Dragon[81]
Malebolgia and other demons[82]
Savage Dragon[83]
SuperPatriot[84]
Tremor[85]
Virus[86]
Definition for Top Cow Productions
Healing Factor is the ability to regenarate from wounds both at an accelerated rate and with more finality than humans.
The Angelus wielders
The Darkness wielders.
Witchblade and the Excalibur wielders[87]
Definition for Valiant Comics
Bloodshot[88]
Psi Lords
Rai[89]
Definition for Dark Horse Comics
Hellboy[90]
The Mask wearers[91]
Definition for Aspen MLT
Aspen Matthews and the Blacks[92]
Definition for Caliber Comics
Eric Draven
Definition for Dynamite Entertainment
Painkiller Jane[94]
Definition for IDW Publishing
Definition for Chaos! Comics
Do not confused Healing Factor with:
Hiram Heale Human Fly Marvel Comics
Healer Marvel Comics
Healer (X-Men Forever) Marvel Comics
Healer (New Universe) Marvel Comics
Healer Wildstorm Comics
All the others Heal... correspondences