10 Best Times A Movie Character Returned From The Dead

Another beardy old bloke who comes back from the dead to help an American doing an English accent, Gandalf the Grey sacrifices his own life to save the Fellowship of the Ring from the clutches of the mighty Balrog.

The monstrous creature snags the wizard with his whip, dragging him down into the abyss below. It's an extremely emotional scene and the first sign that the mission to Mordor is not going to be all fun and games.

However, because Frodo needed his wizard (and because Ian McKellen had signed a three-picture deal), the sorcerer rose from the dead to become Gandalf the White.

In the Lord of the Rings books, it's explained that Gandalf was returned by the creator Eru, as a replacement for the traitorous Saruman. This is glossed over in the films, because if Peter Jackson included every piece of Tolkienian lore in his movies, then he'd still be making them today.

The film version is still great though, with Gandalf approaching his friends in the woods to reveal himself. He plays a key role in the events to come, before sailing off to the Undying Lands when his work is done.

Put your feet up, Gandalf, you've earned it.