On television, there have been many characters on shows who were actually dead, too. In many cases, however, this fact was no secret. But the way their death was approached is pretty unique in each case.

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In some, the person is only seen only in flashbacks or visions. In others, the story is centered around the dead person's new "life" while dead.

This entire series is set in the future (2033, to be exact) when technology has advanced so much that virtual afterlife is possible, and people can choose (rather, pay) to be uploaded to a variety of different versions of "heaven" once they perish.

Nathan, a young, handsome, smart 20-something, gets into a car accident in the first episode and is seemingly about to die, at which point he makes the decision to upload. The series is very intriguing as Nathan continues his "life" interacting with the people he loves while existing in a completely different virtual world.

It's no secret that Eleanor is dead. In fact, the entire series is based on the premise that she enters the afterlife where she realizes that she was sent to the glorious Utopian version of heaven by mistake and has to try and hide the error from the others so they don't send her to the seemingly less appealing alternative place (the bad place?)

In the living world, Eleanor wasn't exactly "Heaven" material. But since she has been given this tremendous opportunity, she must try to make good and become a better person in order to earn her spot in "the Good Place."

Harry wasn't necessarily a main character on the show, but he did appear in 96 episodes throughout the series' eight-season run. Except he was never alive. He either showed up in flashbacks or as a vision of Dexter's, sort of the angel on his shoulder.

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Harry was Dexter's adoptive father who, when alive, found a way to help Dexter control his Dark Passenger by developing a "code" for Dexter to live by (only kill those people who have done very, very bad things). In death, Harry continued to appear as a construct in Dexter's mind, helping him through his toughest times.

Professor Proton wasn't technically dead the whole time. He did appear very much alive in several episodes of the series.But when the show killed his character off, much to Sheldon's heartbreak, that wasn't the end of him.

Professor Proton appeared several times thereafter in Sheldon's dreams, still unhappy to be there, yet unwittingly offering sage advice that Sheldon always took to heart.

The list wouldn't be complete with at least one vampire character. Bill was supposedly over 100 years old, but he was technically dead just turned into a vampire that made him immortal. Like on the other shows, it was well known that he was not human.

He lived among humans, however. So while some people he came across might initially have thought he was actually a living person, he was, most certainly, very, very dead.

At first, Lady Melisandre appeared to be some sort of magical witch with special powers. She was certainly not entirely human, or at least was born with special gifts a deity of some kind.

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It wasn't until that one episode when she looked in the mirror and saw the image of a frail, old woman staring back at her that it was revealed that she wasn't necessarily dead, but able to use her power to appear as a beautiful, young woman. Without that trusty necklace, however, Lady Melisandre would likely perish pretty quickly.

At first, it appears that Mr. Robot is a strange, reclusive man using Elliott to do his bidding. Then, it's revealed that Mr. Robot is really another personality of Elliott's, who suffers from a myriad of disorders, one of which includes having multiple personalities.

But later, it is revealed that Mr. Robot is also based on someone who is no longer living: Elliott's own father. There's so much complexity in who or what Mr. Robot is. But the bottom line: he is based on someone who is dead and he isn't real. Actually, he's Elliott, but the person he is illustrated as in the series isn't really there.

This situation is very unique to the others on this list. The character was set to marry Betty's older sister Hilda. But she finds in the first season finale that he was shot in a convenience store.

When season two begins, however, Santos is seemingly alive and well. Viewers were confused until it was revealed at the end of the episode that he actually was, in fact, dead. In trying to deal with the grief and in serious denial, Hilda contrived an entire fantasy life with him in it until she was able to come to terms with things and accept the fact that he was really gone.

Dan's debatable"death" is one of the most interesting and confusing ones on television. In the final season of Roseanne, the family embarks on a spree after winning the lottery. But then it's revealed that it was all a story that Roseanne made up to help process Dan's death. In fact, the entire series was as he was supposed to have been dead for quite some time, since Darlene (not Becky) and David got married. So he had seemingly appeared on the show when he was supposed to be dead.

Dan, however, rose from the dead for the revival of the series; it was explained away with jokes. In one episode, Dan comes across the novel Roseanne was writing in the finale of the original series and joked that it would have sold like hotcakes had she not killed off the most interesting character.

Kenny, the kid who only talked with a muffled voice in this long-running animated series, wasn't dead all along. But he was dead in pretty well every episode. It became a running gag with the line "Oh my God! They killed Kenny!" delivered each time it happened in some fantastical way.

But he would always be resurrected. As the series progressed, Kenny was supposedly killed off for good in season five, then came back. Now, he only dies occasionally.

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A professional writer and editor with 18+ years of experience, Christine, now a freelance writer/editor, is a self-professed TV fanatic with tastes that vary considerably from comedies to dramas, sci-fi, and more. She can usually be found binging a new show at night, coupled with a glass of red wine. With a long history writing in the field of consumer tech, she now also writes on topics from entertainment to parenting, lifestyle, marketing, and business. She resides in Toronto, Ontario in Canada with her husband and young son.

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10 Main TV Characters Who Were Dead The Whole Time | ScreenRant - Screen Rant