Resurrection

Dean's gravesite, after being resurrected by Castiel.

Resurrection is the ability to bring the dead back to life. This is mostly achieved by deals with demons and by the will of angels. An angel's ability to resurrect the dead is tied to their connection to Heaven; if they are cut off from the Host in any way, they may not be able to bring the dead back to life.

Demons, however, appear to require deals to be struck in order to bring a dead human back to life.

This entry refers to beings who have been bought back to life largely unchanged. For other occurrences see the entries on [[Revenants] and Zombies.

Things That Can Resurrect

Beings

Angels - Angels have the ability to resurrect the dead, however healing and resurrection appear to be tied to Heaven, and thus an angel can be cut off from using those abilities. Higher orders of angels such as archangels and seraphim can resurrect humans without connection to the Host of Heaven.
Cosmic Entity - It can bring back any inhabitants of its realm, the Empty.
The Darkness - Like her brother, the Darkness is capable of resurrecting beings at will.
Death - As a rule, Death does not bring people back. Under certain situations an exception can be made.
God - God can resurrect humans and angels at will. However archangels, have been formed from pure primordial creation, take more time to resurrect.
Reapers - While this is antithetical to their purpose, reapers have the ability to heal and resurrect, though they have only been known to perform such acts under duress.

Magic

Deals and pacts - Making deals with demons can bring the dead back the life.
Mark of Cain - Possessors of the Mark will be brought back upon death and turned into demons.
Resurrection charm - People who bear this charm can come back to life, however the charm requires recharging after any use.
Tiamat Talisman - If the owner of the coin takes it out of its well, all wishes will be undone, including any wishes to kill someone.

Episodes

2.22 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two

In a competition among the Special Children set up by Azazel, Sam is killed by Jake Talley. A distraught Dean makes a deal with a Crossroads Demon to bring Sam back to life, selling his soul for one year instead of the standard ten years to being Sam back.

3.11 Mystery Spot

Sam is put into an endless loop of the same Tuesday by the Trickster, where he has to repeatedly witness Dean die and be brought back the next day -- which is also Tuesday.

4.01 Lazarus Rising

After being in Hell for four months (forty years Hell time), the angel Castiel pulls Dean out of Hell and brings him back to life on the Host of Heaven's command.

4.08 Wishful Thinking

To reverse all wishes of a Tiamat Coin, Sam and Dean confront its owner, Wes Mondale. His lover Hope Lynn Casey, who is with Wes due to the coin, overhears their conversation and realizes that if the spell in broken her love for Wes will be gone. To try to save their relationship, she wishes Sam dead, and he dies of lightning. Wes, realizing what he has done, removes the coin and Sam is brought back to life.

5.01 Sympathy for the Devil

After Castiel is smote by the archangel Raphael for rebelling, he is brought back by God.

5.13 The Song Remains the Same

After Sam is killed by Anna Milton, Michael intervenes, killing Anna, and eventually brings back Sam.

5.16 Dark Side of the Moon

After Sam and Dean are shot and killed by Walt and Roy, they meet an angel in Heaven named Joshua, who tells them of their many prior deaths and how this time he has been given instruction for Sam and Dean to remember, before sending them back to earth in their restored bodies.

5.18 Point of No Return

Realizing that Dean will not become Michael's vessel, the angels move to a plan B and resurrect Sam and Dean's half-brother Adam Milligan. However, Castiel learns of this and goes to the spot of Adam's funeral pyre, where he kills two angels and brings the resurrected Adam back to Bobby's.

5.22 Swan Song

After throwing a Molotov cocktail of holy oil at Michael to give Dean time to reach Sam, Lucifer snaps his fingers and takes Castiel apart at a sub-atomic level. After Sam regains control of his body and jumps into the Cage with Michael, Castiel is brought back by God, having also been upgraded to a seraphim. Before departing, he heals Dean of his wounds and resurrects Bobby.

6.11 Appointment in Samarra

Despite Dean failing the wager to be Death for 24 hours, Death honors their agreement and enters the Cage to retrieve Sam's soul, completing Sam's resurrection that was started by Castiel.

8.16 Remember the Titans

The Greek Titan Prometheus is cursed with dying and being resurrected every day by Zeus after giving humans fire from Mt. Olympus.

9.03 I'm No Angel

After a human Castiel is killed by the reaper April Kelly, he is brought back by Ezekiel on Dean's request.

9.04 Slumber Party

When Charlie is killed by the Wicked Witch of the West's magic, she is brought back by Ezekiel.

9.23 Do You Believe in Miracles?

Dean, empowered by the Mark of Cain, believes he can take on the angel Metatron. The two fight, and Dean is stabbed through the heart with an angel blade. The Mark, unwilling to let its wielder die, brings Dean back as as demon.

11.17 Red Meat

Dean takes an overdose and dies so that he can beg Billie the reaper to bring Sam back to life. However, Dean learns from Billie that Sam is not dead, and as she prepares to take Dean to the Empty, Dr. Kessler is able to resuscitate him.

11.18 Hell's Angel

While healing Amara, Rowena reveals to her that after Lucifer snapped her neck, a casket of powerful magic she had sewn into her thigh was activated once her life-force began ebbing. As the magic worked its way through her body, it repaired her broken neck, bringing her back to life.

11.23 Alpha and Omega

As a thank-you for all Dean has done for her, Amara gives him something she felt he needed and resurrects his mother, Mary Winchester.

12.09 First Blood

Imprisoned in a government black site for six weeks, Sam and Dean realize there is no escape. Believing themselves to be dead anyway, they call on Billie and strike a deal to temporarily die and be brought back to life so they can escape confinement. As payment for this favor, at midnight a Winchester must die. Mary offers to take their place in the deal, but Billie is killed by Castiel before she can collect.

12.19 The Future

Kelly Kline decides to kill herself rather than let her child be used as a tool of destruction. She slits her wrists in a bathtub, but is resurrected by her unborn child.

13.04 The Big Empty

After being jostled awake in the Empty by the Nephilim Jack, Castiel becomes such an annoyance to the Cosmic Entity that it is forced to send him back to earth.

13.05 Advanced Thanatology

When Dean temporarily kills himself to find the bodies of Dr. Avery Meadows' victims, he is confronted by Billie, who reveals herself as the new incarnation of Death. After conversing in Death's Reading Room about Sam and Dean's place in the universe, Dean is brought back to life by Billie.

13.07 War of the Worlds

After being found out by the Winchesters, Arthur Ketch tells the brothers how he came to still be alive after being shot in the head: Years ago the British Men of Letters captured Rowena, and during her interrogation, Ketch learned of the resurrection charm. He struck a deal with Rowena, having the charm sewed into his body in exchange for letting her escape. Resurrecting soon after his body was dumped, Ketch went into hiding, as the British Men of Letters frown on desertion. He also began searching for Rowena, explaining that once the charm is used, it must be recharged before it can work again.

13.12 Various & Sundry Villains

Rowena tells the Winchesters that after Lucifer burned her alive, the healing process took a long time. Rather than risk being murdered by Lucifer again, and undergo the same plodding healing process, Rowena is seeking the Black Grimoire to lift the magical bindings placed on her by the Grand Coven so that she can protect herself.

13.21 Beat the Devil

When Sam is killed by vampires from Apocalypse World, he is "lifted from the darkness" by Lucifer, who brings him back to make a deal. In exchange for his life, Lucifer wants Sam to help him meet his son, threatening Sam by claiming he will release the horde of vampires he is keeping at bay onto the younger Winchester if he does not agree to the bargain.

13.23 Let the Good Times Roll

After learning of Maggie's death, a distraught Jack reconnects with Lucifer and agrees to go with him to explore the universe. But before they leave, Jack forces his father to resurrect Maggie. A hesitant Lucifer warns Jack that people can come back different, but eventually acquiesces, bringing Maggie back to life.