It's one of the defining characteristics of soaps, and also one of the things that we love the most about daytime dramas: nothing dead can stay. The recent "gotcha!" returns of Tea and Eli on One Life to Live and Chance on The Young and the Restless are examples of this story twist at its best. And these big returns make the reunions with loved ones all the sweeter (how psyched are you for when Todd and Dani reunite with Tea?). Well, the reunions are sweet unless the returning character is a murderer or a psycho or something.

We settled on a list of our favorite back-from-the-dead soap storylines. Click here to begin the Surprise! I'm Alive! gallery.

Photo Source: ABC