Sauron's lack of Death...

[Eldy]

Originally Posted by Hookbill the Goomba

Aslan is a hero, though. Not a protagonist, I'll grant you. I'm interested in the nature of how fantasies deal with their villains, which is why I brought it up. Where the usual instinct is to repay evil with evil, in Tolkien's case it is to stop Sauron and Melkor from doing further damage (mainly because they cannot be made to stop existing). In Harry Potter, it is still death, that stops Voldemort.

Fair enough; perhaps I was drawing too fine of a distinction there. I'd point out though that in the case of Melkor (at least, as it is told in Myths Transformed, though the canon status of those texts are questionable), he was physically executed, and his spirit then banished into the Void. I think bodily death is close enough for an indestructible spirit.

Thinking about it though, bodily death is all that occurs for many. Elves and Men both have souls that continue to 'live' after their bodies die. It's not clear what happens to the Istari, but Saruman's spirit seemed to endure for at least a minute or so, and given that he was a Maia I would expect it did for longer. I think anything with a soul or spirit can endure bodily death. Sauron stands out in that his spirit remains in mortal lands, though.