GENERAL HOSPITAL Rewind: 10 Shocking Returns From The Dead

Phil was presumed dead in a 1969 plane crash, after which his long-suffering wife, Jessie (Emily McLaughlin), wed Peter Taylor. Phil, who had survived the wreck, was amnesiac and assumed a new identity ("Harold Williamson"). He took up with Diana Maynard, then was in a car accident that landed him at G.H., where he was spotted by a stunned Jessie. His return forced Jessie to annul her marriage to Peter and try to make a go of things with Phil, who recovered his memories. Diana, meanwhile, married Peter, and gave birth to a son that was secretly Peter's.

Luke was presumed dead in an avalanche in 1983, leaving behind a pregnant lover, Holly (Emma Samms). Robert stepped up and married Holly to block her from being deported. Holly miscarried, but romantic feelings blossomed between her and Robert. Little did they know that Luke was very much alive, recuperating from the paralyzing injuries he sustained in the avalanche. The morning after Robert and Holly made love for the first time, Luke showed up at Robert's and was floored by the realization that his best friend had tied the knot with Holly. It took a while for the men's friendship to recover, and while Holly was torn between both men, she ultimately realized her heart was truly with Robert.

Still reeling from what he viewed as Robert's betrayal over Holly, Luke ran for mayor of Port Charles in 1983 and won. On the day of his inauguration, Luke was flooded with memories of his beloved wife, Laura (Genie Francis), who had been presumed dead after disappearing off the docks two years prior. Luke couldn't believe his eyes when he caught a glimpse of his bride on the grounds of the mayoral mansion, but it was no mirage: Laura had escaped from Cassadine Island, where she'd been held captive all that time ... and forced to marry Stavros. Luke and Laura had an exhilarating reunion, and soon, they vanquished Stavros (or so they thought — he had his own return from the dead years later). The couple then decided to leave town together, so Luke resigned from office and set off with Laura for a new beginning.

Along with her mother, Veronica, Brenda was presumed dead in 1998 when her mother drove them off a cliff. In 2002, viewers learned that Luis Alcazar had actually rescued Brenda, then gaslighted her into believing that she had a terminal disease. Brenda learned that Alcazar intended to kill her previous loves, Sonny and Jax, motivating her to escape from his clutches. She lured Sonny to a rendezvous at St. Timothy's Church, but just as a gobsmacked Sonny laid eyes on her, shots rang out — and Sonny appeared dead. Brenda then showed up at Jax's wedding to Skye to warn him that Alcazar was after him. After Alcazar shot Jax, paralyzing him, Sonny (who, it turned out, had faked his death), shot Alcazar. Skye discovered that Brenda was not, in fact, dying, and Jax's marriage tanked when he busted Skye for keeping this news to herself. In 2003, Jax and Brenda nearly wed, but he learned that she'd kissed Sonny on the eve of the nuptials and dumped her. Brenda eventually headed off to Europe.

The fearsome Faison was presumed dead in not one but two boat explosions (the first in 1992, the second in 2000). In 2012, viewers got a huge shock when they learned that the man walking around with the face of another back-from-the-dead figure, Duke Lavery, was actually Faison wearing a sophisticated prosthetic mask. As "Duke", Faison killed — er, "killed" — Jason, and held Robin and the real Duke hostage as he attempted to woo the object of his deranged affections, Anna. His crime spree was seemingly stopped in 2014, but he escaped and went on the lam with daughter Britt. In 2018, Faison accidentally fatally shot one of his sons, Nathan, before Jason shot him, and Faison's other son, Peter, made sure he wouldn't survive by yanking away the call button in his hospital room as Faison went into cardiac arrest.

It looked like the psychotic, serial-killing artist known as Franco had died at nemesis Jason's hands in 2012, but the following year, Franco summoned a carefully curated group of his past victims to The Haunted Star, where the invitees were aghast to discover that he was very much alive. Two of the women at the party, Carly and Elizabeth, ended up in serious relationships with him (after a brain tumor that caused his murderous behavior was removed, of course), the latter a marriage that ended abruptly in 2021, when Peter August shot Franco dead.

Believed to have been shot dead in 1990, Julian Jerome slinked back into town in 2013 under an assumed name, Derek Wells, but was actually colluding with his sister, Ava, to reclaim the family's mob territory from Sonny. Julian was in for a major shock after (re)meeting Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) and discovering that their long-ago fling had resulted in a daughter, Sam. After Julian's true identity was outed, he and Alexis fell in love for real, and he tried to leave the mob, which proved quite tricky. After a failed marriage to Alexis and a tryst with Olivia that produced Leo, Julian died — seemingly for real — in 2020.

Robin's apparent demise in a 2012 lab explosion devastated her loved ones, chief among them her parents, Robert and Anna, her husband, Patrick (Jason Thompson), and their young daughter, Emma (Brooklyn Rae Silzer). In actuality, she was being held captive by a band of evildoers (including Faison and Jerry). In 2013, she finally made it home — just in time to watch Patrick say, "I do" to Sabrina. Eventually, Robin and Patrick remarried and relocated to Berkeley, CA, where they welcomed another child, Noah.

Jason was presumed dead in 2012, but seemingly resurfaced in 2014. However, the man living as Jason turned out to actually be Jason's surprise identical twin, Drew (then-Billy Miller), who had been brainwashed to possess his memories. The actual Jason was being held captive in a Russian clinic; he escaped and made his way back to Port Charles, shocking Carly (Laura Wright, l.), not to mention Sam (Kelly Monaco), who had by then remarried "Jason".

Nikolas appeared to have died in 2016 during a confrontation on Cassadine Island with Valentin. However, at the tail end of 2019, Nikolas made a secret return to Port Charles and — after rescuing Ava (Maura West) from the water, where she'd been left for dead after Valentin pushed her off the parapet — revealed himself to the stunned guests at Wyndemere (including his mother, Laura) who had gathered for Nina and Valentin's wedding. By the end of the night, it was Nikolas who had taken a bride: Ava.