In the game of Mafia, the dead are completely excluded. Any number of variants may be played in which the dead may somehow be brought back to life. Don Steven J. Miller has suggested that the archangel be given a choice: wither protect someone or bring someone back to life. However, there's a catch-- if the archangel chooses to bring someone back to life (by pointing at a deceased person), the moderator informs the mafia and reawakens them-- they get to guess whom the archangel is resurrecting. If they're wrong, the dead player comes back to life. If they're right-- they catch the archangel in the act and kill him. This is just one suggestion-- others include giving some civilian the right to bring someone back to life once in the course of the game, or allowing the archangel to bring someone back to life only on turns when he successfully thwarts the mafia. It goes without saying that the dead must keep their eyes closed at night if resurrection is a possibility for them.

Note - Compare the variants of the bookie and the vampire.

7/16/99 - A suggestion from Steven Phelps: Perhaps resurrected people could draw a random card from a stock pile containing some mafia and some civilians.