Whenever a past character is mentioned a lot on a soap, fans immediately wonder about the significance of the name-dropping — and if it means that they’re on their way back to the canvas. Given how many times the name “Stefano” has been bandied about Salem recently, many viewers are wondering if Stefano is coming back to Days of Our Lives. The Phoenix has risen from the ashes multiple times over the years, even after the real-life passing of portrayer Joseph Mascolo in 2016, so it’s not impossible that Stefano could be resurrected once more….

Fake Out

Stefano DiMera arrived in Salem back in 1982 and immediately started causing no end of trouble. The following year, Stefano hired an assassin to kill Roman Brady (Wayne Northrop) to prevent him from marrying Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), and when that failed, he took Marlena and Liz DiMera (Gloria Loring) hostage. After Roman rescued the women and Stefano was arrested, the villain appeared to die from a stroke while awaiting trial.

In 1984, Roman discovered that Stefano had faked his death with the help of a nurse (whom he then killed) and foiled his latest scheme to have Marlena murdered on live TV. Stefano was briefly presumed dead again when a police chase ended with his limousine taking a dive into some icy water.

While plotting revenge on the Brady family in 1985 during his attempts to get his hands on three mysterious prisms that could potentially fix his brain tumor, Stefano fought with Marlena on some scaffolding at an ice arena. When Marlena shot him dead, she was prosecuted for Stefano’s murder, but a judge ruling a mistrial set her free. Also, despite appearances, Stefano still wasn’t really dead!

Hard to Kill

Stefano returned a few years later in 1988 and put into motion a master plan that lured the Bradys to his island, where he tried to get Roman — later revealed to be John Black (Drake Hogestyn), who had been brainwashed by the villain — to kill his family. When that failed, Stefano took off to lick his wounds and plot his next evil scheme.

In 1994, Stefano appeared to die in a car explosion, but in reality, he’d once again staged his own demise. Stefano took refuge at Maison Blanche in Louisiana. He held John and Marlena hostage, but when John escaped, Stefano was presumed dead again after falling into the water during a struggle. But he was soon back in Salem, drugging Marlena and leaving her open to possession by the devil.

A couple of years later, in 1996, Stefano was keeping Marlena captive in a cage below Paris, and after John rescued his love, the DiMera patriarch was once more believed killed in an explosion, but he actually survived to help Kristen DiMera (Eileen Davidson) trick John into thinking she was having his baby.

Over the following years, Stefano continued concocting one scheme after another, staying very much alive and a thorn in the side of Salem residents. Eventually, in 2012, Stefano was shot “dead” after being confronted by multiple enemies. But in reality, Ian McAllister (Ian Buchanan) had faked The Phoenix’s death.

A Final Farewell?

In 2016, Stefano learned that he was terminally ill, and goaded Hope Brady (Kristian Alfonso) into shooting him so that she would be arrested for his murder. The following year, the murder charges were dropped when Stefano was found to be alive in Prague. But it was actually just Shane Donovan (Charles Shaughnessy) in disguise, as part of a scheme he and Steve Johnson (Stephen Nichols) had cooked up to clear Hope’s name. Still, one of the photos of Stefano did not appear to be Shane, leading them to wonder if perhaps the villain really was alive out there somewhere.

Stefano returned to Salem in 2019, but this time around, it was in the form of Steve, who had, against his will, had the DiMera’s “essence” implanted through a chip in his brain. After wreaking havoc, “Stevano” was hospitalized, and Kayla Brady Johnson (Mary Beth Evans) removed the chip, restoring Steve to his true personality and erasing Stefano for good.

Could Stefano’s spirit still be out there in the world somewhere? Or the man himself? Share your thoughts and predictions in the comments below!