Can you animate dead on a defeated undead creature?

[Xzaral]

So it was brought up today in my table top group. Suppose you have an undead creature you animated, which gets destroyed. Can you then recast animate dead on it to bring it back?

[Claxon]

Without looking anything up to verify I go with no. When you destroy the undead you've caused to much damage to the corpse to animate it again. Cause destroyed is well...destroyed.

[Corbin Dallas]

Animate Dead wrote:

Skeletons: A skeleton can be created only from a mostly intact corpse or skeleton. The corpse must have bones. If a skeleton is made from a corpse, the flesh falls off the bones.

Zombies: A zombie can be created only from a mostly intact corpse. The corpse must be that of a creature with a physical anatomy.

I would agree with Claxon assuming destroyed = NOT mostly intact.

[Xzaral]

That's what we ended up going with, it seems to make the most sense. But the question came up as a hypothetical. Plus we had one of those corpses we doubt we'll see again and the cleric hated to lose. Just couldn't find anything definitive on the topic.

[Skylancer4]

Animate Dead gives a precedent for "No."

Animate Dead wrote:

This spell turns corpses into undead skeletons or zombies that obey your spoken commands.

The undead can be made to follow you, or they can be made to remain in an area and attack any creature (or just a specific kind of creature) entering the place. They remain animated until they are destroyed. A destroyed skeleton or zombie can't be animated again.

[Baron Ulfhamr]

Make bloody skeletons. They reanimate on their own.