TOH's Guide to Killing Off a Character

[TheOneHero]

Let's face it, not many people know how to kill off a character. So I'm here to help!

If the character is just some random guy:

Don't take several sentences to describe his death, he's not important, nobody cares about him. A nice, "Piercing his skull like a miniature bomb, the photon bullet caused it to explode." Usually works. It doesn't need to be uber detailed; the reader shouldn't focus on a random person that only gets a sentence or two telling he's there.

How to keep the reader guessing who will die:

This touches in character development, and is probably the most important death instructions for stories with a "group" of good/bad guy.

Let me give you an example of what NOT to have:

Three characters that excel in everything they do, none of them having unique traits. These lead the group.

Two characters with mediocre qualities, pretty much the same people with different names. These are the "middle" party members.

Four characters that are just useless, nobody really likes them, you can't expect much from them in the story. These are the "lower" members.

As you can see, if one of the leaders dies, you have two other guys left with the same qualities! It won't make a big dent to the story or cause even more trial to the others.

Generally the most useless people are killed off first, then an important person, then a mediocre. It's cliched and totally expected.

Here is an example of what you WANT:

Joe - Is the most knowledgeable, has a mediocre physical build, and can handle himself.

Nathan - Brute force, likes everything simple, and wants everyone to be happy.

Kate - Smart though not as much as Joe, she fights for the better of everyone even if it might cause innocent people to be hurt. A little on the weak side, can only handle one person (if that) in a fight.

George - Extremely smart and powerful; however only fights for his personal gain.

Nina - Chemist with a high knowledge of the opponent and/or "bad lands".

Oscar - Once a top leader in the criminal world, loads of information on the black market and dirty side of life.

If the above people were put in the right story, with the right writer, it would be hard for the reader to guess which one (or more) would die.

"Maybe Oscar will die, he was after all a bad guy once. Err, wait, his knowledge on the criminal world is really important to everyone else. It'd be a bad move for the writer to kill him off right now."

You want a wide variety of characters, each with skills and personalities that will make them needed. So if they do die, it will really hurt the group, causing more trial to them. This causes the reader to think even more and actually care more about the characters, thus more emotion.

BE CAREFUL THOUGH! YOU DO NOT WANT TOO MUCH TRIAL OR YOUR READER WILL SAY, "Ok, this is just insane, is it even possible for someone to go through this much stuff?" *stops reading*

Let's say Oscar and Kate have a thing for each other and Kate dies. Will Oscar change somewhat and follow Kate's dream for her? Or will her death turn him back to the dark side? Think about it.

Unworldly and musical feeling is good!

I use both of these a lot. They are probably the best ways to describe someone dying in an eerie environment.

Unworldly example: The cold breeze swept up the fog toward the girl as she fell; as if to grab her body and soul. The crows cawed and flew overhead only to rest in the dead branches of trees, jeering at the spirit of death as it enveloped the child.

Musical example: Arms outstretched, she sunk into the black water below; the tears of her friends above striking the water to create a sorrowful requiem. Their wails adding to the aria, which grew louder as the pale face below them started to vanish. Black hair of the deceased, it danced in the water...one last toccata.

For those of you that have Lord of the Rings, go watch the Two Towers; the scene while Arwin is at Aragorn's funeral. Listen close to what is said and especially pay attention to the environment when Arwin is forced to walk the world alone. This scene is a good thing to keep in mind, very sorrowful.

USE YOUR ENVIROMENT!

If it's a main character, give them a proper death!

This is probably what ticks me off the most with death scenes; people not giving a main character a proper death!

These are the people you've been with the longest, seen suffer the most, and cried with; so give 'em something memorable!

If they die during a battle (like, all out war or something) remember their comrades do not have time to mourn for them at the moment. It would be kind of retarded if it was like, "Noooooooo!" Sparky ran toward his dad, "Dad! NOOOOOOO----" Sparky got his head cut off LOL! People need to keep fighting! So the actual death might only be a few moments, but the entire scene must last long enough for the other characters to mourn.

None of this, "and he died, then his friends were sad but kept fighting." Please, no Eragon writing.

And example that would work for this type of situation: It seemed to take an age for him to fall...all eyes of those who loved him were upon his body; once it hit the ground that sound of it thereof shattered even the harsh cries of the battlefield. Those who loved him knew they could not mourn now, they had a duty to keep fighting till the battle was over. And if they won, oh how they would remember him! Should they fall before their mission was over, happy day, for they would be with him again!

Farewell and goodbye.

Go watch the ending to the Fellowship of the Ring. Got it? Nope? Then read this passage from an old fiction of mine:

"Hold on! Please!" Girl 1 screamed trying to pull up her friend.

"Girl 1, I am going to die."

"No! No you aren't!"

"You and the others always took care of me."

"Do-don't talk like this!" Girl 1 continued to scream as her eyes filled with tears.

"You know I won't be saved."

The monster down below came to the surface and made some awful snapping noise from a jaw that there.

"I had...no home. Though you took me in as a friend."

"Stop! Just stop!"

"As a fellow Operative."

"I order you to stop as your Commanding Officer!" Girl 1 could barely control her emotions, tears poured down her face and mingled with sweat. Girl 3 was on the braking point too.

"As a sister."

Girl 2's blood dripped into the water and the beast took it in, as it circled more and more.

"It is time to...let go."

"I will not let go! Yo-you can't die! I can't loose anymore friends!"

"I will continue to follow you, even in my death. You shall always be my friend and Commander." With that Girl 2 let go and fell down into the water.

*Names were edited out for 'special' reasons; and try not to mind the funky style of writing, focus on the actual conversation and how it is broken up every once and awhile. This is good as it is a constant reminder to the reader to focus on more than just the conversation between the two. (However I admit I could have done better when writing this, I guess I can fix it up next time around. Err, did I just let that slip? )

Bringing back a character that has died.

The following is extremely important to remember:

If you kill off a character and you plan on bringing them back, keep their "death" mysterious, where the characters in the story and the reader do not know if that character actually died or not.

When you bring them back, and they die again, KEEP THEM DEAD OR IF YOU BRING THEM BACK DON'T LET THEM DIE.

You don't want the reader to think, "Ok...this guy has died before, came back, and died again, then came back. So if he does die again, he'll come back!" This causes the reader to loose emotion for the character and the death will not mean as much to them any more.

When a character dies.

You want the reader to be filled with such emotion, that they will go back, read, and re-read your story over and over again; just hoping they read something wrong. That the character that died didn't actually die. You want them to cry, to long for something that simply cannot be.

You want them to say, "Maybe it'll be different this time."


If you have any questions or comments, post away!



Edit* Cliched murdered forum, lolz.

Also:

lol, sorry if it seems that I'm a huge tolkein fan, (which I'm not I assure you). It's just I was using scenes from the movies as an example, since they're done pretty well for that kind of mood. :3

For the record, I don't model my writing off of someone else's.

Also, after reading parts of your reply I realized that using musical words are not the best idea, you can stil pull off a musical feel without using musical definitions.

I just couldn't think of another way at the moment, le TOH is just a wee bit tired today. :3

About the last time, with them re-reading and such to hope a character wouldn't die:

I guess I overdid that just a little bit, I donno, it might just be me, but I'm pretty bent on bringing out as much emotion as I can in the reader. So that they may actually feel more "intune" with the story I guess.

However:

In fact, the more dramatic the story, the more likely I am to stop reading it in disgust.

I'll keep this in mind, and make sure I don't make things too dramatic. :3

Over all, thanks for the reply with your thoughts too.

^--since I'm too lazy to edit it in.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: TheOneHero on 2006-03-02 13:44 ]</font>

[Solstis]

Great if you're a Tolkien buff, not so great with more contemporary works.

Unworldly example: The cold breeze swept up the fog toward the girl as she fell; as if to grab her body and soul. The crows cawed and flew overhead only to rest in the dead branches of trees, jeering at the spirit of death as it enveloped the child.

Musical example: Arms outstretched, she sunk into the black water below; the tears of her friends above striking the water to create a sorrowful requiem. Their wails adding to the aria, which grew louder as the pale face below them started to vanish. Black hair of the deceased, it danced in the water...one last toccata.

Unwordly: Great if you're trying to empress the reader with your ability to whip up a metaphorical image in a story. Not so great if this is a teenage love story.

Musical: This is closer to insulting the reader, especially one that doesn't know what a "toccata" is. As far as I'm concerned, it's a type of Italian pastry. I'm either going to spend time that I could be reading on looking the word up, or mulling over it with a frown on my face. I may even tap my desk a few times.

You want the reader to be filled with such emotion, that they will go back, read, and re-read your story over and over again; just hoping they read something wrong. That the character that died didn't actually die. You want them to cry, to long for something that simply cannot be.

I... I can assure you, would not do this. In fact, the more dramatic the story, the more likely I am to stop reading it in disgust. Then again, I'm a different sort of reader, and though I love Tolkien, I would not go out of my way to read something in his style unless it was Tolkien's work. That's the real problem with modeling your style after someone else's.

Then again, this guide is more than likely perfect for Fan Fiction, as, well, everyone likes to dabble in drama sometimes. If I was still writing in a more "epic" style, I would salute you.

Hell, I will anyway.

[CupOfCoffee]

Hmm, yes. Keep in mind, though, that lot of the "rules" of storybuilding can be bent or altogether broken by a good enough writer to still yield a powerful, well-crafted story.

A good example of a sucessful useage of what would traditionally be considered a bad killing off of a main character: Final Destination 1. The main character, Alex, survives the entire movie. The audience doesn't and won't ever even know he died unless they watch #2, where a different main character briefly pages through a news article about Alex being hit in the face with a random brick that fell off a building, killing him instantly. It works because the Final Destination series is full of dark humor and senseless violence against young people. In the context of that movie, Alex's barely-even-touched-on death comes across as funny rather than poorly constructed.

There are very few literary rules that are really rules. This is an awesome guide for a beginning storywriter, but for someone who already knows the ropes, certain points would be best left out.

But, good job regardless.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: CupOfCoffee on 2006-03-02 14:38 ]</font>