forum I need some ideas on how to kill off some characters
Started by @oliverastronomy
tune

people_alt 45 followers

@AloeVera groupMentallyImInACottage

Reasons a Character Should Die

  1. It advances the plot
  2. It fulfills the doomed character's personal goal
  3. It motivates other characters
  4. It's a fitting recompense for the character's actions up to this point
  5. It creates realism within the story world
  6. It removes an extraneous character

Reasons a Character Should Not Die

  1. Shocking readers just for the sake of shocking them. (Shock value isn't without its value, but not every author is Alfred Hitchcock and not every story is Psycho)
  2. Making readers sad just for the sake of making them sad. (An old saw says "if they cry, they buy." But readers never appreciate being tortured without good reason.)
  3. Removing an extraneous character. (Yes, this is also a good reason, but make sure to double check. If the character is extraneous, make sure you know why he is in the story in the first place.)

(Taken from helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com )

How to make a character's death sadder

  1. Don't make them die of old age after a long, fulfilling life. Many people (like me) don't even think of this as sad. (Note that this can still work if you have enough of the other factors.)
  2. Leave one of their major goals unfinished. The more enthusiastic they are about completing their goal, the sadder the death.
  3. Give them strong relationships with other characters.
  4. Make them fight against whatever is causing their death. Their ultimate loss is sadder if they struggle.
  5. Kill them in the middle of their character arc.

(Taken from tumblr.com )

How Should Your Character Die?

  1. Execution. In a Medieval setting, this is done either by beheading, burning at the stake, hanging, or ingesting poison, all usually public in the middle of a crowd.
  2. In Battle. Whether it be with a knight, a dragon, or another creature, these are a few of the possibilities one could die.
  3. Suicide. Usually this wouldn't happen without a motive, and, depending on the character, it might have to be a pretty strong motive. Essentially, all examples in the first point could be used here, but there is also various uses with a knife, and jumping from a high surface.
  4. Accident. If your character's death could have been so easily avoided if they just didn't do that one thing, it might add frustration into the reader's emotions upon the character's death. Accidental deaths could also give room for creativity. An accidental death can also often ensure shock.

(Taken from….me lol)

Hopes this helps!

@HighPockets group

Ok so in my opinion as a reader and a writer……
Kill the nice ones, but kill some assholes too.
If a character has finally found their happiness or goal, that's a good time to do it. People will be angry, upset, emotional, etc.
Characters whose deaths are accidents are good too.
Ask yourself "Who would I think is least likely to die?" and then kill them off.

Deleted user

No, don’t do that. That’s just killing u make the book interesting; there are other ways to do that. Readers get annoyed when stuff like that happens all the time. If someone dies, there should be a good reason.

Deleted user

How to kill off characters medieval style:
Plague - there are plenty to choose from
Execution - as mentioned in previous comments
Infected injury - it doesn't have to be a serious injury either, medicine wasn't great back then so cuts that we would barely blink at today could get seriously infected and lead to death
Illness - again, medicine wasn't great so even non-plague level illnesses could result in death
Exposure- science wasn't super big at the time either so if you were using toxic materials on a regular basis like say lead, you wouldn't really know about it
Murder/assassination - different from execution, generally not a public thing, nor is it intended for punishment, it tends to have its own motivations behind it
Genocide - it's not like tolerance was a prominent ideal back then
Sacrifice - i mean it's unlikely, and technically it could be considered murder, but i felt it should be included anyways

Might add more later. Enjoy!

@HighPockets group

Some gory medieval torture. Being tortured was something that often happened in medieval times and holy crap do those machines look nasty!
Burning at a stake was common, and so was being drowned if you were a suspected witch.

@Yamatsu

One of my favorite (read; my entire body cringes thinking about it) medieval execution methods is the Breaking Wheel, where they would tie a person to a board and systematically break the prisoner's bones with a large, iron-rimmed cartwheel. You could also put spikes on the wheel and place the person's joints on top of ridges to make the breaking easier. Most executions were spectacles, so I would assume there would be at least one humble tomato farmer peddling his wares for an exceptionally cheap price that day.

Sofia

If your character no longer has any purpose in the story, I would scrap the character and rewrite a new one who fits to fit multiple purposes, and forwards the plot better. For characters you want to kill for a certain purpose, here are some ideas: A pacifistic character tries to stop a mob, but is trampled/thrown aside to their death/murdered in some way. A character who knows something could die of disease before they can tell others what they know. dying in a fire is always a good choice (well not always)

Sofia

OOO two more ideas.
Idea One: Character A want (goal) more than anything. They go to (place) every day to work towards (goal). Character B doesn't like this, thinks (A's goal) is either impossible, unreasonable, or a bad thing to want (ex: A wants to help their friend escape from prison, B thinks this is a bad thing to do). One day, antagonist burns down (place A goes all the time) because of (reason). A tries to save (work, item, or person) from the fire, but gets stuck inside and burns. B is deeply hurt when A dies, and gives up on stopping antagonist, and hates (A's goal) for the rest of their life.
Idea Two: Character A loves Character B. They are both poor. Character A goes somewhere else to make more money, so they can marry B. When they come back, successful and with money, they find out that Character B died of starvation while they were away making money.
EDIT: For idea 2 it could also be cool if Character A joined the military for money, and the war was what caused Character B's village to starve (not everyone but everyone would have a bit less money)