Ok kill off main characters or not?

[Kreigsbane]

Ok I'm new to the site but not writing.

I have a firm belief that for any new story it should combine the old cliches and new ones, such as the characters live or like I like to do is the opposite and kill off several of them. Harry Potter wouldn't have been as good if Dumbledoor hadn't died just an example.
I'm writing a story called "The Fall from Grace" its my view of how Lucifer (the devil) breaks away from God and Heaven (in epic fantasy style). I created my current favorite character 'Kriegsbane' which is my profile name, and i intend to kill him off after he helps to even out the battle. He carries something i call a 'Blest' weapon. After an angel proves its worth as a Hero of Heaven God himself forges them a weapon. Kriegsbane is given a massive greatsword named 'Faithshredder' (i also drew this sword, think of Cloud's sword but cooler lol). He is fighting an enemy general, and he is surprised by a blast from an enemy siege cannon and he dies.

Please I would like to hear if anyone thinks that letting characters live or killing them off is better.

[Chilari]

It depends, I think, on delivery. My instinct is that the situation you describe - where the death is sudden and unexpected and largely unrelated to the current action (the battle with the general) - that this may not be ideal. Generally speaking, a story should be a series of cause to effect sequences. Logical progressions, as it were, from one thing to the next. Now, if you've established that there are explosions going off everywhere and they're lucky to have survived this long, or alternatively that there's a group of individuals deliberately targetting your main character, that's one thing. But if the explosion is without context it will feel cheap.

I think I understand what you're trying to go for here. War is not about idealism and fairness and having a great story to tell at the end of it; it doesn't always, or even often, work out the way the movies always seem to set up. In a battle, especially one containing inaccurate explosive projectiles, it's not just the weak or the slow or the cowardly who are killed. But the problem is that there's a line between realism and a good story. It can in places be a very blurred line, but it is there, and you need to work out how much realism you are willing to sacrifice for story, and how much story you are willing to sacrifice for realism.

As for the whole idea of killing major characters, no problems with that one. As long as it's well set up, and the impact is handled well, then go for it. That most stories end with the protagonists alive does not mean that all must. Sometimes the death of the protagonist at the end of the story can have the greatest impact on the readers.

[San Cidolfus]

Chilari said it well.

I feel the need to ask, though: if God likes this guy enough that He will forge the dude an artifact endowed with righteous power and command him to wield it in His name, can't He shield the old boy from the odd random projectile?

[Kreigsbane]

Well the explosion that kills my main character is actually a trap. The general was only a distraction, the entire fight scene was a trap to stop the destruction the main character was causing on the enemy army.

[JCFarnham]

Chilari said it well.

I feel the need to ask, though: if God likes this guy enough that He will forge the dude an artifact endowed with righteous power and command him to wield it in His name, can't He shield the old boy from the odd random projectile?

Now theres a good point. In fantasy, you need to be mighty mighty careful when you set up a God character who can directly effect the world. Why would God not protect him? Maybe that's a theme that you already intend to play with?

[Kreigsbane]

haha I totally understand where you're coming from because I literally thought about this last night. I have noticed in films and real life that people complain that "God hates them" or "isn't fair" and i take this into consideration, so in my eyes God doesn't fully intervene in life. He sits back and watches what happens to us and how we react. This is how I imagine this to happen in my story, God intervenes a few times and sits back and watches it all go down. So I didn't write it where God shields anyone he just helps them so much and watches.

I hope I explained that well enough.

[Aidan of the tavern]

As usual, Chilari speaks words of wisdom.

Yes, a lot of questions on writing come down to delivery. I believe a writer should be dedicated to the story, not to the characters. Therefore they need to be ruthless, ready to let go of the characters they have created and nurtured into existance, grown to be proud of, and kill them off IF that is what the story demands, without protective mercy. It does not work well if they die simply to increase the good guy's body count, but show the reader that everything is tied neatly into the story, and then it works wonders.

Sorry, that was both dark and complicated, don't know what came over me. As for the point about God protecting him, I think the story would hold a lot more danger if you show that God is not omnipotent, his plans don't always work and he can't always save people. Thats just my opinion.

[Devor]

Please I would like to hear if anyone thinks that letting characters live or killing them off is better.

Kill 'em all!!! The main character in life is you, and you're going to die someday, right?

That was supposed to be a joke, but I think it came out kind of real and dark. Sorry about that.

Above all, you need your readers to like and care about your characters. If killing your characters will make your readers react well to your stories, then do it. Just make sure there's something left in your story to like after your super dramatic dead-character moment, or else your story may as well be over.

[Voldermort]

Ok I'm new to the site but not writing.

I have a firm belief that for any new story it should combine the old cliches and new ones, such as the characters live or like I like to do is the opposite and kill off several of them. Harry Potter wouldn't have been as good if Dumbledoor hadn't died just an example.
I'm writing a story called "The Fall from Grace" its my view of how Lucifer (the devil) breaks away from God and Heaven (in epic fantasy style). I created my current favorite character 'Kriegsbane' which is my profile name, and i intend to kill him off after he helps to even out the battle. He carries something i call a 'Blest' weapon. After an angel proves its worth as a Hero of Heaven God himself forges them a weapon. Kriegsbane is given a massive greatsword named 'Faithshredder' (i also drew this sword, think of Cloud's sword but cooler lol). He is fighting an enemy general, and he is surprised by a blast from an enemy siege cannon and he dies.

Please I would like to hear if anyone thinks that letting characters live or killing them off is better.

It's pretty normal to have characters die. Watch "The Grey."

I have a problem with letting the main character die before the end.

It's OK for Harry Potter to die after he's dealt with Voldermort, but not before. It would be weird. Jesus dies in the end, but that has purpose (rebirth).

But then again, there are stories where the main character switches. In which case you can kill them off.

Alot of this is to do with the product. You can do whatever you want, but if you want to sell it to a mass market, you don't make it too confusing and stick to form (don't kill the MC until the end).

Frodo didn't die.
Dorothy didn't die.
The siblings didn't die (Lion, Witch, Wardrobe).
Tony Soprano didn't die.

There's a lot to be said for sticking to that form.

[sashamerideth]

Been meaning to reply, guess I never got around to it. I haven't decided if I will kill off my main character, but he will certainly be put in mortal peril by people that used to be his friends, people that hopefully the reader will have developed an emotional interest in. I think that wounding someone can make for better storytelling than killing them, death is preferable to injury, especially in the settings we write.

We should never lose sight of our readers nd the impact we want to have on them.