Does the hero have to kill the villain?

[Deleted member 4265]

I agree with glutton. The MC feels a little useless in the climax the way it is right now. Especially considering she did stab the villain's eye out before, and you've said in other posts that she tries to escape him a few times. She doesn't seem like the passive type, and yet in the climax she's broken out of jail by someone else, her father persuades the king to spare her, and then Loegaire kills the villain.

She seems like she's a strong character, so personally, I would be disappointed in how little it seems like she's doing here. I don't think she necessarily has to throw herself between the villain and the king, but maybe she could be the one to convince the king not to kill her so it seems like she's saved herself and then the villain comes in and is not okay with that so the other guy kills him. Probably not the greatest solution, but I do think it would be better if she were more active.

 

[Miskatonic]

Eowyn killed the Witch King and she was not even top five where main heroes were concerned, yet the Witch King was second only to Sauron in terms of dangerous enemies that had to be vanquished.

 

[glutton]

I really think she should at least contribute to the villain's downfall to not seem disappointing. 3 ideas -

1. The most physical one - the king stumbles forward after being stabbed and she steps between him and the villain and tries to tackle or punch the villain driving him back before the other character kills him

2. Talking - she grabs somebody else's weapon and says something like 'Remember I put your eye out before, don't you think I can kill you too' or something even more personal which distracts him and makes him stand still allowing the other character to hit him

3. Something in between - she throws something which bounces off the invisible villain allowing the other character to see where he is and hit him

As is, since Devouring Wolf said, it, she sounds useless lol.

Does she have reason to expect the villain to attack, or can you give her a reason to expect it? If so that could explain why she is ready to react - she could have been thinking 'if the villain shows up I will (something)' beforehand. So then when the villain stabs the king from behind, she can think quickly 'he must be behind him' and do whatever.

 

[Ireth]

I really think she should at least contribute to the villain's downfall to not seem disappointing. 3 ideas -

1. The most physical one - the king stumbles forward after being stabbed and she steps between him and the villain and tries to tackle or punch the villain driving him back before the other character kills him

Hmmm. Possibly, possibly.

2. Talking - she grabs somebody else's weapon and says something like 'Remember I put your eye out before, don't you think I can kill you too' or something even more personal which distracts him and makes him stand still allowing the other character to hit him

Well, she's as ignorant as anyone else about the attacker being Fiachra until he's dead and not masked by illusions. On the other hand, she does have very good reason to suspect it to be him.

3. Something in between - she throws something which bounces off the invisible villain allowing the other character to see where he is and hit him

Less plausible for Ariel to do so, given how dark it is. Loegaire hits Fiachra because of supernatural reflexes and skill.

Does she have reason to expect the villain to attack, or can you give her a reason to expect it? If so that could explain why she is ready to react - she could have been thinking 'if the villain shows up I will (something)' beforehand. So then when the villain stabs the king from behind, she can think quickly 'he must be behind him' and do whatever.

See my comment to #2 above. She isn't actively anticipating an attack at that point, since the last she knew of Fiachra, he was unconscious and being tended by healers. But once it happens, it would make sense for her to realize it's him.

 

[glutton]

See my comment to #2 above. She isn't actively anticipating an attack at that point, since the last she knew of Fiachra, he was unconscious and being tended by healers.

It would still make sense for her to be wary and on guard if he's nearby and not locked up tightly, since you never know when the bad guy will wake up (and as it turns out he does end up waking up in time to interrupt).

Also for number 3 if she had a bunch of coins or something and threw them out at once, it would make it more plausible for one of the scattered coins to randomly hit him since they don't need to do damage, just locate him for Loegaire. Luck of the Irish or something XD

 

[Ireth]

It would still make sense for her to be wary and on guard if he's nearby and not locked up tightly, since you never know when the bad guy will wake up (and he does end up waking up in time to interrupt).

Also for number 3 if she had a bunch of coins or something and threw them out at once, it would make it more plausible for one of the scattered coins to randomly hit him since they don't need to do damage, just locate him for Loegaire. Luck of the Irish or something XD

Well, she's a bit more focused at that point on her father's attempts to bargain with the king for her life. She is an escaped prisoner, after all, and the king does want her dead. As such, your suggestion for 3 wouldn't work, since she's got nothing but the clothes on her back. No pockets in her dress to hold anything, either.

I'll just go with her doing her best to tackle him, then turning her focus to helping the king once Fiachra's dealt with. Stopping the king's bleeding will take a bit before she can do the stitching of the wound, after all.

Thanks for all your help, people!

 

[arboriad]

It seems like this conversation has wrapped up, but it reminded me of the climax of the Netflix ' Marco Polo' series, where he is the protagonist, doesn't kill the main antagonist. It's in keeping with his character that he tries is defeated and his trainer steps in to finish the job. So although he doesn't tie the knot for the story, he is there to influence it, and instead of turning them into a war hero, he stays in character. We can see that his intention in his heart was to do the brave thing even if he wasn't physically able to go through with it.

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[ImmortalRed]

No, just read Game of Thrones