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How To Kill An "Unkillable" Race
- Thread starter ShadeZ
- Start date
FifthView
Vala
Eh, healing mechanics would need to be worked out. I'd suggest a lackey who could tote around the HUGE bag of healing potions....
- Thread starter
- #23
ShadeZ
Maester
The demidur would do nothing and all three would die. They have strange logic but its technically not evil to do nothing when you can't help, murder is evil though and they wouldnt trust this random saw entity to let the two go unhurt. It is kind of like the whole psychology question, your on a bridge there is a train about to pass below, 5 people are on the tracks and a fat guy is on the bridge with you, if you push the fat guy in the way of the train it will stop it and save the people but obviously that is murder. Which is entering the realms of WAY TOO philosophic for me lol.
If I invent a race that is unkillable then it's unkillable. If it can be killed in some way, no matter how obscure, then it's not unkillable.
If the characters in my story believe a creature cannot be killed, then I have an interesting story question. Why do they believe this? How does this belief drive their actions and what consequences might those actions have? The actual mechanics of the killing become secondary.
I'm not sure I'd ever have a character believe that. I can readily imagine Joe Peasant believe that he personally cannot kill a giant or a dragon or such like. But that no one ever anywhere could kill it? Seems unlikely. Also, sort of deflating in story terms, since the character would at that point just give up. There's no point in trying to kill a tornado. It doesn't even make sense. But it does make sense to hope and pray that somewhere there might be a brave knight in armor who might kill the dragon.
If the characters in my story believe a creature cannot be killed, then I have an interesting story question. Why do they believe this? How does this belief drive their actions and what consequences might those actions have? The actual mechanics of the killing become secondary.
I'm not sure I'd ever have a character believe that. I can readily imagine Joe Peasant believe that he personally cannot kill a giant or a dragon or such like. But that no one ever anywhere could kill it? Seems unlikely. Also, sort of deflating in story terms, since the character would at that point just give up. There's no point in trying to kill a tornado. It doesn't even make sense. But it does make sense to hope and pray that somewhere there might be a brave knight in armor who might kill the dragon.
ChasingSuns
Sage
What about some sort of magical psychological warfare? For example, some sort of spell or magical material that attacks their minds, making them eventually go insane to the point of committing evil acts. Could create an interesting mystery in the story, and would be a less obvious/more inventive way to defeat them. Can't defeat them in open combat, so subterfuge feels like a good way to go.
Prince of Spires
Istar
You make them so depressed that they commit suicide by murdering a whole village.
angelleaping
Dreamer
angelleaping
Dreamer
In my science fiction fantasy, "Einstein's Compass a YA Time Traveler Adventure", there is a Draconian dragon doppelganger who is invincible except
for fire. Raka chases young Albert Einstein through the story to steal his supernatural compass. In the first chapter, there is a foreshadowing
of how Raka is vulnerable to fire. I will not tell you how the fire kills the evil dragon. But the end of the story reads like a thriller.
for fire. Raka chases young Albert Einstein through the story to steal his supernatural compass. In the first chapter, there is a foreshadowing
of how Raka is vulnerable to fire. I will not tell you how the fire kills the evil dragon. But the end of the story reads like a thriller.
- Thread starter
- #29
ShadeZ
Maester
So given this race's design it makes sense that something totally ordinary would kill this being since the more magical, dragonic, or powerful something is the more their own power level increases to match it. Not unlike how vampires seem invincible apart from a stake. This also has a number of strange quirks.
Kasper Hviid
Sage
Write down their name on a piece of parchment, then burn it. (Of course, they are rather bashful about revealing their name)
Gurkhal
Auror
Maybe the trick isn't to kill him, but do away with him in a way that's about as bad? If he's kicked into a crack in the earth down to magma it might not matter that he won't die. He will suffer eternally and be constantly regenerating and so get no where as he is destroyed as fast as he comes back. Same with burrowing him beneath a hundred thousand tons of mountain and more.
Placing him in a situation from where he can never come back is as good, or worse for him, than to kill outright.
EDITED: Or rather he may come back in a such a distant future that it won't have any impact on the story.
Maybe they could kill each other?
I don't know, the first thing that came to mind when reading this thread was that maybe they are unkillable by SOME races. If there was a way to convince, control or distract them, their immense strengths and skills could be used against each other? Could make for some epic first battle scenes, especially if this is discovered by accident.
I don't know, the first thing that came to mind when reading this thread was that maybe they are unkillable by SOME races. If there was a way to convince, control or distract them, their immense strengths and skills could be used against each other? Could make for some epic first battle scenes, especially if this is discovered by accident.
Vaporo
Inkling
So, I know that this is an old thread and I'm sure that you've already solved this problem, but a thought popped into my head today.
Perhaps they can be killed if they voluntarily give up their own life. With that in mind, maybe someone could exploit their natural goody two-shoesness and make them sacrifice themselves. For example, your villain conjures a deadly magical storm and sends it in the direction of a nearby city. There is a spell that can dissipate the storm, but it requires a willing being to sacrifice their own life. One of your demidur, without even a second thought, immediately casts the spell and offers themself up as a sacrifice.
Perhaps they can be killed if they voluntarily give up their own life. With that in mind, maybe someone could exploit their natural goody two-shoesness and make them sacrifice themselves. For example, your villain conjures a deadly magical storm and sends it in the direction of a nearby city. There is a spell that can dissipate the storm, but it requires a willing being to sacrifice their own life. One of your demidur, without even a second thought, immediately casts the spell and offers themself up as a sacrifice.
jjxtra
Dreamer
My favorite thing to do to immortal or very powerful characters are things worse than death. Let your imagination run wild—one of my favorites is imprisonment.
katelynschoumaker
Scribe
I'd think of something insanely specific that isn't your stereotypical 'death by fire', which seems to be a default method of destruction nowadays. Someone mentioned drowning them in saltwater, which is cool! You could play around with that, like maybe saltwater burns and melts their flesh upon contact, or instead of saltwater, it's hard water (heavy with minerals and such). If you wanted to take the fire route, you could tweak that a bit too so it's more unique: like they can only be killed by fire started during a certain ritual, or the fire had to be started by magic instead of natural means. Maybe there's even a song/hymn/poem that boils them from the inside out when they hear it, or causes their heart or brain to explode, or makes them go insane - insanity isn't physical death, but you could play it off as a mental sort of death in the sense that they are no longer functioning members of the demidur race.
Dier Dretfort
New Member
well, for example, u can add some kind of deadly virus that the main character finds in the ruins of a now-dead civilization
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