Killing and then resurrecting a main character?

Michael Dracon · Jan 9, 2007

Hi, I'm new here so excuse me if this subject has been discussed before. If checked the FAQ but couldn't really find something related specifically to my question.

What is the general opinion of killing off a main character and then resurrecting him/her in the next story as something different?

My area of writing is Urban Fantasy, with a preference for Mages/Witches/Wizards/etc. I'm writing in 3rd person and the stories follow several main characters. I'm planning on killing off one main character for the greater good at the end of story 3. But then I'd like to bring her back in a slightly different form at the start of story 4. How would that be perceived?

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 9, 2007

Kind of like how they killed off Buffy and then brought her back and then the show just went downhill from there??

I hate it myself.

farfromfearless · Jan 9, 2007

Kill em all - kill one - kill a few; but death should always have some purpose in a story (I detest pointless death for the sake of creating drama).

BTVS was only good until it moved over to UPN - then it just got stupid. I will forever be a Buffy fan

PeeDee · Jan 9, 2007

I liked Buffy after she died and came back. At least, I watched it consistently then too. The writing did get a little weird... *thinks*

Make sure the death is relevant, like they're pointing out. And sometimes, the hint or allusion that he has returned to life does far greater things with the reader than actually bringing him back to life. That's something I urge you to consider too.

NeuroFizz · Jan 9, 2007

In fantasy, why not? But why not play with it a little--have a new character who may or may not be the reincarnate. Keep your characters wondering. Keep the readers wondering (those who've read the earlier work) but don't make it a major point. Maybe pages will turn. One way or the other, make sure both pieces will be engaging stand-alones for readers who pick up only one of them.

Note - this went in simultaneously with Pete's post, so it looks as though he and I have similar views.

Julie Worth · Jan 9, 2007

You might want to take a look at Riverworld, by Philip José Farmer.

katiemac · Jan 9, 2007

I liked Buffy after she died and came back. At least, I watched it consistently then too. The writing did get a little weird... *thinks*

I think her death worked because she didn't simply come back. Her friends resurrected her, and in doing so screwed up the slayer line and the rest of the 'verse (season 7).

So, to relate back to the question: For me, it depends how it's done. I'm not a big fan of the "Gandalf syndrome" where someone dies, but the great powers that be or whatever saw fit restore them to a higher plane. To me, nothing's happening there and the character died for shock value, and was then resurrected because the rest of the story needed him.

I like reasons for the death, actions behind the resurrection and, most of all, consequences.

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 9, 2007

Maybe I'm the oddball, which wouldn't be surprising.

I remember reading one book, forget which, I've pushed it out of my mind, I think maybe by Margaret Weise and Tracey Hickman, but they killed one of the main characters off in the first book of a series and I never bothered reading any further, even when someone told me the character didn't really die. I was so put off by the death that I refused to go on.

Kate Thornton · Jan 9, 2007

I agree with having death meaningful and necessary - I never got over the death of Buffy's mother and always thought she should have been resurrected.

That said, the death of a main character should be so necessary that resurrection is not an option. Does the character in your second book have to be the very same one?

katiemac · Jan 9, 2007

That said, the death of a main character should be so necessary that resurrection is not an option. Does the character in your second book have to be the very same one?

And to that end -- is death the ONLY way your character can reach that "different form"? Could she effectively do something instead?

farfromfearless · Jan 9, 2007

If transformation is the point of your MC's death, perhaps you could consider other methods for your character to experience the transformation, such as ascension in some form like mater to energy, etc.

Be careful with the whole death thing, as others have pointed out in posts here, people do tend to attach themselves to characters and killing them can also kill motivation to read further.

Look at how other authors treat death and resurrection. For example in Neil Gaiman's book, "American Gods", Shadow - the main character - allows himself to die during a ritual. He is later resurrected in the story and it serves as a catalyst to interfere with his father's schemes. In RA Salvatore's Dritz series (servant of the shard?) Wulfgar is killed during an epic battle - he is later resurrected in the series, but his death serves to allow two other characters to unite. I personally hated Wulfgar and really didn't care if he ever came back (I detest barbarian characters in fantasy - except Conan

), But I'm sure there was someone out there who was affected by the deaths of these characters in a negative way. This is not to say that you should NOT kill your MC's - just do it in a way that impacts the plot in an intelligent way.

Michael Dracon · Jan 9, 2007

Kate Thornton said:
That said, the death of a main character should be so necessary that resurrection is not an option. Does the character in your second book have to be the very same one?

This is a very good point. With the death-scene she is the most logical choice to go given the situation. Someone has to go, since the ritual that they use in the end calls for a sacrifice.

When she returns in the next book she's needed in the story primarily because her abilities suit the situation the best. It does make for an interesting situation that it's her specifically. But I have to admit that I can think of at least one way to use an existing side-character instead in that spot with some work.

For the side stories it's really nice to have her come back. But purely for the sake of the main story she can be replaced with someone else with similar abilities.

I have a lot to think about...

I'm still curious though what others have to say about it.

PS: I thought that Buffy dying the first time was cool for the story because it introduced another Slayer. The second one was a bit too much for my taste. It did make for an interesting situation with her coming back 'wrong'. But I am of the opinion that they should have done it differently.

engmajor2005 · Jan 9, 2007

I like the idea of the "maybe they are, maybe they're not" resurrection...so much that it plays in my current WIP.

I personally LIKE to see MCs die, because that's what people do. The fact that I get attached to them and "mourn" their death is a testament to the writer's skill (or not, if I don't).

That being said, don't catch the Rowling Syndrome. I can imagine J. K. Rowling scribbling away at ther MS, screaming "DEAD BODIES EVERYWHERE! DEAD BODIES EVERYWHERE!"

Back to the point, if effectively done, the MC's death could draw readers back to see what direction the series takes..and the possibility of their return could be a pleasant surprise.

PeeDee · Jan 9, 2007

Ferret makes a good point. Be aware that when you have the death of a major character, you can gall your reader into putting your book down.

I stopped reading Star Wars novels when they killed Chewbacca. I didn't start reading again for almost two years, and then I never did get as into them as I'd been previously.

ChunkyC · Jan 9, 2007

I agree, the death needs to be necessary, to have meaning. You should also plant some subtle clue that the person is not truly dead, so that when they come back, it won't seem like an arbitrary thing. You want readers to be able to claim they saw it coming.

Tough to do, though.

In the Narnia movie, for example (if you've seen it), when the lion comes back, I don't remember being made privy to the passage he quotes to the kids as an explanation for why he was able to return to life. I may have missed it, but it should have been there earlier so that the 'lightbulb' would go on for the audience the moment he quoted the passage. Without it being there earlier, it just seemed like his resurrection came out of nowhere.

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 9, 2007

engmajor2005 said:
I personally LIKE to see MCs die, because that's what people do. The fact that I get attached to them and "mourn" their death is a testament to the writer's skill (or not, if I don't).

Yes, people do die in real life. However, as a writer, and as PeeDee just pointed out, you should be aware that the reader may not be willing to revisit your world if you kill off a favorite character. Even if you do bring them back. It's the "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on..um, I won't be fooled again!"

Once they were burned with the killing of a favorite character they might not trust you as an author to do not do the same again.

Michael Dracon · Jan 9, 2007

I like the opportunity to mislead my readers. But the way I was planning to get her back was by means of someone knowing she's alive in a different form but hiding her from the rest until she fully grasped the possibilities of her new abilities. So that would mean she cannot be someone else.

I'm still thinking out the situation and I may be able to make it look like she's killed but actually isn't.

NeuroFizz · Jan 9, 2007

Misleading readers is never a good thing to do, in my opinion. It's much better to challenge your readers by doing as Chunky says and plant little hints so when the cryptic event is revealed, and reader does that forehead slap--should have seen that coming. Even if some readers figure it out, or guess it out, they may be puffed up by the experience, which is never a bad feeling to give a reader unless it comes too easliy.

katiemac · Jan 9, 2007

That being said, don't catch the Rowling Syndrome. I can imagine J. K. Rowling scribbling away at ther MS, screaming "DEAD BODIES EVERYWHERE! DEAD BODIES EVERYWHERE!"

I guess I don't really know what this means since every death so far as seemed pretty integral?

But along with Shadow Ferret, heck yeah, I'll agree that character death can certainly alienate readers. When Buffy died, well, I knew she was coming back because there was still another season. So I wasn't attached to the death, didn't "grieve" so speak.

But, since Rowling's already been mentioned, if the character who died in last Harry Potter book ends up a) coming back to life or b) surprise! not really dead ... well, I'll be pissed.

MidnightMuse · Jan 9, 2007

NeuroFizz said:
Misleading readers is never a good thing to do, in my opinion. It's much better to challenge your readers by doing as Chunky says and plant little hints so when the cryptic event is revealed, and reader does that forehead slap--should have seen that coming.

I'd like to agree strongly with this. Leading your readers on a twisting, exciting ride is one thing - but leaving them standing on the tracks while you sail off in a ski boat isn't a good idea. You need to leave enough bread crumbs so they can do the forehead slap and look back to see that you did, indeed, leave them the clues along the way. Misleading them so they get lost, then popping in a Deux Ex Machina isn't such a good idea.

And I have, on past occasions, stopped reading a book when a character was killed and refused to "trust" that author not to do it again. So keep that in mind. Maybe it's shortsighted of me as a reader, but you'll find a lot of readers just like that.

Akuma · Jan 9, 2007

katiemac said:
But, since Rowling's already been mentioned, if the character who died in last Harry Potter book ends up a) coming back to life or b) surprise! not really dead ... well, I'll be pissed.

You better be ready to be pissed. Allusions to the rebirth of phoenixes, anyone?

PeeDee · Jan 9, 2007

Phoenix allusions aside, she flat-out said in the "Harry Carrie and Garp" live reading when someone asked her if that character would come back that no, he wouldn't. He is dead. Sorry.

arainsb123 · Jan 9, 2007

"What is the general opinion of killing off a main character and then resurrecting him/her in the next story as something different?"

What I did was I laid the groundwork for a ressurection unintentionally. Then, when my MC died, I thought to myself: "Huh. I've already established that creating something imbues it with a bit of your Self. So why not have disembodied souls be drawn toward already-bodied bits of themselves?" (Or maybe themSelves. I use Self, soul, and essence interchangeably.)

Which I did. His body died, but his soul was sucked into a tree, where he slowly spiralled from sentience on down into achingly slow tree-thought, emerging only to help out during the climax.

I personally LIKE to see MCs die, because that's what people do. The fact that I get attached to them and "mourn" their death is a testament to the writer's skill (or not, if I don't).

Which is why I love George RR Martin.

jules · Jan 9, 2007

engmajor2005 said:
That being said, don't catch the Rowling Syndrome. I can imagine J. K. Rowling scribbling away at ther MS, screaming "DEAD BODIES EVERYWHERE! DEAD BODIES EVERYWHERE!"

But look back at the first book. If that beginning didn't scream, "here's a series in which lots of characters will die," I don't know what does.

Anyway, back on subject... one book that handled this well was Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice. The key to the resurrection being possible was established early. The character's death was absolutely necessary. And the consequences of the resurrection were sufficiently hard to bear that it took an entire trilogy before he even began to get over them.

katiemac · Jan 9, 2007

Anyway, back on subject... one book that handled this well was Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice. The key to the resurrection being possible was established early. The character's death was absolutely necessary. And the consequences of the resurrection were sufficiently hard to bear that it took an entire trilogy before he even began to get over them.

Ooh, yes, that's what I'm talking about. I guess I'll check out Amazon.

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