Killing off MC

If I'm the reader and have become 'attached' (not necessarily favorably, mind you) to that character, expecting him/her to be the focus of the book, then WHAM!

... there'd better be another character almost as strong I've also become involved with, or your book is hitting the wall. Personally, I like killing off the second-strongest character ... gives a little edge to the reader when they're not really sure the protagonist will survive. (Which in my current work in progress, I manage to not kill him off 'til the last page ... )

So if you can make another character just a little stronger, more resonant with the reader, before you kill off the 'victim' - go for it.

It's not unheard of but, as a reader, it always annoys me.

My personal opinion: If you're willing to bump off your mc for the sake of a 'pretty good plot turn' that clearly wasn't part of the original plan, I'm not sure you've got enough invested in him emotionally to make me give a damn about him anyway.

It would turn away the reader, unless it's a milieu novel.

If you're killing off your main character just for the sake of shock value, I'd hesitate doing it. If you're killing off your main character because it's important to the plot then it could work.

Also, another thing to ask yourself, if you off your MC, who'll be your focus for the rest of the story? If it's someone else, why not make THAT character the main protagonist in the story?

Just a couple thoughts.

AOD23 said:

Well the character is actually my favorite one, but given the situations he will/has been in already, to have him survive the entire thing seems abit....unrealitistic I geuss would be the word.

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Just look at Jack Bauer in '24'. He's easily the best character on the show who survives so many crazy situations it is bordering on unrealistic. But that's what makes the show good. If they knock Jack off, there's no one who could plausibly carry the show.

But if you've built up a secondary character in your story that could carry it all before you kill off the MC, you could pull it off.

How many times have you been watching a film and heard any of the following:

"There's no way he'd have survived that."
"Oh, right, it would be him that finds it and not the cops."
"Why doesn't she just run out the door?"

My response tends to be, "It wouldn't be much of a story then, would it?"

From what you've said, it sounds like you've left it a bit late to be worrying about kitchen-sink realism. If you now decide to arbitrarily kill off your hero for the sake of a chuckle, he's bound to take your story with him.

Killing characters is easy.

Keeping them alive and interesting is the part that requires skilled writing.

I agree with the rest. I don't think it would be a good idea. Your reasoning doesn't even sound very strong. Your story may end with that character...be careful.

AOD23 said:

Right, so the first few chapters of my current WIP are focused on one main character out of a group, so I got to thinking and I figure it would be a pretty good plot-turn to have him get killed, also I figure it would make sense consideirng what sort of character it is...but I am wondering, is doing that something totally un-heard of in the relative, beginning of the book? Also if its not, would it be something that might turn away the reader? Or is it like...perfectly acceptable to do?

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This is just my opinion... to kill off your protagonist just to make the plot "interesting" is not a good idea. You need to wonder what purpose does it serve the story, and is it relevant? Are you trying to manipulate the readers, or do you seriously think the story needs it?

Killing off or having a dead protagonist is not unheard of, and it can be very effective if done right, for the right kind of stories: Sunset Blvd, American Beauty, Lovely Bones, etc.

If your character needs to die for the story to move and or for the story to develop and if there is another character just next to him I will tolerate it as a reader.
But if I started to feel for a person or think this is the main character and then suddenly that person is dead, I'd be pissed.
But if I as a reader would have to admit it had to happen because there's a terrific reason I'd again tolerate it.

If a character dies relatively soon in a book how exactly is he/she the main character? By definition, he/she isn't the main character...but rather an interesting secondary charcter - right?

Kinda like the Drew Barrymore character in the very first Scream movie. Going in, if you didn't know any better, you'd think perhaps she IS supposed to be the MC - but she dies early on and you realize she wasn't the MC afterall. But because the actress playing the role was Drew, you think she's going to stay alive. I don't see a novel working the same way...but good luck in your writing.

Take care -

Check out Stephen King's Desperation. The first 32 pages of the novel are limited third-person, from the POV of a man named Peter Jackson. He and his wife are terrorized by a freaky sheriff. It sets Peter up as our potential MC, and I really began to sympathize with him.

Then he died at the end of the first chapter.

I was tossed for a loop, but plugged away and enjoyed the novel. Peter wasn't meant to be the MC. He was merely a POV character, with a limited role in the story. His wife, on the other hand, was present through the rest of the novel.

Unless your MC is hanging around to narrate as a ghost, then you can't technically kill the MC at the beginning of the novel. He's just a supporting character with a limited life span.

chaostitan said:

Check out Stephen King's Desperation. The first 32 pages of the novel are limited third-person, from the POV of a man named Peter Jackson. He and his wife are terrorized by a freaky sheriff. It sets Peter up as our potential MC, and I really began to sympathize with him.

Then he died at the end of the first chapter.

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Agatha Christie did something similar in The Seven Dials Mystery. The first two chapters focused on a small group of people. A murder takes place, and one character appears to be the protagonist of the story. Then the third chapter begins with a totally new character, the real protagonist, coming across him as he is dying. His real place in the book was 'second murder victim'.

I really think killing off an MC can work if you do it right. I plan to kill mine off at the end of part one. Her death will pit the other two protagonists against each other. Hurrah! But, this does kind of go along with what everyone was saying about having someone else the audience can cling to afterwards.

Hmm... It's definitely something to think about. But, I know what you mean. I always get mad when things are SO predictable that I know who is going to survive and don't bother worrying about them. So, as a reader, I'm really pleased when the author decides to shock my pants off with something like the death of the MC or something like that.

I don't like it when writers play with their characters. It irritates me as a reader, because it feels like the writer is playing with ME, with my emotions. If the character HAS to die, as in, if he doesn't the story can't go on, then you'll have to find a way to do it. But if you're doing it because it seems interesting and a fun thing to do...well, you need to re-think your characters until you come up with some that it would really HURT you to get rid of. I've killed off plenty of people, but I always bawl like a baby when I'm doing it, because I'm killing off a part of myself (even in the villians). My rule is: if you don't love a character, they're not worth killing...

My theory is to never do something simply to please your readers. Books are about getting people to buy them, sure, to some extent, but they should also be true to what you rae trying to express. If this character needs to die, if it is really his calling, then go ahead. Kill them, kill tham all! Don't kill him just for the sake of a twist, but if killing him will open up the readers minds to some cool reality of life or some new situation they have never read about before, then do it! It really depends, do what you feel is right and never not do something just because no one else has ever done it. Be the first and have some guts if it belongs in the story.

-Coolness.

Vuligora said:

Don't kill him just for the sake of a twist, but if killing him will open up the readers minds to some cool reality of life or some new situation they have never read about before, then do it!

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I'm going to invoke "24" again. On that series, the death of a main character usually serves a purpose in progressing the story, or to personally affect the other characters (George Mason, Ryan Chapelle, David Palmer, Lynn McGill).

However this season they are guilty of the "Don't kill him just for the sake of a twist" device with Tony Almeida's death. Shocking? Heck, yeah. Necessary to affect the story? Nope, sorry.

Vomaxx said:

Killing characters is easy.

Keeping them alive and interesting is the part that requires skilled writing.

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signature material..!

However this season they are guilty of the "Don't kill him just for the sake of a twist" device with Tony Almeida's death. Shocking? Heck, yeah. Necessary to affect the story? Nope, sorry.

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Shocking? Who said anything about shocking? Shocking doesn't count as opening up something to the reader. It isn't deep enough.

Vuligora said:

Shocking? Who said anything about shocking? Shocking doesn't count as opening up something to the reader. It isn't deep enough.

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That's kinda the point I was trying to make. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

It can be done very effectively, if the writer is clever and creative enough, he could rivet the reader to the story.

In the old classic film Laura, the main character is murdered in the beginning of the story. Yet the detective assigned to the case falls in love with her as he sets out to discover who she was, in his search for her killer.

In the end, the writer brings her back to life as we find that the murdered womanwho had been in her appartment wasn't actually her, and she re-appears at the end of the story. The ending would not have been happy without her resurrection, but I believe the story would have worked very well if she had remained dead.

Essentially the true Main Character throughout the book was the MEMORY of the dead Laura, and it was very effective.

I killed off a character on the first page, once. But the story was about his afterlife.