Okay, I've wondered if the sacrificial hero (the MC is the psychopath, but she wasn't always like that) should appear more in the story rather at just the end. If the guy is just at the end, then I feel he/she is just a cheap plot device. Making a connection with the reader might make the ending more bittersweet... So...I'm stuck on whether I should develop this person as another MC or leave him/her unintroduced until the last second. Okay, here's the quick concept I whipped up for the sacrificial hero: He was a self-centered sorcerer that lived in the nearby village where the MC was. During the times he's seen her suffer, he's been stuck between choosing whether to help her or to go on with his own agenda. When the world is about to end because of the MC, he realizes it's all his fault that the world is about to end because of his selfish decisions (not to mention the ones he loves would also die too) . Taking full responsibility for his immorality, he sacrifices himself to the MC in order to save everyone else.
Firstly, there comes a point where you need to stop asking other people's advice or you risk your story becoming more theirs than yours... Secondly, if the loss of the character is meant to be tragic, then you need to have them in your story long enough for the reader to become emotionally invested in them. I don't understand how you could just bring in some random person to solve the problem, that would just be tacky....deus ex machinas are always a little annoying, but that would be one of the worst, just having a random hero show up and save the day then leave again...it would be like if at the end of Harry Potter, a random wizard apparated in front of Voldemort, killed him, and left again.
Oh, I see your point. I'm still bust on making the character. I'll post again once I've formed the profile. I recently got an idea after talking w/my brother.
Try to avoid the Deus Ex Machina mechanic, where an unlikely and unhinted twist saves the day at the last minute. Building the martyr up properly shouldn't be too hard though.
