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Should I Bring this Character Back into the Story?

Poll closed Sep 21, 2019.
  1. Yes! He needs to fulfill his story arc!

    1 vote(s)
    33.3%
  2. No! Don't be cliché!

    2 vote(s)
    66.7%
  1. Dr3am5tep

    Dr3am5tep New Member

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    Advice on Whether or Not to Resurrect "Dead" Character

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Dr3am5tep, Jun 21, 2019.

    In this post, I am going to use fake names for the characters as to not fully reveal any spoilers.


    So I am currently working on my third book, a sci-fi fantasy adventure novel in the Inner Sanctum series. To give you a little backstory, the novels follow two teenagers from Earth who enter into the realm where dreams are created, called the “Inner Sanctum,” the name of the series. They discover that they must fight the Nightmare kingdom that is overtaking the rest of the dream world. The first book is called “Reality” and the second book is called “Rise.”


    The characters I will be talking about are:

    Sarah - The Main Character of the Story

    Perry - The Secondary Main Character and Sarah’s Love Interest

    Max - Sarah and Perry’s Mentor

    Nate - Ally Turned Villain of the Story


    In Rise, there was a major character named Max who dies halfway through the story. The villain of the story is named Nate and he is secretly working for the villains and is a mass manipulator.

    In this particular scene, Nate sets up Max by having the villains cause some suspicious activity in a nearby district. When Max goes to investigate, Nate turns on Max and his men and slaughters them. Nate brings back Max’s signature bandana as proof that he is dead and Sarah (the main character) wears in into battle in remembrance of him from that point on.

    Here is my dilemma: I know you are not supposed to have character resurrections in a story as they are extremely cliché. However, I feel like Max plays a vital role in the story and was killed off too early. He has been a huge mentor to the rest of the characters, acting as a sort of father figure to the two main heroes and being the one to train them to fight against the villains.

    While I want to avoid getting into the “resurrected characters” habit (I’ve had one already), I really feel like I should’ve given Max’s death more thought and planning. There is a possibility that instead of killing him, Nate actually captures Max and holds him hostage in order to gain intel from him. The only problem is that I really haven’t been able to figure out what exactly it is that Nate is trying to find, save maybe secrets about Sarah in order to bring her down as the militia’s leader. However, as of right now, I feel like this would be the most realistic way to keep Max alive and in the story.

    If I decided to keep Max dead, however, I would have his children come into the story to “take his place,” for lack of better terms. He has two sons and possibly a daughter that could play a vital role in the story, as well as keeping the spirit of Max alive by having similar personality traits. The other reason this would work besides avoiding his “resurrection” would be because one of his children is the main villain in a spin-off story I have planned for the future.

    SO, what do you guys think I should do: have Max live and be captured in enemy hands or have him stay dead and let his children take his place? If you have any other ideas or suggestions that you think would work, please let me know. I’m open to any ideas or suggestions. Thanks!

    If you have any other feedback or advice you could give, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you :)
     
  2. LastMindToSanity

    LastMindToSanity Contributor Contributor

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    Sometimes, that feeling that the character died too early can be used to really pull on the heartstrings. It sells the idea that this character was a living person in the real world, and that his story was cut short. It'll make it feel more real and heart-wrenching because real people usually don't get the chance to finish their 'arcs' before they get killed. I'd keep it, sounds good.
     
  3. GrJs

    GrJs Active Member

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    I think the biggest issue here is that you think it's too early. If you think it's too early then it probably is too early. If his death is necessary to move the characters forward in the way you want them to then kill him. But if you can get the same results by keeping him alive to kill him at a later, more significant date then keep him alive.

    What it comes down to is how you want your characters to be motivated. Killing him only to resurrect him is a redundant act. You may as well add in a story line where he has to go away for an extended period of time because one of his children is terribly ill. It has the same effect, he's gone when you, the writer, needs him to be gone. But he's also gone when the characters really need him to be there. Anything just to get him out of the picture for the length of time you need him to be. He doesn't need to be killed for him to be gone.

    I would steer clear of using resurrection as a device unless it has severe consequences for the situation. Like they resurrect a fellow fighter who died two books ago because that person is literally the one and only thing in existence that can help the good guys/kick the big bads ass. A mentor doesn't rate that high, at most it'll be a journey of self discovery for the MC's under the mentors tutelage that they can functionally wield their mentors teachings in the world and be successful at doing so. Which would cancel itself out if the mentor comes back.
     
  4. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Is it too late to just change the death? Is that book already published in some form?
     
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  5. Jon7z

    Jon7z Member

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    Resurrection is one device that really annoys me. It cheapens your writing significantly even in speculative fiction.
    My favorite novels are The Game of Thrones, and the only thing that has made me want to throw them against the wall is when GRRM resurrects a key character who you thought was dead. My immediate thought is “Oh, for f##ks sake”

    Could you use another device such as cloning, or have him go into a persistent vegetative state and then recover (at least slightly more believable than resurrection), or perhaps someone else died but it seemed as though the character died (and slipped away into hiding).
     
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  6. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    For me, the biggest problem with 'resurrected dead' is the loss of jeopardy. If people can come back from the dead, then where's the worry about dying?

    It does depend, to some extent, on whether the character actually died, or whether people just thought he'd died. I think you can get away with the 'thought he'd died' thing ...at least once. (Disappeared, assumed dead, etc.) However, if you start bringing people back from the ACTUAL dead—death that was witnessed earlier in the story by the reader—then death loses its impact unless there are good reasons for why this isn't likely to happen again.

    I'm thinking Gandalf, in LOTR. I remember when I was reading the books and Gandalf died. I was devastated. I never thought for a minute that he'd come back. When he did, of course, I was glad to see him ...and accepted his rather convoluted story about how he'd managed to resurrect himself. But it was pretty clear he was the ONLY character in the story this was likely to happen to. Every other death we saw WAS final. So it worked. But it was tricky.

    I've seen so many sci-fi shows where characters we love get killed off, for dramatic effect, and then 'return,' via some arcane process. And after a while, this becomes annoying. Even my beloved Farscape did this to a couple of characters, although some really important ones did actually die. The sense of jeopardy for the main characters never really evaporated completely, so it worked. But it could have gone very wrong as well.

    I'd say if you make the resurrection seem VERY unique, and make it clear that it's not ever going to happen again, you'll probably get away with it.
     
  7. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    What resurrection are you referring to? The Lady Stoneheart plotline? Because that's definitely not one that uses it cheaply and keeps the character the same.
     
  8. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    Seems like probably don't resurrect him, I don't think you need to, although it sounds like you do regret what you did so that complicates things.
    If you do do resurrection, I would definitely tap into the sense that it matters. Not that it's necessarily unique, although it probably shouldn't be or feel common, but more particularly that coming all the way back from the dead leaves a mark on a person. Because it bl@#dy should. That would be the most immediate way to cut down on the cheap resurrection feel, beyond just not overusing it. Is that it's not so clean and simple and perfect; it's something you don't really want to do. This way it will still feel like the death matters, and that people can't just throw around "cast reanimates" like cheap candy.
     
  9. Dr3am5tep

    Dr3am5tep New Member

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    Yes, the book is already published. Besides, going back and fixing it would be rather tedious, as his assumed death is engrained in the storyline. It wouldn't be as big of a deal if the story wasn't already pulished.
     
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  10. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I'm not suggesting that you eliminate the characters' belief that he's dead. You could make some changes in the description of his "death" to hint that he isn't really dead, so that the reader doesn't feel cheated.
     
  11. Dr3am5tep

    Dr3am5tep New Member

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    I think I should have clarified that in this part of the book, if I decided to let him live, he wouldn't necessarily "come back from the dead." I said that metaphorically but should have clarified that it would only appear that he were dead. In reality he would only be captured by the enemy and held hostage.
    I have only had one actual resurrection in the book thus far, but I feel like the way it played out worked for the story. On Earth, Sarah's family was murdered by a revenge-seeking psychopath who had a grudge against Sarah's father. You find out that for the past three years since her family's passing, Sarah has been dealing with severe trauma and depression, and rightfully so. She witnessed her mother be beaten to death, her father killed by a gunshot wound and her younger sister Isabella eaten by wolves.
    Several years later, after Sarah enters the Inner Sanctum, she and her team of soldiers go into a haunted crashed ship in search of a powerful orb that they would use to defeat the evil nightmares. While scouting the area, she enters into a room and discovers her sister Isabella is alive. I think this was quite unexpected and was something that caught most readers off-guard. Isabella says that God raised her from the dead and, while I'm not saying this isn't what happened, what may have happened was that her soul was transported to the Inner Sanctum. Yet as of right now, Sarah and Isabella's parents are no where to be found in the Inner Sanctum, which leads me to several other scenarios as to why this is, but that's an entirely different topic.
     
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  12. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Really, if this is the entirety of the proof of his death, I as a reader would already assume he's not dead. I'd be waiting--impatiently--to find out what really happened to him.
     
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  13. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Yes, me too. That's too obvious a ruse, isn't it?
     
  14. The Dapper Hooligan

    The Dapper Hooligan (V) ( ;,,;) (v) Contributor

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    Location:
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    Character: *dies*
    Fans: He's just sleeping.
    Character: *gets put in coffin*
    Fans: He'll be back
    Character: *gets cremated*
    Fans: Just wait 'til book two.
     
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  15. Matt E

    Matt E Ruler of the planet Omicron Persei 8 Contributor

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    It depends on how you want to flavor your universe. Dark stories like Game of Thrones where people die early and stay dead before their arcs are resolved have their own gritty appeal. You don't have to finish arcs, cutting them off has a power of its own.

    Plenty of stories do get away with reviving someone though, and whether it is cliche depends on whether the way you pull it off has lost all of its meaning. If you do bring the character back, try giving it a sting. Use it to drive up tension.
     
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