spoiler Tired of this "lets kill the main character trend" it's old.

[TheMarkz0ne 962]

How I felt for several years over this alarming trend of "let kill the main character." I feel like people in any mainstream entertainment field are doing it because they lack creativity. Since this is a spoiler thread, you have been warned... I was SO Pissed, when Han Solo was killed. I understand Harrison Ford hates Star Wars and Han Solo. That's fine, that's not the problem. Han Solo, an iconic character in pop culture, and he rivals popularity with Luke, Vader and Yoda. I am using two characters as examples, one who died( not dead to me) and one who I think will die.. That is, Nathan Drake....

 

I am excited for Uncharted 4, it is a shame Naughty Dog is pulling the plug on Uncharted. I know it will get boring to have 10 Uncharted games. But I am already getting predictable vibes based on tv spots and even the game's intro music. Same applies when Crystal Dynamics finishes their second Tomb Raider series.. I don't want to see Nate or Lara die, I love taking some time to escape reality with these characters.

 

Here are some obvious cues that Drake is most likely going to bite the dust.

 

 

[Megas 27,243]

 

I've noticed this seemed to be a trend since last gen where the lead doesn't get a happy ending, at least as far as major AAA games go. Can't say I'm a fan of how it's usually handled most of the time, sometimes it's handled well like John Marston, sometime's it's incredibly dumb like with Soap McTavish and other CoD protagonists

 

 

Personally, I prefer happier endings in video games because it's the player's hard work getting to the end as opposed to just watching it like movies, shows, or books. Sometimes sad endings for games work(MGS3) and sometimes they can be awful(Mass Effect 3)

[Deae Rising Shine~ 53,091]

I never have a problem with this. Mayby they just try to make the player feel sad or so. If it's handled good, I don't mind.

[[NULL] 906]

Everyone dies. You can't stop it. You can't run away from it.

Let me tell you something: A good protagonist shouldn't waste the life they have left fighting.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,811]

You know...there's a streak going on here

 

Episode 1: Quygon dies

Episode 4: Obewon dies

Episode 7: Hans dies

 

But then again, I read that Harrison Ford was getting old and nearing his retirement. They could've done it a completely different way...

[That Guy with the CMB 5,872]

Everyone dies. You can't stop it. You can't run away from it.

Let me tell you something: A good protagonist shouldn't waste the life they have left fighting.

I'm tired of people dying though. Death is overdone.

 

 

Just kidding, please don't hate me OP, I actually agree with you. ouo' But then again, people who fight all the time aren't the types to live into old age, so it's just normal that if you live as a brawler and risk your life constantly like that, you're probably going to die that way.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,607]

This is understandable for certain games for sure. If Drake dies in Uncharted 4, I will cry. I will cry a lot. However, if a game or movie or whatever is able to handle it properly, then it could be part of the emotional bond we have with that character. Me crying over that shows how much I loved that character and that to me shows how well they portrayed him or her depending on who it is. If the character has to me their end, then it just has to be done properly. Han Solo's death was something that I think was on a thin line, as it was kinda predictable once that scene started.

 

Then there are shows like One Piece that go over 700 episodes and not a single main character dies, showing that they are just invincible. After 700 episodes of that, tension kinda gets thrown out the window. 

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,299]

Killing off main characters has indeed become a cliche (thanks a lot, George Martin); a cliche that has less and less of the impact it might have once intended.  Oh, it still has an impact, but it isn't the sort that inspires people to stick with a franchise.  "What?  They killed off the one character I gave a shit about?"  *Ceases to watch the series.*  At some point, I wouldn't be surprised if: "What?  The character I absolutely can't stand takes on a veritable army and then walks out unscathed, but the character I actually liked slips on a banana peel and breaks his neck?  Because...  They were likable?!  Popular?!  Da fu-" *Ceases to watch series.*

 

Okay, okay: Sometimes it does actually work in a film or television series.  The writers / creators go to the trouble of developing a character with whom you can develop a genuine and well-deserved emotional attachment.  They develop them in such a way that it actually makes sense when they rush into that burning building to save a teary-eyed little boy's trapped dachshund...  And the roof collapses on them only moments after they've succeeded in freeing the pooch.  But when it starts to feel as though you're tuning in solely to make sure the character you like doesn't die this week, it very well might point to a general lack of imagination on part of the staff.

 

With video games, it's usually just fucking stupid.

 

When you watch a film or read a book, you follow the protagonist along his or her path until that path comes to an end.  That end doesn't have to be death, but it could be.  You could skip right to the last page and get the same result either way.  In a video game, you do your damnedest to keep the protagonist alive.  Sometimes, you feel as though you inhabit the protagonist.  Every time you make a mistake and get them / yourself offed by an unexpected pitfall or a chainsaw-wielding maniac, there's the potential for an emotional response.  And, if you set the controller down there, you and the story's hero don't see things through.

 

So, escaping almost-but-not-quite certain death a thousand times in pursuit of a sense of accomplishment, possibly relief, and some measure of satisfaction...  Only to be offed during some grainy cut scene...  Is pretty, well, crap.  It's worse when it feels like the writers just ran out of ideas.  Or felt that the only sort of punctuation they could put at the end of the sentence was the permanent kind.  I quite prefer a "..." to a "." where the fate of a beloved protagonist is concerned.  "And they vowed never to stop adventuring..."  Almost makes me want to play the damn game again; or pick up past installments.  As opposed to, "And their adventure ended."  Period.

 

Stupid.

[SomeRetroGeek 110]

As long as the death is well executed, leaves me shocked and maybe even a little teary-eyed, I'm perfectly fine with killing the main character. Happy endings are good, but the protagonist's death is something to spice up the story, and a passing of the torch to either another character, or even a new franchise.

[Chara 1,565]

 

 

Drake is most likely going to bite the dust.

Ok, let me get something straight here. Remember the hype for Batman: Arkham Knight? We all thought he was going to die because of this single trailer but did he actually die? No, no he didn't.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Zach

[Evilshy 5,089]

So first off, Harrison Ford doesn't hate Star Wars. He doesn't like Han Solo as a character very much, and one of his conditions for being in FA was that Han had to die. But he likes, or at least appreciates the franchise. Contrast with Alec Guiness, who straight up hated Star Wars because he was famous before it, and afterwords he was never known for anything but playing a supporting role in a movie he didn't like very much anyway.

 

Second, it all depends on how it's written. I'll take a death over a deus ex machina survival any day. What's even worse is when they come back to life, or "weren't really dead" because that completely takes away the impact.

 

And lastly, killing a main character is a nice way for writers to make sure they can end their story without somebody coming along and using their stuff. A bit slefish perhaps, but if you have a great story, I can understand not wanting anybody to start adding stuff on, especially if it's just to milk the franchise for more money.

[Marxyhooves 73]

Personally, I am of the opinion that Han Solo's death was entirely called for and completely necessary. I feel this way for two main reasons.

 

First and foremost, he needed to die so as to give the other actors a chance and not just be outshone by Harrison Ford's massive Star Power. I mean, on my list of gripes about The Force Awakens (a short list, but I do have one) the death of Han Solo is very far down it. I can certainly agree with what has been said already in that the way it was filmed meant that the moment he walked onto that bridge everyone knew he was going to die. But compared to other decisions made in the film that I feel are questionable, e.g. Death Star Three Electric Boogaloo, it is fairly low on the list. The one thing I was most afraid of was that the new films would just turn into a nostalgia ride for fans of the originals, which would have been a huge waste of potential, and Han's death means that I can largely put this worry to bed.

 

Secondly, I think that it was necessary for the story. Generally, I am of the opinion that the hero of every story should die in the end, otherwise the story is left unfinished. I absolutely abhor the cliché 'Till we meet again!' endings that you often see when a project reaches its end. At a conceptual level though, I think that in this case it was especially called for. The Star Wars series has been about, to a large extent, intergenerational conflict (not just intergalactic conflict... sorry that was a bad pun and I should feel bad). The main impetus for the first two films was Luke trying to avenge his father by fighting Darth Vader and in the final film it was Luke fighting to redeem his father. That the next section of the series should begin with the son killing the father just makes complete sense to me. The killing of Gods and Fathers is always necessary in my opinion, it is a device that goes back to the great Greek Tragedies. I mean, think about the Oresteia by Aeschylus or the Oedipus cycle by Sophocles... death is the cornerstone of human experience and existence. What is a human but an animal that is doomed with the knowlege of its own transiency...

 

"Once upon a time, in some out of the way corner of that universe which is dispersed into numberless twinkling solar systems, there was a star upon which clever beasts invented knowing. That was the most arrogant and mendacious minute of "world history," but nevertheless, it was only a minute. After nature had drawn a few breaths, the star cooled and congealed, and the clever beasts had to die."

 

The knowledge of death and its presence is what drives all meaningful human experience.

 

Anyway, that's my two bits on the matter, and while I agree they could have done it better, I am glad they did it.

 

Regards,

 

Marxy

 

P.S. Reading this again, I feel like I got distracted somewhere while I was writing my second reason...

[Evilshy 5,089]

@@Marxyhooves

 

I believe FA was a huge nostalgia trip just so they could bring in the old fans and say "we're not going down the same road as the prequels, we're going to do better." Basically just putting fears to rest before going off and taking the movies in the direction they want to go.

[Marxyhooves 73]

It was a bit. And I'm glad they've gotten that part of the new films out of the way. I mean, there is so much new ground for them to cover, it really would make no sense for them to keep rehashing what's gone before. I mean, when I said the new Death Star incarnation was a gripe of mine, it was a pretty huge gripe. The reason I was overjoyed to hear that Disney had jettisoned the Expanded Universe was that I thought it might mean that they weren't going to do the whole, "It's the death star but bigger," thing... that they went ahead and did it anyway was probably the most disappointing thing about the film.

 

Not to say that I didn't enjoy it, but I really wish they had some other kind of plot device at the end.

 

Marxy

 

P.S. Although the bad guys have shown some development, where Grand Moff Tarkin was all about scoffing and not evacuating because it was "our moment of triumph!", with Starkiller Base even the mooks at the control panels could see where it was going to end once the Rebels showed up and started attacking the invincible super-weapon...  I especially liked that one guy who looked out the window and was just like, "Nope, we're done, time to bail."

Edited February 11, 2016 by Marxyhooves

[EpicEnergy 22,624]

Whether I like the "kill the main character" idea depends on how well it is executed.

[Dreambiscuit 8,541]

If it serves a story to kill off a primary character, that’s okay, if it’s done well and not just a toss-off for the sake of adding some impact. When it’s done badly it’s a waste of a good character and does no honor to the character or the audience who has connected with that character. Killing characters is invariably a crutch used by bad filmmakers to add punch to a lagging story. Take Han Solo for example; an iconic character with millions of invested fans, bumped off in the most pointless death ever, just so JarJar Abrams can create the illusion of emotional impact and fool the audience into thinking he’s a dynamic filmmaker. If a character has nothing more to contribute to a story, that’s one thing. But if the death of that character doesn’t serve the story either, it’s just gratuitous.

[TheRockARooster 48,401]

1 minute ago, Dreambiscuit said:

If it serves a story to kill off a primary character, that’s okay, if it’s done well and not just a toss-off for the sake of adding some impact. When it’s done badly it’s a waste of a good character and does no honor to the character or the audience who has connected with that character. Killing characters is invariably a crutch used by bad filmmakers to add punch to a lagging story. Take Han Solo for example; an iconic character with millions of invested fans, bumped off in the most pointless death ever, just so JarJar Abrams can create the illusion of emotional impact and fool the audience into thinking he’s a dynamic filmmaker. If a character has nothing more to contribute to a story, that’s one thing. But if the death of that character doesn’t serve the story either, it’s just gratuitous.

That killed the movie for me, Dreamy.