Common Question - To Kill a Character or Let it Be

[The End Narrator]

Death is something we don't see often and when we do - it's written well.

I have been mulling something the past few months in attempts to start fresh and hope to get back to where I once was within this community. I won't lie, in the background I've been desperately trying everything I can - I'm now at a crossroads and I've had mixed reactions in regards to character direction.

I'm not asking for anything more than a simple opinion and I'll even put a vote up if you don't desire to argue with others about your opinion.

Just coming to the community for an opinion is all.

Thanks for your time.

 

[Minna]

[member="Aaralyn Gyndar"]

Minna died once... Then I felt like there was something missing, I'd spent so much time on her and she became my favorite character so being unable to RP her drained my muse.

So yeah, I sneakily explained the faking of her death and now here I am, still writing her. My advice would be don't kill them off, instead let them fade into the background while you focus on other characters/things, maybe give them a reason for disappearing for some time, but keep them there in case you want to come back to them.

 

[Micah Talith]

I just write. See what happens. Rather not plan and if they die, it will be an interesting journey.

 

[The End Narrator]

I just write. See what happens. Rather not plan and if they die, it will be an interesting journey.

You've been like that since the first day I've met you.

And that isn't of course a bad thing - your advice has come in handy when applied correctly.

 

[Connor Harrison]

[member="Aaralyn Gyndar"] I can only shelve characters for so long and I find normally if you hit a dead end once it's harder to come back. Once maybe, but twice? No.

I'm debating wheter to kill off my oldest character for the fact he has run dry after 2 "reboots" in tying to get him somewhere. And I feel, for my sake and even his as I feel for him as my creation, to let his journey come to an end because if you're struggling, let that chapter come to and end so you cut a string to focus on the future.

Fictional they maybe, but I care for my characters and actually feel bad keep putting them through the strain of trying too hard. If you're trying too hard, it's not going to happen so maybe let them go.

 

[Feena]

Actually just killed Feena. Why? She'd done absolutely everything I set out to do with her and then some. I was losing muse fast. Also, I found an IC reason to kill her through RP. Her death was actually an IRL year long process. I'm glad I killed her off. It had a nice ripple effect, influencing other characters who had been close to her, and freed me up to concentrate on some of my less-used characters.

I think killing a character off is a great idea- if it's for IC purposes and you know you won't ever want to go back to them. I hate seeing people who have a great death scene, then completely spoil the drama by bringing them back a month later with some crazy voodoo magic. Makes the death mean absolutely nothing.

 

[Judah Lesan]

It depends on the character I guess

 

[Kei Amadis]

Got to go with give them one final thread with those writers you love writing with, and if that doesn't work the end of the thread is either a sunset ending (retirement) a cliffhanger (uncertain) or a death.

 

[GrimmReconz]

https://youtu.be/6fkMohNyx0M


But seriously its up to you,if you feel as if the character no longer has purpose and you don't want to come back then you can kill them or if you may come back to them one day then just shelf them and give reason for her disappearance.

 

[Darth Kentarch]

Its always been a matter of fact that most lightsaber duels and gunfights end with some buying the farm. Nobody wants to kill their character, lets be honest. But do I think you should kill a character who's run its course, and their are no options left? I don't know. You may want to play that individual down the line, likewise a hasty death may not be fulfilling as you hoped it would be. At the same time it would be refreshing change to see a playable character die to make a situation more dire, or give a thread some more gravity to it.

 

[Jak Sandrow]

I've put literal years into this character. He's my only one; there's no way I'm killing him off. If he does ever reach his peak, I'm going to get people to bring him down. Strip him of the Force, strip him of his tech, strip him of his dignity. Make him smol.

 

[Delila Castillon]

I think it depends. Before this face I was Delila Castillon....she hit a major wall and I really couldn't write around it. So I gave her a kid, killed her off and RP the kid now. Its worked nicely so far and this isnt the first time I've killed a character. I personally say retire the character first, make sure you really want the finality, then move on with the death from there.

 

[Nyxie]

It's all circumstantial. My character Alachei reached her peak story-wise, but still had a lot to offer in that sense, so I retired her and use her as an NPC. My character Aynea (Ashelotte) has been all over, done all sorts of things, tasted many forms of the Force and has a fairly large knowledge base, but a friend of mine still likes her so I promised to keep Aynea just for them.

I never really believed in the whole "My Sith/Jedi has peaked, let's change sides" thing because it, aside from being brutally overused, is kind of cliche, but there are still plenty of times and situations where a character still has a lot of traction left if you know where to drive them. Simple reboots of the character also work well in my experience and you can even get their ranks kicked back voluntarily.

You could also kill the character if all else fails, because on an RP board as this, you can always find a way to bring them back later because it's your character, but I wouldn't really suggest death unless you're sold on something else or you want to use them as a basis for making a new Master character.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

I think all characters come to a point where they should die. Death, in that case, should be the epitome of all the character fought for. That does not mean to place the character away completely. One can, and should, still fill out the blanks of the background. However, in the end we all have to die, and death should be beautiful. It should bring a tear to your eye.

If you're uncertain, then it might not be time. It may be you just need a new direction, a new take on the character. It's a very important decision and it takes a lot of deliberation to make that final call.

 

[Quietus]

Lorelei is my longest running RP character to date. She's done a lot of things in her years and while I have enjoyed her story emmensely I reached a point (about 6 years ago) where I felt her story was finished and that I was complacent with how it had developed over the years. But like many have mentioned, because I've put so much time into her and she has been one of my favorite characters to write over the years I've found it hard to give her a permanent send-off.

Retiring the care / shelving the char and starting a new story with one of her descendants was probably one of the best things I ever did for my muse. She became back-seat to new major chars who eventually reached their own story end (Quietus being the most prominent of these). And then eventually I stopped writing her entirely until I joined Chaos. Even here she's a minor char but I have actually found some fun stories to tell with her as a minor char taking a new lease on life (hiding her Force presence and past in order to effect the galaxy to better suit the needs of her children). I'm quite glad I didn't perma-kill her as I would have missed out on some great opportunities.

But I've also perma-killed many other characters because I felt it was best that way. Knew I wouldn't be needing or wanting to use them again.

I think it boils down to what you really want.

If you still have that lingering muse, if you're still stuck on the character and you have any doubts at all about a permanent send-off, then don't do it. Shelve them. Write them a little retirement backstory and focus on a new face or idea.

If you know, absolutely know, you'll probably never write the character again and their story is absolutely complete - go for it. Give them a great death, or don't.

In the end -

do what makes you happy!

 

[Jsc]

At the gym we call it plateauing. That point in your workout were you keep pushing at a healthy rate but start to notice diminishing returns. Does this mean you aren't making progress or that your body won't improve anymore? No. Plateauing is a completely normal part of gym life. We all get there. And, yes. There is still room for improvement. We just have to keep moving.

2 cents. Don't kill. Move on.

 

[Placeholder 04]

I've killed four of my guys in the past year -- might be five depending on how this invasion goes. There's just something fantastic about writing a last stand.