Death in Fiction

[Djarskublar]

So to preface my argument, I want to provide context for why I'm making this. I watch a lot of anime, and recently I started watching YouTube videos on various aspects of the creation and critical process involved with them so that I am more informed. After going around with lots of topics, I realized that nobody is really talking about death. It is a problem in many media, particularly anything on TV, be it movies, shows, or games. I started considering starting a YouTube channel specifically to discuss this topic (and anything else that comes to mind later). Before making that step, I want to see if what people think of my argument, and what other opinions are.

First, there are two different aspects to cover: death of characters and characters killing. With many stories, characters simply don't die when they should, and it removes tension from the story. Others add specific character deaths in a manner that lets you know that characters in that story can die, and it ramps up the tension in any fight. Excellent examples of both sides of this coin are Bleach and Star Wars: the Clone Wars. In Bleach, Renji is nearly killed repeatedly throughout the first couple of arcs, to the point where I realized that practically nobody important was actually going to die if they had any real characterization. I dropped it at that point, since it had lost the last drop of tension it had. On the other hand, The Clone Wars is very good at killing characters when necessary, especially considering that it is supposed to be a children's show.  Around the start of the show, we are introduced to five clone troopers that the series mentions and/or follows for the rest of the series, and by the end of the series they all die. A couple of them die in the episode they are introduced. In another episode a bit later, they all get the backstory of their training together, making the previous two deaths even more meaningful beyond the fairly basic attachment we formed during their introduction. We see the remaining three pretty often until another dies to blow up a Federation ship from the inside. This occurs mid-way through the series, and serves well to remind the viewer that there is nobody immune to death in the series (that you don't know will show up in future movies, anyway). The last two die horrible deaths in the last season as one of them has a glitch that activates Order 66 early so that he kills the Jedi general that is his commanding officer. He is immediately put down like a rabid animal to prevent him from killing any other Jedi nearby. In the process of investigating the cause of his friend's death, Chancellor Palpatine frames him for trying to assassinate him, and drugs him into a delirium. After being cornered by Obi-Wan and Anakin, both of whom he had fought with several times, other troopers join them and kill him on sight. This is not the only example of important, long standing, and well developed characters dying in the show. In addition to this, a LOT of unnamed characters die all the time. It is a war, after all. An important thing to note with almost all of these deaths is that the show isn't afraid to show them happening. You see clones stand up from cover or charge across open ground and get laid out by a blaster bolt to the face all the time. The camera rarely cuts away to avoid showing death, and I appreciate that. This show isn't the A-Team where everyone apparently has a reverse lashing at their feet all the time, since that is the only area any bullets ever hit... In short, characters sometimes need to die to maintain suspension of disbelief and to maintain tension. If nobody ever died in this show about a war, it would be pointless-- regardless of the fact that it is largely targeted towards children. This argument also applies to villains, and a villain that can't die or be permanently incapacitated is boring (looking at you, Batman <.<).

In the other situation, many, many pieces of fiction have the serious issue of ignoring the impact killing has on people. I can't even count the number of shows, movies, books, and games that I have seen where some protagonist kills someone for the first time and doesn't even hesitate or consider it afterwards. That is, frankly, a load of complete crap. Take a moment and think about how you would feel after killing some random person on the street. If you can honestly say that you wouldn't feel something, then you probably need some serious psychological help. It isn't even difficult to add this small bit of characterization to a character. How do they react to killing? Do they feel only mild disgust? Shock? Self-hatred? You can establish their feelings in literally a couple seconds of screentime or with a couple lines in a book. It is practically free characterization, so I simply don't know why it isn't capitalized on. I don't feel like I need to provide a specific example of this, since anyone should be able to come up with an example of their own, and any I provide may not be known to them.

As an example of this done right, I think that the second episode of Hai to Gensou no Grimgar is perfect. While the show itself isn't my favorite, this episode is my favorite individual episode of any series, and is also my favorite fight of all time in any medium. From the characters slipping in the mud, to their inexperience showing in their terrible swordsmanship and accuracy, this fight was real. It was certainly not without faults, suffering from the 'lets take turns attacking' trope, but it was way, waaay better than many fights I have seen. That fault can also be partially explained by their fear of this goblin they are fighting. Two moments of this fight really stuck out to me. The first was after one of the characters stabbed the goblin in the shoulder and is completely grossed out at the fact that his sword cut into the bone. (Ignoring bones and just chopping stuff into pieces is another peeve of mine.) He literally stops for a moment and looks at his trembling hands and dripping sword to contemplate that fact. After the fight is over, another of the characters has to pry his bloody dagger from his clenched up fingers to drop it into the mud, while yet another of the characters passes out from the experience without ever actually trading blows with the little beast.

The choreography of this fight was solid, the characterization was truly superb, and I can forgive its faults. The only actual complaint I could see really holding weight is the fact that it kind of beats you over the head with the idea that the goblin is its own person and doesn't want to die. I can't say I mind, since it is a consideration that is rarely, well, considered. Random mooks don't live to throw themselves on your sword. This is by no means the best fight I have ever seen, but it is my favorite, since it so perfectly encapsulates my point that random people, regardless of age, aren't going to kill lightly, even if it is so they can eat the next day. The emotion and tension are palpable in this scene, and when I showed it to one of my brothers, even out of context it stunned him. I think this thoroughly shows my point that a fight's quality can be greatly enhanced by adding that emotional impact on a character, and lacking it can potentially strain suspension of disbelief. We have just been conditioned to ignore this aspect because of how rarely it is done right and how often other thoughts in the character's mind take precedence. Even when this aspect is considered, it frequently results in an 'I hate myself now' arc that feels overblown, lame, and drawn out.

 

So what are your thoughts? Am I just getting too hung up on these ideas? They have been something of a peeve of mine for many years now, and i would love it if anyone knows of other excellent treatments of either aspect. Also, can my argument use any trimming, tightening, or expanding?

[A Budgie]

One thing I think is that quite often death is simply used as a story device. Oh, main character is sad. Why? Because their parents died and oh no how tragic. Oh, I want to put in something that'll provoke a reader/viewer reaction. What should I do? I know, I'll kill off a beloved character.
Sometimes a death is put in not for the characters, but for the viewers. It'll be used to establish the character, or something similar, and will be important for a short time, and will only be mentioned or crop up when it's convenient.

Anyway, I think your argument is quite good, although I think maybe instead of providing one long example, you could provide two or so and shorten the explanation. That's just what I think though, I'm not completely sure.
And talking about stories where this is done, one I know does it well is called Undertale (a videogame which I haven't actually played, but seen my friends play it enough and talk about it that I know pretty much the entire storyline). Here be spoilers for it, of course.
This one takes the issue that, in a lot of videogames, the entire point is to kill the bad guys. They have no names or personalities, they're just the things you kill to win. But in this game, the monsters you have to kill are actually people too. Trying to kill them all results in the characters fighting you in revenge for their dead friends and family members, with one of them even knowing that you are just playing a game, and that they're nothing to you. The entire point is to make you think about the culling of nameless bad guys in many games.

[Djarskublar]

On 6/12/2017 at 4:58 AM, A Budgie said:

One thing I think is that quite often death is simply used as a story device. Oh, main character is sad. Why? Because their parents died and oh no how tragic. Oh, I want to put in something that'll provoke a reader/viewer reaction. What should I do? I know, I'll kill off a beloved character.
Sometimes a death is put in not for the characters, but for the viewers. It'll be used to establish the character, or something similar, and will be important for a short time, and will only be mentioned or crop up when it's convenient.

Anyway, I think your argument is quite good, although I think maybe instead of providing one long example, you could provide two or so and shorten the explanation. That's just what I think though, I'm not completely sure.
And talking about stories where this is done, one I know does it well is called Undertale (a videogame which I haven't actually played, but seen my friends play it enough and talk about it that I know pretty much the entire storyline). Here be spoilers for it, of course.
This one takes the issue that, in a lot of videogames, the entire point is to kill the bad guys. They have no names or personalities, they're just the things you kill to win. But in this game, the monsters you have to kill are actually people too. Trying to kill them all results in the characters fighting you in revenge for their dead friends and family members, with one of them even knowing that you are just playing a game, and that they're nothing to you. The entire point is to make you think about the culling of nameless bad guys in many games.

Heh! That reminds me of a joke I've told a few times to people. How do you write an instant classic? Write a bunch of lovable characters, then kill most of them. Plot is irrelevant, just look at The Book Thief.

I haven't played Undertale, but that sounds interesting. That is exactly the kind of quality storytelling I'm looking for. I have seen some examples where death is managed acceptably. I don't even usually mind if they do what you said and kill off one beloved character just for the sake of plot/character progression. At least they died, so it's a step in the right direction. It is pretty lazy writing, but it is a less common kind of lazy that brings it closer to good writing.

Also, thanks for the pointers. I kind of felt the same way, but I wasn't sure, so even though you weren't sure either, we can be unsure together and roll with it

[A Budgie]

9 hours ago, Djarskublar said:

Also, thanks for the pointers. I kind of felt the same way, but I wasn't sure, so even though you weren't sure either, we can be unsure together and roll with it

That's fine. Happy to help.