Discussion why do so many novels make the mc's be reincarnated

So I was reading battle through the heavens, and I started wondering "what's the point of making him a reincarnated individual?" Given that he doesn't use any knowledge from his past life he wouldn't be any different if he wasn't reincarnated, but they made him a reincarnated person anyway and keep referring back to that by saying how he was very distant from his family when he was a child, but now he's close to them so what was the point. I then started thinking about all the other novels that reincarnate the mc for no reason so I want to ask why is this done and what novels can you think of that does this.

 

Because reincarnation is a thing nowadays, like how scific and vampires/werewolf was very much the thing in the 90s.

 

because right now many people want a "second chance" by going back in time or being born again but this time with memories (you know there is a lot of things that you could do if you just understand things earlier, like gaining skill in something or just being better version of yourself (yeah... not gonna happen))

 

I think in the case of Chinese MCs, it’s so they can reminisce about Glorious China and because they can’t write juvenile characters.

 

so called second chance is often given to those that were in bottom of the society and following the saying "the last will be first, and the first will be last" they climb to the greatness. All of this is to give people that are in bad situation this feeling, that they are reading about their future.

 

I think that generally, as in most stories with reincarnated mc's, it is for the sake of two things. Firstly, the common sense, morals, jokes and idioms, etc., that the mc has to be reincarnated. If not, then how can the mc explain how an attack by a cultivator is similar to a rocket, or how communication talismans are similar to cellphones. It makes it easier to explain and envision things like that, both for the writer and the reader.

Secondly, it is more relatable for the readers. We can imagine ourselves as the mc, exactly because he reincarnated (and because all fantasy novel readers have isekai fantasies).

I'm not sure if this is true for BTTH though, as I haven't read it.

 

Its a fun concept kinda like a wish fulfillment.

 

It's their belief system. In Buddhism, people go through a constant cycle of death and rebirths. To us it is a strange and new concept so it feels out of place to us but to a Chinese believer, it's like asking why every human is born. It's a natural process of the world like breathing to them.

You ask why so many people in novels are reborn, they'll ask why are so few people in novels reborn because technically according to their beliefs, EVERYONE is reborn, it's just that the rest don't know it.

 

I think people are misunderstanding something here. OP is not asking why they are reincarnated, but rather why is it done, when it adds nothing to the MC’s character.

 

It's a wish fulfillment for the reader. Things from your past can't be changed and have a lasting effect, so the idea of reincarnating is attractive to erase any mistakes you've made in the past

 

While that might seem true a coward will remain a coward even if they reincarnated it's not like their personality will change and most people have crappy lives because of their personality which I won't say isn't caused by their upbringing, but if their memories stay then they will probably keep that personality even if they are raised differently it would be better for them to have a clean slate without their memories which brings us back to my question why keep those memories

 

There are also some stories where the character gets shoved into a person who recently died or who suddenly wakes up with a system then they live that life exactly as the person who died would have which makes me ask again why not just keep the original if you are going to do that anyway just give them the system then let them change their own lives

 

Yes but they don't remember their past lives that's the key point why make them remember if it doesn't do anything

 

People probably wouldn't change even if they got a second chance, you're right, but it's a wish fulfillment and escapist fantasy. It's nice to believe that if you could do everything over either in a completely new place or with knowledge of where you went wrong, you could be better off than you are now

 

Also ignore the person's background like family or friends. A very much unused resource.

More vexing is their personality takes over, understandable if it occurs during infancy but most times it is used in villaness remember their past lives trope. Techinically a reincarnation but more like personality is eaten.

I do like it when they make fun of the trope in a throw away joke. "You'll be reincarnated as a 37 years old, same age as you are now, with all your memories and skills." "Isn't that just teleportation?" "Your body is created from scratch then aged and your soul implanted into the husk."

 

I don't think you can point to a specific thing as the reason for it but rather a combination of many different ones.
Generally though I would say it is some form of attempted crutch by the author, some idea that just mentioning that the character is from earth or reincarnated will make the character more relatable/interesting/special/talented or whatever else they need a shortcut for, and of course a lot of cases of authors just jumping on the bandwagon.

Personally I think even most of the reincarnation stories that have a reason for it would have worked better with the reincarnation part replaced with something else, and I'm saying that as someone that actually like the idea reincarnation in stories, I just find most of them badly thought out and not really adding anything that you couldn't have been done better some other way.

 

I agree with you in that it could have been something else almost without exception the only time I've seen it be the only option is when it's a fanfiction where the Mc knows the story and uses information from their past lives because if it's just them knowing the story you might as well do a the Mc traveled back to when they were younger (another overused trope but less so than reincarnation)

 

...er....
Did you mistake the author for a fictitional character?
You asked why do many Asian authors write about reincarnation, not why do story characters reincarnate even if it is useless. The answer is: Because it is part of the author's belief system that he was brought up in.

Please try to separate the fiction from the non-fiction. They are not the same.

 

Are we reading the same OP?, to me it seemed pretty clear that he did specify it to be about characters reincarnating for "no reason" rather than reincarnating in general.

 

Pretty much yeah or when they take over someone and do exactly what they would do