Question Opinions on authors giving minor characters sad backstories then killing them

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Raven Evernight, Mar 13, 2021.

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  1. Raven Evernight

    Raven Evernight But they never just accepted me for the way I was…

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    Do you know when you are reading a story or manga even watching and anime you come across these minor characters that will be killed off and they had no real impact on the story but we find out they had a tragic background story that makes you feel bad for them why do the creators of them make them so sad just to make us cry?
     
  2. Neiri

    Neiri Well-Known Member

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    *Ahem*Keys*Ahem*
     
  3. novaes

    novaes Well-Known Member

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    I mostly dislike it because I've been spoiled by happy fun time go lucky adventures where nobody gets a boo-boo or stays sad for long. When you think about the stakes that are raised in many stories, it's expected that someone will die.

    Tbh, that melancholy I feel when I remember some of the character deaths is far more lasting than the samey fantasy junk I usually consume.

    It also took me a long time to get over the open endings of a lot of stories have. After being disappointed by trashy endings, I actually appreciate the open endings and heartache a lot more. I don't know if I prefer the sadness, but it's better than disappointment.

    EDIT: also, blatant emotional manipulation is lame though. If it's too on the nose I feel little else but annoyance.
     
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  4. Greater thunder

    Greater thunder Well-Known Member

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    It bothers me when I can tell who is gonna die ( in case of multiple sad setup charas).

    Like in Grimgar of Ashes and Illusions. You can tell from day one Manato will die because he wasn't a sink or swim leader. He was calm, pacified others and his overprotectiveness was easier to kill off along with him instead of resolving it later when the party stagnated.

    His successor, Haruhiro is timid but once he knows no matter what he does will lead them into danger before they can get out, he jumps in, gets reckless in fighting which creates post battle tension and of course, he gets swept away by confident/charismatic/cocky/other party peader types which is what leads the team across not just Grimgar but also through other worlds.

    It's much easier to write without Manato in the picture because without him, the party is far more volatile. He was literally a plot device to gather the misfits party, get them started as adventurers, left a girl mourning him ( she liked him, but was too chicken to confess), and Haruhiro looks to his memory for a long time as a shadow advisor ( always comparing himself to what Manato would have decided or done when in a self loathing mood).

    GRR Martin may be a dick, but his writing does well in -people die department. At least the first 4 books I read. Literally anyone can die, status and plot relevance be damned. It's probably why people on Spacebattles like to play with the setting so much despite it being quite sparse in fantasy elements ( easily compensated by crossovers or inserts or something else).

    In Highschool DxD, reading Issei's death right at the start was a damn surprise because it wasn't Isekai or Gamer respawn. It was an actual valid piece of worldbuilding that could happen to anybody in same world. The later repeat using a Deus Ex Machina was in comparison, quite a disappointment.
     
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  5. otaku31

    otaku31 Well-Known Member

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    Don't think there are many authors with skill enough to pull off a believable character capable of eliciting my sympathy/empathy with limited means and scope. And if they can't, the poor character dies in vain. But if they can, then congrats to the author for drawing a grown man's tears which are, admittedly, not as valuable as mermaids' tears, but manly tears surely have to mean something, don't they? :hmm:
     
  6. Greater thunder

    Greater thunder Well-Known Member

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    Like the Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Costner movie about swimmers in Coast Guard.

    Yeah, it's sad the mentor figure died, and the fisher under sea legend at the end is bittersweet, but the reason for it is because Fischer ( Ashton Kutcher character) was too stubborn to quit on the last man on ship caught in storm ( some captain, pinned in the engine room, AK chara frees him, but the ship gets blasted by another high wave and some heavy equipment brains the captain and kills him. So now AK chara needs rescue too because he is stuck in the flooded guts of a sinking ship because of his own idiocy ( there were orders to retreat from chopper guys who see the storm getting even worse) and not only did he fail in saving the captain who was half a goner already, but got his mentor killed when the chopper cable started failing on them, mentor guy saw it wouldn't hold so he cuts his own part, because Fischer's dumb ass needed rescuing).
     
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  7. Raven Evernight

    Raven Evernight But they never just accepted me for the way I was…

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    EC80A2FB-2A99-4B5B-AFDD-49BFFB691D98.jpeg 291E794E-0B2D-4200-9492-82F837A31267.jpeg 31D512DE-60DE-4BB5-AEF6-1CEDF0C4ADE1.jpeg 4C3206D3-9E53-4080-B625-511F405D6FA6.jpeg B0A5BB6C-8C4C-45C5-87C9-F5BAB92115E5.jpeg C1738FD5-5D7C-43E8-AE91-D1EC828493CA.jpeg A53621DA-62B2-47D0-8B2C-1C602A80831B.jpeg 2505BFCD-503B-4F8D-ABE1-DC65BD65F0B9.jpeg 17C38462-3016-40ED-8B59-0ACE742A57F6.jpeg 01D98541-BA04-487A-9E6D-A7D6099B3CE7.jpeg BBBCC4E9-205A-4D7F-A9F4-B412F095DA95.jpeg AA8E9961-70CB-409F-8F25-FA27B59F665E.jpeg 55437CD5-CCAB-4AFD-A081-538B0D7A697A.jpeg A20410D4-B66D-414F-9687-81048D00ADC7.jpeg 95E446F4-73B1-40D6-BC47-687475F317E6.jpeg
     
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  8. otaku31

    otaku31 Well-Known Member

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    TBH, I didn't feel anything; it couldn't engage my emotions. There was hardly any connect with the character. :hmm:
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2021
  9. amaliajun

    amaliajun [Gloomy White Cat]

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    Hm... You made me remember God of Blackfield.
    Unlike the webtoon which still going around the MC, after a certain arc the novel put a lot of soldier's stories. Mostly those ones where they sacrificed themselves. Although after a few times it's easy to guess who'll be dead, sometimes it's still hard because the author always put forward their background story first. I forgot how many times I cried:blobsob: Still. That's the charm I love the most from the novel. So no much complaints~
    Tho I'm still more bitter when a character that often appear or even the MC itself is the one who killed by the author. :blobcat_knife:
     
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  10. Coffea to Ell

    Coffea to Ell 【❀ Sleepy Bunny ❀】

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    Hmm... There is few character like that and maybe the author just want to make the story feel not dragged a lot or the author wrote it to make the novel chapters sufficient or any numbers reason :blobpeek:
     
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  11. Bobasis

    Bobasis Weeeeee

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    I’m fine with it but my heart is not I get attached to them then they die . It’s very sad then I cry in the corner for 24 hours.
     
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