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How Cheap is Death in your world?

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nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#1: Mar 2nd 2011 at 12:56:52 AM

Brought up by my realization that our other thread on the topic was about Death as a character, this is the thread for discussing the finality (or lack thereof) of deaths in your world.

I, personally, tend to be very, very stringent about death staying permanent. Almost always, All Deaths Final holds, and I am very reluctant to have someone turn out to be Faking the Dead or something similar. Every resurrection in the story is one blow against tension: if Bob has "died" five times already, why should the sixth stick? Furthermore, I pretty much have come to hate Death Is Dramatic as a trope, and strive to create an Anyone Can Die atmosphere - again, something that making resurrections frequent can only harm. The sole exception is when I try to deliberately examine the effects of a society where death is, indeed, cheap, and that's not something I do very often.

Also, the First Law of Resurrection is not in effect. If I kill off somebody, unless I'm already planning to bring them back, they are DEAD - even if I come to regret the decision later, internal consistency remains the higher goal. This also makes me think much more carefully about when to kill off a character, which is something I don't feel should be done lightly.

LoniJay from Australia Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
#2: Mar 2nd 2011 at 1:01:35 AM

Resurrection is downright impossible in my worlds. Nobody ever comes back from the dead - but then so far no major characters have died.

edited 2nd Mar '11 2:15:34 AM by LoniJay

Be not afraid...
doorhandle Since: Oct, 2010
#3: Mar 2nd 2011 at 2:06:38 AM

Mmmmmm, not sure where I stand with this.

On one hand I think it's generally a good idea to kill some darlings, but on the other hand one of the main protagonist is a mad scientist and another's a wizard, and neither of them are incompetent so death is bound to be cheapened...

I'll stick with They Killed Kenny, I guess. have the same checreter die over and over and every time slowly come back wronger.

AtomJames I need a drink Since: Apr, 2010
I need a drink
#4: Mar 2nd 2011 at 2:19:07 AM

It ain't cheap. You die in my world, you stay dead. The lucky ones end up as ghosts in the Spirit World, but that's a lonely existance that only last for as long as anyone remembers you.

Theres sex and death and human grime in monochrome for one thin dime and at least the trains all run on time but they dont go anywhere.
MattII Since: Sep, 2009
#5: Mar 2nd 2011 at 2:32:18 AM

In my sci-fi story it depends on how you die, sometimes they can bring you back, but if you die on an alien world (most of the story is set on one) then you're dead for good, because, well, it's an alien world (local Bot-fly anti-coagulants cause violent seizures in humans, followed not long after by cardiac arrest for example).

In my fantasy story, once you're dead you're dead pretty much, although sometimes you can get a very powerful mage to bring someone back, if they know how, and they're prepared to actually do it, which few are.

edited 5th Mar '11 6:14:10 PM by MattII

SavageHeathen Pro-Freedom Fanatic from Somewhere Since: Feb, 2011
Pro-Freedom Fanatic
#6: Mar 2nd 2011 at 4:41:49 AM

It's technically possible to bring someone back from the dead. Still,the process is sorta gruesome and morally questionable. And it doesn't work very well.

With a single exception, All Deaths Final.

You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it.
FrodoGoofballCoTV from Colorado, USA Since: Jan, 2001
#7: Mar 2nd 2011 at 7:10:55 AM

Purely Derivative Works:

Semiorigional Worlds:

edited 12th Jul '13 8:03:43 AM by FrodoGoofballCoTV

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#8: Mar 2nd 2011 at 7:11:37 AM

I tend to enjoy averting Death Is Dramatic as well. Especially on a battlefield, death comes suddenly and randomly. While a death may have important repercussions, the actual event is likely to be over quickly and unlikely to be remarked upon (except for a brief Oh, Crap! from the observers — but during a battle, they're likely to be too busy for a Big "NO!" or anything of that sort). I find that the deaths of important characters tend to speak for themselves in the events of the story — and the deaths of minor characters are better handled by To Absent Friends than Death Is Dramatic.

But yeah, generally speaking, if I kill someone, I want them to stay dead. On the flip side, however, I generally enjoy letting groups stick around far longer than one might expect. If a faction is routed in battle, with half its members killed and the rest scattered, most people would consider that faction effectively destroyed... but I like having them show up again at some point later in the story. Usually diminished, but rarely gone for good.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
CrystalGlacia from at least we're not detroit (Living Relic)
#9: Mar 2nd 2011 at 7:39:04 AM

Generally, death is permanent. However, the humans who become Spirits later have one extra life; it isn't until after they lose that life when they become Spirits. There are some people who come back as ghosts, but most them are Blessed with Suck because only spiritual mediums and people who knew them in life can see or hear them. See Marla, who came back as a ghost and can speak with exactly three people.

People have tried to revive the dead before, but nothing good has ever come out of it. Namely, it can't really be done.

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#10: Mar 2nd 2011 at 9:45:08 AM

Resurrection is stupidly rare, but it happens. It requires conjunctions of circumstances that one is best not to rely on...

And in any case, you're not going to be quite the same.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
Takwin Polite smartass. from R'lyeh Since: Feb, 2010
Polite smartass.
#11: Mar 2nd 2011 at 10:54:57 AM

I never had much tolerance for the whole Death Is Cheap thing, so I'm pretty much stark realistic about it, even in fantasy/scifi stories. If somebody dies, they're gonna stay dead. End of story.

I've returned from the depths to continue politely irritating the good people of Tv Tropes.(◕‿◕✿)
AnnoR "Of course, Satsuki-sama." from Honnouji Academy Since: Sep, 2010
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
#12: Mar 2nd 2011 at 10:56:36 AM

Dying is completely, 100% permenant in almost all of my works, mainly because the soul gets taken to one of two dimensions after death(Or, if the person was truely evil, the soul gets destroyed).

There have been two occasions on which this has been averted. The first was Death's lover, a magician from the middle ages. Death, who desperately wanted not for him to be confined to a dimension where she could never seem or speak to him again, managed to pull a few strings and get him reincarnated. His personality and abilities were intact. But he was reincarnated as an immortal talking Raven.

The second was also a magician, who managed to trick Death with a ridiculously complex set of spells before he was actually killed. It took him a long time to pull his body back together, though, which at that time had rotted down to bones and lost the skull.

There's also Ryan Halloway, the british skeleton monster hunter. He's a bit of unique case in that, despite being stabbed and then being burnt down to bones, he never actually died. He simply went dormant until he woke up one day, extremely confused.

However, Death herself is cheap. After all, she doesn't accept payment for her services.

"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
Luthen Char! from Down Under Burgess Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Playing Cupid
Char!
#13: Mar 2nd 2011 at 2:20:50 PM

In Spirit Song, death is permanent, once you're gone, you're gone. Though in theory a great enough mage could persuade a greater spirit to bring someone back. But yeah, Death (the spirit) tends to punish those who try. So I guess the only method would be to pull and Orpheus. And a version of that myth exists, so maybe it happened?

In the story there are two anomalies. Dorian's working for Death, so he's not going to die until his contract is up. And the other the reason Death needed to hire someone, a mage (who's name I seem to have forgotten) cheated Death by tying his spirit to a greater spirit's so that he wouldn't die until it (an immortal spirit) died. The spell went a little awry though, giving him immortality at the cost of his memories, body, basically everything. Oh and he screwed majorly with the natural order.

In one of my shelved projects, if someone makes a couple of choices when they die they can return as a Shade (a prophetic ghost), otherwise they get reincarnated. But resurrection's not going to happen.

You must agree, my plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity! My Tumblr
Anaheyla Since: Jan, 2001
#14: Mar 2nd 2011 at 5:16:46 PM

In my own works, under normal circumstances ressurection is completely impossible. Reincarnation is always on the table, but you probably won't remember any of your past life and even if you do, it would be from an outsiders perspective because you're fundamentally a different person in this life.

Vampires and zombies and other forms of undead are commonly considered a way of cheating death, but in reality if you do become an undead, it just means your death isn't scheduled at the end of a natural lifespan.

Necromancy(contacting spirits of the dead for information not otherwise available) very rarely allows a soul to escape into the mortal realm.

True resurrection only happens once in a blue moon, usually according to the whims of whatever god a given person worships.

edited 2nd Mar '11 5:17:10 PM by Anaheyla

This is still a signature.
Vesperis from inside her skull. Since: Dec, 2010
#15: Mar 2nd 2011 at 7:29:47 PM

People die like rats. I'm trying to be realistic with the likelihood of surviving injuries/disease with bronze age medicine, and since my story revolves around a war, the bodies pile up.

My main character, the other hand, is totally getting resurrected. In fact, I kill him off in a pointless and random way just so I can resurrect him. The person who brings him back is a major plot point and I feel it's a good way to introduce how much of a manipulative bitch she is.

O Manarha! Hatar-ue, dihalt urta. Vakat iu e Uratan, e banatar in.
SandJosieph Since: Dec, 2009
#16: Mar 2nd 2011 at 8:05:16 PM

Despite being a very magical world, Death is irreversible on Galaday: If someone dies, they're dead. No way around it, no way out of it. Though there is a way they can still play a role. If their legend is powerful enough, they can manifest as ghosts who can interact with the world.

greedling Since: Feb, 2010
#17: Mar 2nd 2011 at 10:44:00 PM

Resurrection doesn't exist in any worlds I've even half-conceived. It's just not something that happens. Even the other death-cheating tropes (reincarnation, ghosts, whatever) in any world would be part of the premise and would be more backstory than anything; I have not yet plotted any character coming back from these means.

That death is irreversible is kind of accepted by most people, the same way as it is in this world (more or less) - religions might have a variety of death not being The End ideas, but people don't actually think dead people will return unless they're in denial. But then, they've been raised with magic, so it's just like the rest of science.

Hm... closest thing i have in a WIP (for a given value of P) is that a large group of people "died" a long time ago, but returned and each soul is now sharing the body with an unlucky person. But that was part of the thing that killed them, which was more like ripping their souls out of their bodies and preserving them. No one really knows how to do that any more, and the magic/deity originally involved would probably refuse to power it anyway.

I've got a couple of ideas involving ghosts, but not characters becoming ghosts after dying during the course of the story.

Most of the time I don't have souls being a big part of anything, anyhow. Death just happens ... I don't use Not Quite Dead, either, but I also don't have a lot of character death (maybe 1-3 unless they're at the beginning or end). I tend to have healing magic that's significantly better than current medicine, which helps.

You will not go to space today.
drunkscriblerian Street Writing Man from Castle Geekhaven Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: In season
Street Writing Man
#18: Mar 2nd 2011 at 10:48:07 PM

Death is final in my primary setting. I like it that way.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~
Archereon Ave Imperator from Everywhere. Since: Oct, 2010
Ave Imperator
#19: Mar 3rd 2011 at 4:07:16 PM

Personally, I'm an All Deaths Final guy. Having people miraculously come back from being dead and buried is just plain stupid.

This is a signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
BobbyG vigilantly taxonomish from England Since: Jan, 2001
vigilantly taxonomish
#20: Mar 5th 2011 at 10:58:10 AM

Generally, death is permanent. I haven't actually killed off a major character yet, but if I do, they'll stay dead.

There are aliens in my setting which can resurrect people who died recently providing the body is mostly intact, but only with sufficient information and it's a dangerous process. However, this is a trivial setting detail and I have no plans to make it a plot point.

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Ettina Since: Apr, 2009
#21: Mar 5th 2011 at 12:25:50 PM

I usually don't kill off many people, but the ones I kill stay dead. In fact, in one story of mine, I have a character who they Never Found the Body, and he's definitely dead. Even if I manage to get around to writing sequels to that story, he won't be coming back. They probably won't find the body, either.

About the only time I unexpectedly bring a person back from the dead is if The Reveal is some kind of undead. In that case, the main drama's supposed to be whatever they've come back as, not their death. (For example, in my medieval Zombie Apocalypse, I have one viewpoint character who gets fatally mauled, and next time you see her she's a mindless zombie. She's about the only one whose resurrection could possibly come as a surprise to the reader, because she establishes what kind of story this is.)

If I'm asking for advice on a story idea, don't tell me it can't be done.
Parakus from not Belgium Since: Jul, 2009
#22: Mar 5th 2011 at 5:41:12 PM

Oddly enough, death is cheaper in my sci-fi setting than my fantasy one. In the sci-fi setting, it is possible to bring someone back to life by putting their brain in a new body. Supposing it's been less than 24 hours since the time of death. And there's no brain damage. And you can afford it.

In the fantasy setting, if you're dead you're dead. Nothing's bringing you back.

[DATA EXPUNGED] - I would NEVER do that to a kitten! -Dr. █████
Archereon Ave Imperator from Everywhere. Since: Oct, 2010
Ave Imperator
#23: Mar 5th 2011 at 6:12:01 PM

Death in my setting is weird. Since most of the characters, well, all of the characters aren't physically tied to the bodies they inhabit (a sort of mix between mind uploading and neural I/O...No, I didn't get the idea from Avatar, stop asking, that concept was around long before Avatar.), and since Your Mind Doesn't Make It Real, getting killed in any fashion is completely irrelevant.

This is a signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
rmctagg09 The Wanderer from Brooklyn, NY (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
The Wanderer
#24: Mar 5th 2011 at 10:37:52 PM

Resurrection can happen rarely, but for the most part characters who die stay dead.

Hugging a Vanillite will give you frostbite.
Sylizar Destroyer of Worlds from Canada Since: Aug, 2010
Destroyer of Worlds
#25: Mar 7th 2011 at 6:06:57 PM

In my "Azshara World", Azshara is capable of a form of Ressurection, but that's due to her background.

Any of my other worlds...Good luck, you'll probably meet a painful and horrifying end.


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