How do you kill characters?

[NOOR_ASAKZ05]

Killing characters, although some see it as an act that might spoil the story, is a matter that needs careful calculations so as not to spoil the balance. There are those who kill for fun or because they are tired of a character. A simple example is jjk. There are characters who were created to die only, and there are other works that kill with the aim of shocking the viewer or a dramatic scene... Of course, all of this has no real impact on the story, and this is what bothers me and I try to avoid it. As a writer, it is good to kill a character if this will serve the plot of the work and make the story better... What do you think?

[faisalhussein394]

I believe we just kill characters off for the sake of the story, not to subvert expectations. Who knows, maybe the story itself will shock the readers.

Killing a character just to surprise the audience is a risk, because how will you continue the story after that? The characters that got killed off might hold significant progress for the story, so killing just to subvert expectations might rub the viewers the wrong way.

[applebun]

I’m one of those who plans everything from the start, including character death. Personally, I think you shouldn’t kill a character unless it’s absolutely necessary for the story, like to bring on a new plot point, to facilitate character development or (particularly for action series) to make the story feel like the characters’ decisions actually have consequences. (I did this last one with a story I’m currently working on, where with the setting it has going on it wouldn’t be believable if every character just miraculously survived somehow.)
If you do decide to kill a character off, I think it’s better to do it after providing sufficient info about their character, their backstory, etc. It’s very unsatisfying to see your favorite character go after only getting like two panels of flashback about their actual backstory.
I actually only kill my characters very rarely. What I usually do instead is simply hurt them relatively badly, which creates both tension and character development (since, you know, they could theoretically still die, but no one except for me knows).

[GamerPrincessXI]

Disney style. The death isn't shown but implied.

[ThunderChicken]

I've killed one character "off camera" and another on. It was done for the story, not because I was bored with the characters - that said, they were always gonna die. They weren't created just for their deaths, but their deaths were part of their characters. Another one will be dying soon, too, and this one I will find satisfying

[AmysGames]

Whenever I decide to kill a character, I know from the beginning that they're going to die, and thus the rest of the story is built around it. I've had doomed characters who I decided not to kill off after all, but usually not the other way around.

That is to say, I think character deaths are the most impactful when they're integrated into the story. In particularly brutal stories, this can mean "everyone can die because this is a coldhearted world," but in general it just means that death shouldn't feel random.

[NOOR_ASAKZ05]

This is what a great writer does.

[applebun]

Awwww thank you!
(I do have 20 characters)

[Leyelle]

I kill characters if it's relevant, but it's always relevant for different reasons. For instance, my fl and her mother both struggle with substance abuse (usually giving into it) and it kind of makes sense for them to have similar end results (always doing too much.) But while Alicia gets drunk for days at a time after her bf leaves her, her mother got on m3th after her father left, which is much easier to d!e from when you inevitably go overboard. It really only made sense that it would eventually cost her her life. (Also, never use any amount of m3th, for clarity. Any quantity is overboard)

[kyupol]

1) epic death that will make everyone cry

2) ambiguous. Purposely unclear if they die off screen or not.

[justincarbunkle]

My world resets every year, so there aren’t any permanent deaths. Because of that, I can + will kill off secondary characters regularly. Either I think it’d be funny, or doing so would feel dramatic in the moment.

The only thing I keep in mind is, if I kill them, I can’t use them again for the rest of the year/volume. That’s why I’m careful about ever killing off the main cast.

[Zhengo]

I've killed one character so far in my story (that's not an antagonist). It's supposed to be a tragic irony for the character himself and is supposed to haunt the other characters for the rest of the story.

[TomoKrishna]

To kill one character think yourself is it for the sake of story, if it is then go, if it likes for hype, for surprising , not handlable I think don't go, example one piece ace character is died for the sake of luffy development not for hype of surprise,

[Red_Dog]

Well I'm making a horror comic so character death is a given. If there isn't death then there's a lack stakes in the horror. I'm still not entirely sure WHO I'm gonna kill off or when I'm gonna do it, but when it does happen I can only hope its has the impact that I want it to have.