Well, we all know killing of a character can be done amazingly......or incredibly bad.
A character`s death can save or kill a story (no pun intended....or perhaps a bit)
But what makes the difference???.......after some kinda recent experiences with the death of some relatives and people close to family members i care about (even if i didn`t know the person who died very well) i have a theory:
The common mistake is that while the death of an important character may affects the plot, it fails to affect the characters.
Death has it`s own consequences, so making it affect the plot somehow when an important character dies makes sense. But without an impact on the characters it loses a lot of its potential.
Killing of a character so the MC has to avenge said character is not impactful enough if after the revenge, the dead mentor/best friend/whatever is quickly forgotten. Death is a huge opportunity for character development that is often wasted. It changes a team`s dynamic, it can change a person and it can be a reminder that the danger is real among many other possibilities.
Of course, in dark comedies the tone of the death scene may be very different.....
What are your thoughts on character deaths? any good or bad examples you want to share?