What irritates you so much in narratives when reading stories or watching series or films?
Nothing can ruin a story more than warping the protagonists/their friends/ the antagonists with plot armour. When writing a story try to drive the plot around to achieve certain goals regarding your characters whiling maintain readers interest or shocking or manipulating their emotions. Keep in mind that a character escaping death is fascinating device that capture the readers’ emotions in its highest moment & release it with a mixture of relief, happiness & a rush of adrenaline. Fantastic narrative device. However, repeat it few times & the reaction you’ll get from your readers is mockery, disappointment, boring predictability & the most sever one: lack of interest in this character’s fate. Cuz, they’ll always win/live/survive.
Remember: it can only be used once! If a character dies, it should remain dead! only bring it back if it its resurrection itself adds to the story’s lore/world. But don’t repeat it more than once. If your character is chased / in a war/ fight let it escape death once, repeat it & all the fight/war looses its emotional weight. Examples below: ( I’m an anime only/ show only person. I haven’t read mangas/books yet)
(good example): Eren’s death in Se01,ep. 5 was epic! it shocked the viewers. When he was brought back again to life, it was to reveal that titans can be human & it created the most fascinating aspect of mystery in AOT. Eren’s resurrection in ep 8 unleashed the many questions abt titans’ creation, reason for fighting, & the basement mystery. In short, Eren’s death & resurrection started the world of AOT.
(Bad example): In se03 in the Battle to retake wall Maria. The writer attempted the same technique again with Riener. Levi attacked him as soon as Riener appeared from inside the wall by cutting his nape! (titans’/shifters’ weak spot). Riener nearly died for dew seconds & is back to life revealing new titan’s power on how they can escape near death. sth abt shifting conciseness from head to body. I’ll buy it, it is part of the titan’s lore & body mystery. It worked in creating amazing entrance for Riener in this epic battle. However, within the same battle, the writer goes & repeat Riener escaping death two more times after the first one I mentioned above!!! When his head is blown, he does the same titan’s body trick again... why repeat a cool trick twice within two minutes frm each other... you don’t need it! You could’ve found another way. However, the writer was aiming for the viewers to think that now is the real time Riener died! for us to cry like jean & Co. Then tadaaa~ Riener escapes death & calls Bert...One more time few hours away in the story’s real time, Riener is ready to be killed by hanji, we are desperate like jean, but zeke & cart titan came to rescue.. That’s 3 death escapes for Riener in ONE battle within two/three hours maximum!...
I haven’t seen se04 yet, but I know it is centered around Riener ( a character I love) but I’ll be counting more plot armour now.. I can no longer be worried abt Riener even if I see his body. I’ll wait for him to resurrect or move his consciousness. My biggest fear for that becoming the show’s habit..that non shifters like jean & co. will become in invincible & will cheat death in every epic battle. AOT is a story abt war. It will loose the horrible, destructive & deadly war atmosphere it created for so many eps if only non important characters die & the “ heroes” remain alive in every battle to save humanity. kinda like superman & comic heroes.. Please NO! Plot armour ruins stories! hopefully, the writer is satisfied with se03 plot armours & moves on.
(good example): Killing Ned stark. se01′s protagonist. It shocked & taught us that in GOT world no one is safe. This is NOT a story abt heroes. It is abt politics & its ugly tactics. Then Se03 The red wedding was so painful cuz we understood that once Robb & his mom are gone, they’ll never be back. We cried & it hurt! it served its purpose. (Yes, Catlyne became a haunting ghost in the books, but she is nowhere near the woman she once was).
(Bad example): When jon, Dany & co went to fight The Night King & tadaa~ the came back nearly untouched minus the missing dragon. In the final war with The Night King, No major character died & no fan favorite died either..... The white walkers killed all the unimportant extra actors. Theon was killed but his arc wouldn’t have been completed without him sacrificing himself to atone for his sins. In a way, his death is his freedom from guilt. Sir jorah mormont died but he too was not needed anymore as Dany (1) has a “true” lover now, (2) is set to became crazy & kill all & Sir Jorah would’ve been in the way of that as he is her most trusted advisor. So those who died really completed their arcs. But Not any of the super hero buddies around jon & dany. Nope! White walkers don’t touch them for plot armour. GOT became a story abt super heroes.
So you see, plot armour ruins epic & breathtaking stories & most importantly reduces what was once a heart stopping, dreadful moments into predictable aimless victory ... like nah~ they’ll escape cuz they’re the heroes/ fans love them/ ratings may fall/ they’re badass. So, be careful & play your cards right. Repeating near death escapes technique is not parallel or serve any narrative purpose.
