That depends on how this plot mechanic is used. You could use the death of the protagonist to convey selflessness, the cruel brutality of the setting, the fragility of everyone, etc. It could also be used for shock value.
Killing off the Protagonist = Cheap Storytelling?
- Thread starter CarlsonAndPeeters
- Start date
Recommended Videos
While I admit that a main character's death can be done well, I don't enjoy those endings.
It really has nothing to do with how well it's done or how meaningful it is. I have always associated the main character's death with the game over screen dating all the way back to Mario Bros. on the nes. It's so deeply ingrained into my gaming experience that any ending in which my character dies feels like I've failed. Regardless of saving the world, I've failed to preserve my main characters life as I have been doing throughout the game.
I don't find it 'cheap', I just find it depressing that I succeeded through failure.
I still love the fairytale cliche of a small-town-boy saving the world, rescuing the princess, marrying her and becoming king.
It really has nothing to do with how well it's done or how meaningful it is. I have always associated the main character's death with the game over screen dating all the way back to Mario Bros. on the nes. It's so deeply ingrained into my gaming experience that any ending in which my character dies feels like I've failed. Regardless of saving the world, I've failed to preserve my main characters life as I have been doing throughout the game.
I don't find it 'cheap', I just find it depressing that I succeeded through failure.
I still love the fairytale cliche of a small-town-boy saving the world, rescuing the princess, marrying her and becoming king.
That's what I was going to say. This is the same for any literary device.Frozen Donkey Wheel2 said:
It's MUCH MUCH weaker story telling for the protagonist being able to survive anything unscathed. We've been conditioned by classic games where your objective is to get from point a to point b, but consider movies or other types of media. Don't you hate it when the hero should of died heroically and all the support staff is depress and then the hero crawls out of the rubble no worse for wear? Heroes luck and deux ex machina are far to often leaned on.