Main character deaths

[Tara]

I'm surprised we are far into this topic and DBZ hasnt been discussed. What are you guys thoughts on that

DBZ has the worst portrayal of death, protagonist or otherwise, because it's shown to have very little in the way of consequence.  I mean, when a character dies, they're just either redirected to King Kai or straight up sent to Hell, the only drawback to the latter being that the decor is a little drab.  Also, they have direct communication with Earth so they're not even cut off from their loved ones for too long of a period of time.  Not to mention, they can be brought back and don't even need the Dragon Balls to do it.  There's no tension to the death or feeling of weight or consequence.  If anything, DBZ handles death in the same way a video game might.  That is, sometimes dying on purpose is the best strategy, which is just plain awful in the context of a narrative.

 

Even forgiving all of that, it's repetitive.  We have no reason to care about any of the characters dying because they do it so much.  Like, oh what a shock.  Krillin dies again.  That's why I was saying before that it's particularly hard to have a main character die in a series, as opposed to a standalone, self-contained work.  Because when someone is really gone for good, you have to explain why this time is so special that it manages to kill them off, and usually the explanation creates more holes than it patches.

 

I'm not trying to say DBZ is a bad or unenjoyable show, but I certainly wouldn't take any cues from it if you have an iota of narrative sensibility.  Namely because DBZ isn't really about cohesive plots as much as it is about pure action.  If that's the kind of thing you like, go for it.  But if you want to make something that is compelling to the mind and senses, I'd search elsewhere.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I figured we avoided DBZ because everyone knew how ridiculous it was just killing off characters only to bring them back. That was the exact thing I pointed out regarding resurrecting characters: don't abuse it.

 

And for all the fun DBZ is to watch, it is the main contender in abusing resurrection because it sucks out a lot of tension and makes things predictable. Because why worry about the Earth and the people living on it being destroyed if you can just wish it all back like nothing happened?

[Kuzu]

Its why I give GT some credit or at least acknowledging their overuse of revival, even if it could have been implemented better.

[Solkia]

Its why I give GT some credit or at least acknowledging their overuse of revival, even if it could have been implemented better.

[Kuzu]

What was it that GT did again? Omega Shenron came to be due to overuse of the Dragon Balls?

[Tara]

I figured we avoided DBZ because everyone knew how ridiculous it was just killing off characters only to bring them back. That was the exact thing I pointed out regarding resurrecting characters: don't abuse it.

 

And for all the fun DBZ is to watch, it is the main contender in abusing resurrection because it sucks out a lot of tension and makes things predictable. Because why worry about the Earth and the people living on it being destroyed if you can just wish it all back like nothing happened?

[Chaos Warp]

Like people have mentioned in this thread, it's all about execution. It can be cheap, or it can be an effective and poignant book end to a character's story, or generally just a emotionally effective moment. 

 

(Cowboy Bebop spoilers below)

(Part 1)

(Part 2, although this video has a bit of the end of Part 1)

 

As you have probably can tell by me talking about it a lot, I really like Cowboy Bebop. This series happens to contain one of my favorite examples of main character death. There was really no more perfect end to Spike's story, and it just puts the cherry on top of this already awesome 2 part climax and his final confrontation with Vicious and the Syndicate.

 

 

[Wander]

Shadow of the Colossus pulled this off really well, and it's one of the most memorable parts of the game.

Bang. The first example that came to mind for me. Hell, my username here comes from that game, definitely one of the best stories out there if you can piece it together (which really isn't that difficult).

 

I'd say NieR is also worth mentioning—although in this case it's optional and only available on your third playthrough.

 

Plus they did something pretty neat with it:

Once you've hit the option, your save data is deleted as if nothing ever happened; so yeah, a bit heavy.

 

While that's on the table I highly suggest anyone interested in good stories picks it up at some point; they touch up on some hard-hitting questions and grey areas.

 

There are some cheap used copies around Amazon.

[Mauro Fonseca]

Like people have mentioned in this thread, it's all about execution. It can be cheap, or it can be an effective and poignant book end to a character's story, or generally just a emotionally effective moment. 

 

(Cowboy Bebop spoilers below)

(Part 1)

(Part 2, although this video has a bit of the end of Part 1)

 

As you have probably can tell by me talking about it a lot, I really like Cowboy Bebop. This series happens to contain one of my favorite examples of main character death. There was really no more perfect end to Spike's story, and it just puts the cherry on top of this already awesome 2 part climax and his final confrontation with Vicious and the Syndicate.

 

 

 

Reminder that while the director says you're free to conclude what you want of the ending, he thinks spike's just knocked out :V

[fluffybunnyboy]

Like people have mentioned in this thread, it's all about execution. It can be cheap, or it can be an effective and poignant book end to a character's story, or generally just a emotionally effective moment.

 

And nobody knows how to do an emotionally effective moment quite like our Dark Lord Iizuka-sama.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBdppVyBMwQ

[Chaos Warp]

Reminder that while the director says you're free to conclude what you want of the ending, he thinks spike's just knocked out :V

BS to calm fan outcry. He's clearly fucking dead. I mean a star goes out at the end of the credits after this happens, and before it was mentioned that his star was fading away. I don't see many other interpretations TBH.