How do you feel about the protagonist dying?

[lilyrose]

Okay I know that in visual novels when you get the bad ending, the main character usually dies (depending on the story). But how do you feel about the main character dying in the true ending? Would it make the game more interesting or would that just be wrong?

[RobertSilvermyst]

It depends on how well the story is told and what manner the death comes in. As a true ending, I would say the main protagonist would best be served dying in a heroic manner; sacrificing himself to seal away an ancient evil when he/she and their friends are against impossible odds, pushing your sister/lover/friend/etc out of the way and taking the fatal blow for them, staying behind to confront a sea of militants in order to buy your squad time to escape, scenarios like that. It would have to be something that would make us feel like we would actually do that ourselves if the situation called for it. Just throwing a protagonist death in as a last-minute plot twist feels cheap for a true ending.

[lilyrose]

It depends on how well the story is told and what manner the death comes in. As a true ending, I would say the main protagonist would best be served dying in a heroic manner; sacrificing himself to seal away an ancient evil when he/she and their friends are against impossible odds, pushing your sister/lover/friend/etc out of the way and taking the fatal blow for them, staying behind to confront a sea of militants in order to buy your squad time to escape, scenarios like that. It would have to be something that would make us feel like we would actually do that ourselves if the situation called for it. Just throwing a protagonist death in as a last-minute plot twist feels cheap for a true ending.

Hahaha no, it wasn't a last minute throw in. That feels cheap to me too and thank you for your reply I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a taboo or something because in the majority of the games I've played, the main character never dies in the true ending.

[trooper6]

I don't think I'm your average VN player, so take my response as just one data point, and one who may not be your intended audience.

Here are two things about me that color where I'm coming from.

1) I have been a Game Master for table top role-playing games since 1984. So that really affects how I think about interactive stories. Specifically, I just don't really think about endings as "bad" or "true." The idea of a "true" ending is really beyond me. I want all endings to feel true, including ones where not good things happen. 2) I think of video games as art. And a lot of the art that I like have unpleasant endings. So I don't think of death as a "bad" ending...in others words, some sort of punishment because you didn't make the choices I wanted you to make. I think of death as being one of the things that could happen as a consequence of the actions of the protagonist. Not a punishment, but just one of the ways the story could go. And hey, that might be good!

So, if you do it well, I'll be excited to play it. If it feels true and artistically done, that is awesome. I don't need wish fulfillment. I enjoy art that challenges me, or even makes me uncomfortable or sad. So if the story calls for it...I'm happy to have less triumphant power fantasies in my game.

[lilyrose]

I don't think I'm your average VN player, so take my response as just one data point, and one who may not be your intended audience.

Here are two things about me that color where I'm coming from.

1) I have been a Game Master for table top role-playing games since 1984. So that really affects how I think about interactive stories. Specifically, I just don't really think about endings as "bad" or "true." The idea of a "true" ending is really beyond me. I want all endings to feel true, including ones where not good things happen. 2) I think of video games as art. And a lot of the art that I like have unpleasant endings. So I don't think of death as a "bad" ending...in others words, some sort of punishment because you didn't make the choices I wanted you to make. I think of death as being one of the things that could happen as a consequence of the actions of the protagonist. Not a punishment, but just one of the ways the story could go. And hey, that might be good!

So, if you do it well, I'll be excited to play it. If it feels true and artistically done, that is awesome. I don't need wish fulfillment. I enjoy art that challenges me, or even makes me uncomfortable or sad. So if the story calls for it...I'm happy to have less triumphant power fantasies in my game.

Haha well I say true ending because this game is a prequel to a bigger story and I simply need an ending to pick up where the first one left off.^_^' And thank you. I might not make the story up to your expectations but I'll definitely keep your advice in mind.

[Ophelia]

Weelll, if there is a REALLY good reason for the death of the protagonist it can work yes, but in most cases I think this would be simply unnecessary cruel. It's one thing to mess up at some points and seeing the consequences and getting an ending where you die.. but making the whole story with the goal to make the protagonist just die at the end seems very mean. Most readers get attached to the protagonists, so yeah.
But if this was for example.. a story about a young boy who has cancer and who discovers the wonders of life and it gets a bit philosophical and he ends up dying at the end that would make for a very interesting and of course extremely moving story.
Killing the protagonist for the sake of just killing him and shocking the readers not in a bad ending would be a bad thing, as far as my opinion goes.

[truefaiterman]

I think the main character dying in a visual novel is just like the main character dying in any other media. As long as makes sense, solves the story, etc. Should be fine.

[SundownKid]

Just be careful that it doesn't seem as though it was shoehorned in to add to the pathos of the ending. I've seen the 'noble sacrifice' thing happen in many an RPG and often it's rather predictable that it will happen. When done wrong, the reader feels like the author doesn't care about their characters very much and the MC was always some throwaway hero. There are some stories that warrant the death of the main character, of course - perhaps they knew they were doomed, or it was a dark comedy that ended on a morbid note. But there are plenty of other ways to add emotion in an adventure story without killing the main character, or even not killing anyone at all.

[KaenSe4]

It really depends on the theme of the visual novel. For example, Saya no Uta.

It made perfect sense for the protagonist to die at the end because the protagonist has, in a sense, become the antagonist of the story

. The same happens with Utawarerumono.

Hakuoro becomes the embodiment of evil, which has to be locked away

. Then again, you have to have the death fit perfectly into the plotline, else the reader would just feel cheated.

[lilyrose]

Alright. Thanks for the tips, I'll definitely keep them in mind.