When is a Character truely dead ?

[kaskar]

         Only a thought in looking . Of 'course Dark Pegasus mebbe dead for now , but what of Regina, the 1 frame wonder demon in comic # 388 . Was she a cameo ? She now has a bit in the 'random comer's ' page that tells us nothing about her .  I wonder ?

[Tapewolf]

Only a thought in looking . Of 'course Dark Pegasus mebbe dead for now , but what of Regina, the 1 frame wonder demon in comic # 388 . Was she a cameo ?

No, she's going to turn up eventually.  'Abel's Story' was almost 'Regina's Story'

As for what circumstances a character can be resurrected, I'm not sure - DP returned from the dead on at least one occasion.

[Saist]

don't worry. just make sure Dan loses the lion cloth in the next go around and DP will not want to come back.

[Zedd]

Overview...Not alot people are dead...Just well hidden ;3

[Manawolf]

Amber seems to have gone with Undeath being a random occurance rather than the powers of negative energy and the great hatred or desire bringing a tortured soul back to a half life.

And if you're talking the Marvel universe, they'll always come back.  Why?  Because that's just the way Marvel works, and also because eventually you must choose between listening to the fans who beg to bring the character back, or you commit suicide to stop the noise.

[Saist]

yes llearch... I'll attempt to behave...

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Shush, Saist.

Whilst I agree in concept, personal attacks are a no-no. Take this as a warning, mmkay?


Edit: Good lad. :-]

[Nino]

Anyway, I was just thinking that a couple weeks ago about how characters a webcomist or author creates never die for real -- they may come back in a different form, or a main character could go and rescue them from the dead, but generally nobody just dies. I guess because in real life the death of a young person (genrally the characters in a given comic are young) is pretty rare, so it's not generally realistic (not that dying and coming back is, but eh, fantasy worlds get leway (sp?) to do so.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Unfortunately, it's not as rare as all that. Just take the road toll, for example... :-/

[Keleth]

Edit: *hide*

[Nino]

Unfortunately, it's not as rare as all that. Just take the road toll, for example... :-/

Huh?

Well, it's rare for me. Out of the hundreds of young people I've known in high school, college, etc., I've only read about the death of one due to a car crash in the paper.

One out of, say, a couple hundred or so? Yeah, that's pretty rare.

I don't include suicides as counting. I do know of a couple people who did commit suicide, but it was over stupid things like a girl leaving them or because "life sucks" or something. I don't really have much sympathy for people who take their own life. There are so many people out there who are dying because of starvation or cancer or other things, and to just kill yourself shows that you're a pretty selfish person. So they're not the same as a person dying because of an accident or murder or disease, which is pretty rare.

Anyway, it annoys me to know end that you didn't explain what you mean. If you're going to reference something that people may not have a clue as to what it is, please be courteous enough to not make us google it to know what you're talking about.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

My apologies, I figured the fact that there -was- a road toll was general enough knowledge, and that it took an effect on people (usually fatal) that I wouldn't have to list references.

I meant: There is a road toll. It's fairly well known. If you know a couple hundred people, which is reasonable, chances are there's going to be at least a couple of road deaths in that number.

Rolling those numbers out, across the world, that's a heck of a lot of deaths. That's a heck of a lot of people affected by those deaths.


It's really not -that- uncommon for a young person to die. Not on a global scale, not on a local scale. Not even if you limit it to Western countries.

Is that a little more explicit, Kattucino?

[GabrielsThoughts]

I think when you see a villain's mutilated corpse, that is the end of that character.

[Drake Manaweilder]

*snip*
(click the link)                           

Not shure if this is really relevent, but I found something interesting in the Fae entry of the Demo 101:

Whatever the role and limits are, the Fae sets themselves to that guide very strictly, so far as even allowing themselves to be "killed" for the sake of the great theatre. It does seem though that death on the plane of Furrae is only temporary as there have been many Fae who supposedly died but later return only to start a new role on a new stage...

It could only be true for the Fae, but perhaps it applies to other races as well?

[Distracting]

I think when you see a villain's mutilated corpse, that is the end of that character.

Not really. Whenever that happens, it always ends up that there was a clone involved or the person had a child or something.

[Brunhidden]

this brings to mind the old arguments the mega-nerds had of wether or not boba fett was dead due to there being no body.

you see all those undead? we even saw ghostly dan when he croaked. necromancers and whatnot, but mostly the 'dead' charicters all hang out in a special lounge set asside for them. theres punch and pie.

The foot bone's connected to the, leg bone. the leg bone's connected to the, hip bone. the hip bone's connected to the, gonads. the gonads connected to the, AC/DC cables.

[kaskar]

         It seem that any character now can be one of the undead . No marks or any other problems . Pity it does not work on the readers health . When was the last time you felt ill ?

[Manawolf]

Fact is, trying to be dramatic by having a character die doesn't really work anymore.  People get too attached and really can't just let them go, meaning you risk losing some of your fans, at least until that character comes back.

As for the mutilated corpse idea, DBZ can also be blamed for bringing people back after who-knows-what.  Cooler got caught between a sun and his own planet destroying ball attack, and he still came back for more without the dragon balls being used.

[Amber Williams]

Really the truth of the matter is just this:  Characters dying tends to not be all that funny or light-hearted in nature.  And really the only options would be to go dramatic and serious, or attempt to keep things humourous at the cost of the whole death coming across as flimsy and callous.

And frankly, I have no desire to do either.

[Kenji]

this brings to mind the old arguments the mega-nerds had of wether or not boba fett was dead due to there being no body.

Actually, it comes from a book called "Tales from Jabba's Palace". It's an older book, but depicts Boba crawling out of the Sarlaac with naught but his helmet.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Actually, it comes from a book called "Tales from Jabba's Palace". It's an older book, but depicts Boba crawling out of the Sarlaac with naught but his helmet.

... just how X-rated -is- this book? :-]

[Kenji]

Seeing as how the Sarlaac apparently had fondness for Boba, who can say!

[superluser]

... just how X-rated -is- this book? :-]

You know, I heard about a tribute film where a guy re-created the scenes from Star Wars using household items.  It went downhill after the Sarlacc pit scene.

[Stygian]

Really the truth of the matter is just this:  Characters dying tends to not be all that funny or light-hearted in nature.  And really the only options would be to go dramatic and serious, or attempt to keep things humourous at the cost of the whole death coming across as flimsy and callous.

And frankly, I have no desire to do either.

But... But why, Amber?! Have the popularity of Abel's story not shown you that we adore you when you get the sad face on? When you start plotting, and doing the nice conversations and references and humor, and finding nice new ways to traumatize or torture your characters? Oh, woe...

[Manawolf]

David Hopkins found one way around the problem, since his comic encompasses the life of his characters and the afterlife, so no one gets killed off as much as simply moves onto another place.

It's proven highly effective to say the least, but then again while she rode a handbasket into it, she's probably not gonna stick around to show us what Hell in Furrae is like.

[Amber Williams]

Honestly? I like having a comic that I can come to when I need a light-hearted chuckle.  And I get a lot more happiness out of the idea I've made someone's day happier than I do out of the idea I made someone sad.  I've seen a lot of webcomics start off happy and light-hearted  only to turn into a dramatic and somber story.  And while some people may like it, I personally dont.

While I might go serious from time to time, for the most part, I like doing stuff that makes me happy.

[superluser]

David Hopkins found one way around the problem, since his comic encompasses the life of his characters and the afterlife, so no one gets killed off as much as simply moves onto another place.

Homer did that, too.  Achilles, the protagonist of the Iliad, died before the beginning of the Odyssey, but he wrote a scene in which Odysseus goes to Hell and meets Achilles there.  So David Hopkins is (A) unoriginal, and (B) in good company.

[Keleth]

I like doing stuff that makes me happy.

And that's all the reasoning you will ever need Amber.  The second you start doing it for everyone else, becomes the moment it's stopped being yours.

[Stygian]

[mutters] Mrrhmm... And what about those of us who enjoy watching a little suffering and dark humor then? Damnit... There was a reason the Greeks invented the tragedies... [flumps back in his armchair and proceeds to find some beautiful such]

No, really. I can understand your reasoning, Amber, and I respect it. But I am nevertheless glad that we have Abel's Story, so that it's not all laughs and shinies. It makes a good complement to the ordinary series for informative purpouses as well. [laughs]

And I wouldn't try with calling any original ancient Greek or Roman author downright unoriginal. They just didn't know all the ropes in some cases. Now, you'll have to look to the Renaissance to find really unoriginal stuff in the true sense of the word, if you ask me.

[Manawolf]

David Hopkins found one way around the problem, since his comic encompasses the life of his characters and the afterlife, so no one gets killed off as much as simply moves onto another place.

Homer did that, too.  Achilles, the protagonist of the Iliad, died before the beginning of the Odyssey, but he wrote a scene in which Odysseus goes to Hell and meets Achilles there.  So David Hopkins is (A) unoriginal, and (B) in good company.

::Kills Superluser, banishes soul to the Nine Hells::

Hopkins reincarnates his characters as well, and the Greeks never did go into such lavish detail on the terrain aside from listing the various punishments of the worst sinners.

And to keep things simple and take the pressure off Amber, if you want light hearted humor, read DMFA.  If you want drama and death, read Jack.  You don't have to choose, people.