late characters

[calibanV]

The genre is epic/adventure. The character I'm having trouble with volunteers for a dangerous mission and
is betrayed. The betrayal is critical to the story, and in history, the character played no part in the conflict prior to his coming forward. The character himself is pretty colorful, but seems like a convenient invention right now.

caliban

[calibanV]

The post above was supposed to be in response to
GIG's question in my previous thread.

caliban

[GirlinGray]

You're losing me on the "history played no part till coming forward" part, Cal. Coming forward for what? I am not getting whatever you are talking about.

Guessing, I'd say if you bring in an outside character late, and that character plays a part in a central plot point, alone, and then dies, well, you have a crucial plot point just hanging there with little to no connection to any other characters or plot points in the script. And that could be a problem. Because that disenfranchises an important plot point from the story and main characters.

[calibanV]

Okay, I'll try again,

A town is under siege, and the villian has a nifty
device to get past the walls. The only way that the villian's plan can be resisted is if this device is sabotaged. Only its not the protagonist who attempts
to sneak out and burn the thing. He comes up with a plan that needs a skilled volunteer. The volunteer
is the guy who will undertake the mission, and get wacked when the villian is informed (from inside the protagonist's camp). This new character, in real life,
played no other role in the conflict. He stepped up, was betrayed, and died. This failure allows a change in the nature of the conflict, as the good guys have to defend 2 sides instead of one and are spread much thinner.

caliban

[Steve]

So introduce the volunteer character earlier in the story. Show a little bit about his life, his dreams, etc., Then when we see him sacrifice all of that to save the city and he dies, it will have some emotional resonance. You say he had no part in the conflict up till then but what about his part in society? Weave him into the story early on. Maybe have his family or loved ones urge him not to get involved in the conflict and he doesn't until that crucial scene at the end.

[GirlinGray]

You don't get much emotional impact, killing a total stranger. Jeez. That sounds so cold blooded. "Don't kill someone we don't know, kill someone we care about!" But. Think about it. You pick up the paper, a bunch of people died on the New Jersey turnpike. Gee, how sad. You pick up the paper, Mom died in a three car pile up.

Which has more impact on you?

Works the same for an audience. Strangers on the New Jersey Turnpike? Or Mom? You want impact, you go for Mom.

I could be wrong.

[wcmartell]

So the HERO doesn't save the day, some other guy does?

What is wrong with this picture?

- Bill

[calibanV]

Bill-

I actually read your article on the non-passive protagonist
just yesterday, and I can assure you that mine is leading the charge in foiling the villian's plan. But being the leader and heading up the entire defense, he cannot be the one that leads this smaller mission of sabotage.

The guy that does lead the mission is a shady character with conviction. He does not save the day. He is betrayed and buys it big time, leaving the good guys with no answer to the bad guy's latest move, and raising the stakes considerably. Up until this point, the protagonist and his defenders had some small victories, gaining hope and courage. This failure is a setback that shows the antagonist to be one step ahead and almost impossible to defeat.

I want to point out that this is a 100% true story and
I don't want to stray to far from the facts, although I realize I have to manipulate them a bit to make this thing work. I think I can do it if I introduce the mission guy earlier and integrate him better as some of the previous comments suggested.

[GirlinGray]

Well there are cheap ways to get emotional impact from offing a new character. One is youth cut short. The guy's a virgin, never been with a woman. Now he's dead and never will be. Works every time. Another is young love cut short. The guy just got married, has a brand new bride, they haven't even had thier wedding night, whammo, now they never will. Or the guy is a father to be, his wife goes into labor delivering their first child, he gets cut down on the mission and will never see his newborn. Or there is the last son, the baby of the family, his mother/father has lost three sons to the war already, he goes off on the mission, and whammo, the last son lost. The whole family line -- gone.

These are manipulative and overused, but they work, and if you can come up with a new variation on youth cut short/love cut short/last son wiped out there goes the family line, well, you get emotional impact with the loss of the character without all the extra set up work for the character.

Cheap-Tricks-R-Us. . . .

[wcmartell]

GIG - you forgot about the guy who is about to retire so that he can go home and be with his family.

[GirlinGray]

You know, I don't think that one works, Bill. It gets used a lot, but I don't think it gets the audience the way it's supposed to. That's just an impression. I could be wrong.

Okay, I have had another computer disaster and my fonts are going to be wonky here for a bit again. Sigh. Who knows that the signature will come out as.

Computer Disasters R-Us. . .