How to make a character's death sadder
 Donât have them die of old age after a long, fulfilling life. Many people donât even think of this as sad (note that this can still work if you have enough of the other factors).
 Leave one of their major goals unfinished. The more enthusiastic they are about completing the goal, the sadder.
 Give them strong relationships with other characters.
 Make them fight against whatever is causing their death. Their ultimate loss is sadder if they struggle.
 Kill them in the middle of their character arc.
 Donât describe their funeral in detail. Maybe itâs just me, but I find that long descriptions of funerals kill the sadness.
Thatâs enough Satanâs publisherâŠ
>B)
7. If possible, try to kill them off in the middle of the story, so we had time to like them and we will have time to let the loss settle in.
8. Also, place surviving characters in a situation where having the deceased person there would help them get out. You can choose whether you will point this fact out or if you want the audience to make the connection themselves.
9. Make them die by sacrificing themselves to save someone they love from a danger created by the antagonist.
based on a few deaths that made me blub like a babyâŠ
10. have their loved one, broken hearted, tell the team to stop fighting because âits over.âÂ
11. have their pet come looking for them.Â
12. have their loved one perform a popular song at their funeral so it makes the fans cry whenever itâs played.
13. family witnessing the death and/or blaming themselves.
~ Mulan
so⊠letâs add some frustration to your dear readersâ sadness, shall we?
14. kill the character in the middle of making a joke, smiling, or expressing/experiencing joy/happiness.
15. make the characterâs death slow and painful, but make them unable to call out for help even though they can literally see the other characters nearby.
16. after killing the character, have others think the character had betrayed them so theyâd always hate them and remember them as traitors and never say nice things about them⊠Give your readers no chance to have group-therapy with other characters by making them the only ones who know the truth.
17. right before their death, show a side of them nobody has seen. (someone who is always tough and brave being genuinely scared of dying alone; someone who is always laughing being in tears before dying, etc.)
18. make them the only person who knows a big important secret that would help other characters in the story.
19. have them being lied to before dying. (thinking theyâve been betrayed; thinking they werenât loved; thinking theyâve lost their loved ones, etc)
20. make the character very enthusiastic/passionate about a certain goal, constantly put stress on their goal, have them die unexpectedly before they can reach their goal.Â
and the best oneâŠ
21. have another beloved character kill themâbetter be a close friend to your character, one that absolutely nobody suspects, one that everyone canât help but love, one who is always enthusiastic about things and encourages your character. THEN
reveal the truth only later when itâs too late and the a-hole character has already escaped.
have a cowardly character know the truth and never tell anyone else
have another character find out the truth and have them die before revealing it to others.Â
have the said character ^ not actually die, but go through something so theyâd forget the friend of the deceased character is actually an asshole.Â
This way only your readers will know the truth, thus the frustration would be⊠most enjoyable for you.
Satan out.
