how to make a character’s death even sadder
kill them off while they’re at their highest, or when things are finally starting to look up for them
make their death a long time coming, such as an illness
bonus points if they’re sick and the story shows their friends trying their best to help them through it
give the character have plenty of screen time before their death
make their death unpredictable, even to the audience
kill them halfway through the story instead of the end to show how the death has affected the other characters
kill them in the middle of their character arc, as they’re about to change for better
make it so the villain means to kill X, but accidentally kills Y instead
have them killed by the person they have a secret crush on
make them fight against their cause of death
make them die in a hard to find location, while also showing their friends looking for them to try to save them
reveal important information about the death to the audience, but not to the characters, if your pov allows it
kill them via betrayal from someone or something they trusted
have them die right after getting married
give the dead character a goal/dream they were super passionate about that they never got to complete
have the toughest, most serious character break down during/after their death
have them confess their feelings to their love interest as they’re dying
give them important information they never got to tell the others, which causes conflict/difficulties during a challenge
have them accidentally kill another character at the same time
let their death be something that could’ve been prevented
instead of a heroic sacrifice, make their death a cruel casualty, or purely accidental
have their friend convince them to do something they think is harmless at the time, which results in their death
have them die in front of their pet, who comforts them as they die
cause an argument/conflict between the dead character and another character right before the character dies
bonus points if you include another character saying “i never got to apologize/i never got to tell them _____” and then break down crying, being comforted by someone else
make the character who betrayed/killed them regret their decision and wish they could’ve done things differently
have the dead character know that they’re going to die, but not revealing it to the others
have them die right after another major character death
make their death scene long
force X, preferably a character they trust/love, to choose between Y and everyone else
bonus points if X desperately begs Y to kill them to save everyone
make their death during a misunderstanding when they’re completely alone because their friends don’t trust them
leave behind a strong love interest that never went further than friendship
have them killed by their best friend, accidentally or on purpose (both hurt)
kill them right after they found happiness
have them sacrifice themself for a character they had a love/hate relationship with
don’t describe their death, only the aftermath
as they die, have them say an inside joke to the person comforting them
show another character rushing to save them, but they’re not fast enough and they find them after they’ve already died
have them convince their friends they can do a dangerous mission, only for it to result in their death
show their funeral in great detail, the other characters sobbing
alternatively, show them covering up the death and finding somewhere to bury them
have them have to comfort another dying character at the same time
make it so that the other characters don’t know about it at first
make another character rely on them for something important
give them a tragic backstory that ends in a painful death
as they die they confess they never really hated their “enemy”, who says something along the lines of “i know”, or “i never hated you either”
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