Whats the best way to kill a character?

[Anubis]

I've been sitting here, going over the lame @$$ death that Hawkeye had, and I started wondering, just how do you kill a character? Whats the best way? When I think of great deaths I think of Superman's death, or Pete's in X-Men. Of course both of them came back from the dead but, they died cool none the less. Is horrible and painful the best way to go? Like Hank Pym getting stabbed by the Washington Monument in Earth X. (one of my all time favorites) Or the cliched needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few death? Like when Magneto and Rogues kid in Exiles died containing a nucular exsplosion.

Basically, if you HAD to kill a character, who would it be and how would you do it? Hero or villian it doesn't matter.

How should Cap die? Red Skull? Doom or Reed Richards? Just how the hell do you kill the Juggernaut? Lets see what you can come up with.

[Elijya]

anally raped to death

[Unthinkable]

I just really want to see a spontaneous death... Like Punisher walking down the street and gets mowed over by a 16 wheeler, no hype or anything.

[Anubis]

Punisher will probally have a heart attack while taking a dump or something. Either that or misplaced Grenade.

[Elijya]

geting microwaved by an old lady

hey, it happened (sort of)

[TheBatman1979]

Getting put into a woodchipper feet first, re- The Punisher: MK series.

[Sabretooth]

Pissing off fanboys in the process.

[Blayton]

anally raped to death


Theres something you don't see every day.


That was damn funny it made my night

[Doc Destruction]

Give Bendis their title.

HA! Beat you to it, Gambit!

[PaleRider]

I think of Superman and Colossus myself when I think of good deaths (good as in they were done well) I don't even like Hawkeye and I thought his death was stupid. I think that when a charcter dies for some greater cause, like dying to save many more people. I know that leaves it open and its been done alot, but I think the right writers can pull it off. One charcter I think they should kill off (even though its DC) is Wonder Woman. I think shes great and all but I think it would be big to get alot of peoples attention. I'll say one thing I would love to see a character die and stay dead, I think that would make thier death alot more meaningful since death in comics means nothing anymore.

[Gambit8370]

Damnit.

I was gonna.

I swear.

As soon as I saw the title of the thread.

Damnit.

[Roughneck]

I just really want to see a spontaneous death... Like Punisher walking down the street and gets mowed over by a 16 wheeler, no hype or anything.


Kind of like Scott Lang's death. Not overly heroic.


But a heroes death should be heroic it has to save lives or eliminate a threat at the same time as taking thier lives. And it's best if the death somehow ties in with thier history.

Eg. If Superman had died saving a Krypton like planet from Exploding as well or Colossus dying to stop the disease that killed his sister.

Say I had to kill Archangel (I would flat out refuse) But, Some evil guy has come in and become a majority share holder of Worthington industries. He is now manipulating the company to do evil things like child prostitution in Europe, etc. His ultimate plan is world domination and it looks likely. A fight breaks out on an airplane and Warren gains the upperhand and knocks the bad guy out. The villain is slowly regaining conciousness and the only sure fire way to stop him is death. Warren grabs control of the plane (the piolet's jumped a while back) And heads for a mountain. Angel then leaps clear of the plane, refusing to give up, and as we see the plane explode into the mountain we also witness Warren plumet to his death as his wings were injured in the fight.

He is a hero cause he saves the world and the death is ironic as his only power is flight and it fails him when he most needs it.

[fifthfiend]

You could always spend half a year up until your anniversary issue telling people "ONE OF THESE FIVE MAJOR CHARACTERS ARE GOING TO DIE!!!" trying to convince people that there's actually some chance it might be someone other than the underused fan-favorite who you refuse to admit you don't actually legally own, and then underscore the crassness of the entire enterprise by having the other four characters not even have ****-all to do with said anniversary issue.

That'd be awesome.

----

What really gets me is whenever a writer decides he wants to inject a sense of reality into a book, showing the random unpredictable unpredictability of the chaotic tableau of unexpected unpredictability in which tragedy can strike unpredictably at any unpredictable time, they with unerring predictability off the underused supporting character with the small yet devoted fanbase and minimal marketing value. Which of course only showcases the entirely deterministic nature of the entire enterprise. A writer wants to show he really has balls, let's see him have the X-Men rushing to stop open warfare between a Magneto who has ascended to Godhood and the Shi'ar Empire's negative-reality counterpart OF EVIL!!! when Wolverine trips and falls into an incinerator. Until then, they can quit acting like they're ****ing Shakespeare because they raped Sue Dibny.

[Anubis]

.............o.k.

[Doobie88]

I always liked it when the hero gets beat repetitly over the head with a crowbar by a madman...

[Elijya]

I always liked it when the hero gets beat repetitly over the head with a crowbar by a madman...

and then blown up

yeah, that was pretty sweet

[I. B. Abadman]

I've been sitting here, going over the lame @$$ death that Hawkeye had, and I started wondering, just how do you kill a character? Whats the best way? When I think of great deaths I think of Superman's death, or Pete's in X-Men. Of course both of them came back from the dead but, they died cool none the less. Is horrible and painful the best way to go? Like Hank Pym getting stabbed by the Washington Monument in Earth X. (one of my all time favorites) Or the cliched needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few death? Like when Magneto and Rogues kid in Exiles died containing a nucular exsplosion.

Basically, if you HAD to kill a character, who would it be and how would you do it? Hero or villian it doesn't matter.

How should Cap die? Red Skull? Doom or Reed Richards? Just how the hell do you kill the Juggernaut? Lets see what you can come up with.


Hmph

Wolverine - Flense him.
everybody else save the hulk and cosmic heroes,.. A LARGE NUKE.

[Majin Boo]

make him die forever.

[Union Jack]

a proper herioc death is always a great way to say bye to a character (ben reilly,colossus,thing)even though two in that little list are back.

another good way would be a murder ala identity crisis,say if one of the x-men got murdered and the murderer has them all doubting each other.it makes a story arc out of a death(plus make it a heroic death too)

i'm never too bothered about them bringing a character back from the dead,generally everybody likes the character so bringing him/her back is good.(bring back ben reilly!)

[X]

I just really want to see a spontaneous death... Like Punisher walking down the street and gets mowed over by a 16 wheeler, no hype or anything.

That was going to happen with Aztek. He was going to beat his arch foe for good, settle down, then get killed in a freak truck accident.

[Dwarf lord]

Give Bendis their title.

HA! Beat you to it, Gambit!

Dang you, doc. I was going to say ask Bendis for help. He both kills and analy rapes the characters. Sometimes both at once (I.E Hawkeye)

[Dread]

A very debateable question, especially since deaths are anything but permanent in this medium.

I would say that a death should not happen just to carry a story, but the story should have some relevance and point to it's own. As in, the plot should be more than "some way to kill _______". And it should be more than a series of random shock-value moments strewn together. A parade of moments is not a story.

And above all....TRY NOT TO HYPE IT! Seriously. Moments like that have more punch when it just comes out of the blue with no spoilers, no articles in WIZARD, and so forth. Admittedly, very hard to do. But the ol' "one of these people will DIE!" tagline on a cover has been done to death since the Silver Age and needs to stop.

As for how....it depends on the character, and that aforementioned story. Again, it should not feel like the story was made SOLELY to cause the death of that character, but that the story was moving, and still moves, independantly of that character, and then that character was merely a casualty of it, like a war movie. All deaths should not be the same, just as all stories should not be the same. So, it's entirely variable.

But should be a last resort, not the beginning subject of the outline.

One of the reasons "Disassembled" felt weak was because it missed some of these fundamentals. The story did not feel like a story, but a parade of moments. There was a lot of shock-value and overhype. And it wasn't really a story in itself, but an epilogue merely to amp up an upcoming series based on one writer's view. It was basically the appetizer, and many fans naturally were irked because you don't pay good money at a restaurant for an appetizer, nor do we like paying nearly $10 for three issues that basically were the trailor of a movie.

[X]

God I love you Dread. :(

[Anubis]

Good post Dread.

[Nightcrawler17]

The best way to kill a character is probably not even kill them at all, just not use them. Think about this for a minute; Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, ect: are just waiting to get their dues, yet nobody is dong anything with them lately, which puts them into that al-to-well known Marvel Limbo, and almos basically forgotten.

[Symbiotica]

Give Bendis their title.

HA! Beat you to it, Gambit!

ROTFL!!!!

Just let Bendis near it, period, and it dies.

I dunno, I thought "Wanted"s recent death-by-carnivorous-giant-octopus escapade was pretty sweet. :gg: [great post by the way, Dread.]

[Hyper Venom 2.0]

You could always spend half a year up until your anniversary issue telling people "ONE OF THESE FIVE MAJOR CHARACTERS ARE GOING TO DIE!!!" trying to convince people that there's actually some chance it might be someone other than the underused fan-favorite who you refuse to admit you don't actually legally own, and then underscore the crassness of the entire enterprise by having the other four characters not even have ****-all to do with said anniversary issue.


Shall I assume you're talking about Angela in Spawn#100? Because I'm inclined to agree.

[Pyro Man]

I think of Superman and Colossus myself when I think of good deaths (good as in they were done well) I don't even like Hawkeye and I thought his death was stupid. I think that when a charcter dies for some greater cause, like dying to save many more people. I know that leaves it open and its been done alot, but I think the right writers can pull it off. One charcter I think they should kill off (even though its DC) is Wonder Woman. I think shes great and all but I think it would be big to get alot of peoples attention. I'll say one thing I would love to see a character die and stay dead, I think that would make thier death alot more meaningful since death in comics means nothing anymore.

I agree as awesome as colossus is liked the way he died and really wouldnt have minded if he were to stay dead but im ok that hes back. But i really like deaths where the character sacrifices their lives for lives of many others.

[stiltman]

I have a bit of a gripe with the whole killing-for-the-sake-of-killing thing too. You know Hawkeye, Vision, Ant-Man, and Thor are all coming back. Hawkeye's "death" was completely hokey to begin with, and since the whole storyline revolved around a warped reality, whether it actually happened or not is in question. And you knew the Thing's "death" in FF was only temporary from the very issue he "died". I suppose there's a sense of shock that the writers are trying to get across, but after 44 years of it, and countless characters killed and ressurrected, the shock has long since worn off.

If they handle the story seriously and a character dies a heroic death or some such, then it shouldn't be touched. Jean Grey, for example, was only ever interesting after she died. A boring character for the most part, but her legacy and the effect of her death on Scott made for better storylines than anything she's been in herself. I think she's dead now(again), but the latest issue of Astonishing X-Men cracks a funny joke about that.

[fifthfiend]

Shall I assume you're talking about Angela in Spawn#100?

Could well be, Mr. V, could well be.

As for how....it depends on the character, and that aforementioned story. Again, it should not feel like the story was made SOLELY to cause the death of that character, but that the story was moving, and still moves, independantly of that character, and then that character was merely a casualty of it, like a war movie. All deaths should not be the same, just as all stories should not be the same. So, it's entirely variable.

Again, I'd be inclined to agree, except that when this does happen, it only happens to the disposable side character with minimal marketability. If a writer actually had the guts to do something like this with Captain America or Spider-Man or somebody, it'd be awesome, but aside from that it just ends up seeming hollow and forced.

So far the only character death I ever really enjoyed was in Stormwatch, where Ellis took an entire established team, burned it to the ground, and started a brand-new team with a bunch of guys that had been around for maybe a year. Loeb (Loeb?) gets credit for doing sort of the same thing with the JLA in Obsidian Age, but a lot of it gets taken away because the dead guys all came back like two issues later.

Another good Authority example is Jenny Sparks' death at the end of the millenium. You could argue that it had to happen, but honestly, if it'd been Marvel's character they would have just found some bull**** excuse to have her just keep on living so they could go on selling Union Jack T-shirts and keep everybody who saw Authority: The Movie from getting their poor little heads all confused.

[Elijya]

I'm still sticking with the ruptured anal cavity thing

[RabbitSamurai]

Here's an interesting way to kill a character: have him sell what makes him powerful on E-bay because he's "sick of it all," give the money to charity, have some upstart drag his name through the mud, and end up SLITTING HIS WRISTS!!

DAMN YOU, MILLAR!!!

[RabbitSamurai]

ROTFL!!!!

Just let Bendis near it, period, and it dies.

I dunno, I thought "Wanted"s recent death-by-carnivorous-giant-octopus escapade was pretty sweet. :gg: [great post by the way, Dread.]

Yeah....that's why Ultimate Spider-Man is going along smoothly....

[fifthfiend]

Here's an interesting way to kill a character: have him sell what makes him powerful on E-bay because he's "sick of it all," give the money to charity, have some upstart drag his name through the mud, and end up SLITTING HIS WRISTS!!

DAMN YOU, MILLAR!!!

When/where did this happen?

[Elijya]

yeah, I was confused by taht too. What Character are you saying Millar did taht too?

[Anubis]

I think he's talkin about Venom in MK Spider-Man. But maybe he's exagerating a bit.

[Symbiotica]

He should have spoilered that, but Rabbit is talking about New "Improved" Venom, and yes that's pretty much what went down, no exaggeration.

The only thing is, part of the symbiote was [almost] auctioned on eBay in the Tsunami Venom title, not in MK-SM. It was sold at a live auction there. I have to admit the Supervillain Auction lit by candles mounted on human skulls was a cute touch. :gg:

Even if I do find the idea of Eddie auctioning off what amounts to his best and only friend for cash to be an unrealistic, not to mention somewhat crass, idea. Millar fumbled the ball with this one.

[Anubis]

Why did so many go right to the anal rape? Makes you wonder about the state of a fanboy's minds. :o

[Elijya]

mega bump!

[Anubis]

I saw that they were gonna get rid of old threads so I went looking though all the ones I started and bumped a few that seemed interesting. I don't make many, but I like having access to them. For old times sake and whatever.

[Anubis]

Same as before.

[TheCorpulent1]

Why is this thread so important to you?

[Roughneck]

Say I had to kill Archangel (I would flat out refuse) But, Some evil guy has come in and become a majority share holder of Worthington industries. He is now manipulating the company to do evil things like child prostitution in Europe, etc. His ultimate plan is world domination and it looks likely. A fight breaks out on an airplane and Warren gains the upperhand and knocks the bad guy out. The villain is slowly regaining conciousness and the only sure fire way to stop him is death. Warren grabs control of the plane (the piolet's jumped a while back) And heads for a mountain. Angel then leaps clear of the plane, refusing to give up, and as we see the plane explode into the mountain we also witness Warren plumet to his death as his wings were injured in the fight.

He is a hero cause he saves the world and the death is ironic as his only power is flight and it fails him when he most needs it.

Child Postition in Europe?

The hell was I doing....I still kinda like the whole general idea....but now, three years later I would rething some of this

[Anubis]

It's the first thread I bump when I'm bored and theres nobody online to make dik jokes with. :(

[TheCorpulent1]

That's kinda sad.

Hey, so why do you think they really call him "Mr. Fantastic"?

[Anubis]

Because of his Fantastic Posture?

[TheCorpulent1]

No, it was actually just an arbitrary name someone came up with.

[Anubis]

I see. I woulda just called him Rubber dicky.

[Roughneck]

he makes bath time lotsa fun

[Doomed Hero Rising]

Have them sacrifice themselves to save others.

[ang_hulk]

doing what they do best or defending the one thing they care about most from the one thing that can destroy it,beating it then dieing.