Major Character Death Tag?

[Deadman]

Just curious about the major character death tag.

I have a story in which a character death happens in between two chapters. It’s mentioned but it’s not necessarily part of the story. The character does appear in a chapter of the story. Basically, between the two chapters is about a year of canon in which the character died.

Should I be putting the tag on my story?

[Wilde_Guess]

Hi, Deadman and all.

That is a brilliant question, and I’m sure that you aren’t the only one who needs to know.  While I haven’t “killed off” any of the Golden Trio in any of my HP crossovers, I have killed off a villain or few ‘early’ in both of the big ones.  And, I might even un-kill a ghost or few before I’m done, too.

@BronxWench? 

Thanks in advance.

[BronxWench]

48 minutes ago, Wilde_Guess said:

Hi, Deadman and all.

That is a brilliant question, and I’m sure that you aren’t the only one who needs to know.  While I haven’t “killed off” any of the Golden Trio in any of my HP crossovers, I have killed off a villain or few ‘early’ in both of the big ones.  And, I might even un-kill a ghost or few before I’m done, too.

@BronxWench? 

Thanks in advance.

There are two options. If the character is central to the story, even if they die offstage, so to speak, I‘d recommend the Major Character Death (MCD) tag. If the character is not central to the story, you could use the Minor Character Death (MiCD) tag, to alert readers to the death of a character without having them pull their hair out over losing one of the stars of the canon.

[Wilde_Guess]

Hi, @BronxWench and all.

3 hours ago, BronxWench said:

There are two options. If the character is central to the story, even if they die offstage, so to speak, I‘d recommend the Major Character Death (MCD) tag. If the character is not central to the story, you could use the Minor Character Death (MiCD) tag, to alert readers to the death of a character without having them pull their hair out over losing one of the stars of the canon.

Third Time’s a Soul Bond is a “fix-it,” time-travel, etc.  Delores Umbridge “Darwins out” in Chapter 1.  However,

Spoiler

Harry and co. beat Voldemort before fifth year, so she likely wouldn’t appear, anyway.  So, I guessed minor, at least here?

The Yankee’s Nephew and the Philosopher’s Stone, which might get a title change if I run the entire “HP Hogwarts Experience” into the one story, is actually a crossover between my original story Riding the Lincoln Way, plus every JKR and licensee story that takes place between 1975-2021.  I’ve already “gotten rid of” ten major Lincoln Way characters, plus Peter Pettegrew, who is a key minor character in Hogwarts Mystery, above and beyond what he won’t be around to do when Harry finally makes it to school.  I’m also only up to Chapter 11 on Yankee’s Nephew, and Harry isn’t quite three years old.  I did manage to ‘save’ three Lincoln Way characters who in Lincoln Way died off-screen.

Spoiler

In both HP stories, Sirius Black is tried and acquitted far earlier than his canon escape from Azkaban in 1993.  Pettegrew would have gotten the Marauder’s Map for villain Patricia Rackpick, except for coming down with a severe case of dead.  He also won’t be brewing any Voldemort Potion anytime soon for the same reason.

Third Time has the MiCD tag.  I forgot to (have added by you when you fixed it last time) either MiCD or MCD to Yankee’s Nephew. 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts, and assistance.

[Deadman]

18 hours ago, BronxWench said:

There are two options. If the character is central to the story, even if they die offstage, so to speak, I‘d recommend the Major Character Death (MCD) tag. If the character is not central to the story, you could use the Minor Character Death (MiCD) tag, to alert readers to the death of a character without having them pull their hair out over losing one of the stars of the canon.

I wouldn’t say that the character is central to the story. But they are a main character in the fandom. The character only appears in one chapter out of six but they are technically the ex of another character who appears in the story and is mentioned in other chapters. The ex isn’t a major character either, they also just appear in one chapter but are mentioned other chapters.

The character died in canon and so in a chapter after their appearance, it’s mentioned that they died. I don’t think that readers aware of the fandom would be surprised by it.
 

Edited December 19, 2023 by Deadman

[Deadman]

Okay, new but related question on this same topic.

Since asking about this, I wrote the ending to a completely different story. However, after finishing it, I realized that someone could take it to mean a character had died.

Although that’s not the intention, I could see someone taking it that way. Curious if I should put a tag on that?

 

[BronxWench]

If the character didn’t die, then you don’t need the tag. 

[GeorgeGlass]

I have a related question: How about a character finding out that they are already dead and then seeing their own death in flashback (a la The Sixth Sense)?

If the character continues to exist in the same form as they have throughout the story, then maybe the MCD tag isn't needed, because that character isn't "lost" to the reader. On the other hand, if "seeing" the character die is the important thing, then the tag ought to be used.

[Desiderius Price]

Suppose another way to view it… list the tag, taunt that characters are about to die (multiple times), leave the reader guessing, and proceed to kill absolutely nobody.  😝

Edited January 11, 2024 by Desiderius Price

[Deadman]

4 hours ago, BronxWench said:

If the character didn’t die, then you don’t need the tag. 

Okay, I guess the thing is that there’s a supernatural situation and the character is motionless for a while, then something magical happened, and they get up.

I can see people thinking that would be interpreted as dying, but that’s not how I wrote it. Maybe I should rewrite it so it’s more clear?
 

[BronxWench]

Or you can let the readers make their own interpretations, but of course, you give them a tiny clue in terms of not using the MCD tag…  

[Desiderius Price]

18 minutes ago, Deadman said:

Okay, I guess the thing is that there’s a supernatural situation and the character is motionless for a while, then something magical happened, and they get up.
I can see people thinking that would be interpreted as dying, but that’s not how I wrote it. Maybe I should rewrite it so it’s more clear?

My potter fanfic is on AO3, but similar debate.  Voldemort...dies in canon, pretty typical for villains, so I didn’t worry about it there (Ditto for Dumbledore).  However, my main characters do seemingly die for an extended period of time, and that’s what prompted me to simply add in MCD and be done with it.  (And now that I’ve got Harry jumping into alternate realities where those alternates do die, it’s kinda warranted.)  I’d rather err on the side of tagging things, than not.