: Re: Character motivations facing death? Would it be boring/unrealistic/silly/cliché if most characters only had this main motivation for most of a story: saving humanity/their country/their familly/themselves.

@Kaufman555

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Surviving of humanity is the global goal that unites your characters, it's their common point. But it doesn't erase their personality, they still have their inner motivations.

Many other works have explored this path before. LOTR has already been mentioned. IMO Mass Effect 3 is a good example too. An immemorial race of bio-machines eradicate all form of advanced lives in the universe for hundreds of thousands of years. How could we stop them?

SPOILER ALERT (just in case)

Many refuse to accept the truth, as Joker said about the Citadel's news: The last Blasto on the box office, some gardening advises and, short news item: the great reapers' invasion has begun.

Some other tries to take advantage of the situation, such as Cerberus who tries to find a way to control the reapers, or leads a putsch against the council, or Wrex/Wrev who require a cure to the Genophage in exchange of his help.

Some others don't fully cooperate, like council members, who refuse to help other species until their own borders are secured. Or weapon dealers who refuse to sell weapons to police or army if they are not well paid.

Even within the people willing to fight, they are some dissensions: on the way to act, where to fight, how to prioritize … Some old rivalry or trivialities are hard to overcome, even in such extreme situations. Krogans have some difficult passives with Turians and Salarians to overcome in order to fight together.

The fight against global extinction is the global environment of your story, but every character has his/her own story.

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