: Re: I kinda want to completely annihilate the hero - what would speak against it? The hero in my story succeeds in destroying the villain, but not without paying a hefty prize. Not only will he

@Connie138

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A hero's selflessness is defined by what they are willing to sacrifice, not what they actually sacrifice.

If the hero goes into the final encounter fully intending to cease their existence for the sake of the world, then the ending can be satisfying even if they don't actually cease to exist.

Doing so can be tricky, however. You don't want your hero to be rescued by chance, as that will feel like a Deus ex Machina. The benevolent hand of a higher power arbitrarily saving them is problematic for similar reasons.

There's a fairly common trope where the hero has sacrificed themself and is 'heading towards the light' when they are stopped by their dead loved ones and sent back, whereupon they awaken in their body which has just undergone emergency healing. I don't really like this trope, to me it still feels like a Deus ex Machina, but it's not unheard of.

Another common variation is for the hero to be prepared for the final sacrifice when another more minor character pushes them aside and takes the sacrifice for them. I don't think that this will work for you, since the quality of the hero that you're trying to emphasize is their selflessness, and if a secondary character took the sacrifice for themself it would make them more selfless than the hero.

However, while another character can't replace the hero, they can alleviate the sacrifice. The hero is prepared to erase themself from existence, and at the last moment a minor character steps in with a Soul Repeater that will let the hero be reborn, or a Memory Crystal that will record their heroism, or something. If you go this route then this intervention will need to be foreshadowed of course. Ideally the intervention will be made possible by some selfless act that the hero took earlier, which is now being repaid.

An imperfect example of what I mean would be the end of Lord of the Rings. There are a couple of ways in which the Ring could have been destroyed once Frodo put it on, but the likelihood of Frodo surviving them would have been slim. But because of his kindness in sparing Gollum, the ring is destroyed at only the cost of a finger. (This isn't a perfect example, because the most likely scenario without Gollum's presence is that the Ring isn't destroyed, and Sauron wins. But it should illustrate what I mean, I hope).

By having the hero's reprieve be made possible by an earlier act of selflessness it allows you to save the hero without undermining your themes. (In fact you might even strengthen them). That said, you still have your work cut out for you. The rescue must be a surprise, because the hero needs to plan to make the full sacrifice. But it needs to be foreshadowed and logically supported by your worldbuilding to avoid feeling like a Deus ex Machina. Finding the perfect balance between these will be difficult, but should hopefully provide a satisfying conclusion for your readers.

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