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Topic : Re: How can I bring back a dead main character without cliches? So I have a main character who will die at the end of the first book. In the next book he will be alive, but nobody knows - selfpublishingguru.com

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I think the main thing you need to do is figure out what tropes are connected to coming back from the dead, and which of those you want to avoid. This TVTropes page might help. Keep in mind that a common trope need not necessarily be boring - they're common because they're popular.

That being said, there's a lot of overused ideas in connection to characters being revived. I'm mainly familiar with this trope in connection to superhero movies, so that's what I'll talk about.

Do it for a reason.

Does this character's 'death' do anything other than giving his companions something to angst about? IMO, fake deaths just for the sake of drama are unnecessary. Having your other characters develop in a way that wouldn't be possible without this death is one possible route you can take.

For example, iirc, Gandalf's death both created conflict in their group and forced the other characters to fill his position as a leader, mediator, etc.
Deus ex machina

What better way to let the readers know their beloved character is alive than by having him jump in at the last minute and save the day? Quite a few ways, I would hope.

Convenient surprise reveals like this can come off as a hastily closed plot hole. I'm not saying it would be bad to do a reveal like this, but I think some foreshadowing is necessary if you want to go this route.
Coming back different

This is a pretty common trope. Character A is back, but he's different! He's now got way cooler powers (Gandalf, again), or he's evil (Superman), or he's actually a clone/robot/shapeshifter!

It's okay for the character to be changed by his experience, but these are some common things writers do and readers expect. You can always play around with your readers' expectations too, depending on who the book is aimed at.
Don't do it too often

Now this might not apply to you, but I'm just gonna put it out there. Marvel is super guilty of this. Loki has impermanently died in every Thor movie, and that's given a lot of people on the Internet the impression that he can't die for real.

(Infinity war spoiler)

So when he does die in Infinity War, it doesn't have any real emotional impact to those people, especially since he implies that he'll be back.

Similarly, I don't really feel anything when an X-man dies - I'm pretty sure everyone except

Cyclops

has come back to life a couple of times.

TL;DR : Cliches aren't always boring, but they are predictable. There's nothing wrong with predictability in a story if it's well executed. Familiarize yourself with the cliches related to your idea and then skip as many as you want. Executing a cliche well is generally at least as good as subverting it.


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