: Re: How can I handle a powerful mentor character without killing them off? I'm writing a book series that involves people with various superpowers. One of these characters and is more or less the

@Goswami879

The mentor trusts the protagonist
One man cannot take on the world alone, not even this superhuman mentor. They have been training up apprentices to help them out, to stand as additional bastions of goodness against a cruel world. Part of this is allowing them to act on their own.
Oh, the mentor is keeping an eye on things, checking in periodically — and they have a backup plan if things go awry — but, overall, they believe that the protagonist can overcome these trials (maybe even more so than the protagonist themselves does)
The mentor has then deliberately absented themselves from the situation, as an important lesson; this story is when your protagonist moves from being a child (constantly looking to their parent-figure for instruction and reassurance) to being an adult (striking out on their own, without a safety net)
Yes, this currently threat might be the best choice of times to go about it, but when you are as overpowered as the mentor is, you tend to underestimate how much difficulty lesser mortals will experience. And, they are checking in every so often — surely things won't go too off the rails between reports, right?
Eventually — most likely after several books — your protagonist will no longer look up to their mentor as an unattainable titan of strength and wisdom, but stand alongside them as friend, equal and ally.

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