A clever way to use plot armor

D4isuke

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Okay, plot armor is kinda thing for me to protect the characters with their advancement of character development rather than just being deprived for a mere sacrificial value or reasons.

But for me, plot armor is not bad as long as it is used cleverly. The good thing to add it is self-awareness and knowledgeable. Like their surrounding is compacted to danger side, and it is their job to identify the hazard and make them less vulnerable. Even your character is stupid or smart, One or more point to indicate and predict what will be going to happen is up to them if they paid close attention to it. Don't make it more obvious like "I have more power than you"... and it's now a fking Dragon Ball carbon copy, or "I have granted my trump card"... and it's now a Naruto, Bleach carbon copy, or in reverse way, "I give you with a death flag"... and it's now Akame ga Kill carbon copy.

If you want to know how to use plot armor in a good, clever way:

>Let them obtain some information for the sake of curiosity,

>Let them know if there's anything odd about it,

>Let them pay close attention to the portraying details.

>Let them predict the sequence, or twist it, but not for the sake of "shock value".

>Let them chase their particular goal before going another way around.

>Don't force "failing" them for the sake of "easy" character development. (To use a good "failing" outcome, let them realize the outcome... take Re:Zero for example)

And...

> You don't need more character deaths for the sake of them being dense or "sacrificial value"

Prices are needed to be paid, but if you don't want your characters to be a "price", use the objects other than subjects.

That's it, I hope it may help you..

Feel free to enlighten me if I got wrong points.
 
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i just make the character op enough from the start.

they have no need for plot armors if they can't really lose.
 

D4isuke

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i just make the character op enough from the start.

they have no need for plot armors if they can't really lose.
If I would read your story, then I might say that your character and plot might possibly be bland and boring.

Try to make it more lively if you want a good story.
 
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If I would read your story, then I might say that your character and plot might possibly be bland and boring.

Try to make it more lively if you want a good story.

then i guess mine won't be your cup of tea
 

D4isuke

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Like, a character discovers information? How is that... how is that plot armour? They find an alternative means to achieving their goal? What? That's literally just how stories function
Then how do you call it in term? I use the term "clever" in order to defy what's "usual" plot armor is. You subjectively mean that it's something physically logic which it makes sense, but it's not the tern I'm using for.

The use of the word "clever" is what I mean in mentally logic.
 

AliceShiki

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None of the examples you gave are plot armour...

Plot armour would be like: they fell off a cliff but managed to miraculously survive because of [incredibly contrived reason that bends logic to the breaking point like oh there was a tree that could never realistically hold his weight and would snap underneath the inertia of his fall but actually it caught him and now he's alive cool cool cool cool cool]. Plot armour is when a given character survives only because they cannot be allowed to die for the sake of the plot -- thus, "plot armour". It's also called script immunity because the character literally becomes immune to the story/script in order to ensure their survival.

Dragon Ball gets a lot of flak and internet memery for the constant deus ex power up of the stories, but that's a valid, in-universe mechanism. It's repetitive and mocked because it becomes the easy answer, but it's not "plot armour". Gohan doesn't power up because the author needs him to survive and so he handwaves his power level to over 9,000, he does it because it's triggered by an extreme moment of emotion and represents an awakening to his Saiyan blood within the narrative and the beginning of his journey into the world of dumb anime fighting becoming a warrior.

Something being dumb, lazy, contrived, and repetitive doesn't make it plot armour. Absolutely ignoring the logic of the universe in order to ensure a character lives makes it plot armour.

Actually, a lot of what you presented doesn't even remotely align with the idea of "plot armour". Like, a character discovers information? How is that... how is that plot armour? They find an alternative means to achieving their goal? What? That's literally just how stories function. Alice wants to get to the beautiful garden and she ends up taking an unexpected path toward it. That's the story.
This kind of plot armor is just sooooo annoying, it totally takes my enjoyment away from the story... T.T

That said, I think what people usually think when someone talks about Plot Armor, is that the plot in some way saves the character's life when they would die in normal circumstances, like...

MC is about to be killed by Arrongant Young Master A... Until Wise Old Sage B appears out of nowhere and saves the MC, even though said Wise Old Sage was never introduced before and had 0 foreshadowing that he would come to the MC's aid... It's basically the plot moving in a way that would save the MC when they were obviously going to die.

... At least that's how I think most people think of plot armor? Which is... Not as terrible as the examples you gave, but still pretty darn annoying. Because like... In your case, the plot armor makes 0 sense. In my case it just feels cheap... So... It feels kinda bad, but it doesn't actively annoys me I guess.
 
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Sorry, at the second thought , I was referring if your "main character" is OP.

there are ways to make the OP main character entertaining. for example, saitama from one punch man. i think shiba tatsuya from mahouka is pretty entertaining as well, but it's just my taste.

i'm aiming for the comedy route myself, since i'm not really interested in making the main character struggle, unless i could get a good laugh outta it.

the main reason i made him OP was so he could perform some ridiculous stunts that left my sides in orbit.
 

D4isuke

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there are ways to make the OP main character entertaining. for example, saitama from one punch man. i think shiba tatsuya from mahouka is pretty entertaining as well, but it's just my taste.

i'm aiming for the comedy route myself, since i'm not really interested in making the main character struggle, unless i could get a good laugh outta it.

the main reason i made him OP was so he could perform some ridiculous stunts that left my sides in orbit.
Well yeah, that's what make it more lively... and relatable also.

I'm looking for some OP character that kills tropes to every common OP characters like how Cautious Hero portrayed. I think it looks promising for it to be comedy route unless it has satirical sense which is basically my taste.
 
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Well yeah, that's what make it more lively... and relatable also.

I'm looking for some OP character that kills tropes to every common OP characters like how Cautious Hero portrayed. I think it looks promising for it to be comedy route unless it has satirical sense which is basically my taste.

i don't deliberately made mine to avoid the tropes like plague though, since it will make things unnatural.

i just make him have fun doing whatever he want and exploring his full extent of abilities. if it's to his character, he will do it, not because he want to avoid tropes. after few chapters, it already feel different than the usual isekai i read.

probably, to be different is to not try to be one at all.

cautious hero is pretty good imo, he's decent and smart compared to the most isekai mc. but i much prefer when things are comedic, than the serious turn it tried to take. their jokes were the main point, and i'm sad if it'd go away.
 

Mejiro

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Just make things involved that aren't the character directly - the main character(s) surviving stuff is pretty standard; we all know James Bond isn't going to get gunned down by mook #342,524. But his ally? They're not protected. The maguffin he's carrying? That can be lost. Or might have to use the one-shot gadget, so he can't rely on that in the future. Making bullshit promises to the reader 'oh, maybe the MC will be hurt this time!' that you have no intention to fulfil will likely irritate them, so instead have things that do affect them - they loose their bullshit sword of specialness, they're injured and weakened, they were delayed and so there were consequences. And also, most of the time, they shouldn't behave as though they have plot armour - they don't know they're the main character in a story, so charging at a stronger enemy will be something they should avoid, because they don't want to loose.
 

Soul

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just read Master of Gu a really good Chinese novel that doesn't need to use plot armor cuz every action has logic there is luck but its explained how that system works :p
 

BenJepheneT

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Look, if you have to use plot armour, chances are you probably fucked up somewhere in your story. Palpatine surviving the fall in Star Wars TROS. That's plot armour. If you plan your story well and good enough, you don't need plot armour for characters.

That is, unless you're making a satirical series. Unless your story is tailored to forgo plot logic or any narrative sense, using plot armour is basically admitting you've run out of ideas and that you have no idea what you're doing for this part.
 

IdleLucifer

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Plot armour: you know how in The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion/Skyrim, if an NPC is marked as essential to a quest, no matter how you beat the shit out of them and call down the thunder of the heavens to smite them, that motherfucker just won't die? Because them being alive is essentially the plot of a quest?

Guy, that's literally plot armour.
Best answer on this post. Those mfs refused to die even after spamming hundreds of spell:blob_hmph:
 

D4isuke

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Plot armour: you know how in The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion/Skyrim, if an NPC is marked as essential to a quest, no matter how you beat the shit out of them and call down the thunder of the heavens to smite them, that motherfucker just won't die? Because them being alive is essentially the plot of a quest?

Guy, that's literally plot armour.
Ok... I guess that was deus ex machina that I presented in a certain example. I regretted that my examples are wrong; you've enlightened me with that. but still...

"Prices are needed to be paid, but if you don't want your characters to be a "price", use the objects other than subjects."

This is a way to prevent the overuse of fridging/women in refrigerator if some authors wanted not to kill anyone else.
Like sacrifice the goal you pursue in generally speaking.

And also that "original" woman in refrigerator in Green Lantern comic serves as just shock value as to let the hero be motivated in some sort of ways.

Also, the game logic made me laugh... you can kill NPC though
 

Ral

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Plot armor is essentially bending the plot of the story just so the protagonist/important character would remain active in the narrative, i.e. not die.

There is no clever way to do plot armor. Subtle maybe, but clever it can not. It is by definition not clever.

The thing you can do is rewrite your story so that you don't have to do narrative gymnastics to keep your characters alive. Most of the time I see authors use plot armor because they create these intense circumstances, like antagonizing supremely powerful young masters, for the sake of increasing tension. The author is unable to find a sound narrative that includes the protagonist not dying or getting seriously injured, i.e. have a terribly lame ending. Seriously, just avoid putting your characters in this situation unless you have a sound way for it to go forward.
 
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Ral

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Ok... I guess that was deus ex machina that I presented in a certain example. I regretted that my examples are wrong; you've enlightened me with that. but still...

"Prices are needed to be paid, but if you don't want your characters to be a "price", use the objects other than subjects."

This is a way to prevent the overuse of fridging/women in refrigerator if some authors wanted not to kill anyone else.
Like sacrifice the goal you pursue in generally speaking.

And also that "original" woman in refrigerator in Green Lantern comic serves as just shock value as to let the hero be motivated in some sort of ways.

Also, the game logic made me laugh... you can kill NPC though
The problem with using objects instead of subjects, as you say it, is that an object, even if they care about it, doesn't have the emotional strength of subjects/people.

Also, it is not always bad to use fridging in your story. It still could work. Don't avoid using it just because.

Still, if you really want to avoid it, there are many ways. One is to actually just forgo external motivations. Instead of letting other people or objects be harmed, have the hero and the villain face each other directly and forgo the middle man.
 
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Look, if you have to use plot armour, chances are you probably fucked up somewhere in your story. Palpatine surviving the fall in Star Wars TROS. That's plot armour. If you plan your story well and good enough, you don't need plot armour for characters.

That is, unless you're making a satirical series. Unless your story is tailored to forgo plot logic or any narrative sense, using plot armour is basically admitting you've run out of ideas and that you have no idea what you're doing for this part.

you really expressed my frustration on not being able to kill maven black-briar

im tempted to just progress enough to the story and finish her quests, just so i can kill her with commands later. but then i didn't really bother.

and yeah, all children in bethesda games have plot armor despite not being essential to the story.
 

BenJepheneT

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you really expressed my frustration on not being able to kill maven black-briar

im tempted to just progress enough to the story and finish her quests, just so i can kill her with commands later. but then i didn't really bother.

and yeah, all children in bethesda games have plot armor despite not being essential to the story.

Wrong quote my man, the guy you're looking for is this

Plot armour: you know how in The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion/Skyrim, if an NPC is marked as essential to a quest, no matter how you beat the shit out of them and call down the thunder of the heavens to smite them, that motherfucker just won't die? Because them being alive is essentially the plot of a quest?

Guy, that's literally plot armour.
 
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