Does the mention of a god or afterlife reduces stakes in a story?(for you)

[Darkcrow.]

To me its like, If the protagonist dies, I know where he is going (Heaven or Hell) which doesn’t seems that scary.
But if there is a lack of afterlife, It just gives more reason for the mc to not die.(And the part that after death he will cease to exist (or the unknown) rather then going to heaven or hell makes it even more scarier.)

 

[LordJoyde]

How about a story where the MC is fully aware that their best friend, who is a priest that loves their god and looks forward to heaven, knows full well that the only thing awaiting that Priest is having their soul devoured and shat out by their beloved god, but they can't say anything about it because the gods will do very bad things to the MC and their extended family if they do~?

 

[Toomanysorrows]

Not at all. Death is death, the stakes are still there. I think it more depends on how the afterlife is communicated. Is it just a place people know lots about and pop into and communicate all the time? That will lower the stakes a bit. Is it a more vague realm where people know it exists but aren't too sure what's in there? That will raise the stakes a bit. But overall, it's still the death of a character, and something that I'd want them to avoid (unless I hated the character.)

 

[KoyukiMegumi]

Uh.... But what if the afterlife is just an illusion that the dead souls fall in, while in reality, they are just going around in circles? Or maybe something like the cycle of rebirth. People die. Just because they are reincarnated doesn't mean they will be the people they used to be. So essentially the person they were, disappear forever. Never to be remembered once their loved ones die.

 

[Reborn_Cat]

honestly it all depends upon how the afterlife is portrayed

 

[SailusGebel]

No.

 

[lnv]

To me its like, If the protagonist dies, I know where he is going (Heaven or Hell) which doesn’t seems that scary.
But if there is a lack of afterlife, It just gives more reason for the mc to not die.(And the part that after death he will cease to exist (or the unknown) rather then going to heaven or hell makes it even more scarier.)

I don't know about that... on one side you have Hell which is pretty much endless torture for eternity. On the other side you have heaven where you pretty much spend an eternity in a place where you have to behave in a strict society without committing a single sin and be merrily singing for all eternity in a cheesy chorus and be friendly with everyone. Where even a wrong thought is a crime.

Aka, physical torture or mental torture for all eternity, pick one!

Suddenly, seizing to exist or the unknown doesn't sound so bad right?

 

[LoliGent]

To me its like, If the protagonist dies, I know where he is going (Heaven or Hell) which doesn’t seems that scary.

Going to hell is not scary? I think that's like the worse possible place to go after you die.

 

[K5Rakitan]

 

[Biggest-Kusa-Out-There]

Depends on what kind of Mythology the story is going for...
If it is budhist, then it could be pretty yikes.
Olympian, Egyptian, Hindi, Norse, Celtic, Shinto, and Christian have different meanings for the afterlife.
If a story has an omnipotent and omniscient Deity then that itself takes away from the stakes imo since it would devolve into something we already are familiar with, so yeah...

 

[Darkcrow.]

Going to hell is not scary? I think that's like the worse possible place to go after you die.

It’s a little less scary then just cease to exist.

 

[AliceShiki]

For me the stakes of death are very real for as long as there is no method of reviving the dead available~

Like, I don't particularly care about the existence of the afterlife much, because like... The characters will still want to live, and they'll still suffer when their loved ones die, and they'll still want to spend their life together with their loved ones. Having or not having an afterlife is irrelevant for all those things IMO.

OTOH, if you just need to gather the 7 dragon balls again to revive someone... Well, then anything below total destruction of the planet and/or complete annihilation of mankind doesn't seem like a high enough stake.

 

[Lloyd]

Why would it matter? The protagonist isn't going to die anyway or the story would end.

 

[LoliGent]

It’s a little less scary then just cease to exist.

Have you ever heard of a little story called The Divine Comedy? Every heard of Inferno? Yeah, I think oblivion would be far better than eternal damnation.

 

[AliceShiki]

Why would it matter? The protagonist isn't going to die anyway or the story would end.

You can always change the protagonist after they die~

Shouldn't be too hard on a story told from 3rd person PoV tbh... In 1st person it's obviously harder, but should be doable too.

 

[Deleted member 45782]

It depends how the story portrays the afterlife. And what kind of story. Knowing that it's a story am reading, regardless what story is and about, it feels it always allows take step back and see it just as a story, nothing more.

If they made it into a story where deities and demons can easily move up and down the planes well, not really cause it seems like there's always exceptions and way go around rules and those stories only take some parts of it but story isn't exactly centered on it - like for example a deity got kicked down from heaven to do duties in the underworld but through the magic of love comes back to heaven just bc power of love and a strong lover. Versus a story where you get punished for 800 years and nothing will allow you escape it and you must endure your sentence until it is over and you cross into the next life. That or in other belief versions once you commit bad, you get sentenced for all eternity and that's it. There is more stake to one that is for all eternity.

Now whether going deep into thinking if there's actual afterlife or you just cease to exist after one passes away hits bit different.

As for other stories don't mention or center afterlife then it depends if only focused on fluff or incorporates some irl stuff. Reality I feel makes things raise takes higher bc you want a happy end to it even though sometimes we know reality is not always happy outcome.

 

[Lloyd]

You can always change the protagonist after they die~

Shouldn't be too hard on a story told from 3rd person PoV tbh... In 1st person it's obviously harder, but should be doable too.

This almost never happens. Maybe like one in a million stories

 

[LilTV1155]

To me its like, If the protagonist dies, I know where he is going (Heaven or Hell) which doesn’t seems that scary.
But if there is a lack of afterlife, It just gives more reason for the mc to not die.(And the part that after death he will cease to exist (or the unknown) rather then going to heaven or hell makes it even more scarier.)

Yes. And I have seen Isekai / Reincarnate / Transmigrate / System Hopper Characters does whatever they want after they died for first or so times.

It's normal for people to fear the Unknown. But rid of that Uncertainty, Consequences be damned whatever shit things we do for fun or happiness or revenge or love or the hell they want.

 

[Derin_Edala]

It depends entirely on what the stakes are in the first place.