Your observations on the way immortal characters are written in fantasy novels

OP1000

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Hello!!!!
So in some of the fantasy novels that I have read that involve immortal characters, I have come to notice that they are basically beings that are extremely difficult to kill, but they can still be killed. This is especially true for the way 'gods' are written in some of the fantasy novels I have read so far. Is this a common way for immortal characters to be written in fantasy novels? How would you prefer such characters to be written in regards to the way their immortality works?
 

Syringe

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An Achelle's heel, or some sort of fatal flaw. It's no fun if they're truly invincible. If they physically are, then maybe they're psychologically vulnerable. I think a good chunk of immortals from what I've read always had a clear disconnect from the world, society and love due to their lifespan, which kind of gives them character, albeit cliche.
 

Sp4de

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I would say it comes down to the author's interpretation of immortality. For some, its simply longevity, whether infinite or just super long. But longevity doesn't equal durability. Like an elf, considered immortal by human standards, is still able to be killed. I would say that author's rarely equate immortality with being unable to die by any means, because that's a person that their protag is unable to kill, which is usually unacceptable depending on the story.
 

Corty

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As someone who had both in his story my explanation was the following:

Gods were named Gods because they ruled the Realm and were at a power level that nobody else could challenge. Still, they were killable. Destroy their core and they die.

Immortals were Immortals because effectively they came up with a method that made it so even if they are wholly destroyed they would still be able to come back. Until they would be wiped out in body and soul, right down to the smallest fragments at the same time, they would not truly die.
 

LittleHelp

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I think it really depends on what their abilities are outside the immortality and it depends on what the ultimate stake of the story depends on, as well as their personality.

For example, an immortal character that is also extremely strong and could easily solve the issues in the plot may be boring. But, an immortal character that is fairly weak, doesn't seek out strength or has a personality that makes them unlikely to involve themselves in mortal affairs can be really interesting. I also personally like when immortal characters are "down to earth" in a way, as in, they have just the same worries as mortal people, because to me, it makes sense. Because like, just because you're immortal, that doesn't really change that you can be inconvenienced or something, right? I'm not afraid of dying when I bump into someone on the street, but it's still going to be awkward, and I think it would be the same for an immortal character; but often, immortal characters aren't really written that way bc people assume that because they can't die, nothing would matter to them, but I kind of like to see when that's not the case.
 

georgelee5786

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Either regeneration of anything, even complete destruction of their body, or total invulnerability. Those are the two easiest and best ways to write immortality, imo
 

LilRora

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I prefer if it is clearly defined what part of them is immortal. You could have an immortal body, for example, which would make it possible to regenerate from virtually nothing, but it would leave the mind susceptible to attacks.

Similarly, an immortal soul would travel the reincarnation cycle infinitely, unnaffected by its mechanisms, but simply carried around to different bodies.

One thing I really don't like about immortality is when someone is called an immortal for being unable to die of age. It is logical, I'm not saying it's wrong, but in my opinion immortality should be something much more than ability to live forever.
 
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K5Rakitan

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I like it if only gods can kill other gods. Either that, or an extremely intelligent or otherwise exceptional human. Gods also have rules amongst themselves about what is acceptable to do to humans.
 

Le_ther

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Hello!!!!
So in some of the fantasy novels that I have read that involve immortal characters, I have come to notice that they are basically beings that are extremely difficult to kill, but they can still be killed. This is especially true for the way 'gods' are written in some of the fantasy novels I have read so far. Is this a common way for immortal characters to be written in fantasy novels? How would you prefer such characters to be written in regards to the way their immortality works?
As far as I've read. Most authors apply the law of restriction when it comes to this godlike characters. Either sealed power, imprisonment, disabled interaction in the mortal world, in danger by another godlike being, or being attached to their respected role and couldn't act out of bounds.
 

NotOriginal

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Personally when portraying a immortal I prefer them to be a bit broken, aloof in thought and actions. They would simply not have a care in the world and just lethargically go about life if they have not yet been captured and imprisoned for experimentation. If they lived a life of battle they would be jaded and somewhat misanthropic in how they view the world and humanity as a species.
 

Cipiteca396

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Is this a common way for immortal characters to be written in fantasy novels? How would you prefer such characters to be written in regards to the way their immortality works?
In most fantasy, having an invulnerable character would nullify the entire story

Villain can't die? What's the point in fighting them then?

Hero can't die? No tension.

Random side character can't die? Why don't they kill the villain or save the hero every time the situation gets tense?

So you'll almost always get immortal characters the way you described, or at least with some set of limits that doesn't invalidate the story.

As for how those immortals should be portrayed... It's practically the same as normal humans, right? You're immortal until you die after all. You work towards your desires and ambitions, people you know and care about die, the world changes around you as you keep going. You'd simply live a little longer than most.

Some old people are cranky and self-isolate. Others are knowledgeable and wise, trying to interact with younger people. Really... That's just down to personality, isn't it? So there's no reason to treat immortals as different from any other character. It might affect the way they do things, but it shouldn't be a defining character trait.
 

AryaX

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It seems to me that most of the time "immortality" in fiction refers to what we in our real world refer to as "mortality".

That is... The "im"mortals Die... At the end of the book, or episode, or series, or movie, etc...

Might be interesting to have stories where the immortals are actually immortals...
 

TotallyHuman

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I still am working on a novel where an immortal character is just floating in the outer space, imagining a world where every second there takes the immortal years (yeah there is no Sun but don't think too much) of real time to think through.

But if you want real unkilleable undying immortals, Umineko witches are that. Even if they die they don't die and the closest they can ever come to dying is just getting so fed up they literally turn into seaweed and float in a metauniverse, just not thinking.
 

BearlyAlive

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In most literature and games "immortal" usually just means "harder to kill than most other stuff", so calling something "immortal" is usually just an easy way to say "friggin hard to kill mofo". Why'd you want your MC to kill a "fairly hard to kill evil threat" if you can claim it's an "immortal threat". Why use planetbuster skills if you could use universebuster skills? You don't. Since bigger is always better and nobody that writes has any need to compensate anything. ;^)

Random side character can't die? Why don't they kill the villain or save the hero every time the situation gets tense?
That could make for some interesting stories, tho. Imagine a suicidal MC that gets "saved" every time they try to end themselves. Or a bored immortal just picking and enabling some random person that thinks themself a hero. Immortal side characters are actually pretty interesting if done right.
 

Sabruness

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a lot of what is labelled 'immortality' in novels is what is technically 'functional immortality' which (usually but not always) means they wont age or die from old age/normal diseases etc and usually entails a violent death or a death through accident or other artificial means.
 
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