Death or extras?

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 8:38 pm

Reading through a bunch of Marvel stuff as I scan has put a question in my mind... Across the Marvel run, especially the first half of the run, as new characters arrive a lot of the older ones fade into the background. When you think about it, only the FF really come back into the mix later on. Some fade literally, padding out the odd crowd scene on the Ark or that nice subtle space island thing, while some don't even get that.

So here's the question - would you prefer it that these guys were just left to fill out the odd scene and yell "Decepticons!" or "Ack!" every now and then, or would you prefer it if they had some sort of closure? Not everyone can have an Inferno death, of course, but would you prefer it if Point Blank or Bugly were seen getting gunned down in the background of a fight scene, rather than simply disappearing without explanation?

Post by **Blackjack** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 8:49 am

Personally seeing them die (or at least heavily injured) gives more impact to battles, and gives a closure to the character.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:02 am

With the frequent changes in leadership on both sides in the comic characters fading into the background as a result of the new boss putting his own people into the key positions always made sense to me.

I think On the Edge of Extinction is the perfect example of how to do the death thing, it's a nice balance between not wasting time on irrelevances from the main plot but still giving everyone who dies more of a moment than the "Line up and get shot" Underbase thing.

Post by **Blackjack** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 1:44 pm

Yeah, that's what I meant. If only characters are killed a la G2 comics. Each death is given a few panels for us to appreciate the character, not like the Underbase saga. (Starscream kills so and so, then blasts so and so...) Another particularly bad example of mass murders is Beast Wars Ascending 4. Not even a name-list of who gets killed, just Boom! Blam! Destroyed bodies!

Otherwise, used characters can just get exported back to Cybertron.

secretcode · Post by **secretcode** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 8:48 pm

I'd prefer extras unless a character's death could have impact or add to the story. Furmaning a wave of characters just to introduce more isn't exactly the best way to go. At least leave them around as background characters so that if you'd ever need them again or have a gap to fill, you can just use them instead of bringing someone back from the dead and going "Oh yeah he's back now."

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 3:41 pm

I like it when characters just die. No big scene, no time to pause and reflect, just BAM, dead, deal with it.

Like what happens in reality.

As to the original question... depends. I quite like the notion that, er... uhm... Horri-Bull(?) is still out there somewhere, making life tricky for somebody. But it's nice to get closure and to be able to say "yep, done and dusted!"

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 4:10 pm

Didn't Optimus shove Horri-Bull's head into his chest in "End of the Road"?

But yeh, I do like the idea of casualties of war myself, and as said there doesn't need to be either a) big drama or b) an Underbase-style mass cull. Sure, don't take out anyone who might, just might be useful in the future, but for most Transformers that doesn't apply, really - there's not a lot Quickmix could do that, say, Doubleheader couldn't.

Clogs · Post by **Clogs** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 5:33 pm

I like the idea of characters entering the scene, taking their turn on stage and then fading into obscurity or guest appearances. It isn't necessary to kill them off to get them out of the way and leaves opportunities for the future without those improbable resurrections.

Gives the fans and fic writers something to play with, too.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:16 pm

Cliffjumper wrote:Didn't Optimus shove Horri-Bull's head into his chest in "End of the Road"?

Oh look at you Mr Fancy Lah-di-dah "checking his facts before posting" lah-di-****ing-dah gunner Graham.

"Oh look, I have facts and corroborated evidence at my disposal."

It's not big and it's not clever!

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:17 pm

Hey, it's not like I'm actually sure, Andy "Andrew" Wildman drew that one, which means if Yomtov block-coloured it most of the characters looked identical.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:20 pm

Cliffjumper wrote:Andy "Andrew" Wildman drew that one

Again with the facts. If you like facts so much why don't you just become a fact or something and leave the rest of us to our lies.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:29 pm

Yes, I am a fact you have to deal with.

I'm sure there's a decent quote in something along those lines, but I'm bum-jabbed if I can remember what it is.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:30 pm

My last post felt like I was Jeremy off of Peep Show.