Killing off

Common card · No. 276267

The killing off of a character is a device in fiction, whereby a character dies, but the story continues. The term, frequently applied to television, film, video game, comic book, literature, anime, manga and chronological series, often denotes an untimely or unexpected death motivated by factors beyond the storyline, often done for emotional effect and to advance through the story. In productions featuring actors, the unwillingness or inability of an actor to continue with the production for financial or other reasons (including illness, death, disagreements, unavailability, and producers' unwillingness or inability to retain an actor) may lead to that character being "killed off" or phased out from the storyline in another way, which ends their story arc. In some cases, they may or may not be mentioned at all.

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