Difference between revisions of "Character Shielding"
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==Overview== | ==Overview== | ||
| + | Character Shielding is omnipresent in any given work of fiction, for the simple reason that the audience needs characters to relate to in order to become invested in the outcome of a story. Though it's often thrown around as a dirty word, Character Shielding is absolutely necessary to create an engaging narrative. The audience willingly suspends their disbelief so the story can advance; for example, if [[Van Flyheight (Chaotic Century Manga)|Van]] simply got eaten by a Guysack in [[The Young Man of Planet Zi|the very first chapter]] then there wouldn't be a story, even if this would be the most plausible outcome of an encounter between a scrawny 14-year old boy and a murderous 20-ton biomechanical arachnid. In cases like this, drama takes priority over realism. For all but the most cynical and anal-retentive of viewers, it doesn't matter if a story is consistent with reality so long as it's ''internally'' consistent. | ||
| + | However, a problem arises when the story grows complacent and begins to wear its character shielding on its sleeve. When this happens, a story can lose dramatic tension, either because the conclusion is foregone, or the solution is so contrived that it shatters suspension of disbelief. For example, in [[The Capital Collapses|episode 59]], Raven and Rease are seemingly enveloped by a charged particle beam fired by Hiltz, but later on they are revealed to have survived, for no good "in-universe" reason; they managed to escape simply because the plot needed them to. Every viewer has their own threshold for suspension of disbelief, so when a story's character shielding becomes obvious can be highly subjective. | ||
[[Category: Fandom]] | [[Category: Fandom]] | ||
Revision as of 02:02, 19 September 2013
Character Shielding (also known as Plot Armour or Script Immunity) is a literary device that "protects" a character based on their relative level of importance to a story.
Overview
Character Shielding is omnipresent in any given work of fiction, for the simple reason that the audience needs characters to relate to in order to become invested in the outcome of a story. Though it's often thrown around as a dirty word, Character Shielding is absolutely necessary to create an engaging narrative. The audience willingly suspends their disbelief so the story can advance; for example, if Van simply got eaten by a Guysack in the very first chapter then there wouldn't be a story, even if this would be the most plausible outcome of an encounter between a scrawny 14-year old boy and a murderous 20-ton biomechanical arachnid. In cases like this, drama takes priority over realism. For all but the most cynical and anal-retentive of viewers, it doesn't matter if a story is consistent with reality so long as it's internally consistent.
However, a problem arises when the story grows complacent and begins to wear its character shielding on its sleeve. When this happens, a story can lose dramatic tension, either because the conclusion is foregone, or the solution is so contrived that it shatters suspension of disbelief. For example, in episode 59, Raven and Rease are seemingly enveloped by a charged particle beam fired by Hiltz, but later on they are revealed to have survived, for no good "in-universe" reason; they managed to escape simply because the plot needed them to. Every viewer has their own threshold for suspension of disbelief, so when a story's character shielding becomes obvious can be highly subjective.
