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Plot armor

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Plot device wherein a fictional character is preserved from harm

Plot armor is a plot device wherein a fictional character is preserved from harm due to their necessity for the plot to proceed. The Oxford English Dictionary identified the term as originating in the 2000s, with its first reported use on the Usenet forum alt.games.dur-trs-trap. While protagonists and heroes within fictional works are often shielded from destruction by plot armor, their deaths in certain works function as a plot twist.

Within certain works of fiction, elements of the story can provide an explanation for why the protagonist is protected. Various iterations of James Bond have been cited as defining examples of plot armor. Other works eschew plot armor for main characters. The deaths of Ned Stark and other main characters within A Game of Thrones and its television adaptation have been considered examples of protagonists defying expectations that their role in the plot protected them from harm; a battle where many main characters escaped harm within the same series has also been cited as examples of plot armor.

See also

References

  1. "Plot armor". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  2. "plot armor". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/3086855677. Retrieved 31 January 2024. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  3. ^ Somers, Jeff (September 2023). "Twisty Business". Writer's Digest. Vol. 103, no. 5.
  4. Handley, Brandi, ed. (2021). The Navigator: Excellent Writing Across the Disciplines. p. 22. JSTOR 31795394.
  5. Lovinger, Caitlin (28 May 2021). "Low-Key: Adam Aaronson sneaks up on us with a subtly strenuous Saturday puzzle". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  6. Chu, Andrea Long (Spring 2018). "Bad TV". N+1 (31): 10.
  7. Sepinwall, Alan (29 April 2019). "'Game of Thrones' Close-Up: To Kill a King". Rolling Stone.
  8. Chokshi, Niraj (30 April 2019). "'Game of Thrones' Fans Are Thrilled, Confused and Setting the Internet on Fire". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  9. Schmidt, Kilian (2023). ""What Should Have Been, But Sadly Wasn't". Commoning HIV/AIDS History in "Pose"". Femina Politica. 32 (2): 87. doi:10.3224/feminapolitica.v32i2.07.


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